Send & Take
Vivien lay propped up on various cushions and pillows, her blue eyes almost blank, Matt's excited voice barely keeping her connected to this world, her mind wandering within the confines of another. The memories of that other life had faded like smoke, leaving only a legacy of loss in its place, but she remembered the cloaked figure, the TARDIS trapped, the walls pulsing like a human heart, Vivien abandoning everything else to the ether -
"And he punched him, like pow-pow!" Matt crowed, miming out the moment Hal had finally given Wilkins what he'd long been due, following his father's example.
"Good," Vivien said, forcing herself to focus, "bast - the swine deserved it, hurting a little boy like you" -
- "I'm not a little boy!"
"No, you're bloody Hercules," Vivien snapped, startling Matt, who instantly shrank away from her. "God, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, sitting up with some difficulty, "I didn't mean that" -
- "I think it's time to make tracks, Matt," Tom said, appearing out of nowhere, "Vivien needs to rest."
"Okay," Matt said, his voice very small, before turning and running over to Anne, seeking refuge in the familiar. Anne led him away, giving Vivien a cold glare as she did.
Vivien watched her go, brow furrowing. "Tom, can I talk to you?" she then asked, making Tom turn around to face her, his face falling into its usual stern lines.
"About what?" he asked abruptly, almost angrily.
Vivien stared at him, jaw tightening. Ever since she'd woken up, something had shifted in the balance between them, Tom no longer tolerant, humouring her. Even as they'd fought tooth and nail, the rocky camaraderie that had sprung up between them had taken the edge off their arguments, but that was long gone now. "Your great leader was in here earlier, spouting a load of guff about me not being classed in the light of an enemy anymore," Vivien said just as abruptly, "but if I'm no longer a prisoner of the 2nd Mass, why won't he let me leave this dump?"
Before Matt's visit, Weaver had surprisingly come to see her, sitting on the edge of her camp bed, talking at length about the events that had occurred, Vivien switching off. All she was concerned about was getting the Doctor out of here so he could do what he did best and save the world. Hiding out in some school wasn't going to achieve this end. But when she'd broached the subject of leaving, Weaver had swiftly shot her down, saying such a prospect was impossible and she was staying put.
"They're my orders and you'll obey them," Tom said tersely, ruining her reverie. "You're a civilian, and civilians are my specific responsibility, and since you're also of especial interest to the enemy, I think it's in everybody's best interests if you remain under the protection of the 2nd Mass, where I can keep an eye on you" –
- "Oh, it's like that, is it?" Vivien drawled, indigo eyes beginning to dance with malicious amusement.
"I don't think so," Tom retorted, the tips of his ears turning red, "my interest is completely platonic and professional. I am your superior and you are my subordinate" -
- "Are you actually blushing, Thomas?" Vivien said, smirking now. "At your age?"
"You will be under twenty-four observation," Tom snapped, beginning to lose his temper, "your every movement monitored. You won't even be able to blink without me knowing about it. As soon as you're fit enough, you will start earning your citizenship with the 2nd Mass, wherein you will be assigned whatever duties I decide" -
- "I thought I wasn't your bloody prisoner anymore!" Vivien flared up, amusement fading, eyes now angry. "Yet from where I'm sitting, it sounds exactly like that still!"
"You are a civilian," Tom reiterated through gritted teeth, "and no civilian is allowed to go off base without special permission. All civilians are expected to contribute to their keep unless they can't due to special circumstances such as ill-health etcetera, which in they will be cared for. But your unique status means you have to be afforded extra protection for your own safety and that of the 2nd Mass's."
Vivien just stared at him, her fists clenching by her sides.
"The Doctor will however remain under house arrest," Tom said, straightening his rifle strap, "he will not leave the four walls of this room. He will be under armed guard at all times. He will continue to contribute towards his keep by helping Dr. Glass and Lourdes Delgado in the medical clinic. He understands and agrees to all these conditions" -
- "What!?"
"He will be treated more like an honoured guest than a prisoner," Tom said, his lips twisting downwards at the thought, "but at the first breath of trouble, he will be crushed and contained. If I see the slightest sign of insubordination from you, he will be punished for it. Do you understand?"
