Chapter 9 (finally!)
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Title: 2200 A.D.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG-1 AU
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Chapter Rating: PG
Chapter Summary: Elizabeth gets used to life on the Prometheus as they approach the Cleor System.
Chapter 9
Outer Space, uncharted regions
One week later
If Elizabeth’s first few days on the Prometheus had been characterized by alternating excitement and solitude, her first week was wildly different.
There was the crew. Daniel and Aiden had felt like her friends since the first day, and they both continued to do their best to make her feel welcome. Carson, the doctor, was also friendly, and he spent a decent amount of time with her, learning some of the basics of life on a spaceship. As for Dr. McKay, well… their duties didn’t require them to spend a lot of time together, so most of what she knew of him was from what Carson told her. Evan remained aloof, often actively avoiding her. She had yet to figure out why, although Daniel and Aiden both liked to guess at it.
Then there was the captain. Elizabeth still wasn’t sure what to make of him. In her first three days, she’d experienced two different sides of him - the captain and the space child. Which of these sides was the true continued to elude her. Sometimes he would snap at her like he snapped at everyone, giving orders and generally being brusque. At other times, he would treat her more civilly. He’d even join the crew in the mess on occasion and make idle conversation with them.
“You know,” she said to Daniel as they sat alone in the mess - Evan had been there, but he’d excused himself when she came in - “you never did make it really clear why Sheppard makes people afraid.”
Daniel blinked at her. “Really?”
“You said Aiden was right about it, but then you went on to explain that he’s socially inept and never really got around to fear.”
“Ah.” Daniel shrugged, looking awkward. “Well, it’s hard to explain…”
Elizabeth gave him a look. “Try.”
Clearing his throat, Daniel scratched his neck, his eyes wandering across the table, before he finally answered. “Uh… I guess it’s that he doesn’t really have any temper to speak of. He’s one of those people that get mad really infrequently, but when they do, they get really mad.”
“Aiden touched on that a little,” said Elizabeth speculatively. “When was the last time Sheppard got mad?”
“Last year.” Daniel smiled at her incredulous look. “It’s true. He gets annoyed, but it’s really nothing. He even apologizes for it sometimes.”
Elizabeth nodded. “He apologized to me… well, sort of.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t really say it right out, but you can tell it’s an apology.” Daniel took a moment to chew thoughtfully on a bite of his sandwich before swallowing and continuing. “I think his anger is something to really be afraid of. He’s killed people out of anger before, for hurting us - his crew. But that’s not the only reason.”
“What else is there?” asked Elizabeth, not sure if she ought to feel relieved or more nervous. Did she count now as part of the crew?
“Technically,” said Daniel, now cleaning his glasses on his shirt, “it shouldn’t bother us, since it isn’t directed towards us, but somehow you can’t help but feel a little scared when you see it.”
“What?”
Daniel replaced his glasses, settling them carefully on his nose, before responding. “He has a kind of grudge against Dr. Carter. I think I mentioned earlier that he seems to have had some dealings with her before he was captain of the Prometheus. Whatever they were, it was something really sinister, because you just get this, this feeling when you hear him talking to her, that there’s something… wrong. Dead wrong.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Something wrong? What kind of wrong?”
“They’re on a first-name basis,” said Daniel carefully. “They talk almost as if they see each other every day, like they’re friends, yet they hate each other unconditionally. It’s just really strange to hear people discussing how they’re planning on destroying each other’s lives in conversational tones.”
It was this conversation that was bothering her now as she sat on her bunk, swinging her legs and staring at the book she’d been planning on starting as though it could read itself. Though she hadn’t experienced what Daniel described, having never heard Sheppard talking with Dr. Carter, his description was enough that she shivered involuntarily every time she imagined it.
“Hey, Sam,” Sheppard might say. “What’s up?”
“I thought I might kill you today,” Carter would respond. “You?”
“I was gonna try to blow up your ship, but if I’m dead, that might be a bit of a problem.”
Elizabeth shuddered and shook herself. That was just ridiculous. Daniel was probably just exaggerating. No one could be such a cold-blooded killer that they would talk about it in everyday conversation!
