Now…
A hulking black SUV tore up the tarmac of the London streets, charging past ordinary cars coasting along in the lull before the morning rush hour.
A stony-faced Kate Stewart glared out of the tinted glass, barely registering the city's landmarks drifting past, as a light drizzle bespattered the windscreen.
She had been silently fuming for the entirety of the fifty minute car ride, as she mulled over her warning to the Doctor.
She had seen something in his eyes before he stepped back inside the blue box. Defiance, perhaps. If he didn't listen to her, this wouldn't end well.
She'd reached her wit's end, and demanded that the Doctor meet her back at UNIT headquarters. She hoped to god that he would be there when they arrived. But the man had a time machine. It might only be fifty minutes for her – but it could be days, months even, before the Doctor decided to turn up.
She just hoped that he would turn up.
The sparse trees lining the road were lashing back and forth. The wind was almost reaching hurricane proportions, swiping hats and umbrellas from unsuspecting pedestrians.
There was a storm on its way, and Kate had a feeling that something terrible was happening.
The car pulled up outside the Tower of London, but there was no sign of the TARDIS.
Accompanied by her armed guards, Kate strode towards the building, keeping her coat pulled tightly around herself to fend off the vicious cold.
As she passed a group of snap-happy tourists taking selfies, she saw a young woman in a smart blouse run up to her, shoulder length auburn hair whipping furiously in the wind. She had a smart tablet clutched in the crook of her arm.
Kate recognised her, but it took her a moment to realise why she was struck with the feeling that it was odd to see her here.
"Doctor Simmons?" Kate raised her voice, so she was audible above the noise of a military chopper passing overhead. "Last I checked, you were posted on the Moonbase."
Out of breath, Simmons shook her head.
"What is it?" Kate pressed her.
"Ma'am," Simmons gasped for air, "it's the Doctor. He's here."
Although Kate hoped the Doctor was here because of her orders, she knew better.
The Doctor's presence was more likely to mean he had not heeded her advice; he'd left in the TARDIS with the boy.
"Where is he?"
And what, Kate wondered, has he done?
"He's in your office," Simmons mumbled, avoiding Kate's stern glare.
"Dear lord, the arrogance of that man!" Kate growled.
The Doctor could be infuriating sometimes. How he could get into her office was a mystery. The Tower of London, the hub of UNIT operations in the UK, was protected. The building was so heavily reinforced, not even the TARDIS was able to penetrate the walls.
No, it wasn't a mystery – this was the Doctor. That man was impossible.
Kate entered the Tower, flashing her pass to the sentries at the gate. Simmons scurried close behind her.
"Did he say why he was here?" Kate asked, as they stepped into an elevator; a chunk of grey clanking machinery conspicuously embedded in the stone wall.
"He was rather evasive on that subject," Simmons answered, as the lift doors closed. "In fact, he's not speaking to anyone."
"He's not listened to a word I've said," Kate uttered sharply.
Simmons nodded, distracting herself from Kate's bitter grumbling by staring at her tablet.
Kate watched the young scientist for a moment as she prodded the screen of her device, skimming over UNIT files on the Doctor.
Simmons eventually broke the silence, noticing Kate's interest. "I've been trying to establish his position in the timeline." She pulled up an image of the Doctor's craggy features. "Twelfth incarnation. Some time after the Moonbase incident, going by the hair."
Kate processed the information. She had known about the Doctor almost all her life, yet his ability to turn up at any point in their past or future made keeping track of him rather difficult.
Thus UNIT, as one of the few organisations the Doctor would co-operate with, had developed a system with which they could map out any encounters they had with the Time Lord, and use it to work out precisely when they were dealing with him – and which Doctor they were dealing with. A spotter's guide to the Doctor, if you will. It wasn't a hundred percent accurate, of course. Members of UNIT had let slip information about the Doctor's future to him before now.
"So he survived the Arachnid attack," Kate muttered, "And he didn't regenerate."
"No, we think he's yet to visit the Frost Fair with the student, Miss Potts," Simmons quickly suggested. "And besides – I think Charlie… found a way to save him."
