A/N: One more chapter to go! Thanks for all the reviews!
A very worried Carson Beckett, along with a medical team and a gurney, were waiting for them when they reached the city. Elizabeth was quickly whisked away, John following close behind.
"I think her ankle is broken," he informed the doctor, "and I'm pretty sure she has a concussion, but I don't know if there are any other injuries."
Hovering anxiously, John added, "I tried to keep her awake Carson, but she passed out and didn't regain consciousness for a while."
Beckett placed a comforting hand on John's shoulder as they entered the infirmary, "You did everything you could son; Elizabeth's going to be fine. We both know that she's as tough as nails. You, however, are being a bit of a nuisance. You stepped on my foot twice on the way down here. I know you're concerned, but I'm going to need you to stand back while we work on her."
John nodded, immensely relieved that Elizabeth's life wasn't in any danger. Leaning wearily against the infirmary wall, he watched the medical team go to work on her, setting and bandaging her ankle, examining her head and cleaning her cuts and scrapes. It could have been hours or minutes later, John wasn't sure, but eventually Carson removed his gloves and walked over.
"Well, you were right about the ankle. Elizabeth's got a compound fracture in her lower left fibula. You were also correct about that concussion. Luckily it's a mild one and her little nap doesn't seem to have caused any lasting damage. She's just a little disoriented right now and very dizzy. Unsurprisingly, she had a major headache as well, but I've given her some medication for the pain. She was also a wee bit dehydrated so we've started her on some fluids. Other than that she's just got scrapes and bruises. Based on how far she said she fell, I'd say Elizabeth was very lucky not to have been more seriously injured."
John heaved a sigh of relief and tiredly rubbed his face, bypassing the opportunity to ask Carson what she had gone through. For now it was enough that she was alive. At that moment, Colonel Caldwell walked in.
"Sheppard, Doctor," he acknowledged them briefly.
"John?" Elizabeth's voice sounded feeble.
He was at her side in an instant, "You okay?"
She nodded, then winced at the subsequent pounding in her head. "In my vest," she sank back into her pillow, "The device, I'd forgotten all about it."
John stared at her incredulously, "You found it?"
"What device?" Caldwell's eyes lit up with interest.
John grabbed Elizabeth's gear from where it had been lying in the corner and rooted through the pockets. His search produced a small octagonal box.
"What does it do?" Colonel Caldwell was looking at the device intently.
Elizabeth spoke from her location on the bed, "It shows the location of the other ancient cities in the Pegasus Galaxy."
John's eyes shot to hers in surprise, "How do you know?"
Elizabeth smiled tiredly, "An ancient told me."
John looked at her in amazement, a thousand questions on the tip of his tongue, but then he noticed how she was fighting to stay awake and immediately felt guilty that they were keeping her from getting any real rest. He was about to tell her that they could talk later but Caldwell, in a show of insensitivity, pushed ahead with a barrage of questions.
"There was an ancient in the ruins? Was that who gave you the device? Did he or she show you how to make it work?"
Elizabeth closed her eyes and John could tell she was gathering herself so she could answer the Colonel's questions properly. He didn't like Caldwell's attitude, not one bit. Couldn't that thoughtless man see that she had been through enough already?
Before John could even think about reacting, Caldwell had taken the device from him and walked the short distance to Elizabeth's bed.
"Well? How does it work Dr. Weir?" the Colonel held the box-like object in front of her.
John's anger was rising and when he saw Elizabeth reach out with trembling hands to take the device he'd had enough. He was unsure what the consequences would be for berating a senior officer, but at that point he didn't care.
Luckily Dr. Beckett beat him to the punch, "That's enough! I leave for a few minutes to check on my other patients and when I return you're giving Dr. Weir the third degree! She needs to rest gentlemen, am I clear?" Carson's eyebrows rose in warning, and even Caldwell didn't want to face the Scot's wrath.
The Daedalus' commander shot John a look before tossing the gadget back to him and heading to the exit, "Let me know the instant she says anything Colonel," Caldwell's voice was soft, but John caught the underlying threat beneath his parting words.
John shook his head as he watched the Colonel leave, then turned his attention back to Elizabeth. After getting a quick but less than happy nod from Beckett, he made his way to the side of her bed and lightly brushed her arm with his thumb. Her tired eyes flickered to his face, "John…the device…"
"Don't worry about that right now Elizabeth. You need to get some sleep."
She sighed and closed her eyes, letting herself relax.
As he turned to go John murmured softly, "I'm really glad you're okay."
Elizabeth's lashes fluttered. "Ex animo ad astra," she whispered, scarcely loud enough for him to hear, and then her eyes closed once more and John knew she had fallen asleep when her breathing turned shallow and even.
John frowned. "Ex animad astro," he repeated.
He shook his head, that wasn't right. "Exanimo ad ostra," he tried again.
John chuckled and ran a hand over his face. He didn't even know what he was trying to do. Elizabeth's phrase meant nothing to him. For all he knew she could have been subconsciously quoting some line from a treaty she'd brokered however long ago. He turned to look at her sleeping form and pursed his lips. There had been something about the way she'd said it though, something that made him think twice about dismissing her words.
John closed his eyes and willed the correct phrase to come. "Ex animo ad astra."
He cautiously opened one eye. Nothing had happened, he was still standing in the same spot and the room was still intact. So much for that, he thought wryly.
John unconsciously fingered the device as he mused over Elizabeth's words. They mean something, I'm sure of it and…hello, what's this? His thumb had brushed over a slight crack along one of the octagonal object's edges. He held the small mechanism up closer and peered at it curiously. He didn't think that the small fissure was a result of some sort of stress. It looked planned. Elizabeth had said that there was an ancient in the ruins, and the writing on the walls had been ancient, which led John to the natural conclusion that the device was of ancient design. So why hadn't it come alive when he'd touched it? He frowned deeply and turned the device over in his hand. No clues magically jumped out at him as he studied its smooth surfaces.
Suddenly a ridiculous notion popped into his head: what if he asked it to turn on for him? John shook his head, Where in the world did that thought come from? He glanced back at the object, Well, it's not like it would hurt. He chuckled a little to himself, thinking that maybe a session with Heightmeyer was in order.
Well, here goes nothing. He shut out everything around him and concentrated fiercely on the mechanism in front of him, 'Please work for me.'
To his shock and wonderment, the device proceeded to do just that. It glowed brightly and unfolded like a flower budding after a spring rain. When a map of the galaxy sprang into existence before his eyes, John somehow knew that Elizabeth's strange words had been related to this. He inhaled deeply and gave it another shot, "Ex animo ad astra!"
John grinned in delight when a few of the planets represented on the map began to blaze fiercely. Those must be locations of the other ancient cities. Rodney's going to have a coronary when he sees this! He glanced back at Elizabeth and smiled at the peaceful expression on her face. A stray curl had fallen across her forehead, and the worry lines had faded along her eyes and mouth, taking away the years that the stress of her job added during her waking hours.
His heart filled with pride and some emotion he wasn't sure he wanted to identify. Injured, tired and alone, Elizabeth had single-handedly done what his team had been unable to achieve, ancient help or not; and she had done it in true Elizabeth Weir fashion, without complaining. Before she'd been transported inside the ruin, she'd held herself as she usually did, with poise and grace. When she'd emerged from the labyrinth, exhausted, hurting and dirty, she hadn't lost an ounce of that quiet dignity. John had never met a woman quite like her before, and he suspected he never would again.
