Fic for NotMcShep AU Challenge
Dawn was creeping over the horizon at a lazy pace. Elizabeth tucked a wisp of hair back behind her ear and breathed in deeply. She loved the smells of dawn; the cool, musky air rising up from the forest below brought scents of the river that ran just a few yards away from the cabin. She loved this time of day; for a few hours she could pretend that she was free.
…
Elizabeth Weir was a hard-working, dedicated woman and she had studied hard at college to gain her doctorate in cultural anthropology; she was one of the best anthropologists the Museum of Colorado had ever had. And yet, even after six years, she had not been promoted past researcher. To say the least Elizabeth was very frustrated. All she wanted was some recognition for her work; she did not even mind if the promotion didn’t come with much of a raise, she was just fed up of being ignored. Finally, after another exhibition she had been heavily involved in was a success, she went to her boss, the Chief Curator.
The room was surprisingly airy, unlike the rooms where Elizabeth spent most of her working hours. While she waited she studied the many objects that adorned the room. It was the first time she had been in this room; the first time she had seen the magnificent Egyptian woodcarving of the god Isis; the first time she had seen the French-inspired clock with enamel roman numerals; and the first time she had seen the Venetian mask, decorated with intricate blue and silver flowers and with hollow eyes that made Elizabeth shiver involuntarily. And, she silently reminded herself, if things go wrong today it will be the last time you get to see the inside of the Chief Curator’s office.
Behind her she heard the heavy oak-panelled door open and then close. She turned her head, expecting to see a man in his fifties, with receding hair and small, oval glasses. Instead there was a handsome young man who was approximately the same age as her. He was quite tall, with a head of brown hair that obviously did not appreciate being brushed that often.
“Hi there,” the stranger said, almost sheepishly. He smiled crookedly and briskly waved his hand in welcome.
“Hi,” Elizabeth said in return, but she did not smile. Then the stranger cleared his throat. She wondered what was making him so uncomfortable.
“I’m, erm, John Sheppard, the er…”
“Curator’s son?” Elizabeth guessed from the surname.
“Yeah. His secretary said there was someone waiting for him. Sorry, she didn’t mention your name.”
“Elizabeth. Dr. Elizabeth Weir.”
John smiled again, more relaxed this time. “Pleased to meet you Elizabeth.” He offered his hand and she took it. His grip was firm but gentle, and she caught a whiff of a spicy-scented aftershave. “I’m sure my dad won’t be too long, once he’s seen to the secretary.” He raised his eyes in a suggestive manner and, despite of herself, Elizabeth couldn’t hold back a smile.
“That’s better,” John laughed triumphantly. “Now, how about a drink from my dad’s well stocked drinks cabinet?”
Eighteen months later the couple married. It was a beautiful ceremony, out on the shores of a lake with all their friends and family, colleagues from the museum and a few of John’s friends from the Air force. He didn’t have many, but those he did have were good. Elizabeth hadn’t expected to like having a husband in the military; in fact she tried to persuade him to leave. But she quickly found that a John who couldn’t fly his big toys was not a John she wanted to be around. Almost as a wedding present she gained a substantial promotion from her new father-in-law.
…
Looking out now from her balcony Elizabeth still couldn’t shake the feeling that that was why she agreed to marry John, to get her promotion. No, she was just being silly and insecure. John loved her and she loved him. She loved John Shepard; she loved his cocky smile and his cheeky grin; she loved the way he tilted his head or raised an eyebrow; she loved his hair, loved running her hands through it while gazing into his musky green eyes. Best of all she loved him in bed. She looked over her shoulder now at the sleeping form, tangled up amongst the white sheets. No, the promotion had been given to her because she deserved it. The tensions that had been occurring recently between the pair were because the couple needed a vacation, so a vacation they were having.
A few minutes later and John had stirred. He stretched his arms as he joined his wife on the balcony. “Why don’t you come inside love? It’s cold out here.”
“I know, but I love the view.”
“Well we can love the view just as much with the doors closed and some lovely breakfast in our bellies.” He slipped his arm around Elizabeth’s waist and gently encouraged her back into the room.
“What shall we do today then?” John asked as he got dressed. Obviously uncomfortable in civilian clothing he always wore clothes as close to his military uniform as he could get, and today it was black kharki trousers and a similarly black sweat top. Elizabeth, on the other hand, liked to stay well away from the suits she wore to the museum and today she was wearing a pair of tight, but comfortable, jeans and a red tailored t-shirt.
“I don’t know,” she replied, still staring out of the window as she munched on a piece of toast. “Though some exploring of those hills could be fun.”
