(no subject)
Caldwell insisted they be medically cleared before anything else, much to Elizabeth’s dismay. “Sorry,” she said to the medic.
“No worries, Dr. Weir,” she replied cheerfully. “I’ve seen worse. You and Colonel Sheppard are in remarkably good health for having had limited access to decent food for a few weeks. I’m going to give you a vitamin shot and you’ll be free to go.”
It was a little weird, after a month of calling each other only by their first names, to suddenly be the Doctor and the Colonel again, she thought as she made her way to the visitors’ quarters. Not to mention being on a spaceship after being outdoors for so long. But she was sure she’d stop missing it as soon as she took a shower and had a hot meal that hadn’t been cooked over a fire.
“Elizabeth!” John called from behind her, and she stopped to wait for him. He raised an eyebrow. “Want to share my shower?”
“God, yes.”
“Good.”
In his quarters, she stripped off the soiled clothes as quickly as she could. “You think Colonel Caldwell would object to me burning that?” she asked John. “Even the shoes?”
“There’s a chemical incinerator on this ship somewhere.”
“We’ll find it later. I can’t wait any longer to brush my teeth with actual toothpaste.”
In the tiny bathroom, she found everything she wanted in the miniscule medicine cabinet set into the wall. “I don’t think this is going to be enough soap,” she said doubtfully.
“You’re like a kid.” He turned on the shower, tested it, and then shoved her under the spray. She wet the toothbrush, squeezed on a large dollop of toothpaste and jammed it in her mouth with a sigh. John laughed. She handed him one of the shampoo packets and he ripped it open. “Turn around.”
She turned in the tiny space, and he squeezed the shampoo onto her head, and then started to work it into lather. “That feels great,” she mumbled around the toothbrush. His fingers dug into her scalp, massaging, and she groaned. It was heaven.
With slippery fingers, John worked out all the tension and knots in her neck then waited for her to spit out the mouthful of toothpaste before he aimed the spray at her head. Elizabeth handed him the toothbrush and started rinsing out her hair, watching him brush his teeth. He kissed her when he was done.
She opened another packet of shampoo and washed his hair. Or tried to, since he was more interested in necking as if they were teenagers. She laughed and shoved at his chest. “Wash,” she commanded, as he cupped her breasts in his soapy hands. “There’s not enough room in here for anything else, and the timer on the water is about to run out.” But it was difficult to ignore his erection pressing against her hip.
They hurried to rinse off before the shower automatically stopped, and Elizabeth had just reached for a towel when it did. John wiped the steam from the mirror. “Guess I should shave.”
“I kind of like the beard.”
“I’d leave it for you,” he said with a grin, “but Caldwell would kick my ass out the airlock.”
“You can shave later. I’m starving.” She rubbed her hair with the towel then reached around him for a comb.
“Food before sex?”
The intercom buzzed before she could answer, and they both groaned. Elizabeth went out into the main area, John trailing after her. She pushed the button. “This is Dr. Weir.”
“Dr. Weir, we have Atlantis on the line and they would like to speak with you.”
“I’ll be there in a moment.”
She dressed in a pair of the unisex one-size-fits-all fatigues and threw the other at a dejected-looking John. “I have to get dressed?” he asked.
“Yes. Don’t you want to talk to everyone?”
“Maybe,” he grumbled, but put the clothes on without complaining and followed her to the bridge. Halfway there, she realized neither of them were wore shoes. Caldwell would appreciate that, she was sure.
“Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard are here,” Caldwell said when they entered the bridge.
“Elizabeth, thank god,” came Rodney’s voice.
She saw John shove his hands in his pockets and scowl. “What, you’re not glad I’m alive, too?” he asked Rodney.
“Yes, of course. Everyone here is happy that neither of you died on that horrible planet. What happened?”
Elizabeth let John answer that one. “Crazy people blew up the Stargate,” he said, rocking back on his heels.
“They blew up.. but how… regular explosives- ”
“We won’t be going back to find out,” Elizabeth interrupted.
Rodney made flustered noises over the air until Teyla’s voice came through. “Should we assume your negotiations with the Rudrans have ended?”
“We never even got started. The same night we arrived, the rebels attacked the city.”
“We’ve spent the last month in the woods,” John added.
“There was no evidence of strife during our original reconnaissance mission,” Teyla said, concern in her voice. “In fact-”
She was cut off as something hit the Daedalus, sending people stumbling, all the alarms blaring. John caught her before she could fall into the console, an arm around her waist keeping her upright as Caldwell shouted for a report. “Someone fucking fired on us!” John shouted back. “You okay?” he asked Elizabeth in a quieter tone.
“I’m fine.”
“Primary systems all still online,” the lieutenant reported. “Minor structural damage but no hull breach.”
“Take us out of here,” Caldwell ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
“Why didn’t you say we were still in orbit around the planet?” John demanded.
“I was under orders not to.”
Shocked, Elizabeth asked, “Orders from whom?”
“After you filled me in on the situation down there, Stargate Command instructed me to retrieve what pieces I could of the destroyed Stargate.” Caldwell crossed his arms over his chest.
“What do they want with a blown-up Stargate?”
“The naquadah,” Elizabeth murmured.
“The naquadah,” Caldwell confirmed. “Not to mention the potential recovery of the explosive that destroyed the Stargate.”
“That would, in turn, allow us to destroy the last remaining Ori supergate.” It wasn't hard to guess.
Caldwell nodded. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have repairs to oversee.” It was a clear dismissal.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Elizabeth said to John, and pulled him from the bridge. “You’ve got to stop letting Caldwell get to you like that,” she whispered.
“The guy’s a jerk, Elizabeth.”
“But he does have the best interests of Earth at heart,” she replied, “not to mention he was under orders.”
John made a face. “Did you realize we’re not wearing shoes?”
