Title: Perfect

Author: MsRaven

Rating: PG

Summary: Sheppard-Weir Fluff

Spoilers: Some spoilers from "The Eye"

Disclaimer: Stargate: Atlantis and its characters do not belong to me.

Author's Note: I would like to give blame/credit to Smish for spurning this little fic. If you haven't seen her vid for "Tryin' to find Atlantis", I highly recommend it. I believe it's on the sheppardandweir archive site. I know that there have been several versions of this song made, but I haven't gotten the opportunity to watch the others yet.

It's a mystery like the deep blue sea,
You can take it, you can leave it, but I still believe,
So I won't give up and I won't give in:
I know I'm gonna find him, I just don't know when.
A girl tryin' to find herself the perfect man,
Is like tryin' to find Atlantis.
-Chorus to "Tryin' to Find Atlantis" by Jamie O'Neal

Major John Sheppard walks up to the Atlantis Control Room and turns towards Elizabeth's office. Grodin, realizing where the Major is going, steps in his path with a shake of his head.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," recommends the engineer.

Sheppard looks over Grodin's shoulder and through the glass walls of Elizabeth's office. Weir is in there with Teyla and 3 other women that he recognizes, but whose names he can't quite remember. He's pretty sure they're all astrophysicists and that McKay has a hell of crush on the red-head. The women are huddled around a laptop and they seem to be having quite a good time if the grins are any indication. John turns back to Grodin with a skeptical tilt of his head.

"Not seeing the danger here," says John.

Grodin looks over his own shoulder and sees the women throw their heads back laughter. He turns back to the major with a look of disbelief.

"There are five women in there," Peter explains. "Five women who have been in there for about fifteen minutes and have been…for lack of a better word…giggling most of that time. You know they're just waiting for one of us hapless men to wander in there."

"You're being paranoid," John says before patting Grodin on the shoulder and walking past him to Elizabeth's office.

John knocks on the door and Elizabeth waves him into the office. All eyes in the room immediately turn toward him. The women seem to be giving him the once-over and John can practically see the wheels turning in their heads. Maybe Peter wasn't being so paranoid after all.

"Well," says Elizabeth. "I guess Ms. O'Neal didn't realize how easy it would be to find Atlantis."

The three scientists burst out laughing. Teyla only smiles, but Elizabeth is grinning at John in a way that makes him want to check if his zipper is down. Her grin widens at his obvious discomfort.

"Thanks, ladies," Elizabeth says as a dismissal. "I needed a good laugh. Teyla, have a good time on the mainland and I'll see you in a few days."

The scientists and Teyla stand, then walk out of Elizabeth's office. Teyla gives John a brief nod as she walks past him. He doesn't miss the snickers from the other three as they leave the room.

John sits down on the chair in front of Elizabeth's desk. He leans back casually and props his feet up on the corner of her desk.

"What was that all about?" he asks.

"Oh…nothing. Dr. Werner was just sharing a piece of music with us."

"A song spawned fifteen minutes of giggling?"

"We were not giggling," Elizabeth retorts, then reaches out to push John's feet off her desk. "We just found the song very…um…amusing."

Unfazed, John drops his feet the floor and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He admits to himself that it's nice to see Elizabeth relaxed enough to laugh with friends.

"I'm guessing you're not going to fill me in on what was so amusing," John says with a smile.

"Nope," Elizabeth smiles back. "It wouldn't be the same – you had to be there."

"Figured that."

Elizabeth straightens up in her chair, a small signal that she's trying to get back to the business of running Atlantis.

"Was there something you needed, Major?"

"Nah," he says with a shrug. "Just wondering if you'd had lunch."

That earns another smile from Elizabeth.

John knows he's been hovering since the Genii's failed attempt to invade Atlantis. Being held at gunpoint is a traumatizing experience for the strongest of people. Having you captor shot two inches from your left shoulder is more than enough reason for John to be worried about Elizabeth. He's confident that he was right about her being okay, but he wants to be around in case he was wrong.

His only hope that he hasn't been too annoyingly obvious about his concern. He's been listening in more briefings and finds a million different reasons to stop by her office on any given day. He considers it a good sign that Elizabeth hasn't told him to go away…yet.

"Well?" John prods.

"No, I haven't had the chance to grab lunch yet."

"You do know it's almost two o'clock, right?"

"Are you here to take me to lunch or scold me for not having lunch yet?"

"Fine," he says and holds out his hand. Elizabeth takes it as they both stand. "But don't blame me if McKay's eaten all the food."

An hour later, John and Elizabeth are on their way back to the control room. They've decided to skip using the transporter and take the "long way" back to her office.

Lunch had been nice thanks to John's sandwiches and Elizabeth's good mood. He smiles as Elizabeth starts humming softly to herself.

"Is that the song you were listening to earlier?" John asks.

Elizabeth turns to him, startled. "What song?"

"The one you're humming."

"I'm not humming."

"Yes you were."

John hums back the part he heard.

"Oh." She blushes a little then starts walking a little faster. "Yes, that was the song."

John grins and catches up. "So what was this song about?"

"Nothing really," Elizabeth says with a dismissive wave of her hand.

John takes three big strides and stands in front of Elizabeth, effectively blocking her path.

"You know…everyone's music and movie files have been downloaded into the main computer for sharing. I could just scroll through and guess."

"Fine," Elizabeth says in a huff, knowing John isn't going to drop this. "If you must know, the singer was comparing the search for Atlantis to something…similar."