"Do you understand he could have escaped from your shit-hole a thousand times?" Vivien said, her voice cracking. "That he still could" –
-"The Doctor is amenable to our agreement," Tom said coldly, "but if you have an issue with it, you're in danger of broaching your position of privilege and his as well" –
Vivien almost choked at this, Tom exhaling sharply, fighting the insane urge to kiss her into submission, to obliterate the hate in her eyes for him.
"Colonel Porter has not been in contact," Tom continued with some difficulty, "but his last orders were for the 2nd Mass to go to ground. As long as we can hold our position here, we will remain in Acton, and so I expect you to comply with my not unreasonable requests to co-operate. Upon Colonel Porter's resuming of communications, I will speak with him about your new status within the 2nd Mass, and explain the circumstances surrounding it."
"I get my head almost fried and I've to thank you for the privilege?" Vivien snapped, making Tom half turn away from her. "What happens if your precious Porter orders I've to be handed over to the aforementioned enemy? That he says I'm a threat to the safety of the 2nd Mass, and let's face facts Tom, I'm exactly that" -
- "I will kill Porter before that happens," Tom snarled, suddenly losing control of himself, shocking Vivien, "or anyone else that stands in my way" -
- "Maybe you should leave now, Tom," Vivien abruptly cut across him, still shocked, but even more shocked at herself for the feral thrill that shot through her at the look on his face, "I'm – I'm tired."
Tom stared at her, realising too late he'd crossed some sort of line, breaking his promise to himself to back off. He barely knew her, yet here he stood, making threats to kill if anybody dared to endanger her existence. It was insanity in its rawest form. "I apologize," he said stiffly, bowing his head, "but before I go, I need to know we're in accord."
"Oh, we're in accord," Vivien said sarcastically, but as her gaze met his, he saw for one brief moment his insanity was answered, and Tom turned and left, the madness threatening to engulf them both.
But it's too late for his love
Already caught in a trap
His angel's kiss was a joke
And she is not coming back…
The Doctor took Vivien's temperature, looking at the result with a frown, his brows drawing together.
"Why have you sold our side out?" Vivien hissed at the Doctor, startling him. She had waited all evening to get him on his own and out of earshot of Tom's spies, remembering what he'd said about having her every movement monitored. "Bloody answer me!" she hissed again, not knowing when she would get another window of opportunity.
"Because I think it's best we keep a low profile until I know what we're dealing with," the Doctor said, returning to life, stowing the thermometer back in his pocket, "so I'd prefer it if you didn't rock the boat, savvy?"
Ever since his encounter with the girl in the red kirtle, the Doctor had reluctantly re-evaluated his priorities, backing down for probably the first time in his many lives. He was shocked at himself for stepping back from saving the world, but as he stared into Vivien's blue eyes, he remembered another pair of blue eyes, how they'd watched him fall to his knees, silently securing his surrender with nothing more than a metaphorical snap of her fingers.
"But we know exactly what we're dealing with," Vivien said in disbelief, "so there's nothing to figure out. Aliens have invaded the Earth so sort it out!"
"And I will," the Doctor lied through gritted teeth, "but until then, we start as we mean to go on and that means we keep our heads down and our hands clean."
"Doctor," Vivien said, struggling to keep her patience, "someone or – or something is after me and their little scaly serfs let me go when they shouldn't have" -
- "I'm working on that one" -
- "Are you?"
"What I'm saying is that we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" -
- "That bridge has been crossed already, idiot," Vivien snapped, "like miles back. I am on somebody's hit-list, not a guest-list. All I have standing between me and an alien empire is a bunch of jumped up G.I. Joes and some AK-47s" –
-"And it'll all going to be okay, okay?" the Doctor said, flinging his hands up in exasperation.
- "Whoever is hunting me down has the TARDIS," Vivien said, her voice cracking, "I'm – I'm still connected to her, I seen her, and – and them, on their – their ship" -
- "I know," the Doctor said, his own voice cracking, "I was in your head, remember?"
