Orpheus - Chapter 2
I’ve been bad in updating. Shame on me *hangs head* And fancy that I start having time to update just when I’m about to go on vacation. I'm so bad at updating mostly because I’m lazy evil and like to keep being hanging.
For those still waiting on Chapter 3, I’m sorry don’t kill me I’ll have it up before I leave for vacation. I promise. I just need to do a few more edits and I can post it.
P.S. I haven’t forgotten about Vsaj_online. It’s just that every time I open the Word file, my brain stops working. *sobs*
P.P.S. Thanks to Mizz_magenta my beta, who I'm going to see next week. Squee!
Chapter 2
The familiar noise of beeping machines filled John’s head as he opened his eyes a slit and saw Doctor Carson Beckett standing at the foot of his bed glancing over a chart. John languidly turned his head to one side and found the bed next to him was empty. He looked to the other side and found that bed empty as well.
“Colonel, it’s good to see you conscious again,” the Scottish man said with a smile.
“Where’s Elizabeth?” John asked groggily.
“Who?”
“Doctor Weir.”
“I’m sorry, who?”
“Doctor Elizabeth Weir,” he repeated enunciating each word. “You know, curly brown hair, green eyes, leader of the Atlantis expedition, our boss.”
“You must’ve hit your head harder than I thought,” Carson frowned.
“What are you talking about?” John copied Carson’s frown. Then he smiled and let out a nervous chuckle. “I get it. This is a joke. You guys almost got me there.” He shook his finger at Carson. “Rodney!” John yelled.
“Colonel, please, I suggest you try not to strain yourself.”
“Come on, Carson, I’m fine,” he insisted. “Joke is up. Where’s Rodney?”
“Rodney isn’t here. He’s in his lab. Now I suggest you get some more rest,” Carson said calmly.
“Carson, I’m fine. Just release me now,” he said and attempted to sit up on the infirmary bed.
“I don’t think so, Colonel.” Carson gently pushed him on the shoulder to lie back down. “A minute ago, you were babbling about a Doctor Weir. I don’t think you are quite yourself yet. Also I promised Colonel Caldwell I wouldn’t release you until he ordered me to.”
“Caldwell? When did you start taking orders from Caldwell?”
“What do you mean, Colonel? Colonel Caldwell has been leading the Atlantis expedition team since the beginning,” Carson said and furrowed his eyebrows, “or have you forgotten?”
“No, Elizabeth has been leading the Atlantis expedition from the beginning. Caldwell is in charge of the Daedalus. I don’t doubt that he would have loved to have Elizabeth’s job, but-”
“Who’s Elizabeth?” Rodney suddenly appeared standing next to Carson and munching on a Power bar. “I see that Sleeping Beauty is awake.”
“Okay guys, the joke was funny the first five seconds, but now this is just not cool,” John said resentfully.
“What are you talking about, Sheppard?”
“All this pretending that you guys don’t know who Elizabeth is,” John replied crossing his arms over his chest.
“Elizabeth?” Rodney looked at John. “Elizabeth what?”
“Elizabeth Weir. Doctor Elizabeth Weir,” John repeated.
“Is she an ex-girlfriend? Because you know, sometimes trauma to the head can cause one to remember some random things in the past. Once I-”
“No,” John said irritated. “She’s not an ex-girlfriend. She is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, a well-known diplomat from Earth, leader of this expedition team, and your boss!” By now he was thoroughly frustrated. “Is this payback for when I called you crazy when Cadman was in your head?”
Rodney gave John a blank look and looked at Carson. “What’s up with him?”
“I think we should let the Colonel rest,” Carson began.
“Look, there is nothing wrong with me,” John insisted. “Something is wrong with you guys for still keeping up with this sick joke. What are you doing?” John glared at Carson as he saw him inject a sedative into a tube.
“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Carson apologized. “You’re probably just stressed out. You need more rest.”
“No, what I need is for you guys to stop screwing with me,” John muttered, feeling the effects of sedative spread into his blood stream. He tried to fight the medication, but eyes quickly became heavy and closed.
“What’s wrong with him, Doctor?” Colonel Steven Caldwell asked, leaning back in his chair. He glanced out his office window that overlooked the gateroom before returning his attention to Carson.
“There is nothing physically wrong with him, sir. It’s just that he keeps talking about this woman, Elizabeth Weir,” Carson said, his face marked with concern.
“What do you mean by ‘talking about’?” Caldwell asked.
“He keeps asking us where she is, and he thinks that we’re playing a sick joke on him by pretending that she doesn’t exist,” he explained.
“Who is this Elizabeth Weir supposed to be?”
“According to Colonel Sheppard, she is the civilian leader of this Atlantis expedition.”
