The Doctor, for his part, hadn't exactly noticed the way Peter had shrunk back, though he did notice the look Peter had shot in his direction. What the look had meant, though... that was anybody's guess, and the Doctor was too concerned about what might or might not have happened to spend time trying to decode it.
...Particularly when Brainiac 5 confirmed that yes, it had happened.
The confirmation sent the Doctor to his feet, his expression grim. He took a few determined steps towards the door before deciding that no, he couldn't just go charging towards the nearest nurse and demanding to speak to Martin Landel. Not when Brainaic 5 was in the state he was, and not when the Doctor hadn't even known...
It was bad enough that Donna had been taken. For Brainiac 5 to have been taken too, and on the same night...?
He halted abruptly, pausing before tearing himself away to turn back towards Brainiac 5 and Peter in what must have looked like an awkward form of pacing. Brainiac 5 seemed like he was taking the whole procedure better than Donna had, but they'd obviously underwent different experiments... Brainiac 5, too, may have had some sense of detachment from his human form, but what that meant in the long term, or the psychological impact...
The Doctor sat down again, burying his face in his hands for a moment before slowly looking up, trying to decide what to say. "I'm sorry," he ended up saying haltingly. "I— I didn't know. I was in the hall where those who were experimented on are left last night, but I didn't... I didn't know you were there, too. I'm so sorry..."
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...Particularly when Brainiac 5 confirmed that yes, it had happened.
The confirmation sent the Doctor to his feet, his expression grim. He took a few determined steps towards the door before deciding that no, he couldn't just go charging towards the nearest nurse and demanding to speak to Martin Landel. Not when Brainaic 5 was in the state he was, and not when the Doctor hadn't even known...
It was bad enough that Donna had been taken. For Brainiac 5 to have been taken too, and on the same night...?
He halted abruptly, pausing before tearing himself away to turn back towards Brainiac 5 and Peter in what must have looked like an awkward form of pacing. Brainiac 5 seemed like he was taking the whole procedure better than Donna had, but they'd obviously underwent different experiments... Brainiac 5, too, may have had some sense of detachment from his human form, but what that meant in the long term, or the psychological impact...
The Doctor sat down again, burying his face in his hands for a moment before slowly looking up, trying to decide what to say. "I'm sorry," he ended up saying haltingly. "I— I didn't know. I was in the hall where those who were experimented on are left last night, but I didn't... I didn't know you were there, too. I'm so sorry..."