You're Gonna Go Far Kid
Summary: Rachel and Susan remember
A/N: So watching the finale (I loved btw), I thought, it would of been nice to see some more Susan and Rachel interaction. So I wrote it.
Dedication: To Rachel/Carol/Thing 1 cause she encouraged me to finish this one.
Disclaimer: They ain't mine, I'm just a girl from a hicktown in East Jesus Nowhere who gets bored on occasion and borrows peoples things without asking.
Rachel Greene leaned against the admin desk, her eyes flitting around, trying to soak as much of it in as possible. It had changed so much in appearance, but she still felt it, the hearts that beat in sync, working for the same goal. Heal 'em and Deal 'em. Fix the patients, make it better and take no credit. She couldn't believe it was what she wanted.
"He'd be so proud of you, ya know?" A voice came from behind her.
"I know." She turned and smiled.
"He always knew you were going to do something great." Susan stole Frank's chair, grinning up at the woman, the girl she had once known.
"Hey Susan.. I'm.."
"I know Rach... you were just a kid." Susan placed a hand over Rachel's.
"You got time for coffee?" Rachel asked, glancing at her shoes.
"Always." Susan stood up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
They took the elevator up to the cafeteria, Susan bought them each a cup of sludge and they found an empty table in the back of the room.
"What's up Rachel?" Susan asked, sipping her coffee.
"I just.. I wanted to say Thank You." Rachel said, stirring about half a cup of sugar into her coffee.
"For what?" Susan asked, not really recalling anything in particular she had done for her.
"For.. for trying to teach me how to tie my skates, for buying me birthday gifts every year for as long as I can remember. For letting me play with Little Susie when you both got stuck bringing us to work. For giving my a place to crash when Elizabeth kicked me out and Ella was sick. I know I wasn't the easiest person in the world to deal with... so just, thank you." Rachel twirled a piece of hair around her finger.
"Oh come here." Susan pulled her into a tight hug.
"You people sure like to hug around here." She chuckled, hugging Susan right back.
"Get used to it Kid." Susan said, "You're more than welcome." She whispered, her eyes were full of tears and she blinked them back.
"So what's yours?" Rachel asked, pulling away from the hug, fiddling with a stray napkin.
"My what?" Susan asked.
"Your memory.. everyone's been telling me Mark Greene stories all night." Rachel explained, it felt so good to know that she wasn't the only one who remembered him as a hero.
"Kid... I could write a book filled with memories of your dad." Susan chuckled.
"Which is why I wanted to talk to you." Rachel looked up, finding Susan's eyes, "Ya know, I know he loved Elizabeth, I know he loved my mom, but you and him.. it was once in a lifetime."
"Yeah it was, but we both took different roads and no regrets." Susan smiled.
"Alright, so tell me one memory." Rachel said.
"The day you were born." Susan said and grinned at her.
"You were there that day?"
"I was applying for a resident program. I'd just finished up at Mercy. I was up there, meeting with Morgenstern, I come out of the office and this guy, in scrubs and a smock comes running up to me. This little pink bundle in his hands, he looked at me and said, "This is my daughter Rachel and she's the most beautiful baby in the whole world." You had his heart."
Rachel buried her head in her hands, her face turning pink, "Mom says I was always a Daddy's girl."
"Oh you were. If your mom had to work, your dad would bring you with him. You were the perfect little baby, content with the nurses or me or Carol, but the second your Dad had a break, your whole demeanor changed." Susan recalled.
"What do you think he's thinking right now?" Rachel had been in enough trouble to know she had a guardian angel and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was her dad.
"I bet he's probably wondering why we're sitting here, acting like shmucks, drinking cafeteria coffee that will surely rot our insides and put us in early graves." Susan chuckled, "That and he's really proud of you. Rachel, you defied the odds."
"Ella defied the odds. I, I just grew up." Rachel chewed on the inside of her lip, "He told me to be generous.. with my time and my love.. It took me awhile, but I finally got what he meant."
"What's that?" Susan asked, even though she already knew.
"This. It was my dad's life. I resented him for it ninety percent of the time. Now, I can't picture myself doing anything else. I can't imagine not helping the people, not helping the kids who come in just as messed up as I was, not helping the little girls who get sick like Ella and I definitely cannot imagine not helping those Dads, the ones who come in here sick and dying and need us to fix them."
"You're a county doc." Susan stood up, taking Rachel's hand, they left the cafeteria, abandoning their coffees. Susan pulled her up the stairs and to the roof, "Come on... it's like a right of passage. A County initiation."
"What are we gonna do? Jump?" Rachel quipped.
"More and more like your father with every breath." Susan smiled, it was a good thing.
"I know." Rachel grinned.
"This roof has seen so many hard times." Susan said, resting her hands on the railing.
"Seems like a dangerous place to go and think if you're having a bad day." Rachel chuckled.
"We all seemed to end up here at one time or another. Bad days. Fighting. Oh your dad and I had plenty of fights up here." Susan chuckled at how petty they all seemed now.
"I cannot see you two ever having a fight." Rachel told her.
"It was rare, but your father had his moments. And I had mine," She admitted, "There were times when we just wanted to kill each other."
"But.."
"But at the end of the day, he was still my best friend." Susan wiped a lone tear.
"You miss him?"
"Everyday."
"Me too." Rachel whispered, sitting down, she rested her head against the brick wall. Susan sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"What's yours?" Susan asked.
"My memory?" Susan nodded, "Hawaii."
"Anything in particular?"
"So much happened." Rachel sniffled, "He taught me how to drive a stick -a skill I still haven't used by the way. He taught me to surf. And then," She took a deep breath, "He taught me to forgive. He taught me how to heal."
"He was always good at teaching." Susan stroked Rachel's hair, fighting tears herself.
"He talked about you sometimes." Rachel drew her knees to her chest, resting her head against Susan's shoulder, "He'd tell me stories about you and Doug and Carol. How you guys would get in trouble at conferences... stuff you tried to pull on Weaver."
Susan laughed, "That was all Doug's doing. I swear."
"It feels good to be here." She smiled, "It feels good to remember him. I try to tell Ella as much as possible. It's hard on Elizabeth, to talk about him and know that Ella knows pictures, but she doesn't remember him."
Susan grabbed a piece of paper from her purse, scribbling her phone number and email address on the back, "If you ever feel like playing 'I Remember' let me know. I got stories, plenty of them, some from when your dad had a whole head of hair."
"He had a full head of hair? I thought he was just born bald." Rachel giggled.
"I have pictures that prove otherwise."
The sun was coming up over the skyline, shining off the el tracks, Rachel yawned, "Scuse me."
"I did what Elizabeth didn't want me to do." Susan chuckled.
"I can sleep on the plane." Rachel shrugged, "I mean, I gotta get used to it if I want to be a med student right?"
"Bingo." Susan laughed, "C'mon kid. I'll drop you off at the hotel."
"Thanks." Rachel smiled, standing up, she extended her hand helping Susan up.
Susan drove Rachel back to the hotel, Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt, but Susan paused her, "Give me a call when you get settled here. I'll send you some old pictures and stuff."
"I'd appreciate that." Rachel hugged her, "Thank you for everything Susan."
"Anytime Dr. Greene." Susan grinned.
"I can definitely get used to that."
A/N: TADA!