Steph7085 – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the sparky in the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.
Jammeke – I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I wanted Elizabeth and Teyla to end up being complete opposites of one another and I guess it worked. John really is just great isn't he? lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Belanna30 – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
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Chapter 28
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when the cloud finally backed down. It wasn't really getting any easier to control the cloud, she knew it was fighting her every step of the way. In fact she was sure the only reason she'd been able to fight it off at the beginning was that it hadn't been prepared for her to suddenly show up. She knew for a fact that she shouldn't be able to beat it as easily as she was now, not that it was particularly easy.
The panicked citizens began to re-emerge from their hiding place. There was less surprise when people found themselves still alive, word was spreading that the Electus had been found, though she didn't think they knew yet that only one of them was fighting on their side.
She felt tired and drained as she always did and decided just to sit where she was and recover her strength. Carson and Marcus were trying to calm the citizens that were beginning to show themselves. John was discussing something with Laura and Rodney though she couldn't hear what.
The noise began to increase as more people arrived to try and find out what had happened. The headache she'd been nursing for a week now was worse after her battle with the cloud and the noise wasn't helping. The Venture was currently sitting in the Vreal space port, a good hour's walk away so she'd have to wait for her pain killers and comfy bed. She stood up and walked away from the gathering crowd, she didn't go far, just far enough that the crowd seemed quieter. She rounded a corner and began walking down the empty street, glad for the momentary peace.
"I knew I'd run into you sooner or later," an all too familiar voice stated from behind her and Elizabeth had to force herself to turn around and meet the owner. There she was, after all these months, she was right there.
"Teyla," Elizabeth breathed. The woman who she had once considered a sister now stood before her. She looked different, no longer the innocent young girl she had been on Corlain. She stood there now, her tight fitting black trousers and matching black top were the exact opposite of the light blues and greens she had always worn before. Her eyes held a look of anger and hatred Elizabeth was sure she had never seen on anyone before never mind Teyla.
"Surprised to see me?" Teyla questioned with a small smile "I suppose after leaving me to the Vernai you would be."
"Teyla, I didn't know…" Elizabeth began, hoping to explain herself and maybe convince Teyla that she was on the wrong side but she was cut off before she could get very far.
"I'm not interested in your excuses," Teyla informed her as Elizabeth looked around her. She was half expecting a Vernai task force to jump out at her at any moment. "They do not know where I am," Teyla told her much to Elizabeth's relief.
"Why are you doing this?" Elizabeth asked her, she needed to move this conversation along or it would likely end badly for one of them.
"Doing what, trying to control the cloud?" Teyla asked.
"Trying to use it to destroy humanity," Elizabeth corrected "This isn't you Teyla, somewhere inside I know you know this is wrong."
"You know nothing about me," Teyla stated angrily.
"Have you seen what this cloud does Teyla?" She asked trying desperately to reach her. "It burns people alive, from the inside as well as the outside, the lucky ones suffocate when their lungs are destroyed, the rest suffer a far slower death. If you can really do this to people then maybe you're right, I don't know you."
"Stay out of my way," was Teyla's only response. She tried to walk away and Elizabeth took several steps toward her to stop her. Teyla whirled around on her when Elizabeth reached out to touch her arm. Before Elizabeth could even register the move, she had the edge of a knife digging into her throat. "You and I were once family but no more, I don't want to kill you but if you continue to get in my way, I will," Teyla told her angrily.
"Elizabeth," she heard John's voice shout as he was obviously searching for her but she dared not respond. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement that she knew had to be John. Teyla moved the knife from her throat and ran quickly between two nearby buildings. Elizabeth stood there frozen in place, unable to believe that Teyla, her only family, had just held a knife to her throat. She registered footsteps beside her and was vaguely aware of John running up to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked breathlessly, concern and worry filling his voice.
"No, I'm not," she stated as she took a deep breath to calm her panicking emotions. John put his hands on her arms and she looked at him, he was staring at the two buildings where Teyla had disappeared, probably making sure she wasn't coming back.
"We need to get out of here," he told her as he looked around him. He was no doubt half expecting the same Vernai ambush she had. If they weren't already waiting to grab her then it was possible, even likely, that Teyla would tell them where they were.
"Yeah," was all she was able to muster and she turned to head back to where she had left the others with John only a step behind her.
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Teyla made her way through the crowd trying to locate Ronon. A man that size should not be this hard to find. She finally located the large frame and head of dreadlocks she associated with her commander and teacher and made her way toward them.
"Where'd you go?" he asked her as she approached.
"Just had to take care of something," she informed him and he looked at her almost suspiciously for a moment before he gestured to where they had landed the shuttle.
"The Alliance will be crawling all over the place soon, we need to get back, I already sent my men ahead," he told her and she nodded and turned to head in the direction he had gestured.