“Yes. Look, we’ve been spoiled by the autonomy the IOA has given us the last two years, but the governments of all the representatives have changed.”
“They’re gonna start cracking down again?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“I don’t suppose we can get Colonel Caldwell to beam us back down to the planet?”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “That would ruin all your plans for getting me into bed.”
“True.”
They had reached the mess hall. Elizabeth picked a sandwich, a salad and a cup of green jello then sat down, tucking her cold feet up underneath her. John set a piece of cheesecake in front of her before tipping some of the potatoes off his plate onto hers. She looked up at him.
“I know you want it,” he said with a shrug, and sat down. “Here.” He held out a forkful of the cheesecake.
“You’re horrible.” She opened her mouth for the cake.
“And you love me anyway.”
She chewed and swallowed. “I do, you know.”
“That’s the cheesecake talking.” But he was grinning, and Elizabeth would have kissed him if they hadn’t been in the middle of the mess hall. Instead, she put her feet in his lap underneath the table. “See, that’s just mean,” he grumbled, and she laughed. “Promise me you’ll laugh more,” he said suddenly.
“What?”
“Laugh more.” He forked a jello cube into his mouth and said around it, “You’re always so serious in Atlantis.”
“I’m usually worrying that you and Rodney and Teyla and Ronon are getting yourselves into some bad situation,” she reminded him. “Because you usually are.”
“You got me there.”
She finished her sandwich and licked mayonnaise off her palm. John shifted and she caught his eye. “What?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“You drive me crazy. In more ways than one.”
“Finish your cheesecake.” Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. “Do you think we should tell people?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She didn’t hesitate.
“Really?” She nodded. He pushed back from the table and cleared off their trays. “Come on. I need socks.”
“Now that’s a good code phrase.”
He chuckled, but the look in his eyes made her flush, and they hurried through the corridors back to her quarters. Inside, she pulled the shirt over her head and shimmied out of the pants. John watched, his gaze dark and sending heat racing through her, and when she was naked Elizabeth palmed his erection through the fatigues.
He sucked in a breath and nuzzled at her neck. “It was probably a good idea that we didn’t do this when we were dirty,” he murmured in her ear, “but I really wanted to.”
Elizabeth tipped her head back, allowing him more access. "Me too," she murmured.
And then there was no noise beyond their breath. The bed was narrow but she didn't care. It was better than a cave. She ended up on top again, looking down at John, watching his hands skim over her body, light and possessive all at once. This man would kill for her, but he'd let people live as well if she asked.
*
It was past midnight when she woke up, and the Daedalus was quiet. Elizabeth knew there were people always working on a ship like this, but the job of the night crew was to get the ship through to the morning without too many command decisions.
Command decisions were noisy and messy, no matter how quietly the orders were issued. She’d learned this first-hand. Knowing she’d made choices that had resulted in people dying - even if people would have died anyway, no matter which side they were on - was an ache she carried with her every day, and one she knew she’d carry for the rest of her life.
Turning slightly, she looked at John. Even in sleep his face was not entirely peaceful; too many of the decisions he had thought he’d never get high enough in the military to have to make. She could name most of them, just as she could list each of hers.
What had they missed in a month away from the city, she wondered, what crises had fallen into Rodney and Teyla’s hands? Elizabeth knew they could handle anything that might have arisen, but the sudden thought struck her that this would have been the perfect time for the IOA to try and pull the rug out from under the expedition. Neither Rodney nor Teyla had mentioned anything, but their conversation had been cut short by the Rudran weapon. She wanted to be able to talk to them without any interruption, without anyone else besides John there, but it would have to wait until the Daedalus had docked.
“Elizabeth?” John mumbled, stirring. “Why are you up?”
“I was just thinking.” She settled back into his embrace.
He kissed her shoulder. “Thinking this late at night is the same as worrying.”
“I suppose,” she sighed, pulling the blanket higher.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Being on this ship is almost as bad as being back on that planet. We still can’t talk to Atlantis - this time it’s because someone is watching over our shoulders.”
“I hear you. You know, Caldwell is only a year from retirement but he still wants my job?”
“You have to admit he’s gotten better at hiding it.”
“Not when he and I are having a conversation alone,” John grumbled.
“But like you said, he’s only got a year left.”
John was quiet for a while. “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“When the expedition ends - for real, not some bogus Ancients kicking us out - you won’t cut yourself off from the rest of us - even if we’re not together then. I can’t listen to Rodney bitch about how you won’t return his calls again.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “I learned my lesson last time.”
“Good.”
*
“I should probably apologize for using your office while you were gone,” Rodney said, looking pained.
“I’m so glad to be back, I don’t care,” Elizabeth answered with a smile.
He returned it. “So uhm, you and Sheppard?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Well, to me, but I like to think I perceive things that other people don’t.”
Elizabeth forced herself not to laugh. “To answer your question: yes.”
“As long as he makes you happy,” Rodney said seriously then cleared his throat. “So. The Rudrans?”
“Left to their own political conflict.”
“And their Stargate?”
“The Daedalus is transporting several pieces of it back to Earth.”
“I suppose they’ll try to reverse-engineer the explosive that was used.”
“No doubt they will. Apparently the Ori are smaller in number, but they are still a significant threat.” She rested her chin on her hands. “I can’t believe this place was quiet for more than a week.”
“There was the small skirmish that Major Lorne’s team ran into on P79-213, but there were no serious injuries.”
“Good.” Elizabeth settled more comfortably into her chair.
“You think we could get a piece of the Stargate from the SGC? It could help with our power problem. We could run the city for years off a Mark IX.”
“I’ll let you fill out the requisition form,” she said dryly.
Rodney grumbled. “There won’t be anything left by the time Major Carter is done.”
The alarm made them both jump. “Unscheduled off-world activation!”
“No rest for the weary,” Elizabeth said, and got up.
