Fic: Heir Apparent, Chapter 4

[melyanna]

The Nobel Suite of the Grand Hotel, where Ellie’s parents were staying, had balconies overlooking the city of Oslo. After two years in Atlantis, it seemed odd to her to step out on a balcony and not find a far more distant horizon. They were not far from the North Sea, but the city smelled of industrialization, not of salt water. The sunrise was beautiful, but it was little like the morning Marcus had taken her up above Atlantis to see the sunlight splashed over the ocean.

She smelled Marcus’ aftershave before he touched her, hands on her shoulders and skimming down to her elbows. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close in the chill of the December morning. He began to kiss her neck softly, and Ellie smiled. “The Secret Service let you in?”

“I think your dad likes me,” he murmured, kissing her at the collarbone before resting his clean-shaven cheek against her neck.

“If you keep that up, he won’t continue to,” she teased. Still, she leaned against him comfortably. He was wearing a charcoal grey sweater that she loved, and had stolen from him more than once.

“Ellie,” her father said from within the room.

She turned out of Marcus’ arms to step inside again. “Yes, Dad?” she said.

“We keep getting calls from people wanting to interview you,” he said, leaning against his cane a little more heavily than usual.

“And you haven’t tried to order the agents to kill them yet?”

“Well, it seems they want to interview you about you, not about me,” he replied. “Shocking, I know, but the press has developed a healthy interest in an oncologist on the Atlantis expedition.”

“They don’t want Doctor Weir?” Ellie asked. “She’s the one who’s always good in front of the cameras.”

“I think her press schedule’s pretty tight.” Jed sat down in a recliner. “I suppose you’ll want someone to call them back and tell them no. Your mother told them not to count on it.”

“Why not?” Marcus asked, behind her.

“Ellie’s never been fond of the press,” her father replied. “None of us have, but she. . .”

“Is knowledgable, articulate, personable,” Marcus filled in. “Ellie, why wouldn’t you want to?”

Ellie looked from Marcus to her father, who was looking at her boyfriend in something akin to awe. She wasn’t entirely certain that was the right interpretation of the look on his face, though. She opened her mouth a few times before she finally said, “I’ve never really considered it.”

“Do the interview,” Marcus replied with a shrug. “Unless it’s. . . I don’t know, Meet the Press or something. Then I wouldn’t do the interview.”

Jed chuckled. “He’s got a point.”

Ellie shook her head. “Why would they want to interview me?”

“Amazing as it may seem, sweetheart,” her father replied, “the press seems to have developed an interest in you that has nothing to do with me or with politics.”

She looked back and forth between the two men uncertainly.

“He’s letting me prep her, right?”

“C. J.,” Charlie said as they walked together into the hotel, “it’s been years since you were press secretary. When do you think you’re going to stop acting like one?”

“Probably when they put me in a box and toss me in the ground,” C. J. replied. “It’s a lot like. . .”

“Riding a bike?”

“Yeah, I was going for something less cliché than that, but then my brain stopped.”

“Like Josh tripping over that cord that ran across the hallway, despite the fact that he did it every day and we mocked him about it all the time?”

“That’s less cliché, but it still makes me feel stupid.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

They stepped into an elevator, and C. J. exhaled as the doors closed. “Someday you’ll have minions who’ll mock you endlessly, and you’ll appreciate how kind and benevolent I was as your dictator.”

“You already gave me a whole staff of minions,” Charlie said. “We spend our time together figuring out how to mock you.”

“Remind me to fire you in the morning.”

“‘Good night, Westley, good work, I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.’”

“What?”

“Man, C. J., you need to take a break and watch movies more often.”

Donna was near the elevator when they reached the floor. “Donna,” C. J. said, “do you know what’s going on with this Ellie thing?”

“You realize I don’t work for any of you anymore, right?” Donna replied, heading down the hall with them.

“I just wondered if maybe Josh-”

“I certainly don’t work for Josh anymore. His children, maybe.” She held out her hands. “C. J., I have no idea what’s going on. As far as I know, the world’s coming to a swift and decisive end.”

“C. J.,” said a voice down the hall. She whirled around to see Doctor Weir coming out of her room. “If you’re going to talk to Ellie about this interview, I’d like to be there for it.”

“Why?” Charlie asked.

The door right next to C. J. swung open suddenly, and she jumped and screamed a little. “C. J.,” Ellie said, stepping out into the hall, “sorry to startle you.”

