Author's Note: - this scene picks up where Downtime left off, although you don't have to have seen it to understand the story.

Prologue - September 1995

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Sarah Jane Smith looked on fondly as Kate's father, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart walked off along the canal, hand in hand with his new found grandson. Sarah Jane turned to her companion after a few moments and leaned into Kate's personal space as though it were a confession.

"I'm famished, fancy a pizza?" Kate brushed some of her straggly blonde hair from her eyes with her hand and paused.

"You know, I think I'd rather have a pint." Kate's mind was still trying to process the last few hours. She had contacted her father in desperation at being harassed by students of The New World University, better known as 'Chillys.' It had been the first time in six years that they had seen each other face to face and then he'd found out about Gordy's existence. Along with her father's appearance came the inevitable military and top secret UNIT nonsense, as if the two were inexplicably bound to one another.

Kate had loathed it all from an early age, unsurprised when it had been responsible for her parents' failed marriage. Almost as if to spite it all, to oppose whatever nonsense the military stood for, she'd developed a strong pacifist political stance in her adult years. Then there had been all of the really odd stuff with The Great Intelligence; Yeti, an ivory locus and silver orbs which seemed to be connected to the World Wide Web and her father somehow.

"Make it a cup of tea and you're on." Perhaps Sarah Jane wasn't quite so much of a pub person then? Something to eat and a cup of tea sounded alright though. They hooked their arms around each other and walked off up the canal, leaving her father some time alone to get to know his grandson.

"There's a cafe just the other side of that lock," Kate suggested helpfully as she'd been there a couple of times with Gordy for a late Sunday breakfast.

They took up a seat in one of the corners, slightly out of the way of the other patrons and with a view of the canal. Sarah Jane perused the menu, there wasn't any pizza she fancied so she ordered a peppermint tea along with an omelette from the waitress. Kate ordered a cup of ordinary tea and a toasted sandwich in turn.

"So, you used to work with Dad back in the day? You don't look like military." Sarah Jane practically snorted at that remark. She wore a beige skirt suit and a white blouse with black polka dots on it. Although Kate had observed that she did seem to run well in a pair of heels though.

"No, I'm most certainly not! I'm a journalist. My Aunt was a top scientist and had occasional dealings with UNIT whereas I was more inquisitive, got myself unofficially involved. It sort of grew from there. Although, I'm not really affiliated with UNIT anymore." There was a slight sadness to Sarah's tone but Kate didn't know her well enough to pick up on it yet.

"Who was your aunt?" Kate's ears had pricked up when Sarah had said that she was a scientist.

"Lavinia Smith, virologist." Kate nodded in recollection and smiled at her companion.

"Oh I've heard of her, quite brilliant by all accounts. I'm sure she did a series of lectures around the UK when I was at university. She'd just come back from a tour of the US if I remember correctly?" Sarah Jane twigged that Kate must have a professional interest to have remembered that much about her aunt.

"Are you a scientist?"

"Yes, chemistry and physics. I teach GCSE science at a local school these days. Had aspirations to become a research scientist but things happened and then Gordy came along and… well, needs must." Sarah's journalist senses were piqued and she just knew there was a story there somewhere.

"What about his father?" The question was out of Sarah's mouth before she could think about it, she didn't even hesitate that it might be too personal a tale to tell.

"Long story, but suffice to say it was never going to work. He's not in the picture anymore." Kate was quite matter of fact in her words but she was guarded nonetheless.

"I'm sorry." Kate was saved from any further explanation by the waitress returning with their drinks. She ducked back into the kitchen and brought out their food as well.

"So, what about you… attached, kids?" Sarah Jane coughed slightly on her tea, she was used to asking the awkward questions but not receiving them in turn. No one was ever really that interested in finding out more about her these days, it was usually work, work, work.

"Err, no. That's not really my area." Kate's eyebrows rose and she smirked at Sarah who caught her and couldn't maintain the eye contact. Kate was secretly pleased that her hunch about this woman was proving to be correct.

