Chapter 40

The next morning...

Felix woke up just after the sun was above the water and made a point of removing his body from the bed very slowly so as not to disturb the sleeping woman in his bed. Lt. Cadman looked so peaceful lying there as he observed her; then his morning nature call beckoned and Felix went to do the usual.

He washed his hands once he was finished, checked to make sure he hadn't disturbed Lt. Cadman, gathered his clothes and headset, and went outside his room to finish dressing. All he had left was to lace up his desert boots, do up his belt and tuck his shirt into the waist, and then he placed the headset into his ear.

Rather than use the headset he walked slowly but surely to the control room to see the technician on duty there and then find out where Ronon was.

A minute later Felix was walking softly and when he saw the duty technician obviously talking to someone else, he decided to wait until the technician was done.

After a couple of minutes of waiting and watching until the technician was done and then walked his normal quiet steps up to the console. He touched the technician firmly on the shoulder so he would know it was a friendly person — the technician jumped in his chair at the sudden appearance of Felix.

"Hah!" was what came out of the technician's mouth at the realization of Felix's hand on the shoulder. He looked and saw it was the small Canadian Sergeant chuckling and shaking his head.

Felix said, "Sorry about that - I didn't want to disturb you earlier so I just waited until you were done talking. Listen — I was wondering where I could find a couple of pieces of paper to do a bit of writing. Any ideas, as this place seems rather computer dependant."

The technician thought for a long moment and then slowly shook his head and then replied, "Offhand I can't really say — was it anything special like writing a letter home?"

Felix looked away and answered, "Something like that."

Just then Dr. Weir emerged from her office and saw Felix talking with the technician and made her way over to them.

Felix straightened up as the expedition leader approached the console and greeted her, "Morning Dr. Weir."

She smiled and replied, "Morning Felix, Chuck."

The technician spoke up, "He was wondering if there is any writing paper or something like that around, ma'am."

She looked at Felix with one eyebrow raised and asked, "What were you wanting to write, Felix? We don't exactly have paper here anymore - we're a bit past that."

He looked down and was about to answer when he was saved from answering by Dr. Weir asking "Is it personal?"

Felix nodded and she said, "Why don't we go into my office and talk about this."

She turned away and led Felix into her office where she motioned for him to take a seat, which he did. Dr. Weir leaned forward and asked, "So, what can I help you with, Felix?"

He replied in a low voice, "I was just going to do up a last personal will in case I don't come back from any upcoming missions. It's something we all did just in case we never came back, so that the ones left behind are looked after. That's all, ma'am."

She sat back and raised an eyebrow as she looked at him and then replied, "Oh? That's all? Sounds rather grim to me, making your last will out as if you were never coming back."

Felix looked her in the eyes as he replied calmly, "It's better this way — there is nobody left on Earth for me to go back to, I have no idea what is happening with my folks estate legally, and due to the nature of what I do — there is always the chance that I might not get back. So better to be prepared, than not and leave a mess behind."

Dr. Weir nodded at his infallible logic again and pulled her laptop towards her and asked, "Do you know what you want to say in your last will?"

Felix nodded and replied, "Yeah, and it's real short too. In a nutshell — all personal effects to be distributed among any member of the Atlantis expedition: whoever wants whatever — it's theirs to have if they want it. Any finances back on Earth I leave in trust to the Atlantis expedition or their surviving family members, and failing that all monies to SGC and their families if needed. That's all, ma'am."

She finished typing his words into her laptop and then looked at him as she sat back in her chair. She didn't say anything for a long moment as she finally said, "Are you expecting trouble on a mission and not coming back — is that what this is about?"

Felix furrowed his brow as he answered slowly, "Noooo, this is normal procedure for someone in my trade. You plan for the possibility of not coming back only because it is one less headache for people to look after. Believe me ma'am — I was helping clear out a guy's effects and nothing was done for him. It ended up being an administrative nightmare for everyone involved. This way the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted — close up the box — done."

Dr. Weir continued to stare at Felix as she tried to figure out where he was coming from and not really succeeding, as she had never been in his situation.

Felix piped up, "On a lighter note — thanks for the cake and remembering my birthday. I actually forgot what day it was — mind you I haven't had a birthday in ... quite a long time. So, thanks ma'am — that means a lot to me." He rose from the chair and made to leave the office.

Dr. Weir said, "Felix?"

He turned around as he replied, "Ma'am?"

She smiled and answered, "You're welcome."

He nodded and gave a small smile as he left her office and decided to head for some breakfast before seeing about linking up with Ronon for a bit of close in knife work.

Felix grabbed a tray, went and made 2 toasted English muffins, grabbed a coffee and decorated it, and then sat down for the quick bite.

Just as he was about to finish his meal he spotted Ronon and Teyla coming into the dining area, so he waved at them. The two warriors nodded in acknowledgement and once they had their food they joined Felix at his table.

Felix greeted the two warriors, "Morning Teyla, Ronon," and then continued with the remainder of his coffee. Not much conversation happened as was still early and talking wasn't really there yet.

Ronon spoke up and told Felix, "We may have to put off the knife training for now — Sheppard has us going back to the planet where we were the other night."