DANGER, WILL ROBINSON: Here be violence, H/C, and one mild swear word. You've been warned. :)
Two weeks earlier...
"I'm telling you it'll work," the Doctor insisted. "I can pretend to be unconscious, and we get out of here."
Tegan had her arms folded, looking at him dubiously. Then she sighed. "Are you sure, Doc?"
"Of course I'm sure! Tegan, when am I wrong?"
"I can think of a few examples," she answered. "But if you really think you've figured it out now, let's give it ago."
"Good girl!" He beamed.
"I'm not a girl, I'm a woman," she grumbled.
"I'm well aware of that, Tegan. It's a figure of speech and you know it."
"Well, then, shall we put your plan into action, dear boy?" she asked pleasantly.
If he noticed her sarcasm, he was choosing to ignore it. "Yes, let's."
He crumpled himself into a heap on the floor, and Tegan summoned all her acting skills to the foray. She deliberately began taking deep, quick breaths then started pounding on the door. "Help! Somebody help! Something's wrong with the Doctor!"
She cast an eye on him, then gasped. He wasn't breathing! Oh, she realized. His respiratory bypass system. He'd kicked it on. Good thinking. It wouldn't last more than an hour or two, but they only needed a few minutes anyway. She pounded again, and looking back down saw a light on the Doctor's collar start to blink. She kept yelling, not sure if they could hear her, but wanting to be as authentic as possible.
She stepped back as the door was unlocked and two guards came in. "What is wrong?"
She gestured frantically at the Doctor. "He's not breathing! Do something!"
One guard picked the Doctor up. "We take to med section."
"I want to go with you!"
They shrugged. "Come." One of them used a small device to contact someone else. "One called Doctor in 247 is sick. Taking him and mate to med section."
They started down the hall. After a minute or so the Doctor's eyes snapped open and he leaped out of the Azim's arms, rendering him unconscious in a swift gesture. He did the same to the other guard, who was so stunned by this turn of events he hesitated too long to defend himself. Then he grinned at Tegan. "Told you."
"Come on," she snapped. "When we don't show up at the med section they'll start searching for us!"
"Right," he said, and sprinted down the hall.
They ran for what seemed like an eternity, Tegan acutely conscious of her heart hammering in her chest. When they reached one of the few outer doors they knew of
they paused, catching their breath as the Doctor studied the locking mechanism. "Keep watch," he told her. "I'll have this sorted out in a minute or two."
"We might not have a minute or two," she answered, but crouched down in the hall, half hidden by a corner of the wall.
He reached for the control panel. "Tegan, after all the progress we've made, you still have-"
He didn't get to finish the sentence. As soon as his hand contacted the panel a bolt of blue energy surged from the controls into his hand and traveled through his body. In two seconds he was on the floor with a moan.
"Doctor!" Tegan knelt beside him in terror.
"I'm all right," he whispered hoarsely. "But I can't move right now. Tegan, go find somewhere to hide. Maybe you can figure out another way out of here."
"I'm not leaving you!" she cried.
"You have to! I can't move and they'll be here any minute. Now go!"
"No!
"Tegan!"
She was saved from having to think about listening to him by a large hand jerking her up roughly from the floor. Five guards were scowling at them.
The Doctor managed a smile. "Hello there! Thank goodness you're here. We're trying to find the med section."
Five minutes later they were in a detainment room with a very angry Halda pacing back and forth in front of them. The Doctor was able to stand now, and he and Tegan had their backs to the wall, literally and figuratively. Halda stopped pacing and spun to face them.
"Whose idea was this?" She demanded.
"Mine," they both said at the same time.
Halda shook her head. "No. I think it was you," she said, pointing at the Doctor.
"Why?" he asked, curious in spite of himself.
"Tegan is too smart to have tried to escape. You must have convinced her."
"I am very persuasive when I want to be," he admitted.
"Your fault, you take punishment."
"Yes," he nodded eagerly. "All my fault. Punish me."
Halda nodded, and two guards seized Tegan and began dragging her to one end of the room where a pair of restraining cuffs dangled from the ceiling. She blanched and the Doctor's face turned ashen.
"No! I told you it was my fault, punish ME!" he shouted, moving towards Halda. He was restrained by two guards who forced him over to where Tegan was being cuffed.
"I know it was your fault," Halda said calmly. "You are being punished. Did you forget that your punishment would be to watch her suffer?"
"No!" he protested in anguish. He tried to pull free but it was impossible. He watched in horror as Tegan was secured, her eyes wide with fear, body rigid. He was moved to stand about ten feet in front of her. Two guards with batons positioned themselves behind her.
