AN: Okay, this is the thing. I have a twisted mind that is indulged by my friend, Hotwire, and so the story just got more complicated. There is a crossover from the Stargate fandoms, but you don't have to know too much about it. There are just more people to love and love them I do. John and Cam are cool peoples and I hope you enjoy it.
Who Invited the Air Force?
After exiting the on-call room, she wondered around. Outside the windows, the night lights were on. Figuring she would find Addie or Jas, she pulled out her cell and dialed the number. After a quick conversation, she headed back to the cafeteria. Seeing the group she's looking for, she plopped down on an empty seat and proceeded to bang her head against the table. Callie, Miranda, and Addie just stared at her for a while. After a few minutes of watching in amusement, Addie stuck her hand in between the Raptor's head and the table. When her head didn't make contact with the table again, she looked up.
"Hey! Why'd you do that? I was having fun trying to give myself a concussion."
"Well, I didn't want to have to fix you up when you did. So I stopped you. You wanna share with the class where the sudden need to hurt yourself came from?"
"No, not really. I find internalizing things make life so much better."
"Beth."
"What? Don't 'Beth' me. I came here to fix things with Mark and from the conversation I just had I think that it's going to get more complicated. Not to mention the fact that I know you and Derek know, hell, probably even Jas knows, what is going on and you won't tell me. Will you?" she inquired, turning her head to stare at Addie with a little pout.
"Look. I get that you want to know what's up with Mark and everything, but it's not my place. So, even if I want to, I can't. Trust me. Derek and I have had this conversation over and over again…"
Addison pulls Derek with her after watching Beth go after Mark. She pulls him out of earshot of the others and starts in, "Derek, we have to tell her."
"No Addie, it's not our place. They have to figure this out on their own."
"But if she knew, then she could convince him he's wrong. You know she doesn't pay attention to her own love life. When it comes to the others she's on top of everything, but when it comes to her, she just doesn't see it."
"As much as I know you're right, we can't. It's for him to tell, not us."
"Not even a little hint?"
At this Derek just stares at her. And eventually she concedes, as she had every other time they had this conversation. Maybe now that the two of them were talking it out, he would tell her. At her concession nod, Derek is about to take his leave when he turns and asks her a question. After receiving her response he does leave and Addison returns to her table to await the return of the Raptor.
"…And anyway, isn't it one of the rules of the Family?"
"Oh sure, use the Family against me. Stupid rules. I knew they would come and bite me in the six some day."
Slightly confused at the turn of the conversation and what she meant, Callie asked Beth, "Six?"
"I hang out with flyboys of different persuasions, and by persuasions I mean branches of the military, and am considered one. That being said, six is a reference to the position on the clock…"
"…or it's a term for your butt."
"Thanks Addie, I was just getting there."
"And this whole Family thing?"
"Well Miranda, the Raptor works for Nomad Protections and my brother works for Banditt Protections. They had this little rivalry thing going on, but were hired to work a big protection job. One thing lead to another and they all became really close. Like Beth and Jas are so alike sometimes it's scary. As time went on they formed a family, which increases in membership whenever they decide you are cool enough. Right?"
"Yeah, that would be it in the simplest of terms. It tends to get complicated if you go into it further."
"Yes, well as nice as that would be, I have two handsome men to get home to. So see you all later," she ended and a chorus of 'byes' and 'nights' were exchanged as she left.
With that exit, the rest of the table fell into a companionable silence. Addie and Callie returned to their cups of coffee, while Beth put her head back onto the table. After finishing her cup, Callie decided to retire for the night as well. The silence went on for some more time only to be broken by two shouts.
"Captain Philips!!!!"
Beth looked up and turned into the direction of the shouts, and what she saw surprised her to no end. Standing at the entrance to the cafeteria were four men, two of whom were Jas and Derek. The other two were dressed in full dress uniforms befitting officers in the US Air Force, complete with the hats. She hadn't seen these two in over six months. Being that her life was complicated, her Agency status allowed for her to maintain a standing in the Navy, so she spent about a year at a military post where these two worked under her command. Not to mention that one of them was related to Derek.
"Well, I'll be damned. Lt. Col.'s John Sheppard and Cameron Mitchell, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm here to visit my brother and…" Sheppard started.
"I'm here to make sure he stays out of trouble," Mitchell interrupted.
"Okay then, Cam, who's gonna keep you out of trouble?"
"Um...you?"
"Nice try."
"Wait a minute here. When the hell did you become a captain? And how do you know little Johnny?"
At Addie's' use of the nickname, Cam had to comment. "Little Johnny?!?!??!"
"Shut up, Cam. Only my siblings are allowed to call me that. So don't even think about it."
