Chapter 25
"Izzy, can I talk to you for a second?" John asked, leaning against the doorframe to the gym. He filled with pride as he watched her toss Landon on his back smoothly, clearly having come a long way in the past couple months.
Izzy looked up and studied her father. She couldn't pinpoint his exact tone of voice, but she didn't like it. He didn't sound angry or concerned… if anything he sounded sad.
She helped Landon off the mat and walked over to him.
"What's up?" She asked, studying him closely.
John put his hand on the small of her back and led her away from the door.
"I need you to go pack some clothes." John said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Why?" Izzy asked cautiously.
"We're going to Earth for a few days. My father… your grandfather, had a heart attack last night. He didn't make it." John said.
"…what?" Izzy asked disbelievingly. "Dad… I'm sorry."
Izzy stepped forward and gave John the hug she knew he needed. John didn't talk about his family much, but despite the tension between them, she knew that he loved them. John held Izzy for a few more seconds before pulling away.
"Go ahead and pack some things. We'll be gating out in an hour. Make sure you include something nice for the funeral." John said, patting her shoulder before heading towards their quarters to pack his things.
Izzy turned and walked back in to the gym. Landon was sitting on the window seat with his elbows on his knees, but stood up when Izzy came back in the room.
"Everything okay?" Landon asked, stopping a couple feet in front of Izzy.
"No… my grandfather died last night. Dad and I are going to Earth for a few days for the funeral." Izzy said. Landon studied her face. Her face wore a combination of sadness and confusion.
Landon wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Iz." He said. "You going to be all right?"
Izzy nodded into his chest. "Yeah… I didn't know him, but it's still sad I guess. Dad and I are gating out in an hour."
Landon pulled away, kissing her forehead. "Guess you better go pack then, huh?" Landon asked.
"Yeah, probably." Izzy said quietly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him for a few moments before kissing his cheek. "I'll miss you."
"Miss you, too." Landon said, squeezing her hand before she walked away.
Izzy walked into their quarters a few minutes later. Rodney was in there talking to John, and by the look on John's face, Izzy guessed that he wanted Rodney to go away more than anything.
"If you wanna… talk…" Rodney said, clearly uncomfortable in the situation.
"Rodney." John said, his voice raising ever-so-slightly. "I'm fine."
"Right." Rodney said before turning and walking away, his posture indicating that he didn't know how to handle the situation. He gave Izzy a sad smile as he passed and she nodded at him, not wanting to talk.
Izzy looked at John. She was sure that her expression was similar to John's in that they were both sad about what happened. The difference between the two of them was that Izzy was sad for her dad while John was sad that he had lost his father. Izzy crossed the room and wrapped her arms around John's neck. John closed his arms around her and he rocked her back and forth. From the looks of it, they both needed the contact. Izzy pulled away a few moments later. If they were going to be gating out any time soon, she should get packing.
An hour later, Izzy stood next to John in the gate room waiting for Chuck to finish dialing the address to Earth.
Chevron one encoded. Izzy was feeling several different emotions. This was the first time she would be back to Earth in the past several months since she had been living with John.
Chevron two encoded. She was nervous about being back, especially since she felt that she had finally adjusted to living with her father, and now she was about to be at the place she so desperately wanted to forget.
Chevron three encoded. Izzy was nervous and excited to meet John's family. Even if she ended up not liking them, she thought it would be good for her to place faces with their names.
Chevron four encoded. Izzy took a calming breath and wiped her right hand on her jeans.
Chevron five encoded, and Ronon stood next to John with his bag in hand.
"Where are you going?" John asked, his voice smooth and even.
"With you." Ronon stated simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Izzy and John looked at each other. John shrugged, and Izzy shrugged in return.
Chevrons six, seven, and eight encoded.
The wormhole engaged, and Izzy looked at John with a sad expression, and he offered his hand. She took it, and the three of them walked through the gate. Izzy was more than a little unprepared for when she stepped out of the gate and was met with a sudden ramp. She stumbled, and John dropped his bag and reached his hands out to steady her. She gripped onto his sleeves before smiling at him and nodding that she was okay. John smiled at her, but it didn't have the same twinkle that it had before. Ronon wore the same stoic expression he had most of the time.
Izzy looked at the small crowd of people at the bottom of the ramp and shifted closer to John, feeling apprehensive about not knowing anyone in the room.
"General." John greeted to a graying man in his sixties, wearing the Cheyenne Mountain version of the uniform most people wore on Atlantis.
"Sheppard." He greeted in return. John looked visibly relieved when he went for a handshake instead of a salute.
"This is my daughter, Isabella. This is General O'Neill." John said, putting a hand on Izzy's shoulder, effectively drawing her out from her refuge behind him.
"Just Jack." General O'Neill said, smiling softly at her.
"Izzy." She said, smiling at him.
Izzy stuck her hand out for a handshake, hoping that she didn't seem too uncomfortable or nervous with the situation.
They went to the locker rooms to change and get ready for the wake that followed the funeral. Izzy put on a black dress that she had (just in case something like this happened) and pulled her hair back into a classic bun. She reapplied makeup, put on jewelry, and slipped into her silver heels before joining John and Ronon outside the locker rooms.
John smiled at her, though his eyes still lacked the twinkle that they normally had.
"You look beautiful." John said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her on the cheek, which helped ease some of Izzy's nerves.
I sat in the back of the black sedan the SGC gave us to use and stared out the window as we drove to wherever we were going. I didn't say much, but Dad warned me about not disclosing information about Atlantis, its whereabouts, or anything that is considered confidential information. I nodded, though I didn't meet his eyes. I was too busy worrying about meeting Dad's family, saying something I shouldn't say, and overall just being on Earth again. I had gotten so used to flying in a jumper that I forgot what it felt like to ride in a car. The bumps in the road startled me and I wasn't used to being able to feel movement.
