Spoilers for "The Princess Bride"
"Try it now," Elizabeth called down from the control center.
John hit the transporter control and jumped back as a shower of sparks accosted him. "Dammit," he snapped as he stuffed his fingers into his mouth. Taking them out again and deciding they were undamaged, he glared up at the control room. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Yes," she called back, smiling slightly as the sound of his grumbling carried up the stairs. "I'm trying to get you replaced by someone younger, Major Lorne could use a promotion, don't you think?"
Reaching into the wall on a whim, John reversed two of the crystals and smacked them back into place for good measure. Closing his eyes before he tapped the touch screen again, he winced in anticipation of more sparks. Instead, the transporter politely brought him to the back of control.
"So, Major Lorne?" he taunted her as he crept up behind her.
Laughing as she backed away, Elizabeth ducked behind a console. "He is your second in command, isn't he?"
"Technically..." John gave in, suddenly turning serious. "I suppose I've lived the longest of anyone of my rank assigned to this base."
She pulled herself up behind the console and tried to ignore the heaviness that had suddenly settled into her chest. "Don't say that," Elizabeth said, shivering as chilled fingers ran up her spine.
"Yeah," John said weakly as he studied his boots. "Probably shouldn't jinx myself, huh?"
"No," she replied as she tried to get her levity back. "Nice work on the transporter."
"Thanks," he accepted with a shrug. "I hit it and it worked."
"Worked is what we're going for," Elizabeth leaned over the console and smirked at his hair. The lack of hot showers seemed to have only accentuated his hair's willfulness. "Want to try communications next? Or should we just toss a paper airplane through the gate to Earth?"
"I make a nice one," John added as he returned her smile. Ever since she'd woken up, she'd seemed like a new person. Carson had been right; again, that sometimes all someone needed was food and sleep.
Elizabeth stood up fully, stretching out her back as she circled around the console towards him. "I know you do, I saw your office at the SGC before we left," she teased.
"Paperwork and I just don't get along," John explained innocently. Bending down to pop off the access hatch of the communications console, he sighed as he stared at all the crystals. "We could really use Rodney and Zelenka just about now."
"Oh I know," Elizabeth sighed in frustration and sat down on the floor next to him.
"Did you ever see him?" John asked lightly, "When the kids got him?"
Shaking her head as she dragged the box of tools over towards them, Elizabeth felt the rush of pleasure when he touched her hand. "No, I'm afraid I missed it."
"Oh man..." John chuckled slightly at the memory. "He really was something special. We're going to have to tell those kids about Halloween one of these days, considering how much they like chocolate."
"Is that the sugar method of diplomacy?" she hinted with a brilliant smile. "Something I should take note of?"
"If you ever need to broker any kind of treaty with those kids," John started as he brushed against her shoulder. "I'd keep it in mind."
Reaching for one of the darkened crystals, Elizabeth leaned in, brushing across his arm with her chest. He raised an eyebrow and slid up closer to the panel, effectively trapping her between him and their work. He tilted his head closer, studying the play of the weak blue light on her lips. Her skin was brighter this morning and less transparent than it had been. She'd even eaten breakfast without complaint and apparent gusto.
More than that, all he could think in the moment he had was how beautiful she was. Her green eyes playfully refused to look at him, but she had left him a lovely view of the smooth line of her neck. Leaning close enough that he could feel the warmth of her skin, John smiled blissfully, absolutely content with the day.
He was still grinning like an idiot when she turned her head back and met his eyes. Maybe it was that grin that lead her to kiss him; he couldn't be sure, but he was going to take it. John felt her lips melt wet against his, and when her tongue found its way into his mouth he thought the tingling sensation was entirely her.
When they re-materialized in front of Hermiod and Novak on the Daedalus, John realized that it had been something else. Watching as Elizabeth blushed scarlet; he felt the same start to happen to him.
"Welcome back to the Daedalus," Novak chirped from Hermiod's side. "I'm sorry we couldn't give you more warning. Your communications system..."
"Was what we were trying to fix," John said lamely as he sprang up to his feet. "Really."
"I see," Hermiod muttered from his place at the transporter controls. "Bridge, this is Hermiod, Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir have arrived."
John helped Elizabeth up as well, letting go of her hand as soon as she was up, like a boy caught by his parents alone with a girl. "I suppose we should have been expecting you."
"We left right after you did," Novak explained as she worked very hard to avoid meeting either of their eyes. Smiling behind her hand, she stared at her computer. "Colonel Carter will explain, I'm sure."
"Colonel Carter?" Elizabeth asked curiously as her composure started to return. "Where's Colonel Caldwell?"
