When she came back out a few minutes later he was sitting cross-legged in a chair, sipping from his cup, a remote expression on his face. She wanted to sigh. It almost always seemed as though either they were sparring, or he was ignoring her, or she was fuming at him. There wasn't much in-between with the two of them: it was usually lots of talking or silence.
When he'd asked her why she always argued with him if she didn't really like it, she hasn't known how to answer. It wasn't something she'd given thought to. But now that he'd asked, she knew her brain would start churning. And she did so hate that.
"So! What'll it be?" she asked as she sprawled out in the opposite seat. "Charades? Twenty Questions? Truth or Dare?"
Cool blue eyes flicked to her face in amused exasperation.
"Well, you do agree that we have to pass the time somehow," she chided.
"Yes," he murmured. "However, a game of truth or dare wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
"And what did you have in mind, Doc? Quantum Physics? Molecular Evolution? Dystopia and Utopia?" She shook her head. "I don't know why that would surprise me: you obviously have no concept of fun."
He frowned openly at her. "I happen to have every concept of the word fun."
"Right, Doc. And Daleks can fly," Tegan snorted.
The Doctor was preparing to give a rebuttal to this comment when the door was unlocked. It was Halda, along with four more humanoids. Two of them carried metal trays in their hands. The other two held small silver metal bands. All of them carried weapons. "You," Halda said, pointing to the Doctor. "Come here."
Tegan bit her lip and cast the Doctor a worried glance. He appeared nonplussed by the request and walked up to the guards. "Ah! Food. Thank you. And now if you'd just be so good as to let us leave-"
He didn't have time to finish the sentence before he was shocked and grabbed around the throat by one of the males.
"Stop!" Tegan cried.
"Make him shut up, or he'll get more," Halda said.
"No need," the Doctor moaned. "I just want to-"
There was another flash, another searing current, and another moan from him. He would have collapsed, but the hand curled around his throat prevented it. He gasped as that hand tightened slightly, and he stopped his useless effort of talking.
Tegan had gotten up to go to him, but two guards stepped between her and him. "Not until you are prepared," Halda said.
"What does that mean?" Tegan asked anxiously.
"You must be marked, so you cannot escape. It is the way." As she spoke, she slipped one of the slim metal bands around the Doctor's neck. It seemed to fit itself to his skin, close enough to prevent being slipped off, but not tight enough to inhibit breathing or talking. For the first time Tegan noticed that there was a tiny set of lights embedded in the band. They pulsed a soft green for a moment, then became solid.
The Doctor looked down, but couldn't see what was going on. He was held firmly by a guard while Tegan was ordered to come over and stand next to him. When she did he saw that, while she was putting on a good show, she was afraid. Halda lifted the other metal band, then turned to her. "Put your arms around each other," she ordered.
"What?" Tegan exclaimed sharply.
"Put your arms around each other. There must be touching to connect you."
"Connect us for what?" The Doctor asked without thinking.
"Do it now, or you both get punished!" Halda said angrily.
"All right, cripes, no need to get huffy," Tegan said quietly. She slipped her arms loosely around the Doctor, and after a second he did the same with her. They stood in that awkward embrace while Tegan's collar was put on. They waited in silence, looking at the floor, the ceiling, anywhere but at each other.
There was a sudden vibration from the collars, and the lights now winked off and on, first blue, then green, then yellow. Finally they stayed a solid dull green on both.
Halda nodded. "Now you are both prepared."
"But what does that mean?" Tegan asked.
"Simple way to keep you under control. If you go somewhere you should not, HE will have bad pain. Punishment is determined by how many times you have done it and what you have done."
Tegan gulped. The Doctor paled somewhat. "What if we try to escape once too often?"
"You will both die," Halda said flatly. "The control bands tell us everywhere you are, all the time. If one of you does wrong, the other suffers for it."
"Effective," the Doctor muttered. "Crude, but effective."
Halda nodded. "A prisoner might not mind risking his or her own life, or suffering pain. But no one would want to harm their mate."
The Doctor nodded. Now he understood more of the significance and importance of the earlier conversation. It was too late to say that he and Tegan weren't mates. And even if he did, it might cause them to be separated from each other. He didn't want that. Best to continue letting Halda believe it and focus on the more important issue of escaping.
