Title: Don't Close Your Eyes (Its one for the memories)
Author: Nat
Summary: How did she let him talk her into this? It was so not fair for him to be able to do this to her.
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"Last chance to back out!"
She'd glare at him if she could.
But alas she can't.
Because at this very moment in time, she's strapped to the front of John Sheppard's chest. They're sitting on the floor of Jumper Two, Elizabeth seated in between John's legs. Like the harness would allow for anything else, she thinks to herself.
She actually pouts.
How did she let him talk her into this? It was so not fair for him to be able to do this to her. Thinking back, it hadn't taken him much at all. He'd strolled into her office making some remark about her being a girl (which by the way, she'd just like to point out, that she is) and then smirked at her.
It was a challenge, she knew it. He was pushing her buttons to get her to do it. She was playing right into his hands, but for the life of her, she wasn't about to back down to him— and then there was that smirk.
She's pretty sure that smirk could make her strip naked in the control room if he told her too. Which unnerves her, a lot. Because if all it takes was a dare and that look, oh cripes, what would she be doing next week…? She might actually end up naked in the control room.
But back to the point at hand, she knows she's safe and in totally capable hands. She'd actually came up with him in the puddle jumper the first time he'd done it thinking he'd lost his mind completely, but he'd pouted and practically begged until she'd said yes.
Really, it was Lt Ford's idea in the first place.
What had started as a 'Wouldn't it be cool if…' had turned into an actual thing, and was now the base's favourite extreme sport…
Jumping out of a goddamn puddle jumper.
She'd been horrified the first time John and Ford had brought the idea to her. But after weeks of promising that it was completely safe, and that they'd brought harnesses and parachutes from earth, and that Major Lorne was actually qualified to jump out of planes with people strapped to him, not to mention they were all military, and they were trained to do this, and at some point in their military careers, they'd probably need to know how to jump out of an aircraft and—
Then he'd smirked at her (and he got all the permission he wanted.)
But to John's credit, they actually took it slow with the idea. The first thing the three of them did was scout out a nice clearing on the main land, and then went to the trouble of marking it out.
After that they did a lot of test jumps, and once they'd all given it the all clear, Lorne went about teaching and training John and Ford how to tandem sky dive.
Officially, she was the first person to tandem sky dive with John.
It's not that she doesn't trust him, just that she's nervous; the point of taking the puddle jumper up to 40,000 ft and then jumping out of it was lost on her. Yet once she'd said yes, word had spread around the city fairly fast. At this point she was more worried about how she'd look in everyone else's eyes if she chickened out.
Apparently a fair amount of Atlantis personnel had gathered at the landing zone on the main land, taking Jumpers over this morning. John had said that even some of the Athosians had gathered to see them jump out of the Jumper, and heard some of the scientist talking about putting a Barbeque on (who'd thought of bringing a portable barbeque to another galaxy was beyond her). But with this crowd there was no way she was going to back down.
Ford came into the cabin, grinning like an idiot. The kid was practically bouncing. Yes, it was true: she worked with children.
"We're nearly at 40,000 ft sir!"
"OK."
John put a hand on her arm. Turning her head to the side, she saw him grinning out of the corner of her eye. At that moment her heart picked up tempo, and her hands started to shake slightly in anticipation.
He reached down to grab her hand in his, then he leant close, his lips brushing against her ear.
"It's OK, Elizabeth, just remember what we went over when we were on the ground. Keep your hands crossed over your chest as we jump out, and keep them that way until I tap you on the shoulder, then you can let your arms fly. As we jump out rest your head back on my shoulder, then as we're coming down for landing, lift your knees up, 'kay? It's easy, you're going to love it. It's quite a view from up here."
She doesn't doubt him on that.
"Sir, we're at 40000 ft." Ford called from the cock pit.
"OK, this is really your last chance to back out." John warns her.
Elizabeth closes her eyes, and takes a calming breath.
"Nope. Let's do this."
John gives her hand one more squeeze and then lets go.
"OK, we've got to get up."
After a few tricky movements they're on their feet, shuffling toward the very back of the Puddle Jumper. Reaching forward, he holds out a pair of clear goggles.
"Here, put these on, there will be a hell lot of air rushing at you… or really, you'll be rushing at it."
