Hand of Atlantis - Thank you for your post. I will try to keep in mind for future chapters about how she feels. You probably won't care for this chapter, because it deals with Elizabeth and guns, but I do try to show she is very uncomfortable with them, and does not want one. As for the knife thing, I always thought she carried some sort of weapon, because the SGC wouldn't want her out and about unarmed, despite her escort. But again, I will keep that in mind and try to fix any future chapters so that I don't make the same mistake.

Sparklyshimmer2010 - Oh boy. Good thing I didn't mention that knife that hangs down just over his, um, assets. LOL. I'm glad you liked it. :)

(Wonders if anyone ever saw 'The Flan's Booty' video on youtube. It definitely gives a quick point out to, uh... 'The Flan's Booty'. LOL!

Charlie Blue - Now my gutter mind wants to know why he carries the holster so low. O.o LOL. It was one of many things I noticed about him. And as for the 'arms', I've added it to my list of 'to write' chapters, that I have. Hm, now it makes me ponder doing a 'legs' chapter, too. I know I thought about a 'butt' chapter, at one point. ;) LOL

Hmm...maybe 'chest hair'?

O.o (reigns in gutter mind) Oh, sorry about that. Um, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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When you think of Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, what's the first thing you think of?

Eyes? Hair? Smart ass comments?

For me, it's the uniform and gun combo. When he's off world, it's always uniform and P90 at the ready, with his hand gun in his thigh holster. Around the base, it's the messy uniform and thigh holster. And on any earth-based missions, it tends to be casual wear and a gun hidden down the back of his pants.

I know, it's probably odd for a civilian negotiator to be talking so much about guns, I've never been big on them, really. I guess, it was something about John carrying a gun.

It somehow gave him a more...dangerous sense. He could be deadly, and anyone with half a brain could see that, but usually, he came in peace. He wouldn't shoot unless he had to, which definitely appealed to me. He just wasn't one of those 'shoot first, ask questions later' type marines.

When they finally passed that mandate about even the military commanders, or...in my case, civilian base commanders, having to carry a side arm, it was up to John to teach me. I wasn't looking forward to it, though. Ok, so John made guns look...

A number of words came to mind. Cool, hot, sexy, dangerous, good...

I ended up sticking with 'good'.

But they just weren't my thing. I fully planned to pull every trick in the book, and then some, to keep from ever even taking a gun with me, let alone using it. The idea of having to protect myself, and using a gun... It disturbed me, but, unfortunately, I didn't have much of a choice. Still, that didn't stop me from trying to talk John out of the 'necessary' training.

"Look, I can use martial arts, and Teyla's teaching me to work the bantos sticks." I stated with a frown as John signed out two hand guns and the necessary protective equipment.

Giving me a side glance, he raised an eyebrow. "And if the enemy is shooting from far away?"

"I can duck behind the nearest boulder."

"And if there's no boulders to duck behind?" His tone stayed casual, but I saw a sparkle in his eyes as he reached out and placed the protective eye glasses around my neck before taking one of my hands and putting a pair of thick gloves in it. "And no trees or bushes?"

"I... Well, that's what you guys are there for." I put in stubbornly, pouting a little, though I'd never admit it. "You're supposed to be my body guards and weapons." And I relied on that, though I'd never really admit that, either.

"And we won't always be able to protect you." He put in, frowning now as the idea obviously bothered him. Gesturing for me to lead the way, he followed me into the training room. "You need to look after yourself."

"What about the Wraith Stunners we've been using?"

"What if the enemy's immune to them? I've seen it happen. Or if there's an energy field around the planet that neutralizes them? Besides..." Staring at me as he placed the second gun and ammo clip on the table in front of me, he raised an eyebrow. "They're still guns."

Guns, I didn't want one. Can you blame me? It was bad enough they were insisting we be armed, though I could understand why, but they should at least have let me decide. "Yeah, but unless I repeatedly shoot someone, I can't kill them." I pointed out, trying hard not to glare at him. He was, after all, only trying to help.

