A/B This has always been such a hard episode to watch because Carson is one of my favourite characters, but it couldn't be avoided.

Sorry in advance to having to relive this episode...

Alice had been apart of the meeting when Elizabeth had proposed a city wide mandatory day off, one of Dr Heightmeyer's attempt to keep morale at a high.

To her surprise it had been approved by the IOA and the SGC, put into everyone's calendars. Some of the researchers in Alice's team had even started a count down on the wall. But Alice had almost refused to believe it would happen. After all hardly anything ever went to plan in Pegasus.

So whilst everyone had started making plans on how they were gonna spend the day, Alice had refused. Being apart of the expedition for so long had left her with a slightly pessimistic outlook, something she'd probably picked up from Rodney.

Not that she hoped something would go wrong, but every time they thought they could take a moment to relax something always happened.

But day after day, the countdown got closer until it was the night before and Alice was laying in her bed staring up at the ceiling realising she had nothing to do the next day. She couldn't even remember the last time she had absolutely nothing to do.

On New Athos, there had been so much to do to get the settlement built and then when they did have downtime, Ronon and her had been running ops with the Genii. Then in the three months since the expeditions return, Alice hadn't stopped moving. Trying to restart the R&D's research projects, and analysing all the things the Ancient's had done to the city in their short time here.

The first thing she'd done when she'd gotten into bed that night was turn off her 6am alarm. It was small, but it delayed deciding what she'd have to do. Though she imagined she'd end up waking up around the same time anyway out of habit.

A lot of the teams had set up different activities to do for their day off, like golf, Jumper trips to the mainland or chess tournaments. But she'd declined ever single invite she'd been given.

She tossed in her bed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. The digital readout of her clock said it was 11pm. She considered pulling out her datapad and tidying up a few loose ends, but she resisted. She heard a buzz, and the screen of her tablet glowed lightly.

Reaching out she picked up the device and saw she had two messages. One was from Rodney, and the other was from Jennifer. She opened Jennifer's first. It was asking her if she had any plans for the day off, as Jen had thought she was going to be on duty, but had been changed at the last minute. Smiling Alice typed a response that she'd be happy to have lunch.

Then she opened Rodney's, it was a short message, but she could tell just from the first couple of words he was pissed. Apparently two of the junior researchers had activated some machine, and he'd been called in to reprimand them. He wanted her to handle them. She was sure it was nothing, she didn't bother replying to him knowing it could wait, and hopefully after today the idea of punishment for the kids would be forgotten. Stretching, she shut down the tablet and dropped it onto the floor.

—-

It was 8am when Alice woke up, she almost jumped out of her bed in a panic thinking that she'd grossly overslept her alarm somehow, when she remembered their day off. She slumped back down on her bed, her heart beating fast against her rib cage. Staring up at the ceiling she slowing drew in a breath. This was the first time she'd slept-in in almost three years, and it felt amazing. Though somehow she still felt tired. Pulling herself up she stripped off and headed for the shower.

Once she'd dried off, she looked at her drawers. They were full of black t-shirts and combat pants - the standard Atlantis uniform. Pushing aside the uniforms she looked for something a little out of the ordinary. However, aside from her gym clothes all she really had was the Athosian clothes Teyla had made her, the Genii uniform she'd been given and a top that Laura Cadmen had given her when she left. It was a light blue, and very different to what she normally wore. It was girly, flowy and perfect. She pulled the top over her head, and pulled on a pair of high waisted black shorts. Then walked back to the mirror to fix her hair. The top had a sweetheart neckline, so she pulled her hair half up, so small ringlets cascaded gently over her collar bones. Her body was too athletic to be considered girly, but compared to her usual get-up she felt extremely feminine.

Then there was a knock on her door. Alice took one last look at herself and ran over to the door. "Coming!" She yelled.

The door opened and before her stood Jennifer, smiling and dressed in a yellow top and denim skirt. "Hi!" She said cheerfully. "Are you ready?"

