Colonial Crossover: chapter 5

[sarah_jones]

Title: Colonial Crossover
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj) & Katie
Fandoms: Stargate SG-1, SGA & Battlestar Galactica
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Summary: The survivors of the fight against the Ori ships get thrown into another galaxy where they meet the Colonial fleet. Will they unite against the threats of the Cylons, the Wraith and the Ori?
Warnings: some character deaths implied



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chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4

chapter 5:

Atlantis:



Kara Thrace stared out at the ocean. The tremendous blue would have been mesmerizing if it hadn't been for the fact that she was not really seeing anything through her stinging eyes. Her head throbbed from her effort not to cry. Her chest restricted by the lack of air as she struggled to breathe. Why had the gods taken him away from her now? And why had she married such a frakking idiot? If he had just rested in the beginning, like Doc Cottle had told him to, instead of trying to carry on as usual, he would probably still be here with her, or at least that was what Kara kept telling herself.

Running her hands through her long, messy hair she growled angrily before taking a deep breath. She wanted to hit something, drink, smoke… anything that would take away the pain. Numbly she decided to go back inside and retreat to the room the people of Atlantis had kindly given her while Sam had been in the infirmary. She needed some alone time right now. Maybe she could get a little sleep, god knows how long she had been deprived from that, and later hopefully she'd have enough energy to find some liquor to drink herself into a drunken stupor.

----- -----

Lee Adama was walking through Atlantis. Lt. Laura Cadman had been instructed to show him parts of the city, so he would know his way around a bit. The city really was amazing and he hoped that as many of his people as possible could soon live here.

He was considering what to do next when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure. Lee would have recognised her anywhere... Kara. For a moment he was torn between walking away before she could see him and approaching her. But then he remembered that he had promised himself to try and get things right with her again, or at least as right as possible. He might as well start now, he decided and walked towards her.

"Kara," he spoke up when he was next to her. She didn´t even seem to notice him and he instantly knew that something was wrong when he saw her face. She might be good at hiding her feelings from people, but he had long managed to look beyond that, at least occassionally. At other days she still was the biggest mystery to him.

Kara mentally cursed when she heard Lee's voice. She was unsure where she and Lee stood in regards to their friendship, she had just lost her husband, and worst of all she was feeling tremendous guilt for wanting to seek comfort in the man who had just approached her. This kind of emotional torment was something she couldn't handle on the best of occasions and today was no different.

"Kara, whats wrong?" Lee then asked grabbing her arm slightly.

Kara quickly brushed his hand away before turning to face him.

"Commander," she greeted. Her tone was civil and her expression unreadable.

"My h- Sam just… he just passed away." She didn't know why she hadn't referred to him as her husband, for some reason she couldn't bring herself to call him that and that just made her feel even more guilty.

When she addressed him as Commander, Lee once more felt how much of their friendship had been lost. The civil tone in which she spoke almost hurt. But then she went on and told him that Sam was dead.

The shock he felt almost surprised Lee. He had never liked Anders much, yes he even hated him occassionally, but he never had wanted this. He knew how much Sam meant to Kara and he never would have wanted her to go through this, not again. Now she had lost the second man she loved and Lee just didn´t know what to say or do. He wished he could help her in some way, but how could he? He probably was the last person she wanted to see right now anyway. She had asked him for medications to help Anders and he hadn´t given them to her. Of course it was just before the Cylons had attacked and he didn´t have a chance to give her anything, but still... He wished he could have helped.

"I... Im sorry, Kara," he finally managed to say. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that everything would be ok, but that would just be a lie. Besides, he wasn´t sure how she´d react. Maybe she´d even hit him or something.

She pursed her lips. "Are you, Lee?" she asked, no longer able to control the conflicting emotions that were pulsing through her tired body. There was a bitter edge to her tone as she said: "Just answer me one thing, would you have given me the antibiotics?"

Kara knew that she was purposely trying to cause more conflict between them. She didn't want to. The last thing she wanted was to push Lee away, not when she needed him. But she needed to take her anger and pain out on someone and poor Lee just happened to be there.

Lee stared at her. She sounded so hurt and angry and it was almost killing him to see her like that. But he also felt hurt that she even had to ask. She had to know, didn´t she?

