Well people, this is the last chapter of this fic; wow, I'm amazed that I've finally finished it; and it's not as long as I thought it would be. Although that might be because of the length of the chapters themselves.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it and yes I've heard the SGU isn't going to be on tv until October but I might be doing a couple of one-shots that continue on from this fic and maybe even another fic (which may or may not have the same basis on Eli and Rush being related. I haven't decided yet). Until then however, I'll leave you with this last chapter which I hope you'll enjoy and will find humorous in some sections and finalised in others.

With love, KaseyKC

FAMILIAL BONDS

Epilogue

"Life has this way where if you're not careful it can mess you up, but it also has this way where if you are careful it's like the best friend you'll ever have." – Author of Familial Bonds.

It's kind of funny really, but life really does have this strange old way of tearing your existence to pieces and then reassembling the pieces in such a manner that you feel like yourself but you're different to who you were twenty-minutes ago, twenty-days ago, or even twenty-years ago! When you consider how your life changes as each second ticks by on that huge clock that hangs above everyone's head, like a timer counting-down, you actually realise that if you were the same person as you were when you were born, or when you turned one, five, eight, nineteen or any other random age, you'd realise that you'd probably wouldn't have survived everything that you'd been through in the last few seconds.

For Rush that was sadly accurate since he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if someone had said to him three years ago that he would have a family again and that he'd be as happy as he could be, he'd have probably torn who ever said those words apart. Afterall, grief was a powerful and deadly thing if handled incorrectly. Grief could motivate a man to advance his knowledge of all things scientific for the sake of a lost loved-one, but it could also motivate a man to gain revenge and contemplate murder in a terrifying bout of cold, determined and sociopathic sanity.

Essentially, it's a good thing that people change and develop as each second ticks on by on the count-down of life, because otherwise Rush doubted that he would have ever had been able to handle having another family; a second-chance if you will. He knows how he would have reacted to such knowledge three years ago, heck even a year ago his response would have been completely different to what it had been only months ago. But time changes people; things that happen to them when they're on an alien ship on the other side of the known, and unknown, universe and can't get home anytime soon, change their views, their ideals, their feelings and their perspective changes.

Oh boy does their perspective change! Rush knew that Eli, his brilliant son, wouldn't have been able to handle being beamed about an advanced human-designed and built ship if he didn't have the capacity to adapt; to change and develop. He'd have freaked and they'd have had to have either returned him to earth or sedate him until they'd reached Icarus.

But Eli had the capacity to change, to develop and it was that which had ultimately lead to Rush dialling the gate on Icarus and them all ending up on Destiny. True, it was Eli's math that had resulted in him being beamed aboard the General Hammond in the first place, but he would never had been able to apply his genius to the problem if he hadn't been able to adapt and cope with such an out-of-this-world experience.

Rush would always be thankful that he had managed to get another chance at having a family, he would relish the opportunity, and though he might get it wrong on occasion, and not know how to handle a son with just as much of a stubborn streak as he himself had, he'd try. And that was the best that anyone could really ask for from a man who thought he'd lost everything when his wife had died and had buried his head in his work to avoid life and the pain.

It's not as though there's an instruction manual on how to be a parent; if there was then maybe less kids would end up in detention and prison, but there is a sort of inbuilt guidance system that works on the basis of instinct. A parent instinctively feels the urge to protect and care for their child, just as Rush feels the urge to protect and care for Eli; of course, the way in which he protects Eli is open for debate. Fist fights with random personnel who happen to not like Eli as much as they pretend to might win a few points with his son but not so much with Colonel Young.

"Rush! You can't get into fights with every person who looks at Eli the wrong way!" Young sighed as he glared tiredly at Rush; he'd left the mess hall fully-intending on going to get a few hours shut-eye when Rush and one of the military soldiers had come crashing out of one of the doors in a tangle of limbs, insults and punches. He'd had to physically pick Rush up and carry him away from the soldier who looked like he'd got into a fight with a lion; and lost.

"He was insulting Eli," Rush growled in his defence, feeling like he could bash someone's head in without hesitation, and the feeling showed on his face because Young stood up straight and readied himself for a fight.

"And that was very wrong of him, but that still doesn't give you the right to knock his teeth down his throat!" Young countered as he moved slightly onto the balls of his feet, watching Rush pace about like a caged animal and he wished there was a force-field or something between them because Rush's face conveyed nothing but anger and murderous intentions.

