Title: Lost

Author: atlantis child (Command Dynamics), innocent choir girl The Wraith return to Atlantis again. Spoilers for all seasons one and two.

Genres: Angst, Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Missing Scene

Warnings: Abuse, Character Death, Torture, Violence

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 10 "Sleeping Beauty"

Author's Notes: Okay, so I had a need to finish this story up. It hit me after I finished chapter nine that I needed to stay up and finish this ;) So here's two chapters instead of one of another story…

Weeks went by, and John was still making his routine visits to Elizabeth. It was hampering on his sleep though, he only ended up sleeping in a good state of REM sleep for maybe three or four hours a night. The rest of his night was filled with restless sleep in which he tossed and turned and sometimes he woke up with his eyes already open. It was a horrible feeling really, and John had already received plenty of lecturing from Carson along with a container of sleeping pills. The sleeping pills he never took, he was too afraid that he'd sleep for too long and he'd mess up his routine, he didn't want to sleep in one day and miss Elizabeth waking up.

Dragging himself up, he glared at his reflection. He had managed to get his usual messy mop shaved off a week before. He had felt the need to change. John had shocked everyone with the new hair making him look like he had just been brought into the military rather than being a lieutenant colonel. He had mainly done it because it made life easier. Taking a quick hot shower, he got out toweling off. The goal of the morning ritual was more to wake him up than anything. He moved into the bedroom area and pulled on boxers, standard grey pants, and a black t-shirt before sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling on his socks followed by his boots. He laced his belt through the loops as he made his way towards the door making sure to grab his radio gear.

Breakfast consisted of coffee and maybe a bagel with cream cheese if it happened to look appetizing at the time. This morning he ended up grabbing a muffin (he wasn't sure what kind) along with his coffee before heading to the infirmary. He hoped Carson had news…good news…he knew that the fact that Elizabeth had slipped into a coma wasn't a good thing. But at least she wasn't freezing inside; John took some comfort in that.

Carson rolled his eyes as he saw Sheppard head in, "Please do not tell me that ya are having coffee for breakfast again. What'd I say about eggs and maybe some fruit? A nice glass of milk?" he pleaded wondering how Sheppard managed not to gain weight from all the bad things he was taking into his body.

He held up the mystery muffin, "Look…it might contain some fruit…" he looked at it oddly, "Or vegetable even…"

Shaking his head, Carson argued, "Its starch…and sugar, hardly a reasonable breakfast."

Moving towards his intended destination, Elizabeth's bedside. Once there, he set his muffin and coffee on the bedside table. Sitting down in his chair, he sighed looking her over. Her hair was longer; at least he thought so… Her skin had been a sickly white color ever since Carson had brought up her internal temperature taking the blue hue from her skin. "You know, pretty soon…we're going to have to call a permanent commanding officer…" he told her. "Caldwell hasn't been pushing so much…but he's due back in a couple days… I think he's getting antsy." Picking up his coffee cup, he started to sip on his coffee. "You're not going to let him take command, are you?"

He continued with his muffin and coffee, giving Elizabeth time to think about what he had said. Or at least that was his excuse for the silence. He was drinking his coffee when a loud disruption caused him to shake his cup a bit.

"COLONEL! I THINK I HAVE SOMETHING!" Rodney practically broadcasted to the whole city as he ran into the medical bay with a folder in one hand.

"Shit," John cursed as his coffee went everywhere. His eyes widened as he noticed that some of it had gotten all over the hand he usually held. It was still hot, not even warm…hot. He didn't bring a napkin; he hadn't been smart enough to think of that and immediately started to use the sheet to wipe away the hot liquid from her hand.

"What'd you do that for?" Rodney asked shocked.

John turned towards Rodney, "NEVER sneak up on me like that!"

He held up his hands and folder in defense, "It's not my fault!"

"Turn around and leave," John said sharply. He glared at McKay, "I will be in Elizabeth's office in an hour…THEN you can tell me whatever you're all excited about." He wasn't happy that McKay had made him do that…he didn't want to hurt Elizabeth. He just hoped that it didn't burn her hand, but he wouldn't be able to look it over until McKay left.

