A/N Uhm… so I hadn't expected this, but I had to change the rating from M to E for this chapter. There'll be some smut in this chapter and if you don't want to read it, just skip after Evan's announcement. If you'd like to read it: have fun!

Chapter 23

2034

Alex was standing in the doorway to Caleb's old room, arms folded over her chest, staring at the empty book case.

Their son claimed that he didn't think too much of physical copies. That they were impractical. And he wasn't wrong. They took up room when you put them in a bag, they were heavy sometimes, especially the really good ones, but that wasn't all they were. Books were memories. And they had memories. Little creases in the pages from when you sat on them by accident, broken spines, the occasional stain on the cover, or even on the pages themselves. They were like little notes you came across whenever you opened that exact page again. It was something no digital copy could ever give you. Especially not the smell. Once physical copies of books had mostly vanished from their lives, Alex had started to miss that smell. The smell of new books as well as that particular sweet and dusty scent only a very old book held.

And Caleb had taken the books of his childhood room with him to his new apartment. If that wasn't progress, Alex didn't know what was.

With a soft smile, she pushed away from the doorframe and peeked into Grace's room, where Winnie was lying on the made-up bed, flat on his back and snoring loudly. Grace had left most of her things here and opted to buy everything new. Her desk had always been tidy, but it still looked empty, even though she'd taken most of her supplies with her.

Alex looked up at the ceiling, at the familiar shape of the F-16 model which Evan had given her for her eleventh birthday. He'd struggled with it. With the fact that Grace wanted to join the military, especially the Air Force. Alex remembered those talks with Evan all too well. Talks which sometimes lasted half the night. Talks in which they always discussed the same things over and over again.

About how terrified he was that she might get hurt. That she would join the Air Force and be rejected for pilot training. That she would be accepted for pilot training and would fail. That disappointment was something he couldn't bear in her place.

About how incredibly proud of was that she must be the bravest little soul in the entire universe.

About how ridiculous this was. To talk about her future in the military when she was only ten years old.

And then, over time, those talks had subsided. Because Grace had already made up her mind and there was no stopping her. She was going to attend Air Force Academy and become an airman and an engineer. She'd become a pilot. And the older she got, the more the two of them learned to accept her decision. The little scare they both got when she was selected by Mitchell to train for the Stargate Program was quickly forgotten. At least until Evan was assigned his new post.

"What're you doing up there?"

Alex hadn't even heard the front door, but Winnie jumped up and raced down the stairs to greet Evan.

"Thinking?" she mused, leaning against the railing and looking down at him as he was standing there in dress-blues, looking up at her with that incredible smile of his.

He cocked his head, patted Winnie's back and started climbing the stairs. "That's usually a good thing with you."

Alex laughed. "What did they say? Caleb and Grace?"

Pulling a face, Evan climbed the last few steps and leaned against the railing next to her while Winnie trudged up the stairs again to sit at their feet. "Miller got to Grace first, so I didn't really have a chance to pull Lucas, Josh and our offspring to the side first. I told them to come by here tomorrow morning. Caleb has to be off-world in the afternoon, but I guess we can tell them about our wicked plan then?" With a shrug, he reached up to start undoing his tie, his mouth twitching in that familiar way once he started tugging at the knot.

With a shake of the head, she put her hands on his.

"What?"

She smiled despite herself. The talks the next day were something to be excited about, but what they were about to do was to very clearly defy the goal of the mission. And if they weren't careful about it, things might even become dangerous. But still… they were doing the right thing. They would get a chance to check up on the Athosians at least. Maybe Ronon was still with them. At least Alex hoped he was.

"They'll be looking forward to it once you tell them what's gonna happen," she said, slowly opening the tie, but leaving it around his neck.

He pondered for a moment, then he nodded. "We're gonna tell them, though," he said. "You and me. It was your idea to take them along."

"Ah, you got me. I was trying to back out."

There was that grin again. That knowing smile which always made her weak in the knees. "I never took you for a chicken."

"Are you calling me a chicken?"

"I'm calling you a chicken," he agreed with a soft laugh and she let go of his tie. Before she could drop her hands, though, he caught her wrists and pulled them against his chest. "How were classes today?"

"Productive? Long?" She was relieved all officers in the program were required to learn at least some Ancient and Goa'uld these days. Some of them even took it as a motivation to expand their knowledge and learn some other alien languages as well, but the truth was, most of these officers would never hold a candle to the linguists and archaeologists working for the SGC. But at least they'd be able to take part in a friendly conversation with an Ancient, should they ever come across one of those again.

He nodded. He'd learned a few basics himself, but that had been over twenty years ago. "Did you have dinner?"

