SGA Fic: Amelia and Anne. G. Amelia Banks/Anne Teldy
Title: Amelia and Anne
Author: velocitygrass
Pairing: Amelia Banks/Anne Teldy
Rating: G
Spoilers: up to Whispers
Word count: 4638
Summary: "My first mission is in two days. I hope you'll be there to send me off." She gave Amelia a quick smile, stood up and left.
Note: Written for monanotlisa as a (very) belated birthday present. This started out as a short pre-slash scene in my head, but then it grew. It was written before "The Prodigal", which unfortunately josses Amelia's characterization quite a bit. Many thanks to neevebrody for the beta!
Amelia and Anne
Amelia loved her job as gate technician. She was at the center of the action, right above the gate, watching teams embark and-hopefully-return. More than her colleagues who spent their time in the labs, she got to watch the teams who went on missions. She witnessed them taking that step into the unknown and even if she never went through herself, she felt the excitement, the hunger for adventure, but also the very real possibility that they might not return.
At her spot, overseeing the gate room, she was at the heart of their operation, while still remaining relatively safe. She could interact with those who made the decisions and those who carried them out. She saw impossible attacks and rescues that threatened and saved all of Atlantis and insignificant little quirks and rituals by the inhabitants of her city. She saw it all.
And yet she was, for the most part, unseen.
She was well aware that those going through the gate didn't give her a second thought when they left or returned, except maybe a vague hope that she was doing her job properly and that they'd see her again. But of course that wasn't about her. It was just the job she was doing. She did it well, but so did everyone on Atlantis, because they couldn't afford anything less. She was the one that pressed the buttons, so that others could do things or decide what to do.
She didn't have a problem with that. She observed the systems, reacted to any irregularities and communicated whatever needed to be to the right person. She was the person that everyone knew but didn't work closely with on a regular basis. She was the one that you exchanged a few words of small talk with, before the mission, though mostly not even that because this was like a central station. Everyone had things to do and places to go. She was just getting you on the ride.
When Major Anne Teldy first showed up in the control room, she went straight to the balcony and looked down at the gate room with a gleam in her eye as if she'd finally arrived at a long sought destination and nothing could stop her now.
She introduced herself to Amelia and told her that she'd be leading a new team.
"When will you go on your first mission?" Amelia asked. She didn't want to miss the gleam in those eyes at that occasion.
"I haven't even chosen my team yet," Anne said with a self-deprecating smile. But then she turned more confident. "But I will." She looked at Amelia, scrutinized her and Amelia felt her throat dry-and possibly her face flush. "And maybe you can help me," Anne finished, after apparently making a decision.
That help entailed having dinner with her.
It wasn't a date. Not that Amelia had thought so. Anne asked her about Atlantis and the teams and Woolsey and Sheppard. She asked and she listened and the next day when Anne had a short list of people for her team, she asked Amelia if she would join her after her shift was over to take a look at it.
Amelia was quick to tell her that she didn't see those people in action on their missions, so she couldn't really tell Anne anything, but Anne disagreed.
"You see," she told Amelia, looking her straight in the eye and once again Amelia found herself flush. "I can read all the mission reports to know what they're capable of in the field. I have. But you can tell me things that aren't in the mission reports."
So Amelia told her that Lieutenant Richter tended to be quiet before they went through the gate, calm, but also a bit removed from his team members. Captain Vega was something of a hot shot. Sergeant Martin was reliable, but couldn't be counted on to come up with his own ideas.
As she talked, she realized why Anne had wanted to talk to her, because watching the teams before they went through the gate and how they came back or checked in, especially when things went wrong, told her a lot about how they handled the stress of the job in general and the dangers of missions gone wrong in particular.
Anne didn't tell her whom she'd chosen for her team or whether Amelia's impressions played a role in her decision, but she sincerely thanked Amelia after their talk. Then she pushed the cupcake she'd gotten along with their coffee toward her. "My first mission is in two days. I hope you'll be there to send me off." She gave Amelia a quick smile, stood up and left.
Amelia watched her go, feeling a little rush. Anne was attractive, yes, but what really got to Amelia was the feeling of being important. Anne had chosen to talk to her because she trusted her judgment at least on some level. And while the others trusted her to do her job, when they looked for answers that went beyond checking the systems, they looked elsewhere. It was a heady feeling. She took the cupcake and made her way to the control room to see if she could change shifts with Chuck the day after tomorrow.
Anne's team wasn't the first that Amelia saw embark on their first mission together. Anne seemed very confident in her choice and her team members were quite relaxed as well. Amelia wouldn't have expected anything less from Vega, who was always eager for action, and nothing could get to Mehra. But even Dr. Porter, who was new on Atlantis as well, didn't seem as nervous as some others on their first mission.
Amelia dialed the gate and watched the spectacular whoosh as the worm hole formed. Woolsey wished the team good luck on their first mission. Anne thanked him and then she looked over to Amelia and gave her a quick smile before stepping through the gate.
It was a routine mission and Anne and her team were back two hours later, safe and sound. Anne looked up at Amelia when she returned. She straightened when she saw Woolsey and the team came up to debrief him. Afterwards, the team was ready to go for lunch together, but Anne let them go ahead to join Amelia for a moment.
Anne opened her mouth, but then hesitated. "You were right about the hot shot. Thanks again." Then she smiled at Amelia and went after her team before Amelia could answer.
Their next mission was the following day. This one was going to be first contact, which was always more exciting and Amelia could see that Anne was a bit more tense, but she still looked up and gave Amelia a little smile.
