Fyd818 – I'm glad you liked Elizabeth's mini breakdown in the last chapter as well as Teyla's scene. I do feel really mean, neither of them are having a particularly enjoyable time right now. I'm really glad you liked Teyla's first confrontation with the cloud and I hope you enjoy this chapter too, thanks for the review.

Steph7085 – Here's the more you requested, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Whirlwind-2005 – Yes it is kinda bad that Teyla's learning to control the cloud isn't it lol. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the John and Elizabeth scene in the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well.

Suzotchka1 – Thanks for the review, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story and that you liked the last chapter, I hope you enjoy this one too.

- - -

Chapter 20

Elizabeth had woken up that morning to find John asleep on the couch in her room. It took her sleep fogged mind a few moments to remember why he was there and she felt rush of humiliation as she recalled her complete breakdown. Her brain still felt like mush from all the crying she had done and she was fairly certain that she would never be able to look John in the eyes again. She sighed and sat up in her bed realising she was still wearing the same clothes she'd worn yesterday.

Quietly she got out of bed and grabbed some fresh clothes from the nearby draws. Despite her care not to wake John when she turned around he was awake and pulling himself into a sitting position. She felt the humiliation return along with the fear that he would think she was weak and pathetic. He turned to look at her and instead of the look of judgment or pity she had been expecting he gave her a small smile of reassurance.

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked her quietly.

"Better," she told him and he nodded his head before standing up and pulling on the boots he had obviously discarded during the night.

"I should go and change, I'll see you at breakfast?" he asked her and she nodded her head. "Okay," he said before leaving the room without another word. Elizabeth felt her fear and humiliation lessen as she realised he wasn't going to mention her breakdown or judge her for it. She took a deep breath in relief and headed through to the bathroom to shower and change.

An hour later she was heading toward the cafeteria for breakfast. John was already there and once she got her own food she joined him at the table. "Morning," he greeted as though he hadn't spent the night in her room ensuring she was okay.

"Morning," she replied after a moment before she forced herself to eat her breakfast.

"Hey, it's good to see you out and about again," Marcus commented as he joined them both at the table. Elizabeth gave him a small smile in acknowledgement of his words and his presence.

"Do the Council know what they're going to do about Teyla yet?" she asked hesitantly, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

"No, at least as far as we know," John answered "I don't think they'd planned for this scenario."

"It'll probably be a few days before they figure out what they're going to do about it. I mean both of you are needed to destroy the cloud but with the Vernai having Teyla they have some control over the cloud so… she's probably just as big a threat to them right now," Marcus added reluctantly and gave Elizabeth an apologetic look. She nodded her head in understanding, if Teyla was working for the Vernai then Elizabeth would have to get used to people talking about her as though she was the enemy, as of now, that's exactly what she was.

- - -

It had been two days since they had encountered the cloud. Ronon had been busy with the various tasks that came with being a commander and had yet to speak to Teyla. He knew she had barely left her room since their return but he figured she needed the rest after her mental battle with the dark cloud, he knew it had tired her out.

The whole situation with Teyla was driving him insane and he knew that sooner or later they would have to continue her training. Inevitably they would also have to return to sparring which they had been avoiding since the incident. If he was honest with himself he missed her presence, he was sure it had nothing to do with what happened in the gym, it was simply that he had gotten used to having her around constantly. It had been two weeks since the incident in the gym and things weren't getting any better between them. In fact they were getting worse, now they voided each other completely and he knew rumours were beginning to make their way around his ship. Some of them were rather creative but thankfully none of them were correct… yet.

He knew he would have to talk to her and sort the situation out before things got anymore out of hand than they already were. If the Admiral were to ever get wind of what was going on it would be bad news for both of them. He had a few reports to go through and as soon as he was done with those he would go and talk to her.

For now though he needed to focus on running his ship. They were back to flying around space hoping to stumble across the cloud. Every now and then it showed up on sensors and gave them some idea which direction to head in but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and they were forced to fly blind again. It was frustrating not only for him but for the bridge crew as well who were forced to watch sensors constantly so that they didn't miss it's brief appearance. The Admiral had contacted them only once for a status report. He was pleased by the outcome of Teyla's encounter with the cloud but demanded more progress. Easier said than done, they had to find it first.

He returned his attention to the report in front of him trying to force his mind to stop wondering. The engineering report scrawled across the data pad informing him of this ships current condition as well as the few minor malfunctions the ship always had. Satisfied his vessel was still in good shape and wasn't going to drop out of space at any time he entered his security code into the pad as proof he'd read it and put it to the side.