"What is your area? Your journalistic specialism I mean." Kate let the innuendo hang in the air between them for the time being.

"I'm currently freelance so I take up a whole range of things. Generally I'd prefer people focused stories, standing up for those who can't let their voices be heard for one reason or another."

"Sounds very rewarding."

"Sometimes." They continued to eat and make small talk, Sarah Jane explaining that she'd been living in Camberwell for a few years and Kate about living on a boat along the Lea Valley navigation path. The fact that they were both living in London suburbs was not lost on either of them. They finished their late lunch and headed back to the boat to check up on The Brigadier and Gordon. They walked side by side for a short while before Kate plucked up the courage to ask Sarah Jane a question she'd been burning to ask for the last hour or so.

"Sarah?"

"Mmm?"

"I was wondering… I'd like to see you again, if I may?"

"I don't see why not, seeing as we don't live a million miles away from each other."

"No, I mean… I like you… I'm asking you out on a date." Kate thought that she should just go for it, what did she have to lose? Although, judging by the horrified look on Sarah's face, perhaps Kate had misread the signals? It wouldn't have been the first time.

"I'm very flattered Kate but I don't think I'm the sort of person you want complicating your life." There was a warning there but Kate didn't heed it.

"Because you're a woman? I'm very comfortable with my sexuality, if that's what you're thinking? I've always known that I'm gay, so you're not an experiment or anything of the sort." Kate had had enough women do that to her, especially when she was younger and at university.

"I don't doubt that, though thanks for the clarification. I actually meant that I'm not really a relationship person; never in one place long enough to get attached. Besides, I'm always working ridiculous hours and travelling all over the world." Sarah Jane couldn't tell Kate that she was also waiting for a certain Time Lord in a blue police box to come and ask her to travel with him again, but the likelihood of that was getting slimmer and slimmer with every passing decade.

"That suits me, something casual. I'm not really looking for anything long term."

"Kate, we barely know each other…"

"It's okay, I get it. Just think about it, maybe come over next weekend for Gordy's birthday? I've asked Dad to come too and while it's still a bit awkward it would be nice to have a bit of extra company and support."

"I don't know Kate, I am very busy. We'll see."

Chapter One - The Following Week

As Gordon tore into the brightly coloured paper that surrounded yet another birthday gift from his grandfather, Kate was distracted by a firm knock at the door of her houseboat. She looked up from enjoying the sight of the two of the most important people in her life getting to know each other and looked out of one of the small windows to catch a glimpse of her visitor. She recognised the chestnut hair immediately, followed by a predictable smart suit and small heels - just enough to make herself look a bit taller. It wasn't an unexpected visit, Kate had invited her after all, but it was a surprise that she had actually turned up. Sarah Jane Smith was a busy woman and in her own words; a career journalist who was never in the same place for too long. She did however, have a long history with the Brigadier and they were good friends, even if they hadn't seen each other in a number of years until recently. Kate opened the door and greeted her guest warmly.

"Sarah Jane! It's good to see you, I wasn't sure you'd make it." The intrepid journalist looked a little sheepish, shrugged her shoulders and smiled shyly at her host.

"I cleared my diary." Kate raised a surprised eyebrow but didn't say anything further. She suspected there was more to it than that but didn't want to scare the older woman off.

"Please, come in. Dad's just being a bad influence on Gordy. I could do with some reasonable female input." Kate ushered Sarah Jane through and shut the door behind her.

"I heard that!" Alistair called from his comfortable position on the floor. He lay amongst toys that were half opened from their boxes, discarded wrapping paper and a tower of packaging off to one side. Gordy had a wide grin on his face and was helping his grandfather to construct a structure out of Lego bricks.

"Quite right too." Sarah Jane walked into the living area and chuckled at the scene before her. Who would have thought this was the same military man who was in charge of UNIT only a few years before?

"Sarah Jane! How lovely to see you again so soon." And for the Brigadier it truly was, for no one in his life quite understood what he had seen and done throughout his time in service at UNIT. Sarah Jane did, she had worked and also travelled with The Doctor; had seen things beyond most people's dreams.