“It’s an audio signal,” the on-duty tech told them.
“Put it through.”
“This is Lauk of Rudras. Dr. Weir, I hope that you are receiving this. I request asylum. Please. I have brought technology you may find useful.”
“Can we reply?” she asked.
“Go ahead, ma’m.”
“This is Dr. Weir. I thought your Stargate had been destroyed.”
“Immediately after I helped you and Colonel Sheppard to escape, I stole a small ship and flew it to the next closest planet with a Ring.”
“You stole a ship?” Rodney blurted.
“They are too busy with the rebellion to come after me.”
“What’s going on?” John asked, coming up the steps with Teyla behind him.
“Lauk - the Rudran who got us out of the city - is requesting asylum.”
“And he’s got a ship,” Rodney added.
Elizabeth looked at John. He nodded. “Lower the shield,” she ordered. “You may step through now, Lauk.”
He appeared a few seconds later, looking ill. “That was the first time I have traveled through the Ring of the Ancestors,” he said weakly.
“You get used to it,” John replied sharply. “Stand down,” he told the Marines.
Lauk looked around, realizing suddenly that there had been several P-90s pointed in his direction. “Dr. Weir?” he asked hesitantly, looking up at her.
“No one is going to harm you. However, we do require you submit to a medical exam.” She gestured to one of the Marines. “If you’d escort him to the medical bay, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“The guy looks terrified,” John said, when the Marine had led Lauk away and they had moved to the conference room.
“You think the Rudrans really aren’t too occupied with the rebels to come after him?”
“He stole an aircraft bigger than our Stargate, so it’s a fair bet they’ll come looking for him.” He looked at Rodney. “The long range sensors?”
“They’re clear for now. Couldn’t they try and gate in like this Lauk guy just did?”
“And when that fails, they’ll send a ship,” John answered.
Rodney turned to Elizabeth. “If I could get some of that naquadah, I could power the cloak and shield.”
“If they even know where to look,” she reminded him. Neither she nor John had mentioned the location of Atlantis to the Rudrans.
“Could they not find us using our Stargate address?” Teyla asked.
Rodney shrugged. “There was no evidence they had the kind of technology to do those equations when we were there.”
“There was also no evidence of a rebel group, and no evidence they were capable of space travel,” she reminded him.
John waved a hand to shut everyone up. “How about instead of debating, we ask Lauk? He is the Chief Scientific Advisor, after all.”
Rodney sat up straighter in his chair. “Really?”
John nodded. Elizabeth tapped her pen on the table. “He explained their power source to me,” she told Rodney. “Maybe that information could be of some use.”
“Sophisticated power source?”
“Some sort of chemical reaction. I have to admit I didn’t understand all of it.”
There was a knock on the door. It was Lauk and his Marine escort, who stationed himself outside the door when Elizabeth motioned for Lauk to enter the room.
He looked slightly less scared, his gray hair in disarray, but his hands still clutched nervously at his robes when he sat down. “I wish it did not have to be like this,” he said, looking at each of them in turn. “Thank you for allowing me into your home.”
“Explain to us what happened,” Elizabeth said gently. Underneath the table, John’s hand found hers.
“The government has been overthrown. The rebels were not only those who lived outside the city, but many inside. Siri himself held a gun to the head of the Chancellor. It was then that I took the Dravius and left.”
“The Dravius?”
“The ship. It remains on the planet I contacted you from.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. I’ll send a team to check out the ship. For now, you will be allowed to stay in our guest quarters. There will be a military guard with you at all times, for your own safety, and I’d like you to work with our engineering team. In time, we will find you a safe planet on which you can resettle. All right?”
“I cannot stay here?”
“This is an expedition base, and will not be staffed indefinitely,” she replied, sharper than she intended. “If you would go with Dr. McKay.”
She let go of John’s hand and stood, signaling that the discussion was over, and waited until Rodney had prodded Lauk out of the room.
“That went a lot quicker than I expected.” John leaned back in his chair and looked up at her.
“That man has risked a great deal to come here,” Teyla added.
“How may times have people risked their lives to bring us information and ended up putting Atlantis at even greater risk?” Elizabeth sat down again. “You both know I’m right.”
“You think this is gonna end badly.”
“It usually doesn’t go well,” she said with a sigh, and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m fine,” she said at their looks of concern. “Honestly.”
*
John took Lauk, Rodney, and a handful of Marines with him to the planet the ship was on. Elizabeth remained in her office, wanting desperately to go with and see the ship, but she had a mountain of paperwork. John promised he’d be back before sundown. They hadn’t spent a night apart since Rudras, and she was used to having him next to her in their bed. Their bed. He’d all but moved into her quarters, and they had stopped trying to hide his exits from her room after the fourth morning.
She’d been a little worried that bringing their relationship back to Atlantis would affect how they worked, but hardly anything was different. He treated her exactly the same as he had before, and she had found it remarkably easy to do the same.
“Elizabeth?” Teyla asked from the doorway.
“Come in.”
Teyla was carrying a small box. “If it is all right, I have something for you and John.”
“Of course it’s all right! It’s been five years, Teyla, you don’t have to ask.”
She set the box on the desk with a smile. “You should wait to open it, until you can open it together. That is the tradition.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. “What is it?”
“An Athosian charm, meant to bring luck to the starting of a family.”
A fertility charm. Something must have shown in her face, because Teyla’s expression swiftly turned to concern. “I am sorry if it is inappropriate. I merely thought -”
“It’s not inappropriate.” There was no way Teyla could have known. “Thank you,” Elizabeth continued softly. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Teyla smiled again. “You are welcome.” She inclined her head slightly. “I will leave you to your work,” she said, and went, leaving Elizabeth alone with the box.