“Humph.” Caldwell knew that John didn’t like him much for various reasons, and if it were not for the gifts of his Ancient gene, Caldwell would rather have John back on Earth, and as far away from him as possible.
“Are you saying that he’s gone crazy?”
“He doesn’t sound crazy. It’s the fact that he is convinced that this woman is real that is disturbing.”
Caldwell let out a sigh. “Doctor, I want to see this for myself.”
“Suit yourself, Colonel,” Carson shrugged. “The sedative that I gave him should be wearing off by now. Hopefully, the couple hours of rest helped clear his mind.”
Teyla stood next to Ronon as they watched John sit up on his bed in the infirmary.
“Colonel, it’s not that we do not believe you, but we truly do not know this Doctor Weir that you speak of,” Teyla assured John.
Ronon only crossed his arms and shrugged in agreement.
“And I do not believe Doctor McKay would be so cruel as to play a joke such as this. Especially after you have been injured,” she added.
John furrowed his eyebrows. Teyla did have a point. Rodney could be a complete pain, but he usually wouldn’t kick a man when he’s down... too much. Still, this whole situation was not making any sense.
He couldn’t have dreamt up Elizabeth for the past year. He was positive she was real. He remembered talking to her, touching her, smiling and laughing with her, arguing with her, watching her... All of these things could not only have been a very real, very vivid dream. Could they?
John sat up in his bed when he saw Caldwell enter the infirmary followed by Carson.
“Colonel,” Caldwell greeted John with a nod.
“Colonel,” John replied.
“I’m glad to see you are looking well,” Caldwell said stopping on the other side of the bed.
“I’m sure Doctor Beckett already told you of my affliction,” John said bitterly and looked away.
“Yes, he has,” Caldwell said scrutinizing John. “You say that this Doctor Weir was a well-known diplomat on earth, and also the civilian leader of this expedition team?”
“Yes,” John said, not making eye contact with anyone. This conversation with Colonel Caldwell was another dead end. Elizabeth, apparently, did not exist here, and he could not understand why.
“Colonel, what exactly happened at M5G-382?” Caldwell asked.
“We were on our way to the village at M5G-382 for a meeting with their leader,” he began to explain.
“Who do you mean by ‘we’?” Caldwell interrupted.
“We, as in Major Lorne, his team, my team, and Doctor Weir. May I continue, sir?”
“Please.”
“We were on our way to the village when a bunch of Wraith came out of nowhere and ambushed us. I told Elizabeth to run into the forest for protection, and I followed her. After killing several Wraith that followed our trail, we found that there was something disrupting our radio signals. While searching for the source of the disruption, we stumbled upon a cemetery. We found a device that was emitting some sort of energy and disrupting the radio signals. It was some weird glowing crystal ball or something.” He held his hands out in a gesture to show the approximate size of the orb. “Anyways, I disabled it. Next thing I knew there were more Wraith outside. I left Elizabeth in the building to engage the Wraith as we waited for Major Lorne to bring us back up. The last thing I remember was a very bright light and something knocking me over.”
John observed the expression on each person standing around his bed.
Caldwell crossed his arms over his chest. “Your story pretty much correlates with everyone else.”
“Except for the part about Elizabeth,” John said with restrained frustration.
“Yes,” Caldwell sighed. “Major Lorne says that he found you unconscious near some old ruins, but he didn’t find anyone near the building other than a dead Wraith outside and another one inside.”
“There was another Wraith inside?” John tried to remember if he heard any gunshots after he exited the building, but nothing came to mind. If the Wraith was dead, he assumed that Elizabeth must have killed it. He knew she was capable of it, when she was put in the position, but that did not explain what happened to her. “Then we have to go back and find out what that glowing ball does.”
“Colonel, we’ve already been through the area and gathered all the data that we could from the ruins,” Caldwell said. “And we’ve come up with nothing, other than more cryptic riddles. And our mission here is not to solve Ancient puzzles.”
“I’m sure that thing is the reason that everyone has lost their memories about Elizabeth,” John said; ready to get out of bed.
Caldwell held out a hand to stop John. “Colonel, as of this moment, I am relieving you of active duty. I suggest you go see Doctor Heightmeyer and take a couple days off to rest.”
“Sir, I don’t-” John stopped abruptly when he saw the stern look on Caldwell’s face.
“That is an order, Colonel.”
“Yes, sir,” John sighed in defeat.
Doctor Kate Heightmeyer sat patiently as she watched the tousled haired Colonel slouching in the chair across from her. Most of her patients in Atlantis were always hesitant when they came to speak to her, especially when they were accused of being crazy or delusional.
“Look, Doctor,” John began, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his lap. “I know you are good at what you do, and we both know that I don’t want to be here. So how do you know that I won’t just tell you what you want to hear just so you’d sign me off as sane?”
Kate smiled. “First of, Colonel, no one is labeling you as insane,” she said in her soft voice.
