Chapter 12

A soft knock on her door alerted Elizabeth to the fact that somebody wanted to see her. At the best of times her door stood open, as it did today, but the lady standing on the other side of the open door was – well, a lady. Atlantis was full of warriors, adventurers, daredevils, dreamers and everything in between. But this woman was the only one that could only be classified as a 'lady.' Not that she came from money, Elizabeth knew. By all accounts the woman had been dirt poor for a large part of her life, yet she always seemed to carry herself with dignity and treated others with the greatest respect. Of course this did not mean she was aloof or even that others had difficulty relating to her. Instead Elizabeth had noticed that many of the rough marines and even those not originally of earth would amend their manners around the small woman in an unconscious effort to emulate her. And probably to please her. If many of the inhabitants tended to see Elizabeth and John as the unofficial parents of the expedition, then Mum Beckett was the unofficial granny with the cookies – literally. Even before the first crops from earth had produced their first harvest Mum Beckett had managed to create delectable cookies with what they had at hand. She was definitely the one to talk to when one wanted an extra cookie.

Elizabeth smiled at the small lady and mentally berated herself for calling her 'Mum Beckett.' Just because everyone seemed to be doing it, didn't mean the leader of Atlantis could get away with it. "Come in," she invited the woman in.

With that dignity that was so much part of her Mrs Beckett entered the office and took a seat opposite Elizabeth. When Mrs Beckett had first arrived on Atlantis, it had been only a few hours before the coup and afterwards so many things had happened that Elizabeth hadn't yet really had the time to get to know her at all. Even though the city itself had been experiencing a relatively long stretch of calm, it didn't mean Elizabeth had any time on her hands. It seemed that she had the most things to do especially in those times that they didn't seemed to be facing immanent death. It was during those times that she needed to organise the nearly thousand people of Lantea into a community.

"How can I help you?" she now asked the older woman. It was the day after the procedure that had saved Mrs Beckett's life and already she was fully healed. For Elizabeth the procedure had been simple: she had merely gone to the infirmary and Duncan had drawn a few vials of blood from her. That had been her only part in it, but she had found herself unwilling to leave the infirmary until after the nanites had been separated from her blood, reprogrammed and injected into the Becketts' mother. After the nanites had been injected nobody would have even tried to leave the infirmary. Nobody had remarked upon the fact that there were two marines in the room with their guns at the ready.

Less than five minutes after the injection of the nanites Mrs Beckett had opened her eyes and asked for her sons. Knowing her role, Elizabeth had waited until the two Becketts had assured their mum she was okay before stepping forward, taking the older woman's hand and telling her how happy she was to see her recovered. Then she had left.

Now Mrs Beckett seemed slightly uncomfortable and Elizabeth wondered exactly how much the doctors had told her about the procedure that had saved her life. With her hands folded neatly on her lap, Mrs Beckett looked at Elizabeth.

"They told me about the little robots that saved my life," she began. "My sons assure me the things have already shut down and are leaving my brain." For a moment her eyes seemed to be galaxies away and a small smile played on her lips. Then she focussed on Elizabeth once more. "My son has always thought I was far too delicate to be troubled by anything that bothered him, but he never understood how difficult it was to raise a child so much smarter than I am." She sighed slightly and her eyes crinkled into laughter. "And now there's two of him," she smiled. "Oh, I know they try hard to be two different people, but they can't fool their old mum. They might have two different bodies, but it's the same heart beating," she explained. Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at that. Thinking it might not be the best thing for Mrs Beckett to see the laughter she tried to suppress, Elizabeth bowed her head slightly until she could take control of her features. She knew how important it was to the Becketts that they not be seen as the same person and most people really tried to accommodate them, but she had to admit she had often thought they were fighting a lost battle.

Finally she looked back up at her visitor. "I won't tell them if you won't," she conspiratorially told Mrs Beckett, who smiled.

But then she turned serious. "Doctor Weir, Carson told me some of what they did to me. And to you," she carefully told Elizabeth.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Elizabeth leaned slightly forward. "You needn't talk about it," she said, but Mrs Beckett smiled and shook her head.

"No, dear, it's all right. Laura once told me the only thing strange thing around here is if nothing strange has happened to you," the older woman continued and Elizabeth smiled at the aptness of the statement. Now Mrs Beckett leaned forward slightly and the expression was one Elizabeth knew too well: it was the same one Carson and Duncan had when they were worried. "When I woke up yesterday, I think your little robots left some memories behind." At Elizabeth's expression the older woman smiled. "Oh, don't worry, dear, it's fading already. But for a while there I knew how you felt. About everything. I knew how you respect my sons and the people here on Atlantis and how you sometimes get exasperated at Doctor McKay and Doctor Zelenka. I also know how you feel...well, let's just say I know Colonel Sheppard should never worry about you leaving him." At that Elizabeth looked down once more to hide the slow blush creeping over her face. She wondered exactly how much those damn nanites had told Mrs Beckett – so to speak.

"I also know how you feel about the little robots in your body," Mrs Beckett continued. "That's why I wanted to thank you for giving me this second chance with my boys," she finally said what she had come to say. Elizabeth looked back at her and smiled slightly.

"They love you very much," she informed the other woman, needlessly, she saw. Mrs Beckett was smiling.

"I know, dear." She stood up, leaned forward and patted Elizabeth's hand. "I know how hard you work to keep us all safe here in this city. But don't worry, you're doing a fine job," she said before turning around and leaving, leaving behind a bemused Elizabeth.