She stared at it for a while. She’d always felt like her biological clock had never ticked very loudly, and she’d never given much thought to having children until John had told her he couldn’t. Even then, she’d been too caught up in the heat of the moment to think seriously about it. She hadn’t lied later, in the forest on Rudras, when he’d asked her if that was the reason she didn’t want to be with him. She wanted to be with him despite it. That was what love was, she thought suddenly.
“You look like you’re trying to solve world hunger,” John’s voice jolted her from her contemplation. “But knowing you, you just might.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “You’re back.”
“I am back.”
“How was it?”
“Pretty cool. What’s in the box?”
“Teyla brought it. It’s for us.”
“For us?”
She nodded. “Teyla put it this way: it’s an Athosian charm for luck when starting a family.”
“I see.” He sat down, holding her gaze. “Okay.”
“Okay what?” she asked, confused.
“We are starting a family: you and me. We are a family of two.” He grinned his crooked grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling up.
Elizabeth felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. “Somehow you always know what to say.”
“Sitting in here worrying about it, weren’t you?”
“Yes.” Carefully, she lifted the lid from the box. Two carved pieces of wood, one clearly male and one clearly female, were tied together with sinew and feathers, decorated with small stone beads. It had the look of loving craftsmanship, and Elizabeth brushed a fingertip over the feathers before closing the box again. “So, the ship?”
“Lauk was really nervous about Rodney and me looking at it, which I thought was a little weird, since it’s supposed to be his bargaining chip.”
“That’s odd. But it checked out?”
“Yeah. It’s a transport ship, but we could modify it without too much trouble. Plus, it doesn’t take some crazy gene to fly.”
She crossed her arms and leaned back. “And he’s going to let us have it?”
“That, he was insistent about, which didn’t jive with being nervous about us looking at it.”
“Maybe there’s something in it he didn’t want you to find.”
“Now that I think about it, he did go into a compartment by himself for a few minutes.” He paused, frowning. “You’re thinking this isn’t what it seems.”
“I’m thinking the Rudrans kept a lot of information from us.”
“Like the rebels.”
“And the lack of concern they showed when the attack started during the banquet.” It hit her then, finally, suddenly. “It wasn’t a holiday. It was so that everyone who was supposed to survive did survive!”
John followed her line of thought, nodding. “But why keep us alive?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to lead them back here -” She stopped, her eyes meeting his, and they both ran for the gate room.
She saw Lauk first. “Stop him!” she shouted, and the Marines lunged for him. They struggled for something, and it slid across the floor to stop at Elizabeth’s feet. It was a detonator.
“The Ring is not for travel!” Lauk was shouting, his open robe revealing the explosive strapped to his chest. “It is for worship! To travel through is unnatural! It is unholy!”
He continued, and Elizabeth motioned to the guards. “Get it off him, then take him away.”
More Marines had arrived, and in seconds the vest had been stripped from him and carried away. Lauk kept shouting as he was dragged out of the room towards the brig.
“I guess Earth isn’t the only place with suicide bombers,” John murmured, and bent to carefully lift the detonator. “I’ll take care of this.”
She realized she was trembling. “Okay.”
“Why don’t you go to our quarters?” John suggested quietly. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
She nodded. “All right,” she called up to the crew members on the upper levels, looking over. “There’s nothing left to see here.”
Still sharing, she made her way to her rooms and sat down in one of the chairs. John came in a moment later. “It’s not everyday someone threatens to blow up our Stargate,” he said wryly.
“Don’t joke.”
“What do you want to do with him? Not what you will do, what you want to do.”
She looked up at him. “I want to let him rot somewhere dark. If we kill him, he’ll be a martyr.”
“And we’ll have been judge, jury, and executioner.”
She nodded.
“That’s what war is, Elizabeth.”
She let John pull her up out of the chair and into his embrace, his jacket warm underneath her palms. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, pressed against hers, and it calmed her. She took a deep breath and then let it out. “I guess we have a new enemy,” she said, and pressed her face against his neck.
“Not necessarily. They’ll try and find an easier target for their next attack - if there’s not another revolt first. Not to mention, the first Stargate they blew up was their own.” He slid his hands slowly up and down her back. “They’re not very smart when it comes to planning ops, from the looks of it.”
“You’re probably right.” She leaned back slightly and kissed him.
There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Elizabeth called, attempting to move back out of John’s embrace. He didn’t let her, and only smiled at her questioning look.
“Are you okay?” Rodney asked, Carson at his heels. “Oh, sorry. Are we interrupting?”
“No,” John answered. “And we’re fine.”
“I can’t believe he just tried to blow up our gate. I’d expect more from a scientist!”
“It’s possible he wasn’t really a scientist, Rodney,” Carson answered.
“Who knows who he really was,” Ronon added, coming up behind Rodney with Teyla at his side.
“I guess the gang’s all here,” John said to Elizabeth, keeping an arm around her waist. She leaned against him.
“You know I am all for dangerous situations, but could we please have a few days without some peril?” Rodney asked. “In the city, I mean. Off-world is okay because it’s much easier to escape. Usually.”
“Perhaps a few days to regroup and let people feel Atlantis is getting back to normal,” Teyla suggested. “After all, you were both gone much longer than we had expected, and this man came only a few days later.”
“I agree,” Rodney and Ronon said at the same time, and Elizabeth tried to hide her smile.
“It sounds like a plan to me.” John looked at her for confirmation.
“Me, too,” she said firmly.
“Now that it’s settled, can we please get some lunch? I’m starving.” Rodney pushed a protesting Carson towards the door. “Ronon, Teyla, you coming?”
And then the four of them were gone as quickly as they’d arrived. “I think Rodney did that on purpose,” John said wonderingly.
“He tried to hide it, but he can be a nice guy.”
“I’d have thrown him off the pier by now if he wasn’t.”
Elizabeth felt like she should say something serious, but she realized they’d said most of the serious things already, even if it hadn’t been out loud. She smiled and kissed him quickly. “We should get to the mess hall before all the good stuff is gone. Come on.”
