Made Me Human

The sound of the TARDIS echoed throughout the foggy, wet landscape. After a moment, the Doctor opened the doors and let the two girls out first. His foot sank into the ground a bit. He said, "It must have just rained here."

"Ya think," Alex said, "I can barely move my feet."

"I'm twice your size, Alex," the Doctor said, "If I can move, you can move."

"And I'm doing just fine," Harper smiled.

"Who asked you?" asked Alex.

Harper replied, "No one. I just wanted to add my opinion."

"Well opinion duly noted," Alex said. She looked at the Doctor who would have attempted to break them up by this point, but there was nothing. He looked solemn. She let it go with Harper and walked up to the Doctor. She could tell he was sad about something. She asked him, "What's wrong?"

For a long minute, the Doctor thought about what to say. He finally decided to answer her question with a question, "How would you feel if you lost a friend that was as close to you as Harper is? Or rather, how would you feel if you lost Harper? She died and you lived on for years."
"I can't imagine a life without her," Alex thought about it, "We are best friends. We've been there for each other no matter what circumstances are there. If she died, that would be devastating. Why do you ask?"
"I lost my best friend. One of them anyway," the Doctor told Alex as he just stared into the fog, "He died ages ago, but that still doesn't mean I don't miss him. He helped mold me into the man I am today. You know when someone says that they kept them human?"

"Yeah why?" asked Alex.

"You can argue he made me human or at least more human than I should have been."

Harper walked up to the two of them and asked, "So what are we doing here anyway?"

"Visiting a friend. That's why I brought this bottle with us," the Doctor said.

"What's in the bottle?" asked Harper.

"It's a bottle of Brandy," the Doctor said. The Doctor took off towards the left. Alex and Harper followed behind him. After a few steps, the two girls saw the headstones and realized where they were.

"We're in a cemetery," Alex said.

"I hate cemeteries," Harper said.

The two of them nearly lost sight of the Doctor through the fog. Alex walked up the Doctor and saw he was at the grave he was visiting. The Doctor put the bottle down near the headstone and said, "I'm back, old friend. Haven't changed my face again yet. That's a new record."

Alex and Harper stopped and watched the Doctor as he started to talk. Alex turned to Harper, "Stay here for a minute."

Harper nodded and Alex walked up to the Doctor. She read the name on the tombstone aloud, "Lethbridge-Stewart."

"Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart," the Doctor said, "He was one the founding members of UNIT. He was usually called the Brigadier or just the Brig. I first met him in my second incarnation, but it was during my third that we became allies and close friends. Since then we used to talk and visit regularly. All the way up to my Eleventh incarnation. Before the whole thing at Lake Silencio, Utah, I was informed that he died. Ever since then I've visited him every year."

"Where are we?" asked Alex.

"Scotland. He always wanted to be buried here. It was something to do with his heritage. It was his death that helped me face the fact that I was supposed to die, but luckily I found a way out of my death."

Alex grabbed the Doctor's hand and laid her head on his arm. "You lost him, but you have me, Doctor."

The Doctor looked down at Alex, "I know."

Alex looked the Doctor squarely in the eyes, "Then do you know that I love you."

Smiling, the Doctor told her, "Yeah, I know that too." He took his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. Alex smiled as the two of them stood there. Harper walked over to the two of them. She silently stood there apart from the other two.

After several minutes of silence, the Doctor said, "Time to get going. Planets to save. People to liberate. Monsters to stop. Honey buns to eat."

Alex smiled at the last comment. The Doctor and Alex started walking back towards the TARDIS with Harper behind. The Doctor stopped and let Alex and Harper into the TARDIS first before entering himself. He shut the door.

Soon the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing echoed throughout the foggy cemetery.