Two months later...

As I exit the room I run into Logan. "Hey."

Logan smiles and says, "Hey back. How you doin'?"

I shrug and say, "Good."

"Good." He says, slightly shifting around. We stand in silence for a bit, not saying anything.

A glance at my watch tells me that I'm gonna be late to the North Balcony for the football game.

I force a smile and say, "See you around?"

"Yea, see you around." Logan echoes. We then head our separate ways.

"Awkward, much?" I think to myself as I make my way down the hallway.

We've been avoiding each other like the Plague after we talked. I guess that we both lied to each other when we said that we'd still be friends after what happened. People have seemed to notice that we're not spending time together.

Alex and Lydia commented on it at poker night, Dr. Weir mentioned it, and even Evan said something about it.

Of course I didn't tell them exactly why we've suddenly been avoiding each other; I just said that we've both been busy (although Crysta spilled the beans at poker night so I had to cop up to the truth). Which is true. Kind of.

He's been busy with what ever he does, and I've been busy with the kids and other stuff. I step out of the transporter (which I've finally learned to love) and make my way over to where they're playing.

"Hey Max!" I hear someone yell.

I scan the crowd for familiar faces and spot Crysta and Evan, waving to get my attention. I grin and wave back, starting to head towards them. Evan is almost back to a hundred percent; his arm is still wrapped so Carson has forbidden him to play until it's completely healed. "I thought you didn't like football." I say to Crysta once I'm near them.

"Still don't, but it's a nice day and you never know when the next storm's gonna roll in."

I flinch at the comment because even the mention of stormy weather makes my stomach flip-flop.

Evan and Crysta now have concerned looks on their faces. "You all right?" Crysta asks.

"Yea, just a little seasick, feels like it's been rougher these last few months." I reply, taking a steadying breath.

Evan and Crysta exchange looks and I can't help but wonder that something's up. "What?" I ask.

"Are you sure you're ok? Because it's been pretty calm." Evan says.

"Well some of us aren't used to living on a city in the middle of an ocean."

"Chill, it was just a comment."

"And I was just telling you."

"Let's just watch the game, ok? Save the cat fighting for later." Crysta says, being the peacemaker.

The game was pretty good, nothing exciting happening; the one highlight of the game was when a fight almost broke out between them because no one could decide if the last "tackle" was actually legal because the guy who got tagged at the same time. Names were called and fists were formed but before any punches were thrown Evan stepped in.

Fortunately he saw the entire thing and was able to settle it. After that he became the informal ref for the game. And I manage not to feel like I'm gonna hurl the entire time so I guess I just needed some fresh air.

I'm making my way back when Dr. Weir calls me to her office. It doesn't take me long to get there and soon I'm bounding up the steps towards her office. The office is empty but the door is open so I assume that she just stepped out for a moment and will be back soon. I glance at the desk as I walk in and notice the number of mission reports in the 'in' tray and open on the desk; I had no idea how many times teams go off world. As I move to sit down, my hip grazes the edge of a pile of folders and they go splaying everywhere. I cringe and scramble to pick them up, before Doctor Weir comes back and sees the mess. Yea, that would be great.

As I'm putting papers back into folders I catch a glimpse of one from a few months ago. I see the words 'Major Lorne' as well as 'Shape shifter' and 'kids'. But before I can read more I hear footsteps and voices.

Quietly cursing, I hastily put the few remaining papers into folders and put them onto the desk. I sit down just as Doctor Weir walks in.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting to long." She says, walking around the desk and sitting down into her chair.

"Not at all." I say, flashing a smile while inwardly sighing.

Whew, that was close.

"Good. I was wondering if you'd decided if you'd like to stay here two more years."

"Not really." I think to myself. With everything that's been going on the last few months that has taken a back seat, but now that I have time to think about it, why not? It's not like I have anything tying me down back home. And how can you not want to continue teaching in another galaxy?

I nod my head and say, "I would love to stay."

Elizabeth smiles, "I'm glad to hear it. I'll send you the paperwork soon."

"Good."

"One more thing I wanted to ask you. I was wondering if you'd like to go off world."

"Really?" I ask. I'd love that. The only time I've been off world was at the beginning of my stay and even then it wasn't for long.

"Really. I'm sending John and his team to a planet of children and was thinking about sending you so you could make observations on their system of teaching. It would be pretty cut and dry, nothing earth shattering."

"I'd love to." I say, hoping that I didn't sound too eager.

"Good. I'll let John know and have him talk to you about the mission a bit more. They leave next week."

She then turns back to her laptop so I take that as my cue to leave. As I leave I can't help but get this giddy feeling in my stomach. I'm actually going off world.

A/N: I refrenced 'Girl's Poker Night: Max's Turn' in the beginning of the chapter, check it out to see the hilarity that ensued -end self-pimpage- Heading into the homestrech now, standard discalimers apply. Review.