Anne contacted Atlantis three hours later. The team had found one of Michael's labs. Amelia informed Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard, who had just returned after joining Teyla on a trip to the Athosians. Shortly afterwards Sheppard and Dr. Beckett went through the gate to join Anne's team.
They weren't back by the time Amelia's shift ended. She went to get dinner, but couldn't quite relax afterwards so she went back to the control room. Chuck was more than happy to let her take over again for a while.
It was close to midnight when Colonel Sheppard sent through his IDC. Amelia opened the iris, her throat tight. She saw Sheppard come through, slightly battered, but not seriously injured. Anne followed and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief, but then she saw the rigid look on her face and when Beckett came through with Porter and finally Mehra, Amelia watched in horror as the gate closed behind them.
Sheppard gave some orders to one of the marines guarding the gate. Then he went up the stairs to the control room, Anne closely behind him, while Beckett, Porter and Mehra went off towards the infirmary. Amelia had her hand at her earpiece even before Sheppard asked her to inform Woolsey that they had returned.
"You could join the others in the infirmary, Major," Sheppard told Anne.
"That won't be necessary, sir," she answered. She looked straight ahead, head held up high, jaw clenched.
Amelia felt the urge to go to her and tell her she was sorry, to put a comforting arm around her, to show her support in some way, but even though she'd only met Anne less than a week ago, she knew that such a display wouldn't be wanted now. Not in front of Sheppard and the others. Not when she was going to have to explain how she'd lost a member of her team on her second mission.
Amelia knew that it wasn't her fault. She could read Sheppard quite well by now and if he thought you had done something wrong you'd know it. And the death of anyone under his command was as serious as it got. They didn't say anything more. If Sheppard gave comfort speeches, he didn't do it public.
Woolsey arrived, zipping up the jacket of his uniform as he went. Anne's gaze met Amelia's for a moment as she watched him, but she quickly looked away again as if she didn't want to face her. Amelia didn't know why. This was Atlantis and bad things sometimes just happened.
The debriefing took thirty minutes. Sheppard and Anne went towards the infirmary afterwards. Anne didn't look at her.
Amelia called Chuck so that he could finish off the shift. She hesitated, but then decided to go to the mess in case Anne would show up there. When Amelia arrived, Beckett, Porter and Mehra were just leaving. She sat down at a table near the windows with an orange. She just held it in her hand, wondering if it was silly to wait here for someone who might not even turn up or who might not want her to be around.
Ten minutes later, Anne set down a tray with a few sandwiches in front of her.
"Hey," she said. "Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not," Amelia said.
Anne dug into her first sandwich. Amelia stopped playing with the orange and put it down. "I'm sorry about Captain Vega," she eventually said.
Anne looked at her and nodded in acknowledgement before continuing to eat. Amelia wished she could say more. But the truth was, there were situations in which nothing you said could help. She started peeling the orange and when she was done, she awkwardly offered it to Anne.
Anne looked at her, then the orange, then back at her.
"Or I can just eat it myself," Amelia quickly said, inwardly cursing herself. She pulled back her hand, but Anne's hand shot out and stopped her, fingers around her wrist.
"No," she said. "Thank you."
Amelia wasn't sure if she imagined it, but it felt as if Anne stroked her wrist with her index finger before taking the orange.
Anne ate a slice and then looked at Amelia. "This isn't how I'd pictured my first week would go."
"I don't think anyone's first week here goes as they expect. In my first week we were locked out of the system and Atlantis nearly self-destructed."
"But it didn't," Anne pointed out.
"No, it didn't," Amelia conceded. "But the thing to beat is Colonel Sheppard waking up the Wraith."
"He couldn't have known that," Anne immediately said.
"Of course! I didn't mean... Could you have known what would happen to Captain Vega?"
Anne looked at her, then at the table, before putting another slice of the orange in her mouth.
Amelia suddenly felt incredibly inadequate at trying to comfort her. "Maybe you should talk to someone who has lost a team member," she suggested.
Anne looked up at that. "No," she simply said. Then the ghost of a smile passed over her face. She finished eating and Amelia just watched her, keeping her company.
When Anne was done, she thanked Amelia. The two of them got up and walked together in silence until they came to the point where their ways would part.
"Have you ever wanted to go through the gate?" Anne asked suddenly.
Amelia hesitated only for a moment before truthfully answering, "Yes."
"Once I stepped through the gate for the first time, I couldn't imagine doing anything else," Anne said and that gleam was back in her eyes.
"Then you shouldn't," Amelia said.
"Maybe I'll take you with me some day," Anne said and it was the first time she genuinely smiled since returning from the mission.
"I don't think- It's really just daydreams. I'm very happy with what I'm doing right now," Amelia stumbled out. She'd seen too much to really want to go out there, no matter how much she felt the call.
"Then you should keep doing it. It's nice to come home to a friendly face."
Amelia felt herself flush. "It's nice to... uh... be that face."
Anne looked down the hall, before smiling at Amelia. "Thank you," she said and put a hand lightly on Amelia's arm.
Unfortunately, the hand was gone again too quickly and before Amelia could think of anything to say, Anne had nodded at her and turned towards her quarters.
Amelia watched her until she turned the corner before going to her own quarters. It was very late, but thoughts were running around in her head, of Vega's terrible fate, but mostly Anne. She eventually fell asleep imagining going through the gate with Anne.
