Adrift - Kate/John/Elizabeth - PG13
Title: Adrift
Author: tanaquisga
Written for:falcon_horus
Prompt chosen: Kate/John/Elizabeth getting stuck somewhere, with humor, and featuring Atlantis and the international expedition (which I took to mean "set in a canonical Pegasus" rather than "featuring a supporting cast of hundreds of secondary characters"). She didn't want to see angst and drama, so I tried to play down those aspects, or a deus ex machina rescue.
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Mild sexual content; spoilers for Season 2
Summary: When their puddlejumper ditches in the Lantean ocean, Kate, John and Elizabeth find themselves adrift in a life raft, trying to survive until they get rescued. Set in late Season 2, after both Grace Under Pressure and The Long Goodbye, but before Michael.
Word count: c. 4950
Author's Notes: Beta and cheerleading by sgafan, scribblesinink and elena_tiriel. The liferaft and the equipment on it are based on what's described here and here.
***
The shock of the cold as Kate hit the water knocked the air of her lungs. Panic assaulted her for a moment before she squashed it down and kicked upwards. She broke the surface, spluttering and sucking in air. Her arm felt as if it had been wrenched out of its socket by the drag of the packed life raft when she went underneath, but her hand still gripped the handle tightly.
Treading water, steadying herself against the life raft, she swung around in time to see the splash as the puddlejumper bellyflopped into the ocean. She turned her head away when the spreading wave raced towards her, trying to avoid a faceful of spray as she was lifted on the swell.
Looking back, she scanned the sea. Where were Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir? They must be somewhere between where she was and where the jumper had crashed but, in the choppy water, she couldn't see them. Scrabbling with hands made clumsy by cold and shock, she pulled the ripcord on the life raft and hung on to its side as it inflated upwards. The raft swung around in the current, and she with it. For an anxious moment she thought she'd lost her bearings and no longer knew in which direction the jumper had gone down. Then she remembered that they'd been flying with the long, menacing cloudbank on the horizon to their right.
"Colonel? Doctor?" Her voice sounded thin against the slap of wind and water. ""Colonel Sheppard? Elizabeth?" No answering call came. Handing herself around the raft, she found the opening. When there was no reply to a third halloo, she hauled herself inside. Pulling herself upright and kneeling in the half inch of water that had slopped in with her, she peered back out. As she searched the water for a head or an arm, her hands busied themselves automatically in unhooking the emergency pack and finding the sea anchor. Casting it over the side, she pulled the raft towards where the jumper had sunk.
After a few pulls, she spotted two dark heads close together. Relieved, she altered course towards them. It took a moment for them to notice her, but then an arm went up. She waved back in acknowledgement, breathing hard as she hauled the raft closer. When she was near enough to abandon the sea anchor for a paddle, she realized Colonel Sheppard had Doctor Weir in a rescue hold. Driving the paddle into the water, she maneuvered the raft alongside so he could hook his arm over the edge.
"Elizabeth," he gasped. "Hit her head...."
Kate nodded and reached out to grab Elizabeth under the arms and help drag her into the raft.
Pulling her further inside, Kate tried to back them both up so Sheppard could climb in after her, but bumped her head on the sloping roof. She was forced to wriggle to one side and swung Elizabeth round, trying not to jostle her too much. Elizabeth's lips were tinged with blue and she looked even paler than usual, although she seemed to be breathing OK now, but goodness knows what other damage had been done.
Kate looked up at Sheppard, kneeling on all fours and coughing, his bangs plastered against his forehead. He looked half done in himself.
"You OK?"
He nodded. "Just glad to see you." He crawled forward towards Elizabeth, and Kate had to pull her legs out of the way to make room for him. He reached out and put two fingers on Elizabeth's neck to check her pulse. "You?" He glanced up at Kate.
"I'm fine. Other than the whole having to jump out of a crashing puddlejumper into a freezing cold ocean part, of course." She knew she was using humor to keep fear at bay, because if she began to think for even one moment about how much trouble they were in.... "How's Elizabeth?"
"Breathing." He grimaced. "Can't tell much more until she wakes up."
"OK." Kate hesitated for a moment. "Look, can you take care of Elizabeth while I get the raft set up?"
He looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Sure. But you're the doctor."
She shrugged. "Wrong sort of doctor. You're probably a better field medic than I am. And, uh, I used to sail a lot. Back on Earth. So not the first time I've ended up in a life raft...."
He grinned wryly. "Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!"
She smiled back at him. "A good thing, I hope." She pointed past him towards the entrance. "If I could just get...."
He levered himself up and they shuffled around each other and settled down again. He kept bumping into her feet while he was doing whatever he was doing with Elizabeth, even though she'd tried to make herself as small as possible as she dropped the sea anchor back overboard to hold them in place and went back to checking through the rest of the emergency pack.
Finding the seasickness pills, she forced down a couple before turning to offer them to the others. All the puffing and panting must have been Sheppard arranging Elizabeth in the recovery position, lying with her back to them.
"Here." As she held out the tablets to Sheppard, she noticed tendrils of Elizabeth's hair were waving gently in the inch of water the inch of water now slopping around the bottom of the raft. "Take these."
He shook his head. "I don't get seasick."
"You may well do bobbing up and down on a life raft." When he still didn't take the tablets, she thrust them more firmly at him. "It's not optional, OK? Trust me, last thing we want is you puking your guts up and getting dehydrated." She must have sounded annoyed, because a flicker of embarrassment crossed his face as he finally took the pills. "Try and get a couple into Elizabeth when she wakes up if you can."
He nodded and she turned back to the emergency pack. Time to do something about the water. She pulled out the bailer and began scooping water outside. She glanced back over her shoulder. "I don't suppose we got off a mayday before we went down?"
He shook his head. "Everything was fried." He unhooked his radio from his belt, shook it and pressed the switch. "Dead," he pronounced gloomily. "May dry out."
