Ancient History
Chapter Eight: Fillers and Flying Lessons
By Ddoskocil
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The name of the chapter says it all. Enjoy.

Vecturist: Glad you're enjoying it. And yes, there is more. :)
Khyrra: Thanks. The Thanksgiving story was my attent at humor, so I'm glad it worked. And we'll get to why Davy hates Erika later. There's more to that relationship than meets the eye. ;)
Soccor-Bitch: Thanks again for the review.
Rojoca: Sheppard doesn't need an excuse. He's Sheppard. But there will be something else to that later. And I promise there will be more Carson/Erika action. Thanks for the review.

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Carson stood at her office door, just watching her. It had become a daily ritual while she was grounded to the base. He came by, usually with the excuse that he was just making sure she was staying off her leg. She was a Sheppard after all, and his experience with the Sheppards was that they hated being told to take it easy when there was work to be done. So he stopped by, just to make sure. And they usually talked for a while after her check-up.

He was sure her staff knew they were seeing each other. As soon as he was noticed in her office, they would file out. But today, remarkably, there was only Erika, sitting at her desk looking through some papers. So Carson just watched her as she worked.

He was still slightly amazed at her blatant disregard for the dress code on Atlantis. The science staff wore blue, the military black, his staff white or yellow. But Erika cared little about that. Not that Carson complained. Today she was dressed in her favorite green tank and jeans, and she looked damn sexy in them. He smiled to himself and glanced around the room.

Her office was slightly larger than his and, if possible, even more cluttered. Papers and books were scattered everywhere. Her walls were covered with maps of various sites her teams were working on. Under the maps was a long table with a variety of artifacts neatly aligned. There was a TV on a small table in the corner with several folding chairs stacked against the wall near it. Her desk was shoved in the opposite corner, and it too was littered with books and papers.

He drew his attention back to Erika when he heard her sigh. She picked up a photograph and studied it before she turned to the book next to her. Carson smiled when she mumbled under her breath and jotted something down. While she was not as bad as Rodney, she rarely let others translate most of the Ancient writings found in Atlantis or off world.

Carson crossed the room to her in a few steps. He lightly rested his hands on her shoulders and felt her relax under his touch. He rubbed her shoulders gently and felt more than heard her sigh.

"Hey," she said as she titled her head back. He smiled as he lowered his lips to hers and was rewarded with a long, passionate kiss. He heard her catch her breath when they finally broke apart.

"Hello," he responded to her greeting. She smiled at him before she turned back to her work.

"Just you today?" he asked as he moved around her to perch on the edge of the desk. She raised an eye from her paper.

"Yes. I've sent all the kids to school so I could work in peaceful quiet. Ah!" She wrote something down on her pad, but Carson could not read it. She seemed to pick up on his confusion.

"It's Latin. Ancient translates to Latin much easier than to English," she quickly explained. Carson just nodded. He did not understand the translating process any more than she understood how to splice a gene into DNA.

"So how did everything go off-world?" she asked as she turned back to the pictures. Carson just frowned and sighed.

"The surgery went fine, although that ape of a man wouldn't even take a local anesthetic. But it's Ford I'm worried about." Erika looked up at him and placed a hand on his leg. "He took Rodney as hostage and won't even listen to Sheppard. He said Ford jumped into a Wraith beam. It just doesn't make any sense."

"It's okay, Carson. We'll find him," she commented.

"I hope so, lass."

Erika swiveled in her chair as she dropped her papers to her desk. She uncrossed her legs and gracefully rose to her feet. Carson frowned when she put all of her weight on her wounded ankle. She caught his frown.

"It's fine, Carson. I can even do this:" She stood on her toes then lifted to her left foot and trailed it against her right calf. Carson winced as he watched. It was only a week since her episode off world and he still was not convinced that her ankle was fully healed.

"Lass," he warned. "Please don't."

She smiled at him but dropped down from her toes. She draped her arms around his neck and danced her body closer to his. Carson could only shake his head at her, a faint smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. As he wrapped his arms around her waist he realized something.