Amelia had friends on Atlantis. Her best friend here was a biologist and she often hung out with her fellow gate technicians. But when Anne waved her over to her table at breakfast a few days later, she gladly took her tray there.
"I've been wondering. What do people do for fun on Atlantis?" Anne asked her.
"I guess that depends on what your idea of fun is," Amelia answered.
For starters, Anne's idea of fun turned out to be movie night. Amelia tried not to over think it and kept telling herself that it wasn't a date. But when she sat in the dark and Anne leaned over to whisper a commentary into her ear, it certainly felt like a date.
They were sharing a little bowl of popcorn and Amelia contemplated just how cheesy it would be of her to dip her fingers into the bowl, when Anne's hand was in there as well. In the end, she didn't do it.
When it was over, they walked back towards their quarters, talking about the movie.
"I had a good time. We should do this again," Anne said when they'd reached the point where their ways would part.
"I'd love to," Amelia said.
There was a moment in which they just looked at each other and Amelia felt that this was probably the point where she should say something or maybe just lean in a bit, enough to hint at what she wanted to do, but then a couple of other moviegoers turned the corner.
Anne gave her a quick smile. "Good night then."
"Good night," Amelia said.
Amelia was there when Anne took her new team on their next mission. Captain Vega had been replaced with Lieutenant Kendrick, a young marine who'd previously been guarding the city. For this particular mission, Dr. Zelenka joined the team. Dr. Porter was still on R & R.
Amelia watched Anne talk to Zelenka, who was never happy when he had to go through the gate. But he nodded at Anne and Amelia admired her ability to be so confident and calm after what had happened the last time.
They hadn't talked about it again, after that night in the mess hall. Anne hadn't mentioned it again and Amelia didn't want to bring it up. Which wasn't all that surprising because Atlantis as a whole tended to deal with death by looking forward and making sure that the death wasn't in vain.
Amelia and Anne saw each other frequently. They'd share a meal in the mess or go to one of the social gatherings, movie night mostly, because Amelia didn't like the music they played at what passed as a club on Atlantis. She also was a horrible dancer, but didn't feel it necessary to tell Anne that.
They often just hung out in the city. Amelia had fallen in love with Atlantis before she'd ever set foot on it. When she'd first heard about the Stargate it had seemed like science fiction coming to life, but Atlantis had sounded like a dream.
Of course, her very first week had taught her that the dream could quickly turn into a nightmare and that the city could be dangerous as well as beautiful if you didn't take care of it properly. But she was doing her part in that and when she walked around the halls or went to a balcony overseeing most of the city, she felt at home and almost proprietary.
She didn't think it was quite the same for Anne, but she felt that they could share those moments of tranquility in a life that was often not just hectic but downright threatening.
They talked about life on Atlantis and the Pegasus galaxy and their pasts. For Anne this meant mostly her career. She also mentioned her parents once or twice but nothing beyond that.
"Do you miss Earth?" Amelia asked her one sunny afternoon on a balcony far away from the inhabited parts of the city.
"I miss certain things from Earth," Anne answered.
"Junk food?" Amelia asked, because it was one of the more popular answers.
"Not really. Was never into that. But food, yes. Going shopping for a nice dinner."
"I miss book stores," Amelia said. "I know we have a 'library'," she said, making air quotes. Anne laughed. "But it's not the same."
"It really isn't. I miss the outdoor shooting range," Anne said wistfully.
Amelia raised her eyebrows. "What's the difference to indoor?"
"Longer distances. And nature," she said with a glint in her eyes.
"And that's a good thing?"
"It's challenging," Anne said. "Do you ever practice here on Atlantis?"
Amelia flushed. Like everyone else who came to Atlantis she had undergone some training with firearms. But she didn't carry a sidearm and thankfully never had to use one.
"You should," Anne said. "It could save your life one day." There was a moment of silence, then she said, "I miss swimming pools. We're surrounded by water but I never get to swim."
"It's not that I don't want to practice," Amelia said, not taking the offer to talk about something else. "I just feel... awkward with some marine watching me. I'm an... adequate shot."
"Nobody expects you to be great at it. Nobody's asking us to... calibrate sensors or things like that. We all do our jobs. I could take you out to the shooting range," she suggested. "I won't laugh, I promise," she added with a little smile.
Amelia looked skeptical. "You won't go all drill sergeant on me?"
Anne snorted. "Can you even picture that?"
Amelia thought about it. "Actually, yes."
"Well, I won't."
Anne kept her promise. There was a smile playing on her lips when Amelia loaded the gun a bit awkwardly, but she didn't say anything and let Amelia remember by herself.
After firing her first round, Amelia looked at Anne.
"Adequate," Anne said, but not unkindly. "Can I make some suggestions?"
"I'm here to learn," Amelia said.
Anne gave her a few pointers on what to watch and be aware of and at the end of the lesson, Amelia felt a bit more at ease with the idea of having to use a gun. "I still hope I won't ever have to," she added.
"We all do," Anne said. "But it wasn't bad, was it?"
"No, it wasn't."
It was so good in fact that she told her fellow gate technicians about it, who all-with the exception of one guy-weren't regularly training with sidearms either. She asked Anne if the others could join them the next time and Anne agreed readily although Amelia suspected she might have regretted it when the whole thing turned into a lot of goofing around.
"We take our job more seriously than that," Amelia assured her afterwards.
"I'll just have to hope that we'll never be in a situation where armed gate technicians are all that stands between our destruction and survival."
"It could still turn out okay if surviving didn't actually require using the guns."
They both burst out laughing.
