Ancient History
Chapter Seven: Sheppard History 101
By Ddoskocil
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The chapter you've been waiting for...I think. ;) The reason why John is so protective and why Erika is so upset with him. Enjoy!

This chapter is written in first person because it's a narration by Erika. The part in parenthesis is the conversation outside of Erika's story. Hope it's not too confusing. If it is, I have another version of this chapter that I'll post.

Rojoca: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it. Hope this chapter sated your curiousity.
reyclou: Yes, I thought the brig was a nice place too. Shows they really are cut from the same cloth.
Soccor-Bitch: Thanks. Again:)
Sheppardster: Yeah, sorry about the cliff-hanger. But at least it kept you interested! ;)
waangel: Glad you like it. And I plan to keep going. ;)
Simple Hope: I'm so glad someone like the Thanksgiving Story. Carson in a turkey outfit just struck me as funny. :)

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I sat in my father's lap as people moved around us. I could feel my father's wet check as he hugged me close. A parade of people walked past us, their faces red with grief, a grief I did not truly understand at 4 years old. Next to me, my older brother Davy screamed and cried while my Aunt Ruth held him.

"So sad. She'll never know her mother," someone whispered.

"Daddy?" I asked in a soft whisper as the person walked past us. "Why do people keep saying that? Where's Mommy?" My father hugged me fiercely and picked me up. He took me to my room and helped me change out of the uncomfortable dress. When I was in my pajamas he sat me on my new "big-girl" bed and knelt in front of me.

"Baby. Erika. Remember how Mommy was really sick?" I nodded slowly. The wires sticking out of my mother always scared me. My father took my hands in his.

"She was very sick, Sweetheart. The doctors tried to make her well, but she was too sick. She," tears welled in his eyes, "died, Erika. Mommy's not coming back." He wiped a fat teardrop off my check before he embraced me.

("Hey, I don't want to see pity in those eyes," she commented lightly. She felt Carson's arms tighten around her. She rubbed at his hand, comforted by his presence.

"Erika," Elizabeth said lightly.

"Stop, Elizabeth. It was more than twenty years ago. I dealt with this long ago. Besides, my brother took it much harder than I did.")

"I hate her. IhateherIhateherIhateher!" Davy yelled as he flailed against Aunt Ruth. "I'll kill her!"

I sat in the corner, my knees pulled tightly against my chest. My face was red and my checks stained with tears. I rocked, my back hitting the wall as I cried. I did not understand it; did not understand why my brother hated me so much. In the days since the move, he only got worst.

The kitchen door slammed open and a young teen stomped into the room.

"What the hell?"

"John! Watch your language," Aunt Ruth yelled as she restrained Davy. John glared at his mother before he turned to me. He knelt next to me.

"Come on, Kido," he said quietly. I smiled up at him through the tears. I held my arms out to him and practically leapt into his arms when he mimicked the gesture. I wrapped my small arms around his neck as he lifted me.

"We'll be outside," he called over his shoulder as he carried me out the front door with him.

"John?"

"Yes."

"Why is Davy mean to me?"

He sighed. "Hey, do you know how to ride a bike?" I shook my head. "No," John replied in shock. "Well, let's fix that."

I wriggled in his arms until he put me down. "A bicycle!" I exclaimed. I hugged him around the waist before I ran to the present. I giggled excitedly then looked back at my cousin.

"All right," he said with a small smile. He walked over to me and placed me on the bike.

("He taught you to ride a bike?" Carson asked.

"He taught me a lot of stuff. I was left alone a lot when I was growing up. Dad was a work-a-holic. Davy hated me. Aunt Ruth spent most of her time with Davy. John was the only one who cared," Erika quickly explained.)

I sat in the office at school. I hugged my knees to my chest as I watched the secretary type at her computer. I sighed lightly and glanced at the clock again. It was only the first week in the second grade and it was not going well.

A bully stole my favorite pencil, my teacher yelled at me for trying to take it back, and Davy screamed bloody murder at me whenever I tried to get into Aunt Ruth's car. Now I was waiting for Aunt Ruth to come back to pick me up.

I glanced back at the clock. John taught me how to tell time before I entered first grade. My teacher in first grade has thought I was smart because I already knew things like that, things John had taught me. I hoped my second grade teacher would recognize my intelligence soon.

The door banged open and I snapped to look. John walked through the door and hurried toward me. I smiled brightly at my cousin and jumped off the chair to run toward him.

