Title: The Last Sunset
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Mick St. John
Fandom: Doctor Who/Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100_tales
Prompt: 12, Sunset
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Tenth Doctor or Mick St. John, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"Sunsets are so beautiful, aren't they?" the Doctor murmured, resting his head against Mick's shoulder. The two men were standing on a rooftop, taking in the last rays of the setting sun, the brilliant colors splashing across the expanse of sky.

"Yeah, they are," Mick answered, his voice just as soft. His eyes were riveted on the sight in front of them, the colors dancing before his eyes, the edges starting to blur and fade into the encroaching darkness that was beginning to take over.

"Sometimes it seems that each one is more brilliant than the last," the Doctor sighed as the bright colors began to blur, slipping into the indigo darkness of a night sky. There were already a few stars twinkling in the velvety darkness, sprinkling it with pinpoints of light.

"I thought the last sunset I'd ever see was the one I barely glanced at the night of my wedding," Mick said softly, blinking as he turned away from the vista in front of them to look at the Doctor. "I was so sure that I'd never be able to walk in the daylight again."

"But you'd seen your ex-wife walk in the daylight before you knew what she was," the Doctor objected with a frown. "So you must have known that you weren't confined to the night, even after you found out what she'd done to you."

Mick nodded, heaving a sigh and looking down at their clasped hands. "Yeah, that's true. But at the time, I was pretty much convinced that I was nothing more than a monster, and that any decent life I could have was over. I wanted to die then and there."

"You had just been given immortality, and you wanted your life to end," the Doctor said thoughtfully, a frown furrowing his brow. "Do you know how odd that sounds, Mick? Most people would jump at the chance to become what you are."

Mick laughed, the sound bitter and without mirth. "If they knew all that comes along with it, they wouldn't want it. The loneliness, having to watch people you care about age and die, the feeling that you're apart from the rest of the human race --"

"Because you're not human," the Time Lord broke in, his voice gentle. "And there's nothing wrong with not being human, Mick. It just means that you're different. It doesn't mean that you've lost any of the qualities that make you a good person."

"I know that now," Mick said with a sigh, looking back at the night sky again. The sunset had faded; they were under a night sky sprinkled with stars, a full moon rising overhead to pour silvery light down upon the two of them as they sat on the rooftop.

"But you didn't know it then, because you hadn't been given a choice to become what you are," the Time Lord said after another few moments had passed, returning to their conversation. "You should have been given that chance, Mick. I'm sorry that you weren't."

"Coraline didn't want anything from me but complete control over everything I did," Mick told him, his voice dry and unforgiving. "I thought she loved me -- and it took me a long time to realize what she felt for me wasn't love. It was obsession. I didn't learn about love until later."

"I would say that you learned about love from your friend who you were involved with -- the other vampire," the Doctor said softly, not wanting to bring up the subject, but feeling that he had to. He wanted to keep this conversation going, to find out more about Mick's past.

Mick nodded, releasing a long, slow breath. "Yeah. I didn't learn about what being in love really meant until I was with Josef. I really did love him -- but we found out the hard way that we're better off as friends than as lovers. I'll always be his friend, but I can't be anything more."

"I'm glad you can't," the Doctor told him, feeling a little guilty even as he said the words. "I hate to sound jealous, Mick, but .... well, maybe I am, a little. I don't want to think of you being in love with anyone but me, though I know you must have been."

"And I know you've been in love with other people, too," Mick told the Time Lord, sliding his arms around the other man's waist and pulling his lover close against his body. "In over nine hundred years, you have to have loved other people. But they're all in the past."

"Exactly," the Doctor said, brightening at Mick's words. "Of course you and I will have had other lovers in our pasts. We're not children, after all. And there's no reason for either of us to feel that our past lovers have any bearing on our relationship now."

"Doctor, there's only one guy I want to spend eternity with," Mick said softly, raising a hand to stroke the Time Lord's cheek. "And that's you. I think the reason I was made a vampire was so that I could meet you -- and so I could be with you forever."

"Do you really mean that?" the Doctor whispered, his gaze not leaving Mick's face. He was on the verge of tears; if the other man uttered any more words like the ones he'd just said, the Doctor was sure the would dissolve into weeping -- though they would be happy tears.

"Yeah, I do," Mick murmured, brushing a gentle kiss across the Doctor's softly parted lips. "I never watched a sunset with anybody else I've been with. Not even Josef. We never had time for things like that. I missed out on so much in my past relationships."

"I've watched sunsets with other people," the Doctor admitted, feeling a little ashamed that he'd done so. "But none of them appreciated the beauty of a sunset in the way you do. I suppose it's because none of them thought they would never see a sunset again."

Mick nodded, raising his face to look up at the night sky above them. "There's something romantic about a sunset that I never could quite touch with anybody else," he said softly. "Maybe I could have with Josef -- but even though we loved each other, he never truly opened up to me."

"I'm sorry, love," the Doctor said softly, wishing with all of his hearts that he could have changed things for Mick and his former lover. "I know that I shouldn't wish things had worked out for you two, because then you wouldn't be with me, but --"

"I know," Mick interrupted, his arms tightening around the Time Lord's slim waist. "You know how I felt about him. But there are only feelings of friendship there now, Doctor. I love Josef -- but I'm not in love with him any more. There's a difference."

The Doctor nodded, feeling relieved by Mick's words. "There are going to be plenty of sunsets in our future, you know," he murmured, leaning forward to press his lips against the other man's. "And they'll all be just as beautiful as this one," he whispered against Mick's mouth.

"I'll probably look at them all as if they'd be my last," Mick told him with a soft smile. "I've always thought like that, even since I became a vampire. If I look at everything like it's the last time I'll ever see it, then I'll appreciate it that much more."

"Is that how you look at me?" the Doctor asked, tilting his head to the side, a smile quirking the corners of his lips. "As though it's the last time you're ever going to see me? I'd hate to think that you're so fatalistic, Mick. Of course you're going to see a lot more or me."

"I'd like to see more of you right now," Mick whispered into his lover's ear, his sharp teeth nipping at the Doctor's earlobe as he spoke. "Let's get back to the Tardis. I want to get you into the shower and soap your body all over -- and then get you into bed."

"Oh, I think that would be a perfect ending to what's been a lovely day," the Doctor murmured softly, a thrill of excitement shooting through his body. He loved hearing Mick talk like this, loved knowing how much his boyfriend desired him.

Mick reluctantly loosened his grip around the Doctor's waist, stepping back and taking the Time Lord's hand. The night enveloped them as they made their way back to the blue police box at the other end of the roof, closing the door behind them only moments before the ship shimmered out of sight.

***