"You are fighting well today." Teyla nodded as Sheppard nearly took her head off.
"I had a great teacher." John grinned, pinning her to the wall and kissing her, hard.
"John…we can't. Anyone could walk in here, at any time." Teyla whispered.
"Oh but we can." He replied, kissing her again.
"Colonel Sheppard, please report to the infirmary." Beckett's voice came over the comm.
"Damn." Sheppard sighed, getting in one last kiss. "I'll see you later."
"Hmm." Teyla nodded, trying not to look worried.
"John, what is going to happen to you?" Teyla asked, sitting on the edge of his bed. He wouldn't look at her.
"I don't know." He sighed. "I wish I could tell you, Teyla…I don't know."
"Well, I'm here for you." She kissed his hand. "Look at me. Please."
"No. I don't want you to see me like this." Sheppard sighed. "Teyla, go, I don't want you to see this. I won't let you see this."
Teyla kissed his hand again and walked out, not wanting to go against his wishes.
Later that night, she sat alone in her room, crying softly. The man she loved was sick, he was dying, and there was almost nothing they could do about it. There wasn't anything she could do, or she would have done it by now.
"You can't leave me." Teyla whispered to the stars. "Don't let him leave me. I need him."
"Anyone got a visual?" one of the search party asked.
Teyla looked around for John, hoping that he'd let them capture him.
Then she spotted him, climbing up the wall. He jumped down in front of her and she pointed her gun at him. She wouldn't have shot him, she wouldn't be able to live with herself, but he had to be stopped.
"Colonel, please don't make me do this." Teyla warned, then fired at his feet, causing him to run.
After that, Teyla went back to her room and cried as she changed into fatigues. She had looked into his eyes, eyes that usual shown in a special way just for her, were dark with an alien presence. For a brief second, she thought she'd seen him…but it was a flash and then it was gone. She then went back and waited up with Ronan and McKay, neither they nor she spoke much, they just waited, unable to sleep.
"You guys are up late." Dr. Weir said, walking in.
"Can't sleep either?" McKay asked.
"Any progress?" Teyla looked at her sadly, trying desperately to stay calm.
"He's still in a coma." Weir sighed. "At least he isn't in any pain."
"Maybe if I went alone." Ronan suggested.
"It is not open to discussion." Weir shook her head.
"I'm just not good at sitting still." Ronan sighed.
Teyla agreed, and was silently thanking Ronan for not giving up hope.
"…but if you feel the need to…if you'd like to say a private goodbye, you should probably do so soon." Dr. Weir swallowed hard.
"Are we really there?" McKay asked, not really believing how serious that situation was.
"I think we might be." Weir replied sadly.
"Ronan, can we talk?" Teyla asked as they waited for Dr. Beckett to perform the procedure on John.
"Yeah, come on." Ronan nodded and took her into Beckett's office and shut the door.
"I have…a confession." Teyla said quietly. "I have been in a relationship with Colonel Sheppard for some time now, and I want to thank you for your refusal to give up. I just…well, I'm pretty sure Rodney knows because he has an annoying talent to know these things. I want you to know that having you stand beside me has meant more to me than you will ever know."
"Hey, he's my friend too. So are you. If you ever need anyone to talk to about this." Ronan put his hands on her shoulders. "You've got me."
"Just…keep this quiet, please, Ronan." Teyla smiled.
"Keep what quiet?" Ronan grinned. "Come on, let's wait for our fearless leader to wake up."
Finally, their ordeal was over, John lay sleeping peacefully on the bed, hooked up to all sorts of strange machines. Ronan and McKay were asleep in their chairs, but Teyla couldn't sleep. She just held his hand and waited. Waited for him to get better. Three weeks went by, and Teyla spent as much time as she could at his bedside, sitting with him and talking, watching him sleep. Until he finally came in to see her in the sparring room.
"Colonel! Should you be up and about?" Teyla asked, finishing up with young Erie.
"I've been cooped up with that damn infirmary for a couple of weeks. Give me a break." John smiled.
As soon as they were alone, Teyla ran into his arms and held onto him.
"Hey, it's okay." He whispered, holding her as she cried. "I'm okay now. It's okay."
"I apologize." Teyla sniffled.
"No, hey…look at me." John gently tilted her chin up. "No need to apologize. You didn't do anything. I did. And I am very, very sorry. I love you. Nothing you could ever say or do could change that, and nothing I say or do will ever change that."
"Thank you." She whispered as he kissed her forehead. "I am tired. I believe I shall go to bed."
"Sounds good to me. I'll let you sleep in my room, it's closer." He grinned, taking her hand.
Several hours later, Teyla awoke to find John staring at her, propped up on one elbow.
"What?" She smiled.
"Hmm? Oh, just watching you sleep." He replied, tracing the curve of her face with his finger. "Move in with me."
"What? John…that would not be advisable. People are bound to notice." Teyla said gently, touching his cheek. "I do not believe you want to risk that."
"No, I want to be with you, all the time, consequences be damned." Sheppard too her hand and kissed it. "We'll go tell Weir, and you can live here full time."
"If that is what you want." She nodded.
"I know it's what I want, Teyla. I wanna know if it's what you want." He said.
She thought for a second, envisioning a perfect life with John.
"Only if we can still be on the same team." Teyla grinned.
"Meet me in Dr. Weir's office in an hour." He smiled, jumping out of bed and dressing quickly. "Have your bags packed and ready to move in."
Teyla watched as he ran out the door, still putting on his shirt. She grinned and lay back in the bed, happier than she'd been in months.
When she arrived at Dr. Weir's office, John and Elizabeth were quite obviously in the middle of an argument. This worried Teyla, because it either meant that Dr. Weir didn't want her on Sheppard's team or that she was telling them to break up. Neither, she knew, would go over well with John. Taking a deep breath, Teyla walked into the office.
"Perhaps you should have thought of that before you started your little affair!" Elizabeth shouted.
"I love her! No amount of rules, regulations, penalties, punishments, or court-marshalling will ever change that!" John replied hotly. "Furthermore, we're two consenting adults, on a colony. There are no rules to say that regs apply here."
"And there are no rules that say they don't." Weir pointed out, then noticed Teyla. "Teyla. I assume you know why Colonel Sheppard is here."
"I do. And Dr. Weir, you have every right to be suspicious. I propose a compromise." Teyla began.
"I'm listening." Dr. Weir sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hands.
"A trial period. We are allowed to continue with our duties as they stand now and live together without consequence. If that causes too many problems, I will volunteer to stay here as an advisor and the team can get a new member." Teyla explained calmly. "Is this acceptable?"
"Define problems." John looked sideways at her.
"Priorities. Relationship arguments that spill over into the missions. In essence, we act on missions as if we are only teammates, nothing more. We remain professional." She replied. "Is this acceptable?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"All right." Elizabeth conceded. "We'll try it. If, at any time during three months, the two of you compromise a mission because of personal feelings, then Teyla will immediately be removed from active duty unless in an emergency situation."
"I'm…sorry I yelled at you." John said sheepishly.
"You did put me in quite a position." Weir sighed. "Go. Move in."
"We can only ever thank you, Dr. Weir." Teyla took the other woman's hand. "For giving us a future."
With that, the two walked out hand in hand.