Chapter 7
Later that night, Elizabeth walked out of the control room onto the balcony. It had not been a good day. She had tried to stay focussed on her work, but even Rodney had commented on how distracted and tired she seemed. As she stared out across the dark ocean, her thoughts irresistibly drifted back towards John, to their first argument out here, to how he had given her a birthday present (she never had learned how he knew her birthday.)
"We had our first date on this balcony." She looked round and saw John standing in the shadows. "I dragged you out of your office, brought a picnic." She couldn't help but smile at him.
"I imagine it wouldn't have been too hard to drag me away." He smiled sadly and moved forwards to lean on the rail next to her. It was stupid, but she noticed that he wasn't standing as close as he normally would.
"No. You were always the eager one. I was always scared that I'd push too hard and scare you off." Elizabeth nodded. They stood there, as the silence grew around them until it seemed to drown out the sound of the ocean. Eventually, she turned and started to leave.
"I know it wasn't real." She stopped, and turned around.
"It was real for you. I just wish..." He nodded
"I wish. I wish that I could take you out to dinner, that we could have a picnic, but"
"But you would be thinking of her. I know, and I understand."
"I don't know what I'm going to do, you know? Every time I look at you, I see her. I wish I could just forget everything, but I guess that's not an option. I just, I need some time, you know?"
Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly.
"Yeah. I guess all you can do is try to come to terms with it. I won't push you, not this time. I would like to still be your friend though, if nothing else."
He looked at her gratefully.
"I'd like that."
SGA-SGA-SGA
Months passed. John resumed his leadership of AR-1, and started getting into all sorts of trouble off-world again. In Atlantis, he was his old self again, winding up Rodney (although he also now had more respect for him), playing basketball with Ronon, Lorne and the other sport fans. He was of course still affected by his experiences, Elizabeth noticed that he usually drifted away from large groups, preferring to spend time with a few close friends. He would occasionally go "exploring", wandering the city for a few days on his own. Elizabeth would never admit it, but she always kept an eye on him using the city's scanners. Their relationship started to heal as well, but it wasn't the same. They started to eat meals together, but there was no longer any playful flirting, and they usually sat with the others. Carson in particular noticed this. He had asked her why once, and she had smiled and laughed it off, but she knew he was still worried.
There was one aspect of his life where John had not returned to normal. She overheard Rodney talking about it to Teyla once.
"I'm just saying that it's weird."
"Perhaps Colonel Sheppard has simply not been attracted to any of them."
"Are you kidding? That blonde one on our mission was amazing, and clearly interested in him, and he didn't even respond to her flirting! It's like he just isn't interested in women anymore!"
"Even if that is the case, you should respect the Colonel and stop discussing this, even with me."
"Hmm!" With that, Rodney left.
"Perhaps, Rodney," Elizabeth heard Teyla mutter to herself "he is only interested in one woman."
Around six months after John's "incident" (as most people now referred to it), Elizabeth noticed that he was unusually snappy. This continued for several days, and then it suddenly stopped. Something changed. Suddenly, they were eating meals together and it wasn't awkward. John stopped wandering off to go exploring, which irritated a lot of scientists who used to wait for him to come back with news of new areas for them to examine. Elizabeth noticed, and waited, and eventually asked him about it when they were alone in her office, doing some paperwork together.
"John?"
"Mmm?"
"What's going on?" He looked up
"Sorry?"
"Just after the...incident, you said you wanted us to be friends. For six months you've been kinda distant" she said, feeling increasing like a petulant child "and now...it's like we've suddenly gone back to normal."
"Oh. Right." John rocked back on his chair (a habit which drive her crazy, which, she suspected, made him want to do it even more).
"Has something happened?" He sighed, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Umm, actually it's that something didn't happen."
"Sorry?"
"They didn't come." She suddenly understood.
"The Wraith?"
"Yeah. In the simulation they arrived last week. I guess I kinda expected them to show up, expected it all to happen for real. Now that they haven't, I feel...free." He looked up, and she felt a sudden wave of joy sweep over her.
"You mean..." she trailed off, scared to ask him. He grinned at her.
"Wow, I've never actually seen you speechless before. Six months ago I told you I needed some time, and you understood. Now I'm ready." He stood, and extended an arm towards her. She couldn't help the idiotic smile on her face as she rose and placed her hand in his. They started to walk out of her office, ignoring the smiles of everyone in the control room.
"John?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's not have a picnic on the balcony, okay?" He smiled.
"Actually I was thinking we might watch a movie."
"Any movie in particular?"
"Well, I hear Lorne just got The Matrix..." He burst out laughing when he saw her expression.
"John, I'm going to kill you." They walked through the control room, and out into the corridor. "Oh, and John?" as he half turned towards her, she leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, slipping an arm around his waist. "Welcome to the real world."
AN: Huh. Nine thousand words, that's the longest story I've written in a while. Sorry there was no proper kiss at the end, I just couldn't comfortably write it in. And for those of you who haven't seen the Matrix, "Welcome to the real world is a quote". Now go and watch this fantastic film (but don't bother with the sequels!)
As always, I hope you enjoyed this.