“I’m getting used to it, unfortunately.”

“I heard a lot of talking. Do you need something?”

Weir came up and said, “Ellie, would you mind if C. J. and I sit down with you before you do this interview?”

“Sure,” Ellie replied. “I was going to ask you two to help me prepare for it, actually.”

“Well,” C. J. said, “that’s that. When’s a good time for you?”

“If you’re both free, I could do it now.”

“Works for me.” C. J. turned to Weir. “You?”

“I’m free.” As the three women walked inside, Elizabeth asked, “Who’s doing this interview anyway?”

“Chris Powers, ABC,” C. J. replied.

“I thought she wrote for Newsweek,” Weir said.

“She got hired by CNN about six months after President Bartlet left office.”

“The things you miss in another galaxy. What’s she doing with ABC now?”

“Heading up their London desk. She came here for the Nobel thing because she covered the Bartlet administration.” C. J. turned her attention to Ellie. “It’s important that you decide what kind of image you want to portray in this interview.”

“Image?” Ellie said.

Sitting down at the room’s small table, Elizabeth said, “There are a lot of different ways you can present yourself in this kind of interview, Ellie. The politician’s daughter, the aunt and sister and daughter far from home, the studious researcher, or even the occasional physician. I suspect you’ll end up with some blend of these.”

“Which would you like to emphasize?” C. J. asked.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Ellie replied. “What would be best for the expedition?”

“We haven’t had to go far for good press since disclosure,” Weir said. “I guess what it comes down to is why you decided to do the interview.” Ellie looked hesitant, and Weir added, “Why did you decide to do this interview?”

“Marcus kind of talked me into it,” she said, looking a little embarrassed about it. “He didn’t understand why Dad assumed I’d turn all the offers down.”

“Well, it is a good opportunity for the expedition,” Elizabeth replied.

“You could do something with your niece Sophie,” C. J. suggested. “It’d be a good ice breaker to start off with you trying to keep in close contact with your family, especially since Zoey was pregnant when you left, and you didn’t get to see the baby until a couple weeks ago.”

Ellie shook her head. “Dad wouldn’t like that.”

“What if you did something with Siah?” Elizabeth said, sitting back in her chair. “You know him pretty well, he isn’t camera-shy, he’s named after your father, and you have a special connection to him.”

“What’s that?” C. J. asked.

“Ellie delivered him,” Elizabeth replied. “It would set a good tone. Better than the tone you’d get with Sophie. With her, you get something of a melancholy look at life in Atlantis, but with Josiah-”

“You get its unpredictability and how it brings new challenges to everyone, in the best possible sense,” C. J. finished.

“Exactly,” said Elizabeth. “Ellie, for a former President’s daughter, you’re a relatively unknown person. Maybe this is the venue for you to change that.”

Ellie shook her head. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Why’d you agree to do the interview?” Elizabeth smiled. “You’re a puzzle, Ellie. You surprise people quite a lot. From what I’ve seen in the last two years, I think it’s a useful trait for you. So do it with this interview.”

“Most of us who covered your father’s administration were surprised when we heard you were going to Atlantis,” Chris was asking, and C. J. reflected that it was rather odd to be there. She hadn’t watched an interview from the sidelines in years.

“Why?” Ellie said.

“It takes you out of the limelight here most of the time, but there have been more pictures of you in the last few weeks than in the eight years your father was in office,” said Chris.

“Atlantis was a tremendous opportunity for me,” Ellie replied. “It’s been an amazing experience, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon. It’s given me - well, it’s given all of us the chance to grow as people and in our careers.”

“Like delivering your boss’s baby?”

Ellie laughed. “Exactly.”

“Well,” said Chris, “as I was saying, there have been a lot of pictures of you here in Norway. I think a lot of people have been intrigued by a man who appears with you in many of them.”

C. J. thought Ellie was actually blushing a little. “My boyfriend,” she explained. “Marcus Lorne.”

While Chris continued asking about Ellie’s boyfriend, C. J. quietly walked over to where President Bartlet was also watching. “She’s doing very well,” she commented.

“Yeah, but what does her dating life have to do with anything?” Jed asked, though he was smiling.

“Doctor Weir thought this might be a good opportunity for Ellie to hone a public image of herself. That’s not something she did while you were in office.”

“I probably would have revoked her tuition if she’d tried,” Jed replied. “Though first I would have had a heart attack at her forwardness.”

“Yes, sir.” C. J. smiled.