"It only has a limited range anyway." Kate went back to bailing. "Even if it's working, they're not going to find us until they're nearly on top of us. Here." The bailer was picking up barely any water now, so she pushed it in Sheppard's direction, along with one of the sponges. "Try and mop up the water around Elizabeth." She got the second sponge and began using it around herself. "Will the jumper show up on scans?"
Again he shook his head. "Probably not. We had a devil of a time finding McKay when he and Griffin went down."
"OK." She thought for a moment. "Were you flying a direct course between the settlement and Atlantis?" He nodded. "OK, so we need to try and stay as close as possible to that line." She ran her hand along the cord to the sea-anchor, wondering whether it would be enough to hold them against cross-currents. "If we hear a jumper, we can send up a flare. And there's a light on top of the raft. They should be able to see that from quite a distance."
"Still a needle in a haystack." His words were interrupted by the sound of Elizabeth retching, and he quickly turned back to see to her.
The retching was followed by a couple of coughs and then Elizabeth's voice - Kate had never been so glad to hear it - asking Sheppard weakly, "What happened?"
"We got hit by some freaky energy discharge and lost all the jumper's systems, remember? We had to bail, and I couldn't keep her straight when we were going down. You whacked your head on the way out."
Kate, reaching for one of the water pouches in the emergency pack, heard the self-reproach in his voice.
"Right." Elizabeth coughed some more. "But we're all right now?"
"Yeah. Hey!" Now he sounded alarmed. "Just lie back and keep still while I check you over!"
Turning back, Kate saw him running his hands over Elizabeth's limbs, checking for broken bones and other injuries.
"Here." Kate opened the water pouch and passed it to Elizabeth, who gratefully sucked on it.
Sheppard, sitting back, bumped into Kate as the raft lurched and she swayed forwards. She put out a hand and caught his shoulder to steady herself .
"Sorry," they both muttered in unison. They shared a wry grin before he turned his attention back to Elizabeth. "Anyway," he gripped the prone woman's arm briefly, "looks like it may be nothing worse than a bump on the head."
Elizabeth nodded, closing her eyes. "And one hell of a headache!" She let her hand fall to her chest and Kate caught the water pouch before she dropped it. It was still half full, and she took a mouthful herself before passing the rest to Sheppard.
"We got many of those?" He eyed it hopefully.
Kate shrugged. "Half a dozen. There should be something somewhere to collect rainwater."
He nodded and tipped up the pouch and drained it. Kate took the pouch back and flattened it, before twisting round and carefully tucking it back in the emergency pack, because you never knew what you might need.
Turning back, she found Sheppard shoving the bailer and sponge at her. "Here. Sorry, it's.... I cleaned up where Elizabeth was sick."
"Good idea." Kate gave him a reassuring smile as she gingerly accepted the noisome items. She looked past him at Elizabeth. Her eyes were closed again, but her cheeks were a little rosier. "She really OK?"
"Think so." He still looked worried. "Need to get her warm, though. She's chilled through and through."
As if to emphasize the point, a cold gust of wind swirled in through the entrance, making them all shiver.
"Sure." Kate fumbled with one-handedly to undo the tie holding the door flap and began zipping it almost closed. "I'll keep an eye out for any sign of rescue."
He nodded. Shuffling round in the gloom, he stretched out awkwardly - the raft wasn't really wide enough - and curved himself around Elizabeth. She gave a murmur that sounded almost contented as she leaned her back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.
Pushing away the feeling of being excluded, Kate focused her attention on rinsing out the bailer and continuing to try and dry the inside of the raft. At last she settled down in a corner where she could keep an eye out for rescuers through a slit in the door flap, although there was nothing to be seen but the whitecaps on the choppy waves, and storm clouds scudding along to the South.
As dusk fell, she stretched her stiff limbs and reached up to turn on the flashing exterior light, her numbed fingers groping for the switches.
Sheppard stirred. "We rescued yet?"
"No. But it's getting dark." She flicked on the dim interior light as well.
He sat up and squinted at his watch. "We were overdue two hours ago. They should've made contact with the Athosians by now, know we're missing."
As he pulled the radio from his belt to try it again, Elizabeth also moved, rolling over onto her back and squinting at the light. "What's happening?" She sounded a little dazed.
"Hey." Sheppard turned back and smiled down at her. "How're you doing?"
"Headache." She raised a hand to her forehead and rubbed her temples. "And thirsty. Is there...?"
"Yes. I'll get you some." Kate knelt and fumbled with the zip on the emergency pack and awkwardly fished out another water pouch.
Turning back to hand it over she saw Sheppard had his eyes narrowed. He clipped the radio back onto his belt and reached out and grasped her wrist. "You're freezing!" Not letting go of her, he took the water and passed it wordlessly to Elizabeth, before folding his long legs under him to bring himself closer to Kate. "Dammit, Doctor," he reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest and vigorously rubbing her back, "I thought you were supposed to be the water survival expert."
She resisted for a moment, automatically trying to pull away from the unexpected invasion of her personal space, until the glorious warmth of his body seeped through the layers of salt-stiffened clothing between them. "Guess I wasn't thinking as straight as I thought I was," she murmured into his shoulder, letting herself relax against him. She slid her arms around him and began rubbing her hands together.
"Shock. Cold." She felt him shrug a little. "And it's my fault for focusing on Elizabeth and not checking you were OK too." His hands shifted down from working on her shoulder blades to the small of her back. "Plus, I thought I was supposed to be the stupidly heroic one here."
She found herself unexpectedly letting out a giggle that was almost a hiccup. "I'll take that as a compliment, Colonel. Thank you."
"John." His hands hesitated for a moment, and she sensed his slight discomfort. "Call me John."
"Kate." She murmured her own name in reply, accepting what she guessed was a rarely granted privilege and returning the compliment. She moved her head a little and breathed in his comforting musk under the tang of the sea.
"Here." He pushed her away and the chill struck at her again. "Let me warm your legs up a bit and then you scoot over and curl up with Elizabeth while I keep watch."
"OK." She pulled her legs from under her, and leaned back against the side of the raft, chafing her arms while he did the same to her bent legs. "There are flares," she reminded him.
"I know." He backed into the other corner to give her room, and gestured at Elizabeth. "Over you go."
