Ficlet: Save Me From The Monsters

[unfeathered]

For morgynleri_fic, who requested 'Ninth Doctor meets Lorne, preferably before he meets Rose. He sings for Lorne, in fact, and Lorne has to mention Jack, but not by the name the Doctor meets him under or as a Time Agent, or as a conman.'


Title: Save Me From The Monsters
Fandom: Doctor Who/Angel
Author: unfeathered
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Lorne
Rating: G
Word Count: 500 exactly
Spoilers: Set after Not Fade Away but before Season One of Doctor Who
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: The Doctor goes to Lorne to find out if his future is really as bleak as it seems…
Author’s Note 1: For those who don't know the Buffyverse, the title is a reference to a line from Angel: "Handsome man saved me from the monsters" (Fred, Through The Looking Glass)
Author’s Note 2: Huge thanks to becky_h for coming up with a song for the Doctor to sing!

Followed up here.


"All right, all right, I think three minutes are quite enough! Come and sit down, pumpkin, and I'll see what I can do."

Lorne watches as the Doctor (strange name, but that's all he's getting from the man) steps down off the little stage with undisguised relief and shimmies between the little round tables to join Lorne at his. The rest of the clientele in Lorne's new Vegas establishment look relieved too, and the next singer – a slimy purple demon Lorne can't identify – takes his place on the stage.

"I'm curious." Lorne twirls the little umbrella sticking up from his Sea Breeze. "What made you choose Time Stand Still? Not the easiest song to sing."

The Doctor shrugs uncomfortably, eyes on his pint. "I'm not that up on turn of the millennium music. But I knew that one."

Lorne raises his eyebrows. "I think there's more to it than that, Glum 'n' Gloomy. Time is what you're all about, isn't it? And time has been standing still for you recently. Ever since…" The Doctor winces, and Lorne holds up his hands. "Sorry. Just saying! And hey, I ran away from home too, but at least I didn't burn mine!"

The Doctor glares at him, and Lorne shivers slightly and looks down. Takes a deep breath and leans forward with a smile. "But things are about to start moving for you again, sweetcheeks. You're gonna have people around you again. A nice little English girl – actually, several English girls, though not all at once – " He chuckles, but stops when the Doctor gives him a dour look that threatens extreme violence if he doesn't get to the point soon. "Anyway, there's a man too… A handsome man – very handsome – hey, if you ever get tired of him could you give him my address? And he's going to be the one. The one who won't leave you. He'll wait for you, and stand by you, and – oh, he may do other things with you too…"

Lorne breaks off, because the Doctor's getting to his feet. "Thanks," the Doctor says, patting his cheek warmly. "Oh, and no, I'm not giving you Jack's address. I don't share."

Lorne frowns. "How did you - ?"

The Doctor flashes him a surprisingly bright grin. "You're not the only one who can read minds, sunshine. I'm just not very good at reading my own. 'Experience slips away' and all that." He straightens his jacket. "Right. London, spring 2005, is that right?"

Lorne nods helplessly, and the Doctor's grin spreads even wider.

"Good. I'm going to get things moving again, then. Going to go and find me a girl!"

Lorne watches him turn to go. "You know, you remind me of someone I knew. The heroics, the lack of humour, the sparse look, the dark sweater, the dark coat… though his was long and sweeping…"

The Doctor gives him another dark look. "I don't do long and sweeping."

But Lorne's seen the Doctor's future. He grins. "You will."



Note: Unbeta'd so if anyone has any beta-like comments to make, please feel free! :-)

Comments

[morgynleri]

*tries several times to stop cackling madly in delight long enough to type a coherent comment*

Oh, I love it! *hands over chocolate chip cookies*

Lorne watches him turn to go. "You know, you remind me of someone I knew. The heroics, the lack of humour, the sparse look, the dark sweater, the dark coat… though his was long and sweeping…"

*snerks hard* Oh, I hadn't thought about that... comparing Nine and Angel... probably because I'm not a huge fan of Angel, but... *snerks again* it's definately there. Nine just pulls it off better.

"Oh, and no, I'm not giving you Jack's address. I don't share."

Favorite line of the story! Just so... wonderfully possessive. *purrs happily*

Thank you!

[unfeathered]

*grins happily* Oh, I'm so glad you like it! And thank you - chocolate chip cookies - yum! :-)

As I just said in a comment above, the Nine/Angel comparison never occurred to me either till I wrote this - and now it seems totally obvious! I might have to disagree with your statement that Nine pulls it off better, though - I don't think anyone broods like Angel does! He's also prettier... *g*

And possessive Doctor is totally chatona's fault. We got talking about it the other day and it just keeps cropping up!

[morgynleri]

I'll agree, no one broods like Angel does... also, no one makes me want to reach through the TV screen and smack them silly like Angel does. Which is why I say Nine pulls it off better... he broods without me wanting to smack him all the time.

And I like possessive Doctor! *giggles* He's so delightful, and easy to tweak.

[unfeathered]

All right, you win. I want to smack Angel when he's brooding too.

Though I want to smack both of them more when they're grinning and being silly. Can't stand silliness.

Hmmm. I'm starting to want to see Nine meet Angel now... (And no, not going to write it. I've got quite enough on my plate for now!)

[morgynleri]

Mmm. Grinning doesn't trigger the smack, but silly can if it's more than fleeting.

Angel and Nine meeting... Heh. Be dangerous, that. Shall have to put that on the mental list of possible things to write in the future, but not yet. Have drabble meme to keep an eye on, and evil plot bunnies to manage. One of which is the size of a small pony and has a spiked collar, leash, and most recently appears to have aquired a t-shirt reading "Property of The Master". *sighs* My Master-muse has acquired himself a pet.

[unfeathered]

It's grinning with Nine, silliness with Angel, as far as I'm concerned. Both annoy me no end.

One of which is the size of a small pony and has a spiked collar, leash, and most recently appears to have aquired a t-shirt reading "Property of The Master".

Your brain is a strange place! *g*

And I just realised I never got round to friending you back! Duh! That's why I haven't been seeing your posts on my flist. (I'll blame it on the cold. My head isn't working right atm.)

[morgynleri]

*tilts head* Mm. Yes, the urge to smack Nine when he starts grinning does occur now and again. Sometimes even when I'm looking at my icon.

If anyone told you my brain wasn't a strange place, they were either lying or delusional. *beams* There's the lounge, with various appearing and dissapearing pieces of furniture (except the sofa. No one steals my sofa), a full-sized bar with every alcoholic (and otherwise intoxicating) beverage known to my muses, a small kitchen, various bedrooms, a zero-gravity gym to stash those who've gotten drunk, a small sports stadium (the existance of which is still a mystery as to why), a very large library, the Q-box, and a nifty little control room which the muses aren't allowed in, though they keep stealing the spare keyboard. And I'm rambling a bit... anyway.

'S all right. I don't stress over friending, or lack thereof. Doesn't change whether or not stuff shows up on my flist. Well, sometimes, but not if the person doesn't f-lock, which I do... which reminds me. I should get around to doing a proper "friends only" banner for my journal....

[unfeathered]

*blinks hard*

OK, your brain is even stranger than I realised! *g*

[morgynleri]

*grins* I do try. And one of these days I shall get around to doing a sketch for the lounge, and using that as a friends-only banner, but I haven't done that yet.... probably because I have trouble drawing inanimate objects and places... which is why most of my character sketches have abstract or plain backgrounds...