A/N: Again, no Beta so all the mistakes are mine. I borrowed the quote at the end from ladygris.

~Sandy

Remembrances of Sunday

Evan

On a balcony some distance from the central tower of Atlantis, Evan dipped his brush into the paint and carefully added it to the color already present on the canvas. His blue long-sleeved shirt bore multicolored paint stains that attested to the fact that this was a long time hobby and not a recent addition.

Carson watched for a moment before announcing his presence. "You paint!"

"Hey, Doc. Yeah, I paint." His smile and tone spoke of many years of defending this particular pursuit to the rough and rugged soldiers he hung out with.

Coming closer to see better, Carson's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "And you're good, too."

Evan's left shoulder lifted modestly. "My mom was an art teacher. It's what we did on weekends. Stopped for a while-didn't really have time for it during basic training, first couple of years on duty-but I'm picking it up again." He gestured, a warm smile on his face. "Hard not to with views like that, huh?"

"Aye. Um, I don't suppose there's any chance you'd like to come fishing with me on the mainland, is there?"

"If you'd got to me earlier, maybe, but I kinda wanna finish this up."

"Och, it looks done to me."

Evan grinned as he touched brush to canvas once more. "That is why I am the painter and you are the doctor."

"Very good point. Enjoy the rest of your day, Major."

"You can count on it."

~~O~~

Towel drying his hair as he left the bathroom, Evan stood near the easel he kept in the corner of his room. It had remained covered since the day Carson had died and likely would for the foreseeable future. That he'd been too busy to accompany the doctor on his fishing trip was a regret he'd have to live with every day of every year until the day he too died.

He pulled on his pajamas and readied the clothing he would need for tomorrow's mission before pulling down the covers and propping the pillows against the headboard. The door chimed as he finished. Checking the time, he knew who it would be. He rushed to answer it, drawing Amanda into the room and his embrace.

They'd become close during the ride to Scotland. And though they'd traveled there to bury a man who'd died in so horrific a way that nothing had remained of his physical body, they'd been welcomed into the Beckett family with open arms. Ronon, John, Amanda, Radek, Rodney and he had been drawn into the large and very loving family as if they'd known them all their lives.

Overwhelming at times, he and Amanda would occasionally step outside just to get a breath of air, and, bless them, they always understood.

She'd managed to keep it all together until that last night when he'd found her on a bench in the back garden under a cherry blossom tree weeping. Taking her in his arms had seemed like the natural thing to do. Her hands had held onto the fabric of his shirt so tightly he thought it would tear. To tell the truth, he'd been about to lose it himself, but comforting her had given him comfort as well, allowing him to stay in control.

Pushing gently out of his arms, she went to the canvas, her hand going to the collar of the blue chambray shirt that hid the half-finished painting.

"Amanda…"

"You know I'm right." Before he could stop her, she whipped the shirt away, but he'd turned his head. "Evan."

She took him by the hand, waiting for him to get it and eventually he did. The painting needed to be completed as a way for him to forgive himself. Finally he nodded. "As soon as I can. Promise."

Three Weeks Later

Asking for and receiving approval from his CO, Evan had taken a day off. He put on the paint-stained chambray shirt, taken his paints from the bottom of the closet and carried the easel to the same balcony. He readied his palette, dipped his brush in and began to apply pigment to the empty canvas he'd brought in place of the other.

Inspired, he worked quickly and by the time the sun had begun to set beyond the spires of the city, it was finished. Returning to his room, he affixed a hanger to the wall and hung it above the desk next to the stained glass window that looked out onto the vast ocean that was home to Atlantis.

This one was different than any he'd done before. He'd taken the subjects from memory, painting them as he saw them, happy and laughing. John, Teyla, Amanda, Ronon, Rodney, Elizabeth, Jennifer, and lastly himself with Carson in the center, finishing it off with a quote he'd taken from some forgotten moment in his life.

Friends

Laugh with you

Cry with you

Get in trouble with you

Get you OUT of trouble

Are honest with you

Love you.