Author's Note: If the dialogue in italics then it's thought vs. spoken.

Moments in Time, Chapter 3

::::: Atlantis :::::

John hits the ground hard. When Elizabeth doesn't roll clear immediately, he knows that something is wrong. But he has to push the worry to the back of his mind as he pulls himself out from underneath her and fires at the sphere with his 9mm sidearm. The bullets ricochet harmlessly off some sort of shield protecting the sphere. John covers Elizabeth's body with his own in an attempt to protect her from his stray bullets.

Bates and his team enter the gate room. There's another hail of bullets as they also start firing at the sphere. John pulls Elizabeth against the far wall as bullets fly around the room. She doesn't stir. He finally glances down at her and is shocked to see something metallic sticking out of the side of her neck. Elizabeth seems to be breathing normally, but doesn't react when John calls out her name.

All of his attention is focused on the woman in front of him, so John doesn't see the sphere move toward them. Another projectile shoots out and Sheppard slumps down, unconscious, next to Weir.

::::: Elizabeth :::::

All Elizabeth is aware of is darkness. Total and complete darkness. There's a small part of her brain that wonders if she's dead. The larger portion of her mind knows that she's lying on the floor in Atlantis unconscious. She is totally disconnected from her body and Elizabeth allows herself a short moment of fear.

Okay, she tells herself. Get a grip. You've been in scary situations before, don't let this one get the better of you. Think it out. What are the possibilities? One, you really are dead and the rest of your brain just doesn't want to believe it. In which case, there's not much you can do about it now. Two, the sphere paralyzed you and you'll just have to wait for Beckett to fix it. Or not...which puts you in same place of not being able to do anything about it now.

Before Elizabeth can come up with any other scenarios, she feels another presence. She will never be able to describe to another person how this felt, but she recognizes the other consciousness instantly.

::::: Atlantis :::::

"Damn it!" yells McKay from the control room. "Stop shooting or you'll kill the rest of us!"

The shooting stops, but Bates and his team still have their guns raised toward the sphere. Ford and Teyla run into the room behind them. They spot Sheppard and Weir down on the ground and start to run toward them, but are stopped by one of Bates' men.

"Watch it, Ford," says Bates and motions toward the sphere with his gun. "That thing keeps shooting at people."

"I think it's done," comments Rodney.

"You think it's done?" asks Grodin skeptically.

"Yeah," responds McKay. "It changed color."

The others look at him incredulously and he continues.

"The lights. Around the center of the sphere. I was watching and it changed color after it shot Major Sheppard."

"And you think that means it's done shooting people?" asks Ford.

"I'm theorizing that it signals a mode change of some sort. That's it has shifted from shoot mode to...uh...another one." McKay shrugs. He's really making a wild guess, but he still thinks it's more dangerous to let Bates keep shooting at the thing.

"You're guessing." says Ford.

"I'm theorizing," emphasizes McKay.

Dr. Beckett and some of his staff walk into the room. Bates starts to stop them from walking toward their fallen commanders, but one glare from the doctor makes him back off. All the sergeant can do is follow the medical team over with one eye constantly on the sphere.

Beckett bends over the two motionless forms as the others look over his shoulder. He moves Sheppard onto his back and they all see the object coming out of his and Weir's necks.

"They're alive," says Beckett. "I'll need to run tests to see what's keeping them unconscious."

The medical team starts to prep the bodies to move to the infirmary, but McKay stops them.

"I wouldn't do that."

"And why shouldn't we?" challenges Dr. Beckett.

"I think they're tied into the sphere," counters McKay. He points down at Sheppard and Weir, then up at the sphere. A light attached to each projectile is blinking in time with the lights on the sphere.

::::: The Sphere :::::

John?

Elizabeth feels his immediate reaction of total and complete confusion. It takes him a moment to gather himself before he can respond.

Elizabeth? What the hell?

I don't know any more than you do. Elizabeth isn't sure why she's so comfortable conversing with John with just their thoughts, but maybe it had something to do with the time they've spent in the command chairs.

What is this place? asks John.

I'm not sure if it's even really a place...are we dead? Death suddenly isn't looking as bad now that she wasn't alone.

I don't think so...at least you were alive the last time I saw you. You did have a piece of metal sticking out of you neck though.

I had what sticking out of my neck?!

Uh... Sheppard realizes that it may have been a mistake to tell her that last little tidbit. I'm sure it's nothing Beckett can't take care of.

You know, comments Elizabeth, since you're here with me, you probably have one of those things stuck in your neck too.

Damn. You're probably right.

To paraphrase a popular movie: Why do weird things keep happening to us?

Well, responds Sheppard before he can stop himself. Weird things didn't start happening to me until I met you.

What's that supposed to mean?

Uh... At this point, John figures anything else he says may get him into bigger trouble. At least she can't hit him.

I should never have answered the phone, says Elizabeth with a mental sigh.

Huh? John didn't quite follow that non-sequitur.

When the President called to set up a meeting – when he first told me about the Stargate – I shouldn't have answered the phone.

But then you wouldn't have met me. John comments a little arrogantly. He waits for a moment, but there's no response from Elizabeth.

Uh...this is when you say you're glad you met me even with all the weird stuff.

Still no response.

Legs?

I think it's cute when you suffer from low self esteem, Elizabeth finally responds.

Not funny.

If you say so. Elizabeth can't help teasing him. It still amazes her that the normally cocky John Sheppard isn't a hundred percent sure of himself when it comes to their relationship.

So, she asks, do you think we're stuck in another one of those fake realities?

I don't know. But, John comments, as fake realities go, this one is pretty boring. It's just black.

As if on cue, the blackness begins to fade into a gray fog. What appears to be a very large room materializes in front of them. The fog then coalesces into the form of a young woman with pale skin and long dark hair.

Or not.

I hope that the scene switching wasn't confusing.

You guys know what movie I was kind of quoting, right?