Fic: Rites of Spring
Title: Rites of Spring
Author: Lanna-kitty
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers:: Up to and including Echoes
Pairing: John/Elizabeth
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate.
Summary: Follows The Return part 2. John and Elizabeth are invited to participate in an Athosian Ritual.
Beta: The_Scary_kitty and Trialia who are made of win.
Author’s Notes. This was for SGA_Santa. In 2006 for angelqueen04's prompt: John/Elizabeth. NC-17 with John in charge, takes place on Mainland. Featuring the Athosian Village optional. This is fluffy like a bunny! It's kinda cliché, but hopefully fun.
Originally written in 2006, this is something I've been meaning to get back to, to clean up. This has been re-posted with a massive overhaul to a lot of the scenes and better flow and a general facelift. it's a much better fic now than it was :)
Rites of Spring
“Everyone seems to finally be getting back into the normal swing of things. Well, what passes for normal around here, I guess.” John Sheppard sat down heavily in the chair across from Elizabeth Weir’s desk. Several papers on the surface fluttered in the breeze he made.
Elizabeth absently slapped a hand down on them as she finished her thought on the status report she was writing. Her usual paperweights still packed in a box by the door. Since she’d been so busy getting the city up and running, she’d been unable to unpack completely. Most of the original team had returned as well as a lot of new people, which meant she’d had little time to get her office organized beyond the essentials.
"The civilian scientists that Woolsey sent are settled," John added. "The IOA didn't waste any time marking their territory."
"I'm just glad they're on our side right now. Well, at least for the moment." Elizabeth commented without looking up from her report. “Has Rodney finally settled down?”
“Finally,” John replied with feeling, rolling his eyes.
“Well, that’s a relief. I was sure he’d run all the scientists off again,” Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back in her chair. “Zelenka’s here to stay though at least.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he could get back through the gate fast enough.”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Elizabeth admitted.
John nodded agreement but didn't comment on how their expulsion from the city had affected her. It had affected John too, though not as visibly. Earth was still home, but now so was Atlantis. Most of the expedition seemed to feel that way, in fact. Almost all of the original team had returned, with a few exceptions and a few surprises.
Doctor Simpson had declined to return. Apparently she’d started a relationship with one of the Marines assigned to the SGC and was happy with her job there. Kavanagh hadn’t returned. His antics were appreciated less at the SGC than they were at Atlantis, but he’d decided he liked the work at Area 51 just fine. John wouldn't miss him at all.
"I heard Miko was pretty eager to get back," John commented. Elizabeth didn't seem inclined to talk about her self-imposed isolation on Earth at the moment.
Elizabeth smiled gently. "She had a rough time. The Japanese put her in charge of a think tank but that didn't work out so well."
"Is it true she made them cry?" John leaned forward to hear the gossip. "She was pretty tight-lipped about it when she was reassigned to the SGC, but we heard some rumors when Dr. Tanaka was assigned to the IOA team at Area 51."
Elizabeth rolled here eyes. "Apparently. After Atlantis and the Expedition team, Earth technology and her Earth-bound cohorts paled in comparison. That's why she ended up at the SGC."
John chuckled. "Who knew Miko could be such a taskmistress?"
"Don't they say it's always the quiet ones?" Elizabeth asked wryly, earning another chuckle from John.
The sudden change in everyone’s lives had driven some people together. Word around the city was that Kate Heightmeyer and Marcus Lorne were an item now. Elizabeth suspected that was another reason why they were slated to get a second staff Psychologist in the next six months. More nebulous was the relationship between Laura Cadman and Carson Beckett, though speculation was rife. They’d grown apart on Earth, but she’d heard the feisty marine had been seen lurking around Carson’s office and his quarters. She hoped they would be able to sort through their actual feelings like adults.
She realized her thoughts had drifted when something heavy made a loud ‘thunk’ on her desk, and she looked up to find that John was rummaging around in one of her remaining boxes of still packed items. A stone statuette had been unwrapped and placed on her desk. Her head tilted quizzically. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you unpack,” John explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Perhaps it was.
“Thanks,” Elizabeth finally said, deciding she wasn’t annoyed. Honestly, if he hadn’t started she might not have gotten to it for another week. She knew his quarters had been reclaimed and probably unpacked within the first day of their re-establishment. She’d taken the time to unpack her own quarters as well. Elizabeth had felt the need to reclaim her room as her own, but the office knickknacks were less of a priority. “So what’s left?”
“Well, there is the not-so-small matter of the Athosians,” John commented. He turned the jar he’d given her for her first birthday on Atlantis over in his hands before setting it on the desk. "You mentioned yesterday you wanted to ask me what I thought about something relating to them. You still want to talk about that?"
The Athosians had decided to move back to the mainland after much thought and discussion among the council that ruled the tribe. Fortunately they hadn’t been on the planet when the most recent near-catastrophe had happened. They’d been informed of the incident and had chosen to move back anyway.
“Yes I'd still like your opinion. I’ve been thinking."
“You’re always thinking.”
She rolled her eyes at his joke and continued, undaunted. “Well, I was wondering that if some of them would be willing to try out Carson’s gene therapy, maybe we could give them one or two of the puddle-jumpers. I've never been comfortable being their only way on and off the planet.”
“I think that’s a great idea. We should ask Teyla. The Asurans were nice enough to leave us a whole wing of new jumpers, so we’ve got extras,” John smirked. “When I spoke with her earlier today, she said that they were just about moved back too. A few might have the time to learn before they get too busy, or something.” John paused for a second then added, “My only concern is no one will want to try out Beckett’s therapy.”
“None of them have the gene naturally,” Elizabeth sighed.
“Right,” Sheppard nodded, “and they can be…funny about stuff sometimes. I know they’re a different culture,” he said before she could protest. “And I get it. I do. It would just be…inconvenient.”
Elizabeth nodded. The treatment hadn’t been offered to the Athosians before because when they’d first discovered it, they hadn’t been exactly sure of the side effects. It certainly wasn’t approved by any medical agency on Earth because the existence of the ATA gene was classified, let alone any procedure that could add it to a person’s genome.
“Where is Teyla now? The mainland?” she asked after a few moments in which John finished unpacking the last of her boxes.
“Yep,” Sheppard nodded. “She and Ronon are over there right now. I’m supposed to go pick them up in a couple hours.” He checked his watch. “Make that three hours. Want to go early and ask now?”
Elizabeth saved her document and tapped her fingernails against the new desk. It was taller than her last one, she noted absently. She had a lot to do here, but she also wanted to strengthen their ties with the Athosians. They’d had to put up with a lot from the expedition and Elizabeth wanted to be sure they knew she didn’t think of them as second-class citizens. Truthfully, if they had their own jumpers and pilots that’d also work better for both peoples in the long run. She pulled up her calendar, scanned over it for a moment then decided she could take the time.
“Yes, I think I do. The sooner we can get this settled, the better I’ll feel. Besides, I’ve been cooped up here all week,” she smiled brilliantly. “It will be nice to walk on real land for a bit. I haven’t been to the mainland since we returned.” She shut down her laptop with a smile and they left for the docking bay.
John couldn’t resist taking an extra lap through the city’s spires before setting a course for the Athosian settlement. They chatted for a bit, engaging in some light gossip and catching one another up on the latest unofficial city news, before John fell silent and Elizabeth noticed his entire demeanor change to a more serious one.
“John?” she queried. He looked at her and shifted uncomfortably before doing something to the control panel. The autopilot she realized as he let go of the controls and turned in his seat to face her.
“Look, I’m not great at talking. That’s what we’ve got you for. I’m better at the point-and-shoot stuff.” He held up a hand to halt her reply. “But even if I’m no good at the talking thing, I’m okay with listening. Well,” he admitted wryly, “I’m okay when it’s important.”
“John, what’s this about?”
He rubbed the back of his head then pulled the fingers through his hair, messing it further. “I called. We all did. I know losing the expedition that way, was…it wasn't right. I know you didn’t like being back on Earth. It was kind of messed up for me too. I know it was for Rodney. He called Beckett and me twice a day to complain.”
Elizabeth dropped her eyes, feeling a little shameful. The loss of Atlantis had hit her harder than she liked to admit. She’d been so lost in her own…grief that she’d ignored that her friends might be feeling the same way.
“I should have at least answered the phone,” she admitted. “I wasn’t being a good friend.”
“Well, neither were we,” Sheppard grumped.
“How do you figure that? You tried to reach out.” She’d shut herself in and tried desperately to make sense of her world on her own. Writing it all down had both been therapeutic and accentuated the trauma all at once. To her credit, she had made a small effort to get some help coping; the suggestion had been from Kate Heightmeyer to take some time to reflect on her loss in that way. Though the psychologist hadn’t intended for her to…wallow in her sadness, which is what she’d done, Elizabeth now realized.
“Well, we didn’t go hunt you down. I didn’t come find you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I feel like I should have.” He twisted back in his chair and watched the sea roll by beneath the jumper. “We’re not supposed to leave anyone behind, remember? I’m not supposed to.”
“That was hardly the same. And you did force me out of the house. Eventually,” she tried for some levity. The dinner felt like ages ago, but she remembered it fondly. She’d been uncomfortably aware, once more, of how wrong the world was, but she’d also been reminded that she had friends.
“It doesn’t feel that way. Not after - never mind.”
“Not after what?” Elizabeth demanded.
