Reminder:
"This is spoken English."
"This is spoken Czech."
This is a thought.

Previously: Since Elizabeth and Radek have been trying to keep their "together" a secret (since chapter 83), Radek knows this is an awful plan. Meanwhile, Anna is being forced to participate in art class! Poor girl.


Chapter 87. Epiphany.

"No offence…" Anna sighed as she sat down next to Chuck. "But this is really stupid."

Chuck smiled and nodded. "I actually agree."

He started covering the more interesting aspects of his console with a bunch of sheets of paper. There were figures in various poses, most of them holding guns. There was an entire three pages covered exclusively in Stargates from multiple perspectives.

"Not that I mind teaching you the basics of drawing," Chuck said quickly. "But I view drawing as sort of a thing I do when I have nothing but time to waste. A hobby. But only when I can't pursue any other hobby." Chuck frowned at his notebook and then glanced sideways at Anna. "So basically, a waste of time. I spend a lot of time just looking at the Stargate. Wondering what's on the other side."

"We'll have that in common, then." Anna smiled and picked up his page of figure drawings.

"What you do…" Chuck said slowly, drawing a circle on his page. His level of concentration on something so simple was incredible. "Is draw the basic shapes of the thing you want to draw." He gave a contemplative glare at the Stargate for several seconds. "What do you want to draw?"

"Whatever Elizabeth will be satisfied with." Anna sighed. She started to try to copy one of Chuck's human figures. "So that I don't have to do this anymore."

"Alright. I think Doctor Weir would be happy with a drawing of a person?" Chuck looked at Nicholson.

Nicholson shrugged. "I have no idea about Doctor Weir anymore, to be completely honest with you." She leaned back in her chair for a moment, and then snapped up to look at Anna.

Anna wondered for a moment why Nicholson was looking at her, but she glanced away too quickly for her to ask immediately. She looked between Chuck and Nicholson. Chuck was too intent on his drawing to give much notice.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked tentatively.

"Oh, you know, she's… uh, kinda hard to read?" Chuck offered in a hurry.

Nicholson shook her head. "You aren't kidding."

"Really?" Chuck sighed, giving Nicholson a good unimpressed stare for half a second. The kind of look one gives when someone is being childish. Anna recognized it from her years in school and a hundred students' worth of sophomoric behavior.

Anna smiled. "What is it?"

"Oh, there's just rumors going around," Nicholson said with a shrug. "I don't suppose you know anything about them?"

"Oh, my god. Nicholson." Chuck slammed his pencil onto his page and glared hard.

Anna almost laughed at his reaction. Why was he so touchy about this rumor? Rumors weren't usually true, anyway. "No, what is it?" Anna couldn't believe that she would know anything about Elizabeth. "I mean, she just teaches me sociology and things like that. I don't know why I would know whether any rumor about her is true or not…"

"Well, if you don't know, I guess it isn't true," Nicholson pondered. She shrugged, and looked distinctly disappointed. "It's not just Elizabeth. It's your dad, too."

"Radek…" Anna leaned back in her chair. "And Elizabeth? Together?" Someone had to be playing a joke.

Chuck sighed, shook his head, and looked at Anna. "It's really none of our business. You don't have to say anything. Nicholson is just bored."

"It's true." Nicholson sighed. "But all we do is look at the Stargate. Can you blame me?"

"I haven't heard anything about it," Anna mumbled.

"See?" Nicholson looked at Chuck. "I told you. Impossible."

Chuck didn't respond. He just watched Anna for a few seconds before going back to his drawing. "I'm not sure if it's true, but that's what people have been saying."

"A lot," Nicholson added. "They've been saying it a lot."

Anna looked at Chuck, but he didn't seem to have anything useful to offer to the conversation.

He sighed and picked up his pencil. "And then…" Chuck went on, going back to his drawing, "you kind of connect the shapes with lines. See?" He showed her his drawing. It was another human. Holding a gun. He didn't seem to draw much else, but could Anna really blame him? That was pretty much all he saw, all day.

Anna sighed and shut her sketchpad. She was suddenly not in the mood to draw. Not that she was beforehand. "Why wouldn't he tell me that?"

Chuck stuck with drawing.

Nicholson, though, didn't seem to have anything better to do. "That's why it's probably not true."

"But why would someone just start that rumor unless there was something to it?" Anna wondered.

Chuck snorted in laughter and dropped his pencil. "Because they're bored out of their mind. Right, Nicholson?" He shot a glare at his compatriot 'gate technician.

"I didn't make it up." Nicholson held her hands up in innocence.

That wouldn't make any sense, anyway.

Why would someone make that up? Anna stood up and wandered out of the control room. "Um, thanks, Chuck. I'll be back later. I have things to do, though." She left in a hurry, trying to ignore Chuck's stunned look.

