Graham was sat looking at the Doctor pleadingly.
She bit her lip then shook her head.
"But Why?"
She pushed her hand through her hair!
"You know why Graham, people who travel with me.."
Suddenly there was a light flashing and an alarm beeping on the console! She skidded around the other side away from Graham muttering "No, No, ... " as the TARDIS took off without the Doctor touching anything!
"This is a prime example of why you can't travel with me!"
The TARDIS landed in a wood several hundred yards from a large imposing Hall.
The Doctor looked around and suddenly a Gladstone bag appeared and the Doctors clothes had changed into a dark, sombre, skirt suit!
Graham blinked.
"Thanks old girl, don't worry, I'll make sure he's safe!"
Graham looked quizzically at the Doctor, "She has a bit of a thing for him, never known her do it before, but I suppose we all..."
"Who, Doctor?"
But the Doctor was already running through the door and down the slope of the hill towards a wooden office building of some sort!
She had her sonic screwdriver out undoing the lock!
Graham came panting up just as the lock clicked open.
The Doctor put her finger to her lips and knocked gently on the door.
"Mr Lethbridge-Stewart? Brigadier? Are you their, it's Doctor Smith!"
She pushed the door open and stepped into the musty room, that had the curtains roughly pulled shut with just a crack of light coming in from the slight gap between them. The place was untidy, dirty cups littered the tables, photo's and files were scattered around the room. There was a smell of whisky, a bottle and glass lay broken on the floor.
A case that had held medals and a box, that had obviously contained a gun, were thrown open! The medals were scatted on the floor but there was no sign of the gun!
The Doctor was looking around frantically.
"Oh Alistair were are you?" the Doctor was muttering!
Graham heard a slight noise in the darkest corner. He turned to see a tall man in pyjamas sat huddled on the floor, his eyes transfixed on the barrel of the gun he held, that was pointing towards his face.
Graham touched the Doctors shoulder. She turned and saw the man.
Graham grabbed her arm to steady her.
"Alistair," the Doctor said trying to make her voice sound casual, "It's me, Doctor Smith! I thought I may be able to help!"
The man on the floor didn't even seem to register their presence. He was just staring down the barrel of the gun. A gun that seemed to Graham to be very large indeed.
"Christ, Doc what's wrong with him? Should I ring for the police or someone?"
The Doctor shook her head!
They heard the man in the corner speak, "The police can't help, bullets won't stop them! It's useless can't kill them. There all dead, all of them! Only one way to escape! Don't want to be ripped apart!"
"Can't stop who? Who are all dead?" Graham asked confused.
"The Yeti," the Doctor, muttered, "bullets won't stop the Yeti and all his men are dead!"
Graham looked at the Doctor horrified.
"But you did stop them Colonel, you stopped the Yeti, you stopped the Cybermen, the...
"NO!" the man on the floor yelled!
They heard the gun click to the cocked position!
"Alistair, please, we need your help? Kate needs your help!"
""Kate?"
"Yes, Kate!"
"Haven't seen Kate in years, her Mum took her away! She doesn't even know who I am!"
"You're wrong, Alistair, she's been trying to find you!"
"Better off without me, or they will get her, kill her as well! I got them all killed!"
"No, no you saved everyone, you started UNIT, you stopped Vaughn and the Cybermen, you stopped the Autons, the Silurians, the Master and the Daleks!"
He was shaking his head, I don't remember, just these monsters... in my dreams. I want to stop the monsters. They are just in my head!"
"No they're not!" Graham said. "I've seen them too! Big silver robots, the Master, a nasty snide piece of work, he tried to kill my friends!"
The man on the floor was looking at Graham puzzled, "Were you in the army then? At Covent Garden? Did you serve under me?"
"No, I was just a bus driver!"
"Did you see the Yeti?"
"No... but I've heard stories! From colleagues!"
The man's pain filled eyes turned to Graham. Who licked his lips and felt oddly nervous under the scrutiny of those pain filled eyes.
"I had to clear it all up, hundreds of bodies to be removed! I had to bury my men, my friends.. Old Spence... a tear ran down his cheek. Then there were all the alien artefacts to be made safe and taken away. Then everyone to get back home. Eight million people! He's never here to help sort it all out! Runs off in that... "
He shook his head!
"No, that's just.. part of the dream.. I.."
Graham heard the Doctor stifle a sob!
The man frowned and seemed to be trying to focus on something.
"Kate, you said something about Kate!"
"Yes, she's going to need your help soon!"
The Doctor moved slowly towards the man, knelt down next to him and gently pushed the gun so it pointed towards the wall away from him. She then carefully placed her hand over his, set the hammer back from the cocked position and removed the gun from his hand. She engaged the safety and passed it to Graham who flinched at it's weight.
She pushed his hair back out of his eyes, and smiled sadly at him.
He looked up at her quizzically, "I know you, ... don't I?"
She nodded, "We're friends Alistair, you are probably the best friend I ever had!"
