He's Fire And Ice And Rage

He's grieving, of course.

It's all just a matter of time.

Sometimes you just lose people you love.

That's just life.

You live long enough, you start to outlive.

The Doctor understands it, even if the man he's trying to console doesn't.

"He said he would survive."

"They can't always give you what they promise."

How long do you want to stay with me?

Forever.

He waits.

He wants to be empathetic.

He can't.

He doesn't know how.

He thinks that trying to relate will only create strange sympathy.

He watches the grieving man drain another glass of whiskey and wishes it were that easy to make grief disappear.

He wants to be comforting.

He can't.

He doesn't know how.

He thinks lying will only create false hope.

"You can't see the future."

"Sometimes I can."

"He said he would survive."

I made up my mind a long time ago and I'm never gonna leave you.

"You can fix it, Doctor?"

"I'm not a God."

"But you can fix it."

There's nothing to fix.

He can't say that, of course.

The timeline is intact and he is part of it.

There are clippings that line the walls of the Doctor's office.

News reports, damage assessments, editorials, obituaries.

November 9, 2006.

Tragic, that.

The explosion was shocking.

Created daylight in the middle of the night.

The Doctor---the daredevil, the madman---considers himself practically invincible after all these years, and he doesn't think he would survive that.

You can't rewrite history! Not one line!

"I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend."

"Then fix it. Please."

The grief comes off the other man in waves.

The Doctor doesn't have to be an empathetic being to feel it.

To share it.

He wants to tell him he understands.

He can't.

He doesn't know how.

"He wouldn't want you to live like this."

"He said he would survive."

"People live and people die; it's painful but it happens every day."

"He said he would survive."

"If you hold on to the past, it will drag you down."

"He said he would survive."

"You have to take his memory and help it keep you fighting."

"He said he would survive."

"You're giving up on yourself!"

"He said he would survive."

It's too late now.

Where there once was a strong man, now there's only a brick wall of denial and pain.

It's easier to build than to deal with the grief.

The Doctor understands this, too.

This friend of yours, what was her name?

Her name was Rose.

"No one is immortal, Nathan."

"He said he would survive."

Muse: The Doctor (Ten)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Word Count: 392, not including quotes from Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, The Aztecs, and The Runaway Bride
Based on RP with vote4nathan

After this.

"Behave!" The Doctor slammed his fist against the console, and the rickety machine finally settled down its racket, twisting the correct way down the Time Vortex, towards New York, 2007.

Nathan Petrelli's campaign headquarters? He could settle somewhere around there. That would be good, be easy for the other man to find the ship and also get him back without much of a question as to where he'd gone.

He materialized the TARDIS in the alley next to the campaign headquarters and grinned. Perfect landing. Smooth, without fault.

Beep. Beep.

Well, almost no fault.

Time disruption on this planet? Time being folded in on itself? No, that must've just been a computer error. The Doctor shrugged on his coat and stepped out, heading for the front door of the campaign office with a lopsided grin on his face.