Chapter Text
I Was Under the Sky, No New Horizons
The threat of the Autons - and the Master, it seemed, for the moment - was over. But as the Doctor stood in front of the window of one of UNIT’s most forgotten hallways, he had an agitated feeling that had him holding his chin and staring blankly through the dusty glass. It was a quiet thing, softer than the rumble of military trucks peeling off of the gravel outside. But the feeling was unmistakable. A pit in his stomach. An ache in his chest. Yes, the Time Lord had lived long enough to know the signs and symptoms of this most detestable condition.
Dread.
What he was dreading was a mystery even to himself. They hadn’t heard from the Master in three days; not even a reporting of UFO activity or alleged alien abductions. UNIT was handling the cleanup of Autons and plastic factories with slow but steady progress. And standing here, surrounded by thick tiled concrete walls and bulletproof glass, the Doctor was safer than most fortresses.
But still, that feeling lingered; grew. His mind churned over and over, dissecting its own thoughts like they were a specimen in his new laboratory. He was so distracted, in fact, that he only subconsciously heard footsteps behind him, clacking against the tiled floor and echoing through the empty hallway. The sound reminded him of an old school on Gallifrey, whose hallways were significantly more splendid than the dry lessons being taught.
Turning halfway and shaking his head of its thoughts, the Doctor smiled slightly. Perhaps it was Liz, coming to tell him the lab was finally furnished.
His eyes lifted, and his smile dropped.
“Good evening, Doctor,” said Lethbridge-Stewart, hands behind his back and swagger stick tucked under his arm. Noting the cobwebs in the corner and the dirtied white tiles lining the walls, the Brigadier turned a curious eye on the Doctor. “I’ve never seen anyone hang around here for very long. What are you doing here?”
“Thinking.”
“Ah.” The Brigadier shifted from foot to foot to fill the space between their words. When the Doctor turned back to the window and continued to stare out for another long moment, he took hold of his swagger stick and clapped it into his palm a few times. “Er, Doctor?”
“Yes Brigadier?” The Doctor did not turn from the window, leaning slightly on one side with a hand in his pocket and the other stroking his chin as he watched a new military truck roll into the driveway.
“I’ve found you some spare quarters, just two floors up from your laboratory.” He paused, waiting for a response that didn’t come. Clearing his throat, the Brigadier continued, “And then, of course, there’s the car.”
“Car…? Oh, yes.” The Doctor turned from the window, a distant look in his eye. “I’d like to join you when you go to choose one. I’m rather particular about my transport.”
The Brigadier tried a smile. “I’m afraid nothing will quite match up to your TARDIS.”
When the Doctor didn’t respond, other than a saddened look to the floor, the Brigadier’s smile faltered. There was certainly something going on here that he wasn’t aware of, but he didn’t know how to broach the subject. The Doctor looked...well, if the Brigadier had to guess (which he was, admittedly, not the best at), he’d say he looked...sad.
“Doctor? I, er, I hope we’re making you feel comfortable. I know UNIT isn’t an ideal home away from home.”
“No, it isn’t,” the Doctor said plainly. He winced as soon as he said it, releasing a sigh. “It’s not your fault, Lethbridge-Stewart. I’ve just never been comfortable around militaries, guns…”
“I don’t believe anyone is, really. I’m only used to it, is all. You will be too, someday.”
The Doctor turned to the floor again with a sharp frown.
“I’d rather not become used to it,” he said quietly. After another sigh, he looked back up at the Brigadier. “I’m sorry to keep you, old chap. You must be dreadfully busy.”
“I have a few moments to spare.” The Brigadier forced himself a step closer, staring out the window for a few seconds to watch Benton and Yates lead some men inside carrying broken plastic fragments.
“It’s not being stuck,” the Doctor said suddenly.
“What?”
The Doctor kicked at some dust, setting both hands in his pockets.
“It’s not being stuck on Earth that I mind,” he clarified. “It’s not being allowed to go anywhere. Or...I don’t know if I’m making sense.”
“I think I understand you.” Lethbridge-Stewart leaned against the wall, then thought better and stepped away from it when his hand touched a sticky spot. “You’re a man of action, like I am, and you’ve been told to sit still. I’d hate that myself.”
“I’m not quite like you, Brigadier,” the Doctor said, looking pointedly at the UNIT uniform. His frown deepened as he looked away again, hiding his eyes in the shade cast by the trees just outside the window. “It’s not a great feeling to be sent away from your own home, either. No matter how old you are.”
“I know.”
The Doctor’s eyes darted up and, quite accidentally, met the Brigadier’s. For an instant, there was a deeper connection there. An understanding.
“You do?” the Doctor asked, a question that held far more weight than its two words should’ve been able to hold.
The Brigadier turned his eyes, but nodded. He swallowed hard and looked at the swagger stick held in his white-knuckled hands.
“We have more in common than you think, Doctor. And,” he looked up with an expression that made him look five years younger, “I hope that someday we’ll be friends.”
The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but then settled into a gentle smile.
“I hope so, too.”
Another moment of understanding passed between them. And then, releasing a great sigh and staggering back a step or two, the Brigadier looked around the hallway corner they’d been standing in.
“Now, I’d quite like to get out of here before some giant spider of some sort darts out.”
“Afraid of spiders, Brigadier?” the Doctor questioned, leading the way back to the stairwell.
“Only large ones. I had a bad experience in Australia when I was a boy.”
“Well, Brigadier,” the Doctor pushed open the door and held it open for the Brigadier, “Perhaps we really do have more in common than I thought.”