Elizabeth stared up at the ruins in awe. They were everything she had hoped they would be. Two main pillars stood at the entrance, as if guarding what lay beyond. There were only decrepit walls, with overgrown vines covering them. This though wasn't what she had been brought to see.
Rodney beckoned Elizabeth to the far side of the ruins, to what seemed like a barrier wall that stopped them from entering any deeper. Rodney pointed to it saying "This is what we need translated. We think this is a doorway, not sure what too. Hoping you can tell us how to open it and what's behind it,"
"I'll get started now," Elizabeth said while slowly easing her backpack off. "You are planning on helping me?" she questioned.
"Of Course!" Rodney shrugged helping her to unpack her books from the pack.
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The stargate activated and a small team of men came through.
Kolya glanced around his surroundings and smirked knowing that whatever else happened today, he would make Sheppard suffer.
His informant sauntered up next to him and pointed towards the mountains.
"They were heading up towards the mountains, there are ruins about an hours walk."
"Your part in this will never be forgotten," Kolya declared.
The man nodded before heading towards the village. As Kolya watched him go, he indicated to his men to start up the track.
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John casually leant against one of the ruin walls, drinking from a canteen. Hours had passed and this was the first chance he'd had to take a break from patrolling the perimeter. He lazily watched Elizabeth sitting cross-legged and surrounded by books. He loved seeing her like this, doing what she knew best and being away from the stresses of Atlantis even if it was only for a little while.
"So how are you guys coming?" John called out as he strolled over to where they were translating.
Elizabeth glanced up from her books, eyes sparkling.
"John. Its so fascinating. We need more time though," she said.
"What have you deciphered?" John questioned.
"Well, it makes references to the sun at midday and from what Rodney and I have been reading it needs to be activated by somebody with the Ancient gene at that time, Here and Here." she indicated to two round circles on either side of the wall.
"Its past that now," John checked his watch.
"Yes" she agreed nodding. "I was going to suggest we make this an overnight stay."
John looked at her and knew she wanted to do this. He was worried enough about her being off world for the day let alone for an overnight mission. The worry must have reflected in his eyes as she smiled at him indulgently, placing a hand on his arm.
"I'll be fine." she whispered. "Besides you're here to look after me."
He knew she was right but all he wanted to do was pack all of her stuff up and take her back through the gate as quickly as possible.
"Okay." he agreed. "We'll stay here in the ruins, this is the best strategic location."
She nodded, "I have to get back to translating now."
He gave her one small smile and left to radio the others.
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Kolya and his men had watched Sheppard enter the ruins.
He had noted that Sheppard had extra men on this mission, which from what Kolya knew about him was unusual.
He gaze had continued to follow Sheppard on his rounds until he had taken a break. Kolya could see that John was staring at something but his view was obstructed, moving to the left he was just in time to catch John calling out to someone. Whom Kolya wasn't sure but he continued to watch until the person came into view.
Dr Elizabeth Weir
Kolya smirked to himself now knowing why Sheppard had assigned more men to this particular mission. When he had tried to take over Atlantis, Sheppard would have done anything to protect the lovely Dr. He guessed that things hadn't changed much but had in fact become much much more interesting.
He watched Weir touch John's arm and knew then that she was the way to get to him.
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Elizabeth sighed as she finished collecting up her books. It had gotten dark rather quickly and though she only had a little of the translation to go it was pointless doing it now. She walked over to the area that the team had designated for sleeping and placed the books down in a neat pile. John was sitting by the fire watching her. She had felt his eyes on her all day, she knew he was just making sure she was okay, reassuring himself. She also knew that it was much more than that. It was like his eyes bored through, seeing exactly what she was thinking. Throughout the day she would catch his eye, he would smirk, making her forget where she was in her translation, and then Rodney would chastise her. It was like a never-ending cycle, but she got comfort from that connection even if it was ever so brief.
One thing that Elizabeth knew was that John and her needed to talk when they got back to Atlantis. To sort through everything, to set a few things straight and to find out how they were going to proceed in the future. She didn't know how she had let things get so out of control, how she had let him through the barrier she had erected so firmly in place. Elizabeth was kicked out of her musings by a hand on her shoulder, looking up she seen John come to sit next to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah," she nodded knowing that that wasn't what her face showed.
"Wanna talk about it?" he probed gently while placing wood on the fire.
