Okay, I admit, this one is a bit more than a drabble...but when someone is made of as much awesome as Ian, it's to be expected. And there is a smidge of implied Ian/Barbara in here because...because it's Ian and Barbara, basically.

Thanks to all who reviewed the Susan drabble: SuperFunkyGirl1, ZackAttack96, Laughy-Taffy the Grape, kie1993, Mrs11th, toavoidconversation!

You're all epic people. And the Ian/Barbara fic is nearly done. 16,287 words and counting! *faints from exhaustion* No, maybe three scenes left...a sort of filler-ish fluffy scene, a proposal and a wedding? IDK, we'll see...if it all flows I may get it done tomorrow, but I also have to play piano and learn more Spanish...tomorrow is my last day of summer holidays. :(

Enjoy the Ian epic!

He had not particularly liked Ian Chesterton at first. How could he, when the man stormed into his TARDIS invited and inexplicitly made a nuisance of himself? And the man had been so insistent about the impossibility of time travel and the dimensionally transcendental properties of the TARDIS, it had been all the Doctor could do not to laugh in his face and kick him out into the Time Vortex.

Wait, no, he had done that regardless. The laughing part, anyway.

The Doctor pointedly never admitted to what he had clearly done; despite Ian's storming into his TARDIS, the Doctor had for all intents and purposes kidnapped the two schoolteachers in his moment of selfish impulse.

Eventually both men had realised the other's worth, and the Doctor had begun to see things about Ian Chesterton that he had originally overlooked. He was a brave, intelligent man who did not hesitate to fight for his friends and do his best to protect them.

(Particularly Barbara, but that was to be expected. After all, people who are 'just friends' did not exchange nearly so many seemingly 'innocent' touches so unnecessarily, though that was an entirely different matter, but one the Doctor had not been oblivious to in the slightest.)

Despite how their relationship had started off, the Doctor had developed a very close friendship with Ian Chesterton. The science teacher had given him an insight into human morality and justice, and a certain chivalry that at least partly imparted onto the Time Lord. And in return, the Doctor had shown Ian that not everything in the world of science was as Ian had thought, and shown him a universe full of magical wonders and scientific miracles.

There were times when the Doctor simply found himself disagreeing with Ian (and in the more heated arguments, Barbara - or occasionally Vicki - often had to reason with both in order to keep the peace), such as when in Rome, and Ian and Barbara had both been completely content with lazing around the villa they were staying in. The Doctor couldn't understand it himself; why lounge around doing nothing when you could go out into the world and explore? Luckily, Vicki had shared this sentiment, so he had not been alone in his more adventurous exploits there.

Ian's departure had been a shock; he had not seen it coming in the slightest, there was merely a sudden demand out of the blue to be taught to use the Dalek time machine to get home. Naturally he had refused because he knew the likelihood of either Ian or Barbara getting killed in the process, and for one shining moment, he had been sure that he had convinced them that he was never going to budge on the matter. Only somehow…Vicki had convinced him to help them. He had been unhappy about it until he saw how happy the two humans were back in their own time, and he realised that he had done the right thing, however hard.

But out of all the young men to ever travel in the TARDIS with him over all the centuries, Ian Chesterton was always going to be the first, and certainly one of the finest.

I hope you liked it! The Barbara one should be out shortly after the Ian/Barbara fic is finished...and then Vicki, who is a weird favourite of mine. Most underrated companion EVER, except perhaps Liz Shaw. :)

Anyway, I would love it if you could drop in a review and let me know what you thought of it! Many thanks...

-MayFairy :)