Vivien just looked at him, suddenly shifty. "What else did you see?" she asked, trying and failing to feign nonchalance, not fooling the Doctor for one moment.
"That you have an obsession with Tom Mason's hands," the Doctor spat, "and his shoulders and his eyes and his" -
- "For fuck's sake, shut up!" Vivien hissed frantically, flapping her hands at him. "It's – it's none of your business!"
"He's like an ant-eater in human form," the Doctor said in disgust, miming Tom's long and drooping nose. "Your taste in men is execrable, Vivien."
"You... you start to see past the nose," Vivien said stupidly, "and - and anyways, anything like that is completely out of the question. I'm not interested and neither is he" -
- "Yeah, he sleeps on the floor by your bed for three weeks, waiting for you to wake up, breaking every rule in the alien invasion handbook while he's at it," the Doctor snapped, "and you sit there and say to me he's not interested!? He's more than interested, Vivien, the man's besotted with you!"
Vivien stared the Doctor. "You can't say that," she said, her voice starting to tremble, "he barely knows me – I mean, he's known me longer knocked out than actually awake" -
- "All I know is that you have made this a hell of a lot more complicated than it should be," the Doctor said, pinching the bridge of his beaky nose with his thumb and forefinger, "it's fine and dandy playing the field, to have a suitor in every space port, but sooner or later you're going to hit a brick wall. And Tom Mason is your brick wall, Vivien."
"He's – he's nothing," Vivien said shakily, "you've completely got the wrong end of the stick."
"You can't play games with men like Mason," the Doctor hissed, face suddenly feral, "he's all or nothing. You are all or nothing to him. He might be looking at this," he gestured to Vivien's plunging neck-line, making her fold her arms defensively across her chest, "but he wants this," he thumped his own chest, indicating one of his hearts.
"But we barely know each other," Vivien reiterated, her voice suddenly very small.
"These things just happen, Vivien," the Doctor said tiredly, "there's... there's no rhyme or reason. It just... is. Hell, maybe that's why the TARDIS brought us here" –
- "No, she didn't," Vivien spat, "the TARDIS never brought us here for that at all. It – it was just a game, alright? To – to piss him off because he pissed me off. I only started to look at him because there was nothing else to look at. But that's all it was, looking. Like - like window-shopping. It's not my fault he's got it into his head to think it meant something more" -
- "Well, just back off from breaking his heart, alright," the Doctor snapped, hiding the relief flooding through his veins at her virulence, "we've got enough on our plates as it is."
Vivien just nodded, before sinking back into her pillows, realising too late the damage was already done.
The next day, Tom came striding into the science classroom, abruptly nodding at Anne who turned away from him, making Tom's jaw tighten. He hesitated before going over to Vivien, who was now sitting on the edge of the camp bed, admiring her feet, Maggie having given her a pair of almost new brown knee-high boots. Maggie had dropped by the night before to help Vivien clean herself up, Vivien reluctantly submitting to Maggie's ministrations. She didn't exactly like Maggie, but she didn't exactly dislike her either, resulting in them meeting on an awkward middle ground.
"Hey," Tom said gruffly, making Vivien glance up at him, pushing the hair out of her eyes almost provocatively.
"Hey yourself," Vivien said sarcastically, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Anne says she's going to keep you in for observation for the next few days," Tom said tersely, glancing over at Anne who still had her back to him, "so I'll draw up a schedule of your duties in the meantime."
"How kind of you," Vivien said, rolling her eyes. "What's with the books?" she asked abruptly, gesturing to the bundle of books tucked under his arm. "You having a jumble sale or something?"
"No," Tom said coldly, "they're for you, actually."
"Oh."
"Look, I know you're climbing the walls cooped up in here," Tom said, exhaling sharply, "but it's for your own safety."
"What, so you pick out a few potboilers to make me feel better about being your prisoner?" Vivien snapped. "Thanks a lot, Tom."
"I didn't mean it like that" -
- "So what the hell do you mean, then?"
"Reading takes me out of myself," Tom tried to explain, "it's like a sort of therapy, you might say. It keeps me sane."
