As the sun began to set and the lights flickered on in Atlantis, Elizabeth was sat with her nieces in the commissary, half her attention on the tablet computer sitting beside her food. She nodded to Ronon as he walked past their table, headed to get some food, and frowned, a little confused, as Marie continued to gaze at him, fork halfway to her mouth.

"…Marie?" she laughed quietly, for the girl's appearance was quite comical.

"Is Mr Ronon a giant?" Marie asked.

Ruth almost choked and set her fork down, trying not to laugh.

"No," Elizabeth answered, "He isn't."

"You think he's a giant?" Ruth giggled.

"He might be!"

"No, Marie, he isn't," her aunt repeated, "He's just very tall. But he is from another world, like we said," she smiled, "And you don't have to call him 'Mr' Ronon."

Marie frowned, "But Mom and Dad always told us to be polite."

"Well, then we call Doctor McKay 'Doctor' and John 'Colonel Sheppard' and so on, right?" Ruth looked to Elizabeth for reassurance.

"I'm sure your teachers will tell you how they want you to address them. Otherwise, I'm sure people won't mind you using their first names. We aren't so formal here unless the situation requires it."

"Is that why John smacked Doctor McKay round the head earlier?" Ruth tried to hide a smile.

Elizabeth sighed and raised her eyes to the heavens, but couldn't help but smile too, "Yes, that is why John smacked Doctor McKay round the head. That behaviour seems unique to the two of them though. I've never seen Ronon hit Doctor McKay round the head."

"It takes a great amount of self control," Ronon mumbled, walking back past them.

Marie grinned, "Doctor McKay would fall over."

"More like be flattened," Ruth countered.

"Yeah…"

"Girls…" Elizabeth tried to chastise them, but was unable to stop smiling.

"Sorry," they chorused, clearly not at all.

"We still have some unpacking to do, and there's a crate of books for you if you want to go and take a look when we're done?"

"Lots of books?" Ruth looked hopeful.

"…As many books as we could bring. You'll have to wait for the next time the Daedalus goes back to Earth, or when we can, to get more, so you have to make them last," Elizabeth replied, "I never thought I'd say this to you girls, but you're going to have to learn to read slower," she teased.

"From what Doctor McKay said…we're gonna get a lot of homework…we'll probably end up doing that in said of reading the nice books," Marie said.

Ruth's eyes widened, "Our teachers will always know where to find us! We'll never get away with anything!"

"Aunt Lizzie, you can order people around, right?"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and mock glared at her nieces, "Not to get you out of your homework."

"Aw…"

"Worth a shot…"


It turned out that both girls had sneaked several books in with their clothes, so there was no need to break into the books Elizabeth had raided the shops back on Earth for. She left the children laughing, giggling as they recited sentences from their books across to each other. Elizabeth knew there was little point in demanding they go to sleep when she told them, so she bade them goodnight and left their quarters, hoping they would tire themselves out soon with too much reading. She hovered outside their door for a few minutes, smiling and listening to their laughter, before she wandered back to her own quarters and immediately snatched up her tablet computer to catch up on work she believed she should have already done that day. She had no desire for anyone to comment she was spending more time with the children than she was performing her duties.

Honestly, Elizabeth had been worried that one, or both, of her nieces would react badly to arrival in Atlantis. The thought had occurred to her that they thought it was all some elaborate trick, as Ruth had said when she realised it wasn't. Realising they really weren't in America, or even on Earth, anymore, could have sent them over the edge so soon after the death of their parents. She had noticed that both girls still had sudden, still and quiet moments, which was to be expected. Even Elizabeth herself was experiencing such moments. It was all part of their grief. As long as she could get them settled in and as used to the strange life they were going to lead as possible, she hoped there would be no major disasters.

She was staring blankly at the screen, getting very little work done. She found herself chewing the end of the stylus at one point and had to set it down. It wasn't just their emotional state that was bothering her. Their safety was a major concern that she couldn't let go of. Elizabeth had already found herself worrying whenever she didn't have her nieces within her sight. She knew very well that she could trust the personnel of Atlantis with them, and she knew the fear for their safety was rather irrational (at least, at the moment), but she couldn't shake it.

A knock against the shot crystal glass of the door to her quarters made her look up from…well, she could hardly have said it was work she was looking away from, "Come in?"

The door opened to reveal John, who peered into her quarters, first one way, then the other, then back at her, head tilted.

"They're in their quarters," Elizabeth smiled slightly, "Though I can't say they're asleep. I just hope they don't keep everyone else awake."

He shrugged and stepped inside, "They're kids. Let 'em keep everyone up. Its part of the general kid manifesto," he wandered to sit on the edge of her bed, "So. How you holding up?"

"Well," she waved the tablet, screensaver dancing across it, in front of him, "I'm being productive, obviously," she tried a weary smile, "I'm never leaving for over a month again."

"I think I ran your city rather well," John teased.

"My city?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I was afraid of breaking office furniture, let alone keeping the city standing…"

Elizabeth smirked, "Cute."

He reached out and took the computer away from her, "How do you feel? Really."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Exhausted," she stated.

John frowned, "Any more words coming after that?"

"Not really. They'd be inarticulate and frankly downright embarrassing."