"You too Brigadier. Hello Gordon, remember me?" The little boy nodded his head enthusiastically but continued to play with his bright, shiny new toys.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do with all these toys Dad, in case you haven't noticed I don't have a huge amount of room." Alistair's face grew serious for a moment as he looked directly at his daughter.

"I was going to talk to you about that. Why don't you move into a house? Somewhere that you can call your own, have plenty of space for both you and Gordy, perhaps have a garden he can run around in too?" Apart from the fact that she couldn't have afforded to buy or rent a house on her sole income, Kate actually quite liked the freedom that came with living along the canal. It had been her and Gordy against the world for three years, not answering to anyone and living her life the way she wanted to. She wasn't about to change it just because her father was back on the scene, regardless of whether or not he approved of her living arrangements.

"Dad..."

"And there would be plenty of room if Gordy were to have a sibling one day. In the future of course."

"Dad!"

"And if it's money you're worried about well, I'm sure I could more than help you out there, it's probably long overdue and I was well recompensed when I retired." Kate looked over at Sarah Jane with a panic stricken expression. Despite feeling caught up in a family domestic Sarah returned a gesture for Kate to calm down and it seemed to have been the right thing to do.

"I think that's perhaps a conversation for another time." It took all of Kate's strength to keep her voice even and not cause a scene. She loved her father, really she did, but they'd not long since been reunited after many years of estrangement. There were a whole host of reasons for that, none of which had been addressed and Kate didn't feel he'd earned the right to be imparting his fatherly advice just yet. His relationship with Gordy was a different thing altogether and she could no longer deny them both the opportunity to get to know each other. It wouldn't have been fair on either of them if she did that. Alistair fortunately picked up on the tension he'd unwittingly caused and backed off with a firm nod. He was all too aware of how fragile and tentative his relationship with Kate still was and didn't want to jeopardise it so early on.

"Granddad..." Gordy tugged on Alistair's sleeve to get his attention. "...put this one together." He thrust a set of bricks into his grandfather's hands. Kate coughed out loud and the youngster looked at his mother.

"What do you say?" She reminded him of his manners, unable to abide ill-mannered people.

"Please Granddad." The adults chuckled, and Kate felt herself relax as Gordy's interlude helped disperse the tense atmosphere.

"Anyone want another cup of tea?" Kate asked her guests. She was a true Brit and had grown up with the belief that a good cup of tea could solve most of life's problems.

"Yes please love." Alistair replied offhandedly as he continued to play with his grandson. Sarah Jane stood and went to meet Kate over by the kitchenette.

"Do you think we could have a quick chat, alone?" She whispered so the other two couldn't hear.

"Er, yeah. Let's go outside." Kate set about making the tea and handed her father his once it was ready.

"Dad, we're just popping out for a walk around the area. We shouldn't be too long, will you be alright with Gordon for a bit?"

"Of course, have fun." Sarah Jane followed Kate as she meandered along the banks of the canal. They made some small talk about the still-warm autumnal weather but they both knew it was a delaying tactic.

"I take it you haven't had much of a chance to talk to your father properly?" They had come to a stop by the lock and Sarah Jane gestured for Kate to take a seat on the bench just by a cluster of trees to one side, partially shielding them from prying eyes. Kate sat down but not before checking that the bench was dry and clear of anything untoward.

"No, we've not seen each other since last week. There's so much ground to cover, so many old wounds that need to be reopened. I wanted him to spend some time with Gordy first, get to know him before we start having disagreements." Kate fiddled with her hands in her lap, clearly still full of emotion over the estrangement from her father in the first place.

"Surely enough time has passed?" Sarah Jane couldn't help but think of the parents she had never known and her private sorrow about the whole thing. Not that Aunt Lavinia hadn't been a wonderful guardian after all she was still doing her best to look after her fiercely independent and very much grown-up niece.