"Colonel Carter is in charge of the recovery mission," Novak replied as she tried to come to terms with what she'd seen. "The gossip is that she went to General Landry and stayed in his office until he authorized the mission..." covering her mouth nervously, she smiled apologetically, "...but I wasn't supposed to know that."
"Well," John shared a look with Elizabeth and realized their kiss would be all over the ship faster than news of the last one. "We won't tell."
"Thanks," Novak finished shyly. Hermiod rolled his eyes but said nothing as John tried desperately not to stare at him.
Elizabeth's smile seemed more amused than usual as they made their way to the bridge. "Hermiod's never going to like you if you don't stop staring at him," she pointed out impishly as she took his hand.
"Are you sure that's okay?" he stared down at their joined fingers and tried not to feel like he was twelve.
"I'm probably fired and you're probably out of the Air Force," Elizabeth sighed sarcastically, hoping she wasn't actually right about that. "It really doesn't matter, we could probably hop on the next puddle jumper we see and elope."
John halted their progress, tugging her black sleeve and pulling her aside. "Seriously?" he asked in quiet confusion.
"No, Doctor Sheppard sounds kinda funny, don't you think?" Elizabeth winked at him and started walking towards the bridge without him.
As he jogged to catch up, he shook his head in amazement. She was back. Whatever part of her that had been eclipsed by the bizarre revelation that she was pregnant had returned her sense of humor. It was oddly comforting, yet disconcerting at the same time.
"Colonel Weir on the other hand..." Elizabeth teased, picking the moment just before the hatch opened onto the bridge.
John fought to keep his expression even as they approached Colonel Caldwell in the center of the bridge.
"We only detected five life signs in the city," Carter's voice startled them both from behind.
"General O'Neill and Mr. Woolsey are with the Athosians on M9S-278," Elizabeth explained quickly, sensing a tension in the other woman's tone she knew all too well. "They'll be staying there until the Athosians decide whether or not to migrate back to the mainland."
Carter circled around them stopping just behind the helm. John knew the look on her face, he'd felt that unexplainable relief, but he was surprised how well she hid it.
"We hope Doctor McKay and Ronon will be returning soon as well," Elizabeth continued for Caldwell.
"And where might they be?" Caldwell wondered with quiet concern.
"They have a ship," John piped up cheerfully, unable to contain his excitement whenever their new battleship was involved.
"We've captured a Replicator battleship," Elizabeth translated, watching as Carter and John shared a moment of innocent excitement. "Doctor McKay was certain he could fly it home, so Colonel Sheppard agreed to let him."
Caldwell smiled and settled back into his gray metal command chair. "Seems like you've been busy, too busy to answer your radios perhaps?"
"Yeah, about that..." John started sheepishly, "We kind of, well McKay did, actually, over-loaded the city's systems."
Carter's eyes widened in surprise, "He used the ARG as a pulse weapon, without accounting for the frequencies Ancient crystalline technologies rely on," she blurted out in shock, "He must have overloaded..."
"...every system in the city," Elizabeth finished almost apologetically. "It took us nearly two weeks just to get the gate repaired."
"We should be able to help with that," Carter butted in as she took a step closer. "We collected all of Doctor McKay's science team before we left, not to mention the scientists the Daedalus already has on board, we should have more than enough hands to speed your repairs."
Caldwell gave her a look that suggested there was more to their trip than simply repairing Atlantis. Carter blithely ignored it and turned Elizabeth to face her. "When can we start beaming down teams? Do you require any other assistance?"
"Teyla," John interrupted as he too turned his back on Caldwell. "She was injured fighting the Replicators; Carson-Doctor Beckett's supplies are severely limited."
Carter tapped the radio in her ear. "Novak, I want you to lock on to the other three life signs and beam them straight to the infirmary."
"Thank you," Elizabeth said warmly. Fidgeting with her fingers as she turned back to Caldwell, she smiled to ease the tension. "I'd appreciate getting Doctor Zelenka and Colonel Carter right away, Rodney was forced to sink the city and you won't be able to land until it surfaces."
"Consider it done, Doctor," Caldwell allowed politely, relieved to have Carter off his ship for awhile. "I'll let you get your work done before we convene for a full debriefing."
"Thank you again, Colonel," Elizabeth finished sincerely. "I can't say enough how pleased we are to see you again; all of you." She glanced around the bridge before she took John's hand. The gesture drew a raised eyebrow from the colonel and more than a few curious looks from the crew as they followed Carter to the door.
Sam herself was a little surprised, but she hid it professionally as her blue eyes lit with a smile. "I knew you'd find him," she admitted softly by way of thanks. "When I heard you'd left, I knew."