He set the computer down on her bedside table, "You're talking to the king of inarticulate," he kicked off his shoes.

"Make yourself at home," Elizabeth smiled, pretending to be angry.

"I also do downright embarrassing very well, we all know that," John shuffled over and next to her, "So go for it."

She sighed deeply, "Let's just say I could see the girls at twenty when I knew they were safe back on Earth. Now I'm wondering if they'll even reach sixteen."

He blinked, "…Earth gets targeted just as often as Atlantis, people just don't know about it…"

"That's exactly what General Landry said," Elizabeth replied. She closed her eyes, "But that's just it – people don't know on Earth when they could be dead in the next ten minutes. Ruth and Marie are going to be very aware of every time we get attacked, and they're going to see shooting and blood and violence and…everything…" she opened her eyes and glanced across at him, "and, no matter how hard I try, I won't be able to shield them from it all. Because I'm the one ordering the shooting and the violence most of the time…"

"As a last resort," John insisted.

"As a last resort or not – they're going to see things girls their age shouldn't. And one day they'll ask what part I really play in all this. Saying that I lead the city just won't cut it."

He was quiet for a while, staring straight ahead, "…And what about kids in war-torn countries? They see worse everyday."

Elizabeth nodded, "…I know…but they're not from a war-torn country. They're little girls used to the worst thing happening to them being their Mom telling them they can't go to a party…" a look of horror passed across her face and she winced, hiding her head in her hands, "Or their parents dying and leaving them orphaned…"

"I know what you meant," he reassured her.

"But they shouldn't have to see what's they're going to. Its not a price that should be paid for their future and they don't have a choice."

"If they're going to have the future that's intended for them, then they'll have to get very used to seeing what we see every day."

"Intended for them," Elizabeth repeated, "Nobody ever gave them a choice…"

"'Lizabeth, you have to stop thinking like this. We're all going to look out for Ruth and Marie. They'll be grateful for all of this one day. Don't second guess everything before its even happened," he said softly.

She was silent seemed utterly lost for a moment.

John wrapped an arm around her and brought her to rest against him, "You need to rest," he said.

Her only response was a yawn she tried to hide.

"Just because you're looking out for the girls, doesn't mean nobody's looking out for you, you know that?"

Elizabeth managed to nod, once, slowly. She brought up one hand and curled it around his shoulder, allowing herself to be comforted and trying not to think about how she would be several months into her new life as a parent.


Teyla paced back and forth in the gym, twirling one battle stick in her right hand. She was absolutely exhausted, but stupidly, to her, afraid of falling asleep. Numerous nightmares, even if they occurred every night, did not necessarily mean a nightmare was certain to happen if she slept. She knew she had to sleep. It wasn't as if she could stay awake forever. She kept pacing, kept twirling the stick.

The nightmares ranged from what few memories she had of her mother, twisted and torn apart, to watching her Atlantean friends and colleagues fall around her, whilst she couldn't make a move to help them, even as they cried out to her. Sometimes the Wraith were in her dreams. Sometimes she was a Wraith. She was getting sick of having no voice in the mornings, thanks to her night screaming, whether she woke herself or not.

"They are only dreams…" Teyla muttered to herself, over and over.

She couldn't stop pacing.


It was still dark when Ruth rose and padded slowly across her quarters, to stand by the windows. She leant against the cool glass, one hand pressed against the surface. Hair in disarray, she tugged some of it back, only to have curls fall back into place across her face. She could hear the ocean. Not like the steady rhythm of the waves she had sometimes heard back on Earth, it was almost as if she could hear it swirling and pulsing. She assumed that she would grow to find the noise comforting, but, for now, it was a foreign sound in a foreign environment, and was only helping to keep awake. Even if she never found the noise comforting, she presumed she would learn to block it out. How else did anyone get any sleep in the city otherwise?

Ruth glanced back, just about able to make out the huddled form of Marie in her bed, blankets tucked closely around her, as always. Her sister usually slept like a log. Getting her to wake up in the mornings was a daily trial. She wondered why the sound of the ocean didn't bother her. Then, she supposed, a foghorn on full volume wasn't likely to wake her.

If her Aunt Elizabeth was capable of lying to her family about where she was and what she did, what else did that make her capable of? What did that make anyone capable of? Other galaxies and planets and aliens and…everything…and hardly anybody on Earth knew. Would it be such a bad thing for them to know? What exactly was there to hide? And now Ruth herself was involved in the cover-up. The two aliens she had met so far seemed perfectly nice. The city of Atlantis itself didn't seem such a bad place. Why hide it? What was so important about the meaning of other life existing that it had to be hidden?

She didn't understand. On some level, she wasn't sure she wanted to. If she had to keep a secret, then she would, she had sworn to her aunt and to others. Ruth had no idea what would happen if she broke her promise. Perhaps she would be punished. Maybe they would hurt Marie. Maybe she would never get to see anyone ever again. Maybe they would kill her.

Ruth trusted her aunt. A woman she, in all honesty, barely knew, but she trusted her. She had to. And she had to look out for Marie when nobody else could.

The girl paced slowly back across the room and clambered back into her bed. She faced the wall and began counting slowly in her head, hoping it would send her to sleep.