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Of Flyboys, Figments and Fears
Chapter Two: The Weird Ways of Dr. Weir
He had first gotten the word from Rodney, while waiting for the briefing to begin, that she was and had been asleep at her desk for the better part of the last few hours.
A crease formed on his forehead as he wondered, 'Liz? Asleep as her desk? That was new.'
At first Caldwell had been irate, he wanted to wake her up and get the meeting on with. His schedule couldn't possibly be rearranged, oh no, not Caldwell's, but with John's intervention, and skillful reasoning, 'Right, Johnny boy, you keep telling yourself that', the briefing was postponed until later that day.
People usually thought Elizabeth never got tired. She was seen up at all hours, drinking never-ending amounts of coffee, her eyes never holding dark circles beneath them and she was always neat and professional. 'It's not like she is a robot or anything', but man had the thought, that maybe she took some sort of drugs to help her stay awake did pass through his mind every now and again.
That was when the rumors began and like all rumors they only got worse as the day went on. All John knew was that he wasn't going to be the one to tell her what most of Atlantis was talking about it. 'The Leader of Atlantis found sleeping at her desk… sleeping on the job… missed the briefing… Dr. Weir… can you believe it?' Were some of the snatches of conversation he had caught on his way to her office. 'Don't these people have anything better to do?'
When he had gotten to the door of her office, there was a newer member of the Atlantis expedition that had just been shipped over on the Daedalus, who was actually trying to take a picture of her. A PICTURE!
Probably for future blackmail, John couldn't let that happen.
The man still couldn't quit find all the pieces of his camera.
When he went to wake her up, he was surprised to find her in such a deep state of sleep, 'More like a coma!', that it took him a full ten minutes for him to even start to rouse her.
He nudged her, but didn't get any type of response. The thought did cross his mind to just let her sleep, she probably needed it if she was asleep at her desk, but then he thought of that one time he HAD to finish his report for Caldwell the next day. Seeing how tired he was Elizabeth had stepped in and it was fixed so that it could be due later, but foolishly enough he decided to impress her, not to mention he didn't want to get flack from Caldwell about how the expedition Leader had to step up for him, since he wasn't competent enough to get things done on his own.
Not that he minded having Elizabeth help him out; in retrospect he was very grateful for it.
Anyways, it hadn't mattered to Caldwell that they had just had a particularly nasty encounter with the wraith in their city which ultimately lead the deception that Atlantis had been destroyed.
Caldwell still had demanded the report. 'Ass!' John thought vehemently as he remembered that particular occasion where he and Caldwell had clashed.
Needless to say John had fallen asleep in a similar position and the stiff aches and pains the next day was enough for him to ask Doc Beckett for some painkillers.
His attention had returned to Elizabeth sleeping before him and an evil thought had flitted across his mind encouraging him to get a bucket of cold water, but he squelched that quickly when his common sense kicked in and reminded him that she was the one approving his off world missions.
Finally Elizabeth mumbled something about five more minutes that made him snort with laughter and picture her as a teenager reluctant to go to school, curled under a mountain of covers while her mother pulled them off one-by-one trying to stir her seemingly-dead-to-the-word daughter.
"Liz, Liz, Liz…" He chuckled to himself when she had opened an eye, then closing it had turned away from the sunlight streaming in the window of her office.
He swore he heard her curse, and it made his smile just grow larger. "Hey Sleepyhead."
Slowly, 'too slowly he remembered' and it was the first inkling in the back of his mind that warned him that something wasn't right, as she sat up right and tried to neaten her appearance.
He had teased her then, pushing aside the 'prosperous thought'. 'It's not like Liz was sick or anything.'
It's when she asked the time that all hell broke lose. He had tried to delay the inevitable, but alas he had to tell her the time, which meant her figuring out that she had slept through the briefing. Not just through though, WAY through.
First she had mumbled to herself 'thinking out loud' she had said, but honestly it had sounded more like the ravings of a mad man… 'err… women'. He remembered thinking how weird it was that she was finding it so hard to do the simple math. Trying to be helpful John had supplied the answer for her…
Apparently that was the wrong thing to do because the second he opened his mouth and started talking again, she had dashed off.
Quickly he jogged after Elizabeth; she had run out of her office after hearing the time like a horse in a race after the whistle was blown. 'Man! I have to get in better shape if this is the way Elizabeth is when she actually gets some sleep!'
'Maybe she really is on drugs.' The thought made its way into his head again as he passed some people in the control room, he apologized to them for her. There was actually a poor new nerdy looking guy with large glasses who was trying to pick up his papers which had been scattered all over the floor.
