Stuck
“What is it now Rodney?” Elizabeth asked with an exasperated sigh. She looked up as John joined them in her office.
“We found another Ancient chair in a lab. All the text is in Ancient - I need you to translate it. And I’ll need Sheppard to see if the thing even works anymore.”
“Rodney, we’re not the only two people in the city capable of doing that.” Elizabeth frowned.
“Yes, yes, I know…but” Rodney gave Elizabeth an exasperated look. “I trust the two of you slightly more than anyone else.”
“This is the last time! You’ve called us both away at least twelve times in the past three weeks to help you. No more!” Elizabeth stared Rodney down, daring him to argue.
John’s head snapped up at Elizabeth’s words. He’d been standing by the door, becoming increasingly annoyed with Rodney. He thought back over the past three weeks and groaned inwardly. Elizabeth was right; Rodney certainly had needed their help an awful lot since they’d come back from their last mission…
~John felt drunk…very, very drunk. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stand upright on his own. Leaning heavily on Rodney, he staggered toward the puddle jumper.
“Crap!” he muttered. “What did they put in those drinks?”
Rodney shrugged, grunting under John’s unsteady weight, and led him into the jumper.
John collapsed onto the floor in the rear compartment, his eyes sliding closed. Rodney had nothing to do but watch John and wait for Teyla and Ronon. He became worried when John started to moan incoherently, his head rocking from side to side restlessly.
Rodney’s jaw dropped when the incoherent moaning became a fairly clearly moaned “Liz’beth”. Rodney shook his head, sure that he’d been hearing things, convinced that he had imagined it; until the mumblings became clearer and it was obvious, even to Rodney, that whatever John was seeing was not at all unpleasant. Rodney just stared at John for a minute, before, finally, all the staring-at-each-other and personal-space-invading John and Elizabeth always seemed to do suddenly made perfect sense.
“Ha!” Rodney exclaimed to no one in particular. “I should have known!”~
When the drug had worn off, Rodney had taken great pleasure in telling John, Teyla and Ronon everything he’d heard. At the time, John had shrugged it off, determined to keep his apparently-not-so-secret-feelings for Elizabeth a secret.
‘I should have known better’ he thought as he and Elizabeth walked down the hall to the lab. It was obvious to him now that this was Rodney’s clumsy attempt to play matchmaker. That thought made John very nervous.
“John?” Elizabeth touched John’s arm to get his attention, frowning when he jumped and pulled his arm away like he’d been burned. “Everything OK?”
“What?! Yeah…fine…let’s just get this over with.” John avoided Elizabeth’s eyes and led the way into the lab.
Elizabeth sighed and raised an eyebrow at John’s back “Are you sure everything’s all right? You seem a little tense.”
“I’m fine...” he answered through clenched teeth. “Annoyed with Rodney.” he grunted. Judging by the look she gave him, John knew Elizabeth didn’t totally believe him; he was relieved when she let it drop.
Elizabeth moved over to the control panel while John checked out the chair in question. It looked a little like the other control chairs; this chair was padded, however, and had arm and leg restraints, as well as something that looked like it could be a head restraint.
“It looks like you don’t need the gene to control the chair…” Elizabeth started pushing random buttons. Her back was to John, so she didn’t know he’d decided to sit down in the chair until she heard him mumble “Oh crap!”
She turned around, eyes wide. “Oh crap what?”
“Um, Elizabeth? What button did you push?”
Elizabeth grimaced and turned back to the controls. “Ah...I don’t…know…” her voice trailed as she pushed all the buttons again. “Why?”
“I’m stuck…something you did activated the restraints.” he grumbled, his mood definitely not improving.
“Oh God, I’m sorry!” She kept frantically pushing buttons. “Nothing’s working now. Maybe there’s a release on the chair itself.” Elizabeth hurried over to John, dropping to her knees by his feet and looking for anything that might be a way to open the metal restraint.
John took one look at Elizabeth’s head by his knees, so close to his lap, and felt his body respond automatically. He groaned before he could stop himself.
Elizabeth’s head snapped up and she pulled her hands away from John’s ankle. “I’m sorry…did I hurt you?” She licked her lips nervously, eliciting another groan from John.
“No…” his voice cracked slightly. “No…just…get up…please.” he practically pleaded with her.
Elizabeth nodded and placed her hands onto John’s knees for leverage as she stood up. Her eyes widened slightly when her gaze fell onto John’s lap as she stood.
“Oh!” she gasped, pulling her hands off of John’s knees. “I…I’ll just go see if there’s anything in the text that can help us.” She stuttered, willing her cheeks not to flush, and walked quickly back to the control panel.
She stood with her back to John and tried to collect her thoughts. She’d realized a long time ago that she was falling hard for him and had done everything she could to ignore it. She had also suspected that he felt something more than simple friendship for her, but was afraid to explore it any further - at least she had been until the debrief after the team’s last mission anyway.