“Wait a minute. Elizabeth wanted her to hone a public image?”

“It was her idea,” C. J. said.

“For crying out loud,” he said, “what is that woman doing now?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“She seems to be stirring up her very own press cycle,” C. J. mused.

“Isn’t that the truth,” Jed replied. “The woman’s running for President already.”

“I’m having a hard time imagining her ever declaring what party she belongs to, let alone running for public office.”

“Yeah, Elizabeth Weir’s affiliation with the Democratic party is one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington, but she’s never publicly stated it,” Jed said. “By the time she declares it, she’ll be running the world.”

“Benevolently?”

“Iron fist in a velvet glove, I suspect.”

C. J. smiled again and looked up at Ellie. “She’s doing very well,” she said again.

“She used to be terrified of doing this kind of thing,” Jed remarked.

“Weren’t we all, sir?”

“Yeah, but Ellie was so shy,” he continued. “She hated getting up to give a book report. I think she was sometimes scared of talking to me about school. She’s not easy for anyone to get to know, which may be why I like her boyfriend.”

“Because he was persistent enough to get to know her?” C. J. asked. “If you don’t mind my saying so, sir, I’ve always thought Ellie was an extraordinarily talented and intelligent woman.”

“You don’t have to suck up to me anymore. You know that, right?”

“Yes, sir,” C. J. replied. “That’s how you know I mean it.”

Jed looked up at her, and she was struck suddenly by how much she missed working for this man. She didn’t miss the White House, and she loved the work she was doing, but she missed Jed Bartlet tremendously. He was a good man, and she had no doubt that everyone who had worked with him and for him would agree with her on that.

“She’s changed, C. J.,” he said softly. “The woman of the hour. Her boyfriend didn’t understand why she wouldn’t want to do an interview. I remember when she was little and almost all she wanted to do was read or practice arithmetic. ‘Playing math,’ she called it. She’d play doctor with her dolls as patients. When her friends got into fights, she almost always ended up working it out.”

“So how has she changed?” C. J. asked.

“She’s realized how good she is at all those things,” he explained. “Marcus said she saved Laura Cadman’s life by talking some people out of killing her, when she could have waited for Elizabeth to show up and negotiate the release. Here on Earth she could always hide under her parents’ shadows. She’s come out of her shell, C. J., and become something. . . unexpected.”

“Unwelcome?”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “Something I always hoped she’d find in herself.”

Saturday was the big day, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death and the day which would honor the year’s Nobel laureates. As a result, Ellie Bartlet found herself with hardly a moment to spare from the crack of dawn onward.

She hadn’t gone to Sweden with her parents years before, when her father had been the economics laureate. She’d only been in third grade at the time, and the events in Sweden were far too formal to bring along young children. The Norwegian ceremonies were more relaxed (much to her father’s dismay), but Ellie had a hard time imagining what it would be like to be in Stockholm instead of Oslo on this day. If this was casual, she didn’t want to see formal.

The one major benefit, which had hardly gone unmentioned by any of the women on the trip, was seeing Marcus in uniform all day. He was more decorated than Ellie would have imagined, given that his career was still largely classified. Still, he sat through the ceremony and her father’s lecture better than any of the other people from the expedition, unless she were to start comparing anyone to Elizabeth.

Then, when evening came, the group donned evening wear and headed into the Mirror Room of the hotel, where the banquet in honor of Jed Bartlet was being held. The room glowed, filled with music and color. As Ellie’s parents led their party inside, the guests applauded, and Ellie couldn’t help but smile. She’d hated this kind of pomp when her father was in the White House, but now it was kind of fun.

Her parents went off to sit with the Norwegian royal family, along with Liz and Elizabeth. The rest were ushered over to a large table nearby, and dinner was served. The entree was a French dish involving duck, and the best food Ellie had had in two years. Between courses, she looked around the table and had to smile. Marcus, Kate, and Laura looked so overwhelmed.

“Charlie and I are headed to Mauritania in two weeks,” C. J. said as dessert was served. “We’re scouting locations for a desalinization plant. The drought there in the last couple years has been devastating.”

“You still working for Franklin Hollis?” Ellie asked.

“You mean, is he still giving me obscene amounts of money and letting me fix whatever I think needs fixing?” C. J. asked. “Yeah, it’s a decent enough way to earn a living till Chuckles here finds me a better gig.”

