Fic: Missing Scenes
As promised - missing scenes from my UNIT series. (Look, two people asked, okay...)
Lonely House ended up with lots of missing scenes, just because I finished Strange Weapons and wrote and wrote and wrote Tilly and Nat at UNIT. Most of it ended up in Lonely House, some of it couldn't because it happened after Nov 1985 and this section started becoming too complicated to work as a flashback, but it was one of the first things I wrote (Angela Morris was still being called Nurse Allison, so i can tell. ;-D) And I managed to get a couple phrases from it in elsewhere.
***
September 1985
“It’s fascinating,” said Nat, examining the coloured lump of rock closely. “It doesn’t look that unusual, but it doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve ever come across. I think it’s sort of humming.”
Tilly put down her mug of tea. “Doesn’t that mean we ought to put it in a glass case and look at it from a safe distance?”
“It’s not dangerous,” he said. “Just strange and anyway, this is what we’re here for.”
“No, it isn’t. It -.” Then she stopped with a passing frown and dropped to the floor without sound or warning.
Nat abandoned the alien artefact hastily, getting up from the stool to cross round to her and found that the movement made him dizzy. It was an effort to reach her. He needed to get to the phone, he thought, or check the tea - there must have been something in it, but it was impossible to get back to his feet. He shook his head, but it didn’t help and, despite himself, he couldn’t stay awake.
*
He opened his eyes later, confused as to where he was. He sat up cautiously and found that his head ached and his mouth was dry. He remembered then and turned, a little too quickly, to see if Tilly was still there.
She was. He swallowed in relief and got to his knees, reaching out a hand to her. “Tilly. Tilly!”
She didn’t stir, but he could see that she was breathing at least. He shook himself, still feeling muzzy himself, but a little more alive. He had better get help. He took a deep breath and then got to his feet, catching at the workbench to steady himself. As he did so, he realised that the alien object had gone. That must have been what they were after.
“Everything all right in here?”
He turned his head to see Kennedy at the door, finding that he couldn’t quite manage to let go of his support just yet.
“Webber?”
He said, “No, we’re not. Someone - I suppose someone must have drugged us - and they’ve taken the artefact. And I can’t wake Tilly.”
“Why didn’t you say?” he said, moving across in one swift stride.
Nat grimaced. “I’ve only just come round myself. Where was everyone else while we were lying here for goodness knows how long? Someone must have happily walked in and helped themselves. We’re only lucky they didn’t do anything worse.”
“There were a group of creatures up the other end of the grounds,” he said. “Kept us all busy for quite a while - I suppose they must have been a distraction. You okay? Can you walk?”
He nodded.
“Then I’ll take Tilly to sickbay and you’d better come with me. We ought to get Sister to check both of you over.”
Nat watched as he picked Tilly up off the floor, with a visible effort. “I don’t like that she hasn’t come round yet.”
“Oh, it’s only more Tilly-dramatics,” he said shortly, heading for the door.
He followed after, wanting to give him a hand, seeing that he was struggling with the dead weight in his arms, but he was only slowly becoming steadier. “Probably. She’s nothing but a liability.”
“And,” grunted Kennedy as they neared sickbay, “we’ve been feeding her too much. Better starve her for a bit if this sort of thing is going to happen again.”
*
Angela Morris, UNIT’s nurse, opened the door for them. She was used to dealing with sudden and strange infections, burns from alien guns and barely blinked at the arrival of the two with an unconscious Tilly.
“Well, what this time?” she asked.
Kennedy put her down on the couch gratefully. “I don’t know.”
“It was the tea,” said Nat, beginning to feel more awake now.
The Sergeant turned. “The tea? You sure?”
“Well, we both had some and keeled over right after,” he returned. “I don’t know what else it was. I’m sorry - I wasn’t thinking straight. I’d better get one of the mugs.”
“That’s impossible.”
Nat shook his head at him and then at a glare from Angela, hurried out of the door. He ran back down the corridor, into the lab and found that both cups were still there, to his relief. He reached out for one and then had to catch at the workbench again, dizzy.
That was stupid, he thought.
“You all right?” asked Kennedy, who must have followed him.
