They had been walking for hours across the hot, desert-like planet, but now he could see the gate in the distance. In a little while they'd be home in Atlantis.
The others looked just as tired and worn out as he felt. No talking. Every breath was needed for taking another step, and another one, and another one.
Water. He needed water. The sun was just too damn hot.
Of all the planets they had visited, the jumper had to be shot down and damaged beyond repair on this one, of course.
They weren't in any kind of danger now. Not anymore. They were just thirsty and exhausted. He would have sore feet and a mild sunburn on his face for a couple of days. She would still be worried about him. She always was.
And in a way, he liked that.
And that was what surprised him.
There were many things that he found rather surprising about their relationship.
Where in his former relationships he would have felt hemmed in, with her he felt safe.
He would never step through the gate without looking back at her over his shoulder, he would never return without smiling at her widely, well, except if he was in no condition to smile at anyone, like unconscious or something.
In the past he hadn't liked women to ask him too many questions about himself. But she didn't even have to ask. He told her everything she wanted to know. He told her everything he wanted her to know.
He never got tired of her stories, either. He knew he never would.
That was another thing that surprised him. Relationships had always been a rather temporary thing for him. At some point, it got boring and that was when it was time to move on.
But with her... He was sure that even fifty years from now they would still find something to talk about. He would still miss her when he didn't see her an entire day. It would still be the sound of her breathing that he would want to fall asleep to. She would still be the first person he wanted to talk to when something happened in his life.
Some old friend of his back on earth had always said it's the little things that count. He had never really thought about it. But now he realized that, in fact, it was true.
Like, for example, when he woke up late at night to find her side of the bed empty, because she had remembered some important piece of work she hadn't finished during the day. He would get up, walk over to her desk and drag her back to bed. She would utter some weak protest, but follow him all the same and fall asleep in his arms.
Sometimes during briefings she would look at him, just for a second, and he would meet her eyes and for a moment he wouldn't be able to remember anymore what they had been talking about.
They still stood on the balcony quite often, the place where it had all started. Still their place.
He loved to make her laugh and he wanted to be there for her when she didn't feel like laughing.
She wasn't only his girlfriend, she was his best friend, too.
And that was definitely something he had never experienced before.
It wasn't like everything was always perfect between them. They disagreed quite frequently, and fighting with her was not exactly fun. Sometimes it wasn't easy to be in a relationship with her. But not to be in a relationship with her would be even harder.
And he didn't even know why it was like that. He just knew that it was. He just loved her. Without thought and without reason. Just because he did. And maybe that was the difference. The difference to all his former relationships. He didn't need a reason anymore. She was enough.
They had reached the gate finally. He was so tired by now that even lifting his hand to begin dialing took quite an effort. The gate activated, they sent their IDC and dragged themselves along the last few steps, through the event horizon.
On the other side he just sank down to the floor, his legs refusing to support him any longer. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the rest of the team follow his example.
A couple of people came running towards them, making sure they were okay, and he felt her kneeling down beside him, touching his shoulder, asking "What happened?"
He looked up into her eyes and a tired smile spread across his sand-covered face. "Long story."
Carson already came running into the gate room with his team to get them to the infirmary.
He closed his eyes, giving in to exhaustion. He knew that when he'd wake up in the infirmary she would be there. And that was nice to know.