FIC: The Slow Path [Doctor Who]
Title: The Slow Path
Author: atraphoenix
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Susan Foreman, Liz Shaw/Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the UNIT family, the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble and a two year old Ianto Jones
Rating: G
Summary: Susan Foreman takes the slow path.
Author's Note: Written for agapi42 as part of the ‘Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman?’ Ficathon. She wanted Susan on the slow path, a wedding and an encounter with one or more of the Doctor's companions. This is what I came up with.
Cambridge was a beautiful city. And, as Susan Foreman had seen a lot of beautiful cities over the years, she felt more than qualified to make that statement. She’d seen the Citadel of Gallifrey shining in the copper moonlight and the silver walls of Arcadia’s great palace. She’d seen castles and pyramids and fortresses and cities that shone like jewels on dusty mountainsides.
She’d never been to a university, before, though.
It had all happened by accident. Susan had intended to explore the city for a little, wandering peacefully along the riverbanks while she basked in the blissful humanity of it all, before disappearing again, just like she always did.
But, as she passed the Cavendish Laboratories, her mind had wandered back to her days at Coal Hill School. She’d been happy there. Terribly happy. And although things were different now - she was much older, for a start - the idea of reclaiming even a little bit of that happiness was rather appealing.
Naturally, she couldn’t enrol as student this time. She didn’t have any of the qualifications that humans seemed to be so fixated on at the moment. But one of the Professors was apparently looking for an assistant - someone to type up her notes and answer her correspondence and pass her test tubes - and Susan was confident her abilities would outperform any CV.
In less than ten minutes, Susan had made her decision and stepped inside. Things seemed to move much more slowly after than. She was painfully conscious of the ticking clock - she was always aware of that, come to think of it - and the faint odour of chemicals in the air. The receptionist tapping at her typewriter a few feet away, but then her intercom buzzed, and she stood up to address Susan. The wait was over.
“Susan Foreman? Professor Shaw will see you now.”
***
And that was that. Although modesty was usually one of Susan’s strong points - yes, she was intelligent by Earth standards, but she wasn’t from Earth, so that couldn’t be helped - she couldn’t deny the fact that she blew Elizabeth Shaw away during the interview. She was employed on the spot, and, soon, wasn’t restricted to administration work.
At first, even when Liz (she wasn’t fond of Elizabeth, apparently) allowed Susan into the laboratory, she treated her assistant with a cool, icy sort of indifference. The young Time Lady was insulted at first, but soon realised that Liz dealt with everyone that way. It was probably some sort of defence mechanism. Resent people immediately, to save the trouble of getting upset later on.
Her grandfather had operated a similar principle. He hadn’t wanted Barbara and Ian onboard his ship, after all, but they’d earned his trust - perhaps even his affection - eventually. Susan resolved to make sure Professor Shaw did that same.
She thought about her grandfather a lot these days. Not that she hadn’t thought about him before. The other Time Lord was never far from her mind, although the initial anger she’d felt - especially when ageing and impractically had tainted her relationship with David - had long since evaporated. She thought of him with fondness now, and remained on Earth in the certain knowledge that, sooner or later, they’d bump into each other again, and she could return to her place at his side.
He’d always had such a profound interest in science. The work they carried out in Cambridge wasn’t too advanced, but Liz was certainly intelligent beyond the human norms, and that showed in her work. Her theories regarding the Electron Trap Mechanism of Luminescence were truly remarkable, for example, but, for some reason, Susan couldn’t persuade her to publish them. Apparently Liz had been involved with some sort of government organisation a few months earlier, and was now finding it difficult to get anything published.
She didn’t actually tell Susan this until they’d been working together for several weeks. It proved to be the turning point. It was slow process on a path Susan was already finding painfully slow, but it was worth it.
A few weeks later they were spending time together outside of work, and Liz was teaching Susan the benefits of mascara and miniskirts.
A few weeks after that, Susan learned of the connection between Liz and her grandfather. And a certain Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
***
There were voices coming from the laboratory, which was unusual in itself. Liz wasn’t very fond of socialising. Susan had left to get her a cup of tea - the scientist never explicitly asked for one, but Susan was getting very good at reading her moods - and came back to find the door closed. She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but she was so intrigued that she found it impossible to resist.