They were released and pushed towards the table, where their food was placed. Halda and the others then left. Only when they had been gone for a minute or two did Tegan speak.
"Good grief! NOW what are we gonna do, Doctor!" she exclaimed.
He shook his head, blonde hair falling over his forehead. "I don't know. As soon as possible I'll find something to remove or disable these collars. Until then..."
"Until then," she echoed. "We've got to put up with this, haven't we?"
He smiled. "I'm afraid so, brave heart."
She shook her head. "Hoo, boy, when we get out of this mess, you're gonna have to take me somewhere awfully blasted nice to make up for this, Doc!"
She thought he would protest, but he only smiled again. "I shall do my best, Tegan. Where would you like to go?"
"I don't know," she muttered. "Italy, maybe..."
"Venice?" he said softly. "I know a wonderful little bistro, assuming it still exists when I get us there."
"Well right now we'd best eat what we've got," Tegan said, turning her attention to a tray.
"Quite right."
"I hate this," she said quietly out of the blue not long after they'd eaten.
He tilted his head. "Which part? Being stuck on this planet? Being locked in this room? Or being thought of as my mate?"
"Any or all of the above," she retorted.
"If it makes you feel better I'm the same," he offered.
She opened her mouth to tell him that no, it bloody well did not make her feel better, but what came out was: "Yes, it does, actually."
He blinked in surprise. She was surprised herself. But she knew it was the truth, the truth she'd told without thinking, without letting her sarcasm speak for her heart.
He cleared his throat. "Well. Perhaps we should try and get some sleep now, hmm? Who knows when morning comes around here."
"Right." She gave a yawn. Some sleep would help. And it would pass time. "Do you want to do paper-rock-scissors to see who gets the bed?" she joked.
His expression turned serious. "I believe it would be best if we slept together."
Her mouth opened and closed several times before anything would come out. When she could finally speak she gave a short, nervous laugh. "I'll say one thing for you Doc: you got right to the point."
"Think about it, Tegan. They think we're mates. What happens if they come in and find us not sleeping together?"
"They'll think we've had a row?" she suggested.
"Every night?" he asked in amusement.
"With us? It's possible," she chuckled.
He shook his head. "They'll believe something is wrong. And until we can get out of here I'd rather not have them think that."
"Want us to be the stereotypical imprisoned lovers, do you?"
"If need be," he answered.
She nodded. It did make sense. It was hard to tell what sort of things could warrant punishment around here. "All right, Doc. We'll have it to be that way, then."
He nodded. "I know you have an aversion to being close to me, but-"
She was on him in an instant, pouring all of her anger and frustration over their situation into her words.
"I have no such aversion!" she shouted. "It's you who want to keep people at arm's length, it's you who'd rather have his toes sliced off by Cybermen than be close to someone! Don't try to blame your being a cold fish on me, Doc, because it bloody well won't work!"
"Tegan! Stop yelling," he hissed. "You might get us in trouble."
She drew a shuddering breath, forcing herself to lower her voice. "All I'm saying is, I don't have a problem being close to you. You're the one with the problems, Doc. Not me."
"Fine," he said angrily. "Blame it on me if you like. Now can we please go to sleep?"
She snorted. "Like I'll be able to sleep now."
"Well pretend until you ARE able."
He stretched out on the bed. Tegan moved to the other side and slipped in beside him. A thought struck her. "Doc... how are you going to sleep every night? You don't need to sleep, how..."
"Time Lords can induce sleep at will, Tegan," he told her. "It will be unusual, but not difficult."
"Oh."
He turned over onto his side away from her. "Good night, Tegan."
"Good night, Doc," she said, curling up and closing her eyes against the light in the ceiling. As if on cue it turned off, and they were left in the dark. Just as well, Tegan thought: the dark would help give her the courage to say what she was about to say.
"Doctor..."
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry. For what I said."
She could feel him turn over, and though she couldn't see his face she had the feeling he was looking into her eyes. "Thank you, Tegan," he said softly, warmly.
She couldn't trust her voice to reply, so she just reached out until she found one of his hands and squeezed it. He squeezed back, then patted it before turning it loose. She felt better for her apology. They didn't come easily or often from her. But she meant them when she gave them.
