John stepped in front of D as she tried to leave again.
"Sheppard," D sighed and looked up at him, "I have other things to do this evening besides talk to you. Is this going to take much longer?"
"Just to clarify," John shoved his hands in his pockets, "I wasn't using the apology to get information from you."
"Weren't you?" D wondered, "I find that difficult to believe, considering you haven't yet apologized."
"Yes, I did," John protested.
"No, you didn't. Your exact words were 'I wanted to apologize for…you know…'" D quoted in a near-perfect imitation of John's earlier voice, "I remember everything since I was three years old, Sheppard. I can't recall a single incident of you actually apologizing to me."
"Are you really going to make me say the words?" John scowled.
"But, John," D blinked innocently, "How else will I know you really mean it?"
"Is this because I called you bizarre?" John asked warily.
"Yes," D smiled widely, "and I believe your exact words were-"
"I'm sorry," John interrupted, "for hurting you."
"And?" D prompted.
"And for…" John winced, "…sniffing you."
"Now was that so bad, Sheppard?" D smirked.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Vaughn," John rolled his eyes.
"Elizabeth says I've developed a vindictive streak," D gave John a calculated look, "If you really want me to believe your apology, you could talk to her about this idea she has that I need to participate in the City's social activities. She's somehow gotten the impression that I work too much and that I need to 'have more fun', as she put it. I keep trying to tell her that working is fun for me, but maybe if you explain it to her, she'll stop pestering me about it."
"Beckett also said," John cocked his head to the side, "that you took my place as his most difficult patient. Something about taking your tablet away over a dozen times. Also something about your escape attempts numbering in the double digits in the two days you were there."
"Carson is a damn nag," D sulked, "I was still perfectly capable of getting work done while I was trapped in that stupid infirmary. It's not like I got shot or stabbed in a vital organ or anything remotely serious. It was a minor skull fracture."
"I think Elizabeth might be right," John smirked, "You need to do something besides work."
D put her hands on her hips and glared up at John, "You are not a helpful person, Sheppard."
"Shouldn't have just accepted my first apology," John drawled, "How about a compromise, Vaughn?"
"I'm listening," D raised an eyebrow at him.
"A small group of us get together twice a week to watch movies," John explained, "We take turns picking movies. There's even popcorn and beer now that the Daedalus is making regular supply runs."
"I wouldn't want to intrude," D shook her head.
"It's not an intrusion if you're invited," John pointed out.
"How small a group?" D asked cautiously.
"No one you don't already know," John responded, "McKay, Teyla, and Ronon are always there. Sometimes Zelenka, Beckett, or Miko will show up if they're not busy. Even Elizabeth's stopped by a couple times. If you come to our movie night this week, Elizabeth can't complain that you're always working and you don't have to be around big groups of people."
D narrowed her eyes at John, "Are you inviting me because you like to annoy Rodney and you figure the two of us will end up arguing?"
"If I say yes," John grinned, "are you still going to show up?"
"If you say no," D snorted, "I'm going to try Dr. Esposito's salsa dancing class instead."
*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"That," Rodney pointed to the screen proudly, "is the signature of an Ancient ship called the Aurora. With the ZedPM now powering the city, we've been reactivating dormant systems. That one tracked the location of Ancient ships during the war."
"A warship?" John looked up at Rodney happily.
"See, look at his eyes all lighting up again," Rodney rolled his eyes, "It's Pavlovian."
"Not just him that's excited," D smothered a smile with her hand, "G major ninth with a fifth and B ninth."
"Bingo," John muttered under his breath.
"Do you mind?" Rodney scowled at them, "This is important."
"It's a fascinating discovery, Dr. McKay," D dropped her hand, neutral expression in place again.
"I cross-checked the logs," Rodney turned back to the screen, "They were on a reconnaissance mission. When we activated the ZedPM, the City must have sent out some kind of an automated subspace beacon recalling ships back to Atlantis."
"How long before it gets here?" Elizabeth wondered.
"Well, given that it's at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy," Rodney pretended to count on his fingers, "let me see...carry the four...forty-two million years. Should we go wait on the porch?"
"So we take a Jumper through the nearest Stargate," John suggested, "check it out."
"Clever," Rodney smirked, "but wrong."
"There are no Stargates in that particular region of space," D studied the screen behind Rodney, "The closest gate is…about three hundred twelve hours by jumper."
"Wait, let me guess," Rodney snarked, "You memorized the entire Pegasus galaxy because it's your job."
"Don't be ridiculous, Rodney," D arched an eyebrow, "Why would I memorize an entire galaxy?"
"Oh," Rodney deflated slightly, "Then how did you…?"
"I memorized the addresses of the planets with Stargates on or around them," D clarified, "I calculated the distance between the Aurora's relative position in space and the nearest planet with a gate. Then, taking into account the average speed of the jumpers, I calculated the time it would take to traverse that distance. Three hundred twelve hours is only an estimate, of course, not an exact time."
"If it's too far out to go by jumper," Elizabeth spoke quickly to hold off the brewing argument from Rodney, "That leaves us only one way to get there."