He grinned, able to stand up again. “Yes. Just forgot myself then. Anyway, what d’you mean, that’s impossible?”
“Well, I made it,” he said. “Tilly was there, watching. And I can tell you now that I didn’t put anything out of the ordinary in it.”
He rubbed his forehead and frowned back at the half empty mugs. “I’ll take this to Angela and we’ll see. I don’t think it can have been anything else and we need to find out.”
*
“Still no change?” Nat asked Angela, later.
She shook her head, but then smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Dr Webber. She doesn’t seem to be in any danger and I’m keeping a close eye on her. The Colonel wanted to see you, by the way.”
“Where is he?”
“In the kitchen with the Sergeant.”
*
The Colonel had a frown etched onto his forehead. “So you made up the tea, and where was Miss Holmes?”
“She was standing to that side, there, waiting to take them back to the lab.”
“Looking at the tea bags,” finished Nat for him. “All the inventions of the past ninety years or so and nothing fascinates her like tea bags. Am I right?”
“More or less.”
The Colonel shifted from the doorway. “Hmm. Better check the milk and sugar, but I suppose we have to assume that the most likely opportunity was somewhere between here and the lab, if she put them down - and we can’t know that until she recovers.”
“Yes.” Nat found he was playing with the tin of tea bags himself and pushed it away. “Colonel, it couldn’t have been one of the aliens.”
“I’m aware of the implications, Dr Webber,” he said. “I think we had better wait until Miss Holmes wakes up. Kennedy, ask Robinson to keep an eye on sickbay, just to be on the safe side.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nat said, “Shall I go back there as well? In the circumstances -.”
“Maybe we’d be better keeping it between us,” said Kennedy. “Sir.”
The Colonel glanced from one to the other. “For one thing, Kennedy, that was an order; for another, Dr Webber, you have other work to be doing - including taking a look at that sugar, if you don’t mind. After that I’ve something a little more important I need your opinion of.”
“Of course,” said Nat, “but -.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If you want to be logical, then, as far as I know, you two had the best opportunity to do this, aside from Miss Holmes herself.”
“And then drunk it, as well?” said Nat. “Thank you, Colonel.”
“We only have your word for that.”
Nat paused. “Are you still sure you want my opinion on anything, let alone trusting me with the sugar?”
“I’m merely pointing out the facts, Dr Webber. Robinson was the first to spot the aliens and came to fetch me, so I can vouch for him at least. You’re not suspecting him, are you?”
“Of course not.”
The Colonel said, “Good. Then let’s get on with it and not waste time in idle speculation when we will be able to ask Miss Holmes for an explanation very shortly, I’ve no doubt.”
[….]
*
Despite following on, this was the last missing scene I wrote, but in the end I cut out all of Nat's backstory, simply because it would look like a massive red herring in a UNIT context. But, both of these scenes get referenced in Stardust. Because in my head it's just one big long messy novel thing and all these things still happened. I know I probably need help, but, erm, this is my self-help thing.
***
“I came as soon as I received your message, Crichton,” said Mr Argyle, arriving only after everything was over. “Terrible business, but I fancy it won’t take too long to flush out your traitor.” His gaze strayed towards Nat. “You know my feelings on a certain matter.”
The Colonel paused. “If you wish to make an accusation, I suggest make yourself plain.”
“No, no,” he said, “but, as I told you when you overrode me initially, there’s a history there - unreliable at the least… I’m not accusing anyone. If you want to, however -.”
Crichton said, “History is the word, sir. I don’t think what happened in the Sixties has any bearing on this matter. In fact, I’m satisfied that we’ve got to the bottom of the affair.”
“Well, it’s your funeral,” the civil servant said. “Is there anything on which you actually do require my advice, or have I wasted a journey?”
He ushered him towards the door. “No, of course not. I have my report and there are a couple other matters that have cropped up, if you’ll come this way, sir.”
They exited and Kennedy closed the door behind them. “What was that about?” Then he grinned. “Protestor in your student days, were you?”
Nat raised an eyebrow at him. “There’s no hope for your maths, Kennedy. No. Only a very old and unfunny joke, that’s all.”
