AN: Thanks for the reviews. On with the chapter!

Chapter 3 Listening In

AN: Elizabeth's thoughts are in italics.

By the time John got back to his room, it was passed 12:00. He left her clothes in the bathroom, and she got out and changed. 'I'm starving,' Elizabeth thought, putting on her sweat shirt. 'John must be hungry too.'

She looked around the corner at him. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"I could go for some food."

"Hold that thought," John said getting off the bed. Elizabeth looked at him curiously, as he pulled out a base-ball type hat from his drawer. "Hold still for a second." He pulled the sweatshirt hood over her head and placed the hat on top. "There, no one should recognize you now."

She pulled the hat down below her eyes. "How do I look?"

He smiled. "You look very inconspicuous."

"Just the look I was going for."

John grabbed his coat, ant they left for the cafeteria.

It was lunch time and very crowded. The two of them took trays and headed to the buffet line. The Colonel piled his plate up with hot mashed potatoes, chicken, and veggies. He took a glass of water as well.

'The food looks good today,' Elizabeth thought. She took the Caesar salad, a cup of soup, and a glass of water.

"Where do you want to sit?"

The area was packed. Not one table was left unoccupied.

"It doesn't look like there is anywhere to sit," she said, stating the obvious.

"Alright, then to my room."

"Sounds good," she agreed. 'I'm defiantly not going to fight for a table. Although, that seat by the window looks tempting, we'd be better off going somewhere else.'

"Colonel Sheppard," Teyla called from the far end of the room. Ronon and McKay were sitting next to her.

He nodded in reply. "I'm eating in my room today."

"Suit yourself," McKay said, as he resumed his conversation with Teyla and Ronon.

Teyla watched John and Elizabeth leave. She whispered under her breath. "Who's that with Colonel Sheppard?"

Rodney looked over his shoulder. "That's weird; I've never seen her before."

Ronon looked up as well. "Maybe Sheppard's with her?"

"With her?" Teyla asked, confused.

"As in dating her."

"That's impossible," Rodney replied. "I'd have known. Sheppard tells me everything."

Teyla and Ronon looked at him skeptically.

"What? He does."

"You know…" Elizabeth said, feeling guilty as they left the room. "You don't have to eat with me if you don't want to."

"Of course, I want to eat with you," he said, turning to look at her. "Besides, I don't always get to eat with you, Ms. Likes-to-skip-a-meal. John said, referring to the times when she said she wasn't hungry or just ate in her office.

"Hey, I don't skip meals all the time. Do I?"

"I've lost count. You really need to eat more."

"Sometimes I think I eat too much."

"You mean not enough."

She looked at his tray. "What you and I think is enough is two different things."

"Well, obviously."

"Well, obviously," she mimicked him.

The Colonel pulled out a chair to his table and sat down. "I had a run in with Caldwell while I was in your room."

Elizabeth looked up, interested. "Let me guess. He was looking for me."

"Why…how did you know?" John asked, not at all surprised.

She sipped her soup. "He's been bugging me to get a look at the new policy he wants to put into effect."

"Oh, you mean the one where he thinks we don't do enough work and wants to extend our hours and assign extra duties."

The Atlantis leader's mouth almost hit the floor. "How'd you know? Caldwell hasn't made it public knowledge yet."

"I have my ways," John answered simply.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Maybe."

John went back to eating and Elizabeth folded her arms, wanting him to continue.

"Oh…I just bugged his room."

'He what?' "You did what?"

"Yeah, I'm able to hear everything he tells anyone."

"Just where else do you have these listening devices?" Doctor Weir said, her voice taking on a professional tone.

"The devices are in thejumperbay,themesshall,theconferenceroom,McKay'slab,youroffice,andsomeotherplaces." He said all that so fast that she wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"John! That's an invasion of privacy!"

"No it's not."

"How do you figure that?"

"The bugs are in public places. If I was walking by, I would probably hear most of the juicy stuff that's said."

"Juicy?" 'I'm afraid to ask.'

"I've heard some pretty interesting stuff. Stuff worth mentioning for the right price."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "I could just order you to get rid of them."

"You wouldn't dare," he said leaning closer.

She put her hands on the table. "Try me."

"What's your price?"

"I don't have one."

"Everyone has a price - or better yet blackmail."

"John…."

"I won't tell anyone what you called a certain cough Colonel cough Caldwell last week if you don't order me to de-bug the place.

Elizabeth scowled. 'Why does he do this to me? Why?'

"Err…fine, but you need to remove the devices from my office, and I need to be told about everything you hear."

"Ok, I'll make a list," Sheppard said smugly. "Or better yet, you can listen along with me." He stood up and pulled a case out from under his bed.

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on, Elizabeth. I'll be fun."

"John, I don't think this is a good idea."

"When is anything fun ever a good idea?"

'He does have a point. Damn him and his cuteness.'

"Just turn this button on over there and-

"Yes, John, I know how to use this."

"Just making sure. Don't get your undies in a twist."

"John!"

"Alright, already. What do you want to listen to first?"

"How about McKay's lab? I'm interested to find out what technology he was talking about."

John pushed a button and instantly voices were heard from the lab.

"I think we should file a missing persons report."

Elizabeth's eyes opened wide, as she and John recognized Rodney's voice.

"Relax, Rodney," Zelenka said. "It hasn't even been twenty four hours. She said it was supposed to be down time for the rest of the day. Maybe she expects us to stop working."

"No, Elizabeth knows I don't listen. Not when we're so close to finishing a new weapon to kill the Wraith."

"A new weapon to kill the Wraith?" John whispered. "Why didn't Rodney tell me about that?"

"Why are we whispering?"

John shrugged. "I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You're more like McKay then you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Shhhh…"

"We should win an award for this," Rodney told Zelenka.

"It's not done yet. We still have to run a few more tests and then-"

"Yeah…yeah…yeah, it's practically finished."

"Rodney, don't jump ahead of things."

"Since when do I do that?"

"Do I even have to mention the blowing up half a solar system thing?"

"Don't remind me."

"What should we call this?" Zelenka asked.

"How about Wraith Killing Machine?" Rodney asked.

The Colonel made a face. "That's a horrible name."

Apparently Zelenka thought so too. "Let's leave the naming to the Colonel."

"Sheppard gets to name everything."

"Maybe that's because he's good at it."

"Why thank you, thank you very much," John said.

"Don't touch that!" McKay snapped at someone else in the room. "We're not finished testing it yet."

"Sorry, Doctor McKay," the young man said.

"I mean look at the structure of this thing. After we received the ZPM-"

"Ok, I think we've heard enough of this," John said. He turned down the volume, as Rodney chatted away about the technical aspects of the new weapon. "Who should we listen to next?"

"I don't know."

John's eyes lit up as he thought of something. "It's 2:00!"

"So?" The Atlantis leader asked.

"Cadman moved her ladies poker night to this afternoon."

'I have a bad feeling about this…'

To Be Continued…..

AN: Tell me what you think.