I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get writing his again... real life has to step in at times. Thankfully the muse is back, however, and I should have chapters more regularly again. Love to you all! - Syreene

Sarah Jane's smile fell as she remembered her encounters with Harry's supposed step-brother, Will. "No, Doctor…I haven't heard from him for a few years now."

She stepped back from his embrace and wiped at her face before turning to her desk to pull out another photo album. "We used to get together once a year to talk about old times…but then he stopped showing up all of a sudden." She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for and pulled out an aged photo of a tall, curly haired man with a long scarf standing with a young Sarah Jane and a smiling man with short curly black hair, and a blue suit.

Sarah Jane smiled wistfully and handed the photo to Martha. "He's a doctor too, you know," she said with a smile.

Martha smiled at the photo of the three of them as the Doctor came up behind her to see. "Ahh…Loch Ness! That was quite a time, wasn't it? Imagine their surprise at the 1st International Energy Conference when the Loch Ness Monster came swimming up the Thames."

Martha's eye brow shot up. "The Loch Ness Monster? You've got to be kidding me! Did you guys meet Bigfoot, too?"

Sarah Jane laughed as the Doctor took on a mock look of hurt. "He's quite the nice fellow, actually…it's those Yetis that you have to look out for. The Loch Ness Monster was all thanks to a group of aliens you've met before, Martha: The Zygons."

Martha shuddered as she remembered what she thought was the Doctor at the time turning into one of those creepy sucker-covered aliens. "Ugh…thanks, Doctor…I was hoping to forget those things. Now I won't be able to look at an octopus for a month, again."

"They were quite nasty and disguised their creation as the Loch Ness Monster in order to hide it, " Sarah Jane interjected. "They ended up being the last straw for Harry, too…as he went back to being a Navy doctor again after that. At least…that's what I assumed he returned to. Considering his mysterious disappearance, you have to wonder."

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets as he sidled up to Sarah Jane. "So…did you try asking the good Brigadier?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I did…but you know him, Doctor. He closed up quicker than a Venus Flytrap when I tried asking him. Of course that means he knows something…but this time I couldn't convince him to spill it."

"Maybe it's about time I introduced you to Brigadier Alistair Stewart as well, Martha. While he always refused to travel with me full time, he could tell quite a few good stories about my past adventures." He scratched his chin in thought. "That is…if he hasn't classified them all."

"Was this back when you were working for UNIT, Doctor?" Martha asked curiously.

"Amongst other times," the Doctor admitted. "I met him when I worked for UNIT, but we've had a long history since then." He turned to Sarah Jane and smiled. "Where is the Brig these days, anyway?"

"Happily retired and living at home, actually," she replied as she moved to her computer console. "I talked to him after Christmas as he was rather livid with you, Doctor."

"Me?" The Doctor asked innocently as he placed a hand to his chest. "What did I do?"

"Something about buzzing the Queen with a spaceship? He said the blokes at UNIT wouldn't stop calling him after that because they wanted to talk to you." She giggled to herself as she continued, Apparently you've become quite the terror around here when it comes to Christmas."

Martha looked at the Doctor with growing recognition in her eyes. "Of course…I should have known! All those people on the roofs…the draining of the Thames…who else could it have been? No wonder Mom decided to start visiting our cousins every Christmas…"

"But…now…it's not my fault!" the Doctor finally spluttered. "Every time I'm just travelling along, doing what I do…"

"Getting your nose into things…" Martha suggested.

"Attracting trouble…" Sarah Jane offered.

"And things just happen!" he finished as he shrugged his shoulders and slapped his hands to his sides. "Even more reason to talk to the Brigadier, though…I can offer my apologies." He smiled to himself. "I'll bet the old man enjoyed it, though…I never thought retirement would suit a career soldier like him."

"One way to find out," Sarah Jane said. "Mr. Smith…would you please call the Brig for me?"

"Command received, Sarah Jane…issuing call now."

The Doctor shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet excitedly. He hadn't seen Brigadier Alistair-Lethbridge Stewart since…since… Rassilon, was it that long ago? Their friendship had lasted from his third incarnation to his seventh before he lost track of him, and he's owed those lives to his quick and decisive thinking more than once.

The Doctor was brought out of his reverie when the large monitor screen in front of Sarah Jane flashed to life and a slightly disheveled older man in his 70s sat down at his desk in a huff while he pulled off some dirty gardening gloves.

"Sarah Jane Smith, while I have been quite forgiving of your many and repeated requests for Top Secret UNIT information from me in the past, I have to issue a formal protest that you give an old man his peace after he's retired," he said gruffly as he found his glasses on the desk and settled them on his nose with a squint at the screen.

Sarah Jane smiled with affection at the Brigadier. "You and I both know that you'll always be a soldier at heart, Alistair, even if you have to do it from home these days. Besides… an old friend of ours really wanted to say hello."

"And I know how you get when I inevitably land on your roses, Brigadier," the Doctor piped in with a grin. "I thought I'd give the poor things a break, especially since it looks like you've been working on them lately," he said with a nod at the gloves on the desk.

Alistair's eyebrow shot up in curiosity as he took a longer look at the tall grinning man standing beside Sarah Jane before glancing at the as yet unknown and rather striking dark skinned girl standing to his other side. She looks strangely familiar… With typical British aplomb he sat back in his chair and took off his glasses to clean them with a handkerchief. "Orchids actually, Doctor. I transplanted the roses into another section of the garden years ago… but I appreciate that at least now you finally show some concern for them." He put his glasses back on and gazed at the Doctor. "You seem to have an uncanny ability to get younger every time I see you, Doctor."

