Chapter 6

About seven months ago...

From the outside the small house looked sad and broken. Yet, even though the wind had blown a number of sweet and chips wrappers into the corners of the small piece of pavement serving as a front yard, it was obvious someone had tried to make the dilapidated brick building as neat as possible. On a street where most houses were shrouded in darkness and obviously dirty, this house seemed out of place with its neat light over the front door and bright curtains in the windows.

"Is this the place?" Jennifer asked. Like the rest of them, she stood with head bowed and shoulders pulled up in an effort to keep the wind and rain off. It was a futile gesture, as they were soaked through, yet it seemed impossible to walk any other way.

"Well, according to the thingy from the jumper, this is where we want to be," Chuck informed them.

"Look, we know some of what happened here: it really isn't her fault," Laura found herself defending the sorry little house. Then she glared at Chuck. "The 'thingy' is called a LSR," she loftily informed him and he scowled back.

"I rather liked 'Life Signs Detector' better, to be honest," he shot back at her.

"Oh, I'm sure you preferred LS..." Laura began.

"Children, please!" Jennifer interrupted them and they both spared a moment to glare at her. Of the group she was the most obviously youngest. She was at least ten years younger than Laura and thirteen years Lorne's junior, yet she stood in the rain with her shoulders back and glared at the other two as if they were indeed the children she accused them of being. In fact, next to her Laura actually saw Chuck hang his head before he realised the absurdity of the situation. Jennifer shook her head in dismay. "Really," she mumbled as she leaned forward and rang the bell next to the dark green door.

"She started it!" Chuck defended himself just as the door was opened a crack; letting yellow light out to pool around their feet.

"Can I help you?" the lady on the other side asked of them in her thick Scottish brogue. She was perhaps one of the shortest people Laura had ever seen and seemed to be the picture of the perfect sweet little lady. She had short strawberry-blonde hair and an old fashioned large-framed pair of glasses perched on her nose. Her face betrayed her age, yet her voice had been strong and melodious. Though she seemed incredibly sweet, both Laura and Jennifer knew the old lady had a core of steel. Now those steely blue eyes, the only betrayal of that steely core, glared at the three bedraggled people standing on her doorstep. "I must say, you really are a sorry-looking lot," she informed them and Laura nearly laughed at the way she had said it. If there had been any doubt that they had come to the right place, it was now gone.

"Mrs Beckett," Jennifer spoke; seeing as she was the one that had rung the bell and was thus closest to the door. "We are friends of D...Carson," she introduced them. "I'm Jennifer Keller, a colleague of your son," she continued. She indicated the two with her. "This is Laura Cadman and Chuck Campbell."

At Carson's name the old lady brightened considerably. She seemed not to have noticed Jennifer's near-slip of the tongue. She instantly stood back and opened the door all the way. "Why, don't just stand there in the cold," she informed them. "Come in, come in."

Without having to be told twice the three Atlanteans stepped inside. The night outside was cold and wet, yet inside the air was warm and a smell of cinnamon and chocolate assaulted their senses. When they started to protest about sitting down because of their wet clothes, the old lady merely smiled and told them to sit anyway. "It's not like you can really harm the couches, you know. I've Scotch-guarded them," she proudly informed them. Without further protest they sat down on the old, faded couch. The room was as old and faded and poor as the outside had suggested, yet everything seemed to be spotlessly clean and Laura knew that Mrs Beckett might have fallen on hard times, but she had not allowed the hard times to rule her life. Though she was poor, she was proud of her home.

Before any of them could explain their late-night visit, Mrs Beckett scurried away, only to serve them each with a steaming cup of hot chocolate and small, chocolate-dipped shortbread biscuits which she had made herself. Finally, after having fussed about them and having offered blankets for the cold and towels to dry off with, she took a seat on an equally faded chair that did not match the couch.

"Too bad you dropped by so late," she smiled at them over her cup of chocolate. "I would have saved some dinner if I had known," she added and Laura smiled. "Now, how may I help you?" she finally asked.

Laura leaned slightly forward, indicating she would speak first. "Mrs Beckett, we're all colleagues of Carson," she began, but the lady interrupted.

"You mean you're all part of that highly secret work my son's been doing?" she asked with a slight frown. From the start everyone going to Atlantis had been required to sign a confidentiality agreement, as no-one was to know about the existence of either Atlantis or the Stargate program. Only now, with Atlantis about to be stolen from the SGC, has Doctor Weir given everyone permission to tell their families – discreetly – about it. Well, Laura supposed that Doctor Weir didn't really have the authority to grant them this dispensation, but seeing as they were all planning on stealing the most valuable find in the history of the earth, it was enough for Laura.

