049×035 oneshots

From Scratch

Happy Halloween! ~Quail

In which the Doctor makes a life bettering choice, and Dýo is brought along for the bumpy ride

Warnings: Body horror, psychological horror, self harm, technical suicide, isolation, gore, revival, cannibalism

_-_-_

"They aren't going to leave us alone."

It was a weighted statement. A knowing statement. Dýo was lucky. Her influence had spread to such a point that containing her was a true impossibility. The Doctor, on the other hand... not so much. She could see how it drove him to the brink of madness. Lately, she herself had been scared to leave him in the same room alone. Even still, she simply could not justify caving to his suggestions that he leave alone and risk being brought right back to the horrible place she'd been working so hard to keep him away from.

"Oh, honey...." she said sympathetically, getting up from her seat just to cross the table and offer a comforting embrace, "Come here, I know... I promise I'm so close to making us both safe."

"No..." the Doctor murmured simply, despondently, "Not close enough." His beak turned away from her and towards the window, the surgeon looking out at the gorgeous sunset with deep longing, "I'm going out tomorrow. To the store."

The thespian tensed, "That isn't a good idea, Doctor. You'll just need to wait a bit longer, and all will be well again."

"I said no, Dýo! I cannot do this anymore. I cannot stand this anymore. Each day is becoming more torturous than the last. The walls feel like they are closing in. I am telling you, I need to get out for a day!"

Walls closing in... an oppressive, lingering darkness. She sympathized. Really, she did. Even if there was no corpse inches from the Doctor's face, his captivity was still true torture. At the same time, though... She had seen glimpses within his mind of a message he'd seen on his door during the last breach, and she knew all too well what being repossessed by the foundation would mean. Even if the first attempt at what that awful place planned did not succeed 'E-SCP-049. ENTRY PROHIBITED. TERMINATION IN PROGRESS.'

She felt sick.

"Doctor, I'm not letting you leave here until it's safe for you," The mask insisted, crossing her arms, she was holding back tears now. "I'll work harder. I'll gather more followers to bow to my whim, just please stop being a fool and just bear it for a while longer!"

"You are not listening to me!" the Doctor exclaimed, standing from the table and pulling away from Dýo's embrace, "I am going mad! Insane! If I spend one more day in this damned house I know I'll be able to handle it no longer!"

"Doctor, they'll-"

"To hell with it! To hell! To hell! I don't care what happens to me! I don't care if I'm brought back to that terrible place so long as it means I can leave here for just a moment! I can't stand it here! I can hardly stand you anymore!"

The Mask went quiet, and her frown deepened. Deep down, she knew that his words were true. She knew that he was struggling. She knew she was being overbearing in her worry. Still... it had never fully set in, and she'd been desperately hoping it wasn't true. Having such harsh words spoken aloud... they brought her to tears and, not wanting to  look at the overwhelming guilt in the Doctor's eyes, she went straight to the empty guest room and shut the door, locking it behind her.

The Doctor ended up not going out the next day, nor during the weeks that followed Dýo... almost wanted to tell him to simply go ahead and hope for the best. He'd been miserable for months, but now it was growing more and more obvious. He wasn't eating anymore. Nor was he sleeping. The mask had caught him crying on more than one occasion, though that was not quite so concerning at the racket in the basement whenever the stress turned to rage instead.