"Did I say three hundred twelve hours?" D smiled politely, "I must've miscalculated. Quelle idiote je fais. I meant twelve hours. That's not an unreasonable amount of time to spend in a jumper." [French: How silly of me.]
"Dr. Vaughn," Elizabeth cautioned.
"Dr. Weir," D responded in the same tone.
"Allons-nous vraiment avoir cette conversation à chaque fois?" Elizabeth sighed. [French: Are we really going to have this conversation every time?]
"Mon opinion de cet homme n'a pas change," D insisted, "Surtout après ce qui s'est passé." [French: My opinion of the man has not changed.] [French: Especially after what happened.]
"Rien ne s'est passé," Elizabeth argued, "Il a dit qu'il ne porterait pas plainte contre vous." [French: Nothing happened.] [French: He said he wouldn't press charges against you.]
"Cela le rend encore plus suspect à mes yeux," D shook her head, "On ne devrait pas lui faire confiance pour quelque chose de cette importance." [French: That only makes me more suspicious of him.] [French: He should not be trusted with something this important.]
"Il ne s'occupe que du transport," Elizabeth replied calmly, "Que pourrait-il faire?" [French: He's only providing transportation.] [French: What could he do?]
"Voulez-vous la liste alphabétique ou chronologique?" D retorted blandly. [French: Would you like the list alphabetically or chronologically?]
"J'envoie l'équipe de Sheppard pour vérifier le vaisseau," Elizabeth offered, "Vous pouvez aller avec eux, garder un œil sur Caldwell, si cela peut vous rassurer." [French: I'm sending Sheppard's team to check out the ship.] [French: You can go with them, keep an eye on Caldwell, if it will make you feel better.]
D gave Elizabeth a flat stare, "Я бы предпочитала выдолбить мои собственные глаза ржавой ложкой чем застрять с ним на этом корабле." [Russian: I'd rather gouge my own eyes out with a rusty spoon than be stuck on that ship with him.]
"A rusty spoon, D?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.
"A rusty sundae spoon, ma'am," D agreed, "It's thin, fairly delicate, and not at all suited for gouging. Especially if it's rusted over."
"What?" Rodney looked between the two women, "Why are you talking about spoons right now? Who's gouging things? Why are you bringing up spoons when there's an Ancient ship to check out?"
"Is there a problem, Elizabeth?" John drawled.
"No problem," Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at D, "Dr. Vaughn and I were just having a quick discussion. Colonel, have your team ready to go in an hour. You'll be catching a ride on the Daedalus to check out the Aurora."
"We'll be ready," John pushed off the console he had been leaning against.
"I still don't understand what spoons have to do with anything," Rodney huffed.
"I don't think we were supposed to understand," John shrugged, pausing next to D as he started to leave, "Former DGSE instructor?"
"Don't be silly, Sheppard," D smiled coyly, looking up at him from under her lashes, "I slept with the French Ambassador and his wife. Lovely couple. A bit boring for my tastes, though. I prefer more enthusiasm in my partners."
"You slept with…you-what?" Rodney spluttered and flushed red, "What?"
"Dr. Vaughn," Elizabeth admonished.
"I was only answering Sheppard's question," D smiled innocently at Elizabeth, "I'm making more of an effort to be polite to people."
"Yes," Elizabeth replied dryly, "I'm sure you are."
"Both at the same time?" John wondered.
"John," Elizabeth turned to him.
"Of course," D nodded, "And I have to say; she was much better. Very talented tongue...for languages."
Rodney's jaw dropped, his mouth opening and closing several times as he tried to form words.
"Colonel Sheppard, please go get your team ready to leave," Elizabeth commanded, barely holding back her smile, "Dr. Vaughn, please stop before you give Dr. McKay a stroke."
"Yes, ma'am," D inclined her head to hide her smirk.
"Come on, Rodney," John dragged a still sputtering Rodney away with a strong grip on his arm, "Ancient warship to go check out, remember?"
*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*
"We monitored all transmissions from the Wraith cruisers prior to the explosion," Rodney informed them, "They never got a chance to board the Aurora or upload any of the Ancient information."
"Both cruisers were destroyed in the explosion," Caldwell added.
"It's too bad we weren't able to figure out the Wraith weakness," Ronon sat forward in his chair.
"At least we found out they had one," John pointed out.
"Everyone has a weakness, Sheppard," D spoke absently, "Even the Wraith. You just have to know where to look. Zhèxiē jìshù guīfàn shì mírén de." [Chinese: These technical specifications are fascinating.]
"English, Red," Rodney huffed.
"I thought I did use English," D's nose scrunched up as she looked up from the tablet she was studying, "Didn't I?"
"Never mind," Rodney rolled his eyes as he stood.
"Good work," Elizabeth stood from her chair, "Thank you, everyone."
"Uh, before we break up the party," John reached down next to him to pick up a bottle of champagne, "there's something I'd like to do. Might seem a little strange, but I promised to do something when we got home."
Elizabeth retrieved a silver tray from the shelf behind her desk, holding seven short clear glasses with wide rims and a transparent blue base.
"I can do that, ma'am," D offered quickly.
