Title: Last Day

Characters: Amelia Banks, Alicia Vega, Chuck.

Prompt: 001 Beginnings

Word Count: 478

Rating: PG

Summary: Amelia had never been one for goodbyes.

*

Amelia had never been one for goodbyes. But in the beginning she was.

She would say goodbye to her father, her brothers, when they went away. She would say goodbye to her friends every time she moved to a new base. She'd said goodbye to her mother.

So after a while, she got used to it and soon it became unnecessary to perform the parting ceremony of tears and hugs to comfort her conscience.

When it came to Atlantis, however, that changed again. She knew there was a very good chance she would never see many of her friends and family again. Knowing she was out of practice, she left it to her last day in the galaxy. It was hard, harder than she expected, but she got through it relatively unscathed.

"So you're going to join the military?" Her father asked of her before she had even finished her sentence. "About time."

"Not exactly," She replied somewhat hesitantly. "I'm going, but only as a civilian – a technician, actually." She looked down at her hands but she could almost hear her father's sneer.

"Your still doing that computer thing then..."

"Yes, I am." She interrupted, snapping her head up with an anger she didn't know she possessed. The man leaned back in his chair, observing his daughter with dark eyes. He was assessing her, ascertaining where this new found strength had come from. "And I'm leaving tomorrow so I would really appreciate it if you told Todd and Wayne I said goodbye when they get home from training." She got up from the couch, placing the now warm glass of water on the coffee table in front of her as she did so. "And tell them that I love them."

"Amy." Her father called to her. She looked up at him. "I love you, too."

"Yes, sir." She nodded, not meeting his eyes. She made to leave but paused for a moment. "Just tell them, okay?"

*

"My mother wouldn't stop crying," Alicia, a young woman with dark hair was telling Amelia as they started to move away from the orientation room. "I had to stop myself laughing at her hysterics."

Amelia made to laugh at Vega's attempt to be humorous but it caught in her throat. But before Vega could question her about it, they were stopped at the entrance to the gate room.

"Are you the new girl?" A guy asked Amelia. He was looking at her uniform, unmarked as of yet. Vega already had the mark of a soldier so he passed over her rather quickly.

"I'll see you later, Amy." The woman said and she continued on her journey with the other military personnel.

"Amy, is it?" The man, who looked around the same age as herself, asked.

"Amelia Banks," She told him boldly. "It's Amelia."

He nodded. "I'm Chuck, welcome to Atlantis."

*