Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or anything affiliated with it. It is owned by Sci Fi, et al. No infringement is intended and no profit is being made.

Spoilers: "The Intruder", season four;"Lifeline," spoilers for future episodes (as posted on Gate World), including characters. Also references to events in seasons 6 and 7 of Stargate SG-1.

Author's Note: Half of the title is a line from the Aesop Rock song None Shall Pass, which I had in my head while writing this. I think I also stole a line from the Firefly bloopers somewhere in here. My handwriting is hard to read, so I fear some of this may have been lost in translation. :\ I got the inspiration for this a while ago from a comment someone made on Blade Mistress' LJ about Weir. I kind of hope the season ends up a little like this, but, then again, I just want Weir back.

Summary: "Elizabeth?" The voice that floated between them was rough and he's pretty sure a frog had taken up residence in his throat.

I will remember your name and face,
Though You Will Forget mine.
by: chopsticks
PG-13

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i.
He finds it a little ironic that it is Larrin that ends up rescuing Elizabeth.

Okay, so maybe "rescuing" isn't quite the right word. More like, "stumbled across while stealing other people's shit."

"She talked like you," she says, by way of explanation. That, and, "She stood out in a community of people that are only tall enough to stare at my breasts."

The mental image is a little funny.

She turns Elizabeth over to him with a knowing look in her eye and some intelligence.

"She doesn't know anything."

ii.
He spent five minutes staring at her, or so it felt. She began to fidget, nervously tugging at the hem of her shirt while he attempted to get his jaw off the ground.

"Elizabeth?" The voice that floated between them was rough and he's pretty sure a frog had taken up residence in his throat.

"Is that my name?" Her face was hopeful.

His heart broke.

iii.
Back in Atlantis, she is subjected to every medical test imaginable.

"She's human, completely and utterly. No nanites in her system."

Carter and McKay come up with a theory to explain all this, likening her to Dr. Jackson.

He doesn't like the implications.

He holds her hand, and she smiles gratefully.

iv.
She is much less confused now, after he explained where they are.

It's strange telling the story to the architect.

Carter has assured him that her memories will return. Well, probably. Maybe. Daniel's did, so why shouldn't hers?

He looks for a spark of recognition in her eyes, but finds only innocence.

v.
She has become attached to him, even going so far as to tell him that he is her steady rock in the whirlpool she's found herself in.

She still has a way with words.

Truth be told, he's found himself becoming more attached to her as well.

In six months he lost her too many times in too many ways. He blames himself, because she is (was?) his responsibility, first and foremost.

He still can't admit to himself that, yes, he seriously considered sacrificing everyone else so that she may live. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that it wasn't what she wanted, and he would respect her no matter what.

vi.
They just received intel that the Wraith and Replicators have essentially driven each other to extinction.

He wonders what part she played in that.

She doesn't remember; despite her best efforts she still knows nothing of who she is aside from what she's been told.

Carter, McKay, and Keller are at a loss.

He considers it a bad thing when three geniuses don't have a clue.

She has adjusted remarkably well, though. She helps Brown tend to her precious plants, and goes for walks with the heavily pregnant Teyla. She lunches with McKay and Ronon, smiling more than he has ever seen her before.

She's rediscovered her love of solitaire and cheesy movies, as he was forced to discover the other night.

She remembers nothing, but she still laughs at his lame jokes and returns his light flirtations.

He marvels at that, and at her.

vii.
Something quite terrible has happened.

It sounds cliché and tired, but that doesn't make it any less true.

As it turns out, Teyla's mysterious pregnancy that she refused to explain was of biblical proportions. She played Mary to Michael's vengeful God.

And everyone had just assumed it was Ronon's or his.

The city escaped destruction for the whatever-manyth time, but Teyla has been lost to the machinations of the remaining Wraith, now standing at Michael's side.

Elizabeth took it the hardest; she lost a close friend to the Wraith (or the new Athosian/Wraith hybrid, technically). Teyla was one of the few that didn't treat her like some sort of invalid or fragile Chinese doll.

He held her when she cried, and wished for nothing like this to happen to her again.

Most of all, though, he wished for her memory to come back.

viii.
She accosts him in the hallway, giddily laughing and hugging him tight.

"I remember," she whispers in his ear, her arms tightening in glee. "I remember talking to you in the mess on the Daedulus, of returning to Atlantis shortly after, of the Wraith virus. All of that journey!"

He wonders if it's possible to pull a muscle in your face as the smile threatens to crack the skin. He holds her tighter and swings her around, causing a scene but not really caring.

Her memory is coming back.

ix.
They came across some Replicators on a remote planet, scouting for another Alpha site.

They're looking for her.

Ronon wanted to kill them all, until they asked if she truly had achieved it.

Right then he was pretty sure he was living what would become an entire civilization's religion.

She was their prophet, then.

They gave the report upon walking through the event horizon; everyone was on edge, and they needed answers.

Of course, she wanted to go to see them. She might not be able to remember everything yet, but she was still Elizabeth.

He's pretty sure he loved her in that moment.

x.
It's been two weeks and she's listened to everything each Replicator has had to say.

They're a talkative bunch.

They want what should be unattainable for machines, but she attained it and,

"Will you please help us?"

She says yes, and he wants to cry at the unfairness of the Universe.

"I can help them," she says to him, and he understands. He doesn't want to, but he does.

He walks away, thinking about missed chances.

The last thing he sees before stepping through the event horizon is her smile.

The last thing he hears is the buzz of the Wraith darts, but Carter won't let him go back.

xi.
He gasps and collapses to the ground.

Above him, Oberoth stands, arm and hand still outstretched. Next to him, emotionless and cold, stands Elizabeth.

He thinks of irony.

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the end.