Strange Bedfellows

A/N: What's this? An update 24 hours after the last one? What has gotten into me:)

Thanks once again for the reviews! Highonscifi, you didn't have to write that much, lol. I appreciate it!

Chapter 23: Bittersweet Awakenings

Four Days Later

It had been five long days since they had returned from Klaan, and five long days since any of them had heard John speak, seen him move, or even blink. While Carson had administered a mild stimulant to bring him out of his medically-induced coma when he had deemed it appropriate, John had not responded to the medication. He was still unconscious and unresponsive. And by giving his patient any more of the drug, Carson would increase the risk of putting even more stress on his circulatory system.

But while he remained outwardly inert, John's body had begun to heal itself. With the aid of Beckett's cocktail of medications, some of his cuts and bruises had healed, his fever was coming down, the infectionfrom the cut on his arm seemed to be vanishing, the bags under his eyes had cleared, and the purple bruises by his ribs had started to disappear.

The respirator had been replaced by an oxygen mask as soon as Carson had concluded his patient could breathe on his own. Some of the other equipment had been cleared out as well, but the IV and heart monitor remained. All in all, the major was healing nicely. All that remained was bringing him back to reality, and unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about that. It was entirely up the major himself; whenever his body decided to wake up was when he woke up.

What disturbed Elizabeth the most was that Dr. Beckett had no explanation for John's comatose state. He should have woken by now.

Each day, his teammates had visited for a few hours, taking the time to talk to their CO about what had happened on the base that day. Rodney had gone into a particularly lengthy speech about the finer points of wormhole travel, something he should have known John could have cared less about, until he was practically hauled out of the infirmary by Ford. "We want to wake him up, McKay, not put him to sleep again," Ford had commented about the scientist's boring lecture. "Try picking a more interesting topic next time."

It had been like that each day, small banter between the team to help relieve some of the inner stress they were all feeling. They found it helped to keep their minds off the current state of affairs. If they didn't amuse themselves with inane topics, they all would be biting each other's heads off and at one another's throats.

A lot of people came to visit Sheppard, some he knew well and some he had only had a few conversations with. But there was one person who had never left his side.

Elizabeth sat in the same chair day after day, the occasional trip to her quarters or the mess hall her only reprieve. She would continue to talk to him, mostly about mundane topics, but what she really found comfort in was just sitting silently. Somehow, in his presence she felt safer, just knowing he was there.

Finally, when she could keep her eyes open no longer, Elizabeth fell asleep. She had been in the middle of reading War and Peace, telling herself is was just for kicks. But her subconscious knew it was another connection she could establish with John, something to remind her of him. When her exhaustion finally caught up with her, the book slipped from her hands. She slipped into a deep slumber.


The first thing to return was his hearing. As the ringing in his ears subsided, John heard a steady beep… beep… off to his right. It sounded familiar somehow, and although he didn't know the source, he knew he didn't like the sound.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself looking at the ceiling of the infirmary. There was no mistaking it, and Lord knows he had been in this wing of Atlantis enough times to recognize it when he saw it. Hell, he practically owned the infirmary. It was his second home.

He squinted against the sudden brightness of the light. Moving his eyes around, he was able to catch a glimpse of several machines hooked up to his body, including the heart monitor which was the criminal guilty of the annoying, incessant beeping. Damn it. Not again, were his first thoughts as he regained consciousness. It was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

John tried to move his head around but his stiff, sore neck cried out in protest. Throwing that idea out the window, he tried to push himself up with his arms, but found himself too weak to do so. He was only able to make it an inch or so above the bed before he collapsed back down in exhaustion. As he lied there panting, an idea formed in his head. Waiting a few moments to gather his strength, Sheppard reached around the side of the cot and found what he was looking for. Pressing down on the button, the upper-half of his bed began to rise, and soon he was in a semi-sitting position.

The little trip had not been painless, however. As his torso bent forward, his ribs tightened with the movement. Immediately, he stopped and surveyed the damage. John fingered the bandages curiously, as if trying to remember what could have caused such an injury. He noticed there was a similar bruise on his other side, as well as numerous other aches, pains, and wounds.

What the hell happened to me?

A soft sound drew his attention to the left. There, in a chair next to his bed, was Elizabeth, who had just murmured something in her sleep. She rolled to find a more comfortable position and returned to her dream.

John watched her, confused. Something stirred in the back of his mind, something telling him that he wasn't supposed to be here, that he never expected to see her ever again. It was just a feeling, a fog floating on the edge of his consciousness, but it made him wonder.

He wanted to wake her up and ask her what exactly was going on, but stopped himself. She looked so peaceful, so content in her sleep that he couldn't possibly disturb such a beautiful thing. Plus, she looked exhausted. John guessed this was the only rest she had gotten in a long while, and again he wondered why. But no, answers could wait for now.

