Author's Note: Umm…not to sure how I feel about this one. It has been the most difficult so far, and the part that has been slowing me down.

I had wanted the two fics to run sort of contemporaneously, however that is not going to work out so well. So the end of this chapter will actually take place after the third chapter of the SG-1 fic. You'll see what I'm talking about if you read both. Both should end up being the same number of total chapters and I will not post the next chapter to one before I catch up with the other. (Not that this is all that vital to reading it).

Warning: Some coarse language, but nothing too severe or profuse.

Awakenings

Places You Don't Wanna Go

No underwear. John mused to himself. And although he knew the fact that Elizabeth was lacking panties was something he shouldn't be thinking about, he logged the interesting snippet away for later consideration. He couldn't really recall the details of what had happened. Nothing was too clear besides the fact that he was lying on the hard floor and he had been previously asleep on the couch, apparently alongside Elizabeth's much more cozy body.

Again, thoughts he shouldn't entertain flooded his mind; the feel of her smooth bare leg as he inadvertently brushed his clumsy hand against her while he stirred in his sleep, her scent strong despite the pungent odor of alcohol, the gentle rhythm of her heart and the rise and fall of her chest. He really couldn't differentiate between which was dream and which had been reality.

This was going to make things awkward, at least until they remembered what had actually happened. Then again, if a certain something had occurred, the awkwardness of the current situation would pale in comparison to the embarrassment and shame he'd feel. Because if anything risqué or potentially scandalous had passed between Elizabeth and him, then it was most definitely his fault. He was the irresponsible one. She didn't have an inappropriate bone in her body. At least none that he had seen. Or had he?

And that was precisely the problem. What had he seen? (Well, not counting a few moments ago when he got a look up her skirt) More than he was supposed to? More than she'd ever want him to?

John moaned as he picked himself off from the floor. His head pounded at him in three contradictory rhythms, like a horribly laid out rap rhythm. Whatever he had done the previous night, the impetus was undeniable.

Hangovers were always a bitch, in any galaxy, but especially on Earth.

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"How'd everyone sleep?" Sam asked her guests as they shuffled into the kitchen behind Jack. She turned back to tend to the pan of scrambled eggs cooking on the stove top, only to be distracted by an open moment of tenderness she was still finding it difficult to get used to. Jack stood behind her, their bodies touching, wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her neck.

Elizabeth smiled at the affectionate display, exchanging an amused look with Landry over the way the new bride blushed. Of course, the couple had nothing to blush about, finally husband and wife, finally accepting of their feelings, expected to be open about them. But Elizabeth…she should be the one blushing. She was the one who had woken up in a compromising position, one she had no recollection of falling asleep in, one she had never considered possible.

"I don't know about everyone else, but I slept quite well," Landry answered the hostess' inquiry, sending an insinuating look in Elizabeth's direction. Sam, having been freed of the ministrations of her husband, caught the meaningful exchange and sent her own questioning look towards Jack.

He leaned in, pretending to kiss her neck once more but whispered something Elizabeth just knew pertained to his finding her on the couch with John. Then he turned to General Landry.

"Hank, care to take our coffee on the porch?"

"Sounds good to me, Jack," he responded realizing that some plot was underway and he was meant to extricate himself in order to allow it to play out.

"Sure you don't mind?" Jack asked his gorgeous wife who had been consistently glowing with happiness since the previous day, placing another soft kiss upon her cheek.

"I think I can handle breakfast," she replied, laughing. It felt so good to be able to have these conversations with the man she had been in love with for years, to finally be able to share her life with him. "I'll call out to you when it's ready."

And with that, the two women were left alone in the rather large kitchen. Much to her alarm the sound of Elizabeth's bare feet padding across the floor echoed in the white-tiled room. She was going to ask Sam if she could help with breakfast, but was distracted by the impressiveness of the classy and no doubt expensive appliances, furniture, and well, room, strike that, house in general.

"It was really nice of Senator Snider to offer his summer home for the wedding," Elizabeth commented.

"Yeah," the blonde replied, tending to the large pan of cooking eggs. "I guess he owed Jack a few favors. Something about getting him out of meetings that would put a race care driver on speed to sleep. The two are really a lot alike."

Elizabeth tried to picture a man similar to Jack O'Neill in personality becoming a US senator and failed. But then again, she had never pictured Jack O'Neill as a general either…

"Can I help you with something?" Elizabeth asked, finally remembering her manners. She tried to excuse the lapse to herself on the worst hangover she had had since her college days. The truth was it was probably due more to the distracting memories her mind kept straying to, of John's hands wrapped around her waist, his body so close it warmed her inside and out.

"Thanks, but I've got it under control," Sam said, smiling. How was she going to get the woman to open up to her? The leaders of Atlantis had seemed pretty cozy the night before, and after what Jack had just told her… She wanted the scoop, and she wanted it from Elizabeth. Now, what to use to bribe a regular workaholic presently suffering an obvious hangover? "Coffee?"

"Oh yes, please!" Elizabeth replied eagerly. She had smelled the delicious aroma since she had first been startled awake by the general's prank. But where was it?! Her eyes darted around the expansive kitchen, searching out the magic elixir that was her only salvation from how bizarre she felt. But she couldn't find it. She should have paid more attention when the generals had fixed theirs instead of contemplating the noises John made in his sleep.

"Over there," Sam said, pointing across the kitchen to a far off counter. Elizabeth filled the disappointingly small mug to the brim, deciding that she needed it black for cream or sugar would only decrease the overall amount of caffeine in the less than adequate volume the cup held. She took a sip before she pulled a stool up to a counter closer to where the hostess was busying herself with breakfast.

Mmm…heaven sent.

