A/N: Thanks for your patience. The papers are done for the semester, and I am six hours closer to my degree. Also thanks for the reviews. Some seem to think this story is done. I still have about two chapters and an epilogue left. I hope to finish before the start of next semester (in one week!)

A/N: Here begin spoilers for season 3. This chapter: Irresistible.

Disclaimer: The characters are owned by others. No copyright infringement is implied.

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Taking it slowly: Irresistible

Life on Atlantis continued as usual with one slight modification: the leaders were developing a relationship.

As they decided, they were taking it slowly. With John's shoulder situation, this was not much of a problem. They developed a kind of routine. He would drop by her quarters after his run to escort her to breakfast. She had given him grief at first, wanting to get to work. He had had to remind her of Beckett's concerns and flash the perfect pout before she gave in the first time. After that, it became a habit. They might or might not meet for lunch since it was never a sure thing where they would be in their respective duties. John always, however, stopped by her office at 7:00 pm to escort her to dinner. Then they returned to her quarters by way of a balcony. In other words, they were dating.

Their presence as a couple at two meals a day had not been noticed at first since they often ate together. Gradually, however, some differences got folks' attention. There were no sudden displays of affection. Instead, little things, like a touch on his forearm, a hand at the small of her back, a certain concern that hadn't been there before-- all set the tongues wagging, but so far the response seemed positive. There had been no open discussion of the policy change, but they could tell people knew about it from the relaxed way in which they accepted the new arrangement.

Elizabeth had acquiesced to this level of attention. In fact, she welcomed the chance to see him every day. John didn't push her, except to eat, and gave her plenty of room to adjust as needed. In return, she was trying not to push the "talking" thing, yet.

Which is not to say they hadn't talked. Their balcony time became their personal time. John would have been fine just holding her and watching the sunset. Elizabeth, however, was realizing just how much she did not know about this man, even though she had read his file. So she wanted to talk.

She was convinced it was easier to get blood out of a turnip.

At first she had felt hurt that he wouldn't talk to her. Gradually, however, she began to realize he was like this with everyone. In fact, the smiling, sarcastic, friendly demeanor he displayed on a daily basis masked a much more serious man with unknown depths, a man who was, in some ways, hidden. Elizabeth's curiosity was at an all time high.

As a first attempt, Elizabeth had talked, offering information about herself hoping to encourage John to reciprocate. And John had listened, but offered nothing. When that arrangement didn't satisfy Elizabeth's curiosity, she decided to play Twenty Questions as a way to break ice. Sometimes things turned silly:

"What's your favorite color?"

"Black."

"That's not a color."

"OK, how about red?"

"Hmmm, that's my favorite color."

"Oh, really?"

Sometimes, she got lucky and found out something interesting.

"Where'd you graduate from high school?"

"Hmmm."

"You don't know?!"

"I'm trying to remember which one I finally graduated from."

"How many did you go to?"

"Three."

"You went to three high schools?"

"Yeah, and six junior high schools."

Elizabeth was quiet, digesting this. "So this was because your father moved around?"

John snorted. "You could say that."

"How did that work?"

John was quiet for awhile. "Well, my mom and I got pretty close as a result. She was always there to be sure something was constant."

"I mean at school." She turned to look at him. "Junior High kids can be cruel, and everyone is trying to fit in. How did you do it?"

John shrugged. "I guess I just made people laugh and they accepted me pretty quick."

"So you were the class clown?"

"Hadn't thought of it that way. I just got to know people quickly."

"So you have friends from all over."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't make friends?"

"I just wanted to be OK until we moved again."

And sometimes she felt like she was playing Minesweeper. Once, she tried to find out something about how he felt about relationships, and started with Rodney's teasing.

"Come on, I thought you were Captain Kirk, a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy."

John stiffened slightly and reached up to scratch his neck, casually moving slightly away from her. Elizabeth was aware of what he did and realized she must have hit another of the land mines in John's makeup.

After a long pause, John said, "It wasn't quite like that, at least not intentionally."

Elizabeth held still, not invading his space. "Why don't you explain it to me."

John's hands grasped the railing as he looked out to sea. "That whole idea is something McKay came up with, and I really hate the comparison with Kirk." He was silent again.

Turning to face him, but still keeping her distance, Elizabeth nodded. "I can understand that. But why would he say that?"

John looked down at his hands, considering. "He started it during the whole thing with Chaya."

Elizabeth nodded, and waited.

He shifted again, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. "I guess I may have told him I had never had a really long term relationship."

She raised her eyebrows at that, but kept quiet. That one line explained his caution around her.

"As you know I was a military brat. I guess I, uh, discovered girls in junior high. Unfortunately, the six junior high schools, followed by three high schools meant if I got interested in a girl, it was a given that I would leave."

