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The Doctor is in a foul mood. Jo has only been their assistant for a few hours, but so far she has managed to nearly kill everyone in the building, annoy the Doctor almost constantly and destroy their experiment. The problem is she doesn’t know if the Doctor always acts like this, or if it’s just because she’s been getting on their nerves.
But, regardless of the cause, the Doctor is being snappy with everyone today. Whether it’s at the Brigadier for being too ‘military’ around them, or Mike for trying to make cocoa in their lab, the Doctor is just very temperamental at the moment. And Jo can’t help but worry if it’s her fault.
Whilst the Doctor and the Brigadier plan how to deal with the Autons (and the Master), Jo wanders off into UNIT HQ’s canteen. She gets herself a coffee from the vending machine and sits down at a table, sighing. She knows Mike reassured her earlier that the bomb wasn’t her fault, yet the guilt at nearly blowing up UNIT HQ is hurting even more than the fear that the Doctor hates her.
“Are you all right?”
She looks up. Mike Yates is stood in front of her, holding a cup of tea.
“Not really,” she admits, sighing. “I’m just worried that the Doctor hates me.”
“Come on, cheer up,” Mike says, sitting down beside her. “And they don’t hate you.”
“But they’re being so... snappy today. And I bet it started after I wrecked their experiment.”
“Nah, they’ve been in a mood all day. The Doctor was really stressed yesterday and that makes them irritable. It’s nothing personal. They like you, honestly. They’re just a bit... difficult to get to know.”
Jo smiles and squeezes his hand. “Thanks, Mike.”
Mike smiles back. “No problem.”