John saw her determined look and sighed. He knew she’d never let up until he told her what he’d been thinking. “When we finally decided to drag you out of the house, Carson called to tell us you were actually coming.”
“Yes?” Elizabeth’s voice dropped several degrees. John winced.
“He said it looked like you’d just broken up with Atlantis. That’s when I realized what a crummy friend I’d been. I wanted to give you some space, but maybe I gave too much.”
Elizabeth was, for once, without words. Looking back on it all, the sweats, the solitude, the take-out and TV dinners, the cartons of Ben and Jerry’s…Yes, it did look an awful lot like she’d just been through a bad breakup. She blushed furiously, grateful that they were having this conversation in private. Now, in the aftermath, she supposed it was even a little funny. Not that she would ever admit that.
“I…” she began then cleared her throat. Why hadn’t she called John back? Or called him at all? She’d thought about it. She’d actually thought about it a lot. Elizabeth sighed. “I was lost in my own…grief. And calling you all….I thought about it. Calling you? I thought about it, a lot actually.”
“Why’d you shut me out?” he asked. What he didn’t ask, but she could plainly hear was “Why’d you shut me out? I thought we meant more to one another. We had a great relationship. I thought I was your friend.”
“I think I thought that if I called you, any of you…then I’d have to admit that it was really over. If I’d called you then I would have had to see you.”
His reply was a sad smile. “Sorry.” He put his hands on the controls to disengage the autopilot. She reached out quickly and put her hands on his to stop him.
“No! No, no. I didn’t mean it that way. I mean, I would have had to see you and you would have been just you, just John. Not my coworker. Not my military advisor.” She withdrew her hands quickly, folding them in her lap, staring straight ahead. “It would have been this very real thing instead of this horrible nightmare,” she concluded softly. John’s hands hovered over the controls for a moment more before he rested them on his knees.
“I shouldn’t have given you so much space." If he’d not been such a coward or such an idiot, he’d have gone to her place like Beckett had. He should have jumped at the chance to really get to know Elizabeth. Nothing had stood in his way but himself. He was an idiot.
“Would that really have been better?” she asked. “I’d still be your boss now.”
“Yeah,” he grumbled agreement and moved to disengage the autopilot but was stopped again by her next comment.
“I wish we’d have jumped at that opportunity, even so.” Her voice was quiet and held the same regret he felt.
He paused over the controls for a moment more before bringing them down again and retaking control. “Me too.”
“John? I’ll call next time.”
“And I won’t leave you behind.”
“Let’s hope there isn’t a next time.”
“Yeah.”
John felt better after their talk. This had been something that had been nagging at him since before they’d retaken the city from the Asurans. He still didn’t feel okay about it, but he knew he would be in time. He was really kicking himself for not taking advantage of the situation though. If he’d been smarter he would have.
Elizabeth felt regretful after their talk. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d messed up. Well, not consciously at least. She supposed her subconscious had always known. At least they were alive and they were home again. She felt angry with herself, but she also felt determined and resolved not to screw up again. The mainland soon loomed ahead and she began going over how to approach the situation in the most delicate way possible, since she really wasn’t sure how the Athosians would react to the offer.
It turned out Elizabeth needn’t have worried.
“You can do this? You can give us the ability to fly your ships?” Halling asked, wide-eyed.
“Well, it’s got a 40% success rate with our people,” John shrugged.
“Actually, Carson’s got it to 55% now,” Elizabeth added.
“So you have a slightly better than average chance of getting the gene to take,” John amended.
“This is….This is a great gift. We are once more in your debt,” Halling said. He and Teyla both inclined their heads respectfully.
Elizabeth waved off their praise. “Halling, we’ve brought your people a lot of…inconvenience. We’d like to redress our mistakes. I’d like to redress them,” she emphasized. “We haven’t offered this before because we weren’t certain that the treatment was entirely safe. Actually, we don’t know if it has any long-term effects. We don’t think it does, but we wanted to be more certain before we started to offer it to your people. We didn’t want anyone to get hurt because we made a hasty decision.” Again, she added mentally.
“We understand, Elizabeth,” Teyla told her sincerely. “And we understand there may be a risk. We will have to bring it up in council, but I see the vote going favorably.” She looked to Halling for confirmation and he nodded agreement.
“The one hitch is, we haven’t talked this over with Beckett.” John frowned and glanced at Elizabeth. “Or have you?”
“I mentioned it to him. He thought there shouldn’t be any problem but there isn’t any way to be sure until we try it,” Elizabeth told them.
John nodded. He wasn’t surprised; she was always thinking ahead. "So if you guys want it, it sounds like something we can help you with," he concluded, feeling cheerful. His world had not only righted itself but it was improving.
“If you would care to stay for the evening meal, I’m sure we can have an answer for you before you have to return to the city,” Teyla offered.
John looked at Elizabeth and shrugged. She nodded after a moment. They might as well stay. A real, home-cooked meal was always nice, even if it was on an alien planet in an alien galaxy. Elizabeth smiled, seeming to share the unspoken sentiment. Sheppard stepped outside to radio Rodney and say that they were staying for dinner.
The two enjoyed dinner with the Athosians and by nightfall the council had approved the trials. Halling and several other adults made arrangements to return to Atlantis that evening and spend the night in observation. Teyla declined to be included in the group, citing that on AG-1 both John and Rodney had the gene and that it was often advantageous not to have it. John looked like he was going to argue, but Elizabeth’s hand on his shoulder silenced him. Instead, John waved the test group into the jumper for the trip back to the city, where Carson and an overnight stay in the infirmary awaited them.
In the morning, the gene had taken in half the adults who’d been given the therapy, including Halling. Feeling much better about her city’s relationship with their mainland neighbors, Elizabeth approved flying lessons for the volunteers with John, and the transfer of two puddle-jumpers once he felt his new students could cope.
Two months after the expedition had been re-established, the Daedalus arrived with supplies too big to fit into a puddle-jumper and additional new personnel, as well as Mr. Richard Woolsey. The bald man teleported down into Atlantis Stargate operations and looked around.
“Mr. Woolsey.” Elizabeth greeted him with a bit more warmth than she had the last time he’d arrived in her city. She moved down the flight of steps to shake his hand.
“Dr. Weir.” Their relationship was still formal, but the IOA representative held the members of the Expedition and General O’Neill in new respect. Woolsey had been instrumental in getting the Expedition up and running so quickly. "I'm glad to see you again."
“Truthfully I was a little surprised to see you back here so soon,” she commented casually as they walked up to her office.
“Truthfully? Me too. But I knew I had to return or I’d never get over it,” the bureaucrat admitted. “Things seem to be shaping up well here."
“Very well. The veterans are getting their projects back in gear, the new people are settling in and we’ve expanded the residential and science lab zones to accommodate them. The Athosians are about to begin their planting season. They’ve invited all of us over for a bit of a festival the day after tomorrow. Everyone here and on the Daedalus are invited if you’re still around.”
“You gave them the gene therapy and two puddle-jumpers, correct?”
“Yes. I felt it would be in everyone’s best interest if we weren’t the sole means of transport for the Athosians off the mainland. It also frees up some of my people for other duties. Colonel Sheppard has been teaching them and has passed two as qualified pilots thus far.” She sat behind her desk as Woolsey settled in the chair opposite. She tried to keep a defensive note out of her voice.
“Good. The IOA agrees, and so do I personally,” Woolsey informed her warmly as he powered up his laptop.
Elizabeth smiled and set her folded hands on her blotter. "Shall we get down to business?"
A few hours later she and Woolsey were wrapping up the first of their scheduled conversations when John came in with Halling and Teyla.
“Mr. Woolsey, I believe you know Teyla Emmagan,” Elizabeth gestured to her friend.
“Ms. Emmagan,” Woolsey stood and greeted. Teyla inclined her head and introduced her companion.
“This is Halling Andaro. Halling is another leader among my people,”
“And one of the first puddle-jumper pilots,” John added.
“Nice to meet you as well, and congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mr. Woolsey. Will you be among those joining us for the festivities before we begin the planting season?”
“I’d be delighted to attend. I just have to make sure my ride isn’t leaving without me. If the Daedalus is still here I’d be more than happy to come.”
“Wonderful!” Halling enthused.
“Congratulations on passing flight school,” Elizabeth said. The Athosian man grinned happily.
”Colonel Sheppard is a demanding teacher, but I know I have learned from the best.”
“Elizabeth, Halling and I have a small request with regard to the festival,” Teyla spoke up now that the pleasantries were over with. She was unsure how her alien friends would react. It was her hope that they would be able to come and have an enjoyable time even if they did not agree to the council elders’ request. She expected the leaders to decline and had told the council so, but she had agreed to ask anyway.
“Oh? How can we help?” she asked cheerfully. Elizabeth seemed to think she owed the Athosians something, though Teyla had tried to dissuade her from such notions - after all, the gift of living on Lantea was enormous - the other woman still stubbornly seemed to think she had somehow wronged the Athosians.
“Dr. Weir, the council elders would very much like for you and Colonel Sheppard to be participants in the ceremony,” Halling told her.
“Oh,” Elizabeth’s gaze darted over to Woolsey, then John, before coming back to Halling. Exactly as Teyla had predicted, she quickly tried to think of a diplomatic way to get out of it, before Woolsey spoke up.
“I’m sure they’d be happy to,” he answered for them jovially.
“Well, that is, we would, but I’m not sure we can,” Elizabeth replied carefully.
“Why not?” Woolsey asked her. His tone clearly implied he thought there was absolutely nothing wrong with such a simple request.
