None of it is mine...I just took them out to play with before having to give them back. :(

John Sheppard was not a man who was easily intimidated, but when he walked into the Oval Office he began to get nervous. Jed Bartlett was sitting behind his imposing desk staring at the open door as John made his way in. Although John was a good foot and half in height taller than the man, he still scared him to death. Not only was he the President of the United States, which ultimately made him his boss, but he used to be family. John knew that the man never liked him; he had considered Olivia Barrington more like a daughter than a niece and when they had come to him all those years ago and told him that they were getting married the man had been more than a little upset. He had argued with Olivia for hours telling her that nineteen was too young to get married no matter how much she felt she loved John. In the end though he had lost, but he had still shown her the support she deserved. He had willingly, at that point, accepted John into the family and the two became close friends. After John had filed for divorce and was living on Hanscom base in Massachusetts he had been surprised when the then governor came to pay him a visit. They had a very uncomfortable discussion, or rather Bartlett had talked and John had listened, where the older man had told him of his disappointment in John's behavior. The problem for Bartlett surprisingly was not the divorce but rather the time in which John had asked for it. He had called him cold and tactless for the man to file for divorce a day after his daughter had died. He had issued one more threat to John before leaving, and after that John had had no contact with any of them until the day he had walked into the White House to disclose the Atlantis Expedition.

"Come in John," Bartlett said as he began to put his papers aside. "That will be all Charlie, thank you."

With that said the young man closed the door behind him leaving John all alone with the President.

"Hello Sir," John said.

"I assume that word finally trickled down to you regarding what is going on."

"One of Olivia's friends received a letter from Josh. Is it really that bad?"

"She's been worse before, once upon a time. However back than it was clear cut depression, she was never violent like she is now."

"I wouldn't necessarily call hitting the mail guy violent," John said, but then seeing the look on the other man's face he continued. "Has something else happened?"

"Her temper has gotten a lot worse. She has been yelling at everyone…even decided to argue with me from right where you are standing. But four days ago she came into work with her hand wrapped up in a towel. When Josh tried to take a look at it she became rather defensive, but he finally saw that her hand had been cut up pretty bad. They took her to the ER but she wouldn't say what happened. When Josh took her home he noticed that the window in her living room was broken. She apparently decided to punch her hand through the window, why she did it we still don't know.

"We finally managed to get her to agree to speak with someone. Abby took her up to the farm in New Hampshire to get away from the chaos. We managed to obtain a highly recommended psychiatrist to come and talk with her; Stanley Keyworth has been with her for the past week since the window incident and he went up there with her."

"Has he said anything regarding what he might think is wrong?"

"He said it is clear case of post traumatic stress disorder—don't worry the man has clearance to hear everything. He is hoping to find out what her trigger point is and hopefully try to work through it. The last time we spoke Stanley was positive that they were making progress, but he does feel that it might help if you were there. "

"Then you know I'll go sir," John said.

"I know you will, but I want to talk about some things with you first so why don't you have a seat," Bartlett said indicating that John have a seat on the couch.

"I think I know what you want to say sir."

"I'm going to say it anyway. Do you remember when you came to me all those years ago and informed me that you wanted to marry my niece? I thought you guys were completely nuts, I even asked Abby if we could have Olivia admitted into the psychiatric ward. Eventually though I came to realize that you both really loved each other and gave you my blessings—but only after you and I had our discussion."

"I remember that discussion sir," John said, in fact he didn't think that he would ever forget that conversation.

"So then you remember what I said to you?"

"That if I ever hurt her you would make sure that they never found my body."

"I meant it then John, and the only reason I never followed through with that threat was because Olivia begged me not to. I won't let her stop me again."

"Sir, there is nothing I can ever say to either you or Olivia that could explain what I did or why I did it. There has not been a day since then that I haven't thought about her. I have spent the past seven years regretting walking out that door. I tried to forget her, tried to stop loving her but that is just impossible to do. Her smile, her laugh…the way she would pout if she didn't get her way—those are all things that I think of on a constant basis. I thought that getting away from her would help but it hasn't; I still love her."

"Don't you think that those are things you should be saying to her?"

"Yeah. Do you think it would be okay if I went up to New Hampshire to see her?"

"I think that would be more than fine," Bartlett said getting up and heading to his desk. "Just remember two things though, Shenandoah National Park is big enough to hide your body and the Secret Service and US Military work for me."

"I'll do that sir," John said with a smile.

