Title: ...to enemy...
Characters: Elizabeth Weir, Stephen Caldwell
Prompt: 022. Enemies.
Word Count: 82
Rating: PG
Summary: Respect thy enemy.
Author's notes: un-beta'd
...because marriage is just another war where the couple are enemies...
They started off as enemies.
He wanted to control Atlantis.
She refused to give it up.
She earned his respect with that.
He earned her's when he tried to mend fences after the Goa'uld incident.
It solidified over white and black chess pieces, the checker board pattern appearing and disappearing under the pieces.
Opposites, two halves, ying and yang.
But enemies always progress into something else when respect comes into play...
Title: ...to friends...
Characters: Elizabeth Weir, Stephen Caldwell
Prompt: 021. Friends
Word Count: 166
Rating: PG
Summary: Friendship is built on respect.
Author's notes: un-beta'd
...but enemies always progress into something else when respect comes into play...
Friendship is born from respect.
It's the first building block.
He's solid like that block, Elizabeth thinks. Its the way he's built, the way he carries himself, always confidant, always watchful.
And she knew the moment respect turned into friendship.
He left his chessboard in her office.
And he started dropping by when she wasn't busy and offering a game.
That and the wine.
He kept bringing her alcohol. In any other situation she might suspicious of a guy who gave her liquor, but whenever she starts getting tipsy he takes it away. It annoyed her at first, he was acting like her mother, but it didn't take her long to realize that he was only doing it out of concern for her.
He was acting like a friend.
But everybody knows you can never expect to be exact opposites in every way and have friendship stay friendship.
Inevitably friendship turns into something else...
Title: ...to lovers...
Characters: Elizabeth Weir, Stephen Caldwell
Prompt: 023. Lovers
Word Count: 228
Rating: PG
Summary: The kind of love depends on the situation. (RF)
Author's notes:
It's one of her cardinal understandings.
You have to be friends first to have a relationship work.
Besides, she's too old, too busy, too tired, has to much on her shoulders to have a friend with benefits.
And it's nice to hear 'I love you' once and a while and Stephen has no problem saying it.
He has no problem saying exactly what he loves about her either. To her surprise her stubbornness is number one, then her body (not so much of a surprise) and then her mind (another surprise).
She loves the way his eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles and his laugh.
It's become rare that they spend a night apart when he's there and she thinks he arranged Friday night movies as an excuse to scare Sheppard because he takes her every night and they cuddle like teenagers, Sheppard looks terrified when ever she looks over at him.
If she thought he might actually take advantage of it she'd be upset, but she knows him well enough to know he'd never be that sneaky and that if he wanted to, she probably wouldn't know until it slapped her in the face.
It took her a while to realize how used to things with Stephan that she'd become.
...because when you don't know if your going to survive everyday lovers quickly become more...
Title: ...to family...
Characters: Elizabeth Weir, Stephen Caldwell
Prompt: 024. Family
Word Count: 354
Rating: PG
Summary: Marriage is another kind of war. (RF)
Author's notes: un-beta'd
...because when you don't know if your going to survive everyday lovers quickly become more...
They become family.
He leaves her chocolates in her office every time he gets back from Earth. Usually she finds them after they've argued about something that happened while he was gone so she's forgotten about the argument by the time she sees him again.
He plans it that way she thinks, but she's never been able to prove it.
She pretends not to notice the relief on the military's part that she and Caldwell aren't at each others throats.
The day she found the small blue box on her desk was a day she really could have used the chocolates so she was too upset to open it immediately.
She did read the note after a moment-
Elizabeth-
Will you marry me?
-Stephan
- and then sat and stared at it for twenty minutes, she knows because Rodney followed her in and counted how long she ignored him.
Figures Stephan'd ask through a note.
Rodney finally got annoyed enough and yelled at her to open the box.
A Tiffany's box, and how'd he afford that on a military salary?
The ring had a big circle shaped diamond, flanked by two black pearls and then five white one that get progressively smaller with each one on a thick silver band.
Rodney said to read the inside.
E.W of Earth loves S.C of Earth
She's pretty sure that if she hadn't already been crying she would have started right then.
They get married on Earth, in the same church where Stephan's parents were married, Atlantis and the Daedalus are their daughters, Earth their dream.
And their son is born nine months later and named Rodney because Stephan told her that Rodney had been the one who arranged everything (and paid for everything) and who convinced Stephan that he actually had a chance if he proposed.
Rodney of course denied everything.
They still fight of course.
Marriage only means that they have someone to go to bed with no matter what.
That they're a family no matter what
...because marriage is just another war where the couple are enemies...