John laughed, though it wasn’t one of his kinder ones. “You should be an explorer, not a museum curator; always wanting to see what’s over the next mountain.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what you like to do as well, only generally in an aeroplane?” She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat on the bed. “I’ve never been to Canada before and I’d love to get out into the countryside.”
“I know you do Lizzie, but we always go exploring on vacation. I thought that perhaps we could stay in town this time and see the local sites.
“You mean see the local watering holes and see if there are any sports being shown?”
John put on his best ‘offended’ look. “I meant no such thing!” he protested.
“Then perhaps you meant visiting the local museum?” Elizabeth suggested, knowing exactly the reaction she would get. She got it.
“No thanks,” her husband scoffed, “I spent far too much of my childhood in those things!”
“Then we go for a walk?”
Husband and wife just looked at each other for a moment, neither really knowing what to say. It had been getting like this all too often lately, and neither liked it. “Fine,” John submitted eventually, “we’ll go exploring. Just as long as I can go find a bar this evening?”
There were times when Elizabeth knew exactly why she had married John Sheppard and this was one of them. Leaning across the bed she kissed him on the mouth. “Thank-you,” she whispered.
…
They had spent a long time debating where they would take their vacation. Money was no object, as both Elizabeth and John had good wages and no children nor a particularly lavish lifestyle to spend it on. Neither particularly liked socialising; John had some air force mates that he went to baseball games with, and Elizabeth had a few friends from the museum she would met up with, but mainly she enjoyed spending time in her beautiful garden. She loved gardening, with the attention to detail that each plant required in order to reach its full potential. Also it was a hobby in which John took absolutely no interest, and she rather liked it that way.
In the end it had been the accommodation that had dictated their vacation to Vancouver Island. The house was owned by one of Elizabeth’s senior colleagues and she fell in love with it the moment she saw it; a colonial style house made of cedar wood it blended in effortlessly into the surrounding forest. Yet it had a sense of order amongst the wilderness that Elizabeth admired, with its strictly symmetrical appearance and a neat, well-kept garden at its foot. It was a narrow house, one generous-sized room in breadth, but it was deep, disappearing almost endlessly into the forested hillside behind. The master bedroom was at the front of the first floor and opened directly onto the wooden balcony. The décor was fresh and tidy, full of airy pastel blues and yellows. To one side of the house was the feature that had persuaded John to come; a spacious deck with a luxurious Jacuzzi situated right in the middle. In the evening it was the perfect place to enjoy the fading sun with the heat of the day being slowly released from the wooden panels.
By the time they had cleared away breakfast the sun was shinning above the trees and was quickly heating the earth below. They had been here for two whole days already and had mainly just lazed around the cabin, slowly exploring and enjoying their temporary home. But now Elizabeth was itching to see more of the island.
They headed straight for Strathcona, a provincial park in the center of the island.
For nearly five hours they walked one of the well-marked trails. A light wind kept them fresh and cool, though Elizabeth could feel her body revolting against the unusual excursion. They ate the baps and fruit they had brought with them while they dipped their feet in the cool waters of Buttle Lake; Elizabeth felt calmer and at ease than she had in a long while.
“Isn’t this beautiful,” she said quietly, feeling somehow that a loud conversation was not appropriate for this scene.
“Yeah, sure, came a rather non-plus reply. “So can we, you know?” John smirked suggestively, just as he had done when they first met.
Elizabeth scowled. “No John, how could you imply such a thing in such a…”
“Oh come on Lizzie,” John interrupted with an innocent wave of his arm. “Wouldn’t it be fun? Out here in the wilderness of the mountains?”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. It annoyed her so much when he went off like this, acting like a hormonal teenager. Worse still, he knew it annoyed her and he seemed to extract some amusement from that. “No John, not fun, certainly not fun if people come and walk along this popular trail.”
“We can hide in the bushes?”
Elizabeth made no reply, she simply gathered the things and headed off down the trail. John rolled his eyes and jumped up to follow her.
Dusk was falling by the time they reached the car and they had spoken little since their food stop. The trail had continued to trace the shoreline of the crystal lake and the car was parked next to one of the few official campsites in the park. Elizabeth sat in the car, relieved to be able to take the heavy boots off her sweaty feet. After a while she noticed that John was still outside, reading some notice board or other. She lowered the window and called him. He turned to her and grinned, then walked to her side of the car. “I have an idea,” he beamed.
Chapter 2
Carson Beckett hated putting up tents. No matter how hard he tried the melange of poles, ropes, ‘outers’ and ‘inners’ always managed to get the better of him. Today something had clearly gone wrong. According to the instructions the red poles went through the central axis of the tent, and yet he only had blue poles left and he couldn’t find the holes to put them through anyway. He sighed and slumped down on his travel bag; give him a paper about gastrin receptors any day.