Putting on a hurt expression, Rodney dropped his hand and grumbled as he trudged out of the medical bay.

Finding some paper towels, John used them to clean up the spill and threw away the mess before going back to the chair and sitting with Elizabeth. He carefully lifted her hand and looked it over. There was a slight pink mark where the coffee had hit it. Frowning he kissed it gently feeling bad. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "McKay scared the hell out of me…"

He rubbed her hand absentmindedly. He had done it so often that it was something that he did unconsciously. His hand would support hers and his thumb would make small circles on the top of hers. When he heard a soft whimper, he stopped and then stared down at her hand and noticed his thumb over the burn.

Reaching up he smoothed her hair down on one side, "I'm sorry…I didn't real—" he stopped when he realized that he had never heard Elizabeth let out any noise since they had brought her home. "Elizabeth?" he asked running his hand along her cheek. "I'm here…" He watched as her eyes fluttered open and then closed again. "Elizabeth…c'mon and stay awake for a minute for me," he pleaded.

"Mjohn?" she mumbled turning her head one way before turning it back towards John's voice and opening her eyes again. It took her a minute to focus and to adjust to the light, but once she did she saw him looking at her. The smile on his face was one that she didn't recognize. "Wha?" she mumbled reaching up and rubbing her eyes with the only hand she could get to respond.

Grinning, John leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, "Morning sleeping beauty," he whispered. "We've missed you," he told her louder and his voice more enthusiastic. "It's about time you wake up…"

"How long?" she asked not able for her brain to cooperate enough to complete the sentence.

"A while…" John said realizing he wasn't even sure how long Elizabeth had been in the medical bay unconscious. "But the important thing is that you're back…."

She looked at him oddly, "I was gone?"

He smiled, "I'm just happy that you're back…" John added as he sat back down in his chair, "And before Caldwell decided to make himself king."

Elizabeth tugged at her other arm, and then looked down to see that it had been secured with a brace and then tied to the side of the bed, apparently to keep the IV intact. Looking back over at John she studied him, he looked tired and worn, "You look horrible, John."

"You should see Carson."

Carson poked his head in hearing his name, "Did ya call me?" he asked hurrying over and then saw that Elizabeth was awake. "Ah, you are finally awake!" he exclaimed happy about it. "It's about time, lass." He turned to John, "What was our agreement about telling each other about improvements?"

John shrugged, "So…I wanted her to myself before you decided to examine her."

Looking back at Elizabeth, Carson smiled down at her, "Aye lass, John has been here everyday…for hours each day… I think he's got my own staff better trained than I do…"

Smirking John just shrugged when Elizabeth looked over at him, "What can I say? I negotiate…I learned it from you."

Elizabeth gave him a small smile, "Why don't you go and find out what Rodney was yelling about?" she suggested as her brain finally came online for her. Everything had been hard to communicate and to get out, but now…now the fuzz was coming out. She remembered the yelling and shouting and the pain on her hand. She remembered John apologizing to her. "Carson's going to throw you out anyways," she said.

John smiled at her and then squeezed her hand, "I'll check on you later. Lunch time," he promised before leaving. He was just glad that she was awake…

"John?" she called after he had taken a couple steps away. "What happened to the hair?" she asked curiously looking at him. It had taken her a while, but she had finally noticed why he had looked so odd.

Sighing, John ran his hand over his shaved head, feeling just the small pricks of the short hairs, "Yeah…I'm letting it grow back." He shot her a bright smile, "It's just not the same…"

Carson moved into Elizabeth's way so she couldn't see John anymore and then proceeded to fuss over her. She wasn't exactly sure what he was saying or anything, but she knew that she was happy to be back. The cold dark lonely place she had been in was no where Elizabeth wanted to return back to. She couldn't wait to finally check on everyone and to catch up on everything she had missed out on.

The End.