Authors Note: I'm sorry there's been such a long wait for this chapter, work is crazy, especially with the ever changing Covid situation and I just haven't had the time or the mental energy to write this the way I want to. I'm hoping that will change, I've started work on the next chapter so it should be finished and posted much quicker. I hope this was worth the wait, let me know what you think!

Special thanks to csiaddictfan87, Guest 64 and jasminesmommy for their reviews!

Chapter 6

The tap on his shoulder jolted John awake as fast as any shot of adrenaline would have. He almost dived out his chair, his hand ready to reach for his sidearm until he registered it was only Carson, he forced his body to relax as he looked around him and realized that everything was fine.

Carson gave him an apologetic look as he moved towards Elizabeth's bed, "Sorry Colonel, didn't mean to startle you but you weren't in the most comfortable position for a nap. You were going to wake up with a very sore neck."

"It's fine," he said, his eyes still scanning his surroundings before coming to rest on Elizabeth's still unconscious form. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You should go and get some real sleep," Carson told him, a note of admonishment underneath the understanding tone. "You're no good to anyone like this, Elizabeth would tell you the same if she were awake. I'm going to get some rest myself after I check her vitals, she's in good hands here Colonel."

John knew the doctor was right but he couldn't bring himself to do it, especially if Carson was leaving too, he didn't want Elizabeth waking up without one of them here. It didn't help that the person who shot her, who had already killed two other people and injured Rodney, was still out there somewhere. He'd put a protective detail on her and he knew his people were capable of doing their job but leaving her here, leaving her protection in someone else's hands, it wasn't sitting right with him.

Although, if he was fast asleep and the attacker showed up he wasn't going to be much good either. Carson looked at him and sighed, then shook his head. "You're not going are you?"

John gave him a half smile, "Not yet, but I will."

"I'll have someone bring you some coffee," the doctor told him, then fixed him with a stern look. "One cup of coffee, you need your rest Colonel."

"Understood Doc," John nodded and watched as Carson finished with Elizabeth and left. He sat back in his chair, watching the heart monitor attached to Elizabeth, listening to the regular beeps it made.

He wiped his hands down his face, trying to ward off some of the exhaustion and hoping Carson made good on his offer of coffee. He cast his mind back to his meeting with Gavorn, the agent's plan to uncover the motive for the attack was a good one in theory but it would likely take too long, how many more people would this person hurt before they were caught?

Gavorn had asked him if he had any thoughts on who was behind the attacks. John thought more deeply about the question now, he had a few ideas on who could be responsible for all of this. As Gavorn had said, they'd had more than their fair share of problems over the last few months and most of those problems had stemmed from the same few people.

Winters, Shaw, Harper and Larkin were the four names that sprang to mind. All of them had been involved in some kind of situation or another recently but it was hard to imagine any of them taking it this extreme. Had there been warning signs that he'd missed? He and Elizabeth had discussed all of them at some point, more than once, they'd even tried to transfer one of them back to earth, unsuccessfully.

It was possible it wasn't any of them, that the person responsible wasn't even on his radar. He had a whole city full of people, he knew everyone's name and their department, had a good idea of most people's personalities and temperaments, but there were a lot of them he didn't know much beyond that. He knew the military members of the expedition better than the civilians because he was their commanding officer. He interacted with them more often, had meetings with team leaders regularly and had occasional meetings with whole teams. It was his job to know them but even then, he knew very little about some of them beyond the professional.

Elizabeth was better at that part than him, she knew their people more than he did but even her knowledge had its limits, especially as they expanded into new areas of the city and the population grew.

It could be anyone, but his mind kept coming back to those four names.

He heard the doors open and turned to see Ronon walking through them. He glanced at his watch, it was the early hours of the morning, he would have expected Ronon to be asleep at this time. He gave Sheppard a nod as he pulled up a chair and sat beside him.

"She's tough," Ronon said as he looked at Elizabeth. "She's gonna be mad when she finds out how long you've been in that chair."

John managed a half smile, he was right, she wasn't going to be pleased. "She can be mad all she wants."

"Think she'll know who did it?" Ronon questioned.

"If we're lucky," John replied, "but we'll find out either way."

"I take it you have some suspects in mind," Ronon said, his tone suggesting he had his own ideas on the matter. "Gavorn seems to as well, asked me about Larkin."

