A/N : Okay, I see noone was fooled so I better get the pairings in the description...
As promised another chapter posted :)
It took John about half an hour to get to the right street. He was not really in haste to deliver the news. It took him another half an hour to find the right house and gather the courage to prepare himself and knock. Woman that opened was something of a surprise to John. She was small and delicate, not really the woman he imagined to be Elizabeth's mother.
"Hello, I'm looking for Mrs Susan Weir?" He asked. "I've got an address but maybe…"
"It's me."She answered and it immediately hit John that this was in fact 'Lizabeth's mother.
"I'm Colonel John Sheppard, US Air Force, ma'am." John managed to get out after several long moments silence. "I was-"
"You were my daughter's military commander!" Exclaimed Mrs Weir with a smile not allowing John to say anything more. "Come in, Colonel, let's talk inside."
John allowed himself to be led to a nicely furnished room in the middle of the house. The place really looked like a person like Elizabeth might have grown there – taste and tradition with a touch of modern furniture and some minor tech. A lot of books in the vast bookcases in the living room – a collection of both classic novels and academic books on political science, history and art. This was where Elizabeth Weir came from and where she was shaped from the very beginning.
"Would you like a tea or coffee? Or maybe something stronger?" Susan asked, laying before him a tray of cookies. Then she added as an afterthought "I always wondered what were you like. I've read so much about you in Elizabeth's letters."
"Tea will be good, ma'am." John said . The woman was too cheerful to even think she was expecting the news that awaited her.
After tea and thousands of questions about his life he answered as honestly as he could considering he couldn't tell anything classified John finally had gotten to say what he was here to say.
"Mrs Weir, I'm afraid it's not a courtesy visit. I'm here to deliver some things to you. General O'Neill decided I should do it instead of him." He had a grim expression appropriate to his business and Susan Weir sat down suspecting it wasn't going to be pleasant.
"What is it?" She asked eventually.
John handed her the envelope without a word and watched as she read the senders declaration on it blanching. Then she took out the first document which John knew was an official statement from the USAF about the change of Elizabeth's status from MIA to KIA.
"I don't believe it…" She whispered shakily.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Weir." Was all John managed to say.
"What now?" Asked the devastated woman after a few minutes of silence. "They told me there is no body. A fake funeral… what?"
"I don't know."John admitted. "It seems wrong to even think about her as dead." He said looking her in the eye."
"You don't believe she is dead…" Susan accused. "So it's not like it's certain!"
"You have to understand that the Air Force had no other choice than declare that. Elizabeth is missing a long time now and since there is no plan to came back to the area…"
"But you're not sure you'll never see her again."
"No." John admitted again. This woman had a skill to get under his skin and read what he wasn't telling her. "The thing is, Mrs Weir, while some people still believe she could somehow be alive there is no way now to get her back. Hence the KIA status. And there is a bag of Elizabeth's personal belongings which were cleared to be returned to you with the document. And letters of condolescence from people who knew and respected her. That's why the envelope is so thick. It was General O'Neill who opened that possibility."
"Good, sweet Jack." Susan murmured.
"You know the general?"
"I helped him pick the house. He is a really good man."
"Elizabeth thought so too."
John left shortly after leaving Mrs Weir in a strangely good mood. He decided to join the others in shopping trip. There was a thought in his mind now that couldn't be ignored anymore. They had to get back to Pegasus with Atlantis.
The wedding of Samantha Carter to Jack O'Neill was a simple enough affair for just a small, selected group of family and friends of the not so young pair. Since they both dedicated most of their time and effort into the Stargate programme there were only people with high enough security clearance on the reception so the conversations were not strained and pushed. Jack managed even to get the group from the SGC mess to play waiters and cooks so there was absolutely no reason to worry about what you said.
Every single one of the invited guests was really happy for the couple that had finally managed to join their lives after so many years of problems and walls being built by circumstances and rules. Since almost everybody knew about their feelings towards each other it was no news that they were getting married but it was a slight shock they were doing it while they were both still in the service of the Air Force. However, nobody seemed to mind. It was rather a question of who pulled enough strings so that they didn't have any troubles because of that wedding.
John was really happy that those two will finally be able to act fully and openly on their feelings but it was bringing some memories back. Especially those times he attended Athosian bonding ceremonies with Elizabeth, as the representation of the City of the Ancestors. Then also all the bonding ceremonies that he was invited to on M7G-677 starting with Keras and his 'wife'. There was a lot of merriment there too but now, celebrating the long awaited ceremony seemed so much more than that non problematic relationships there.
He must have been sitting alone and looking really melancholic because Jack O'Neill came to him and stood on the balcony beside him.
"There is a really nice battle going on to get Atlantis back to her place, you know." He started and John was surprised the general knew exactly where his thoughts had gone. "I think we need just to find a ZPM to get it rolling. And Carter got a tip from one of our allies that there may be one hidden on one of the planets. So be positive, Sheppard."
"It's good, sir."
"And I have a feeling Elizabeth is there somewhere waiting for you to find some way to get her back."
"I want to believe, sir, that there is such a way."
"There has to be." Jack stated firmly. "If there is none I would recommend bringing her back to a safe planet and reactivating in a controlled environment to avoid problems but that should be easily doable."
"You'd support that idea officially?" John looked at Jack for the first time since they started talking. "It seems like a hair brained idea IOA would never go for."
"From all the reports I've read and what Woolsey told me it was a real Elizabeth there in that body and I think I owe it to her. And if it costs me my military career then to hell with it if I have to leave people behind."
"And If they still don't agree?"
"Then go AWOL and do it anyway." O'Neill said in a manner that suggested the idea was a basic one. "You've done it before with a nice outcome. This may be just the time to do it again. I'm sure Steven Caldwell will be happy to assist. He and Weir made a friendship somewhere along the way. And almost all of his crew put in to be reassigned permanently to the Atlantis mission so even if the IOA wants to touch you they will have to fight against all including the President. Don't worry, Sheppard. I have a feeling that Elizabeth Weir hasn't said her last words yet." He patted John on the shoulder and left him be and think about the possibilities. Jack himself came back to the party to take care of his new wife.
