DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

Leaning against the pillar, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She did not wish to see anything but only listen to the waves and feel the soft breeze against her skin. She thought her failed meeting with the Atonians had been the nasty peak of the day. Oh, how wrong she had been. Only hours after, she was forced to intervene in a dispute between some of the personnel that left her head boiling for an hour after it was finally resolved; then there was an emergency in the infirmary but thankfully that was fixed easily; a brief Wraith scare which turned out to be a false alarm; a bad operation by one of the teams that nearly caused a worsening of relations between Atlantis and a small group of traders from another planet if she hadn't intervened… again. Now, when night was finally upon her and all that chaos from earlier had gone away, she herself wanted to get away from its irritating heat. Elizabeth reminded herself of how useful John's presence could've been today but in spite of everything, she restrained herself from calling him. She wasn't angry at him; she simply wanted to give him time as well as herself. Elizabeth exhaled deeply to this. Perhaps that hadn't been the wisest decision. She moaned quietly as the peacefulness of the moment and how it was working well for her strained nerves.

Swoosh! She heard the doors open behind her. With her eyes still closed she let out a deep, deep sigh. "Uh, not again… what now?" she quietly said, not wanting to spoil the beauty of the prior tame moment by opening her eyes and facing the reality she wanted desperately to escape from very briefly.

The quick response she had expected did not materialize, which only succeeded in getting another grain of irritation into her. "What is it this time?" she asked loudly but coldly. "Did Kerneson get stuck in the transporter again?"

"It was the bathroom actually, but you're close," a familiar voice responded.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and turned her head to find him standing there. First response to that face had been relief that it hadn't been yet another request that could easily get her to explode, and the second response had been slight indifference. She was too tired and maybe even lazy to turn around fully. Fortunately, he walked up to her. Elizabeth could read a sign of guilt in his eyes. "Hey," she replied softly. When she noticed the little girl sleeping in his arms, her lips formed a tender but short smile.

"She had a long day," he replied.

"Oh, well, at least hers was better than mine," Elizabeth told him. She moved her neck a few times until she heard a small bone crack.

"Stressful?" he asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "You could say that." She looked at the ocean.

"I was just informed about Johnson's earlier screw up with the traders."

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you call me?"

Elizabeth caught his gaze. "Well…" Her eyes traveled down to Syla.

John glanced at the baby. "Oh."

"Mm."

"From what I also heard, you handled it quite nicely."

"Those diplomatic skills do come in handy sometimes."

John smirked. "I'm surprised you're not down at the gym beating the crap out of your poor sparring partner."

It was Elizabeth's turn to give a smirk. "If I were you, I probably would've done just that."

"Ah, after the day you've had, I would've left a few dead bodies. I'm also amazed that you're not screaming at the top of your lungs now."

"You know, when I was younger that's exactly what I did when I was under too much pressure in one day. Now though… well, I have my own ways to vent."

"Like what? Just stand here?"

Another smirk was shown by her to this. "I do visit the gym once in a while," she said.

"I know," he replied with those familiar furrowed eyebrows. "But you've never had me for a sparring partner so you have no idea what it's really like or how great it is to vent like that."

"From the stories Teyla's been telling me… I don't think you and stick fighting get along so well," she replied with a smug.

John pouted. "I do prefer to just shoot the other one but…" he shrugged.

Elizabeth chuckled. It had been the first time she had done that today. It felt good.

John watched her release yet another sigh; her eyelids slowly covering and uncovering her eyes as she leaned her head against the pillar again. "Look, about earlier, I'm sorry. I didn't really mean what I said."

A soft smile graced her lips as her eyes were given to the view of the sky. "You were looking after Syla, John. I understand," she responded peacefully.

"But I didn't mean that you were –"

"It's alright," she interrupted him absently. "I think I've come to know you better over the past few years to know what you meant and what you didn't. Please, it's alright," she finished and looked back at him.

John pursed his lips and nodded. "Okay."

"So, did you two have a good time on the mainland?"

"You could say that. She isn't complaining," he smiled and looked at Syla who snuggled more in his arms.