Training at the shooting range became a regular thing, both with and without the other gate technicians, but more than that Amelia and Anne spent a lot of their free time together. They started watching TV shows and movies in one of their rooms and while Amelia loved their growing friendship, she couldn't help recognizing certain moments between them that had a spark of more.
Amelia had always known that she was into women. In high school, the other girls and boys had thought-and occasionally said-that she was frigid or a geek who couldn't get a guy even if she wanted to. It didn't really matter to her, because most of her peers were ignorant and many of the more vicious girls were probably just jealous, because no amount of make-up or tight clothes could change the fact that they weren't as pretty as Amelia was without ever trying.
She'd had relationships, but there'd never been the one that would have made her stay on Earth and not seek this wonderful opportunity of living and working in Atlantis.
She would have loved to just take one of those moments and act on them, to close the distance between her and Anne, but the doubt remained that maybe it was just her, that Anne only saw her as a friend. The fact that she never mentioned a past boyfriend or interest in any guy didn't have to mean anything. She knew that Anne was very focused on her career, which could explain it. So she let those moments come and go, hoping that maybe there'd be a more clear sign one day.
"Banks, how would you feel about going on a little mission this afternoon," Colonel Sheppard asked her one day during her shift.
"Sir?"
"Major Teldy's team was scheduled to check the water redistribution maintenance program on P3X-436, but Dr. Porter's grounded with a cold. Major Teldy suggested you could take over."
"I'm not sure I'm qualified..." Amelia said, beginning to feel something in her vibrate with excitement.
"Dr. McKay tells me 'you had better be qualified', so how do you feel about stepping through the gate for once?" he asked with a little smile.
"Uh, yes, sir. I'll get geared up. I mean... should I?" she babbled.
"Major Teldy will take care of you. You'll do fine, Banks," he said reassuringly and Amelia nodded until she suddenly realized that this meant that she was actually going to go through the gate.
Four hours later, she was geared up for her first mission.
"You don't have to change into mission gear," Anne had told her. Then she'd seen Amelia's reaction and added with a smile. "You want to. Then let's find the right size for you."
Amelia's heart was beating like crazy when she entered the gate room.
Chuck had taken over her shift and looked down at her. "Go get them," he said, making a shooting motion with his hand.
"Not funny," she shouted back with a glare, but couldn't help the smile tugging on her lips. Then she felt Anne's hand resting on her arm for a moment.
"Ready?" she asked. Amelia looked at her and nodded.
Mehra and Kendrick went through ahead of her. Then it was her turn. She lifted her hand and placed it onto the event horizon, feeling the energy below her palm. Or it could well just be imagination. She pressed on and let her hand disappear. It was amazing and a bit scary to know that her hand was disintegrated now.
"We only have thirty eight minutes, you know," Chuck said from above, but she ignored him and behind her Anne whispered. "Take your time. There's only one first time."
Amelia turned around to look at her and saw understanding in Anne's eyes, a touch of wistfulness and affection. Amelia pushed her whole arm into the event horizon.
"I'll be right behind you," Anne said.
Amelia took one step.
When she set down her foot again it was on P3X-436 and she felt goosebumps all over her body and slightly weak in the knees. Anne's arm moved around her to steady her.
"All right?" Anne asked.
Amelia only nodded and looked around. On paper, it was a completely boring routine mission. In fact, Mehra made it clear that babysitting the computer maintenance person was not her idea of a fun time. Anne assured her they'd have reason to run for their lives on one of the next missions.
For Amelia it was all new and exciting. She knew what the teams were doing on their missions but to actually be there was different. To see the unfamiliar architecture of the buildings or slightly different vegetation that her friend had told her about was an amazing experience. She took in her surrounding, the people, the smell in the air, and she loved checking out the computer system, getting into the particular code and finding out what was going wrong.
"You can make sense of this?" Anne asked her, looking over her shoulder.
"Of course," Amelia said. "It's quite simple really. You see these are the different modules that are loaded in the main system. Each one has its own functions, which are declared here," she switched to a different screen. "Parameters, return values, additional rules that guide how the function should be performed."
"Simple really," Anne said with a grin.
Amelia flushed. Fixing the program turned out to be rather trivial. Someone had replaced a function with a seemingly equal one, except that one check was missing there, which caused havoc under certain circumstances. After only an hour, they were done and ready to go back.
"Hallelujah," Mehra said unenthusiastically.
Amelia was grinning the whole way back to the gate. She'd gone on a mission. She'd fixed something for their trading partners. People on another planet in another galaxy had thanked her for helping them. It was incredible.
She watched the wormhole form that would take her back to Atlantis. Once again, Mehra and Kendrick went through first. Amelia hesitated and turned to Anne.
"Thank you," she said, trying to put into the words how much it really meant to her.
"You're welcome," Anne said, smiling softly.
It was another one of those moments and this time Amelia thought she was in another galaxy on another planet, ready to let her body disintegrate again to travel through space. After doing that, what was taking a little risk such as leaning forward to the woman you'd grown closer and closer to over the last months?
So she did just that. Anne watched her eyes, then her mouth and didn't pull back, didn't signal that she didn't want this, so Amelia kissed her.
Their lips brushed together and then she felt Anne's hand holding her face and their mouths opened as they deepened the kiss.
"Major?" the walkie talkie blared.
Anne pulled back, smiling ruefully. "We're on our way," she answered. She took Amelia's hand for a second and looked at her and Amelia understood. This was just the beginning.