After what felt like forever, we pulled into the driveway at a large ranch house where many people were gathered for the wake. John parked and we got out of the car.
"Lot of people." Ronon remarked.
"Yeah, well… my old man was pretty well-connected." John replied. I walked next to my dad and ran my hands over my dress in nervousness.
John took a deep breath upon sight of a man approaching us. He didn't look very much like John, so I didn't know who he was, but I could tell that Dad felt nervous about seeing him. He scratched the back of his neck, which was something he did when he felt uncomfortable in a situation or apprehensive.
"John." This guy greeted.
"Dave." Dad said, extending his hand to shake.
"I wasn't sure you were going to make it. It's good to see you." Dave said honestly. It was then that he shifted his gaze between Ronon and me, and I noticeably shifted closer to Dad.
"I contacted your commander at Peterson but um, sometimes those messages don't seem to reach you." Dave said. The tension in the air was so tangible I felt like I could cut it with a knife.
"Well…" Dad said. "I came as soon as I heard."
An awkward silence followed. Dave clearly wanted to know who we were and Dad seemed a little slow on the uptake.
"Ah. This is Ronon. He's a civilian contractor. Ronon, this is Dave – my brother." Dad said, introducing Ronon first.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you." Ronon said, doing his best to fit in with American culture and not seem too out of place. I ran my hands over my dress nervously… again.
"Pleasure." Dave said. "Who's this?" He motioned to me.
"Dave this is Isabella – my daughter." Dad said, putting a calming hand on the small of my back. I'm sure the anxiety was coming off of me in waves.
Dave's eyes widened. John had clearly not told him about my existence, which told me that the two of them weren't close at all… or even on speaking terms.
"Daughter?" Dave questioned, his eyes sizing me up.
"Yeah. Darcy was her mother. She came to live with me after she passed several months ago." John said.
"How did I not hear about this earlier?" Dave questioned as if I wasn't standing right there. I tensed and took a deep breath. I knew that we would be having this conversation a couple of times today and that I would have to get used to it.
"I didn't know." Dad said, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Darcy never told me."
Dave nodded. "Well, Isabella. It's nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out and I accepted it before his kissed the back of it. I tensed, which may have been more because Dad was tense as well than actually feeling apprehensive around my apparent uncle.
"You too." I said, trying my best to give him a convincing smile.
"Anyway… John, I think we should probably talk." Dave said, pinning Dad with a criticizing gaze.
"Yeah." Dad agreed, rocking back and forth on his feet.
"I'll catch up with you later." Dave said… and he walked away.
If there was one thing I knew for sure - this was going to be a long couple of days.
A/N: This was kind of an intro chapter to Izzy being back on Earth – it wasn't meant to be particularly exciting or funny, but I hope yinz enjoyed it anyways. Shorter chapter, but I promised izzysheppard I would get something posted tonight. She deserves the biggest award because without her my postings would be even less frequent than they are now. Thanks for being my biggest fan, yo!
Izzysheppard (not me... an actual person with that name, kind of hilariously) is writing a FANTASTIC story right now on the SGA site titled "Thicker Than Most" and it's Carson-centric. It's SO GOOD! You all need to go read it and review it... like. now.
Special thanks to…
Thewolf74: Always so faithful to review… Thank you! So glad you are enjoying it. It never ceases to thrill me when I hear such positive feedback from so many great people. You will continue to see how Izzy heals and grows. :)
OMG: Your review was awesome! So much enthusiasm in one statement. It made me laugh which instantly made me happy. I'm flattered. Thank you!
Angelashortall: Thank you for reviewing – as always! Isn't it the most annoying things when people are looming over you when all you want to do is to move on. Or when you're in a decent mood, just quieter than normal, and everyone is like "Are you mad?" or "Are you okay?" … and then you actually are in a bad mood because everyone is annoying. Yep. Exhausting.
Dani2theela: Thanks! I appreciate that. I thoroughly enjoyed writing the last chapter. I'm a psychology major, so I've been studying a lot about these emotional processes. Hopefully I got it right. :|
LoveStoryFanatic: Thanks for being awesome, yo! I love your reviews. They aren't just "I love this!" – which is awesome to hear, but it's also helpful to hear what parts the readers particularly liked or disliked. You always hit the nail on the head in doing that, and I appreciate it. I'm still contemplating Sheyla – some people want it and others don't, and I'm not sure where I stand. I'll probably start a poll later in the week when I post the next chapter… or rather, the continuation of this chapter.
Guest: Thanks for the review! It is always so helpful to hear what people like and don't like. I write to please, so it's beneficial when I hear parts that people don't want to see. I'm not sure where I stand on the Sheyla issue. I might make them just friends in the end or start a relationship… I'm not sure. Some people are for it, others are against it, and I'm pretty neutral. With all that being said, I'll probably create a poll later in the week when I post the next chapter.
Guest: Thank you for the review! Like I said in the author's note, this chapter wasn't meant to be particularly exciting or anything but was more of an intro for the next chapter. It will be posted later in the week! I hope you enjoyed. :)
Shellbean: Thank you for being so faithful in leaving awesome reviews! You always do a great job of saying what you like about the chapter, which is very helpful for me as I continue to develop the story. There are some exciting things coming ahead and I can't wait for you all to read about it!
Adela: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Like I said in the author's note, this current chapter wasn't meant to be particularly exciting, but is meant to be an introduction to the next chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed it anyways!
Guardianranger: Thanks for reviewing on this story! I've written and re-written my Flashpoint chapter several times now and can't seem to get it right. I promise that I haven't abandoned it, but I am lacking direction in where I want to take the story. Hopefully it will be posted soon. I appreciate your patience as it has been a few months since I've updated there.