“Okay,” said Kennedy. “In that case, what the hell did you get up to at school?”
Nat shrugged. “The usual. He’s just an officious idiot and evidently the Colonel knows all about it. You can ask him if you want to know.”
“Well, if you want to be like that, fine,” said the Sergeant, opening the door and making his exit. “I’d best get on with things.”
Nat lifted his head and found Tilly watching him. “Don’t you start asking, either. It’s got nothing to do with UNIT and I’d rather concentrate on finally making some sort of sense out of this, now we’ve got it back.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said with a smile. “I know we need to get this finished first. And, anyway, I suppose it must have something to do with your Dad. You can tell me another time.”
He gave a slight laugh, unable to help it. “You’re uncanny.”
“Finish that first,” she said, with a nod towards the artefact. “And I don’t like being called names like that.”
*
“You said,” she told him later. “When I asked you about your family, you said he died about then. It was clear as anything there was more, but I wouldn’t go round prying into things you don’t want to say.”
He smiled. “Thanks. Yes, you’re right. The thing is, it’s true; he died in 1968, but they didn’t actually find a body. They never have, although we’ve had a few false alarms. It happens, even in this day and age. Trouble is, idiots like Argyle always think it doesn’t. And because he was a scientist, too - well, more or less - people come up with crazy explanations we could all live without. As if the Russians or whoever would pay anything to know about levels of rainfall in the wetlands.”
“Oh,” said Tilly.
Nat paused, catching her expression. “Did any of that make sense?”
“The first bit,” she said, colouring. “What did you all do, with him gone?”
He shrugged. “Well, Kate and I were a bit young to worry about the practicalities and Mum always said he was dead, after the first few days when he didn’t turn up anywhere. She moved us back to Nan’s and waited for the rest of the world to agree with her, which they did, in the end.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nat finished clearing away the equipment. “No, it’s just one of those things. Not like you. And before that - you lost your Mum, didn’t you?”
“I was a bit young to really remember her,” she said. “And she was ill for a long time before, but there was always Annie.”
“So, you see,” said Nat, “he’s an idiot, and that’s all there is to it.”
***
Lonely House ended up with lots of missing scenes, just because I finished Strange Weapons and wrote and wrote and wrote Tilly and Nat at UNIT. Most of it ended up in Lonely House, some of it couldn't because it happened after Nov 1985 and this section started becoming too complicated to work as a flashback, but it was one of the first things I wrote (Angela Morris was still being called Nurse Allison, so i can tell. ;-D) And I managed to get a couple phrases from it in elsewhere.
***
September 1985
“It’s fascinating,” said Nat, examining the coloured lump of rock closely. “It doesn’t look that unusual, but it doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve ever come across. I think it’s sort of humming.”
Tilly put down her mug of tea. “Doesn’t that mean we ought to put it in a glass case and look at it from a safe distance?”
“It’s not dangerous,” he said. “Just strange and anyway, this is what we’re here for.”
“No, it isn’t. It -.” Then she stopped with a passing frown and dropped to the floor without sound or warning.
Nat abandoned the alien artefact hastily, getting up from the stool to cross round to her and found that the movement made him dizzy. It was an effort to reach her. He needed to get to the phone, he thought, or check the tea - there must have been something in it, but it was impossible to get back to his feet. He shook his head, but it didn’t help and, despite himself, he couldn’t stay awake.
*
He opened his eyes later, confused as to where he was. He sat up cautiously and found that his head ached and his mouth was dry. He remembered then and turned, a little too quickly, to see if Tilly was still there.
She was. He swallowed in relief and got to his knees, reaching out a hand to her. “Tilly. Tilly!”
She didn’t stir, but he could see that she was breathing at least. He shook himself, still feeling muzzy himself, but a little more alive. He had better get help. He took a deep breath and then got to his feet, catching at the workbench to steady himself. As he did so, he realised that the alien object had gone. That must have been what they were after.
“Everything all right in here?”
He turned his head to see Kennedy at the door, finding that he couldn’t quite manage to let go of his support just yet.
“Webber?”