"What, so you think I'm insane now!?"
"I'm just saying, reading might take your mind off things a bit," he said, fighting to keep his temper, "if you'd just give it a goddamn chance" -
- "I hate books," Vivien said from between gritted teeth, fists clenched by her sides, "I hate reading. I hate being here. I hate you and bunging a few books at me isn't going to change that" -
- "Here," Tom snapped, shoving a battered chocolate bar into her hand, startling her, "this is for you as well."
Vivien stared at him, startled. "Thanks," she said slowly, still staring at him, her brow furrowing.
"I found it in a store during the supply run this morning," Tom said, shifting from one foot to the other, realizing too late he was crossing the line again, "I – I thought you – I just thought" -
- "It's the thought that counts, right?" Vivien said, cutting across him, her brow furrowing further.
"Something like that," Tom said quietly, his dark eyes finally daring to meet hers, holding her gaze. Something shifted in the atmosphere, Vivien's heart beginning to beat erratically in her chest, remembering the Doctor's words, you are all or nothing to him...
"Hey," Maggie said, appearing out of thin air, making Tom and Vivien start violently. "Whoa, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" she said, glancing between the both of them, Tom now the colour of a ripe tomato.
"No, you're not," Tom said, running his hand across his beard, trying and failing to recover his composure.
"You sure about that, Professor?" Maggie almost taunted.
"What do you want, Margaret?" Tom asked abruptly.
"Weaver wants you," Maggie said as equally as abruptly.
"Do you know what for?"
"Nope, not a scooby," Maggie said, shaking her head.
Tom just glared at her, before turning and leaving, dumping the bundle of books down on the window-sill. Maggie watched him go before turning to Vivien, whose face was still tellingly flushed.
"You wanna tell me what that was about, sweetheart?" Maggie asked, eyebrow raised.
"What do you care?"
"Would you believe me if I said I'm just trying to keep an eye on you?"
"So is everyone else," Vivien said, "I'm Enemy Number One, in case you haven't noticed."
"I'm talking about woman-to-woman."
"I don't know what you're talking about, woman-to-woman or not."
"You and Tom Mason are the talk of the 2nd Mass," Maggie said, stepping forwards, "and some are saying his interest in you isn't completely innocent."
"What, you think I'm his mistress now or something?" Vivien said in disbelief.
"No, I'm thinking he might be abusing his authority."
"What, like Billy? Like Cueball!?" Vivien spat, making the blood drain from Maggie's face. "Tom's not like that, Maggie, he's nothing like them. He might an arsehole but he's not a monster" –
- "You know, I see the way you watch him," Maggie said, cutting across her, "and the way he watches you back."
Vivien paled, but she stood her ground. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said primly.
"Don't act the ingénue," Maggie said, sighing heavily, "there's no way this is going but down."
Vivien looked away, suddenly finding the floor fascinating.
"Tom is second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts, Vivien," Maggie said, stooping down so she was eye-level with Vivien, "heading up an alien resistance movement dedicated to wiping ET off the face of the planet. You're a hybrid accused of collaborating with the Skitters, a half breed who's allied herself with an extra-terrestrial that looks human and has two hearts. But you still have time to bail out - you don't have to dig yourself into this hole."
"I'm not digging myself into any hole."
"No, you're just burying yourself in your own grave."
Vivien just scoffed, shaking her head.
"Another two weeks in here and you'll be feeding him grapes like he's Julius Caesar," Maggie said urgently, eyes anxious. "So get out while you can, any way you can."
Before Vivien could reply, Tom came striding through the doors, face irate. "Weaver didn't want me at all," he fired at Maggie, making her turn around. "In fact, he was taking a nap. He wasn't too happy about me waking him up either, let me tell you that. Gave me a right earful."
Maggie just shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, must have got the wrong end of the stick," she said lightly.
"You seem to have a habit of that," Vivien said smartly.
"You know, Cueball brought me chocolates as well," Maggie said, smiling bitterly, gesturing to the chocolate bar in Vivien's hand. "Thought it made things... legit." Then she was gone, the heels of her boots clicking across the ground.