The TV in the canteen was on The Brigadier was watching the news about the new crisis in Sierra Leone.
"It's a peace keeping mission," Jo explained to the Doctor, "the UN organise them to stop two sides fighting."
"But they have got guns? How can sending another group of armed humans in stop people fighting."
The Brigadier was looking at the TV as the commanding officer, Colonel Daniel Henderson, was introduced to the reporters. Jo noticed the Brigadier's face which showed disappointment.
Carol Bell then dropped the bombshell. "The Brigadier went to Geneva a month ago to volunteer for that post, I think he was rather disappointed not to get it."
Benton looked astonished, "That is one thankless job, it's got to be one of the nastiest jobs in the world. Why would the Brig want to leave UNIT?"
He didn't get it for two reasons they need him here and there was something wrong with his last medi...
The Doctor snorted, "Common Sense by the military at last!" The Doctor said very loudly. "Send Lethbridge-Stewart and his solution would be to blow everyone up, or shoot them!"
Suddenly the Brigadier's chair went flying across the floor and the Doctor found himself lifted out of his chair by the Brigadier whose face was somewhere near crimson! "What would you know!" snarled the Brigadier. "Fly in and out of peoples lives. Never stay anywhere to clear up the mess. The only reason you stay here is your bloody stuck here, because your own race doesn't even want you!"
The Doctor didn't react because of the shock of seeing the Brigadier lose his cool so completely.
The Doctor found himself flung back into his chair and the Brigadier slammed out of the canteen, with every face turned to watch him go.
Jo swallowed audibly. "That wasn't normal!"
"Ok most people would have knocked your teeth down your throat months ago!" Benton said "but the Brig doesn't lose his cool like that."
The Doctor rubbed his chin, " No he doesn't"
Alistair was sat in his office staring at the wall. The doctor knocked quietly on the door.
The Brigadier didn't respond.
The Doctor rubbed his chin again. Then sat down in the chair opposite him.
"Alistair?"
The Brigadier just looked at him.
"Errr, I'm sorry I said what I did. But I'm still convinced you could have done things different, you didn't need to blow up..."
"What's it matter?" the man asked, "what does anything matter?"
The Doctor was now very concerned.
The Brigadier turned towards the Doctor. "Just get out of my bloody sight for the rest of the day, before I have you and all your bloody junk thrown off the base!"
The Doctor was now more than concerned, no matter what he had done in the past the Brigadier had never threatened to get rid of him.
A knock on the door and Harry Sullivan the base M.O. was stood there.
"Sir, Corporal Bell phoned me!"
"No need Sullivan, I'm fine!"
"I am sorry Sir, but we both know that isn't true! You either let me check you out or I have you declared medically unfit!"
The Doctor gave Sullivan a quizzical look.
"I told you to bugger off!" the Brigadier roared at the Doctor.
Sullivan closed the door and the Doctor stood in the outer office looking questioningly at a tearful Corporal Bell.
" I just have orders from Dr Sullivan that if I'm worried, in any way, about the Brigadier I have to call the Infirmary." She said shaking her head. "That's all I know, but I think it's something to do with his medical for the Sierra Leone job."
He went back to the Lab, Jo looked up concern in her eyes." Have you found out any more."
"Only that the Brigadier is ill in some way and the M.O. is worried about him."
"Oh dear! Do you think it's serious." she asked in a low voice.
The Doctor rubbed his hand across his eyes, "I rather think it is!"
Jo looked at the Doctor, "Well he isn't going to tell you about it. The M.O. won't tell you either. How about we go over to the infirmary I distract the orderly and you use your sonic screwdriver to open the filing cabinet and take a peek at the Brigs file."
The Doctor smiled that's what he liked about Jo she had a direct way to solve problems. Liz would never have suggested doing anything like that.
The orderly rushed up to help when the Doctor carried Jo into the medical centre complaining about a twisted ankle. Jo giving one of her innocent, winning smiles acted as if her ankle was very painful. As the orderly examined Jo's ankle the Doctor slipped into the office. It was a matter of seconds to open the filing cabinet. Just as he lifted the Brigadier's file out Harry Sullivan entered the office, gave a meaningful cough and held his hand out. A very sheepish Jo was looking at the Doctor.
"If you needed to know or the Brigadier wanted you to know he would tell you."
The Doctor tried being imperious, " Dr Sullivan, Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart is one of my oldest and dearest friends, I just want to know what I can do to help him!"
The M.O. looked at the Doctor with distaste, "You have a strange way of showing it! But if you are any sort of friend I would ask you not to upset him. Let the man live out his remaining time with out your comments on his moral character. Everyone else I talk to thinks him a good man and he is a first class commanding officer!"
The Doctor and Jo went back to the Lab. "He said 'live out his remaining time!' that sounds bad." Jo said in rather a choked voice.
The Doctor sat down, looked at Jo and said, "Yes, I heard, Jo!"
"The Brigadier, can't die!" Jo sobbed.
The Doctor blinked, that was one of Jo's silly statements, he was about to correct her when he understood what she meant. She didn't want the Brigadier to die.
