And here we are: chapter eleven! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and for the lack of pitchforks! This chapter links back to one right at the beginning if anyone can remember that far :P Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter Eleven: A Promise Kept
John was propped up against the pillows staring unseeingly at the same page, one sentence echoing around his skull over and over again. Maybe he should give the book back to Elizabeth, at the moment he was moving at a rate of about a paragraph an hour. He yawned and rolled his eyes towards the beamed ceiling.
"Colonel Sheppard?" His head snapped down to meet Woolsey's razor gaze.
"Mr Woolsey." He struggled to sit up straighter; his commander waved his hand casually to one side, "please." John slumped back down; he'd already been out for a 'walk' that day and his muscles were aching. Dammit he hated feeling so pathetic.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to you."
John eyed his boss cautiously; Woolsey was pacing uncomfortably at the foot of the bed, refusing to make eye contact. John bit the inside of his cheek, "you were saying?" He prompted impatiently. Woolsey came to an abrupt halt and turned to him, heat rising to his cheeks.
"I'm...planning to send you back to earth." He spoke quickly, the words clipped but hesitant, obviously apprehensive about the reaction he was expecting. John didn't disappoint him.
"What the – ow!" His sentence was cut off abruptly as his yanked himself up and cracked his head against the bed board. Wincing he rubbed it and whipped round to face Woolsey, "are you insane!"
Woolsey licked his lips, "Colonel please; let me explain."
"Explain what? That I'm being deported!"
"Colonel. Please." This time the tone is sterner and John quieted a little, the furious frown still clear in his features as he lapsed into a sullen silence. Woolsey resumed pacing.
"You know as well as I do that you will take a fair amount of time to fully recover from your injuries," he started, "I – and Doctor Keller agrees with me – believe that you will receive better treatment and higher chance of a quick recovery back on Earth at the SGC." The muscles in John's cheek flexed but he stayed silent while Woolsey paused, finding the words. "I'm sorry Colonel, you may not be aware of how frantic things have been here over the last week or so but the staff have been rushed off their feet." He offered an awkward smile of appeasement, John sent a glare back.
"You can't just ship me away," he said furiously, "I should be here, not stuck in some lab on Earth, we've got the best doctors in the galaxy all holed up in this city and you want to send me back?" his voice rose incredulous, "Atlantis needs me and you know it."
"Yes Colonel!" Woolsey snapped in irritation, "you're right, Atlantis does need you and they need you soon and the best way they can get you is for you to return to Earth and get some rest!"
"But –"
"This is not up for negotiation Colonel."
John gritted his teeth, scowling at the normally platonic leader of Atlantis, "Does the SGC know about this?" He asked at last.
"They are expecting you tomorrow." Woolsey replied curtly, "please be ready by then." With that he strode away, shoes tapping on the polished floor.
"Oh and Colonel?" He paused at the door, twisting around to face John again, "I just thought you might want to know;" a slight smile hovered at the edge of his mouth, "Doctor Weir will also be returning with you to Earth tomorrow." Shock flitted across John's features. "I thought it best for you two to go together." He inclined his head politely, "have a good evening."
John sank back into the bed and rolled over uncomfortably, giving the perfectly plumped pillows a punch for good measure.
Now what was he meant to think?
To be honest he was slightly not nervous but cautious about Elizabeth at the moment: since his 'realization' in the torture chamber he'd confused at how to act. Normal? Clingy? Slightly withdrawn? (That option at least was out of the question; John could no more stay away from her than go without oxygen). He knew he wouldn't be here without her; due to both her indistinct call had that had brought him back from the fuzzy enticement of death and the lonely hours out on the pier where she'd rescued him from another type of death.
It was an achievement though that she'd managed to reach out to him at all; normally John Sheppard didn't let anyone in. Ever.
But she was certainly in, burrowed under his skin and mind – and at present he was lost at what to do, he loved her that much was clear (finally) but there was too much, too many things to consider to admit that to her. (Not that he could even think about doing so without cringing at the thought of her reaction). She was waiting to return to Earth and he was still pretty out of it half the time. For once in his life John Sheppard wanted to wait, this wasn't some one night stand this was a women he loved, cherished , respected (and yes he'll admit it feared) more than life itself.