"What did you do there anyway?"

"Oh, just showed her a few tricks. She was happy. It… it felt good seeing her happy like that, enjoying herself."

"I'm glad to hear that. At least we won't have to worry about the Atonians anymore…"

"Yeah, I heard the meeting didn't end all that well. Sorry about that," he said.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm actually relieved it ended up this way. I too wouldn't have liked seeing Syla raised by their rules." She looked at her and then at John. "You were right, she doesn't deserve that."

A soft smile was his response to this. He placed Syla on his chest so her head would be resting on his shoulder. "Wanna join me in the gym for a while?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not fighting you, John," she replied.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna pull a gun on you," he told her with a grin.

"Fine, but I'm not any better at stick fighting either."

He brought his face closer to her. "You need to vent, Elizabeth," he whispered to her. John stood back and motioned for her to follow him.

She smirked and pushed herself from the pillar. "What about Syla?"

"We'll be quiet," he responded as the doors opened.

This time she had to chuckle. "Yeah, right," she told herself and followed the colonel.

With some ingenuity, they both managed to make a small and comfortable nest for Syla by the window in the gym. The little girl barely registered anything that might disrupt her slumber.

Taking each a pair of wooden sticks, they stepped barefooted on the blue mat.

"Alright, so I assume you've done at least some practice with this," he told her. The volume of their voices hadn't seemed bothersome to Syla, much to their relief.

"Well, some," Elizabeth replied.

"Good enough," John said and quickly launched himself towards her. Elizabeth responded to his attack not as quick which left her on her knees with her arms holding the sticks firmly.

"You could've given me a warning first," she responded.

"You said you had some practice, does that require me giving you a warning before an attack?" he asked and backed off, allowing her to stand up again. "Now, are you ready?"

Elizabeth nodded to which John attacked again and this time not only did she fail to respond quickly enough for the second time but he easily managed to defeat her to the ground. "You're taking this quite passively, Elizabeth," he told her.

"I told you, this is not my way of venting out my frustrations," she reminded him, breathing with an increasing speed.

"Sure it is," he said, and instead of helping her to stand up again by offering his hand, John placed his sticks behind hers and pulled backwards. Elizabeth's muscles tensed slightly after she got on her feet again.

"You're deliberately trying to get me angry?" she asked him, her gaze becoming intense.

"Of course I am," John replied and stood there waiting for her to make a move. "Come on, I'm waiting."

Elizabeth smirked. "This was a bad idea," she told him and turned around to leave when she suddenly felt a hit on her back and another one on her knees which forced her to the ground. The irritation from earlier finally rose up higher. "Oh that's it!" she hissed and quickly stood up before spinning around to face him. This time it was she who launched herself at John.

He managed to block her attack and spin around to hit her back. "Now we're talking!" he said with a grin.

Elizabeth twirled one of the sticks in her hand and then hid it carefully behind her back. "Yes, we are," she said and quickly crouched down, snatching the ground from John's feet with her leg. He fell down on his back. "Ah!" he let out a gasp along with that. John was then attacked by a standing Elizabeth where he quickly reacted and blocked successfully.

Two moves later, he had her on her knees with the sticks to her neck, him standing behind her. "Is that enough?" he asked insincerely.

"Not yet," she replied and escaped his grasp before adding two new moves, which surprised John and forced him in that same position on his knees. "Did I mention I had Teyla teach me a few tricks?"

"Would've been nice if you had done that earlier," he replied and then swiftly pulled away from her.

Both kept at this for thirty more minutes, neither willing to back down. "See, I told you this was the right way to vent."

"Huh, maybe." She shrugged. She then quickly moved past him and hit him first on the lower back and then on his behind.

John looked at her with a mix of surprise and amusement. "You didn't learn that."

"Just an opportunity," she replied. Elizabeth made the mistake of easing up for a moment, which John quickly used in his favor and….

Five minutes later she found herself pinned against the wall with the sticks again to her neck. "You seem to enjoy this," he noted, his face only inches away from hers.

"Well…" she admitted, "It did let a few frustrations out." Her breathing had been heavy just as his, her curls covering some of her face.