“No worries, Dr. Weir,” she replied cheerfully. “I’ve seen worse. You and Colonel Sheppard are in remarkably good health for having had limited access to decent food for a few weeks. I’m going to give you a vitamin shot and you’ll be free to go.”
It was a little weird, after a month of calling each other only by their first names, to suddenly be the Doctor and the Colonel again, she thought as she made her way to the visitors’ quarters. Not to mention being on a spaceship after being outdoors for so long. But she was sure she’d stop missing it as soon as she took a shower and had a hot meal that hadn’t been cooked over a fire.
“Elizabeth!” John called from behind her, and she stopped to wait for him. He raised an eyebrow. “Want to share my shower?”
“God, yes.”
“Good.”
In his quarters, she stripped off the soiled clothes as quickly as she could. “You think Colonel Caldwell would object to me burning that?” she asked John. “Even the shoes?”
“There’s a chemical incinerator on this ship somewhere.”
“We’ll find it later. I can’t wait any longer to brush my teeth with actual toothpaste.”
In the tiny bathroom, she found everything she wanted in the miniscule medicine cabinet set into the wall. “I don’t think this is going to be enough soap,” she said doubtfully.
“You’re like a kid.” He turned on the shower, tested it, and then shoved her under the spray. She wet the toothbrush, squeezed on a large dollop of toothpaste and jammed it in her mouth with a sigh. John laughed. She handed him one of the shampoo packets and he ripped it open. “Turn around.”
She turned in the tiny space, and he squeezed the shampoo onto her head, and then started to work it into lather. “That feels great,” she mumbled around the toothbrush. His fingers dug into her scalp, massaging, and she groaned. It was heaven.
With slippery fingers, John worked out all the tension and knots in her neck then waited for her to spit out the mouthful of toothpaste before he aimed the spray at her head. Elizabeth handed him the toothbrush and started rinsing out her hair, watching him brush his teeth. He kissed her when he was done.
She opened another packet of shampoo and washed his hair. Or tried to, since he was more interested in necking as if they were teenagers. She laughed and shoved at his chest. “Wash,” she commanded, as he cupped her breasts in his soapy hands. “There’s not enough room in here for anything else, and the timer on the water is about to run out.” But it was difficult to ignore his erection pressing against her hip.
They hurried to rinse off before the shower automatically stopped, and Elizabeth had just reached for a towel when it did. John wiped the steam from the mirror. “Guess I should shave.”
“I kind of like the beard.”
“I’d leave it for you,” he said with a grin, “but Caldwell would kick my ass out the airlock.”
“You can shave later. I’m starving.” She rubbed her hair with the towel then reached around him for a comb.
“Food before sex?”
The intercom buzzed before she could answer, and they both groaned. Elizabeth went out into the main area, John trailing after her. She pushed the button. “This is Dr. Weir.”
“Dr. Weir, we have Atlantis on the line and they would like to speak with you.”
“I’ll be there in a moment.”
She dressed in a pair of the unisex one-size-fits-all fatigues and threw the other at a dejected-looking John. “I have to get dressed?” he asked.
“Yes. Don’t you want to talk to everyone?”
“Maybe,” he grumbled, but put the clothes on without complaining and followed her to the bridge. Halfway there, she realized neither of them were wore shoes. Caldwell would appreciate that, she was sure.
“Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard are here,” Caldwell said when they entered the bridge.
“Elizabeth, thank god,” came Rodney’s voice.
She saw John shove his hands in his pockets and scowl. “What, you’re not glad I’m alive, too?” he asked Rodney.
“Yes, of course. Everyone here is happy that neither of you died on that horrible planet. What happened?”
Elizabeth let John answer that one. “Crazy people blew up the Stargate,” he said, rocking back on his heels.
“They blew up.. but how… regular explosives- ”
“We won’t be going back to find out,” Elizabeth interrupted.
Rodney made flustered noises over the air until Teyla’s voice came through. “Should we assume your negotiations with the Rudrans have ended?”
“We never even got started. The same night we arrived, the rebels attacked the city.”
“We’ve spent the last month in the woods,” John added.
“There was no evidence of strife during our original reconnaissance mission,” Teyla said, concern in her voice. “In fact-”
She was cut off as something hit the Daedalus, sending people stumbling, all the alarms blaring. John caught her before she could fall into the console, an arm around her waist keeping her upright as Caldwell shouted for a report. “Someone fucking fired on us!” John shouted back. “You okay?” he asked Elizabeth in a quieter tone.
“I’m fine.”
“Primary systems all still online,” the lieutenant reported. “Minor structural damage but no hull breach.”
“Take us out of here,” Caldwell ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
“Why didn’t you say we were still in orbit around the planet?” John demanded.
“I was under orders not to.”
Shocked, Elizabeth asked, “Orders from whom?”
“After you filled me in on the situation down there, Stargate Command instructed me to retrieve what pieces I could of the destroyed Stargate.” Caldwell crossed his arms over his chest.
“What do they want with a blown-up Stargate?”
“The naquadah,” Elizabeth murmured.
“The naquadah,” Caldwell confirmed. “Not to mention the potential recovery of the explosive that destroyed the Stargate.”
“That would, in turn, allow us to destroy the last remaining Ori supergate.” It wasn't hard to guess.
Caldwell nodded. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have repairs to oversee.” It was a clear dismissal.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Elizabeth said to John, and pulled him from the bridge. “You’ve got to stop letting Caldwell get to you like that,” she whispered.
“The guy’s a jerk, Elizabeth.”
“But he does have the best interests of Earth at heart,” she replied, “not to mention he was under orders.”
John made a face. “Did you realize we’re not wearing shoes?”
“Yes. Look, we’ve been spoiled by the autonomy the IOA has given us the last two years, but the governments of all the representatives have changed.”