“How about ‘we don’t want to get our wrists slapped for participating in alien rituals the next time the IOA decides it doesn’t like us’, for a reason?” John asked with mock lightness. Elizabeth shot him a death glare and he fell silent.
“Well, we want good relations with our allies. Lord knows we need them. I think that the IOA can approve of this.” The bureaucrat supposed he could understand. Until recently, they hadn’t exactly been on the IOA’s list of favorite people in the universe.
“Can we get it in writing?” John asked, despite himself.
Woolsey sighed and shook his head with a small smile to try and convey to the two leaders that as far as the IOA was concerned, they could do practically anything right now.
“Well, if you really want to be so formal about it, sure,” he said lightly. Woolsey was fairly certain that they wouldn’t slip onto the IOA’s bad books again any time soon. Though he did have to admit that the organization’s favor could be fickle. If they wanted to cover their asses in red tape, he could at least help them before they all caused some sort of intergalactic diplomatic incident.
Not only were the Athosians allies, they were food-producing allies. Trade with them helped keep the extravagant cost of Atlantis down, and gave everyone in the city fresh food. After having had nothing to eat but MREs, Woolsey could sympathize with the desire to have fresh produce around.
“Really? Cool.”
Elizabeth sighed and made a mental note to speak with John about diplomacy. Again.
“You are one of the leaders from your home-world?” Halling asked Woolsey.
“Well, not precisely. I’m a representative from an oversight committee. It is my job to see that everything is working out for the best interest of Earth and her allies. I see no reason why Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir couldn’t participate.” He turned a frank look at Sheppard. “And, if you’d really like me to write something out to “cover your asses”,” he made little air quotes with his fingers “I can do that too.”
Woolsey won brownie points with Sheppard for that. He smirked at the other man and nodded approval. Woolsey allowed himself a small smirk back at the Colonel.
“Well,” Halling began, “in that case the council elders would be honored if Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard would participate as the avatars of Earth and Sky.” Elizabeth caught Teyla’s suddenly frantic look as she grabbed Halling’s elbow.
“As long as no one gets hurt, I don’t see why not?” Woolsey said, full of good humor. Halling grinned, despite Teyla’s firm grip on his arm.
“Well, I love a party as much as the next guy, but what exactly will she and I have to do?” John asked Halling.
“The ceremony of union is a re-enactment of one of our oldest stories, from the time before the Wraith, from before we understood many things about technology. The participants act as the avatars of the Earth and Sky and re-enact the union of the two against their enemies and the creation of the world and the Athosian people.”
“Okay,” John said, drawing the word out.
“It is considered a very great honor to be chosen,” Teyla added. “We only do this ceremony when the elders of the council decide so.” This had been the elders’ original request, but Teyla, mindful of her alien friends’…unusual sensibilities, had talked them into requesting they participate in a different capacity.
“You have given our people so much, they wish to accord you that honor,” Halling added. “They felt it would bring good luck to us all if you participated.”
“But the council elders understand you might not wish to. Please do not feel pressured to do so if it is not in your hearts,” Teyla concluded. The relationship between the leaders of Atlantis was a strong one, but very strange sometimes. Again she accorded the difference to her friends having come from a culture where one did not live as if every day were their last. She might not understand her friends, but she respected their culture as they respected hers.
“Well,” Elizabeth started to reply but was interrupted by Woolsey.
“I’m sure they’d be delighted to.” Turning to Elizabeth, he said, “I know the IOA has second-guessed you and there have been political concerns in the past. But you and your people returned the city to us, and while you’ve made your mistakes, we have as well. You and your people have a very good track record, all things considered. All that is in the past and is neither here nor there, though. It is not the position of the IOA to interfere with your ability to make and keep allies. If you would feel more comfortable with that in writing, I’ll be happy to do so when I make my check-in. As much as it might seem like it at times, the IOA really doesn’t want to micromanage at that level.” He straightened his coat. “We might want to establish some formal rules about this sort of thing anyway.”
Elizabeth nodded and checked her watch. “You have your check-in in a few moments, I think. We’ll leave you to your communication. I’ll tell Chuck to dial in and send the feed to your laptop.”
“Very well.”
The Athosians, Weir and Sheppard left her office. Elizabeth had the gate dialed then made a beeline for the balcony, John right on her heels.
“Wow,” was all Sheppard could say when they were finally outside in the relative solitude of the broad balcony. He glanced over and noticed that Elizabeth was gripping the railing so hard her knuckles were white. “So I take it by your death grip your interpretation of what the Athosians are asking us to do is the same as mine?” She nodded silently, once. He was sure the tension in her shoulders was visible only to him because he knew her so well; the white-knuckled grip noticeable because he was standing so close.
They were both savvy enough with alien rituals in general, and Athosian ones in specific, to realize what this probably was: a marriage ritual.
“John,” Teyla began to explain. She looked unsure of herself. “I apologize for Halling.”
“Teyla,” Halling gave her a dirty look, “I happen to agree with the council elders. I feel it would bring balance their people need, and I think that Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir would not be opposed to the idea. If I had felt otherwise, I would not have brought it up.”
Teyla sighed and felt like pulling out her hair, or maybe Halling’s. Her cousin was usually very tactful, but in matters of the heart he was as bold as a Darja beast and half as subtle.
“So let me get this straight,” John leaned against the railing next to Elizabeth, counting it as a good sign that she didn’t jump away when his hip brushed the side of her hand. “The old folks on the Athosian council want us to get married to bless your crops this season.”
“That is it at the most basic level, yes,” Teyla admitted, eyes telling him silently that she was sorry for any embarrassment.
John shrugged his shoulders slightly to let her know that he knew it wasn’t her fault. “And Woolsey just gave us the go-ahead to do it, and even promised that the IOA wouldn’t say anything,” John mused with careful levity as Halling and Teyla began to argue quietly.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Elizabeth said, voice carrying just a tiny hint of bitterness. She was watching the waves break against the city, trying to make sense of her conflicting feelings and thoughts.
“Well, okay. I don’t think Woolsey understands get all of what the ceremony implies. He might have something to say if he did know, though.”
“I don’t think I’d be able to leave here again,” Elizabeth admitted softly. The bickering cousins were deep in their own argument and didn’t hear her. John barely did and he was listening closely. “I don’t know if I’d be able to live. I know that sounds awful, but I know it’s true. I care too much. I don’t know why, but I do. And yet…” she trailed off. John turned and leaned on the railing as well, one hand on the railing, the other covering her hand.
“I know,” he said, with equal softness, “but I can’t help but think this might be an opportunity.” He was thinking back to their conversation in the puddle-jumper only a couple weeks before.
“I thought that too,” she admitted.
“It’s so crazy,” he started to say.
“It just might work,” she finished.
“Would you do it?” he asked, carefully keeping his voice light and neutral.
“With you?”
“With me.”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
His heart did little flip-flops and he brushed his thumb against the side of her hand. Her fingers uncurled from their death grip. As crazy as it was, and as crazy things went, this was up there, she knew her heart in this matter.
“So, I guess the question,” he chuckled at his own words, “is will you?”
“What if they decide they don’t like the job we’re doing anymore and use it as an excuse to get rid of one or both of us?” She swallowed and watched the sea as if it might give her some answer.
“Oh, that’s easy,” John replied casually.
“It is?” She looked at him critically out of the corner of her eye.
“Sure. If they try anything, we go to plan B. I’ve got it all worked out.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.” She smiled, slightly. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s Plan B?”
John smirked and turned around to lean on the balcony again. He crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes were alight with mischief as he looked at her. “Plan B is where we become space pirates,” he informed her matter-of-factly.
“Space pirates.”
“Yep. We grab a stalwart and loyal crew from the people here, smack Caldwell over the head, steal the Daedalus and become space pirates.”
Elizabeth blinked once. Twice. She wasn’t entirely sure he was being funny and that in turn made her want to giggle.
“Now hear me out,” he said, holding up placating hands. “I’ve actually given this some thought when I was at the SGC. First of all, running off and becoming space pirates, is much better than becoming space ninjas. That’s now Plan C.”
“Really?” she stifled a laugh.
“Really! It’s much better. Unless you like sake, I guess. Personally I prefer rum, but that’s beside the point. We just take a ship and pillage the cosmos. Earth has too much going on to spend time and energy hunting us down. In the meantime, we can carve out our own little place in the universe. Most of those stuffed shirts have no idea what the hell goes on out here, they’d never be able to find us. And it’s not like we’d be doing anything really nefarious like those NID people did back in the Milky Way. I can’t see you making anyone walk the plank, or pillaging poor villages.”
“John,” she half-laughed, half-scolded. Well, he’d gotten her to smile and sort of laugh. He counted this as a victory. “You realize that if we take the Daedalus , we’re still leaving Atlantis?”
“I…Damn it, stop ruining my plans with logic!” he complained. That earned him a real chuckle. “Okay, then stealing the Daedalus is step one. We grab the Daedalus, steal the other ZPMs back and then we steal Atlantis.”
“John!”
“Hey, you know we’d get Rodney to help if it meant he got the other two ZPMs back. I bet Zelenka would go for it if you asked him nicely.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him, shoulders shaking in silent laughter. “John!”
“It’s a good plan,” he defended, pouting playfully. Elizabeth shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her grip made him sober instantly.
“You’re not serious, though, are you?” she asked, searching his eyes.