Alice grabbed her earpiece from the side table and stepped out of the door. "Let's go." They walked to the mess hall, Alice tried to ignore the stares that people gave them as they walked past - mostly from the male officers Alice used to work with. This was the first time they'd probably seen her in something other than her uniform. It made her blush and speed up as they walked down the hall. "So how are you finding Atlantis?"

They both grabbed a tray and started pulling sandwiches onto their plates. Alice also helped herself to two servings of blue jello. "Yeah, it's great. Everyone is so friendly, I'm still just a bit overwhelmed at the size and scope of the place." Her voice dropped lower. "I actually haven't been anywhere other than the infirmary, my quarters and here."

Alice laughed. "Don't worry, I can show you around today, hopefully that will help you feel more at home." They turned to head for a table. "Well that's interesting..."

"Hmm?" Jennifer asked, looking questioningly at Alice's face.

Alice couldn't help but smile as she watched Elizabeth laughing and smiling sat with a man. It looked like they were on a date. Elizabeth was also out of her uniform, in a low cut teal top with her hair done up. She didn't recognise the man. "Come on." She gestured to a table on the balcony. As intrigued as she was about the man, it wouldn't be right to intrude. Elizabeth deserved some privacy to just be herself.

Alice and Jennifer sat down outside, enjoying the sunlight. "I hope no one's been giving you a hard time at all. I know most departments have their own initiation to Atlantis rituals."

Jennifer smiled gently. "No, everyone's lovely."

Alice nodded. "Carson's not exactly the type I suppose. Have you spent much time with people outside of the infirmary?"

"Not really. It's just been so busy, trying to catch up on all the medical reports from the entire SG programme and it seems like someone's constantly getting injured or sick." Jennifer sighed.

"It sounds like this day off was perfectly timed then. I'd love to introduce you-"

"To me!" Lloyd swaggered over and dropped down in a chair beside them. Evan following behind him slower.

"Definitely not." Alice replied quickly. Then pointed to Lloyd. "Jennifer, this charming marine is Lloyd. And this is Major Evan Lorne." Lloyd winked at Jennifer and Evan held out his hand to shake hers.

"Sorry, you'll have to ignore Lloyd here. He's been knocked out one too many times." Evan apologised. "You look great Aly-cat."

"Thanks." Alice smiled. "I was just going to finish up here and give Jen a tour of Atlantis. You're welcome not to join." She said pointedly at Lloyd.

Lloyd held his hands. "Don't worry, I've got a full day planned with Amanda from botany." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"Isn't she in for a treat." Alice stuck out her tongue.

Lloyd leaned in towards Jennifer. "If you ever need to know anything about the goings on of Atlantis, I'm your man. I know about gossip before anyone else." He smiled proudly.

Jennifer laughed uncomfortably. "Thanks. I'm not really the gossip type."

"Alright, you had your fun Lloyd. Won't Amanda be waiting?" Alice shook her head, but a small smile played on her lips. It was hard to dislike Lloyd, no matter how annoying he could be.

Lloyd grinned. "See you around Riley!"

They watched him go. "What about you Evan? Any hot dates?" Alice smirked.

"Only with a paintbrush." His face relaxed. "I'm going to grab a canvas and do some painting." Slowly he stood up. "In fact, the brush calls. It was nice to meet you Jennifer." He dipped his head and waved to Alice. "See you later Aly-cat."

Once he was out of ear shot Jennifer leaned in close over the table. "Aly-cat? Are you guys together?"

Alice laughed. "Evan and I? No way. And hey, i thought you weren't a gossip."

Jennifer leant back in her chair, putting a carrot stick in her mouth. "So is there a Mr. Riley then?"

"No, and there probably won't be for a very long time." Alice wiped her mouth, noticing Jeniffer had finished her meal. She picked up her remaining jello cup and spoon. "Come on, Let's go."

They headed out of the mess, passing Rodney and Carson on the way out. "Have fun fishing you guys!" Alice called out, waving behind her. Carson had been talking about this trip non-stop for the last week, and Rodney had been moaning about it non-stop.

The halls were busy with people flitting about in casual clothes, it was an odd sight and one Alice hadn't ever seen before. She was used to people with their heads down, mumbling hellos as they raced off to some meeting, mission or lab. It was nice to see people happily laughing.

Alice took Jennifer around the common spaces, the smaller ones that weren't included in the Atlantis 101 briefing, and the spots the military personnel had taken over - but despite what people thought was open to all. They were passing by the sparring room when Jennifer paused. "Who's that?"

Alice stopped and took a couple steps back to see John and Ronon facing off, both of them with a bit of material hanging out of their pants like a tail. John also had one hand behind his back. "Well, I'm sure you know John. I mean Colonel Sheppard. The burly one is Ronon Dex, he's originally from this galaxy." They watched as John and Ronon lunged forward, batons in hand and tried to grab each other's tail. Ronon landed a blow on John's cheek before spinning around and ripping out his tail. Alice glanced at Jennifer, her eyes were locked on Ronon's figure. Smirking, she leaned closer to Jennifer. "He's single too."

Jennifer's shocked face turned back to her. "I-uh-no..." she laughed awkwardly.

Alice giggled, throwing her arm around her shoulders. "I'll intro you another time, trust me you don't want to get between those two when they're trying to prove something."

They were heading towards the south pier when Jennifer stopped and held her hand up to her ear. Then she turned to Alice giving her an apologetic look. Alice frowned. "Everything okay?"

"They need a doctor to report back to the infirmary. Someone needs stitches." Jennifer explained. "This shouldn't take long, how about I radio when I'm done?"

"Sure. But if it's Ronon or John, then I say let them bleed out a bit longer." Alice let out a soft laugh.

Jennifer said a quick goodbye then jogged for the nearest transporter. Alice sighed and pivoted on her heels. Teyla had said something about sparring earlier, maybe she'd still be there. So Alice started making her way back to the gym.

She had almost made it there, when she spotted Teyla with another woman up ahead. They were heading away from the gym both dressed in sweatpants and with backpacks over their shoulders. "Teyla!" Alice called out, picking up her pace to catch up.

Teyla turned back smiling at Alice, then the next thing Alice knew she was being thrown down the hallway. She felt herself spinning.

She wasn't sure if she blacked out, but she couldn't figure out how she'd ended up lying on the floor. Every breath she took in made the left side of her ribs hurt, so she kept her breathing shallow.

Opening her eyes she stared at the carnage around her. The hall was dark, except for the repetitive strobe of a red light. She blinked and the objects around her started coming into focus.

She was lying on the floor, twisting her head she noticed she was against the doorway of the gym. The buzzing sound resolved into an alarm blaring from the walls. That's when it struck her, there had been an explosion. That's why she was on the floor, why alarms were blaring and why the walls and floor were a burnt black. The question that raced through her mind was how the hell someone had managed to get a bomb in the middle of the city.

She heard groans of pain around her. Her mind immediately focused, there would be time to ask all the questions she wanted. Reaching up she gripped the edge of the door frame and pulled herself up. Her head swam, but she kept moving. Alarms were still blaring and she could see people rushing in and crouching down on the ground looking at piles of rubble on the floor.

Alice rubbed her eyes and blinked, that's when she realised it wasn't just rubble on the floor. Scattered around her were bodies, some burnt and others crumbled. There was the distinctive tang of burning flesh in the air. Alice's senses seemed to all click together at once, in a second she had moved over to the closest body. Her fingers searched for a pulse, it was dull and weak, but it was there. "Hey! Over here!" A man in a yellow uniform ran over, kneeling beside her. "I've got a pulse, but it's weak." She reported.

"Mendez! Let's get him out of here." The medic yelled to another man in a yellow uniform.

Alice moved back as the medics loaded the body onto a stretcher. The man stayed kneeling next to her though . His hands came up to grip her head. "I'm fine." She pushed him off and headed for the next body.