“You should have made an appointment, Brigadier,” said Liz, curtly. Susan could see her through the frosted glass pane, sitting at her desk and facing a dark haired man who had his back to the door.
“I’m a very busy man, Miss Shaw …”
“And I’m a very busy woman. That is why it would be best for both of us if you got straight to the point. What exactly do you want, Brigadier?”
If Susan was surprised that anyone dared to call Liz ‘Miss’ instead of ‘Professor’, then there was no word for what she felt next.
“The Doctor has gone.”
Susan didn’t hear Liz’s response or the exchange that followed. Her hearts either sped up or stopped completely, she wasn’t sure. When she finally rejoined the real world - hurtling out of the TARDIS and back to Cavendish Laboratories - the man known as the Brigadier was trying to persuade Liz to return to her old post at UNIT. It didn’t matter who UNIT where, or what they did. Her grandfather had worked with them and Liz had worked with him.
It seemed an impossible coincidence. With all of time and space to choose from, the Doctor had returned to Earth. With all of time and space to choose from, she’d returned to Earth and formed a friendship with one of the few humans who knew the man she was waiting for.
Susan was far too logical (for the most part) to believe in something like fate, but that was the first word that came to mind.
“I don’t know what you expect me to do, Brigadier,” Liz said coolly, “Work for UNIT until the Doctor returns, when I will be once more demoted to the position of ‘assistant’? I’m sorry, but that just isn’t possible.”
“I don’t think he will come back, Miss Shaw,” replied the Brigadier. “This new regeneration seems considerably less inclined to work with UNIT.”
“So I’m your last resort?”
“I didn’t say that, Miss Shaw!” he exclaimed, “You’re the first scientist I’ve spoken to …”
“And I won’t be the last.”
The Brigadier decided to try a different method of persuasion.
“The UNIT budget will be at your disposal …”
“But I won’t be able to publish any of the papers I write?”
“No one is exempt from the Official Secrets Act.”
“Then why exactly do you think that will tempt me?”
“Because I know you better than you think, Miss Shaw. Even if you can’t share your knowledge, you’re fascinated by alien technology and extra terrestrial life. In fact, I believe that you would have stayed with UNIT indefinitely if your pride hadn’t been damaged by your reassignment.”
And, just for a moment, Susan saw that Liz was truly thrown. It was rather endearing. Wonderfully human. She hadn’t been expecting an answer like that - an answer that evidently got beneath her skin - and Susan hadn’t been expecting it either.
“Even if I did accept your offer,” said Liz, carefully, “My research is at a very sensitive stage at the moment …”
“You have assistants, don’t you? Surely they can handle it?”
“Several, yes.”
The sentence that should have followed that one hung, unspoken, in the air, until the Brigadier prompted her to continue.
“But?”
Liz sat back in her chair, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face and examining the Brigadier through long lashes.
“But there is one girl I simply can’t leave.”
Susan’s eyes widened. If her hearts hadn’t already been racing, they might have sped up a little further at that.
“Why ever not?”
“She’s very young, and utterly inexperienced, but she’s undoubtedly a genius, Brigadier. It’s my duty to nurture that.”
“Then she’ll be a welcome addition to our team, won’t she?”
At that, Liz looked up sharply. And, then, guardedly, as if she was waiting for him to contradict himself, Liz nodded.
Elizabeth Shaw nodded and Susan Foreman took another step forward on the slow path.
Another step towards her grandfather.
***
Susan Foreman liked working with UNIT. She liked Sergeant Benton and Corporal Bell, and, when he wasn’t being ridiculously stuffy, she even liked the Brigadier. She was rather intimidated by Jo Jones and Sarah Jane Smith when she met them for the first time, but they were both such remarkable women that this ebbed away rather quickly. You couldn’t help but like them.
She still spent most of her time with Liz, however. It was both loyalty and affection, bound together by mutual respect. Barbara Wright had been a surrogate mother to Susan many years ago, and, without actually realising it, Liz Shaw finished off what the history teacher had started.