The Doctor looked away, turning to face Halda. "Please! Stop this!"
She reached out and grabbed his chin hard. "Watch!" she hissed. "If I see you look away again she will be hurt twice as bad."
He immediately turned to face Tegan, but he continued speaking to Halda. "Please, please stop this. Don't hurt her because of me! It's not right!"
"You knew the consequences when you tried to escape," she said coldly.
"I'll take the punishment! Just leave her alone!"
"Shut up!" Her hand connected with the side of his face.
He blinked back tears, his vision blurred by the liquid as he looked helplessly at Tegan. There was no anger on her face, no recrimination. Only terror.
"Please," he whispered brokenly, not caring if he got struck again.
But he didn't. Halda moved at an angle to one side of him so she could make sure he was watching. Then she nodded at the guards behind Tegan. "Begin."
"NO!" the Doctor screamed, thrashing wildly against the guards.
It was a nightmare, except he was awake. Over and over they hit Tegan. He screamed and cried until he was hoarse but nothing mattered. Blow after blow connected with her, making her twist in agony. And he watched, he had to watch: even in Halda hadn't ordered him to he would have made himself. Because it was his fault it was happening.
When they finally stopped Tegan hung limp in her bonds, barely conscious. The Doctor struggled like a wild man. "Let me go to her! Let me go to her, damn you!"
He froze, shocked at the savagery in his voice, at the word he had just uttered. He couldn't remember ever using it before.
The guards holding him looked to Halda, who nodded. They released him and he flew to Tegan's side, wrestling with the cuffs that held her. When he got her loose she promptly stumbled, and he picked her up, eyes blazing in anger as he looked at Halda.
"This is monstrous! Barbaric and monstrous!" He yelled.
"This is your punishment," she replied. "No blood was drawn: in a few days she will be fine. Next time, if there is a next time-"
"Next time what!" he shouted angrily.
"Next time it would not go so easy on her. The second time, legs are broken."
The blood drained from his face as he stared at Halda. "And if there's a third time?" he whispered in a cracked voice.
"The third time means death."
He was too stunned to reply, just stood holding Tegan in his arms, shaking and sickened by what he had heard.
"You are very new, so she did not get full treatment," Halda said. "This will be a lesson to you both. You will be permitted to miss two days of work to stay with her as she recovers." She gestured to the guards. "Take them back now."
The Doctor insisted on carrying Tegan himself, and they permitted him to. As he walked through the corridors, his eyes bleak and his mouth set in a grin line, she moaned.
"Doctor..."
"Shush, Tegan. I'll put you to bed soon."
"I hurt... so much," she cried softly.
His hearts squeezed like a vise. He shuddered.
"So much..."
"I know, darling, I know," he whispered. "Just a little longer, and then we'll be back in our room."
Through the red haze of pain Tegan's mind replayed his sentence. Darling? Had he really said that?
"I can't... move, can hardly talk," she murmured.
"Then don't do either," he said, in a gentle voice.
"What will we do..."
"Don't worry," the Doctor whispered. "I'll take care of you. I promise."
Now they had reached their room and were locked in again. The Doctor immediately put her on the bed, then brought her some water and held her up while she sipped it. When she'd had enough, instead of easing her down again, he slowly pulled on her shirt.
"Doc?" She asked in a slurred voice.
"I need to check you, Tegan, and see just how badly you're hurt," he told her.
She didn't have any strength to protest. His hands were gentle as lambs as he took off her clothes, but it still caused her renewed pain. He talked to her the entire time, nonsense talk that seemed to soothe her a bit. When he'd removed the shirt and pants he tenderly lay her back, and as her eyes closed and opened he looked at her.
Bruises everywhere. Dark mottled purple and green bruises. No blood, as Halda said, but she looked like a grotesque patchwork quilt. He shuddered again in renewed anger and guilt.
"How... am I?" she asked.
"Bruised," he told her. "Badly bruised. Nothing more."
"This time," she slurred.
"There won't be a next time," he said fiercely.
He started to dress her again, but she winced with pain so much he hesitated. "Leave them off," she said faintly. "I don't care."
He nodded. "Do you want more water?"
"I want you," she murmured. "Lie down with me, please..."
He did so without hesitation. As he stretched out beside her the light went out for the night. He felt her hand weakly brush against his face.
"Please..." her voice trailed off as if she didn't have the strength to finish the sentence. But he knew what she wanted.
