DISCLAIMER: Don't own, highly doubt I ever will – the characters. Except the ones based on the peeps I know. It should be clear who those are – but, just in case, you'll need to know that I don't work for Torchwood. At least not Torchwood Three.

"What do you mean 'a problem'? Taryn was worried. The Doctor was using a tone of voice that sounded as if he were no longer in control.

"Who was that girl?" He ruffled his hair in frustration.

"I don't even know her name. Maybe if you tell me that then I can tell you if Susan ever talked about her." Taryn shook her head.

"Right! It was Marie. Did she ever talk about a 'Marie'?" He leaned in for an answer.

Taryn thought, running through the mental files she had on her roommate. "No, don't remember any 'Marie'..."

"Maybe I should go find out more. I'll just..." The Doctor was kept from opening the door by the sound of the TARDIS departing.

"I don't understand, Doctor," Taryn said, sitting on the jumpseat.

"Understand what?" He shrugged and went to join her.

"Why we are even doing this." She looked at him, resisting the urge to laugh at his hair, but just barely.

"I got a message from an old friend." The Doctor offered by way of explanation.

"And just how does that involve me?"

"Well, closest I can tell is that you influence Susan more than anyone else – and you have knowledge of almost every aspect of her life. That gives you the distinct power of knowing her better than she knows herself. You know her hot buttons and how to avoid them – or use them to the best of your ability."

"Okay, that's true so far. But why are we doing this? Why is it so blasted important?"

He turned to face her fully, his leg tucked under him. "Believe it or not, the fate of major parts of the universe depend on the actions of Susan."

"How in the hell did she get to be so important?" It came out a bit more spoiled-sounding than Taryn would have liked.

"Well, if all goes well..."

"Listen. I am going to need you to tell me why I should do this. Right now, all I know is that you feel like it saves part of the universe from a horrible fate. Now, while I am all for saving the universe, I want to know what is going on – in detail." She stared him in the eye, daring him to look away.

The Doctor sighed. "We have some time before we get to our next destination. Let's go grab a bite, shall we?"

They walked together down the hall, silently, until they reached an elegant dining room with a table set for two and a wonderful selection of late lunch goodies.

"How did you do this?" Taryn asked as he pulled the chair out for her.

"This would be the work of the TARDIS. She must like you," he explained, taking his own seat.

"It all looks so good!" A warm hum passed through the hand Taryn had on the table. "Now – tell me what is going on."

"All right." The Doctor popped a chip into his mouth and began, "I got a message a few days ago – before I picked you up – from a very very old friend."

"And it has to do with Susan?" She picked at the salad in front of her.

"Yes, though I didn't know that at the time." He frowned at her. "You know, if you pick all the lettuce out, there will be no salad to speak of."

"Oh, haha. I don't like big chunks is all. There'll be plenty left, don't worry your pretty face." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Quit watching me and go on with the story already!"

"Right." He tore his eyes away from the madness that he felt he was observing. "So, this old friend was in a bad way. He needed my help or he would have died."

"Good thing you're a doctor."

"Sure. Not a real doctor, per se...Anyway, and this is where it gets tricky – seems you and I share a common acquaintance."

"Susan."

"I wouldn't know her on sight. I saw her for the first time ever today." Another chip.

"Then who?" She happily munched on a cherry tomato she found in her salad.

"Jack."

She choked a little. "So, Jack contacted you?"

"Kind of." He tugged his ear again. Taryn made a mental note to ask him if she could look at it later – when Joey did that, it meant that his was bothering him.

"Either he did or he didn't." She narrowed her eyes.

"Well, it was his grandson." He explained.

"Jack has a grandson?!" She stopped herself from choking again. "I knew there was something not right about him..."

The Doctor tried again. "His future grandson."

"Oh well, then, that's different. But how does that involve – OH!"

The Doctor nodded, smirking smugly. "Seems there was a problem with great-grandpa." He popped the 'p'. "And young Cobbly saved his life."

"Cobbly?! Who names their child Cobbly?" Taryn wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Granted, my brother wanted to name his first son Tegan – no counting for taste..."

"Oi!" The Doctor yelped. "I'll have you know I used to know a very nice Tegan. Good respectable name...and it would be Jack's child that named her son Cobbly."

"Oh, right. Forgot. What was Cobbly's mother's name then?" She wondered out loud.

"Not important. Besides, I don't know. Didn't think to ask him. Wasn't important at the time." He muttered the last bit.

"Well, what happened?" She looked at him. "You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"I have to. But I have to tell you some backstory first. Jack has – had – a little brother. That brother did some very not good things that almost cost him the lives of two of the members of his team."

"His tourist office team? They sound tough." Taryn's sarcasm seeped out.

"Oh for – Jack doesn't work for a tourism office!" He was getting flustered with her. "He works for Torchwood. And before you ask – it's an organization that investigates aliens and supernatural activities related to them."

"Oooo – X-Files Cardiff?" Now she was listening.

"Yeah, sure. But Jack would probably go spare if he heard you call them that." Actually, The Doctor thought it would be more than a little funny to hear his reaction.

"I'm gonna call him Mulder from now on," Taryn decided.

"Just don't," The Doctor ruffled his hair again. "Anyway. Through some accident involving Gray (that's the little brother), Jack loses his head. And not just figuratively. Cobbly, being the diligent great-grandson he is, is there to save him.

"What a wonderful family they have." He was unsure if that was sincere or not. "Wait – did you say 'loses his head'? Exactly how does one recover from that?"

"As far as I can tell, Cobbly puts the head into a special solution that somehow maintains both brain function and oxygen delivery. This is, after all, no young boy we are talking about; he's already an accomplished scientist with a few awards to his credit by this point."

"Good one, Cobbly." There was genuine admiration in that remark.

"Indeed." The Doctor was forced to agree.

"But why all this?"

"Well, like I said – without Susan, there's no Cobbly."

"I don't think that Susan will like that her great-grandson is named 'Cobbly'."

"I don't think that is the issue here."

"Then what is? Didn't we do what we needed to?" She swiped a fry from his plate.

"One more thing. Do you know a 'Keith'?"

Taryn choked yet again. "Uh, yeah. Much to my severe distaste. What does he have to do with it?"

"Well, right now, we are on our way to meet up with him."

"Urgh. No."

"You have to. Well, we have to. We have to introduce him to Susan."

"Good Gods, why?! I like her. I don't want to know that I am the one who is responsible for the fiasco that lasted 16 years of her life (give or take a month or two)." She looked at the alien like he was completely out of his mind.

"But you have to! Otherwise, none of you will move to Cardiff and she won't meet Jack."

"But she has. I don't have to do anything."

"Wrong. It's only that way because Susan is a fixed point. And we've done this before. So, we have to do it again."

Taryn stared at him. She still didn't understand, but she was resigned to the fact that she had to do this. As much as she pretended to hate Jack, she knew he was good for her friend. And if she had to do this, as The Doctor insisted she did, she would. But she didn't have to like it. Besides, without Keith, she never would have met her either. "All right. Fine."

"Brilliant. I knew you'd do the right thing." The Timelord beamed proudly at her.

Okay, so that was longer. Hope it was as fun for you as it was for me. Taryn is kind of a smart ass skeptic. She can be like that, though. And we love her for it. And I happen to know for a fact that she is only acting in Susan's best interest. And I have John Barrowman singing songs from Red Red Rose in my ear. Not fair that he is so adorable. I know a lot of men who need even a thousandth of that. For example? Not even going there - LOLZ!