“Elizabeth?” She looked up. Carson was at her door. “Do you think you could help me? I’ve been thinking I ought to take inventory of the infirmary, but I’m not sure where everything would be.”
“Of course.” Elizabeth slid off her bed and brushed past him, leading the way to the infirmary. “I couldn’t tell you what everything is, but I know where most of it is stored.”
“Thank you,” said Carson with feeling as he followed her. “I just don’t want to reach the Cleor System and have somebody get injured, and then not be able to find the one thing that can save them. And if something important is missing, I need to tell Captain Sheppard so we can get it.”
“I doubt we’ll be able to get anything before Cleor,” said Elizabeth, stepping into the infirmary and going to one of its storage lockers, peeking inside. “It’s illegal to run a private enterprise from your ship. Here’s some basic stuff, I think.”
Carson went past her to examine the contents of the locker. “Aye, that it is,” he said. “I don’t expect a private enterprise would have more than this. Aren’t there larger businesses we could buy from?”
Elizabeth pointed to another storage locker. “That’s got some other stuff. I don’t know what any of it is. Yes, there are larger businesses, but those are mostly based on planets as well. I doubt Cleor will have a medical business, though. They’re tribal.”
“Don’t they get business from Earth?” Carson asked as he opened the second locker.
“Yes, but they still follow a lot of cultural traditions. They simply wouldn’t buy medical supplies, because according to them, they aren’t needed.”
“Ah.” Carson turned something over in his hands. “Well, we seem to be missing a defibrillator, but that’s the only thing I can think of. Hopefully no one will go into cardiac arrest before we can find a dealer,” he said with a slight chuckle.
“I think we’ll be fine,” said Elizabeth, a hint of humor in her voice. “Are you all set?”
“Aye, you can go.”
As Elizabeth closed the infirmary door behind her, she looked up to see Evan walking towards her. He stopped, looking at her with an odd expression on his face, then turned and started walking in the other direction.
This was getting ridiculous. Elizabeth stalked after him, calling, “Hey, wait!”
Evan stopped again and turned to glare at her. “What do you want?”
“Why do you keep avoiding me?” Elizabeth demanded, coming to a halt in front of him and folding her arms.
“I’m not avoiding you,” said Evan stubbornly.
Elizabeth frowned at him. “You just saw me coming out of the infirmary and abruptly turned to go the other direction. You just felt like turning around for no particular reason?”
“Why not?” Evan tried. When she raised a brow, he sighed and glanced away. “I’m not good with women.”
“Obviously.”
“Can you stop with the sarcasm?” Evan glared again, and she rolled her eyes, but closed her mouth. “Anyway, you broke my nose.”
Elizabeth snorted. “You were asking for it. Any self-respecting person, male or female, would have a similar reaction to that insult.”
“Why was it an insult?”
“I’m not a damsel in distress,” said Elizabeth peevishly. “And you meant it that way. Don’t deny it.”
Evan sighed again. “All right, so I did. It’s nothing personal, I swear.”
“Then what is it?” Elizabeth wanted to know.
“I’m bad with women, like I said. And Sheppard knows it, and he went ahead and solicited you anyway.” Evan shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
“You think Sheppard would avoid soliciting a woman just because you aren’t good with women?” Elizabeth said, incredulous. “He’s not that selfless.” She paused. “Not that that’s even selfless, considering the giant insult it would be to women. In any case,” she continued, before he could protest, “if Sheppard thought something was right to do, he would do it, regardless of any minor grudges his crew might have. I know that much about him.”
Evan bit his lip, looking away. “I guess you’re right. It still bothers me.”
“I suppose it would.”
“You don’t need to take that tone with me,” he complained.
“Why are you bad with women?” Elizabeth asked, purposefully changing the subject.
Evan looked uncomfortable. “I, uh…” He wasn’t looking at her. “I’ve had some bad experiences.” He paused. “I guess most of the ones I’ve met have been the kind you said you aren’t.”
