The Mess Hall is crowded when I walk in, slightly before 1800. As I start to manoeuvre my way through the tables I hear a piercing whistle. The same piercing whistle that Sheppard has been using to wake me up during our time away. I turn and face the direction that the noise came from. Sheppard is standing at a table on the balcony, his expression making it clear that I was expected to go straight over there, before going to get any food. I make my way over there, wondering who else is at the table. As I finally extricate myself from the maze of table, I trip. Not over a chair, or someone else's foot, but over my own bootlace that I couldn't be bothered retying when I left my quarters. I put one hand out to brace myself, and to stop myself from hitting the ground face first, but before it touches the ground, somebody catches me from behind. One arm wraps around my stomach, the other hand grips just under my left armpit, and they then lift me back to my feet. I stare resolutely at the ground, not willing to look my CO or whoever else is at the table. A familiar chuckle sounds from behind my back. I push away from the arms that picked me up and spin around. I stand on my lace again, and this time I hit the ground before anyone can catch me. I sit up and glare at David Sheppard.
I'm not upset out David's presence here; I figured he would eventually get commissioned by the IOA to build some of the new aircraft we're producing. It's a pity that Patrick isn't here to see what the Colonel has done, and is currently doing. Patrick never could shut up about how proud he was of Sheppard whenever anyone started in on me about joining the Air Force. It's a shame that David was never around to hear him say that, because the relationship between the two Sheppard boys would probably never have been so rocky if David didn't think that their Father was still angry with the Colonel.
I am annoyed though, that no one thought to tell me that Sheppard Enterprises had been in line for an SGC contract. If I had known I would have made myself scarce while ever David was around. He knows the official story of what happened between Meaghan and me, and I'm fairly sure that he has worked out at least part of the truth of what actually happened. It makes him a very dangerous person to have in the city. Even if he doesn't tell the others what happened, he can still push them in the right direction. I like the fact that no one knows what happened, and that up until now, no one has had time to realise that anything was actually wrong.
David is something of an unknown quantity too. I don't know if he will help the others in their plot to save me, or if he will just tell them to leave me alone. I suspect the former though, David is a Sheppard after all, and they seem completely incapable of leaving a puzzle, in this case, me, unsolved.
He's grinning at me, the same smile that is so rare to find on the Colonel's face, gracing his face easily. I feel the Colonel walk up behind me, and pull me back on my feet, before spinning me around, marching me across to the table, and depositing me in a chair.
"Do you think you could do your shoelaces up now?"
I glare at him. I'm off balance with David here, and before I can help it I snap back at him.
"Well, if it's so important, why don't you do it yourself?"
Everyone at our table sits in stunned silence at my uncharacteristic outburst. Teyla is the first to react, standing as she informs everyone that she must go and return to Torren and Kanaan. Everyone else quickly moves off as well murmuring various excuses, which I simply don't hear, until I'm left with just the Sheppard brothers for company. The colonel just points at a plate of food in front of me and tells me to eat. I do so, but after I finish about half, I don't feel like food anymore, I just want the upcoming confrontation with Colonel Sheppard over and done with. I push the plate away, only to have it pushed back by David, who simply glares at me. I push it back away, and David goes to push it back when the Colonel raises one hand in the air, telling him to stop.
"Dave, why don't you go back to your quarters? I'll be up later."
The Colonel's voice is soft, and David readily agrees. After he leaves Sheppard turns to look at me.
"My quarters, now." The command is explicit, and I follow him there not wanting to piss him off anymore than he already is. As we walk I gradually calm down, realising that it might not have been one of my best ideas to yell at Sheppard in the Mess, and that he has every right to be pissed at me.
Once we enter his quarters, and I am seated on the edge of his bed, he sits in chair opposite me and just watches. Apart from the occasional glance up, I keep my eyes firmly on the floor. After a couple of minutes, I stammer a quiet apology.
"What was that, Evan?"
"I'm sorry, sir," I repeat, slightly louder this time, "I was out of line in the Mess Hall, and it won't happen again."
"Yes it will."
"What make you say that sir?" A hint of annoyance is creeping into my tone and Sheppard just looks at me and raises one eyebrow. I mutter another apology.
"Accepted, but if you don't start trying to deal with things, they'll only get worse."
"I was coping fine before."
"Do you really call going as white as a sheet, and then bolting because your daughter suggested you should marry someone, coping with it?"
"Yes! Well no, but, Oh, I don't know. I'm just trying to deal with it the only way I know how."
"I know. But as I have been trying to tell you, you have family now. Family who cares about you, and worries about you. You don't have to do this alone anymore."
I don't reply, and Sheppard let me just sit there and try to work things out in my own head. After what seems like a millennium, but is probably only about ten minutes, I break the silence.
"Her name was Meaghan Callaghan. You and Nancy certainly had a much more stable relationship, safer too."
I stop speaking again, memories of what happened too close to the surface, as were the emotions that go with them. As I struggled to gain control back, Sheppard sat down on the bed next to me just gathered me into his arms, and rubbed my back. The simple show of affection was just too much and I lost the battle with my emotions. Tears began trickling down my cheeks, and I eventually worked my way up to all out sobbing. Sheppard sat there with me through all of it. He was still there, holding me, like an elder brother is meant too, when my exhaustion finally got the better of me, and I fell asleep.