Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story yada yada yada, I don't own the series Dr Who, yada yada yada. Etc etc unlimited rice pudding (hehe, neither do I own that quote)!
The Doctor was about to walk off into the room with the rest of the experts to hold the meeting, as he said goodbye to Rose and she was lead off by Harriet Jones he heard a familiar, if slightly aged, voice from the Lobby. "Now look here young man, I am an ex-officer of U.N.I.T of good standing and should be here now let me pass!" He recognised that voice, the Brigadier!
The Doctor couldn't believe it; the Brigadier was here. He remembered that the Brigadier had in fact retired and was (as hard as it was to believe) a civilian, but he would always be the Brigadier to him. He walked out into the lobby to see his old friend, surprised and disappointed to see a very old man in a wheelchair, being pushed by a young lady of about eighteen.
"B- Brigadier?" He asked, his voice quavering.
"Yes?" Replied one of the officers standing in the hall.
"No not you the other one." He snapped. The old man turned round and looked at him from under his immaculate but slightly drooping eyebrows.
"Do I know you young man?" He asks; patience slightly stretched by bandying words with the soldier on duty. The Doctor sees his face and remembers that after retirement the Brigadier had trimmed and then shaved off his immaculate moustache that he was famous for in his U.N.I.T days.
"Lethbridge-Stewart! Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, how are you, you old warhorse?" The Doctor exclaims.
The Brigadier's eyes widen, as he looks the Doctor up and down. "Can it be?" He asks hoarsely. "Doctor? You've changed again."
"Yes, I have, many times." You look like you could do with a regeneration or two yourself Brigadier." The Doctor says jovially.
"Ah I'm not that old, put me up against a Cyberman or one of those dratted caterpillars again and I'll, I'll, ah what's the use? The military's got no use for an old cripple like me anymore; this warhorse is due at the Knackers yard. I haven't been the same since the business with that Le'Fay woman." He seems to deflate in his chair; his normally rigid body slumping into the recesses of his wheelchair. This once stiff upper lipped and upstanding officer finally looks beaten by the long years of his retirement. The Doctor looks embarrassed, looking around awkwardly, trying to think of anything to say.
"So, um, how's Doris?" He tries, grasping for the first thing that comes to mind.
"She's dead Doctor. She died several years ago. Oh I forgot; you haven't met my daughter have you?" He asks. "Susan meet The Doctor. Smith; the Doctor, John Smith if I remember rightly. Eh Doctor?" He laughs slightly, and smiles at the memories of his old command. The Doctor's face falls however as he thinks he has caused painful old memories to come back but cheers up again when his old friend breaks into a regulation Brigaderial laugh.
"How do you do Miss Lethbridge-Stewart? I've been a friend of your Father's for quite some, time." He pauses slightly before saying the last word, and winks at the Brigadier who chuckles slightly.
"Very pleased to meet you, I'm afraid Father hasn't mentioned you though." She looks accusatorily at the Brigadier. The Doctor looks crestfallen.
"Queen and Country Doctor." The brigadier reminds him. "Can't go around telling everyone that you're good friends with a man from outer space can you? Ah it really has been too long, but I was determined not to join Doris till I'd said goodbye to my old friends from my U.N.I.T days. Miss Gra- Mrs Jones is living happily with the Professor on their farm, with Nancy still looking after them both; they're till eating fungus, apparently he never did get his "New Hybrid" right though. Miss Shaw is now Mrs Crowley and a professor at Cambridge on Astral Physics, Harry Sullivan is a Navy Consultant for the BBC's science fiction department, he says it isn't as good as the real thing, but it's safer than messing with Daleks or Sontarans. I've rather lost contact with Miss Smith but I believe that she is still a reporter somewhere in London." He pauses, trying to remember details long forgotten. "Yates is living in his cottage after that ordeal with the Spiders in that centre, Benton is still selling the same cars he was all those years ago when we last met and Bell has moved to the regulars out in Iraq, apparently it's a quieter life than in U.N.I.T. It's moved on without us old Dinosaur's from the beginning, life's not as exciting as it used to be."
Suddenly the sounds of screams come from the conference room and the Doctor spins around then turns back to his old friend.
"Go on." The Brigadier says. "Go and save the world Doctor, I'll still be here when you come back."
When he came back from listening to the Prime Minister and General's stories of alien incursion the Brigadier had passed away peacefully in his chair, a contented smile upon his face.
"He had said his last goodbye." Susan explained, as the Doctor looked at her with tear filled eyes.