He took her hand in his and gave it a firm squeeze, gripping the balcony railing with the other. John gazed across the skyline. She watched him take the view in; green eyes intense and possessive, the wind ruffling his hair, hand as tight on the railing as hers had been moments before. Elizabeth was reminded that she wasn’t the only one who felt a deep, personal connection to this place.
“This is home,” he finally answered, turning that intense gaze on her. She knew he wasn’t just referring to the city. “I won’t let anyone take it from me. Not again.”
Elizabeth felt slightly giddy. She knew he was half-joking, but a half-joke held a kernel of truth. She felt both thrilled and terrified; he really wouldn’t let them take her if it came to that.
Sadly, she didn’t think she could risk it. A part of her mourned that she wasn’t able to throw caution to the wind, but a much larger part was still recovering from the abrupt reversal of fortune that had made her life a living hell then heaven again.
“I think we need to tell Woolsey what this implies. I don’t think we’ll be able to get away with not saying anything. They wouldn’t let us off on a technicality like ‘I didn’t know’, John.” Elizabeth masked the wistfulness she felt with a carefully cultured, perfectly diplomatic tone.
“Yeah.” He shrugged with a kind smile. “I kind of figured that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, affecting his own laid-back mask. “But now you know about my secret plans B and C.” He winked.
“And how are they that different?” she asked, grateful they were back to a more playful conversation.
“Ah. Well in Plan B when you give orders we all say ‘Aye Aye!’, there’s a lot of ‘Arrrr’ and calling people ‘scurvy dogs’ and we get cutlasses and rum.”
“Cutlasses?”
“Yep. But in Plan C, when you give us orders we all say ‘Hai!’ and we get katanas and sake.”
“It all becomes clear.” She turned around and leaned against the railing.
“Sarcasm? What’s that?” he said, nudging her shoulder. The fell into an easy silence while Teyla and Halling continued to argue in the background.
Elizabeth saw the gate shut down and pushed away from the railing, heading back to her office. John followed after, stepping around Teyla and Halling who seemed to be having a rather heated discussion about the pulling of pigtails, of all things. He caught up to Elizabeth and the two re-entered her office to find Woolsey standing over her office printer. He removed the paper it spat out, fished a pen from his coat pocket and signed it with a flourish.
“I realize that we do need to sit down and formally hash all of this out for the future, but I believe the language will be sufficient for now?” he made the last part a question as he held the paper out for Weir’s inspection.
Elizabeth took it and read it carefully, noting where there could be potential problems with a practiced eye. Sheppard rocked on his heels, confident she’d catch anything sneaky. Woolsey might seem like he was trying to be more of a person rather than a stuffed shirt, but he still didn’t entirely trust the guy. Not yet. John made himself useful by closing the door to the office. The glass slid shut with a small ‘click’. Elizabeth lowered the paper.
“This would suffice,” she started.
“But?” Woolsey supplied.
“Well,” she said slowly, seeming to search for the words out of the corner of her eye. She focused back on the IOA representative again. “The ceremony that Halling spoke of is actually a marriage ceremony.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” John commented dryly.
“Well,” Woolsey smiled nervously, “it’s a good thing you found that out beforehand. That would be sort of embarrassing otherwise.”
“Just a bit,” John chimed in again. Elizabeth shot him a look, which made him grin unrepentantly back at her.
“Do you…want to get married?” Woolsey asked tentatively. Like many, he’d speculated on the nature of their relationship, but honestly, as long as they didn’t screw up because of it, it wasn’t his business. Even if they were lovers, Woolsey had decided she’d fought for Sheppard for his professional abilities.
Elizabeth’s head snapped back around to look at Woolsey. A blush crept into her cheeks, as she was rendered momentarily speechless.
John found his voice first. “We’ve never…” John let Woolsey fill in the blank. “Hell, we’ve never even had a date. Or I guess what would pass for one here,” he let some exasperation color his voice. He didn’t want Woolsey to get the impression that Elizabeth had been improper.
“Never?” Woolsey blinked owlishly at the pair. They’d never been together? This was a surprise.
“No,” Elizabeth said firmly, finally having recovered.
“Oh,” Woolsey loosened his tie and looked slightly guilty. “Well.” He felt bad for having assumed Elizabeth had been less than professional; bad that the IOA had.
“So, you mean to say that the IOA thought…that we?” John pointed at himself and then Elizabeth. “That we’ve been…you know?”
“Intimate?” Woolsey suggested.
“Yeah. That.” John frowned. He had always imagined that if the IOA had thought he was sleeping with his boss, the response would be sending one of them packing and Caldwell gleefully stepping in to fill the vacant spot. Therefore, the bald man’s reaction was really confusing. Frankly, he’d expected more…yelling.
“Mr. Woolsey we’ve never done anything.” Elizabeth said tightly. She was actually beginning to feel cross, now that she’d learned what the IOA had thought. “How long have you thought we were… intimate.”
“Ah. Well. Truthfully, we suspected it after we reestablished contact,” Woolsey sheepishly admitted. Elizabeth blanched.
“That long?” she voiced the surprise both felt.
“Yes, but we had no hard evidence and it became very clear that whatever your personal relationship outside of work, you were not letting it interfere professionally.” Woolsey shrugged. It was true. “Frankly the idea of being very…militaristic about personal relationships doesn’t sit well will the IOA. We don’t want to regulate personal relationships. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your ability to do your job, we don’t care and frankly, we don’t want to know the details.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said in a second rare moment of near-speechlessness. The instant didn’t last long. “Mr. Woolsey, I’m not sure how I should feel about this.”
“Look, Dr. Weir, Elizabeth,” Woolsey placated. “The IOA sees no need to replace you, especially not after restoring the city. Even if we all assumed, incorrectly, that you were in a relationship, that has no bearing on our decision to let you command this expedition.” He shrugged, “We may have thought perhaps that was a contributing reason as to why you fought to keep Colonel Sheppard as your second in command and head of the military here, but we quickly changed that opinion when we saw the work you’ve both been doing.”
Their actions spoke volumes about their commitment to their respective duties and ability to ignore their personal feelings. Whatever was going on, whatever they both claimed, there was more than friendship here, even if they weren’t intimate. That line might not have been crossed physically, but in Woolsey’s opinion, it might as well have been emotionally. He wouldn’t change his opinion either way. If they wished to cross it now, then he had faith that they’d act with the same sensibility and decorum that they had before.
“Gee, thanks,” Sheppard grumbled.
“I’m sorry,” the bureaucrat said sincerely. Before turning to face Elizabeth again. “In regards to this matter, you should do what you want to do. The IOA wants to turn this into a colony.”
Elizabeth nodded. This wasn’t news to her, in fact it had been part of what they’d been discussing before John, Teyla and Halling had walked into her office.
It was news to John though. He arched a brow; this wasn’t exactly a safe place. Though, as he thought about it, most colonies didn’t start out safe.
“It’d be sort of silly to stop people from having relationships if we want them to consider making more permanent lives in Atlantis," Woolsey pointed out dryly. "Personally, I have every reason to believe that the people here can keep their work and their personal lives in check, and avoid turning Atlantis into some sort of hormonally driven, overly dramatic, prime-time TV angst-fest.”
Woolsey plucked the half-forgotten paper from Weir’s hands and held it up in front of her. “This certainly still stands. If you do choose to…do the ceremony, it might not be legal back home, but it certainly won’t get you in trouble with me. Unless you started to let it affect your judgment, of course; then we’d have a talk. Now if you excuse me I’m a bit jetlagged and I believe you probably have some talking to do.” Woolsey beat a dignified, if hasty, retreat.
John dropped into the seat across from her and slouched down, crossing his arms sulkily. “I don’t know if I should be angry or not,” John complained. “I think I should feel offended.”
“Tell me about it.” Elizabeth sank into her own seat and pinched the bridge of her nose. She wondered where she’d left her stash of Advil. They were silent for a few moments, each in their own thoughts.
“I-“ “You-” they both spoke at the same time then laughed.
“You first,” John said. She smiled thanks and he let her take a moment to compose her thoughts when Lorne's voice chimed in over his radio. “Actually,” he interrupted, putting a hand to his earpiece, “one second. Yeah Major? Yeah? Can it wait? Sort of. No. Yes. Really? Okay. Sheppard out.”
Elizabeth listened to the one sided conversation and watched John's body language. Whatever Evan had contacted him about it didn't appear to be an emergency.
She sighed. “Duty calls?”
“Duty calls. It seems to me that, as we’ve just been complimented on our extremely good ability to be discreet and put our jobs first, I should take care of this.” He arched a wry eyebrow and got to his feet. “It’s not a big emergency, I should be finished soon.”
“All right then,” Elizabeth said.
John smiled apologetically and left, quickly making his way out of the office and through the control room.
Elizabeth watched him go then got to her feet as he was descending the stairs. Her mind was suddenly very clear. Elizabeth left her office, quickly crossed the small bridge, and leaned on the control center railing.
“John?” she called out after him. He spun around and started to walk backwards slowly while he waited for her to say whatever it was she needed to say. “That question you asked me earlier?”
“Yeah?” he stopped walking, not really remembering what he’d asked.
“The answer is ‘yes’.”
John frowned for a second then got it. John grinned. “Really?”
“Yes,” she replied, feeling a little giddy once again. “We can talk about that later though,” she said waving him off.
Sheppard grinned and turned back around, whistling to himself as he went to go save Lorne from a bunch of cranky, fresh-off-the-Daedalus Marines.