There was blood on the floor, coming from the person's abdomen. "Teyla!" Alice shrieked as she recognised her friend's face. Her fingers flew out to find her pulse, relief flooded through her as she felt a steady beat. "Help! Someone."

"Alice!" Carson's voice sounded next to her. "Oh my god, Teyla. Bring a stretcher!" He called over his shoulder. Alice moved back to allow Carson to check over Teyla. "Alice, are you okay? You're bleeding."

Alice tilted her head confused. She hadn't noticed any blood, running her hands over herself. But looking down at her hands she didn't see any blood. Then suddenly a drip of blood appeared on her palm, lifting her hand up she felt a warm, sticky wet patch on her head.

Teyla's bag was lying open next to her, Alice grabbed out her friends towel and pressed it to her head. Wincing as it made contact with her wound. "I'm fine. Focus on the others."

Teyla was placed onto a gurney and led out of the hallway. Carson's name was being called. "Get yourself to the infirmary now!" He ordered, before running back to where a medic was calling him.

Alice stood up and headed for the next body. Her wound seemed superficial, she doubted if it would even require stitches. There were more seriously hurt people that needed attention. The next body she approached was badly burnt, Alice held her breath as she knelt down placing her fingers on the person's neck. But this time there was nothing. Her chest constricted painfully, her breath coming in shallow gasps. She flinched her hand away from the body, it was so burnt she couldn't even tell who it was. A medic came running over to her. Alice just shook her head.

"Riles!"

Alice shakily got to her feet, her throat constricted as she looked as the body below her. "He's dead." Was all she could manage.

"There's nothing you can do. Come on, you need to get to the infirmary." He wrapped his arms around her and started leading her towards the end of the hall.

But Alice shook him off. "I'm fine." John stopped and looked directly in her eyes. She held his gaze. "Really."

He seemed reluctant, but he nodded. "Alright. Help me get everyone to the infirmary."

—-

Once they'd managed to get all the bodies out of the hallway, John had insisted she get checked over. Despite her protests.

The medic shone a torch in and out of Alice's eyes. "I told you I'm fine." She muttered for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I know, but you still might be in shock. There are often delayed-"

Alice rolled her eyes. "I know. I know. But don't you think there are more serious injuries you should be looking at." She gave her best challenging face.

The medic sighed and dropped the pen light back into his pocket. "Fine, but if you have any-"

Alice popped down from the bed. "Don't worry, I'll come back straight away." She hesitated at the door, back to her left was the door to the operating theatre. Teyla was in there at the moment, apparently the chunk of metal had done quite a bit of damage and she'd lost a lot of blood. But there wasn't anything Alice could do here, she'd only get in the way. So, she headed out the door and towards Rodney's lab.

Every step made her body ache, though she knew she hadn't cracked or broken any ribs, her chest still felt like it had taken quite a beating. Her chest felt heavy, and overall she was a bit lightheaded, but nothing unusual given she'd just been in an explosion. And if she'd mentioned it to John or the medic they would have probably restricted her to bed rest for a bruise.

She was sure there was going to be a rainbow of colors marring her skin when she finally looked. But she'd suffered worse.

"Long story short, it creates explosive tumours." Rodney was standing up in front of John and Ronon. A grim expression on his face.

"Did you say explosive tumours?" Alice was sure she had misheard him. The boys turned to watch her enter.

John eyed her up and down. "Are you sure you should be moving about?"

Alice dragged over a stool and carefully hoisted herself onto it, wincing slightly as she stretched her chest. "Just a bit bruised, nothing serious."

John seemed ready to argue with her. But, thought better of it and turned back to Rodney. "So, wait, this guy Watson ..."

"... has almost definitely been exposed, yes. Look, we need to find him before that tumour ignites, which could be any minute now." Rodney's expression darkened.