Alex drummed her fingertips against his chest, revelling in the warmth emanating from his body. "You know it's past ten, right? I should be asking you."

"I had something at the base," he said. "Should we call it a day?"

"Yes, let's."

A few minutes later she was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him undress, his movements sure and clean. Clean-cut like everything about him. At least on the outside. There were layers to him few people had ever seen. Layers she knew intimately.

His occasional doubts about the requirements of his job. The conflict when he realized that duty sometimes required sacrificing his own opinions and wishes. He'd always known that to be true, but to experience it first-hand, had been something difficult, and it had happened for the first time very early in his career. Over the years that side of him had become more pronounced and that made him an even better leader. Yes, he'd always followed orders, sometimes to the letter. But what she'd told Caleb almost a year ago held true. Evan had become creative. He still would never openly question orders, but he'd find a way to make the best of it. To stick to his principles and beliefs. That young Lieutenant she'd known first wasn't gone. He still wanted to do what was right. To help people. And by and large, that was what he was doing. The political and military turmoil of the past decades had transformed that man, moulding him into someone who had managed to survive and at the same time to keep fighting in an imperfect system.

"Still thinking?" he asked, as he unbuttoned his crisp white shirt and her gaze immediately shifted to the place on his chest where that scar should have been. That place where the Wraith had fed upon him. Really, it was a small miracle he had so few scars. There was just that one massive scar on his thigh from when he'd crashed in Antarctica, and that other one across his stomach from when he'd been stabbed by a Furling back in Pegasus.

"Thinking. Wondering. Admiring."

"Ah. The holy trinity."

"Heretic."

"Spoilsport." He grinned down at her and in his eyes she could see that he knew exactly what she was thinking about. "You sure you're up for it? It's late."

"General Lorne, do you really want to go there?"

His grin grew a bit wider and not for the first time was she relieved that the face looking down at her now had nothing to do with he face that had stared at her on that Hive ship. The feeding had taken it toll, making his eyes look sunken in and the skin, which hung on his bones, seem like parchment. That face had been nothing but a skull framed by stark white hair. This wasn't him. This was Evan Lorne. Grey-haired with wrinkles around his eyes and in the corners of his mouth, but still him. The way he was supposed to be. "It's way past our bedtime."

She laughed, feeling light-headed all of a sudden. "Don't ever say that again."

Nodding, he moved forward took off that shirt and let it fall to the floor. It was ready for laundry anyway. "Okay," he said, kneeling down in front of her and placing his hands on her hips. "First, I'd like to talk to you, though."

His voice was so serious, so raspy, that Alex felt her heart plummet for a moment. She leaned forward and took his face into her hands. Her shadow fell across his features, darkening them, but making his eyes stand out a bit more.

"I was thinking…" he trailed off and licked his lips. His hands tightened on her hips, digging into the material of her long night shirt.

"That's usually a good thing with you," she echoed his previous sentiment, making him chuckle.

"When this is over, this mission, when we made sure that our people in Pegasus are okay, I'm gonna retire."

Alex let the words hang there for a moment. Our people. He meant the Athosians of course. And Ronon. Not knowing what had become of them had weighed heavily upon them both for over twenty years. And now they would at least try and get some closure. They had one shot at it, before he might not even have a choice but to retire. This man, whom they had placed in command of the Stargate Program would defy the people who'd killed Mitchell. She could only hope he wouldn't meet the same fate. But there was no telling, was there? No way to be sure he'd come out of this alive. Or that she would. Who could say?

Swallowing hard, she leaned in, brushing her lips lightly over his. "Hold me," she whispered, her eyes closed. There'd be time to talk. More than enough time. The trip to the Asgard galaxy would take roughly three weeks. They could be quicker, but they'd need to conserve energy if they wanted to stop in Pegasus on their way back. Plenty of time to talk…

Plenty.

She felt him nod, felt him move closer, his hand sliding up her body, while the other held her firmly in place.

And even more time to talk once he'd taken retirement.

Her heart leapt at the thought.

Yes, it meant they were growing old quickly. But it also meant they'd managed to do this together. Live together, have children, raise them. Grow old together.

He sighed contentedly as he kissed her. A deep, heart-warming sound which always managed to sent shivers down her spine, making her toes curl as he spread her legs with his body.

"Hey," he whispered, "won't you look at me? Are you mad?"

Alex blinked. "What? No?" She shook her head and trailed her hand down his torso, wishing for the fabric of his undershirt to be gone already. "I just…" she shook her head again and slid her hand over the button of his trousers and then further down. He raised his eyebrows quizzically, his hand, suddenly on her neck, urging her to keep going. "Looking forward to having you all to myself."

