Sheppard's quad bikes are seriously cool. I can't understand why anyone would ride a horse when they have machines like this for their use. We spent most of the afternoon exploring the property. I was much happier using the quads than I was riding that thing this morning. Sheppard stopped at the crest of a hill as the sun began to set and I pulled up next to him. After a couple of minutes of silence Sheppard spoke.
"Who is Abbi's mother?"
I schooled my face into an expression of bored indifference, and answered, "Just an old acquaintance."
He sighed, before replying.
"You do realise that you're talking to the master of deflection, don't you?"
I look over at him for the first time since we stopped.
"I know how to see through you because I've done the same thing throughout my entire life so that I can avoid talking about whatever was wrong. So pretending that whatever happened between you didn't hurt isn't going to work, because I can see that it did."
I ignore him. I figure that if I don't say anything then Sheppard is eventually going to get tired of trying to act as a brother towards me, and stop trying to get slip passed my defences.
"You do realise that I can call up the names of everyone you served with during the period that Abbi had to be conceived in, and ask them who your acquaintance was."
Damn he's persistent.
"You know you've got to talk eventually. If you don't talk to me then I will be making catch up on all of the sessions with Dr Phillips that you've talked your way out of."
He's blackmailing me into talking? I've got to admit I'm impressed; most CO's would have given up on me by this stage, or would have pulled me up on charges for ignoring them. My mouth opens suddenly, and before I know what I'm doing, I'm telling him what happened.
"She was my CO's daughter. I didn't understand why she left me, or why her father suddenly started hating me even more then he already did, until I went to my parents place three years ago and found Abbi there. My sister took care of Terror from the time she was three weeks old, and her mother abandoned her."
"Why do you call her Terror?"
I have to grin; he obviously has not been on the receiving end of a young child's machinations before.
"Because she is a terror."
"She can't be that bad, can she?"
"Teyla can't hit that hard, can she?" I reply and Sheppard grimaces. I've made my point. Teyla may look small and innocent, but she is anything but that. A life lived in fear of the Wraith meant that none of the people of Pegasus could afford to develop the kinds of stereotypes that have developed on Earth. Abbi's the same. She uses her appearance to fool people into thinking that she is much sweeter, innocent and naive then she actually is.
The last rays of sun slip beneath the horizon. Sheppard turns his quad back on, and switches on the headlights. I follow in suit, and soon we are heading back to the homestead. I spend the entire trip back trying to work out what had processed me to tell Sheppard as much as I had.
When we walk into the homestead Sheppard tells me to go take a shower while he gets dinner started. I obey the order without thinking. It isn't until I'm standing under the hot spray that I realise that if any of my previous CO's had issued an order like that I would have only done it to keep out of trouble, whereas with Sheppard I did it simply because he told me to. After finishing my shower, I dry myself off and pull on some underwear and a pair of clean sweat pants, before collapsing on my bed to try and work out what my epiphany means. I don't like what I come up with. Somewhere along the line, I started to trust Sheppard. Not only to bring me home alive in the field, which was a given, he'd do that for anyone, but also a friend. He'd already wormed through my defences, and, to be honest, I found myself not caring terribly much. Just talking to him out on that hill had lightened the weight on my shoulders, and, despite my earlier attempts to ignore him, I found myself beginning to think that maybe Sheppard wasn't like my other CO's. After all, he didn't kick me out after my massive screw ups while Colonel Carter was in command of the city. He had tried to convince me that it wasn't my fault that I had almost shot, while I was asleep, that I wasn't to blame for my actions during the Kirsan fever epidemic, and that Teyla would have been taken by Michael no matter which team accompanied her.
As I start to drowse I let myself think back over the past four years in Atlantis. Sheppard's an integral part of the city. He is well liked by the scientists, probably because he is one of the few who can tame McKay. He is adored by the Marines, who have adopted him as one of their own. Heck, even Woolsey likes the guy, and he's the exact opposite of Sheppard. I sit up and go to get up off the bed only to be presented with Sheppard standing in the doorway of my room, looking entirely too amused for his own good. I glare at him, as he saunters across the room and slumps down next to me.
"You done brooding yet?"
"I wasn't brooding."
"You going to be alright?"
I turn and face him properly.
"Why do you care whether I'm alright or not? I'm just the screw up who got sent to the SGC because there wasn't anywhere else that they could send me, and I hadn't screwed up enough for them to discharge me."
"I care because the moment you stepped on Atlantis and were appointed as my XO you became a member of my family. The little brother of the command staff. We take care of our own Evan, and that includes me taking care of you when you need it, whether you like it or not."
"Who are you, and what have you done to Sheppard?"
"I'm still me, but we realised that we were probably going to lose you if we didn't do something. I volunteered to take you out here, because out of everyone we're the two that need to bond most, and if that means actually having to talk, then it's worth it."
I sit there for a moment, mulling over what Sheppard said, before he pulls me to my feet to head out to dinner.
A/N – Sorry this has taken so long to get up, but my computer died almost two months ago, and I've only recently gotten it back. - Jandii