Title: Five Stations which reminded Lucas of his loneliness (and one where things improved)
Fandom: Spooks (MI5)
Rating: G
Length: 828
Summary: Lucas North is travelling back from Cheltenham to London

As they drew into the car park of Cheltenham Railway Station the driver stopped the car and said, “We’re here.”

Lucas North waited for him to say something else, but when the driver remained silent Lucas said “Thank you for the lift”, got out and made his way through the station entrance.

It hadn’t been an easy assignment.  Lucas had been sent down to follow up the details of a possible leak at GCHQ.  He hadn’t been surprised at the resentment he had experienced; no-one likes someone from a different agency implying their own body has failed in some way.  But what he hadn’t expected was the outright hostility he’d experienced, culminating in the reluctance to take him back to the station.  Lucas suspected the only reason he hadn’t been told to get a bus was because they wanted to be sure he’d left.

It was now six months since his release from the Russian jail, but Lucas was still finding it hard to feel accepted within the team.  Jo seemed fairly friendly and Malcolm was happy to go for coffee, but otherwise he remained an outsider.  The only other exception was Adam, who had returned to the team once he had recovered from the injuries sustained in the bomb blast, and with whom Lucas was starting to spend more time.

So as Lucas stood by himself on the platform, waiting for the London train, after an unpleasant couple of days in Cheltenham, he felt, once again, how isolated he was.

When the train arrived Lucas sank down gratefully in his seat.  He took his book out of his bag and began reading.  Ten minutes later the train slowed down.  Lucas glanced out of the window to see a sign saying Gloucester, before returning to his book.  He half registered quite a long wait at the station, but didn’t think anything of it until there was a jerk and the train started moving in reverse.

Lucas felt a momentary sense of panic, before remembering the train entered and left the station from the same direction.  It seemed like the story of his life, thinking everything’s going smoothly one way only to find yourself taken somewhere completely different.  It also meant he was now travelling backwards, so picking up his bag, and ignoring the strange look of the woman sitting across the aisle from him, he went to find another seat.

The next station was Stonehouse.  The train manager announced only two of the carriages would open, due to the short platform and encouraged passengers wishing to alight to move down the train.  It reminded Lucas unpleasantly of a dream he’d had the previous night, in which he’d been trying desperately to get off a train but had been unable to open the door.

The train continued on its journey stopping next at Stroud.  On the journey down Lucas had thought the Stroud Valley rather pretty, but the town itself looked run down and mostly concrete.  He wondered whether Adam would be up for going for a drink when he got back to London, but when he took his phone out of his pocket he realised there was no signal, so miserably pushed it back into the pocket and decided not to bother.

For reasons Lucas couldn’t fathom they were told the train was terminating at Swindon.  Everyone disembarked and made their way across the windy platform to wait for the next train.  When the train arrived he joined the crowd pushing its way on and resigned himself to not having a seat.  There was an announcement apologising for the train being particularly busy, which was apparently due to the large number of people on the train.  Lucas took his book out again and tried to concentrate on what he was reading, as people pushed past him, heading to and from the buffet car.  It felt similar to some of his time in jail and he fought hard not to dwell on the memories.
Finally they reached Paddington Station.  Lucas joined the throng as they battled their way through the barriers.  He had turned towards the entrance to the tube, longing to get home and forget the whole experience, when he felt an arm around him, and Adam’s voice in his ear.

“I thought I’d come and meet you,” Adam said, “And suggest we had a drink together and something to eat.  I guess it was a lousy journey; you look as though you should have a label round your neck, ‘Please look after this bear.’  I think I shall call you Paddington.”

Lucas gave a short laugh.  “In which case I should tell you I don’t like marmalade.”

“Steak and chips do instead?”

“Much better.  Thank you, Mr Brown.”

“You’re supposed to doff your hat when you say that.”

“I don’t have a hat.”

“We’ll have to get you one.”

Lucas laughed again, glad that although the journey had been lousy, the homecoming had made up for it.