SUMMARY: In which our heroine discovers things going from bad to worse.
Lizzie Love - Part Three
The expulsion of John from her office served to leave her undisturbed for nearly an hour. Then one of the techs knocked gently on the door with a wad of paperwork, looking more than a little worried.
Elizabeth unlocked the door and let the aide in. "I'm sorry, Corporal, I've just been...trying to get things done this morning."
"Yes, ma'am." The Corporal looked almost terrified as she came in the door. "Er, there are some reports for you to sign - they came in from the scientists earlier, but I didn't want to disturb you--"
The young woman was hovering, almost as though she was afraid of getting too close to the desk. "It's okay, just put them in my inbox." One finger indicated the inbox.
"Ma'am, there's also some personnel forms that require signing."
"How many?"
Corporal Ayre ruffled through the sheets, "Five, ma'am."
Elizabeth held out her hand. "I'll do them now, then." At least one paper copy of everything was required in Atlantis, usually for signatures. It was then scanned in and stored, one copy as normal, the other using some encryption codes. As Rodney said, it obviously wasn't hackproof, but since there probably weren't too many hackers in Atlantis they shouldn't have to worry about it too much.
As she looked them over preparing to sign them, she glanced up at Ayre. "How's the putting club going, Corporal?" With her permission, a couple of rooms had been set aside with little putting courses for city personnel. A club had instantly been formed to accommodate the number of people who wanted a go on it, and Corporal Ayre was the secretary.
"Ma'am?"
"I heard that Sergeant Colson spent most of his day off on the course," Elizabeth finished reading the document, picked up a pen and signed. "Do you plan to change it every few months?"
The silence drew her attention from the sheet of paper. Corporal Ayre was staring at her.
"Corporal? Is everything all right?" She was asking that question a lot lately. "Have I turned into a Wraith?"
Corporal Ayre found her voice. "No, ma'am. But...uh...you've never shown interest in--" She caught herself. "Yes, ma'am. The club is running fine."
Elizabeth frowned as she looked back down at the document she'd just signed. She was fairly certain she'd asked Ayre about the putt-putt club before, and Ayre had even invited her to come and have a go. Privately, Elizabeth wasn't particularly fond of golf, but she'd been planning to take a few hours and have a go in the next few weeks...
This time, in the prolonged silence, it was the Corporal's turn to ask, "Ma'am?"
Elizabeth was squinting at the name she'd just written. It didn't look like her usual signature - a lot more scribbly, with fewer loops. She frowned. I should take more care next time. "Sorry, Corporal." She dismissed it and began reading the next document. "You were planning to change it every few months?"
"Well, we hadn't thought about it, ma'am..." Corporal Ayre launched into some anecdotes about the club and its members, and Elizabeth listened with half an ear as she looked over the document, then signed it.
She watched in surprise as her hand moved up and down the paper, almost of its own accord. Her intent was to sign her name, but the resultant signature was very different to her usual swirl of loops - a scrawl of letters that definitely didn't spell 'Elizabeth Weir'.
"Ma'am?" That was twice in one signing session.
"I... I'm sorry, Corporal. I seem to be...messing things up today. I can't even sign my own name."
Ayre looked at her in surprise, then leaned cautiously over the desk, her eyes on Elizabeth. When nothing seemed forthcoming, she glanced down at the paper. "That's your name, ma'am. See? 'Elizabeth Weir'."
Elizabeth stared at the paper. Then she stared at the Corporal. "It doesn't look like--"
"Elizabeth?"
"Carson?"
"I think you should come to infirmary."
The tests I asked him to run on John and his team! She stood abruptly, astonished and hurt when the Corporal jumped back, almost cowering behind the chair. God, but the woman was nervous! "Corporal, I have to go see Dr. Beckett... Just leave the documents here, I'll bring them out to you once they're signed."
"Oh, you don't have to do that," said Ayre hastily. "I'll come back and get them later, ma'am."
"If it's on my way, it's no trouble." And the personnel archives were on the way to the mess hall, so she'd drop it off when she went for lunch.