Although Susan was an adult now, in all but physical form, there were still many lessons she needed to learn. Liz wasn’t a patient teacher, but the Time Lady was a fast learner. You had to be, on the slow path.
Despite the fact that she’d once been married and very much in love, Susan found herself learning more about relationships during her time with UNIT than she ever had with David. There was the amiable friendship between Harry and Sarah Jane, which could easily have been something more if one of them had dared to make a move. There was the contented marriage between Jo and Cliff, and the love they had for their son (Ianto Jones, two years old and a constant source of amusement for Susan).
And then there was Liz and the Brigadier.
They both fascinated and exasperated Susan in equal measures. They never quite argued, not really, but there was a visible tension underlying all their actions. As if there was much more they’d like to say, if they could only convince themselves to let their guard down and get the words out.
In the end, Susan decided to take matters into her own hands. A few choice words, a few nudges in the right direction. It was almost too easy. She’d spent enough time among humans to know how to manipulate them and the fact that Liz and the Brigadier crumbled so easily confirmed that she’d been right all along.
Liz would disappear from the lab during the day and they spent a lot of time together in the evenings, too. They were very discrete about it, but Susan wasn’t a fool.
She wasn’t surprised when, six months later, the Brigadier proposed. In fact, Susan felt partly, if not wholly responsible, and extremely pleased with herself.
***
The wedding took place on a pleasantly (and surprisingly) warm autumn day. Although Liz had no particular predilection for churches, the Brigadier had insisted, and they eventually ended up travelling to a small church just outside of Edinburgh for the service.
Liz had scoffed a little at this at first - since her fiancé’s connection to Scotland was tentative at best - but it was a good-natured, affectionate sort of teasing. The proposal - a solid confirmation of their feelings, cementing them both to a real world outside UNIT - had been good for them. There was an easiness between the couple that hadn’t been there before.
Susan helped a great deal with the wedding planning. She helped select centre pieces and dresses and sent out invitations to friends and colleagues from both UNIT and Cambridge.
There was one invitation, however, that even she wasn’t able to send. They didn’t have an address to send it to, although she often heard Liz and the Brigadier discussing the situation and possible solutions.
It was odd, really, knowing that her grandfather could be anywhere in their universe. From time to time, when her thoughts drifted back to the stars, she wondered how many times he’d regenerated. What were his companions like? Did they look after him as well as she had done?
She’d probably find out soon enough. He wouldn’t miss an event like this, invitation or not.
And, sure enough, as the group moved out of the church and into a nearby hall for the meticulously planned evening celebration, a familiar noise rippled through the room.
Susan felt her hearts somersault in her chest. She knew that sound. She’d have recognised it even if she’d waited for a thousand years. That was the TARDIS materialising. Her grandfather was here.
***
The man who stepped out of the familiar blue ship first was young and tall and ridiculously skinny, dressed in a pinstriped suit and grinning a little manically. But it was him. It was definitely him. Susan knew it. She felt it. A deep rooted certainty fluttered to life in a mind that was currently incapable of registering anything else, and she clutched at a nearby plastic seat for balance.
Three other people - two women and a rather handsome man in period military - followed him out into the hall, but Susan only had eyes for her grandfather. She didn’t speak, not yet. She wanted to watch for a little while, and savour the fact that they were finally going to be together. After so many years of waiting!
“I don’t understand,” said the ginger haired woman, “We were just working with UNIT. I thought you didn’t get along?”
“Ah,” interrupted the Doctor, “That was different. This is my UNIT.”
“Actually,” corrected the Brigadier, as he moved towards the new arrivals, “I think you’ll find it’s my UNIT, Doctor.”
Her grandfather’s smile grew even wider than before. “Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart!” he exclaimed, shaking the man’s hand fiercely, before whirling round to sweep Liz up in a tight embrace, “And Elizabeth Shaw! Congratulations!”
“Hello, Doctor,” said the Brigadier, trying his best not to sound too pleased, “I’m very glad you could make it, but would you mind putting my wife back down now?”
“What?” said the Doctor, still holding Liz, who was smiling broadly (presumably because of the hug, but possibly because of the expression on her new husband’s face), “Oh, yes, of course. Sorry.”
