title: In December
pairings: Sheppard/Weir
disclaimer: the characters are not mine.
In August, they sat together with coffee and a muffin between them. Crumbs scattered over the white paper napkin, across the black table top. Elizabeth smushed them with the tip of her finger and John watched with a smirk. He took a sip of his coffee and she wiped her finger on a different napkin. The crumbs and napkin were crumpled up in the palm of her hand and neatly tossed into his lap. John scowled.
In September, the weather changed. If they hadn't been living in a floating city, Elizabeth would have suggested building an ark. John found her on a balcony, huddled under the overhang. The rain pooled at her feet. She dipped a toe in, then shook the water off her boot. Elizabeth felt a gentle touch on her arm and uttered a few complaints about the rain to the one person who she felt comfortable enough with to make such complaints. The grey sky seemed never ending but Elizabeth smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.
In October, John didn't come home. Elizabeth listened to Teyla's report and saw the pain in Rodney's eyes. She drew in a shaking breath, bowed her head and that was the only public concession to the grief she felt. The rains continued and Elizabeth sat outside, pretending that she didn't miss him.
In November, the gate came to life and John returned home. He cradled a broken arm and scanned the control room with almost expression-less eyes. Elizabeth managed to call for a med team before turning her back and pretending that John had returned whole. Carson arrived and whisked him away. It was two days before she saw him, asleep on the crisp white sheets in the infirmary. Her hand hovered over his face, tracing the scars in the air. John watched her through barely opened eyes.
In December, John told her his story. Elizabeth listened with carefully arranged features. She held his hand as he reached the end of his tale and squeezed it when he told of watching her hover over him in the infirmary. Their coffee was cold and the muffin uneaten as they sat across from each other. The silence was uncomfortable until Elizabeth said, "I missed you." John nodded and stuffed half of the muffin in his mouth.
In January, it snowed a bit. Elizabeth looked out the window in her office and found a small snowman staring back at her. It had tiny twigs for arms and one of them appeared to be waving at her. She allowed herself a smile and waved a finger at the snowman. John appeared in her office a few moments later, armed with mittens and a jacket. He had no intentions of letting the snow melt without tossing at least one snowball at his boss. It was after a handful of snow had melted down the front of Elizabeth's shirt that she kissed him for the first time.
In February, the Wraith came back. Elizabeth listened to the aerial assault and with each blast, felt John's grip on her tighten. They lost twenty people that day before the shields could be brought online. Elizabeth read their names over city-wide and made notations in their files. John ran his hands over her body that night as though he were making sure that she was still all there. She screamed his name as she came and then cried into her pillow while John stared at the ceiling.
In March, John presented Elizabeth with a bouquet of flowers. She put them in a plastic vase and they sat in her quarters until the last petal fell to the floor. John taught her how to fight as the flowers slowly died. She tidily kneed him in the groin and he fell to the mats, muttering something about unborn children. Elizabeth celebrated her win with Athosian wine. John watched her drain the glass with a cold pack, appropriated from the infirmary, on his lap. Carson would later wonder where the pack was when Rodney arrived with a twisted ankle.
In April, Elizabeth got lost in an alternate reality. According to Rodney, it was bound to happen eventually. Elizabeth sat in the same cell that had housed Steve, the Wraith, in her timeline and picked at the lightly buttered piece of bread. John arrived with an armed escort and Elizabeth learned that she had been a turncoat in this reality. With a P-90 pressed to her back, she was lead down a series of corridors. Elizabeth tried clicking her heels together three times but when she opened her eyes she found that she was still faced with a John Sheppard who did not trust her.
In May, Elizabeth stepped back through the mirror. Rodney stood up with alarm as she fell onto his workbench and stared at her until Elizabeth was almost certain that she was in the wrong reality again. She knew she had come home when Rodney summoned John, who gathered her in his arms and kissed her hard on the mouth. Carson trailed behind and bleated out faint protests that he ought to examine Elizabeth before anyone touched her. Later, John took her to bed and as he slipped inside her, Elizabeth remembered the other John and his hard, cold eyes.
In June, John called her 'Lizabeth and proposed that they combine resources. Elizabeth was vaguely confused until John arrived in her room with a case full of clothes. She brewed some coffee while he shoved aside her black pantsuits to make room for his casual button-up shirts. When he collapsed on the bed with a gleam in his eye, Elizabeth grinned and unbuttoned his trousers. Until she found her soap covered in hair, Elizabeth couldn't think of a single bad thing about combining resources. John endured a hearty lecture about rinsing off the soap but fell asleep before promising to abide by the new rule.
In July, the heat of summer arrived and with it, a message from Earth. A stodgy old general appeared and informed Elizabeth that the Atlantis expedition was being recalled. John held her as she fought back angry tears before marching off to give the general a piece of his mind. He listened to the endless blah-blahing about lack of funds and felt claustrophobic at the thought of the air force base he was sure to be shipped off to once back on Earth. Elizabeth informed her troops and began packing.
In August, the world caved in on John. He counted ceiling tiles while listening to reports of his various indiscretions. Elizabeth painted her house, the sheets of plastic draped around reminded her of Atlantis when they first arrived. John was given the option of serving at Stargate Command but declined and was shipped overseas. Elizabeth read the memo and bought a new dog. Her house hadn't come alive as Atlantis had.
A year later, John set foot on American soil with a bum knee and a few commendations in his jacket. Elizabeth was there and kissed him shyly. John held her and tried to reconstruct his world. They sat together, at Elizabeth's place, and shared a pot of coffee and a banana muffin. When asked what her dog's name was, Elizabeth blushed and murmured, "Shep."