John nodded at this and as many times as he had done before, he licked his lips and then glanced at hers. His eyes however, remained on hers for a while longer. "Good. At least it worked," he replied and quickly pulled away, neither falling for the urge for that other form of physical dominance that would undoubtedly follow in these situations.

They heard a loud giggle and clapping. Both turned to see Syla awake and responding quite cheerfully to this. "Looks like we had an audience there," he noted.

"Unfortunately for her she didn't catch me almost, as you put it earlier, beating the crap out of you," Elizabeth said.

John chuckled. "You weren't extremely bad but you were nowhere near great, Elizabeth." A stick was thrown as a response to this. "Hey, I thought we were done!" he protested.

"No one likes for the winner to be gloating, John," she responded and smiled. "But thanks, it did help."

John nodded. "That's great," he agreed reluctantly.

"Oh, and could we keep this… session to ourselves?" She asked him.

"Fine with me."

"Okay, so…" she started, trying to calm her breathing from earlier, "I'll take her tonight."

"Do that, some time for me would feel very good right about now," he replied and gathered his equipment. John brushed Syla's hair and kissed the top of her head. "Sleep well, kiddo." He stood up and grabbed the towel. "Now that you got that out of your system, good night, Elizabeth," he said to her before heading out.

Elizabeth chuckled and breathed in deeply. The tension from earlier had managed to escape during those few adrenaline-filled moments from their session. She was pleased. It hadn't bothered her that she lost, as she knew she was not good at this form of fighting even if John wasn't a master either, but its effects were welcoming for her.

The shower had done her good; it had been much more soothing this way after her 'exercise' with John than if had she decided to reject his proposal. Afterwards, Elizabeth gave Syla a small bath. She was calm during the bathing but occasionally she would start splashing water everywhere. Elizabeth would chuckle, as she found the baby's liveliness amusing and welcoming. It also managed to make the rest of Elizabeth's evening calmer and chase away the irritating heat from previously in the day. It had been the simplicity of giving your baby a bath that was tranquil.

Carrying Syla in a soft towel, Elizabeth smiled at her and the sweet little noises she started making of the Jumper again. She then placed the little girl on the bed. "Thankfully your mother also left us a few of your clothes…" Elizabeth remembered and spun around to the small bag by the door where she had placed the clothes. She frowned at the lack of color in them; had the Atonians not heard of anything other than black to apply to their clothes? Not having the time to play dressmaker, Elizabeth simply took some and dressed Syla. "Feels good to be clean again, doesn't it?" she smiled widely at Syla who responded with a giggle and a clap. Syla then stretched out her arms towards her. "Are you hungry?" Elizabeth asked, bringing her face closer to the child. Syla soon gave her response when she touched Elizabeth's cheek with her hands and then kissed it. The woman couldn't help but grin to this. "Thank you, Syla and you are also welcome," she told her and chuckled softly. "When I was little…" Elizabeth started as she sat on the bed next to Syla. "My mother used to sing this song to me," she said and then started singing a children's melody accompanied with hand gestures appropriate to the lyrics.

Syla followed her movements, her eyes absorbing the melody and lyrics along with the hand gestures like a sponge. She understood this rather quickly and she joined in without the words. When the song ended she giggled loudly. "Baaaa!"

Elizabeth then took an imaginary small object and then hid her hands behind her back. She then showed her hands turned into weak fists. Syla looked at them, somehow understanding what this meant and pointed to Elizabeth's left hand. Her hand opened and there was a small red flower which she managed to swipe from her table earlier. Syla recognized it and let out a happy sound to this before taking the small flower.

Elizabeth chuckled. She hadn't realized what a relaxing effect this spare time of playing games with a child could also have. She observed the little girl's face for a while. There was something different about her. "Did you grow up a few inches today?"

Syla only looked back at her with those warm green eyes and giggled again.

"It's strange…" Elizabeth mused. She then brushed Syla's hair gently. "Whatever it is… I wish I could have more time with you, Syla. You're a wonderful girl. If we were back on Earth I probably would've taken you home with me," she smiled at her.