Spoilers: 38 Minutes

Author Note: This is a follow up piece to the episode "38 Minutes." Apologies if this is rusty and for the shortness of it but as I have not written anything in several years, I'm just happy my muse decided to come out of hiding for a brief time.

"Water. Give me the water. "

Lieutenant Ford's words echoed through Elizabeth Weirs headset. Holding her breath she waited to find out if the alien creature attached to Major John Sheppard's neck would be affected by the liquid.

The agonizing screams that emitted next nearly drove her to her knees. Suddenly the scene shifted to the jumper bay. Jolts from a defibrillator ravaged Sheppard's body. After several attempts, Doctor Carson Beckett shook his head, slowly standing. "Nothing," he sighed. Turning to look at Elizabeth, he added, "You've drained him".

"NO! JOHN!" She screamed lurching upright in the darkness. Frantic eyes searched the room, the echoes of her screams still resounded in the shadows.

Realizing she was in her quarters, Elizabeth whimpered and curled into a ball. Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to convince herself that it wasn't real.

At least this time, it wasn't real.

Earlier in the day, it had been. Earlier she had heard and seen similar events. Events that would be forever etched in her memory and in the fractures of her heart.

Sitting back up, she ran a shaky hand over her damp features. The night air caused a shiver to run through her small frame. Rising she pulled off her damp top and slipped into dry clothes.

Wrapping her arms around herself she tried to warm her body by pacing around the room. The chill would not loosen its grip on her soul. It had nothing to do with the environment. It had everything to do with the screams she could not silence in her mind.

Intellectually she knew he was recovering from his ordeal. She had seen him in the infirmary earlier. She had spoken to him, and more importantly, he had talked to her. Still, the raging fear would not ease and part of her believed that he was gone.

The life had been sucked out of him. Drop by painful drop.

The thought propelled her towards the door, her hand frantically sweeping over the controls to open it.

Slipping into the infirmary, Elizabeth eased herself beside the bed. She tried to convince herself that she just needed to make sure he was okay. She just needed a little more time with him.

Holding her breath, she scanned his features. Creases on his forehead and lines beside his mouth told her he was not resting peacefully. The large white bandage on his neck seemed to shine brightly in the dim lighting. It mesmerized and horrified her at the same time.

It was a symbol of his survival and of his torture. Of his dedication and his endurance.

Watching the slow rise and fall of his chest, she felt his presence seep Into her, filling an empty void she was not aware was there. It satiated a need, quieting the noise in her head, and soothing her being. As his essence surrounded and filled her, the screams slowly began to ebb into the distance.

In their place came a realization that she was no different than the alien creature that had fed off of him. That being needed him to survive, just as she needed him. He was as essential to her well being as the air she breathed.

He completed her. And it scared her.

How long before another "today" happened - another day when he touched death? How many times could he win against it? How many times would she be the instrument that placed him at death's door, delivering him into a hell he will be unable to escape?

One that she would not be able to escape either.

Tears sprung into her eyes and sobs strangled her throat at the acceptance of their fate. Burying her face into her hands, she tried to keep the sorrow weighing on her in so that it would not seep out and wake him.

Strong hands wrapped around her wrists and gently pulled. "Come here," John said softly, drawing her onto the bed and onto his body.

"No," Elizabeth whispered huskily, shaking her head as her body obeyed his pull. "I take too much," she added, a tear trickling down her cheek.

Searching her haunted features with his eyes, his thumb wiped her wet cheeks, before his lips caressed hers. "You take nothing I am not willing to freely give you," he breathed before wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Burying his face into her neck, he completed the attachment to her soul and fed.

May 2014