The world had been slowly waking up when Bastian's car stopped in front of the cottage that was supposed to be the Doctor's home from now on. Reluctantly, the Doctor opened the car door and put his feet on the ground.
The idea of moving out hadn't appealed to him even for a moment, but now when the cold morning air touched his skin, he was desperate to turn around and go back to the warmth of the manor and Clara.
Deep down however, he knew he had no choice.
With each day they had gotten closer to a line neither of them should cross. He had almost crossed it last afternoon. It was out of anger, he tried to convince himself, nonetheless even this excuse didn't help him to feel any better. He needed a change. They both needed it.
So he waited in silence for Bastian to open the car trunk. Once the luggage rested next to his feet, he shook the man's hand in the universal sign of gratefulness, then grabbed the heavy suitcases and started to head off in direction of the main door.
He stopped for a moment in front of the open doors almost paralysed.
As the coldness of the place struck him, his courage left him again that night.
For a while, he stared miserably at the hallway sinking in the dark. The dancing shadow of a tree on one of the walls seemed to shyly invite him inside, but he didn't dare to. The way between the threshold and the rest of the house was guarded by stairs seemingly looking at him contemptuously.
After a minute or two, he ignored the stoic warden and carefully took the first step.
Before long, he was in the safe living room warming up by the light of a telly as he sat on a red cotton couch with remote control in his hand. He couldn't find anything other than television news, but he didn't mind it much. A nicely dressed anchorwoman was talking to him from the screen and it was all that mattered.
-Two weeks later-
The morning of June 1st was an unusual day for the Doctor. That morning he got himself ready to go to an important meeting with representatives of the Brazilian Ministry of Defence. The organization that was about the access the site where the Luas resided. Yes- resided. They had finally tracked them down.
The milestone had come two weeks ago when Nicole, Bastian's wife, shared with him the weird readings the devices in her clinic in Marabá, Brazil recorded. It took less than a week to confirm it was indeed the Luas; yet almost eight days later they were still in France and not even sure when they would start working on capturing them. And it was all because of one person – Mr. Juan Santos, the Minister of Defence who considered UNIT a threat and didn't want to allow their mission on the territory of Brazil.
Despite the fuss around the visit of official it was a rather peaceful, if not lazy, morning. Just like every other day, he started it with a bowl of cereal in front of the television in the living room. Luckily for him, the owner and his wife hadn't seen his feet on the coffee table or the crumbs from meals stuck in every corner of the sofa. He would be dead if they did.
It was half past eight when he was finally ready to go. They didn't need to drive him everywhere as they had at the beginning of his stay in France. Of course they were always willing to do so and even insisted upon him to agree, but he never let them. Ever since he moved to the cottage, he was always his own chauffeur, driving around the town in a nice Talbot Avenger.
The clock in the car showed nine in the morning when he arrived to the headquarters of UNIT in Brest. He didn't mind Paris, but it was nice that for a change they chose a place that was suitable for him. Hurriedly, he reached for a briefcase lying on the passenger seat and left the car.
Bastian was already there when he approached the building. He stood before the entrance, smoking a cigarette with pure contentment etched on his face.
"Shouldn't you be terrified or something?" The Doctor asked sarcastically as he stopped next to the man.
"I was before. Now I'm trying not to screw everything up. Can't believe local government doesn't want to let us in," Bastian said and passed the Doctor the box with cigarettes inside. "Have you told her already?" The Doctor shook his head.
"Don't want to nag, but you really should. This thing with the Brazilian government can be sorted out anytime now. Give her some time to prepare for the possibility that you don't have much time left," Bastian said with a note of concern in his voice.
"I haven't heard a word from her in almost two weeks. I doubt she wants to have anything to do with me in the first place," the Doctor snorted as they entered the building.
The room in which the meeting was organised appeared very cold to the Doctor when they first went inside. Blue-painted walls were decorated here and there with black and white photographs that didn't help to warm up the room even a bit.
"Can we start now that everyone is here?" Brig asked the officials seating by his both sides. The Doctor couldn't express how happy he was to have his old friend with him today – the only familiar face in the crowd. There was, of course, Bastian, but the man's actions were only making him more scared than he already was.
The Doctor stood in the corner of the room and watched Bastian set up their shared presentation. It took a while before his trembling hands finally found the right buttons, but they did.
"On May 11th some unexplainable activity in the Amazonian jungle was observed." The man started a story that the Doctor had heard a hundred times over the last few days. They had it practiced well and nothing could go wrong.
"Changes in the electromagnetic field and rises in temperature were recorded by devices around the globe. Our experts first suggested these anomalies could have been caused by the landing of alien ships. Then agents working in the field in the area took these photos," he said showing pictures of strange looking creatures.
"Very interesting. But can't our soldiers check it first," a man, who the Doctor thought was the Minister of Defence, said.
"No, because you have no idea what you're dealing with," the Doctor explained calmly to the man, in spirit hoping that the pudding brain in front of him would stop his silly questions. "As my friends from UNIT explained to you, those creatures are technically immortal. Hurting them will only make them look for prey to regain lost energy. You need professionals."
"My soldiers know these woods like no one else. They are fearless and strong. Tell me why should I leave it to you?"
"Well, Mr Santos, I thought you and me were on the same side: making the world safer and better place," he answered.
"A better place you say? How is it going to help if you want me to allow the penetration of a foreign army into the territory I'm responsible for?"
"It's only a few people. You need our help," the Doctor said through clenched teeth. "Those creatures are very dangerous."
"I doubt they are. They've been in Brazil for about three weeks now and haven't attacked anyone yet. I have a strange feeling there is something you don't want to mention. "
"It's going to happen if you won't let us help," Bastian pointed out.
Hearing his words, the man only chuckled.
"Do we own some sort of treasure you want to get your hands on?"
"I assure you the threat is real," the Brig supported them.
"Is it? Some readings from devices that haven't been validated by anyone other than you. And all these fancy photos. People take photos of mermaids and yeti each day, still I don't believe in them. You claim that they're dangerous, but how can I know they're there in the first place?"
"According to our knowledge-"Bastian started but was brutally cut off.
"As you said to your knowledge. Yours- not mine," the man said coldly and took a loud sip of his coffee.
The Doctor had to bite his tongue each time the man was about to speak again. He had thought he had seen everything, but the level of ignorance this man showed was driving him insane.
"It's not just us. Governments of the United Kingdom and France are aware of their activity too," he answered as calmly as he could.
"As far as I recall, the Brigadier is a representative of the British government, isn't he?" The guest asked and the Brig nodded. "It's quite convenient. Great Britain and France, and representatives of both countries are here today. It's a terrific coincidence I must admit." The man was digging further and the Doctor only sighed. Any argument they had prepared for today was questioned without trouble.
Anger boiled in his veins and with every minute it was becoming more and more unbearable to be ignored.
"Go, go back to your home. Be killed, or worse send others to death and carry that pain for the rest of your life," the Doctor rasped. "Maybe we indeed lied. Maybe there is not threat. But what if we didn't and you ignored our warning? Would you be able to look in the mirror, knowing you could have done something but didn't?"
"I'm the only person who was able to beat those creatures, but why would you trust me? Maybe there is no threat at all,' he directed to the man and left the room.
Later that day, when the sun was already disappearing behind the horizon the phone in the Doctor's house rang. He got himself up from his seat in front of the telly and went to the hallway where the device hung from the wall. He took the phone from the hook and listened.
"Santos agreed; we're flying to Brazil the day after tomorrow. You, me, and four other people," Bastian's intoned over the phone.