The Doctor ran a hand through his already spiky hair and smiled with chagrin. "Blessed with good genes, I guess."

Tight ones, too

He quickly glanced back at Martha, who cleared her throat and looked anywhere but at him as she tried her best to cover the fact that she was appreciating his backside. He turned back to the Brigadier and cleared his throat before continuing, "But no worries, Brigadier…while the outward appearance may be getting younger, the man inside is much older and wiser than he used to be."

"The energy of youth combined with the wisdom of age? Quite the enviable combination, Doctor."

"You'll find out soon enough…" the Doctor muttered.

"Unfortunately your manners still suffer… you haven't even introduced the young lady standing so patiently behind you," said the Brigadier as he gestured behind towards Martha.

With an embarrassed smile he turned back to see Martha grinning at him with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow like the cat who's cornered a mouse. I'll get you for this one later…

The Doctor swallowed before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her gently to his side. "Forgive me, Alistair… may I introduce you to my Companion, the lovely and brilliant Doctor Martha Jones. I've lost track of all the times she's saved my life… I don't know what I'd do without her."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Martha said with a smile as she stepped closer to the screen. "I've read about some of your encounters with the Doctor in the past and have been quite impressed with how you handled things."

The Brigadier let out a "hrumph" as he sat back and smiled slightly. "Getting into UNIT files again, Doctor? My actions were nothing less than expected of a soldier in Her Majesty's Army, Ms. Jones… but I do appreciate the comment; I believe that if I read the same of you I would feel the same way." Martha smiled in pleasure as she stepped back to join the Doctor at his side.

"But enough of these pleasantries, Doctor. You and I both know that you don't show up for social visits, and when you and Sarah Jane are together trouble is not far behind… so let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?" He crossed his arms on the desk and leaned in towards the monitor.

"Yes, sir!" the Doctor said with a grin as he raised a finger to his temple in a salute.

"We were actually wondering if you knew anything about Harry Sullivan, Allstair," Sarah Jane said hopefully as she sat down in her computer chair. "He's been making some mysterious phone calls to everyone that seems to have had any exposure to the Doctor or Chronoton energy. I lost track of him a few years after that whole Loch Ness debacle, so we were wondering if you had any leads?"

"Hmmn…Harry Sullivan, eh? Now there's a name I haven't heard in years…" the Brigadier took off his glasses in thought as he rubbed his chin.

"If I recall my 5th incarnation correctly, you once told me that he was doing something 'hush-hush' at Porton Down?" the Doctor asked, hoping to stir the Brigadier's memory.

"Porton Down?" exclaimed Sarah Jane as she looked up at the Doctor in surprise and disappointment. "Oh if I'd only known that Harry went to work for them…I can't even imagine how many stories I might have gotten a hold of!"

"What's going on there?" asked Martha as she moved closer to Sarah Jane.

"Nothing that any of you have clearance to know about, assuredly," answered the Brigadier.

"It's like…" Sarah Jane thought for a moment on how best to describe one of the most secretive government groups in England. "I know…it's like Area 51. You've heard of that, right?"

"You mean the place in America where they study the aliens that aren't supposed to exist?" Martha asked wide-eyed. "Are they like Torchwood?" she added in a whisper.

"Nah…Porton Down is strictly military, Martha… no social outcasts and deviants working there… at least that I've met, anyway," the Doctor answered with a lopsided grin as he scratched his head.

"That is all beside the point now Doctor, and nothing you need to get involved with Sarah Jane Smith," he added with emphasis as he pointed to the investigative reporter doing her best to look innocent. "While you were gone doing who knows what back in the 1990s, Doctor, Harry Sullivan was appointed Deputy Director of MI5."

Wow…" whispered Martha as Sarah Jane sat back in her chair in shock and the Doctor's jaw dropped in surprise.

"That bastard…why didn't he tell me?" muttered Sarah Jane.

"Excuse me?" asked the Doctor as he leaned toward the screen and cupped his ear. "My old age must be getting to my hearing…did you just say what I thought you just said? Harry Sullivan is a…spy? He never had a devious bone in his body!"

Martha looked at the Doctor sadly. I'm sure I'm not the first companion who's changed after meeting you, Doctor…you're like a force of nature leaving nothing the same after you pass through our lives. Suddenly Martha could feel her cell phone vibrate against her hip and she stepped away from the Doctor to flip it open. "Mom?" she asked quietly as she held it to her ear. "I'm kind of busy…what's up?"

"Harry Sullivan is an excellent example of a British soldier, Doctor… and like the rest of us, when he is required to perform certain duties, he does it with zeal and skill," replied the Brigadier stoically. "And that is where my knowledge of his whereabouts ends." Sarah Jane raised her hand and opened her mouth to speak before the Brigadier cut her off. "No, Sarah Jane… I'm not hiding anything this time… I actually do not know where he went off to next. When I was commander of UNIT I may have been able to get information from MI5, but even then it was like pulling teeth. Now, you are fortunate that I even know that's where he went."

The Doctor raised his hand and opened his mouth to speak this time, the Brigadier sighing before continuing again, "No, Doctor…I'm not going to call in favors, either. It seems to me that if Harry Sullivan is questioning people that ever had encounters with you, he's bound to get to you eventually."

The Doctor closed his mouth with an audible "pop" and dropped his hand. "You know…you've got a point there."

"Indeed, Doctor…I've had many in my life," the Brigadier replied drolly.

The Doctor smiled and was about to reply when he realized Martha was having a conversation of her own behind him.

"Slow down, Mom… what people were asking about the Doctor?"