***
John leaned his arms on his bent knees and peered out through the portion of the doorflap that Kate had left unzipped. The ocean outside was dark and nearly formless, only the wavecrests occasionally catching the faint light of the moon that swam in and out of frayed clouds. Time crawled slowly by and his eyes began playing tricks on him, supplying flashes of light that vanished when he blinked. Turning away to give them a rest, his gaze fell on the two women twined around each other, fair and dark heads close together.
Kate had surprised him. He didn't really know her any better than most of the other scientists, although he'd been impressed by the way she'd helped the various members of his command - including Teyla - that he'd sent in her direction over the past eighteen months. Beyond that, he'd simply pigeonholed her as yet another typical member of the science team. No doubt brilliant in their own disciplines, but like helpless children when dropped in the field and forced to run, fight, hide or survive. He suspected he'd been further lulled into underestimating her by the fact that her specialty was dealing with people's emotions, and she was soft-spoken and pretty in a blonde, peaches-and-cream way. Not that he minded discovering she had more grit than expected, as well as a level head and a set of sea-legs. Clearly there was more to her than met the eye. Although what met the eye was rather pleasant in its own right - if a different kind of beauty to the dark and austere looks of the woman who currently embraced her.
John had kept an eye on them as they settled down together, wanting to make sure they would both be fine. Kate had seemed awkward when she first lay down, but Elizabeth had rolled to face her, reaching out to bring Kate close. She had grimaced as she slipped her arms around her "Cold," she'd murmured, and Kate had pulled away with a muttered apology. Elizabeth had drawn her back, stroking Kate's hair away from her face and speaking words too low for John to hear. Kate had let herself be soothed, slowly relaxing against Elizabeth.
That was so typical of Elizabeth, he reflected now. Even when things weren't going so well for her, she'd always put the needs of other expedition members ahead of her own. It was one of the reasons he felt a certain protectiveness towards her, beyond his duty to look after her as expedition leader: seeing the strong façade she maintained for those she led, and knowing what that must cost her. Sure, they butted heads from time to time, but he wanted to bring her solutions not problems, to help her carry the burden a little.
Checking his watch, he saw they'd been asleep for a couple of hours. His own legs were getting stiff from sitting still for so long, and he scrambled into a half-standing position, his head hitting the roof, in an attempt to stretch them out in the cramped space.
There was a sudden thunderous slap of water against the canopy, and the life raft tipped sideways. He caught at the one of the interior lines to stop himself from falling on top of Kate and Elizabeth. A rush of water sloshed through the turned-back doorflap and drenched his left leg. Cursing, he squatted down and risked a quick look out.
The moon had disappeared completely and it was as black as pitch. From the way the wind and spray battered his face, he guessed the storm that had been to one side of them had moved across them - or they'd drifted into its path. Rain began drumming on the roof and the raft tipped again as another large swell caught it. He hastily dropped the flap and zipped the door tight closed.
"Kate?" He knelt and lightly touched her shoulder, and she came awake with a start, blinking at him as she shook the sleep from her eyes.
"What is it?" She kept her voice to a whisper as she turned her head towards him.
"Storm." He jerked his head towards the door, and his words were confirmed by the pitching of the raft.
"Let me take a look." Kate carefully slid out of Elizabeth's embrace, trying not to wake her, and wriggled into a sitting position. She leaned across him, steadying herself with a hand on his shoulder, so she could unzip the flap and check outside.
By the time she ducked her head back in, her hair, which had almost dried since she'd first climbed into the raft, was plastered flat again. She shook her head, perhaps out of frustration, or perhaps simply to get rid of the drops that were dripping into her eyes from her bangs. Impatiently she pushed her hair back off her face. "Could blow itself out in a few minutes or could last for hours."
He grimaced. "Even if there's a jumper out there, they wouldn't be able to see us, and we certainly wouldn't be able to see them."
She nodded. "Not much we can do except secure the raft and wait it out." She looked around, checking that nothing from the emergency pack was rolling around loose, before she fastened it closed. "I guess we should try and stay warm and get some more sleep."
"Sure."
He gestured for her to lie down next to Elizabeth again. As he lay down behind her, Elizabeth asked, "What's happening?"
"Shush." Kate's voice was soothing. "It's just a bit of a storm. Go back to sleep."
"Where's John?" Elizabeth sounded worried.
"I'm here." He sat up again so she could see him."We're all just going to get some sleep.." He tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"OK." Elizabeth smiled back at him, looking uncharacteristically young and vulnerable.
"Here." Kate slid her arms back round Elizabeth and edged closer. Elizabeth lifted a hand and smoothed back Kate's damp hair. "Thank you-," she glanced over Kate's shoulder at John," -both of you, for taking care of me." She leaned forward and dropped a light kiss on Kate's cheek, before settling down with a sigh and closing her eyes again.
John lay down again and pressed himself against Kate's back, throwing an arm over both of them to hold them close. Resting his cheek against Kate's hair, he remembered what it was like to be kissed by Elizabeth. Or rather, his body remembered what it had been like to be kissed by Elizabeth's body, since neither of them had been in control at the time. Yet even as he had railed uselessly against Thalen's imprisoning grip on his mind, he'd noticed how good she tasted and felt.
In the weeks since, he'd pushed the memory away, because he hadn't known what to do with it. Now he had the memory of what it was like to hold Elizabeth close to add to it. What it was like to fall asleep breathing in the scent of her shampoo, and wake up feeling how well she fit against him. He swallowed hard. And not just Elizabeth. Kate had felt good to hold, too, as he'd warmed her up, and she felt good in his arms right now. And he didn't know what to do with any of that, either.
Heat surged through him and he tried to breathe slowly, to calm his suddenly pounding heart. His mind was racing with visions of being back on Atlantis, in some room with a big double bed, a tangle of limbs and mouths and hands as he made love to both of them at once. He gritted his teeth. This was so not the time and place to be thinking this. Taking another deep breath, he forced his mind to slowly step through breaking down, cleaning and reassembling every single sidearm and submachine gun he'd ever fired, using the knowledge like a mantra to soothe and distract himself.