"Of course I would have," he then said looking her directly in the eyes. When she had asked him he had considered just yelling at her to frak off and that he wouldn´t give her anything. But he had also known that he could never do that... not to anyone and especially not to her. She should know that as well. Despite all the fights over the last year they still cared about eachother, didn´t they? Or was it just him who couldn´t really let go? Maybe she had long given up on their friendship and really didn´t care about him at all anymore.

Kara continued to stare at him coldly for a few more seconds, before finally caving. My gods, what was she thinking? It had been a stupid and inappropriate question. Of course she knew he would have given her the medication.

"Lee, I'm sorry," she apologised. "I'm sorry for frakking everything, okay?" She needed to know that everything would be okay, even if it wouldn't be. She wanted him to lie to her.

Lee watched her face, as she stared at him. When she finally spoke he felt relieved. For a moment he had thought she really believed he wouldn´t have given her the antibiotics.

Kara breathed in sharply and covered her eyes for a moment trying to clear her head and stop herself from crying. "I need a drink," she then said out loud, her voice hoarse.

Watching her Lee noticed that she seemed to crack and his heart went out to her. He hated to see her like this, hated it when she was hurting and hated it even more when he could do nothing about it.

Without even thinking he then stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. Holding her tight he was silent for a while.

Kara fell into his embrace willingly and held onto him as tears escaped the creases of her eyes and slipped down her pale cheeks. This was what she needed: comfort. And despite everything that happened between them Lee was there for her yet again, just like he always had been.

"You didn´t frak up everything," Lee then whispered while letting go of her and looking at her. "Well, maybe a little, but I did my part as well," he added with a smirk.

Kara managed a small smile when he spoke. "We're both a couple of screw ups," she decided while wiping her cheeks with the back of one hand.

Lee grinned at her words. At this moment it was almost like it used to be between them before… No he wasn’t thinking about that now.

"Are we ok?" she then asked. She knew that it would take a while to rebuild what they had lost but she was willing to do whatever it took to get things back to the way they had been between them. "We're friends?"

"Yes, we are," he answered managing a small smile. Their friendship had been so screwed up that he hadn’t thought it could be repaired, but he had always wished it would be. Now that he had the chance he would do anything to make it happen. Being without her was just too hard, even harder than it had been to see her with Anders.

"Friends," he said and wiped away another tear from her cheek. If friends was all he could get from her then he would accept it this time.

Kara smiled properly this time. Now that things were ok between her and Lee, she knew that even though right now her heart was broken, Lee would be there to help her pick up the pieces. She would get through loosing Sam, just as she had gotten through loosing Zak. Inevitably it would just make her stronger.

"So, still want that drink?" Lee then asked. "Cadman just showed me around and I saw some good looking stuff," he added, a smirk on his lips.

With the mention of a drink, Kara licked her lips. "God, yes. Lead the way, flyboy. You owe me a drink."

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Atlantis - records room:








About twenty minutes later Lee and Kara had managed to sneak to and empty room with several bottles of what was named Tequila.

"I hope this stuff is good," Lee said when sitting down. He had never heard of it, but Cadman had grinned at him when he asked her what it was and just told him he would have to try it one day.

Just when Lee was about to open the bottle the door opened and several people came in. Oh great, now they had been caught stealing from their new allies the second day they were here.

"Looks like you took my advice about trying the Tequila," Cadman said with a grin on her face.

"Tequila?" John appeared from behind Cadman and looked down at Lee and Kara who were sitting on the floor with a couple of bottles in front of them. He raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to come across this when Rodney had stated that he had wanted to show him and Cadman something.

Rodney who was the last to enter the room, frowned when he noticed Lee and Kara.

"What are you doing in the ancients’ records room?" he asked, not sounding all too happy.

"We were just about to play a card game. You guys in?" Kara asked picking up the stack of cards off the floor and waving them in the air.

"This is not the place to play petty gambling…"

"I'm in!" Sheppard said with a grin, interrupting Rodney who looked disgruntled. "What are we playing for?"

Kara glanced at Lee before saying: "Smokes, alcohol...anything you want."

"I´m in," Cadman said with a grin. She always enjoyed the girls poker nights and surely didn´t mind playing cards now and getting to know their new allies a bit better.

She went over to Lee and sat down next to him while glancing at the cards in Kara’s hands.