"My mother was terribly hurt and I grew up hardly ever seeing him. At first I thought that he just couldn't be bothered, then I wondered if it was because Mum kept him away or even that I'd done something wrong, disappointed him in some way." Sarah Jane hadn't known Kate very long but she had a hard time believing that she was naturally this despondent.

"You know that couldn't possibly have been true?"

"I was a child Sarah Jane! What else was I supposed to think? Of course I knew that he was 'in the army' and that his job would mean long periods of time away from home but I had absolutely no idea why we never saw him. It was a difficult thing for me to understand then and I still don't fully understand it now. At least not until we've had a chance to talk anyway."

"I suppose that's fair enough, just…give him a chance. He's been my friend for a long time and I know him well enough to say with some certainty that he's a good man and that he loves you very much."

"Thank you." Without thinking, Kate reached out and patted Sarah Jane's knee to match her words. Finally it gave Sarah Jane the courage to talk to her companion about what she really had wanted to say in the first place.

"I've been thinking about what you said, in the cafe last week. I still can't promise you anything but I would like to get to know you better. I do like you, a lot." There, once it was out, it was out and Sarah Jane felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" Kate teased, knowing full well that it had taken a lot for Sarah Jane to admit her feelings out loud. "You are, aren't you? I've made the legendary Sarah Jane Smith blush!"

"Stop it!" It was said playfully but Kate stopped her teasing nonetheless. She reached out and took both of Sarah's hands in her own.

"I'm going to kiss you now." Sarah Jane couldn't think of anything to say so she just nodded and waited as the younger woman inched closer. Their lips met in a chaste kiss but it was more than enough of a promise to see where their new friendship would lead.

February 1996

Kate lay in her bed, the covers entangled around the lower half of her body exposing her bare torso to her bed mate. She was comfortable and relaxed, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She propped herself up on one side with her elbow and turned to Sarah Jane.

"You know that you're a bad influence? I've never called in sick in my life before!" Her tone was teasing and her voice slightly husky. Sarah Jane was sat against the headboard, sheets tucked up around her chest tightly but there was a lazy smile on her face and the remnants of a flush to her cheeks.

"I never said that I was a good one!" They chuckled lightly together and Kate pushed herself closer into Sarah's slightly guarded personal space. She ghosted fingertips up the older woman's freckled arm, over her bare shoulder and down towards the concertinaed sheet. Once Kate had heard the tell-tale intake of breath she carefully unfolded the sheet and slid it down Sarah's body.

"I never said that I didn't approve." Kate replaced her fingers with her lips and kissed her way along Sarah's collarbone and down towards her breast. Sarah Jane moaned and squirmed at Kate's touch for a few moments before gently pushing her back to stop her. She ran a hand through the younger woman's straggly, long blonde hair and cupped her cheek before pressing a kiss to her lips.

"I'm glad, I needed this." Sarah Jane said with all the weariness of a woman who was consumed by her job, but Kate knew that in spite of the terribly long and unsocial hours she kept, she thrived on it too.

"Tough few weeks?" Kate took hold of Sarah's hand, kissed her knuckles and held it in hers across the older woman's still-covered lap. She could wait a while longer to resume their activities and instead took the opportunity to learn more about her usually closed-off lover.

"Yeah, I've had a couple of all-nighters. I've been working on an expose on a well known restaurant chain. I've had to go undercover as a patron at several branches. Once you've had one over-priced meal alone, knowing who's been shafted to get it there, the whole experience sort of loses its appeal." A lot of Sarah's work these days revolved around getting justice for people who were unable to speak up for themselves. It was satisfying to free those people and ensure the perpetrators were appropriately punished for their misdeeds but there was an ever-so slightly hollow feeling that she still carried around with her on a daily basis. She knew where her heart really lay and however resigned she was to the fact that she was no longer a space-time adventurer, it didn't stop her longing for it.