“Damsels in distress?” Elizabeth said, sounding amused.
“Yeah. It got tiring after a while. So I said I’d just avoid them altogether. It did solve my problems.”
“You have to deal with us sometime,” Elizabeth pointed out. “And you can’t keep avoiding me like this. Sheppard will notice eventually, and you know his whole trust thing.”
“Yeah, I know…” Evan looked sheepish. “I guess, well, you aren’t that bad. And I think I’ve seen enough of you to know you can take care of yourself…”
“And?” Elizabeth prompted.
“And I’ll stop avoiding you,” said Evan, sounding annoyed. “I was getting there.”
Elizabeth smirked suddenly and swept past him, patting his arm as she went. “Good for you. I think you may be growing up.”
When she glanced back, she saw that Evan hadn’t been able to hide a grin. It had been a kind of insult, but the kind friends throw at each other just for fun. Maybe things hadn’t been as bad as she’d thought with him.
Outer Space, another uncharted region
“Are we close enough?” Sam asked for the umpteenth time.
“No,” said Haynes. She sounded as though she was gritting her teeth. “We aren’t close enough.”
“The long-range communicator ought to be working better than this. I was informed when it was installed that it could operate more than a week away from the destination!”
“Obviously they informed you wrong,” said Caldwell wryly. “I doubt this thing will work more than a day away.”
“We’re two weeks away from Cleor,” said Haynes tiredly. “You’ve been at this since we lost sight of the Prometheus. Can’t you give it a rest? We’ll try it when we reach a week.”
Sam ground her teeth, but said nothing. Haynes and Caldwell were right - she shouldn’t trust Earth’s scientists’ judgment on these things anyway, and it would be silly to assume the communicator would start working before they reached one week.
Still… it was frustrating to be less than a day behind the Prometheus and not be able to stop them in their tracks. If they attacked again, Sheppard would pull the three-sixty trick on them again, and Haynes was adamant that she wouldn’t be able to do anything more impressive than she’d done the last time without a serious upgrade.
“We should stop by the Evar System on our way to Cleor,” she said almost absentmindedly. “It’s only a few hours off track, and with a few boosts of the engine we can catch up again. You can be sure Sheppard will be making periodic speed bursts.”
Caldwell glanced at her. “Why the Evar System?”
“It’s the closest system with a business in high-quality spaceship merchandise,” Sam replied. “We definitely need to upgrade. We won’t be able to install anything until we’re resting planetside, but it’s vital to get the parts we need before we need them.”
“She’s right, Steven,” said Haynes, swiveling her chair to face them. “At the very least we need a three-sixty lever. I may not be able to fly it like Sheppard, but that way we’ll be able to follow without blowing ourselves up.”
“All right,” said Caldwell grudgingly. “Set our course for Evar now. We’ll take the shortest route.”
Outer Space, uncharted regions
Elizabeth was alone in the mess that evening, chewing on yesterday’s leftovers, when the door opened unexpectedly and Sheppard walked in. He stalked to the fridge, yanked it open, pulled out a yogurt, and sat at the table, almost in one motion. After a moment, apparently realizing he didn’t have a spoon, he started to stand up again, then spotted her there.
“Oh,” he said.
Elizabeth wasn’t sure what to make of this, so she remained silent, blinking up at him in some bewilderment.
Sheppard was silent as well for a few seconds. Then he cleared his throat. “Did I interrupt anything?”
“I wasn’t so involved in my meatball that your entrance ruffled me particularly,” said Elizabeth wryly, “although the manner of it brings up some questions.”
“Like what?” Sheppard blinked at her.
“You don’t appear to be in the best of moods.” Elizabeth raised a brow. “Or are you just mad at the fridge? Does it not have your flavor?”
Sheppard opened his mouth, looking prepared to yell at her, but then, surprisingly, he closed it and smiled sheepishly. “I do prefer the blueberry, but strawberry’s all right.”
Elizabeth’s lips twitched. “Aiden ate the last blueberry this morning.”
“I’ll have to yell at him for that,” said Sheppard amiably. He dug a spoon out of a nearby drawer and sat down again.