She shook her head and he looked at her curiously but she indicated to Ronon who had come to join them by the fire.
"Ronon," John greeted.
He nodded before sitting down.
"Jones and Adams are patrolling the north side and Lorne and I are heading off to the south side after we eat." Ronon grunted not noticing the tension between John and Elizabeth.
"Good! Dr Weir, Teyla checked in before. The Bedans are being extremely generous in their dealings and Teyla says they've collected a lot of food" John said adding Dr Weir in for Ronon's benefit.
Looking at Elizabeth he could see the confusion in her eyes about the use of her title. John was trying to be cautious around Ronon, as he didn't know what the other man had seen or heard earlier in the day.
Elizabeth nodded, then stood.
"Keep me updated," she said quietly before starting to walk towards the entrance to the ruins.
"Where are you going?" John questioned sharply.
"I….need some fresh air…I won't be gone for long," she replied.
"Okay, just don't go far and stay in sight of the Patrol teams." John compromised.
She nodded and then left.
Ronon looked at him and raised an eyebrow
"I think you should talk to her!" he grumbled in his deep voice.
"Huh?" John looked at him
"Dr Weir…You should go talk to her. Whatever is happening with you and her, it needs to be sorted." Ronon advised.
John nodded once and leapt up, walking out of the ruins.
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Kolya watched from the bushes, his men had taken up equally strategic positions around the ruins. His plan was to wait until they slept.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a person coming their way. Silently he watched Dr Weir walk into the opening. From where he was sitting he could see that she was upset. Tears moved freely down her cheeks and Kolya wondered what had happened to get her into this state. He didn't have to wait long to find out!
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John radioed the patrol teams to see where Elizabeth had gone and then set after her. He found her in a clearing just near the ruins, standing in the middle. He hung back in the shadows just watching her. He heard noises and that was when he realized she was crying. Elizabeth was crying? He moved forward a little and a twig snapped. Elizabeth spun around sharply. 'Who's there?" she queried.
He stepped out of the shadows and moved over to her. When she seen him she quickly wiped her face and turned away.
"Elizabeth," he whispered slowly moving behind her. She didn't turn around so he moved right behind her and tentatively moved his arms out to encircle her waist from behind.
He heard her gasp in surprise but relax and lean back into his arms. He nuzzled the back of her neck and heard her sigh.
"I didn't think this would be so hard!" she whispered.
"What?" John asked dumbly.
"This….Us…John, we need to talk." She sighed.
"As much as I like this, you know where I stand. We can't just keep going around in circles, repeating the same thing over and over again,"
"Go on," he urged.
"You and I," she stated indicating between them.
"It has to stop. You can't mean anything to me. Its to dangerous for a lot of reasons." she argued strongly.
He sighed and released her only to turn her to face him.
"Why were you crying, if I mean nothing?" he quietly demanded, reaching out to touch her face. She shied away.
"Don't. We've had this talk John," she choked out.
"If you tell me you don't care, then I will drop it. No matter how hard it is," he whispered.
She looked into his eyes and knew she couldn't lie to him.
"You know I care but this can't happen, at least not now or anytime soon," Elizabeth bowed her head.
John reached out and grabbed her chin lifting her head. "Okay, not now but someday?" he questioned.
"Someday." she agreed, knowing in her heart that that may never come.
He leant in to kiss her softly one last time as he pulled back he asked, "Can we move past all of the things that have happened in the last couple of weeks?"
"I don't know?" she whispered quietly before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him in for another kiss. This one though wasn't as chaste but one full of the longing and emotion that would have to be repressed yet again for the right time. Elizabeth pulled back and turned around. "Go John please."
"You can't stay out here, its not safe." he pleaded.
"I'll be in soon. I just need some time to pull myself together," she whispered.
John nodded and silently turned around and headed back into the ruins.
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Kolya had seen the exchange from his place in the bushes. It was very interesting, very interesting indeed.
Sheppard had one weak spot and he had just seen it first hand.
Displaying emotions made a soldier weak and he was going to exploit Sheppard's.
From watching the conversation between Dr Weir and Sheppard, Kolya gathered that this was why Sheppard was over doing the security and why he had gone so crazy during his teams takeover on Atlantis. Kolya thought about it for a moment, Sheppard had only gone on a killing spree after he thought Dr Weir had died. Things seemed to have progressed since then he thought smugly knowing just how much he was going to enjoy getting his revenge.