Elizabeth woke up early the next morning before anyone else in the apartment and slipped quietly into the kitchen to make herself breakfast. As a teenager she'd taken some formal French cooking classes that her mother had assured her were so that she would know if the help was doing the job right. It wasn't until she had graduated from college that she'd had to cook a real meal for herself and she wouldn't say she was particularly good at it even now.

But everyone in Spain seemed to party late into the evening and sleep late in the morning so it really wasn't that fair to expect anyone to get up to serve her a big American breakfast. She had fried some eggs and made toast and coffee when there was a knock at the door and she opened it to find Jack.

"Hey," he said with a bit of a raised eyebrow and a small smile, "I smelled food and thought I'd come by."

"You were always a horrible liar, Jack." She just shook her head but stepped aside. "Coffee?"

"Black, thanks."

He'd once told her that he'd gotten used to drinking his coffee that way in the trenches if the first war and it never seemed quite right unless there were bits of grounds still floating in the mug. She poured him a cup and set it down on the small table in the kitchen. "The house is still asleep. If we're going to fight I'd like to do it quietly."

"I didn't come here to fight, Elizabeth."

"I'm glad. I hate the idea that you're always angry when I see you nowadays."

"Elizabeth, I'm not very good at this apology stuff, but George Hammond told me I was making an ass out of myself and I think he's probably right."

She raised an eyebrow.

"He also told me that you were young enough to be my daughter."

"Not quite." She smiled a bit at him.

"Anyway, I understand now why you do what you do, and I wanted to know if you would forgive me for acting like a jealous boyfriend."

"For being a jealous boyfriend, you mean?"

He had a micro smile on his face. "You used to let me get away with saying things like that."

"You didn't used to accuse random men in my life of sleeping with me."

"I know. Jealousy comes with loving someone you know is too good for you. And I was in love with you. I still am just a bit. Even if it can't be the way it was before, I'd like to see you smile more."

"I'd like to be your friend too, Jack."

She kissed him on the cheek and he smiled up at her. The moment seemed to Elizabeth to last forever until it was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing his throat. She looked up to see John in the door.

"I smelled coffee."

"Run, Captain, she makes scary coffee."

"Can't be any worse than the stuff they serve in the mess, sir."

Jack nodded, and looked back at Elizabeth. "George asked me to bring these by for you. Travel papers and plane tickets for the afternoon service to Lisbon for the boys, and then on to the States." That announcement stunned Elizabeth momentarily. A few days had seemed like so much longer to her and she really didn't want it to end.

"Sir," John objected, "I was hoping to go back to England, to my group."

"I know how you feel, Captain, but it's the way things work. If you were shot down again and the Germans found out you'd been in occupied territory before, you could be shot as a spy."

"Only one of us is allowed to be shot as a spy, John." Elizabeth smiled at him.

"Funny, Elizabeth."

She continued to grin.

"Anyway, your war is over, Captain. I expect you will get some instructor duty back home. From what I understand, you've probably just got a second chance at life."

John nodded, the two men knew what was implied there, and Elizabeth had some clue. Jack had once told her that the daylight bomber crews were taking pretty horrific losses.

"At any rate, you're in safe hands with Elizabeth. She'll get you where you need to go." Jack stood up and looked over at Elizabeth. "I'll stop by again tomorrow for bad coffee, and Teyla can threaten me some for old time's sake."

Elizabeth nodded and watched as he left, lost in thought before turning to John.

"I guess you're going to want me to cook for you too."

"I don't know, Elizabeth, those eggs look rather frightening."

She swatted him in the shoulder and just shook her head.

The car ride to the airport had been quiet, uncomfortably quiet for John as he watched the woman who had gotten him through the last few days. There was so much about her he still wondered about, not the least of which was how a well-bred young woman like her had gotten messed up in being a spy.

But when he was being honest with himself he knew that mystery just made her all the more attractive. After Lorne had started off towards the plane, he had stayed behind for a moment. "I want you to come with us." It was clear to him that she was desperately unhappy here.

She closed her eyes, and there was a long silence in the air. "Please don't ask me that, John. I'd be too tempted to say yes."

He wanted to argue with her, but her eyes were big and he couldn't look away from them. Instead he simply leaned in and kissed her long on the lips, savoring the last touch of them.

"After the war…"

She nodded, and without completing the thought she just repeated, "After the war."

He turned and headed towards the waiting plane to freedom. He knew he couldn't look back. If he looked back he couldn't leave.

But he did leave, carrying with him the thought that he would find Elizabeth Weir again… even if the entire world were on fire.