Author's Note: Thanks to Sarah and Angela for the beta. All mistakes are mine.

Missing scene from Episode 1x15 "Before I Sleep." Answers my question: "When the Ancients rescued Weir from the downed 'jumper, did they bring back John and Zelenka's bodies, too?"

Merely Sleeping

by LilRicki

"May I see them?" Her voice quaked only slightly.

Janus smiled gently. "Of course."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and exhaled.

-SGA-

Standing in the cavernous room, the floor cold beneath her feet, Elizabeth let her mind wander back to what the Ancients had told her about the rescue.

The damaged ship had been recovered from the ocean and brought to one of the city's many bays. The Atlantean medics wasted no time in releasing the back hatch and pouring in to attend whomever was hurt.

The small man in the co-pilot's seat was dead long before they arrived, probably since the initial impact of the ship. He slumped over the front console, blood matting the front of his wild hair and caking his forehead. The lenses he wore over his eyes, hanging askew from one ear, were cracked and broken.

They could do nothing but gently lift his body onto the transport. The Ancients held no superstitions about the dead, but that did not mean they could not treat this stranger with the same respect worthy of one of their own.

Yet as Elizabeth stood over his body in the Atlantis version of a morgue, she thought he looked peaceful, as if he were deeply asleep. Yes, the little Czech scientist was paler than any human should ever be, but the blood had been washed away, his hair hiding the nasty gash above his forehead. The sheet covering his body was clean and white, and his face looked strangely childlike without his glasses.

Gripping the frames, now empty of glass, she gently lowered them onto the sheet covering his chest. Her other hand brushed his cheek affectionately. The skin was cold and dry.

"Oh, Doctor Zelenka." Elizabeth choked slightly as tears threatened to escape her eyes. "Radek." She hadn't known the scientist very well, but he was obviously very brave to have volunteered for the Atlantis expedition. And she would probably never have survived if he hadn't found the ship with the time-travel device. "Thank you."

She remembered examining his file, evaluating his work, and immediately placing him on the approved list of scientific personnel. A mention of Prague on the form had caught her eye because she had once negotiated a tough treaty there. She remembered now that it had been listed as the location of Radek's next of kin, a brother and a sister, and Elizabeth couldn't suppress the feeling that she should notify them of their brother's death.

But Prague did not exist yet, nor did the Earth she knew, and wouldn't for ten thousand years.

She straightened and took a deep breath, turning to the next table.

The Atlantean medics had quickly determined that there was nothing to be done for the man in the co-pilot's seat, but the other two passengers were a different story. The woman was unconscious and deeply injured, but there was a chance to save her if they acted quickly. The other man, however, black-haired and tall, had gotten to her first.

Upon opening the ship's hatch, the black-haired man had weakly raised his head from where he lay on the floor, parallel to the woman's body. Blood flowed freely from a wound on his head, and he appeared to be largely incoherent.

Drops of blood and red-smeared handprints marked a trail from the pilot's seat to the rear compartment. This man, the pilot, had dragged himself to the woman's side as she lay beside the wall. His fingers rested on her neck, pressing firmly on the pulse point.

"Help," he had croaked. "Help her. Still alive . . ."

Then the medics had gently rolled him away, preparing the two strangers to be transported to the medical facilities. Both had severe internal injuries.

His fingers left a smear of red on her throat.

After a long and arduous battle, the woman became stable, and her internal wounds began to heal. She would survive.

The man slipped into unconsciousness before leaving the bay, and died on the way to the hospital.

And now John Sheppard lay before her on a cold table, black hair blacker against his pale skin, or perhaps his skin was that much paler compared to the black.

"Major." Elizabeth bit her lip. "John." This time the tears started in earnest, and she brought her forehead to rest on his, not caring that the coldness of death clung to him. "I am so sorry."

She had asked him to come on this mission. She had coerced General O'Neill into persuading him to do it. All because of one little marker in his genetic make-up. A soldier with the Ancient gene, able to control their technology like second-nature. Their own personal key to the city of the Ancients.

Was there more to this man than his DNA? Elizabeth had never found out. All she had seen was an asset to the mission, and now he was dead. Was he a good soldier? Was he loyal? Would he have fought to protect them? To protect her?

Elizabeth shuddered. The answer was yes, to all those questions. She hadn't known him long, but somehow, she knew. And if what the Ancients told her was true, his dying words had been to save her.

She stood and hurriedly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. There was a time for mourning, and there was a time for action, and right now, action called her.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth repeated, gazing at the still visage of what she had once labeled a cocky flyboy. He, too, looked peaceful, as if in sleep. "But I will find a way to fix this." She looked back at where Radek lay. "I will."

And for a moment, Elizabeth almost believed that the two men really were only sleeping, merely waiting for the right cue to awaken. As if their deaths were not permanent, and they would join her again someday, and then she would truly know them.

"Doctor Weir?" A voice from the doorway dispelled the strange sensation and she looked around. "The Council is waiting to hear you."

"Thank you, Janus." She followed the Ancient scientist, pausing in the doorway for a final glance at the two men. Again, an odd feeling took her, the conviction that deep, dreamless sleep was all that had descended on the scientist and pilot.

And she smiled.

-SGA-

Author's Note: My second fic ever, and first foray into the angst genre. Very nervous about posting my work. Feedback, of both the positive and constructively critical kinds, is much appreciated.