"Hey, Kido, sorry I took so long," he commented lightly as he scoped me up. "Ready to go home?" He grabbed my My Little Pony® backpack off the chair when the secretary stopped us.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked as she looked John over. I crinkled my nose.

"She's smells like cabbage," I whispered to John. He smiled.

"I'm John Sheppard. I'm Erika's cousin. I'm sure my mother, Ruth Sheppard, called to say I was picking her up today."

The woman frowned. She moved to her desk and shuffled through a few pieces of paper. She found one and frowned over it. "John Sheppard?" she repeated with a whine. John just nodded at her. I giggled but stopped when John gave me a stern look. I bit my lip and tried to keep from laughing at the cabbage lady.

"I don't see a John Sheppard listed on her contact sheet," she said as she looked it over. "Oh, here it is. Fine."

"Thank you," John commented sarcastically. He flung my backpack over his shoulder as he carried me out. "Have any homework?" he asked as we made our way to his beat up old car.

"Some boring math," I replied with a sulk. John laughed. He settled me in the back of his car and went to the driver's seat. With a flick of his wrist, the car started and the radio blasted. He turned it down and looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"Since you only have 'boring math' why don't we go play?" he asked as he backed the car out.

"Yay!" I cried out.

"And then I'll take you to dance."

"I thought my dad was gonna take me."

"He had to work late, Kido. But I'm going to take you and pick you up, okay?" I sighed, not surprised by his statement. "Hey, want to get McDonalds?"

"Okay."

("Sounds like you two were close," Elizabeth commented. "What happened?"

"Yes, what happened? That's the ultimate question, isn't it?" Erika leaned her head back against Carson's shoulder. She intertwined her fingers with his as he kissed her check.)

I cried as I watched him pack. He glared at me for a second, but his glare softened as I violently wiped the tears away. He motioned for me to sit on his bed next to the duffle bag. I nodded and slowly obeyed.

"Why do you have to go?' I asked as I sat.

"We've been over this," he replied with a sigh. "I have orders."

"I know," I whispered. He stopped packing and looked at me. I could see the realization dawn in his eyes. He sat down next to me and ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Look, Kido, I don't want to go, but it's my job."

I nodded, not fully trusting myself to speak.

"I'll write. I'll come home on leave. There's not much else I can do, Erika," he explained. I looked down at my hands as I tried not to cry again.

"I know," I repeated. He pulled me into a rough embrace.

"It'll be okay, Kido." I was not completely convinced, but I nodded anyway. He gently pushed me away and continued to pack. "You gonna take me to the airport?"

"Yeah."

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"That was the last time I saw him until two weeks," Erika finished her story. Elizabeth looked at her, stunned. She could feel Carson holding his breath. It was a lot of personal information about her past with her cousin, but she hoped it would help explain his attitude toward her. Erika could only guess what his reaction to seeing her in the brig on the Daedalus must have been. She was almost fourteen when he left; she had grown up a lot.

"So he helped take of you when you were wee?" Carson asked. Erika shook her head.

"He didn't just help take care of you, he did take care of you," Elizabeth corrected. "That explains a lot. Thank you Erika."

"Yeah," Erika replied softly. Elizabeth took a look of the wrapped ankle.

"How's your leg?" she asked. Carson gently untangled himself from Erika and stood. He shoved his hands in his lab coat pockets as he turned back into her doctor.

"Nothing serious, luckily. She should stay off of it for a while. And I recommend no off world actively for at least a week. But after that, she should be back on her feet, no pun intended," he ended with a bright smile. Erika rolled her eyes.

"I bet."

"What about Pines, Jones, and Pierceman?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, no worse for ware, although I don't think they'll be pulling a stunt like that again for some time."

Elizabeth nodded and patted Carson the arm. "Thanks, Carson. And I'll speak to John again, Erika. For now, get some rest." Then she left.

Carson turned to Erika, his hands still in his pockets. He watched her for a moment before he sat in front of her on the bed. He made a show out of checking her ankle again before he replaced the icepack and raised his blue-gray eyes to hers once more.

"There's more to it than just that, isn't there?" he accused. Erika sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"A bit."

"And?"

"I got picked on a lot when I was growing up. I had a hard time making friends. I acted out, and what girl won't have. I lost my mother before I ever got a chance to know her. And to top it all off, my brother wanted to kill me. John was the one solid in my life; he was the one thing I could count on. He protected me from everyone and everything bad in my life.

"And then he just left."

Carson did not say anything. He just placed his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was enough for Erika.