"Is everything ok?" Julie asked three days later at dinner. Elizabeth stopped picking her food and looked at her friend.

"I'm fine" she said automatically.

"Are you sure about that, Elizabeth? You seem distant the past few days" Julie said worried. "Is everything ok at work?"

"Yes" she said and forced herself to take a bite of her food. She had struggled to make a straight face since John had asked her about her former job three days ago, when all she wanted to do was cry.

"Elizabeth?" She jerked out of her thoughts. She looked at Julie and straightened her back.

"I'm fine, Julie. Really. I'm just tired, that's all" she assured her and forced another fork of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

Half an hour later they both were finished eating and doing the dishes when the doorbell rang. Julie looked questioningly at Elizabeth who shrugged her shoulders. She didn't expect anyone. Julie went to the door while Elizabeth continued clearing the table.

"Hey there" a voice said moments later and Elizabeth let a glass slip through her hands. It landed on the floor, bursting into shards. John hurried into the kitchen and kneeled down beside Elizabeth to pick up the remains of the glass. Julie was giving her a questioning look.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked, slightly shocked. She couldn't think of a reason why John Sheppard was currently kneeling beside her, in her apartment, helping her to collect shards from the floor. He threw a quick look at Julie and then looked back at the shards in his hands.

"I wanted to talk to you"

"How do you know where I live?" Elizabeth asked and put her shards in the trash. John followed her example.

"I asked Nicholas to give me your address" he shrugged. Elizabeth looked at him, confused. What was he doing here? "Take a walk with me?" he then asked. She considered his offer for a few moments before she turned to Julie. She was looking at them in confusion.

"Is it ok with you, if I'll go for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, sure" Julie said and Elizabeth led John out of the kitchen, back into the hallway. She grabbed her jacket and opened the door. "It'll only be a few minutes" she said to Julie and left the apartment, John on her heels.

It was cold outside and Elizabeth wished she had picked a warmer jacket. They were walking along the empty street, once again in silence. She waited for him to say what he wanted to say, but nothing came. She couldn't take the silence any longer.

"What do you want?" she finally asked and came to halt in front of him.

"You need to talk about it" he said outright.

"Talk about what?" she asked and raised an eyebrow at him. She had a fairly good idea what he meant.

"I don't know what it is, but you need to talk about it. It won't get better, if you continue to be silent" Elizabeth stared at him. What was he thinking? He didn't know her and it was none of his business.

"Is that all?" she asked coldly, hugging herself against the freezing wind. It was way too cold for October. He sighed.

"Just one thing: Believe me when I say that you need to get it off your chest. Talk to someone before it destroys you. Listen to a guy who saw his two best friends die in front of his eyes in Afghanistan. I know what I'm talking about. And I also know that you desperately need someone to talk to" he said before he turned around and walked into the direction they had come from.

Elizabeth watched him leave, fighting the tears that were burning in her eyes. He had no right to tell her what to do. He didn't even know her. He didn't know what she had gone through in Namibia. He didn't know how hard it was to talk about it, that she couldn't talk about it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ok, maybe he knew what it felt like. She didn't know why, but maybe he just wanted to help her. Maybe he was right that she needed to talk about it. Maybe. But she knew for a fact that she wouldn't talk to him.