* ** * * * * *

John had caught a flight out of DC and three hours after he had exited the Oval Office he found himself driving toward the Bartlett family home. The property had not changed much. John could see the orchards in the distance, they had always been Abby's pride and joy. Every year when John and Olivia were together they spent the holidays here and Abby would take them on daily trots through the orchards picking apples to make cider and pies later on. The horses were roaming free around the grounds; while the orchards were Abby's hobby the horses were something that Jed always took pleasure in. He enjoyed riding and all the girls, Liv included, were accomplished equestrians. The only difference that John could see was the security that the ranch was now under. The family home had undergone extensive remodeling after Jed had become president. It was now under the constant guard of the Secret Service—a skeleton crew when the family was residing in DC, but their presence was made known when ever any member of the family was there. He had to check in down the road before he ever came close to the home, then had to be cleared again when he reached the long driveway leading up to the house and finally checked again when he actually pulled up to the house. Normally John would say that it was a little outlandish, but he knew that when it came to the safety of the President or his family the Secret Service didn't take any chances.

Abigail Bartlett was waiting for him on the front steps. She watched as John, the man that her niece had married all those years ago before breaking her heart, stepped out of the car and present his ID to the Secret Service Agent who approached him. Receiving a nod indicating that he was all clear he headed towards the porch where Abby waited. She was seated at one of the several chairs that made up the sitting area of the patio; she made no move to stand and up and welcome him but rather she pointed to the chair across from her and John sat.

"Hello John," she said.

"Hello Abby."

"I am not going to waste time and give you a lecture…I am sure that my husband has already done that."

"He has."

"Good. Than all I have to say is that I am glad you came. Olivia is being very tight lipped about what happened to her on that trip of hers, but I don't need a psychology degree to know that there is something causing her emotional problems. Seven years ago it was easy to know the cause behind her depression, but now…I have no idea how to help her John. I have known that girl from the moment she was born; I have carried her, fed her, and helped to raise her after my idiot brother all but abandoned her after her mother died.

"She has always talked to me about what was bothering her, whether it was the kids at school who were picking on her because she kept skipping grades or after your first kiss. I don't think there has ever been anything she hasn't been willing to talk to me about, but these past few weeks…well we're lucky if she'll talk to anyone. Stanley, the psychiatrist that Jed brought in, said that for the first session she just sat there staring at him; it took two more sessions before she was willing to talk to him."

They were interrupted by the opening of the front door. Two people stepped out; the first was an older gentleman with slightly gray hair, but it was the second person that had all of John's attention. Looking at her John could see why everyone was so concerned with her. Her clothes, which were generally tailored to fit her, now hung from her rather baggy; her eyes had dark circles under them and it was obvious that she had not been sleeping well, if at all. They were talking as they came out the door but upon noticing the company that was there they stopped. Olivia's attention was now focused utterly on John as he sat there with her aunt. Stanley took one look at him and immediately understood who this man was. Stanley said his final goodbyes, reminding Olivia that her would see her the following day, and headed down to his car. This left the three of them on the porch; just John, Olivia, and Abby. Knowing that it would be better if she left them to themselves, Abby made her excuses and headed inside.

"Hey," John said as he stood up from his chair.

"Hi yourself. What are you doing here?"

"Josh wrote a letter to Cadman…"

"Josh, I should have figured. He wasn't to willing to accept mind your own business for an answer when he asked me what was going on."

"He's worried about you Liv, and so am I. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Liv, don't lie to me. Something is going on or you wouldn't be and under psychiatric care."

"God John, you make it sound like I am crazy; I'm not. According to Stanley I just have a little post traumatic stress. I guess I just haven't been able to process everything that happened."

"Are you working on it?"

"No John, Stanley and I are rehearsing for our American Idol auditions. Of course we're working on it you dummy. I spend four to five hours a day with the man and he has learned pretty quickly when I am bullshitting him."

"So there is finally somebody who sees through your lies," John said with a grin.

"Oh ha-ha; like you're one to talk. I seem to remember a certain college junior who convinced the dean that there was not any alcohol at a certain frat party, even though he was so drunk he could barely stand on his own two feet."

"Oh, are we bringing up old memories of college because I remember a certain someone running across the quad buck naked on graduation night," John said.

"That was Josh," Olivia said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and it was two certain someone's—you were right along side him."

"I was hoping that you wouldn't remember that," John said with a smile.

"There are some things I will never forget John Sheppard, and the sight of you and Josh running down campus roe naked is one of those things. Plus, it doesn't hurt that I have it all on video," she said with a sly smile.

"You tapped it?"

"How could I not?"

You all know what I want you to do....big happy faces if you do it. :)