Plus, with the glasses on, and handling the gun, he looked good. Especially in his more casual version of the Atlantis uniform, and his usual hand gun thigh holster strapped on. Hell, he even had his dog tags swinging loosely around his neck, over his t-shirt! Wow, he brought 'hot' to a whole new level!

Focus, Elizabeth.

"You don't have to use the gun, it's just a safety precaution." He stated softly, holding up the empty gun.

Taking it carefully, I ran my hands over the sides of it and carefully took it in one hand. It was awkward. Cold and sleek. I was immediately afraid I'd drop it, or it would accidentally go off and hurt someone. It took John showing me the proper way to hold it and giving me the clip before my next comment came to me. "Hey! I can carry it around empty! I mean, they'll think I'm armed, and I can play the part-"

"And not all of them will be fooled by that, Elizabeth." John raised an eyebrow. "And you know that."

"I know." Frowning, I took the clip and popped it into the gun before racking the slide. Glancing up, I saw the surprised look on John's face and raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" He gaped for a moment, before shaking his head and forcing a grin. "John, just because I'm a civilian, doesn't mean I've never been taught how to handle a gun. Wanting to use one, and shooting it, on the other hand..." I trailed off, looking at the gun and feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

As an after thought, I checked the safety and clicked it on until I was ready to use the gun.

"Oh, well.. That'll make my job easier, I guess." Was it me, or did he look a little...disappointed? Frowning a moment, he took up the stand he usually used, when at the range, and I caught myself staring at the way you could tell all his muscles were tensed. Well, all but his shoulders, he rolled them a little before glancing at me. "You gonna follow me?"

Blinking, I felt my face heat up and pointedly looked him over, trying to ignore how good he looked. Turning to the range, I clicked off the safety and pointed the gun to the ground before licking my lips, trying for the same posture as him and carefully aiming the gun at the distant target. "Um, just for the record, I'm really uncomfortable about this." I found myself saying nervously, as I tried to keep my stance as steady as possible. Ok, uncomfortable? I down right hated this. Well, all but the John training me, bit.

Why couldn't he train me in bantos?

Oh, there's an idea.

"You're thinking too much." I heard him put his gun on the table, but didn't turn away from the target. A moment later, and I felt his hand on my arm, pushing down in an indication to lower the gun. "And you forgot your safety eye wear."

"Oh." I clicked on the safety and gently put the gun down before putting on the glasses and very hesitantly picking it back up. I felt John's hands on my hips, steadying me and setting me up, then they were on my arms.

"Ok, you're good. Just remember to keep your arms loose." He walked back over to his gun and picked it up. Taking the stance he had earlier, he aimed and a moment later, fired three shots into the target, with really good aim.

I jumped. The shots were louder than I'd expected, and I felt my heart racing. Still, I couldn't help but stare at him, a little bit impressed at how easy he made it look. Then he glanced my way and I turned to the targets. Oh boy. Here we go.

"Remember to keep your arms loose." He called slightly.

Nodding, I took a deep breath, aimed, clicked off the safety, and pulled the trigger. Three times. Only one of my shots hit, and I glanced over to see John nod a little.

"Not bad."

Maybe, but I still have a ways to go.

And it didn't make me hate guns any less. Maybe I could talk General O'Neill into letting me remain unarmed. I'm sure I could find a way to get him to agree.

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Hope you like it.

I don't know a lot of the rules in guns, and stuff, anything I stated, I used from memory of shows with gun ranges, and things I've picked up from fanfictions. I was corrected with the way Elizabeth thinks, and I understand better now. I only put this down, because at the time of writing it, this was the way it had come out.

Once I was made aware of my mistake, I edited the chapter more, to show Elizabeth's clear hatred and discomfort around guns, as well as her plot to try and get around the new 'law'.

I also have her carrying a knife, just because I figured they'd want everyone to be armed for safety. But I'll try to keep in mind the way she feels about guns, and make sure future chapters work with that.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi