Chapter Twenty

3 Days Later

"Hey Lieutenant, how're you feeling?" John grinned as he sat down on the chair next to Ford's bed.

"Much better than before, sir," he replied, smiling back. "It's good to see you alive, by the way."

"Yeah, it usually helps with the whole…seeing thing," John said.

"Dr Weir told me everything that happened," Aiden said.

"Everything? Well I'll have to give her some lessons in keeping secrets then won't I?" John was grinning at him.

He watched as Aiden smiled back widely, it was good to see him getting back to being his old self. He felt for his younger companion, John had seen his friends go through similar things in Afghanistan, but they hadn't survived. Aiden couldn't walk yet but Beckett had convinced them all that give it a month or so and he'd be back to normal.

"It's good to have you back," John said.

"Likewise, sir, not that I was really around to notice you missing," Aiden replied, smiling.

"So you think you're up for a little…adventure?" John asked, standing up.

"Adventure, sir?" Aiden questioned.

John turned to look at the door where he knew Rodney was waiting with the wheelchair. On cue, Rodney entered the room. A big smile crossed Aiden's face as he saw the wheelchair.

"Where are we going?"

"Not far, trust me, my arms couldn't deal with pushing you long distances," Rodney replied.

The two of them helped their friend out of his hospital bed and onto the wheelchair, before Rodney began pushing Aiden out of the room. The three of them headed to the transporter and up a floor until they reached their destination. Elizabeth and Teyla were already sitting in the room with the TV, having made themselves comfortable.

John didn't miss the small smile shared between Teyla and Aiden as they entered the room. He wasn't surprised how close they had become after going through what they had, and he knew they would be connected in that way for the rest of their lives, no matter what happened. He let his eyes flick to Elizabeth but she wasn't looking at him, in a way he was glad, he'd delayed their night out to make sure that the others had a good night as well. She agreed with him completely, but in a way he wished he could have the time alone with her.

He watched her as she talked to Rodney who was holding up a bunch of DVD's, her smile was small but real, her eyes glinting with the hint of her mischievous side that was always there but rarely came out. He'd never noticed exactly how beautiful she was before, not only her looks, just everything about her, the way she moved, the way she talked,her presence -he'd never seen someone in that way before. If he hadn't known a week ago he knew now, he cared about her more than he'd cared about anyone in his life.

Just as he thought that she glanced in his direction. For a moment he wasn't sure what to do, whether to smile or to look away, or he could walk over and plant a kiss right on her mouth – but something told him that would be a bad idea right at that moment in time. He opted with smiling at her. She smiled back. He walked over to her and leaned over the back of the sofa, resting on his arms and looking at her. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him.

"Sorry about dinner," he said, quietly enough that Teyla, Rodney and Aiden who were now arguing over what movie they should watch, couldn't hear him.

"This is good too," she replied. "Probably more private than the mess hall would have been."

"There's a point," he smiled at her, suddenly incredibly aware of the closeness of her face to his.

He jumped over the back of the sofa and sat down next to her, Rodney now on his other side, Teyla having vacated it to sit closer to Aiden.

"Popcorn," Carson announced loudly as he and Zelenka entered the room.

"So I guess there was an upside to the marines coming through from Earth," John muttered as he took a bowl and held it out in front of Elizabeth.

As he did so Rodney reached across and tried to take some from him. Johnhit his arm away.

"Patience, McKay," he said.

"I'm hungry, I need food," Rodney replied.

"So does Elizabeth, now wait your turn," John muttered.

"I can defend myself you know, John," she said, digging her hand in and taking some popcorn

"I was just being nice," John said, taking some himself before passing it to Rodney who settled it in his lab.

"You were just playing favourites," Rodney muttered.

"Was not," John replied.

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was too…"

"Gentlemen…" Elizabeth's assertive voice stopped them both in their tracks.

Carson popped the video in and Zelenka shut the lights off. The movie started.

"The Wizard of Oz?" Rodney questioned loudly.

"It's a perfectly good movie, Rodney," Carson replied.

"It's a hundred years old!" Rodney replied.

"Not quite…" Elizabeth said.

"Rodney just watch it," John said.

That made them all fall silent. John had to admit to himself that he had less interest in the movie than the woman sitting in incredibly close proximity next to him. Her legs was pressed against his, he wasn't sure if that was because of the lack of space on the sofa, or on purpose, but either way it was distracting. Dorothy hadn't even made it to Oz by the time John's attention was focused completely on Elizabeth. He could hear her breathing so close to his head, yet still too far, and the battle not to reach out and touch her hand, which lay so clearly on her knee, was almost unbearable.

Thankfully she made his decision easier, reaching out and touching his hand, which lay only cm's from hers on his own leg. He felt stupid, like he was on his first ever date or something, yet somehow with Elizabeth it all meant so much more, anyone else and he would have done something about it months ago rather than let the feelings bottle up inside, but he was afraid of loss. His life had been so haunted by loss and devastation that he pushed himself away from people, but he couldn't do that now. He turned to look at Elizabeth, wrapping his hand around hers and squeezing it tightly.

She obviously sensed him looking at her because she turned to look at him too. For a moment he thought she was going to kiss him, but he should have known better, it was Elizabeth and they were in a room full of people who worked under them. Instead she smiled and went back to watching the movie. But the promise was there, the knowledge that there would be a kiss, another one.

It was the one thing he remembered from his ascension, his whole conversation with Elizabeth, as clearly as though it had happened five minutes earlier. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she continued watching the movie. He remembered everything, the look in her eyes, her hesitation as she'd leaned forward and kissed him, seeming surprised. He'd had no intention of kissing her, only of giving her the information she needed to save the others, and then to say goodbye properly. Yet somehow she'd managed to turn it into an incentive for him to come back.

He let his vision drop to her lips, watching them, remembering how they had, or hadn't, felt against his as she'd said goodbye to him for what she thought would be the last time. They'd been given a second opportunity and he wasn't going to waste it. She nudged him, still looking ahead.

"Watch the movie," she whispered, looking at him.

"I am," John replied, turning back to the screen.

Again he wished they were alone, but he knew that time would come. Now was time for their own small family to enjoy each other's company…

Elizabeth felt her eyelids dropping shut, but kept forcing them back open knowing there was only a few minutes left of the movie. Had they been alone she would have happily gone to sleep on John's shoulder hours ago…but she couldn't let herself be that relaxed, not in the company of her…friends? She wondered what stopped her, was it her professional side? The years of diplomatic training and time spent with politicians?

"Stay awake," John whispered.

She flung her eyes open and looked at him. "I am…" she repeated his earlier words.

"No you're not, I don't want to have to carry you to bed…" John's smile was enough to make her melt right there on the sofa, but she refrained.

She didn't know how to react to his comment either, of course she'd love to have John carry her to bed and then have him stay as he had a few nights earlier, but she felt somehow that it was wrong to want that. The end credits came up and Elizabeth stood up.

"Wow did I smell that bad that you hadda get away that fast?" John asked.

"Oh puh-lease," Rodney muttered under his breath but John ignored him, instead his eyes fell to Teyla and Aiden.

Although Teyla had been seated in the chair and Aiden in his wheelchair, she had still ended up with her head on his shoulder and was fast asleep, Aiden's head leaning against hers, also sleeping.

"Should we leave them?" John asked, nodding at them.

"I would say no, but they could both use a decent sleep and they seem comfortable. Teyla is probably capable of moving Lieutenant Ford back to the infirmary should they awaken," Carson replied.

Rodney stood up, popcorn bucket still in hand and yawned. "Well I'm going to bed."

"Yeah me too," Elizabeth yawned as John stood up.

"I'll walk you to your quarters," John said.

Elizabeth was too tired to care what it looked like to the others, they could think what they wanted, and they would probably be hypothesising correctly. She looked up at John, seeing him run his tongue quickly over his dry lips and suddenly felt a knot tie itself in her stomach so strongly that she wanted to vomit it up. Although she decided that probably wasn't the best thing to do at that moment in time.

The two of them walked into the corridor in silence and headed towards Elizabeth's quarters.

"You know…" John said after a few moments. "The Wizard of Oz is sort of like what we're going through if you think about it…"

"How so?" she asked.

"Well we were transported by a swirly thing, to another world…and there we killed a wicked witch which woke up all these other evil people which we now have to destroy," John said.

"If you look at it that way, yes I guess this is like the Wizard of Oz," Elizabeth replied. "But there's a difference…"

"What?" John asked.

"I don't want to go home to Aunty Em…I like it here," she replied.

"Me too," John said. "Kansas just doesn't seem like Kansas anymore…"

"No…Oz feels like Kansas," Elizabeth stopped outside her quarters. "Well John Sheppard, I guess this is goodnight."

"I guess it is," John replied. "So, uh, dinner tomorrow?"

"Sure you're not going to invite the rest of Atlantis?" Elizabeth joked.

He smiled slightly but didn't laugh. "I'm sorry about that, it just seemed like the best option right then…how about tomorrow we go out to the opposite side of Atlantis, watch the sun set and have a picnic…"

"Isn't that what you did before you had alien sex with Chaya?" Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, a mischievous grin appearing on her lips.