"Yes, ma'am," Laura mildly answered. "And in the time I've known your son, I've fallen in love with him," she admitted. "In fact, we are planning on leaving together," she cryptically added.

"Ma'am," Jennifer now added on cue. The jumper ride had taken only a few minutes, but they had taken the time to discuss a way of telling Mrs Beckett the entire, weird tale. "I, too, have come to know your son very well and we plan to leave together as well," she said, obviously confusing the woman but ensuring her complete attention.

"Well now, I'm quite sure my son would not run away with two women at once," Mrs Beckett angrily replied. "Just what are you two lasses up to?" she demanded and Laura and Jennifer smiled.

"Mrs Beckett, I am in love with Carson," Laura informed her.

"And I am in love with your other son, Duncan," Jennifer told her.

The old lady scowled at Jennifer. "I think I would recall raising a second son," she loftily told the young woman. She started to get up and Laura knew she intended to throw them out. But in the end it was Chuck that saved the day.

"Mrs Beckett," he softly spoke. "These two tend to get carried away with their own cleverness," he informed Mrs Beckett and Laura had to suppress a scowl. "But the truth is, ma'am, that they really are telling the truth. You see, five years ago a group of people including Carson set out on a journey beyond anything you could ever imagine," he began. Silently the old lady sat down as Chuck began the tale of the intrepid explorers setting off for the Pegasus galaxy and how it had changed all their lives. When he came to the part where Michael, the changed Wraith, cloned Carson, Mrs Beckett made them some more chocolate. Laura noticed she had been crying in the kitchen, but was trying to hide it. Yet still she listened as Chuck told her how the Wraith had built their own super-hive ship and how they had chased it back to earth. Finally Chuck told her about the IOA not allowing Duncan to reveal himself and how they all decided they were going back to the Pegasus galaxy. To Laura, who had lived through most of the tale, the story was still as peculiar as it must seem to Mrs Beckett.

Finally Chuck finished and a stunned silence fell over the room. Laura and Jennifer had placed their hopes upon convincing Mrs Beckett to join them in the Pegasus galaxy. The truth was that when Carson and Duncan left, the only family she had would leave as well, even if she was unaware of the fact. When Carson had been but a few months old, his father had suddenly died, leaving his wife and son without obvious means of support. Fortunately an uncle had taken them in and Carson had grown up in a household of cousins. He only got to study medicine because his bursary was big enough to cover all of his studies. Soon after the family had told Mrs Beckett she had to move and Carson had been supporting her ever since. Yet, though her son could keep her in much better accommodation, she was stubborn. It was something the Scottish were apparently very good at and the result was that the woman refused to take a cent from her son, as she believed he should not be responsible for his old mom, but instead save the money for his own family.

Finally Mrs Beckett sighed. "You really expect me to believe all of this?" she finally asked, but Laura could see the truth in her eyes.

"It is the truth, ma'am," Jennifer softly replied.

Silence reigned. Then: "Why've you told me this?" Mrs Beckett finally asked of them.

"Mrs Beckett, we want you to come with us to Atlantis," Laura said as she leaned slightly forwards. "Come meet your other son and then join us on the adventure of a lifetime."

For a moment Mrs Beckett merely looked at the three of them, her blue eyes in shadow. "I'm too old for an adventure of a lifetime," she finally told them. "But I would like to see my sons one last time."

"Why?" Jennifer asked of the grandmotherly woman. "Why would you stay?"

"My dear, this is my home," she replied and Jennifer shook her head slightly.

"Your sons are your home," she gently told the old woman. "We will bring the jumper and you can take anything from here you want."

"It is not that, my dear," Mrs Beckett began, but once more Jennifer shook her head. She got up and went to kneel in front of Mrs Beckett; taking both her hands in hers.

"My mother died when I was young. Laura's mother died not so long ago. Neither one has any other family that we can ask to join us on Atlantis," she informed the older woman. "But we're asking you," she added and now Laura saw the old woman could not suppress her tears. After a while she smiled though.

"Can Rufus come?" she finally asked Jennifer, who frowned.

"Rufus?"

"Yes, love, Rufus. You've almost been sitting on him the entire night," Mrs Beckett replied.

Jennifer looked back to the weird-smelling couch the three of them had been sitting on and her eyes widened. Following her gaze, Laura realised the reason the couch smelled peculiar was because wedged into the corner where Jennifer sat, the oldest, scruffiest cat she had ever seen lay sleeping.

Chuck sighed. "We're going to need a vet on Atlantis. A good one."