Amelia squeezed her hand and took the step through the gate back home, knowing that Anne would be right behind her.
Author: velocitygrass
Pairing: Amelia Banks/Anne Teldy
Rating: G
Spoilers: up to Whispers
Word count: 4638
Summary: "My first mission is in two days. I hope you'll be there to send me off." She gave Amelia a quick smile, stood up and left.
Note: Written for monanotlisa as a (very) belated birthday present. This started out as a short pre-slash scene in my head, but then it grew. It was written before "The Prodigal", which unfortunately josses Amelia's characterization quite a bit. Many thanks to neevebrody for the beta!
Amelia and Anne
Amelia loved her job as gate technician. She was at the center of the action, right above the gate, watching teams embark and-hopefully-return. More than her colleagues who spent their time in the labs, she got to watch the teams who went on missions. She witnessed them taking that step into the unknown and even if she never went through herself, she felt the excitement, the hunger for adventure, but also the very real possibility that they might not return.
At her spot, overseeing the gate room, she was at the heart of their operation, while still remaining relatively safe. She could interact with those who made the decisions and those who carried them out. She saw impossible attacks and rescues that threatened and saved all of Atlantis and insignificant little quirks and rituals by the inhabitants of her city. She saw it all.
And yet she was, for the most part, unseen.
She was well aware that those going through the gate didn't give her a second thought when they left or returned, except maybe a vague hope that she was doing her job properly and that they'd see her again. But of course that wasn't about her. It was just the job she was doing. She did it well, but so did everyone on Atlantis, because they couldn't afford anything less. She was the one that pressed the buttons, so that others could do things or decide what to do.
She didn't have a problem with that. She observed the systems, reacted to any irregularities and communicated whatever needed to be to the right person. She was the person that everyone knew but didn't work closely with on a regular basis. She was the one that you exchanged a few words of small talk with, before the mission, though mostly not even that because this was like a central station. Everyone had things to do and places to go. She was just getting you on the ride.
When Major Anne Teldy first showed up in the control room, she went straight to the balcony and looked down at the gate room with a gleam in her eye as if she'd finally arrived at a long sought destination and nothing could stop her now.
She introduced herself to Amelia and told her that she'd be leading a new team.
"When will you go on your first mission?" Amelia asked. She didn't want to miss the gleam in those eyes at that occasion.
"I haven't even chosen my team yet," Anne said with a self-deprecating smile. But then she turned more confident. "But I will." She looked at Amelia, scrutinized her and Amelia felt her throat dry-and possibly her face flush. "And maybe you can help me," Anne finished, after apparently making a decision.
That help entailed having dinner with her.
It wasn't a date. Not that Amelia had thought so. Anne asked her about Atlantis and the teams and Woolsey and Sheppard. She asked and she listened and the next day when Anne had a short list of people for her team, she asked Amelia if she would join her after her shift was over to take a look at it.
Amelia was quick to tell her that she didn't see those people in action on their missions, so she couldn't really tell Anne anything, but Anne disagreed.
"You see," she told Amelia, looking her straight in the eye and once again Amelia found herself flush. "I can read all the mission reports to know what they're capable of in the field. I have. But you can tell me things that aren't in the mission reports."
So Amelia told her that Lieutenant Richter tended to be quiet before they went through the gate, calm, but also a bit removed from his team members. Captain Vega was something of a hot shot. Sergeant Martin was reliable, but couldn't be counted on to come up with his own ideas.
As she talked, she realized why Anne had wanted to talk to her, because watching the teams before they went through the gate and how they came back or checked in, especially when things went wrong, told her a lot about how they handled the stress of the job in general and the dangers of missions gone wrong in particular.
Anne didn't tell her whom she'd chosen for her team or whether Amelia's impressions played a role in her decision, but she sincerely thanked Amelia after their talk. Then she pushed the cupcake she'd gotten along with their coffee toward her. "My first mission is in two days. I hope you'll be there to send me off." She gave Amelia a quick smile, stood up and left.
Amelia watched her go, feeling a little rush. Anne was attractive, yes, but what really got to Amelia was the feeling of being important. Anne had chosen to talk to her because she trusted her judgment at least on some level. And while the others trusted her to do her job, when they looked for answers that went beyond checking the systems, they looked elsewhere. It was a heady feeling. She took the cupcake and made her way to the control room to see if she could change shifts with Chuck the day after tomorrow.
Anne's team wasn't the first that Amelia saw embark on their first mission together. Anne seemed very confident in her choice and her team members were quite relaxed as well. Amelia wouldn't have expected anything less from Vega, who was always eager for action, and nothing could get to Mehra. But even Dr. Porter, who was new on Atlantis as well, didn't seem as nervous as some others on their first mission.
Amelia dialed the gate and watched the spectacular whoosh as the worm hole formed. Woolsey wished the team good luck on their first mission. Anne thanked him and then she looked over to Amelia and gave her a quick smile before stepping through the gate.
It was a routine mission and Anne and her team were back two hours later, safe and sound. Anne looked up at Amelia when she returned. She straightened when she saw Woolsey and the team came up to debrief him. Afterwards, the team was ready to go for lunch together, but Anne let them go ahead to join Amelia for a moment.
Anne opened her mouth, but then hesitated. "You were right about the hot shot. Thanks again." Then she smiled at Amelia and went after her team before Amelia could answer.
Their next mission was the following day. This one was going to be first contact, which was always more exciting and Amelia could see that Anne was a bit more tense, but she still looked up and gave Amelia a little smile.