'Hurricane Liz strikes again.' John thought as he bent down and quickly shoved a bunch of papers into the scientist's hands before someone stepped on them. "Sorry about that." He gestured to Elizabeth who was walking at super speed up ahead. "Gotta go." He clapped the man on the shoulder before he continued to hurry off after Elizabeth.
" Elizabeth!" John was getting really confused. "What are you doing?" He had never seen her act to out of character. It was starting to make him nervous, was she having some sort of mental break down?
As she started listing off all the things she had to do, he started to see the panic in her eyes and he was sure it had nothing to do with the briefing or the fact that he had convinced Caldwell to postpone the briefing until later. Something was up with Liz, and "My health is fine." Just didn't cut it.
Now that he looked closer, she was flushed and her eyes appeared slightly out of focus. She was hugging herself close and he was sure he saw a flash of pain before she rushed into her quarters with an abrupt, "John, I'll see you in the briefing later today." With a soft 'whoosh' the doors closed and John was left standing with a puzzled-but-concerned look on his face.
Whatever she was trying to hide from him, he was going to get to the bottom of it.
He didn't like what he had just witnessed. He didn't like it one bit.
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Slowly walking away from Elizabeth's door, he was left not knowing what to do. Had it been anyone else John would have simply gone to Carson and asked to him give the person a check up. But this was Elizabeth he was talking about; he couldn't just go to Carson and ask him to give Elizabeth a physical.
It was like this, she had trusted him on so many occasions when nobody else had. It felt like a betrayal to just doubt her so easily, just because she had slept in late and was acting a little strange. Hell, he acted strange all the time. Come to think of it, any people back on Earth who hadn't been what he had been through would probably lock him up and throw away the key.
Yes that was it; he would just have to trust that Elizabeth knew what she was doing. She was a smart, capable woman. Unlike him, she would never dream of avoiding Carson when she was ill or hurt. In fact she would probably run to him at the first sign that something was wrong.
'Yep, that was it.' He had nothing to worry about, John concluded as he stepped into the room where he and Telya were scheduled to do some physical training.
But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to keep a very close eye on Elizabeth.
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Elizabeth was taking a very long and very hot shower. The second the door had closed behind her she had, had to sit down on the floor quickly to stop herself from passing out. The world had spun crazily and she saw spots dancing before her eyes as a just-plain-lovely sick feeling rose in her stomach. She had sat with her knees pulled up to her chest for quite a while before she had somehow found the strength to pull herself up off the floor and into the bathroom to take a shower.
As she peeled off her clothes, she started to shiver as the cool air in the room hit her bare skin. Her rational mind told her that she needed lots of rest, relaxation and… chicken soup?
But… On the other hand 'Caldwell' had popped into her mind and she cringed, just thinking of all the ways he would try to take over her position and duties if she was sick, even for a little while, terrified her.
Actually at the moment, everything terrified her.
Somewhere along the way she started hearing things. At first it was just creeks and groans of the building around her and the pipes which were pumping out the water, which she turned hotter for the umpteenth time.
Finally Elizabeth decided that she had probably better get out of the shower. The pounding hot wetness on her skin was starting to make her feel drowsy… well drowsy-er, although it had helped the pain in her abdomen and back which was now a constant.
As she climbed out of the shower, her legs shook. Trying to ignore the feeling of weakness she proceeded to dry herself off and get dressed. As she was pulling on her pants she noticed a large purplish bruise appearing on her hip. With no recollection of how she got this, a feeling of unease came over her; in fact the whole morning was becoming hazier and hazier in her memory.
Elizabeth finished getting dressed; reaching into the medicine cabinet she found just what she as looking for. Extra Strength Tylenol, 'Yes, this will do.' And she popped two into her mouth, swallowing them dry.
'Ring 'round the rosie… pocket full of posie!' A little child's voice sang gleefully.
Startled Elizabeth's head jerked up. Looking around furtively a few time, the bottle of Tylenol still in her hands. She looked down at it quickly. "What is in these?" She questioned.
Shaking her head, Elizabeth finished combing her hair and put on a tad bit of make-up to cover the tired look in her face. All in all she thought she did a fairly good job. 'Dream on…' The voice nagged, 'You'll never fool anyone.'
Elizabeth shook her head at the voice, 'How annoying'.
'Yes, very annoying aren't I? Ha ha ha. Let's play a game, Knock, knock.'
'I don't want to play.'
'Yes you do! …Now answer the question!' The voice yelled. It was so loud that it actually physically hurt to hear it.
"Owww." Elizabeth cried out. "Stop it."