As he studied her, he noticed a hint of a bruise on her right cheekbone. Like a flood, the memories came rushing back: the Klaan, Hergon, their capture, the Wraith, an alliance, Kropol and Elizabeth, her returning home, Tiny feeding on him…. It still didn't answer the question about how he got back here. That could wait, though. All that he cared about now was here, sleeping right in front of him.

The Major sat in silence, just watching over her for a while before company came in. Ford, Teyla, and Rodney entered the infirmary in what looked like the middle of an argument.

"I'm telling you, McKay, Aquaman was the coolest," Ford insisted.

"Please, Ford. 'Oh, look at me, I'm Aquaman,'" McKay countered, doing his impression of the comic book character in a falsetto voice and waving his hands childishly in the air. "'All I can do is swim really fast and talk to the fishies.' Whoop-dee-friggin'-do. Now Wonderwoman…. Wonderwoman was the ultimate superhero."

"McKay. We all know the only reason you like Wonderwoman is because she wore a skimpy little outfit and had big-"

"Major!" Teyla interrupted.

The bickering boys immediately turned their heads and spotted the now conscious Major. All three rushed over to his side.

"You're awake, sir!" Ford exclaimed, ecstatic.

"Yes, I am," Sheppard replied groggily. He sounded like a frog when he spoke. "And it seems like you three have gotten along well enough without me," he said, referring to their most recent argument. "Remember to play nice, kids."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant replied with a smile. It was a relief to see his CO alive and well again, with some of his humor restored as well.

"It is good to see you awake again, Major," Teyla offered. She cast a sideways glance at her two teammates. "As you can see, things have been somewhat… disorderly of late." Both she and her fellow Athosians had prayed to the Ancestors each day for his speedy recovery. Even Halling had commented to her if there was ever a man deserving of their aid, it was Major Sheppard. She had to agree; without him, her people would surely be lost. They owed everything to him.

"Oh, I don't know. It looks pretty normal to me," he croaked, but managed a smile. "I'm guessing you were the rescue party that came in and got me."

He received nods and returned smiles from all three. John noticed a bandage wrapped around Rodney's head, and thinking he was injured during the extraction, offered an apology. "McKay, I'm so sorry…. I didn't mean for it…. What happened? Did you get hit by a Stunner?"

McKay looked around the room uneasily. After hitting his head on the lamp several days ago, he had been just too busy to get the 'wound' tended to. Carson himself had been otherwise occupied himself, and when he did get the time to check Rodney's supposed 'life-threatening' injury, he had dismissed thehypochondriac scientist without so much as an exam. So Rodney had been forced to dress the injury himself. Hence the rather sloppy bandaging job. It looked more like a Arabic turban than a bandage.

McKay cleared his throat. "Yes, actually…. One of them came right out in front-"

"What Doctor McKay was about to say," Teyla interrupted, "was that he accidentally hit his head on a lamp and that you should not feel guilty."

"Yes, that's exactly it," Rodneyconceded indefeat.

"You should also know, sir, that he saved my ass back there," Ford added. He wanted McKay to get all the credit he deserved.

Rodney looked slightly embarrassed and remained quiet for once in his life.

By now, Carson had heard the commotion and had made his way over to John's bedside. "Major, welcome back," he greeted with a smile. "You were out for quite a while. How are you feeling, son?"

Where do I start? he thought. "I'm sore pretty much everywhere I can think of. I'm a little woozy, tired as all hell, and thirsty. And it hurts when I breathe deeply; my chest gets a little sore."

Carson was surprised at his honesty. Never before had the major been so forthcoming about his well-being. Beckett suspected there was more, but settled for what Sheppard had given him. "I'll get you a glass of water." He turned to fill up a cup from the sink.

"Everyone made it out okay, right?" John asked.

"Yes, sir. Two of our people were hit with Stunners, but they were fine a few hours later." Ford noticed his CO visibly sigh with relief. "What was it like in there, sir? In the outpost?" he asked cautiously.

John thought for a moment. It was the most terrifying thing he had ever experienced; waking up one morning and not knowing if today was the day he was going to die, not knowing what they were going to do to him or to Elizabeth, not knowing if he was ever going to see his friends or his home again. He had been petrified the entire time he was there, but of course he couldn't tell his 2IC that.

"Um…. I was bored," John replied and shrugged.

Ford caught him in the lie but didn't call him on it. "Yes, sir. Thought so, sir."

Beckett returned with the glass of water, which John downed in several gulps. It was the best water he had ever tasted.

Another sound to their left drew their attention away. Elizabeth was stirring once more; somehow she had managed to remain asleep despite the raucous and was only awakening now. John figured she was more tired than he had suspected.

She opened her eyes and immediately checked on John. She was quite surprised to find him awake and upright.

"Hey there," he said with a sleepy grin.