~Elizabeth noted that every time Rodney opened his mouth to say something at least one of his fellow teammates would cut him off. And, even though she got as annoyed with his endless rambling as much as the next guy, she’d never seen the others behave so passively-aggressive toward him before.
She had finally gotten so fed up with their strange behavior that she called the meeting to an end, telling them that she wanted their reports by the next morning.
Elizabeth couldn’t shake the feeling that they hadn’t told her everything; the feeling intensified as she watched Ronon and John frog-march Rodney from the room. She noticed that Teyla hadn’t left with her team.
“Teyla? Did you need something?” Elizabeth asked.
“There’s something you need to know about this mission. I know John would rather we didn’t tell you, but I’m not sure Rodney will keep it out of his report.” Teyla shifted uncomfortably.
She told Elizabeth what had happened, omitting the specific name Rodney had heard.
Elizabeth felt a sudden rush of jealousy toward the unnamed woman and flushed when she realized that Teyla was smirking at her. She stopped to think- her mouth forming a comical little “oh” when she realized what Teyla wasn’t telling her.
Teyla nodded slightly and finally Elizabeth understood everything that had happened and that Teyla didn’t want to betray John’s trust by telling her flat out.
Teyla was also the only person in whom Elizabeth had confided her feelings for John. It had been a moment of weakness on her part after the Genii had tried to take over Atlantis and she had been grateful for the Athosian woman’s discretion, even after two years had passed.
Now, she realized, Teyla had put two and two together; she had also passed Elizabeth some vital Intel. ~
Elizabeth sneaked a look over her shoulder at John, who was sitting with his head tipped back, eyes closed and breathing deeply. Suddenly everything became crystal clear to Elizabeth - this was Rodney’s clumsy attempts to get John to talk to her! Rodney and John didn’t know that she knew about what had happened on their last mission (Rodney had, in the end, not been able to bring himself to put it in his report), nor did either of them know (suspect maybe, but not know about her feelings for John.
A wicked smile spread across her face. Obviously no one else, no one who mattered anyway, had a problem with the idea of the two of them together. The only people keeping her and John apart were, well…her and John.
She peeked back at him, her eyes on his profile a little longer than she normally allowed. Her fingers itched to feel the scruff on his cheeks, her lips tingled in anticipation of his, and her breath sped up. Her body responded involuntarily and she decided that it was time for them to stop circling around one another and finally do something about this. The flirting had been fun, but it was time to take things to the next level.
The fact that he was restrained in a padded ancient device was further motivation.
part 2
“We found another Ancient chair in a lab. All the text is in Ancient - I need you to translate it. And I’ll need Sheppard to see if the thing even works anymore.”
“Rodney, we’re not the only two people in the city capable of doing that.” Elizabeth frowned.
“Yes, yes, I know…but” Rodney gave Elizabeth an exasperated look. “I trust the two of you slightly more than anyone else.”
“This is the last time! You’ve called us both away at least twelve times in the past three weeks to help you. No more!” Elizabeth stared Rodney down, daring him to argue.
John’s head snapped up at Elizabeth’s words. He’d been standing by the door, becoming increasingly annoyed with Rodney. He thought back over the past three weeks and groaned inwardly. Elizabeth was right; Rodney certainly had needed their help an awful lot since they’d come back from their last mission…
~John felt drunk…very, very drunk. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stand upright on his own. Leaning heavily on Rodney, he staggered toward the puddle jumper.
“Crap!” he muttered. “What did they put in those drinks?”
Rodney shrugged, grunting under John’s unsteady weight, and led him into the jumper.
John collapsed onto the floor in the rear compartment, his eyes sliding closed. Rodney had nothing to do but watch John and wait for Teyla and Ronon. He became worried when John started to moan incoherently, his head rocking from side to side restlessly.
Rodney’s jaw dropped when the incoherent moaning became a fairly clearly moaned “Liz’beth”. Rodney shook his head, sure that he’d been hearing things, convinced that he had imagined it; until the mumblings became clearer and it was obvious, even to Rodney, that whatever John was seeing was not at all unpleasant. Rodney just stared at John for a minute, before, finally, all the staring-at-each-other and personal-space-invading John and Elizabeth always seemed to do suddenly made perfect sense.
“Ha!” Rodney exclaimed to no one in particular. “I should have known!”~
When the drug had worn off, Rodney had taken great pleasure in telling John, Teyla and Ronon everything he’d heard. At the time, John had shrugged it off, determined to keep his apparently-not-so-secret-feelings for Elizabeth a secret.
‘I should have known better’ he thought as he and Elizabeth walked down the hall to the lab. It was obvious to him now that this was Rodney’s clumsy attempt to play matchmaker. That thought made John very nervous.
“John?” Elizabeth touched John’s arm to get his attention, frowning when he jumped and pulled his arm away like he’d been burned. “Everything OK?”
