The Ghosts We Become
The soldiers remained at their posts, rifles at the ready, fighting their first instinct to throw themselves into the fight, Vivien watching the doors swing shut behind Tom, feeling like she was going to throw up, an inexplicable terror twisting her gut. She turned to the Doctor, her gaze colliding with his through the mesh, all of time and space hanging in the balance between them. Then the ground began to shake, an ominous drone cutting through the screams like they were paper, transporting Vivien right back to the Blitz, resurrecting memories she didn't want to remember –
Then the static hit, the present destroying the past, Vivien suddenly letting out a terrible scream before slumping to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Vivien!" the Doctor shouted, flinging himself against the mesh, ignoring the agony in his side. "Vivien!"
As Vivien started seizing on the floor, one of the houses opposite the school exploded, rocking the building. Then Mechfire and gunfire were colliding, humanity fighting a losing battle. As the building rocked again, Anne and Lourdes came rushing through the swing doors, their faces bloodless, bodies shaking from head to foot. Upon seeing Vivien fitting, Lourdes dropped to her knees, rolling Vivien onto her side into the recovery position, Anne rushing over to the Doctor, pulling a key out of her pocket.
"What the hell are you doing!?" one the soldiers yelled, ducking as another explosion hit.
"We're evacuating everyone," Anne gasped, undoing the padlock with trembling fingers.
"You can't let him out!"
But Anne just ignored him, the Doctor barging past her, flinging himself down beside Vivien, all but elbowing Lourdes out of his way. He dug his fingertips into Vivien's temples, his touch making her fall suddenly and shockingly still, her teeth unconsciously clenching together. As his consciousness collided with hers, he almost lost the connection, the sheer force of impact nearly knocking his psyche sideways. But he forced himself to focus, his face contorting with pain as he heard what she heard, his eyes scrunching up with her agony.
"We have to go!" Lourdes cried, grabbing the wall for support as the building shook again.
"She can hear them," the Doctor said in disbelief.
"What, and you can't?" Anne snapped sarcastically, struggling to keep her balance, not even knowing what he was talking about.
"I can," the Doctor said, "but not like this. She's hearing them all wrong. The signal's all screwed as she would say." He studied Vivien's slack face almost thoughtfully, his own face still twisted with her pain, but unlike her, he could accommodate the agony, shifting the static aside, allowing him to sort through it.
"Well, what are they saying, then!?" Anne bellowed, coughing on the dust starting to swirl through the air.
"I don't know!" the Doctor retorted. "The TAR - it's no longer translating! It's all gobbledegook and gumption! All I can tell the vernacular is colloquial - but the nomenclature is nothing I've ever come across before, the dialect obscure and almost incomprehensible. I don't understand a single syllable that's being said."
"But what are you hearing?" Lourdes said, wrapping her arms around her head. "Who are you hearing?"
"The Skitters," the Doctor said impatiently, "I'm hearing the Skitters."
"But how?" Lourdes said in disbelief.
"Never mind how," the Doctor said, unsteadily getting to his feet, lifting Vivien up in his arms bridal style, "I can stop this - we can stop this."
Vivien raised her aching head, déjà-vu distorting her senses, making her feel like she was in two places at once. She seemed to be leaning against something, her back propped up by proud blue wood, the shade striking her heart like an arrow. It was the TARDIS, the only home she'd ever known. Vivien remained rooted to the spot, not understanding and not wanting to. But she knew she'd been here before without really being here, her mind half remembering the flickering beats of crimson, amber and gold pulsing around her like a human heart.
A flash of movement caught her eye, Vivien's head snapping up, only to see a young woman pass through an archway up ahead, her long white blonde hair rippling down her back. She wore a crimson kirtle, its flowing lines emphasising her slender frame, its train swirling around her ankles like smoke. She glided past Vivien without even glancing at her, her eyes oddly blue, the pupils unnaturally dilated, contrasting against the unearthly pallor of her pretty face. Her every step spoke of intent; whoever or whatever she was looking for, it wasn't Vivien, but somebody or something else altogether.
Standing up, her knees almost buckling beneath her, Vivien reached out to the TARDIS, seeking sanctuary, only for her palm to pass through the blue doors, the TARDIS rippling in response, almost like a mirage in the desert. Vivien took a step back, starting to panic now, the world colliding around her like a kaleidoscope before reforming into its original shape, making her head spin even further.
Then a shadow fell across her, making her wildly glance up, only to see Tom, overly tall and awkward, his phantom flickering then fading, becoming a towering hooded figure with long scissor-like limbs and icy optics instead, its three fingered hand reaching out to her, like she'd reached out to the TARDIS. But reality didn't splinter and shatter into shards. There was no escape to be found in illusion, and as its cold palm cradled her cheek, Vivien closed her eyes, placing her trust in the darkness instead of the light...
My ghost
Where'd you go?
What happened to the soul that you used to be?
As Weaver threatened to wear a hole in the carpet with his relentless pacing back and forth in front of the blackboard, Tom just sat there, staring into space, the silence drilling into his skull. He'd been outside, leading the assault on the approaching Mechs, the sight of them making his heart stop in his chest, when the Doctor had burst through the front doors of the school, carrying Vivien in his arms, soldiers and fighters flanking them on either side, bullets flying through the air.
Tom had lunged forwards, thinking the Doctor had lost his mind, but Dai had grabbed his arm, halting him, sensing something was about to go down. They'd watched the Doctor lower Vivien to the ground, before kneeling down before her, gently taking her face between his hands, his own contorting, Vivien suddenly screaming, the sound tearing Tom apart, making him lunge forwards again, Dai jumping on his back, dragging him down.
