It was supposed to be a normal day. Just like any other day - but it wasn't. His life was never normal.

But who wanted normal anymore, when you could have extraordinary. Adventurous, yet deadly. Who needed normal when you could have spontaneous?

Any other day and he would welcome adventurous, but today ... today needed to be normal. Because if it wasn't, then he was either going crazy or ... no, hallucinating is still borderline crazy. At least that's how Rodney had so clearly outlined it for him.

"You're seeing things?" Rodney looked at him with a bit of concern splashed about his face. "What sort of things?" His emphasis clearly on things.

"I told you, I'm not sure. At first ... but it couldn't have been. She ... no." He glanced back toward the scientist who had become like a brother to him. Utter confusion was his basic expression. The look of 'you're crazy' was clearly what Rodney had to be thinking.

"So what you mean is you're hallucinating." Both of his eyebrows choosing at that moment to rise in concern.

"Never mind."

That's how he had left. Now he was standing back in that same room. Faced with the same problem.

What if Rodney was right? What if he was losing it? I'm mean, what did he think he would find coming back here? Carson had said that he wasn't getting enough rest. Maybe his sleep deprivation was finally getting to him.

"Excuse me," And there it was. He turned around only to be greeted by the young girl he had seen before. She looked like she was seventeen or eighteen. Which shocked him because there were no personnel on Atlantis that young. "What are you doing here? This is a restricted area."

"What am I doing here?" He should ask her the same thing. "What about you, like you said this is a restricted area? What are you, like seventeen?"

"Eighteen. And why I'm here is irrelevant. The more important question is why you're here. I told you earlier that this area was restricted to anyone outside of ... no." She stuttered. A look of confusion graced her face. "I shouldn't have to repeat myself. You heard me the first time."

She turned to leave, but he wasn't going to let her off that easily. Not again anyways. It was just over two hours ago that they had had this same conversation. The reason he had gone to Rodney. Now he knew he wasn't crazy. Because here she was again trying to elude him. Who was this girl?

"Now hold on just one minute." He reached for his radio to ask Elizabeth if she knew anything about this person. "Elizabeth, this is Sheppard."

"Yes, John?"

"I'm down at the north pier over by the science labs we haven't fully scanned yet. Is this section cleared at all?"

"I haven't authorized that, no. Why, what's going on?"

"There's a girl wondering around down here. Says I need to leave because this area's restricted."

"What?"

"That's what I said."

"She shouldn't even be down there. John, what's her name?"

He hadn't asked her that. "One sec let me ask ..." But she wasn't there anymore. He had looked down at the ground for one second and now she was gone. "Elizabeth, scan the area for life signs. I lost her."


Elizabeth rushed over to the control room. This didn't sound good. If Athosian children or expedition personnel were wondering around areas of the city that hadn't been explored yet ... well, who knows what could happen.

"Rodney, scan the city for life signs. Specifically the north pier."

"Got it."

That was strange. John was the only one appearing in that section of the city. This incident only strengthened her concern for John.

She was beginning to worry about him. Rodney had mentioned to her earlier that Sheppard had gone off about how he thought he might be seeing things. Which wasn't a good sign from any stand point, but since John was her ranking military officer that served as a problem. She couldn't afford it if he started hallucinating out on the field. Someone could get hurt.

More importantly she was worried about him as a person- as someone she cared about as more than just her friend.

"John, you're the only one over there, which doesn't make any sense."

"What? No ... are you sure. She just ran off. Are there any transporters near by ... maybe she ..."

"No, the only one is back toward the center of the city. She couldn't have gotten that far. John ... did you get her name?"

He let out a deep sigh. "No." He let out a deep sigh. It was moments just like this that he was sure there was some huge conspiracy against him. Make Sheppard look crazy. He never should have been trusted with this position anyways. Yup. Had to be a conspiracy. "I'm heading back."


"What was that all about?" Rodney was a little confused. The conversation between Weir and Sheppard was a little weird. What girl? Oh no. That girl. His head dropped. That could only mean one thing.
His long walk back to her office gave him time to think about what had just happened. For the second time that day this mysterious girl had managed to disappear. To where he wasn't sure. She had just ... for lack of a better word. Vanished.

