Bored on a future Earth, Arkytior Larna Zezenne Campbell waited. Her lover was long dead, but she'd regenerated twice, and still had hundreds of years more of time.
Time! It seemed to pass so slowly here. Gallifrey was exciting and full of possibilities. Here on Earth, with no TARDIS and no grandfather, she just kept moving forward. She hadn't seen her grandfather for years... he's said he was in his eighth incarnation then. That was when the Daleks had killed her son. Wasn't ruining the Earth for years enough?
She'd taken up cooking. Susan, as the humans knew her, had always liked cooking better than pressing buttons on a machine for food. To her surprise, she was very good at it. And that was how she ended up as the caterer on the film set.
Susan had her own company, Fine Foods Catering, and she had become quite well known throughout the UK. She liked to work on the film sets because they were exciting. She liked the science fiction film sets best of all, because the creatures that the humans made out of makeup and costumes reminded her of her old adventures. If she squinted her eyes enough, she could almost imagine they were real aliens.
Though, she guessed, she would be considered an alien. Every once in a while she caught herself tapping the beat of her two hearts on the pots and pans. taptaptaptap. taptaptaptap.
One day, just like any other, she was cooking up a nice lamb tagine in the catering trailer when one of the actors called out her name. "Hey Sue!" he yelled. "How's it goin'?"
"It's all right, Bernard," she said. "Same as usual."
"Well, it smells great." Bernard smiled. "Say, I've got someone I want you to meet! Hey John, come over here!" He called over to a man in a long brown coat who was carefully examining a weed growing in the grass.
The man walked over, and Susan instantly recognized him. She knew those eyes. But she couldn't say anything, she couldn't.
"Sue, this is John Smith," Bernard continued. "He's on set today to... say what are you here to inspect?"
"Uhh, simple... polarity of the... camera flow- anyway, what's on for dinner!" The man introduced as Smith bumbled.
"Lamb. It's one of my specialties." Susan was sure she caught a glimpse of recognition in her grandfather's eyes.
"Very well, my dear. Well, I must be on my way. Lots of inspecting to do and all that. But it was lovely to meet you." He winked. There! He did recognize her.
"Nice to meet you, too," Susan said, with a wave. Her grandfather and Bernard walked off together.
What was he here to fix? What was going on behind the scenes of their everyday life this time? How many regenerations had she missed? She was sure she'd never know.
She picked up a wooden spoon and drummed against a pot before stirring the delicious food inside. taptaptaptap. taptaptaptap.