"What kind of cards are those?" she then asked. "You can´t play poker with them, can you?"

Lee raised an eyebrow at her. "Poker? Never heard of it. Where we come from we play tirade," he told her and felt glad that they didn´t seem to be angry at them for taking the Tequila.

John went and joined them on the ground. "Tirade? Never heard of it. How do you play it?"

"You can't be serious," Rodney said loudly. Crossing his arms he looked like a schoolboy who didn´t get his own way. "What I wanted to show you was important! And you'd rather sit here and gamble. Oh, really professional."

"Rodney whatever you wanted to show me will be here tomorrow," John said before patting the ground. "Why dont you try and make some new friends?" he suggested meaning for Rodney to join the game.

Noticing a box, Rodney went and sat on it. "I'd rather not play a drunken card game. What if the Wraith decided to attack Atlantis? I'm sure they'll hold off feeding off us all if we just tell them that you're currently too busy getting drunk and becoming a gambling addict," he said dismissively.

"Why don't you ask them while you’re at it if they want to join us?" John suggested with a wry grin.

Laura Cadman chuckled at the Colonel’s words before turning to Rodney.

"Come on Rodney, we´re off duty and there now are more than enough people in Atlantis to keep watch. Besides the long range sensors haven´t picked up anything so far," Cadman told him while nudging him playfully.

"So how do you play tirade?"

Kara quickly explained the rules before handing the cards out.

Laura listened to Karas explanations and took some cards. Glancing at Rodney again she then raised an eyebrow.

"Will you join us or are you afraid of losing?" she asked with a smirk, knowing that Rodney always had to be best at whatever he was doing.

Lee just grinned at her words and then turned to Kara with a smile. He was glad that they now had company. It surely would take Kara’s mind off of Anders for a while.

"So, how about we try that Tequila of yours now?" he then suggested and finally opened the bottle.

Rodney frowned for a moment. "If you think that is going to trick me into joining you, then you’re wrong. I'm just going to sit here and watch you all make fools of yourselves or until someone finds us,” he said looking at Cadman.

"Your loss," John told McKay as he checked his cards. Then he gestured at Lee to go ahead and open the Tequila.

"Fine, just stay as boring as you always are," Cadman told Rodney and then glanced at her cards, trying to remember what exactly they all meant.

Once Lee had opened the bottle, Kara quickly snatched it from him and took a swig. She didn't want to mourn for Anders, she wanted to push those feelings aside and deal with them at a later date. Immediately her eyes watered. Pulling a face she passed the bottle back to Lee.

"Gah, that's strong." For a year her lips had hardly touched a drop of alcohol due to New Caprica’s limited supplies. The Tequila was a bit of a shock.

Lee laughed when he saw Karas face. "Woah, don´t tell me that there is something too strong for our Starbuck," he said jokingly and took the bottle from her.

Taking a sip his eyes then widened. "Woah, that is..."

Cadman chuckled. "Told you so. You just have to try it yourself," she said with a grin before playing her cards. It really wasn´t that different from poker, just had weird cards.

"I could still drink you under the table, Apollo," Kara told Lee, a trace of her old cockiness shining trough for all to see. Glancing back down at her cards, one corner of her lips curled upwards revealing a small smirk. She had a very good hand.

"So, who's in and who's out?"

"Yeah, sure", Lee said with a grin. Of course Kara always had been able to drink more than him, but during the last year, when he had been really frustrated, especially about her, he had been drinking quite a lot. Not that he would admit it or was proud of it. Life just had sucked and what other way of forgetting for some time did he have? Well, he had Dee of course, but she had never really been who he wanted. He liked her, but he wasn´t in love with her, which might have been another reason for the occassional drink.

Sighing silently he then tried to shrug off those thoughts and concentrate on the present. Things had changed now after all. They had met people from Earth and he was on better terms with Kara again, which definitely was a huge plus.

”In,” Cadman said with a smile. “So, why did you settle down on that rock of a planet in the first place," she then asked curiously.

"That’s what I still wonder," Lee answered. "It´s still hard to believe that the fleet fell for Gaius Baltar’s empty promises back during his election.”

"We really should have continued our search for Earth. But at least we are here now."

John took a swig of the open bottled drink, but his reaction was no where near as dramatic as Lee and Kara’s. He had always liked Tequila.