“You’re not the one on the receiving end of the weird looks lately,” John muttered and slumped back into the chair.
“I’m here to help understand why this memory of Elizabeth is so strong for you,” she assured him. “So tell me about Elizabeth. What does she look like? Who is she? How did you meet her? What did she do? Anything you can think of.”
John licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s the point? Like everyone else, you’re not going to believe me.”
“Humor me, please.” She gestured for him to continue.
“The first time I met Elizabeth was when I flew General O’Neill down to Antarctica. She’s a slender beautiful woman, with curly brown hair, green eyes, well-read, great speaker and leader, strong, very understanding, very amiable, and a good friend. As for who she is and what she does, she is a world-renowned diplomat on Earth, which is why the United States President handpicked her to be the leader of this expedition team. Also because she is the leader of this expedition team, everyone, including you, knows her.”
Kate knitted her eyebrows together as she thought of another question. “If she is such a public figure, why is it that no one can remember who she is?”
“I don’t know,” John said exasperated. “It’s like everyone’s memory of her has been wiped out, like she never existed.”
“Was there some sort of relationship between you and Elizabeth?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes, she’s my boss and my friend.”
“Apparently, from your account, she is everyone’s boss and friend here in Atlantis.”
“Yes,” he said warily.
“Could it be possible that you have stronger feelings for her than others here?”
“What do you mean?” John said defensively.
“What I mean is that, could it be possible that because you have stronger feelings for her that these memories that you’ve retained of her are stronger than everyone else?” she asked rewording her question.
“The thing is no one has any recollection of her. She doesn’t exist!”
Kate observed John’s reaction to her questions. He was clearly agitated by the lack of explanations for the situation. She sensed that there must have been something between John and this woman for him to be so troubled.
“Would you die for her?” she suddenly asked.
“Of course, I would,” he said without a second thought. “As I would for anyone else on this team,” he added. “It’s my job.”
“Yes,” Kate agreed. “You have proved yourself many times, Colonel, and I’m very grateful for that. I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for your bravery.”
“You’re welcome, but I have a feeling my past bravery isn’t going to get me out of this.”
She shook her head. “You can imagine how it this looks to us.”
“I try not to,” he sighed. “It just makes me feel worse.”
Kate sighed at her helplessness. “I know you are probably sick of hearing this, but maybe some rest will do you good.”
“Personally, I feel that finding out what happened to Elizabeth would do me much better. Thanks for the advice, doc,” John said and left psychologist’s office.
The sound of the rushing waves and the twinkling stars seemed like the only normal occurrence to John as he stood on the balcony outside of the control room.
After his meeting with Doctor Heightmeyer, he spent most of the day trying to find evidence that Elizabeth was, in fact, in Atlantis and only missing. But his search turned up fruitless. There was no trace of Elizabeth anywhere. He read all the past mission reports, and found nothing that mentioned Elizabeth. Even in his own mission reports, he couldn’t find any mention of Elizabeth. It was as if he was reading a mission report written by himself, but at the same time not himself. They didn’t look like they were tampered with or edited. They just looked... different.
When he stopped by Elizabeth’s office out of habit, the Athonsian jar he gave her for her birthday was gone. He even stopped by her room to find that her room was Caldwell’s room. It was as if the missing puzzle piece that was Elizabeth was neatly replaced by another piece, but that piece didn't fit quite right to him.
Other than having Caldwell in charge and everything leaning towards a military point of view, everything else seemed pretty much the same.
He leaned on one of the beams on the balcony and remembered the time when she leaned on the exact same spot on her first birthday in Atlantis before he gave her a birthday gift. He remembered the first time they came out to this balcony and had their first dispute on whether he should go on a half-assed rescue mission. He thought about the many times that they usually ended up standing out here together to converse about things that were bothering them or just to get a breath of fresh air.
Sometimes when Elizabeth was out on the balcony alone contemplating, he would stand by the door and watch her and wonder what went through her mind. Leading a group of people to another galaxy in search of knowledge and technology wasn’t an easy task. It also didn’t help that she was forced to face evil life sucking aliens and the powers that be back on Earth. But John knew that she was a strong woman. Her strength had won his respect and admiration and possibly even more.
John turned his head when he heard the door to the balcony slide open, half-hoping that Elizabeth would come through. Instead, his Athosian teammate entered.
“Hello, Teyla,” he said and returned his gaze out into the night horizon.
“Colonel Sheppard, it is quite late. Did Doctor Beckett not say that you must rest?” Teyla asked.
“I’m too restless for sleep. I just feel like I need to do something to keep my mind off things.”
“Would you like to spar with me? That would keep your mind off things,” she offered.
He looked at the petite Athosian woman. “No, thank you, Teyla. I’m restless, but I don’t think getting my ass kicked is what I had in mind.”