The world somehow seemed a better place now that she had a cup of java warming her hands and placating her whining body and groggy head.

"So where are you and the general headed for your honeymoon?" Elizabeth asked after she felt more collected.

"Oh, nowhere fancy," Sam replied. "Just up to Jack's cabin."

"The one with the pond with no fish in it?" asked Elizabeth.

"I see you've heard of it," Sam said, smiling. There. The other woman had opened up to her, but Sam was running out of time. Eggs really didn't take that long to cook, even though she had turned the stove down to buy more time. Plus, who knew when one or all of the other (more than likely) equally hungover houseguests would arise like zombies from their graves to storm the kitchen for brains. Although this is a pretty fancy place just to pass out in.

The newly married woman wasn't really one to pry into the business of others, but seeing that Sheppard and Weir were perhaps in a similar situation to what her and Jack had been in…denying, to themselves and especially to others, their feelings…she sympathized. And now that she was experiencing such joy over being open and honest with the man she loved, she didn't want them to make the same mistake she had, keeping it inside, fighting it for so long.

But how could she articulate all of that to Elizabeth without offending her or putting her on the defensive?

Luckily, Elizabeth had felt the urge to fill the void in conversation, creating just the opportunity Sam needed to give her advice, hopefully without seemingly giving it.

"You seem very happy," Elizabeth observed. "I'm glad for you and Jack."

"Thank you," Sam returned. This was her chance to impart some wisdom, painfully learned through years of suffering in silence. She took the pan of eggs off from the heat and turned to face Elizabeth, a woman she felt she could call a friend, not because of numerous conversations and time spent together but because they seemed to hold so much in common. "You know…I am so happy. And sometimes when I think of all those years that I denied myself such happiness…But no regrets, right? I will treasure all the time I have with Jack, now." She sighed, pausing to make sure she held Elizabeth's attention, that the woman hadn't recognized her lecture for what it was, choosing to ignore it. Elizabeth returned her gaze with a sympathetic and concerned one. Sam continued. "It's just that now that I have this, I realize how much more important and valuable it is than any of the reasons I held back for all those years. I wish somebody had been there to tell me this then…"

"Then again, I probably wouldn't have listened to them." She transferred the mountain of scrambled eggs to a large bowl. Giving Elizabeth a fleetingly sad smile, she said, "But the past is the past for a reason."

"And we have now." She set the bowl on the kitchen table next to the large stack of toast and other breakfast paraphernalia. "And I wouldn't trade it for anything."

And with that, she was back to her radiantly joyful self. However, Elizabeth remained in shock for several moments as Sam went to call her husband in for breakfast. There had been such pain in the woman's eyes, such regret, if ever so briefly. She felt bad that she could say nothing to comfort her. But there wasn't really anything to fix that hadn't already been taken care of by Jack. And how could one person apologize for the regrets of another?

Regrets were solely the responsibility and burden of those who created them. So why had she told Elizabeth? Why had it been so important for Sam to share her remorse with her?

Elizabeth's thoughts jumped to John for a moment, which only served to confuse her further. It must be the hangover. She wasn't thinking clearly.

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John had fully intended upon getting up, following the others into the kitchen and searching out some sort of antidote for the alcohol-induced pounding in his head. Instead, he had only made it a few steps before deciding he needed to sit down before he fell down, rediscovered the luxurious sofa and passed back out.

Noisy bickering that took him back to his childhood, or any day spent with Dr. Rodney McKay, aroused him from his sound sleep. He risked the stabbing pain of daylight, opening his eyes slightly to witness Colonel Mitchell and that alien-girl, Vala, fighting like small children as they walked through the living room.

And exactly like small children it was. One would slap or shove the other slightly, to which the other would respond in kind physically, and/or say, "Don't touch me." He half expected a schoolmarm to show up and scold them with "Keep your hands to yourself, children."

Although his head was very much groggy, John managed to pick up the basic gist of the 'conversation' as they passed. Mitchell was upset by Vala's choice of attire…why? She had looked pretty good in that little black number she had been sporting the previous day. John opened his eyes a little wider to get a better look.

Oh.

That explained that.

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Elizabeth's thoughts were totally disrupted as the next wave of houseguests poured into the large, but not quite that large kitchen. She had drifted off into her own silent reverie as the others sat down for breakfast and fell into small talk…not that she didn't enjoy the generals' or lieutenant-colonel's company.

She was just feeling confused and distracted.

The new arrivals to breakfast didn't aide her capabilities to think straight. Before they even entered the room, she could hear them arguing, that is except for the large, silent man who entered last. Teal'c nodded his head in acknowledgement to her and she returned it with a genial smile. His two companions had immediately desisted their banter upon entering the kitchen, and a hush fell as the others' took in the sight of the pair.

Elizabeth didn't like making snap judgments, but her imagination didn't have far to go before intersecting with her rationale in interpreting what she saw.

A moment after she had reached the conclusion, it was made apparent that so had everyone else in the room as a ruckus broke out when they all simultaneously tried to make comments that only sort of pointed out the fact that was apparent to them while also excusing or ignoring it.

Elizabeth took advantage of the distraction to pour another cup of coffee and sneak out of the kitchen. She wasn't especially looking forward to this conversation, but she supposed things could be worse. At least she had only cuddled with John, woke up in her own clothes and wasn't forced to wander around in his shirt. Poor Vala.

She took a deep breath before she made her way towards the place she didn't especially want to go at the moment.

A/N: I'm not too sure of my portrayal of Carter (too domestic and squishy?), but it was necessary. I'm just playing, anyway! (right?)

Oh yeah, we'll get more of John's thoughts later…I know I was more with Elizabeth this time around (that always seems to happen with me…I guess I'm drawn to her for some reason).