Elizabeth watched him curiously. “So what was the problem?” she queried. If she’d been confused before, she was even more confused now. Normally, in that mood, he would have yelled by now, but he appeared to have made a conscious effort not to.
“There was no problem,” said Sheppard evasively. He swallowed a spoonful of yogurt before speaking again. “Can’t I be in a bad mood without there being a problem?”
“I suppose you could,” Elizabeth allowed, unable to resist a smile at his humor, “but I can’t imagine why. Most captains are positively happy when there isn’t a problem.”
“That’s true,” Sheppard admitted. “It’s nothing important.” When she narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed. “The hyperdrive is acting up, and we might have to make a stop.”
Elizabeth frowned. “If you’re concerned about the police, they’re at least half a day behind us. And you can always escape them again with your amazing flying skills.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t complain.” Sheppard fiddled with his spoon, looking uncomfortable. “I was going to, but it occurred to me that you would say exactly that. And then it occurred to me that the Daedalus is probably going to make at least one stop to search for a three-sixty so they can follow us next time…”
“That’s quite a bit of thinking ahead.”
“Whose, mine or Carter’s?”
Elizabeth smiled. “Both, I guess. I was referring to you, but now that you mention it, Carter is definitely going to be thinking ahead.”
Sheppard returned the smile, looking a little sheepish again. “I talked to Evan earlier. He and I have actually been spending a lot of time complaining together about the crew…”
“Let me guess,” said Elizabeth dryly. “He complains about me?”
“He changed his mind this afternoon. I’m not sure why.” Sheppard gave her a shrewd look. “I do have my suspicions.”
“I have no intention of confirming them.”
Sheppard scowled halfheartedly at her. “Neither does Evan. Anyway, I figured if he was getting used to you guys, I probably should too, otherwise I’ll be the least trusting person on this ship, and you know how hypocritical that sounds.”
Elizabeth laughed and stood up, picking up her plate. “Good night, Captain.” She dumped the plate in the sink and walked out of the mess.
Title: 2200 A.D.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG-1 AU
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Chapter Rating: PG
Chapter Summary: Elizabeth gets used to life on the Prometheus as they approach the Cleor System.
Chapter 9
Outer Space, uncharted regions
One week later
If Elizabeth’s first few days on the Prometheus had been characterized by alternating excitement and solitude, her first week was wildly different.
There was the crew. Daniel and Aiden had felt like her friends since the first day, and they both continued to do their best to make her feel welcome. Carson, the doctor, was also friendly, and he spent a decent amount of time with her, learning some of the basics of life on a spaceship. As for Dr. McKay, well… their duties didn’t require them to spend a lot of time together, so most of what she knew of him was from what Carson told her. Evan remained aloof, often actively avoiding her. She had yet to figure out why, although Daniel and Aiden both liked to guess at it.
Then there was the captain. Elizabeth still wasn’t sure what to make of him. In her first three days, she’d experienced two different sides of him - the captain and the space child. Which of these sides was the true continued to elude her. Sometimes he would snap at her like he snapped at everyone, giving orders and generally being brusque. At other times, he would treat her more civilly. He’d even join the crew in the mess on occasion and make idle conversation with them.
“You know,” she said to Daniel as they sat alone in the mess - Evan had been there, but he’d excused himself when she came in - “you never did make it really clear why Sheppard makes people afraid.”
Daniel blinked at her. “Really?”
“You said Aiden was right about it, but then you went on to explain that he’s socially inept and never really got around to fear.”
“Ah.” Daniel shrugged, looking awkward. “Well, it’s hard to explain…”
Elizabeth gave him a look. “Try.”
Clearing his throat, Daniel scratched his neck, his eyes wandering across the table, before he finally answered. “Uh… I guess it’s that he doesn’t really have any temper to speak of. He’s one of those people that get mad really infrequently, but when they do, they get really mad.”
“Aiden touched on that a little,” said Elizabeth speculatively. “When was the last time Sheppard got mad?”