Teyla smiled and place her hands on the railings of the balcony and looked at John, “May I ask what you are reflecting about, Colonel?”
John glanced at Teyla. He wasn’t sure how she would react if he started talking about Elizabeth. At least she wouldn’t mock him about it like a certain astrophysicist.
“I was thinking about how Elizabeth would come out here to think when something was bothering her, and the times I’d come out here to talk to her.”
“I see,” Teyla said with some disappointment. “What did you talk about?”
“We’d talk about work and stuff and Earth. You know, stuff like that. She was always a good listener.” He smiled to himself as he remembered the way she smiled at his corny jokes.
“I am here to listen if you wish to talk, Colonel.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It just bothers me that I can’t find any trace of her. Nothing. I’ve looked at everything, and I can’t find any physical evidence of her ever being here or anywhere.”
“Is it possible that Doctor Weir does not indeed exist?” she asked very cautiously.
John glared at Teyla. “No, Elizabeth exists. I refuse to believe that the last two years of my life have all been a dream.”
“Your presence here in the Pegasus Galaxy is enough proof that your life was not a dream," she assured him. "It is only the presence of this Doctor Weir in these situations you describe that seem... out of place.”
“Are you suggesting that I might have dreamed up Elizabeth and gone Schizoid too?” he snapped.
Teyla looked at him in confusion.
“I’m sorry, Teyla. I didn’t mean to put this out on you, but it’s just so frustrating. Everything here is wrong. This is the bad dream.” He held his arms open gesturing to everything around him. “Not my memories of Elizabeth,” he said confidently.
“There must be a reason why you remember Doctor Weir so vividly, while the rest of us cannot recall her at all. Did you have strong feelings for this Doctor Weir?” she asked.
He wrapped his arms around himself. “Heightmeyer asked me the exact same question.”
“What was your answer?”
“I never really answered the question,” he admitted.
“Will you answer it now?”
“She is a friend and I would do anything to bring her back,” he simply said and walked back into the control room, leaving behind a perplexed Teyla.
As he walked down the stairs in the control room, his eyes glanced up to the transparent windows of Elizabeth’s office. Only now it was not Elizabeth’s office, it was Caldwell’s office. All the trinkets and pottery that Elizabeth displayed in her office where gone. It was like he woke up in an alternate reality where Elizabeth didn’t exist.
That’s it! He remembered reading past SG-1 mission reports, and they mentioned going into an alternate reality several times. It was possible that the object he and Elizabeth found in the cemetery was a gateway to another reality, and they were separated.
John quickly changed direction and headed towards Rodney’s room.
“Rodney!” John called out as he repeatedly knocked loudly on Rodney’s door.
John knew that Rodney was asleep, but this could not wait until morning. If he was right and he was in an alternate reality, he needed to find Elizabeth since she could be lost somewhere, or worse, hurt and needed his help.
Rodney’s eyes were still shut when the door to his room slid open.
“Colonel, do you know what time it is?” Rodney said with irritation as he yawned and blinked his eyes open a couple times.
“Is it possible that I’m in an alternate reality?” John asked.
“What?!”
“Alternate realities, those exist right?”
“Yes, SG-1 had encountered several alternate realities through a quantum mirror they found on P3X-233.” Rodney made a face as he tried to remember the planet address.
“Is it possible that I’m in some alternate reality where Elizabeth doesn’t exist?”
“I knew it!” Rodney threw his hands in the air. “I knew you were going to cause me to lose sleep over your fantasy woman.”
“She’s not a fantasy!”
“Yes, she’s not a fantasy, and I’m not listening to this anymore.” Rodney turned; ready to head back to his bed.
“Rodney, please,” John pleaded. “Is it possible?”
Rodney rubbed his forehead. “I know better than to not rule anything out since our arrival here. So yes, it’s possible. Can I go back to sleep now?’
“Is it possible that the glowy ball in the cemetery ruins is the device that caused this?”
“No,” Rodney shook his head. “I don’t think so. From what we’ve translated so far, that thing has nothing do with traveling to parallel universes, but there are lots of stuff about memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yeah, something about getting over grief and leaving behind painful memories.”
“Don’t you see it?!" John exclaimed. "I think when I touched that thing it did something and fuzzed with everyone’s memory of Elizabeth.”
Rodney let out an exhausted sigh. “Can’t we talk about this tomorrow? Like during a decent hour when vampires aren’t on the prowl?”
“No,” John said sternly. “If that object did something, I need to find Elizabeth. She might be stuck somewhere and needs my help.”
“Or she could be fine somewhere and sleeping soundly,” Rodney insisted.
“I highly doubt that,” John said, unconvinced.
Rodney only sighed and glared at John, “So much for a good night’s sleep.”
