Finally
First off, I'd like to apologize to the three members of my flist who responded to the comment fic request meme I had up some time ago. I had started working on your fics then and got swamped by school soon after. Couple that with having a bit of trouble with one of them, it took a bit before I was able to finish them all. But thanks to some advice from havocthecat, the problem was straightened out with one of the fics and now they're done.
Six months after the end of the Lantean Grace series ends. For havocthecat.
Atlantis hummed beneath her touch. A single thought from her caused a multitude of things to happen. Systems long hidden came to life for the first time in millennia. Parts of the database that had been heavily encrypted were opened for all eyes to see. Methods of ZPM conservation previously unknown were put into effect.
Elizabeth had asked John what it was like in the chair the first time he had used it, but he had no real answers.
“I wasn’t even aware of it, really,” he’d told her. “Remember? McKay told me picture Earth’s place in the solar system, and it just appeared?”
It had taken a moment, but eventually Elizabeth had remembered. She recalled seeing a then-unfamiliar Air Force pilot sitting in the drone chair on Earth, looking utterly bewildered. That image, like so many others before she had Ascended, was still very distant and fuzzy, something that often frustrated her to no end.
Still, Elizabeth knew she had changed. Carson’s examinations had confirmed her own instincts. She now had the Ancient gene. Not as strong as John’s or General O’Neill’s, which were the strongest on record, but concentrated enough that she didn’t do something dangerous like firing off a drone.
Honestly, she loved sitting in the control chair, opening her mind to the city. It was almost intoxicating, he sensation of being everywhere while at the same time staying right there in that small room. Also, it was one of the few times she felt like she was doing something useful, that she was completing part of a plan. Often the rest of the time, she felt incredibly restless, like there was something of the utmost importance that she should be working on and her body literally ached to get to it.
She didn’t stay there all the time. Even though Elizabeth was learning quickly to navigate the various systems of the city, it was often exhausting. John always seemed to know when she her body grew too tired, and was always there to turn it off and tell her to leave it.
Like now.
Elizabeth opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and she automatically reached up to rub her eyes. She blinked and then looked up at John, who stood in front of her with an expression of both frustration and amusement.
“Five hours is enough, Elizabeth,” he told her. “It isn’t going anywhere. Besides, I think you’ve unleashed enough surprises on McKay and Zelenka for one day.” He grinned. “You’ll give them a heart attack if you show them much more.”
She smiled at him and took his hand when he held it out to her. It was a familiar gesture, one he’d been using ever since he took her hand and led her through the Stargate, leaving Sir Eldred and his people behind. John had been by her side through everything, the debriefings with the IOA, the incessant questions from Daniel Jackson (though admittedly, Vala Mal Doran had also been a comfort, especially when she amusedly stopped Daniel from making the session last the entire night), and the repeated medical tests.
“Come on,” John said. “Let’s go get dinner. I know a great place around here.”
“The mess hall?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I’m sure there’s some fancy French name we could give it, but languages aren’t my thing.”
Elizabeth laughed as he tugged her out the door. Her life from before was still fuzzy, but honestly, this life wasn’t so bad. And she had a feeling that many other good things were still to come as she grew more and more accustomed to it.
The morning after the Brendan/Elizabeth ficlet . For vickysg1.
Elizabeth woke to the sound of the shower starting up. Disinclined to move too much, she looked over at the clock on the table.
7:43 A.M.
She groaned and rolled onto her side, burying her face into the other pillow. She didn’t want to get up. She didn’t want to go deal with irate ambassadors and other officials. It was perfectly fine right here in this hotel room. She had a comfortable bed, room service just a phone call away.
Oh, and a gorgeous NSA agent currently using her shower. He trumped everything.
Elizabeth didn’t usually think like this. She was dedicated to her work, she had to be to do what she did. But these past few days, when she wasn’t in session she was still able to enjoy herself. Brendan had become quite good at distracting her.
She was leaving in two days. She shouldn’t be this attached after just two weeks.
Elizabeth sighed and pushed the unpleasant feeling in her stomach away. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it. Forcing herself out of bed, she looked around for her robe. It took several moments, but she finally spotted it lying in the corner, no doubt thrown there carelessly the night before.
She took a step toward it, but stopped, looking at the bathroom door. It had been left slightly open and small shaft of light poured into the darkened room, revealing the fogged-up mirror inside.
A mischievous thought entered into her mind and Elizabeth moved toward the bathroom. Today’s session didn’t start until eleven, she reminded herself, and room service wasn’t due to bring breakfast up until nine. Plenty of time to get a shower.