"In," he said before joining Cadman in getting to know their 'guests' a little better. "And Gaius Balter is presumed dead?" he asked. He remembered that there was talk about this president during the meeting.

"He's MIA," Kara said. Picking up another card and discarding one, she decided it was only fair to ask a question of her own seeing as they were all so keen on sharing.

"What he said…" she gestured at Rodney, unable to remember his name. "The Wraith. They're your enemy, right?" She peered at them over the top of her cards which she held carefully in her hands. The old man had attempted to bring her up to date about the current situation with the people of Earth, but at the time half of it had fallen on deaf ears.

John nodded. "Yeah, you could say that. But I guess they think of us more as food."

Kara grinned at John as she snatched the Tequila from his unguarded hands. “You’re saying that we came all this way to be put on some crazed cannibal assholes menu?” Keeping her eyes firmly on John she took another swig of the drink and grimaced as the liquid trickled down her throat and hotwired her senses. “Life’s a bitch.”

Cadman glanced at Kara. "We try not to get on their menu, but the asshole part is true," she said grinning.

Lee smirked. "Well, they can´t be worse than the Cylons. Dead is dead after all."

Cadman played her cards and then glanced at Lee. "I´d honestly rather be killed by a machine than having the life sucked out of me slowly," she admitted.

"And let’s not forget the Ori. You've also got the option of being enslaved and forced to worship religious, crazy ascended beings," John added as he displayed his cards on the table.

Kara, who had decided to keep the bottle of alcohol for herself took another sip. This stuff was much stronger than the liquor they kept on the ships for the crew and she was already beginning to feel the effects of drinking on an empty stomach. Her mind was pleasantly numb.

Looking to Lee, she pointed to his cards. "You in or are you scared your going to get beaten by the best?" And by saying the best, she meant herself of course. So far neither Cadman’s nor John’s hands were better than her own. Victory was in her sight. Now if only they had all put a wager on this game.

Lee grinned at Kara. "Of course I´m in," he told her. His hand was pretty good and he loved to beat Kara in cards. In his mind he already saw her face when losing against him.

----- -----

Two hours, fifteen card games and five empty bottles of Tequila later, the group was a little worse for wear. Intoxicated, may have been a better choice for words.

Laughing, Kara slumped against the wall as John told them about some of the funnier times at the Atlantis base. The more alcohol was consumed, the wilder the stories got.

“I did not faint!” Rodney stated desperately while trying to make himself heard over John’s voice, which got louder and louder as the story continued. He was not used to being surrounded by people heavily influenced by alcohol. It made him a little uncomfortable, especially as he seemed to star in many of these stories.

Lee laughed at Rodney’s face. He kind of liked that weird scientist, or maybe it was just the Tequila that made him like anyone? He didn´t care. He was just in a great mood.

"I so would have loved to see that," Cadman said laughing loudly. "Well, of course I know that Rodney likes to faint. I got some special insight on that," she said and grinned at Rodney wickedly.

Lee raised an eyebrow at her and hoped for another great story.

"I was once stuck inside of Rodney, you know...," she started. Back then she hadn´t really liked what happened to them at all, but thinking about it now she found it rather funny.

"Oh, please don’t," Rodney groaned, covering his face with his hands in horror. He couldn't believe that Laura was going to tell them about that. Even to this day he still found it highly embarrassing. He would never admit to himself or to anyone for that matter, that part of him had enjoyed sharing his body with Laura. It had been the most intimate experiences in his entire life and yes, that was including his fantasies about Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, which often got very steamy. Cadman wasn’t entirely as annoying as Rodney pretended her to be either. He actually did enjoy spending time with her and had often, if not surprisingly found himself looking forward to their next meetings. Tonight, however was not one of those occassions.

Laura just laughed when Rodney covered his face. He actually looked cute that way. He always did that when he was embarrassed or annoyed, she then thought. When she realised what she was thinking she quickly pushed away those thoughts. That just had to be the alcohol!

Kara’s eyes grew wide. “No frakking way?” It sounded absurd, but in her current condition she didn’t feel the need to question its credibility. It also sounded incredibly dirty, and for this reason she snorted before bursting into new bounds of laughter. She had always had an incredibly dirty mind. It was probably one of the reasons why she got along with the male pilots so well.

