DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.
Weathering the Storm Part 11
The first night after the storm and the return of its citizen from Manara was hectic to say the least. As the weather was still not in peak form, and not knowing whether or not any of the homes on the mainland survived the hurricane, Dr. Weir, Teyla, and Halling discussed the idea of the Athosians staying in Atlantis for a week or so. It was decided that as soon as the main systems in Atlantis were back in order, Halling and a few other Athosians would fly over to the mainland to determine the amount of repairs that needed to be made. Once the major repairs were made to the homes on the mainland, and it was determined that it was safe to move back, the majority of the Athosians would return. But until then, Atlantis was going to be alive with the sound of families and children once again.
Halling and Teyla left the conference room talking about how to settle their people in for the night. Elizabeth sat for a few minutes in the quite room before she started to stand up in order to go where she was needed next. Before she was fully standing, Dr. Beckett poked his head into the room and a wry grin came to his face as he stated, "I thought I might find you here. However this does not look like your quarters, and you are definitely not resting." He motioned to the notes sitting in front of her from various departments throughout the city.
"I was just trying to make sure that the repairs were well on their way, and that everyone was given a place to rest for awhile," she said. The excuse sounded as lame to her as it did to the man in front of her.
"All the people picked for this mission are exceptional in what they do. Let them show you. This city will still be here when you wake up." Carson continued before she had a chance to respond, "You need to get some rest too, and according to Dr. Copper you promised you would."
Dr. Weir could tell from his stanch and the way his hands were resting on his hips that she had already lost the argument before one had even started. She threw up her hands in defeats and stated, "I'm going. I'm going."
"Good I didn't even have to resort to plan B," Dr. Beckett chuckled as he relaxed his stanch.
"Which was…" Elizabeth questioned.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Carson grinned as he walked beside Elizabeth. "This way it can still be used for future situations," he chuckled as he knew her mind was working a mile a minute in order to try and figure out how to uncover a plan that he never had in the first place. They walked in silence until they reached her quarters. As Elizabeth keyed open the door, Carson whispered, "Good night."
"Night," Elizabeth whispered back just as quietly. However she feared that there would be nothing good about it.
The door closed behind Elizabeth, and she leaned back against the door in order to determine what she wanted to do first. While she was tired, her mind and body struggled through that feeling in order to take the time to get a shower. She wanted to feel clean from the stench that was Kolya, and what he did to her. She walked toward the bathroom, and as she got closer to the tiny room she noticed her torn clothing still jumbled across the floor.
She hastily picked up the torn clothing, and stumbled toward the nearest trashcan through the tears that were starting to fall down her face. Elizabeth flung the cloths piece by piece into the garage. She placed all of her anger and pain behind the force of her throw as she verbalized her feelings with a hoarse scream. While there were no words to her shout, there was a great deal of feeling jumbled into that shriek. The force of the last object hitting the trash can knocked it over, causing all of the items to topple back out onto the floor. That event seemed to mirror Elizabeth's situation. Every time the situation was about to end, something happened to bring it all back out into the open. She had her emotions under control when she was trying to get the city and its people settled for the night; however the minute she left the noisy, people filled rooms and entered her quiet solitary room, the memories fought the silence.
Without thinking her action through, Elizabeth leaned down with her injured arm in order to place the trash can upright. The pain in her shoulder let her know that her move was not the greatest, and she leaned against the nearest wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor beside the heap of trash. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them, ignoring the pain in her protesting shoulder. She sat like that, rocking back and forth, with tears streaming down her face.
Halling and Teyla walked away from the conference room deep in discussion about how they were going to settle their people in for this extended stay in the city. As Halling talked, Teyla realized that he seemed to have everything under control. Their people had started to look at Halling as their leader ever since Teyla decided to stay in the city of the Ancients. While Teyla wished that she could do more for her people, she realized that her people did not just include the Athosians anymore. "Halling can you make sure that everyone gets settled in for the night. I need to check up on someone," Teyla worried about how Dr. Weir would fare on her first drug free night since the incident with Kolya.
Halling could tell that Teyla's mind was not solely on the situation that their people currently faced. This was apparent during the meeting with Dr. Weir, as Teyla would often look at the city's leader with a concerned question in her gaze. Halling knew that something happened in the city while he and the others were on Manara. Doran was a friend of his family for a long time, and he came to Halling to get his advice after the few military men from Atlantis wrote off his ramblings as that of a drunken man. He tried to go appeal to the men watching the gate that Doran would not have lied over such a story. While the man had been known to get drunk on occasion, his stories revolved more around his feats of bravery against the Wraith then about people he had never met wanting access to the Ancient city.