"Hi," she breathed back, not entirely sure if what she was seeing was real. She prayed it was.

Teyla smiled at the scene. She couldn't imagine any two people more happy to see one another. Along with Ford, she turned to leave the room, knowing that they would want to be alone for a while. The Athosian and Aiden had to drag the ever oblivious Rodney along with them, who kept mumbling about why he had to leave when he had only just arrived.

They sat there, just staring at one another, afraid to blink for fear that the other would vanish. Then slowly, Elizabeth rose and sat next to John on his cot. She reached out a finger and poked him in in the arm.

John was confused to say the least, but let her go through with the gesture anyway. "What was that for?" he asked curiously when she was finished.

Her face flushed slightly. "I just wanted to make sure… you know… that it's really you. That you're really here." It was all she could to do to refrain from pulling him into her arms and crying her eyes out, but she knew it wasn't the professional thing to do. They were back in Atlantis now; they had to go back to being colleagues once again, nothing more.

At the moment, Beckett walked out of his office with a set of tools, intent on checking John's vitals. When he saw the scene in front of him, however, he turned right around and headed back into his office, pretending he had forgotten a piece of equipment. Vitals could wait; what was happening now was more important than any read-out from a set of instruments could be.

The two talked for hours about what had had happened on both Klaan and Atlantis while the other was away. Of course, each one's description was as abstract and flat as possible, devoid of their personal feelings during that period of time. For some reason, they were both afraid to go down that road, afraid it would spoil what they already had.

Elizabeth explained how they had to restart John's heart on several occasions. So that was what I felt, he thought as he remembered the familiar, searing pain, accompanied by a bright white light. And although he couldn't place it at the time, he realized now it had been the same sensation as when they had to use the defibrillators on him during the Wraith-tic incident.

She also told him how Lieutenant Ford admirably took charge during her absence, how he led the rescue mission, and how he did a damn fine job of it as well. John wasn't surprised; he could see all along that Aiden would make a fine officer. He had never doubted the young man's courage or leadership skills, and was extremely proud of his 2IC. Of course, it also gave John more ammunition to work with when he teased the lieutenant….

Elizabeth struggled when she came to the part about shooting Tiny. Try as she might, she wasn't able to keep the fright out of her voice, the same fright she had felt when she had approached the cell and saw the scene that laid within. John noticed it, too. It was her whom he had seen just before he had lost consciousness. He couldn't blame her for being horrified; it was probably more terrifying to watch than to actually go through.

"Nice shootin', Tex," he commended.

It did the trick. Elizabeth tried to keep a straight face at first, but she gave in and burst out laughing at his poor imitation of a southern accent. John thought it was the greatest thing he had ever seen, to see her so happy after such a harrowing ordeal.

Convinced he was set on the path to recovery, Elizabeth stood to leave. She lingered a bit, as if there was something she wanted to say, something important, but something she just couldn't find the words for.

John watched her as her inner struggle played out on her face. He knew what she was thinking and knew what she was about to say. He also sensed it was difficult for her and awkward for the both of them. If it was this awkward now, just trying to talk about what could happen between them…. "So, I guess I'll see you around then," he said before any words could come from her mouth.

Elizabeth looked at him and a silent understanding passed between the two. She cursed how he could always tell what she was thinking. But it just couldn't happen - not here, not now. There were too many things that could go wrong and too many things that would be put at risk: her authority, his authority, the respect of the expedition, their current relationship…. Still, it was enough to have him here, home. Elizabeth would rather be close to John and not be able to touch him than farther away and still not be able to touch him.

She gave him a sad half-smile and put on a brave face. "Sure." As she neared the exit, she turned back to him. "If there's anything you need…."

"A shower." He had been dying for one for days.

"I know, I can tell," she replied lightheartedly with a wicked grin on her face. It seemed to lighten the mood in the room.

He looked up at her in shock. Had Elizabeth Weir just told him he smelled? "Ouch," he responded, feigning hurt and clutching his heart. "You're vicious."

"I'm a politician, remember?" Satisfied she had gotten the last word, she triumphantly walked out the door and back to her office. There were a million things to straighten out and a billion things to do. And number one on her list was not thinking about what could have been - what should have been - before her heart broke.

John watched her leave and expelled a lungful of air after she left the room. He shut his eyes tightly and rubbed his temples. Sheppard didn't want it to end this way, he really didn't, but there was no choice. If he didn't want her to be hurt, their relationship would remain purely professional. At least he could watch over her from a distance now that he was home. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that they had both made the wrong choice.

John Sheppard never doubted his decisions, until today.

TBC


Aww, don't worry, there are happier times ahead for Atlantis. So those of you who were waiting to see what they said to each other, there you have it. Was it what you expected? Of course I couldn't have them run into each other's arms or something, that would be no fun!