“They’re gonna start cracking down again?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“I don’t suppose we can get Colonel Caldwell to beam us back down to the planet?”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “That would ruin all your plans for getting me into bed.”
“True.”
They had reached the mess hall. Elizabeth picked a sandwich, a salad and a cup of green jello then sat down, tucking her cold feet up underneath her. John set a piece of cheesecake in front of her before tipping some of the potatoes off his plate onto hers. She looked up at him.
“I know you want it,” he said with a shrug, and sat down. “Here.” He held out a forkful of the cheesecake.
“You’re horrible.” She opened her mouth for the cake.
“And you love me anyway.”
She chewed and swallowed. “I do, you know.”
“That’s the cheesecake talking.” But he was grinning, and Elizabeth would have kissed him if they hadn’t been in the middle of the mess hall. Instead, she put her feet in his lap underneath the table. “See, that’s just mean,” he grumbled, and she laughed. “Promise me you’ll laugh more,” he said suddenly.
“What?”
“Laugh more.” He forked a jello cube into his mouth and said around it, “You’re always so serious in Atlantis.”
“I’m usually worrying that you and Rodney and Teyla and Ronon are getting yourselves into some bad situation,” she reminded him. “Because you usually are.”
“You got me there.”
She finished her sandwich and licked mayonnaise off her palm. John shifted and she caught his eye. “What?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“You drive me crazy. In more ways than one.”
“Finish your cheesecake.” Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. “Do you think we should tell people?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She didn’t hesitate.
“Really?” She nodded. He pushed back from the table and cleared off their trays. “Come on. I need socks.”
“Now that’s a good code phrase.”
He chuckled, but the look in his eyes made her flush, and they hurried through the corridors back to her quarters. Inside, she pulled the shirt over her head and shimmied out of the pants. John watched, his gaze dark and sending heat racing through her, and when she was naked Elizabeth palmed his erection through the fatigues.
He sucked in a breath and nuzzled at her neck. “It was probably a good idea that we didn’t do this when we were dirty,” he murmured in her ear, “but I really wanted to.”
Elizabeth tipped her head back, allowing him more access. "Me too," she murmured.
And then there was no noise beyond their breath. The bed was narrow but she didn't care. It was better than a cave. She ended up on top again, looking down at John, watching his hands skim over her body, light and possessive all at once. This man would kill for her, but he'd let people live as well if she asked.
*
It was past midnight when she woke up, and the Daedalus was quiet. Elizabeth knew there were people always working on a ship like this, but the job of the night crew was to get the ship through to the morning without too many command decisions.
Command decisions were noisy and messy, no matter how quietly the orders were issued. She’d learned this first-hand. Knowing she’d made choices that had resulted in people dying - even if people would have died anyway, no matter which side they were on - was an ache she carried with her every day, and one she knew she’d carry for the rest of her life.
Turning slightly, she looked at John. Even in sleep his face was not entirely peaceful; too many of the decisions he had thought he’d never get high enough in the military to have to make. She could name most of them, just as she could list each of hers.
What had they missed in a month away from the city, she wondered, what crises had fallen into Rodney and Teyla’s hands? Elizabeth knew they could handle anything that might have arisen, but the sudden thought struck her that this would have been the perfect time for the IOA to try and pull the rug out from under the expedition. Neither Rodney nor Teyla had mentioned anything, but their conversation had been cut short by the Rudran weapon. She wanted to be able to talk to them without any interruption, without anyone else besides John there, but it would have to wait until the Daedalus had docked.
“Elizabeth?” John mumbled, stirring. “Why are you up?”
“I was just thinking.” She settled back into his embrace.
He kissed her shoulder. “Thinking this late at night is the same as worrying.”
“I suppose,” she sighed, pulling the blanket higher.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Being on this ship is almost as bad as being back on that planet. We still can’t talk to Atlantis - this time it’s because someone is watching over our shoulders.”
“I hear you. You know, Caldwell is only a year from retirement but he still wants my job?”
“You have to admit he’s gotten better at hiding it.”
“Not when he and I are having a conversation alone,” John grumbled.
“But like you said, he’s only got a year left.”
John was quiet for a while. “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“When the expedition ends - for real, not some bogus Ancients kicking us out - you won’t cut yourself off from the rest of us - even if we’re not together then. I can’t listen to Rodney bitch about how you won’t return his calls again.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “I learned my lesson last time.”
“Good.”
*
“I should probably apologize for using your office while you were gone,” Rodney said, looking pained.
“I’m so glad to be back, I don’t care,” Elizabeth answered with a smile.
He returned it. “So uhm, you and Sheppard?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Well, to me, but I like to think I perceive things that other people don’t.”
Elizabeth forced herself not to laugh. “To answer your question: yes.”
“As long as he makes you happy,” Rodney said seriously then cleared his throat. “So. The Rudrans?”
“Left to their own political conflict.”
“And their Stargate?”
“The Daedalus is transporting several pieces of it back to Earth.”
“I suppose they’ll try to reverse-engineer the explosive that was used.”
“No doubt they will. Apparently the Ori are smaller in number, but they are still a significant threat.” She rested her chin on her hands. “I can’t believe this place was quiet for more than a week.”
“There was the small skirmish that Major Lorne’s team ran into on P79-213, but there were no serious injuries.”
“Good.” Elizabeth settled more comfortably into her chair.
“You think we could get a piece of the Stargate from the SGC? It could help with our power problem. We could run the city for years off a Mark IX.”
“I’ll let you fill out the requisition form,” she said dryly.
Rodney grumbled. “There won’t be anything left by the time Major Carter is done.”
The alarm made them both jump. “Unscheduled off-world activation!”
“No rest for the weary,” Elizabeth said, and got up.
“It’s an audio signal,” the on-duty tech told them.
“Put it through.”