Wow, thought Elizabeth. The teasing, sarcastic façade made even more sense. She'd forgotten that the moves would have happened just as he was learning to make long term friendships.

"After high school, I went straight to the Air Force Academy, and the regulations did not exactly encourage relationships outside of the military. Every summer was spent in training or assignment somewhere else, so I still wasn't somewhere permanent. Then came the round of assignments. You've seen my record. Most tours were around two years. Of my sixteen years in the Air Force, . . ." He stopped and appeared to count on his fingers. "OK, I've spent about ten in foreign postings including such lovely areas as Afghanistan, Saudi, and Kosovo." He paused again. "You know, I just realized that in, um, six months, this posting will be the longest I've lived in one place since, well, ever."

Elizabeth moved to stand closer to him, and this time he didn't move. "I didn't realize, John, just what the military life could be. The diplomatic life is similar, but the postings are longer. There was time to make friends close enough to keep."

"Yeah, that is the problem. I guess Rodney is the closest I've had to a best friend." He looked at her then. "There's another thing. If I needed to leave, where would I go?" Then, in almost a whisper, "Atlantis is home."

Elizabeth tucked her hand in his. "Is that why you wanted to take things slowly?" she whispered back.

He nodded. "This has to work."

And sometimes he asked a few things.

"Tell me about Simon."

Now it was her turn to be quiet.

"Simon was, …, safe, I guess. We met at a diplomatic function. He's a doctor, that is a medical doctor," she responded to John's raised eyebrows. "We just began going out, and one thing led to another. At the time I left, we had been living together for about three months." She looked down at her feet. "I left him a video tape."

John nodded. "Did you see him when we went back?"

"Yes. I even got permission for him to return with us." She looked up at him. "Beckett told me he wouldn't sign the blanket commitment for one year. When I asked him about it, he, …" she looked away. "He said he had found someone else." She reached up to brush away a tear, unsure why it still hurt so much.

John reached over to her and gently took her hand. "I had wondered during the trip back. You seemed more subdued. I'm sorry," he concluded, softly.

Elizabeth smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Thanks. I'm not sure why it still hurts, but now I'm glad he didn't come." She looked straight into his eyes so he wouldn't doubt her word.

"Yeah," he drawled, pulling her closer to him. "That would have made this awkward," and he cupped her face and kissed her. As she returned the gesture, the intensity increased until they were both breathless.

Leaning her forehead on his chest, Elizabeth smiled to herself. "Yeah, especially since you kiss better than he does."

John gave her one of his cocky grins. "Really? Then I guess I should keep practicing so I don't lose my edge."

It had been ten weeks since his injury, and Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was looking forward to getting back to active duty. Beckett had moved him to a regular sling and ordered physical therapy. Anxious to get back through the gate, he was doing everything the therapist said to do. Grimacing as he put on a shirt, he admitted that the pain still caught him by surprise.

He usually hated being confined to Atlantis, but this time hadn't been so bad. First of all, his paper work was caught up for the first time in 2 ½ years. Just having it off his desk removed a weight he hadn't been aware of. The second reason was, of course, Elizabeth.

Finally dressed for the day, John sat down at his laptop to check out his email before the briefing. He was surprised to finally have mail from his father.

Hi John—

Thought I'd let you know that I got my email working finally. You can reach me at General Landry told me that I could send you email through the SGC and they would upload it every time you guys sent a report.

I have to admit it has been difficult adjusting back to plain old Arlington, VA. The house seems boring and there are no aliens around. I'm still amazed the military has managed to keep the SGC a complete secret, considering how many people know about it. Colonel Carter and General O'Neill gave me permission to call them any time I feel the need to talk about Atlantis. I think they want to hear about things as much as I might want to talk.

I did have a chance to talk to Landry about the children. He assured me that all are wanted, some very badly. You didn't tell me he is one of the fathers! I gather that a new, younger wife wants a child. Anyway, he told me the families were at the barbecue in August. I hadn't realized, of course. I don't remember anyone I felt funny about. I don't think we'll have any problems keeping up with his child. I also noticed Colonel Carter was looking green around the gills and running to the restroom a lot. Them too?? Jut to let you know: all of the attempts at fertilization were successful.

John, they asked for information about your relatives and I explained that you were adopted. Landry wants to try to trace your adoption. I hope you don't mind too much. I didn't see any way to object since they'll do what they think they have to do. All I provided was the hospital name, and they should have had that from your records. Sorry, son.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Tell folks hello and that I miss the city and its people. Keep in touch.