Carson was not sure when it happened, or really how it happened. It just happened. At first, it had been a physical attraction. She was beautiful and graceful and incredibly sexy. And then they started to have conversations and he discovered she was witty, charming, and very smart. He was often baffled by how much she knew about the Ancients. He loved just chatting with her, just being with her. The realization struck him like lightening: he loved her.

"Carson?" she asked, a hint of worry at the edge of her voice. Carson smiled widely at her. She returned it with her own smile, but he sensed there was a bit of hesitation behind it. He chuckled softly and pulled her closer. A faint squeak escaped from her as he did.

Carson took full advantage of her parted lips. He dropped his lips to hers and brushed his tongue into her mouth. She responded by running her hands through his hair. She wrestled with his tongue in her mouth causing both of them to moan slightly.

"Erika are you-oh God I didn't see anything," Rodney yelled as he entered the room. He threw his arms over his eyes as he turned away. Carson and Erika jumped apart at Rodney's outburst. Erika chuckled at the scientist stance: his hands over his eyes, his back to them, mumbling to himself. Carson joined in her mirth as he wrapped his arms around her waist again. She settled her back against his chest and stroked at his fingers.

"What the hell is going on?" Rodney demanded. "Can I look now?"

"Yes, Rodney, you can look," Carson replied. Rodney turned. He looked at the two and Carson could see the wheels turning and girding as the scientist figured it out. Carson just shook his head. His friend was never any good at figuring out people. Ancient technology, yes, people, no.

"What's with this?" he asked, gesturing vaguely at Carson and Erika. "I mean, when did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago. What can we do for you, Rodney?" Carson replied. Erika kissed his check and disentangled herself from him.

"I have a flying lesson with John and Rodney. Rodney just came to collect me. Want to come?"

"No. I'm really not good with things like that."

"He's really not," Rodney added. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Yes, thank you, Rodney," Carson replied with a glare and a sigh. He turned back to Erika. "You go ahead, lass. Have fun. I'll see you tonight."

"Okay." She smiled at him. "Bye." She kissed him again before she dashed out of her office. Carson watched her go. He noticed Rodney still standing near the door.

"Yes, Rodney?"

"Do you know what you're doing, Carson? She's Sheppard's cousin. I mean, he sounded pretty serious when he said she was off limits. Aren't you just a little worried about what he might do to you?"

Carson sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "No, not really."

"Rodney, are you coming?" Erika called.

"Yes, I'm coming." He turned back to Carson. "I just hope you know what you're doing?"

"I do, Rodney."

"Rodney! Flying lesson. Move your ass."

"Impatient, isn't she."

"Oh, you've noticed that, have you?"

"How do you put up with it?"

"Somehow I've built up a tolerance."

"Ha." Carson saw realization dawn on Rodney's face. "Oh, har har, Carson."

"Rodney!"

"All right," Rodney called over his shoulder. "Wish me luck, Carson. I'll be stuck in a very small space with both Sheppards."

"Good luck."

---- ----

"Have I even mentioned that we got stuck in a Stargate in one of these?" Rodney yelled from the back seat of the Puddlejumper. Erika smiled wickedly as the Jumper neared the Stargate

"I've read the reports."

"You have?" John asked next to her. "Ease up on the throttle."

"I know what I'm doing. And yes. Daniel volunteered me to go through all the data you guys sent. And I did."

"You're not flying in a straight line," John commented.

"Yes I am."

"You read the whole thing?" Rodney asked. A screen popped up in front of the pilot's chair. It showed her path, a perfectly straight line along the flight path. Erika turned smugly to John.

"Yes, Rodney. Well, I read most of it, anyway. I went through all the personal messages as well. Did you know some moron shot Zelenka in front of a naquida generator? Had to edit that out, as well as a few comments he made."

"Erika, you're coming in too fast," John interrupted.

'I can't fly with you breathing down my neck, John," she commented as she looked up at her cousin. She pushed a button and the engine pods retracted. The Jumper slid smoothly through the 'Gate and came to a stop in the control room.

