"Rodney...just tell me what I have to do," Elizabeth said, biting her tongue before she snapped. Rodney's long-winded explanation of the city's computer system was only aggravating her already thin nerves. The lights in the ceiling of the computer room only vaguely worked, the flickering only added to the cave like feeling of the room.
"Oh, ah, put your hands here and think of an access code. Sixteen digit, alphanumeric..." he explained quickly as he gestured at the panel. "Have you decided who the third council member will be?"
"The computer will accept three," Zelenka injected calmly from over Rodney's shoulder. "The Ancients seemed to like three. Three ZPMs, three leaders."
"Retired Colonel Lorne's leading a vote," Jack explained as he waited his turn behind Elizabeth. "Rustling up the civilians and trying to get them organized."
"They aren't cattle," Elizabeth corrected as she pursed her lips with annoyance and tried to stop her headache from growing.
Nodding his head contritely, Jack apologized with his eyes. "Course not, I was making more fun of the good Major's mother than our civilians, I promise."
"Jack and I are getting set up today, when the vote is over we'll make sure the civilian representative gets into the computer," Elizabeth promised her scientists as she thought of an access code and lowered her hands to the computer terminal. The panel immediately lit up and grew warm to the touch. A moment later it was over. Helia had stubbornly clung to life through days of torture just to make sure she could stand there for five seconds of light. Elizabeth wondered if she would do the same as she watched the light run over Jack's body.
Grinning, he turned to her when he was done. "On to the next meeting?" he asked as he waved her through the doorway out of the room Rodney was calling the 'computer core'.
"Don't you have to attend that one?" Zelenka teased Rodney as the other man tried to avoid looking up from his work.
"Yes," Rodney complained with a sigh. "I have to go watch the military figure out their chain of command. Which is somehow a better use of my time than figuring out the computer system."
"I thought they were discussing all chains of command..." Zelenka let the thought dangle for a moment before Rodney got it.
"Oh," he said without looking up. "Oh...wait." Rodney suddenly got it. "Dammit." Picking up his tablet computer he fled the room after Jack and Elizabeth.
Rodney was the last one to jog into his chair around the large table in the conference room. Carson and Daniel sat on one end. Teal'c sat next to Daniel and Colonels Caldwell, Emerson, Mitchell and Carter sat in a line on their left. Then Jack and Elizabeth in the center, John at her right hand, Teyla, Ronon, and finally Rodney himself.
Elizabeth gave him a look, but there was a trace of a smile in her lips. Being out of the cave of the computer room made her headache improve slightly. "Now that we're all here, let's make this short," she promised the table. "As the leaders of the expedition and the military, General O'Neill and I have come up with the following chain of command..."
"All right campers," Jack started as he looked around. "I had to find some way to differentiate between all my Colonels. Teal'c, you're my first in line. Mitchell, you'll be second. Caldwell has the Daedalus, Emerson the Odyssey and Carter the Artemis. Sheppard will be assuming command of Atlantis itself. If anything happens to me that's the order I want you to follow," he looked over their faces before turning back to Elizabeth. "All yours."
"Thank you," She responded and folded her hands on the smooth gray table. "It's never easy to do this but we can all agree on its importance. My line of succession will be Teyla, Dr Jackson, Dr McKay, Ronon and Dr Beckett. Both are noted in the computer and will be known to the members of the expedition and the military. Colonel Sheppard has the list of the new off-world teams."
"We'll be running five teams at the moment while we train up our civilian recruits," John started to explain. Elizabeth wasn't looking at him and he was fairly certain he knew why. "Teyla will be leading team one, Major Lorne has team two, Teal'c has graciously volunteered to take team three, Colonel Mitchell has team four and our newly promoted Captain Cadman will be taking team five," he turned back to Elizabeth, watching as her mouth struggled to find the words she wanted.
Jack saved her. "That'll be all, see me at the next meeting, won't you?" he offered jovially, at least as relieved as anyone to be free.
Everyone shuffled out, Rodney started to tease Carson that he was higher on the list.
"I could kill you," Ronon remarked over Rodney's shoulder, "then I'll move up."
A flash of terror lit Rodney's face for a moment before he started to laugh. "Anyone up for lunch?"
John waited for her in the corner, just out of her sight. She thought she'd have to wait for that night to talk to him, but instead she found his hands on her shoulders.