( On to part Two)
Author: Lanna-kitty
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers:: Up to and including Echoes
Pairing: John/Elizabeth
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate.
Summary: Follows The Return part 2. John and Elizabeth are invited to participate in an Athosian Ritual.
Beta: The_Scary_kitty and Trialia who are made of win.
Author’s Notes. This was for SGA_Santa. In 2006 for angelqueen04's prompt: John/Elizabeth. NC-17 with John in charge, takes place on Mainland. Featuring the Athosian Village optional. This is fluffy like a bunny! It's kinda cliché, but hopefully fun.
Originally written in 2006, this is something I've been meaning to get back to, to clean up. This has been re-posted with a massive overhaul to a lot of the scenes and better flow and a general facelift. it's a much better fic now than it was :)
Rites of Spring
“Everyone seems to finally be getting back into the normal swing of things. Well, what passes for normal around here, I guess.” John Sheppard sat down heavily in the chair across from Elizabeth Weir’s desk. Several papers on the surface fluttered in the breeze he made.
Elizabeth absently slapped a hand down on them as she finished her thought on the status report she was writing. Her usual paperweights still packed in a box by the door. Since she’d been so busy getting the city up and running, she’d been unable to unpack completely. Most of the original team had returned as well as a lot of new people, which meant she’d had little time to get her office organized beyond the essentials.
"The civilian scientists that Woolsey sent are settled," John added. "The IOA didn't waste any time marking their territory."
"I'm just glad they're on our side right now. Well, at least for the moment." Elizabeth commented without looking up from her report. “Has Rodney finally settled down?”
“Finally,” John replied with feeling, rolling his eyes.
“Well, that’s a relief. I was sure he’d run all the scientists off again,” Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back in her chair. “Zelenka’s here to stay though at least.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he could get back through the gate fast enough.”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Elizabeth admitted.
John nodded agreement but didn't comment on how their expulsion from the city had affected her. It had affected John too, though not as visibly. Earth was still home, but now so was Atlantis. Most of the expedition seemed to feel that way, in fact. Almost all of the original team had returned, with a few exceptions and a few surprises.
Doctor Simpson had declined to return. Apparently she’d started a relationship with one of the Marines assigned to the SGC and was happy with her job there. Kavanagh hadn’t returned. His antics were appreciated less at the SGC than they were at Atlantis, but he’d decided he liked the work at Area 51 just fine. John wouldn't miss him at all.
"I heard Miko was pretty eager to get back," John commented. Elizabeth didn't seem inclined to talk about her self-imposed isolation on Earth at the moment.
Elizabeth smiled gently. "She had a rough time. The Japanese put her in charge of a think tank but that didn't work out so well."
"Is it true she made them cry?" John leaned forward to hear the gossip. "She was pretty tight-lipped about it when she was reassigned to the SGC, but we heard some rumors when Dr. Tanaka was assigned to the IOA team at Area 51."
Elizabeth rolled here eyes. "Apparently. After Atlantis and the Expedition team, Earth technology and her Earth-bound cohorts paled in comparison. That's why she ended up at the SGC."
John chuckled. "Who knew Miko could be such a taskmistress?"
"Don't they say it's always the quiet ones?" Elizabeth asked wryly, earning another chuckle from John.
The sudden change in everyone’s lives had driven some people together. Word around the city was that Kate Heightmeyer and Marcus Lorne were an item now. Elizabeth suspected that was another reason why they were slated to get a second staff Psychologist in the next six months. More nebulous was the relationship between Laura Cadman and Carson Beckett, though speculation was rife. They’d grown apart on Earth, but she’d heard the feisty marine had been seen lurking around Carson’s office and his quarters. She hoped they would be able to sort through their actual feelings like adults.
She realized her thoughts had drifted when something heavy made a loud ‘thunk’ on her desk, and she looked up to find that John was rummaging around in one of her remaining boxes of still packed items. A stone statuette had been unwrapped and placed on her desk. Her head tilted quizzically. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you unpack,” John explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Perhaps it was.
“Thanks,” Elizabeth finally said, deciding she wasn’t annoyed. Honestly, if he hadn’t started she might not have gotten to it for another week. She knew his quarters had been reclaimed and probably unpacked within the first day of their re-establishment. She’d taken the time to unpack her own quarters as well. Elizabeth had felt the need to reclaim her room as her own, but the office knickknacks were less of a priority. “So what’s left?”
“Well, there is the not-so-small matter of the Athosians,” John commented. He turned the jar he’d given her for her first birthday on Atlantis over in his hands before setting it on the desk. "You mentioned yesterday you wanted to ask me what I thought about something relating to them. You still want to talk about that?"
The Athosians had decided to move back to the mainland after much thought and discussion among the council that ruled the tribe. Fortunately they hadn’t been on the planet when the most recent near-catastrophe had happened. They’d been informed of the incident and had chosen to move back anyway.
“Yes I'd still like your opinion. I’ve been thinking."
“You’re always thinking.”
She rolled her eyes at his joke and continued, undaunted. “Well, I was wondering that if some of them would be willing to try out Carson’s gene therapy, maybe we could give them one or two of the puddle-jumpers. I've never been comfortable being their only way on and off the planet.”
“I think that’s a great idea. We should ask Teyla. The Asurans were nice enough to leave us a whole wing of new jumpers, so we’ve got extras,” John smirked. “When I spoke with her earlier today, she said that they were just about moved back too. A few might have the time to learn before they get too busy, or something.” John paused for a second then added, “My only concern is no one will want to try out Beckett’s therapy.”
“None of them have the gene naturally,” Elizabeth sighed.
“Right,” Sheppard nodded, “and they can be…funny about stuff sometimes. I know they’re a different culture,” he said before she could protest. “And I get it. I do. It would just be…inconvenient.”
Elizabeth nodded. The treatment hadn’t been offered to the Athosians before because when they’d first discovered it, they hadn’t been exactly sure of the side effects. It certainly wasn’t approved by any medical agency on Earth because the existence of the ATA gene was classified, let alone any procedure that could add it to a person’s genome.
“Where is Teyla now? The mainland?” she asked after a few moments in which John finished unpacking the last of her boxes.
“Yep,” Sheppard nodded. “She and Ronon are over there right now. I’m supposed to go pick them up in a couple hours.” He checked his watch. “Make that three hours. Want to go early and ask now?”
Elizabeth saved her document and tapped her fingernails against the new desk. It was taller than her last one, she noted absently. She had a lot to do here, but she also wanted to strengthen their ties with the Athosians. They’d had to put up with a lot from the expedition and Elizabeth wanted to be sure they knew she didn’t think of them as second-class citizens. Truthfully, if they had their own jumpers and pilots that’d also work better for both peoples in the long run. She pulled up her calendar, scanned over it for a moment then decided she could take the time.
“Yes, I think I do. The sooner we can get this settled, the better I’ll feel. Besides, I’ve been cooped up here all week,” she smiled brilliantly. “It will be nice to walk on real land for a bit. I haven’t been to the mainland since we returned.” She shut down her laptop with a smile and they left for the docking bay.
John couldn’t resist taking an extra lap through the city’s spires before setting a course for the Athosian settlement. They chatted for a bit, engaging in some light gossip and catching one another up on the latest unofficial city news, before John fell silent and Elizabeth noticed his entire demeanor change to a more serious one.
“John?” she queried. He looked at her and shifted uncomfortably before doing something to the control panel. The autopilot she realized as he let go of the controls and turned in his seat to face her.
“Look, I’m not great at talking. That’s what we’ve got you for. I’m better at the point-and-shoot stuff.” He held up a hand to halt her reply. “But even if I’m no good at the talking thing, I’m okay with listening. Well,” he admitted wryly, “I’m okay when it’s important.”
“John, what’s this about?”
He rubbed the back of his head then pulled the fingers through his hair, messing it further. “I called. We all did. I know losing the expedition that way, was…it wasn't right. I know you didn’t like being back on Earth. It was kind of messed up for me too. I know it was for Rodney. He called Beckett and me twice a day to complain.”
Elizabeth dropped her eyes, feeling a little shameful. The loss of Atlantis had hit her harder than she liked to admit. She’d been so lost in her own…grief that she’d ignored that her friends might be feeling the same way.
“I should have at least answered the phone,” she admitted. “I wasn’t being a good friend.”
“Well, neither were we,” Sheppard grumped.
“How do you figure that? You tried to reach out.” She’d shut herself in and tried desperately to make sense of her world on her own. Writing it all down had both been therapeutic and accentuated the trauma all at once. To her credit, she had made a small effort to get some help coping; the suggestion had been from Kate Heightmeyer to take some time to reflect on her loss in that way. Though the psychologist hadn’t intended for her to…wallow in her sadness, which is what she’d done, Elizabeth now realized.
“Well, we didn’t go hunt you down. I didn’t come find you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I feel like I should have.” He twisted back in his chair and watched the sea roll by beneath the jumper. “We’re not supposed to leave anyone behind, remember? I’m not supposed to.”
“That was hardly the same. And you did force me out of the house. Eventually,” she tried for some levity. The dinner felt like ages ago, but she remembered it fondly. She’d been uncomfortably aware, once more, of how wrong the world was, but she’d also been reminded that she had friends.
“It doesn’t feel that way. Not after - never mind.”
“Not after what?” Elizabeth demanded.
John saw her determined look and sighed. He knew she’d never let up until he told her what he’d been thinking. “When we finally decided to drag you out of the house, Carson called to tell us you were actually coming.”