"You know, if you ever needed a dinner companion you could always ask me?" So far, their relationship had mainly revolved around sex and conversations snatched in-between. Not that it was a problem in any way, Sarah had been upfront about her availability from the very beginning and Kate was happy with their arrangement. She wasn't ready for a long-term commitment at this point in her life, if that was something she even wanted at all. It certainly wasn't with Jonathan, although that had been a different circumstance entirely.

"And what about Gordon?"

"I have friends who could babysit, or Dad could take him for the night."

"How are things going with your father?" Kate huffed loudly in exasperation.

"Way to kill the mood!"

"Not going well then?" Sarah Jane offered with a wry smile. She thought the world of The Brigadier but he was a very stubborn and single-minded fellow at the best of times. She hadn't known Kate long but she understood well enough that she shared her father's stubborn streak. The two together were bound to be a recipe for disaster.

"I'm not sure how I should feel about discussing my father when I'm in bed with one of his friends! I think that's too weird for comfort." Kate had tried not to think of their relationship in those terms too often.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." Kate sighed deeply and resigned herself to having this conversation now.

"No, I'm sorry, that wasn't fair of me. You're right, it's up and down at best, and he's still going on about me getting a house, perhaps even moving closer to him and Doris so they can see Gordon more regularly." It suited Kate to be in a London suburb; she had the freedom to move the boat wherever she pleased, usually somewhere where there was plenty of green space for Gordy. At the same time she got to have a bit of a social life in the centre of the big, bright city and mix with all different types of people.

"Ah, so you've met Doris then? What do you think of her?"

"Yeah, I went to visit them a couple of weeks ago. She's lovely, wonderful even. I can see that she keeps Dad in line, although he's a stubborn old mule and there are just some things where she won't win. He adores her though, that's obvious and she him. She's also taken well to Gordy and is determined to teach him about gardening."

"Have you spoken to your mother about all of this?"

"That was a difficult conversation. Remember that I hadn't been in touch with her for several years either, so my phone call came out of the blue. She's obviously just as thrilled as Dad to learn that she had a grandson but then I had to tell her about getting back in touch with him too. She just doesn't want to see me get hurt or for Gordy to be let down. But she acknowledges that it's a good thing for Dad and I to work out some sort of relationship. She's always said how much of him she sees in me." Sometimes when her mother had said it it'd sounded like an accusation, other times it was just plain sad for the loss of what could have been had Alistair not been so married to his job.

"I can see it too, but you're less…military." Despite the fact that Kate had seriously considered using her father's gun to defend herself from the Chillys back when she'd first met Sarah Jane, it was fairly obvious she shared the older woman's pacifist philosophy. It made the repair of her relationship with her father that much more difficult considering his long-standing devotion to the military.

"Thanks, I think?"

"It was a compliment I assure you."

"How's your aunt?"

"I haven't seen her in months, although we speak on the phone regularly. She knows better than to interfere in my life."

"That sounds rather…cold."

"Not exactly the maternal type was Aunt Lavinia and I wouldn't have appreciated it either."

"That must have been difficult growing up?"

"I've not known any different and it's made me the person I am today. I'm grateful for it; I'm independent, self-sufficient, my own person. I don't want to have been tied to someone, foregoing my own identity for the sake of a comfortable, traditional life like some of my peers. I feel lucky to have been a part of the feminist movement and that I never felt the pressure to conform in that way."

"Amen sister! I'm so glad you get that, I wish Dad would at least try to understand. He thinks I'm being difficult for the sake of it, an act of rebellion."

"Isn't it? At least in part?"

"I'll tell you the stories about that part of my life another time. But this," Kate gestured with her hands to indicate the houseboat, "is me. It's my independence, my feminism, and without it I'm not being true to myself."

"He's only trying to help in the best way he knows how. He's coming at things from a position of hindsight and wants to try and make life easier for you."

"I don't need things to be made easier, I want to work hard and reap what I sow. Have just enough to survive but be proud that I did it by myself."

"I don't think there would be any doubt about that!" They chuckled together and Kate decided to let her fingers wander over Sarah's Jane's body once again.