"You looked surprised," he started lightly. John was still relieved she'd managed to smile. After yesterday, he couldn't help feeling that he was failing because he couldn't keep her safe from herself.
"You didn't want," Elizabeth started weakly, wondering if he'd ever cease to surprise her. "Being the commander of the city is dull. You'll never get to go anywhere. You'll be like..."
"...You," John finished for her with a wry smile. "My parents weren't around," he explained as he watched his fingers play with the table. "I'm going to be."
Elizabeth nodded, feeling her head float somewhere over her shoulders. Despite Carson's promises that her dizziness would improve with rest, nothing seemed to be helping this morning. "John," she started as she reached for his hand.
He shut her up and squeezed it. "It's okay," he smirked playfully. "I get it. The city's just going to have to get used to having a little sister or brother I guess..." he drifted off and watched her wrap her arms around her computer. "Which do you think?"
"I'm sorry?" Elizabeth asked helplessly as she started back across to her office. "I don't follow?"
"This baby we're having..." John teased as he stole her computer from her hands and snuck through the control center at her heels. "I've heard they come in two different kinds..."
Still shaking her head, Elizabeth fled across the catwalk into her glass walled office before she looked at him. "Does it really matter?"
John shrugged and flopped down on a corner of her desk. "Not to me," he offered gamely as he returned her computer to her waiting hands. "You?"
"Do we have to talk about this now?" she tried to dodge the question. Turning her computer on, Elizabeth pulled her curls up on her head and clipped them in place. "Don't you have..."
"It's lunch," John reminded her as he tapped his watch. "One hour off, starting now."
Sighing heavily, she flipped her wrist to check her own watch. Where had the time gone? "Can't we...?"
Shaking his head, John met her gaze seriously. "No," he insisted emphatically. "Not after yesterday. Lunch, now, before I get Jack to go over your head," he folded his arms across his chest and waited.
Giving in, she left her computer on the desk and started to leave her office.
"Now, it doesn't matter to me," John continued the conversation from the point he'd been at previously, "if the numbers are right..."
"...numbers?" Elizabeth asked as she stopped him on the steps down. "What numbers?"
"Two, two, ten, ten..." John answered cryptically as he waved down the hallway at Sam and Daniel, "the things that count."
"Did you find something?" he called to them as they got closer. "Teyla thought the traders at Valthier..."
"We're good," Daniel promised with a beaming smile. "It's perfect, really perfect."
John smirked at Sam, who was rather quiet and already faintly flushed. "Six more hours..." he teased and grinned when her blush worsened.
"Thank you again, Doctor," Sam reached for Elizabeth's hand and squeezed it earnestly between both of hers. "I can't tell you how much this means to us."
"It's my pleasure," Elizabeth responded nervously. She was still trying to figure out John's riddle. Sam and Jack's wedding was just another one of her responsibilities, though admittedly one of the happier ones. She wondered how many more weddings she would have to preside over. Atlantis didn't have any religious leaders, and Jack had been more than happy to hand that duty off to her. "Really, you and Jack deserve to be happy and I think it sets a good precedent, it should help people feel more at home."
"You look better today," Daniel piped up in the silence that followed her thought, "you have color."
"Thank you," she replied immediately, without catching how sweet the compliment was. She hadn't realized how pale she'd been yesterday. Elizabeth had started making it a point to avoid mirrors when she had trouble looking at her own face. Sometimes she looked too much like her mother. "John was taking me to lunch."
"Yeah, there's this lovely little place..." John joked just enough to fish for a smile. "We'll see you at dinner."
"Okay..." Sam managed to reply, even though butterflies fought for the best position in her stomach. "Dinner."
"What were they looking for?" Elizabeth asked once Daniel and Sam were out of earshot.
"A dress," John responded as he led her to the line outside the cafeteria. "Sam didn't want to get married in her uniform. At least, not without dress blues."
"Oh," Elizabeth said softly as she tried to picture what a Pegasus wedding dress would look like. "I didn't know anyone was dressing up."
"I doubt the general will," John leaned up against the wall and got comfortable as he waited for the line to move on. "He's been threatening to show up wearing all kinds of things," his hand absently rubbed her shoulder, making her feel a little better immediately. "Keeps pestering Beckett for a kilt."
Leaning on the wall next to him felt entirely natural, even as refugees slipped past them with faces she didn't recognize. "Do you think marriage is important?"
"For some people," John replied lightly. His hand slid down to fall around her waist and his eyes were drawn to the stars outside the window. "I'd be all right without it."