But as she'd screamed, the Mechs had started stomping around in circles like they were doing some crazy barn dance, the ground shaking beneath Tom as he and Dai struggled, the Mechs crashing into each other before collapsing into huge heaps of smouldering metal, electric sparks exploding, lighting up the night sky like fireworks as Vivien collapsed in the Doctor's arms, her head flopping back on her long neck like a broken flower.
Nobody had spoken, nobody had moved, and then Weaver and the others had rushed the Doctor, rifles raised, but Tom had somehow reached him first, punching the Doctor in the face, knocking him to the ground. He'd then clumsily gathered Vivien up in his arms, before rushing back into the school, screaming for help, feeling like the past was repeating itself, slowing him down, making him make the same mistake twice.
"What the hell did you just do out there?" Weaver snapped at the Doctor, shock still coursing through his veins.
"I just saved the scrawny neck of the 2nd Massachusetts," the Doctor said dangerously, "that's what the hell I just did."
"But how?"
The Doctor looked around him, taking in the roomful of hostile faces, tiredly noting their rifles weren't raised for once. "I reversed the signal," he said reluctantly, "using Vivien as the transmitter, myself boosting" -
- "What signal?" Weaver demanded.
"The Skitters communicate by radio waves," the Doctor explained impatiently, "which are inaudible to humans. However, Vivien can hear it, but at the same time she's hearing it wrong - because she's a hybrid, the human element is acting as a sort of barrier, interfering with what the alien element is picking up. She's... she's like an antennae, but at the same time she's rejecting what she's receiving."
"She can hear the Skitters?" Weaver said incredulously.
"Yes," the Doctor said coldly, tentatively tweaking his nose to the left. Tom had broken it in spectacular style, and even though the Doctor had fixed it, he wasn't sure if his nose was on quite straight. "I can hear them as well," he continued irascibly, "but I don't understand a word they're saying, so any ideas you have of me eavesdropping on the enemy, you can forget it."
Weaver just stared at him, his face changing colours like a traffic light. "How did you take out those Mechs?" he repeated, advancing on the Doctor. "What kind of parlour trick did you pull there?"
"I reversed what was working in reverse," the Doctor said slowly, as though addressing an imbecile, "as in I accessed Vivien's mind and transmitted what she was picking up back to its source, the source being what you call the Mechs."
"No, the Skitters control the Mechs," Weaver said just as slowly, "so the source goes right back to them. In taking down the Mechs, you must have also taken down the Skitters that were operating them." He turned to Antony and the others. "I want you lot to scout the surrounding area," he ordered, "see if there's any dead Skitter scum lying around, just so we know for sure."
Anthony nodded, leading the others out the door.
"This signal you're talking about," Weaver then said, turning to the Doctor again, "could it be traced back to the school?"
"No," the Doctor said abruptly, "and don't ask me to explain how."
"Is it the bio-damper?" Tom suddenly snarled. "You said it would hide her in plain sight. Would it conceal a signal as well?"
"The bio-damper conceals the bio-signature of an individual," the Doctor said tersely, "so since Vivien was transmitting the signal, it would consequently be concealed as well."
Weaver hesitated, sidetracked by the mention of a bio-whatsit, before shaking his head to himself, forcing his thoughts to focus. "So could you do that again?" he said slowly, his eyes beginning to glint with an odd gleam. "Could you take down a whole company of Mechs and Skitters by reversing the signal through Vivien?"
"Bloody hell, no!" the Doctor exploded, pre-empting Tom's rage. "If I tried that trick again, it would kill her! Look at the state she's in now - if I pulled another stunt like that, her whole brain would frazzle, exploding in her skull!"
"Why didn't it happen there?"
"Because I was taking most of the strain," the Doctor snapped, massaging his side, "but what got past me put her in a coma. Next time, she would die."
"Will she wake up?" Tom said, his hands shaking.
"I - I don't know," the Doctor said, his voice cracking.
"Then why did you do it!?" Tom exploded this time, spit flying from his mouth, flecking the air.
"Because she would have died!" the Doctor yelled back. "You would have all died!"
"So where do we go from here, then?" Tom then said, his face becoming feral. "Is it hands across the universe now?"
"No, it isn't," the Doctor said coldly.
"So what is it, then?"
"What it is, is that you'll just pop me back in that cage," the Doctor said tartly, "only wheeling me out when you want me to do your dirty work for you."
Tom scoffed scornfully.
"What about Vivien?" the Doctor asked abruptly, turning to Weaver.
"If she comes round, she'll be keeping you company," Weaver said dourly.
"No, she won't be," Tom said from between gritted teeth. "As of now, she's no longer a prisoner; as of now she is no longer classed under the category of threat; as of now she is no longer under suspicion of working for the Skitters!"
"And who gives you the authority to sanction such a decision!?" Weaver challenged, clenching his fists by his sides.
"You trusted her with my son, Dan," Tom spat, "despite everything, you trusted her with my son."
"Does that mean you trust her around your sons?" Weaver said, turning it back onto Tom.
"Don't put this on me" -
- "I'm sick of this," Weaver said, "we should just lock her up and be bloody done with it!"
"She nearly died saving the 2nd Mass," Tom snapped, "and she still could, yet you're going to stick her back in that cage!?"
"Have it your way, Mason," Weaver growled, "since having your way with her seems to be all you're worried about" -
Tom lunged forwards, his fist nearly colliding with Weaver's face, the Doctor diving inbetween them, clutching his side as he moved, pain shooting through him. "I think one broken nose is enough for this evening," he said shakily, separating them.
"Amen to that," Weaver growled, glaring at Tom.