Dad

John filed the email in a new folder labeled "Dad," and continued to stare at the screen, deep in thought. If all the attempts were successful, they might want more. John scowled at that thought. It was bad enough the first time. But maybe they'd find he had a long lost relative with the gene. That might be something positive to come out of all of this.

Sighing, he shut down his laptop to get ready for that day's briefing. He put on the sling he was still required to wear. He was three days away from the earliest date Carson would OK him for gate travel, and he was determined to make it.

As he reached the conference room, he noticed that everyone except Rodney was there. Smiling at Elizabeth, he took a seat beside her as Rodney hurried in, still typing on his laptop. The guy couldn't chew gum and walk at the same time, but he could type on the run. Go figure.

"If we could get started?" said Elizabeth, looking pointedly at the physicist.

"Huh? Oh, yes," said McKay, looking back at his laptop. "We've come up with another four addresses that could have ancient ruins, artifacts, and, of course, Zed PMs. I was thinking we could split them between teams."

"Colonel Sheppard?"

"That sounds good. Lorne's team and Williams' team could take two. My team can take one in a couple of days," said John, looking anywhere but at Beckett.

"Just a moment, Colonel, I'm not sure you'll be ready to go off-world."

"Come one, Carson, I'm doing everything you've asked. I should be fine in a few days, and I'd like to save one of these addresses for us." He looked at the rest of his team, all of whom looked as eager as he was to get back out there.

"Carson, don't you think we can put off a final decision for a couple of days? Colonel Sheppard has been making progress, you said so yourself." Elizabeth understood John's desire, but she understood Carson's concerns as well.

"Aye, he has. If he satisfies me he is in good condition, I'll clear him for duty."

Everyone had a big smile at that concession, not the least of which was John's.

"OK, Rodney, now that that's settled, pick two of the addresses and send the MALPs today. We can brief the two teams tomorrow. Anything else?" said Elizabeth, glad to see things begin to get back to normal with her flagship team.

"No, actually, that was all. I'll get with Chuck and Zelenka, and we'll collect some data on the addresses." He was already pulling his laptop together and getting up.

Elizabeth nodded at everyone else, and the group dispersed. John gave her a big smile as he stood, but it was marred by a terrific sneeze.

"What's that? Do you have a cold?"

"Now don't go giving Beckett ideas. I think it's just allergies."

"Ok," said Elizabeth, not convinced. "See you for dinner?"

"Yep, I'll come by at the usual time." And with that, Colonel Sheppard headed off to his office. Elizabeth heard him sneeze again as he left.

After a lot of pleading, Beckett went ahead and cleared John for off-world activity in spite of his now rampant cold. As the team turned away, Teyla heard him mutter "Allergies, my arse."

The cold turned out to be fortunate, however, since it provided a natural barrier to the pheromone carried by Lucius. Other than feeling the usual aches and pains of a cold, John had the fantastic opportunity of seeing everyone on Atlantis turn against him, including the wonderful experience of being stunned by Ronon. He also decided that he didn't want a return trip to the brig any time soon.

After cleaning out Rodney's "research" stash of the plant, John went out to the balcony to check the sunset. His cold was finally easing up as a result of some decongestants that Carson gave him. That's where Elizabeth found him before heading to dinner. He heard the door open, knowing who it was, but didn't say anything.

She was also quiet as she came up to stand beside him.

"So, are you ready for dinner?"

John crossed his arms and remained silent.

"Look, I would never put you in the brig normally. You know that," she said, moving to stand a little closer.

John kept his face averted. "That's not it."

"Then what? I've already made a complete fool of myself and admitted it."

John was quiet a minute more, then said, "While I was keeping him occupied in the jumper, Lucius mentioned that you and he had discussed marriage."

Elizabeth paled then turned beet red. "You know that wasn't serious. That was the pheromone talking. Please, John, I wasn't myself." She tried to catch a glimpse of his face but he kept it turned away. Was he hurt?

"So how does it work if you're wife number eight?" He finally glanced at her and she could see his smirk and a twinkle in his eye.

"You jerk," she said, poking him in the shoulder. "You know how embarrassed I am and you aren't going to let me forget it, are you."

"Nope, I figure I have enough ammunition for several weeks." He finally reached for her, sneaking an arm around her waist, but the effect was ruined by a loud sneeze. Elizabeth pulled away.

"Come on, let's get you some dinner. My mother always said 'feed a cold, starve a fever.'"

As John followed her out the door, he seemed puzzled. "I thought that was the other way around." The doors shut on her response.

TBC

Reveiws appreciated and incorporated where appropriate.

A/N: I have a friend who is an Air Force brat who really was in six junior highs (the older name for middle schools, roughly ages 12 to 14 for those not in the US). I couldn't think of a worse time to be moved around.