ETA: Here is Chapter 1 for those who've forgotten which story this was about, because I'm so bad at updating. XD
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
For those still waiting on Chapter 3, I’m sorry don’t kill me I’ll have it up before I leave for vacation. I promise. I just need to do a few more edits and I can post it.
P.S. I haven’t forgotten about Vsaj_online. It’s just that every time I open the Word file, my brain stops working. *sobs*
P.P.S. Thanks to Mizz_magenta my beta, who I'm going to see next week. Squee!
Chapter 2
The familiar noise of beeping machines filled John’s head as he opened his eyes a slit and saw Doctor Carson Beckett standing at the foot of his bed glancing over a chart. John languidly turned his head to one side and found the bed next to him was empty. He looked to the other side and found that bed empty as well.
“Colonel, it’s good to see you conscious again,” the Scottish man said with a smile.
“Where’s Elizabeth?” John asked groggily.
“Who?”
“Doctor Weir.”
“I’m sorry, who?”
“Doctor Elizabeth Weir,” he repeated enunciating each word. “You know, curly brown hair, green eyes, leader of the Atlantis expedition, our boss.”
“You must’ve hit your head harder than I thought,” Carson frowned.
“What are you talking about?” John copied Carson’s frown. Then he smiled and let out a nervous chuckle. “I get it. This is a joke. You guys almost got me there.” He shook his finger at Carson. “Rodney!” John yelled.
“Colonel, please, I suggest you try not to strain yourself.”
“Come on, Carson, I’m fine,” he insisted. “Joke is up. Where’s Rodney?”
“Rodney isn’t here. He’s in his lab. Now I suggest you get some more rest,” Carson said calmly.
“Carson, I’m fine. Just release me now,” he said and attempted to sit up on the infirmary bed.
“I don’t think so, Colonel.” Carson gently pushed him on the shoulder to lie back down. “A minute ago, you were babbling about a Doctor Weir. I don’t think you are quite yourself yet. Also I promised Colonel Caldwell I wouldn’t release you until he ordered me to.”
“Caldwell? When did you start taking orders from Caldwell?”
“What do you mean, Colonel? Colonel Caldwell has been leading the Atlantis expedition team since the beginning,” Carson said and furrowed his eyebrows, “or have you forgotten?”
“No, Elizabeth has been leading the Atlantis expedition from the beginning. Caldwell is in charge of the Daedalus. I don’t doubt that he would have loved to have Elizabeth’s job, but-”
“Who’s Elizabeth?” Rodney suddenly appeared standing next to Carson and munching on a Power bar. “I see that Sleeping Beauty is awake.”
“Okay guys, the joke was funny the first five seconds, but now this is just not cool,” John said resentfully.
“What are you talking about, Sheppard?”
“All this pretending that you guys don’t know who Elizabeth is,” John replied crossing his arms over his chest.
“Elizabeth?” Rodney looked at John. “Elizabeth what?”
“Elizabeth Weir. Doctor Elizabeth Weir,” John repeated.
“Is she an ex-girlfriend? Because you know, sometimes trauma to the head can cause one to remember some random things in the past. Once I-”
“No,” John said irritated. “She’s not an ex-girlfriend. She is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, a well-known diplomat from Earth, leader of this expedition team, and your boss!” By now he was thoroughly frustrated. “Is this payback for when I called you crazy when Cadman was in your head?”
Rodney gave John a blank look and looked at Carson. “What’s up with him?”
“I think we should let the Colonel rest,” Carson began.
“Look, there is nothing wrong with me,” John insisted. “Something is wrong with you guys for still keeping up with this sick joke. What are you doing?” John glared at Carson as he saw him inject a sedative into a tube.
“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Carson apologized. “You’re probably just stressed out. You need more rest.”
“No, what I need is for you guys to stop screwing with me,” John muttered, feeling the effects of sedative spread into his blood stream. He tried to fight the medication, but eyes quickly became heavy and closed.
“What’s wrong with him, Doctor?” Colonel Steven Caldwell asked, leaning back in his chair. He glanced out his office window that overlooked the gateroom before returning his attention to Carson.
“There is nothing physically wrong with him, sir. It’s just that he keeps talking about this woman, Elizabeth Weir,” Carson said, his face marked with concern.
“What do you mean by ‘talking about’?” Caldwell asked.
“He keeps asking us where she is, and he thinks that we’re playing a sick joke on him by pretending that she doesn’t exist,” he explained.
“Who is this Elizabeth Weir supposed to be?”
“According to Colonel Sheppard, she is the civilian leader of this Atlantis expedition.”
“Humph.” Caldwell knew that John didn’t like him much for various reasons, and if it were not for the gifts of his Ancient gene, Caldwell would rather have John back on Earth, and as far away from him as possible.