He carefully took her in his arms, holding her as lightly as possible, not wanting to cause her more pain. She sighed and moved slightly against him. It was then that the dam holding his emotions at bay burst.
Tegan heard him gasping, shuddering, and reached out to touch him again. She was stunned to find his face wet with tears. "Doc?"
He took her hand in his, kissed it, then pressed it to his face. "I am so sorry, Tegan," he whispered in a choked voice. "I am so, so sorry."
"We knew the risks," she said through gritted teeth. "My choice as much as yours...."
"But I should have known. I should have realized the door panel would be trapped," he said angrily. Tears slipped down his cheeks, but he made no move to brush them away. "I was stupid to think it would be that easy. And my stupidity has cost us our freedom and your injuries."
"Can't win em' all, Doc."
He laughed, a strangled strained sound. "You should be furious with me right now, Tegan. You should be cursing me, yelling at me, something."
"Too much effort, too much pain," she said. "Besides, I'm not angry with you."
He released her hand and wiped his face. "It doesn't matter, because I'm angry with me." He looked at her, her features not completely clear in the dark but enough for him to see how bad her pain was. "I'm going to do something, Tegan, something to ease your pain."
"Cripes, Doc, that's a tall order even for you," she began, but stopped talking abruptly when she felt him leaning over her.
He lowered his head so close, she could feel his breath at her ear. "Doc?"
"Hush, Tegan," he said gently.
His hands smoothed her hair back from her forehead, touched her face ever so gently, stroking it with his fingertips. Tegan was motionless, the feel of his hands on her combined with the pain stunning her into silence.
He kissed the top of her head, fingers continuing to caress her face, and she felt the pain begin to recede, to flow out of her battered and exhausted body. A pleasant languor stole over her, leaving her warm and relaxed. She was drowsy now, the pain continuing to fade away, bringing with the release a sweet sense of peace.
"That's some medicine, Doc," she chuckled.
He exhaled softly. "Good. Go to sleep now, Tegan."
"Don't leave me," she pleaded quietly.
"I'm not leaving you, Tegan," he assured her. "I'll be right here, holding you all night."
She sighed in contentment, snuggling closer to him. "Good night, Doctor."
He kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, Tegan, brave heart of the TARDIS."
She drifted off almost immediately. But it was a long time before he could sleep.
Two weeks earlier...
"I'm telling you it'll work," the Doctor insisted. "I can pretend to be unconscious, and we get out of here."
Tegan had her arms folded, looking at him dubiously. Then she sighed. "Are you sure, Doc?"
"Of course I'm sure! Tegan, when am I wrong?"
"I can think of a few examples," she answered. "But if you really think you've figured it out now, let's give it ago."
"Good girl!" He beamed.
"I'm not a girl, I'm a woman," she grumbled.
"I'm well aware of that, Tegan. It's a figure of speech and you know it."
"Well, then, shall we put your plan into action, dear boy?" she asked pleasantly.
If he noticed her sarcasm, he was choosing to ignore it. "Yes, let's."
He crumpled himself into a heap on the floor, and Tegan summoned all her acting skills to the foray. She deliberately began taking deep, quick breaths then started pounding on the door. "Help! Somebody help! Something's wrong with the Doctor!"
She cast an eye on him, then gasped. He wasn't breathing! Oh, she realized. His respiratory bypass system. He'd kicked it on. Good thinking. It wouldn't last more than an hour or two, but they only needed a few minutes anyway. She pounded again, and looking back down saw a light on the Doctor's collar start to blink. She kept yelling, not sure if they could hear her, but wanting to be as authentic as possible.
She stepped back as the door was unlocked and two guards came in. "What is wrong?"
She gestured frantically at the Doctor. "He's not breathing! Do something!"
One guard picked the Doctor up. "We take to med section."
"I want to go with you!"
They shrugged. "Come." One of them used a small device to contact someone else. "One called Doctor in 247 is sick. Taking him and mate to med section."
They started down the hall. After a minute or so the Doctor's eyes snapped open and he leaped out of the Azim's arms, rendering him unconscious in a swift gesture. He did the same to the other guard, who was so stunned by this turn of events he hesitated too long to defend himself. Then he grinned at Tegan. "Told you."
"Come on," she snapped. "When we don't show up at the med section they'll start searching for us!"
"Right," he said, and sprinted down the hall.
They ran for what seemed like an eternity, Tegan acutely conscious of her heart hammering in her chest. When they reached one of the few outer doors they knew of
they paused, catching their breath as the Doctor studied the locking mechanism. "Keep watch," he told her. "I'll have this sorted out in a minute or two."
