Chapter 7: Disobedient Kiddies

Elizabeth smiled. All things considered, it had been a good day. Sure, she'd learned about aliens…and met herself from an alternate reality…and there wasn't any natural light in the SGC…but things had gone well. Even Kitty was happy; after their meeting, she and John had returned to the surface with Col. Carter (or Sam, as she insisted Elizabeth should call her) to pick up their daughter, since she would be staying with Sam for the night. Elizabeth was greatly comforted by the fact that her daughter would be in the hands of someone familiar, even if they had just met that day. She'd always been able to recognize when someone was trustworthy, and she knew that both Gen. O'Neill and SG-1 were worthy of her good opinion.

Turning around, she saw John in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. "So, what do you think?"

She heard him mumble for a moment before thinking better of that and removing the brush from his mouth. "About what? There's a lot of things to think about."

"Let's start with the…other us. Dr. Weir and Col. Sheppard."

Smirking a bit, he replied, "They seemed nice."

Rolling her eyes, she pressed on. "I can't imagine what their lives must be like. I don't even know what I'd do in her situation."

John rinsed his mouth his mouth and set everything in order before returning to the main room. "Well, fortunately, you can just ask her."

"That's just the thing. There are so many things I wish I could just ask her, but I know I shouldn't. Not things like what we talked about today; more personal things. Likes and dislikes, emotions –"

"What their relationship is?"

"Yes, that." She looked a little sheepish.

"I've been thinking about it, too."

She nodded. "I wish I knew what it's supposed to mean. That they're not married and we are."

By then, they had both got into bed. Liz had a book next to her, though she had no intention of reading at present.

"Maybe it just means their situation is different. Well, obviously, it is. For all intents and purposes, she's his boss. Now, I admit I'm not the type to let work obligations stop me, but theirs isn't your typical office."

"You're probably right. And from what I could see, there's no lack of potential. They barely looked at each other for the rest of the briefing after they found out. If there wasn't anything there, it wouldn't have struck such a chord."

"I had a feeling you'd be watching them," John quipped.

She only smiled. Talking to John was alleviating a lot of her (mostly irrational, she thought) nervousness over what the relationship of their alternates meant in the grand scheme of things. She had to remember that they may be the same people, but they were still different. Different lives, different situations. She was herself, she was married to John Sheppard, and that was her reality.

--

0600 hours

Elizabeth Weir woke with a less than pleasant feeling of apprehension. A moment later she realized why, and became very annoyed with herself. Why am I letting this get to me?

She groaned, knowing she wouldn't be getting back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, she was on her way to the mess hall for a (very) early breakfast. It was almost empty except for a few airmen and a woman sitting off to the side eating a bowl of cereal. Elizabeth recognized her immediately. Quickly grabbing some food, she took a deep breath and sat down across from Elizabeth Sheppard.

She seemed much more at ease than Dr. Weir felt, which simultaneously comforted and annoyed her.

"You're an early riser, too?"

Elizabeth nodded with a small smile. She almost said something about Col. Sheppard berating her if he knew she was up but thought better of it. Instead, she forged on.

"I wish this wasn't so awkward."

Liz laughed. "Me too. We're – well, I am, you'd have to ask John – sorry for the surprise."

"No, don't be, you have nothing to be sorry for. We're the foreigners here." She paused. "It just seems to be the luck of people in this program. To find out they're married to one of their colleagues in an alternate reality," she said, trying to keep the tone light.

"Really?" Dr. Sheppard replied, clearly amused.

Elizabeth grinned. "You know Gen. O'Neill and Col. Carter? They were married – in an alternate reality, obviously. That's probably why he decided not to tell us. Decided he'd have some fun at our expense."

"He does seem like the type to do that."

Both were quiet for a few seconds.

"It's weird…I can't imagine my life without Atlantis anymore."

"And I still can't imagine what it's like there."

Elizabeth smiled as she thought of it. "It's beautiful. Everything's so alien…but not in an unfriendly way. There's these lovely little balconies everywhere…one by my office that I always use to think." She chuckled. "Or argue with John," she added, without realizing that she was doing what she wanted to avoid: talking to Mrs. Sheppard about him. Oh well, too late now.

"So you have your own balcony," she said, mater-of-factly. Elizabeth shot her a glare, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Rodney likes to say it's where "Mommy and Daddy go to talk about what they're gonna do about the disobedient kiddies". Though, of course, he doesn't consider himself one of the "disobedient kiddies"." She rolled her eyes, trying to keep her fact neutral and not think about how she just referred to her and John as "Mommy and Daddy", even in quotations. Why couldn't she just not talk about him? It's inevitable, an annoying voice in her head told her.

"Are we going to keep skirting the subject?"

Dr. Weir was caught off guard and couldn't hide her obvious reaction. Not that it would have worked if she tried. This woman was her, was married to John, and probably knew almost exactly what she was thinking.

"Can I get back to you on that?

Liz gave a comforting smile. "Of course. I would, however, like to hear about Col. Sheppard's intergalactic mishaps."

Letting out a breath, she nodded. She could do that. She may not be able to hide from Elizabeth Sheppard, but she had nothing to fear from her either.