Author's Note

I have no idea why my inspiration has decided this should be a thing, but I wrote it so I'll share it. Besides, the world can never have too much Classic Who appreciation.

I do not own Doctor who. Any material or quotes you recognise from the show belong to the original writers of the episodes.

"Oh, by the way, this is Miss Shaw."

Miss Shaw was a ginger haired woman with hazel eyes wearing a lab coat and a miniskirt, which seemed very impractical when one thought about it.

"How do you do?" asked the Doctor, first in Delphon, and then in English. She laughed, showing she had rather elongated canines for a human.

"Delighted Miss Shaw, delighted."

Miss Shaw had been examining pieces of what the Brigadier thought was a meteorite and Miss Shaw insisted were not, though she did say they were from space. It was all very interesting, but what the Doctor really wanted was to get into the TARDIS and he came up with a tale about scientific equipment to get Liz to steal the key from the Brigadier.

"He's a busy man, he mightn't miss it." She stared at the TARDIS. "Can I come in?"

"I don't see why not."

Liz was enthralled by the TARDIS, bounding around it with huge puppy-dog eyes - and was she trying to smell it? - but she was a little less impressed with the fact it didn't work, and the Brigadier shouted at them both for the trick. Liz frowned and shied away as though in pain.

At Madame Tussauds she was fascinated by the display of Scobie, sniffing at his jacket and pinching his hand. "What's been done to him?"

"Can't say at this point. Some sort of suspended animation maybe."

She wasn't keen on the idea of waiting for closing time at the waxworks at all. "They'll throw us out."

"We'll avoid that."

"But it'll be dark by then."

"Aren't you a bit old to be afraid of the dark?"

She blushed scarlet. "I don't think this is a good idea Doctor."

"You needn't stay if you don't want to."

"The Brigadier would throttle me if I left you unattended."

"What am I, a three year old?"

"I don't know Doctor, are you?"

Humans.

The other replicas were all only plastic. Liz sniffed at a few of them.

"What is it with you and sniffing at things?" the Doctor asked in bewilderment. He was fairly sure Jamie and Zoe had never had that obsession.

"You can learn a lot about things from what they smell like," Liz replied. "Like whether or not they're plastic fakes or not."

Humans!

"And what's your evaluation Doctor Shaw?"

"They're all plastic. All except Scobie."

"Hm."

They might have been plastic, but they came to life and marched out of the exhibit just fine. The Doctor could have sworn he saw Liz bare her teeth and prick her ears as they listened to the replicas moving and marching out. She fussed even more as they left the building, insisting on using an umbrella and glaring at the sky. In the morning her problem seemed to have vanished again and she grinned at the Brigadier as he told them he could only contact his headquarters staff. "Don't worry about that. He'll have me."

"While I can appreciate your support Miss Shaw, you are hardly the same as an armed support platoon."

"I think you would be surprised Brigadier."

The Doctor heard him mutter "indeed I would Miss Shaw" as he left.

They did defeat the Nestenes at the factory, and returned to the HQ tired, but in high spirits. The Brigadier poured them all a glass of whiskey and asked whether they could count on his help again. The Doctor talked him into giving him the use of equipment and the help of Liz for the foreseeable future in exchange.

It was an arrangement they all became happy and comfortable with very quickly. Most of the extra-terrestrial matters UNIT dealt with were debris, fragments, and oddball theorists with UFO sightings. The Doctor spent most of his time working on the TARDIS while Liz assisted or did the day to day work with the occasional input from him. It worked well. He liked Liz, even if she did still use that umbrella whenever she went outside at night.