He rounded the corner coming to a halt as he approached the archway right before the gate room. There gathered at the top of the stairs were three doctors that he didn't really want to talk to right now. Doctors Carson, McKay and Weir.

Back tracking he made his way toward his room. He definitely didn't need all three of them telling him how worried they were or looking at him the way Rodney had earlier. He just didn't want to deal with that right now. Especially since he had enough stuff to think about at the moment.


"Let him go," Rodney was just about to run after John when he saw him retrace his steps back toward the personnel living quarters. "Maybe he just needs some time."

"But Elizabeth ..."

"Rodney leave it alone. We can't back him into a corner. You know how he is with situations like that. He'll deny it until we give up."

"Fine, but what if ..."

"He'll be fine." Elizabeth left both of the doctors standing quietly with looks of concern painted across their faces. An expression that seemed to be permanently residing there these past few days.


"Useless."

"What?"

"That's how I feel. He helps me out all the time and I can't even ... I looked at him like he was insane, Carson! That's not what I should've done. I should have ..."

"Rodney, this isn't your fault. We've all been under a lot of stress as of late." He could tell that coming up with excuses wasn't helping Rodney any. "You're not useless, lad. None of us are."

Carson left shortly after he was called away to the infirmary. According to the nurse, someone had gotten fed up with Kavaghna's nagging and decided to silence him with their fist. Now Kavaghna was in the infirmary demanding that Carson give him something for the pain and then contact Dr. Weir so that something could be done about the lieutenant who had assaulted him.

Rodney laughed to himself. He could see it now. Elizabeth sitting in her office. The lieutenant who had hit Kavaghna standing as stiff as a board just inside the door. Then to his surprise Elizabeth gets up, a huge smile plastered to her face, and shakes the lieutenant's hand. 'Everyone wishes it had been their fist that had connected with his jaw. Well done. What did he do again that made you do that? His version was over exaggerated a little.'

Okay so maybe Elizabeth might not have said those words exactly, but John surely would have shaken the young man's hand.

Heck, he would've loved to be the one to have his fist connect with Kavaghna's face. It would have been a moment of glory.

But back to the reason he was standing where he was.

Carson was right. He wasn't useless. He was going to do something to help John. He just wasn't quite sure what that something was.


She was leaned up against the frame of his door. Her head tilted to the side. It was now or never. She hadn't walked down here to just stare at Atlantis's frame work. She had come to talk to him. Even though right now, all she wanted was to crawl back to her room defeated. It was hard for her to see him so upset. But this is what she needed to do – wanted to do.

So she raised her hand and knocked. "John?"

No answer.

"John, can we talk?"

He really didn't want to talk right now, but since it was her he didn't really mind that much. She was the only person that was ever able to comfort him anyways.

"John, please. I just want ..."

The door swooshed open. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Are you ..."

"Elizabeth, please don' ask me if I'm okay." He walked back into his room, flopping onto his bed face down.

"I'm just worried." The door closed behind her. "I don't like seeing you like this."

"Like this?"

"Yes, like this." She said spreading her arms out to suggest his current state of woes me.

"I have a right." His voice muffled by the goose down sheets that he had shipped from Earth. It was a special request.

Who was he kidding? He won a bet. And someone was short a goose down blanket in the science department. Cough. Rodney.

"That's what you always say." It came out as a whine. The words escaped her lips before she could really think about what she was saying.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Playfully said of course.

She reddened. Aw crap. Nice choice of words for a diplomat. "Um ... nothing." Now she looked scared, but a good sort of scared as weird or bizarre as that sounded.

"Oh, really. Because I do believe you were insinuating that I complain a lot." He was now sitting up, staring into her autumn eyes.

"Insinuating. Wow, Colonel, I'm impressed. You learned a big word this week."

"Oh, is that what you think." She never even had a chance. No sooner had the words left his lips he reached out and grabbed her around the waist playfully. Tossing her onto the bed, he kneeled on top of her making it so she couldn't escape.

"John, think about what you're going to do for a minute."

"Oh, believe me I have." A devilish grin appeared on his face.

"John, please ... I'm begging you. You know how much I hate it when you ..."

"When I do this?"

And with that he commenced operation tickle Elizabeth.

So? What do you think? Should I continue? Do you want to know what is happening to John? Review and you'll get a present.