As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered if it ever would be the right time to think about it. Because one of them was the expedition leader and the other the expedition shrink, and he was the expedition's military commander, and any of them getting involved with any of the others could turn into such a mess....
The next thing he knew, he could hear someone calling. Opening eyes gritty with sleep, he saw from the light slanting through the canopy that the sun must have risen a couple hours ago.
"Sheppard? Elizabeth? Doctor Heightmeyer?"
Was that Rodney hailing them? Hastily untangling himself from around Kate and Elizabeth, who were also stirring, he scrambled up and unzipped the entrance. Outside, it was a fine bright morning. A jumper hovering a few feet away, its rear hatch open and Rodney, Teyla and Ronon beaming at him from the ramp with relieved smiles....
***
Elizabeth walked along the hallway towards Kate's office. It was three days since they'd been rescued, and two since Carson had let her out of the infirmary, after satisfying himself she'd suffered nothing worse that a concussion and a chill. But she was beginning to think the bump on her head had done some lasting damage.
Because, for the past three days, she'd been thinking the strangest things.
Reaching Kate's office, she knocked. The door slid open and Kate looked up from reading something at her desk.
Elizabeth hesitated on the threshold. "Is this a bad time?"
Kate smiled and closed the lid of her laptop. "Not at all. Come in." She gestured to Elizabeth to join her on the chairs arranged in front of the window. Folding her hands in her lap, she tilted her head. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes." Elizabeth stopped. "No." She put her head in her hands. "I don't know."
Kate didn't speak. That was the great thing about her. She gave you room to talk, didn't pester you with a game of twenty questions straight off. Elizabeth took a deep breath and lifted her head. Kate was observing her attentively.
"This is...," Elizabeth clasped her hands together. "I'm not sure if it's a professional call or a personal one...." She trailed off again.
"Why don't you just tell me, and then we can decide?" Kate leaned forward a little, smiling encouragingly. Elizabeth noticed how the smile made her cheeks dimple and softened her often reserved look, making her seem younger.
Elizabeth looked down at her hands twisting together. "Something happened," she whispered. "When we were on the life raft."
At the time, her head had hurt too much and she'd felt too nauseous to really notice. But afterwards, lying in the infirmary, every moment of their time together had come back to her. John gently running his hands over her limbs to check them, and wrapping her in his arms to warm her. Kate taking charge of making sure they were safe, and needing to be warmed in turn. The feel of John's gentle strength as he held her, and the softening of Kate's face as she settled down to sleep, and Elizabeth's sudden, unexpected desire to kiss her. Waking up before dawn and finding John's hand resting on her thigh and Kate's hair across her face.
"I can't stop thinking about it," she admitted now. "About...." She risked a quick glance at Kate. "I thought maybe if I started with you, you'd be less... upset if you hate the idea. And we don't have to see each other every day, so it would be less awkward if...." Why was it so difficult to say? She'd negotiated treaties in two galaxies, spoke five languages, and delivered lectures to halls holding a thousand people, so why was she suddenly so tongue-tied?
She risked another quick glance up. A puzzled frown had settled on Kate's face, but she reached forwards and patted Elizabeth's knee. "It's all right, Elizabeth. You can tell me anything, you know that."
Elizabeth nodded. She did know that. But this wasn't like talking about how angry and guilty and empty she felt when they lost expedition members, or how frustrating she found the need to constantly keep Rodney's enthusiasms in check. This was something else entirely.
And she didn't know where it had come from. John hadn't even been a blip on her sensors. First there'd been Simon. By the time that had ended, she and John were too close for her to see him as anything other than a friend. Or so she'd thought. As for Kate.... Well, there'd been that time back in college, but that was a long time ago, and she would have sworn she was pretty much as straight as they came....
She took a deep breath to steady herself.. "I can't stop thinking about it. About you and John. About... wanting to be with you. Both of you." The very thought of it - of touching and exploring and watching and being watched - was making her a little dizzy. "All three of us together," she added, just in case she hadn't been completely clear.
Kate let out a small gasp and Elizabeth looked up to see her eyes were wide with shock. Heat of a different kind surged through Elizabeth, and she knew she must have turned bright crimson. She jumped to her feet and started for the door. "Forget it. It's stupid. It's just getting hit on the head and-."
"Elizabeth." Kate's voice stopped her and Elizabeth looked back. Kate stood and took a pace towards Elizabeth and put her a hand on her arm. Elizabeth looked down at it and shivered. She looked back up at Kate.
"I didn't get hit on the head," Kate said softly
"What?"
"I can't stop thinking about it either." Elizabeth could feel her trembling. "And, oh, it's not like I didn't already think you were amazing in so many ways. And I don't think there's a woman on this base who doesn't fancy John a little bit." She laughed nervously. "But that was all just, you know, normal reactions to being around attractive people...."
"Yes." Elizabeth put her hand over Kate's. "But when we were on the life raft...."
"Yes." Kate nodded. "Suddenly things were... different."
"So...." Elizabeth took a deep breath. "You feel like this, and I feel like this. I guess we need to know if John feels the same."
Kate's cheeks flushed. "I think he might." When Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow, inviting her to elaborate, she went on, "After he lay down behind me, when we all went to sleep together.... There were... I think he got an erection."
Elizabeth laughed. "Might just be you he's interested in?"
Kate shook her head. "I don't think so. I saw the way he was looking at you when you were in the infirmary."
"OK." Elizabeth blushed again. She bit her lip as she thought for a moment. "Perhaps we should invite him for a little get-together to celebrate surviving. Have a glass of wine...."
Kate nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."
Elizabeth sighed. "Assuming any of this is a good idea, given who were are and what we do...."
"That's true. But neither is eating ourselves up about it."
"I wouldn't mind eating you up," Elizabeth murmured, and now it was Kate's turn to blush. Elizabeth stepped closer and took Kate's face in her hands. "Not that I want to leave John out of this, but maybe you and I should test the waters a little first...."
