A/N: Here it is: the last chapter of this story! It's been an adventure; but now it's time to wind down. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I'm sure that in a few years I'll look back on it and cringe, but right now I'm happy with it. Enjoy!

Pure happiness was the only way to describe General John Sheppard when he stepped back into the city of Atlantis. His city. He figured if anyone had claim of ownership over it, it was him. He had lived there for at least thirty years, and had no plans of leaving it anytime soon.

He had had to leave for a week while Past Him had been around, and he'd missed his home. The faint hum of the city reverberated through his feet throughout his body, and he felt whole again. He had become so used to feeling the city around him that whenever he left he felt a little empty. The feeling had been doubly as intense over the week as he was also without his family. Elizabeth had had to stay to take care of the team, and Jennifer had managed to wrangle her way into staying in Atlantis, as the most experienced doctor in the city she hadn't wanted to leave. John hadn't had the same luck. Since their pact with the Wraith, there hadn't been much need for the Air Force, and John had retired almost ten years ago, but not before several promotions and a Medal of Honor. He'd taken up the job of sheriff instead, which gave him a lot more free time to spend with his family and friends surprisingly. Atlantis was a fairly peaceful city, so leaving for a week and leaving the city in the capable hands of his chief deputy was no problem.

He jogged up the seemingly endless flights of stairs in the control tower –he would never get used to it being called City Hall, it would always be the control tower for him- making his way to his daughter's office. It was closer than the hospital wing so he decided to drop by on Jennifer later.

He could see her through the glass walls, hunched over the data pad on her desk, scribbling furiously onto the top page of a stack of papers without looking at what she was writing. He stopped short, almost about to turn tail and come back later. He knew how involved with her she got, and hated being interrupted when she was in full flow. It must have been Rodney's influence during his many babysitting instances because neither of her parents were that way. Taking a deep breath in preparation for the inevitable storm of rage by his otherwise angelic daughter, he walked up to her door and walked in without knocking.

"Hey, Lizzie" he drawled as casually as he could.

"Dad!" she squealed as she saw him, and in a single movement she leapt up out of her seat and ran at him, tackling him with a hug that pushed the breath out of his lungs and almost knocked him over. It reminded him of when she was younger, back when he still went on missions through the Gate. Every time he came back he was rewarded with a bone-crushing hug from his daughter, who was happy he was still alive. She may have been young, but she knew what sort of danger he exposed himself to every time he stepped through the Stargate, after one time he took her through on what was supposed to be a routine trip to meet with the one of their long-time allies when they had an unfortunate run-in with the Wraith, and they'd had to hide in caves for a few hours until they missed the scheduled check-in and Atlantis sent back up. John had managed to get shot in the leg while running, since carrying his daughter slowed him down some, and Elizabeth had been so worried she was more panicked than he was. It had shaken her up pretty badly, and John had had to take time off, because she refused to let him go on missions for months afterwards.

"Woah, what did I do to deserve this?" He laughed out, as he wound his arms around her to return her hug.

"I missed you is all" She mumbled into his shoulder, refusing to let him go.

"What are you talking about? I was right here the whole time! And not only that, I was younger!" He joked.

"It wasn't the same" She answered, pulling her head back to look him in the eyes. "He wasn't my dad"

John felt so touched; he pulled her tightly against him for another hug that she returned gladly. They stayed that way, embracing each other, not saying a word, for many minutes until finally John pulled back.

"I should probably let you get back to work, you looked pretty busy. Plus, your mom will kill me if she knows I've been back for long and haven't gone to see her yet"

"Don't worry about it, there was an incident at the council meeting this morning. No casualties or really serious injuries, but Mom's still got her hands full." She explained "That's the work I was doing: incident report"

"Ah, well in that case I'm going to go home and relax. Maybe read a bit. See you soon" He smiled at her and made his way out of the office.

"You'll never finish that damn book you know!" Her voice carried out after him "You've been trying for all of my life and you've still never made it past chapter 1!" He chuckled to himself and strolled down the corridor.

He was asleep on the sofa, his favorite book lying open across his chest with one hand still grasping it and the other hanging off the side, with his legs propped up on the arm of the sofa when Jennifer came home after her double shift in the Hospital Ward. She stopped and watched him for a few moments, reveling in the fact that he was back home. After so many years of them spending as much time with each other as they did, it had unsettled her for him to be out of reach, even if it was only for less than a week.

His wedding band glinted in the fading sunlight on the hand still holding his book as he shuffled in his sleep, and Jennifer couldn't help but smile. He was the most perfect partner she could have ever wished for and although she had definitely accepted the fact that he loved her completely and unconditionally, she knew better than to ask him or herself why, because she felt the same for him.

He looked so peaceful she didn't want to wake him, so she walked around to the mantelpiece in their living room and inspected the pictures that were displayed there. The first one was a picture of their wedding day. They'd wanted to get married on Atlantis, so Rodney had gotten ordained to perform the ceremony on the internet and they'd had a quiet ceremony on the balcony by the control room. The view was magnificent and at dusk the Suns hit the city in just a way that the buildings seemed to shine. Ronan was best man of course, and Teyla was Jennifer's maid of honor. They'd invited their close friends such as Woolsey, Carson, Amelia, Radek and a few others, but overall it was a very small and private affair. John had surprised her with their rings; they'd been made out of naquedah and he'd commissioned them to be made just after he'd proposed. She had been so happy that day, just thinking of it made her heart warm.

Another picture that made Jennifer smile was on the opposite side of the mantelpiece. It was a picture of the two of them and baby Elizabeth in the hospital on the day she was born. The picture showed a tired but content new mother, a tiny newborn baby and an elated, if slightly dirty, father. John had actually been on an emergency rescue mission when she'd gone into labor and had come running in, muddy and disgusting, just as she was about to start pushing. They'd barely had time to take the picture before Carson had forced the soldier out of the hospital room, complaining about unhygienic conditions for the baby. John had raced to the nearest bathroom, which had happened to be in Lorne's quarters, to wash himself off and after stealing His XO's clothes he was straight back in the infirmary with his wife and child.

The other few pictures were of friends and family, although in their particular case those two categories were one and the same. Since John's brother had died almost ten years before and Jennifer never really had much of a family life to begin with, their current family consisted of no one who was actually of blood relation, but that didn't matter to them. They were family nonetheless.

She was so involved in her memories she hadn't heard him wake up or get off the couch, but she didn't flinch when he wound his arms around her from behind.

"Reminiscing?" He asked, whispering into her ear.

"Yeah, just wondering when our life got this good" She answered, laying her hands on top of his on her stomach.

"About…" He checked his watch. "…83 hours ago" He joked, counting the hours since the Past Them had gone back through the Gate.

"Very funny" She retorted. "Do you want to go to bed and back to sleep or do you want dinner first?"

"Neither" His eyes sparkled "I want you." He grinned at her and took her hand, guiding her gently towards their bedroom.

FIN