John had never actually got a lot of details about the whole Rodney and Cadman incident. Both had been unwilling to share details until now… Cadman at this precise moment appeared happy to divulge all. Blinking a few times John tried to focus on Cadman’s face but his mind kept wandering back to his and Elizabeth’s reunion the day before. Drunk or not he was positive that there had been a ‘moment’ back there between them. He had definitely felt the tension that hung thickly between them and he was certain that she had too. He wondered how Elizabeth would have reacted if he had kissed her. It would have been funny. No, not funny. That was the alcohol talking. It would have been…nice. Or maybe that was the alcohol talking? Nope, he definitely thought it would be nice to kiss her. Rubbing the stubble dotted along his jaw line he then blinked again and Cadman’s face came back into focus.

Laura grinned at Kara’s reaction. "Yeah, it´s hard to imagine and even harder to bear, but we actually had to share his body after being culled and 'rescued',” she said and glanced at John. Of course she was thankful for him not letting them being taken to a hive, but they at least could have tried to get them out of that dart in their own bodies. She then took another sip of Tequila before going on.

"Well, it was also amusing, especially when I had control over his body," she said laughing.

Lee laughed and glanced from Cadman to Rodney. Even imagining him acting anything like her was too funny. They were just so completely different.

Kara managed to regain enough control to keep herself from laughing again. Tilting her head so it rested upon her right shoulder she returned Cadman’s grin. "I would have loved to see that," she admitted.

Rodney shook his head while muttering to himself. To save himself from further embarrassment he had decided that it was time to go. He wasn't enjoying himself, and the only satisfaction he would have was that the four before him would be feeling a lot worse in the morning than he would.

"I'm going to my room," he said, standing up. "I'm not going to just sit here and let you continue to embarrass me."

"Oh, come on Rodney. Don't be such a spoiled sport. It's only a bit of fun…," John began but Rodney quickly interrupted him.

"Oh, yes I believe it must be very funny for the intoxicated listener. For me however it's just plain embarrassing, so if you'll excuse me…"

"What is embarassing?" a voice asked from the door. When all heads turned to her Elizabeth Weir glanced at them with an amused smirk. She had wanted to get some records from this room to be able to translate an ancient text better. To her surprise she however found the room full of slightly drunk looking people.

Elizabeth looked from Rodney to Cadman and then at the rest. When her gaze fell on John she looked at him questioningly while noticing how good he was looking again. Flashes of memories from the last day, when he held her so close, rushed through her mind and she once more felt the dire need to kiss him. Realising what she was thinking she then quickly shrugged of the thoughts and tried to concentrate on what was going on.

Seeing Elizabeth enter the room, John stood up quickly, and not very gracefully. Holding onto the wall for support and in the hopes of stopping the room from spinning, he focused his eyes on Elizabeth. He knew what that questioning look was, she wanted an explanation.

Elizabeth watched John getting up and was torn between frowning and laughing. He looked totally silly, but still incredibly cute.

"We are… uh, well we're just getting to know Commander Adama and Captain Thrace better. Seeing as we're going to be all spending a lot of … um....um," he struggled to find the right word.

Rolling his eyes at Elizabeth, Rodney decided to spare John a bit of dignity and help him out, "Time?"

"Time! We’ll all be spending a lot of time together. Thank you, Rodney."

“Don’t mention it,” Rodney muttered.

Sighing Elizabeth turned to Rodney. "So, they decided to get drunk and you just let them do this in here?" she asked. "As if we don´t have plenty of rooms in this city."

"Yes, Dr. Weir. I just allowed them to sit in here and get drunk. Infact I suggested it," Rodney exclaimed sarcastically while waving his arms about. He was insulted at being accused.

Knowing that this was her time to ‘bow’ out, Kara stood up while using Lee’s shoulder to steady herself as she got to her feet. Dr. Weir’s appearance had sobered her up enough to think of Samuel. Her husband had just died and here she was, getting drunk and playing cards like nothing had happened. Was she that insensitive? Gods, she was a mess.

“I need to go,” she mumbled to no one in particular. She glanced at Lee. He had the power to make her forget anything. Just being with him gave her the ability to push aside everything else. But she couldn't do that, not right now and especially not to Sam.

"I'll see you," she told Lee.

She then turned to Cadman, John, Elizabeth and Rodney. "Night."