“This is Lauk of Rudras. Dr. Weir, I hope that you are receiving this. I request asylum. Please. I have brought technology you may find useful.”
“Can we reply?” she asked.
“Go ahead, ma’m.”
“This is Dr. Weir. I thought your Stargate had been destroyed.”
“Immediately after I helped you and Colonel Sheppard to escape, I stole a small ship and flew it to the next closest planet with a Ring.”
“You stole a ship?” Rodney blurted.
“They are too busy with the rebellion to come after me.”
“What’s going on?” John asked, coming up the steps with Teyla behind him.
“Lauk - the Rudran who got us out of the city - is requesting asylum.”
“And he’s got a ship,” Rodney added.
Elizabeth looked at John. He nodded. “Lower the shield,” she ordered. “You may step through now, Lauk.”
He appeared a few seconds later, looking ill. “That was the first time I have traveled through the Ring of the Ancestors,” he said weakly.
“You get used to it,” John replied sharply. “Stand down,” he told the Marines.
Lauk looked around, realizing suddenly that there had been several P-90s pointed in his direction. “Dr. Weir?” he asked hesitantly, looking up at her.
“No one is going to harm you. However, we do require you submit to a medical exam.” She gestured to one of the Marines. “If you’d escort him to the medical bay, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“The guy looks terrified,” John said, when the Marine had led Lauk away and they had moved to the conference room.
“You think the Rudrans really aren’t too occupied with the rebels to come after him?”
“He stole an aircraft bigger than our Stargate, so it’s a fair bet they’ll come looking for him.” He looked at Rodney. “The long range sensors?”
“They’re clear for now. Couldn’t they try and gate in like this Lauk guy just did?”
“And when that fails, they’ll send a ship,” John answered.
Rodney turned to Elizabeth. “If I could get some of that naquadah, I could power the cloak and shield.”
“If they even know where to look,” she reminded him. Neither she nor John had mentioned the location of Atlantis to the Rudrans.
“Could they not find us using our Stargate address?” Teyla asked.
Rodney shrugged. “There was no evidence they had the kind of technology to do those equations when we were there.”
“There was also no evidence of a rebel group, and no evidence they were capable of space travel,” she reminded him.
John waved a hand to shut everyone up. “How about instead of debating, we ask Lauk? He is the Chief Scientific Advisor, after all.”
Rodney sat up straighter in his chair. “Really?”
John nodded. Elizabeth tapped her pen on the table. “He explained their power source to me,” she told Rodney. “Maybe that information could be of some use.”
“Sophisticated power source?”
“Some sort of chemical reaction. I have to admit I didn’t understand all of it.”
There was a knock on the door. It was Lauk and his Marine escort, who stationed himself outside the door when Elizabeth motioned for Lauk to enter the room.
He looked slightly less scared, his gray hair in disarray, but his hands still clutched nervously at his robes when he sat down. “I wish it did not have to be like this,” he said, looking at each of them in turn. “Thank you for allowing me into your home.”
“Explain to us what happened,” Elizabeth said gently. Underneath the table, John’s hand found hers.
“The government has been overthrown. The rebels were not only those who lived outside the city, but many inside. Siri himself held a gun to the head of the Chancellor. It was then that I took the Dravius and left.”
“The Dravius?”
“The ship. It remains on the planet I contacted you from.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. I’ll send a team to check out the ship. For now, you will be allowed to stay in our guest quarters. There will be a military guard with you at all times, for your own safety, and I’d like you to work with our engineering team. In time, we will find you a safe planet on which you can resettle. All right?”
“I cannot stay here?”
“This is an expedition base, and will not be staffed indefinitely,” she replied, sharper than she intended. “If you would go with Dr. McKay.”
She let go of John’s hand and stood, signaling that the discussion was over, and waited until Rodney had prodded Lauk out of the room.
“That went a lot quicker than I expected.” John leaned back in his chair and looked up at her.
“That man has risked a great deal to come here,” Teyla added.
“How may times have people risked their lives to bring us information and ended up putting Atlantis at even greater risk?” Elizabeth sat down again. “You both know I’m right.”
“You think this is gonna end badly.”
“It usually doesn’t go well,” she said with a sigh, and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m fine,” she said at their looks of concern. “Honestly.”
*
John took Lauk, Rodney, and a handful of Marines with him to the planet the ship was on. Elizabeth remained in her office, wanting desperately to go with and see the ship, but she had a mountain of paperwork. John promised he’d be back before sundown. They hadn’t spent a night apart since Rudras, and she was used to having him next to her in their bed. Their bed. He’d all but moved into her quarters, and they had stopped trying to hide his exits from her room after the fourth morning.
She’d been a little worried that bringing their relationship back to Atlantis would affect how they worked, but hardly anything was different. He treated her exactly the same as he had before, and she had found it remarkably easy to do the same.
“Elizabeth?” Teyla asked from the doorway.
“Come in.”
Teyla was carrying a small box. “If it is all right, I have something for you and John.”
“Of course it’s all right! It’s been five years, Teyla, you don’t have to ask.”
She set the box on the desk with a smile. “You should wait to open it, until you can open it together. That is the tradition.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. “What is it?”
“An Athosian charm, meant to bring luck to the starting of a family.”
A fertility charm. Something must have shown in her face, because Teyla’s expression swiftly turned to concern. “I am sorry if it is inappropriate. I merely thought -”
“It’s not inappropriate.” There was no way Teyla could have known. “Thank you,” Elizabeth continued softly. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Teyla smiled again. “You are welcome.” She inclined her head slightly. “I will leave you to your work,” she said, and went, leaving Elizabeth alone with the box.
She stared at it for a while. She’d always felt like her biological clock had never ticked very loudly, and she’d never given much thought to having children until John had told her he couldn’t. Even then, she’d been too caught up in the heat of the moment to think seriously about it. She hadn’t lied later, in the forest on Rudras, when he’d asked her if that was the reason she didn’t want to be with him. She wanted to be with him despite it. That was what love was, she thought suddenly.