He was alive and she was back and if life had granted him this second chance he wanted to deserve the gift and get it right.
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Elizabeth took a deep breath and stepped into the gate room, the small bag feeling strangely heavy, she shaded her eyes with her other hand as the gate activated flooding the whole gate room in swirling blue light. She glanced around the city again, drinking in every tiny detail; the waves lapping gently against the sheer sides, the familiar whir of a Jumper as it came into land, distant shouts from the mess hall and the steady hum that always seemed to surround the city – constant and unchanging. Her eyes turned to the balcony above her, where Teyla, Ronon and Rodney stood, their faces sober through the forced grins, she returned them a cracked smile of her own and tried not to let the thought that this may be the final time she ever saw them or the Atlantis itself again enter her mind. She raised her free hand once in farewell and turned away.
Then she saw the dark silhouette standing against the circular pool, bent over slightly as he balanced on crutches. A smile crept onto her face and she joined him before the shimmering horizon, he looked down at her his eyes warm. "Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
And without saying another word the two of them moved together and stepped back to the world where they had once belonged, the world so distant it was almost forgotten, a world where they were no longer citizens but visitors.
Back to Earth.
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She fingered the clip holding back half of her curling hair. On just the other side of that door were a bunch of 'bloodthirsty bureaucrats ready to yank your heart out' as General Landry had so charmingly put it. Elizabeth sighed and shook her head smiling; at least she had one ally in this place; the commander of the SGC had been both friendly and hospitable; giving her one of the best rooms in the base, the low down on all of the IOA representatives that would be 'interrogating' her, even organizing new clothes to be sent. Elizabeth gave another smile, smoothing out the simple black skirt that clung to her slim figure. Well, at least she looked the part. Now all she had to do was actually act it, immerse herself in this murky world of twisted speeches, unspoken implications and complex sentences that meant the opposite to whatever they actually said.
"Come on Elizabeth," she hissed to herself, still staring blankly at grey door, "Procrastinating isn't going to help anything." She swallowed, raised her chin and finally knocked on the door.
"Enter!" The door swung open to expose three expressionless representatives – two of them were exactly the same ones that had dragged her over coals last time she returned to Earth, when they were facing the Wraith attack. "Doctor Weir." The Chinese-looking woman, sitting in the middle nodded soberly. "Please have a seat."
"Thank you," Elizabeth slid into a chair opposite the three of them.
The man on the left leant forward, "its good to see you again Doctor Weir," he said, "especially after hearing the persistent rumours that you were dead numerous times." He smiled humourlessly, "I must admit it is a bit of shock to see you sitting across from me again after all this time."
The other man folded his hands on the table in front of him, his already thin lips pressed together, "you were taken prisoners by the replicators were you not?"
"Yes," Elizabeth answered simply, "I was."
"Perhaps you can tell us a little about that?" suggested the woman delicately, "if – if you feel able to that is of course?" She raised her eyebrows inquiringly and Elizabeth gritted her teeth together.
"What would you like to know?"
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"So, how'd it go today?" John asked late that afternoon, lumping some food onto his tray. Elizabeth groaned wearily, as she reached out to grab a drink.
"Reasonably well I guess," she said, placing a pot of blue jello next to her salad. "They don't seem to be out to blame me for sentencing all of Earth and the human race to everlasting pain and death this time which makes a nice change." John gave a smirk and Elizabeth picked up both trays, heading towards a small table in the corner. John plonked himself down opposite, leaning his crutches against an empty chair.
"What about you?" He asked, speaking through a mouthful of chicken roll, "deal with it all ok?"
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and leant her elbows on the table, "alright, I suppose." She rolled her eyes, "it's amazing how quickly you can slip back into playing the game."
