Chapter XIV: Celebrations
A/N: Thanks again to IzzieStar, who helped get this out for you guys in so many ways. Enjoy the story, my readers. She-Demon
"Are you all going to live here now?" John Junior asked, as he chewed on a chicken wing.
The absurdity of this possibility prompted a laugh from all of the adults in the room. Witnessing this, a burning red blush came to John Junior's cheeks, and Elizabeth reached out to ruffle his hair lovingly.
"No, we're all going to have to head home eventually. We'll stay around for a while though." Jack said, with a wink at Elizabeth.
"And, you could always come and see us." Daniel suggested.
"Doesn't that sound fun, kids?" Elizabeth said.
"I have a little boy called Nicholas who is very excited to meet you, and his Mummy is pretty excited too." Daniel said, with a smile.
"I was surprised that Vala didn't come with you." John commented.
"Thankfully, she'd taken Nicholas off-world for a visit, so I booked a plane before she returned." Daniel said, with a twinkle in his eye.
Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth said, "That sounds lovely. A break from Sedona would be much appreciated. How old is Nicholas now?"
"He's five, and growing up a little more every day." Daniel said with an affectionate chuckle.
Hearing this, John looked to his own children and smiled. Every ounce of anger and regret at being excluded from so much of their life was gone. It seemed to meager and irrelevant to dwell on the past after the last few days; the future was what mattered and he was going to make the most of finally getting to see his children grow up. It had been worth the wait and now was the time to celebrate. Seemingly, the same thought had crossed Jack's mind as he suggested that maybe they should crack open the bottle of champagne which had somehow found its way into the groceries.
As he was pouring the champagne, listening to the sound of laughter from the living room, John found himself joined by Elizabeth who simply smiled at him as she wiped a drop of champagne from the surface. Placing the bottle on the side, John turned to her.
"We did it." She said softly.
"We did."
"Without you, I could never have..." Elizabeth began, pausing to take a deep breath.
"You don't have to say it." John said softly, stroking her hair away from her face.
"I do. I don't think I could have got through this without you, and I was wrong for pushing you away so many times. I was scared, but I'm not anymore." Elizabeth said.
"Good, because I was actually hoping to stay around – if you want me to that is." John said, with a slightly awkward smile.
"We do. I do." Elizabeth said.
John smiled, "Elizabeth, I need you to know that –"
Both looked to the door as John's speech was interrupted by a hard rap against it, before looking at one another and smiling slightly at the timing. John nodded slightly, and they both walked into the hallway. It could wait. It had been waiting for seven years.
Neither of them were surprised to see that the rapping at the door was Webb, but both were thrown slightly off guard by his expression. Behind the usual, trained cool countenance there was something else...unease, doubtfulness.
"We need to talk." Webb said.
"Talk then." Elizabeth said, more confident than she felt.
"Here?" Webb asked.
"Just get on with it." John said, in a bored tone.
"I've spoken to my superiors and filed my preliminary report." Webb said, shifting from foot to foot.
"You looking for a gold star?" John said.
Barely able to muster a glare in John's direction, Webb kept his eyes firmly on Elizabeth, "They want you to come into custody while we conduct a full review of the situation."
Outraged, John looked to Elizabeth for her reaction, but there was nothing. No hint of distress or anguish, just the steady rise and fall of her breathing. After a moment, she nodded and politely requested that she could have a few moments, which Webb granted with a saddened smile. Gently, she pushed the door to and made her way to the stairs, but was stopped by John grabbing her arm and pulling her round.
"You're just going to go with him?" John demanded.
"What else do you expect me to do?" Elizabeth asked, affronted.
"Tell him where to go."
"We both know it isn't that simple John. If I go with them, comply with their "review", the sooner I can come home. I will not have Johnny and Livie going through any more upheaval." She said firmly.
"How can they do this?" John asked.
"This is the IOA John. They'll do anything in the interest of international security. I need to pack...get a few things together."
"Do you want me to tell them?" John asked softly.
Briefly, a flicker of pain came over Elizabeth's face, but she quickly regained her composure and nodded, "Not the children though. It should be me."
