(no subject)

[bamax]

Updated: October 18
5:25 p.m.

Responding in part to the quickie challenge below...thought I'd come up with some 'drabble'...

Movie fic!

************

"Where is everyone?" Elizabeth walked into the rec room holding a cherished ice-cold brew in her hand.

John leaned his head back on the sofa and turned it to flash an innocent grin to her as she stood still behind the couch.

"Well...Your guess is as good as mine which lab Rodney was planning on using tonight and Carson begged off when Cadman dropped by earlier."

Elizabeth's eyebrows raised at that and John's grin increased. He shrugged.

"You ask me, he wanted a little private time with her."

John let his eyebrows wiggle suggestively as he enjoyed the predicted scowl he would get. She didn't disappoint.

She walked around to sit her brew on the glass table that John's legs were leisurely resting on.

She stared down at his shoes pointedly but if he noticed the censure, he ignored it.

"What about-" She began but he interrupted before she could ask the question.

"Well, Teyla and Ronon headed off to the mainland...something about getting one of the Athosian craftsmen to make him some kind of weapon."

Elizabeth nodded as she plopped down beside him.

"The two of them certainly have been spending a lot of time together lately."

John nodded as he reached over to retrieve the big-screen remote.

"Yeah, I try not to notice the eyes he makes at Teyla constantly. You ask me it's kind of pathetic for a grown man to act that way."

Elizabeth cut her eyes at him and smirked.

"I'm quite sure that Teyla will let him know if he's annoying her in some way."

John grunted. "Yeah, I guess she would at that."

Elizabeth reached for her beer and took a hearty, satisfying sip. Lightly smacking her lips, she settled down into the comfort of the sofa and leaned her own head back.

"So, it's just you and me tonight?"

John flashed her another quick smile.

"What did you have in mind Dr. Weir?" He leaned his shoulder over toward her until it lightly bumped hers.

Elizabeth knew he was needling her and hated the slight shiver that his mock suggestiveness caused. Damn her reactions to him sometimes! Why did he have to be so amusing and flirty? She knew better than to take him seriously but she'd had a long day and when she was tired, her immunity to his charms went right out the window. Damn if she couldn't smell that aftershave now.

"Let's watch the movie John."

He smiled as he leaned away from her and placed his head in a relaxing position on the back of the sofa. He clicked the remote and the screen in front of them went black.

Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and jumped up. Elizabeth watched as he strode across the room and turned the lights off. Except for the small glow of the emergency light, the room was shrowded in darkness.

She heard him cross back over to the sofa.

"Ow!" He tripped slightly and fell across the couch. She felt his weight suddenly across her body.

"Oh!" It was her that yelped in surprise at the sudden contact.

For just a moment, they were still as the surprise of the chest to chest contact in the darkness registered on them.

John raised his head and used his forearms to brace himself beside her head and push back away from her.

"Sorry." He muttered as he pulled away and settled into a sitting position beside her.

Elizabeth was certain he was sitting closer to her than he was before he'd gotten up. As she felt his leg graze her own, she was certain of it.

She cleared her throat and tried to sound sane.

"So, what are we watching?"

She couldn't see his smile but she could feel it.

"Oh, I chose something from my private collection..."

He let his voice teasingly trail off.

"If 'Debbie does Dallas' pops up on the screen, I'm outta here."

He chuckled. "You think I'd actually own something like that?"

Her silence was his answer. Delighted with the light-hearted and comfortable atmosphere between them, he felt himself really relaxing. It felt good to be here with her like this. Really good.

Where had that crazy thought sprang from? John cleared his throat as the music from the speakers began to play.

****************************************

“Top Gun?”

Elizabeth made a face at him as the first chords of music began to play.

John grinned at her in the flickering darkness.

“I see you recognized it right off. Fan of the fly boy films are you?”

Elizabeth gave an unladylike snort. “More like a fan of *shirtless* Tom Cruise.”