“Last year.” Daniel smiled at her incredulous look. “It’s true. He gets annoyed, but it’s really nothing. He even apologizes for it sometimes.”
Elizabeth nodded. “He apologized to me… well, sort of.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t really say it right out, but you can tell it’s an apology.” Daniel took a moment to chew thoughtfully on a bite of his sandwich before swallowing and continuing. “I think his anger is something to really be afraid of. He’s killed people out of anger before, for hurting us - his crew. But that’s not the only reason.”
“What else is there?” asked Elizabeth, not sure if she ought to feel relieved or more nervous. Did she count now as part of the crew?
“Technically,” said Daniel, now cleaning his glasses on his shirt, “it shouldn’t bother us, since it isn’t directed towards us, but somehow you can’t help but feel a little scared when you see it.”
“What?”
Daniel replaced his glasses, settling them carefully on his nose, before responding. “He has a kind of grudge against Dr. Carter. I think I mentioned earlier that he seems to have had some dealings with her before he was captain of the Prometheus. Whatever they were, it was something really sinister, because you just get this, this feeling when you hear him talking to her, that there’s something… wrong. Dead wrong.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Something wrong? What kind of wrong?”
“They’re on a first-name basis,” said Daniel carefully. “They talk almost as if they see each other every day, like they’re friends, yet they hate each other unconditionally. It’s just really strange to hear people discussing how they’re planning on destroying each other’s lives in conversational tones.”
It was this conversation that was bothering her now as she sat on her bunk, swinging her legs and staring at the book she’d been planning on starting as though it could read itself. Though she hadn’t experienced what Daniel described, having never heard Sheppard talking with Dr. Carter, his description was enough that she shivered involuntarily every time she imagined it.
“Hey, Sam,” Sheppard might say. “What’s up?”
“I thought I might kill you today,” Carter would respond. “You?”
“I was gonna try to blow up your ship, but if I’m dead, that might be a bit of a problem.”
Elizabeth shuddered and shook herself. That was just ridiculous. Daniel was probably just exaggerating. No one could be such a cold-blooded killer that they would talk about it in everyday conversation!
“Elizabeth?” She looked up. Carson was at her door. “Do you think you could help me? I’ve been thinking I ought to take inventory of the infirmary, but I’m not sure where everything would be.”
“Of course.” Elizabeth slid off her bed and brushed past him, leading the way to the infirmary. “I couldn’t tell you what everything is, but I know where most of it is stored.”
“Thank you,” said Carson with feeling as he followed her. “I just don’t want to reach the Cleor System and have somebody get injured, and then not be able to find the one thing that can save them. And if something important is missing, I need to tell Captain Sheppard so we can get it.”
“I doubt we’ll be able to get anything before Cleor,” said Elizabeth, stepping into the infirmary and going to one of its storage lockers, peeking inside. “It’s illegal to run a private enterprise from your ship. Here’s some basic stuff, I think.”
Carson went past her to examine the contents of the locker. “Aye, that it is,” he said. “I don’t expect a private enterprise would have more than this. Aren’t there larger businesses we could buy from?”
Elizabeth pointed to another storage locker. “That’s got some other stuff. I don’t know what any of it is. Yes, there are larger businesses, but those are mostly based on planets as well. I doubt Cleor will have a medical business, though. They’re tribal.”
“Don’t they get business from Earth?” Carson asked as he opened the second locker.
“Yes, but they still follow a lot of cultural traditions. They simply wouldn’t buy medical supplies, because according to them, they aren’t needed.”
“Ah.” Carson turned something over in his hands. “Well, we seem to be missing a defibrillator, but that’s the only thing I can think of. Hopefully no one will go into cardiac arrest before we can find a dealer,” he said with a slight chuckle.
“I think we’ll be fine,” said Elizabeth, a hint of humor in her voice. “Are you all set?”
“Aye, you can go.”
As Elizabeth closed the infirmary door behind her, she looked up to see Evan walking towards her. He stopped, looking at her with an odd expression on his face, then turned and started walking in the other direction.