John nodded, "He has been one of the big contributors to our problems lately," John replied, thinking back on his interactions with the soldier over the last few months.

xXx

John could hear the raised voices before he rounded the corner. The shouting had apparently started about ten minutes ago and didn't show any sign of calming down so someone had radioed the control room and they'd contacted him. He was supposed to be training with Ronon and Teyla, now he would have to deal with this.

The loudest of the voices was Lieutenant Larkin which was no surprise. The man had been confrontational and downright cranky for weeks now. He hadn't taken his suspension from off world travel well, John had hoped that rejoining his team when the suspension came to an end last week would help his temperament, it hadn't.

He was arguing with one of the scientists, John searched his mind for her name… Dr Lane. She looked a little flustered and beyond annoyed, he could tell from her body language that she just wanted out of the argument. Another member of the science department stood close by, he was trying to diffuse the situation but just seemed to be making it worse.

"Where are they, I want them back," Larkin shouted as John approached the group.

"How many different ways can I tell you the same thing, I already gave them back," Lane replied, her voice wasn't quite a shout but it was definitely conveying her aggravation.

"If you had given them back, they'd be in my room and they're not in my room," Larkin returned, his eyes wide and accusing.

"What's going on?" John asked as he came to a stop between Larkin and Lane. They both turned to look at him, surprised to see him there.

"He thinks I stole from him," Lane said in both exasperation and bewilderment, as though the very idea was ridiculous.

"Taking something that isn't yours and not giving it back would be stealing," Larkin replied sarcastically.

"I gave you the stupid movies back weeks ago," Lane said.

"That's what you two are arguing about?" John questioned incredulously, this is what he was missing training for. "You're in the corridor, shouting at each other, about movies?"

"They're mine," Larkin said simply. "I brought them from earth, she borrowed them and she didn't give them back."

He jabbed a finger toward her face as he spoke. Lane looked annoyed at the gestures and flinched back slightly but otherwise didn't react. John saw her visibly take a breath to try and calm herself down before she spoke, though this time she directed her answer toward John.

"We traded movies a few weeks ago, I didn't get as much time to watch them as I'd hoped so he finished my movies before I finished his. He gave them back to me in the cafeteria one day and asked if he could have his back. I hadn't watched them yet so I asked if I could hold onto them a few more days. He said yes but I could tell he wasn't happy about it, it wasn't like he was trying to hide it. I didn't want any problems," she said then shook her head in annoyed dismay. "So I gave him back the movies the next morning when I saw him at breakfast."

"No you didn't," Larkin said, "I think I'd remember if you did."

"I did." Lane replied, her voice rising again.

"That's enough," John interrupted before they could start arguing again. "Did anyone see you give the movies back?"

Lane sighed and looked thoughtful, "There were loads of people there but I don't… Dr Chen was there. I think he was behind Larkin in the queue but he was definitely there. He would have seen me give the movies back."

"Or he'll say he did," Larkin accused. "I'm sure you could get him to say whatever you wanted."

"Lieutenant," John admonished. "I'll speak with Dr Chen and see if he remembers anything. In the meantime, you both go your separate ways and Lieutenant, I suggest you search your room again."

"You're taking her side?" Larkin questioned angrily, "You think I'm just some idiot who can't find something in his own room?"

"No, I just think it's possible you may have missed them, like we all do sometimes. Now go and search your room again, that's an order."

John could literally see the effort it took for Larkin to swallow back whatever response he wanted to make. Instead the man turned and walked away, storming through the corridor until he disappeared around a corner.

"I'm sorry Colonel, you shouldn't have had to come here for this, I shouldn't have let it get so out of control, it won't happen again," Lane apologized and looked genuinely upset by the whole thing as she too departed along with other scientist who had remained quietly out of the way since John's arrival.

John let out a long sigh as he clicked his radio to inform Elizabeth he was on his way up to see her.

xXx

He'd made a detour on his way, locating Dr Chen in his lab. He'd clearly remembered the exchange between Larkin and Lane that morning when Lane had returned the movies to him. He said Larkin had been acting weird about the whole thing, saying she hadn't had to rush to give them back, that she could have borrowed them for longer but he got the impression he was unhappy with her for some reason. The movies had been located later that day in the lost property, it turned out Larkin had left them in the cafeteria when he'd been called away.