"We don't leave anyone behind," John assured her with quiet dignity. He looked down before meeting her eyes. "No matter what."
By lunchtime Atlantis had life again, Zelenka was directing the science team; working them so quickly that they seemed to scurry all over the city like blue-shirted insects. After accepting Caldwell's welcome home gift of her laptop computer, Elizabeth retreated to her office. It had taken her longer than she liked to admit to configure her computer like Rodney's so she could access the database.
When she tried to pick up where she'd left off, nothing seemed familiar. How tired had she been yesterday when she'd tried to wade through the Ancient text? Sighing at her own fallibility, Elizabeth approached it logically from the beginning. Jotting down notes as she went, she was buried in technical details of the mostly unknown field of gene therapy when someone knocked on the glass of her office.
Colonel Carter stood there, a folded bunch of clothes in her hands. "Hi, John told me you all only brought one set of clothes and the Daedalus' stores are kind of light on spares," she began apologetically as she set the blue Air Force jumpsuit and a pair of black t-shirts on the edge of the desk. "We're about the same height, and these things are kind of baggy."
"Thank you, Colonel," Elizabeth said, sitting back in her chair with a relieved smile. "I was beginning to think I'd be stuck in this. Did you find Jack?"
"General O'Neill is flying jumpers for the Athosians," Carter explained with her brilliant smile. "He'll be helping them relocate all of today, but he invited me over to his tent for dinner. He caught some kind of fish that I need to cook for him."
"He wasn't making that up," Elizabeth realized softly, pulling the clothes across to her lap. "He mentioned something yesterday, but I was so tired I'm not sure what really happened and what my mind made up to fill in the blanks."
"General O'Neill might like to kid around, but he's true to his word about things that are important," Carter promised as she grabbed the back of the chair across from the desk. "Mind if I?"
"No, go ahead," Elizabeth waved her hand at the chair before setting her borrowed clothes aside. "Colonel Caldwell offered us the use of your showers on board as well."
"Actually, we got the hot water working here," Carter offered as she settled into the chair. "So you're good to go."
"Thank you, again," Elizabeth replied in grateful surprise. "I thought I was excited when the lights in my office came on. Hot showers and clean clothes as well...no wonder Rodney speaks so highly of you."
Carter blushed, something very obvious with her pale skin. "It's actually not that difficult, we just have a lot of hands," she demurred, trying to contain her embarrassment. "Can I ask you something?"
Setting down her computer, Elizabeth looked across at the other woman, suddenly curious. "You're lending me clean clothes, you can ask me anything," she joked lightly, unsure where the conversation was going.
"What made you decide..." Carter paused, struggling to find the words she wanted, "...it was okay to be with Sheppard, John, I mean?"
Elizabeth's eyebrows rose in mild surprise. "What exactly did Jack tell you?" she asked quietly, wondering if this conversation was going to end in a lecture on Air Force etiquette.
"I hear you're to be congratulated," Carter replied with a tiny smile. Something flashed through her sparkling blue eyes that Elizabeth hadn't expected to see.
"No, well, I suppose," Elizabeth stuttered. Closing her eyes, she found her calm. "I guess someone told you."
"Jack was pretty amused, said he thought it was only a matter of time before something like this happened," Carter admitted as her smile blossomed. "I'm afraid he's really been giving Colonel Sheppard a hard time."
"I think John can take it," Elizabeth said with confidence. Reaching for the glass of water on her desk, she wondered where the burning chemical smell was coming from. Looking past Carter out into the gate room, she got up for a better look. "Do you smell that?"
Carter shook her head as she turned in her chair. "No, I don't smell anything."
"Just me then?" Elizabeth asked sheepishly. Staring down she found two of the blue-shirted scientists dissecting part of the floor with a cutting torch. Satisfied that nothing was wrong, she returned to her chair. "I'm sorry; everything makes me a little jumpy."
"I'd guess, I can't say I'd know. I've never had a child," Carter said softly, studying Elizabeth's face as if there were answers there.
"I never intended to," Elizabeth divulged as she took a long drink of her water. Discovering the smell made it stick in her head, searing the back of her nose. "To be perfectly honest it was the last thing from my mind until Carson told me."
"Are you all right?" Carter pressed innocently. "You're not having trouble doing your job?"
"No, not yet," Elizabeth finished the last of her water and realized that her dream of making it through a day without being nauseated was just a dream after all. "I might, I guess...I have to admit I haven't thought about it. We've just been so busy trying to get the city put back together; everything else has been put aside."
"Seems like it would be hard not to think about it all the time," Carter said, folding her hands in her lap and watching her fingers.