He set her back on the ground, and Liz dusted off her dress while the Doctor surveyed them both. “So,” he said, thrusting his hands into his pockets, “You and Liz? You and the Brigadier? This is a surprise.”
“So is your arrival,” countered Liz, “We didn’t know where to send the invitation, so we didn’t actually send one.”
“Oh, I find out about these things,” said the Doctor dismissively, but the Brigadier coughed before he could continue, gesturing at her grandfather’s companions.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” he asked.
“Yes, sorry,” said the Doctor, not sounding sorry at all, “Alastair and Elizabeth Lethbridge-Stewart, meet Doctor Martha Jones, Miss Donna Noble, and Captain Jack Harkness.”
Donna - who had spoken earlier - and the woman called Martha both offered the couple their congratulations. The Brigadier didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on the man her grandfather had introduced as Jack.
“You work for Torchwood, don’t you?” he asked, crisply, and the Doctor, who clearly hadn’t anticipated this, looked worriedly from one to the other.
“You two know each other?”
“UNIT and Torchwood have never exactly seen eye to eye …” Jack began, but he was interrupted rather sharply.
“Eye to eye! You attempted to steal confidential files, Captain Harkness.”
“Well, not steal, as such. Just ‘borrow without permission’. And I did offer to take you out to dinner to say sorry …”
“Don’t start!” the Doctor warned.
“I was only apologising!”
“He’s just got married!”
“What? Oh, yes.” He grinned at Liz, who was merely smirking. “Sorry.”
“No harm done, Captain.”
“Didn’t I shoot you?” asked someone else, and another man - who, despite the fact he was wearing a suit rather than a uniform, had a distinctly military look about him - “You tried to get access to the storage unit, and …”
“And that’s all water under the bridge now, I’m sure,” said the Doctor, moving forward to intercept the man, “This is a wedding, remember. How are you, Sergeant Benton?”
“Fine, thank you, Doctor,” said Benton with a smile, shaking the proffered hand.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me. My face has changed!”
“Again, yes. But that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”
“What is this?” Donna muttered to Martha, “A companion convention? How many of us are there?”
Before anyone could respond, however, a dark haired toddler - dressed in an impeccable miniature suit and pink shirt - hurtled forward and attached himself firmly to Jack’s leg. His mother hurried after him, rather shamefacedly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, addressing both Jack and the crowd in general, “He’s normally very well behaved …”
“Jo!” exclaimed the Doctor delightedly, “He’s yours?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling proudly - and shyly - up at Susan’s grandfather. “This is Ianto.”
Martha’s eyebrows shot up. “Not Ianto Jones?”
Jo and the Doctor both nodded, and Jack blinked.
“Don’t say a word,” he cautioned Martha.
“I wasn’t going to,” she laughed, as Jack’s attempts to peel the child off seemed only to encourage him.
Susan, for her part, simply watched all this unfold with interest. There was no rush now. No urgency. It was nice to see what her grandfather had been doing over the years. Forming friendships and bonds that would last several lifetimes, saving the world, jumping from time period to time period while she took the road less travelled.
Or, perhaps, the road more travelled would be a better term. It depended on whether she was thinking about humans or Time Lords. When it came to herself, Susan wasn’t really sure anymore. She didn’t feel like either species, but she was definitely related to the man with the tousled brown hair and battered converse. That was all she needed to know.
As if sensing her thoughts - although that notion was probably frivolity on Susan’s part - her grandfather chose that moment to turn away from Jo and her son, and face the teenage girl standing in the corner. The teenage girl who was both young and old. The teenage girl who was terribly - wonderfully - familiar.
“Susan!” he breathed, and the next few minutes passed in a rush of incomprehensible emotion. Her grandfather stepped forward, pulling her into his arms, and whatever she had been intending to say to him evaporated away in the fierceness of his greeting. All those words suddenly seemed irrelevant. Unnecessary.
“What are you doing here?” he breathed. Eventually. He wouldn’t let go of her, and Susan was aware of the dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on them. She didn’t care.
“Waiting for you,” she replied. “I took the slow path, but I knew you’d be here eventually.”