He looked puzzled then she placed her hand on his head and said "Forget!"
He was now frowning at her, "Err.. I know you, don't I?"
"I'm Doctor Smith, Mr Lethbridge-Stewart, Inspector O'Brien here called me in, it appears you disturbed an intruder, who was trying to steal your medals."
The Brigadier staggered to his feet, "My gun, I..."
Graham held it up, "I found it on the floor, Sir, you must have lost it in the struggle! Luckily I was in the area and got here without delay! Saw the guy running off empty handed!"
Alistair blinked and the Doctor helped him over to the couch. On the pretext of looking at the cut on his head she held his temples between her hands and said "Sleep!"
Instantly he slumped back, she made him comfortable and collected his dressing gown to drape over him.
She stroked his face gently and stifled a sob!
"Can't you do more for him?" Graham asked.
Angrily she shook her head and started to tidy the room up.
Graham knelt down and picked up the medals. "My Grandad had a load of medals. My Dad and me looked them all up to find out what..."
He was staring at the cluster of medals he was holding!
"Christ, that's the D.S.O., and a V.C. ... with bar! Is that the Cross of St Michael and St George? Bloody hell, Doctor, who is this guy, if he earned all these, he's a regular hero!
"He's Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart," the Doctor said as she started tidying away cups, " and yes, he's a hero! He's the man who stopped this stupid ball of rock being destroyed countless times!"
"How come, I've never heard of him, how come he's living in this dump and in this state?"
She slumped down on a chair and sat looking at the man on the couch.
"You've never heard of him because he was so good at his job, he doesn't have an ounce of ego and his masters in Whitehall are so good at sweeping everything under the carpet! I think that's the right phrase!"
She glanced at Graham who nodded, as he reverentially laid the cluster of medals in the cabinet and closed it. He came and sat next to the Doctor.
"She glanced up at him. He's here because, because he's my best friend, and unfortunately I messed up his career, because I was an outspoken, arrogant pain in the neck who alienated all the authority figures with my condescending know it all attitude!"
"What, you Doc, never!" Graham said in exaggerated mock surprise!
She shot him a weak grin that only went as far as her mouth!
"But, why is he in this state, ready to blow his brains out!" He spoke without thinking.
Then muttered, "Sorry!" as he saw her pull her legs up, curl herself into a ball on the chair, and start rocking back and forth hugging her knees. Then she suddenly stood up and hunkered down next to the man on the couch and stroked his face!
"He's in this state because I got him seriously injured, then I... I dumped him back here ran off and left him for six years with a brain injury! An injury he got saving my life!"
Graham was frowning at her, "So why can't you help him? Go back and change things?"
"Because, it's a time paradox, if I change any part of it, the web of time will fall apart! This guy is a pivotal part of this stupid little planets time line. This wonderful, blustering, brave, kind hearted, dedicated, fool, is the only thing holding this stupid little planet of yours together!"
She saw Graham blink!
"Hard to believe isn't it? And if I told him that, he shake his head and tell me not to be a fool, because he's just an old soldier!"
She planted a kiss on his temple, and finished tidying the room.
She picked the gun up unloaded it and locked it back in it's box and placed it in a steel cabinet that she locked with her sonic screwdriver.
"Wouldn't it be better to take that with us!"
"She shook her head, he'll need it in a few years to shoot the Destroyer of Worlds!"
Graham looked surprised!
"Oh, things do improve for him, this is just a... a period of life he has to get through, and it's my responsibility to make sure he survives it!"
"But if,..."
"Time isn't written in stone Graham, it can be changed and not always for the better! The secret is to know what can be changed and what can't, no matter how much you want to change it!"
Graham nodded.
"So I come, help him over the crisis, help him forget for a while, then leave it to the TARDIS to monitor him. She's a little bit in love with him, you know!"
Graham blinked, "The TARDIS?"
She nodded, "Mind you," she said picking up a photo of the younger Brigadier in uniform outside Buckingham palace , "I can't say I blame her!"
"Come on!" she said as the man on the couch started to become restless!
"And this isn't the worst that can happen! I've got companions killed, got them stranded in different dimensions, driven them completely mad! And I can't do anything to help them, not without unravelling time itself!"
As they arrived back at Graham's he asked, "So do you know what will happen to me?"
"No, I haven't checked ... I.. I just know you don't travel with me past today!"
"So whatever's coming for me I have to live through, or not!" he said quietly.
The Doctor hugged him, then strode back into the TARDIS and crying threw the switches.
Graham watched the TARDIS leave and picked up the letter from the hospital, radiotherapy would be starting tomorrow at 11.00. He glanced at Graces photo. Just as Ryan came in.
"Right, got it sorted, Jake is going to run us to the hospital, he's picking us up at 10!"
"Thanks lad!"
Ryan squeezed his shoulder "That's what family is all about, being there for each other! You want a cup of tea?"
Graham nodded, he looked at Graces photo and smiled. Then headed into the kitchen.