The final report he had to go through was the security report which as always was brief and dull. There were very rarely any security issues to deal with which kind of made the regular weekly reports seem pointless. Nonetheless he read though it and once again signed it and put it aside.

Done with the reports at last he left his office and returned to the bridge where three people were watching over the sensors for the cloud. Across the rest of the bridge it was business as usual with the helm making occasional changes to their course. Colonel Tolman was one of those currently watching sensors though Ronon knew he wouldn't stay there for long. He was Ronon's second in Command and whilst he liked to appear as though he got stuck into the work with the rest of the crew he very rarely actually did.

Ronon walked off the bridge and headed towards Teyla's quarters where he knew he would find her.

- - -

The Council had called them all to the Council chambers and John was in no doubt as to what it was about. The guards opened the doors as usual and allowed them in closing the doors behind them. The Council were convened around the room as usual and John noted the solemn expressions on their faces, clearly their talks had been stressful and not all of them agreed with the outcome.

John looked to Elizabeth who was standing by his side. Since her minor breakdown the other day she had seemed a little more like herself. The situation with Teyla was obviously still weighing heavily on her but she was definitely coping better now. At that moment her expression was almost unreadable but John could see the small amount of apprehension in her features. She knew as well as him that whatever the Council decided was probably not good for Teyla.

On the other side of Elizabeth was Marcus, he and John almost seemed to flanking Elizabeth protectively though she wasn't actually in any danger. Laura and Carson were due back in two days and John wished they were here, Elizabeth would need all the support she could get, though he doubted she'd admit it.

"I assume you all know why you're here," one of the Councillors began "Teyla Emmagan working for the Vernai is a terrible blow to the Human Alliance. She has the ability to control the cloud and therefore can focus it on Alliance planets. Whilst it would be most beneficial if we were to capture her and convert her to our cause we feel that it is very unlikely to happen. We are issuing orders that Teyla Emmagan is to be captured however if it is not possible to capture her then any chance to kill her must be taken."

John heard Elizabeth take a deep, quiet breath to steady herself as the councillor finished talking and another one took over.

"We also feel that is imperative that Agent Weir learn how to use her own power to control the cloud, now more than ever. Perhaps she will be able to overpower Emmagan and save many Alliance worlds from the Clouds devastation," the Council woman stated and John didn't think he was going to like where this was going as yet another Councillor continued.

"To that end we have decided that the three of you will be assigned solely to searching out the cloud and allowing Agent Weir to develop her powers. You will be given a small ship in which to carry out your task. Agent Cadman and Dr Beckett have been assigned to this mission as well and you will leave when they return in two days. Drs McKay will also be accompanying you so that he can continue with his research of the cloud."

John signed when he realised Rodney would be coming with them, there would be no end to the bickering with him, Laura and Marcus all stuck in the same ship for who knew how long. The three of them were like children when you put them all in the same room for more than a few seconds.

"It is most likely that the Vernai are also searching for the Cloud along with Emmagan for the very same reason. I'm sure we do not need to tell you that the standing orders regarding Emmagan apply to you as well. You will probably run into her and the Vernai many times, if you get the opportunity to either capture or kill her then you are to take it," another council member informed them though the order seemed to be directed more at Elizabeth who gave no reaction whatsoever.

"You leave in two days, dismissed."

The three agents left the room and Marcus and John exchanged a glance. Marcus nodded in understanding and excused himself before leaving John and Elizabeth alone.

"You alright?" he asked her and Elizabeth looked at him for a moment before shaking her head slightly.

"I won't kill her, she's like my sister… I can't kill her," she informed him and John looked at her in concern for a moment. Realising that she was far from okay in that moment and he amended his question.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I will be," she replied.

"Are you sure?" he questioned and Elizabeth shrugged.

"I don't have a choice," she stated and the truth in the statement made John ache to help her somehow, to relieve her of some of the burden she had to carry.

- - -

Ronon had almost made it to Teyla's quarters when the ship lurched violently and he was thrown against the wall. He pushed himself back into an upright position and reached for the radio on his belt.

"Commander Dex to the bridge, what's going on?" he questioned and Tolman responded almost immediately.