"Okay, you both need to stop. This is so weird. I knew you looked familiar when I met you, I just didn't know why…which is retarded because that hair can only be genetic. Jas, did you know that they were related?"
"Yea…um…no. Well, it's good to know that not all the Sheppard men are tools. Just you, Derek."
"Wait, how do you know my brother?"
"Jason is Addison's brother. His full name is Jason Oliver Montgomery. And that makes the Dr.'s Sheppard part of the Family, which actually would have made you Family before we met you."
"Could the family get any bigger? I mean the way you guys keep going the whole world's going to end up on that list of people."
Both protection agents looked at Addison and started nodding their heads at her question, then turned to scowl at her. Jas was about to answer her, when John stepped in.
"Hey, it's not their fault they are excessively overprotective. That just makes them good at what they do."
"Yes, baby brother, while that is true, how do you know the Pirate and Raptor? And Beth, when did you get promoted and how did you get promoted?"
The Raptor was about to answer when another shout interrupted the conversation. Mark was making his way over to the crowd and saw John.
"Well, if it isn't the littlest of the Sheppard clan. And in uniform no less."
Sheppard turned to glare at his brother's friend, which turned into a smirk, "Just because I look better than you do, isn't a reason to be jealous, Marcus."
"Oh, look at who thinks he's all grown up and can call me that. No one calls me that, not even my mother."
"Oh, will you two just stop. I want to know the answer to my question. And you are interrupting."
"Fine, Der. Just tell me what the question is so I know and I'll stop."
"Well, Mark, he wanted to know how the Pirate and I know Shep. And to answer that question, I was his CO for a time. I was promoted when I first started being his CO and I can be promoted for reasons that you shouldn't worry about. Not to mention he's dating my female best friend. I mean I could tell you everything, but then there's paper work. And I hate paper work. There is also the part where we might have to kill you for it and that also requires paper work of a different sort. And did I mention I hate paper work. It piles up if avoided and it is avoided. And the Family would be upset and I really don't need that now. So…yeah. Are we clear? Good, because there is no more."
Half way through the ramble, John turned pale and stood stock still. His stance was something akin to a deer caught in headlights. He hadn't told anyone in his family about his girlfriend. Oh, he hoped no one caught that part stuck in the middle. He'd never hear the end of it. After she finished, he scanned the group and almost all eyes were on Beth. The only one not staring at her in disbelief was Addie, whose whole focus was solely on him. He was so gonna die unless he could shift her focus.
Addison stared at her ex-brother-in-law, when did he get a girlfriend? This was interesting, very interesting. Well, at least she now had something to ask Beth about, because it's not like John would ever speak to her again. God, how did everything end up back at the stupid things she had done? Great, for a minute everything was back to normal. And had it been before everything, she would have started ribbing him right away.
"What she didn't mention is that she left us for a position on an…" John began.
"…aircraft carrier, with a bunch of flyboys. We're flyboys and need direction too. Not to mention the fact she ..." Cam continued as they switched off telling the story.
"…. she left us, which is so not cool, because she left us…."
"…with a jackass. And I didn't even get to punch him for what he did. You got to punch him. Why'd he get to punch him and I didn't?" Cam finished their diatribe, turning to the Raptor.
Beth stared at the two Air Force colonels and wondered where the hell this conversation took a turn toward the past. She didn't want to talk about the reason for her leaving a post she loved. She just wanted to ignore that and get on with her life. Yeah, she missed the people she worked with, but it wasn't worth the pain and memories. So she left and found a place as CAG aboard ship. It wasn't the ideal job, but it was close enough. She really couldn't blame them for feeling the way they did, but she could yell at them for revealing classified information to un-cleared people. She assumed the pissed off Raptor pose.
"Both of you, front and center. NOW!" she ordered. "Which one of you wants to explain to me when the three of them got clearance for classified information? Because the last time I checked, they didn't. I would know if they did. And Col. Mitchell, the reason you didn't get to punch him is because he outranks you and it would get you court marshaled. That is one thing. The next thing is that I told you all that what happened doesn't matter. Drop it, and you will do that. Is that understood?"
Both men were standing at attention in front of her and at her question they both reply a half-hearted "Yes, ma'am."
Jason had been watching the entire exchange with an air of amusement, until the guys started in on Beth about her leaving. He then turned to watch his friend as they continued, seeing her demeanor change from cool and collected to…not. Her entire demeanor changed, but only those who knew her could see it. And boy, did he see it. Everything she said to them was a front to help her keep it together in front of her men, because no matter where she was posted, they would always be a part of her crew. Where did this come from? They were on leave. It was supposed to be simple, visit Addie, Beth work things out with Mark, and put that part of the family back together again. Things had just gotten complicated and they needed to regroup, decompress and come up with a new plan. It was SOP and that was what they were going to do. Now, just to get her out of here before she lost control of her emotions.