"We might not have a minute or two," she answered, but crouched down in the hall, half hidden by a corner of the wall.
He reached for the control panel. "Tegan, after all the progress we've made, you still have-"
He didn't get to finish the sentence. As soon as his hand contacted the panel a bolt of blue energy surged from the controls into his hand and traveled through his body. In two seconds he was on the floor with a moan.
"Doctor!" Tegan knelt beside him in terror.
"I'm all right," he whispered hoarsely. "But I can't move right now. Tegan, go find somewhere to hide. Maybe you can figure out another way out of here."
"I'm not leaving you!" she cried.
"You have to! I can't move and they'll be here any minute. Now go!"
"No!
"Tegan!"
She was saved from having to think about listening to him by a large hand jerking her up roughly from the floor. Five guards were scowling at them.
The Doctor managed a smile. "Hello there! Thank goodness you're here. We're trying to find the med section."
Five minutes later they were in a detainment room with a very angry Halda pacing back and forth in front of them. The Doctor was able to stand now, and he and Tegan had their backs to the wall, literally and figuratively. Halda stopped pacing and spun to face them.
"Whose idea was this?" She demanded.
"Mine," they both said at the same time.
Halda shook her head. "No. I think it was you," she said, pointing at the Doctor.
"Why?" he asked, curious in spite of himself.
"Tegan is too smart to have tried to escape. You must have convinced her."
"I am very persuasive when I want to be," he admitted.
"Your fault, you take punishment."
"Yes," he nodded eagerly. "All my fault. Punish me."
Halda nodded, and two guards seized Tegan and began dragging her to one end of the room where a pair of restraining cuffs dangled from the ceiling. She blanched and the Doctor's face turned ashen.
"No! I told you it was my fault, punish ME!" he shouted, moving towards Halda. He was restrained by two guards who forced him over to where Tegan was being cuffed.
"I know it was your fault," Halda said calmly. "You are being punished. Did you forget that your punishment would be to watch her suffer?"
"No!" he protested in anguish. He tried to pull free but it was impossible. He watched in horror as Tegan was secured, her eyes wide with fear, body rigid. He was moved to stand about ten feet in front of her. Two guards with batons positioned themselves behind her.
The Doctor looked away, turning to face Halda. "Please! Stop this!"
She reached out and grabbed his chin hard. "Watch!" she hissed. "If I see you look away again she will be hurt twice as bad."
He immediately turned to face Tegan, but he continued speaking to Halda. "Please, please stop this. Don't hurt her because of me! It's not right!"
"You knew the consequences when you tried to escape," she said coldly.
"I'll take the punishment! Just leave her alone!"
"Shut up!" Her hand connected with the side of his face.
He blinked back tears, his vision blurred by the liquid as he looked helplessly at Tegan. There was no anger on her face, no recrimination. Only terror.
"Please," he whispered brokenly, not caring if he got struck again.
But he didn't. Halda moved at an angle to one side of him so she could make sure he was watching. Then she nodded at the guards behind Tegan. "Begin."
"NO!" the Doctor screamed, thrashing wildly against the guards.
It was a nightmare, except he was awake. Over and over they hit Tegan. He screamed and cried until he was hoarse but nothing mattered. Blow after blow connected with her, making her twist in agony. And he watched, he had to watch: even in Halda hadn't ordered him to he would have made himself. Because it was his fault it was happening.
When they finally stopped Tegan hung limp in her bonds, barely conscious. The Doctor struggled like a wild man. "Let me go to her! Let me go to her, damn you!"
He froze, shocked at the savagery in his voice, at the word he had just uttered. He couldn't remember ever using it before.
The guards holding him looked to Halda, who nodded. They released him and he flew to Tegan's side, wrestling with the cuffs that held her. When he got her loose she promptly stumbled, and he picked her up, eyes blazing in anger as he looked at Halda.
"This is monstrous! Barbaric and monstrous!" He yelled.
"This is your punishment," she replied. "No blood was drawn: in a few days she will be fine. Next time, if there is a next time-"
"Next time what!" he shouted angrily.
"Next time it would not go so easy on her. The second time, legs are broken."
The blood drained from his face as he stared at Halda. "And if there's a third time?" he whispered in a cracked voice.
"The third time means death."
He was too stunned to reply, just stood holding Tegan in his arms, shaking and sickened by what he had heard.