John shot her a surprised look that she missed in the darkened room. “If I’d have known your weakness for half-dressed fly boys, I’d have lost mine a long time ago.”

Elizabeth swigged her beer and refused to give him the satisfaction of looking at him. “I said I was a fan of Tom Cruise shirtless. I have discerning taste in shirtless men you know."

John intentionally leaned over toward her, nudging her shoulder with his own. “I might have to see if I meet your standard sometime.”

Elizabeth ignored him and took another hearty sip of her drink.

He sighed contentedly and leaned his head back to rest on the sofa once more. Raising his arms, he spread them across the back of the sofa.

Elizabeth pretended not to notice how his arm was partially behind her shoulders. She knew he was in rare form tonight and he was just trying to get a reaction from her. The man was entirely too cocky and needed the tables turned on him. She slowly brought her own legs up onto the table in front of them and crossed her ankles beside his own.

“I’m just surprised that you’d own a chick flick like this...You know, seeing that it’s from your own *private collection* and all.” She tried to hide the teasing tone that crept through her voice but wasn’t entirely successful.

John bit the bait. “It’s *not* a chick flick.”

“Is too.” She took another swig, continuing to stare straight ahead at the screen though she wasn't seeing anything but his reaction from the corner of her eye.

John turned his head and stared at her as they both ignored the credits in the opening scene. “It’s an action flick...A guy bonding flick.” He stated it resolutely as if daring her to argue.

Elizabeth shrugged. “It’s a chick flick. The love story is bigger than the action in this one.”

John reached down to the floor in search of his own beer. Jerking it up, he twisted the top and thumped the cap across the room. Taking a hearty sip, he settled it between his thighs and reclined again before answering.

“The love story is hardly worth a mention other than getting to see some naked Kelly McGillis skin.” He kept his own eyes on the screen now.

“That’s about a chauvinist thing to say *Colonel*. I thought you above such.” Elizabeth’s tone was mockingly offended.

John made a tsking sound. “So is saying you enjoy a film because of the naked guy *Doctor*.” He leaned slightly toward her once more. “You know Doctor Weir, my respect for you has definitely taken a hit.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and ground her jaw at him. Touche. She knew when she’d been matched. And she knew from experience, she’d have another shot at him. John Sheppard was nothing if not smart. She really liked that about him. She enjoyed how he challenged her and made her think-constantly. She definitely had to stay on her toes when he was around and that excited her on a level she really didn’t want to think about at the moment.

Forcing her mind to shut down so she could enjoy the film, she sighed and leaned back into the sofa. She felt his arm graze her hair and for a fleeting moment, she was very glad they were alone. His arm wasn’t exactly around her but she knew he would never have felt comfortable enough to toss his arms up like that if any of the other team members had been in the room with them.

“Hey! Look, there’s Cruise and he’s still got his shirt on.” John pointed his beer toward the screen with one hand but left his other arm still behind her.

“Shut up and watch the film Colonel...You keep your eyes on the woman and let me worry about the man.”

John grinned. “Gladly.”

They both went quiet as the man and woman on screen met for the first time.

******************************

“See, she is *already* hot for him.”

Elizabeth couldn’t even believe he’d said that and turned to him in open astonishment.

“I do hope you’re joking. He was singing-badly I might add-to her in a *bar*.”

John shrugged. “And your point is?”

Elizabeth reached forward to the table to retrieve the popcorn bowl he’d prepared before she’d arrived and propped it in her lap.

“I would hardly call his behavior *romantic* John.”

“She seemed charmed enough. Are you telling me you wouldn’t be charmed by a guy singing to you off key?” He reached his own hand over deep into the popcorn and tossed back a handful. He tried to look disinterested in her answer but the truth was, he was very interested. Too interested.

“It would depend on the man I suppose.”

She opened her mouth to shove another handful of popcorn in and paused at her lips. Cutting her eyes over toward him, she shot him a quirky half-smile.