This was getting ridiculous. Elizabeth stalked after him, calling, “Hey, wait!”
Evan stopped again and turned to glare at her. “What do you want?”
“Why do you keep avoiding me?” Elizabeth demanded, coming to a halt in front of him and folding her arms.
“I’m not avoiding you,” said Evan stubbornly.
Elizabeth frowned at him. “You just saw me coming out of the infirmary and abruptly turned to go the other direction. You just felt like turning around for no particular reason?”
“Why not?” Evan tried. When she raised a brow, he sighed and glanced away. “I’m not good with women.”
“Obviously.”
“Can you stop with the sarcasm?” Evan glared again, and she rolled her eyes, but closed her mouth. “Anyway, you broke my nose.”
Elizabeth snorted. “You were asking for it. Any self-respecting person, male or female, would have a similar reaction to that insult.”
“Why was it an insult?”
“I’m not a damsel in distress,” said Elizabeth peevishly. “And you meant it that way. Don’t deny it.”
Evan sighed again. “All right, so I did. It’s nothing personal, I swear.”
“Then what is it?” Elizabeth wanted to know.
“I’m bad with women, like I said. And Sheppard knows it, and he went ahead and solicited you anyway.” Evan shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
“You think Sheppard would avoid soliciting a woman just because you aren’t good with women?” Elizabeth said, incredulous. “He’s not that selfless.” She paused. “Not that that’s even selfless, considering the giant insult it would be to women. In any case,” she continued, before he could protest, “if Sheppard thought something was right to do, he would do it, regardless of any minor grudges his crew might have. I know that much about him.”
Evan bit his lip, looking away. “I guess you’re right. It still bothers me.”
“I suppose it would.”
“You don’t need to take that tone with me,” he complained.
“Why are you bad with women?” Elizabeth asked, purposefully changing the subject.
Evan looked uncomfortable. “I, uh…” He wasn’t looking at her. “I’ve had some bad experiences.” He paused. “I guess most of the ones I’ve met have been the kind you said you aren’t.”
“Damsels in distress?” Elizabeth said, sounding amused.
“Yeah. It got tiring after a while. So I said I’d just avoid them altogether. It did solve my problems.”
“You have to deal with us sometime,” Elizabeth pointed out. “And you can’t keep avoiding me like this. Sheppard will notice eventually, and you know his whole trust thing.”
“Yeah, I know…” Evan looked sheepish. “I guess, well, you aren’t that bad. And I think I’ve seen enough of you to know you can take care of yourself…”
“And?” Elizabeth prompted.
“And I’ll stop avoiding you,” said Evan, sounding annoyed. “I was getting there.”
Elizabeth smirked suddenly and swept past him, patting his arm as she went. “Good for you. I think you may be growing up.”
When she glanced back, she saw that Evan hadn’t been able to hide a grin. It had been a kind of insult, but the kind friends throw at each other just for fun. Maybe things hadn’t been as bad as she’d thought with him.
Outer Space, another uncharted region
“Are we close enough?” Sam asked for the umpteenth time.
“No,” said Haynes. She sounded as though she was gritting her teeth. “We aren’t close enough.”
“The long-range communicator ought to be working better than this. I was informed when it was installed that it could operate more than a week away from the destination!”
“Obviously they informed you wrong,” said Caldwell wryly. “I doubt this thing will work more than a day away.”
“We’re two weeks away from Cleor,” said Haynes tiredly. “You’ve been at this since we lost sight of the Prometheus. Can’t you give it a rest? We’ll try it when we reach a week.”
Sam ground her teeth, but said nothing. Haynes and Caldwell were right - she shouldn’t trust Earth’s scientists’ judgment on these things anyway, and it would be silly to assume the communicator would start working before they reached one week.
Still… it was frustrating to be less than a day behind the Prometheus and not be able to stop them in their tracks. If they attacked again, Sheppard would pull the three-sixty trick on them again, and Haynes was adamant that she wouldn’t be able to do anything more impressive than she’d done the last time without a serious upgrade.