“You look like you’re trying to solve world hunger,” John’s voice jolted her from her contemplation. “But knowing you, you just might.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “You’re back.”
“I am back.”
“How was it?”
“Pretty cool. What’s in the box?”
“Teyla brought it. It’s for us.”
“For us?”
She nodded. “Teyla put it this way: it’s an Athosian charm for luck when starting a family.”
“I see.” He sat down, holding her gaze. “Okay.”
“Okay what?” she asked, confused.
“We are starting a family: you and me. We are a family of two.” He grinned his crooked grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling up.
Elizabeth felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. “Somehow you always know what to say.”
“Sitting in here worrying about it, weren’t you?”
“Yes.” Carefully, she lifted the lid from the box. Two carved pieces of wood, one clearly male and one clearly female, were tied together with sinew and feathers, decorated with small stone beads. It had the look of loving craftsmanship, and Elizabeth brushed a fingertip over the feathers before closing the box again. “So, the ship?”
“Lauk was really nervous about Rodney and me looking at it, which I thought was a little weird, since it’s supposed to be his bargaining chip.”
“That’s odd. But it checked out?”
“Yeah. It’s a transport ship, but we could modify it without too much trouble. Plus, it doesn’t take some crazy gene to fly.”
She crossed her arms and leaned back. “And he’s going to let us have it?”
“That, he was insistent about, which didn’t jive with being nervous about us looking at it.”
“Maybe there’s something in it he didn’t want you to find.”
“Now that I think about it, he did go into a compartment by himself for a few minutes.” He paused, frowning. “You’re thinking this isn’t what it seems.”
“I’m thinking the Rudrans kept a lot of information from us.”
“Like the rebels.”
“And the lack of concern they showed when the attack started during the banquet.” It hit her then, finally, suddenly. “It wasn’t a holiday. It was so that everyone who was supposed to survive did survive!”
John followed her line of thought, nodding. “But why keep us alive?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to lead them back here -” She stopped, her eyes meeting his, and they both ran for the gate room.
She saw Lauk first. “Stop him!” she shouted, and the Marines lunged for him. They struggled for something, and it slid across the floor to stop at Elizabeth’s feet. It was a detonator.
“The Ring is not for travel!” Lauk was shouting, his open robe revealing the explosive strapped to his chest. “It is for worship! To travel through is unnatural! It is unholy!”
He continued, and Elizabeth motioned to the guards. “Get it off him, then take him away.”
More Marines had arrived, and in seconds the vest had been stripped from him and carried away. Lauk kept shouting as he was dragged out of the room towards the brig.
“I guess Earth isn’t the only place with suicide bombers,” John murmured, and bent to carefully lift the detonator. “I’ll take care of this.”
She realized she was trembling. “Okay.”
“Why don’t you go to our quarters?” John suggested quietly. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
She nodded. “All right,” she called up to the crew members on the upper levels, looking over. “There’s nothing left to see here.”
Still sharing, she made her way to her rooms and sat down in one of the chairs. John came in a moment later. “It’s not everyday someone threatens to blow up our Stargate,” he said wryly.
“Don’t joke.”
“What do you want to do with him? Not what you will do, what you want to do.”
She looked up at him. “I want to let him rot somewhere dark. If we kill him, he’ll be a martyr.”
“And we’ll have been judge, jury, and executioner.”
She nodded.
“That’s what war is, Elizabeth.”
She let John pull her up out of the chair and into his embrace, his jacket warm underneath her palms. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, pressed against hers, and it calmed her. She took a deep breath and then let it out. “I guess we have a new enemy,” she said, and pressed her face against his neck.
“Not necessarily. They’ll try and find an easier target for their next attack - if there’s not another revolt first. Not to mention, the first Stargate they blew up was their own.” He slid his hands slowly up and down her back. “They’re not very smart when it comes to planning ops, from the looks of it.”
“You’re probably right.” She leaned back slightly and kissed him.
There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Elizabeth called, attempting to move back out of John’s embrace. He didn’t let her, and only smiled at her questioning look.
“Are you okay?” Rodney asked, Carson at his heels. “Oh, sorry. Are we interrupting?”
“No,” John answered. “And we’re fine.”
“I can’t believe he just tried to blow up our gate. I’d expect more from a scientist!”
“It’s possible he wasn’t really a scientist, Rodney,” Carson answered.
“Who knows who he really was,” Ronon added, coming up behind Rodney with Teyla at his side.
“I guess the gang’s all here,” John said to Elizabeth, keeping an arm around her waist. She leaned against him.
“You know I am all for dangerous situations, but could we please have a few days without some peril?” Rodney asked. “In the city, I mean. Off-world is okay because it’s much easier to escape. Usually.”
“Perhaps a few days to regroup and let people feel Atlantis is getting back to normal,” Teyla suggested. “After all, you were both gone much longer than we had expected, and this man came only a few days later.”
“I agree,” Rodney and Ronon said at the same time, and Elizabeth tried to hide her smile.
“It sounds like a plan to me.” John looked at her for confirmation.
“Me, too,” she said firmly.
“Now that it’s settled, can we please get some lunch? I’m starving.” Rodney pushed a protesting Carson towards the door. “Ronon, Teyla, you coming?”
And then the four of them were gone as quickly as they’d arrived. “I think Rodney did that on purpose,” John said wonderingly.
“He tried to hide it, but he can be a nice guy.”
“I’d have thrown him off the pier by now if he wasn’t.”
Elizabeth felt like she should say something serious, but she realized they’d said most of the serious things already, even if it hadn’t been out loud. She smiled and kissed him quickly. “We should get to the mess hall before all the good stuff is gone. Come on.”