John and Ronon exchanged a panicked glance and ran out of the room. Alice still felt a bit lost. "Wait. Not our Watson, right?" Rodney didn't reply, but his expression told Alice everything. Watson was a junior member of their team, he hadn't been with them for more than a couple of months. "We have to be able to do something."

Rodney didn't look at her, instead he tapped his radio. "Doctor Watson. Doctor James Watson. Report your whereabouts immediately." It was only then Alice realised she didn't have her earpiece anymore. It must have dislodged in the explosion. Anxiously, she fidgeted as Rodney listened to someone talking on the other end. Rodney's eyes suddenly widened. "He's in the O.R. right now? I need you to get Beckett back on his radio." Alice jumped down from her stool, her heart rate increasing. "Carson, the man you are working on right now has been infected with an explosive tumour. We think it's what killed Hewston and caused the explosion."

Glancing around the lab, Alice looked for a radio or spare earpiece. Luckily, their emergency kit was still fully stocked. She ripped the radio out of the pack and switched the channel to the designated military one. "John, come in."

"I hear you Riles. What's going on?" John answered immediately.

"Watson, he's in the OR right now. Rodney's on the line to Carson."

"Okay, the bomb squad is on it's way now." John's tone was dark.

Alice started chewing on her lip, she tapped Rodney's shoulder. "Bomb squad is on it's way."

Rodney held up his thumb. "It is possible, Carson. Look, you need to get you and your team out of there. Sheppard has an ordnance disposal crew on the way." He paused, as Carson must have been arguing back. "He doesn't have to move. You do."

John and Ronon came running back into the lab. "He's used his authorisation code to seal off the whole level. We can't get to him."

Alice exchanged a fearful look with Rodney. "Carson, you cannot seriously be considering operating on this guy." Rodney shrieked. "There is no way to know for sure. Look, Hewston was infected at the same time that Watson was and her tumour's already exploded."

"Get him out of there!" Alice pleaded. Her chest ached as her heart started thudding against her rib cage.

"OK, look, this is all very brave and all, but ..." Rodney started saying.

John tapped his earpiece impatiently. "... what if the explosion causes structural damage? What if the tower comes down with everyone in it?"

"Exactly." Rodney grinned at John. Alice hated being left out of the conversation. She knew Carson though, nothing they said would convince him to leave Watson to die. "The man is already dead!" Rodney said frantically.

John started pacing. "Carson, I can't order you to stand down, but ..." But he was cut off before he could finish.

"Control room." Alice clicked her fingers. "We might be able to override his codes from there."

"Let's go!" John took off eagerly, Alice started jogging but stopped after only a few steps. Her body doubled over in pain, her breath coming in short gasps as she moaned in pain. "Riles!"

She waved him off. "Just give me a sec." Closing her eyes she drew in a few deep breaths, the pain in her chest felt like someone had stabbed her with a hot iron. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to keep moving. Carson's life depended on it. "Keep moving." She said hoarsely.

They started moving again, this time slower to the transporter. Rodney and John took the steps two at a time when they reached the control room. Alice followed behind slower, still trying to lower her heart rate. Rodney was already at the main station when Alice got there. "Colonel, Rodney. I need an update."

Rodney glanced between the laptop and Elizabeth. Alice scooted around the panel. "Go, I've got this."

Rodney moved aside and followed John into Elizabeth's office. Alice's fingers skittered over the keyboard, time was against them. Her chest still throbbed, but she used the pain as motivation to get this done. This patch could take her up to 30 minutes to breakthrough, but she knew they might only have seconds left.

She activated the main comms to come through the control room speakers. She didn't want to miss anything now. The programme slowly chipped away at the encryption code, but it was too slow.

"Colonel Sheppard. I've extracted the tumour ..." Carson's voice was tense. "... and I'm opening up the O.R. level."

Alice pulled her fingers back from the keys. As the OR level unlocked. John, Elizabeth and Rodney ran across the gantry. John had his hand on his ear. "He's on his way. Sit tight."