“Well,” said Marcus, “if he ever decides that he wants to set up a charitable foundation to support the impoverished members of the Atlantis expedition. . .”

C. J. just laughed.

“This is really weird, you know?” Marcus said, leaning over to Ellie.

“What’s weird about it?”

He gave her a look. “I shook hands with the King of Norway this afternoon, Ellie,” he said. “And now I’m at a formal dinner with all of these people who could probably get me elected in a heartbeat if they wanted to.”

“They wouldn’t. You’re a Republican.” Ellie smiled and kissed him lightly.

“Care to share with the rest of us, Ellie?” Josh asked somewhat loudly from across the table.

“I’m not kissing you, Josh,” she replied. “Kate, on the other hand. . .”

“Which one?” both Kates asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Well, since Admiral Harper could probably break me in half,” Josh said.

“Plus she’s married,” Donna interjected. “Plus you’re married. To me.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“So, Ellie,” C. J. said, “I didn’t get to hear how you ended up bringing two military officers home with you, or how well that went over.”

“Hey,” said Kate, “what about me?”

“They introduced you as Doctor Heightmeyer,” Donna said. “I think we all kind of assumed that you and Ellie work together.”

“Not really,” Ellie replied. “Kate’s a psychologist.”

“Yes, Mrs. Bartlet and I have already done ten rounds on what constitutes medical treatment,” Kate added merrily.

“There’s what, four hundred people on the expedition these days?” Charlie said. “I think C. J.’s point was you four seem like an unlikely group.”

“Kate was with the original group that set out,” Ellie explained. “Marcus was on the Daedalus when it first came to the Pegasus galaxy, during the siege. Laura joined not long after that. She got to know Kate when she got stuck. . . Actually, I probably can’t tell you that story.”

“Why not?” Ainsley Hayes asked.

“I don’t know what kind of clearance it requires.”

“Hey,” Josh began, “was that the one where she and that guy McKay. . .”

“Yeah,” Marcus said.

Josh snorted. “Man, that was hilarious.”

Laura reached around Kate to smack him. “It was terrifying.”

“Right, so now that we’re all confused,” C. J. prompted. “Except I think I do know what you’re talking about.”

“Anyway,” Ellie said, “Marcus and Kate were seeing each other for a while, so that’s how those three met. I got to Atlantis two years ago, spent my first day and a half in surgery, and these three took pity on me.”

“Lorne already had his eye on her, though,” Laura said.

“I’d throw something at her,” Marcus said, “but that’s actually true.”

“Plus we’re at a banquet hosted by the Norwegian royal family,” Ellie suggested.

“That too.”

This, however, did not stop Laura from getting bored a few minutes later and daring Josh that she could hang her spoon on her nose for ten minutes while continuing to talk. Ellie exchanged a look with Kate Harper, who seemed half-amused, half-horrified. Then two tall figures approached the table from the other side, and Kate smacked Laura hard enough to leave a red mark on Laura’s bare arm. Still, the spoon didn’t fall off. “What are you doing?” Laura demanded, glaring.

The older of the two men stepped up behind Charlie and Zoey and said, “Admiral Harper, it is good to see you again.”

“Your Majesty, it’s good to be here in Norway again,” Kate replied. The younger man was smiling at Laura and shaking his head.

“My son and I came here to be introduced to the rest of President Bartlet’s party, though I do recognize a few faces already,” he explained. “Would you be so kind?”

“Certainly, sir,” she said. “Doctor Eleanor Bartlet, Atlantis expedition; Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Lorne, Atlantis expedition; C. J. Cregg and Charlie Young, Hollis Foundation; Zoey Bartlet Young; Ainsley Hayes, former White House counsel; Donna Moss, chief of staff for First Lady Helen Santos; Josh Lyman, chairman of the Democratic National Committee; Doctor Kate Heightmeyer, Atlantis expedition; and the woman here with the spoon on her nose is Captain Laura Cadman, also of the Atlantis expedition. Ladies and gentlemen, King Harald V, and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.”

“Doctor Weir must work you very hard in the Pegasus galaxy, Captain,” the king said to Laura.

For once in her life she seemed properly subdued. “I apologize, sir,” she said, finally taking the spoon off her nose.

King Harald laughed. “No, no, this event is always too stuffy,” he said.

“It was on a bet,” Laura explained.

“Which she lost,” said Josh.

“Well,” said Prince Haakon, “I came here to ask one of President Bartlet’s guests to join me in the first dance. I would have asked Doctor Weir, but Lord Marbury got to her first.”