"Eli's saved his sorry carcass dozens of times and that's how he talks about him!" Rush muttered to himself as he cracked his knuckles in a move reminiscent of his time on the docks back in Scotland when he'd been a young lad, "we should've let his pathetic waste of flesh be jettisoned by Destiny when he got locked in that unpressurised corridor! It would have done the lot of us some good!"

Young slowly edged towards the door when Scott and Greer were waiting outside, ready to enter and restrain Rush if they heard a scuffle which they were half-expecting. Just as he reached the door Rush swung around and stared at him directly, "I'm not going to attack you Colonel! I know Scott and Greer are outside and they'd love the excuse to lock me in the brig... as would everyone else!"

Not entirely trusting Rush's words Young opened the door and said firmly to Scott and Greer, "escort Doctor Rush to his quarters and try and avoid any of the more populated areas of the ship; we don't want any major bloodshed."

Greer nodded silently and smirked at Rush who scowled at Young murderously, "No problem sir."

"Yes sir," Scott agreed and then looked at Rush, "come on doc. Sooner you're in your quarters the sooner you can punch the wall repeatedly."

"I'd rather that carcass' face personally," Rush retorted as he stormed past Young who held his breath feeling a little anxious at Rush's more than violent temper.

"I'm sure you would doc, but that carcass might save your life one day," Scott smirked as Rush stopped and gave him a glare so powerful that he had to stop himself from turning to stone for the medusa-style look.

"I'd rather be eaten by a wraith and host to a Goa'uld!" Rush growled dangerously as he swiftly turned away from Scott and began to march down the corridor in the direction of his quarters. Scott and Greer quickly caught up with him as they shared a quick glance with Young who was standing on the threshold of his office looking like he needed some air.

"Guess Rush is pretty scary in a confined space when he's like this," Greer muttered quietly to Scott who nodded silently before radioing to any soldiers nearby to get out of the way or they'd be fair-game for the worked-up Scotsman.

When they reached Rush's quarters he stopped and turned to look directly at Scott and Greer, he looked calmer and more collected; though not by much. He cracked his knuckles in the same manner he'd done in Young's office and the two soldiers felt a little worried about being alone with a still pissed-off Rush.

"How much is the pool?" Rush asked quietly as he stared at them calmly, but the calmness was betrayed by the raw anger and murderous intent that could clearly be seen in his eyes.

"Uh-" Greer fumbled for an answer as Rush cut across him.

"I know you guys have been running a betting-pool on me so tell me, how much is it up to?" Rush explained slowly as Scott shifted slightly and Greer felt the need to grip his firearm more tightly.

Scott looked at Greer briefly, as though debating whether or not to tell Rush the truth, but decided to quickly spill the beans when Rush cracked his knuckles again, "it's up to three says worth of real food from each of the scientists and a spare clip of ammunition from half of the soldiers."

Rush stared at Scott for a long moment before quietly saying, "what's the max bet that needs to be exceeded for you two to reap the benefits?"

"Five fights in three days," Greer supplied as he had been keeping tabs on the bets. Scott looked at him in surprise at the number of fights, "it was that scientist you don't like who betted."

Rush nodded slowly and asked, "how many fights have I had in the last two days?"

Scott cleared his throat and slowly answered, "err, three."

"Two more to go then right?" Rush asked as he suddenly smiled and watched humorously as the two soldiers blinked and backed-up a step as though he had finally snapped and was about to pick a fight with the pair of them, "thanks for telling me. Night."

Turning around Rush opened the door to his quarters and stepped inside, closing the door in Scott and Greer's faces. He slowly turned around to look at his bed and the figure sitting hunched up in silent fits of laughter on it, "I hope you realise how bloody time consuming it is to be getting into fist-fights with every Tom, Dick and Harry every twenty-minutes?"

The only response he got was muffled laughter as Eli looked at him and saw the frazzled-looking hairstyle that Rush had been sporting since his altercation with the unlucky soldier who he'd decided to pick on. The poor guy hadn't said a word against Eli but for the sake of their entire scam Rush had to find victims and the soldier was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The fight however must have been something because Eli wouldn't stop cackling like a witch and hyena cross. Rush sighed and shoved Eli out of the way as he sat down and looked at the screen from the kino that had recorded the entire event, "I never knew I looked that crazy when I got in a fight..." Rush muttered to himself as Eli finally laughed out loud, no longer able to contain his amusement.

"You have no idea! You should see yourself in Young's office! He looked terrified of you!" Eli laughed as he paused the recording and opened another file and played another video, "here, look."

