Fic: Condor's Flight, Part IV
Previous Chapter: Part III
They had spent the night sleeping on the balcony in the warm night air of Madrid. It reminded John Sheppard of a fling he had in London with a female RAF meteorologist he’d met on base. Except there were no air raid sirens and the city seemed unnaturally quiet to him. When he woke in the morning, Elizabeth was gone and he wondered briefly if the previous night had even occurred.
Slipping into the apartment he went to check on Lorne, who was awake and sitting up in bed. “How are you feeling, Sparky?”
“You know I hate that name, Sheppard.”
“Of course I do, that’s why I use it. How are you feeling?”
“Like I wish the doc had left some more pain drugs, but otherwise I think I’m fine.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had broken ribs?”
“It’s not like you could do anything about them, and I didn’t want to slow you down.”
John smiled a little. “Thanks.”
Lorne nodded. “The dragon lady said she had to go to the embassy. You didn’t sleep with her, did you, Shep?” His copilot watched him for a moment and shook his head. “You did.”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly? How do you not exactly sleep with someone?”
Sheppard just shook his head, and Lorne cleared his throat. Looking over his shoulder he saw Teyla standing in the doorway, with her eyes narrowed, before she left.
*** *** ***
There had been three assassination attempts on George Hammond’s life in the two years he’d been in Spain. His days in the field were long past him and now he had to satisfy himself that espionage was a game for the young. It was just a shame that the young grew old so quickly playing it. The morning diplomatic pouch had brought orders for his young protégée and he had called Elizabeth in to be briefed.
“You know the wife of the Blue Division Chief of Staff?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Her husband’s home on leave and the Russians want us to see if we can get a look at whatever reports he’s taking back with him next week. They’re hosting a party tomorrow. Can you manage an invitation?”
“I already have one, sir, but I wasn’t planning on going because she wants me to bring a date.”
“You’ve never been short of eager young men, Elizabeth.”
She blushed a little. “Most of them I’d rather not take on an assignment where I have to crack a safe, sir.”
“What about the ones in your apartment right now?”
Hammond thought he might have seen her blush deepen. “One of them has a couple broken ribs, which probably precludes him dancing, and I’d need cover for the other.”
“We’re still waiting on travel papers for them, but I’m sure I can get the embassy to dummy up credentials for him by the end of the day.”
She seemed a little uncomfortable, but nodded. “Yes, sir, I’ll inform him he’s been drafted. Again.”
*** *** ***
When Elizabeth came home she had a clothing bag over her shoulder and handed it to John without explanation. “Colonel O’Neill loaned this to me. See if it fits.”
Unzipping it to see a tuxedo, John raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this a little formal for walking around clothes?”
“Just a bit,” she said smiling over broadly.
“What is it about girls wanting to put me in fancy clothes?”
Lorne laughed from behind him. “Shep, if you don’t understand that, you are hopeless.”
“I’m afraid I need to borrow you for the evening tomorrow.”
“In a tuxedo?”
“We’re going to a party with a bunch of Germans.”
“In a tuxedo?”
“Is it just me or does the tuxedo bother you more than the idea of going to a party with a bunch of Germans?”
“I’m getting to that. Why do you want me to go to a party where there are Germans?”
She presented him with a set of papers. “Congratulations, Captain, you are now officially an embassy cryptographer. I need an escort I can trust, and my boss nominated you.”
“We haven’t actually gotten around to who you work for, you know that, Elizabeth?”
“The Office of Strategic Services. I hold the equivalent rank of Major, by the way.” She grinned at him. “Now you know who I work for, and for the moment we can say I’m your boss.”
He just smiled, “If you insist, ma’am. But if you’ve outranked me this whole time why haven’t you said so?”
“Oh, don’t think I haven’t been tempted to knock you on the back of your head and pull rank, but I was trying to maintain my cover.”
“Isn’t that what you were doing last night?” He smiled innocently.
She turned red and it wasn’t entirely clear if that was anger or embarrassment, but whichever it was, it got a smile from Lorne. “Okay, so that’s what ‘not exactly’ means.”
Next Chapter: Part V