"That something being?"

"Finding the perfect man," Elizabeth says with as much dignity as she can muster.

"Ah…"

Elizabeth tries to step around John, but he side-steps and blocks her path once again.

"You don't agree with the song."

"I think that the singer may have seriously overestimated the difficulty of finding the lost city of Atlantis," responds Elizabeth with a shrug.

"You don't think finding the perfect man is possible?"

"It's just a song, John."

"Okay…but you didn't answer my question. Do you think finding the perfect man is impossible?"

"I think it's highly improbable."

"Hmm…" John crosses his arms in front of him and tilts his head to one side. "I thought you were an optimist."

"Being an optimist doesn't mean I'm not realistic. I believe that 'perfection' is impossible by the very definition of the word - being without defect or blemish. I've known many men and they're all far from perfect."

John decides to ignore the "many men" comment for now. He takes a slight step towards Elizabeth.

"Maybe you're just not looking in the right place."

Elizabeth's eyes widen for a moment before she starts laughing in his face.

"Hey!" John retorts, indignantly. "Not nice."

Elizabeth places her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"I'm sorry."

"I can be perfect."

Elizabeth bites both of lips shut and doesn't respond.

"I'm judging from your reaction that you don't agree. Why not?"

Elizabeth opens her mouth to respond, then seems to think better of it.

"We probably shouldn't have this conversation."

"Why not?" John asks. "Come on, I can take it. Tell me my faults."

"I really should get back to my office."

"Afraid I'll prove you wrong?"

"Fine," Elizabeth says with a roll of her eyes. "You flirt with every woman you see."

John shrugs. He sees nothing wrong with flirting. He's made a lot of good friends that way. The key is to separate casual flirting from anything more serious.

"True. But I have a great sense of humor."

"You have a difficult time trusting anyone else's judgment but your own."

"I can cook," John retorts. "We can argue the trust point later."

"You have a tendency to jump into situations without thinking."

"I'm kind to young children and animals."

"You end up in the infirmary more often than not."

"I'm worth worrying over."

John's knowing smile causes a slight blush to tint Elizabeth's cheeks. She's often the first person he sees when he wakes up in the infirmary.

"Plus," John continues with a wicked grin. "I'm a damn good kisser."

He takes another step closer to Elizabeth. He has this sudden urge to prove his last point.

"I'll take your word for it, Major."

Elizabeth's eyes stray to John's lips for a moment and the urge to kiss her starts to become unbearable. He takes another step into her personal space and smiles when she doesn't move away.

"Why? Worried I'm right?"

John moves closer to Elizabeth. He takes it at as a positive signal when her eyes flutter closed and she leans slightly towards him in return.

Despite his verbal challenge, his lips touch hers softly, almost tentatively. He slowly deepens the kiss and is rewarded when she responds in kind. One of his hands comes up to cradle the back of neck while the other moves around her waist to pull her flush against him. Her arms wrap around to clutch at his back.

When they finally break apart for air, John and Elizabeth can only stare at each other. Neither one of them is sure what to do next, but neither one makes a move to pull away from their embrace.

"We really…" Elizabeth pauses to lick her lips. John groans and kisses her again.

They break apart for a second time and it takes Elizabeth much longer to gather her wits about her.

"You were saying?" asks John softly.

Elizabeth's cheeks are flushed and her lips just a little swollen from their activities. All John wants to do is keep kissing her, but he figures they should probably talk or something soon. He gives her a crooked grin and Elizabeth solves his moral dilemma by initiating their next kiss.

The third kiss threatens to get completely beyond their control, but he's almost beyond the point of caring.

It's Elizabeth who finally gives herself a mental kick. She wrenches her lips away from John and takes three steps back. They stare at each other from across the corridor, each struggling to regain their breath and composure.

"We can't do this," says Elizabeth as she motions between the two of them.

"You mean this, as in this?" John mimics her hand motions. "Or this, as in this in the hallway?"

"John!"

"Right, right. This." He nods vigorously. "The kissing and everything. Needs to stop."

"Right," Elizabeth agrees. "It would be a distraction."

"Oh yeah!"

"I need to stay impartial," Elizabeth explains, talking more to herself than John. "I can't have any one life in this city be any more important to me than the rest."

"Right, of course." John tries to pull off a nonchalant shrug. "That's why the military has frat regs. Totally agree."

"Really?" Elizabeth asks, then quickly corrects herself. "I mean, you're absolutely right, fraternization regulations need to be enforced."

"So no more kissing from here on out."

"No more kissing."

"Well…maybe just –"

"One more time."

John and Elizabeth fly back into each other's arms for another lingering kiss. This time, they break apart slowly, savoring the feeling. John places his forehead against Elizabeth's.

"This is going to be difficult," she says softly.

"You're telling me?"

The last thing John wants to do right now is let her out of his arms, but he doesn't resist when Elizabeth slowly untangles her arms from around his neck and takes a small step backward.

"I should…go back to my office."

"Yeah, and I should go…uh…that way." John points in the opposite direction.

Elizabeth lifts her hand, as if wanting to make contact with John again, but then drops it back down to her side and turns to walk down the corridor.

John lets out a shaky breath before turning his back on Elizabeth's retreating form. He doesn't see her pause and look back over her shoulder. John knows he's far from being the perfect man, but he's starting to get the sinking feeling that he wants to be the perfect man for her.

The End…(maybe)