“Marbury’s here?” Josh said. “Right, Donna, you’re staying with me or with Charlie the rest of the evening.”

“I can’t help it if Lord Marbury finds me charming,” Donna said.

“When you drink that much, you find everyone charming,” Haakon replied. “And I believe I’ve found my victim for the first dance.”

His gaze fell on Laura, who had to be poked simultaneously by both Kates to get her to look up again. Her eyes widened when she realized what was going on, and he added, “Consider it penance for playing with the silverware.”

“Um, sure,” Laura said. “I mean. . . Yes, your Highness.”

“Royal Highness,” Kate Harper whispered.

“Royal Highness,” Laura corrected.

Still chuckling, the crown prince came around the table and held out his hand. Laura looked vaguely terrified, but took his hand anyway and followed him to the dance floor. While the music started and the couples began to dance, Ellie leaned over to Kate Harper and said, “Think her boyfriend has some competition?”

“He’s married,” Kate replied. “Two kids. Still, he is royalty, and-”

“I certainly wouldn’t kick him out of bed.”

“Ellie!” Marcus said.

“Well, I wouldn’t kick you out of bed either.”

“All of us girls actually came to that consensus a couple days ago,” Ainsley said.

“Okay,” Marcus said, “this is a little weird now.”

“You love the attention and you know it,” Ellie replied.

“Okay,” Josh said, standing up and messing with his bow tie, “I need to play knight in shining armor for a minute.”

“What do you mean?” Donna asked.

“I’m going to rescue Doctor Weir from the clutches of Lord Marbury,” he announced. “And then I’m going to take advantage of that.”

“Take advantage of that?” C. J. repeated. “How?”

“By not letting her avoid the conversation she’s been trying to avoid since she got back from Atlantis.”

As he walked off, Ellie looked at Marcus and remembered their conversation from a few nights before. Suddenly she’d gotten the feeling that Elizabeth Weir’s departure from Atlantis was looming closer than anyone had anticipated.

“So how are things in Atlantis?” Marbury asked Elizabeth as they began to waltz.

”Busy,” Elizabeth said. “Extremely busy.”

“Well, with two children, I would imagine so,” he replied. “And I imagine your husband keeps you busy as well.”

“He does do his part,” she said, smiling. “He’s helpful most of the time.”

“Was there a reason he didn’t come this time?”

Before she could answer, a hand landed on Lord Marbury’s shoulder, and they stopped dancing to see that Josh Lyman had approached them. “Gerald!” Marbury exclaimed. “Though I suppose there’s a new Gerald now, isn’t there?”

“Yes, there is,” Josh replied. Elizabeth smiled to herself, remembering how much Leo had hated that about Marbury. And at least once she’d heard C. J. refer to the ambassador as Little Lord Fauntleroy.

“So what can I do for you, whilst we stand in the way?” Marbury asked.

“Actually, I need to speak with Doctor Weir,” Josh replied. “Something’s come up.”

“I do hope the children are all right,” said the ambassador.

Josh took Elizabeth by the elbow and pulled her aside. “You’re welcome,” he said.

“For what?” she asked, smoothing out the bodice of her gold silk gown.

“Rescuing you from Marbury,” he replied. “Prince Haakon told us he got to you fast.”

“He’s mostly harmless,” Elizabeth said as they walked slowly toward an exit. “Notice how he almost never flirts with single women?”

“And that’s harmless?”

“I don’t think he ever seriously expects a married woman to run off with him,” she replied. “And those are generally the only women he hits on while he’s working.”

“You should talk to Kate Harper about that.”

“I said generally.”

They walked out into a corridor, and Elizabeth’s agent on duty followed them out. “How privately do you want to talk to me, Josh?”

“How privately can we get?”

She looked over her shoulder. “Travis, how much do you trust him?”

“As much as you want me to, ma’am,” the agent replied.

Josh still hadn’t let go of her arm, and a few more feet down the hall, he leaned into a door and pulled her into a room. “Josh,” she said, “this is the women’s restroom.”

“Probably cleaner than the men’s restroom.” Travis stood outside as the door slowly closed. “And we’re not going to be disturbed in here. You’ve been avoiding this since we got on the plane in Boston.”

“Before that, actually,” Elizabeth said, feeling somewhat absurd that a conversation of this magnitude was taking place in a restroom.

“Yes, well, we’re having this conversation now.” He leaned against the counter. “The party needs you, Doctor Weir. The country needs you.”