“*And* just how badly off-key he was.”

John smothered his own smile behind his popcorn filled hand and enjoyed watching her enjoying herself. She looked good so relaxed like this. So...so unlike herself. She was always so in control and in command and untouchable. He often didn’t remember how slender and girlish and approachable she could seem in casual clothes with a smile on her face. Her tight pink t-shirt and equally snug Levi’s reminded him of times past; made him feel again a little like an eighteen year old carrying the most popular and coolest girl in school on a first date.

He couldn’t imagine what Elizabeth would say if he asked her on a date. Hell, he couldn’t even imagine asking her. Most likely she’d laugh in his face and shoot him one of those high eyebrow arches that told him in no uncertain terms he was crazy.

He wanted to laugh at himself. It was a ridiculous thought and he had no idea where it came from. He certainly wasn’t eighteen and she was far from the type of woman he’d even think of asking out. She was so serious and mature and just...well...she wasn’t his type. And then, there was that little thing about them being in the Pegasus Galaxy...

“Say what you want about her weakness for him while you can Colonel because she’s about to put him in his place.”

Startled, John flinched. Back in his place? Oh, yeah, the movie.

He tossed her another sideways grin and took advantage of the opening to get a rise from her. “Not how I remember it.”

Elizabeth’s eyes were glued to the screen when she spoke confidently. “Then you’ve got a short or rather, *selective* memory. Just wait and see.”

John watched the light from the screen play across her cheekbones a moment more before forcing his attention back to the film.

*********************

“She likes that.”

It was the first thing he’d said in a while and his voice caught her off guard.

“What? His cockiness?” She was honestly curious as to what John thought McGillis’s character was enjoying so much about Cruise’s.

“She likes how he challenges her.”

Oh. Elizabeth drew in a short breath. The remark hit too close to home and she immediately felt defensive.

She smoothed her hands down her jean clad thighs pretending to wipe excess butter from them.

“He’s too full of himself for his own good. She knows that too.”

John immediately shook his head and deftly pulled the popcorn bowl off her lap and onto his own.

“John!” Elizabeth reached for it but he held it out of her reach with his long arm and a grin.

“Admit it and I’ll give it back. She likes his confidence in his abilities. The man is good at his job and he knows it. Just stop being stubborn and admit it.”

Elizabeth knew they weren’t entirely talking about the two leads in ‘Top Gun’ any longer and that made her all the more determined. She arched her brow at him and tilted her jaw upward. No way was he getting that out of her for a handful of popcorn.

“He should show that he respects her. She does have some expertise in her field.”

John cut his eyes back to the movie momentarily where Cruise and McGillis were still arguing in the scene.

“He does respect her.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened at the admission and she scurried to mentally regroup. “I thought you believed he just wanted her naked in bed.”

John grinned at her as he helped himself to a hearty handful of popcorn. “Well, that too.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and leaned back into the sofa crossing her arms. She honestly didn’t know what to think of this strange and unsettling underlying conversation going on between the two of them. The room fell silent as the man and woman on the screen shared an intense and emotion filled moment while the man and woman on the sofa watching did the same.

“She still shouldn’t ride his tail so much.” John put the statement forth quietly and waited.

John was sure his heart was beating much faster than it should have been. When had they stopped talking about the movie and began talking about them? Or had they? Damn, he was always so unsure with her; never feeling on sure footing when she was around him. She was the only person who could do that to him and it drove him nuts sometimes.

Like now.

She sat quietly for another heartbeat, her eyes narrowed to mere slits as she appeared to be concentrating on what was transpiring between the two film leads.

“She has her reasons.”

She said it almost so softly he was sure for a moment he hadn’t heard her right. But then, her voice echoed in his mind. He would know Elizabeth’s voice anywhere though and he knew she had spoken those words to him just now.

He let go of a breath he was unaware he’d been holding and gently brought the popcorn from his side to wedge into the tight space between their legs.