"And from what I heard you were a bit more than an amateur player today," a voice said from above them, they both glanced up in surprise to see General Landry. He shoved himself down next to John and grinned at her. "Now I can't quite say where from but my sources tell me that the bloodsuckers in there got just a little bit worried after a couple of hours with you." He snorted, "I think they were expecting to be dealing traumatised, cowering wreck unable to even understand what they were asking, let alone answer." He shook his head, "boy did they get a surprise." He leaned forward a little, lowering his voice. "You were running circles around them Elizabeth."
Elizabeth met his gaze, her eyes smiling, "thank you General – for everything."
"My pleasure," he assured her, "my pleasure." He scraped the chair back and stood up, stretching, and glanced at his watch, "now if you excuse me I must go and see some people who are infinitely less pleasurable company..." his words trailed off a little and Elizabeth could swear he could hear his mutter something about stupid marines under his breath, he gave her a wink, "just keep up the good work." He strode off.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment, only the scrape of the spoons and forks filling in the comfortable quiet, "so how was your day?" Elizabeth asked eventually.
John gave a moan, nose wrinkling up in distaste, "well apart from being poked with every instrument with a sharp end known to man – fine."
Elizabeth laughed lightly and he grinned, "so you going to be stuck in there with them all day tomorrow as well?" He asked casually.
"No, not in the afternoon. It seems they have some human concept of rest as well. Why?"
He shrugged, "no reason."
The next day after lunch Elizabeth was bent over the small desk in her room writing when John knocked at the door. "Hey," he said poking his head in. "You ready to get out of here?"
Elizabeth looked up, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean?"
He gave her the usual flyboy grin, "you'll see."
Frowning Elizabeth grabbed her jacket and followed him through the usual winding passages. After a couple of dignified pleading attempts as to where they were going she gave up and simply treated him to stubborn silence. This however faded when they got into a lift and she saw the number John punched in. She raised one eyebrow, "we're going to the surface?"
He smirked, "yep. This is killing you isn't it?"
Elizabeth gave him to her famous death stare and turned away, folding her arms tightly across her chest and turning away with a frustrated huff. The next time he gave her that look she swore she was going to strangle him...slowly. She mentally listed all of the tortures she could subject him too. Shutting him in a room with Rodney for a week and forcing him to read all of the scientists reports in one go weren't the least of them.
She was interrupted from her musing as the doors slid open and the two of them stepped out, blinking in the bright sunlight, John drew out his dark shades and perched them on his nose with a swish and flourish, Elizabeth rolled her eyes, glancing for the first time at what he was wearing, wondering if it could give her any clue to the mysterious location of this odd outing. Plain black T-shirt and jeans – useless.
Suddenly her eyes narrowed, realising something; his hair...messy as usual, (unsurprisingly) but she was around John enough to notice the slightest difference: it was like he'd tried to – to comb it...?
Her mind rejected the idea immediately. John Sheppard did not comb his hair, impossible. But...true. The occasion must be an important one.
Suddenly concerned, Elizabeth glanced down at her own clothes, also jeans, boots and a warm woollen top, light green with a round neck line. "Relax," John said, not even looking at her, "you're fine."
She was going to kill him, she thought, as they got into the car the military had so kindly provided for them. She really was going to kill him.
They finally drew up at the long-awaited destination hours later; on the way she'd had tried every single persuasion method she had ever used, heard of or read about. Death threats, the cold shoulder, screaming, taunting, a ten minute speech on the importance of truthfulness. None of it worked. John had just sat there. Grinning.
Now Elizabeth gazed out of the window; frozen in shock. "Elizabeth?" For the first time John sounded nervous. "You ok?"
"I'm fine." Her voice was perfectly controlled, her face set, diplomat's mask firmly in place.
John bit his lip, "hey, I'm sorry if I kinda sprung this on you," he shifted in the seat, "if you don't want to go in, you can always come back another time," fumbling with his seat belt, "sorry – I didn't – maybe you want to do this alone – when you planned. I just thought you might want..."
Elizabeth turned to him, her eyes shining. "John," she said, cutting him off, "this is fine." She paused, "no, this is more than fine. Thank you."
His face broke into a relieved grin, unclipping his seat belt. "Shall we?"