“As I see it, I’ve been serving the country for the last several years, Josh,” she replied.

“You have,” he said. “You’ve served the country and the international community for your entire adult life. You’ve got a track record no one can complain about.”

“I have no domestic track record to speak of,” Elizabeth countered. “You don’t even know what my positions on the major domestic issues are. I have no legislative history for you to review. I’ve never publicly taken a position on a current issue.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Josh argued. “Do you honestly think anyone can beat the woman who led an expedition into another galaxy?”

“Is that what this is about?” she asked. “Am I the sure bet? This is why I was avoiding this conversation with you, by the way.”

“Why?”

“Because you have a reputation of being soulless when it comes to campaigning.”

“I got the first minority President elected,” he said. “You don’t want to be the first woman to sit in that chair?”

“I don’t want to be a statistic, Josh,” she said. “Win or lose, I don’t want to be a novelty candidate. If I run, it’ll be because of the things I believe in.”

“Wow, this is all déjà-vu,” Josh mumbled.

“From what I’ve seen so far, you’re not interested in me as a President,” Elizabeth replied. “You’re interested in me as a candidate. We’re not talking about theory, Josh. We’re talking about sixteen years of Democratic legacy and how you want to keep that going. Have you honestly asked yourself if I’m the person to do that?”

Josh stood there for a moment, staring at his shoes. “The day after I left the White House for good,” he said, “I headed up to New Hampshire to speak with President Bartlet. He’s the only person I know who knows you well. I asked him what he thought about the idea of you as President. He asked me why it took me so long to think of it.”

“Josh. . .”

“You’re a Democrat, Doctor Weir. You’re the daughter of a highly respected and highly effective Cabinet member,” he continued, looking up. “You had your fingers in at least a dozen major treaties before you hit thirty-five. You’ve got a track record on foreign policy that anyone would envy. You can’t be tagged as weak on security. You have name recognition. You speak with authority. When you talk, people listen.”

Elizabeth inhaled slowly. Josh had certainly thought this through, which was what she’d wanted to know. “President Bartlet made me promise him something,” she said. “He made me promise that I wouldn’t commit to anything without talking to my husband first.”

“But you’ll think about it?” Josh asked, sounding relieved. Then his mouth fell open a little. “You started setting it up already with that piece in the Post. You weren’t just trying to stir up a debate. You were keeping your name out there.”

“You’re not the only politician in the room, Josh,” Elizabeth replied with a small smile.

“So you’re keeping your options open?” he said. “Not committing to anything now, but not saying no either?”

“Let’s just say we’ll revisit this when the time is right,” Elizabeth said. “And now, I think our absence has become conspicuous.”

She headed toward the door. “Doctor,” Josh said, and she looked over her shoulder. “You wouldn’t be the novelty candidate. Yes, you’d be the first woman to win the nomination and the first to take the oath, but novelties don’t get that far. You will. You’re the real thing.”

Silently, she nodded and left.

Laura came back to the table after the first dance was over, flopping into her chair gracelessly and reaching for her wine glass. “Haven’t you had enough to drink already, Captain?” Kate Harper asked.

“Not nearly enough, ma’am,” Laura replied.

“‘You meet your prince,’” C. J. began to sing, “‘a charming prince, as charming as a prince could ever be. . .’”

“Someone hit her,” Laura said.

Marcus moved to smack C. J., but the woman glared at him. “You’re going to hit one of the most powerful women in the world?”

“It wasn’t that bad, Laura,” Ellie said. “And it’s not like the man isn’t attractive.”

“Not a bad dancer, either,” Kate Heightmeyer added.

“I’ve known you for what, six or seven years now?” Marcus said. “I’ve never seen you embarrassed before now.”

Laura stuck her tongue out and downed the rest of her wine.

“Where did Josh go?” Zoey asked.

“Oh, who knows,” Donna replied. “He’s been trying to talk with Doctor Weir since she got back to Earth. There’s no telling how long this is going to take.”

“Well,” Marcus said, standing, “I’m going to dance with my girlfriend, if the rest of you don’t mind.”

Ellie looked up at him, one brow raised. “What if I mind?”

“I’m making sure that ambassador keeps his hands off you,” he said, low in her ear.

She rolled her eyes, but took his hand when he offered it.

“You should wear this color more often,” he said when they reached the dance floor.

“Any color at all would be good,” she said. “I get so tired of wearing those white shirts all the time.”