'Then answer!' The Voice thundered. 'Knock knock…. Knock knock…. Knock knock…'
A knock came at the door, and Elizabeth gasped as if she had been hit. 'How?'
'Oh never mind, it's not like the Voice had actually made the door really knock, but for a split second it had seemed that way. A jolt of worry went through her anyways. What if John had called Carson to check up on her? She thought, but then discarded the thought, 'No, John wouldn't do that.'
'Well, of course he would.' The voice drawled, 'John wouldn't think twice about turning you into the chief medical officer. In fact I think he would enjoy doing it.'
'No he wouldn't.' Elizabeth replied, but a seed of doubt had already been planted.
'Are you so sure? How well do you really know our resident flyboy?' The voice dripped with malice, 'You've known him for how many years now? And you know nothing of his past.'
'That doesn't mean anything. He hardly knows anything about my past, doesn't mean I'm untrustworthy… I bet it was Rodney!'
Elizabeth had ignored the first knock on the door, hoping against hope that maybe whoever it was was, would just go away, but when the second knock came a moment later she frantically spun in circles trying to find another way out. Of course there was none.
'Liz, you should know better than that. There's no other way out. You're TRAPPED! Muhahahahhhaaaa!' The voice in her head harassed.
'You just go away.' Elizabeth thought back. 'I don't need to have another argument with myself. It's not normal.'
'Ha! That's just rich coming from you. Tell me this, why are you avoiding Carson?'
'I'm no-' she started to respond, but a loud voice called her name through the door and someone pounded on it heavily. 'Damn!'
"Coming," She finally called, before opening the door. 'I am SO going to kill Rodney.'
" Caldwell?" She voiced her surprise.
"Dr. Weir." He replied politely. Elizabeth just continued to look at him confused, what was he doing here? 'Great! Just what I need… Caldwell to brighten my day.' She bit her tongue to stop herself from grimacing at the sight of him and forced a smile.
"Is there something you need?" Elizabeth's voice came out more impatient than she had been intending, and quickly covered it up with a, "Let's walk."
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'Here I am pounding on a door… again! How come women always make me do this?' Caldwell impatiently looked at his watch.
"Dr. Weir!" 'Women are so infuriating. Doesn't even matter what galaxy we are in. They are all the same!' Letting out a frustrated sigh, he heard a voice call from inside saying they were coming, 'Well, it's was about time!'
As the door opened, Elizabeth seemed surprised to see him. "Colonel Caldwell?"
'Well, duh, who else did she think was standing before her? Okay let's keep the niceties goes… "Dr. Weir." He responded as politely as he could summon on such short notice.
"Is there something you need?" Elizabeth sounded impatient, 'Impatient, can you imagine that! Dr. Weir, the one who had missed the very important briefing this morning because she had been sleeping. It was ridiculous, that he even THINK of trying to continue being nice to this little…'
"Let's walk." 'Great, NOW she decides to be all polite. Well, it is a little bit too late, missy. I am not the least bit fooled by you and your fake sincerities and your oh-so-politically-correct mannerisms. No, no I am not!'
He had to be tactful with her, she was a sly one. "You missed the briefing this morning." They continued to walk down the hall.
"Yes, I am sorry about that."
"The briefing is rescheduled for 1300. I wanted to come down and personally tell you." He faked a smile.
"Of course, that is very responsible of you." She replied. In his mind she seemed slightly distracted. 'How come women can't ever pay attention when it really counts?' He thought.
Caldwell started to ask a question, "So, What…"
Elizabeth looked distracted suddenly, not hearing Caldwell's question and stopped walking.
"Dr. Weir?" Caldwell prompted her. "Is there something wrong?" He was proud of the way he laced his voice with a nice touch of concern. It sounded very sincere. 'Geez, how come I always get stuck with the blonds. Yes, I know she isn't really blond, but at the moment she might as well be.'
"What? Oh, Uh, no. Sorry, what were you saying?"
This was so annoying; Caldwell had to remind himself to unclench his fists. "I was asking, what you wanted to talk about at the briefing?"
Elizabeth continued to look at him blankly.
Boredom suddenly entered his voice and he felt like he was teaching a five-year-old algebra, "You said you had something important to talk to me about."
Elizabeth looked around, "I uh," She started to walk away from him. "I'll talk to you about it later." She quickly walked around the corner. 'Women,' He would never understand them, let alone like them. How dare she just walk away from him like that! He was supposed to be the next military commanding officer. She should show him some respect!'
Intending to give her an earful, he rounded the corner expecting to see her there. Instead he saw the transporter bay doors close with Elizabeth undoubtedly inside. It was futile he knew, but someday, 'Someday, she will pay for taking that position away from me!'
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