The A-ware by Fandomatic

Room for Maneuver

John spotted Dr. Elizabeth Weir, leader of the Atlantis expedition, sitting in her glassed-in office, raptly intent on her computer screen. A small hint of humor had turned the corner of her mouth up and crinkled her eyes. Sheppard approached her door and recognized the enthralled focus of a research scientist pouring over a favorite subject. Her dark curls fell across her cheek, unnoticed, and her eyes danced.

All her captivation disappeared when he walked through her door. And when her eyebrow arched, he knew it was about to get uncomfortable.

"Colonel," she tucked her loose curl behind her ear. "Close the door." She closed her computer to focus on him and her lips had compressed in a firm expression.

"Dr. Weir." John abandoned his ready apology at Weir's tight-lipped expression and closed the door. He took a seat and leaned back in her office chair. She obviously wanted to light into him so he waited.

Weir's silence provoked him to fill it.

"Okay, I get it. I screwed up and you've lost confidence in me." John sighed. "I'd defend myself, if my ... self ... had a leg to stand on, but I don't remember anything. I'm sure I had a really good reason to go there, but I can't tell you what it was. It wasn't in the transcripts."

"You were mad at me for trespassing on your turf."

"Oh." John nodded and shifted uncomfortably. "That-that 'mad' part doesn't come through in the transcripts."

"I made a decision to aid the single survivor of a massacre and you didn't like me taking a field decision out of your hands. So you broke protocol."

"Oh." John rubbed his chin uneasily. "That sounds really juvenile. I thought, well, I thought this was about something else."

"Really."

"Well, I compromised the extraction team's defenses."

"And you broke quarantine!"

John didn't say anything for a moment. "Elizabeth, the whole planet was under quarantine."

"Then let me be a little clearer. Dr. Beckett was charged with oversight of the quarantine. He told you to stay and you disregarded him."

John shifted again in his chair. "Yes, that's what Ronon said."

"John, the civilian contingent needs as much latitude as you can provide."

Sheppard looked away briefly and shook his head. "I don't want to get into this again. Can we keep this to yesterday's stupidity for leaving the site and me agreeing with you?"

"This goes much deeper than that."

Sheppard cleared his throat. "We've had this argument before. I thought I made my position clear."

"Yes, you have, because I'm not seeing much personal accommodation in your attitude when you continue to ignore the lead civilian. It undermines his authority!"

"Authority he doesn't have!" Provoked, he leaned forward.

"That is exactly what I'm talking about." Weir planted her hands on the desk and half rose out of her chair.

"In the field," he lowered his voice, trying to stem the rising heat, "I'm in charge. And I don't care how you sugar coat it with 'medical quarantine' labels or 'civilian affairs,' it's ultimately my command. Trust me, if the Wraith had attacked us, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'd be held accountable and nobody would be asking Beckett about it."

Elizabeth rose to her full height and leaned across her desk. "Well, I'm holding you accountable for making a rash decision that left the extraction team unprotected. Your job is to protect them, not abandon them to pursue leads!" She abruptly turned and withdrew to the glass wall. "Beckett was right when he told you to stay. What it keeps coming back to is your disregard for civilian control when you should have more respect for their authority."

"You can't handcuff me by taking away discretion." Sheppard found himself on his feet and his eyes narrowed at her stiffened spine. "If we're going to argue how much latitude I allow the civilian contingent in the field, you're going to lose. And I don't mean arguments. You're going to lose lives if I don't have the liberty to make calls as I see fit." The colonel paused and checked his rising temper when she turned to face him with crossed arms. "Elizabeth, I can't tell you what I don't know. I calculate risks and whatever I saw took me to that temple and that was a calculated risk for the extraction team. And that was my call to make whether it was right or wrong, not Beckett's. But, if it helps, I apologize for forcing your hand…again."

Dr. Weir's lips compressed even more as she advanced on her second in command and met his eyes unwaveringly. "An apology is not going to fix this. Listening to your civilian contingent will."

John dropped his eyes. "You're assuming I didn't listen." He stepped closer into her space and met her eyes earnestly. "You know me, I listen. I just don't know why I made that call. And because I don't know, I can't justify it—even to myself. But I did and that means I saw something."

Weir threw up her hands at that and turned away. "You know, it's useless to have an argument with an amnesiac." She sat down on the corner of the desk and pointed at him. "You're convinced you acted rationally when all my instincts tell me otherwise." She stared at him in frustration and crossed her arms again. "John, tell me, what I'm suppose to do when you force my hand…again?"

Sheppard offered her a small smile in the growing silence. "I can't make that call, Elizabeth. I can only make the calls that protect Atlantis."

Elizabeth Weir's mouth quirked upward at his candor, but she quelled the smile which had already reached her eyes. "Damn, you could charm venom out of a rock!"

John nodded modestly and matched her schooled face because he didn't want to destroy the moment. "That is ... one of my lesser skills."

She cleared her throat but wasn't quite ready to give up frowning. "Did Dr. Beckett clear you for duty, yet?"

"No."

"Then don't let me hold you up. I need you back to full status, Colonel."

"Yes, ma'am." Sheppard nodded at her and walked toward the door. He paused in the doorway. "And thank you," he added over his shoulder. "Again."

TBC

Next chapter, Discovery…