“We should stop by the Evar System on our way to Cleor,” she said almost absentmindedly. “It’s only a few hours off track, and with a few boosts of the engine we can catch up again. You can be sure Sheppard will be making periodic speed bursts.”
Caldwell glanced at her. “Why the Evar System?”
“It’s the closest system with a business in high-quality spaceship merchandise,” Sam replied. “We definitely need to upgrade. We won’t be able to install anything until we’re resting planetside, but it’s vital to get the parts we need before we need them.”
“She’s right, Steven,” said Haynes, swiveling her chair to face them. “At the very least we need a three-sixty lever. I may not be able to fly it like Sheppard, but that way we’ll be able to follow without blowing ourselves up.”
“All right,” said Caldwell grudgingly. “Set our course for Evar now. We’ll take the shortest route.”
Outer Space, uncharted regions
Elizabeth was alone in the mess that evening, chewing on yesterday’s leftovers, when the door opened unexpectedly and Sheppard walked in. He stalked to the fridge, yanked it open, pulled out a yogurt, and sat at the table, almost in one motion. After a moment, apparently realizing he didn’t have a spoon, he started to stand up again, then spotted her there.
“Oh,” he said.
Elizabeth wasn’t sure what to make of this, so she remained silent, blinking up at him in some bewilderment.
Sheppard was silent as well for a few seconds. Then he cleared his throat. “Did I interrupt anything?”
“I wasn’t so involved in my meatball that your entrance ruffled me particularly,” said Elizabeth wryly, “although the manner of it brings up some questions.”
“Like what?” Sheppard blinked at her.
“You don’t appear to be in the best of moods.” Elizabeth raised a brow. “Or are you just mad at the fridge? Does it not have your flavor?”
Sheppard opened his mouth, looking prepared to yell at her, but then, surprisingly, he closed it and smiled sheepishly. “I do prefer the blueberry, but strawberry’s all right.”
Elizabeth’s lips twitched. “Aiden ate the last blueberry this morning.”
“I’ll have to yell at him for that,” said Sheppard amiably. He dug a spoon out of a nearby drawer and sat down again.
Elizabeth watched him curiously. “So what was the problem?” she queried. If she’d been confused before, she was even more confused now. Normally, in that mood, he would have yelled by now, but he appeared to have made a conscious effort not to.
“There was no problem,” said Sheppard evasively. He swallowed a spoonful of yogurt before speaking again. “Can’t I be in a bad mood without there being a problem?”
“I suppose you could,” Elizabeth allowed, unable to resist a smile at his humor, “but I can’t imagine why. Most captains are positively happy when there isn’t a problem.”
“That’s true,” Sheppard admitted. “It’s nothing important.” When she narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed. “The hyperdrive is acting up, and we might have to make a stop.”
Elizabeth frowned. “If you’re concerned about the police, they’re at least half a day behind us. And you can always escape them again with your amazing flying skills.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t complain.” Sheppard fiddled with his spoon, looking uncomfortable. “I was going to, but it occurred to me that you would say exactly that. And then it occurred to me that the Daedalus is probably going to make at least one stop to search for a three-sixty so they can follow us next time…”
“That’s quite a bit of thinking ahead.”
“Whose, mine or Carter’s?”
Elizabeth smiled. “Both, I guess. I was referring to you, but now that you mention it, Carter is definitely going to be thinking ahead.”
Sheppard returned the smile, looking a little sheepish again. “I talked to Evan earlier. He and I have actually been spending a lot of time complaining together about the crew…”
“Let me guess,” said Elizabeth dryly. “He complains about me?”
“He changed his mind this afternoon. I’m not sure why.” Sheppard gave her a shrewd look. “I do have my suspicions.”
“I have no intention of confirming them.”
Sheppard scowled halfheartedly at her. “Neither does Evan. Anyway, I figured if he was getting used to you guys, I probably should too, otherwise I’ll be the least trusting person on this ship, and you know how hypocritical that sounds.”
Elizabeth laughed and stood up, picking up her plate. “Good night, Captain.” She dumped the plate in the sink and walked out of the mess.