JAG/SG1 Crossover - part of the IDoF Ficathon
Title: It's a Small World...
Author's Name: ncruuk
Rating: PG
Fandoms Crossed: SG1/JAG (N.B. The original prompt was asking for Atlantis/JAG, but I misremembered it and wrote a fic that's set at the SGC, with Elizabeth in charge...although in my mind's eye it's Torri Higginson's Elizabeth Weir...)
Pairings/Characters: Elizabeth Weir/Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie
Prompt: Court Martial
Seasons/Spoilers: None
Warnings/Disclaimers: None
Summary: When your office is the Universe, it's easy to lose track of old friends...until they turn up unexpectedly.
Author's Notes: So, I continue my quest to keep the JAG femslash fandom alive and well...and give Mac a tour of the USA - this is 'Colorado'.
“Coates? Get me Mackenzie!” shouted Admiral A.J. Chedwiggen even as he was hanging up the telephone having listened to perhaps one too many a crazy request from the Secretary of the Navy.
“You wanted to see me Sir?” asked Colonel Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie almost immediately, having been standing at Petty Officer Coates' desk when his call came.
“Shut the door Mac...” he instructed, tossing his reading glasses onto his desk, “...have a seat...” he continued, his tone warming even as it turned weary.
“Is there a problem Sir?” asked Mac, boldly, aware thanks to Coates that he'd just been on the phone with the SecNav.
“Only that the SecNav seems to have lost what was left of his mind...” mused the Admiral, not quite sure who he was supposed to explain this latest case to Mac.
“Sir?”
“I need you to go to Cheyenne Mountain to preside at a Courts Martial for a Marine...” began Chedwiggen, still not quite believing the confusing chain of events that had resulted in the US Marine Corp finding itself in this situation.
“Sir?” Now Mac really was confused - since when did the JAG get involved in assigning Presiding Officers for Courts Martial?
“The classified programme at Cheyenne Mountain has recently had one Elizabeth Weir appointed as the civilian head of an USAF led international military and civilian team who work with aliens...” he trailed off, pausing to give her time to untangle that particularly messy scenario whilst also enjoying being able to finally say something so unbelievable he actually managed to cause his normally efficient and unshakable Chief of Staff to look surprised, for a moment at least, before she schooled her features and asked reasonably,
“Why can't a Presiding Officer be found through the usual channels Sir?” Mac was determined not to reveal her surprise at discovering that particular diplomat reappearing in her life...and the safest way to achieve that was to stick to procedural topics.
“Because you're the only member of the military legal community with fluent Russian, the requisite security clearance and no prior contact with the Stargate Programme...” explained the Admiral, virtually repeating verbatim what the SecNav had told him when he'd asked the same question.
“When do I leave Sir?” asked Mac, squaring her shoulders, her gaze levelling on her Boss as she calmly accepted where she was heading.
“Be at Andrews at 2200, you're on TAD to Colorado Colonel...” and some place called PXY 729 too, thought Chedwiggen as he dismissed Mac, deciding the less he knew about this case the easier he would probably find it to understand what was happening.
“Colonel Mackenzie?”
“Yes?”
“I'm Sergeant Siler, welcome to Colorado; do you have any more bags Ma'am?”
“No, just these...” explained Mac, gesturing to the briefcase and sea bag - even before years of practice as a Marine she'd always been able to pack quickly and travel light.
“Airman Halls will take those for you Ma'am...” said Siler as the aforementioned Airman stepped forward to relieve Mac of her luggage before leading them across the tarmac to the waiting Hummer convoy which would take them back to Cheyenne Mountain.
“Is this your first time visiting the Mountain Ma'am?” asked Siler as the driver directed them to the Base.
“Yes, and I don't quite know what to expect...” admitted Mac honestly, knowing nothing more about the Base or the case than she did when she'd left the Admiral's office hours earlier, not to mention how Elizabeth would react.
“Don't worry Ma'am, no one ever does...” reassured Sergeant Siler cheerfully before settling into silence - it wasn't his place to enlighten the JAG Officer and anyway, even if had been, he wasn't sure he'd know what else to say...
“Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Colonel...” began Elizabeth Weir, only to tail off as she realised that the calm brunette standing before her, sent to represent and uphold military justice, was not a totally strange or unknown face.
“Thank you, Doctor Weir...” replied Mac, far more used to not showing her reactions when familiar faces turned up in unfamiliar places than most Colonels, and thus able to school her reaction in time.
“You've been assigned some quarters I trust?” continued Elizabeth, deciding to stick to the 'safe' topics of domestic matters for as long as possible...
“Yes, thank you...” Mac trailed off, unsure what else to add, at least, not without commenting on the extravagant opulence of the Base VIP quarters being somewhat grander than was either necessary for a JAG Officer or standard for a US Military Base.
“Good... I'm not sure whether to offer the nickel tour now or at a more conventional hour...” began Elizabeth, uncertain whether 4 am was appropriate or practical for her guest.
“Whatever works best for you and the Base, Ma'am,” volunteered Mac, glad of the few hours sleep she had managed to catch during her transport from D.C., not to mention being more than just slightly curious as to what was happening to necessitate the Programme's Civilian Head being on base at such an un-godly hour yet seemingly free to act as tour guide.
“Then we may as well start - depending how well I do you can always get a 'top-up' from SG1 when they return from PY7-3XA,” concluded Elizabeth, heading for her office door.
“PY7-3XA Ma'am?”
“Call me Elizabeth... and it's a neutral planet on the edge of Anubis' home territory which sufficiently advanced satellite technology for them to be prepared to undertake some passive observation of ship movements and stellar phenomena that we can use as intelligence...” explained Elizabeth easily, wondering what sort of reaction that news would provoke, unable to listen to to Sarah call her anything else.
“I'm Mac... and is that Anubis as in the Egyptian God of Mummification?”
“You know your Egyptology...” observed Elizabeth, desperate to ask why she wasn't known as 'Sarah' this time but knowing now wasn't the moment, “...and you are right, in a manner of speaking, for the Egyptian Gods are actually Goa'uld, a parasitic race of alien creatures...” and, leading Mac out of her office, Elizabeth began to give Mac a potted history of the Stargate Programme and Earth's neighbourhood aliens as she showed off her Base.
“...brings us back to your Quarters,” concluded Elizabeth some two hours later, having shown Mac around the important bits (Gate Room, Control Room, Briefing Room, Infirmary etc.) and only been interrupted by two off-world activations, only one of which was unexpected.
“Not that I'll ever find all that on my own again, but thank you,” said Mac, her usually good sense of geography and direction completely deserting her in this windowless underground labyrinth, not to mention the fact that she almost lost track of time, something she knew to be virtually impossible, such was the amazing and truly mind-blowing information she'd been asked to absorb as they toured the facility.
“Only Siler and SG1 seem to avoid getting lost around here, so don't worry about it - everyone's managed to get pretty good at giving comprehensible directions...” Elizabeth had also recognised that Mac was sufficiently shrewd an Officer to have worked out that she wouldn't actually have the opportunity to get lost since at no point would she be walking around the Base unescorted. She may be 'friendly' and have clearance to know about some of the SGC's most secret of secrets, but that didn't equate to total freedom, something that Mac found herself grateful for for the first time since her very first visit to the Enterprise Aircraft Carrier, although now, after numerous adventures, the 'Big E' was something of an open book to her. Right now, Mac wasn't sure if she wanted to very be in the position to get equally well acquainted with the SGC, or whether one 'alien contact' would be enough to last her whole career.
“Good to know...” agreed Mac politely, wondering if whatever Elizabeth had obviously been waiting for had happened yet.
“I'll let you settle in properly then...” mused Elizabeth, finding she had many unasked questions she wished to pose to her latest guest, starting with 'What the Hell?' but knowing that a surveillance camera covered corridor was not the place to start asking them.
“My primary objective is testing Air Force coffee...” declared Mac, before deciding to gamble by asking, “...can I make you a cup Dr. Weir?”
“Why, that would be lovely... thank you Colonel Mackenize....”