"I thought it was bad teaching Rodney how to fly this thing."

"But the difference is that I've flow before. Besides, this thing reads your mind. It knows what you're going to do before you do."

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet. Still haven't been able to get a turkey sandwich, though."

"What? Never mind," Erika replied as she shook her head. She heard Rodney huff behind them.

"When did you learn how to fly?"

"She's in the Air Force, Colonel," Rodney interjected on Erika's behalf. Erika just smiled. She watched the bustle of the control room in the silence that followed before the Jumper lifted into the Jumper Bay.

"Did Jeanie get my message?" Rodney suddenly asked.

"We were able to find her, yes. Colonel Sumner's family as well." She saw John wince out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to say more, but with Rodney in the back, she felt it was not the time.

She had been furious when she found the message from John to Sumner's family. He recorded something for the Colonel, but nothing of his own. It had almost been a deciding factor in whether or not she would even go to Atlantis. In the end, she was happy enough with her decision. But that happiness had little to do with the man sitting beside her and more with the doctor she was about to meet for dinner. Erika admitted she loved her job in Atlantis. That alone would have made the trip worth everything, but Carson made it that much more. She was completely smitten with him, taken by him, head of heels falling in love with him.

John nudged her shoulder, jolting her out of her thoughts. Erika glanced at him before she gathered her pack.

"Thanks Rodney. Hope I didn't give you a heart attack," she commented lightly as she passed him.

"Yes, thank you for your concern," he responded sarcastically. Erika patted his shoulder before she strolled down the ramp. She slung her pack over her shoulder and began the short hike back to her quarters.

"Hey," John called just as she reached the top of the stairs. Erika stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing tonight?" he asked as he came up beside her. They took the stairs side by side.

"I have plans. Why?"

"I was just hoping we could hang out a little. Get caught up and all. What are you doing?"

"I'm walking."

"You're prancing."

"I do not prance."

"You are prancing," he insisted. "You are prancing down these stairs."

"I am a captain in the United States Air Force. I do not prance."

They hit the landing at the same time. Elizabeth looked up from a terminal and smiled at the two. She said something to the technician before she joined them.

"Everything go okay?" she asked.

"Surprisingly routine," John responded. "We've got another fine pilot here." He looked at Erika. She could actually see the admiration in his eyes and for a moment it shocked her. It was a look she had not seen in a long time.

"Glad to hear it," Elizabeth replied. "Can I see you for a moment, Colonel?"

"Of course, Elizabeth." He turned to Erika. "So, tonight?"

"I have plans already. Maybe tomorrow. I'm off for the rest of the night." She turned from them and headed down the stairs, intent on taking a hot shower before she met with Carson.

"You're prancing," John called from the railing.

"Am not," she called back, a smile on her face. In that moment, everything felt right and she could almost forget all the past shit with John. She smirked. Almost.

---- ----

"You two seem to be getting on well," Elizabeth commented as she led the way into her office. John just nodded as he watched Erika prance down the steps.

"She really does prance when she walks down the stairs," he observed. Elizabeth smiled at him as she gestured for him to take a seat. John complied.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was alright between the two of you." John crossed his arms over his chest as he repositioned himself in the chair. He sensed something was wrong.

"Yes," he answered cautiously. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She leaned forward on her desk. "Just a week ago you ordered men under her command to disobey her orders."

"Only if she was injured," John said in his defense. "I was just worried about her."

"I know you were, John. I just need to know it won't happen again before I send her back out there."

"You're sending her back through the Stargate?"

"Not immediately. She's scheduled to go with Rodney to explore the city tomorrow. But I'm sure she's anxious to get back to her work as soon as possible. I need you to promise me you won't ever do something like that again," she commanded in a stern tone. John hated that tone. He felt his stomach tighten in a knot.

"Colonel."

"Alright. I promise it won't happen again," he finally caved in.

"Good." She smiled at him. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"I will," John replied as if the idea was his own.

"Good."