"I don't know," Elizabeth said, swallowing against her first wave of nausea. "Would you mind if we moved this conversation? I don't think I can stay here while they're doing...whatever it is that they're doing."
"Retrofitting the gate controls," Carter explained quickly, as she left her chair. "I thought we should put in some safeguards. Make sure your city doesn't get knocked out completely again."
"Great," Elizabeth replied as she started down the catwalk from her office. "That seems like a smart idea."
Carter's radio chirped something into her ear and she paused before replying. Catching up with Elizabeth on the way through the control room, she grinned with excitement. "Doctor McKay and the Asuran ship just entered orbit. They're going to beam me aboard so he can show me everything he's discovered."
"Tell him good work for me," Elizabeth said as she headed down the stairs. Carter caught her arm, startling her as she fled the smell of the torches.
"Thank you for being candid with me, I know we haven't really met outside of the SGC..." Carter trailed off, searching for what she really, desperately wanted to say. "If you and John need anything, or anyone to stand up for you against the IOA or the Air Force, don't hesitate." She met Elizabeth's eyes before leaving her. "General O'Neill and I...we...understand."
Elizabeth took the hand on her arm and squeezed it warmly, wishing she could ease whatever was so heavy in the other woman's heart. "Thank you," she said firmly. Taking one step downwards, she turned back. "Especially for the clothes," she added, "It'll be nice to have something that's not black."
"Any time," Sam smiled back, letting her excitement wash away her apprehension. "I just hope they fit."
"Baggy might be what I need," Elizabeth realized suddenly, shaking her head as she tried to picture herself in a few months. Her mind didn't want to process anything that far in the future. Tucking her silicon earpiece back inside her ear, she watched as Carter dissolved in a cloud of white light.
Rodney would get the city running. Of course, she had absolutely faith in Colonel Carter's abilities. Zelenka was certainly incredibly capable as well, but neither of them were her scientific leader. As she walked through the city, her nausea eased. Being away from the smell of burning metal seemed to be the best thing she could do for her stomach.
The lights were back on in the reddish-gray pillars in the hallway and she had to dodge scientists and engineers as she made her way towards the infirmary. Carson had hoped it would be ready to receive Teyla and Helia before the end of the day. Turning the corner into the room she saw a few familiar faces at work on Carson's equipment. It didn't look quite ready yet, but the serious expressions everyone wore insisted it was going to be.
Silently leaving them, Elizabeth headed down to the power room. Skipping the transporter in favor of the quiet walk, she tried not to admit she like the peace of the empty city. It felt like the city was just waking up from a dream of darkness and had just discovered it had a million things to do.
The earpiece in her ear buzzed, followed quickly by Zelenka's excited Czech accent. "Doctor Weir? We think we're ready to try raising the city to the surface. Perhaps you would make an announcement? Tell everyone to hang onto something."
"Acknowledged Zelenka, good work," she said into her tiny microphone. Walking over to the wall and taking hold of the edge of one of the windows Elizabeth tapped her radio. "Everyone, this is Doctor Weir, please prepare for our attempt to raise the city by stopping what you're doing and hanging on to something solid."
Hitting it again to switch back to Zelenka, Elizabeth added; "Go ahead, Doctor."
Beneath her hand the city rumbled, like a great beast starting to wake. Remembering how violent rising had been the first time, she sank to the floor and curled into a ball. Humming with power around her, the engines of the great city fired with a jolt, sending them hurtling towards the surface. Feeling her ears start to sting painfully, Elizabeth swallowed a few times until they popped from the pressure.
Just like the first time light poured into the drenched windows, as if the entire city were being reborn into the daylight. Standing up slowly she wobbled a bit, as if she had to get her sea-legs again. Elizabeth brushed off her already dirty black uniform out of habit and hit her radio to praise Zelenka on a job well done.
"Look, this ship doesn't need you. Ronon and I got it back here all by ourselves," Rodney defended his console as Carter and John approached him. "And since it was mostly me, and I was the one who came up with the way to defeat the Replicators..."
Carter coughed into her hand.
"...I came up with the modifications for the way to defeat the Replicators," Rodney corrected. "I think I should get to name it."
"You can't call it 'Enterprise', 'Babylon Five', or the 'Millenium Falcon'," John insisted firmly.
"What about the 'Defiant'?" Rodney attempted hopefully. "That ship was a battleship."
"But it was so little," John argued back as he headed for the command chair in the center of the bridge.
"I'm calling her Artemis," Carter informed them as she beat John out for the chair. "And it's going to be final. Earth's working on a sister ship to the Daedalus we're calling the Apollo, and Artemis was his sister."
"Nice," John supported her as he retreated to the weapons console. "That I like."