“Were you a Marine then too, Sarah?” Try as she might, Elizabeth was unable to keep the bitterness out of her tone when, coffee long finished, she finally asked the first of many burning questions.
“Elizabeth?” startled, Mac found herself glancing towards the obvious security cameras.
“The cameras only run when you're not in the room, since you're not regarded as a threat to the SGC,” explained Elizabeth, managing to suppress her anger enough to be informative and icily civil.
“But you could have me reclassified as a threat, couldn't you?” asked Mac reasonably, as much as a stalling tactic whilst she formulated her answer as it was a legitimate questions she wanted Elizabeth to answer.
“Yes, but I won't...” At Mac's surprised look, Elizabeth softened her tone, explaining, “I may still be angry and, dare I say it, hurt at what happened but I'm neither vindictive nor callous enough to ruin your career or time on the Base by doing that to you, Sarah...”
“I know...” agreed Mac, smiling softly when she heard Elizabeth use her first name warmly after all these years.
“Why didn't you tell me?” This time, Elizabeth's voice was warm and genuine, with curiosity being the main reason for asking the question, rather than bitterness.
“That I was a Marine?”
“Yes... you lied to me...”
“I omitted to tell you the truth, yes... but I never lied to you Elizabeth, about anything,” corrected Mac firmly, putting their empty coffee mugs back by the kettle.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was ordered not to... the Dean knew your views on the military and didn't think you would let me be in the Class if you knew I was a Marine...”
“The Dean was right... but why take the Class at all?” asked Elizabeth, puzzled as to why her lecture series about International Diplomacy, rumoured to be one of the toughest in the Law School at the time, and which was for extra credit only, was so important that the Dean told Sarah not to admit to her military career.
“It was one of the reasons I was able to go to Duke - you weren't giving the lectures at any other university then...”
“The Marines thought I was a good reason to go to Duke?”
“Face it Elizabeth, you were causing more than a few heads to turn in the State Department and the Pentagon... it was, I think, seen as a good opportunity to try to understand your position...” Mac broke out into a genuine grin, “... not to mention being a great course...”
“Thank you... you were sent to spy on me?” Elizabeth had instinctively and politely accepted the compliment without really letting it interrupt her questioning.
“No... I was just the right recruit at the right time with the right interests in international law to be able to have the opportunity to study with the best, which is you Elizabeth. I was never asked to explain anything to anyone...” Mac could see she hadn't explained herself terribly well, “...everyone at State and the Pentagon was reading your work as they'd recognised that you were our best negotiator; JAG Officers end up upholding the diplomatic and legal standards so it made sense to the Marines not to pass up the opportunity for one of their Officers to study your work first hand...and I was the lucky Marine...” finished Mac almost shyly.
“So our...?” Elizabeth left the question hanging, unsure what to call it now, years later.
“Was entirely private and very much my own personal desire.”
“So you weren't...?”
“Wasn't ordered to seduce you on your last weekend before disappearing off somewhere? Certainly not! Elizabeth...” Mac sat down on the couch next to her one-time lover, “...only you and I know about that weekend... unless you told anyone?” asked Mac, suddenly nervous.
“No! I mean, I didn't have time to tell anyone, and by the time I got back...” Elizabeth trailed off.
“I had graduated and gone.”
“Where did you go?”
“I was posted, to ships initially before ending up in the JAG's office in Falls Church... but I live in Georgetown. Where did you go?” she countered, remembering the rushed note, scribbled on the back of a coffee shop receipt, that Elizabeth had left for her with her secretary the day after their return from mid term break to find Elizabeth's lectures cancelled.
“Moscow, then North Korea....”
“Exotic... we probably ended up involved in some of the same situations...you for the neutrals, me for the Marines...” mused Mac thoughtfully.
“Probably...” agreed Elizabeth philosophically, finding herself much calmer now she'd voiced her initial anger at Sarah's deception years ago.
“Your attitude to us military types has changed then...” continued Mac conversationally, gradually shifting back to the same light tone of friendship they'd
developed all those years ago which she hoped they could recover, despite the shock for Elizabeth of discovering Mac's military career.
