A/N: Alas, we have reached the end! I leave you with the biggest chapter (2888 words) to wrap up. Thanks to all my readers, especially the reviewers, followers and favouriters (is that a word?) for sticking with me through this slightly darker story. I promise the next story (it's almost finished, yay!) will be back to regular awesomeness filled with snark, humour, science, action and, as always, a touch of whump. Also, plenty of Lorne. If you're reading this some (or many) years into the future, I expect you to leave a review with good news about the resurrection of the Stargate franchise and the return of Lorne to our screens. In the meantime - there is much fan fiction to be written, so get out there and write! Keep SG-1, SG:A and SG:U alive!

Exitūs (Noun, Genitive, [ek-si-tus]): Departure; Egress; Way Out. {Figuratively: Conclusion; Ending; Result; Termination; Finish.}

Sheppard's face scrunches up in horror.

"Hell no!" he exclaims, sounding offended. He runs his hand through his hair without even seeming to realise that he's doing it.

Casey grins at him, and he registers his action and stops halfway, yanking his hand back down. It leaves his hair looking even more unruly and gravity-defying than it did before. Casey just keeps grinning and Sheppard rolls his eyes and huffs at her. She giggles at the hilarity of it all, but Sheppard isn't quite all the way there yet.

"Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm not all that sure that your... assessment... really makes me feel all that much better." He gestures vaguely. "We're pretty sure there's nothing of the… uhhm... creature… "he wrangles with the word,"...left in my personality, but was there really... nothing of me in the creature, you think?"

Casey ponders that statement for a moment.

The man had a point. Beckett had basically declared that if they didn't treat Sheppard within a certain period, what was left of the man known as John Sheppard would be gone forever, and only the Iratus-hybrid would remain. But despite his vacation from lucidity, and the extent to which he had transformed physically, the treatment had worked and pretty much all of John Sheppard had returned, snark and swagger and all.

Since they had been able to bring him back completely, did it mean that he had been buried inside there, all along?

Oh crap, that was deep. She didn't want to do deep. Lighten it up again, lighten it up.

"Well, I suppose we could blame the creature's good taste in selecting mates on you." she countered optimistically. "That'd make me feel a LOT better, too." She grinned at Sheppard, who had gone back to his 'you're insane' expression. "What? I take it as a compliment. Out of all the women on the entire base it picked me. Gotta feel just a little special about that."

Yep, definitely insane. But not crazy enough to mention her theory that the only reason he had picked her was because he had likely scented that she was ovulating and thus an ideal candidate for producing offspring. It was just a theory, after all. She would never be able to prove it, so there was no point in bringing it up. She had freaked him out enough already.

"Oh, and for the record, you build a mean blanket fort nest."

Sheppard threw his head back and laughed. Genuinely and properly laughed. Inwardly, Casey declared this intervention a success. She smiled at the chuckling figure beside her. Sheppard got his breath back, and popped the last bit of chocolate into his mouth.

It was getting cold, and they had been sitting out here for the better part of an hour already. She picked up the blanket lying in her lap and started unfolding it, intending to wrap it around her shoulders. "I still haven't figured out where these awesomely soft blankets came from. Nobody's reported missing any. Any chance you remember where you got them?" She swung the blanket over one shoulder and reached around to grab it on the other side when a pair of hands intervened.

Sheppard took the blanket from her, hopped up into a semi-crouch behind her and draped it around her shoulders. She tucked it in underneath her arms and pulled it close against her. Yep, still ridiculously soft. Sheppard shrugged, then glanced at his watch and grimaced.

"I didn't quite realise the time. I think it's best we get out of here, what do you say? Ready to get some sleep?" He stood up from his squat and offered her a hand to help her up. She took it, but made no move to get up.

"Are you?" she countered, holding his hand while also holding his gaze. A series of emotions flickered across his face in rapid succession, before disappearing. What remained was an almost shy smile. Not a smirk, not a grin… an honest and real smile, the kind that most people would never in their lifetime get to see on John Sheppard's face.

"Yeah, I do believe I am." She returned the smile as warmly and genuinely as she could, and let him take her weight as they teamworked her back onto her feet. "Or, at the very least, I'm... closer to getting there. Thank you." he added, still holding her hand.

She simply nodded at him, not really willing to speak. That weird sensation in her stomach had resolved itself into the undeniable truth that she wasn't really okay. She had been lying to herself for weeks, letting the scientist in her overwhelm the human in her. However, she also knew that while they were both still a very long way from being completely okay, their conversation had definitely made a difference, for both of them. Enough of a difference for them to be able to get on with life and everything else that Pegasus would undoubtedly throw at them.