"Dammit. Tell him I'll meet him halfway." Carson huffed.

"Just stay put, Doc." John ordered, his voice strained.

"The sooner I get this thing out of my sight, the better." Swallowing nervously, they waited in silence. They all knew better than to question Carson, and the more they delayed him the higher the chances were of the tumour exploding. Alice's leg bounced up and down, her eyes fixed on the screen, waiting to hear Carson's voice. "We just made the hand-off."

Alice's lips were pulling up into a grin, when her expression changed to one of pure horror. Alarms suddenly blared and bright red warnings flashed on her screen. Explosion detected, structural damage detected.

Her heart dropped to the floor, wide-eyed, her eyes flew up to meet John's. Both of them stared at each other in a terrified silence. "Carson?" Alice's voice came out as a tiny squeak. But there was only static. Her hands started to tremble, but she moved them across the keyboard bringing up the internal sensors for the OR level. Her eyes scoured the screen for any white dots that would indicate life signs. "I'm reading no life signs."

Alice stood on at the base of the stairs, she was wearing a dress, a simple black one. It was itchy and made her feel exposed. She'd borrowed it from Jennifer, it didn't quite fit right, but she didn't have anything appropriate for this duty.

In front of the gate was Carson's coffin, the Scottish flag draped over it. Even staring at the coffin, Alice couldn't bring herself to believe he was gone, it just didn't seem possible.

"There wasn't a person alive who was more caring or a better friend than Carson Beckett. It has been and will always have been an honour to be his friend." Rodney's voice caught in his throat. But he kept a strong expression on his face, he touched the coffin gently and then walked towards Alice directly behind the coffin, along with John, Ronon, Teyla, Elizabeth and Evan.

As he joined her and the others, Elizabeth stepped forward over to the coffin, then turned to face the gathering of the Atlantis personnel. "We've said goodbye to a lot of friends today. Our mission is a dangerous one. We lose people - a fact we're all painfully aware of. But Carson was … " Her voice trailed off, her eyes filled with grief. Alice drew in a deep breath, trying to keep control of her emotions. She felt John glance over at her, then she felt his fingers reaching out to touch hers. Without hesitating, she stretched out her fingers to connect them. "I can't remember anyone coming to me with a complaint against him - ever. He was a kind soul. He was ... he was a healer. And he will be very deeply missed. George Fabricius said, 'Death comes to us all, but great achievements, they build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.'" Elizabeth paused as her voice started to break. "Every single life Carson saved is a monument to him. And that gives me great comfort." They all stood in silence, then Elizabeth nodded to the Control Room.

Bagpipes started playing and the gate started dialling. Alice, along with John, Rodney, Ronon, Evan and Radek walked towards the coffin. John and Rodney took up their positions at the front of the coffin. Alice was directly behind him, across from Radek. Then on John's signal they all bent down and lifted the coffin, and walked forward into the gate. She winced slightly, as she took on the weight of the coffin. Her ribs were still bruised, but nothing was going to stop her from doing this. She owed it to Carson.

They kept a slow pace as one by one they stepped into the event horizon. Alice felt her legs trembling, but she kept her eyes on John's back. Even if he didn't know it, right now he was keeping her grounded. She focused on the color of his dress blues, the way the jacket fell on his broad shoulders. She didn't think about the clang of their steps on the metal, or the the fact the bagpipes had been replaced with a mournful trumpet. She just kept her eyes on John as if he was the only thing keeping her tethered to the ground.

They made it to the bottom of the ramp and lifted the coffin onto the stand. General O'Neill and Landry, were both stood below the control room, in their dress blues surrounded by what looked like the entire SGC - both military and civilian. Alice finally let go of the coffin and turned away taking three steps, then pivoted back to look at Carson. The trumpet stopped and General O'Neill raised his arm to a salute. The military personnel did the same.

Alice stayed still frozen on the spot. For the rest of the procession she felt like she was watching someone else life, through someone else's eyes. She never thought she'd be here for Carson.