“You look like you could do with some help, unless you were planning on sleeping under the stars?”
Carson looked up to be greeted by a smiling female face and, without really knowing why, he blushed. “Aye, I have made a bit of a mess of it, as always.”
“Do you camp often?” While the voice was not patronising, Carson guessed the question was rhetorical.
“Not as often as I should.”
The woman laughed. It was a crisp laugh, a tuneful laugh that whipped through the air like birdsong. It was also a kind laugh and Carson smiled in return. “Here,” she said, walking towards his sorry excuse for a tent, “I’ll talk you though it, so you’ll know what to do next time.” And with that she began to dismantle what had taken him over two hours to put up.
Half an hour later Carson had a secure, waterproof tent to sleep. And he had vaguely been able to follow what his expert teacher had been telling him. During the construction the introductions had been made and they were now chatting as if they had been friends for a lifetime. He told her about the trip he had planed; after three months of working almost solidly at Vancouver General hospital he was desperate for some fresh air and hills. He remembered camping as a young boy in Scotland and, although he usually avoided the outdoors like the plague, camping for the weekend had seemed like a good idea, at the time anyway.
“Now it is just a plain stupid idea,” he confessed as he chucked his bag in his tent. “I can’t even put up a tent properly!”
Elizabeth smiled. “It takes practice,” she said to try and make the Scott feel better. “John, my husband, loves to camp. So believe me, I’ve had my fair share and practice.”
“Is your husband with you here?”
“Yes, he’s having a beer by our campfire.” For a moment she studied the doctor’s face. Did she see regret in those blue eyes? She chided herself for seeing things and instead invited Carson to come meet John and have some dinner with them.
That’ll be lovely, thank-you,” Carson smiled.
…
“Wasn’t this a great idea of mine Lizzie?” John announced as the three finished off their bowls of tinned fruit salad and evaporated milk. The fire was still going strong but he decided to chuck another log on just to make sure. “We hadn’t planned on camping,” he explained to Carson, who was perched on a log at the two o’clock position, “I just saw the sign that they’ll lend you everything you need for $165. Bargain really.”
“Aye that’s good,” Carson agreed. Elizabeth just smiled politely.
“I just love the outdoors,” John continued, unaware that his wife and the doctor had exchanged glances. “Nothing better then to camp in Canada!” He paused with a thoughtful look on his face and then suddenly turned to Carson. “What do you do again?”
“I’m a doctor,” Carson replied politely.
“Ah yes.”
“He specialises in genetics,” Elizabeth informed her husband. “He told me when I helped to put up his tent.” She shifted on her stool and gave John an annoyed look. He didn’t seem to notice as he took another swig from his beer.
“That’s cool,” he said. “Sounds very impressive, though I never did really understand biology at high school.”
Carson laughed. “You either love it or hate it I think.” He looked towards Elizabeth. She was watching something intently in the flames. He knew he shouldn’t keep looking at her, but he just couldn’t seem to help it. The way the firelight turned her pale cheeks rosy and set her sharp eyes dancing. Looking away from Elizabeth his eyes fell on her husband. There was no denying John Sheppard was handsome and certainly a man for the lasses. He was funny, cheeky and brimmed with a confidence that Carson guessed you needed in the armed forces. He could certainly see why women loved Sheppard, and yet more then once that evening he had seen signs that all was not well in the marriage. But that’s not my place to interfere, he reminded himself.
“I think I’d best be off to bed now,” he said, suddenly wanting to get away from the heat of the fire. “It’s late and I need an early start in the morning.”
“Sure,” John smiled. “Nice to meet you Carson.” He offered his hand and Carson took it.
“You too, and thanks for dinner.” Turning to Elizabeth he added, “and thanks for putting up…”
“No problem,” Elizabeth said abruptly, “no problem at all. Good night Carson.” She walked up to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She smiled, yet Carson could see that her eyes had lost the sparkle they’d had earlier in the evening. In fact now they were distinctly cold and distant.
Carson was left puzzled as he headed out into the cold darkness towards, what he hoped at least, was his tent. There was something about Elizabeth Weir that he couldn’t figure out. Realising he was fully awake and not likely to actually get any sleep, Carson turned off the path and headed for the lake. The sky was clear and thousands of stars covered the sky. The moon was only a few days from being full and the white light shimmered off the still water, illuminating the surrounding forest.
