Author's Notes: This was a challenge by my friend--do a present tense, unbeta-ed, dash-it-off story during your open period. This is what came up and they told me to put it on here. So all mistakes are mine. No real ships, just an undertone of John/Elizabeth friendship.
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. 'Nuff said.
She smiles as John tries to take the sticks from her, easily dodging away from his hands. Her nimble feet jump back, and the fingers that grip the fighting sticks tighten. He winces and asks her to stop; her grin gets wider, and she swerves from his ministrations. He hangs his head and closes his eyes—he knows, somewhere in his heart, this is a fight he can't win.
Teyla nods and accepts her challenge. She tells John she'll rein her in, no problem, but as the fight begins it's clear Elizabeth has the upper hand. The blur of bronze and cream skin and the clacking of wood against wood give John a headache. He can't watch them fighting. He can't watch Elizabeth. He passes Ronon on the way out—surely the Satedan will be able to bring her down.
Minutes later, she's back in the mess hall, bouncing up and down as she's waiting for her lunch. A disgruntled and thoroughly bruised Ronon follows her in line, rubbing a tattooed arm. Teyla's head appears—she shakes it ever so slightly. The military side in John beams; the side that cares about Elizabeth dies. The woman in question joins his table, laughing, swatting his arm when he makes a joke. She's more relaxed than he's ever seen her, but he misses the worry lines that used to frame her face. The others reassure him it'll be fine, they trust Rodney. He excuses himself and walks out on his friends.
He's in charge of testing her marksmanship. He tries to pass it off on Lorne, even Rodney, but they don't understand, and he ends up in Rodney's lab with a gun, begging for Rodney to take his place. Rodney waves a hand, telling him to go away, and suddenly Elizabeth is back, smiling, laughing, and she sees the gun in his hand and her eyes light up again. She grabs it before he can stop her—could he stop her?—and she picks a target at random. Rodney yells, protecting his computer and his head with one hand. She grins, claiming it was a joke and lowers the gun to point at the floor. She unloads and reloads it with a practiced ease, and John begins to feel an uneasiness in his throat—why won't she just leave? He doesn't like this. She doesn't belong here.
Especially not the way she's acting, the way she smiles at violence and laughs at death.
He grabs for the gun, and she dodges with the same ease he saw in the gym. Her laugh, instead of infectious, is piercing and sharp. He chases her for a few feet around the lab before realizing it's futile, but Rodney stops her and grabs her waist, effectively stopping her in her tracks. She shrieks and drops the gun on his hand. He isn't expecting it and attempts to catch it before it falls.
A shot rings out, followed closely by a shatter of glass. All three reflexively drop down to the ground, and Elizabeth takes the gun away from Rodney with a warning glare. He shrugs and she unloads it, placing both the gun and magazine next to his laptop. They all rise to their feet, Rodney cursing as they look around to see what broke.
John finds it first, and his heart sinks.
He fingers the shattered quantum mirror and wishes for the Elizabeth he knows to come back.
Review if you want to--in case you didn't figure it out, the Lizzie in Atlantis is an AU Lizzie, and their only way of getting the Lizzie we all love is now broken. Due to--yes, Rodney. Oh, Rodney.