The Doctor felt the same. Although they rubbed each other up the wrong way and he hadn't forgiven him for the Wenley Moor incident the Brigadier was his friend and when he thought about it he didn't want him to die either.
"Surely there's something you can do to save him!" Jo said hopefully. "I mean I'm sure there are all sorts of treatments for things you've come across in time and space that we don't know about on Earth."
"I need to know what's wrong with him first Jo, and no one will tell me!"
"Well go and ask him!" Jo insisted.
Corporal Bell, shook her head when the Doctor arrived in her office. "He's not in Doctor, he went home ill I think!"
Mike Yates came into the office. Looked at the Doctor in an unfriendly way.
"Mike what is wrong with Alistair?" the Doctor asked
Mike Yates shook his head, "You mean apart from you giving him grief I don't know . What I do know is he is looking closely at possible replacement C.O.'s for us. He's been shortlisting suitable offices to recommend to Geneva."
Jo looked up at the Doctor hopefully when he returned to the lab. The Doctor shook his head. "He's gone home ill."
"I'm going to call Liz!" Jo announced. At the Doctors puzzled look she explained to him again. "Doctor they love each other! How many times do I have to tell you that! Either she will already know, but I doubt it or she would be here. If not he will tell her what is wrong because he needs a friend at a time like this, and let's face it you two haven't exactly been friends lately."
Alistair was laid on the bed, the persistent headache he had had since confronting the Doctor in the canteen just wouldn't go away. Nor would the shake in his left hand. He thought longingly about the single malt whiskey on the sideboard, then glanced at the row of pill bottles on the bedside table all of which had labels advising not to take with alcohol.
A frantic knocking on the door wasn't a good sign. At least if he was needed back at base they had sent a car.
He opened the door about to ask the driver to wait for him when a familiar figure walked in and stood looking at him her hands on her hips and a steely look, he had missed seeing, in her eyes. "So!" demanded Liz Shaw, "what is wrong with you and why haven't you told me about it!"
She saw him look at her with a mixture of annoyance and amusement, she saw one of his trademark smiles. Except it wasn't quite right, the right side of his mouth quirked up but the left side seemed slightly drawn down. She glanced at his left hand that had a slight shake. Alarm bells were ringing and her heart felt like it was in her throat. She walked forward and traced the left side of his jaw. His head went down. "Tell me!" she whispered.
She was hugging him close tears filling her eyes, wanting be strong for him but all the time her inner self was screaming NO..no..no..!
It's the size of a small lemon Liz, buried deep within the right hemisphere of the brain. They can't remove it and it's too far advanced to hope that any other treatments will work.
Liz looked at the tablets he was taking. They were for the pain and to reduce the side effects.
"Alistair I'll make some calls there are people working on these things I can..".
He gave her a sad smile, "Geneva have already looked into all that Liz, it was touching really to see how they seemed to value an old soldier like me. But really there is nothing, that can be done. They reckon 3 to 4 months of fairly normal life then..." He lowered his voice, "This is the bit that terrifies me! Blindness, paralysis and losing my mind."
Liz held him tight "I'll be here, with you, every step of the way Alistair!"
"I don't want you to see me like that! " He said staring into her eyes.
"Well, tough luck, because I say I will be with you and you know I always get my way!"
She made him a cup of tea and they sat together watching the light die from the sky. "Have you spoken to the Doctor" Liz asked.
He shook his head, "He's still not talking to me except about my awful militaristic behaviour!"
"I'll talk to him in the morning!" Liz said. At Alistair's quizzical look "when I take you into work and talk to your M.O."
"Liz you have important work to do in Cambridge!"
She kissed him "There is nothing as important as being with you Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. I've loved you since that first day when you recruited me to UNIT! You infuriating, handsome man! Now take me to bed!"
They arrived at HQ at 7.30 am and Liz left Alistair with Corporal Bell while she went to find the Doctor. As she walked into the lab she saw Jo! She hugged the young woman and then broke down into a flood of tears. The Doctor walked in and looked at Jo wide eyed. Jo gave him an I told you so look.
Seeing the Doctor she blurted out, "He's dying Doctor. He's got an inoperable brain tumour!"
The Doctor's heart sank. Jo gave a moan, then held Liz a bit tighter.
Liz, Jo, and The Doctor were in the infirmary with Harry Sullivan looking at the Brigadier's scans.
"As you can see," Harry told them "it is at a very advanced stage."
Liz was sat with her eyes closed. It was worse than she had expected. She was trying hard to hold back tears.
Jo was looking at the Doctor hopefully. But he looked at her and shook his head. Jo's face fell.
"Dr Sullivan, Alistair has been told he will eventually suffer from Paralysis, blindness and possibly hallucinations. Is there anything we can do to prevent these." Liz asked quietly.
Harry sadly shook his head.
"We can stop the hallucinations " the Doctor said. "I can help prevent those."
Liz nodded and smiled. "Well that will be something!"
She returned to Alistair's office and told him that the hallucinations could be prevented, he seemed to take some comfort from that.
She then kissed him, took the key to his apartment and drove off to Cambridge to collect the belongings she needed and arrange a leave of absence.
The Doctor and Jo cleared part of the Lab for Liz to use when she returned.