With a final nod, more to herself than to John, Elizabeth turned and continued up the stairs. He watched her until she was out of view, unable to understand how she could be so calm when she knew that she was on the verge of being taken away from her family. Deep down, he wanted her to fight, the way he had seen her do so many times. Yet, he knew she was right.
After taking a moment to compose himself, John entered the dining room and weakly smiled back at the beaming faces of the twins. The expressions on the faces of the adults in the room though, made him fairly certain that they realised that there was something afoot in his manner though. In some ways, that made it easier.
"Hey kids, why don't you go and choose a game for our little party?" John asked, cheerily.
Both kids jumped up eagerly and ran out of the room. When he was sure that they were out of ear-shot, John turned to the men.
"What's happened?" Daniel asked.
"It's Elizabeth. The IOA are taking her into custody." John admitted.
"What?" Jack demanded.
"Webb wasn't exactly specific with the details. They're taking her into custody and conducting a review of the situation. And no, before you ask, I have no idea what he meant by that." John said, more aggressively than he intended.
"We are not letting this happen." Jack said, standing up.
"Yes we are. Elizabeth wants to comply with their orders and we are going to respect that." John replied, firmly.
"I'm surprised by you Colonel; letting the IOA get away with this." Jack said, daringly.
"I'm not letting them get away with anything; I'm thinking of my family." John said, through gritted teeth.
Before Jack was able to react to this, the children returned to dining room with a game of Twister, the idea of which considerably lightened the mood and John even managed half a smile at the thought of Rodney and Jack being forced to lock limbs in their steely determination to win. Although he committed himself to playing the game, just to hear the children's laughter and see the smiles on their faces, he was very conscious of the fact that he had one eye on the door, waiting for Elizabeth.
When she did appear, the same fixed, determined smile was on her face and John's heart dropped as he realized how what she was doing was all for her children. She was sacrificing herself to give them some normality, to give them a life where they weren't running or fighting the IOA.
"John, do you want to take the children into the kitchen for some drinks?" Elizabeth asked, perkily.
Immediately, John took their hands, despite their protestations of wanting to continue to play, and pulled them into the kitchen; anything to make this easier for Elizabeth. After preparing them some lemonade, John simply sat and watched them, silently pondering how they would cope with Elizabeth's absence after everything. While they had seemingly escaped from their kidnapping ordeal unscathed, John knew that is wasn't as simple as that; that there were scars there, under the surface that could never truly heal. And now this.
As soon as the men convened in the kitchen, each wearing expressions of confusion and sadness, Jack gently informed the children that Elizabeth wanted to speak to them and they skipped off, and ran into her arms for a hug. Closing her eyes, she dropped to her knees and clutched them, unsure of how she was going to get through this. Telling the men had been, whilst not easy, simple; they had the composure to hide their true feelings. Telling her children that she wasn't going to be able to see them again, and knowing how that would affect them, terrified her.
"Are you having a fun party?" Elizabeth asked, smiling at them.
Both children nodded, and JJ excitedly recounted how Uncle Carson had fallen on Uncle Rodney whilst they were playing Twister, and Uncle Rodney had shouted at Uncle Carson. She was buying for time, she realized that, but she continued to kneel there listening to them talk about normal events which fascinated them so much. When they had finally run out of things to talk about, or breath, Elizabeth felt tears pricking her eyes.
"Now Mommy has something that she needs to talk to you about," Elizabeth said, and took a breath, "You are going to have lots of fun Daddy time, because Mommy has to go away for a while.
"Why?" JJ asked.
"Because I need to talk to some people who want to know what happened to you when you were taken away." Elizabeth said.
"I don't want you to go away." Olivia said, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.
Hearing this, Elizabeth found she was unable to prevent her welling tears for a second longer, and she felt warm tears slowly slide down her face, contrasting perfectly with her warm, comforting smile. Her son reached out to touch them, as if to establish that they were real.
"Why are you crying Mommy?" He asked.
