Thanks so much for the reviews I've gotten so far. Keep 'em coming! 8-)

That evening, when John, Teyla, and Ronon got back from an afternoon of checking in with one of their allied worlds, John headed up to the control room. "Have you eaten?" he asked Elizabeth.

"Are you my warden now?" she snapped before realizing that had come out a lot harsher than she'd intended. "I'm sorry, I – "

"It's okay. Long day. This is why you should take a break for dinner."

"I'm not going to be good company tonight, John."

"That's okay."

She sighed. "Rain check? I'd really just like to get this done and then get some sleep."

"All right. I'm going to hold you to it, though." He was happy to see the small smile that graced her face. "See you in the morning," he said as he left.

"Good night."

John headed down from the control area to the recreation rooms, mentally debating whether or not to go practice for his next session with Teyla or to watch something from his slowly growing stash of football games. Before he could make up his mind, he was stopped short by suddenly finding himself in pitch blackness.

"Sheppard to McKay; what the hell just happened?" he asked over the radio.

"We've hit a…small snag."

"How small?"

"It should only take a few hours…I think."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm working on getting some primary systems back online."

"Yeah, work on that. Sheppard out." There wasn't much he could do in the dark, so he decided to head back to the control room. The officers there had started putting out flashlights and small battery lanterns. "Everybody okay up here?" he asked as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Fine now, sir," one of the lieutenants said. "We were just bumping into things for a few minutes until we got the flashlights set up."

"Is Dr. Weir still in her office?"

"I think so," another man answered. "She almost took Dr. McKay's head off via headset when the power went out." John raised an eyebrow; Elizabeth usually didn't lose her temper. Snapping at him was something small, but even when she was having a row with Kavanagh she still maintained a certain dignity that let you know she was going to win the argument no matter what.

As he approached her office, he could see through the glass walls that she was trying to go through the stacks of reports on her desk. "You all right?"

Elizabeth didn't even spare him a glance. "I'm fine. As if I didn't already have enough to deal with without the reports for this mess, too." A wave of her hand indicated that she was referring to their current lack of power.

"I can help out with the paperwork tomorrow," John told her. "I can help now, too, if you just tell me what it is you're looking for."

Elizabeth paused for a moment, long enough to give him a look that was a couple steps beyond 'frustration' and on its way down the road towards 'murderous glare'. "I'll be fine."

"Why can't you just accept someone's offer?" John asked, starting to get a little annoyed himself. He wasn't used to her being so distant, and he didn't like it. "You don't always have to do everything yourself. That's why we've got this partnership here: to help each other out."

"John, I really don't feel like getting into this right now with you."

"Well, tough!" he shot back as he stepped forward, reaching to take her arm and keep her from using the things on her desk to avoid him. He accidentally knocked over her flashlight in the process, plunging the two of them into darkness.

Seeing was a bit of a challenge, so John was more than a little surprised to feel her very roughly break out of his grip, knocking him away. " Elizabeth…" She backed away from him. "Hey, take it easy – "

"Stop!" she told him, continuing to try to put space between them. She very quickly found herself backed against the wall in her small office. John grabbed her flashlight and realized that her eyes weren't actually focused; it was almost as though she was looking THROUGH him.

"Just relax, all right?" he said, keeping his distance a bit.

"Stay away from me!"

By this point, they'd attracted the attention of the people in the control room. "Is everything okay?" one of the officers asked, lingering in the doorway.

"Get Dr. Beckett up here," John told him.

When Carson arrived in the control room, the last thing he'd expected to see was the city's leader cowering in a corner of her office while Atlantis' military leader tried to calm her from his position crouched on the floor a few feet away. "How long has she been like this?" Carson asked John while he started to prepare a sedative.

"Since a few minutes before I had the lieutenant call you. She was pretty anxious after the lights went out and then she just…"

It was at that moment that Elizabeth noticed the needle in Carson's hand and freaked out again. This time, John was fast enough to grab her, although it took all his strength to keep her somewhat still. "Put that away!" he told the doctor.

"I need to get her calmed down, Colonel."

"She doesn't need the drugs. You're only going to scare her worse." Beckett hesitated a minute, but put the needle back in his bag. John returned his attention to Elizabeth.

"It's gone, okay?" he promised her. "It's gone. Nobody's going to hurt you, I swear, but you've gotta relax." No effect. " Elizabeth, you have to listen to me. Whatever's going on in your head, that's all it is. We're in Atlantis and you're safe." Her struggles seemed to lessen a bit, and John sighed with relief. "That's it. Come on, you're going to be okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise." Finally she stopped fighting and John just held her, not giving a damn what the whole scene had looked like to anyone else.. He could feel her tears soaking through his t-shirt – he wanted to know what was going on.

"Do you think you can stand, lass?" Carson gently asked. Elizabeth didn't reply, motionless with her face still buried in her 2IC's chest. Knowing full well that if she remembered, she would kick his ass later, John lifted her up into his arms.

"Infirmary?" he asked Beckett. The Scotsman nodded.

"Aye. Let's go."

TBC...