“Are you saying that he’s gone crazy?”
“He doesn’t sound crazy. It’s the fact that he is convinced that this woman is real that is disturbing.”
Caldwell let out a sigh. “Doctor, I want to see this for myself.”
“Suit yourself, Colonel,” Carson shrugged. “The sedative that I gave him should be wearing off by now. Hopefully, the couple hours of rest helped clear his mind.”
Teyla stood next to Ronon as they watched John sit up on his bed in the infirmary.
“Colonel, it’s not that we do not believe you, but we truly do not know this Doctor Weir that you speak of,” Teyla assured John.
Ronon only crossed his arms and shrugged in agreement.
“And I do not believe Doctor McKay would be so cruel as to play a joke such as this. Especially after you have been injured,” she added.
John furrowed his eyebrows. Teyla did have a point. Rodney could be a complete pain, but he usually wouldn’t kick a man when he’s down... too much. Still, this whole situation was not making any sense.
He couldn’t have dreamt up Elizabeth for the past year. He was positive she was real. He remembered talking to her, touching her, smiling and laughing with her, arguing with her, watching her... All of these things could not only have been a very real, very vivid dream. Could they?
John sat up in his bed when he saw Caldwell enter the infirmary followed by Carson.
“Colonel,” Caldwell greeted John with a nod.
“Colonel,” John replied.
“I’m glad to see you are looking well,” Caldwell said stopping on the other side of the bed.
“I’m sure Doctor Beckett already told you of my affliction,” John said bitterly and looked away.
“Yes, he has,” Caldwell said scrutinizing John. “You say that this Doctor Weir was a well-known diplomat on earth, and also the civilian leader of this expedition team?”
“Yes,” John said, not making eye contact with anyone. This conversation with Colonel Caldwell was another dead end. Elizabeth, apparently, did not exist here, and he could not understand why.
“Colonel, what exactly happened at M5G-382?” Caldwell asked.
“We were on our way to the village at M5G-382 for a meeting with their leader,” he began to explain.
“Who do you mean by ‘we’?” Caldwell interrupted.
“We, as in Major Lorne, his team, my team, and Doctor Weir. May I continue, sir?”
“Please.”
“We were on our way to the village when a bunch of Wraith came out of nowhere and ambushed us. I told Elizabeth to run into the forest for protection, and I followed her. After killing several Wraith that followed our trail, we found that there was something disrupting our radio signals. While searching for the source of the disruption, we stumbled upon a cemetery. We found a device that was emitting some sort of energy and disrupting the radio signals. It was some weird glowing crystal ball or something.” He held his hands out in a gesture to show the approximate size of the orb. “Anyways, I disabled it. Next thing I knew there were more Wraith outside. I left Elizabeth in the building to engage the Wraith as we waited for Major Lorne to bring us back up. The last thing I remember was a very bright light and something knocking me over.”
John observed the expression on each person standing around his bed.
Caldwell crossed his arms over his chest. “Your story pretty much correlates with everyone else.”
“Except for the part about Elizabeth,” John said with restrained frustration.
“Yes,” Caldwell sighed. “Major Lorne says that he found you unconscious near some old ruins, but he didn’t find anyone near the building other than a dead Wraith outside and another one inside.”
“There was another Wraith inside?” John tried to remember if he heard any gunshots after he exited the building, but nothing came to mind. If the Wraith was dead, he assumed that Elizabeth must have killed it. He knew she was capable of it, when she was put in the position, but that did not explain what happened to her. “Then we have to go back and find out what that glowing ball does.”
“Colonel, we’ve already been through the area and gathered all the data that we could from the ruins,” Caldwell said. “And we’ve come up with nothing, other than more cryptic riddles. And our mission here is not to solve Ancient puzzles.”
“I’m sure that thing is the reason that everyone has lost their memories about Elizabeth,” John said; ready to get out of bed.
Caldwell held out a hand to stop John. “Colonel, as of this moment, I am relieving you of active duty. I suggest you go see Doctor Heightmeyer and take a couple days off to rest.”
“Sir, I don’t-” John stopped abruptly when he saw the stern look on Caldwell’s face.
“That is an order, Colonel.”
“Yes, sir,” John sighed in defeat.
Doctor Kate Heightmeyer sat patiently as she watched the tousled haired Colonel slouching in the chair across from her. Most of her patients in Atlantis were always hesitant when they came to speak to her, especially when they were accused of being crazy or delusional.
“Look, Doctor,” John began, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his lap. “I know you are good at what you do, and we both know that I don’t want to be here. So how do you know that I won’t just tell you what you want to hear just so you’d sign me off as sane?”
Kate smiled. “First of, Colonel, no one is labeling you as insane,” she said in her soft voice.
“You’re not the one on the receiving end of the weird looks lately,” John muttered and slumped back into the chair.