"Alien sex? I never…"

"I know," Elizabeth replied.

"Chaya was just, you know, a really hot chick," John defended himself.

"And I'm not?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow, still with a mischievous smile on her lips.

She watched as his eyes searched hers, looking for the right answer. He reached forward and placed his hand against her cheek.

"No…you're beautiful," he replied. "The expression 'hot chick' isn't enough to describe what I feel for you."

Elizabeth almost choked on her saliva, or sudden distinct lack of it. It was different when confessions were made without the other person having to respond, when you couldn't see their eyes. But at that moment she could see into his eyes, into everything that was John Sheppard, and she knew, he meant it.

"I…" she stopped there, realising there was no ending to that sentence.

She reached her hand up and lightly rested it against his which was still pressed against her cheek.

"The other night…"

"I heard," she cut him off before he could finish.

His lips were against hers before she'd taken her next breath, kissing her softly. She placed her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. The kiss didn't last long, but when he leaned back Elizabeth saw a glint in John's eyes that hadn't been there before, a sparkle of joy.

"Goodnight, Elizabeth," he said, turning around and walking away.

She considered for a moment running after him, kissing him again, but she knew he hadn't kissed her long for a good reason and however much she wanted him to stay with her that night, they weren't ready, not to be able to deal with it afterwards. They'd been through too much that week to be sure of themselves, but it wouldn't take long.

She stood at her doorway until he was out of sight and then walked inside her quarters hearing the door shut behind her. Instead of heading to her bed Elizabeth made her way to the window and sat down on the floor in front of it, leaving the room in complete darkness. There was just one thing nagging at her. Simon.

She hoped he had taken the tape she'd sent him as a sign to move on, she really didn't want him to wait around for her, because she wasn't coming back. Simon could never be a part of her life as he once had been, he didn't understand anything about what they'd been through, what they'd done, so how could he possibly be?

She thought about the certain three words she'd spoken to John, how at the time she hadn't been telling him, she'd been telling herself. She had never intended for him to hear them, yet in a way she had wanted him to. She half regretted that now, but in more ways than one she didn't. The taste of his lips on hers was still present, she never wanted it to go away, everything about it all seemed so right, too right.

Something inside her clenched as she realised how easy it would be for them to lose each other, how maybe getting herself into this wasn't such a good idea after all. She could see it now, his team returning through the gate without him there. She tried to push the thoughts away, knowing that she couldn't think like that. They were first and foremost there to explore another galaxy, John Sheppard was just an added bonus.

She closed her eyes.

"Who is this?" Elizabeth stopped in front of the Ancient control chair, looking at the man dressed in the green flight-suit.

Jack O'Neill walked up the step and looked at the man on the chair. "I said don't touch anything…"

"I just sat down!" the man replied, obviously nervous and having no idea what he'd just done.

"Major, think about where we are in the solar system…" Rodney said, holding his hands up for some unknown reason.

The solar system appeared above his head. Elizabeth felt a grin involuntarily spreading across her face. He used the gene so naturally, as though he was an Ancient, with a simple ease that Beckett couldn't have had as hard as he tried.

"Did I do that?"

It was at that moment that Elizabeth knew the Major, whoever he was, was going to be on her expedition team, no matter what anyone else said, she would make sure he was with them. It wasn't such a downside that he was incredibly cute either. She shook that thought from her mind instantly, reminding herself that she was with someone and perfectly happy.

"Uh can I, make the solar system go away now?" the Major asked.

"Get up," Jack muttered.

The Major stood up.

"I'm Dr. Elizabeth Weir," Elizabeth said, holding out her hand.

"Major John Sheppard…so, uh, what did I just do?" he shook her hand and then nodded at the chair. "Do I have that gene thing the doctor here was just telling me about?"

"It certainly looks like it…" Beckett replied.

"Yes well, it seems like everyone's got the gene around here then doesn't it?" Rodney said, a distinct tone of jealousy coming through.

"Major…Sheppard was it? I think we should get to know each other," Elizabeth said, ignoring Rodney.

Thinking back to the beginning made her realise exactly how much they had all changed, all of them. She'd led them all to this galaxy and they'd lived there a year, surrounded by only each other, dealing with situations that most of them would never have dreamed of two years earlier.

They were her family, and her friends, and while she was their leader maybe sometimes she had to let them closer to her. She'd learnt a lot in the past few days, and that was one of them. They were family to each other now, and they had to stick together no matter what happened, Wraith, Genii or even military personnel from Earth.

A/N: One more chapter left folks!