Cruise might have it all figured out on screen but he knew it would be a long time before he ever figured out the enigma of the woman beside him.

************************************

The settled into a comfortable silence.

Elizabeth began to feel drowsy but she knew her lethargy wasn’t due so much to a lack of sleep but more by the warmth currently radiating through her from John’s proximity. She could feel the heat coming from his pant leg which was now pressed completely against her own.

The popcorn bowl had been put aside and now she was relatively certain that his arm was technically ‘around’ her. Even though he had both of his arms slung up behind him in a familiar pose, he was sitting close enough to her that anyone who might walk in would say that he’d had his arm around her. She knew she really should slide down the sofa just a bit and put a little space between them.

But, what was the big deal anyway? They were watching a movie and sharing popcorn. And conversation.

And *that* was exactly why she should move down the sofa.

She was tired and relaxed and John just had this way of getting past her natural defenses any time but she felt so much more vulnerable to him when she felt like she did tonight. Drinking beer, relaxed and half leaning against her best friend put her at a definite risk to say something even worse than what she’d blurted out just a bit ago. He’d looked at her as if he knew she had been talking about the two of them rather than the stars of the film. She hadn’t started out with the intent...but it had just...happened. It seemed the way of things whenever she was around John Sheppard. She never intended to worry over him...or show emotion for him...never intended to say too much...never intended to fall...

Damn. She wasn’t even going there tonight.

If she could just keep her mouth shut, she’d be fine. She tried her best to concentrate on the film but the inside of his forearm was now resting lightly on the top of her shoulder. When it had crept there, she didn’t have a clue. If she leaned back just the slightest, she could feel his knuckles tickle the curls at the back of her neck.

Stop it! She mentally chastised herself yet again. She was a grown woman and she was acting like some silly school girl. This was John. Just John. He was her second in command. Her friend. Her confidante. Her-

“Didn’t you once say that very thing about me?”

Oh god, he was asking her something about the movie.

“Did I say what about you?”

She turned her head to find his face much too close to her own and he was staring at her curiously.

“You know...what she just told him.” He brought the arm that wasn’t behind her head up to gesture toward the screen.

Elizabeth looked at him blankly as she desperately tried to recall what McGillis had told Cruise in the particular scene but she came up blank. She had no idea what he was referring to. Her mind had been all over the map and right now, she was half-terrified that he could read her thoughts.

John refused to let it go.

“You know...that I was the *one*?”

Ah...*now* she knew what he was talking about. She smirked at him pointedly.

“When I said that John, I was referring to your unique ability to control the Ancient technologies.

He brought his bottom lip out into an intentional half-pout and leaned in ever so slightly toward her.

Elizabeth felt her pulse jump at his expression and action and hated herself for it.

“So...you didn’t mean it personally?” He dropped his head slightly pretending to be hurt at her answer.

Her mouth twitched and she fought with everything in her not to smile again. It wouldn’t do to let him know how much he amused her. He was irrepressible when he toyed like this.

“No.”

He snapped his fingers in mock consternation. “Damn, and all this time, I believed-“

“Watch the movie John.”

His teasing smile increased and his eyes danced.

She stared straight ahead determined to pay attention to the movie instead of him.

***********************

"See, she asked him out.” John pointed at the screen and his voice held a trace of victorious gloating. “The woman wants him.”

John had helped himself to another beer from the Rec room’s mini-fridge and was now downing it as his eyes challenged the woman at his side to argue with him again.

Elizabeth had promised herself she was *not* going to let him bait her further but really, how could she let this go?

She frowned at him. “She wants to test him John.”

John took another confident sip of his beer and then squinted his face up in disbelief.

“For *what*?”

Elizabeth knew she had him on this one and tried not to answer haughtily but failed miserably. “To see if he’s man enough to handle what she’s offering.”

John couldn’t hide the grin that instantly sprang to his lips. Elizabeth was so damn pretty when she was being all high and mighty and he couldn’t resist this verbal dancing between them any more than she obviously could.

