"Alien"

Written By – Eri13, SEW Crew Member

John strolled into the semi-lit room, a couple of beers in hand. Given the strict nature of the expedition, they were as close to liquid gold as one could get out in the Pegasus.

McKay turned as he entered, raising a hand expectantly.

John tossed him an incredulous stare. "Can I help you?"

"What?"

"These," he swirled the two bottlenecks, "are for me. You want, you get your own."

"Come on...Renee won't let me have any more, I used up my quota last week during the Mensa meeting."

"You drink beer during Mensa?"

"A bunch of extremely intelligent individuals parsing equations and formulas? What do you think we'd be drinking?"

John grinned. "Maybe I do need to join." He edged away as Rodney reached for the bottle. "And that's still a no...smart guy."

Ronon strolled in, his own form of alcohol in hand. If that's what it could be called. John had tried it once and it had been enough to convince him not to try it again. Pegasus galaxy residents apparently had much stronger systems than those from the Milky Way.

"So what are we watching, Sheppard?" the Satedan asked as he plopped down on the far end of the couch. "Not another of those Ring movies, is it?"

"Nope," John replied, ignoring the glares from Rodney and his fellow fantasy-film buffs. "An oldie but a goodie--Alien."

"Alien? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how irresponsibly bad the science is going to be in that movie? It's..."

"Look, no complaints, alright? If we can sit through three hours of elves and fairies being 'real', you can sit through two hours of bad science. Apparently it's got things popping out of guy's stomachs and Sigourney Weaver in her underwear."

"What's got Sigourney Weaver in her underwear?"

John jumped, nearly spilling the bottleneck of his beer across Rodney's lap. Elizabeth Weir had walked into the room, dressed casually in a t-shirt and sweatpants. "Elizabeth? What are you doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow at his tone. "It is 'movie night' isn't it? I know I don't get to come very often, but..."

"No, no! Of course you can...come. But..."

She took two steps towards the couch, stopping at his hesitation. "But?"

"Well...we're watching a...horror flick."

"Which one?"

"Alien." Ronon replied, looking unconcerned at either the movie choice or Elizabeth's presence.

Elizabeth grinned. "Isn't that kind of ironic, coming from you?"

"Actually, technically it would be kind of ironic coming from us." said Zelenka, slipping his nightcap quickly off his head and hiding it. "Or, perhaps both ways."

She stared at him for a moment, her grin fading slightly. "Right. Well, as it so happens, I like horror flicks."

"This one's particularly gruesome," John skirted over as she slid down next to him on the overstuffed love seat. "Lots of blood."

"Really? And do things jump out at you after moments of heart-pounding suspense? And rip characters apart?"

"Yeah, that too."

"Then it sounds like a horror-flick," she returned, snatching one of the beers out of his hand. He frowned, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm just warning you. You may have nightmares."

"Nightmares? You're joking, right?" Elizabeth settled back, taking a quick look around the room, the beer bottle poised to her lips. She'd almost tipped it back when she stopped. "Wait a minute...this isn't a 'guys' night thing, is it? I know I haven't been here in a while, but I still assumed...I can leave."

The entire group of guys shook their heads eagerly, with a chorus of resounding 'of course nots' and 'no, Doctor Weir's'. She settled back, nodding at them, as John flipped on the DVD player.

As the lights dimmed she leaned in closer to John, whispering. "This really was a guys' night thing, wasn't it?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Not really. It's just gotten to be the norm, with, you know, all of us. You're more than welcome. But you don't have to put on the routine of being brave. Just...try not to cling too hard at my arm during the scary parts. I'll need to use it later on."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied, throwing him a flat look.

"I am NEVER eating again," Rodney groaned as the credits rolled. "You want to know why we don't watch horror flicks? Because it's too much like real life. You want to be scared stiffless by human-munching aliens? Go visit a Wraith-controlled world. Next week, we're watching Eragon."

"I'll volunteer to be on that Wraith-controlled world, in that case," Major Lorne snorted.

"My question is--where are their weapons?" Ronon replied, looking bored. "If there are things like that out there, why do those people always have ineffective weapons?"

Elizabeth grinned, stretching one arm. "I think it's because if they didn't, it wouldn't be much of a movie, Ronon."

"Still seems stupid."

"Maybe. But then, it wouldn't be very scary. Right, Colonel?"

John nodded, swallowing. "Right. You weren't scared, were you?"

"Me? No! I thought it was exciting. What about you?"

"I'm...fine."

"Well, I'm going to have nightmares for a week. Of food eating me." Rodney hugged his pillow. "I'm going to have to take a look at that physics lab one more time. It'll take my mind off my stomach. Or what might pop out of my stomach."

Elizabeth laughed softly as he left, watching as the rest of the crew made their way towards the door. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're alright?"

He glanced at her. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well," she replied, her eyes sparking. "I was just wondering if I could have my arm back now. You've been clinging to it for the last hour...and I'll think I'll need it, you know, later on."