“I’m here to help understand why this memory of Elizabeth is so strong for you,” she assured him. “So tell me about Elizabeth. What does she look like? Who is she? How did you meet her? What did she do? Anything you can think of.”
John licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s the point? Like everyone else, you’re not going to believe me.”
“Humor me, please.” She gestured for him to continue.
“The first time I met Elizabeth was when I flew General O’Neill down to Antarctica. She’s a slender beautiful woman, with curly brown hair, green eyes, well-read, great speaker and leader, strong, very understanding, very amiable, and a good friend. As for who she is and what she does, she is a world-renowned diplomat on Earth, which is why the United States President handpicked her to be the leader of this expedition team. Also because she is the leader of this expedition team, everyone, including you, knows her.”
Kate knitted her eyebrows together as she thought of another question. “If she is such a public figure, why is it that no one can remember who she is?”
“I don’t know,” John said exasperated. “It’s like everyone’s memory of her has been wiped out, like she never existed.”
“Was there some sort of relationship between you and Elizabeth?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes, she’s my boss and my friend.”
“Apparently, from your account, she is everyone’s boss and friend here in Atlantis.”
“Yes,” he said warily.
“Could it be possible that you have stronger feelings for her than others here?”
“What do you mean?” John said defensively.
“What I mean is that, could it be possible that because you have stronger feelings for her that these memories that you’ve retained of her are stronger than everyone else?” she asked rewording her question.
“The thing is no one has any recollection of her. She doesn’t exist!”
Kate observed John’s reaction to her questions. He was clearly agitated by the lack of explanations for the situation. She sensed that there must have been something between John and this woman for him to be so troubled.
“Would you die for her?” she suddenly asked.
“Of course, I would,” he said without a second thought. “As I would for anyone else on this team,” he added. “It’s my job.”
“Yes,” Kate agreed. “You have proved yourself many times, Colonel, and I’m very grateful for that. I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for your bravery.”
“You’re welcome, but I have a feeling my past bravery isn’t going to get me out of this.”
She shook her head. “You can imagine how it this looks to us.”
“I try not to,” he sighed. “It just makes me feel worse.”
Kate sighed at her helplessness. “I know you are probably sick of hearing this, but maybe some rest will do you good.”
“Personally, I feel that finding out what happened to Elizabeth would do me much better. Thanks for the advice, doc,” John said and left psychologist’s office.
The sound of the rushing waves and the twinkling stars seemed like the only normal occurrence to John as he stood on the balcony outside of the control room.
After his meeting with Doctor Heightmeyer, he spent most of the day trying to find evidence that Elizabeth was, in fact, in Atlantis and only missing. But his search turned up fruitless. There was no trace of Elizabeth anywhere. He read all the past mission reports, and found nothing that mentioned Elizabeth. Even in his own mission reports, he couldn’t find any mention of Elizabeth. It was as if he was reading a mission report written by himself, but at the same time not himself. They didn’t look like they were tampered with or edited. They just looked... different.
When he stopped by Elizabeth’s office out of habit, the Athonsian jar he gave her for her birthday was gone. He even stopped by her room to find that her room was Caldwell’s room. It was as if the missing puzzle piece that was Elizabeth was neatly replaced by another piece, but that piece didn't fit quite right to him.
Other than having Caldwell in charge and everything leaning towards a military point of view, everything else seemed pretty much the same.
He leaned on one of the beams on the balcony and remembered the time when she leaned on the exact same spot on her first birthday in Atlantis before he gave her a birthday gift. He remembered the first time they came out to this balcony and had their first dispute on whether he should go on a half-assed rescue mission. He thought about the many times that they usually ended up standing out here together to converse about things that were bothering them or just to get a breath of fresh air.
Sometimes when Elizabeth was out on the balcony alone contemplating, he would stand by the door and watch her and wonder what went through her mind. Leading a group of people to another galaxy in search of knowledge and technology wasn’t an easy task. It also didn’t help that she was forced to face evil life sucking aliens and the powers that be back on Earth. But John knew that she was a strong woman. Her strength had won his respect and admiration and possibly even more.
John turned his head when he heard the door to the balcony slide open, half-hoping that Elizabeth would come through. Instead, his Athosian teammate entered.
“Hello, Teyla,” he said and returned his gaze out into the night horizon.
“Colonel Sheppard, it is quite late. Did Doctor Beckett not say that you must rest?” Teyla asked.
“I’m too restless for sleep. I just feel like I need to do something to keep my mind off things.”
“Would you like to spar with me? That would keep your mind off things,” she offered.
He looked at the petite Athosian woman. “No, thank you, Teyla. I’m restless, but I don’t think getting my ass kicked is what I had in mind.”