"Are you gonna quit your job, then?"

She laughed. She wasn't sure. "Let's go on research trips together."

"Like in the old days?"

Nodding, she pulled him closer, opening first the button, then his fly. "If you will," she agreed, capturing his lips with another kiss, so she could feel his throaty moan against her skin, as she gently rubbed him through the thin fabric of his underpants. That sound, the breath hitting her lips, was enough to create that familiar hot knot in the pit of her stomach and she pulled him even closer, her arm around his neck as he held on to her tightly, his hand buried in her nightshirt.

It took a bit longer for his cock to become hard nowadays, but it made this whole process, the touching, the kissing, all the more pleasurable. To know that she had to take her time. That she would be there far sooner than he would.

His kisses trailed down her neck as he pushed the strap of her wide nightshirt to the side to reveal one of her breasts. Greedily he kissed down her chest, finding the bud and flicking his tongue over it. A familiar touch, which never failed.

Smiling softly, she leaned forward again, forcing his body back with hers. "Take them off," she said when he opened his eyes and she didn't need to tell him again what she meant. Without hesitating, he got rid of the undershirt, pushed down his pants and climbed onto the bed.

"Not fair that you're still fully dressed," he breathed, his cock pressed hard against her belly.

"You just have to tell me what you want, you know?"

He didn't have it in him to laugh. His eyes were wide, but his hands were steady as he lifted the shirt and helped her pull it off. For a moment they just lay there, staring at each other, watching the other's features as hands roamed freely over well-known territory. "Have I told you you're still the most beautiful person I've ever met?"

Alex moved closer, her pulse starting to quicken as she felt him firm and ready against her skin. Slowly she pressed her lips to his, breathing in his scent, her fingers stroking him until she felt him starting to move. "Haven't looked in the mirror recently, have you?" she breathed, allowing him to wrap her tightly in his strong arms and push her on her back.

Evan made a soft shushing sound. He slowly spread her legs again, letting her guide him towards her centre and she opened her eyes as he hovered there, his breath hot against her skin. She put her hands on his face again, her fingertips stroking the lines beside his eyes. It wasn't as though these things were harder now. In a way being with him had become even easier. Even more natural.

"I love you, too," he mumbled and Alex's eyes fell shut as he kissed her again, his tongue playing with hers as he gently pushed inside her, evoking the guttural sound inside her chest.

She knew it, but hearing him say it was the ultimate way to make her feel weak in the knees. To make her want him even more. Maybe because they so rarely said it. It didn't need to be expressed a thousand times a day, sometimes not even every week, but it was always there. That constant in their lives. That knowledge that there was love.

She let out a long breath, feeling her body adjust to him without a conscious thought and revelling in the weight on top of her, that feeling of friction deep down as he started to move, pressing her down on the mattress, his lips nibbling on her neck. She shut her eyes tight, starting to echo his movement, to follow him along, arching into him as their breaths picked up the same familiar rhythm.

His skin was hot already, almost suffocatingly so. He pushed deep inside her, stayed put for a moment, making her gasp and she dug her hands into his back, revelling in the sensation of his closeness. He moaned again, the trace of her name on his lips, making her heart flutter. Gently taking his face into her hands, she gave him the cue to roll over, her lips on his temple. He had his eyes closed, but his arms were tightly around her as she came to lay on top of him.

Her hands on his chest, she kissed him again, forcing herself to keep breathing normally as she started moving again. Evan's eyes were closed, the back of his head pressed against the mattress and she picked up the pace. Seeing him like this, his mouth forming a silent O, was all the urging she needed.

With a soft huff, he opened his eyes again and she was glad they hadn't turned off the lights. "Alex," he whispered, and she nodded. He was close. She could feel it and she pressed down, feeling the length of him filling her, and then his right hand found her centre, gently pressing and rubbing exactly where she needed him.

They came as one, trembling and out of breath.

Still their eyes were locked as they lay side by side, him still buried inside her, her leg wrapped around his hip. "How did I ever get you, Evan," she muttered against his lips, their eyes as locked as well as their hands.

The warmth hadn't left his eyes. It was still the same. Still that same promise. He kissed her briefly. "You had me at hello." And with that sentence she felt another certainty.

A/N: What can I say? I like writing these two. They're crazy about each other, but in a very sweet, very vanilla way and they share a kind of intimacy that transcends passion. If that makes sense? Hope you liked it! In the next chapter we're gonna be stuck on the Hammond for a while. The next chapter might take some time though, since I started working on my project for Fandom Trumps Hate. If you like Poe/Finn you might want to check it out.