Now that she thought about it, she had seen him talking to Elizabeth a lot lately. She didn't think anything about it. Doctor McKay talked to Elizabeth a lot, too… But, then, the people who talked to her a lot called her Elizabeth. Radek called her Doctor Weir. Was that strange?

No, Radek called everyone their formal titles. Except Doctor McKay, but he hated Doctor McKay.

Anna turned into the nearest transporter and tried to keep her brain from going around in circles. She was asking for trouble. If something was going on, he would tell her. Wouldn't he tell her?

Why wouldn't he?

Anna could keep a secret if she had to. She would like to know if her father was in a serious relationship. She deserved to know that. Didn't she? It wasn't as if she would care one way or another… but she cared about not knowing.

Why did she care, again?

She should have known about it. She should have known about it before anyone else, but it apparently made rounds in the control tower, reaching the ears of all the 'gate technicians that Radek didn't even know. How could Nicholson know about this before Anna?

But it might not be true.

But if it was, why wouldn't he tell her first?

Anna liked Elizabeth enough. She'd never given any indication to the opposite, had she? She liked Elizabeth just fine, didn't like social sciences. Kind of like she liked physics, but didn't like Kavanagh. So it worked both ways.

Elizabeth was very nice. And pretty, too. She was maybe a little odd… she had strange mannerisms and liked to listen more than she liked to talk. Kind of like Radek, actually. Maybe they would enjoy one another's company. Anna had to admit, now that she was thinking about it, they seemed like a good match for friendship…

But she wasn't talking about friendship.

Did Radek love Elizabeth?

Anna huffed and walked into the empty room, looking around. It was late on a Wednesday, which meant he was playing poker in Lorne's quarters with the team. Probably. Unless he was lying about that, too. It looked approximately the same as yesterday. Her tea cup from this morning sat, waiting to be washed, but otherwise the place was neat. Untouched.

How was anyone supposed to know what or who Radek loved? He never said anything. He tolerated Rodney and he loved his job. That was about the extent of his advertised emotional range. Anna knew enough to guess there had to be more to it, but, if no one ever knew, did it really matter?

If Anna loved someone with all her heart and never said a word… would it make a difference?

No. It wouldn't.

Anna sank down on the couch and tried to think. Tried to imagine a universe in which this was any of her business. Her mother only dated sparingly, and she always told Anna. Or… well, did she really? Anna never would have known if her mother didn't tell her. Her mother didn't have the circumstance of living in a city of hundreds—and that was a generous number. She could very well do what she pleased, and Anna would never know.

It wasn't really any of Anna's business… was it?

Probably not, but…

"Why wouldn't he tell me?"

#

Reed sat down with his beer and picked up his cards. He put them back, face down with a grin as he slammed the cap off on the table. "I hope you're all ready to be smoked," he said. He glanced at Radek for a moment and then grinned at the rest of them. "Speaking of smoking," he said.

"Not again." Lorne rolled his eyes and took a drink of his beer. He nudged Radek and explained, "This is usually the part when Reed regales us with the stories of some—probably fictional—'smokin' hot' girl from his past."

"Nope." Reed shook his head, a glint of mischief in his dark eyes. "Not past, not fictional, and not mine."

"What, did Biro and Lawson finally hook up?" Coughlin asked.

Reed chuckled and drank some beer. "Good guess. But, no. You'll never guess this so I'll just tell you. Our illustrious leader, Doctor Elizabeth Weir."

Radek immediately glanced back down at his cards, and hoped no one saw the color on his face.

Fortunately for him, Lorne wasn't hearing any of it, holding his hands up to stop that nonsense immediately. "Hang on, hang on." He drew the line at gossip about Elizabeth. Good thing. She was a respectable woman who deserved more than to be the subject of drunk card-table gossip.

"No way," Coughlin said, waving Reed off like the lunatic he was. "Come up with something more believable. Who the hell would she be with, anyway? Even Sheppard couldn't take down her defenses—the guy has game when he wants it, and, believe me, he wants it."

Radek's eyebrows involuntarily went up. Even Sheppard? Wait—he what?

"Well, who wouldn't?" Reed chuckled.

"Guys," Lorne scolded. "This is the leader of Atlantis we're talking about."

"Alright, alright." Reed held his hands up as though in defeat for half a second. Then he went on. "But may I take this moment to direct you to the good doctor's knowing blush?" Reed asked, leaned his elbow on one knee, and looked directly at Radek.

The table fell deathly silent as all eyes, even Lorne's, turned. Radek looked at each of them, one after another. He wasn't getting out of this one. And if Reed knew that meant all of Atlantis wasn't far behind.

He gave it his best shot and tried to sound flabbergasted. "Me? We've met, right?"

Still, Reed shook his head and clicked his tongue. He took a swig of his beer. "Precious."

"Du scheißt mich an." Coughlin looked at Radek with a more appraising eye.

