The Long Way Home

Chapter Eighty Four: Cloud Spotting

In cards and flowers on your window
Your friends all plead for you to stay

Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple
Sometimes good bye's the only way

Linkin Park – Shadow Of The Day

The sky was clear and the bright sun was shining down on Cassandra Sheppard as she lay flat on her back clad in a white vest top and denim shorts, John's aviator shades pulled down over her eyes. It was her last day on Atlantis and Cass was determined to spent exactly the way she wanted. Her packing was almost completely done, she had used her dufflebag and John had graciously loaned her his hold all. She was taking her clothes and a few personal effects, everything else was being left here at home in her and John's apartment.

Their home was still exactly that to her and this was something that she needed to indulge in order to fulfil a part of herself that felt the urge to be independent. Cass loved John more than anything in the world but there was still a part of herself that was selfish, that part desired more from life and helping people was what she aspired to. It touched an intense deep part inside of her to know that other people were suffering and that she could do something to help them in their time of need.

The human race was built on compassion and solidarity, it was their duty to help others and she believed entirely in that. Her delicate hand was resting upon the book she had been reading before it had grown too heavy for her to hold. She had become a big fan of Stieg Larrson when they had lived back on Earth and was now reading the second book in his famed series.

A large shadow fell over her, blocking out the sun like a hulking cloud. Cass didn't need to open her eyes to know that it was Ronon standing over over. The grass beside her shuffled as she propped herself up on her elbows as her friend came to alongside her.

Ronon was sitting cross legged beside her on the plush grass. His large hand resting on his ankles as he stared at the stream in front of them, the trickle was echoing through the quiet space as they sat watching the flow of the clear water.

"Your leaving tomorrow." Ronon stated in his gruff rumbling voice.

"Yes." she responded mimicking her friend's stance.

They had talked about this and Ronon had made it entirely clear that he supported Cass's decision to remove herself from Atlantis temporarily but she could see in his forest green eyes that he did not like it. There were many reasons for that and she had attempted to pacify each and everyone of them with patience.

There were a lot of eventualities and Cass couldn't help but admit that they were well founded. The refugee camp was a hotbed for discontentment and fear, they could be dangerous places which was why there were soldiers in place to help protect the people that were giving out aid. Ronon did not like the fact that he did not know any of the men guarding the camp, neither did he like how easy it could be to slip a spy into the ranks of the refugees.

Ronon's worries were the same as Sheppard's in some capacity. Cass's personal safety was his priority. She was smart and resourceful and he knew that she was capable of taking care of herself, he had seen the scars from her own encounters etched into her flesh. They had swapped war stories, he knew how she had gotten them and why Sheppard guarded her so closely. The idea of losing Cass terrified the other man and Ronon couldn't say he blamed him. He knew what it was like to have your heart and soul ripped right out of your chest and he wouldn't let his friend go through the same trauma as he had. It was a true, living hell.

Yet this was what Cassandra wanted and Ronon had to admit that he respected John Sheppard for allowing his wife to follow her calling. There was excitement in Cass's eyes, and in her motions when she talked about going offworld again. Ronon could tell that Atlantis had come to drive her stir crazy the same way it did him from time to time and he couldn't blame her for wanting a purpose of her own.