Author: atraphoenix
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Susan Foreman, Liz Shaw/Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the UNIT family, the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble and a two year old Ianto Jones
Rating: G
Summary: Susan Foreman takes the slow path.
Author's Note: Written for agapi42 as part of the ‘Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman?’ Ficathon. She wanted Susan on the slow path, a wedding and an encounter with one or more of the Doctor's companions. This is what I came up with.
Cambridge was a beautiful city. And, as Susan Foreman had seen a lot of beautiful cities over the years, she felt more than qualified to make that statement. She’d seen the Citadel of Gallifrey shining in the copper moonlight and the silver walls of Arcadia’s great palace. She’d seen castles and pyramids and fortresses and cities that shone like jewels on dusty mountainsides.
She’d never been to a university, before, though.
It had all happened by accident. Susan had intended to explore the city for a little, wandering peacefully along the riverbanks while she basked in the blissful humanity of it all, before disappearing again, just like she always did.
But, as she passed the Cavendish Laboratories, her mind had wandered back to her days at Coal Hill School. She’d been happy there. Terribly happy. And although things were different now - she was much older, for a start - the idea of reclaiming even a little bit of that happiness was rather appealing.
Naturally, she couldn’t enrol as student this time. She didn’t have any of the qualifications that humans seemed to be so fixated on at the moment. But one of the Professors was apparently looking for an assistant - someone to type up her notes and answer her correspondence and pass her test tubes - and Susan was confident her abilities would outperform any CV.
In less than ten minutes, Susan had made her decision and stepped inside. Things seemed to move much more slowly after than. She was painfully conscious of the ticking clock - she was always aware of that, come to think of it - and the faint odour of chemicals in the air. The receptionist tapping at her typewriter a few feet away, but then her intercom buzzed, and she stood up to address Susan. The wait was over.
“Susan Foreman? Professor Shaw will see you now.”
***
And that was that. Although modesty was usually one of Susan’s strong points - yes, she was intelligent by Earth standards, but she wasn’t from Earth, so that couldn’t be helped - she couldn’t deny the fact that she blew Elizabeth Shaw away during the interview. She was employed on the spot, and, soon, wasn’t restricted to administration work.
At first, even when Liz (she wasn’t fond of Elizabeth, apparently) allowed Susan into the laboratory, she treated her assistant with a cool, icy sort of indifference. The young Time Lady was insulted at first, but soon realised that Liz dealt with everyone that way. It was probably some sort of defence mechanism. Resent people immediately, to save the trouble of getting upset later on.
Her grandfather had operated a similar principle. He hadn’t wanted Barbara and Ian onboard his ship, after all, but they’d earned his trust - perhaps even his affection - eventually. Susan resolved to make sure Professor Shaw did that same.
She thought about her grandfather a lot these days. Not that she hadn’t thought about him before. The other Time Lord was never far from her mind, although the initial anger she’d felt - especially when ageing and impractically had tainted her relationship with David - had long since evaporated. She thought of him with fondness now, and remained on Earth in the certain knowledge that, sooner or later, they’d bump into each other again, and she could return to her place at his side.
He’d always had such a profound interest in science. The work they carried out in Cambridge wasn’t too advanced, but Liz was certainly intelligent beyond the human norms, and that showed in her work. Her theories regarding the Electron Trap Mechanism of Luminescence were truly remarkable, for example, but, for some reason, Susan couldn’t persuade her to publish them. Apparently Liz had been involved with some sort of government organisation a few months earlier, and was now finding it difficult to get anything published.
She didn’t actually tell Susan this until they’d been working together for several weeks. It proved to be the turning point. It was slow process on a path Susan was already finding painfully slow, but it was worth it.
A few weeks later they were spending time together outside of work, and Liz was teaching Susan the benefits of mascara and miniskirts.
A few weeks after that, Susan learned of the connection between Liz and her grandfather. And a certain Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
***
There were voices coming from the laboratory, which was unusual in itself. Liz wasn’t very fond of socialising. Susan had left to get her a cup of tea - the scientist never explicitly asked for one, but Susan was getting very good at reading her moods - and came back to find the door closed. She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but she was so intrigued that she found it impossible to resist.