Taking the goggles, she pushes the elastic over her head, essentially strapping the goggles to her face. She can feel John fidgeting behind her, most likely doing last minute checks to his gear. After a moment he stops and she feels his hands rest on her hips, his lips then brush her ear again. If she wasn't about to jump out of a puddle jumper, and wasn't so damn nervous, she might react to their close proximity.
"Here we go Elizabeth. When the tail gate opens, it's going to get very windy, so just be prepared for that."
She nods, and lifts her hands to cross over her chest, gripping each side of her harness.
"Good luck, Ma'am!" She hears Ford yell out, echoed shortly by Lorne.
She wants to reply to them with some smart ass comment about going splat, but she can't; her stomach's doing so many flips, she's afraid that if she opens her mouth, butterflies would fly out. The anticipation is killing her.
Finally, John yells out for them to open the tail gate.
Instantly as the gate lowers, wind starts to blast around them. She stumbles a bit, but doesn't go far, John keeping her on her feet.
Wow, the view is really spectacular from up here, she thinks. The mainland is so lush and green, and from up here, it's all so tiny. Resting her head against John's shoulder as John had instructed her, she waits.
Suddenly, John pushes forward.
And out they go.
Instantly, she screws her eyes shut tight, and lets out a girlish scream. She feels the wind rushing past her, and there's a sudden coolness against her jumpsuit. Her hair is blowing in every direction, and all she can do is scream and grip her harness tighter.
Then she feels John tap her on the shoulder.
And she lets go.
Her arms instantly fly out as wide as they can go, and in some childish sense, she felt like she was flying. Opening her eyes, she lets out another scream, and looks at the world below her.
For as fast as they're falling, the ground doesn't seem to be getting any closer. It's an unreal feeling; she feels like she's suspended midair, not going anywhere. It's like they're just hanging there with a giant fan on them.
Then with a jolt, John lets the parachute out, and they go sky rocketing back up again, and it's all over, as fast as it had begun.
She feels John moving behind her, getting the parachute settled, and once he's done and all in control, he touches her side.
"Hey you can take of the goggles now."
Slipping them down to hang around her neck, she finally gets a crystal clear view of the mainland.
It's beautiful and peaceful and tranquil, and all the other things John had promised it would be. There isn't a cloud in the sky, and she can see for miles; it's just… so serene and god is it quiet! All she can hear is the faint breeze and nothing else. It's so different to the jump she'd just made. It's like standing on the balcony back on Atlantis, it's… relaxing even.
Reaching back with her hand, she squeezes John's thigh.
"Good huh?"
She smiles beautifully at him, even though he can't see her.
"Yeah, it is. It's beautiful. Thank you."
Leaning forward, she feels him kiss the back of her head.
"You're welcome."
They fall into silence as they continue to float back to the ground, and she's not quite sure what to make of the day. Mostly of John. Their relationship is evolving slowly, she knows this. He's been more affectionate to her lately, and today is no different, except for the fact that they're strapped together, and she's starting to get the feeling John's testing the waters, to see how far he can push this friendship of theirs before crossing a line.
She really has no problem with that. They're friends, best friends even, and have been that way for almost five years now, and she really can't say that she's never thought about it. Wondered what it would be like at the end of the day to just be able to snuggle up with him in one of their quarters. It's something she wonders about quite often, because after spending five years of sleeping alone, and having him around her all day making her laugh and smile, she can't help but wonder why they're not something more.
Of course there's like a million reasons why they can't.
She hopes one day she won't listen to her head, and will just throw caution to the wind and make them something more.
Or she secretly hopes that John will.
She feels John nudge her shoulder, and she turns as best she can to look at him.
"Remember knees up."
She nods, and looks back down to the ground. They're really not that high up anymore. John circles them around so that they'll hit the landing area perfectly.
She lifts her knees as John's feet hit the ground, then drops them when he's steady. A loud cheer goes up from the group that had gathered to watch them as they touched down, and she smiles brightly at them.
Two marines come over and deal with John's parachute as he unclips it. He unclips her from his harness, and she stumbles slightly when she's released, but John's hand reaches out around her waist steadying her.
"You 'right?"
She turns around, looking at him, finally displaying her grin at him.
"Yep."
He grins back at her.
What happens next, she doesn't know if it's from the adrenalin that's still coursing through her veins or the fact that she'd just jumped out of a puddle jumper with him, but she reaches up and kisses him softly for all to see.
When John pulls away, he smirks at her again. "That good, eh?"
She laughs. "Yes. That good."
fin