He'd filled Elizabeth in on the whole exchange, they agreed he needed to be kept a closer eye on and that his sessions with Dr Heightmeyer should continue. He hadn't been happy to hear that news but they couldn't allow him to continue going off world if he didn't work on his anger issues. He'd agreed begrudgingly, it hadn't done him much good, although to his credit, he'd never missed a session.

"Sheppard," Ronon said, "You're spacing out on me," he added, John raised an eyebrow at the earth phrase.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," he said, shaking his head to try and dislodge the fatigue he could feel settling there.

"You should go and sleep," Ronon told him, John opened his mouth to respond but Ronon cut him off. "I've already had a few hours of sleep, I'll stay here until you get back. If anyone tries anything I've got a better chance of stopping them than you do right now."

John wanted to deny that it was true but he couldn't. He was exhausted, it had been a long and stressful day, he needed the rest so he could find the person responsible for all of this. He gave Ronon a quick nod then stood, realizing how stiff his muscles already were as they protested being moved. He made it as far as the door before he turned back.

"If she wakes up," he began but Ronon cut him off again.

"You'll be the first person I call," Ronon promised then settled into his chair as though he'd decided there was nothing further to discuss.

"A few hours," John said, "Then I'll be back." He returned to his room, taking off his boots but not bothering to get changed. If anything happened, or if Elizabeth woke up, he wanted to be ready to leave.

He sunk into his pillow, realizing only then how tired he was as it washed over him like a wave. He didn't feel good about leaving Elizabeth in the infirmary, it was his job to protect her and he'd already failed her, he didn't want to fail her again. He wasn't sure how the city would function without her, he couldn't imagine it and he didn't want to.

xXx

It was that time again, movie night. They tried to make it a monthly thing but life didn't always work out that way. They should have been doing this a couple of weeks ago but things kept getting in their way. John was just glad they managed to schedule it in at all, it was downtime that they all needed, even if he didn't always like people's choices.

He walked into Elizabeth's office, she was still typing away on her laptop. She raised a finger as he entered, telling him to wait a minute. She was mumbling under her breath, the expression on her face told him she was trying to figure something out. It was one she often wore when she was working on a particularly difficult translation.

He waited quietly by the doorway, leaning on the frame as she continued. A few moments later her expression shifted, she'd figured it out, whatever it was. She tapped on the keys of her laptop a few times then looked up with a smile.

"Sorry, all done," she said as she closed the laptop and put some papers away.

"You're gonna make us late," he told her and she turned a raised eyebrow on him.

"You didn't have to wait," she said in amusement. She finished tidying her desk and the two of them made their way out of the office, saying goodnight to the people in the control room.

"So, what did you pick?" he asked her as they walked through the corridor. They stepped into the transporter and she gave him an amused and mischievous smile.

"What?" John questioned, "What did you pick?"

"Princess bride," she told him, her smile widening.

John laughed, "You didn't?"

"I felt Ronon and Teyla should experience a classic," she replied with a shrug, "And beside, I remember someone telling me it was a good movie, so good they could quote it."

"I can't believe you even remember that," he said as he pressed the appropriate location on the screen beside them. The doors swished shut, a burst of light was the only indication anything had changed until the doors reopened a moment later to reveal a different corridor.

"Of course I remember," Elizabeth said. "Why wouldn't I?"

He just stood there, lost in the moment which seemed to be happening more and more often lately. She knew him better than anyone, he was fairly certain that no one had ever known him as well as she did. Who else would remember a throwaway comment he had once made, especially with everything else that had been going on at the time?

He felt a strong urge to move closer to her, to reach out to her. It wasn't the first time he'd felt it and like all of the other times he pushed it down, though it was getting more difficult to do. She showed no sign of breaking the moment so he gave himself a mental shake.

"Rodney's going to complain the whole way through," he said stepping out of the transporter.

"Not if he knows what's good for him," Elizabeth replied, both of them continuing as though they hadn't just been staring into one another's eyes in a transporter. They were lucky the corridor had been empty, there was already enough gossip in Atlantis.

xXx

John felt his exhaustion begin to take hold as he thought about everything that had happened. His mind was still trying to work, still trying to spin through the events of the last few months, still trying to piece the puzzle together. He closed his eyes and finally sleep took over.

TBC