"Go to sleep, Tegan dear," he murmured.
She almost gasped aloud at this, but stopped herself and closed her eyes instead. She also hated being predictable.
When he'd asked her why she always argued with him if she didn't really like it, she hasn't known how to answer. It wasn't something she'd given thought to. But now that he'd asked, she knew her brain would start churning. And she did so hate that.
"So! What'll it be?" she asked as she sprawled out in the opposite seat. "Charades? Twenty Questions? Truth or Dare?"
Cool blue eyes flicked to her face in amused exasperation.
"Well, you do agree that we have to pass the time somehow," she chided.
"Yes," he murmured. "However, a game of truth or dare wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
"And what did you have in mind, Doc? Quantum Physics? Molecular Evolution? Dystopia and Utopia?" She shook her head. "I don't know why that would surprise me: you obviously have no concept of fun."
He frowned openly at her. "I happen to have every concept of the word fun."
"Right, Doc. And Daleks can fly," Tegan snorted.
The Doctor was preparing to give a rebuttal to this comment when the door was unlocked. It was Halda, along with four more humanoids. Two of them carried metal trays in their hands. The other two held small silver metal bands. All of them carried weapons. "You," Halda said, pointing to the Doctor. "Come here."
Tegan bit her lip and cast the Doctor a worried glance. He appeared nonplussed by the request and walked up to the guards. "Ah! Food. Thank you. And now if you'd just be so good as to let us leave-"
He didn't have time to finish the sentence before he was shocked and grabbed around the throat by one of the males.
"Stop!" Tegan cried.
"Make him shut up, or he'll get more," Halda said.
"No need," the Doctor moaned. "I just want to-"
There was another flash, another searing current, and another moan from him. He would have collapsed, but the hand curled around his throat prevented it. He gasped as that hand tightened slightly, and he stopped his useless effort of talking.
Tegan had gotten up to go to him, but two guards stepped between her and him. "Not until you are prepared," Halda said.
"What does that mean?" Tegan asked anxiously.
"You must be marked, so you cannot escape. It is the way." As she spoke, she slipped one of the slim metal bands around the Doctor's neck. It seemed to fit itself to his skin, close enough to prevent being slipped off, but not tight enough to inhibit breathing or talking. For the first time Tegan noticed that there was a tiny set of lights embedded in the band. They pulsed a soft green for a moment, then became solid.
The Doctor looked down, but couldn't see what was going on. He was held firmly by a guard while Tegan was ordered to come over and stand next to him. When she did he saw that, while she was putting on a good show, she was afraid. Halda lifted the other metal band, then turned to her. "Put your arms around each other," she ordered.
"What?" Tegan exclaimed sharply.
"Put your arms around each other. There must be touching to connect you."
"Connect us for what?" The Doctor asked without thinking.
"Do it now, or you both get punished!" Halda said angrily.
"All right, cripes, no need to get huffy," Tegan said quietly. She slipped her arms loosely around the Doctor, and after a second he did the same with her. They stood in that awkward embrace while Tegan's collar was put on. They waited in silence, looking at the floor, the ceiling, anywhere but at each other.
There was a sudden vibration from the collars, and the lights now winked off and on, first blue, then green, then yellow. Finally they stayed a solid dull green on both.
Halda nodded. "Now you are both prepared."
"But what does that mean?" Tegan asked.
"Simple way to keep you under control. If you go somewhere you should not, HE will have bad pain. Punishment is determined by how many times you have done it and what you have done."
Tegan gulped. The Doctor paled somewhat. "What if we try to escape once too often?"
"You will both die," Halda said flatly. "The control bands tell us everywhere you are, all the time. If one of you does wrong, the other suffers for it."
"Effective," the Doctor muttered. "Crude, but effective."
Halda nodded. "A prisoner might not mind risking his or her own life, or suffering pain. But no one would want to harm their mate."
The Doctor nodded. Now he understood more of the significance and importance of the earlier conversation. It was too late to say that he and Tegan weren't mates. And even if he did, it might cause them to be separated from each other. He didn't want that. Best to continue letting Halda believe it and focus on the more important issue of escaping.
They were released and pushed towards the table, where their food was placed. Halda and the others then left. Only when they had been gone for a minute or two did Tegan speak.
