Author's Note: Well, this took a lot longer to get out than I thought. And just a few hours earlier today, I figured I wasn't going to get to it any time soon. And yet, here it is. I feel like I ought to apologize for the long wait, but my lovely beta, Sally, tells me that instead I should just say that I've been prodding others for fic, so I haven't been completely unproductive.

Don't worry - chapter three is almost done and ready for Sally to read, so I'm thinking it won't take as long as this one did. :)

Spoiler warning: Nothing too specific, but consider yourself warned for all the way through season two, and some minor speculation on season three.


When John shut the door to Kathy's house behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good – he hadn't had to answer any questions about Elizabeth. He was under no illusion that he could escape forever, but at least he'd bought some time.

He'd been lucky the night before; Kathy's husband Eric had come home before she could finish grilling him. John had taken an instant liking to his brother-in-law, and the two of them had stayed up late into the night discussing the intricacies of football, John's Air Force experiences – it turned out Eric was a military brat – and whether or not ESPN should really be showing poker tournaments.

Kathy had given up shortly after midnight and headed to bed. John hated to admit it, but it had been kind of a relief. He was loving this opportunity to reconnect with his sister, but 20 years of distance hadn't prepared him for her constant presence. On top of that, seeing her happily married with kids of her own was bringing up memories of his childhood, both happy and sad, and he wasn't entirely up to facing them just yet.

So when Elizabeth had called to let him know she was almost at Kathy's house, he'd started haunting the front windows. He knew the polite thing to do would be to invite Elizabeth in to meet his family, let her rest from the road a bit – and he intended to do so, but later. Right now all he wanted to do was escape.

He was out the door the instant he saw Elizabeth pull into the driveway. He couldn't see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but her posture registered surprise at his haste. When he pulled open the passenger side door, he could see her hand on the ignition keys, about to turn off the car.

"Hi," he said breathlessly, buckling himself in.

She left the car running and turned to him, sliding the glasses down her nose to look at him. Arching an eyebrow, she asked, "In a hurry?"

His gaze darted to the side once before settling on her face. "A little."

Elizabeth didn't reply and he cleared his throat. His eyes flickered to the front of the house, where he could see Kathy standing at the front window. "Kathy gave me directions to the graveyard," he said, pulling out a folded sheet of paper.

Elizabeth still said nothing, studying him, and John couldn't help but feel that she could see right through him, that she knew why he wasn't doing the right thing and inviting her in. After a moment, she turned her attention back to the windshield, shifted the car into reverse, and began backing out of the driveway.

"Where to?" she asked.


Elizabeth wasn't sure what to expect from John when she picked him up. He'd told her bits and pieces of his family history during their time together on Atlantis – the bare bones of the story – but she wasn't sure how deep the hurt went. She knew he'd been trying to reconnect with his sister through their letters, but she wasn't sure how successful he'd been.

When they'd been recalled to Earth last week for review by the international committee members, he'd mentioned the idea of seeing Kathy. Elizabeth had been enthusiastic, although she couldn't help but worry that things wouldn't go as well as he hoped.

Still, when she'd talked to him on the phone last night, he'd sounded happy. And she was glad his sister had insisted he stay the night there – Elizabeth was looking forward to meeting Kathy, as she assumed she would when she arrived to pick John up.

She was completely unprepared for the John who'd come racing like a bat out of hell to her car, who hadn't wanted to bring her inside. She felt a little hurt – why didn't he want his family to meet her? – but almost as soon as he got in the car she could see the shadows haunting his eyes. No matter how happy he'd been the night before, this was still a strain on him.

As Elizabeth took the last turn he indicated, passing under the cemetery's gates, she couldn't help but worry that the strain was about to increase.


The site was well maintained, John noted, pulling up his pantlegs and crouching in front of the head stone. He lightly traced the letters. "Beloved father," he said softly.

His hand dropped back down, brushing a small bouquet of flowers. They were pretty fresh, probably only a day or two old, and John noticed a small bit of white paper sticking out from underneath them. He tugged it gently until it was free.

It was a crayon drawing – a series of stick figures. Fortunately for John, the figures were labeled; otherwise he'd never have recognized his sister's family. From the way the smallest figure – a girl with pigtails – was labeled "Me," he gathered that his niece was the artist.

There were five figures in the picture, although the fifth was off to one side. The one was another man, with spiky dark hair, and above him a shaky hand had written "Uncle Jon." Across the top of the paper that same hand had scrawled a sentence. "In case you get lonely up there."

John smiled, touched that Hanna had included him even before she'd met him. He put the paper down and looked back at the stone.

"Hi, Dad," he said.


Elizabeth leaned against the passenger side of the car, arms folded over her stomach as she watched John kneel in front of the head stone. She was far enough back that she couldn't hear what he was saying – she knew he'd want privacy for that – but from the tenseness of his shoulders she judged that the words weren't coming easily.

Not surprising, given their relationship or lack thereof, she mused, turning to look over the rest of the cemetery in an effort to give John even more privacy.

It was a beautiful place, grassy with several mature trees along the outlying edges. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and simply basked in the familiar sunshine of Earth. Although Atlantis was home now, and she still found herself listening for the ocean as she fell asleep, it felt good to be back.

It was like spending the summer at her grandparents' house, Elizabeth mused. Comfortable and homey, but not home. A place of little worries. She smiled wryly to herself, knowing she was romanticizing life on Earth but unable to help it. In a way, life had been easier, despite the pressures of the jobs she'd held prior to coming to the SGC. At least back then, she'd been confident in herself, knowing beyond all doubt that the decisions she made were right. Life on Atlantis had shaken that confidence, leaving her uncertain about some of her recent actions.