She'd pictured the deaths of everyone on her team, including her own. They put their lives on the line everyday, and they'd come close on more than one occasion. But Carson was the one who put them back together, even when it all seemed hopeless.

Before she knew it, the coffin was escorted off by the Air Force honour squad, Rodney followed alongside them. He was going to be the one to deliver the news and the body to Carson's family.

Alice stayed put, until the only ones left in the room were Evan, Ronon, Radek and her. John must have gone with the two Generals. "Come on, let's get a drink." Evan started heading for the mess.

Alice shared a look with Ronon then followed after him.

Evan grabbed a table and Alice slipped behind the counter to grab out a case of beers. Somethings would never change at the SGC.

There were a couple of airmen sat near the counter, but they just politely bowed there heads when Alice passed them.

Dropping the cans down on the table, they each took one out and Alice held hers up. "To Carson."

"To the Doc" Evan lifted up his can.

Ronon and Radek both joined in echoing their statements. Then they all took a sip. A solemn silence took hold of the room. Until Evan sniggered to himself.

Everyone stopped and glanced over to him. Looking over at him to see if he was suffering a mental break. But he just continued sniggering, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. "Do you remember when Lloyd told the Doc about those sheep-like creatures on MX4-P36?"

Alice suddenly knew why he was laughing. It felt completely inappropriate, but she broke into a grin. "You mean the one's Carson begged Elizabeth for him to go see..."

Evan's eyes had started watering, as he let out a sharp bark of laughter. Radek and Ronon both had small smiles on their faces. "I heard he'd tried to pet one." Radek added.

"Who would have known they were poisonous..." Evan said trying to catch his breath. "I've never seen a hand swell like that."

Alice felt her shoulders relax as they started sharing their favourite stories about Carson. Most of Ronon's involved him misunderstanding Carson's Scottish accent. It was around midnight, when John walked in to join them. "This isn't quite what I expected to see."

Alice let out a small laugh. "We were just sharing some of our favourite memories with Carson." She lifted her watch. "But it's pretty late." Stretching she pushed her chair back and stood up. She said a quick goodnight to the others and gave Evan's shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks."

"I'm going to head to bed as well. Remember kids, we're on the first inter-galactic space bridge trip out of here in the morning." But his joke fell flat on the table. "Right...goodnight." He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and followed Alice out the door. "How are you?" He asked her tentatively.

She took in a deep breath. "I'm really going to miss him. But Carson was always about living to the fullest. I don't think he would have wanted us crying over him."

"I know what you mean." John said plainly. They slowly approached the door to the guest quarters that had been assigned to Alice. "If you ever need to talk...or..." he started awkwardly.

Alice let out a soft laugh and reached out to touch John's arm. "It's been a pretty rough year hasn't it?" The moment her skin touched John's she felt a small spark of electricity shoot between them. She suddenly had the urge to reach out and close the gap between them.

John swallowed and looked down the corridor behind them. "If today was it, would you have any regrets?"

As he turned back around to face her their eyes locked and she found herself drawing in towards him. The desire to feel loved, comforted, even if it would just be for a night, was overwhelming. "Yes. One massive one." Her voice was low, as she watched his eyes drop down towards her lips. "What about you?" It felt like they were magnets being drawn together, neither of them consciously moving but their bodies seemed to be getting closer and closer.

"If the world was ending…I'd regret never having done this again." He closed the gap between them. His hand cradling the back of her head as his lips pressed into hers.

Alice couldn't think, couldn't focus on anything other than the man kissing her. Frantically, she reached for the door handle. Twisting it down, she grabbed John's collar and pulled him into the room with her. He kicked the door behind them, as they started tugging and pulling on each other's clothes.

Her heart pounded in against her chest, her breathing became laboured and she shivered as she looked up into his deep hazel eyes. She didn't want to think about anything happening outside her room, it was as though nothing mattered except for them.

Neither of them spoke again. Instead they gave into the feeling of being together. Of being alive.