Chapter 2

About seven months ago...

Laura stood to one side of the relatively small crowd gathered on the south pier. It was about midnight and she was part of a small group of people entrusted with the information that within four days they would be stealing the largest ever technological find and returning to the Pegasus galaxy. Elizabeth and Woolsey were explaining to the assembled group about Sitnalta dying because she was connected to Atlantis in some way and how this meant Atlantis was dying. Also, it seemed Woolsey was deliberately standing back as he had explained he was officially handing the city over to doctor Weir. Well, truth is, Laura could never see Woolsey fitting in within the world of Atlantis in the first place, but in the end the fussy little man had surprised all of them. Or perhaps the truth is that Atlantis had surprised them: Woolsey had joined the expedition with every intention of turning it around to SGC standards, but in the end Atlantis had changed him to fit them.

Or, perhaps, Atlantis had changed everyone to fit her. Laura shrugged as she decided it did not matter. What did matter was whether she would be going with Atlantis when they left four days from now. Well, she had to admit that to some extent she had made that choice four years ago. When she had returned home from war four years ago, she had been shocked to find her mother was dying and nobody had informed her. Her father should have alerted the Marine Corps to the situation so that she could come home. But in that bull-headed stoic way her parents tended to display their patriotism, both of them had refused to let her 'leave off on a mission for something like this,' as her mom had explained on her death-bed. Laura loved her parents, but somehow she wondered if they did not love the idea of her being a marine more. The day she had been accepted to the Corps might have been the single most memorable day for her parents. And though she loved them very much, the day after her mother's funeral she had gone looking for an assignment as far away from home as she could find. As luck would have it, that mission had presented itself in the form of Atlantis. And one did not volunteer for Atlantis if one ever really thought one would ever go home.

Scanning the crowd, her eyes fell on Jennifer Keller. The young woman was standing with her arm hooked into Duncan's. These past few months she had come to know the woman a lot better. In many ways she considered the child-woman her sister and she was sure that, given the choice, she would gladly stay on Atlantis. After all, many of them had lived through some horrific experiences, only to return to the Pegasus galaxy. Besides, Jennifer's dad had been her entire life, but he had died only a short while ago, leaving Jennifer without family on earth. To her the relationship with Duncan was all she had left.

And Duncan was one of those who would never really be able to return to earth – such as his case might be.

As Woolsey continued talking in that formal way of his, Laura made her way over towards the couple standing close together. Carson, her Carson, was in the infirmary, looking after Sitnalta. When she had been informed to saunter over to the south pier if she wanted to be given an alternative to whatever assignment the SGC had in store for her, Carson had informed her he already knew what it was about and thus would stay with Sitnalta while she went to the meeting.

When she reached Jennifer and Duncan, she asked the question that was slowly making its way around the pier: "So, will you stay on earth or leave with Atlantis?" Around her the question seemed to become a whispered chant: am I leaving or am I staying?

Duncan smiled at her and she suspected he had known about this intended coup for at least as long as Carson had. "Aye, well, I don't really have a future here on earth, now do I?" he wryly commented. There was a world of hurt within his eyes as he said that and Jennifer put her head on his shoulder in support.

"I suppose Atlantis is my home now," the young blonde replied and Laura assumed both their answers meant they would be leaving with Atlantis. It struck her as strange how all three of them had decided to leave with Atlantis when the time came after only about half an hour's consideration.

"I'm leaving as well," Laura told them. Then she frowned. "I wonder what Carson has decided," she added. It suddenly occurred to her she had just assumed he would be leaving as well.

Duncan put a hand on her shoulder as he smiled that reassuring smile he shared with her lover. "I don't know, but I can assure you that, when he joined the expedition five years ago, he had already considered the fact that he might never return to earth again. Back then he had decided to take his chances with the Pegasus Galaxy."

She nodded and as the three of them stood together, listening to the questions of those assembled on the pier, she wondered how it could be that so many people could consider leaving earth forever? Should their planet of birth not mean more to them than this?

#####

Laura smiled as she heard Jennifer's plan unfold. It was nearly two days since they had been told about the coup and by now many people had already decided upon their future and had gone in search of a way to take their loved ones with them. All of them had been granted the opportunity to seek out any relative they thought might want to leave with Atlantis before the end of the third day and bring them to Atlantis. Yesterday Laura had gone to see her father, but she never even got so far as to tell him about Atlantis, never mind asking him to join her in another galaxy. Her parental home was one of large American flags and trophies and her father could not stop talking about how proud he was of her for fighting for her country every day. She had known then it would break his heart if he knew she had deserted not only the USA, but also earth and their galaxy. He could not understand and never would. So she had told him she had to go on an assignment and had kissed him on the cheek and had left forever. She would never know if she had done the right thing, she only knew she had done the best she could.

Back on Atlantis she had sought comfort from Carson and he had held her tightly and told her he loved her and had assured her he would be leaving with Atlantis as well. He reminded her that once before they had all been set off Atlantis and those months had been the worst of his life. Then he had kissed her on the lips and had turned to check on the dying Sitnalta. Laura had seen something was bothering him, but had been unable to get anything out of him and had left after a while.

But now it seems Jennifer had been able to get from Duncan what she had not been able to pry out of Carson: the reason why both Becketts walked around the city with identical looks of sadness. She also seemed to have come up with the perfect way to make it all better.