She glanced back over at John, noticing that he'd paused in his speaking and was glancing around, licking his lips as he often did when he was uncomfortable. As she watched, though, he seemed to gather his thoughts and turned back to his father's head stone.

Returning to her own thoughts, Elizabeth had to smile again as she remembered their arrival back on Earth. They'd barely finished the basic debrief and were on their way to the infirmary when Dr. Daniel Jackson had accosted her in the hallway, waxing eloquent about what the Atlantis expedition had discovered about the Ancients, and how that tied in with the SGC's own findings.

Daniel was the only person she'd looked forward to seeing when they'd been recalled to Earth for review after the latest near miss with the Wraith. Wrapped up in her own concerns about her leadership abilities and guilt about some of the decisions she'd been forced to make, she hadn't been certain she could face an inquisition by the international committee.

It had helped to hear some of Daniel's own experiences with finding the balance between a civilian and military way of life, his own discomfort with some of his actions. And to her surprise she'd found an unlikely ally in Hank Landry. Perhaps John's military mindset had affected her more than she'd realized.

Recalled to her location by the thought of him, she turned to find John again. He was standing now, and even though she couldn't see his face Elizabeth could tell by the set of his shoulder and his stance that he was much more relaxed.

She hoped coming here had been as good for him as she'd thought it would be.

After a moment, John turned around and started walking toward her. His gaze was introspective, and as much as Elizabeth wanted to ask him how it had gone, she didn't feel as if she could intrude on his thoughts. So she walked around to the driver's side and got into the car. John slid into the passenger seat and stared out the windshield for a minute. Then he seemed to shake himself, and turned to look at her.

"So," he said, grinning. "I think we'd better go back to my sister's house so I can introduce you. I'm pretty sure I'm already going to be in trouble for not inviting you in when you first got there."

Elizabeth smiled back at him and started the car. As they passed through the cemetery's gates and onto the main road, she glanced over at him. "You okay?" she asked, trying to convey all her concern and affection for him in that one question.

He didn't answer for a minute, head cocked to one side. Then he slid her a shy smile. "Yeah."

They rode in silence for the next few minutes, and then John broke the silence with a joke about Rodney's debreifing at the SGC, and the rest of the drive passed with talk about work.


When they pulled back into Kathy's driveway, John could see Hanna and David playing in the front yard. At least, he hoped it was play, because otherwise he had a homicidal nephew and a dead niece, but given that he could see Hanna breathing from where she lay on the ground, he didn't think that was the case.

Elizabeth stopped the car, and John turned to her. "Are you really sure you want to meet them? I should warn you that Kathy's probably going to ask you a lot of questions."

"About you?" Elizabeth asked, a little surprised.

"Uh, and about you, too," he replied. At her look he added, defensively, "I, uh, might have said something last night that gave her the impression that we... that, uh, you and I..."

He was saved from finishing the sentence when he heard Hanna let out a little scream. Throwing off his seat belt, he noticed Elizabeth doing the same. They were both out of the car and on the lawn before he realized nothing was wrong.

Hanna was standing facing David, hands on her hips. "It was too good enough!" she cried.

"Was not! You didn't sound at all like you were dying!"

"Did too!"

"Not!"

John cleared his throat before the fight could really get going. When both kids turned to look at him, he raised an eyebrow at Hanna. "Dying?"

She pouted at him, looking adorable with her lower lip sticking out and bits of grass adorning her messy ponytail. John was grateful he was just her uncle, because he was sure he'd never be able to punish her. Spoiling, though, he could handle.

"We're playing aliens," she said. "It's no fair! I always have to be the alien, and David's always the good guy. I want to be the good guy and kill the evil alien sometime!"

Beside him, John could sense that Elizabeth was trying not to laugh. He didn't dare look at her, knowing if he did they would both be goners.

Seeing that David was winding up for a response, John decided to head him off. "Tell you what. Maybe later I can play the alien and you can both kill me."

At that, Elizabeth lost it, and her laughter directed the attention of both kids to her.

They studied her intently for a moment, much as they had John the previous afternoon. Finally, David spoke up. "Are you Uncle John's girlfriend?"

Elizabeth's laughter died, and her eyes widened as she glanced her John nervously. He had no help to offer, and he shifted his gaze to one side, licking his lips.

She appeared to think for half a second longer before replying. "Why do you ask?"

Turning the question back on him, John though approvingly. Way to avoid it, Elizabeth! He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel good or bad that she'd done so.

David's eyes narrowed as he studied the woman in front of him. She smiled at him, and his lips quirked up in a gesture that reminded John of himself. "Why won't you answer?" the boy asked.

Elizabeth's eyebrow rose in surprise, and John could feel his own do the same. He smothered a grin as he watched them, wondering if Elizabeth had met her match in his ten-year-old nephew.

He didn't get to see how things would play out, however, because at that moment, his sister opened the front door.

"John! You're back. I didn't hear you pull up. Why don't you all come in? Eric's just getting lunch ready."

The kids instantly charged toward the house, Elizabeth and John forgotten in favor of food. John and Elizabeth followed at a more sedate pace. As they reached Kathy, she put out a hand.

"You must be Elizabeth. I'm Kathy. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Elizabeth replied, smiling.

"Please, come in," Kathy said, smiling back. There was something sharklike in that smile, John thought, wondering if being around kids had put his imagination into overdrive. But then he glanced over at Elizabeth and noticed that she was watching Kathy with worry as well, and he realized that he had every right to be a bit nervous.

It was going to be an interesting afternoon.