***
Endnote: Why, yes, before you ask: I am looking to write a sequel....
Author: tanaquisga
Written for:falcon_horus
Prompt chosen: Kate/John/Elizabeth getting stuck somewhere, with humor, and featuring Atlantis and the international expedition (which I took to mean "set in a canonical Pegasus" rather than "featuring a supporting cast of hundreds of secondary characters"). She didn't want to see angst and drama, so I tried to play down those aspects, or a deus ex machina rescue.
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Mild sexual content; spoilers for Season 2
Summary: When their puddlejumper ditches in the Lantean ocean, Kate, John and Elizabeth find themselves adrift in a life raft, trying to survive until they get rescued. Set in late Season 2, after both Grace Under Pressure and The Long Goodbye, but before Michael.
Word count: c. 4950
Author's Notes: Beta and cheerleading by sgafan, scribblesinink and elena_tiriel. The liferaft and the equipment on it are based on what's described here and here.
***
The shock of the cold as Kate hit the water knocked the air of her lungs. Panic assaulted her for a moment before she squashed it down and kicked upwards. She broke the surface, spluttering and sucking in air. Her arm felt as if it had been wrenched out of its socket by the drag of the packed life raft when she went underneath, but her hand still gripped the handle tightly.
Treading water, steadying herself against the life raft, she swung around in time to see the splash as the puddlejumper bellyflopped into the ocean. She turned her head away when the spreading wave raced towards her, trying to avoid a faceful of spray as she was lifted on the swell.
Looking back, she scanned the sea. Where were Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir? They must be somewhere between where she was and where the jumper had crashed but, in the choppy water, she couldn't see them. Scrabbling with hands made clumsy by cold and shock, she pulled the ripcord on the life raft and hung on to its side as it inflated upwards. The raft swung around in the current, and she with it. For an anxious moment she thought she'd lost her bearings and no longer knew in which direction the jumper had gone down. Then she remembered that they'd been flying with the long, menacing cloudbank on the horizon to their right.
"Colonel? Doctor?" Her voice sounded thin against the slap of wind and water. ""Colonel Sheppard? Elizabeth?" No answering call came. Handing herself around the raft, she found the opening. When there was no reply to a third halloo, she hauled herself inside. Pulling herself upright and kneeling in the half inch of water that had slopped in with her, she peered back out. As she searched the water for a head or an arm, her hands busied themselves automatically in unhooking the emergency pack and finding the sea anchor. Casting it over the side, she pulled the raft towards where the jumper had sunk.
After a few pulls, she spotted two dark heads close together. Relieved, she altered course towards them. It took a moment for them to notice her, but then an arm went up. She waved back in acknowledgement, breathing hard as she hauled the raft closer. When she was near enough to abandon the sea anchor for a paddle, she realized Colonel Sheppard had Doctor Weir in a rescue hold. Driving the paddle into the water, she maneuvered the raft alongside so he could hook his arm over the edge.
"Elizabeth," he gasped. "Hit her head...."
Kate nodded and reached out to grab Elizabeth under the arms and help drag her into the raft.
Pulling her further inside, Kate tried to back them both up so Sheppard could climb in after her, but bumped her head on the sloping roof. She was forced to wriggle to one side and swung Elizabeth round, trying not to jostle her too much. Elizabeth's lips were tinged with blue and she looked even paler than usual, although she seemed to be breathing OK now, but goodness knows what other damage had been done.
Kate looked up at Sheppard, kneeling on all fours and coughing, his bangs plastered against his forehead. He looked half done in himself.
"You OK?"
He nodded. "Just glad to see you." He crawled forward towards Elizabeth, and Kate had to pull her legs out of the way to make room for him. He reached out and put two fingers on Elizabeth's neck to check her pulse. "You?" He glanced up at Kate.
"I'm fine. Other than the whole having to jump out of a crashing puddlejumper into a freezing cold ocean part, of course." She knew she was using humor to keep fear at bay, because if she began to think for even one moment about how much trouble they were in.... "How's Elizabeth?"
"Breathing." He grimaced. "Can't tell much more until she wakes up."
"OK." Kate hesitated for a moment. "Look, can you take care of Elizabeth while I get the raft set up?"
He looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Sure. But you're the doctor."
She shrugged. "Wrong sort of doctor. You're probably a better field medic than I am. And, uh, I used to sail a lot. Back on Earth. So not the first time I've ended up in a life raft...."
He grinned wryly. "Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!"
She smiled back at him. "A good thing, I hope." She pointed past him towards the entrance. "If I could just get...."
He levered himself up and they shuffled around each other and settled down again. He kept bumping into her feet while he was doing whatever he was doing with Elizabeth, even though she'd tried to make herself as small as possible as she dropped the sea anchor back overboard to hold them in place and went back to checking through the rest of the emergency pack.
Finding the seasickness pills, she forced down a couple before turning to offer them to the others. All the puffing and panting must have been Sheppard arranging Elizabeth in the recovery position, lying with her back to them.
"Here." As she held out the tablets to Sheppard, she noticed tendrils of Elizabeth's hair were waving gently in the inch of water the inch of water now slopping around the bottom of the raft. "Take these."
He shook his head. "I don't get seasick."
"You may well do bobbing up and down on a life raft." When he still didn't take the tablets, she thrust them more firmly at him. "It's not optional, OK? Trust me, last thing we want is you puking your guts up and getting dehydrated." She must have sounded annoyed, because a flicker of embarrassment crossed his face as he finally took the pills. "Try and get a couple into Elizabeth when she wakes up if you can."
He nodded and she turned back to the emergency pack. Time to do something about the water. She pulled out the bailer and began scooping water outside. She glanced back over her shoulder. "I don't suppose we got off a mayday before we went down?"
He shook his head. "Everything was fried." He unhooked his radio from his belt, shook it and pressed the switch. "Dead," he pronounced gloomily. "May dry out."
"It only has a limited range anyway." Kate went back to bailing. "Even if it's working, they're not going to find us until they're nearly on top of us. Here." The bailer was picking up barely any water now, so she pushed it in Sheppard's direction, along with one of the sponges. "Try and mop up the water around Elizabeth." She got the second sponge and began using it around herself. "Will the jumper show up on scans?"