“Yes?” Elizabeth’s voice dropped several degrees. John winced.
“He said it looked like you’d just broken up with Atlantis. That’s when I realized what a crummy friend I’d been. I wanted to give you some space, but maybe I gave too much.”
Elizabeth was, for once, without words. Looking back on it all, the sweats, the solitude, the take-out and TV dinners, the cartons of Ben and Jerry’s…Yes, it did look an awful lot like she’d just been through a bad breakup. She blushed furiously, grateful that they were having this conversation in private. Now, in the aftermath, she supposed it was even a little funny. Not that she would ever admit that.
“I…” she began then cleared her throat. Why hadn’t she called John back? Or called him at all? She’d thought about it. She’d actually thought about it a lot. Elizabeth sighed. “I was lost in my own…grief. And calling you all….I thought about it. Calling you? I thought about it, a lot actually.”
“Why’d you shut me out?” he asked. What he didn’t ask, but she could plainly hear was “Why’d you shut me out? I thought we meant more to one another. We had a great relationship. I thought I was your friend.”
“I think I thought that if I called you, any of you…then I’d have to admit that it was really over. If I’d called you then I would have had to see you.”
His reply was a sad smile. “Sorry.” He put his hands on the controls to disengage the autopilot. She reached out quickly and put her hands on his to stop him.
“No! No, no. I didn’t mean it that way. I mean, I would have had to see you and you would have been just you, just John. Not my coworker. Not my military advisor.” She withdrew her hands quickly, folding them in her lap, staring straight ahead. “It would have been this very real thing instead of this horrible nightmare,” she concluded softly. John’s hands hovered over the controls for a moment more before he rested them on his knees.
“I shouldn’t have given you so much space." If he’d not been such a coward or such an idiot, he’d have gone to her place like Beckett had. He should have jumped at the chance to really get to know Elizabeth. Nothing had stood in his way but himself. He was an idiot.
“Would that really have been better?” she asked. “I’d still be your boss now.”
“Yeah,” he grumbled agreement and moved to disengage the autopilot but was stopped again by her next comment.
“I wish we’d have jumped at that opportunity, even so.” Her voice was quiet and held the same regret he felt.
He paused over the controls for a moment more before bringing them down again and retaking control. “Me too.”
“John? I’ll call next time.”
“And I won’t leave you behind.”
“Let’s hope there isn’t a next time.”
“Yeah.”
John felt better after their talk. This had been something that had been nagging at him since before they’d retaken the city from the Asurans. He still didn’t feel okay about it, but he knew he would be in time. He was really kicking himself for not taking advantage of the situation though. If he’d been smarter he would have.
Elizabeth felt regretful after their talk. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d messed up. Well, not consciously at least. She supposed her subconscious had always known. At least they were alive and they were home again. She felt angry with herself, but she also felt determined and resolved not to screw up again. The mainland soon loomed ahead and she began going over how to approach the situation in the most delicate way possible, since she really wasn’t sure how the Athosians would react to the offer.
It turned out Elizabeth needn’t have worried.
“You can do this? You can give us the ability to fly your ships?” Halling asked, wide-eyed.
“Well, it’s got a 40% success rate with our people,” John shrugged.
“Actually, Carson’s got it to 55% now,” Elizabeth added.
“So you have a slightly better than average chance of getting the gene to take,” John amended.
“This is….This is a great gift. We are once more in your debt,” Halling said. He and Teyla both inclined their heads respectfully.
Elizabeth waved off their praise. “Halling, we’ve brought your people a lot of…inconvenience. We’d like to redress our mistakes. I’d like to redress them,” she emphasized. “We haven’t offered this before because we weren’t certain that the treatment was entirely safe. Actually, we don’t know if it has any long-term effects. We don’t think it does, but we wanted to be more certain before we started to offer it to your people. We didn’t want anyone to get hurt because we made a hasty decision.” Again, she added mentally.
“We understand, Elizabeth,” Teyla told her sincerely. “And we understand there may be a risk. We will have to bring it up in council, but I see the vote going favorably.” She looked to Halling for confirmation and he nodded agreement.
“The one hitch is, we haven’t talked this over with Beckett.” John frowned and glanced at Elizabeth. “Or have you?”
“I mentioned it to him. He thought there shouldn’t be any problem but there isn’t any way to be sure until we try it,” Elizabeth told them.
John nodded. He wasn’t surprised; she was always thinking ahead. "So if you guys want it, it sounds like something we can help you with," he concluded, feeling cheerful. His world had not only righted itself but it was improving.
“If you would care to stay for the evening meal, I’m sure we can have an answer for you before you have to return to the city,” Teyla offered.
John looked at Elizabeth and shrugged. She nodded after a moment. They might as well stay. A real, home-cooked meal was always nice, even if it was on an alien planet in an alien galaxy. Elizabeth smiled, seeming to share the unspoken sentiment. Sheppard stepped outside to radio Rodney and say that they were staying for dinner.
The two enjoyed dinner with the Athosians and by nightfall the council had approved the trials. Halling and several other adults made arrangements to return to Atlantis that evening and spend the night in observation. Teyla declined to be included in the group, citing that on AG-1 both John and Rodney had the gene and that it was often advantageous not to have it. John looked like he was going to argue, but Elizabeth’s hand on his shoulder silenced him. Instead, John waved the test group into the jumper for the trip back to the city, where Carson and an overnight stay in the infirmary awaited them.
In the morning, the gene had taken in half the adults who’d been given the therapy, including Halling. Feeling much better about her city’s relationship with their mainland neighbors, Elizabeth approved flying lessons for the volunteers with John, and the transfer of two puddle-jumpers once he felt his new students could cope.
Two months after the expedition had been re-established, the Daedalus arrived with supplies too big to fit into a puddle-jumper and additional new personnel, as well as Mr. Richard Woolsey. The bald man teleported down into Atlantis Stargate operations and looked around.
“Mr. Woolsey.” Elizabeth greeted him with a bit more warmth than she had the last time he’d arrived in her city. She moved down the flight of steps to shake his hand.
“Dr. Weir.” Their relationship was still formal, but the IOA representative held the members of the Expedition and General O’Neill in new respect. Woolsey had been instrumental in getting the Expedition up and running so quickly. "I'm glad to see you again."
“Truthfully I was a little surprised to see you back here so soon,” she commented casually as they walked up to her office.
“Truthfully? Me too. But I knew I had to return or I’d never get over it,” the bureaucrat admitted. “Things seem to be shaping up well here."
“Very well. The veterans are getting their projects back in gear, the new people are settling in and we’ve expanded the residential and science lab zones to accommodate them. The Athosians are about to begin their planting season. They’ve invited all of us over for a bit of a festival the day after tomorrow. Everyone here and on the Daedalus are invited if you’re still around.”
“You gave them the gene therapy and two puddle-jumpers, correct?”
“Yes. I felt it would be in everyone’s best interest if we weren’t the sole means of transport for the Athosians off the mainland. It also frees up some of my people for other duties. Colonel Sheppard has been teaching them and has passed two as qualified pilots thus far.” She sat behind her desk as Woolsey settled in the chair opposite. She tried to keep a defensive note out of her voice.
“Good. The IOA agrees, and so do I personally,” Woolsey informed her warmly as he powered up his laptop.
Elizabeth smiled and set her folded hands on her blotter. "Shall we get down to business?"
A few hours later she and Woolsey were wrapping up the first of their scheduled conversations when John came in with Halling and Teyla.
“Mr. Woolsey, I believe you know Teyla Emmagan,” Elizabeth gestured to her friend.
“Ms. Emmagan,” Woolsey stood and greeted. Teyla inclined her head and introduced her companion.
“This is Halling Andaro. Halling is another leader among my people,”
“And one of the first puddle-jumper pilots,” John added.
“Nice to meet you as well, and congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mr. Woolsey. Will you be among those joining us for the festivities before we begin the planting season?”
“I’d be delighted to attend. I just have to make sure my ride isn’t leaving without me. If the Daedalus is still here I’d be more than happy to come.”
“Wonderful!” Halling enthused.
“Congratulations on passing flight school,” Elizabeth said. The Athosian man grinned happily.
”Colonel Sheppard is a demanding teacher, but I know I have learned from the best.”
“Elizabeth, Halling and I have a small request with regard to the festival,” Teyla spoke up now that the pleasantries were over with. She was unsure how her alien friends would react. It was her hope that they would be able to come and have an enjoyable time even if they did not agree to the council elders’ request. She expected the leaders to decline and had told the council so, but she had agreed to ask anyway.
“Oh? How can we help?” she asked cheerfully. Elizabeth seemed to think she owed the Athosians something, though Teyla had tried to dissuade her from such notions - after all, the gift of living on Lantea was enormous - the other woman still stubbornly seemed to think she had somehow wronged the Athosians.
“Dr. Weir, the council elders would very much like for you and Colonel Sheppard to be participants in the ceremony,” Halling told her.
“Oh,” Elizabeth’s gaze darted over to Woolsey, then John, before coming back to Halling. Exactly as Teyla had predicted, she quickly tried to think of a diplomatic way to get out of it, before Woolsey spoke up.
“I’m sure they’d be happy to,” he answered for them jovially.
“Well, that is, we would, but I’m not sure we can,” Elizabeth replied carefully.
“Why not?” Woolsey asked her. His tone clearly implied he thought there was absolutely nothing wrong with such a simple request.
