Title: A John Smith Situation
Author:
carawjRating: PG
Pairing: Jo Grant/Emily Chaudhry, implied others as well.
Summary: Emily found herself sitting in a cell, her right arm handcuffed to a young woman in an extremely short skirt, who seemed to know a hell of a lot about UNIT.
Notes: Spoilers for the UNIT audio series. Thank you to
silly_cleo for the beta! Crossposted to
trap_one,
unit_family,
the_randomiser, and
who_otp.
The day that the new headquarters were overrun by large, lumbering creatures that fitted the description in the files of something called Ogrons that she wished she remembered more about, Emily found herself sitting in a cell, her right arm handcuffed to a young woman in an extremely short skirt, who seemed to know a hell of a lot about UNIT.
"Miss Grant?"
"Yes?"
"Captain? Sergeant? Corporal?"
"Nope."
"Brigadier?" she threw out helplessly. Miss Grant shook her head.
"Just plain old "miss", I'm afraid. Sorry to disappoint you. And call me Jo; everybody does. Well, except the Brig, but he's the Brig, you know? Is he still in charge here? He's a dear fellow, and I'm sure he'll get us out of this."
"The Brig? Miss Grant, my name's Brigadier Chaudhry. I'm in charge here."
"Oh!" Jo put her free hand to her mouth and Emily could see the edges of her grin around it. "I am sorry! Well," she started fiddling with her hair, a look of amused concentration on her face. "We'll just have to get ourselves out of here, won't we?" She held her hand out, triumphantly, a hair grip between her fingers.
"Um," said Emily.
***
"We'll probably have to rescue the Doctor as well. Where do you keep the blueprints of this place? It's changed rather from the HQ I know," she took Emily's hand and started heading blithely down a corridor. "I bet the Master's behind this. He usually is. But don't worry, I've met him before and I know how to resist his mind control. It's easy, really. I can teach you too, if you like."
Emily took a firmer grip on Jo's hand, wishing she had her gun in the other, and pulled her into a darkened office, quickly scanning it to make sure it was as empty as it seemed. "Alright," she leaned against the desk and glared at Jo, who, annoyingly, only looked mildly puzzled. "I need to know what's going on. By 'the Doctor', am I to take it that you mean the Doctor, as in John Smith situations?"
"Oh you do know about him!"
"Quiet," she put her fingers over Jo's mouth. "They'll find us if we make too much noise," she found herself saying, wondering why she was wasting time explaining anything to this civilian. "And, who's the Brig?"
"Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, of course."
Emily tried to calm her speeding brain. She'd known it was only a matter of time before she actually met one of the time travelers, but, if she was honest, it was throwing her for a loop. She abruptly wished Dalton was here with her, but banished the thought before it could hurt too much. "You mean Sir Alastair?"
"Oh gosh," Jo grinned again, whispering this time. "I suppose I do."
***
"You could come with us, couldn't she Doctor?"
"If you like, Jo," he was fiddling with the TARDIS controls, not looking at them rather deliberately, Emily thought. She liked him, she decided. He was old-fashioned, misogynistic, horribly frustrating, kept taking control and treating her like a little girl, and had just helped her to save the lives of every soldier she had. She liked him.
"It's nice of you to offer, but I can't leave UNIT without a commanding officer again. Who knows what clueless moron they'd put in charge this time." All true, not to mention the fact that she'd been watching the two of them together and wasn't about to be a third wheel.
The Doctor looked up. "This is a time machine, Brigadier Chaudhry," he snapped. "I could have you back here before anyone knew you'd left."
"That's what he thinks," said Jo, conspiratorially, leaning her chin in her hands, with her elbows on the console. "Oh do come with us, Emily. Can I call you Emily? Only, Brigadier Chaudhry is such a chore to say all the time."
She'd read all the files. Twice. All of time and space. All the things that came to earth. All those wonders. Emily looked into the sparkling eyes. "I'd love to," she said, suddenly strangely shy. "If it's ok with the Doctor."
"Hmm?" He'd gone back to tinkering, and the thing at the centre of the console had started to move and make an alarming noise. "I did say so, didn't I?" he sounded vaguely irritable, but she thought maybe he was smiling a bit. "Welcome aboard, Brigadier."
***
"But I thought? You and the Doctor?"
"Oh!" Jo exclaimed cheerfully. "Yes, we are. He won't mind though, and anyway you're from the future. Don't be so stuffy."
Emily opened her mouth to make an astonished retort, but found herself stopping. Don't be so stuffy, something in her mind told herself firmly, in a voice that sounded like Hoffman's. You're not an officer here. She leaned forward and kissed Jo again, her hands sliding around the tiny waist and pulling her closer.
"Jo?" The Doctor was standing in the doorway as they broke apart, his eyes twinkling. "I thought you'd like to know that we've landed. Would you like to see your first alien planet, Brigadier Chaudhry?"
"Please, Doctor, call me Emily." There was a bursting feeling of delight in her chest as she followed him through the console room and he pressed the button to open the doors.
Jo took her hand on the threshold, and she slipped her other into the Doctor's, feeling his fingers tighten on hers. She looked first at one of them, and then the other, a ridiculous smile plastered across her face, and stepped out into the brand new sunshine.
Of course, they were all in a prison cell again less than an hour later, but somehow Emily was sure they'd be alright.