"I've got it, thanks," Elizabeth smiled.
Elizabeth held the tray steady as everyone stood, taking one of the glasses as John carefully opened the bottle of champagne. Elizabeth set the mostly empty tray back down on her desk, taking the last two glasses herself. The group held the glasses out in front of them as John poured a small amount of the bubbly liquid into each glass. He accepted the second glass from Elizabeth, raising it in the air to meet everyone else's.
"To the crew of the Aurora," John announced quietly and everyone clinked their glasses together. Ronon took a hesitant sip from his glass then joined Rodney in drinking the glass down in one long swallow. Everyone else sipped theirs at a more sedate pace, except D, who only held the glass out to Ronon as she started mumbling to herself, engrossed in the tablet she held once more.
"Don't like it?" Ronon questioned as he accepted her glass.
"Dāng wǒ de gōngzuò, wǒ bù hējiǔ," D shook her head as she moved past, transferring the data from the tablet to the large screen on the wall. She started mumbling to herself in rapid Chinese again, fingers of her left hand moving over the Ancient symbols as they scrolled across the screen. [Chinese: I don't drink while I'm working.]
"Anyone know what she's saying?" Rodney looked around the room, "Last time she got distracted like this we-"
"You blew up a solar system," John interrupted, "and my jumper."
"Five-sixths of a solar system," Rodney glared at John, "And I said I was sorry about your stupid jumper."
"I'm afraid my Mandarin isn't that good," Elizabeth shook her head, "She's speaking too quickly for me to follow. I wouldn't worry about it, Rodney. I'm sure she'll let me know if she finds anything important."
"Bìng bù chóng yào, zhǐshì yǒuqù," D waved a hand at them, then went back to mumbling. [Chinese: Not important, just interesting.]
"Not important, apparently," Elizabeth shrugged.
"I'm going to head back to the Daedalus," Caldwell set his empty glass down on Elizabeth's desk, "We're due to leave in twelve hours. Contact me if there's anything you need before then, Dr. Weir."
"Of course, Colonel," Elizabeth nodded as he left.
"Dr. Weir," D kept her fingers dancing over to the symbols, "Are you going to need me for anything else this evening?"
"I think you've already finished everything until the end of the week, D," Elizabeth said dryly, "Why do you ask?"
"Because," D finally looked away from the screen with a soft smile, "the modified hyperdrive specs retrieved from the Aurora are…měilì." [Chinese: beautiful]
John and Rodney looked at Elizabeth inquisitively.
"Beautiful," Elizabeth's lips twitched upwards as she translated.
"If you don't mind, ma'am," D cleared the large screen, "I'd like to spend some time studying these with someone else who could understand them."
"You still owe me twenty-seven hours in my lab," Rodney snatched the tablet from D's hands, "Don't think I forgot about that. I was going to have you work on the MTI, but I suppose we could go over these for a little while. It doesn't look that complex. This should only take, what, eight, ten hours, maybe? Depending on whether the translation program is working properly or not. I'll still have plenty of time left over for you to work on the MTI after this is done."
"I was talking about Dr. Zelenka," D shrugged, "but I suppose you can come too. I'm sure Radek and I can find something easy to keep you occupied."
"Just for that," Rodney glared down at D, "I'm not sharing any of my good coffee with you."
"Rodney," D smirked, "Do you really think I don't already know where you hid it?"
"You don't know," Rodney insisted, "There's no way you figured it out. It's only been there for two days."
"Underneath the-" D started.
Rodney slapped a hand over D's mouth, "Stop."
D raised an eyebrow at him and Rodney dropped his hand as he flushed an embarrassed pink.
"Just for that," D spoke evenly, "you're refilling the coffee pot the first three times. With your good coffee."
"Yeah, yeah, fine," Rodney grumbled as he left Elizabeth's office, "Come on, Red. Let's go."
"Ma'am?" D looked over to Elizabeth.
"Go ahead," Elizabeth nodded, amusement clear on her face, "Don't keep Rodney up too late."
"I'll do my best," D smiled and turned to tap Ronon on the wrist, "If I get distracted and don't show up tomorrow, come get me."
"I'll bring your clothes," Ronon nodded, "You left them last time."
"Don't forget my shoes," D called over her shoulder as she left, "I left a spare pair in your room."
"Does Rodney not realize that D manipulated him into sharing his good coffee?" Teyla watched curiously as D caught up with Rodney and snatched the tablet back from him, "And into counting the hours she would have given freely as her promised time?"
"I don't think it'll hit him until later," Elizabeth replied wryly.
"With a little training, she would make an excellent negotiator one day," Teyla smiled serenely as she inclined our head, "We should be leaving as well, Elizabeth."
"Good night, Teyla, Ronon," Elizabeth moved back to lean against her desk as Ronon and Teyla left.
"So," John walked over and leaned next to Elizabeth, stretching out his legs in front of him, "How much you want to bet security gets called to the lab in the middle of the night to break up a slap fight?"
Elizabeth laughed, "I think they're more likely to pass out in the lab after the coffee runs out."
"Winner buys breakfast?" John grinned.
"Deal," Elizabeth agreed with a warm smile.