"That conversation was a bit too serious for what I had in mind we'd be doing today. Do you think that perhaps we could get back to more important things? Especially as I'm going to have to pick Gordy up from school in a couple of hours."

Sarah Jane flung the rest of the sheet away from her body and shifted herself so that she hovered over her younger lover. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the side of Kate's face, near her ear before dropping kisses along her jawbone and down the side of her neck. It seemed to do the trick and Kate was once again writhing in pleasure at her touch.

"Like this you mean?" Sarah Jane asked with feigned innocence as she watched Kate, the younger woman's cheeks flushed, eyes dark as she stared hungrily back. Kate grabbed hold of Sarah's face with both hands and manoeuvred them into a passionate kiss.

"Mmm, that's much better," Kate hummed into the kiss, her hands winding almost helpless into Sarah's hair as she kept the woman pressed against her.

Sarah's left hand wandered down the length of Kate's body as they continued to kiss, pushing its way underneath what was left of the sheet that covered Kate before slipping between her legs. Sarah Jane teased the younger woman, drawing out the foreplay almost expertly before allowing Kate to crash over the edge with a cry.

"Who'd have thought that you in your smart suits and prim and proper manner would be that good at giving a woman an orgasm?" Kate panted, pushing a hand lazily through her tangled hair.

"And what about you in your jeans and baggy jumpers? You're a science teacher with PhDs in Chemistry and Physics! You're much smarter than you let on."

"Touche! Speaking of which," Kate's voice turned predatory," I think it's currently 2-1 to me and it's only fair I should rectify this immediately."

"I'm not going to stop you."

Kate flipped their positions so that she was now on top and in control. She straddled Sarah Jane's waist with her knees and took the time to mark her torso with kisses and touches, relishing in each individual sound she drew from the woman's mouth. She moved in synchronisation with Sarah, tracing the woman's body with her fingertips and her tongue, moving in almost perfect rhythm with each arch of the woman's back, each roll of her hips. Eventually Kate wriggled further down until she was flush against the mattress, poised to make put her mouth and tongue to good use on Sarah Jane.

Much later, Kate had made tea (of course!) and sandwiches and they sat leisurely in the living area of the houseboat. Kate had slung on an over-sized tee shirt and foregone her underwear whereas Sarah Jane had fully redressed into her light grey skirt suit but remained barefoot. Kate made a point of draping herself over her companion and teased her for not relaxing.

"I do hope you're not going to turn up at the school dressed like that?" Sarah Jane asked Kate, only half joking.

"Of course not! What sort of person do you take me for?"

"I'm joking, relax. Isn't that what you just told me to do?"

"Ha ha, very funny. What are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Nothing until tonight, why?"

"Did you want to come with me? You'd get to see Gordy that way." Sarah Jane's face was a picture, very much the epitome of a deer in headlights. "Okay, maybe not then."

"It's not…I like Gordy, I really do but this isn't… I don't do families and relationships Kate, I told you that when we started this."

"Woah, I didn't ask you to adopt him! I just thought you might like to say hello." There was an awkward moment of silence before either of them spoke again.

"Sorry, I just get a bit defensive."

"I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to do, especially when it comes to this," she gestured between them. "I've been there before remember, with Jonathan."

"I know, forgive me." Sarah waited a beat and then began speaking again. "Okay, why not? I'll drive you if you like?"

"Honestly, you don't have to just because we've had this discussion. I'm not going to take it as a personal slight against my son." Kate said it with a wry grin to make sure Sarah Jane knew that she was joking.

"Oh you! I mean it, I'd like to say hello to Gordon. I won't come back with you though, if that's alright?"

"Of course it is, I meant it too, about not making you do anything you're not comfortable with. I know where I stand with this…" Kate made the same gesture between them as before. It was difficult knowing what to call it, if not a relationship of sorts.

