Into Eternity, by DrGemini86

Summary: Pre-tag for Moebius Part I, a dying Catherine waits for Ernest.

Pairing: CatherineErnest

Genres: Drama, Episode-Related, Romance, Tragedy

Rating: K+

Spoilers: Torment of Tantalus, Moebius Part I

A/N: Prior to writing Always, having read the beautiful fic that fishyone/pygmymuse posted on her LJ for my Nana's recent passing, I couldn't help but think that Nana's favourite song would go well for Ernest and Catherine. My muse was sadly lacking in that department so I went with SamDaniel.

Afterwards, I remembered Casanova, a BBC drama starring David Tennant, particularly the last scene of the final part where the maid an old Casanova had been relating his life story to throughout the series, sits at the side of his deathbed as he waits for Henriette to come.

Lyrics featured are from Always by Irving Berlin, but isn't a songFic per se..

Dedicated to Edna Currie (née Everett), 1925-2007. RIP.

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"How are you feeling, Auntie Rina?"

A young woman quietly slipped into the dimly-lit master bedroom of Catherine's townhouse with an envelope in her hand, to see the elderly lady awake, breathing hoarsely, her skin pale in colour. Catherine replied with a sardonic chuckle,

"I've felt better, child."

She then turned, with great difficulty to face the younger woman who was now seated on a chair near to the bed with an open envelope in her hand, a shocked look on her face. Noticing that Catherine was trying to get up, the younger woman got up and said gently, fighting to keep her composure as she gently pushed her back into her original position. She said quietly,

"Auntie Rina, save your strength."

The woman sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing her Auntie's brow and asked softly, "Do you want anything to eat?"

"No… Did you hear from Ernest? Is he coming yet?"

Sighing, the young woman quickly dropped the letter in her hands onto the floor and said, hoping that her Aunt wouldn't see through her words, "He's coming."

Closing her eyes and smiling faintly, Catherine replied, "Good."

She opened her eyes and said, looking up at her niece, "You know, if Ernest knew that I was going to be sick, he would have refused to have gone to Paris for that conference. So stubborn… oh, when I see Daniel…"

She began to cough violently, unable to carry on speaking, and the young woman sat her Aunt up, smoothing her back and whispering, "It's ok, Auntie. Take it easy."

After a sip of water, Catherine lay down, remarking weakly, "I hate it… it makes me feel old."

Taking a deep breath, she picked up from where she had left off, "Daniel is so much like Ernest… same ruthless urge for knowledge but with so much compassion… He's like the son I never had."

The younger woman said quietly, looking at her lap, "I called Doctor Jackson."

Surprised, Catherine tried to sit up but her niece gently stopped her, calming her, and from her reclining position, the former head of the team that had looked at the Stargate for two years before Daniel had seen it, said, a little angry,

"Why? I don't want him to worry."

Her niece shook her head and said, "I didn't get through anyway… A General O'Neill said that he was away on business but he wouldn't say where."

With a distant glint in her eyes, Catherine smiled slightly, knowing what Daniel was really doing, and said, "He's probably in another country."

After a long pause, Catherine said, feeling weaker, "I owe Daniel my second chance with Ernest."

The younger woman said with a small smile, "He found Uncle Ernest."

"Yes, he did…"

"How did he get lost for fifty years in Egypt?"

Catherine smiled a little and said, keeping up the cover story for Ernest's disappearance as her breathing grew a little more shallow, "He had amnesia and had got lost in the desert... he's lucky to have survived."

"I'll say, but he's a strong man."

"More than you know."

Catherine closed her eyes and whispered, her breathing growing more difficult as she coughed a little, "It hurts more…"

Her niece, tears in her eyes, said, "Doctor Wood gave you the maximum dose of morphine…"

"Honey, I don't think morphine's going to do it."

"No… Auntie Rina. Uncle Ernest's coming… he's coming."

Catherine said, finding harder and harder to keep her eyes open, "He's going to be too late. He said that he didn't want to go but I said don't be silly… Now look, I'm lying here like an old woman and he has to come back… Oh Ernest…"

Realising what was happening, the younger woman held Catherine's hand and said, tears streaming down her cheeks, "He's coming, Auntie Rina and when he does, you'll dance again, just like you did last month…"

Crying harder as Catherine began to smile at the memories of hers and Ernest's first dance more than sixty years previously, her eyes closed, the younger woman began to sing, her voice breaking with emotion, "'I'll be loving you always, with a love that's true, always. When the things you plan, need a helping hand, I will understand… always.'"

Catherine closed her eyes and then opened them a few minutes later to find herself in the brightly lit lounge of her father's house, and a very young Ernest in a tuxedo, standing in front of her as everyone danced in the main part of the room to a mixture of waltz and swing music. She smiled and Ernest said politely,

"Miss Langford, do I have the honour of this dance?"

Catherine, smiling demurely, offered him her hand and replied, "Certainly, Mr Littlefield."

Smiling at her, he took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor as her parents watched with proud smiles. Holding one of her hands, his other hand on her waist as she rested her hands on his shoulders, and, smiling at each other, they began to dance. Gazing into each other's eyes, the world slipping away from view, they danced, swirled and whirled into eternity.

"Days may not be fair, always,
That's when I'll be there, always.

Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always…"