(Untitled)

[brig_ls]

Who: The Brigadier and Sarah Jane
What: A talk, an explanation, and a cuppa.
Where: The Library
When: The Present

It had taken him a few moments to actually find a map and orient himself. Then, the Brigadier had set out through the rather treacherous hallways of the base. Mindful of the threats, he'd kept a hand close by his service revolver.

Comments

[his_sarah_jane]

She had been flipping through a copy of Moonraker she had found lying about. It had been a short and safe walk over (if just because Sarah Jane had picked a room rather close to the library upon leaving the TARDIS).

At the sound of the Brigadier's voice, she looked up. A smile filled her face as she saw him walking down an aisle. "Brigadier!"

[ooc: and now? i have to sadly disappear to the doctor for an hour. sorry/]

[brig_ls]

"Miss Smith! There you are!" He walked over, smiling. "Good to see you again."

He shook her hand warmly and glanced about.

"How are you?"

[his_sarah_jane]

She shook his hand in return, smile faltering when he asked how she was doing.

"To be perfectly honest, I've been much better. And you, Brigadier?"

[brig_ls]

Alistair shook his head in exasperation. "I must say I've had better days, Miss Smith. Being transported to a strange place, being told I'm a fictional character..."

He gave an indignant snort. "The very idea... It's preposterous."

[his_sarah_jane]

"I'd recommend not even bothering to watch the episodes," she muttered, guiding Alistair over towards her table. "It only makes everything far worse. Bloody daft, isn't it? That there's something worse than this so-called apocalypse going on about here now?"

[brig_ls]

"Episodes? Like some sort of television drama? It can't be true!"

He sat, shooting her an incredulous look. "Is it true?"

[his_sarah_jane]

Sarah nodded weakly.

"Books too, I'm afraid."

[brig_ls]

The Brigadier removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair.

"That's... I can't even begin to fathom it."

He smiled weakly, "I'll take you up on that tea, I think."

[his_sarah_jane]

"It's not something you'd even want to fathom, if you don't have to."

Thankfully, the table wasn't that far away. Sarah picked up the stray book she was reading and closed it, tucking it away on a nearby shelf. She already had two cups in place and the pot was settled on top of a candle-based heater.

She shrugged, taking a seat. "It might help to have this discussion while sitting, then."

[brig_ls]

"True. Just thinking that my entire life was written out by someone... Made up."

He nodded gratefully. "Sitting seems to be a good idea at this point. any other shocks for my system?"

He leaned back, hands folded in his lap.

[his_sarah_jane]

"There's a female Doctor running about," Sarah Jane said softly, looking rather uncomfortable with the thought. "And, oh. He has a tenth regeneration too, but..."

She would not cry in front of the Brigadier. She would not cry.

"Sometimes I wonder if I even know him. It's not like when the Doctor regenerated in front of us. That was still the Doctor at his very core. It's not like that with him. It's like I'm a bloody stranger sometimes in front of him."

And it hurt like nothing else Sarah could imagine.

[brig_ls]

"A female doctor? that's incredible!" Alistair leaned forward, eyes gleaming with interest. "And he's on his tenth? My God, what trouble has he been getting himself into?"

He blinked. Something was wrong. Everything about Sarah Jane's body language said she was distressed. Her next comment cleared that up. The Brigadier nodded.

"I think I know what you mean... " He reached a hand across the table to her, "Well, we'll get this whole thing sorted out. I may not have UNIT here, but I am still a friend of the Doctor's, new regeneration or not. And if he doesn't realize that, then I'll just have to get it across to him."

[his_sarah_jane]

She took his hand gratefully. It felt almost nice to talk to someone who knew her, who remembered shared events. The Brigadier certainly would never ask if she knew anything about rift spectrometry. No, he'd just order her not to leak any information she ought not to in a story.

"If anyone ever knew how to order him about, it was certainly you, Brigadier," Sarah finally answered with a small, cheeky grin. "I think you've always been one of the few military men he's actually respected."

[brig_ls]

Alistair gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. For his part, it was good to have at least one familiar face here. Confused as he was, he knew he'd probably be much more so without Sarah Jane here to explain things to him.

He managed a grin, "Of course he respected me, just like I respected him. I'm his commanding officer and friend. We've been through a lot together." He paused reflectively, "If he doesn't listen to me, we'll simply have to find another way to bring him around."

[his_sarah_jane]

She managed a small laugh this time, too.

"Only you, Alastair. It's a shame Harry and Mike couldn't be here, too. Then maybe it would feel a tad more like old times."

[brig_ls]

Alistair leaned back again, nodding reflectively.

"Indeed... But for it to really be like old times, we'd need the Doctor back - our Doctor, mind you."

He laughed suddenly, "I wonder, if we put all the Doctor's in one room together, do you think they could work out a way to get us all home?"