It took two days for all the preparations to be done and ready for them to be able to send Evan and his team's bodies through the gate and back to Earth, Elizabeth wanting to make sure that both Jennifer and Beckett ran additional tests to confirm it really was Evan and his team laying in their morgue.
The Gate Room is full to the brim, people covering the stairs and two balconies with barely any room to move. Lara stands at the bottom of the steps, Teyla and Jennifer next to her, each holding on to an arm in a silent show of support and comfort.
Lara looks at Elizabeth, the woman giving a short speech about Evan and his team, but Lara isn't really listening, her mind going back to a conversation the two women had the day before.
Flashback
Lara crosses the little bridge that leads to Elizabeth's office and knocks, the woman looking up at the noise and seeing just how broken Lara looks, her eyes still red from crying.
-"Can we talk?"
-"Of course." - Elizabeth signals for her to take a chair, the door closing behind Lara as she walks forward to take a seat. -"How are you? Is there anything I can do?"
-"There's one thing you can do."
-"What's that?"
-"You can let me go home." - Lara's eyes fill with tears.
-"You want to return to Earth?" - Elizabeth looks at her, sadness in her own eyes, and sees her nod. -"If that's what you want, I will sign your leave papers."
-"I don't want a leave of absence, Elizabeth. I want to leave Atlantis permanently."
-"I understand. I'll have all the paperwork done by tomorrow. Lara, I am so sorry."
Lara wipes the tears from her eyes and focus back on Elizabeth, wondering if she will ever see her friends again or if they will ever know just how much her life has changed in the last two days.
Elizabeth finishes her speech and nods at her, her eyes bright with tears, before stepping away from Evan's coffin. Ronon, Sheppard, McKay, Stackhouse, Zelenka and Jennifer step forward, each grabbing a handle of the coffin, lifting it and begin walking through the gate, Lara following them with Teyla.
But just before she crosses the event horizon, she looks back and sees Elizabeth and Beckett nodding sadly at her, Lara nodding back before taking the last steps that will take her back to Earth.
YOU ARE READING
''Interstellar Destiny''
FanfictionBook 3 in the ''Interstellar'' series. Lara and Evan finally have their happy ending. Or do they? When a mission goes sideways, Lara is left to believe that her life has been turned upside down. Having to face new challenges, while leaving the one p...