He snorted. “And what would that be? Her ready and willing?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No John, she’s worried about opening herself to him...She’s afraid of getting hurt by him and she’s just not sure that he’s...” She paused a moment for the right words. “That he’s the kind of man that she needs.”

She turned back to the screen as John shrugged and brought his lips into a straight line.

“You know, he might just surprise her.”

Beside him, he watched as Elizabeth swallowed hard but offered nothing further in argument.

************************************

“Hey! Give me that!”

Surprised, Elizabeth yelped and made a sudden grab for the remote but John was quicker. He pressed the fast forward button and the picture on the screen began to move at a quicker speed.
John immediately bent at the waist to secure the remote beneath him and put it out of her reach.

Stymied, Elizabeth smacked him on the back with her hand and then tried to pry his arm toward her but found quickly that she couldn’t budge it.

“I refuse to watch these pansy, naked, Navy guys play volleyball of all things.” He spat the word volleyball out as if it were dirty. “Real men do not play volleyball.”

“I want to see it.” She jerked again at his arm. “Give it to me John-Now.” Her voice sounded authoritative and for a moment, they were back in the control room arguing about something.

He brought his nose up close to her own. “It’s cheap, gratuitous male nudity!” He shook his head disgustedly. “I really thought better of you than this Elizabeth.”

Steamed at the comment, she climbed to her knees and tried to worm her way behind him but still couldn’t quite reach the remote.

“No, it is not! Now, I *demand* that you give me that remote this instant John!”

When she landed completely on the right side of him, he laughed aloud at her determination and gingerly switched hands with it, teasing her with his eyes in the process.

“You are embarrassing yourself Doctor.” He shook his head sadly. “What would your crew think about you if they knew you enjoyed such?”

Elizabeth stopped jerking at his arm and stared directly into his eyes. “Give me the remote John.”

Her tone was determined and resolute and commanding, her eyes narrowed and dangerous.

And any other time, he would have probably given in to her. But not tonight. He watched her face a moment and was instantly transfixed by her. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling from her exertion.

Bringing his nose up to meet hers, he challenged her to a stare down. It was a contest of wills but even more, it immediately charged the air between them and each of them realized the exact moment they went from teasing to serious...and...something more.

John swallowed with some difficulty, begging himself to keep his eyes on hers and to not- absolutely not- look downward at her mouth. He bit at his lip a moment but eventually lost the fight.

He couldn’t help it. Her mouth came into focus and he was helpless to look away.

“John...?”

Elizabeth’s husky voice was tremulous as she whispered his name on a breath.

Oh, god, he wanted to...

Did she want him to?

Was she trembling? Because of him?

Her lips seemed to wobble so near his own and he took a chance and looked up into her eyes. They were clear and wet and huge and curious and something else...

He closed his eyes and lowered his head. “I’m sorry...”

He felt his mouth graze her own, the softest touch.

And then a gasp.

And noise?! People?! Talking?!

They jerked apart, each swivelling their heads in search of the sudden interruption.

In front of them, the movie was playing again and the volume had gotten turned up.

John let out a breath and tried to laugh. “I must have hit the remote button.” His voice was hesitant and full of guilt and embarrassment.

“Oh.” The word came out in almost stunned amazement.

She watched as he fell back against the sofa with a whoosh. One hand fiddled with his beer while the other jiggled the remote as he lowered the volume slightly.

She kept watching him. God. What had just happened? Elizabeth’s mind was spinning. Had they just kissed? Had he kissed her? Or had she leaned forward to meet him? What the hell was he thinking? What in the world had she been thinking?!

Finally, he glanced toward her ever so briefly. “It went completely past the beach scene. I’ll rewind it if you want.”

“No! I mean, that’s O.K....it’s fine, really...”

She closed her eyes a moment and concentrated on just breathing.

In front of them, the movie played on.

********************************

No? Yes? More?