“You should have made an appointment, Brigadier,” said Liz, curtly. Susan could see her through the frosted glass pane, sitting at her desk and facing a dark haired man who had his back to the door.
“I’m a very busy man, Miss Shaw …”
“And I’m a very busy woman. That is why it would be best for both of us if you got straight to the point. What exactly do you want, Brigadier?”
If Susan was surprised that anyone dared to call Liz ‘Miss’ instead of ‘Professor’, then there was no word for what she felt next.
“The Doctor has gone.”
Susan didn’t hear Liz’s response or the exchange that followed. Her hearts either sped up or stopped completely, she wasn’t sure. When she finally rejoined the real world - hurtling out of the TARDIS and back to Cavendish Laboratories - the man known as the Brigadier was trying to persuade Liz to return to her old post at UNIT. It didn’t matter who UNIT where, or what they did. Her grandfather had worked with them and Liz had worked with him.
It seemed an impossible coincidence. With all of time and space to choose from, the Doctor had returned to Earth. With all of time and space to choose from, she’d returned to Earth and formed a friendship with one of the few humans who knew the man she was waiting for.
Susan was far too logical (for the most part) to believe in something like fate, but that was the first word that came to mind.
“I don’t know what you expect me to do, Brigadier,” Liz said coolly, “Work for UNIT until the Doctor returns, when I will be once more demoted to the position of ‘assistant’? I’m sorry, but that just isn’t possible.”
“I don’t think he will come back, Miss Shaw,” replied the Brigadier. “This new regeneration seems considerably less inclined to work with UNIT.”
“So I’m your last resort?”
“I didn’t say that, Miss Shaw!” he exclaimed, “You’re the first scientist I’ve spoken to …”
“And I won’t be the last.”
The Brigadier decided to try a different method of persuasion.
“The UNIT budget will be at your disposal …”
“But I won’t be able to publish any of the papers I write?”
“No one is exempt from the Official Secrets Act.”
“Then why exactly do you think that will tempt me?”
“Because I know you better than you think, Miss Shaw. Even if you can’t share your knowledge, you’re fascinated by alien technology and extra terrestrial life. In fact, I believe that you would have stayed with UNIT indefinitely if your pride hadn’t been damaged by your reassignment.”
And, just for a moment, Susan saw that Liz was truly thrown. It was rather endearing. Wonderfully human. She hadn’t been expecting an answer like that - an answer that evidently got beneath her skin - and Susan hadn’t been expecting it either.
“Even if I did accept your offer,” said Liz, carefully, “My research is at a very sensitive stage at the moment …”
“You have assistants, don’t you? Surely they can handle it?”
“Several, yes.”
The sentence that should have followed that one hung, unspoken, in the air, until the Brigadier prompted her to continue.
“But?”
Liz sat back in her chair, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face and examining the Brigadier through long lashes.
“But there is one girl I simply can’t leave.”
Susan’s eyes widened. If her hearts hadn’t already been racing, they might have sped up a little further at that.
“Why ever not?”
“She’s very young, and utterly inexperienced, but she’s undoubtedly a genius, Brigadier. It’s my duty to nurture that.”
“Then she’ll be a welcome addition to our team, won’t she?”
At that, Liz looked up sharply. And, then, guardedly, as if she was waiting for him to contradict himself, Liz nodded.
Elizabeth Shaw nodded and Susan Foreman took another step forward on the slow path.
Another step towards her grandfather.
***
Susan Foreman liked working with UNIT. She liked Sergeant Benton and Corporal Bell, and, when he wasn’t being ridiculously stuffy, she even liked the Brigadier. She was rather intimidated by Jo Jones and Sarah Jane Smith when she met them for the first time, but they were both such remarkable women that this ebbed away rather quickly. You couldn’t help but like them.
She still spent most of her time with Liz, however. It was both loyalty and affection, bound together by mutual respect. Barbara Wright had been a surrogate mother to Susan many years ago, and, without actually realising it, Liz Shaw finished off what the history teacher had started.
