"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
― Robert Frost

Chapter 3: Stage Three, Coffee

Susan must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, she was rolling over and falling off a sofa.

"Umph," she grunted and turned to lay on her back on the hard floor.

Susan stared at the ceiling. She had just had the weirdest, most realistic dream ever.

In the dream she'd been in London. Her tourist group has vanished, and she's somehow ended up in the Doctor Who universe, penniless and panicking. Then she had gotten the bright idea of calling Torchwood Cardiff, after which Jack Harkness himself had rescued her off the streets of London like she was some kind of kicked puppy. She says puppy, instead of a damsel in distress, because despite the way her dreams usually worked, there had been no actual romantic intentions between the two of them.

Not even a kiss.

"What a crazy dream," Susan said absently.

"Are you all right?" a voice full of beautiful Welsh vowels asked. The owner of the voice in question was currently casting a shadow on top of her.

Susan looked up.

"Oh," she said and blinked.

Ianto Jones was looking down at her, an amused expression on his face. He was holding a tray of coffee mugs on his hands.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked, already knowing the answer. There was a sudden feeling of dread in the pit her stomach.

"No." The answer came from Jack. Susan had to crane her neck around to see him, because he was standing somewhere behind her, leaning against the stone wall.

"Jack," she greeted. "Hi, sorry, I'd shake your hand again, but I seem to be on the floor."

Jack stepped away from the wall and offered his hand to her. She took it, and he lifted her up. To her surprise, her knees didn't give up beneath her.

"Thanks," she said and sat back on the sofa, just in case. "This is still really weird."

"It isn't exactly normal for us either," Ianto said with a kind smile.

Jack nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, yeah, of course not," Susan said. "I'm probably freaking you out by freaking out," she said. "I should stop."

"Would you like some coffee?" Ianto asked.

She squinted at the two coffee cups on his tray. "Any of those have any sugar in them?"

"Sorry," he shook his head. "These are for Jack and our resident doctor, Owen. He's in the medical bay. Just tell me what your preferences are and I'll bring you one in a moment."

"You know... I'm actually like tea more than coffee," Susan said slowly. Then she grinned. "But if it's coffee made by Ianto Jones? It would be sacrilege to say no."

Ianto grinned back, and Susan could see a hint of pink on his cheeks. He was blushing! Too cute.

Ianto soon disappeared to give Owen his coffee, which left Jack standing there in front of her.

"I think an explanation is in order," Jack said. "Would you like to talk privately, or can my team hear this too?"

Susan watched his face for a minute. "It should be okay," she said, shrugging, "Actually, I wouldn't mind Toshiko Sato's opinion on the situation, anyway." Susan knew Tosh was a genius. She might not have been a Time Lady, or an alien, but she was brilliant.

Jack smiled, pleased. "Come on, I'll show you to the conference room."

–

Seeing the conference room was quite an overwhelming experience. Susan had tried to look around the Hub as much as she could as they walked to the room, and even the little glimpses she caught kinda made her want to curl up in the corner and scream. It was amazing, and it was definitely real.

That was the problem. It wasn't supposed to be real.

"You okay?" Jack asked, after the third time Susan passed him in the room. She'd been unconsciously circling the table while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive.

"Yeah, sure," Susan said with a small laugh, coming to a stop at the end of the table and sitting down. "If you ignore the fact that I'm in fact standing in a fictional place talking to a fictional character."

Jack gave her a concerned look and she shrugged.

"It's going to take some time to get used to. Last night I was like, really tired so I didn't pay much attention," Susan said, glancing at him. "But now I can say for sure there is no way this is a dream. I mean, I'm a huge Woodie, but even I don't know the layout of the Hub well enough to come up with all this detail."

"Woodie?" Jack asked, his lips curled in an amused smile.

"Ah," Susan said, wringing her hands. "Torchwood fan."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to tell this story more times than I have to, so-" she stopped suddenly, because the remaining members of the Torchwood team came walking through the door.

First was Dr. Owen Harper, who grumbled something about his work being interrupted. He sat on the seat at the end of the table.

Then, Toshiko Sato, who initiated eye contact and gave a small nod to Susan before sitting down next to Owen.

Then Gwen Cooper, who looked more confused than anything, and sat on the seat facing Owen.

Ianto was last, and he sat down on the seat facing Jack.

Suddenly Susan was finding it very hard to breathe.