It didn't take them long to work their way through the crowd and they quickly found themselves back on the shuttle and heading into space. She placed her hand over the knife still sheathed near her thigh. She had done what she had to, she'd given Elizabeth her warning. If she chose not to heed it then the consequences would be her own fault.
Neither she or Ronon spoke throughout the journey back. She could hear the conversations the rest of the shuttles occupants were having. She heard the word Electus a few times so she knew at least some them were talking about her. It really irritated her when people called her the Electus, she had a name, she had a feeling though that some of them didn't even know her actual name.
As the shuttle finally glided into the docking bay of Ronon's ship, the crew disembarked leaving Teyla and Ronon the last ones to leave. She removed the straps from around her chest that had secured her in place and moved to leave the shuttle. Ronon's hand on her wrist stopped her and she turned around to face him.
"What did you do?" he asked, his tone demanding an answer.
"I saw Elizabeth walking away from the crowd so I followed her, I gave her a warning and left," she summarised and Ronon stared at her for a moment. His expression was unreadable and she wondered for a moment if he would be mad at her. She'd known when she'd done it that he wouldn't be happy but it was something she'd had to do. She'd needed to prove to herself that she could stand in front of Elizabeth and not feel anything other than anger, that if it came down to a choice she'd be able to make that choice.
Ronon let go of her wrist and allowed her to leave without saying anything. She knew that was as close to acceptance as she was going to get from him on the matter. She turned away from him and made her way off the shuttle. She didn't even look back at him as she left the docking bay, she owed him an explanation. In all probability she'd see him tonight and she could explain to him then why she'd had to do it.
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The hum of the engine was the only sound interrupting her silence and her thoughts. Teyla had actually held a knife to her throat, if she hadn't seen it for herself, if she hadn't felt the edge of the knife pressed into her skin she wouldn't have believed it. She'd been telling John that she couldn't hurt Teyla but Teyla seemed perfectly happy to stick a blade in her throat, one slip and Elizabeth would have been dead.
The last thought made her shudder, she'd faced death several times over the last few months. She'd barely escaped from a ship before it exploded, nearly been killed in a shuttle crash, had weapons pointed at her, almost been shot on more than one occasion and faced a giant man eating cloud that could take over her mind, but never had she felt so close to death. Never had she felt like she was staring it straight in the face and never had she imagined that face would be her sister's.
She had to stop doing that, she had to stop thinking of Teyla as family. For starters they weren't even blood related and whatever bond they'd had before was gone now. She wasn't the same Teyla she had grown up with and the truth was she was no longer the same Elizabeth. They were different people leading different lives. Teyla was her enemy now and she was just going to have to accept that because no amount of wishing and hoping was going to change it. She could look back at the last few months and wish things were different all she wanted, it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't change the fact that sooner or later one of them was going to have to make a choice.
She sat in the pilots chair on the bridge just staring out of the window, far too often she found herself sitting somewhere on her own, just staring out at hyperspace and contemplating what her life had become. She felt his presence in the room before she heard him and he moved to sit on the chair beside her.
"You okay?" he questioned and she almost smiled sadly.
"Don't you get sick of asking me that?" she questioned back and he smiled, a sad smile that told her he knew how often he asked her that and he knew each time it was a valid question. That was the sad part, there always seemed to be a reason for her not to be okay. "She held a knife to my throat," Elizabeth stated, her voice barely above a whisper "She threatened me, she told me if I didn't stay out of her way she'd kill me and she wasn't bluffing, she meant it."
"She's been living with the Vernai, training to become one of them, you knew she would have changed," he told her, his voice almost as quiet as hers.
"But to actually see it…" she trailed off and paused while she collected her thoughts. "I don't know what scared me more, the fact that it was Teyla or the fact that she could have killed me, that I could actually have died today. One small movement of her hand and I would have been gone, just like that."
John it seemed didn't like that thought any more than she did, his expression showed more than just his concern for her. It was rare she got to see such emotion on it.
"I know that I have to stop thinking of her as family because we're not anymore… it's just hard to let go. She was all I had, she's the only family I've ever known," Elizabeth explained, talking to herself as much as John.
"That's not true," he told her simply "You have us now, you're part of our family."
His expression was completely open for that moment, there was a look of such… affection in his eyes that it threatened to overwhelm her already chaotic emotions. There was something else in his expression, something she couldn't quite identify and something told her she didn't want to, that whatever it was led to a place neither of them could go.
"Thank you," she said quietly finally breaking the silence that seemed to have lasted an eternity. The words didn't seem adequate enough to express just how grateful she was to him "I don't think I would have made it through the last few months without you."
"I have a feeling you would have done just fine," he told her, that look still in his eyes and she shook her head.
"No, I don't think I would," she replied honestly.
"We should get some sleep," he stated after another moment of silence "It's been a long day and I don't think tomorrow will be any shorter."
He stood up and she followed after him as he left the bridge and headed toward the bedrooms. Her room was right next to his so he left her outside her room with a 'sleep well' and then walked over to his own.
TBC