He said, “No, we’re not. Someone - I suppose someone must have drugged us - and they’ve taken the artefact. And I can’t wake Tilly.”
“Why didn’t you say?” he said, moving across in one swift stride.
Nat grimaced. “I’ve only just come round myself. Where was everyone else while we were lying here for goodness knows how long? Someone must have happily walked in and helped themselves. We’re only lucky they didn’t do anything worse.”
“There were a group of creatures up the other end of the grounds,” he said. “Kept us all busy for quite a while - I suppose they must have been a distraction. You okay? Can you walk?”
He nodded.
“Then I’ll take Tilly to sickbay and you’d better come with me. We ought to get Sister to check both of you over.”
Nat watched as he picked Tilly up off the floor, with a visible effort. “I don’t like that she hasn’t come round yet.”
“Oh, it’s only more Tilly-dramatics,” he said shortly, heading for the door.
He followed after, wanting to give him a hand, seeing that he was struggling with the dead weight in his arms, but he was only slowly becoming steadier. “Probably. She’s nothing but a liability.”
“And,” grunted Kennedy as they neared sickbay, “we’ve been feeding her too much. Better starve her for a bit if this sort of thing is going to happen again.”
*
Angela Morris, UNIT’s nurse, opened the door for them. She was used to dealing with sudden and strange infections, burns from alien guns and barely blinked at the arrival of the two with an unconscious Tilly.
“Well, what this time?” she asked.
Kennedy put her down on the couch gratefully. “I don’t know.”
“It was the tea,” said Nat, beginning to feel more awake now.
The Sergeant turned. “The tea? You sure?”
“Well, we both had some and keeled over right after,” he returned. “I don’t know what else it was. I’m sorry - I wasn’t thinking straight. I’d better get one of the mugs.”
“That’s impossible.”
Nat shook his head at him and then at a glare from Angela, hurried out of the door. He ran back down the corridor, into the lab and found that both cups were still there, to his relief. He reached out for one and then had to catch at the workbench again, dizzy.
That was stupid, he thought.
“You all right?” asked Kennedy, who must have followed him.
He grinned, able to stand up again. “Yes. Just forgot myself then. Anyway, what d’you mean, that’s impossible?”
“Well, I made it,” he said. “Tilly was there, watching. And I can tell you now that I didn’t put anything out of the ordinary in it.”
He rubbed his forehead and frowned back at the half empty mugs. “I’ll take this to Angela and we’ll see. I don’t think it can have been anything else and we need to find out.”
*
“Still no change?” Nat asked Angela, later.
She shook her head, but then smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Dr Webber. She doesn’t seem to be in any danger and I’m keeping a close eye on her. The Colonel wanted to see you, by the way.”
“Where is he?”
“In the kitchen with the Sergeant.”
*
The Colonel had a frown etched onto his forehead. “So you made up the tea, and where was Miss Holmes?”
“She was standing to that side, there, waiting to take them back to the lab.”
“Looking at the tea bags,” finished Nat for him. “All the inventions of the past ninety years or so and nothing fascinates her like tea bags. Am I right?”
“More or less.”
The Colonel shifted from the doorway. “Hmm. Better check the milk and sugar, but I suppose we have to assume that the most likely opportunity was somewhere between here and the lab, if she put them down - and we can’t know that until she recovers.”
“Yes.” Nat found he was playing with the tin of tea bags himself and pushed it away. “Colonel, it couldn’t have been one of the aliens.”
“I’m aware of the implications, Dr Webber,” he said. “I think we had better wait until Miss Holmes wakes up. Kennedy, ask Robinson to keep an eye on sickbay, just to be on the safe side.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nat said, “Shall I go back there as well? In the circumstances -.”
“Maybe we’d be better keeping it between us,” said Kennedy. “Sir.”
The Colonel glanced from one to the other. “For one thing, Kennedy, that was an order; for another, Dr Webber, you have other work to be doing - including taking a look at that sugar, if you don’t mind. After that I’ve something a little more important I need your opinion of.”
“Of course,” said Nat, “but -.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If you want to be logical, then, as far as I know, you two had the best opportunity to do this, aside from Miss Holmes herself.”