Halling wished that his friend was wrong, and that the stories were made up; however, he knew that this was not the case when Sergeant Bates came to collect Doran in order to question him before the initial trip back through the stargate. He also realized that something painful happened to Dr. Weir, and he was glad that she had the support of Teyla in order to help her through whatever she was going through. "Go. I will make sure everything is in order before my head graces a pillow," he stated to Teyla.
"Thank you my friend," she said as they said goodnight with a quick touch of their foreheads. She turned and walked swiftly but gracefully toward Dr. Weir's quarters.
Elizabeth rocked back and forth as tears and memories threatened to consume her. She did not know how long she sat there; she would have continued to do so except for a hesitant knock on her door which intruded upon her grief. She decided to stay quiet so that the person on the other side of the door would give up this quest, thinking that she was already asleep. However the person was persistent and the knocking continued followed by a friendly voice speaking through the door, "Dr. Weir."
Teyla's voice seemed to trigger the floodgates even more, and the struggle to keep her sobs quiet was shattered.
As Elizabeth was able to hear Teyla through her door, Teyla was also able to hear Dr. Weir's muffled sobs. "Dr. Weir… Elizabeth, its Teyla. Please let me in."
Elizabeth could hear the concern in Teyla's voice, and whether to appease Teyla, to prevent a scene as the Athosian tried to break into the room, or because she wanted a friend, Elizabeth said, "Come in."
As the door opened, Dr. Weir pushed herself away from the wall in order to stand up. Even though Teyla knew what had happened to her, Elizabeth felt that she needed to prove her strength and resolve.
Teyla watched as Elizabeth lifted her hands to her eyes, and forcefully brushed the tears away; however the tell-tale signs of crying were still evident in Elizabeth's blotchy red face, and by the blood shot eyes that were fixed on her. "It's okay to cry," Teyla stated feeling that Elizabeth would only show weakness when given permission; even then it was not guaranteed.
"I don't want to cry anymore," Elizabeth stated, shocked that she had admitted to crying in the first place. Not that her appearance helped hide that fact, she knew. She walked over to the edge of her bed and wearily sat down.
"So what do you want to do," Teyla asked as she walked toward Elizabeth and slowly sat down next to her.
"You mean other than castrate Kolya?" Elizabeth asked with an evil glint in her bloodshot eyes.
Teyla chuckled, "Yes, other than that."
All humor was dropped as Elizabeth replied. "I want a shower. I want to feel clean again," she said finally stating the truth and not hiding behind humor. She looked down at her hands as the realization of feeling dirty came back to her; however she knew it was not something that would be able to be washed down the drain as she hoped. But that did not stop her from wishing to try.
"Then it's time to take a shower," Teyla said a few seconds later as she stood up and wandered over to the dresser. She started to open and close drawers at random until she came up with a complete sleeping outfit and other necessities. She walked back over to Elizabeth, grasped her left hand, and pulled her up. Teyla walked to the bathroom pulling Elizabeth along behind her. Once they reached the door, Teyla handed Liz the clothes and asked, "Do you need anything else? A towel perhaps?"
Elizabeth was too stunned to speak right away. She was used to being the one in charge; therefore having someone helping her out was both terrifying and comforting all at the same time. "No, I'm good," Elizabeth responded when she realized that the silence had drug on for too long, and that Teyla was expecting an answer.
As Elizabeth started to close the bathroom door to separate her from Teyla, she heard Teyla mutter to herself, "That wasn't what I asked, but I will let it stand… For now."
AN: Hello—I thought I'd get this chap on out, even though it is a shorter one—however the next one might take awhile as I need to write some not so fun scenes—to write flashback as Elizabeth is in the bathroom, I have to actually write out the ten minutes of hell that Kolya put her through—so please hang in there. Therefore the next few chapters will revolve around flashbacks, the friendship between Teyla, and getting the city back to order.
I know many of you read the story --188 hits so far for chap 10 COOL—but only 4 replies :(—thanks to those who reply—and to the others—I really hope you like—but occasional feedback would be nice :) I know—the sad plea for reviews that I promised myself never to make. And I do promise never again—but I didn't think once would hurt. LOL