John Sheppard sighed heavily as he finished his message to Colonel Sumner's family. He felt for them, and wished that he could have delivered the message more personally, but under the circumstances, that obviously wasn't possible. He felt almost the same pain delivering the message as he felt watching that Wraith suck the life out of him, watching him weaken with every breath. He quickly expelled the image from his mind and tried to clear his head.

Becky. How the hell could he forget about her? Normally, his ex-wife wouldn't let him see her; the judges had given full custody to his ex, much to John's dismay. But there was no way Lauren wouldn't deny this chance to speak to Becky. She wouldn't dare.

"Actually, Ford…" John said as Ford was about to disassemble the camera from its stand. "I want to record one more message."

"Yes sir, "Ford replied and turned the camera back on.

"If you don't mind….I'd like to do this alone…please." He said to Ford. Ford nodded and walked out of the room. Ford didn't need to know about this, not yet anyway.

John cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"Hi Becky." He began. "It's me….daddy. I hope you're doing good….I know you probably don't recognize me…it's been 3 years since I saw you. You were three back then….what are you now?" John thought for a moment. "Six. Yeah, that's right. You're starting school now, then."

He smiled fondly for a brief moment at how smart she'd be. She had learned to walk at 11 months and said her first word at 13 months.

"Remember to do well…you know, get good grades, listen to the teachers. And stay out of trouble, for Pete's sake." He didn't want his bad streak rubbing off on her, Laura didn't deserve that much grief.

"God…you're growing up now….and I really wish I could be there for all of that….I miss you so much Becky…I really do." John felt tears forming in his eyes. How dare Laura take away his chance to be a part of her life? He loved Becky, and Laura apparently didn't see that. He wouldn't even be here if she had given him a chance.

"I really hope that when I get back, your mother would let me see you." John continued, feeling the tears fall down his face. "I bet we'd have so much fun together…I'd take you to the carnival….bet you haven't been on a Ferris wheel, that's fun...hopefully someday we'll get that chance."

John sniffled and blinked away tears before he said these last words. "I love you Becky…daddy will always love you."

Then John got up and turned the camera off, regaining his composure before informing Ford that he was finished. He wanted so much to just let all the emotions that had he had barely let shine through run its course, just to let it all out before telling Ford he was done. But there was no time for that now. There was work to be done, battle plans to coordinate. The tears would have to wait until the dark of night, when he was alone in his quarters. John only let his true emotions show in front of people he cared about. His daughter, Becky, and sometimes, himself.

FIN