Again he shook his head. "Probably not. We had a devil of a time finding McKay when he and Griffin went down."
"OK." She thought for a moment. "Were you flying a direct course between the settlement and Atlantis?" He nodded. "OK, so we need to try and stay as close as possible to that line." She ran her hand along the cord to the sea-anchor, wondering whether it would be enough to hold them against cross-currents. "If we hear a jumper, we can send up a flare. And there's a light on top of the raft. They should be able to see that from quite a distance."
"Still a needle in a haystack." His words were interrupted by the sound of Elizabeth retching, and he quickly turned back to see to her.
The retching was followed by a couple of coughs and then Elizabeth's voice - Kate had never been so glad to hear it - asking Sheppard weakly, "What happened?"
"We got hit by some freaky energy discharge and lost all the jumper's systems, remember? We had to bail, and I couldn't keep her straight when we were going down. You whacked your head on the way out."
Kate, reaching for one of the water pouches in the emergency pack, heard the self-reproach in his voice.
"Right." Elizabeth coughed some more. "But we're all right now?"
"Yeah. Hey!" Now he sounded alarmed. "Just lie back and keep still while I check you over!"
Turning back, Kate saw him running his hands over Elizabeth's limbs, checking for broken bones and other injuries.
"Here." Kate opened the water pouch and passed it to Elizabeth, who gratefully sucked on it.
Sheppard, sitting back, bumped into Kate as the raft lurched and she swayed forwards. She put out a hand and caught his shoulder to steady herself .
"Sorry," they both muttered in unison. They shared a wry grin before he turned his attention back to Elizabeth. "Anyway," he gripped the prone woman's arm briefly, "looks like it may be nothing worse than a bump on the head."
Elizabeth nodded, closing her eyes. "And one hell of a headache!" She let her hand fall to her chest and Kate caught the water pouch before she dropped it. It was still half full, and she took a mouthful herself before passing the rest to Sheppard.
"We got many of those?" He eyed it hopefully.
Kate shrugged. "Half a dozen. There should be something somewhere to collect rainwater."
He nodded and tipped up the pouch and drained it. Kate took the pouch back and flattened it, before twisting round and carefully tucking it back in the emergency pack, because you never knew what you might need.
Turning back, she found Sheppard shoving the bailer and sponge at her. "Here. Sorry, it's.... I cleaned up where Elizabeth was sick."
"Good idea." Kate gave him a reassuring smile as she gingerly accepted the noisome items. She looked past him at Elizabeth. Her eyes were closed again, but her cheeks were a little rosier. "She really OK?"
"Think so." He still looked worried. "Need to get her warm, though. She's chilled through and through."
As if to emphasize the point, a cold gust of wind swirled in through the entrance, making them all shiver.
"Sure." Kate fumbled with one-handedly to undo the tie holding the door flap and began zipping it almost closed. "I'll keep an eye out for any sign of rescue."
He nodded. Shuffling round in the gloom, he stretched out awkwardly - the raft wasn't really wide enough - and curved himself around Elizabeth. She gave a murmur that sounded almost contented as she leaned her back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.
Pushing away the feeling of being excluded, Kate focused her attention on rinsing out the bailer and continuing to try and dry the inside of the raft. At last she settled down in a corner where she could keep an eye out for rescuers through a slit in the door flap, although there was nothing to be seen but the whitecaps on the choppy waves, and storm clouds scudding along to the South.
As dusk fell, she stretched her stiff limbs and reached up to turn on the flashing exterior light, her numbed fingers groping for the switches.
Sheppard stirred. "We rescued yet?"
"No. But it's getting dark." She flicked on the dim interior light as well.
He sat up and squinted at his watch. "We were overdue two hours ago. They should've made contact with the Athosians by now, know we're missing."
As he pulled the radio from his belt to try it again, Elizabeth also moved, rolling over onto her back and squinting at the light. "What's happening?" She sounded a little dazed.
"Hey." Sheppard turned back and smiled down at her. "How're you doing?"
"Headache." She raised a hand to her forehead and rubbed her temples. "And thirsty. Is there...?"
"Yes. I'll get you some." Kate knelt and fumbled with the zip on the emergency pack and awkwardly fished out another water pouch.
Turning back to hand it over she saw Sheppard had his eyes narrowed. He clipped the radio back onto his belt and reached out and grasped her wrist. "You're freezing!" Not letting go of her, he took the water and passed it wordlessly to Elizabeth, before folding his long legs under him to bring himself closer to Kate. "Dammit, Doctor," he reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest and vigorously rubbing her back, "I thought you were supposed to be the water survival expert."
She resisted for a moment, automatically trying to pull away from the unexpected invasion of her personal space, until the glorious warmth of his body seeped through the layers of salt-stiffened clothing between them. "Guess I wasn't thinking as straight as I thought I was," she murmured into his shoulder, letting herself relax against him. She slid her arms around him and began rubbing her hands together.
"Shock. Cold." She felt him shrug a little. "And it's my fault for focusing on Elizabeth and not checking you were OK too." His hands shifted down from working on her shoulder blades to the small of her back. "Plus, I thought I was supposed to be the stupidly heroic one here."
She found herself unexpectedly letting out a giggle that was almost a hiccup. "I'll take that as a compliment, Colonel. Thank you."
"John." His hands hesitated for a moment, and she sensed his slight discomfort. "Call me John."
"Kate." She murmured her own name in reply, accepting what she guessed was a rarely granted privilege and returning the compliment. She moved her head a little and breathed in his comforting musk under the tang of the sea.
"Here." He pushed her away and the chill struck at her again. "Let me warm your legs up a bit and then you scoot over and curl up with Elizabeth while I keep watch."
"OK." She pulled her legs from under her, and leaned back against the side of the raft, chafing her arms while he did the same to her bent legs. "There are flares," she reminded him.
"I know." He backed into the other corner to give her room, and gestured at Elizabeth. "Over you go."
