Authors Note: Not as happy with this as I would have liked but it's getting late and I've lost my passion for it. First SGA fic; John/Elizabeth, one-shot because I don't want to write any more for this particular fic.

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with the show or characters.

They had been back on Earth for four weeks and hadn't seen each other since. The only ones who had were obviously Rodney and Jennifer, and Ronon and Teyla. Surprisingly John and Elizabeth had not had a single piece of contact - they had both spent the days being flooded with interviews with senior officers, continuous health checks or just general things like sorting out bank accounts and getting used to going food and clothes shopping again.

After a couple more filled days in a hospital getting cleared for any internal radiation problems John found some free hours and drove to the address he had kept in his wallet since she had recited it to him a while before. When she opened the door she couldn't hide the delight she felt when she saw the black t-shirt and jeans while he adjusted to seeing her wear a green top instead of her usual red.

He was suddenly engulfed in one of her hugs that he would never learn to anticipate because it was an action so unlike the rest of her character.

"Nice to see you too Elizabeth." She let go of him slowly and they stood in silence, staring at each other and realizing just how much they had missed the other person. The quiet was interrupted be a female voice coming from inside her house asking who it was.

"It's a friend. A good friend," Elizabeth answered, turning back to John who began to reply, "You have company. I'll ocme back another time."

"Nonsense. It's only my mom, she would love to meet you and I haven't seen you in a long time even in Atlantis mission terms."

John didn't like the idea of steeping into the mother-daughter time but his want to see her again was greater, and she probably wouldn't let him leave anyway. She led him through to the living room where he was immediately jumped on by a golden dog. "Sedgewick, down! Get back to sleeping! Sorry John."

"It's fine, he's a lot like you with your surprise hugs." Elizabeth mock-glared at him before introducing him quickly to her mother. She left the room to get drinks, causing an awkward pause between the two strangers. Her mom was finally first to talk,

"So you are the man that my daughter mentions so much. To be honest I expected you to be more muscular based of what she says about your fighting skills."

"She exaggerates my abilities, I'm sure. She however is worthy of every good word she is described by. You raised an incredible woman and the only regret I have is that I didn't meet her sooner."

They stopped talking when they heard Elizabeth return to the room. The conversations stalled at some points as John and Elizabeth still had to keep exactly where they had been a secret from everyone but the two people who had never met before were getting on better than anybody could have hoped for until the older woman brought up the subject they had been cautiously avoiding.

"John, didn't your wife have some issues with you simply packing up and disappearing? Simon and I certainly did."

"She probably would have if we had still been together at the time. Divorced."

"Did you come back to a girlfriend?" John's eyes caught Elizabeth's and smirked, enjoying seeing how much her mother was going to try and get out of him.

"Nope, I'm all by myself."

"How about while you were gone?"

"One or two women but Elizabeth was the only female presence I needed." The person in question blushed deeply which made the others grin at the knowledge she was able to fight back against fierce politicians and authorities but couldn't take a simple compliment. John loved the color in her cheeks so much that he chose to continue with the embarrassment,

"She's quite a good kisser too."

Both of the women's mouths dropped open in shock: Elizabeth because she didn't want to remember about that particular time on Atlantis and she especially did not want her mom to have more topics to question them about, and her mother because she had never took her daughter to be so forward with someone she worked with. They sat in the stunned silence for a moment before Elizabeth found her voice again,

"It was one time and I wasn't myself and neither were you. Is this going to be your form of blackmail for me? If it is then can I have an idea of how long you're going to keep bringing it up for then?"

"That will be one of our relationship's defining scenes. I'm not going to let you forget about it until we are old and grey and I'm beginning to lose my memory. I thought Caldwell was going to kill us cause of that."

"I think he still wants to. The one really redeeming thought I have about that kiss was thank God it wasn't Caldwell I kissed, that would have been hell."

"Yeah, he's a terrible kisser." He looked at her seriously before they both broke out in laugher at the idea of John knowing how the other man's lips felt, both internally imagining different absurd situations it could have occurred during. As they began to control their breathing they caught each other's eye and momentarily forgot her mom was still present in the room.

Elizabeth finally broke the contact by tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear since it kept falling across her face since having it cut. They both desperately tried to ignore what they were now feeling for the person they had spent so many years with and knew they shouldn't really be thinking of them in this way even if they were now technically not working with each other since Elizabeth had decided to take a break from Air Force command.

Her mother spoke soon after watching the exchange, "I am going to take my leave now and let you catch up on the few weeks you've been apart," the bitterness over having her maternal time being taken over was evident in her voice.

"Oh mom, don't be like this! I'm sorry if we can't let you know everything about our job but I am trying to entertain you, and John is being more hospitable than he should be towards you and your incessant interrogation."

"I have been as supportive as I can be but maybe you should attempt to let your daughter go to some unknown destination where she doesn't even call or write from. We'll speak about this another day Elizabeth."

The younger brunette could not hide her anger as she slammed the door shut once her mother walked out the front entrance.

"Sorry you had to witness that John. My mother and I don't see eye to eye over my career but deep down - real deep down - we love each other I suppose. Anyway let's forget about what just happened; what have you been up to?"

"Probably the same conferences and check-ups you've been in. Your mom will just want what's best for you and it must have been tough for her when we were in Atlantis."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in response, "John Sheppard, since when were you more understanding and diplomatic than me?"

"I was wondering how long I would have to wait for the classic suspicious brow lift. I've missed it, along with everything else about you."

"Thank you. I have missed your rule breaking and sarcasm too. I mean that in the nicest possible way, we've been through a lot together." She had sat down next to him on the sofa yet neither of them noticed that with every passing minute they moved closer to the other until their arms were brushing. But by that point they didn't care about what they weren't supposed to do.

"It's taking a lot to adjust to this life instead of Atlantis, or is that just me Colonel? Everyone I used to know has moved on with their lives and have families of their own, not that kids have ever been a huge part of my plan. The only people I know well are from our city and today has been the first time I have seen any of you."

"I do know what you mean. I tried catching up with one of my pilot mates but he said he would be too busy helping his darling wife give their one-year-old a beth. The last I heard he had been a player making his way through just-legal girls. You know you can call me any time if you want to chat or whatever. My perfect bachelor pad is actually too quiet for my liking. Sometimes I even wish McKay was around to whine about the rest of us if only to stop the silence killing me."

She turned round in the seat to look at him, "Ditto."

"I'm just want to know, how much did you talk to your mom about me and what did you say?"

"A little, that's all. I only told her you were a pretty good fighter and underneath all your disregard for authority you are incredibly smart and kind."

"Why have you always stood up for me and said things like that even when I have been horrible to you?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "I know you never meant it when you acted like that to me. It just seemed natural to recognize how you were truly feeling.

John knew he should resist from making a move on the woman staring straight back at him but after so long of wanting her and trying to hide that he had fallen for this one woman there was no self-control left in him. Elizabeth had already guessed what was going to happen and had no desire to halt him as he placed a hand on her cheek, rubbing her skin with the side of his thumb and moving his face nearer to hers.

Their lips touched and for the first time in as long as either could remember, everything felt like it was in its rightful place. Her fingers found their way into his hair and she never wanted to let go of him and sensed he might feel the same sort of thing for her. She was completely correct in her assumption and although they knew the other person felt something for them they didn't want to get their hopes up and that was priven as they broke apart and John commented,

"You're even better than I recall. Can I test if it just keeps getting better?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes and laughed while placing her forehead against his before pressing their lips together into another kiss, this one deeper and both attempted to convey their honest feelings for the other since they had used all their courage to get to this point so now couldn't say it out loud.