"All right, we're all here because of very peculiar circumstances. We have someone who seems to be a dimension traveler in our midst," Jack said, motioning to her, "Susan Friberg. She says that one second she was walking in her London, and then just appeared in our London, with no warning."

"Seriously?" Owen asked, frowning, giving her a suspicious glance.

"Fascinating," Toshiko muttered, writing something down on her notepad.

"Are you sure, Jack?" Gwen asked. "That is a lot to take in. How does she even know anything is different?"

Susan blinked at her, then turned to look at Jack.

"That's why she wanted to speak to all of us," Jack explained, "Apparently it has something to do with Torchwood..."

Susan was still trying not to stare at new people in the room, but she realised Jack was giving her an opening to talk.

"Umm," she started hesitantly, "So in my universe there is this scifi TV show called Doctor Who. It's super popular, it was first broadcast in the 60's. It's about this alien who travels in time and place and has amazing adventures," she explained. Jack's expression didn't waver. "And then later, in the 21st century, they were sorta continuing the TV show, and they made this character who was really popular. And they decided to give him his own spin-off series. His name was Captain Jack Harkness."

The team's expressions collectively changed and they all turned around wide eyed to stare at Jack.

"What the hell?" Owen broke the silence.

"The show was called Torchwood," Susan continued quickly, "It's about this agency that manages alien life on Earth. More specifically, it focuses on their Cardiff Branch," she said and shrugged. "Sorry to let you know like this, but you're all in it."

"No way," Gwen commented. "That is insane."

Susan shrugged.

"Can you prove it?" Owen asked.

"Sure," Susan said, "If you want me to. But I have to warn you, I know stuff about you guys you probably wouldn't want a complete stranger like me knowing."

Jack held up his hand, stopping the conversation.

"Maybe it's best if you tell us something about me," Jack said, "I don't think anyone here wants their dirty laundry put out in the open if they don't have to."

"Fine by me," Susan said, and the others nodded. "Hmm, let me think." She stared at Jack for a moment, trying to come up with something that wouldn't totally destroy his relationship with the team.

"Quite a while ago," Susan said, giving him a pointed look implying she knew exactly how long ago that had been, "You lost a bit of your memory," she said. "Two years, I think. The Agency was behind it."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. The eye contact lasted a bit longer than Susan felt comfortable with.

Then Jack nodded.

"Not that many people know that about me," Jack agreed. "For now, we'll have to assume you're speaking the truth."

Susan let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she said, "I really don't want to get on your bad side. Any of you." She took a look around the table, then turned back to Jack. "Uh, also, that might explain why I've been acting so weirdly, this is basically any fangirl's dream come true. If you don't count the fact that all kind of monsters are real and out there ready to eat me."

Owen snorted, which made Gwen glare at him.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Gwen asked, "It must be quite a shock. Your parents must be worried to death."

"Eh," Susan shrugged, "I guess. I mean, I'm not dead yet, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well. And considering I've just met some of my favourite fictional heroes of all time and managed not to faint, I'm not doing too shabby."

"We'll get her back home, right Jack?" Gwen asked, concern coloring her voice. "She can't just stay here."

Jack glanced from Gwen to Susan. "Well..."

"If the rift is responsible for bringing me here, I'm never going to get home," Susan said, startling the rest of the team. "I know that for a fact. It just doesn't happen." She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "And if it was something else, well... Who knows?"

"Don't you want to go back?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not particularly," Susan said and shrugged at the incredulous expressions around the table. "Look, I'm probably still in shock. But if I can choose between living in a world with fucking time travel and aliens, and one where those things most certainly don't exist, why would I pick home?"

The team was silent. Susan got a feeling most of them agreed with her.

Except Gwen. "But what about your parents?" she asked, "Your friends, your home and your old life? Don't you want to see them again?"

Susan looked at her, feeling a bit annoyed. "Look, not that it's any of your business, but I'm not that close with my parents. I had a boring job in a shitty firm, and a cramped apartment, and I had more acquaintances than friends. I can have most of those things here, if I wish."

Jack nodded and swapped glances with Toshiko. "It's your decision. We can look into it, but..."

"You're right, it's very unlikely you'll get back to your universe, even if you did come across another rift like that," Toshiko said, her brow furrowed in deep thought. "There are just so many possible parallel universes. It would be suicide to just jump into one of them."

"Well, that settles it then," Susan said and stood up. "Now, I'm dying for a tour of this place."

"Of course, Ianto will show you around," Jack said, grinning. "After your done, come to my office, I want to speak with you in private."