“That's a very long story that...” Elizabeth was unable to finish her comment as she was interrupted by the wailing sirens that announced an 'unscheduled off-world activation,' closely followed by a voice coming over the speakers requesting her presence.
“You can tell me some other time...” instructed Mac, smiling at Elizabeth to reassure her she wasn't offended - indeed, something told Mac that this arrival of whomever from wherever was probably the real reason Elizabeth had found herself on Base at 4am with the time on her hands to show Mac around.
“I'd like that...” agreed Elizabeth, surprising herself with how genuinely she meant it, and how easily it was to remember everything from all those years ago, memories she had subsequently learnt to forget or ignore as, with a hectic globe-trotting career she'd found herself with little time for romance, especially of the female kind.
“Haven't you got a planet to go save or something?” guessed Mac, finding herself wondering at the thoughtful look she was seeing on Elizabeth's face, wondering if it was an echo of Mac's thoughts...thoughts about wanting to see what would happen if they found themselves alone and free again, free to forget responsibilities and just delight in each other's company, re-creating the memories of years past...
“Two actually... not including this one...” agreed Elizabeth, grinning with amusement as she listened to what she'd just said, realising the absurdity of the statement.
“And you're still here why?” asked Mac, her head tilting as she considered Elizabeth's face carefully, noting the inevitable signs of the worries and stresses of the last few years but also the intelligent sparkle in eyes that were looking at Mac far too knowingly.
“You always did ask the difficult questions...” teased Elizabeth, heading towards the door, knowing she would be needing to run through the corridors if she didn't leave quickly.
“Go...” instructed Mac, gesturing to the door before adding, “...but come back this time...please?”
“Will I be welcome?” Suddenly, Elizabeth found the atmosphere tense between them and her confidence lost.
“Of course... now... save the planet please?” It was a request Mac never thought she would have ever made prior to today... and one Elizabeth was only too glad to fulfil, if for no other reason than it would mean she would be back, coffee in hand, enjoying the company of Sarah Mackenzie, and who knows...maybe they would be able to recreate the past after all...
Author's Name: ncruuk
Rating: PG
Fandoms Crossed: SG1/JAG (N.B. The original prompt was asking for Atlantis/JAG, but I misremembered it and wrote a fic that's set at the SGC, with Elizabeth in charge...although in my mind's eye it's Torri Higginson's Elizabeth Weir...)
Pairings/Characters: Elizabeth Weir/Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie
Prompt: Court Martial
Seasons/Spoilers: None
Warnings/Disclaimers: None
Summary: When your office is the Universe, it's easy to lose track of old friends...until they turn up unexpectedly.
Author's Notes: So, I continue my quest to keep the JAG femslash fandom alive and well...and give Mac a tour of the USA - this is 'Colorado'.
“Coates? Get me Mackenzie!” shouted Admiral A.J. Chedwiggen even as he was hanging up the telephone having listened to perhaps one too many a crazy request from the Secretary of the Navy.
“You wanted to see me Sir?” asked Colonel Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie almost immediately, having been standing at Petty Officer Coates' desk when his call came.
“Shut the door Mac...” he instructed, tossing his reading glasses onto his desk, “...have a seat...” he continued, his tone warming even as it turned weary.
“Is there a problem Sir?” asked Mac, boldly, aware thanks to Coates that he'd just been on the phone with the SecNav.
“Only that the SecNav seems to have lost what was left of his mind...” mused the Admiral, not quite sure who he was supposed to explain this latest case to Mac.
“Sir?”
“I need you to go to Cheyenne Mountain to preside at a Courts Martial for a Marine...” began Chedwiggen, still not quite believing the confusing chain of events that had resulted in the US Marine Corp finding itself in this situation.
“Sir?” Now Mac really was confused - since when did the JAG get involved in assigning Presiding Officers for Courts Martial?