John watched Kara leave the room. "Night Captain,” he called out to her before turning back to Elizabeth with a smile.

When Kara got up Lee looked after her, concern rushing over his face. He considered going after her, but knowing Kara he decided better not to. The look on her face had shown him that she wanted to be alone, or at least he guessed that. It might also just be the alcohol making him think weird. Well, he´d check on her once they both were not so drunk anymore.

Elizabeth watched Kara leave and looked after the woman. That was a quick exit. She then turned back to the remaining people and caught John smiling at her. Her heart made a little jump at seeing it and Elizabeth mentally cursed herself for it. This was starting to get ridiculous!

Cadman then got up slowly. "I better go to bed now," she said prattling slightly. Making a step forward she then stumbled and almost knocked Rodney down in the process.

If it hadn't been for Rodney’s quick reaction they would have both been on the floor. Instead he managed to keep them both standing. With his hands gripping firmly on to her arms, he stared at Laura disapprovingly. It was all he could do, as being this close and touching her was making him a little insecure.

“You do realise that you could have hurt yourself, or more importantly me! Or you could have just damaged the equipment in here. Complex equipment that I do not think even I could fix.” He then realised that he was still holding onto her and quickly dropped his hands back to his side.

Laura stood in front of Rodney and just looked at him sheepishly. She didn´t really get anything he said. Her head was spinning a little and she had difficulties focusing on anything.

John’s eyebrow was raised as he watched Rodney blubber on about the effects of alcohol and how it would be this cities demise. “A little overreacting,” he said turning once again back to Elizabeth.

“You’re not mad too, are you?” he asked, looking very much like a school boy who knew that he had done wrong.

Lee chose that moment to get up as well, after finally having managed to get all the cards together and into his pocket.

"I should get back to Pegasus," he said and went towards the door slowly, trying not to stumble and make a fool of himself.

"I´ll see you tomorrow," he then added and waved at everyone.

"Good night Commander," Elizabeth said and then turned back to the others.

"Rodney, why don´t you escort Laura to her room? We want her to get there safely after all."

Cadman just grinned at Elizabeth and then linked arms with Rodney, dragging him towards the door.

Rodney made a show of rolling his eyes. Was it just him or did she appear a little too eager for him to help her back to her room?

Elizabeth laughed slightly and then turned back to John. "You think you can walk alone?" she asked with a smirk. "And no, I´m not mad." How could she be mad at him if he looked at her that way? Besides, she was still too happy to have him back to be mad at him.

"Just use another room next time. And well... you could have invited me too, you know."

“Oh, I think I can manage to find my way back to my room,” John said giving her another smile. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was incapable. He had always believed that the two of them saw each other as equals. He didn’t want this to change because of one night of heavy drinking. Sober enough to know that he had not the slightest bit control over his actions, he decided that he should make a quick exit before he did something both of them may regret. Elizabeth’s last few words caught his interest however.

“You?” he asked incredulously, he had never considered her to be someone who’d take part in a drunken card came. “You mean you’d like this?” he gestured to the now empty room where the empty bottles lay.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, not really believing that he would manage to get to his room without any trouble. The way he had gotten up before made her doubt it.

"Well, I like playing cards from time to time," she then said. She wouldn´t have had to get drunk like them. Rodney hadn´t after all. "And I could have used a break from all the research." Besides that, being included and spending some more time with John would have been nice. But of course she wouldn´t admit that.

John smiled. "I think we all could do with a break from time to time," he agreed. "Things tend to get a little too intense around here. I think it'd do everyone a bit of good to have some fun occassionally." Okay, this was definitely the alcohol talking. Still his words did hold a little truth. Everyone was rather overworked.

Elizabeth nodded at what he said. He was right, things really tended to get too intense, especially lately with the Wraith nearly getting to Earth, the Daedalus disappearing and Earth being occupied by the Ori.

"If you need any help with the research tomorrow, just ask. I don't know if I’d be any help but...," John then offered grinning. "I'll lend a hand." He held his hand out as if making his point.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at that.

"You must be really drunk," she said with a slight laugh. John just wasn´t the research type of guy. "I´ll better let Rodney help with that stuff."

John laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am." He paused and allowed his eyes to flutter close for a couple of seconds. "I'm also feeling a little nauseated,” he admitted with a frown. Opening his eyes again, he squinted and groaned. “I’m going to regret drinking so much tomorrow, won’t I?”