"Okay. Now that you've put the smack down, I think it's time we headed out. We've been traveling for two days and I want to sleep. So say goodbye, and get that pretty six up and move," Jas intervened.
"Wait…what? Who said I was done?"
"I did. And because the rest of the Nomad put me in charge of making sure you don't end up making yourself crazier than you already are. So we're going."
"I think….that you're right. I am kinda tired. I think we should head out to the hotel."
"Okay, hold on. You are staying with me, not a hotel. I don't want to hear anything about you putting me out either. You're staying with me and that's final."
"Addie, we're both tired and don't really feel like wandering around looking for your house."
"Don't worry. Since I'm on-call, Der and Mark can take you. They both live really close by. Well, I guess it would be Mark and I live close to Derek, but that's not the point. They both know the way and are heading home so you won't have to worry about getting lost."
To this the Raptor said, "I'm sure that they both want to catch up with John here. And we don't want to put them out."
"Well Raptor, it just so happens that Addie is right. It's on the way and won't be a problem. I'm assuming you guys have a car so you can follow me, and Mark will follow you."
"It'll be our own little caravan. It will be fun."
"Fine, since the three of you insist. We'll stay with you, Addie. We should grab our stuff out her office, Beth."
As she replied, the group started the trek to Addie's office. "Right you are, can't go anywhere without keys. Oh and I'm driving this time. You almost killed my car on the way here, Mister-I-need-to-press-the-red-button-in-the-middle-of-traffic."
At this John and Cam looked between Beth and Jas outraged and asked them both, "He hit the NOS button?!?!?"
The other two turned to stare at the flyboys. Who says that out loud in front of a bunch of doctors? Really? Maybe they missed it. That would be good. They both turned to look at the other three, in hopes that they did miss it. What they saw told them otherwise.
"Street racing?!?!?! Are you two suicidal or just stupid?"
"What would posses you to be driving with something that volatile in your engine?"
"Damn it. What the hell are you thinking? I mean you both know you can die from that right?"
"Thanks, Mark. I had no idea that you could die from that. But it is technically safer than our chosen occupation. I mean come on. We step in front of bullets for a general living. I don't think a race now and then is going to do much."
"And you all know her; there is no way she would take unnecessary chances with the lives of the people she loves. The Family cars are the safest out of any car out on the street, even with the NOS. So calm down and let's go home…oh and we'd appreciate you two not saying stuff like that in front of the crazy doctor people," Jas finished turning to the flyboys.
At the looks of protest the Raptor added, "They don't get it like we do. It's not something that they see the fun side of. They get the putting them back together part. So we'd rather not worry them any more than they already do. It'd be like telling them all about what you do."
She finished with a shrug and John was about to say something, but then thought better of it at Cam's look. He then turned to his brother and questioned him.
"So we can stay with you, right?"
"Well, let me think. I don't know…I may…" and at the crestfallen look on his baby brother's face, he couldn't keep going, "…of course you can stay with me. You know I always have room for you."
"Good, now that everyone knows where they are going, can we go? Because I've had a very long day and I want to get some sleep."
"Mark's right. You guys should head out. I'll see if I can move around my schedule tomorrow for some time off. That way we can spend some time together." Addie turned to Mark and Derek, "You should do the same. That way we can all spend some time together and catch up."
"Okay, we'll deal with that tomorrow. Right now, anyone who's leaving, let's go."
The caravan of people headed out of Addie's office with a chorus of 'goodnight Addie's.
After watching them leave, Addie headed back into her office. She layed down on her couch and pondered the evening's events. She certainly didn't feel as alone anymore. It had felt like there were people who really cared. Yeah, she still felt a little weird when John showed up, but he had responded to the Raptor's slip by setting up a diversion. That was a tactic he used to shift focus he knew was headed his way, which meant he thought she was going to say something to him about his new girlfriend. That would imply that he was expecting a pre-divorce reaction from her, which one could only assume meant that he didn't hate her and considered her part of his family still. Add that to the conversation that she had with Derek after dinner and she was starting to think everything was going to be a lot different. The end result of that conversation was that he wanted to start spending more "friend time" together, whatever that meant. But as she closed her eyes to rest before her next page, she thought that things were starting to look up and that the next few days were, to say the least, going to be exciting and fun.
AN: Okay, so if this got confusing or you want more back history on the AF boys and Beth's connection to them, let me know. I am full of insightful stories and other history, some of which will come out later on. Hoped you liked it and don't forget to review.