“What?! Yeah…fine…let’s just get this over with.” John avoided Elizabeth’s eyes and led the way into the lab.
Elizabeth sighed and raised an eyebrow at John’s back “Are you sure everything’s all right? You seem a little tense.”
“I’m fine...” he answered through clenched teeth. “Annoyed with Rodney.” he grunted. Judging by the look she gave him, John knew Elizabeth didn’t totally believe him; he was relieved when she let it drop.
Elizabeth moved over to the control panel while John checked out the chair in question. It looked a little like the other control chairs; this chair was padded, however, and had arm and leg restraints, as well as something that looked like it could be a head restraint.
“It looks like you don’t need the gene to control the chair…” Elizabeth started pushing random buttons. Her back was to John, so she didn’t know he’d decided to sit down in the chair until she heard him mumble “Oh crap!”
She turned around, eyes wide. “Oh crap what?”
“Um, Elizabeth? What button did you push?”
Elizabeth grimaced and turned back to the controls. “Ah...I don’t…know…” her voice trailed as she pushed all the buttons again. “Why?”
“I’m stuck…something you did activated the restraints.” he grumbled, his mood definitely not improving.
“Oh God, I’m sorry!” She kept frantically pushing buttons. “Nothing’s working now. Maybe there’s a release on the chair itself.” Elizabeth hurried over to John, dropping to her knees by his feet and looking for anything that might be a way to open the metal restraint.
John took one look at Elizabeth’s head by his knees, so close to his lap, and felt his body respond automatically. He groaned before he could stop himself.
Elizabeth’s head snapped up and she pulled her hands away from John’s ankle. “I’m sorry…did I hurt you?” She licked her lips nervously, eliciting another groan from John.
“No…” his voice cracked slightly. “No…just…get up…please.” he practically pleaded with her.
Elizabeth nodded and placed her hands onto John’s knees for leverage as she stood up. Her eyes widened slightly when her gaze fell onto John’s lap as she stood.
“Oh!” she gasped, pulling her hands off of John’s knees. “I…I’ll just go see if there’s anything in the text that can help us.” She stuttered, willing her cheeks not to flush, and walked quickly back to the control panel.
She stood with her back to John and tried to collect her thoughts. She’d realized a long time ago that she was falling hard for him and had done everything she could to ignore it. She had also suspected that he felt something more than simple friendship for her, but was afraid to explore it any further - at least she had been until the debrief after the team’s last mission anyway.
~Elizabeth noted that every time Rodney opened his mouth to say something at least one of his fellow teammates would cut him off. And, even though she got as annoyed with his endless rambling as much as the next guy, she’d never seen the others behave so passively-aggressive toward him before.
She had finally gotten so fed up with their strange behavior that she called the meeting to an end, telling them that she wanted their reports by the next morning.
Elizabeth couldn’t shake the feeling that they hadn’t told her everything; the feeling intensified as she watched Ronon and John frog-march Rodney from the room. She noticed that Teyla hadn’t left with her team.
“Teyla? Did you need something?” Elizabeth asked.
“There’s something you need to know about this mission. I know John would rather we didn’t tell you, but I’m not sure Rodney will keep it out of his report.” Teyla shifted uncomfortably.
She told Elizabeth what had happened, omitting the specific name Rodney had heard.
Elizabeth felt a sudden rush of jealousy toward the unnamed woman and flushed when she realized that Teyla was smirking at her. She stopped to think- her mouth forming a comical little “oh” when she realized what Teyla wasn’t telling her.
Teyla nodded slightly and finally Elizabeth understood everything that had happened and that Teyla didn’t want to betray John’s trust by telling her flat out.
Teyla was also the only person in whom Elizabeth had confided her feelings for John. It had been a moment of weakness on her part after the Genii had tried to take over Atlantis and she had been grateful for the Athosian woman’s discretion, even after two years had passed.
Now, she realized, Teyla had put two and two together; she had also passed Elizabeth some vital Intel. ~
Elizabeth sneaked a look over her shoulder at John, who was sitting with his head tipped back, eyes closed and breathing deeply. Suddenly everything became crystal clear to Elizabeth - this was Rodney’s clumsy attempts to get John to talk to her! Rodney and John didn’t know that she knew about what had happened on their last mission (Rodney had, in the end, not been able to bring himself to put it in his report), nor did either of them know (suspect maybe, but not know about her feelings for John.
A wicked smile spread across her face. Obviously no one else, no one who mattered anyway, had a problem with the idea of the two of them together. The only people keeping her and John apart were, well…her and John.
She peeked back at him, her eyes on his profile a little longer than she normally allowed. Her fingers itched to feel the scruff on his cheeks, her lips tingled in anticipation of his, and her breath sped up. Her body responded involuntarily and she decided that it was time for them to stop circling around one another and finally do something about this. The flirting had been fun, but it was time to take things to the next level.
The fact that he was restrained in a padded ancient device was further motivation.
part 2