A small grin appeared on Elizabeth lips when he admitted that he was really drunk.

"Probably," she said. "But you´ll get over it." He had survived worse, so he surely would be fine.

Standing up straight John attempted a few steps towards the door only to come to a sudden halt as he tried to stop the room from spinning. “On second thought, maybe I will need some help to my room…”

Seeing his uncertain steps Elizabeth quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm to steady him.

"I guess you´re lucky that I´m here."

"Very lucky," he agreed while allowing Elizabeth to lead him out of the room and down one of the darkened corridors. Words did not need to be spoken, he knew that Elizabeth knew how grateful he was. They had always been there for each other, they were each others rocks.

"Thanks," he said after a while of companionable silence. "Remind me to thank you again once my senses have returned. I doubt I'll remember much in the morning."

"You really want me to remind you of this?" Elizabeth asked chuckling slightly. She would so not want to be reminded of it if she was in his place.

"And you´re welcome," she added when they arrived at his door.

"Perhaps not," John decided, thinking she was probably right. "May it´s best to forget any of this happened, though I'm sure Rodney will have great pleasure in reminding me."

Elizabeth smirked, sure that he was right. "Here we are... escorted back to your room safe and sound,” Elizabeth then said.

Noticing that they were at his door John’s eyes widened, surprised how quickly they got there. Shaking his head bemused, he looked back at Elizabeth and drunkenly hugged her.

Elizabeth was taken aback by the sudden hug. Being too surprised to react the only thing she did was breathe in his scent, that was now mingled with the scent of alcohol. But still, he smelled so good...

"What would I do without you," John wondered before pulling away and giving her a tender smile.

"Good Night Elizabeth." He paused and took great care in studying her face. "You know, you're really pretty when you smile," he stated. Stepping towards his doors they then slid open, welcoming him home. Without another word he walked inside and the doors closed behind him. In the morning no doubt he would not recall anything he had told Elizabeth.

Elizabeth stared after him, surprised by his words. Before she had managed to regain her composure he had disappeared in his room and left her standing in front of his door.

Blinking a few times she then started to grin before turning around and heading towards her own room.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Laura & Rodney:



“Do not complain to me in the morning when you have a pounding headache,” Rodney muttered as they disappeared down the corridor.

Laura Cadman glanced up at Rodney while stumbling along next to him.

"Me? I´d never do that," she said with a grin. "I´m not the one who has to wine about stuff all the time," she added sarcastically an looked at him innocently at the same time.

"I do not whine," Rodney quickly retorted while casting her a glare. "I state the obvious, which everyone else seems perfectly happy to ignore." Yes, he knew he complained a little but he believed that he always had the right to do so, too.

Laura just chuckled at that. "Of course not," she said.

“By the way you could have easily won that last round of cards if you had kept the card you picked up instead of discarding it.” Rodney had given the appearance of not paying attention to the game, but he had infact been watching Cadman and her hand carefully.

Laura glanced up at him again. "Maybe you should play yourself next time. Then you could be happy if I was too drunk to play properly," she said giggling. To be honest the last few rounds she had had trouble to get her cards into focus.

Laura then suddenly let go of Rodneys arm and spun around. "Isn´t my room back there?" she asked pointing in the direction they had just come from, while trying to stand properly. The fact that everything around her was spinning now didn´t really help.

“Is it?" Rodney asked frowning. He hadn't realised that they walked straight past Cadman's quarters. Normally he wasn't as easily distracted.

Awkwardly placing a hand on her back he then steered her back down the corridor they came from.

Laura sighed and told herself to focus. "Yes, it is," she mumbled and then let herself being dragged towards her room.

"Which one is your room?" he then asked. He knew her quarters were around here, he just didn't know which room.

"Don´t you remember? You were in my room already," she told him trying to focus on the doors in front of her. They all looked so similar and why did that door have two openers?

“You don't expect me to remember the exact room?" Rodney asked.

“Aren´t you supposed to be a genius?" she answered glaring at him.

Placing a hand on her head she then tried to clear her mind. "I think it´s that one." She pointed at one of the doors before glancing up at Rodney.

