The missing music

Spoilers: None

Pairings: John/Elizabeth

On the way to a mission debrief Dr Elizabeth Weir and Colonel John Sheppard stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed John absently began to hum.

"Do you have to do that every time we ride an elevator?" Elizabeth sighed.

"It's the little things you miss out here in the Pegasus galaxy" he shrugged.

After giving him a long suffering look she returned to reading the latest mission report.

Abruptly, the car stopped and the lights went out. Elizabeth was thrown sideways, tumbling into John. Righting herself she quickly tapped her ear piece. "Weir to the control room. What's going on?"

There was silence; the absence of static told her the line was dead. The emergency lighting clicked on but the car was still very dim.

"Don't these things have beaming technology?" she asked.

John waved his hand across the dead console. "Usually, but even if this was working I'm not sure it works between stops."

"So we're stuck?"

"At least for now. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long for Rodney to fix."

"Well aren't you the optimist today? That is assuming they even realise there's a problem."

Picking her papers back off the floor she realised the lights were too dim to read. 'Great! Now what?' she thought looking across at John.

As if reading her thoughts he smirked at her. "You know, there is kind of a tradition for when two people get stuck in an elevator together." Still smiling he absently licked his lips.

Awkward now she wondered if she should play dumb but decided given his persistent nature, she'd only be buying herself time. "Isn't that the one that usually has an embarrassing ending?" she enquired.

"Sometimes" He stepped closer.

"John" she warned

"I'm not doing anything" he replied innocently.

He took another step closer and in the small car she realised she was backed against the wall. His eyes bore into hers and there was no mistaking what he wanted.

"John" she tried again, only this time her mouth had gone dry. Her hoarse whisper caught in her throat as her heart thudded in her chest. So many times she had thought about such a situation but she knew it would only cause trouble. As much as she wanted to kiss him right now, it would be hard to end it there. 'No such thing as an innocent kiss' she thought. She wanted more than that and it just couldn't happen while so many people were her responsibility.

Slowly he leaned closer; she could feel his breath on her lips. 'No!' she thought but her eyes were sliding shut.

Their lips met and she melted against him. His tongue parted her lips and their kiss deepened as she reached up to pull him closer. She ached with desire as finally John Sheppard was in her arms. Pressed hard against the wall their passion unleashed she felt as if she were drowning.

Suddenly the wall was no longer there. They fell to the floor and she cried out in surprise. She sat up blinking in the bright light and instantly recognised the deck of the Deadalus.

"Well erm, that was unexpected" said John sitting up beside her. She shot him an 'I told you so' look before turning her attention to Colonel Caldwell. Hardly able to look him in the eye, she was at a total loss for words. Although their relationship had improved over time Elizabeth was still painfully aware that she had cost Caldwell his promotion by favouring John. With what he had just seen he now had all the ammunition he would need to get rid of her and John and probably take over Atlantis.

Slowly a smile spread across his face. "Relax doctor, I managed to miss your last kiss off of my mission report, I'm sure I can do the same with my mission log"

"Stephen, I…"

"Just, you know, to set the record straight, are you two actually dating?"

"No!" she replied

"Yes" said John just as forcefully.

They looked at each other exchanging pages of subtext; "we're thinking about it" she amended diplomatically.

"So you're not in a relationship now but might be soon?" Caldwell could barely contain his grin.

"I guess" she answered, confused.

Suddenly there was an eruption of noise. All around people were reacting some seemed extremely pleased and others equally upset. Then the money started changing hands. Comments of "… you never told me they'd kissed already, surely that's insider trading or something." And "Damn, I had them as being together already" were heard.

Staring in amazement Elizabeth was stunned.

"I never realised we were such a hot topic" John murmered next to her. Standing he turned to offer his hand and help her up.

By now completely embarrassed she turned to Caldwell, "If you don't mind I think we'd better be getting back to work."

Pressing a button on his console Caldwell gave the order. "Hermiode, send them back"

As they rematerialised they found themselves back in the elevator. With an angry sigh she shrugged helplessly, then noticing the slight static in her earpiece. She tapped it. "Rodney?"

"Elizabeth! Still trapped huh! We called the Deadalus to see if they could get here any sooner but I wouldn't worry, five more minutes and we'll have the problem sorted ourselves."

"The sooner the better Rodney, just get us moving again"

"Will do, see you at the meeting"

John smiled, "better make the most of the time we have left then". He leaned in and kissed her again before she could protest.

Finally there was a jolt, the lights came on and the elevator began moving again.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I won't be thinking about the missing music next time I'm in one of these things" said John with a playful leer as they stepped out.

Fin. Thanks for reading.