Anne contacted Atlantis three hours later. The team had found one of Michael's labs. Amelia informed Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard, who had just returned after joining Teyla on a trip to the Athosians. Shortly afterwards Sheppard and Dr. Beckett went through the gate to join Anne's team.
They weren't back by the time Amelia's shift ended. She went to get dinner, but couldn't quite relax afterwards so she went back to the control room. Chuck was more than happy to let her take over again for a while.
It was close to midnight when Colonel Sheppard sent through his IDC. Amelia opened the iris, her throat tight. She saw Sheppard come through, slightly battered, but not seriously injured. Anne followed and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief, but then she saw the rigid look on her face and when Beckett came through with Porter and finally Mehra, Amelia watched in horror as the gate closed behind them.
Sheppard gave some orders to one of the marines guarding the gate. Then he went up the stairs to the control room, Anne closely behind him, while Beckett, Porter and Mehra went off towards the infirmary. Amelia had her hand at her earpiece even before Sheppard asked her to inform Woolsey that they had returned.
"You could join the others in the infirmary, Major," Sheppard told Anne.
"That won't be necessary, sir," she answered. She looked straight ahead, head held up high, jaw clenched.
Amelia felt the urge to go to her and tell her she was sorry, to put a comforting arm around her, to show her support in some way, but even though she'd only met Anne less than a week ago, she knew that such a display wouldn't be wanted now. Not in front of Sheppard and the others. Not when she was going to have to explain how she'd lost a member of her team on her second mission.
Amelia knew that it wasn't her fault. She could read Sheppard quite well by now and if he thought you had done something wrong you'd know it. And the death of anyone under his command was as serious as it got. They didn't say anything more. If Sheppard gave comfort speeches, he didn't do it public.
Woolsey arrived, zipping up the jacket of his uniform as he went. Anne's gaze met Amelia's for a moment as she watched him, but she quickly looked away again as if she didn't want to face her. Amelia didn't know why. This was Atlantis and bad things sometimes just happened.
The debriefing took thirty minutes. Sheppard and Anne went towards the infirmary afterwards. Anne didn't look at her.
Amelia called Chuck so that he could finish off the shift. She hesitated, but then decided to go to the mess in case Anne would show up there. When Amelia arrived, Beckett, Porter and Mehra were just leaving. She sat down at a table near the windows with an orange. She just held it in her hand, wondering if it was silly to wait here for someone who might not even turn up or who might not want her to be around.
Ten minutes later, Anne set down a tray with a few sandwiches in front of her.
"Hey," she said. "Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not," Amelia said.
Anne dug into her first sandwich. Amelia stopped playing with the orange and put it down. "I'm sorry about Captain Vega," she eventually said.
Anne looked at her and nodded in acknowledgement before continuing to eat. Amelia wished she could say more. But the truth was, there were situations in which nothing you said could help. She started peeling the orange and when she was done, she awkwardly offered it to Anne.
Anne looked at her, then the orange, then back at her.
"Or I can just eat it myself," Amelia quickly said, inwardly cursing herself. She pulled back her hand, but Anne's hand shot out and stopped her, fingers around her wrist.
"No," she said. "Thank you."
Amelia wasn't sure if she imagined it, but it felt as if Anne stroked her wrist with her index finger before taking the orange.
Anne ate a slice and then looked at Amelia. "This isn't how I'd pictured my first week would go."
"I don't think anyone's first week here goes as they expect. In my first week we were locked out of the system and Atlantis nearly self-destructed."
"But it didn't," Anne pointed out.
"No, it didn't," Amelia conceded. "But the thing to beat is Colonel Sheppard waking up the Wraith."
"He couldn't have known that," Anne immediately said.
"Of course! I didn't mean... Could you have known what would happen to Captain Vega?"
Anne looked at her, then at the table, before putting another slice of the orange in her mouth.
Amelia suddenly felt incredibly inadequate at trying to comfort her. "Maybe you should talk to someone who has lost a team member," she suggested.
Anne looked up at that. "No," she simply said. Then the ghost of a smile passed over her face. She finished eating and Amelia just watched her, keeping her company.
When Anne was done, she thanked Amelia. The two of them got up and walked together in silence until they came to the point where their ways would part.
"Have you ever wanted to go through the gate?" Anne asked suddenly.
Amelia hesitated only for a moment before truthfully answering, "Yes."
"Once I stepped through the gate for the first time, I couldn't imagine doing anything else," Anne said and that gleam was back in her eyes.
"Then you shouldn't," Amelia said.
"Maybe I'll take you with me some day," Anne said and it was the first time she genuinely smiled since returning from the mission.
"I don't think- It's really just daydreams. I'm very happy with what I'm doing right now," Amelia stumbled out. She'd seen too much to really want to go out there, no matter how much she felt the call.
"Then you should keep doing it. It's nice to come home to a friendly face."
Amelia felt herself flush. "It's nice to... uh... be that face."
Anne looked down the hall, before smiling at Amelia. "Thank you," she said and put a hand lightly on Amelia's arm.
Unfortunately, the hand was gone again too quickly and before Amelia could think of anything to say, Anne had nodded at her and turned towards her quarters.
Amelia watched her until she turned the corner before going to her own quarters. It was very late, but thoughts were running around in her head, of Vega's terrible fate, but mostly Anne. She eventually fell asleep imagining going through the gate with Anne.
Amelia had friends on Atlantis. Her best friend here was a biologist and she often hung out with her fellow gate technicians. But when Anne waved her over to her table at breakfast a few days later, she gladly took her tray there.