"Two against one really isn't fair," Rodney complained to the engineering console. "You should have at least let me ask Ronon, or Elizabeth. Elizabeth should really get a vote."
"She'd like Artemis," John reminded him. "It fits with the rest of the ships having Greek names, and she'll probably say it's about time we had a girl ship."
"Wait," Rodney interjected. "How do you know it's a girl? It's just a ship."
"How do you know it's not a girl?" John teased as he brought the weapons online the way Rodney had showed him. "It took you nearly two days to figure out how to talk to her, that sounds like a woman to me."
Carter giggled unprofessionally from the command chair and called back to John. "She's going to be Artemis and that's the end of it. Rodney, I need you to radio the Daedalus and tell Caldwell to make sure he's out of the way of our weapon test."
"Who died and made you the boss?" Rodney grumbled under his breath.
John nudged him with an elbow. "She's above me," he reminded Rodney. "Until we hear from the SGC otherwise, General O'Neill is in charge of military operations, Colonel Caldwell is in charge of the Deadelus and Colonel Carter is in charge of the Artemis."
"Fine, the Daedalus has been notified, Atlantis has been notified, and we've been cleared to try our weapons," Rodney reported back as he started to get over his disappointment. "It would just be nice if us civilians got a little respect now and then."
"Elizabeth gets plenty," John teased as he prepared to fire. "Maybe it's just you."
"Gentleman, we have a test to conduct," Carter reminded them, rolling her eyes at the both of them. "Now if you please, lock on the target asteroid and fire-"
"The weapons test results were very promising," Carter began as she stood by the huge table in the Atlantis briefing room. "The energy weapons currently on the Artemis are much more impressive than anything we have deployed on any of our ships," she continued, directing their attention to the graph she'd made to show the calculated power output.
"From what we know of Ancient technology, specifically the weapons platform we used to destroy a Wraith ship, these weapons are really something," Rodney continued, eyeing Carter as he left his chair to stand next to her. "This ship could easily handle a Wraith ship, possibly two."
"Two?" Jack wondered with raised eyebrows.
"It's Aurora class, or whatever the Asuran equivalent is," Rodney replied.
"The Orion didn't have energy weapons," John pointed out as he fidgeted with the hem of his sleeve. A hot shower and new uniform had him feeling like a new man. Elizabeth was at his side. She looked strange in an Air Force blue jump-suit. She'd even stolen one of his patches before the meeting; pretending to be a Colonel had earned her a kiss in the hallway.
"The Orion was ten thousand years old," Rodney pointed out with a beaming smile. "The Artemis is brand new; it's like the difference between a car that's been sitting in your garage for ten thousand years and one fresh off the lot."
"So it's good?" Ronon asked as he sat back in his chair.
"Oh it's good!" Rodney replied happily. "It's so unbelievably good."
"As soon as we can get the communications up and running we're going to send a data burst to Earth detailing everything we've learned about the Artemis," Carter explained as she shut down the graph behind her. "Then providing the hyper-space tests go well, the Daedalus will return to Earth to pick up more supplies and personnel using the ZPM that was rescued from the Ancient outpost along with General O'Neill."
"Meanwhile, the Artemis will lead the counter-attack on the Asuran home world," General O'Neill piped up from his place on one of the corners. "Elizabeth and I have discussed it, and we believe the best defense-"
"-is a good offense," Elizabeth finished with a small smile.
General O'Neill nodded proudly as she made the reference. "Carter, McKay and Zelenka are already working on a way to deploy the anti-Replicator pulse from the Artemis."
"So we have a chance?" John asked as he glanced around the faces at the table.
"We have an excellent probability of success," Carter promised with a smile as she took her seat.
"Good, one last order of business then," Jack stood up, reaching behind his chair for a bottle of champagne. "Colonel Samantha Carter, in recognition of your outstanding dedication to duty, you are being promoted to field captain of our new warship, the Artemis. May the wind always be at your back, Colonel."
Caldwell passed around a tray of silver mugs from the Daedalus' mess hall. "I know they aren't crystal, but it's the best we could do on short notice," he apologized with a wink at Carter. "Congratulations, Colonel."
"Thank you, Sir," Carter's eyes sparkled unnaturally as the cork popped out of the bottle of champagne. "All of you," she finished as she accepted her cup.
Elizabeth passed all the cups on past her. John covered her hand with his, retrieving one of the empty cups from Caldwell and pouring water from his canteen into it he gave her that instead.
"That way you have something to clink," John whispered into her ear. "Wouldn't want you to miss out."
"Where did you find a copy of Princess Bride?" Rodney demanded as he chose a chair in the cafeteria.
