Author's Note: It's finally here! The final installment of this story, which has taken me 18 months to write, is done. Writing this story in the first place was a departure for me, but I enjoyed writing an AU.

Enjoy reading, and feel free to leave a review!

Friday afternoon. 4:30pm.

Elizabeth peeled off the scrubs as she and Rodney stepped out of the autopsy room. She was relieved that, for once, the body laying on the slab had died of natural causes instead of being hideously murdered or something along those lines. Death had become an all too natural part of her life, and a piece of her heart still broke every time that she saw Teyla escorting a family into a conference room to gently break the news to them, but sometimes it was comforting to know that the loss was expected. A person having their life suddenly cut short due to the ignorant or criminal actions of others was unnatural.

It was the reason she worked overtime when the police were involved. The families needed closure, and she always gave 110% to ensure that they would get it.

"Well, I never thought I'd say this, but that was the high point of my day," Rodney said as he pulled his foot back from the hamper, forcing the lid to shut.

Elizabeth gave a faint smile. His workload had increased exponentially in the past few weeks, especially after Kenmore's hidden drug lab was discovered in the basement of his office complex. That had made the DEA very happy, but it had also resulted in Rodney having to run a very specific analysis on the products. Kenmore had altered the chemical makeup, making it even more addictive as he introduced a previously unknown component. It had take almost a full week to determine its identity, and Elizabeth still shuddered when she saw the "eureka" look fall off of Rodney's face. It made whoever was using extremely susceptible to carrying out ideas, literally putting anyone under Kenmore's twisted control. Aiden Ford, being under constant guard for the last eight days in the hospital, was already being weaned off of it, but some residual wrath remained any time John Sheppard walked in the room.

John had worn the sling for almost a week before the complaining about how unnecessary it was really started to grate. Finally, Carson gave him the okay to get rid of it and John replied by throwing the sling and a grin at him. His bandage had to be checked daily to ensure there was no infection or complications, which Elizabeth accepted without complaint. It was good for her to work on her bedside manner with living patients; her normal clientele was unhelpful in that regard.

Woolsey had quietly bowed out, bestowing the temporary responsibilities of Chief Medical Examiner on Elizabeth with a humbled smile. He acknowledged that his place was in the bureaucracy and perhaps he could be an advocate for their department if they ever needed a friend. So they parted on friendly terms and Elizabeth's headaches recurred more often.

There was a rumor spreading that Sam Carter wouldn't be returning from maternity leave, which led to an inter office betting pool as to the new Chief ME. Although Sam still had two months of maternity leave left before her scheduled return, the text messages and the Skype video calls she made to the office every few weeks didn't give off the vibe of an early retirement. Rather, she missed her extended family and kept in touch, knowing that her time and energy right now was entirely devoted to her daughter. The time would pass quickly, and all of a sudden she would be dropping Mandy off at daycare instead of spending every waking hour with her.

Jack had his hands full as well, but he was one of the most concerned, attentive men that Elizabeth had ever met. After John's shooting, he had no choice but to put him on desk duty for a few days. Despite the grimace that John had given him, the captain had firmly gritted his teeth while reminding the detective that out of every officer in the department, he took the gold metal when it came to gunshot wounds. John retreated from his office with a nod of resignation and went to sit at his desk, skewering the pile of paperwork with a vicious glare. It had made Elizabeth laugh as she brought him a turkey sandwich.

Beside her, Rodney gave a short nod, bringing her back to the present as he withdrew to his office. Elizabeth looked after him thoughtfully as he disappeared around the corner, then smiled and turned towards her own office. The scientist was still as arrogant and condescending as the day she had met him, but the presence of a certain blonde medical doctor tempered it, making him almost giddy. She admitted that when they first started dating, she had given the relationship between Rodney and Jennifer a quizzical raised eyebrow. He had to be ten years older than her, at least, and by all accounts it would seem that they didn't have anything in common, and if they did, certainly not enough to build a relationship on. But Rodney was never one to care much about what other people thought, Elizabeth reflected with a chuckle.

She walked into her office and shut the door behind her, intent on finishing the never ending stack of paperwork before her weekend began. Her Blackberry was laying on her desk, vibrating with a text message notification. Momentarily ignoring the folders, she reached for her phone.

So it seems I have the weekend off. Dinner and a movie tonight, then sleeping in with you tomorrow. And Sedge too, I guess. ;) Love you.

Elizabeth allowed a small smile as she quickly typed a reply, then sat down at her desk with renewed zeal. This pile would disappear shortly, and if anyone tried to rebuild it, they could kiss her ass on her way out of the building.

John let out a quiet grimace as he reached across his desk, shutting the light off. His arm was still sore from the gunshot wound, and all the exertion he had forced upon himself over the past couple of days served to remind him that he wasn't as young as he used to be.

Across the way, his partner gave him a concerned look. "You okay?"

"Yep, I'm good," John replied as he landed back in his seat, the chair bouncing slightly from the hard landing. "So, any plans for the evening?" he asked as he propped his feet up on the edge of his desk.