Even Lorne seemed utterly speechless and simply stared for a good fifteen seconds.

"Our own Radar^?" Coughlin laughed. He slapped Radek on the shoulder as if some sort of congratulations were in order. "Tell us your secrets."

"Proboha…" he grumbled. "Vy jste děti." * It didn't matter, anyway. He couldn't explain it, even if he wanted to. "Come on," Radek sighed, pulling his stack of chips in front of him. "Let's hope your poker game is better than your stories."

Reed laughed and shrugged. "Fine. But the truth will come out eventually."

"It will," Radek agreed. "And won't you be disappointed when it does?"

None of them believed it. At least, he hoped not.

Radek wasn't pleased with his hand, and it was obvious from the events of the past two minutes he shouldn't attempt a bluff. Then again, maybe it wouldn't be unreasonable of them to assume he had it. Because, apparently, he did. This experience only showed he couldn't necessarily bluff his way out of a good hand. But who would want to?

"Wait a second, so it's true?" Coughlin asked two rounds into the game. "You and Doctor Weir are actually—"

"Leave it alone, Coughlin," Lorne snapped and raised him two.

Coughlin sighed. "Jawohl. You can't blame me for wondering, though."

"Wondering, no," Lorne said.

Coughlin watched his cards and with a sigh. "I don't understand the universe anymore. First, Radar's going out with the leader of the Atlantis expedition, and then I have to fold." He set his little stack face down in front of him and crossed his arms.

"That happens every game, man." Reed counted out his chips for the pot.

"But that's not my fault," Radek said, tossing the requisite chips in the center.

Coughlin scoffed. "Which one?"

Radek laughed. "Neither." He never wished more than now that he was somewhere else. It would be better to have dinner with Elizabeth. Or Anna, since that wouldn't raise any eyebrows. Or even Rodney, though that might raise a few more than even dinner with Elizabeth.

"Just give us one word. Confirm or deny." Reed watched Lorne study his cards as he spoke.

Lorne looked between Reed and Coughlin like he was severely disappointed. "What Doctor Weir and… Zelenka do in their free time isn't any of our business." It was obviously a difficult thing for Lorne to even think about… Radek figured he should probably feel insulted.

Lorne believed it, somehow. Reed would believe it simply for the novelty, tell the story just for fun. Since it was true, it wouldn't just go away. They'd been careful, but there wasn't much they could do. Atlantis was like a small town. Interesting news traveled faster than sound, sometimes.

"Sorry, Doc," Lorne mumbled.

There was nothing he could possibly do about it. He wasn't stopping the rumor here. Maybe the only thing he could do was stop it from getting bigger. If it was going to expand beyond the realm of reality, Reed would be the one to do it. It was nobody's business…

But that made it everyone's business.

Reed had to know the truth.

Radek sighed. "It was bound to get out sooner or later."

He looked up to witness the stunned shock halting all motion at the table. For a split second, no one even breathed. Then Reed burst out laughing. Coughlin shut his eyes and hid his face as he groaned something unfriendly in German. He asked it if was April Fools. Lorne was amused by their reactions, or else Radek's confirmation of the impossible.

"Wait, wait," Radek said over the commotion. Damage control. That was all he could hope for right now. "Please, I don't want to get a memo tomorrow that—I don't know." He didn't want it getting around to Anna for one thing… not before he could tell her himself. He needed to do that. Now. "There are reasons why we kept it quiet."

"I'm sure." Reed laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. "And I swear, scout's honor, I will deny the truth on pain of death. No one will hear of this from me. I swear." He gasped for breath, but it didn't do much good because he was still laughing. He threw his stack of cards on the table. "Oh, god. I can't believe it."

Radek rolled his eyes and looked at Coughlin. Coughlin held his hands up innocently. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm still not sure I believe this shit."

"Your generosity never ceases to astound," Radek said sarcastically.

"Well, my silence will cost you a few beers," Coughlin added.

Radek looked at his cards and decided he had it in him to maybe win this one. Reed was obviously out of the game. He could barely speak.

Radek turned to Lorne. "Should we continue?"

Lorne stacked his cards in his hand and placed them face down. Chuckling, he shook his head. "Nah. You win this one. Too rich for me, Doc."


Things

* For god's sake. You're all children.

^Explanation of Radek's nickname "Radar" in chapter 69. tl;dr: Radar is a character in M*A*S*H. As Reed puts it, Radar has this sixth sense, hearing helicopters before they get there and whatnot, so it's ironic because Radek never sees anything coming. It's a compliment, though, because everybody loves Radar, right? Also, Coughlin points out, he's "awkward as hell and from a place no one ever heard of."


Thank yous & etc.

Adela- Thanks! Pleased you like it!


A/N: Okay. This is where things start to go sideways, so if you'll please just bear with me for this next little bit, I swear we'll straighten things out.


Next time: You know, I saw this going a lot better in my head…