"Lieutenant Keenan had one," John explained proudly as he handed his plastic bowl of popcorn to Elizabeth. "Figured on a whole ship full of scientists, someone would have to have it."
"There's nothing scientific in this movie," Rodney argued as he reached across John towards the popcorn. John smacked his hand playfully, elbowing Rodney in the side as he leaned over.
"We're on a date, Rodney, leave my popcorn alone," John explained in a stage whisper.
"A date?" Rodney sputtered back as he looked for the next closest bowl of popcorn. "Who said you two could go on dates?"
Elizabeth laughed as she pretended to yawn, sneaking her arm around John's shoulders. "John pointed out that we hadn't been on one yet."
He looked at her hand, more amused than surprised, before looking back to Rodney. "I said ever," he corrected, moving his feet out of the way to let one of the marines from the Daedalus take a seat somewhere down past Elizabeth.
"And there's something about this movie that has everyone so excited," Elizabeth explained as she took a bite of her popcorn. "I just had to come."
"If you haven't seen it, so you can't possibly understand," Rodney said, waving a hand in disgust. "Who's idea was it to have a movie night anyway? Don't we all have work we should be doing?"
"That's all we've been doing," John twisted Rodney's thought around and nodded playfully at Carson when he entered the cafeteria with Laura Cadman. "We've been fighting the Replicators, the crew of the Daedalus had a run in with an Ori scoutship on the way over from which they barely escaped. Everyone needed a break."
"And General O'Neill agreed?" Rodney wondered as Beckett sat down next to him.
"Of course he did, Rodney," Beckett said as he passed his popcorn into Rodney's waiting hands. "As far as generals go, he's one of the most relaxed I've run into."
Cadman reached playfully across Beckett's lap, stealing a handful of popcorn and making him squirm. "Even Caldwell admitted we needed a night off," she added, looking around to see if everyone had made it.
"If you people would all sit down," General O'Neill bellowed from the front of the room. "Children, we can't start the damn movie if you won't shut up." He clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the room.
"Have you seen Teyla and Ronon?" John asked Elizabeth, leaning in his head close to her. "They really should see this."
"Teyla just got released from the infirmary, perhaps she needed more time to recuperate," Elizabeth guessed, trying to get comfortable in her chair.
"Oh no, there they are," John said, pointing at the door. Beckett saw them and waved over to their row of chairs. Teyla's shoulder still had a bandage beneath her purple and gray tank top, but she smiled as she took her seat.
"So this is television?" Ronon asked apprehensively, clinging to his silver mug as he slumped into his chair.
"No," Rodney explained as he rolled his eyes. "This is a movie..."
"...it's better than television," John finished as he shared a smile with Teyla. "Glad you're feeling better."
"Carson promised me in a few days I will be good as new," Teyla volunteered, watching Ronon leave his chair and return with popcorn and a second silver mug.
"It's good," he offered with a shrug as he passed it to her. "Would be better with a little kick to it."
Teyla raised an eyebrow and took a sip. "I'm sure someone here has something appropriate," she glanced around the crowd, looking for people she knew. "Did Major Lorne return with the Daedalus?"
"I think so," Rodney added as he stood up to search.
"Down in front, Rodney!" Someone called from the back, tossing a few pieces of popcorn towards McKay.
"He's back there," Rodney said, pointing over his shoulder as he sat back down.
"Think he has something?" Ronon wondered as he tossed a look backwards.
"He's always the prepared type," Carson joked as he turned around to wave.
Ronon left his seat, moving easily through the crowd until he reached the major.
Elizabeth snuggled against John's shoulder, keeping her arm around him and sighing contently as she listened to the crowd. "It feels like home again, doesn't it?" she asked John as his fingers closed around her hand on his shoulder.
"Bickering... Major Lorne providing dangerous aliens with rum in their hot cocoa..." John ticked off some of things he saw, catching a nod from Colonel Carter as she hurried through the door and immediately began to apologize to General O'Neill. "Seems about right."
Zelenka popped into their row, waving for Beckett to hand across a cup of cocoa to Rodney. "I had time to bring some of the finest back with me," he explained as Rodney took a sniff.
Rodney waved his thanks, taking a tiny sip and wheezing in surprise. "Russian vodka," he explained to Carson and Laura's odd looks.
"I'm starting the damn movie whether you people shut up or not!" General O'Neill yelled from the front of the room as the lights abruptly went off. As the excited talking died away to muffled whispers the opening credits began on the huge projection screen on the wall.
"Where did you find a screen big enough?" Elizabeth asked John in a whisper as she tried to think of the places that had large projection screens.
"Found it in one of the little used parts of the city...some kind of conference room or something," John said before he blew across the top of the hot chocolate before offering it to her. "I think it's much better used here."
