Title: The Sun Rising
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Michael Cutter
Fandom: Doctor Who/Law & Order
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100_tales
Prompt: 44, Dawn
Warning: ongoing story, past non-con
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 Michael Cutter, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

Michael stood at the door of the Tardis, reluctant to leave the safety of the ship, but unable to keep himself from looking at the panorama spread out before him. He'd only seen scenes like this in glossy travel magazines before, or on a screen in front of him.

He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't Earth, and that he had no idea of what was out there beyond the magnificent scenery. But it was impossible not to feel a kind of awe at the beauty of a new day dawning right in front of his eyes.

He felt rather than heard the Doctor move to the doorway to stand beside him; he could sense that the other man's attention was on him, rather than watching the breaking dawn. After a few moments, Mike managed to tear his eyes away from the sunrise to look at the Time Lord.

"This is beautiful," he said softly, gesturing towards the lightening sky. "This is kind of surprising for me. I'd always wondered if there were other places that had sunrises and sunsets in the same way that Earth does."

"And now you know that they do," the Doctor murmured, moving closer to Michael and slipping one arm around his lover's waist. "It's lovely, isn't it? There's something about a sunrise that touches the soul, don't you think?"

Michael nodded, shifting his attention to the tall, thin man standing beside him. He still wasn't used to thinking of this man as anyone other than the John Smith he'd known when they'd first met, but he was slowly assimilating all the facts he'd learned about the Time Lord.

It still came as something of a shock to look at this man and realize that he wasn't human; that he was something completely outside of any experience Michael could possibly have had. There were times when he felt that he was living in some weird parallel universe.

But this wasn't some science-fiction movie. This was real, this was his life. It had taken a very strange turn since he'd met John, but he wouldn't change one second of it, even if some of the things that he'd seen and done seemed .... unreal.

Michael turned his gaze away from the man next to him to look out at the panorama spread before his eyes again, raising a hand to shade his face as the rising sun broke over the horizon. It looked a lot like the sunrise on Earth -- except for the color.

"The sun is red," he breathed, his eyes widening. "Is it like that on other planets, too? Is Earth the only place that has a golden sun?" Suddenly, he found himself brimming with questions, all of which were threatening to make themselves known at the same time.

The Doctor shook his head, leaning against the doorframe of the Tardis and shielding his own eyes with one slender hand. "No, it's not," he answered, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "There are lots of other planets that do. And the red sun isn't unique, either."

"What was the sun like on your home planet?" Mike asked softly, hoping that his question wouldn't turn the other man's mood to one of melancholy. Any question about his home had the tendency to do that, but he was unable to hold this one back.

The Time Lord seemed to be in an expansive mood, however; there was only a slight hesitation before he answered Michael's question, his voice soft and almost dreamlike. "It was beautiful. A golden sun blazing across a burnt-orange sky."

"I wish I could have seen it," Michael whispered, looking away from the dawn and focusing his gaze on the Doctor's face. What he saw there tore at his heart; there was such an expression of longing on the other man's features, a longing that he knew could never be fulfilled.

He had the capability of going back to Earth, of seeing the sun rise on his home planet again. The two of them could do that any time he wanted to; he'd never have to feel that he didn't have a home. Earth would always be there -- well, as far as he knew, it would be.

This man would never be able to see the sun rise on his home. He'd never be able to set foot on his native soil again; he had to live with the knowledge that he was one of only two members of hs race left in the entire galaxy. He could never go home again.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he whispered, reaching for the Doctor and pulling the other man into his arms. He didn't stop to think that his boyfriend probably didn't know what he was talking about; his only thought was to offer what comfort he might be able to give.

But surprisingly, the man in his arms seemed to know exactly what he meant. "It's not your fault," he murmured, raising a hand to wipe at the few tears that had begun to streak down his cheeks. "You weren't there, Michael. You shouldn't be apologising."

"I can't even begin to imagine how it feels," Michael told him, still holding the other man close. "But you're not alone any more, you know. You have me. For as long as you want me. And like you've said before, we'll make a home together."

"I know we will." The Doctor pulled away slightly, his smile somewhat strained, but there nonetheless. "And we'll visit many more places like this, and see the sun rising on other planets. Maybe in a way, we can say that our home contains a bit of all those places."

"It doesn't matter to me where I watch the sun rising -- as long as I'm watching it with you," Michael told him, hoping that his words didn't sound like something from a Hallmark greeting card. "Cheesy, I know," he laughed, shaking his head. "But it's true."

"You know, I've seen a new day dawn on countless planets," John told him, his dark gaze locking with Mike's. "But I don't think I've ever treasured a breaking dawn as much as I do this one. I've never had anyone with me to watch one before. Not in this way."

"None of your companions has ever watched a sunrise with you?" Michael asked, surprised by that admission. He'd imagined that the Doctor's former companions had done everything possible with him -- well, with the exception of being physical.

That was one thing he didn't want to know about, even though his lover had told him in no uncertain terms that he'd never been intimate with any of his companions, save one. A man named Jack, who the Time Lord had hinted that Michael might actually meet one day.

He wasn't sure just how well he was going to react to that -- especially if this man was as flirty as the Doctor had told him. Michael frowned at the thought; he wasn't going to let some stranger flirt with John, not while he was around.

Of course, this man wasn't a stranger to John. Mike took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. There was no reason for him to feel jealous, none at all; he knew that whatever had been between his lover and this Jack was long since over and done with.

If anyone else had watched the dawn breaking over another planet with the Doctor, it wasn't the same as what they were sharing now. That had been a different time, and his lover had been with a different person. There was no comparison.

His gaze went from the rising sun back to the man standing beside him; the Time Lord was looking at him again, a small smile quirking the corners of his mouth. Michael couldn't resist leaning forward to brush his lips gently against that mouth.

"Yes, some of them did see the sun come up over different places with me," the Doctor told him, his voice husky and a little breathless. "But none of them were you, and I didn't love any of them in the way that I love you. It wasn't the same."

"I know it wasn't, sweetheart," Michael murmured, moving forward to take the Doctor in his arms. "I hope you and I will see a lot more sunrises -- in a lot of different places. I love sharing things like this with you. It makes me feel closer to you."

"I don't see how we could get much closer than we are now," the Doctor told him, his brows raising, his dark eyes dancing with laughter. "After all, we're crowded into the doorway of the Tardis. It's barely big enough for both of us to stand here."

"We'd have more space to talk about this in the bedroom, wouldn't we?" Michael asked him, trying his best to keep back the smile that was already forming on his lips, and only barely managing to hold back the laughter bubbling up inside him.

"Oh, I think so," the Doctor agreed, looping his thin arms around Mike's neck. "We can't see the sun rising from there -- but I think there are other things that will be rising to keep our attention." He tilted his head to the side, giving Michael a roguish smile.

With one last glance at the breaking dawn, Michael stepped back from the Tardis' door, closing it firmly. He didn't mind missing the rest of the sunrise -- not when he was sure that he and John would see many more of them in the future.

***