It didn't make them friends, but they were, thankfully, no longer two strangers at uncomfortable odds with each other. Lorne had taken a risk on both of them, and she would have to thank him for it later. Possibly with an entire case of Snickers bars. Sheppard gestured for her to go ahead of him, and she let go of his hand to step through the doorway. Behind her, Sheppard had stopped to look back at the entranceway to the pit, but he didn't linger for long.

The lights beyond the doorway went off, and Sheppard stepped out before beginning to coerce the doorway itself to slide shut. She ambled down the passageway to the junction where she had left the Major while behind her Sheppard battled the old rusty doorway closed with much grinding and groaning. Lorne was waiting around the corner, just a few steps away and out of sight. He looked up as she appeared, and she gave him a reassuring smile and a nod.

"Thank you" she said softly, hoping Sheppard wouldn't hear her over the noise the door was making. Lorne looked relieved that she had returned, nodded, and then shook his head.

"Thank you", he whispered back. He gave her a once-over with a critical eye, noting the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He jerked his head back down the hallway, towards Sheppard.

"You... both okay?" She nodded at him, catching the hastily added extra word. The man worried far too much for his own good, and his gaze darted back to the corridor behind her where the grinding was becoming more intermittent. Sheppard would be coming soon, and Casey wasn't sure if Lorne wanted to be seen. She wasn't sure if Sheppard would want to see his XO right now either. Best to get Lorne out of there, quickly, but she couldn't go with him.

"We'll be fine to get back to the city on on our own." Lorne raised an eyebrow at the "we", but didn't say anything further. He simply nodded, understanding, and gave her a little wave as he melted back into the shadows, his footsteps silent in comparison to Sheppard's coming down the corridor behind her. She was scheduled to have lunch with him and his team later that day, anyway. They would have a chance to talk properly, after.

Sheppard's head popped around the corner. "Couldn't get the damn door to close completely, but it's good enough. Who you talking to?" he quizzed, peering down the empty hallway where moments before the Major had stood.

"Nobody" she immediately replied. Sheppard gave her a look, and she knew it was pointless to lie. At least Lorne was already gone.

"Fine, it was Evan."

"Lorne was here the whole time?" Sheppard blinked. "You needed back-up just to come talk to little ol' me?"

Casey grinned, shook her head at Sheppard and turned to head down the hallway in the opposite direction from where Lorne had gone. Sheppard hesitated just a second before following and falling into step next to her.

"No, Colonel." she smirked. "I was the back-up."

Sheppard huffs a laugh at that and shoved his hands into his pockets as he strolled alongside her.

"So... you came down here in the middle of the night because Lorne asked you to?"

"Yup."

"He gave you the Snickers bar, didn't he." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yup."

"He really does love his Snickers bars." Sheppard intoned.

"Yup."

"You should totally ask him out." Sheppard remarked casually.

Casey blinked. What?!

"... Because he gave me a Snickers bar?" Casey eyed Sheppard dubiously.

"Yup."

Casey smacked Sheppard on the arm, or rather attempted to, because he deftly sidestepped her hand without breaking stride. He smirked at her.

"It'd be the greatest story ever, to tell your grand-kids on day." he grinned.

"Oh sure," Casey deadpanned, "I can just see it now. "Grandma, why did you marry Grandpa?" "Because he gave me a Snickers bar." "And?" "And that's it." Yeah, it'd be the ultimate love story."

Sheppard shrugged.

"Just sayin'. That man doesn't part with his Snickers bars easily. That he simply gave you one says something."

Casey rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"If I should ever decide that I wanted to engage with Major Lorne in a... romantic fashion, I assure you... it will be absolutely none of your business whatsoever."

Sheppard smirked.

"Yeah, well, if you ever wanted to get say... a case of Snickers bars.. to Atlantis without Lorne knowing about it, come talk to me."

Casey blinked at Sheppard. He couldn't possibly know what she had been thinking. It had to be pure coincidence, that particular suggestion. He shrugged.

"I know a guy. Has a ship. He'd do us a favour."

Casey simply shakes her head and carries on walking. Sheppard falls in next to her again, and together they amble their way back to the city proper in comfortable silence.