And what better way to conserve water than to join the shower’s current occupant?
She opened the door and stepped inside, calling out quietly, “Brendan?”
Elizabeth didn’t miss the brief silence before he replied, “Yeah?”
“Have room for one more in there?”
This time his answer was precipitated by a small laugh. “Should I take that as a request, or an invitation, Doctor?”
She smirked and reached out to open the shower curtain. “Both?” she asked.
Brendan didn’t say anything after that, but when she saw his own grin, Elizabeth figured that was more than enough and she stepped inside.
First time of A Moment In Between. For hariboo_smirks.
The first time it had happened hadn’t been romantic by any means. Elizabeth was pretty sure they’d both been inebriated. Jack had been in Colorado during the meetings set to update the expedition on the situation with the Ori, and after a particularly trying session had invited her over to his place for dinner.
“You need to get out of the mountain,” Jack had said. “This place can get depressing if you don’t get out at least once while you’re here. Come out and have a little fun.”
For lack of any other plans, Elizabeth had agreed. She was only going to be on Earth for another day or two, so leaving Colorado Springs to visit her mother in Maine was too inefficient. Better to just stay and restrict everything to phone conversations.
The weather was warm that day and when Elizabeth pulled up to Jack’s house in the car that the SGC provided for her, she saw the smoke rising up from the back of the house. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Jack O’Neill’s cookouts were common gossip in Cheyenne Mountain and she’d heard the stories even with her limited amount of time there. After shutting the car off, she strolled around the house and toward the deck.
Jack must have noticed her approach out of the corner of his eye because he looked up from the smoking grill in front of him and grinned at her. “Hey,” he said by way of greeting, “you’re just in time. Salad’s in the fridge, the rice’s on the stove. Just got to finish these steaks.”
Elizabeth nodded as she walked up the steps to look at him. Glancing at the grill, she immediately caught sight of a beer bottle sitting next to the tongs. At that point, Jack started reaching for it. Impulsively, Elizabeth shot her hand out and pulled it away just before he could take it.
“Hey, what-” Jack started to protest. He stopped abruptly, watching her take a long swig of the bottle.
After a moment, Elizabeth took the bottle away from her mouth and smirked at him. “Not bad,” she commented.
Jack stared at her, then at the bottle. “That was for the steaks,” he complained.
Elizabeth laughed. “You wanted me to have fun, didn’t you?”
He pouted, but didn’t protest further. Once the steaks were finished cooking, Jack took them off the grill and put them on a plate before leading the way into the house.
Dinner was… fun. Jack refused to discuss anything related to the current meetings at the SGC and instead regaled her with stories of his antics in Washington. It looked like Jack O’Neill had set the Pentagon on its head.
Taking a sip from her second beer, Elizabeth eyed him and asked, “And just what do your fellow generals and superiors have to say about all of this? I doubt they approve of you dragging them out to play a round of golf out of the blue.”
He just shrugged innocently. “They don’t complain to my face. I think they just bitch and moan to George, who tells them to get used to it. I’m Mr. Spontaneity around that place.” He straightened in his chair, attempting what he thought was a perky grin.
Elizabeth just shook her head and tried not to snicker too loudly. Inwardly, she was rather surprised at herself. She hadn’t felt this… free, she supposed, in years. Certainly before she’d taken the position at Georgetown, before a fateful meeting with the President of the United States where he told her that, yes, aliens did exist.
She didn’t know why she felt like she could let go in front of Jack O’Neill. Maybe it was the beer, maybe the company. Elizabeth shrugged inwardly. Best not to question it, she decided.
After dinner, Jack handed her a third beer and taking one himself before her into his living room. He insisted on watching some movie about a married couple living secret lives and trying to kill each other. Elizabeth confessed that she couldn’t concentrate on it too much. She was too busy being distracted by the man sitting next to her.
He kept taking an occasional swig of his beer, which would leave a little bit of the drink on his lips. Then his tongue would slip out to wipe it away quickly and disappear back into his mouth. For some reason, Elizabeth found it fascinating.
Elizabeth would always claim that the alcohol made her do what she did next. When Jack repeated the process yet again of drinking his beer and licking away the residue, Elizabeth leaned toward him suddenly and pressed her lips against his and his tongue. She felt Jack stiffen slightly, but then he quickly relaxed. She heard the bottle knock against the stand next to the couch, and then Jack’s hands came to rest on her waist. He didn’t push her away or pull her closer, just held her there.
When she pulled back after several moments, she met his eyes. He stared back at her, almost curiously. “Whatcha doin’?” he asked quietly.