Although Susan was an adult now, in all but physical form, there were still many lessons she needed to learn. Liz wasn’t a patient teacher, but the Time Lady was a fast learner. You had to be, on the slow path.
Despite the fact that she’d once been married and very much in love, Susan found herself learning more about relationships during her time with UNIT than she ever had with David. There was the amiable friendship between Harry and Sarah Jane, which could easily have been something more if one of them had dared to make a move. There was the contented marriage between Jo and Cliff, and the love they had for their son (Ianto Jones, two years old and a constant source of amusement for Susan).
And then there was Liz and the Brigadier.
They both fascinated and exasperated Susan in equal measures. They never quite argued, not really, but there was a visible tension underlying all their actions. As if there was much more they’d like to say, if they could only convince themselves to let their guard down and get the words out.
In the end, Susan decided to take matters into her own hands. A few choice words, a few nudges in the right direction. It was almost too easy. She’d spent enough time among humans to know how to manipulate them and the fact that Liz and the Brigadier crumbled so easily confirmed that she’d been right all along.
Liz would disappear from the lab during the day and they spent a lot of time together in the evenings, too. They were very discrete about it, but Susan wasn’t a fool.
She wasn’t surprised when, six months later, the Brigadier proposed. In fact, Susan felt partly, if not wholly responsible, and extremely pleased with herself.
***
The wedding took place on a pleasantly (and surprisingly) warm autumn day. Although Liz had no particular predilection for churches, the Brigadier had insisted, and they eventually ended up travelling to a small church just outside of Edinburgh for the service.
Liz had scoffed a little at this at first - since her fiancé’s connection to Scotland was tentative at best - but it was a good-natured, affectionate sort of teasing. The proposal - a solid confirmation of their feelings, cementing them both to a real world outside UNIT - had been good for them. There was an easiness between the couple that hadn’t been there before.
Susan helped a great deal with the wedding planning. She helped select centre pieces and dresses and sent out invitations to friends and colleagues from both UNIT and Cambridge.
There was one invitation, however, that even she wasn’t able to send. They didn’t have an address to send it to, although she often heard Liz and the Brigadier discussing the situation and possible solutions.
It was odd, really, knowing that her grandfather could be anywhere in their universe. From time to time, when her thoughts drifted back to the stars, she wondered how many times he’d regenerated. What were his companions like? Did they look after him as well as she had done?
She’d probably find out soon enough. He wouldn’t miss an event like this, invitation or not.
And, sure enough, as the group moved out of the church and into a nearby hall for the meticulously planned evening celebration, a familiar noise rippled through the room.
Susan felt her hearts somersault in her chest. She knew that sound. She’d have recognised it even if she’d waited for a thousand years. That was the TARDIS materialising. Her grandfather was here.
***
The man who stepped out of the familiar blue ship first was young and tall and ridiculously skinny, dressed in a pinstriped suit and grinning a little manically. But it was him. It was definitely him. Susan knew it. She felt it. A deep rooted certainty fluttered to life in a mind that was currently incapable of registering anything else, and she clutched at a nearby plastic seat for balance.
Three other people - two women and a rather handsome man in period military - followed him out into the hall, but Susan only had eyes for her grandfather. She didn’t speak, not yet. She wanted to watch for a little while, and savour the fact that they were finally going to be together. After so many years of waiting!
“I don’t understand,” said the ginger haired woman, “We were just working with UNIT. I thought you didn’t get along?”
“Ah,” interrupted the Doctor, “That was different. This is my UNIT.”
“Actually,” corrected the Brigadier, as he moved towards the new arrivals, “I think you’ll find it’s my UNIT, Doctor.”
Her grandfather’s smile grew even wider than before. “Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart!” he exclaimed, shaking the man’s hand fiercely, before whirling round to sweep Liz up in a tight embrace, “And Elizabeth Shaw! Congratulations!”
“Hello, Doctor,” said the Brigadier, trying his best not to sound too pleased, “I’m very glad you could make it, but would you mind putting my wife back down now?”
“What?” said the Doctor, still holding Liz, who was smiling broadly (presumably because of the hug, but possibly because of the expression on her new husband’s face), “Oh, yes, of course. Sorry.”
