This is my latest project, a series of one-shots that will explore the back-stories of some of the characters, both before, after and sometimes during their adventures with The Doctor. This began with an idea for a one-shot for Turlough. However, I finished this chapter first, so the Turlough one will have to wait.

I will be using characters from both the new and classical series, and so will occasionally provide background information at the beginning of some of the chapters.

Reviews would be appreciated, and I am open to requests!

Mike Yates was a Captain in UNIT at the time when the Doctor was exiled to earth. He was a regular character, and a good friend of both the Doctor and his assistant Jo Grant. Towards the end of the third Doctor's time on screen, Yates was hypnotised by a super computer which tried to force him to kill the Doctor during the episode The Green Death. In his next appearance, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, it was revealed that he had suffered a nervous breakdown, and was brainwashed into helping a group of scientists who wanted to reverse time. In his final appearance, Planet of the Spiders, Yates was attending a meditation centre where he discovered strange goings on.

Captain Michael Yates of UNIT

Captain Yates was well known in UNIT as being one of those you could rely on in a crisis.

So, when the Brigadier needed somebody to go undercover as a ministry man, Mike was his first port of call, and being a soldier, he literally could not refuse. Besides, it wasn't every day he got the chance to dress in a suit and wield a briefcase, and seeing the doctor 'disguised' as a cleaning lady had made the whole experience seem worth it. He had to admit he enjoyed dressing up, and the snooping around was made all the more thrilling with the thought that if he was caught he may well have been fed to the giant maggots, or whatever it was Global Chemicals were hiding.

The fun stopped very abruptly when he was hypnotised, and everything plummeted into a negative spiral.

He couldn't even remember being under hypnosis. When he had joined UNIT he had been trained to resist that sort of thing, and according to The Doctor he had been trying bloody hard. He was forever grateful that his mind was apparently strong enough for him to resist charging in with 'all guns blazing', as he suspected that murdering both the brigadier and scientific advisor of UNIT would have put rather permanent black mark on his record. The last thing he remembered was being forced into a chair in Global Chemicals, then collapsing in 'the nut-hutch', mind searing with the absolute agony that was a severed psychic connection. He had lain, dazed on the floor for several minutes as he tried to gather the strength to pull himself back into something that resembled consciousness.

He had put on a brave face when The Doctor sent him back into the Global Chemicals building, but he had actually been quaking in his boots as he tried to release another hypnotised man. Then the BOSS computer killed him right in front of his eyes.

He had forced a smile when Miss Grant had announced her engagement to Professor Jones. He couldn't deny that he was disappointed, but he could cope. He always did.

Sergeant Benton was startled awake when a scream ripped through the barracks. He sat up, disorientated. There was a moment's silence, then a cry.

Benton leapt from his bunk, his military training kicking in. He raced across the room, to where Captain Yates was tossing and turning in his blankets.

"Sir," called Benton, shaking his superior lightly on the shoulder.

The Captain flinched away from the touch, crying out again.

"Alright!" called Benton to the other men who were starting to gather round. "Private Jenkins, go and fetch the MO, the rest of you, back to bed! This doesn't need an audience."

Captain Yates turned again restlessly, sweat pooling on his forhead.

"Sir! Mike, wake up!"

Yates started awake, and stared around wildly.

"No! I won't… I can't…"

"Mike, take it easy, you're safe."

"Benton," he mumbled, shivering. Benton put a hand to his forehead, but Yates didn't have a temperature.

"It's alright, sir," he said helplessly. Mike settled back on his pillow. Benton said nothing more until the MO arrived, and he had to persuade Yates to go to the infirmary.

The brigadier sighed at the mountain of paperwork as Benton strode in, a tray of coffee balanced in his arms.

"Good morning Benton,"

"Morning, sir,"

"Benton…" he looked up and stared at the Sergeant.

"It happened again," he stated. Benton nodded. "Benton, this has been going on all week."

"Yes sir. Actually… the MO wanted me to talk to you. He wants me to wrangle a bit of sick leave for Captain Yates."

"Sick leave? The Medical Officer needs to approach me himself, Benton."

So Benton hurried to fetch Doctor Oliver, and the brigadier listened as the man jabbered on about the after effects of hypnosis, psychological stress and nervous breakdowns. Eventually he had had enough, and held up a hand.

"Very well," he said. "Captain Yates can take all the time he needs."

In hindsight, thought Mike, the time off had pretty much been his undoing. He hadn't liked to admit it, but he was vulnerable, and Charles Grover had taken full advantage of that. The worst bit about the second bout of brain washing was that it had been partly voluntary. The business with the dinosaurs was all his fault. He had nearly been responsible for the rewriting of history, and the slaughter of billions of people.

Soon afterwards however, he had been forced to cut all ties with UNIT, and he was pushed back into civilian life. If the breakdown had been difficult, dealing with this was impossible. He was conditioned as a soldier now. Without his orders, his instructions, he was lost, drifting through life. He was used to trouble finding him at UNIT, a life that was spent under near constant danger, always bustling from one place to another. It was ironic that now all that was gone, he was still failing to find peace.

For a while, the meditation centre had been his salvation. But then he had uncovered a plot involving giant spiders that wanted to take over the world, and as usual The Doctor had saved the day before swanning off with Sarah.

And for Mike, everything disintegrated once more.

The brigadier looked on as Benton answered the phone.

"UNIT HQ, this is Sergeant Benton," he said.

There was a pause.

"I see, and how is that…"

Another pause; and Benton turned white as a sheet. His knees buckled, but as the Brigadier darted forwards he managed to catch himself and keep himself upright. He put the phone down abruptly.

"Sir, they… they found a body in the Thames."

Alastair jumped to his feet, alarmed.

"Is it The Doctor?"

"No sir, it's… it's Cap- I mean, Mr Yates, sir. He's dead."

"Yates?" he sat down again swiftly. "What happened?"

"Eyewitnesses say that he jumped off a bridge, sir. He killed himself."

"I see," the Brigadier placed his head in his hands. Benton couldn't help thinking the man suddenly looked ten years older. He ducked out of the room quietly, his heart sinking. How was he supposed to tell the others? The Doctor and Miss Smith had been good friends with the captain, and Jo in particular had been very attached to him. She would be devastated.

He sighed and adjusted his beret. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this was all UNIT's fault. Life went on; perhaps he should let it, he needed a change. Maybe it was time for him to get out of UNIT.

He hardly noticed the soldiers bustling around him as he walked, deep in thought. He could visit his Uncle Bill, who sold antique cars in Somerset. He was talking about retiring, and for a while he had been not-so-subtly hinting that he needed a nice young man to take over the business…

He nodded to himself. He had a few days of leave next week; he would go down then, see what was what.

Besides, he had always been partial to vintage mechanics ever since he had driven The Doctor's old car. At least the ones in Somerset would not have been 'modified'.

A/N: to my knowledge, Yates was never mentioned again on screen. While the fifth doctor did once ask after Benton and Harry Sullivan, he did not bring up Yates, which makes me think something terrible had happened.

DISCLAIMER: all things Doctor Who belong to the BBC.