***
John leaned his arms on his bent knees and peered out through the portion of the doorflap that Kate had left unzipped. The ocean outside was dark and nearly formless, only the wavecrests occasionally catching the faint light of the moon that swam in and out of frayed clouds. Time crawled slowly by and his eyes began playing tricks on him, supplying flashes of light that vanished when he blinked. Turning away to give them a rest, his gaze fell on the two women twined around each other, fair and dark heads close together.
Kate had surprised him. He didn't really know her any better than most of the other scientists, although he'd been impressed by the way she'd helped the various members of his command - including Teyla - that he'd sent in her direction over the past eighteen months. Beyond that, he'd simply pigeonholed her as yet another typical member of the science team. No doubt brilliant in their own disciplines, but like helpless children when dropped in the field and forced to run, fight, hide or survive. He suspected he'd been further lulled into underestimating her by the fact that her specialty was dealing with people's emotions, and she was soft-spoken and pretty in a blonde, peaches-and-cream way. Not that he minded discovering she had more grit than expected, as well as a level head and a set of sea-legs. Clearly there was more to her than met the eye. Although what met the eye was rather pleasant in its own right - if a different kind of beauty to the dark and austere looks of the woman who currently embraced her.
John had kept an eye on them as they settled down together, wanting to make sure they would both be fine. Kate had seemed awkward when she first lay down, but Elizabeth had rolled to face her, reaching out to bring Kate close. She had grimaced as she slipped her arms around her "Cold," she'd murmured, and Kate had pulled away with a muttered apology. Elizabeth had drawn her back, stroking Kate's hair away from her face and speaking words too low for John to hear. Kate had let herself be soothed, slowly relaxing against Elizabeth.
That was so typical of Elizabeth, he reflected now. Even when things weren't going so well for her, she'd always put the needs of other expedition members ahead of her own. It was one of the reasons he felt a certain protectiveness towards her, beyond his duty to look after her as expedition leader: seeing the strong façade she maintained for those she led, and knowing what that must cost her. Sure, they butted heads from time to time, but he wanted to bring her solutions not problems, to help her carry the burden a little.
Checking his watch, he saw they'd been asleep for a couple of hours. His own legs were getting stiff from sitting still for so long, and he scrambled into a half-standing position, his head hitting the roof, in an attempt to stretch them out in the cramped space.
There was a sudden thunderous slap of water against the canopy, and the life raft tipped sideways. He caught at the one of the interior lines to stop himself from falling on top of Kate and Elizabeth. A rush of water sloshed through the turned-back doorflap and drenched his left leg. Cursing, he squatted down and risked a quick look out.
The moon had disappeared completely and it was as black as pitch. From the way the wind and spray battered his face, he guessed the storm that had been to one side of them had moved across them - or they'd drifted into its path. Rain began drumming on the roof and the raft tipped again as another large swell caught it. He hastily dropped the flap and zipped the door tight closed.
"Kate?" He knelt and lightly touched her shoulder, and she came awake with a start, blinking at him as she shook the sleep from her eyes.
"What is it?" She kept her voice to a whisper as she turned her head towards him.
"Storm." He jerked his head towards the door, and his words were confirmed by the pitching of the raft.
"Let me take a look." Kate carefully slid out of Elizabeth's embrace, trying not to wake her, and wriggled into a sitting position. She leaned across him, steadying herself with a hand on his shoulder, so she could unzip the flap and check outside.
By the time she ducked her head back in, her hair, which had almost dried since she'd first climbed into the raft, was plastered flat again. She shook her head, perhaps out of frustration, or perhaps simply to get rid of the drops that were dripping into her eyes from her bangs. Impatiently she pushed her hair back off her face. "Could blow itself out in a few minutes or could last for hours."
He grimaced. "Even if there's a jumper out there, they wouldn't be able to see us, and we certainly wouldn't be able to see them."
She nodded. "Not much we can do except secure the raft and wait it out." She looked around, checking that nothing from the emergency pack was rolling around loose, before she fastened it closed. "I guess we should try and stay warm and get some more sleep."
"Sure."
He gestured for her to lie down next to Elizabeth again. As he lay down behind her, Elizabeth asked, "What's happening?"
"Shush." Kate's voice was soothing. "It's just a bit of a storm. Go back to sleep."
"Where's John?" Elizabeth sounded worried.
"I'm here." He sat up again so she could see him."We're all just going to get some sleep.." He tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"OK." Elizabeth smiled back at him, looking uncharacteristically young and vulnerable.
"Here." Kate slid her arms back round Elizabeth and edged closer. Elizabeth lifted a hand and smoothed back Kate's damp hair. "Thank you-," she glanced over Kate's shoulder at John," -both of you, for taking care of me." She leaned forward and dropped a light kiss on Kate's cheek, before settling down with a sigh and closing her eyes again.
John lay down again and pressed himself against Kate's back, throwing an arm over both of them to hold them close. Resting his cheek against Kate's hair, he remembered what it was like to be kissed by Elizabeth. Or rather, his body remembered what it had been like to be kissed by Elizabeth's body, since neither of them had been in control at the time. Yet even as he had railed uselessly against Thalen's imprisoning grip on his mind, he'd noticed how good she tasted and felt.
In the weeks since, he'd pushed the memory away, because he hadn't known what to do with it. Now he had the memory of what it was like to hold Elizabeth close to add to it. What it was like to fall asleep breathing in the scent of her shampoo, and wake up feeling how well she fit against him. He swallowed hard. And not just Elizabeth. Kate had felt good to hold, too, as he'd warmed her up, and she felt good in his arms right now. And he didn't know what to do with any of that, either.
Heat surged through him and he tried to breathe slowly, to calm his suddenly pounding heart. His mind was racing with visions of being back on Atlantis, in some room with a big double bed, a tangle of limbs and mouths and hands as he made love to both of them at once. He gritted his teeth. This was so not the time and place to be thinking this. Taking another deep breath, he forced his mind to slowly step through breaking down, cleaning and reassembling every single sidearm and submachine gun he'd ever fired, using the knowledge like a mantra to soothe and distract himself.