Rodney quickly gestured towards it. "Well, there you go. There's you room, and you're welcome," he said before she even had a chance to thank him. He was like a deer caught in headlights. He didn't know how to handle this drunken version of Laura.

Laura stepped towards the room and opened it. A quick look inside showed her that it really was the right room. Turning back to Rodney she then grinned at him.

"Thank you Rodney, you´re my hero," she said and kissed him on the cheek before stepping back and stumbling inside the room towards her bed.

A stunned Rodney raised his hand and brushed his fingers against the cheek Cadman had just kissed. His cheeks flushed and he struggled not to smile. He was supposed to be annoyed with her after all. With one final glance towards her door he then headed to his own room.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Pegasus - Lee & Dee:



Lee entered the quarters he shared with Dee on the Pegasus, which was on one of Atlantis landing bays. He was glad that he finally made it. He could have sworn the way wasn´t that long when he went into the city.

Trying to stay silent and not make any noise Lee walked through the room and started to get undressed, which was a bit difficult, as standing straight wasn´t so easy anymore. Getting off his trousers he stumbled and almost fell, but managed to steady himself. In the process he however knocked something from the table, which landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Frak," he cursed and tried to make out what it was, which wasn´t easy as he hadn´t turned on the lights.

Dee sighed loudly, letting him know that she was awake before sitting up and turning the light on which flooded the room with a pale orange glow. It was late, and by the condition Lee was in, she gathered that he had been drinking. A tremor of anger shook her body as she stared at him through her brown and surprisingly alert eyes.

”It’s late,” she pointed out while watching him peer down at whatever he had knocked off the table.

Lee shielded his eyes against the light that suddenly appeared. Hearing Dee’s voice he then turned around to face her.

"Sorry... didn´t want to wake you," he told her trying not to prattle.

He then decided to just ignore what had fallen off the table and head to bed. He felt tired and just wanted to lay down.

"You didn't. I was already awake," Dee said. Circling her arms around her knees and drawing them against her chest, she continued to stare at him. She had been lying in bed stewing for a long time over Lee’s absence and it was safe to say that she was more than a little pissed.

"I was waiting up for you. You said you'd be back hours ago. Lee, I thought we were going to spend some time together tonight?" The disappointment was evident in her voice.

Lee walked over to the bed and sat down carefully. He then looked at Dee.

"Sorry, I... I met Kara in Atlantis," he told her, deciding to better tell the truth. "Anders died and she was pretty shaken up."

Getting rid of his shirt he then lay down, which he instantly regretted, as everything started to spin around him. So he slowly pushed himself up again and leaned against the wall.

"So you decided to help her drown her sorrows?" Dee snapped, feeling hurt that her own needs had been pushed aside for Kara, who he had not spoken to properly for almost a year. She hated the fact that Kara had such power over him. A number of times she had witnessed Kara abuse this power and she wasn't going to just sit by and let it happen again. Dee loved him, couldn't he see that?

Lee turned to face her when he heard the tone of her voice.

"What was I supposed to do, just leave her alone?" he snapped back. "Her husband just died."

Glancing at Dee he then frowned. She couldn´t really expect him to turn his back on Kara in a situation like that, could she? What kind of person would do something like that?

"Of course not!" she snapped angrily, her temper flaring. "But you could have told me. I am your girlfriend, Lee. Or have you forgotten?" she reminded him, her voice low as she tried to keep their argument from getting out of hand or overheard by the crew in rooms close by.

Sighing, Dee then laid back down with the intention of going to sleep.

Lee frowned. She was right. He should have told her, but it had completely slipped his mind after he had seen Kara so sad.

Turning to look at Dee properly he then said: "I´m sorry, Dee. You´re right. I should have told you. I just... didn´t think it would get so late. We met John, Laura and Rodney and played a few rounds of cards. And we tested their Tequila, which is much stronger than any alcohol we have...," he tried to explain.

"I just lost track of time."

Dee had rolled over onto her side, with her back to him. With her eyes wide open she listened to all he had to say. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Rolling back onto her back she looked up at him and nodded.

"It's ok."

Hearing that Lee and Kara had not been alone made her feel better. Pushing herself up, she leaned towards him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Night."

When Dee turned back to him Lee felt relieved. He didn´t like fighting with her, especially not when he was drunk.

"Night," he said as well and lay back down to get some sleep.

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chapter 6