Teyla smiled and place her hands on the railings of the balcony and looked at John, “May I ask what you are reflecting about, Colonel?”
John glanced at Teyla. He wasn’t sure how she would react if he started talking about Elizabeth. At least she wouldn’t mock him about it like a certain astrophysicist.
“I was thinking about how Elizabeth would come out here to think when something was bothering her, and the times I’d come out here to talk to her.”
“I see,” Teyla said with some disappointment. “What did you talk about?”
“We’d talk about work and stuff and Earth. You know, stuff like that. She was always a good listener.” He smiled to himself as he remembered the way she smiled at his corny jokes.
“I am here to listen if you wish to talk, Colonel.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It just bothers me that I can’t find any trace of her. Nothing. I’ve looked at everything, and I can’t find any physical evidence of her ever being here or anywhere.”
“Is it possible that Doctor Weir does not indeed exist?” she asked very cautiously.
John glared at Teyla. “No, Elizabeth exists. I refuse to believe that the last two years of my life have all been a dream.”
“Your presence here in the Pegasus Galaxy is enough proof that your life was not a dream," she assured him. "It is only the presence of this Doctor Weir in these situations you describe that seem... out of place.”
“Are you suggesting that I might have dreamed up Elizabeth and gone Schizoid too?” he snapped.
Teyla looked at him in confusion.
“I’m sorry, Teyla. I didn’t mean to put this out on you, but it’s just so frustrating. Everything here is wrong. This is the bad dream.” He held his arms open gesturing to everything around him. “Not my memories of Elizabeth,” he said confidently.
“There must be a reason why you remember Doctor Weir so vividly, while the rest of us cannot recall her at all. Did you have strong feelings for this Doctor Weir?” she asked.
He wrapped his arms around himself. “Heightmeyer asked me the exact same question.”
“What was your answer?”
“I never really answered the question,” he admitted.
“Will you answer it now?”
“She is a friend and I would do anything to bring her back,” he simply said and walked back into the control room, leaving behind a perplexed Teyla.
As he walked down the stairs in the control room, his eyes glanced up to the transparent windows of Elizabeth’s office. Only now it was not Elizabeth’s office, it was Caldwell’s office. All the trinkets and pottery that Elizabeth displayed in her office where gone. It was like he woke up in an alternate reality where Elizabeth didn’t exist.
That’s it! He remembered reading past SG-1 mission reports, and they mentioned going into an alternate reality several times. It was possible that the object he and Elizabeth found in the cemetery was a gateway to another reality, and they were separated.
John quickly changed direction and headed towards Rodney’s room.
“Rodney!” John called out as he repeatedly knocked loudly on Rodney’s door.
John knew that Rodney was asleep, but this could not wait until morning. If he was right and he was in an alternate reality, he needed to find Elizabeth since she could be lost somewhere, or worse, hurt and needed his help.
Rodney’s eyes were still shut when the door to his room slid open.
“Colonel, do you know what time it is?” Rodney said with irritation as he yawned and blinked his eyes open a couple times.
“Is it possible that I’m in an alternate reality?” John asked.
“What?!”
“Alternate realities, those exist right?”
“Yes, SG-1 had encountered several alternate realities through a quantum mirror they found on P3X-233.” Rodney made a face as he tried to remember the planet address.
“Is it possible that I’m in some alternate reality where Elizabeth doesn’t exist?”
“I knew it!” Rodney threw his hands in the air. “I knew you were going to cause me to lose sleep over your fantasy woman.”
“She’s not a fantasy!”
“Yes, she’s not a fantasy, and I’m not listening to this anymore.” Rodney turned; ready to head back to his bed.
“Rodney, please,” John pleaded. “Is it possible?”
Rodney rubbed his forehead. “I know better than to not rule anything out since our arrival here. So yes, it’s possible. Can I go back to sleep now?’
“Is it possible that the glowy ball in the cemetery ruins is the device that caused this?”
“No,” Rodney shook his head. “I don’t think so. From what we’ve translated so far, that thing has nothing do with traveling to parallel universes, but there are lots of stuff about memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yeah, something about getting over grief and leaving behind painful memories.”
“Don’t you see it?!" John exclaimed. "I think when I touched that thing it did something and fuzzed with everyone’s memory of Elizabeth.”
Rodney let out an exhausted sigh. “Can’t we talk about this tomorrow? Like during a decent hour when vampires aren’t on the prowl?”
“No,” John said sternly. “If that object did something, I need to find Elizabeth. She might be stuck somewhere and needs my help.”
“Or she could be fine somewhere and sleeping soundly,” Rodney insisted.
“I highly doubt that,” John said, unconvinced.
Rodney only sighed and glared at John, “So much for a good night’s sleep.”
ETA: Here is Chapter 1 for those who've forgotten which story this was about, because I'm so bad at updating. XD
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10