He found a large rock to sit on by the water’s edge. The moon continued its steady journey across the sky as the doctor sat enjoying the stillness and occasionally sending a smooth pebble across the lake. He loved the way the ripples dispersed so gently, yet persistently, only to be halted by the shoreline. Carson was a naturally quiet and reserved person. It had been an attempt to broaden his horizons and a strange need to see more then Scotland that had lead him to apply for the exchange program with the Canadian hospital in the first place. And although he was having a brilliant time and learning much more about medicine than he ever thought possible, he had not changed much as a person. He had trouble getting to know new people, particularly women, hence why he was camping on his own. Not that it really bothered him that much. As boy he would wander for hours on his own, until one of his family worried enough to send the dog out looking for him. But now being on his own did bother him, so much that he couldn’t skim the pebbles as well as he normally could. Annoyed with himself he chucked a large stone as far as he could out into the lake. It broke the water with a resounding ‘plop’ sending large ripples across the lake.
“That’s about all I manage to achieve when I try and skim stones.”
Carson almost fell into the lake as he jumped at the sound of the voice from behind him. “Elizabeth! You scared me! How long have you been standing there?”
Elizabeth walked over and perched herself on a rock next to him. “Long enough to know that that wasn’t your best attempt at skimming.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry,” she said, “ I shouldn’t creep up on people like that.”
Carson just looked at her. Her hair was a mess but her cheeks were beautiful, still pink from the fire despite the pale light from the moon. “What are you doing here?” he said eventually.
She shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep so I came for a walk, then I saw someone sitting by the lake and decided to come and investigate.” She tucked some hair behind her ear and shifted on her rock. A frown formed on her brow and she suddenly stood up, as if the rock had now become too hot to sit on. “No that’s a lie. It’s true that I couldn’t sleep, but,” she folded her arms stiffly and turned to face him, “I came to find you. I know, that’s stupid isn’t it? I shouldn’t be here, I’m sorry, I’ll go…”
“No wait!” Carson jumped up and grabbed Elizabeth at the elbows as she tried to disappear back into the forest. She turned and suddenly the two were standing face to face and Carson could smell the smoke in her hair. He let go and stepped back, unsure of why he had just acted as he did.
“You feel it too, don’t you?” Elizabeth said softly.
Carson shook he head. “This is madness,” he said, “utter madness. You shouldn’t be here, this is not right.”
Elizabeth sat down beside him and her hand brushed his arm. “I know,” she whispered, “I’m…” The word hung in the air like the rising mist from the water. “Unavailable,” she said eventually. Carson turned his head and looked straight into her eyes. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was strong, intelligent, full of life and so gentle. Finally he could bear it no longer and he put his hands on her face and kissed her passionately on the mouth. In reply Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him and melted into his embrace. For what seemed like an eternity the pair was lost in each other, not caring about anything else. When eventually they broke apart they could not break from each other’s gaze. So much they wanted to say to each other. So many secrets to tell, so many jokes to share. But neither wanted so say the painful truth that shone as brightly as the moon; that there was no way for them to be together. Both knew, without the words being spoken, that they had just one night. After that Carson would move to some other campsite before heading back to the hospital and Elizabeth would go back to her husband. Without saying a single word Carson stood up, still holding Elizabeth’s hand, and started to walk towards his tent. Elizabeth suddenly stopped. “No,” she said quietly and for a terrible moment Carson wondered whether he had read the signs wrong but then she smiled. “Here,” she said, “lets stay here.” She smiled again as he took her once more in his arms.
…
Morning dawned all too quickly. The birds were moving busily though the forest as Carson stirred. Right beside him was a sleeping Elizabeth, barely covered by his jacket that he’d laid across her. He looked around, suddenly worried that someone may be watching, but all he could see was trees. He gently prodded Elizabeth to wake her. She yawned and pulled out a small twig that had embedded itself in her brown hair. Silently they washed in the lake and got dressed, both dreading the moment that was coming like building thunderstorm over the mountains.
“Will I…”Carson began hesitatingly, only to be silenced by Elizabeth’s eyes.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly, “though I hope so.” She smiled, though he could see the sadness in her eyes. “I’d best get back to the tent before John wakes up and realises I’m not there.”
Carson nodded. Though he had got on well with John last night, he hated him right now. Elizabeth placed her soft hands on his face and looked into his eyes. “Thank-you so much,” she said. “You don’t know how much I want to stay here, but…” For a moment Carson could not meet her gaze. He knew she was sincere, and yet she was going back to her husband and jealously roared in his chest. But then he reminded himself of the promise they had silently made last night.
“I know,” he said finally, “you love him.”
Elizabeth looked out over the water and Carson could see tears falling down her cheeks. He gently whipped them away and pulled her into a hug. Elizabeth was almost shaking as she kissed him again before she finally headed off into the forest. Turning back she could hardly control her voice as she whispered, “I will never forget you Carson.”
“Nor will I,” she heard the Scott say as she broke into a run towards the camp.