"Ah...I..." The Corporal looked bewildered, and Elizabeth wondered if everyone but her had this bizarre malady that caused them to act just a little strange. "I... Thank you, ma'am. I'll...I'll see you this aft... When you decide to drop them off. Whenever." And Ayre hurried out.
Elizabeth watched her go and wondered why Ayre had given the impression of being afraid of her.
She walked into the infirmary, prepared for the worst.
Discovering John, Rodney, and Carson in conference with each other wasn't exactly 'the worst' but Elizabeth had a bad feeling about it even before they turned towards her. "I think you need to be checked over, Elizabeth. John and Rodney agree - you're not yourself today."
"I'm not myself?" She nearly backed away, before she realised that it wasn't like there was anywhere she could run. "Carson--"
"We think the stress of the job might be getting to you," said John, looking earnest.
"You been working--"
Elizabeth cut across them. "I have not been working too hard," she told them. "No harder than anyone else in this city. I took a break yesterday to translate the room!" It had been something that needed to be done and a nice change from all the reviews, reports, and documentation that she would otherwise have been doing.
The three men exchanged a glance. It was an unfamiliar look, but she knew what it meant immediately.
They think I'm crazy. Then, hard on the heels of that thought came the sinking feeling, Maybe I am.
"All right," she said, keeping her voice moderate and even. "I'll let Carson examine me. Alone," she added when the other two men looked like they were going to stay and watch.
At least Carson waited until they were gone before he spoke. "You don't think you're being a bit harsh on them, Elizabeth?"
She sighed. "I don't know. I... They've never been like this before." She looked around at the infirmary, checking to see if there was anyone around. Then she lowered her voice. "I asked you to examine John because...he thinks we've been lovers for the last two years."
Carson paused. "Two years?" Then he saw her expression and hastily rearranged his own. "I'm sure...it's just a phase," he said, turning away to lay the swab samples aside before picking up a tourniquet strap and slipping it over her left arm. "You haven't had any headaches or dizzy spells since yesterday?"
"It wasn't a dizzy spell," Elizabeth said as he pulled the tourniquet tight and began feeling her elbow for suitable veins. "The room responded when John walked into it - it flashed once, and...the light must have gone to my head or something."
The antiseptic swab was cold on the skin and the needle a brief pinprick, but Carson looked up as blood began spilling into the canister. "Light sensitivity usually only happens when you're tired, Elizabeth."
"I slept last night," she defended. And woke up to John in my bed.
Not something she wanted to think about right now.
As the glass tube filled, Carson loosened the tourniquet, then reached for a cotton ball and extracted the needle. "Well, we'll have some results in a couple of hours," he said. "But I still think--"
"I've been working too hard," she finished, sourly. "As you've all been telling me."
Carson disposed of the needle and put the canister away. "Well," he said, putting a tiny band-aid over the wound and pressing down on it. "I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing, but either way, we'll deal with it." He patted her on the shoulder before he took up the tray. "Don't be too hard on the Colonel, Elizabeth. He loves you. We all do."
And off he walked, leaving Elizabeth staring after him.
He loves you. We all do.
With those words ringing in her ears, she made her way back to her office - and stopped as she caught a glimpse of the Stargate.
Someone had found a sheet and some black paint, ladders and string. The sign's letters gleamed wetly in the city's internal lighting, and as people realised she was there, they began cheering and clapping, their faces full of...adoration.
And the banner.
ELIZABETH!
YOU ARE OUR SUN, OUR MOON, OUR SHINING STARS!
WE DWELL IN DARKNESS WITHOUT YOU!
Elizabeth looked around at the city's personnel in horror.
He loves you. We all do.
If it hadn't been for the fact that this had been going on all day, then she would have suspected a practical joke - probably on John's part. But all this - climbing into her bed, the declarations of love, the overdone concern, Carson's involvement, the damned banner hanging over the Stargate... It went too far - it was over the top and ridiculous in a way that made Elizabeth want to laugh - or scream.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
Well, this place looked like Atlantis, but it didn't feel like Atlantis!
She turned on her heel
And if all this insanity didn't stop soon, she was going to be as crazy as they thought her.
I need to talk to someone sane. And soon.
- TBC -