Evan Lorne shook his head. "I was gonna go to my parents for dinner, but my dad surprised my mom with a weekend trip up to New York. So I'm gonna head home, make dinner for myself, and pass out on the couch."

John frowned. "No Cadman?"

Lorne shook his head as he loosened his tie. "She's working third shift tonight."

Sheppard nodded in acknowledgement as his eyes began to wander, eventually staring at an obscure poster on the other side of the squad room. His outward appearance gave no indication of the smug sense of satisfaction he felt inwardly, knowing that this weekend was going to be the best one of his life, but at the same time an unknown worry began to creep up on him.

"… 'bout you?"

John ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, what'd you say?"

Lorne smirked. "I asked, 'what about you', but I think I already know the answer to that one."

He smiled, raising an eyebrow and quickly lowering it. "Have a good weekend, Evan."

"You too, John," he replied, then picked up his coat and walked to the doors, jingling his keys in his hand.

John craned his neck, making sure the doors had closed behind him, before he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the box he'd been carrying around with him. There was no elaborate plan that he had concocted; rather, he had been waiting on the right moment to arrive. Ergo, the reason why he had put the ring on his person instead of leaving it at home.

A door closed behind him, and he turned around to face his captain. "So. Big plans for the weekend?" Jack O'Neill asked wryly, giving the box in John's hand a quick glance.

He inhaled sharply. "Yes, sir," he replied, quickly placing the ring back in his pocket.

"You nervous?"

John frowned. "Why would I be nervous? Sir," he tacked on as a precaution.

Jack sighed, pulling a chair over and sitting down. "It's normal, don't worry. When we get down on our knee," he told him, scooting forward in the chair like it was a big secret, "or however you do it, we're leaving our safety zone. Our guard is down. Our confidence can be crushed with just one word."

"Not if we're sure that she'll say yes," John retorted, raising his hazel eyes to meet the soft brown eyes of his boss.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, leaning back in his seat.

John let the doubt pass through his mind for less than a second before he nodded, kicking it out. "I love her," he replied simply, rubbing the palms of his hands together. "Just knowing she's in this world makes me want to be a better person. Being with her, I am."

Jack smiled, then stood. "I know you are, John. Believe me, if I'd known she would've changed you the way she did, I would've introduced you a long time ago." He extended his hand to the detective, who hesitated a moment before firmly shaking it. "Good luck."

Jack sighed as he gently slammed his truck into park outside of the garage. The porch light was still on, and a few more cars than normal parked around him alerted him to the presence of visitors at his house tonight. It seemed that ever since their daughter was born, he and Sam had barely had a moment of peace to themselves.

With everything that had transpired over the last two weeks, however, he was grateful to just be home.

He didn't advertise how smart he really was. At least, not all the time. So when Ford turned out to be working for Kenmore the entire time he was incarcerated, Jack knew that there was more to the story. How the hell had Kenmore's conviction even been removed from public record? He had shot a cop, for crying out loud! The police captain's eyebrows had furrowed until he finally got the explanation he had been looking for: Robert Kinsey.

Between his detectives doing some of the best work he had ever witnessed and the extra help of Ronan Dex, they had come to find out that Kinsey had acted as a father figure for Kenmore after his parents split. He corrupted the young man from an early age to be as cynical and psychotic as he was. Whenever someone had a grudge, he always found a way to use it to his advantage. Kinsey was the elephant in the room that had prevented him and Carter from being together.

Jack smirked as he closed his truck door, pressing the lock button on his key. The time when everything had come to a head was shortly before Jacob Carter had died. Kinsey had to drop by the station and point out that Jack's time card was erratic, taking off early, coming in late. So the obvious answer, of course, was that he was sleeping with Carter and it was disrupting his work.

Jack could barely swallow back his contempt for the man as he curtly replied that Jacob Carter was his predecessor, and that the idea that he would sleep with Carter, much less during the week that her father was in hospice, was ludicrous.

He refrained from telling him that Sam had fallen asleep on his shoulder the night before at the hospital. He didn't think it would help anything.

As he reflected, Jack decided that maybe he had enjoyed it a little too much when he and Novak had marched into his office with a warrant to search his computer, offices, and home.

Kinsey had been the top dog on Kenmore's food chain. He was the one who had ensured that he still had product to sell, and that he had someone ready to take the fall if need be. He had made a dirty deal with a judge and gotten him to quietly remove the conviction from Kenmore's record. If anyone in the department brought it up, he used his threats to silence them. He took advantage of Kenmore's resentment of Sheppard, Kavanaugh's authority issues, and even Caldwell's grudge and tried to make it work to his benefit. At least Caldwell had gotten his head screwed on straight.

As Kinsey was led out of his office in handcuffs, with two officers following him, Jack allowed himself a weary smile, knowing that he had done his part for the week to make the world a better place for his daughter.

One corrupt official down, a gazillion more to go.

He shook his head as he reached for the door handle, clearing all thoughts of work from his mind.

Inside, Sam was bouncing on her heels, grinning at her daughter as she held her securely in her arms. Her blue eyes sparkled at him from across the room as he quietly closed the door behind him. Janet Fraiser stood by the counter, nursing a glass of Merlot, wearing a contented smile. Daniel Jackson was cooing at the baby over his glasses, and seeing Jack walk in the door, he looked up at him and smiled.

Cassie walked in the room, muttering something, then squealed and ran to Jack, enveloping him in a hug as he thoroughly returned it.

Once she released him, he walked over to his wife, pressing his lips to her forehead and turned to look at his daughter, making a face that she just stared at.

He laughed. Yep. Life was good.

Morning light gently streamed in through the curtains as Elizabeth blinked sleepily, brushing her head against the smooth muscles in John's chest as she released a contented sigh. She couldn't even remember the last time that she had allowed herself the luxury of sleeping in, much less waking up this relaxed.

Next to her, he heard John smirk as he greeted, "G'morning."

"Morning," she replied, pressing herself into his right side even more as she smiled.

They lay in her queen sized bed, John on his back with the sheet pulled up to his waist and Elizabeth on her side as she curled into him, their bodies fitting together at any angle like a perfect mould.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked drowsily as the arm he had wrapped around her waist tightened, pulling her even closer.

"Hmm," was her satisfied reply as she pressed her lips to his well defined chest.

He felt him exhale a drowsy sigh, then his other hand wandered across his chest to her visible shoulder. His nails were not long, but as they traced a pattern along her sensitive skin while working the thin strap of her black camisole down her arm, it sent a jolt of electricity through her.

"Something wrong?" he muttered coyly, and she rapidly wondered how it was possible to hear someone smiling.

Elizabeth shook her head, burying her face in his shoulder, trying to repress a grin.

John smirked, and the hand that was wrapped around her waist lifted the hem of her shirt, now attacking her from both angles. Suddenly, his hand moved again, and his fingers slipped under the elastic band of her panties. She stiffened as he began drawing invisible circles with his fingertips just above her ass.

"Oh God," she moaned, then pushed herself up, hovering over his chest and covering his lips with hers. He reciprocated just as eagerly, his tongue teasing her lips and finally she relaxed, allowing his tongue to slip in and mingle with hers.

When they couldn't breathe anymore and she pulled her head back, John smirked at her. "I go by John," he replied arrogantly, a thin smile pulling at his lips.

She bit her lip playfully and frowned at him. "You smug bastard," she whispered.

John cocked an eyebrow, pretending to glare. "That wasn't what you called me last night," he reminded her.

She punched his shoulder, then collapsed on his chest. Turning her head sideways, her ear ended up close to his heart, and she could hear and feel the steady beat as it started to slow down a little. It was amazing how one little part of the human body could have such a calming effect; any time that she heard his pulse, felt the rhythm as it kept him alive, she knew that she was safe. She couldn't imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else, and feeling as protected as she did in this moment.

John grunted, then leaned his head down, kissing the mess of hair that currently faced him. "You okay?" he asked softly, the arrogance from their lovemaking starting to fade and being replaced by selfless worry.

She nodded against his chest, turning to look at him. "Yeah," she replied breathlessly.

"Good. Because," he replied as he started to turn, gently forcing Elizabeth off of him and onto her back as he leaned on his elbow, "I wanna ask you something real quick."

"Wha - ooh," was her response as he leaned over her body, bringing his lips back into contact with her neck, kissing his way up her slim neck, reaching the point just behind her ear that made her lower body lose control and arch up into him.

"Sorry, didn't catch that," he murmured as he changed direction and worked his way backwards, retracing the path that he had already taken and continuing lower, towards the bare expanse of her shoulder.

She started to pant and shut her eyes. "I hate you," she stuttered as his tongue replaced his lips and sucked at a particularly sensitive spot on her shoulder.

"I know," he drawled, lifting his head and looking at her. Hazel and green met each other and sparks exploded as they smiled at each other.

He stretched, groaning a little, and she realized it was his left arm, the one that was still recuperating after the gunshot.

Elizabeth gritted her teeth, reaching for it, ready to ask if he was okay, when something sparkly caught her attention.

Bracing himself with his elbows on the mattress, John gave her a shy look as he brought his left hand up, holding a silver band. "So what are you doing for the rest of your life?"

As she realized what John was doing, she was too shocked to say anything. She didn't have to bite back the comment about lousy pick-up lines because her jaw couldn't even more. They hadn't ever talked about marriage, even though it was always a distant thought in the back of her mind.

"I know that we haven't really discussed where this - us, we - where we were going, but the one thing I know for certain in my life is that … I need you. I love you. I don't know where I'd be if I had never met you. And I'm sorry it took a near death experience for me to realize that." His thumb brushed over her cheek, his eyes focusing in on hers even more. "I know I am not the same man I was when you met me."

"No," she replied, trying to choke back an ecstatic sob as her right hand found his. "You're even better."

John smiled, and she saw a small tear at the corner of his eye. "So … Elizabeth Anne Weir?" he started to ask, gripping her hand and maneuvering it to align her finger with her ring.

She didn't fight it; she only grinned and sobbed.

"Will you marry me?"

Fin.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And who knows? Maybe we'll see them again someday.