"I've been wondering. What do people do for fun on Atlantis?" Anne asked her.
"I guess that depends on what your idea of fun is," Amelia answered.
For starters, Anne's idea of fun turned out to be movie night. Amelia tried not to over think it and kept telling herself that it wasn't a date. But when she sat in the dark and Anne leaned over to whisper a commentary into her ear, it certainly felt like a date.
They were sharing a little bowl of popcorn and Amelia contemplated just how cheesy it would be of her to dip her fingers into the bowl, when Anne's hand was in there as well. In the end, she didn't do it.
When it was over, they walked back towards their quarters, talking about the movie.
"I had a good time. We should do this again," Anne said when they'd reached the point where their ways would part.
"I'd love to," Amelia said.
There was a moment in which they just looked at each other and Amelia felt that this was probably the point where she should say something or maybe just lean in a bit, enough to hint at what she wanted to do, but then a couple of other moviegoers turned the corner.
Anne gave her a quick smile. "Good night then."
"Good night," Amelia said.
Amelia was there when Anne took her new team on their next mission. Captain Vega had been replaced with Lieutenant Kendrick, a young marine who'd previously been guarding the city. For this particular mission, Dr. Zelenka joined the team. Dr. Porter was still on R & R.
Amelia watched Anne talk to Zelenka, who was never happy when he had to go through the gate. But he nodded at Anne and Amelia admired her ability to be so confident and calm after what had happened the last time.
They hadn't talked about it again, after that night in the mess hall. Anne hadn't mentioned it again and Amelia didn't want to bring it up. Which wasn't all that surprising because Atlantis as a whole tended to deal with death by looking forward and making sure that the death wasn't in vain.
Amelia and Anne saw each other frequently. They'd share a meal in the mess or go to one of the social gatherings, movie night mostly, because Amelia didn't like the music they played at what passed as a club on Atlantis. She also was a horrible dancer, but didn't feel it necessary to tell Anne that.
They often just hung out in the city. Amelia had fallen in love with Atlantis before she'd ever set foot on it. When she'd first heard about the Stargate it had seemed like science fiction coming to life, but Atlantis had sounded like a dream.
Of course, her very first week had taught her that the dream could quickly turn into a nightmare and that the city could be dangerous as well as beautiful if you didn't take care of it properly. But she was doing her part in that and when she walked around the halls or went to a balcony overseeing most of the city, she felt at home and almost proprietary.
She didn't think it was quite the same for Anne, but she felt that they could share those moments of tranquility in a life that was often not just hectic but downright threatening.
They talked about life on Atlantis and the Pegasus galaxy and their pasts. For Anne this meant mostly her career. She also mentioned her parents once or twice but nothing beyond that.
"Do you miss Earth?" Amelia asked her one sunny afternoon on a balcony far away from the inhabited parts of the city.
"I miss certain things from Earth," Anne answered.
"Junk food?" Amelia asked, because it was one of the more popular answers.
"Not really. Was never into that. But food, yes. Going shopping for a nice dinner."
"I miss book stores," Amelia said. "I know we have a 'library'," she said, making air quotes. Anne laughed. "But it's not the same."
"It really isn't. I miss the outdoor shooting range," Anne said wistfully.
Amelia raised her eyebrows. "What's the difference to indoor?"
"Longer distances. And nature," she said with a glint in her eyes.
"And that's a good thing?"
"It's challenging," Anne said. "Do you ever practice here on Atlantis?"
Amelia flushed. Like everyone else who came to Atlantis she had undergone some training with firearms. But she didn't carry a sidearm and thankfully never had to use one.
"You should," Anne said. "It could save your life one day." There was a moment of silence, then she said, "I miss swimming pools. We're surrounded by water but I never get to swim."
"It's not that I don't want to practice," Amelia said, not taking the offer to talk about something else. "I just feel... awkward with some marine watching me. I'm an... adequate shot."
"Nobody expects you to be great at it. Nobody's asking us to... calibrate sensors or things like that. We all do our jobs. I could take you out to the shooting range," she suggested. "I won't laugh, I promise," she added with a little smile.
Amelia looked skeptical. "You won't go all drill sergeant on me?"
Anne snorted. "Can you even picture that?"
Amelia thought about it. "Actually, yes."
"Well, I won't."
Anne kept her promise. There was a smile playing on her lips when Amelia loaded the gun a bit awkwardly, but she didn't say anything and let Amelia remember by herself.
After firing her first round, Amelia looked at Anne.
"Adequate," Anne said, but not unkindly. "Can I make some suggestions?"
"I'm here to learn," Amelia said.
Anne gave her a few pointers on what to watch and be aware of and at the end of the lesson, Amelia felt a bit more at ease with the idea of having to use a gun. "I still hope I won't ever have to," she added.
"We all do," Anne said. "But it wasn't bad, was it?"
"No, it wasn't."
It was so good in fact that she told her fellow gate technicians about it, who all-with the exception of one guy-weren't regularly training with sidearms either. She asked Anne if the others could join them the next time and Anne agreed readily although Amelia suspected she might have regretted it when the whole thing turned into a lot of goofing around.
"We take our job more seriously than that," Amelia assured her afterwards.
"I'll just have to hope that we'll never be in a situation where armed gate technicians are all that stands between our destruction and survival."
"It could still turn out okay if surviving didn't actually require using the guns."
They both burst out laughing.
