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It had certainly been an interesting day, he had to admit. So much to take in, so much action and travel, and new experiences he’d scarcely believed what was happening. He was starting to tire, and found himself racking his brain to try to work out exactly how long he’d actually been awake, but all the bouncing had befuddled him too much and he decided it wasn’t important. Hopefully he’d be able to take a day off and Doris would keep Kate busy in the morning so he could have a lie in. Once he got back in that infernal blue box and-hopefully-the Doctor piloted it to the right time and place.
A mug of tea appeared in front of his face and the Doctor-this new, odd Doctor, so much shorter and younger, but somehow older, smiled at him as he took it. She settled in next to him with a mug of her own. It was nice, and familiar, to share a drink with his old friend, even though she may have looked like a stranger.
‘I’ll get you back soon,’ she assured him. ‘Just gotta sit through the debrief.'
‘The Doctor sitting through a debrief, thought I’d never see the day,’ the Brigadier answered. The smile didn’t leave her face. It was radiant, as it always had been. That curiosity, that kindness, that deep, abiding love, was just like every other one he’d met. He’d had trouble believing, at first, that she was the Doctor when she bounded into his office, but at this moment, he saw the resemblance.
‘It’s certainly changed around here,’ he added. ‘Discovery first and foremost. I’d never fit in here.’
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ she answered.
‘If you didn’t, you’d be wrong,’ he protested. ‘This is a UNIT that you built, Doctor. Less shooting, more science. More like you, less like me.’
‘You’re wrong,’ she said, with a wry smile to the room as a whole. ‘This, my dear friend, is a Lethbridge-Stewart creation.’
He scoffed into his tea. ‘I couldn’t tell you the first thing about what actually happens in this room, and you know it, Doctor. I couldn’t have created something like this.'
As he spoke, a woman entered from the side office, her presence commanding the room. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn’t place it. How was he supposed to know someone from 50 years in his future anyway?
‘Eyes front,’ she commanded. He admired her confidence, and her leadership seemed to certainly be respected amongst her team, as the conversations stilled and they faced her. ‘Thank you all for your great work today. I know it’s been a challenge, but you’ve all done your jobs with courage and ingenuity. I hope this won’t take long, but Doctor, would you be willing to give me a hand to discuss some of the finer points?’
Her eyes searched the room and fell on the Doctor, who put her mug down with a smile and bounded towards the front. But the woman at the front of the room was instead staring at the Brigadier with confusion on her face. He was still drawing a blank on where he might know her from.
‘Why don’t I take over?’ The Doctor said, as she approached the front of the room. ‘I left you a cup of tea.’
The Doctor smiled and pointed as eyes turned from her to the Brigadier. He was also well aware that a lot of eyes were turning to him, and perhaps there was some recognition. He couldn’t imagine why so many in the room seemed to be in awe of him. He was just a soldier, these were the real scientists, and thinkers, geniuses and doers, the ones to be admired. The leader, that tall woman with the blonde hair and the commanding presence, took a step towards him and then turned back to the Doctor.
‘Did you already drink some of that tea?’ she asked, pointing at it.
‘Might have,’ the Doctor admitted with an apologetic grimace. ‘Kate, I’ve got this.’
The one named Kate nodded and turned to the Brigadier.
‘Alrighty,’ the Doctor shouted, bounding the rest of the way to the front of the room. ‘You heard her, eyes front!’
There was a rustle, and the eyes moved to the Doctor, giving the Brigadier a chance to look at the woman who was approaching him, her eyes glassy. He couldn’t imagine what was making her so emotional to see him.
‘You’re in charge of UNIT?’ He asked. She nodded, with a sniffle. ‘I do admire what you’ve done with the place. Science leads, thought I’d never see the day.’
‘Science leads,’ she repeated, a tear leaking out of her eyes. She took a shuddering breath.
‘Are you alright?’ He asked. ‘Should we grab a mug the Doctor hasn’t drunk out of?’
‘That’s probably a good idea,’ she said, with an unsteady laugh and a glance back at the room, where the Doctor was pulling up some records on the big screen.
‘As our fearless leader was saying,’ she was shouting dramatically to the room as a whole. ‘Good work today! Now, let’s talk SCIENCE!’
Kate and the Brigadier both laughed at the Doctor. ‘Same old Doctor,’ he said. Kate nodded in agreement and then looked back at him, her face still filled with wonder.
‘She’ll take good notes for me,’ she assured him, and jerked her head to the door. ‘Let’s continue this conversation elsewhere.’
‘How long have you been here?’ He asked as she showed him down a hallway.
‘Twenty five years now,’ she said, calmer than before. ‘Started as a junior science advisor.’
‘How long has the chief of UNIT been a scientist?’ He asked as she stopped at a door to what looked like a small canteen, with the familiar lived-in look of an office break room that had been shared by too many people who work too many hours. She put her hand to a pad on the door, which seemed to unlock it, and he started to follow her in, but he glanced at the pad-such incredible technology!-as he passed, and saw it had brought up her ID.
‘Lethbridge-Stewart?’ He whispered in amazement, and then the pieces clicked into place. ‘Kate?’
‘Hi Dad,’ she said, turning around with a watery smile. ‘Time travel really is something, isn’t it?’
‘I’d say,’ he agreed, staring at her in wonder, drinking in as much as he could of her face. Her smile hadn’t changed a bit from when he saw her just last night, when she’d been significantly shorter, showing her the craters of the moon from the telescope in the back garden.
‘People have been there?’ she had asked as she scrunched her eyes to focus on the image in the telescope as he held her up to reach it.
‘Yes,’ he had told her. ‘Perhaps you’ll get to go some day.’