"Good grief! NOW what are we gonna do, Doctor!" she exclaimed.
He shook his head, blonde hair falling over his forehead. "I don't know. As soon as possible I'll find something to remove or disable these collars. Until then..."
"Until then," she echoed. "We've got to put up with this, haven't we?"
He smiled. "I'm afraid so, brave heart."
She shook her head. "Hoo, boy, when we get out of this mess, you're gonna have to take me somewhere awfully blasted nice to make up for this, Doc!"
She thought he would protest, but he only smiled again. "I shall do my best, Tegan. Where would you like to go?"
"I don't know," she muttered. "Italy, maybe..."
"Venice?" he said softly. "I know a wonderful little bistro, assuming it still exists when I get us there."
"Well right now we'd best eat what we've got," Tegan said, turning her attention to a tray.
"Quite right."
"I hate this," she said quietly out of the blue not long after they'd eaten.
He tilted his head. "Which part? Being stuck on this planet? Being locked in this room? Or being thought of as my mate?"
"Any or all of the above," she retorted.
"If it makes you feel better I'm the same," he offered.
She opened her mouth to tell him that no, it bloody well did not make her feel better, but what came out was: "Yes, it does, actually."
He blinked in surprise. She was surprised herself. But she knew it was the truth, the truth she'd told without thinking, without letting her sarcasm speak for her heart.
He cleared his throat. "Well. Perhaps we should try and get some sleep now, hmm? Who knows when morning comes around here."
"Right." She gave a yawn. Some sleep would help. And it would pass time. "Do you want to do paper-rock-scissors to see who gets the bed?" she joked.
His expression turned serious. "I believe it would be best if we slept together."
Her mouth opened and closed several times before anything would come out. When she could finally speak she gave a short, nervous laugh. "I'll say one thing for you Doc: you got right to the point."
"Think about it, Tegan. They think we're mates. What happens if they come in and find us not sleeping together?"
"They'll think we've had a row?" she suggested.
"Every night?" he asked in amusement.
"With us? It's possible," she chuckled.
He shook his head. "They'll believe something is wrong. And until we can get out of here I'd rather not have them think that."
"Want us to be the stereotypical imprisoned lovers, do you?"
"If need be," he answered.
She nodded. It did make sense. It was hard to tell what sort of things could warrant punishment around here. "All right, Doc. We'll have it to be that way, then."
He nodded. "I know you have an aversion to being close to me, but-"
She was on him in an instant, pouring all of her anger and frustration over their situation into her words.
"I have no such aversion!" she shouted. "It's you who want to keep people at arm's length, it's you who'd rather have his toes sliced off by Cybermen than be close to someone! Don't try to blame your being a cold fish on me, Doc, because it bloody well won't work!"
"Tegan! Stop yelling," he hissed. "You might get us in trouble."
She drew a shuddering breath, forcing herself to lower her voice. "All I'm saying is, I don't have a problem being close to you. You're the one with the problems, Doc. Not me."
"Fine," he said angrily. "Blame it on me if you like. Now can we please go to sleep?"
She snorted. "Like I'll be able to sleep now."
"Well pretend until you ARE able."
He stretched out on the bed. Tegan moved to the other side and slipped in beside him. A thought struck her. "Doc... how are you going to sleep every night? You don't need to sleep, how..."
"Time Lords can induce sleep at will, Tegan," he told her. "It will be unusual, but not difficult."
"Oh."
He turned over onto his side away from her. "Good night, Tegan."
"Good night, Doc," she said, curling up and closing her eyes against the light in the ceiling. As if on cue it turned off, and they were left in the dark. Just as well, Tegan thought: the dark would help give her the courage to say what she was about to say.
"Doctor..."
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry. For what I said."
She could feel him turn over, and though she couldn't see his face she had the feeling he was looking into her eyes. "Thank you, Tegan," he said softly, warmly.
She couldn't trust her voice to reply, so she just reached out until she found one of his hands and squeezed it. He squeezed back, then patted it before turning it loose. She felt better for her apology. They didn't come easily or often from her. But she meant them when she gave them.
"Go to sleep, Tegan dear," he murmured.
She almost gasped aloud at this, but stopped herself and closed her eyes instead. She also hated being predictable.