Seems she's not the only crazy one in Atlantis. Ask the Major out? Because of a Snickers bar? It's just a chocolate bar. Lorne was just looking out for her, like he does everyone in Atlantis. It's literally his job description. He's supposed to keep Sheppard out of trouble, mostly, and keep everyone else fed, supplied, and safe. Sure, there's a special chunk of plaster lying in a memento box in her cupboard. Carson hadn't batted an eyelid at her request to keep the Octopus piece intact. There was also the secret about the indestructible metal-eating water bugs that he'd snitched on. He did assault Sheppard with a deadly stack of stapled papers on her behalf. He'd come to see her every day in the Infirmary. He'd met her for lunch regularly afterwards, even inviting her to join him and his team for movie nights...

Nah. Sheppard is insane. This is a known fact. Volunteering to catch alien energy creatures. Setting off Naquadah generator EMP bombs in the atmosphere. Taking on an Ancient wraith armed with nothing but a knife and a power bar. Fighting back and winning against an entire Genii invasion force on his own. Flying a completely manual F302 in a space dogfight against a Wraith AI, near the corona of a sun. Recruiting Ronon. Actively seeking out and hunting down Wraith. Yeah... Sheppard is insane.

Is he?

The door at the end of the passageway is three-quarters closed, but the gap is still just large enough for him to squeeze through without much noise. Once through, he flicks on his flashlight and pans the beam around the now dark room. It settles on the large hole in the ground. It's just as it was described. Making his way over, he shines the flashlight down into the space below, taking note of the flat console standing at the bottom. That would be the "table" that had been used to aid in the escape, then.

Gripping his flashlight in his teeth, he lowers himself carefully down into the gap, stepping easily from the jutting pipes down onto the console and then dropping to the floor. Dusting off his hands, he retrieves the flashlight and pans it around the room. All the furniture in the room is clustered around the far corner, some items stacked triple to make an impromptu but fairly thoroughly constructed blockade. He takes a few moments to assess the structure, and then, choosing his approach, carefully climbs up and makes his way over the barricade. He has to grip the light in his teeth a few more times, unwilling to either stow it or to attempt to turn on the interior light fixtures. He has to see what he's doing, and he has to be careful. Nobody knows he's down here, and if he hurts himself it would be a while before anyone comes looking for him.

Once on the other side, he turns his attention to the corner. It genuinely is a giant pile of blankets. Huh. Propping the light on the edge of a nearby console to cast light across the whole area he sets to work, retrieving and folding the blankets one by one until they're in a fairly neat stack. He slides the pile onto the highest part of the barricade that he can reach, retrieves his flashlight and climbs out, pausing at the top to toss the stack over onto the floor on the other side. Once he's down, he neatens and hoists the pile onto the stepping-console below the hole, stands up on it, and tosses the pile up and out of the hole in three bunches, before hoisting himself back out as well.

He retrieves the first two piles and stacks them again, and as he lifts the third he hears an odd crinkling sound. Hefting up the third pile he spots something fluttering to the ground next to him, out of the beam of his flashlight. He stacks the last of the blankets and turns his flashlight to investigate. Something white catches his eye, and as he bends down to retrieve it he realises what he's looking at. With a grin he flattens it out, folds it in half and then tucks it into a pocket. It really wouldn't do to leave trash lying about, even in an abandoned place like this. Still smiling, he lifts the stack of blankets and works them through the open sliver of door before letting himself out as well.

The blankets will go back to the Athosian lookout room on Level 15 of the Sector 8 Science Tower after they've been laundered. He's amazed that, even in his bug-state, Sheppard had remembered the room. It had been set up the previous year when the Athosians who were living in the city had wanted a safe place to go where they could see the stars at night. With its thick glass dome, and originally equipped with some rudimentary pallets and Athosian furs, it had quickly become a favoured place for groups of their guests to sleep when they missed the open night sky. After re-establishing contact with Earth, these extra-soft fleece blankets had been requisitioned specially to refurnish the room as a "night under the stars" observatory and relaxation spot. It was quite popular, and visiting Athosians who were transiting through the Gate for trade still preferred to come rest here in the communal sleep space. They got priority usage rights over Atlantis staff, and they especially loved the fleece blankets, having never felt something quite so soft and fuzzy before.

As he makes his way back to the city, Lorne wonders if Casey has ever been to the Lookout.

He's going to have to inventory his private stash of Snickers Bars.

They're almost back to civilisation when Sheppard stops abruptly, grabs her arm and spins her toward him with a look of sheer panic and terror on his face.

"What did you say… about Teyla... and… a harem!?"

~~~ Fin~~~