Title: So Is She Mad?

Rating: Uh, PG I guess. No swearing but there are adult situations.

Spoiler: Epiphany and Coup D'Etat

Disclaimer: They ALL belong to me! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ahem Seriously, if they did would I HAVE to write fanfic? If you want my belongings just ask. I'll freely give them. searches pockets Here, have some lint and a quarter.

Begin

"So is she mad?" John asked.

"I don't know lad," Carson answered while suturing a cut over John's left eye. "I'm sure she's relieved but I've not seen her for the last three days."

"Three days?" John thought that was a little odd. Usually she would readily turn to Carson in situations like these. He was the closest thing she had to a best friend here. "Well, she has to know it wasn't our fault."

"Aye, I think she knows that, but maybe this time she's finally allowed it to hit her heart. After all, every time you encounter this Kolya character he seems to want to kill you."

"There are a lot of people in this galaxy that want to kill me."

"True. But it's very rare that you go missing for months on end," Carson realised that statement wasn't so true. "In our reality, that is," he amended as he finished the last stitch. "There, you're all done. Tell me Colonel, why did he keep you both so well nourished?"

With a casual tone, John answered. "Kolya's a twisted guy. He probably did it so when the time to torture us came, he'd be able to break us fully."

"That's very disturbing."

"Not really. If you think about it, what better way to break a man but build his hope only to destroy it? What is disturbing to me is that Elizabeth hasn't scheduled a debriefing yet."

"Aye," was all Carson said. He knew Elizabeth to be thorough in everything.

"Well, thanks Doc." Sheppard hopped off the bed and purposefully went in search of her.

He'd been gone for two and a half months. Not the most amount of time spent absent for him, but relative to Atlantis time this was the longest. He'd begun to give up on ever being found. She'd been without him for only hours, this was weeks. He knew that it had to have had an effect on her. He still expected her to be there to greet them.

John finally found her on the North pier. God she was beautiful. His memory of her did no justice. As she turned he realised she was beyond furious. Tentatively he advanced toward her being respectful of her mood. Actually, it was more fear than respect that slowed his approach. Maybe a smile would help. Maybe not.

As soon as he was within arms length she began swinging at him. First making contact with his shoulder. Ouch. Then his chest. Okay, so she was really pissed. He took a defensive position trying to protect his head. Damn she was an effective attacker. As her hits lessened he heard the sound of her crying.

"Okay, okay. Stop Elizabeth!" He gently grabbed her wrists to restrain her. She still struggled against him. "I know you're a woman of action, but don't you think this is a little too much? This is not exactly the kind of greeting I was looking forward to coming home to."

She didn't find that funny.

"Bad joke. Sorry." It got her to stop, so it must not have been that bad. "I'm gonna let you go now. No hitting."

"Where the hell were you! Two months John! Without a trace. Ronon's still out there looking for you."

"Let me explain? Please?" He waited for her silent approval.

He said please. Therefore every ounce of resistance she had in her melted.

"It was the same as last time. He ambushed us. We didn't see it coming."

"He?"

"Kolya." Her face dropped at the mention of his name. "He took us overnight when our patrol was on the far side of the ruins. Rodney was busy fiddling with something and called me over to take a look. I figured it was okay since Ronon and Teyla had just finished their sweep on our side. Kolya's men bagged us, knocked us out and then we woke up in some prison cell. It was weird though. He made sure we were fed and whatnot. So Rodney didn't complain. Much."

"Well, I guess it's one thing Kolya's learned about Rodney."

"I figured since he's not really in with Ladon or most of the Genii he only has a few of his allies with him."

"But you were gone for so long."

"He would take us out once every three weeks for interrogation. He asked mostly about the coup we helped Ladon with."

"Sounds like he's trying to stage a coup of his own."

"Probably. Anyway, he must've recruited a lot of people from different worlds because not all of them were Genii. That made their security a little fractured. We were able to figure their system out and make a break for it."

"Did you kill him this time?" It was a cold and calculating query.

"Elizabeth," he breathed out just a little bit in shock. Her countenance was steady. "No. He was off world when we overtook the guards."

"He'll be looking for you."

"Yeah." John sensed something bigger than the both of them was at play here. "Are you okay? Did something happen? Is it Caldwell?"

"No." How would she tell him? "No, it's nothing like that." She could feel her body tense.

Now he was extremely concerned. He'd seen a moody Elizabeth, but never this edgy. She was inconsistent at the least, not the woman he knew. He drew her closer.

"Elizabeth?"

It was do or die. Her turn to spill. No preamble, just facts.

"A week after you went missing," she withdrew from him. "I got sick. Really sick. I couldn't eat anything and I felt nauseous. Carson put me on sick leave and I had Colonel Caldwell take over for a week. I thought it would pass, but I kept getting worse. Carson ran every test known to mankind on me and found nothing wrong. Until I realised I had skipped a period."

Uh-oh. That didn't sound good to him.

"So..."

"I'm pregnant John."

He stood there dumbstruck. Processing what she'd just told him a million thoughts came to him at once. Only one thought got through completely. How did Carson not know? Silence overcame him and his mouth moved but nothing came out.

"Say something." She pleaded.

"How? I... I mean... I... know... how... I... just... wow... uh. Um... are you sure? I mean I wouldn't doubt you but you know I've heard stress can, ah, make you miss... your... yeah. Are you sure?"

She nodded. Now she was nervous. She had expected shock, just not a Rodney-McKay-rambling-confusion-of-the-galaxy shock. But his stunned silence and indiscernible face pushed her worry overboard.

"I know it's a lot," she began. "And I didn't want to tell you so soon after you came back but I didn't think you were coming back this time and then I knew that maybe, I would have to bury you before you even knew," the tears started to stream down her face. "And then I would be left alone with this baby and more likely than not be removed from my position once it all came out that we were together. But then it wouldn't matter any more because you would be..." her voice wavered. "And then you did come back. And I was so mad at you for leaving in the first place. Which I know is unfair because I know that's your job. But this time I was so scared and I couldn't tell anyone, not even Carson knows..."

She was abruptly silenced by John's mouth occupying hers. Quickly she turned into goo as he fiercely put all his soul into her. He shook her to her core. Violently she existed for him knowing what they were doing was forbidden. She couldn't let him go no matter how hard she tried. Everyday she fought against herself to be with him. And everyday she lost that battle. Desire. Yearning. There was no word in any language that she knew which described her feeling for him. And at this moment she knew it was the same for him. Now she was eternally tied to him. The need to breathe became apparent as they broke apart. He rested his forehead against hers and smiled the sappiest, stupidest grin known to the history of man.

"So I'm gonna be a daddy?"

It was her turn to smile.

"Yeah."

"I love you." It was so simple. He didn't care if the whole damn universe knew it.

"I love you."

Fin