The MGM lion roared across the screen; signaling the start of the film.
"If you people keep talking, I'll start using my stunner," General O'Neill yelled back over his shoulder. The crowd tittered into silence.
Elizabeth turned to John with a finger over her lips. "Shhh..." she whispered playfully. "I haven't seen this."
"Who's fault is that?" John muttered as he put his head on her shoulder. Since her arm was still around him, he snuggled into her like a little boy, making her smile as the movie began.
It reoccurred to him that she really hadn't seen it when Wesley's death made her sniff and rub her eyes. "You are a hopeless romantic, aren't you?"
Elizabeth nodded shyly, kissing his hair as she kept her eyes on the screen. John looked at her and turned back to film, he followed it for a few minutes, but he knew it so well he didn't even have to watch. So he turned, leaning into her lap. Dropping his head to her legs, he pulled his feet up on his chair and balanced his legs against McKay. Rodney gave him a glare, but shut up once he passed over the rest of Elizabeth's popcorn.
For the rest of the movie he watched her, taking in the way she smiled whenever Wesley did something heroic. She cheered along with the rest of the audience when the evil Count Rugen finally met defeat. She hugged his head gleefully as Humperdink was revealed as a coward.
The crowd erupted as a living thing when Wesley and Buttercup met for the final kiss. Maybe it was stress, exhaustion, or the fact that it was the first moment off any of them had experienced for more then two weeks. The crowd started to break, Ronon following Teyla to join Major Lorne's group of revelers.
Caldwell had broken out his personal stash of liquor and much was being spent toasting the new ship and Carter's elevation to command.
John stayed in Elizabeth's lap as she watched the rest of the credits. Quietly turning down to him, she smiled softly. "You've said that to me?"
"My name is John Sheppard, you killed my father, prepare to die?" John teased, closing his eyes and pretending to fall asleep in her lap.
"You know what I mean," Elizabeth corrected, running her hand gently through his hair. "Did you mean it?"
"Is this a test?" John said; opening one eye and looking at her accusingly.
Bending down to capture his lips with hers, she stopped his speculation. Kissing him until the crowd around them started to notice, Elizabeth didn't break away when she had the chance. She hung onto his head and kept him in the kiss. Leaning over him a second longer than she needed to, Elizabeth ignored the cheering that was breaking out around them.
Leaning down over his ear, Elizabeth whispered something that took the wind out of his chest. "As you wish," she promised him with the full force of her heart.
When they finally made their excuses to leave the party and return to their quarters John flopped onto the bed. "You know, there were nice things about the city being deserted."
Standing in front of the mirror in their newly lit bathroom, Elizabeth murmured something he couldn't hear. John dragged himself from the softness of bed and stumbled into the bathroom after her. Hanging around the doorway until she noticed him in the mirror, John just watched contentedly.
Elizabeth had removed her blue jacket and stood in front of the mirror in only her clingy black undershirt. That too must have been borrowed from Carter, John thought. It was definitely Air Force issue and it looked funny on his civilian doctor.
She turned, looking at herself in profile in the mirror. Pulling her shirt as tight as possible over her stomach, she stared at herself. Her hands released the fabric and covered the flatness of her body. One of her eyebrows tightened, as if she was willing her body to make the passenger within more apparent. Her stomach remained as it was. No different than it had appeared weeks ago. Elizabeth cupped her breasts in her hands, studying the way they sat fuller on her chest and deciding they, at least, had changed.
"I could do that for you, if you want," John volunteered from the doorway.
The hint of a blush danced across her cheeks as she finally noticed his reflection smiling at her. "I should have asked," she teased back. "Do they look different?"
"I didn't look at your chest before..." John lied rather pathetically as he took a step towards her.
"You didn't?" Elizabeth prodded, raising one eyebrow and dropping her hands to her hips. "I think I'm almost offended."
"I have to say I didn't," John said defensively. "Can't just go admitting I though the days when you wore the V-neck were the best days to go to a meeting." His arms found their way tentatively around her waist. "I think I miss you in red."
"Well, Rodney always wore blue, and you seemed to like black..." Elizabeth trailed off into memories of the mass of meetings where she must have worn that shirt. "...just never had a reason to develop much of a wardrobe."
Shrugging as he held a little tighter, John nodded. "I just take what the Air Force gives me," he admitted easily. "It's not too bad though."
"I was just thinking I might want to request a different size when we order more uniforms," Elizabeth explained as she stared at herself in the mirror.
"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" John wondered nervously. "I thought it took..."
"Well, I thought..." she started, staring down at his hands wound over her stomach. "...I guess I am getting ahead, I just feel so different."