Elizabeth smirked and leaned closer. “Having fun,” she said just before she kissed him again.
Things progressed from there, and in the morning, she found that the only thing she regretted was the headache that came with the hangover.
Six months after the end of the Lantean Grace series ends. For havocthecat.
Atlantis hummed beneath her touch. A single thought from her caused a multitude of things to happen. Systems long hidden came to life for the first time in millennia. Parts of the database that had been heavily encrypted were opened for all eyes to see. Methods of ZPM conservation previously unknown were put into effect.
Elizabeth had asked John what it was like in the chair the first time he had used it, but he had no real answers.
“I wasn’t even aware of it, really,” he’d told her. “Remember? McKay told me picture Earth’s place in the solar system, and it just appeared?”
It had taken a moment, but eventually Elizabeth had remembered. She recalled seeing a then-unfamiliar Air Force pilot sitting in the drone chair on Earth, looking utterly bewildered. That image, like so many others before she had Ascended, was still very distant and fuzzy, something that often frustrated her to no end.
Still, Elizabeth knew she had changed. Carson’s examinations had confirmed her own instincts. She now had the Ancient gene. Not as strong as John’s or General O’Neill’s, which were the strongest on record, but concentrated enough that she didn’t do something dangerous like firing off a drone.
Honestly, she loved sitting in the control chair, opening her mind to the city. It was almost intoxicating, he sensation of being everywhere while at the same time staying right there in that small room. Also, it was one of the few times she felt like she was doing something useful, that she was completing part of a plan. Often the rest of the time, she felt incredibly restless, like there was something of the utmost importance that she should be working on and her body literally ached to get to it.
She didn’t stay there all the time. Even though Elizabeth was learning quickly to navigate the various systems of the city, it was often exhausting. John always seemed to know when she her body grew too tired, and was always there to turn it off and tell her to leave it.
Like now.
Elizabeth opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and she automatically reached up to rub her eyes. She blinked and then looked up at John, who stood in front of her with an expression of both frustration and amusement.
“Five hours is enough, Elizabeth,” he told her. “It isn’t going anywhere. Besides, I think you’ve unleashed enough surprises on McKay and Zelenka for one day.” He grinned. “You’ll give them a heart attack if you show them much more.”
She smiled at him and took his hand when he held it out to her. It was a familiar gesture, one he’d been using ever since he took her hand and led her through the Stargate, leaving Sir Eldred and his people behind. John had been by her side through everything, the debriefings with the IOA, the incessant questions from Daniel Jackson (though admittedly, Vala Mal Doran had also been a comfort, especially when she amusedly stopped Daniel from making the session last the entire night), and the repeated medical tests.
“Come on,” John said. “Let’s go get dinner. I know a great place around here.”
“The mess hall?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I’m sure there’s some fancy French name we could give it, but languages aren’t my thing.”
Elizabeth laughed as he tugged her out the door. Her life from before was still fuzzy, but honestly, this life wasn’t so bad. And she had a feeling that many other good things were still to come as she grew more and more accustomed to it.
The morning after the Brendan/Elizabeth ficlet . For vickysg1.
Elizabeth woke to the sound of the shower starting up. Disinclined to move too much, she looked over at the clock on the table.
7:43 A.M.
She groaned and rolled onto her side, burying her face into the other pillow. She didn’t want to get up. She didn’t want to go deal with irate ambassadors and other officials. It was perfectly fine right here in this hotel room. She had a comfortable bed, room service just a phone call away.
Oh, and a gorgeous NSA agent currently using her shower. He trumped everything.
Elizabeth didn’t usually think like this. She was dedicated to her work, she had to be to do what she did. But these past few days, when she wasn’t in session she was still able to enjoy herself. Brendan had become quite good at distracting her.
She was leaving in two days. She shouldn’t be this attached after just two weeks.
Elizabeth sighed and pushed the unpleasant feeling in her stomach away. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it. Forcing herself out of bed, she looked around for her robe. It took several moments, but she finally spotted it lying in the corner, no doubt thrown there carelessly the night before.
She took a step toward it, but stopped, looking at the bathroom door. It had been left slightly open and small shaft of light poured into the darkened room, revealing the fogged-up mirror inside.
A mischievous thought entered into her mind and Elizabeth moved toward the bathroom. Today’s session didn’t start until eleven, she reminded herself, and room service wasn’t due to bring breakfast up until nine. Plenty of time to get a shower.
And what better way to conserve water than to join the shower’s current occupant?
She opened the door and stepped inside, calling out quietly, “Brendan?”
Elizabeth didn’t miss the brief silence before he replied, “Yeah?”