“True, but this pink is nice. Soft.”

Ellie smiled. “So where’d you learn how to dance?”

“My sister made me,” he replied. “She was a freshman in high school. I was in seventh grade. She threatened; I heeded.”

“Sisters are good for that,” Ellie said. “When Liz was dating her ex, she made Zoey learn to play baseball because that was Doug’s big thing. Never mind the fact that Zoey was maybe five years old and couldn’t hit a ball to save her life.”

“How’d the interview go yesterday?” he asked. “Didn’t get to ask you before.”

“It was fine,” she replied. “Chris asked a lot about you, actually. I’m glad I did it, though. Doctor Weir’s right. I think it’s good for someone other than her to be talking about the expedition. Humanizes it.”

“And you’re a known quantity,” he said. “Plus Doctor Weir trusts you.”

“Elizabeth trusts everyone on the expedition,” Ellie said.

“She’d trust anyone on the expedition with her life,” Marcus replied as the music came to a close. “She’d trust most of them with her children. I don’t think there are that many she’d trust with the press.”

Ellie smiled just a little. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

They headed off the floor, and Marcus squeezed her hand. “I’m not sure either.”

Elizabeth left the party for good before it was actually over. There were more activities scheduled for the following day, and she needed to make sure her children got some sleep. Deanna Young was taking care of all five children on the trip during the functions where it wasn’t appropriate to bring young children along, and Elizabeth was surprised by how quiet the room was when Deanna let her in.

“You got them all to sleep?” Elizabeth asked, stepping inside.

“They’d worn themselves out during the day, I think,” Deanna explained. “Your two were the first to get to sleep.”

“Well, thank you again for doing this,” Elizabeth said. “I’m sure you probably would have preferred to have gone to the ceremonies and the parties and all.”

Deanna shrugged. “It’s what I signed up for. Except it was just going to be my niece.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Five is certainly more challenging than one.”

She walked up to one of the beds where the children were asleep and touched Peter’s face. He woke with a start and opened his eyes. “Mommy,” he said sleepily, “you look very pretty.”

“Thank you, Peter,” she said. “We’re going back to our room now. Can you walk with me?”

He rolled over to the edge and slid off, landing on his feet. In the meantime, Elizabeth lifted Siah from the bed. He stirred, pressed his forehead against her neck, and stuck his thumb in his mouth. “Time to go,” she whispered. “Thanks again, Deanna.”

“You’re welcome.”

They left the room quietly, Peter walking by Elizabeth’s side down the hall. She unlocked the door and let Peter go in ahead of her. He walked up to the bed and laid his head down on the comforter. Elizabeth smiled. He was just a little too short to get up on the bed without help.

She laid Josiah down and helped Peter up before heading to the bathroom to get out of her ball gown. She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when there was a soft knock on the door. On the other side was Travis Keller, who held out a file. “This just came for you, ma’am,” he said. “Report from Atlantis.”

Taking her toothbrush out of her mouth, she took the folder and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.”

Shutting the door, she went back into the bathroom to finish up in there before heading into the bedroom to read the report. There was nothing of vital importance in it, which was why Atlantis hadn’t made an unscheduled contact with Earth. There were reports and statistics and a ton of minutiae, the kinds of things that her subordinates were sure to give her ample details on when she got back. Their reports tended to be less than complete anyway.

But at the bottom of the file was a note from John.

Elizabeth, it read, I’ve been thinking about what you mentioned before you left. I think I understand where everyone’s coming from in this, but I’m not ready to make that decision yet. I’m not sure I’m ready to give up everything here in Atlantis. If we leave this place, I don’t want it to be because some politicians thought you ought to run for office. I want it to be for our own reasons. But the bottom line is, I need more time.

Tell the boys I say hello, and that I love them. I love you too.

John

“Mommy,” Peter said once she’d finished reading.

“Peter, you need to go to sleep,” Elizabeth replied, coming over to the bed.

“I miss Daddy,” he said.

She reached over Siah to touch Peter’s cheek. “I know,” she said, lying down. “I miss Daddy too.”

“Can we go home soon?”

Elizabeth thought about eighteen days on board the Daedalus with Peter and Siah, already going a little stir-crazy. But at least on the Daedalus, there would be light at the end of the tunnel. And eighteen days, if nothing else, might give her time to think about what was coming in her future.

After Atlantis.

One chapter to go. Thanks for reading. :)