"You are very new, so she did not get full treatment," Halda said. "This will be a lesson to you both. You will be permitted to miss two days of work to stay with her as she recovers." She gestured to the guards. "Take them back now."
The Doctor insisted on carrying Tegan himself, and they permitted him to. As he walked through the corridors, his eyes bleak and his mouth set in a grin line, she moaned.
"Doctor..."
"Shush, Tegan. I'll put you to bed soon."
"I hurt... so much," she cried softly.
His hearts squeezed like a vise. He shuddered.
"So much..."
"I know, darling, I know," he whispered. "Just a little longer, and then we'll be back in our room."
Through the red haze of pain Tegan's mind replayed his sentence. Darling? Had he really said that?
"I can't... move, can hardly talk," she murmured.
"Then don't do either," he said, in a gentle voice.
"What will we do..."
"Don't worry," the Doctor whispered. "I'll take care of you. I promise."
Now they had reached their room and were locked in again. The Doctor immediately put her on the bed, then brought her some water and held her up while she sipped it. When she'd had enough, instead of easing her down again, he slowly pulled on her shirt.
"Doc?" She asked in a slurred voice.
"I need to check you, Tegan, and see just how badly you're hurt," he told her.
She didn't have any strength to protest. His hands were gentle as lambs as he took off her clothes, but it still caused her renewed pain. He talked to her the entire time, nonsense talk that seemed to soothe her a bit. When he'd removed the shirt and pants he tenderly lay her back, and as her eyes closed and opened he looked at her.
Bruises everywhere. Dark mottled purple and green bruises. No blood, as Halda said, but she looked like a grotesque patchwork quilt. He shuddered again in renewed anger and guilt.
"How... am I?" she asked.
"Bruised," he told her. "Badly bruised. Nothing more."
"This time," she slurred.
"There won't be a next time," he said fiercely.
He started to dress her again, but she winced with pain so much he hesitated. "Leave them off," she said faintly. "I don't care."
He nodded. "Do you want more water?"
"I want you," she murmured. "Lie down with me, please..."
He did so without hesitation. As he stretched out beside her the light went out for the night. He felt her hand weakly brush against his face.
"Please..." her voice trailed off as if she didn't have the strength to finish the sentence. But he knew what she wanted.
He carefully took her in his arms, holding her as lightly as possible, not wanting to cause her more pain. She sighed and moved slightly against him. It was then that the dam holding his emotions at bay burst.
Tegan heard him gasping, shuddering, and reached out to touch him again. She was stunned to find his face wet with tears. "Doc?"
He took her hand in his, kissed it, then pressed it to his face. "I am so sorry, Tegan," he whispered in a choked voice. "I am so, so sorry."
"We knew the risks," she said through gritted teeth. "My choice as much as yours...."
"But I should have known. I should have realized the door panel would be trapped," he said angrily. Tears slipped down his cheeks, but he made no move to brush them away. "I was stupid to think it would be that easy. And my stupidity has cost us our freedom and your injuries."
"Can't win em' all, Doc."
He laughed, a strangled strained sound. "You should be furious with me right now, Tegan. You should be cursing me, yelling at me, something."
"Too much effort, too much pain," she said. "Besides, I'm not angry with you."
He released her hand and wiped his face. "It doesn't matter, because I'm angry with me." He looked at her, her features not completely clear in the dark but enough for him to see how bad her pain was. "I'm going to do something, Tegan, something to ease your pain."
"Cripes, Doc, that's a tall order even for you," she began, but stopped talking abruptly when she felt him leaning over her.
He lowered his head so close, she could feel his breath at her ear. "Doc?"
"Hush, Tegan," he said gently.
His hands smoothed her hair back from her forehead, touched her face ever so gently, stroking it with his fingertips. Tegan was motionless, the feel of his hands on her combined with the pain stunning her into silence.
He kissed the top of her head, fingers continuing to caress her face, and she felt the pain begin to recede, to flow out of her battered and exhausted body. A pleasant languor stole over her, leaving her warm and relaxed. She was drowsy now, the pain continuing to fade away, bringing with the release a sweet sense of peace.
"That's some medicine, Doc," she chuckled.
He exhaled softly. "Good. Go to sleep now, Tegan."
"Don't leave me," she pleaded quietly.
"I'm not leaving you, Tegan," he assured her. "I'll be right here, holding you all night."
She sighed in contentment, snuggling closer to him. "Good night, Doctor."
He kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, Tegan, brave heart of the TARDIS."
She drifted off almost immediately. But it was a long time before he could sleep.