Elizabeth raised her hand to lift the brass knocker on the door, trying to ignore the butterflies that had suddenly taken up residence in her stomach. However before she had reached out to touch the door it suddenly flew open and her usually controlled mother was standing there, wild-eyed and laughing. "Elizabeth!"
"Mom." In an instant she was in her arms, the familiar scents of lavender bringing back a thousand memories of her childhood. "I missed you," Elizabeth mumbled into her shoulder, "I missed you so much." Her mom just squeezed her tighter.
However to Elizabeth surprise the first thing her mom did when they finally pulled away was not invite her inside or ask her where she'd been for the last two years but was turn to John. "I told you!" She declared triumphantly, "I told you!"
John just shrugged, while Elizabeth looked from one to the other in confusion, "you two have met?"
John gives grimace and her mom's eyes twinkle, "why don't you two come in and we'll tell you all about it." She suggests, "I think I can –"
They were interrupted by a large white blur flying through the air to land on Elizabeth's chest, knocking her to the ground. "Elizabeth!"
She couldn't answer for a moment, giggling hysterically as the dog devoted himself to licking every inch of exposed skin he could reach. "Sedge!" She spluttered, "Sedge! Get off! Sedge!" Her voice cut off as his tongue worked its way up to her face.
Unable to stop himself from enjoying the rare sight of such an undignified Elizabeth, John doubled up with laughter, wheezing as he leaned against the doorframe.
"John!" Elizabeth protested, "a little help here!"
Eventually he took pity on her and grabbed the dog by the collar and dragged him away.
"Um, thanks." Elizabeth said, leaping to her feet and smoothing out her hair.
"No problem."
Elizabeth turned to her mom who was unsuccessfully trying to smother her laugh, "Mom. Please."
"Sorry sweetheart, why – why don't you come in?" Mrs Weir turned away, her shoulders still shaking uncontrollably.
John gave a smirk and Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "well come on then. Believe me you don't want to keep her waiting."
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Elizabeth leaned back and let out a long breath, clutching the cup of tea in her hand; Sedge padded over to her, as John muttered something about needing the loo and left the room. The dog nudged her arm with his wet nose; she smiled and stroked his head gently, closing her eyes.
"I wish you could tell me where you've been sweetheart."
Elizabeth opened her eyes, "I know." She said soberly, "so I do I, it's been incredible mom, just incredible and if I ever can, I'll tell you everything."
Her mom nodded slowly, "alright sweetheart," she said, resigned, "but just tell me one thing, answer this one question" she leaned forward and Elizabeth clenched the mug harder between her hands. "Darling, was it worth it?"
She exhaled, breathing deeply, "yes." She said without hesitation, "Yes, it was all worth it."
Her mom nodded again, relief shadowing her eyes, "good." They sat in silence for a couple of moments, Elizabeth scratching Sedge's stomach methodically.
"I still can't believe you were the one who convinced John to come and rescue me." She said suddenly, laughing, "I should know you're always the one behind everything."
Her mom laughed as well, "believe me, I think he would have got there himself in time, he just needed a little...push." Her mouth quirked and Elizabeth shook her head ruefully.
"He cares about you, you know Elizabeth." Her mom broke the silence that once again settled over them.
Elizabeth looked up, a confused frown creasing her features, "I – I care about him too," she replied uncertainly, a sudden lump forming in her throat, "we've been through a lot together." She didn't want to explore the implication of those words.
Her mother looked like she was about to say more but checked herself, "he seems like a good man." She assured her, "a good friend." She paused, "so do you have any idea what you're going to do next?"
Elizabeth shook her head, "no, there's a chance I might get a job with my old company but at the moment they're still reviewing my recent...experiences. It might take a while." She took another gulp of tea.
Her mom patted her hand, "well I'm just glad you're back sweetheart. I never gave up hope that you would." She squeezed her wrist, gentle but firm." "Never."
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That chapter was a lot of fun to write; I love the character of Elizabeth's mum and her wry observations. Please review I love it when people add me to story or author alerts but it would be nice to have some feedback as well