Chapter I: Journey's End…
A/N: Shout out to IzzieStar, who helped a lot with this chapter. Enjoy! She-Demon
After almost seven years of keeping his mouth shut, all of that was about to end. About one month ago, Jack O'Neill had retired from the USAF with two stars on his shoulders. The reason he kept quiet for one more month was simple: He wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet before stirring up the Chinese firedrill that the IOA started. The proviso had been "So long as you are in the Air Force, you can't say a word" Well he was out of the Air Force now, and there was nothing left to come between him and doing something that he should have done long time ago.
A few days earlier, he had contacted the now full-bird colonel John Sheppard and had asked him to come to Washington. Fortunately, there had been some conveniently timed leave for Sheppard to use, so he'd taken up on the retired general's offer to come to Washington.
As he waited for Sheppard to arrive, O'Neill thought,
"The kids. Should I tell him about them, or do I leave that for Elizabeth. She most likely will want to do that herself."
His thoughts were interrupted when there was a knocking at the door. Jack stretched slightly, thinking,
"I have a lot to explain to him. He's going to be pissed."
"Hello John. Come on in."
O'Neill invited Sheppard in with an awkward smile and immediately set about passing the time until he would have to break the news and settling his nerves by getting them both a beer. They clinked bottle necks and O'Neill took a deep swig. Sheppard asked,
"So how's retirement treating you sir?"
"Not too badly. Don't have to get up at the crack of dawn and when I do, Carter's right there beside me, no saluting, and now, I can focus on fishing. I just got back from a trip actually."
"Catch anything sir?" John asked, trying as hard as he could to sound interested in this.
"Not really. The weather was great though."
While they continued talking, Sheppard noticed that O'Neill seemed to be nervous. About what, he wasn't sure, but there was something very definite in the way that the General was avoiding his eye and twisting his beer between his hands. Deciding to cut straight to the chase, he said,
"Sir, you called and asked if I could come and see you in Washington, I don't think it was to talk about the weather and your skills as a fisherman. Whatever it is that you want to tell me, just get it done and over with."
O'Neill grinned slightly. Sheppard had never been easy to fool. So he got down to business.
"Seven years ago, I became aware of an IOA experiment that was experimenting with nanites and their potential medical applications. Upon finding that once the nanites had done their work and discovering there was no way of shutting them down, they decided to end the program and put the person into Witness Protection."
At the mention of nanites, Sheppard really began to give O'Neill his full and undivided attention. He had an idea where this might be heading, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He asked suspiciously,
"Why are you telling me this sir?" His body language showed that he was getting very interested.
O'Neill took a deep breath. Time to drop the bomb.
"Because the test subject, who supposedly "volunteered", but I suspect was given no real choice in the matter, was Doctor Elizabeth Weir."
Sheppard snorted,
"Impossible, sir. I saw it with my own eyes. Then there was that replicator/clone which said that the real Elizabeth died in 2007."
"John, I'm many things, but a liar isn't one of them. I saw her with my own eyes. She's alive and well. Relatively speaking, of course."
In a deceptively calm voice, he asked him,
"How long have you known about Elizabeth being alive?"
"If I'd known beforehand, I would not have done it. But as much as I regret signing that scrap of paper, it has enabled me to be able to see her and tell you."
Sheppard looked up to meet O'Neill's eyes. Eyes that were not wavering. Eyes which could see a rising anger in the younger man, given away by the tell-tale sign that Sheppard was now gritting his teeth.
He began to pace, letting the news set in a little more. He flashed back to that horrible day…
The mission was turning into a giant clusterfuck. They were barely escaping with their lives. Just as they were about to get to the gate, he noticed Elizabeth pause. In that moment, he knew what she was about to do: Sacrifice herself.
"Elizabeth, get to the gate, come on!"
"John leave, NOW!"
They exchanged a look. He saw in her eyes that this was what she wanted. Ronon began to drag him towards the gate. He kept on trying to get the shots off to try and disperse the replicators around Elizabeth. They got to the puddle jumper.The team braced themselves for death when suddenly the Asuran cruiser is hit by missiles, surprising the team.
The first thing he asked,
"What the hell was that?"
"Colonel Sheppard this is the Apollo, do you read?"
"Colonel Ellis is that you?"
"Affirmative, the 302 bay is open and you have permission to come aboard, I suggest you hurry"
"Copy that Apollo. We're on our way."
As he was doing that, McKay said,
"Can I add that your timing is pretty damned perfect?"
Another familiar voice came over the intercom,
"We would have gotten here earlier but we had a little trouble finding Atlantis."
That had been one of the few times he'd ever heard the scientist surprised.
"Sam, is that you?"
"It's me Rodney; I'll explain when you get onboard."
"Colonel, we lost Doctor Weir on the Replicator planet. Can you lock on her locator beacon and beam her up?"
"I'm not picking up any signal." Sam said this sadly.
Sadness shook the team. John managed to find his voice enough to say,
"Copy that."
Fifteen hours after that, John was still up. He was doing all his paperwork and then some. He was basically trying to avoid anything that would betray his true emotions. When the door opened he looked up to see Sam.
"John you've been up for the past 65 hours. Go back to your quarters and get some sleep. I don't want to see you for the next three days. That is an order."
After she left, he figured he'd at least go back to his quarters the long way. Maybe he'd then find something to do that could distract him from the waking nightmare he found himself in.
As he got close to his quarters, he ran into Ronon. He had a suspicion that the other man had been waiting for him, probably on Sam's orders. While he welcomed him in, he noticed that Ronon had a bottle of Athosian moonshine with him. At least with Ronon there, he wouldn't get emotional.
Back in Washington, away from those memories, he rounded on O'Neill clenching his fists, with a look of malevolence in his eyes.
"Seven years, Sir? Seven years?" John roared, "You've let them treat her like that for seven years?"
O'Neill sighed, and looked at John warily. At this point, he knew there was very little he could say to John that would convince him that he wasn't a complete jerk.
"I had to follow the official –"He began.
"Screw the official guidelines," He interrupted, "when have they ever stopped you before? I've read your mission reports. And more to the point, this is Elizabeth we're talking about!"
"I know," O'Neill admitted, regretfully, "You should know I have tried to be there for her. And it hasn't been easy."
"My heart bleeds for you, Sir," John said cruelly, "I'm sure Elizabeth's been having the time of her life, shut up in some witness protection unit in the back end of nowhere."
"That was inappropriate of me." O'Neill apologized.
"Inappropriate doesn't even begin to cover what you have done."
"Hey, you might want to remember who you're talking to Sheppard." O'Neill said sharply.
Before Sheppard could get started again, O'Neill said,
"There are two tickets to Sky Harbor in Phoenix on the 0630 flight from Dulles. You don't have to speak to me at all, but if you want to see Elizabeth you're going to have to go on my word which I realize is practically nothing to you at the moment, you'll be there on time for that flight tomorrow."
He could see the fight in Sheppard's eyes die down slightly at the mention of seeing Elizabeth. He calmed down, saying,
"I'll see you at Dulles tomorrow, Sir"
After getting the ticket, Sheppard left, slamming the door while doing so. O'Neill finished up his beer thinking,
"The only reason I kept "official" protocol was for two six year old kids. If he's just mad at me now, he's going to be absolutely livid tomorrow. But that is something she should tell him herself, not me."