Kate's father lived on a large country estate with an extensive garden and six bedrooms. He had a study and Kate's stepmother Doris had a craft room packed full of fabrics and knitting paraphernalia. What on earth two people wanted with such a large house was beyond Kate but they seemed proud of it nonetheless. Gordon loved running around outside pretending that he was an aeroplane and was thrilled to learn that his grandfather had once been picked up by a UNIT helicopter in the very same garden. Gordy was full of questions about how big it was, how noisy it had been and how much mess it had made of the beautiful garden. Doris clearly hadn't gotten over that particular episode and it was evidentially a bit of a sore point between the otherwise blissfully happy couple.

Not only had Alistair acquired a very healthy pension from his long military career but he had a second from his time as a maths teacher at Brendan. And still he was on the UNIT books as a special envoy and travelled to Geneva at least once every six months on diplomatic business. Kate knew that he wasn't deliberately showing off his wealth, it had come at the cost of great personal sacrifice; his relationship with her and her mother, his first wife. For years, before he had reacquainted himself with Doris, Alistair had been alone and they had been some of the loneliest and most uncomfortable of his life. He was just the sort of person who wasn't meant to live alone.

Kate and Gordy had travelled down to the country estate one Sunday for the day and would leave just after dinner in the early hours of the evening. They both had school the next morning so they couldn't stay too late. It was a shame Doris hadn't been able to have any children of her own, she seemed so very maternal towards Gordy and obviously delighted in his visits. Alistair was still glowing with his relatively new found grandparent-hood and relished any time that he spent with the youngster. Each visit meant that he got to see more of the daughter he'd missed out on seeing grow up and learn more about her. He felt an instinctive love and kinship with her, they were so terribly similar after all, an integral part of him despite the missing years in between. However, there was so much left unspoken, unexplained and time and emotions had distorted some of that natural allegiance. But time could also heal and Alistair had faith that they would one day heal the rift between them and come back stronger than ever because of it.

While Doris was attempting to teach Gordy how to knit with the largest pair of needles Alistair had ever seen, he decided to take the opportunity to have some time alone with his daughter. They took a walk around the garden and he pointed out some of the plants they had put in since they had been there and what they were.

"Gordy said that Sarah Jane's been a bit of a regular visitor to you both. I'm glad you get along, she was a good friend to me way back in my UNIT days." Kate looked at his face carefully as she sought out any hint of it being a leading statement. She couldn't find anything but her defences were raised anyway. She shrugged nonchalantly and answered her father.

"We have a lot in common." At that, Alistair raised his eyebrows and Kate knew then that he knew, but she wasn't going to make this conversation easy for him.

"Kate, about Gordy's father…?"

"What about him?"

"What happened between you? Why isn't he taking responsibility for his son?"

"What, like you did for me?" The statement shocked them both but it needed to be said, was long overdue in fact. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you're well within your rights to say that because it's true. I put my job before my responsibilities, before two people that needed me the most and it was unfair. I regret the time I lost with you and your mother and the way I distanced myself from you both but I don't regret devoting myself to my job. I helped to protect millions of people from some of the most horrific things you could ever imagine. Saved people's lives. How could I possibly regret that?" Kate was suitably humbled for a moment. "So what's Jonathan's excuse? Why did he leave you to bring up Gordon alone?"

"Because I asked him to." It was said quietly because she had been frightened to say it aloud. The truth resonated in her ears and the terror at what her father was going to say about it was in her eyes.

"Go on."

"It wasn't what I wanted, it wasn't who I was."

"Marriage?"

"All of it; a child, him, commitment."

"Kate!"

"It's true, at least it was then. I don't regret having Gordy, in fact he turned out to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. But not how it happened and with who. It was all such a horrible mistake."

"Please don't say that, you don't mean it."

"Oh do wake up Dad. You know, you've always known, otherwise why would we be having this conversation in the first place? You were even surprised to learn you had a grandson. Ask me, ask me what you want to know."

"I..can't."

