Mel nodded, proud of the fact that she had been able to grasp some of the intricacies of space-time travel. “Well, whenever we had some down time I did read through the TARDIS manual. You know, before you got angry at it and threw it into a black hole,” she reminded him, giggling. She wondered if he remembered that, he really could get so cross with the ‘old girl’ at times!
“I’ve aged a bit,” she said softly, looking down at her hands which had a tiny amount of wrinkles by now. Still, she was never one to be kept down for long, and this was certainly no exception. She hugged him, practically swirling him around her, still as full of energy as always. “Doctor!” she repeated, just so overcome with gladness to see him again. “You’ve gotten taller again,” she remarked.
“I’m still helping out with A Charitable Earth with Ace,” she smiled happily at him when he asked about her life. “Things at UNIT have been going very well, though we all miss the Brigadier terribly. He never forgot about you, you know. Not once.”
He chose to ignore the part where Mel admitted to having aged since they were last together, but he did hang on her every word.
When she finally stopped, after having mentioned UNIT and the Brigadier, it took just a moment... and then it dawned on him.
“UNIT?! You work for them, now?!” It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the Doctor wasn’t sure it was a good thing, either... He had a few solid friends in that outfit -- most especially, the Brig -- but, still... It was UNIT. It was government. It was guns and violence, and... and everything.
But, he had loved the Brigadier. He loved Ace, too. And, of course, Mel -- but that went without saying. He loved them all, his companions.
“And, ACE!” the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, smoothly changing the topic -- or, so he hoped. “Wonderful! I trust she’s well, too?”