"We're under attack, two Alliance Cruisers," he informed him and Ronon cursed silently as he turned around and headed back toward the bridge. It took him longer than he would have liked to get back since he was being thrown into walls every few seconds but he finally made it through the doors to the bridge and into his command chair.

"Status," he called and reports started coming in from the various stations. His attention was mostly on the damage report, he knew the helm would be taking evasive action and weapons would already be firing as best they could.

"They've disabled the hyperdrive and we have hull breaches on decks 3,4,5,12 and 14," his officer at the internal sensors console informed him and Ronon froze for a moment when he realised he'd just been on deck 14.

"Sir, we're receiving a hail from Commander Kale, his comm. officer stated "He says he's on his way and should arrive in eight minutes."

Ronon nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned his attention to the small panel by the side of his chair where reports were scrolling by almost too fast to read. One of the Alliance ships had already taken heavy damage to their shields.

"Kabel," he shouted over the sound of an explosion and his weapons officer glanced up quickly from his console as he tried to continue firing the weapons. "Aim for their engines."

Kabel nodded his head distractedly to show that he had heard and understood the order and Ronon watched as several missiles hit the Alliance ship near the engineering sections and he could see the moment where the shields failed. There was a tiny shimmer of blue as they failed and the next missile impacted the ship. Another series of missiles headed in the same direction and the ship finally exploded in an impressive explosion of light.

By this time though his own ship had taken heavy damage and the officer at sensors informed him the shields had failed. The next impact made the ship shake even more violently than before as the missile impacted the ship instead of the shields.

"Hull breach section 14H," his officer shouted and Ronon once again found himself freezing, that was the section Teyla's quarters were in. He forced himself to concentrate through the unexpected wave of emotions that hit him.

He was about to open his mouth to shout more orders when one of the few officers still at sensors cut him off. "Commander Kale has arrived."

Sure enough when Ronon looked at the screen a Vernai command cruiser dropped out of hyper space and bean firing on the Alliance ship. Between the two Vernai ships the Alliance ship was destroyed within seconds.

"Commander Kale is hailing us," the officer at communications told him and Ronon nodded for him to put it on screen. Kale's aging face appeared on screen, he was one of the oldest and most experienced of the Vernai Commanders.

"Do you require any assistance repairing your ship?" Kale questioned immediately, Vernai Commanders were not known for being conversational and the older ones worse.

One look at the summarised reports going through the panel beside him and he knew he was going to need all the assistance he could get. "Assistance would be appreciated."

"We'll dock and I'll send my engineers over," Kale stated before cutting the transmission and Ronon turned to the helm and gave the officer the go ahead to dock with Kale's ship. The sound of the bridge doors opening made him turn around in time to see Teyla walk onto the bridge. He let out a quiet breath of relief realising she was fine and left the bridge to meet Kale and his team.

"What happened?" Teyla asked as she followed him.

"We got attacked," he stated and could almost feel the glare Teyla directed at him.

"I gathered that much," she told him.

"Two Alliance ships nearly blew us up," he elaborated "Commander Kale showed up and helped us out and now he's coming on board to help with repairs."

He knew Teyla was thinking the same thing as he was, if Kale saw the current state of their relationship he would report it to the Admiral. Until Kale left they were going to have to act like nothing was wrong. If only he'd had chance to talk to her before the attack, the Alliance always had crap timing.

They arrived at the docking hatch just in time for Kale and his engineers to arrive. His head of security was already there and directing some of his officers to escort the engineers to engineering.

"Commander Kale," Ronon greeted.

"Commander Dex," Kale returned and then looked at Teyla who was probably the only person beside him on the ship that wasn't wearing Vernai uniform, it was a dead give away as to who she was. "This must be the Electus."

Ronon knew it annoyed her to no end when people referred to her as the Electus, she had a name and she preferred people used it. Normally she would just ignore it and not let it bother her but she was obviously already annoyed and wasn't going to put up with it this time.

"The Electus has a name," she informed the Commander who looked slightly taken aback but then smiled.

"It seems you're doing well with her, she's not the timid little girl she was reported to be anymore," he told Ronon who nodded in agreement. "Why don't we take a look at the damage to your ship so I know what to have brought over from mine?"

Ronon gestured for Kale to proceed down the corridor and then fell in step beside him. He was aware that Teyla hadn't followed them immediately and was no doubt glaring daggers at both of them for ignoring her. There was no warning before the explosion beside them, Ronon felt himself get thrown violently into the wall and vaguely registered debris falling on top of him before everything went black.

TBC