"I'll answer anyway then. Yes, I've been spending a lot of time with Sarah Jane recently and we've grown very close. She's not the first and I don't expect she'll be the last either. So yes, I'm gay. I always have been really, despite some of the relationships I've ended up in. I was very fond of Jonathan but only ever as a friend. He knew about my preferences and he had preferences of his own. But one night, one thing led to another and….anyway he tried to do the 'honourable' thing but I turned him down. We attempted to make it work for a while but it was just awkward and made things more difficult. I offered to bring up Gordy alone and absolve him of any responsibility as long as he never laid any claim to him." Kate could see that her father was positively horrified by her admission and knew that he probably needed a few moments to take it all in.

"He agreed to it?"

"Yes. Don't get me wrong, he didn't make the decision lightly but he knew that it would have been terrible had we carried on the way we were. He wanted to travel, see the world and not be tied down to anyone at that point in his life. I'm not naive enough to think that one day he won't just turn up out of the blue, but hopefully that will be a long way down the line and I'll be better prepared for it." Kate knew that her reasoning was perhaps flawed and naive but the decision had been made. She couldn't honestly say that she regretted it and she was as happy as she felt she could be. Surely her father could understand that given what he had just said about his decision to put his career before his family?

"I don't really know what to say Kate. Surely the best thing for Gordon is to have his father in his life, no matter what has happened between you?"

"Why is it one rule for you and another for me?"

"I just don't understand why you would deliberately make life so much more difficult for yourself, for Gordy!"

"I'm not being deliberately difficult, in fact it's probably easier this way."

"For Gordy or for you?"

"That's not fair, especially coming from you." Kate ran her fingers through her messy hair in an exasperated gesture. "Look, I really don't want to fall out over this. I made my decision a long time ago, you just have to trust that it's the best thing for me and my son."

"How are you going to explain your… friendship with Sarah Jane? Surely you can see that's not normal?" Kate's eyebrows raised sky high at that.

"Normal?!"

"Well, not 'not normal' you know what I meant."

"No, you meant it exactly as you said it. I'm not going to lie to him, children are very broad minded and accepting. It's the adults that put all sorts of restrictions on each other. But, at the moment there's nothing much to tell. Sarah Jane and I are friends who sometimes sleep together, it's not a proper relationship in that sort of sense so you don't need to worry about that."

"So you might, one day, change your mind? Settle down?"

"With a man?" Alistair nodded. "That's completely out of the equation and I probably won't with a woman either. I just…I can't see it being in my future. I'm sorry if that's disappointed you but I can't be something I'm not. I tried that and it ended up in disaster." There were still so many things in Kate's past that her father didn't know, perhaps shouldn't ever know. She may be a bright, accomplished scientist with boundless confidence and self assuredness but it didn't mean it had always been the case.

"It's not what I had hoped for you. I wanted you to be settled and happy have the family life that I wasn't able to give you growing up." It was what most parents wanted for their children, especially when they had made their own mistakes.

"But don't you see, I am happy, in my own way? What you want for me isn't what I want for me, I'd be miserable otherwise."

"I'm going to need some time to take all of this in. I do love you Kate, that's not going to change but I can't quite get my head around all of this, not yet anyway."

"All I ask is that you respect the right for me to make my own decisions about my own life. I don't need your permission but I would really value your blessing. Besides, are you surprised? You're one of the most stubborn people I know, could I be anything other than your daughter if I wasn't the same?" The atmosphere dissipated a little at that and Kate looked right at her father. "Can I have a hug?" For all of her 31 years she was still his little girl.

"Of course, come here Tiger." Alistair opened his arms out to her and enveloped her into a fatherly hug. He had filled out over the years and was half a foot taller than Kate. Her feistiness aside, there was nothing like the safe, warm embrace of a parent, even from one who had been mostly absent from her life until now. That unmistakable bond between them was still strong, otherwise they wouldn't have had the impassioned argument in the first place. Alistair thought that the childhood nickname had never been more appropriate for his daughter, a real chip off the old block if ever there was one. He knew this was by no means the last time they would come to blows, perhaps they might even fall out again but they would always find their way back to each other. They had to, they were so intrinsically entwined with each other.