"Yes, thank you Doctor Simmons," Kate grunted, "Put the I-spy guide away. We've got more important things to worry about."
Simmons paused for a moment, flicking her tablet into standby. "What do you mean?"
"The boy."
"Charlie?"
"Yes."
Simmons shook her head. "I don't understand. Why would he be a problem?"
Kate shot her an imposing look. "You know we screen all of the Doctor's companions as soon as we find out about them?"
Simmons blinked. "Yes, but-"
"He shouldn't be travelling with him."
"I was there on the Moonbase, ma'am." Simmons stared intently at her, chocolate brown eyes pleading his defence. "I've spoken with him."
"I'm well aware of that, Doctor Simmons," Kate sighed.
"He's not a bad person," Simmons insisted, unconsciously tensing into a confrontational stance. "The Doctor trusts him."
"And the Doctor's judgement is completely reliable, I suppose?" Kate countered.
Simmons withdrew.
"Granted…"
"Doctor Simmons, we have enough evidence to theorise that, given the opportunity, the boy could cause serious damage to our reality. Colonel Callisto will have my head!" Kate barked.
Simmons remained silent, respectfully allowing Kate to vent her frustration.
The lift doors hissed open, and they stepped out.
The slick modern interior was in complete contrast with the antiquated architecture of the surface levels. Computer interfaces lined the whitewashed walls. Glass doors opened automatically for them as they walked.
"The Doctor should never have taken him."
"I don't think Charlie could…" Simmons protested.
"He has a motive – and a time machine. That never ends well." Kate ended the argument.
They stopped outside a thick wood-panelled door, engraved with Kate's name and authority. She indicated that her guards wait outside her office, and she spoke her name into the biometric security panel to the side of the door. The sound pattern was analysed; cross referenced with a database of high-ranking UNIT officials, and was accepted, returning an affirming bleep.
Kate pushed her way into her office, and discovered the Doctor inspecting the certificates framed on her wall. She glared at him. The Doctor didn't seem to notice.
She beckoned Simmons to follow her in, and slammed the door shut behind her.
Kate Stewart's office was furnished in the style of an Oxfordian university professor's, rather than a clean military room like her father used to have.
A timeworn oak desk stood proudly in the centre, a comfortable leather chair tucked beneath it. Opposite a series of aluminium filing cabinets was a pair of display cases, complete with trophies, medals and trinkets from past missions. There was, for instance, a small black cube, although Kate was not really sure why she had kept that.
The photograph of her father was on the wrong side of the desk, she noted with some annoyance.
"What are you doing in here?" Kate demanded, "This is my private office."
"I couldn't find mine," the Doctor explained, keeping his back to her as he continued to stare at the articles pinned to the wall.
"You don't have one," Simmons interjected apologetically.
"Oh." The Doctor was disappointed. But Simmons suspected that the casual disappointment was just a distraction, obscuring his true emotions.
The Doctor's mood probably wasn't improved by Kate's explosion of anger, as she unleashed her pent-up frustration at him.
"Where is the boy? You took him with you, didn't you?" Kate roared. "I warned you not to. I gave you an order – and you completely ignored me! Why don't you ever listen?"
"Stop shouting," the Doctor snapped, twisting round, his eyes burning with a fire that eclipsed Kate's fury.
The corners of his lips were quivering – a tiny signal he was concealing so much pain, so much anger.
Kate swallowed back the lump forming in her throat, and softened her tone. "What has he done?"
"He's not done anything," the Doctor growled.
"Where is he? Is he with you?" Simmons asked.
The Doctor's eyes flickered towards her.
"No." The words escaped the Doctor's lips in barely a whisper; a ghost of a breath.
"He is… he is okay, isn't he?" Simmons asked, not without a hint of nervousness. "He is still alive?"
The Doctor did not reply, and avoided her eye.
He focussed on Kate instead – fixing her with his fierce, hawk-like glare.
"I need you to tell me everything you know."
She nodded. "I think you'd better follow me."