As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered if it ever would be the right time to think about it. Because one of them was the expedition leader and the other the expedition shrink, and he was the expedition's military commander, and any of them getting involved with any of the others could turn into such a mess....
The next thing he knew, he could hear someone calling. Opening eyes gritty with sleep, he saw from the light slanting through the canopy that the sun must have risen a couple hours ago.
"Sheppard? Elizabeth? Doctor Heightmeyer?"
Was that Rodney hailing them? Hastily untangling himself from around Kate and Elizabeth, who were also stirring, he scrambled up and unzipped the entrance. Outside, it was a fine bright morning. A jumper hovering a few feet away, its rear hatch open and Rodney, Teyla and Ronon beaming at him from the ramp with relieved smiles....
***
Elizabeth walked along the hallway towards Kate's office. It was three days since they'd been rescued, and two since Carson had let her out of the infirmary, after satisfying himself she'd suffered nothing worse that a concussion and a chill. But she was beginning to think the bump on her head had done some lasting damage.
Because, for the past three days, she'd been thinking the strangest things.
Reaching Kate's office, she knocked. The door slid open and Kate looked up from reading something at her desk.
Elizabeth hesitated on the threshold. "Is this a bad time?"
Kate smiled and closed the lid of her laptop. "Not at all. Come in." She gestured to Elizabeth to join her on the chairs arranged in front of the window. Folding her hands in her lap, she tilted her head. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes." Elizabeth stopped. "No." She put her head in her hands. "I don't know."
Kate didn't speak. That was the great thing about her. She gave you room to talk, didn't pester you with a game of twenty questions straight off. Elizabeth took a deep breath and lifted her head. Kate was observing her attentively.
"This is...," Elizabeth clasped her hands together. "I'm not sure if it's a professional call or a personal one...." She trailed off again.
"Why don't you just tell me, and then we can decide?" Kate leaned forward a little, smiling encouragingly. Elizabeth noticed how the smile made her cheeks dimple and softened her often reserved look, making her seem younger.
Elizabeth looked down at her hands twisting together. "Something happened," she whispered. "When we were on the life raft."
At the time, her head had hurt too much and she'd felt too nauseous to really notice. But afterwards, lying in the infirmary, every moment of their time together had come back to her. John gently running his hands over her limbs to check them, and wrapping her in his arms to warm her. Kate taking charge of making sure they were safe, and needing to be warmed in turn. The feel of John's gentle strength as he held her, and the softening of Kate's face as she settled down to sleep, and Elizabeth's sudden, unexpected desire to kiss her. Waking up before dawn and finding John's hand resting on her thigh and Kate's hair across her face.
"I can't stop thinking about it," she admitted now. "About...." She risked a quick glance at Kate. "I thought maybe if I started with you, you'd be less... upset if you hate the idea. And we don't have to see each other every day, so it would be less awkward if...." Why was it so difficult to say? She'd negotiated treaties in two galaxies, spoke five languages, and delivered lectures to halls holding a thousand people, so why was she suddenly so tongue-tied?
She risked another quick glance up. A puzzled frown had settled on Kate's face, but she reached forwards and patted Elizabeth's knee. "It's all right, Elizabeth. You can tell me anything, you know that."
Elizabeth nodded. She did know that. But this wasn't like talking about how angry and guilty and empty she felt when they lost expedition members, or how frustrating she found the need to constantly keep Rodney's enthusiasms in check. This was something else entirely.
And she didn't know where it had come from. John hadn't even been a blip on her sensors. First there'd been Simon. By the time that had ended, she and John were too close for her to see him as anything other than a friend. Or so she'd thought. As for Kate.... Well, there'd been that time back in college, but that was a long time ago, and she would have sworn she was pretty much as straight as they came....
She took a deep breath to steady herself.. "I can't stop thinking about it. About you and John. About... wanting to be with you. Both of you." The very thought of it - of touching and exploring and watching and being watched - was making her a little dizzy. "All three of us together," she added, just in case she hadn't been completely clear.
Kate let out a small gasp and Elizabeth looked up to see her eyes were wide with shock. Heat of a different kind surged through Elizabeth, and she knew she must have turned bright crimson. She jumped to her feet and started for the door. "Forget it. It's stupid. It's just getting hit on the head and-."
"Elizabeth." Kate's voice stopped her and Elizabeth looked back. Kate stood and took a pace towards Elizabeth and put her a hand on her arm. Elizabeth looked down at it and shivered. She looked back up at Kate.
"I didn't get hit on the head," Kate said softly
"What?"
"I can't stop thinking about it either." Elizabeth could feel her trembling. "And, oh, it's not like I didn't already think you were amazing in so many ways. And I don't think there's a woman on this base who doesn't fancy John a little bit." She laughed nervously. "But that was all just, you know, normal reactions to being around attractive people...."
"Yes." Elizabeth put her hand over Kate's. "But when we were on the life raft...."
"Yes." Kate nodded. "Suddenly things were... different."
"So...." Elizabeth took a deep breath. "You feel like this, and I feel like this. I guess we need to know if John feels the same."
Kate's cheeks flushed. "I think he might." When Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow, inviting her to elaborate, she went on, "After he lay down behind me, when we all went to sleep together.... There were... I think he got an erection."
Elizabeth laughed. "Might just be you he's interested in?"
Kate shook her head. "I don't think so. I saw the way he was looking at you when you were in the infirmary."
"OK." Elizabeth blushed again. She bit her lip as she thought for a moment. "Perhaps we should invite him for a little get-together to celebrate surviving. Have a glass of wine...."
Kate nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."
Elizabeth sighed. "Assuming any of this is a good idea, given who were are and what we do...."
"That's true. But neither is eating ourselves up about it."
"I wouldn't mind eating you up," Elizabeth murmured, and now it was Kate's turn to blush. Elizabeth stepped closer and took Kate's face in her hands. "Not that I want to leave John out of this, but maybe you and I should test the waters a little first...."
***
Endnote: Why, yes, before you ask: I am looking to write a sequel....