ON ATLANTIS

Crack

"Ow!"

"Sheppard this is Weir, come in."

John held up a hand, and Teyla pulled her next blow. Setting her sticks down she moved to the other side of the training room. He walked to the bench where his radio sat, and picked it up as Teyla continued her own workout on the other side of the training room.

"This is Sheppard."

"John, I need to see you in my office for a minute, are you busy?"

"Let me go shower and I'll be right there."

He signed off, then turned to Teyla. "Doctor Weir's calling, mind if we pick this up tomorrow?"

Teyla shook her head. "That will not be a problem Colonel Sheppard."

"Thanks Teyla." John headed for his quarters to change out of his sweat drenched workout clothes and take a quick shower before heading for Weir's office.

LATER

John walked into Elizabeth's office ten minutes later, freshly showered and still slightly damp.

"So what did you need to see me about?" he asked, standing in front of her desk.

"Take a seat John. You'll need it." Elizabeth closed the file on her desk and rested her arms across it, looking at John with a serious expression on her face. "The Deadalus is only a couple of days out with the supplies and more personnel."

"Oh god. This is about the new personnel isn't it?" John groaned and rubbed a hand through is hair, dropping into the chair in front of her desk as he did so.

"In a way." Elizabeth darkened the walls of her office.

"Oh god. How many more scientists will I need to find baby sitters for?" John was already re-arranging schedules to free up another couple of marines for baby-sitting.

"Well the top physicist onboard the Deadalus has already decided that three of the scientists are being sent home. She's not even going to let them set foot on the city. She's even refusing to let them off the Deadalus, not that I blame her based on the reports Caldwell sent ahead, but that's not why I called you in here."

"Oh really?" John raised an eyebrow. "So why did you want to see me?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She was going to have to be careful how she introduced this; otherwise John would walk out on her and not really listen to the point behind the statement.

"I wanted to talk to you about two of the new personnel in particular. They're both women, and both in the USAF. Sampson is a Lieutenant Colonel with PhDs in mathematics and Political Sciences. I'd like you to put her onto one of the negotiating teams as soon as possible. I'd also prefer to have her be field tested by you personally."

"Any particular reason?" John asked, relaxing somewhat once he realized that he wasn't going to have to completely re-arrange schedules to find more marines for baby-sitting duty.

"I'd just like to get her out in the field as soon as possible, but make sure Rodney doesn't harp on her for the degree in Mathematics. I do NOT want to deal with the fall out from that."

"Yeah, I'll talk to him, make sure he behaves himself. So what about this other girl you mentioned?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes for a second, making a split second decision about how she wanted to handle this.

"The other woman is coming to join Beckett in the infirmary. She specialized in field surgery and massage therapy. She's also the head astrophysicist on the Deadalus currently." She closed her eyes as John interrupted her. Her eyes opened again in shock when he asked a question she wasn't expecting.

"Sampson, that wouldn't happen to be Lilah Sampson would it?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye she couldn't place.

Elizabeth had to take a second look at the file she had been sent. She was surprised to see that John had gotten the name right.

"Yes she is, is that going to be a problem?" Elizabeth asked, suddenly concerned. She knew Johns reputation, no one on Atlantis could miss it.

John waved her question off, and his face broke into a grin. "So this other girl, she would be my sister, no?"

"Actually yes, how'd you know? And why ask about Lilah?" Elizabeth was surprised that not only had John caught on, but also that he seemed to have no problem with the idea that his higher-ranking sister would be joining him in another galaxy.

"Not that hard to figure out. After all, there can't be that many astrophysicists with medical degrees in the USAF who would be likely to get clearance to come to Pegasus. And as to Lilah, she's been my sister's body guard for years, if Bri's coming Lilah would find a way to come too." John shrugged.

"So you're going to be okay with you sister here?" Elizabeth was still slightly concerned, no matter what John said.

"Listen. If she says she's here to be a medic then that is what she'll do. She won't have anything to do with command unless I ask her to, and even then she'll only do what she's told. She may be a general but she can also separate her roles when she needs too." John leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Considering that, and since we were going to go and bring Halling and Jinto back from the mainland for that mission in a few days, I would like to request permission to leave for the Athosian settlement tomorrow, and skip the introductions, then I can talk to her on my own time and find out who she wants to be here."

Elizabeth was surprised by his diplomacy, and glad that she didn't have to find a way to ask if he would be willing to do exactly that. "Of course John. I was actually trying to find a tactful way to ask you to do exactly that."

"I figured it would be easier if I offered, rather making you try to figure out how to ask." John grinned. "I know my sister."