This is my first Weir/Zelenka fic. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Elizabeth Weir rubbed her eyes. She'd been looking at paperwork most of the day and now her vision was in revolt. Sighing heavily, she set the file folder down and decided to take a badly needed break.
Rising to her feet, she stretched gracefully and walked out of her office. It was a relatively quiet night at Atlantis and everyone was off doing their own thing. Even Rodney was taking a break from the lab tonight, leaving it in Radek Zelenka's capable hands.
She smiled as she rounded the corner and thought of the Czech scientist. Radek was a naturally calm person with an incredibly warm smile and sly sense of humor. His also seemingly natural optimism was something she admired greatly.
Wandering the halls as she pleased, she was surprised to find herself in front of the labs. Shaking her head, Elizabeth silently admonished herself for coming here. As she was about to continue on her way, she could hear a lovely accented voice singing along with some music that was going. She recognized it as Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer".
Now
the years are rolling by me, they are rockin' even me
I am older than I once was, and younger than I'll
be, that's not unusual
No
it isn't strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less
the same
After
changes we are more or less the same
Li
la li...
And
I'm laying out my winter clothes, wishing I was gone, goin' home
Where
the New York City winters aren't bleedin' me, leadin' me to go
home
In
the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And
he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
'til
he cried out in his anger and his shame
I
am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains, hmmmm
Li
la li...
She stood there, listening to the end of the song. There was a silence, until Tom Jones came on, making her laugh.
Entering the lab, Elizabeth Weir looked at the scientist in front of her, singing along to "It's Not Unusual" and raised an eyebrow. "Tom Jones, Radek?" she asked teasingly. He grinned at her and merely continued to croon along with the Welshman. She shook her head. "You're a nut!" she told him, chuckling.
"Thank you…I try!" Radek quipped. "What are you doing out of your office?" he asked in mock shock, placing a theatrical hand on his chest.
She smacked his arm lightly with the back of her hand. "I needed to take a break from all of that paperwork…" Weir said, rolling her eyes.
"Ah yes…paperwork is like rabbits, no? Always multiplying and making more work for you to do!" Radek replied.
Elizabeth smiled and contemplated him for a long moment until Zelenka began to feel slightly uncomfortable under her gaze. "Do I have ugly thing on my face?" he asked nervously.
She shook herself. "No. no…nothing gets you down, does it Radek?" she asked quietly. He turned down the volume on the Kinks, sensing the seriously of her query to him.
"I am human, like everyone else…there are good days, bad days, and then there are McKay days…" he said matter of factly. She smiled and he continued on. "There are days that I do not feel happy or even feel like there is reason to smile or laugh. But bad days are not forever, no matter how many of them there are at a time. I know they cannot last, so I suppose that I always have some small part of happiness inside always."
"There are some days I think the darkness is never going to clear…" Elizabeth admitted. She had never allowed herself to tell anyone this, but she only saw acceptance and understanding in the scientist's eyes.
"You not only worry about what happens to you, but to everyone else here…" Radek said softly. "You carry great burdens so the darkness is always more for you than anyone else."
Reaching out hesitantly, Zelenka took her hand in his and was relieved when she curled her fingers around his. "Darkness does clear, but often not when we would want it to."
She merely nodded, enjoying the comfortable warmth of her hand in Radek's. It had been awhile since someone had just held her hand. "Times of dark will come, but never lose your hope, Elizabeth…that is one thing that no one can ever take away."
Leaning closer to him, Weir looked into his eyes. "When did you get to be so wise?" she asked, a small smile in her voice. An answering smile spread slowly across his face as he answered, "I have lived, and I have kept eyes open to everything. Life has lessons if you take time to see."
She allowed herself to reflect on those simple words. He continued. "Everyone always rushes here, rushes there and do not take to stop and allow themselves time to catch up."
Motioning to the cd player on the left hand side of his desk, he said somewhat shyly, "This is how I allow myself time to stop. I like music, so I sing my favorite songs when I have lab to myself. It helps my mind not become to far ahead of itself."
"Makes sense…" Weir mused. Swallowing, Radek whispered, ""If you like, you can come catch up with yourself with me…if you like."
She was silent for so long a moment that he feared he had said something to offend her. "Forget that…I said something stupid." He mumbled, removing his hand from hers and standing up as he turned away.
A hand grasped his arm, stopping him. He swung his gaze back to find Elizabeth also on her feet. Reaching over, she turned up the volume. The song playing was, oddly enough, "Something Stupid".
"Dance with me, Dr. Zelenka?" she asked with mock formality. He bowed to her and replied, "It would be my pleasure Dr. Weir." He took her hand and pulled her into an almost proper ballroom hold and whirled off into a basic fox trot.
"You dance divinely sir…wherever did you learn?" He smiled at her. "My mother was old fashioned and insisted that I learn."
She laid her head on his shoulder and Radek inhaled quickly. He could smell a hint of perfume, sweeter than any flower. They swayed and turned all around the lab. As the final lines of the song played, they looked into each other's eyes with Radek singing to her softly.
The
time is right, your perfume fills my head, the stars get red and oh
the night so blue.
And
then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like "I
love you"
"I
love you"
"I
love you"
"I love you"
Slowly coming to a stop, Radek reached up a trembling hand and gently caressed her cheek. Stretching up, Elizabeth swiftly kissed him and was gratified to see a dark red blush on his face when she released him.
"I need to go…" she said regretfully. He nodded, a sudden sadness on his face. "I will be back tomorrow though." She added, watching the warm smile she had come to love reappear.
He sat back down in his chair and she strode over to the door. "Radek?" she asked. He swiveled around to look at her. "Yes?"
Elizabeth smiled. "You didn't say something stupid."
Watching her walk away, Radek allowed himself to grin stupidly for a moment before he turned back to his papers, humming the song that he had just been dancing to moments before.
Please read and review so I know what you thought of it and I can decided if I'm going to add more to it or not. Thanks!
