Title: Only One Man
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 5, Partner
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Ross Jenkins, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ross propped himself up on one elbow, reaching out a hand to stroke the Doctor's hair back from his face. He loved waking up before the Time Lord did; there was something incredibly sensual about watching his lover sleep while he was unobserved.

The Doctor looked so incredibly young, Ross thought, his soft fingertips stroking down the other man's cheek, then across the outline of his upper lip. He was the most beautiful man Ross had ever seen, bar none. The most gorgeous vision that had ever crossed his path.

And this man was his, Ross told himself, his heart beating faster and his spirits lifting at the thought. Not just for a night, or a few weeks or months. But for always. The Doctor loved him, and he wanted Ross to be with him for the rest of their lives.

They were partners, in all of the ways that mattered most between two people. Not only were they a team when it came to seeking out adventures in time and space, but they were partners in the personal sense, too. Partners in every sense of the word.

When he'd been a solider, so many of the men that he'd worked with had never treated him as an equal, a partner in the military. He'd been young, yes, but he'd been through the same training that they had. They should have considered him an equal when they were on a mission.

People had trusted him to watch their backs when their lives depended on it, but most of them had still acted as though he was somehow inferior to them becuase of his age. Ross had always found that attitude ridiculous; he hadn't drawn those kinds of distinctions.

To him, the people in his part of UNIT had always been his partners. Not in the same sense that the Doctor was his partner, and never in the sexual sense. But they had been his partners in what they had been trying to accomplish, soldiers just like he was.

It had always made Ross sad to realize that so many of his fellow soldiers hadn't felt that way, but he really shouldn't have been surprised by that. So many of them had gone into the military with dreams of personal honor and glory, but nothing more.

He and the Doctor were partners in a different way, of course, one that was much more important. He knew that the Time Lord would never turn his back, never let him down. And he would go to the ends of the universe for the man he loved.

In some ways, he would have done the same for his fellow soldiers, Ross told himself with an inward sigh. But that didn't seem to be the way it worked for most people. They reserved their complete trust for people they knew well, rather than giving it to the soldiers who worked alongside them.

He'd nver been like that. He had always considered every soldier who was a part of not only UNIT, but the entire military, one of his brothers. He would have put his life on the line for any of them. In his mind, that was simply how it was done. Soldiers were partners. Period.

That kind of partnership was still in his life, really -- only on a much more personal basis. The Doctor was not only in partner in adventure, but his life partner as well. This was the man who had captured his heart and soul, the man he wanted to spend all of his life with.

No one else could ever be what the Doctor was to him. Even if something were to happen between them, something that caused them to be parted, he would never have another partner. Not in this way. There would only be one man in his life; no one could ever replace the Doctor.

Ross pushed the thought away as soon as it took form in his mind, a slight shudder going through his body. He didn't want to even entertain the thought of being parted from the Doctor. That wasn't going to happen. They were going to be together always. He knew it.

That was one thing he could hold on to, one of the absolute certainties in his life. Everything around them might mutate and change, but the love he shared with the Doctor would always be a constant for him. Nothing, no matter how catastrophic, could ever change his feelings.

They were partners in every way, and they always would be. Ross couldn't imagine anything that would possibly make him turn his back on the Doctor, and he knew that the Time Lord felt the same way about him. But the thought was still unsettling.

Moving closer to his lover under the covers, Ross wrapped his arms around the Doctor, pulling the other man into his arms. The Doctor stirred in his sleep but didn't awaken, resting his head on Ross' shoulder and snuggling into his embrace, a small smile curving his lips.

Yes, this man was his partner, in every way that mattered. Ross tightened his arms around the Doctor's slim waist, closing his eyes and letting himself relax. Those disturbing thoughts began to drift away, his breath becoming slow and deep as he, too, succumbed to sleep.

***