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Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and sorry about the mistakes, it's unbetaed so oops is all i can say...

Chapter 3

A week after

Elizabeth looked up distractedly, trying to calculate how much paperwork she had left. She surveyed the pile of forms dismally and decided the number was probably beyond counting. It was only then that she noticed Colonel Shepherd standing at her door. She smiled, happy to see him up and walking, but he didn't smile back. In fact, he was staring at her almost coldly, and she felt a slight chill pass through her.

"What can I do for you John?"

He continued to stare at her for another second. "I wanted to talk to you about the Heightmeyer thing… Elizabeth." He said the name as if it sounded strange to him, as if he was testing out a word in a foreign language.

"Isn't that Carson's department?" she nearly winced at how forcedly polite that had sounded.

"I suppose. I just wondered… whether I could get out of it. Whether you," he put an unusual emphasise on the you "would let me out of it."

She sighed, already dreading where this was going. "John, you'll have to talk to Kate. Even of it had just been a routine incident," (how can being kidnapped by the Wraith ever be routine? she mused to herself) "You would still have to do a psych evaluation afterwards. You'd order it if one of your men had been through even half of what you've been through, and you know it."

He stared at her hard for another second, and Elizabeth belatedly recognised the look on his face: he seemed to be trying to decide whether he could believe her.

"I know you don't like talking about yourself John, and I know that you feel you can just put this behind you, but you are going to have to go see Kate." She sighed deeply, but continued. "And if I hear about you trying to get out of it, there will be hell to pay, is that clear Colonel?" She hated pulling rank on him, but sometimes, she told herself, it was for his own good.

He continued to stare at her. She did the only thing her professional experience told her she could do in this situation: she stared back.

Moments passed, and then slowly, John's face seemed to clear. After a moment, a wan smile split his face. "That's crystal clear… Elizabeth."

She let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "I'm glad to hear it, John. Now do want to tell me what all that was about?"

He ducked his head, a classic move he made when he didn't want to meet her eye. "I just… wanted to make sure it was really you. I thought…" He forced himself to look up. "I knew that only the real you would make me take the psych evaluation."

"Care to run that by me again, Colonel?" she asked quizzically, desperately trying to keep the tone lighter. She nodded to the chair before her. "Just explain it to me, so I'll know for future reference."

He hesitated for a moment, but sat down, raking his fingers through his legendarily messy hair. "It's just that, well…" He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands… "On the Hive ship, the queen, well she was tryin' to get information out of me, and she had me under for a long time. She tried to, to convince me that I was still in Atlantis. Only it was way cooler than it is now."

Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? We had a ferris wheel?"

Another wan grin. "No, nothing as cool as that! But, there was no more Wraith threat, and we were at peace, and there was no more Caldwell breathing down my neck… Everything was perfect."

"So of course you grew suspicious."

"Of course! I was trained by the US military, we're suspicious of everyone."

"And there was me thinking that was the UN."

He laughed a little this time, and she relaxed more. "In the Atlantis she showed me, I could've been perfectly happy. It was so sweet. But I always came out of it, always woke up in the Hive ship. I guess… part of me doesn't really believe I escaped."

She reached across and took his hand, squeezed it. "John, this is real, I promise." He looked unconvinced, and she grinned mischievously. "I'll prove it to you: the pile of paperwork waiting for you is bigger than Doctor Lermontova, and I want it finished by Friday."

He mock winced. "I knew I should've stayed on the Hive ship." Apparently the mention of paperwork was enough to truly convince him, since he rose hurriedly and made for the door. Elizabeth felt a whoosh of relief; if only every negotiation were that easy to sort out…

A/N Review if you liked it, all feedback much appreciated…