“How about ‘we don’t want to get our wrists slapped for participating in alien rituals the next time the IOA decides it doesn’t like us’, for a reason?” John asked with mock lightness. Elizabeth shot him a death glare and he fell silent.
“Well, we want good relations with our allies. Lord knows we need them. I think that the IOA can approve of this.” The bureaucrat supposed he could understand. Until recently, they hadn’t exactly been on the IOA’s list of favorite people in the universe.
“Can we get it in writing?” John asked, despite himself.
Woolsey sighed and shook his head with a small smile to try and convey to the two leaders that as far as the IOA was concerned, they could do practically anything right now.
“Well, if you really want to be so formal about it, sure,” he said lightly. Woolsey was fairly certain that they wouldn’t slip onto the IOA’s bad books again any time soon. Though he did have to admit that the organization’s favor could be fickle. If they wanted to cover their asses in red tape, he could at least help them before they all caused some sort of intergalactic diplomatic incident.
Not only were the Athosians allies, they were food-producing allies. Trade with them helped keep the extravagant cost of Atlantis down, and gave everyone in the city fresh food. After having had nothing to eat but MREs, Woolsey could sympathize with the desire to have fresh produce around.
“Really? Cool.”
Elizabeth sighed and made a mental note to speak with John about diplomacy. Again.
“You are one of the leaders from your home-world?” Halling asked Woolsey.
“Well, not precisely. I’m a representative from an oversight committee. It is my job to see that everything is working out for the best interest of Earth and her allies. I see no reason why Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir couldn’t participate.” He turned a frank look at Sheppard. “And, if you’d really like me to write something out to “cover your asses”,” he made little air quotes with his fingers “I can do that too.”
Woolsey won brownie points with Sheppard for that. He smirked at the other man and nodded approval. Woolsey allowed himself a small smirk back at the Colonel.
“Well,” Halling began, “in that case the council elders would be honored if Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard would participate as the avatars of Earth and Sky.” Elizabeth caught Teyla’s suddenly frantic look as she grabbed Halling’s elbow.
“As long as no one gets hurt, I don’t see why not?” Woolsey said, full of good humor. Halling grinned, despite Teyla’s firm grip on his arm.
“Well, I love a party as much as the next guy, but what exactly will she and I have to do?” John asked Halling.
“The ceremony of union is a re-enactment of one of our oldest stories, from the time before the Wraith, from before we understood many things about technology. The participants act as the avatars of the Earth and Sky and re-enact the union of the two against their enemies and the creation of the world and the Athosian people.”
“Okay,” John said, drawing the word out.
“It is considered a very great honor to be chosen,” Teyla added. “We only do this ceremony when the elders of the council decide so.” This had been the elders’ original request, but Teyla, mindful of her alien friends’…unusual sensibilities, had talked them into requesting they participate in a different capacity.
“You have given our people so much, they wish to accord you that honor,” Halling added. “They felt it would bring good luck to us all if you participated.”
“But the council elders understand you might not wish to. Please do not feel pressured to do so if it is not in your hearts,” Teyla concluded. The relationship between the leaders of Atlantis was a strong one, but very strange sometimes. Again she accorded the difference to her friends having come from a culture where one did not live as if every day were their last. She might not understand her friends, but she respected their culture as they respected hers.
“Well,” Elizabeth started to reply but was interrupted by Woolsey.
“I’m sure they’d be delighted to.” Turning to Elizabeth, he said, “I know the IOA has second-guessed you and there have been political concerns in the past. But you and your people returned the city to us, and while you’ve made your mistakes, we have as well. You and your people have a very good track record, all things considered. All that is in the past and is neither here nor there, though. It is not the position of the IOA to interfere with your ability to make and keep allies. If you would feel more comfortable with that in writing, I’ll be happy to do so when I make my check-in. As much as it might seem like it at times, the IOA really doesn’t want to micromanage at that level.” He straightened his coat. “We might want to establish some formal rules about this sort of thing anyway.”
Elizabeth nodded and checked her watch. “You have your check-in in a few moments, I think. We’ll leave you to your communication. I’ll tell Chuck to dial in and send the feed to your laptop.”
“Very well.”
The Athosians, Weir and Sheppard left her office. Elizabeth had the gate dialed then made a beeline for the balcony, John right on her heels.
“Wow,” was all Sheppard could say when they were finally outside in the relative solitude of the broad balcony. He glanced over and noticed that Elizabeth was gripping the railing so hard her knuckles were white. “So I take it by your death grip your interpretation of what the Athosians are asking us to do is the same as mine?” She nodded silently, once. He was sure the tension in her shoulders was visible only to him because he knew her so well; the white-knuckled grip noticeable because he was standing so close.
They were both savvy enough with alien rituals in general, and Athosian ones in specific, to realize what this probably was: a marriage ritual.
“John,” Teyla began to explain. She looked unsure of herself. “I apologize for Halling.”
“Teyla,” Halling gave her a dirty look, “I happen to agree with the council elders. I feel it would bring balance their people need, and I think that Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir would not be opposed to the idea. If I had felt otherwise, I would not have brought it up.”
Teyla sighed and felt like pulling out her hair, or maybe Halling’s. Her cousin was usually very tactful, but in matters of the heart he was as bold as a Darja beast and half as subtle.
“So let me get this straight,” John leaned against the railing next to Elizabeth, counting it as a good sign that she didn’t jump away when his hip brushed the side of her hand. “The old folks on the Athosian council want us to get married to bless your crops this season.”
“That is it at the most basic level, yes,” Teyla admitted, eyes telling him silently that she was sorry for any embarrassment.
John shrugged his shoulders slightly to let her know that he knew it wasn’t her fault. “And Woolsey just gave us the go-ahead to do it, and even promised that the IOA wouldn’t say anything,” John mused with careful levity as Halling and Teyla began to argue quietly.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Elizabeth said, voice carrying just a tiny hint of bitterness. She was watching the waves break against the city, trying to make sense of her conflicting feelings and thoughts.
“Well, okay. I don’t think Woolsey understands get all of what the ceremony implies. He might have something to say if he did know, though.”
“I don’t think I’d be able to leave here again,” Elizabeth admitted softly. The bickering cousins were deep in their own argument and didn’t hear her. John barely did and he was listening closely. “I don’t know if I’d be able to live. I know that sounds awful, but I know it’s true. I care too much. I don’t know why, but I do. And yet…” she trailed off. John turned and leaned on the railing as well, one hand on the railing, the other covering her hand.
“I know,” he said, with equal softness, “but I can’t help but think this might be an opportunity.” He was thinking back to their conversation in the puddle-jumper only a couple weeks before.
“I thought that too,” she admitted.
“It’s so crazy,” he started to say.
“It just might work,” she finished.
“Would you do it?” he asked, carefully keeping his voice light and neutral.
“With you?”
“With me.”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
His heart did little flip-flops and he brushed his thumb against the side of her hand. Her fingers uncurled from their death grip. As crazy as it was, and as crazy things went, this was up there, she knew her heart in this matter.
“So, I guess the question,” he chuckled at his own words, “is will you?”
“What if they decide they don’t like the job we’re doing anymore and use it as an excuse to get rid of one or both of us?” She swallowed and watched the sea as if it might give her some answer.
“Oh, that’s easy,” John replied casually.
“It is?” She looked at him critically out of the corner of her eye.
“Sure. If they try anything, we go to plan B. I’ve got it all worked out.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.” She smiled, slightly. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s Plan B?”
John smirked and turned around to lean on the balcony again. He crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes were alight with mischief as he looked at her. “Plan B is where we become space pirates,” he informed her matter-of-factly.
“Space pirates.”
“Yep. We grab a stalwart and loyal crew from the people here, smack Caldwell over the head, steal the Daedalus and become space pirates.”
Elizabeth blinked once. Twice. She wasn’t entirely sure he was being funny and that in turn made her want to giggle.
“Now hear me out,” he said, holding up placating hands. “I’ve actually given this some thought when I was at the SGC. First of all, running off and becoming space pirates, is much better than becoming space ninjas. That’s now Plan C.”
“Really?” she stifled a laugh.
“Really! It’s much better. Unless you like sake, I guess. Personally I prefer rum, but that’s beside the point. We just take a ship and pillage the cosmos. Earth has too much going on to spend time and energy hunting us down. In the meantime, we can carve out our own little place in the universe. Most of those stuffed shirts have no idea what the hell goes on out here, they’d never be able to find us. And it’s not like we’d be doing anything really nefarious like those NID people did back in the Milky Way. I can’t see you making anyone walk the plank, or pillaging poor villages.”
“John,” she half-laughed, half-scolded. Well, he’d gotten her to smile and sort of laugh. He counted this as a victory. “You realize that if we take the Daedalus , we’re still leaving Atlantis?”
“I…Damn it, stop ruining my plans with logic!” he complained. That earned him a real chuckle. “Okay, then stealing the Daedalus is step one. We grab the Daedalus, steal the other ZPMs back and then we steal Atlantis.”
“John!”
“Hey, you know we’d get Rodney to help if it meant he got the other two ZPMs back. I bet Zelenka would go for it if you asked him nicely.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him, shoulders shaking in silent laughter. “John!”
“It’s a good plan,” he defended, pouting playfully. Elizabeth shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her grip made him sober instantly.
“You’re not serious, though, are you?” she asked, searching his eyes.