“Have room for one more in there?”
This time his answer was precipitated by a small laugh. “Should I take that as a request, or an invitation, Doctor?”
She smirked and reached out to open the shower curtain. “Both?” she asked.
Brendan didn’t say anything after that, but when she saw his own grin, Elizabeth figured that was more than enough and she stepped inside.
First time of A Moment In Between. For hariboo_smirks.
The first time it had happened hadn’t been romantic by any means. Elizabeth was pretty sure they’d both been inebriated. Jack had been in Colorado during the meetings set to update the expedition on the situation with the Ori, and after a particularly trying session had invited her over to his place for dinner.
“You need to get out of the mountain,” Jack had said. “This place can get depressing if you don’t get out at least once while you’re here. Come out and have a little fun.”
For lack of any other plans, Elizabeth had agreed. She was only going to be on Earth for another day or two, so leaving Colorado Springs to visit her mother in Maine was too inefficient. Better to just stay and restrict everything to phone conversations.
The weather was warm that day and when Elizabeth pulled up to Jack’s house in the car that the SGC provided for her, she saw the smoke rising up from the back of the house. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Jack O’Neill’s cookouts were common gossip in Cheyenne Mountain and she’d heard the stories even with her limited amount of time there. After shutting the car off, she strolled around the house and toward the deck.
Jack must have noticed her approach out of the corner of his eye because he looked up from the smoking grill in front of him and grinned at her. “Hey,” he said by way of greeting, “you’re just in time. Salad’s in the fridge, the rice’s on the stove. Just got to finish these steaks.”
Elizabeth nodded as she walked up the steps to look at him. Glancing at the grill, she immediately caught sight of a beer bottle sitting next to the tongs. At that point, Jack started reaching for it. Impulsively, Elizabeth shot her hand out and pulled it away just before he could take it.
“Hey, what-” Jack started to protest. He stopped abruptly, watching her take a long swig of the bottle.
After a moment, Elizabeth took the bottle away from her mouth and smirked at him. “Not bad,” she commented.
Jack stared at her, then at the bottle. “That was for the steaks,” he complained.
Elizabeth laughed. “You wanted me to have fun, didn’t you?”
He pouted, but didn’t protest further. Once the steaks were finished cooking, Jack took them off the grill and put them on a plate before leading the way into the house.
Dinner was… fun. Jack refused to discuss anything related to the current meetings at the SGC and instead regaled her with stories of his antics in Washington. It looked like Jack O’Neill had set the Pentagon on its head.
Taking a sip from her second beer, Elizabeth eyed him and asked, “And just what do your fellow generals and superiors have to say about all of this? I doubt they approve of you dragging them out to play a round of golf out of the blue.”
He just shrugged innocently. “They don’t complain to my face. I think they just bitch and moan to George, who tells them to get used to it. I’m Mr. Spontaneity around that place.” He straightened in his chair, attempting what he thought was a perky grin.
Elizabeth just shook her head and tried not to snicker too loudly. Inwardly, she was rather surprised at herself. She hadn’t felt this… free, she supposed, in years. Certainly before she’d taken the position at Georgetown, before a fateful meeting with the President of the United States where he told her that, yes, aliens did exist.
She didn’t know why she felt like she could let go in front of Jack O’Neill. Maybe it was the beer, maybe the company. Elizabeth shrugged inwardly. Best not to question it, she decided.
After dinner, Jack handed her a third beer and taking one himself before her into his living room. He insisted on watching some movie about a married couple living secret lives and trying to kill each other. Elizabeth confessed that she couldn’t concentrate on it too much. She was too busy being distracted by the man sitting next to her.
He kept taking an occasional swig of his beer, which would leave a little bit of the drink on his lips. Then his tongue would slip out to wipe it away quickly and disappear back into his mouth. For some reason, Elizabeth found it fascinating.
Elizabeth would always claim that the alcohol made her do what she did next. When Jack repeated the process yet again of drinking his beer and licking away the residue, Elizabeth leaned toward him suddenly and pressed her lips against his and his tongue. She felt Jack stiffen slightly, but then he quickly relaxed. She heard the bottle knock against the stand next to the couch, and then Jack’s hands came to rest on her waist. He didn’t push her away or pull her closer, just held her there.
When she pulled back after several moments, she met his eyes. He stared back at her, almost curiously. “Whatcha doin’?” he asked quietly.
Elizabeth smirked and leaned closer. “Having fun,” she said just before she kissed him again.
Things progressed from there, and in the morning, she found that the only thing she regretted was the headache that came with the hangover.