Rush watched the recording and sure enough he watched as Young edged slowly towards the door as he paced up and down like a caged animal. He'd never seen that look on the Colonel's face and found it quite funny that he'd been the one to put it there; it was the look of a man who felt like he was about to be eaten by a wild animal.

"I've got to show T.J this!" Eli breathed as he finally managed to stop laughing, "she'll love it!"

"She'll never feel safe being in the same room as me again if she saw this," Rush countered, "She'd think I was a madman."

"She knows you're a madman, this'll just be proof to cooperate everyone's theory that you're an escaped mental patient," Eli pointed out as Rush shrugged in defeat; it had been a common theory that some of the soldier's had been spreading. As well as the theory that Rush was secretly an alien from an advanced race that lacked any form of social skills; he believed that Dr McKay was also ranked as being from the same supposed advanced race. Personally, he'd call that advanced race evolved genetics that avoided the common trait that most other foolish scientists had; ego but no brains, it was quite a common trait strangely enough.

"You do realise that Young isn't going to let me into the mess hall for weeks after all of this?" Rush asked pointedly as Eli began to laugh again, "and that means you're going to have to get my coffee for me; when I ask for it."

Rush smirked as Eli stopped laughing and stared at Rush in shock, "that's beyond evil," he muttered, "they'll kill me!"

"Yeah well, just remember who's idea this was," Rush grinned as Eli slumped back against the wall of his quarters and stared forlornly at the wall opposite.

"Do you think it's too late to stop this?" he asked as Rush shook his head.

"Nope, my head's killing me from where sergeant whatever managed to get in a lucky blow, and my knuckles look like they belong to a street-fighter, so no. I'm seeing this through to the end; besides, I think I deserve some real food for my part in this," Rush replied as he leaned back on his bed and watched as Eli rubbed a hand across his face.

"They're gonna want to know why you keep knocking the crap out of random people you know," Eli muttered as he searched for a way to survive after this was all over.

"Well that's easy. I've been under the influence of an alien drug that makes me incredibly paranoid and resulted in me thinking that there was a plot to kill me and you," Rush grinned as Eli looked at him surprised, "Do you really think I wouldn't have a plan for once this was all over?"

Eli was quiet for a long moment before he suddenly grabbed the pillow from Rush's bed and smacked him on the head with it, "You ass! You let me think that you were going to tell everyone it was my fault you were getting into fights with everyone!"

Rush laughed as Eli hit on the head again with the pillow and waited for son to stop knocking the soft-lining of pillow out of it before he stood up and opened his door, "you'd best get some sleep, I'm planning on two more fights tomorrow so you'll need to be well-rested for your shift in the lab."

"Oh isn't that something to look forward to," Eli snarked as he chucked the lumpy pillow back on the bed and left the room, "how do you think Young will react to all this?"

"Not well I suppose," Rush sighed as he bade his son goodnight and shut the door to his quarters. He threw himself down on his bed and shoved his now lumpy-pillow behind his head and closed his eyes as he turned the lights off in his room. He smiled to himself as he thought, 'everyone thinks that earth is our home... no, home is where the heart is and my heart's right here.'

-SGU-FB-SGU-FB-

The stars watched in silent observation as the ancient warship continued on its journey through the universe, carrying upon it the remnants of a base where a life-choice had been made for them. A life-choice that would bring them good, bad and morally-grey experiences that would give them the chance and opportunity to develop and learn to live with each other.

The endless existence of the universe, being so many billions of years old, meant that some of these stars had witnessed the moment when civilisations first began to develop; whether they were micro-cellular organisms, animals, plants or homo-sapiens, these stars were the ones that did not burn as brightly as the others for their torches were being extinguished by time and the moment where they would pass on the responsibility to watch and observe the evolution of these life-forms would be passed on to the younger generation of stars which burned with an ethereal beauty that mystified billions, even trillions, of life-forms across the cosmos.

These stars, all together, the young and the old watched as inside this ancient warship and father and son's relationship continued to flourish giving credence to the idea that even in the most hostile and treacherous of places humanity can still develop and love can be just as strong as determination and anger that can drive them to do the impossible to save one another.

END

Oh heaven's, it's actually over... but that doesn't mean you can't review it and tell me what you think of the chapter; as well as try and convince to do another sequel... and one-shots and such :P

I do hope you've enjoyed this fic and found most of it realistic and believable, since I'm not a fan of fics that aren't all that realistic or believable. Anyway, I hope you guys will review and order me to write another sequel and such; or I'll be disappointed.

KaseyKC