Training at the shooting range became a regular thing, both with and without the other gate technicians, but more than that Amelia and Anne spent a lot of their free time together. They started watching TV shows and movies in one of their rooms and while Amelia loved their growing friendship, she couldn't help recognizing certain moments between them that had a spark of more.
Amelia had always known that she was into women. In high school, the other girls and boys had thought-and occasionally said-that she was frigid or a geek who couldn't get a guy even if she wanted to. It didn't really matter to her, because most of her peers were ignorant and many of the more vicious girls were probably just jealous, because no amount of make-up or tight clothes could change the fact that they weren't as pretty as Amelia was without ever trying.
She'd had relationships, but there'd never been the one that would have made her stay on Earth and not seek this wonderful opportunity of living and working in Atlantis.
She would have loved to just take one of those moments and act on them, to close the distance between her and Anne, but the doubt remained that maybe it was just her, that Anne only saw her as a friend. The fact that she never mentioned a past boyfriend or interest in any guy didn't have to mean anything. She knew that Anne was very focused on her career, which could explain it. So she let those moments come and go, hoping that maybe there'd be a more clear sign one day.
"Banks, how would you feel about going on a little mission this afternoon," Colonel Sheppard asked her one day during her shift.
"Sir?"
"Major Teldy's team was scheduled to check the water redistribution maintenance program on P3X-436, but Dr. Porter's grounded with a cold. Major Teldy suggested you could take over."
"I'm not sure I'm qualified..." Amelia said, beginning to feel something in her vibrate with excitement.
"Dr. McKay tells me 'you had better be qualified', so how do you feel about stepping through the gate for once?" he asked with a little smile.
"Uh, yes, sir. I'll get geared up. I mean... should I?" she babbled.
"Major Teldy will take care of you. You'll do fine, Banks," he said reassuringly and Amelia nodded until she suddenly realized that this meant that she was actually going to go through the gate.
Four hours later, she was geared up for her first mission.
"You don't have to change into mission gear," Anne had told her. Then she'd seen Amelia's reaction and added with a smile. "You want to. Then let's find the right size for you."
Amelia's heart was beating like crazy when she entered the gate room.
Chuck had taken over her shift and looked down at her. "Go get them," he said, making a shooting motion with his hand.
"Not funny," she shouted back with a glare, but couldn't help the smile tugging on her lips. Then she felt Anne's hand resting on her arm for a moment.
"Ready?" she asked. Amelia looked at her and nodded.
Mehra and Kendrick went through ahead of her. Then it was her turn. She lifted her hand and placed it onto the event horizon, feeling the energy below her palm. Or it could well just be imagination. She pressed on and let her hand disappear. It was amazing and a bit scary to know that her hand was disintegrated now.
"We only have thirty eight minutes, you know," Chuck said from above, but she ignored him and behind her Anne whispered. "Take your time. There's only one first time."
Amelia turned around to look at her and saw understanding in Anne's eyes, a touch of wistfulness and affection. Amelia pushed her whole arm into the event horizon.
"I'll be right behind you," Anne said.
Amelia took one step.
When she set down her foot again it was on P3X-436 and she felt goosebumps all over her body and slightly weak in the knees. Anne's arm moved around her to steady her.
"All right?" Anne asked.
Amelia only nodded and looked around. On paper, it was a completely boring routine mission. In fact, Mehra made it clear that babysitting the computer maintenance person was not her idea of a fun time. Anne assured her they'd have reason to run for their lives on one of the next missions.
For Amelia it was all new and exciting. She knew what the teams were doing on their missions but to actually be there was different. To see the unfamiliar architecture of the buildings or slightly different vegetation that her friend had told her about was an amazing experience. She took in her surrounding, the people, the smell in the air, and she loved checking out the computer system, getting into the particular code and finding out what was going wrong.
"You can make sense of this?" Anne asked her, looking over her shoulder.
"Of course," Amelia said. "It's quite simple really. You see these are the different modules that are loaded in the main system. Each one has its own functions, which are declared here," she switched to a different screen. "Parameters, return values, additional rules that guide how the function should be performed."
"Simple really," Anne said with a grin.
Amelia flushed. Fixing the program turned out to be rather trivial. Someone had replaced a function with a seemingly equal one, except that one check was missing there, which caused havoc under certain circumstances. After only an hour, they were done and ready to go back.
"Hallelujah," Mehra said unenthusiastically.
Amelia was grinning the whole way back to the gate. She'd gone on a mission. She'd fixed something for their trading partners. People on another planet in another galaxy had thanked her for helping them. It was incredible.
She watched the wormhole form that would take her back to Atlantis. Once again, Mehra and Kendrick went through first. Amelia hesitated and turned to Anne.
"Thank you," she said, trying to put into the words how much it really meant to her.
"You're welcome," Anne said, smiling softly.
It was another one of those moments and this time Amelia thought she was in another galaxy on another planet, ready to let her body disintegrate again to travel through space. After doing that, what was taking a little risk such as leaning forward to the woman you'd grown closer and closer to over the last months?
So she did just that. Anne watched her eyes, then her mouth and didn't pull back, didn't signal that she didn't want this, so Amelia kissed her.
Their lips brushed together and then she felt Anne's hand holding her face and their mouths opened as they deepened the kiss.
"Major?" the walkie talkie blared.
Anne pulled back, smiling ruefully. "We're on our way," she answered. She took Amelia's hand for a second and looked at her and Amelia understood. This was just the beginning.
Amelia squeezed her hand and took the step through the gate back home, knowing that Anne would be right behind her.