"You didn't throw up today?" John pried protectively.
The stubble on his chin scratched her neck. Elizabeth shook her head and added her hands over his. "Nope," she promised. "There was this moment in my office, when they were welding or melting something in the control room..."
"I'm sorry," he interrupted. "I really am."
"Today was a good day," Elizabeth said as she patted his wrist. "Maybe tomorrow will be too."
"Maybe today was the average and yesterday was bad?" John hoped as he released her with a kiss on the neck. "I don't think you'll need a new uniform just yet. You can always take my pants." He headed back to the bed, sitting on the edge to pull off his boots.
"Really?" she asked with a tilt of her head. The mirror still hid what she was looking for, refusing to show the changes she felt in her body. "You'd give me your pants?"
"I'll need them back," John teased as he shoved his boots away towards the door. "Eventually. You can always just keep borrowing, move up to Rodney's after mine."
Giggling as she collapsed onto the bed next to him, Elizabeth jumped when he leaned down to her boots. Untying them for her, he jumped out of the way when she kicked at him playfully.
"I'll keep your idea in mind," she murmured, pulling her feet up on the bed. "I liked the movie."
"I thought you would," John caught her face, running his fingers down her cheek to her lips. One finger ran across them, surprising her with the leftover taste of popcorn on his skin. "It's a classic."
"Why haven't I heard of it?" Elizabeth wondered as his hand wandered down her shirt.
"Because you obviously didn't hang out with the right people in college," John explained lightly as his hand ran down to her stomach.
"I didn't do much of anything in college," Elizabeth told him sheepishly. "I studied a lot and 'hung out' very little. I barely even went on a date for most of graduate school."
"You're a workaholic," John said as he opened his fingers to hold her stomach. "Were back then too, I'll bet."
"I..." she shut her mouth. "I am."
"Did I tell you where you fell asleep yesterday?" John offered as he pulled her back to the bed. He curled around her, lying over her side.
Elizabeth nodded silently, squeezing her fingers into his hair.
"Promise me you'll be careful?" John begged; taking her hand and playing with her fingers. "No more days without sleep stunts?"
"I can't," Elizabeth said as she rolled onto her side away from him. "Not completely, I am the leader of this city, John." She sighed as she felt him sit up behind her. "I will try."
"That's what I want," John said. Lying back down next to her he put his hands up underneath his head. "We both have to make different choices now."
"Is that why you gave up the Artemis?" Elizabeth asked him without turning back. "I heard you refused to even let General O'Neill give it to you."
"I can't go flying around on a battleship," John replied as if it was the craziest idea he'd ever heard. "I'm your military commander, not your Captain Kirk."
Elizabeth rolled back, hugging him quickly with one arm thrown over his chest. "I know you must have wanted it," she apologized softly.
"Nahhh," he said, shaking his head at the ceiling. "If you think about it Atlantis is a much bigger battleship. The Artemis is exciting, but Atlantis is where the good toys are."
"I think I get it now," Elizabeth agreed as she sat up enough to kiss him. "Thank you, for being so committed to staying on Atlantis."
"All the good things are here," John repeated firmly enough to convince her. Her eyes went wet as he stared up at her. Moisture sparkled on his lashes, and was left behind on his face as she leaned down to kiss him.
He explored her mouth, sighing into her lips when she let him keep kissing her. His hand slid beneath her shirt, teasing it up her back. He was searching for the clasp of her bra when the radio flared to life and ruined what promised to be a very pleasant evening.
Elizabeth groaned as she broke away from kissing his neck.
John sat up and started thinking about football, hockey, Wraith, and anything, but the way her breasts swelled promisingly beneath the clingy black fabric that covered them.
She fished her radio off the crate they'd stolen as an impromptu piece of furniture and tucked it into her ear. "This is Doctor Weir," she said as she mouthed her apologies to John. "We'll be right there."
Elizabeth bent over, reaching for her boots from their place against the red-gray wall. "Zelenka got the sensors back online this afternoon. The night watch just discovered a large mass entering our solar system."
"Large like Daedalus large? Or Death Star large?" John demanded as his fingers flew through the motions of tying his shoes.
Elizabeth grabbed her blue jacket from the bathroom and tossed it on. "It's the same size as Atlantis," she uttered darkly as she led him out of their quarters. "I think they came to finish us off."
"Let's get them first," John suggested as his face turned to stone. "I'm getting really sick of these guys."
"You too?" Elizabeth asked rhetorically as she hit the control room on the transporter. In the last moment before the door opened into the control room, she kissed him, drawing strength from the way he responded. When the doors finally opened, she was ready.