“The classified programme at Cheyenne Mountain has recently had one Elizabeth Weir appointed as the civilian head of an USAF led international military and civilian team who work with aliens...” he trailed off, pausing to give her time to untangle that particularly messy scenario whilst also enjoying being able to finally say something so unbelievable he actually managed to cause his normally efficient and unshakable Chief of Staff to look surprised, for a moment at least, before she schooled her features and asked reasonably,
“Why can't a Presiding Officer be found through the usual channels Sir?” Mac was determined not to reveal her surprise at discovering that particular diplomat reappearing in her life...and the safest way to achieve that was to stick to procedural topics.
“Because you're the only member of the military legal community with fluent Russian, the requisite security clearance and no prior contact with the Stargate Programme...” explained the Admiral, virtually repeating verbatim what the SecNav had told him when he'd asked the same question.
“When do I leave Sir?” asked Mac, squaring her shoulders, her gaze levelling on her Boss as she calmly accepted where she was heading.
“Be at Andrews at 2200, you're on TAD to Colorado Colonel...” and some place called PXY 729 too, thought Chedwiggen as he dismissed Mac, deciding the less he knew about this case the easier he would probably find it to understand what was happening.
“Colonel Mackenzie?”
“Yes?”
“I'm Sergeant Siler, welcome to Colorado; do you have any more bags Ma'am?”
“No, just these...” explained Mac, gesturing to the briefcase and sea bag - even before years of practice as a Marine she'd always been able to pack quickly and travel light.
“Airman Halls will take those for you Ma'am...” said Siler as the aforementioned Airman stepped forward to relieve Mac of her luggage before leading them across the tarmac to the waiting Hummer convoy which would take them back to Cheyenne Mountain.
“Is this your first time visiting the Mountain Ma'am?” asked Siler as the driver directed them to the Base.
“Yes, and I don't quite know what to expect...” admitted Mac honestly, knowing nothing more about the Base or the case than she did when she'd left the Admiral's office hours earlier, not to mention how Elizabeth would react.
“Don't worry Ma'am, no one ever does...” reassured Sergeant Siler cheerfully before settling into silence - it wasn't his place to enlighten the JAG Officer and anyway, even if had been, he wasn't sure he'd know what else to say...
“Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Colonel...” began Elizabeth Weir, only to tail off as she realised that the calm brunette standing before her, sent to represent and uphold military justice, was not a totally strange or unknown face.
“Thank you, Doctor Weir...” replied Mac, far more used to not showing her reactions when familiar faces turned up in unfamiliar places than most Colonels, and thus able to school her reaction in time.
“You've been assigned some quarters I trust?” continued Elizabeth, deciding to stick to the 'safe' topics of domestic matters for as long as possible...
“Yes, thank you...” Mac trailed off, unsure what else to add, at least, not without commenting on the extravagant opulence of the Base VIP quarters being somewhat grander than was either necessary for a JAG Officer or standard for a US Military Base.
“Good... I'm not sure whether to offer the nickel tour now or at a more conventional hour...” began Elizabeth, uncertain whether 4 am was appropriate or practical for her guest.
“Whatever works best for you and the Base, Ma'am,” volunteered Mac, glad of the few hours sleep she had managed to catch during her transport from D.C., not to mention being more than just slightly curious as to what was happening to necessitate the Programme's Civilian Head being on base at such an un-godly hour yet seemingly free to act as tour guide.
“Then we may as well start - depending how well I do you can always get a 'top-up' from SG1 when they return from PY7-3XA,” concluded Elizabeth, heading for her office door.
“PY7-3XA Ma'am?”
“Call me Elizabeth... and it's a neutral planet on the edge of Anubis' home territory which sufficiently advanced satellite technology for them to be prepared to undertake some passive observation of ship movements and stellar phenomena that we can use as intelligence...” explained Elizabeth easily, wondering what sort of reaction that news would provoke, unable to listen to to Sarah call her anything else.
“I'm Mac... and is that Anubis as in the Egyptian God of Mummification?”
“You know your Egyptology...” observed Elizabeth, desperate to ask why she wasn't known as 'Sarah' this time but knowing now wasn't the moment, “...and you are right, in a manner of speaking, for the Egyptian Gods are actually Goa'uld, a parasitic race of alien creatures...” and, leading Mac out of her office, Elizabeth began to give Mac a potted history of the Stargate Programme and Earth's neighbourhood aliens as she showed off her Base.
“...brings us back to your Quarters,” concluded Elizabeth some two hours later, having shown Mac around the important bits (Gate Room, Control Room, Briefing Room, Infirmary etc.) and only been interrupted by two off-world activations, only one of which was unexpected.
“Not that I'll ever find all that on my own again, but thank you,” said Mac, her usually good sense of geography and direction completely deserting her in this windowless underground labyrinth, not to mention the fact that she almost lost track of time, something she knew to be virtually impossible, such was the amazing and truly mind-blowing information she'd been asked to absorb as they toured the facility.
“Only Siler and SG1 seem to avoid getting lost around here, so don't worry about it - everyone's managed to get pretty good at giving comprehensible directions...” Elizabeth had also recognised that Mac was sufficiently shrewd an Officer to have worked out that she wouldn't actually have the opportunity to get lost since at no point would she be walking around the Base unescorted. She may be 'friendly' and have clearance to know about some of the SGC's most secret of secrets, but that didn't equate to total freedom, something that Mac found herself grateful for for the first time since her very first visit to the Enterprise Aircraft Carrier, although now, after numerous adventures, the 'Big E' was something of an open book to her. Right now, Mac wasn't sure if she wanted to very be in the position to get equally well acquainted with the SGC, or whether one 'alien contact' would be enough to last her whole career.
“Good to know...” agreed Mac politely, wondering if whatever Elizabeth had obviously been waiting for had happened yet.
“I'll let you settle in properly then...” mused Elizabeth, finding she had many unasked questions she wished to pose to her latest guest, starting with 'What the Hell?' but knowing that a surveillance camera covered corridor was not the place to start asking them.
“My primary objective is testing Air Force coffee...” declared Mac, before deciding to gamble by asking, “...can I make you a cup Dr. Weir?”
“Why, that would be lovely... thank you Colonel Mackenize....”
“Were you a Marine then too, Sarah?” Try as she might, Elizabeth was unable to keep the bitterness out of her tone when, coffee long finished, she finally asked the first of many burning questions.
“Elizabeth?” startled, Mac found herself glancing towards the obvious security cameras.
“The cameras only run when you're not in the room, since you're not regarded as a threat to the SGC,” explained Elizabeth, managing to suppress her anger enough to be informative and icily civil.
“But you could have me reclassified as a threat, couldn't you?” asked Mac reasonably, as much as a stalling tactic whilst she formulated her answer as it was a legitimate questions she wanted Elizabeth to answer.
“Yes, but I won't...” At Mac's surprised look, Elizabeth softened her tone, explaining, “I may still be angry and, dare I say it, hurt at what happened but I'm neither vindictive nor callous enough to ruin your career or time on the Base by doing that to you, Sarah...”
“I know...” agreed Mac, smiling softly when she heard Elizabeth use her first name warmly after all these years.
“Why didn't you tell me?” This time, Elizabeth's voice was warm and genuine, with curiosity being the main reason for asking the question, rather than bitterness.
“That I was a Marine?”
“Yes... you lied to me...”
“I omitted to tell you the truth, yes... but I never lied to you Elizabeth, about anything,” corrected Mac firmly, putting their empty coffee mugs back by the kettle.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was ordered not to... the Dean knew your views on the military and didn't think you would let me be in the Class if you knew I was a Marine...”
“The Dean was right... but why take the Class at all?” asked Elizabeth, puzzled as to why her lecture series about International Diplomacy, rumoured to be one of the toughest in the Law School at the time, and which was for extra credit only, was so important that the Dean told Sarah not to admit to her military career.
“It was one of the reasons I was able to go to Duke - you weren't giving the lectures at any other university then...”
“The Marines thought I was a good reason to go to Duke?”
“Face it Elizabeth, you were causing more than a few heads to turn in the State Department and the Pentagon... it was, I think, seen as a good opportunity to try to understand your position...” Mac broke out into a genuine grin, “... not to mention being a great course...”
“Thank you... you were sent to spy on me?” Elizabeth had instinctively and politely accepted the compliment without really letting it interrupt her questioning.
“No... I was just the right recruit at the right time with the right interests in international law to be able to have the opportunity to study with the best, which is you Elizabeth. I was never asked to explain anything to anyone...” Mac could see she hadn't explained herself terribly well, “...everyone at State and the Pentagon was reading your work as they'd recognised that you were our best negotiator; JAG Officers end up upholding the diplomatic and legal standards so it made sense to the Marines not to pass up the opportunity for one of their Officers to study your work first hand...and I was the lucky Marine...” finished Mac almost shyly.
“So our...?” Elizabeth left the question hanging, unsure what to call it now, years later.
“Was entirely private and very much my own personal desire.”
“So you weren't...?”
“Wasn't ordered to seduce you on your last weekend before disappearing off somewhere? Certainly not! Elizabeth...” Mac sat down on the couch next to her one-time lover, “...only you and I know about that weekend... unless you told anyone?” asked Mac, suddenly nervous.
“No! I mean, I didn't have time to tell anyone, and by the time I got back...” Elizabeth trailed off.
“I had graduated and gone.”
“Where did you go?”
“I was posted, to ships initially before ending up in the JAG's office in Falls Church... but I live in Georgetown. Where did you go?” she countered, remembering the rushed note, scribbled on the back of a coffee shop receipt, that Elizabeth had left for her with her secretary the day after their return from mid term break to find Elizabeth's lectures cancelled.
“Moscow, then North Korea....”
“Exotic... we probably ended up involved in some of the same situations...you for the neutrals, me for the Marines...” mused Mac thoughtfully.
“Probably...” agreed Elizabeth philosophically, finding herself much calmer now she'd voiced her initial anger at Sarah's deception years ago.
“Your attitude to us military types has changed then...” continued Mac conversationally, gradually shifting back to the same light tone of friendship they'd
developed all those years ago which she hoped they could recover, despite the shock for Elizabeth of discovering Mac's military career.
“That's a very long story that...” Elizabeth was unable to finish her comment as she was interrupted by the wailing sirens that announced an 'unscheduled off-world activation,' closely followed by a voice coming over the speakers requesting her presence.
“You can tell me some other time...” instructed Mac, smiling at Elizabeth to reassure her she wasn't offended - indeed, something told Mac that this arrival of whomever from wherever was probably the real reason Elizabeth had found herself on Base at 4am with the time on her hands to show Mac around.
“I'd like that...” agreed Elizabeth, surprising herself with how genuinely she meant it, and how easily it was to remember everything from all those years ago, memories she had subsequently learnt to forget or ignore as, with a hectic globe-trotting career she'd found herself with little time for romance, especially of the female kind.
“Haven't you got a planet to go save or something?” guessed Mac, finding herself wondering at the thoughtful look she was seeing on Elizabeth's face, wondering if it was an echo of Mac's thoughts...thoughts about wanting to see what would happen if they found themselves alone and free again, free to forget responsibilities and just delight in each other's company, re-creating the memories of years past...
“Two actually... not including this one...” agreed Elizabeth, grinning with amusement as she listened to what she'd just said, realising the absurdity of the statement.
“And you're still here why?” asked Mac, her head tilting as she considered Elizabeth's face carefully, noting the inevitable signs of the worries and stresses of the last few years but also the intelligent sparkle in eyes that were looking at Mac far too knowingly.
“You always did ask the difficult questions...” teased Elizabeth, heading towards the door, knowing she would be needing to run through the corridors if she didn't leave quickly.
“Go...” instructed Mac, gesturing to the door before adding, “...but come back this time...please?”
“Will I be welcome?” Suddenly, Elizabeth found the atmosphere tense between them and her confidence lost.
“Of course... now... save the planet please?” It was a request Mac never thought she would have ever made prior to today... and one Elizabeth was only too glad to fulfil, if for no other reason than it would mean she would be back, coffee in hand, enjoying the company of Sarah Mackenzie, and who knows...maybe they would be able to recreate the past after all...