"I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm happy that you're home, that you're safe. And I'm happy that you're going to have so much fun with Daddy while I'm away." Elizabeth said.
"We want to have fun with you too." John Junior said, tugging on her hand.
"But imagine all the fizzy drinks and games that Daddy will let you have." Elizabeth said, desperately trying to muster a positive for them to cling to.
"Please stay." Olivia persisted.
"Oh sweetheart, I really want to. I so want to, but I have to do this to make sure that everything is okay now, that you are never taken from us again. I love you."
Before they could say another word to plea for her to stay, Elizabeth took their hands and kissed them both, before pulling them into her arms once again, her tears dripping into their hair. They remained there until the children started wriggling against her, and she sat up and wiped her tears away, with an air of finality. Nothing could be harder than this.
"Go on. Go and play. When Mommy is home, we'll have plenty of time for snuggling." Elizabeth said.
"Bye bye Mommy." Both children said as they reached the door.
As she watched their retreating heads, Elizabeth felt her tears threatening to return, but she stopped herself. She was doing this for them and she was going to get through this for them. Half-heartedly, she even tried to convince herself that this was for the best; that John would finally have the chance to stand alone as a father, and reclaim some of his lost moments. It wasn't much, but it was something she could hold onto.
Just outside the door, Elizabeth heard footstep and looked up to see John. He closed the door behind him, determined to ensure their time...their last little moment together for the foreseeable future was private, was theirs alone. Yet, as he found himself stood there, looking into her eyes, so full of pain, so determined to conceal it, he couldn't muster the words that he so badly needed to say. Somehow, it felt cruel to force her through another painful goodbye, given that only seconds ago she had held her children in her arms for the final time.
Breaking her eyes from his, Elizabeth turned and began straightening ornaments on the shelf before, with her usual composure, but John knew better. He saw the slight tremble in her hands, the tightening of her jaw as she gritted her teeth, and the unsteady rise and fall of her chest.
"I've told the children that I'm going away for a while. I don't want them to know." She said firmly, "You should take them away from here, maybe for a vacation."
Unable to control the inner flurry of emotions and contradictions any longer, he stepped forward and enveloped her in his arms, pressing his head into her hair, desperate to remember what it feels like to be close to her and to simply show her that he was there, and that he would always be there and be hers. Clutching his hands, she turned so that she was facing him and stared into his eyes, each reflecting the hopelessness of the situation.
"I will get you out of there." John said in a tone that revealed how shaken he was.
"John, you can't-"
"I can and I will." He insisted, with his usual certainty creeping into his voice.
Although both them knew she couldn't find assurance in or believe in his vows, she nodded and then closed her eyes and allowed her head to rest against his chest, in a moment of uncharacteristic, but understandable, weakness. Ruefully, John reflected that it was the first time since they had come together once again, on the doorstep of that very house, that they were allowing themselves an intimacy which they had both tried so hard to pretend didn't exist anymore. Gently, John lifted Elizabeth's head from his chest, circling the softness of her cheeks with his thumbs.
"I love you."
Both leaned to one another to allow their lips to meet, as a single tear from Elizabeth's eyes touched their mouths. It was brief, but both understood the meaningfulness of this final kiss.
"I know, and I love you too." Elizabeth said.
At that, she reached down to lift her overnight bag and walked away, once again the image of composure, leaving him seething. The realization of what was really happening finally hit him and as he heard the click of the front door, he couldn't control it for a second longer as he marched out of the house, almost wrenching the door of its hinges. Although Elizabeth was a considerable distance ahead of him, determined to get finish this matter, he wasn't heading towards her. He was heading towards Webb.
Before he could take another step though, he felt the grabbing of hands on the material of his shirt, which he angrily tried to wrestle off him in his determination.
"John." Jack said, warningly.
"You want this?" John spat, continuing to fight against them.
"Nobody wants this John. You can't let your children see you like this." Daniel reasoned.
And it was the thought of them that stopped John fighting, all the while making him more determined than ever to bring her home.
A/N 2: You guys forgot about the IOA didn't you? *runs behind a barrier preparing for the barrage.*