“And then drunk it, as well?” said Nat. “Thank you, Colonel.”
“We only have your word for that.”
Nat paused. “Are you still sure you want my opinion on anything, let alone trusting me with the sugar?”
“I’m merely pointing out the facts, Dr Webber. Robinson was the first to spot the aliens and came to fetch me, so I can vouch for him at least. You’re not suspecting him, are you?”
“Of course not.”
The Colonel said, “Good. Then let’s get on with it and not waste time in idle speculation when we will be able to ask Miss Holmes for an explanation very shortly, I’ve no doubt.”
[….]
*
Despite following on, this was the last missing scene I wrote, but in the end I cut out all of Nat's backstory, simply because it would look like a massive red herring in a UNIT context. But, both of these scenes get referenced in Stardust. Because in my head it's just one big long messy novel thing and all these things still happened. I know I probably need help, but, erm, this is my self-help thing.
***
“I came as soon as I received your message, Crichton,” said Mr Argyle, arriving only after everything was over. “Terrible business, but I fancy it won’t take too long to flush out your traitor.” His gaze strayed towards Nat. “You know my feelings on a certain matter.”
The Colonel paused. “If you wish to make an accusation, I suggest make yourself plain.”
“No, no,” he said, “but, as I told you when you overrode me initially, there’s a history there - unreliable at the least… I’m not accusing anyone. If you want to, however -.”
Crichton said, “History is the word, sir. I don’t think what happened in the Sixties has any bearing on this matter. In fact, I’m satisfied that we’ve got to the bottom of the affair.”
“Well, it’s your funeral,” the civil servant said. “Is there anything on which you actually do require my advice, or have I wasted a journey?”
He ushered him towards the door. “No, of course not. I have my report and there are a couple other matters that have cropped up, if you’ll come this way, sir.”
They exited and Kennedy closed the door behind them. “What was that about?” Then he grinned. “Protestor in your student days, were you?”
Nat raised an eyebrow at him. “There’s no hope for your maths, Kennedy. No. Only a very old and unfunny joke, that’s all.”
“Okay,” said Kennedy. “In that case, what the hell did you get up to at school?”
Nat shrugged. “The usual. He’s just an officious idiot and evidently the Colonel knows all about it. You can ask him if you want to know.”
“Well, if you want to be like that, fine,” said the Sergeant, opening the door and making his exit. “I’d best get on with things.”
Nat lifted his head and found Tilly watching him. “Don’t you start asking, either. It’s got nothing to do with UNIT and I’d rather concentrate on finally making some sort of sense out of this, now we’ve got it back.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said with a smile. “I know we need to get this finished first. And, anyway, I suppose it must have something to do with your Dad. You can tell me another time.”
He gave a slight laugh, unable to help it. “You’re uncanny.”
“Finish that first,” she said, with a nod towards the artefact. “And I don’t like being called names like that.”
*
“You said,” she told him later. “When I asked you about your family, you said he died about then. It was clear as anything there was more, but I wouldn’t go round prying into things you don’t want to say.”
He smiled. “Thanks. Yes, you’re right. The thing is, it’s true; he died in 1968, but they didn’t actually find a body. They never have, although we’ve had a few false alarms. It happens, even in this day and age. Trouble is, idiots like Argyle always think it doesn’t. And because he was a scientist, too - well, more or less - people come up with crazy explanations we could all live without. As if the Russians or whoever would pay anything to know about levels of rainfall in the wetlands.”
“Oh,” said Tilly.
Nat paused, catching her expression. “Did any of that make sense?”
“The first bit,” she said, colouring. “What did you all do, with him gone?”
He shrugged. “Well, Kate and I were a bit young to worry about the practicalities and Mum always said he was dead, after the first few days when he didn’t turn up anywhere. She moved us back to Nan’s and waited for the rest of the world to agree with her, which they did, in the end.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nat finished clearing away the equipment. “No, it’s just one of those things. Not like you. And before that - you lost your Mum, didn’t you?”
“I was a bit young to really remember her,” she said. “And she was ill for a long time before, but there was always Annie.”
“So, you see,” said Nat, “he’s an idiot, and that’s all there is to it.”
***