He took her hand in his and gave it a firm squeeze, gripping the balcony railing with the other. John gazed across the skyline. She watched him take the view in; green eyes intense and possessive, the wind ruffling his hair, hand as tight on the railing as hers had been moments before. Elizabeth was reminded that she wasn’t the only one who felt a deep, personal connection to this place.
“This is home,” he finally answered, turning that intense gaze on her. She knew he wasn’t just referring to the city. “I won’t let anyone take it from me. Not again.”
Elizabeth felt slightly giddy. She knew he was half-joking, but a half-joke held a kernel of truth. She felt both thrilled and terrified; he really wouldn’t let them take her if it came to that.
Sadly, she didn’t think she could risk it. A part of her mourned that she wasn’t able to throw caution to the wind, but a much larger part was still recovering from the abrupt reversal of fortune that had made her life a living hell then heaven again.
“I think we need to tell Woolsey what this implies. I don’t think we’ll be able to get away with not saying anything. They wouldn’t let us off on a technicality like ‘I didn’t know’, John.” Elizabeth masked the wistfulness she felt with a carefully cultured, perfectly diplomatic tone.
“Yeah.” He shrugged with a kind smile. “I kind of figured that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, affecting his own laid-back mask. “But now you know about my secret plans B and C.” He winked.
“And how are they that different?” she asked, grateful they were back to a more playful conversation.
“Ah. Well in Plan B when you give orders we all say ‘Aye Aye!’, there’s a lot of ‘Arrrr’ and calling people ‘scurvy dogs’ and we get cutlasses and rum.”
“Cutlasses?”
“Yep. But in Plan C, when you give us orders we all say ‘Hai!’ and we get katanas and sake.”
“It all becomes clear.” She turned around and leaned against the railing.
“Sarcasm? What’s that?” he said, nudging her shoulder. The fell into an easy silence while Teyla and Halling continued to argue in the background.
Elizabeth saw the gate shut down and pushed away from the railing, heading back to her office. John followed after, stepping around Teyla and Halling who seemed to be having a rather heated discussion about the pulling of pigtails, of all things. He caught up to Elizabeth and the two re-entered her office to find Woolsey standing over her office printer. He removed the paper it spat out, fished a pen from his coat pocket and signed it with a flourish.
“I realize that we do need to sit down and formally hash all of this out for the future, but I believe the language will be sufficient for now?” he made the last part a question as he held the paper out for Weir’s inspection.
Elizabeth took it and read it carefully, noting where there could be potential problems with a practiced eye. Sheppard rocked on his heels, confident she’d catch anything sneaky. Woolsey might seem like he was trying to be more of a person rather than a stuffed shirt, but he still didn’t entirely trust the guy. Not yet. John made himself useful by closing the door to the office. The glass slid shut with a small ‘click’. Elizabeth lowered the paper.
“This would suffice,” she started.
“But?” Woolsey supplied.
“Well,” she said slowly, seeming to search for the words out of the corner of her eye. She focused back on the IOA representative again. “The ceremony that Halling spoke of is actually a marriage ceremony.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” John commented dryly.
“Well,” Woolsey smiled nervously, “it’s a good thing you found that out beforehand. That would be sort of embarrassing otherwise.”
“Just a bit,” John chimed in again. Elizabeth shot him a look, which made him grin unrepentantly back at her.
“Do you…want to get married?” Woolsey asked tentatively. Like many, he’d speculated on the nature of their relationship, but honestly, as long as they didn’t screw up because of it, it wasn’t his business. Even if they were lovers, Woolsey had decided she’d fought for Sheppard for his professional abilities.
Elizabeth’s head snapped back around to look at Woolsey. A blush crept into her cheeks, as she was rendered momentarily speechless.
John found his voice first. “We’ve never…” John let Woolsey fill in the blank. “Hell, we’ve never even had a date. Or I guess what would pass for one here,” he let some exasperation color his voice. He didn’t want Woolsey to get the impression that Elizabeth had been improper.
“Never?” Woolsey blinked owlishly at the pair. They’d never been together? This was a surprise.
“No,” Elizabeth said firmly, finally having recovered.
“Oh,” Woolsey loosened his tie and looked slightly guilty. “Well.” He felt bad for having assumed Elizabeth had been less than professional; bad that the IOA had.
“So, you mean to say that the IOA thought…that we?” John pointed at himself and then Elizabeth. “That we’ve been…you know?”
“Intimate?” Woolsey suggested.
“Yeah. That.” John frowned. He had always imagined that if the IOA had thought he was sleeping with his boss, the response would be sending one of them packing and Caldwell gleefully stepping in to fill the vacant spot. Therefore, the bald man’s reaction was really confusing. Frankly, he’d expected more…yelling.
“Mr. Woolsey we’ve never done anything.” Elizabeth said tightly. She was actually beginning to feel cross, now that she’d learned what the IOA had thought. “How long have you thought we were… intimate.”
“Ah. Well. Truthfully, we suspected it after we reestablished contact,” Woolsey sheepishly admitted. Elizabeth blanched.
“That long?” she voiced the surprise both felt.
“Yes, but we had no hard evidence and it became very clear that whatever your personal relationship outside of work, you were not letting it interfere professionally.” Woolsey shrugged. It was true. “Frankly the idea of being very…militaristic about personal relationships doesn’t sit well will the IOA. We don’t want to regulate personal relationships. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your ability to do your job, we don’t care and frankly, we don’t want to know the details.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said in a second rare moment of near-speechlessness. The instant didn’t last long. “Mr. Woolsey, I’m not sure how I should feel about this.”
“Look, Dr. Weir, Elizabeth,” Woolsey placated. “The IOA sees no need to replace you, especially not after restoring the city. Even if we all assumed, incorrectly, that you were in a relationship, that has no bearing on our decision to let you command this expedition.” He shrugged, “We may have thought perhaps that was a contributing reason as to why you fought to keep Colonel Sheppard as your second in command and head of the military here, but we quickly changed that opinion when we saw the work you’ve both been doing.”
Their actions spoke volumes about their commitment to their respective duties and ability to ignore their personal feelings. Whatever was going on, whatever they both claimed, there was more than friendship here, even if they weren’t intimate. That line might not have been crossed physically, but in Woolsey’s opinion, it might as well have been emotionally. He wouldn’t change his opinion either way. If they wished to cross it now, then he had faith that they’d act with the same sensibility and decorum that they had before.
“Gee, thanks,” Sheppard grumbled.
“I’m sorry,” the bureaucrat said sincerely. Before turning to face Elizabeth again. “In regards to this matter, you should do what you want to do. The IOA wants to turn this into a colony.”
Elizabeth nodded. This wasn’t news to her, in fact it had been part of what they’d been discussing before John, Teyla and Halling had walked into her office.
It was news to John though. He arched a brow; this wasn’t exactly a safe place. Though, as he thought about it, most colonies didn’t start out safe.
“It’d be sort of silly to stop people from having relationships if we want them to consider making more permanent lives in Atlantis," Woolsey pointed out dryly. "Personally, I have every reason to believe that the people here can keep their work and their personal lives in check, and avoid turning Atlantis into some sort of hormonally driven, overly dramatic, prime-time TV angst-fest.”
Woolsey plucked the half-forgotten paper from Weir’s hands and held it up in front of her. “This certainly still stands. If you do choose to…do the ceremony, it might not be legal back home, but it certainly won’t get you in trouble with me. Unless you started to let it affect your judgment, of course; then we’d have a talk. Now if you excuse me I’m a bit jetlagged and I believe you probably have some talking to do.” Woolsey beat a dignified, if hasty, retreat.
John dropped into the seat across from her and slouched down, crossing his arms sulkily. “I don’t know if I should be angry or not,” John complained. “I think I should feel offended.”
“Tell me about it.” Elizabeth sank into her own seat and pinched the bridge of her nose. She wondered where she’d left her stash of Advil. They were silent for a few moments, each in their own thoughts.
“I-“ “You-” they both spoke at the same time then laughed.
“You first,” John said. She smiled thanks and he let her take a moment to compose her thoughts when Lorne's voice chimed in over his radio. “Actually,” he interrupted, putting a hand to his earpiece, “one second. Yeah Major? Yeah? Can it wait? Sort of. No. Yes. Really? Okay. Sheppard out.”
Elizabeth listened to the one sided conversation and watched John's body language. Whatever Evan had contacted him about it didn't appear to be an emergency.
She sighed. “Duty calls?”
“Duty calls. It seems to me that, as we’ve just been complimented on our extremely good ability to be discreet and put our jobs first, I should take care of this.” He arched a wry eyebrow and got to his feet. “It’s not a big emergency, I should be finished soon.”
“All right then,” Elizabeth said.
John smiled apologetically and left, quickly making his way out of the office and through the control room.
Elizabeth watched him go then got to her feet as he was descending the stairs. Her mind was suddenly very clear. Elizabeth left her office, quickly crossed the small bridge, and leaned on the control center railing.
“John?” she called out after him. He spun around and started to walk backwards slowly while he waited for her to say whatever it was she needed to say. “That question you asked me earlier?”
“Yeah?” he stopped walking, not really remembering what he’d asked.
“The answer is ‘yes’.”
John frowned for a second then got it. John grinned. “Really?”
“Yes,” she replied, feeling a little giddy once again. “We can talk about that later though,” she said waving him off.
Sheppard grinned and turned back around, whistling to himself as he went to go save Lorne from a bunch of cranky, fresh-off-the-Daedalus Marines.
( On to part Two)