"I'm sorry Max." Carter sounded genuine.
"I can't blame them. Who would want me after… it's fine." Max lied. She couldn't return to Earth. The IOA had changed its mind about the conditions of her release. She was effectively exiled. Any attempt to return would result in her immediate arrest and indefinite incarceration.
"Max –"
"I need …I'm sorry." Max said softly and left Sam's office at a near jog.
Of course the IOA would change their minds. It was a fickle political entity hell bent on its own survival. It was a sheer miracle it hadn't descended into jingoistic isolationism. None of which meant it didn't hurt like hell or unleash a torrent of self-loathing and regret.
She managed to keep an almost normal pace until she left the populated areas of the city behind then let herself run flat out. It was a coping mechanism, a bad one most of the time but also one she hadn't been able to really use in prison. She kept in shape but there were no wide open spaces and certainly nothing like the regular steady surface of Atlantis' deserted hallways.
Rhythm and pain morphed into a familiar tunnel of survival; the thunder of blood and breath, eventually the itching sting of sweat and the dull impact of pain with every step reverberating through her body until even that faded away.
Numb and exhausted she finally slowed and stopped at one of the more deserted arms of the city. She walked until she could see and smell the alien ocean then found an edge to sit on. The sea itself was far below her dangling feet.
"Holloway?" Her headset buzzed. She winced and tapped it.
"Yes?"
"Standby."
She waited still breathing hard for the voice to return.
"Remain at current location."
"Confirmed." She said between harsh breaths then leaned back on her hands and stretched her torso focusing on her breathing. She laid back on the cool strange metal of the city and allowed her breathing to slow on its own.
She had been thrown off her own planet. Well, presumably Earth was where she was from, even if she was an alien Earth had been her only home for most of her life. She let herself slip into a shallow doze, the crash of the alien sea's waves against Atlantis, the subtle rhythm of the floating city and her own recovering breathing lulling her along.
"Hey." It was Lorne, of course it was Lorne.
She sat up and glanced at him then returned her gaze to the sea.
"Bad day?"
"Do you think I'd be any good at farming?"
He blinked.
"Have a seat."
He obliged sitting next to her and letting his own feet dangle.
"So got a green thumb?"
"I don't know actually, never tried to find out."
"Farming?"
"If you couldn't go back to Earth but …didn't want to stay on Atlantis, for retirement or whatever, what would you do?"
"What happened?"
"I got thrown off the planet."
He stared at her not entirely sure if she was making a bad joke.
"Damn girl you scary." He said solemnly once the silence had grown awkward.
Max howled with laughter.
"Where the hell did that come from?"
"I get around." He grinned.
"Me too. Apparently."
"Look, you've been through a lot, most I can't even imagine but there's a place for you here."
"Sure until they get spooked and throw me off this planet too."
"Well, we all need goals."
"There's more, have you read my file? Ever heard of Carthis?"