Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Elizabeth/Ronon
Word Count: 958
Spoilers: None
Summary: To fall or fly? One day her steadfast grip on reality would break and she would fall and shatter. Future.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, they don't belong to me...
Author's Notes: Written for prompt #30 - fall, at 100situations on LJ..
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"To fall or fly?" She asked herself. The tallest tower in the city – she stood surveying her kingdom. Her upper body leant precariously over the railings. For years the feeling of falling haunted her dreams, and for years she felt a sense that falling would become part of her life, in one way or another. One day her steadfast grip on reality would break and she would fall and shatter.
And yet every time she felt herself shattering, and she felt that this time she was broken beyond repair, somehow she would always manage to glue herself back together again.
Nine years ago what she was about to do would never have crossed her mind.
She reached down beside her and picked up the small vase that she had placed there. The ceramic jar felt heavy within her firm grip.
After three years in residency on Atlantis, certain aspects in her life had changed. They became stranded.
Suddenly it wasn't about discovery, or the greatest adventure to befall the men and women of Earth, but pure basic human survival.
Lifting the lid from the pot she ran her fingertips over the names she had had engraved. For six years, this one vase had carried the ashes of everyone she had lost. She tipped the contents gently over the ocean, watching the ashes fly away in the breeze.
"Fall or fly." She repeated. She closed the lid on the now empty urn and placed it back on the floor beside her. Her hand snaked up to the necklace she wore; she turned the many charms around in her fingers. Gifts from him, trinkets he brought back from the planets he visited.
It was said that it had all started with dust. And these men and women, well they've all come full circle. She'd never believed in any kind of life after death before she'd encountered the United States most secret program, but then she had learnt of her own naivety. She hoped that her people, those that inhabited the city of the Ancestors, lived on even after death.
The sky began to darken as she pondered her thoughts. She barely noticed the doors opening and admitting another person, even though she knew he would come. She didn't turn.
"I thought you'd be out here." He said gently, coming to stand next to her, leaning on the railings. She grasped one particular charm that hung around her neck, the very first she'd been given.
"I came to say goodbye. And to let her rest with the city she fought so hard to protect." She replied. Letting go of her necklace, her hand came to rest beside his on the railings.
"You know, there's something about you, Elizabeth," he murmured. She turned to face him, a smile tugging at her mouth, trying to grace her face. "You care about every person who resides on this city – both those of Earth and those of Pegasus. You have given so many people hope and faith."
"You tell me that every time you meet me out here." She smiled for a mere moment, "every time someone…" she trailed off, looking back to the horizon, watching the sun disappear as darkness engulfed the ocean. "And as always, I tell you that without me they'd still be hope and faith. Because as long as this city stands there will be people within it ready to fight."
"And we will always be ready, Elizabeth." He replied, bringing his hand down upon hers. He turned her small hand over within his larger grasp, and dropped yet another charm on her palm. It had become a regular occurrence that every time they met on this particular balcony in this particular situation he would give her a gift, something he'd brought back for her from the many worlds he'd been.
"And if we fall?" She asked after a few seconds, her eyes flickering over his features.
"We won't." He squeezed her hand before slipping it from hers and making his way to the door.
"Ronon…" Elizabeth whispered, ducking her head. Never before had she spoken after that. "Will you stay?" She glanced up at him briefly, her eyes shining. He nodded and came back to her. She reached up and undid her necklace, slipping yet another charm upon it's chain. He slid his hands around underneath her hair and fastened it for her.
After six years doing this alone, she felt she needed to share it with someone. Sure, everyone knew what she did, but no one had ever been with her when she had done it before. She drew the Verey from its holster on her thigh and loaded it with one shot. She felt him close behind her, his body pressing up against hers, his hand resting softly on her hip. Elizabeth leant back into his touch and brought the gun up to aim at the night sky. Ronon watched as he witnessed on of her most private moments.
She fired and the flare flew into the sky, lighting the dark night up with a streak of sharp red. They watched the light until it could no longer be seen.
The flare flew into the sky, lighting the dark night up with a streak of red. She watched the light until it could no longer be seen.
She felt his other arm sneak over her shoulder and down her arm, his fingertips brushing over bracelets, and then her hand that still gripped the weapon. His hand followed hers as she returned the gun to its holster. They watched the night for a while longer before Ronon spoke, his arms holding her tighter as he did.
"You send every soul into the ocean below. Don't let yourself follow them."