He set her back on the ground, and Liz dusted off her dress while the Doctor surveyed them both. “So,” he said, thrusting his hands into his pockets, “You and Liz? You and the Brigadier? This is a surprise.”
“So is your arrival,” countered Liz, “We didn’t know where to send the invitation, so we didn’t actually send one.”
“Oh, I find out about these things,” said the Doctor dismissively, but the Brigadier coughed before he could continue, gesturing at her grandfather’s companions.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” he asked.
“Yes, sorry,” said the Doctor, not sounding sorry at all, “Alastair and Elizabeth Lethbridge-Stewart, meet Doctor Martha Jones, Miss Donna Noble, and Captain Jack Harkness.”
Donna - who had spoken earlier - and the woman called Martha both offered the couple their congratulations. The Brigadier didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on the man her grandfather had introduced as Jack.
“You work for Torchwood, don’t you?” he asked, crisply, and the Doctor, who clearly hadn’t anticipated this, looked worriedly from one to the other.
“You two know each other?”
“UNIT and Torchwood have never exactly seen eye to eye …” Jack began, but he was interrupted rather sharply.
“Eye to eye! You attempted to steal confidential files, Captain Harkness.”
“Well, not steal, as such. Just ‘borrow without permission’. And I did offer to take you out to dinner to say sorry …”
“Don’t start!” the Doctor warned.
“I was only apologising!”
“He’s just got married!”
“What? Oh, yes.” He grinned at Liz, who was merely smirking. “Sorry.”
“No harm done, Captain.”
“Didn’t I shoot you?” asked someone else, and another man - who, despite the fact he was wearing a suit rather than a uniform, had a distinctly military look about him - “You tried to get access to the storage unit, and …”
“And that’s all water under the bridge now, I’m sure,” said the Doctor, moving forward to intercept the man, “This is a wedding, remember. How are you, Sergeant Benton?”
“Fine, thank you, Doctor,” said Benton with a smile, shaking the proffered hand.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me. My face has changed!”
“Again, yes. But that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”
“What is this?” Donna muttered to Martha, “A companion convention? How many of us are there?”
Before anyone could respond, however, a dark haired toddler - dressed in an impeccable miniature suit and pink shirt - hurtled forward and attached himself firmly to Jack’s leg. His mother hurried after him, rather shamefacedly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, addressing both Jack and the crowd in general, “He’s normally very well behaved …”
“Jo!” exclaimed the Doctor delightedly, “He’s yours?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling proudly - and shyly - up at Susan’s grandfather. “This is Ianto.”
Martha’s eyebrows shot up. “Not Ianto Jones?”
Jo and the Doctor both nodded, and Jack blinked.
“Don’t say a word,” he cautioned Martha.
“I wasn’t going to,” she laughed, as Jack’s attempts to peel the child off seemed only to encourage him.
Susan, for her part, simply watched all this unfold with interest. There was no rush now. No urgency. It was nice to see what her grandfather had been doing over the years. Forming friendships and bonds that would last several lifetimes, saving the world, jumping from time period to time period while she took the road less travelled.
Or, perhaps, the road more travelled would be a better term. It depended on whether she was thinking about humans or Time Lords. When it came to herself, Susan wasn’t really sure anymore. She didn’t feel like either species, but she was definitely related to the man with the tousled brown hair and battered converse. That was all she needed to know.
As if sensing her thoughts - although that notion was probably frivolity on Susan’s part - her grandfather chose that moment to turn away from Jo and her son, and face the teenage girl standing in the corner. The teenage girl who was both young and old. The teenage girl who was terribly - wonderfully - familiar.
“Susan!” he breathed, and the next few minutes passed in a rush of incomprehensible emotion. Her grandfather stepped forward, pulling her into his arms, and whatever she had been intending to say to him evaporated away in the fierceness of his greeting. All those words suddenly seemed irrelevant. Unnecessary.
“What are you doing here?” he breathed. Eventually. He wouldn’t let go of her, and Susan was aware of the dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on them. She didn’t care.
“Waiting for you,” she replied. “I took the slow path, but I knew you’d be here eventually.”