"So there isn't some kind of romantic, last-minute proposal in my future?" Elizabeth teased just to watch the flush creep across his face.
"As long as you don't desperately decide you have to be married while you're in labor," he prodded back, still blushing slightly.
"I wouldn't do that to you," she promised as she let her head find his shoulder. "I think we'll both be a little too involved for something like that."
"Good," he finished, relieved. He played with her t-shirt for a moment before settling his hand over his stomach and whispering: "I think you're gaining weight."
"I am," she whispered back nervously. "Guess I haven't been as sick as I thought."
"You look wonderful," John promised as he dragged himself off the wall and moved with her when the line started to move, "you really do."
"You have to say that," Elizabeth replied softly, still pleased he thought so. He definitely wasn't one for empty compliments.
John's reply was lost as Vala pulled Daniel in line behind him.
"We're cutting," she announced proudly, "have to eat before our off-world expedition with Mitchell's team." Tossing her dark hair over her shoulder, she eyed the table full of food several meters of line away and sighed. "He wouldn't let us cut in front of you though. I remember getting to the part of being pregnant where I wanted to eat everything in sight, but I doubt you're there yet. You still look like you want to throw up."
"Liar," Elizabeth whispered in John's ear as she smiled at Vala. "Thank you," she offered with a wry smile.
"Vala..." Daniel corrected gently. "Elizabeth looks fine."
"Where are you going?" John tried to rescue the conversation. "More trading?"
"We need more food and one of the Genii villages we've recently been in contact with had a good crop this year," Daniel offered cheerfully, "and there are some ruins on the outskirts I'm really looking forward to checking out."
"He likes to read old rocks," Vala interjected as she pouted full lips towards them. "A whole village dying to trade with us and he will spend the whole mission reading old rocks."
The line moved forward and John kept Elizabeth close, as if letting her out of his sight would let her get away without eating. "Some ruins can be really exciting, I guess. Rodney just likes old technology."
"Valuable old technology?" Vala perked up, intrigued at the notion.
"Mostly just things that get us into trouble," John conceded and Elizabeth nodded along with him. "We usually have to trade newer technologies to get things."
"Sam traded nicknack she picked up in the Milky Way for her dress this afternoon," Daniel piped up with the same beaming smile. "Funny how anyone in Pegasus has yet to invent the bobble-head doll."
"There's something to be said for uniqueness I suppose," Elizabeth said as she felt John take her hand. "A great many things from Earth are going to be completely unique now. Relics of a lost civilization..." she trailed off when she realized none of them wanted to think any further about that.
"Are you sure this is worth something?" The tiny shopkeeper demanded as she looked up at John and then back at the Gameboy in her hands.
"Yeah," John insisted as he reached for the on switch. "I even had Rodney replace the battery with an enhanced one..."
The shopkeeper still looked skeptical as "Nintendo" flashed across the screen.
"...it'll run forever," John finished for the old woman. "Give it to your grandkids, kids love these things," he leaned in closer. "Besides, I can promise you it's the last one in the universe."
She pressed the buttons and watched in amusement as tiny pixelated karts started to race each other around the track. "All right, I'll give you the dress and the other clothes. There's not much in the universe like that dress either," shaking a finger at him, she studied his eyes. "She better be worth parting with this."
"I'm going to be busy," John explained lightly. Trying not to feel the pang of loss as he parted forever with his Gameboy, he reminded himself he wouldn't have a lot of free time for the rest of his life.
He caught a glimpse of red as she wrapped up his goods. The shirt and pants weren't exactly a uniform, but he thought Elizabeth would feel better with more than two sets of clothes. He also couldn't help noticing that only the pants she'd gotten from Carter really fit now. Her own pair had fallen prey to her changing waistline but she hadn't complained.
He took the package and headed back to Mitchell's team. Vala was arguing strenuously with some kind of banker about the price of precious metals on the Genii market. Mitchell had his hands folded over his P-90 as he waited by the edge of town.
"Daniel made a good deal for rice and something that looks like corn," Cameron explained as John walked up next to him, "even got them to throw in some spices. Wonder if your kitchen knows how to make corn bread..."
John smiled and tucked his package into his backpack. "Probably if you ask nicely, he guessed. "The night shift is usually more accommodating."
"I'll remember that," Cameron nodded his head over to the ruins to the north. "That Lieutenant Hartford you gave me is a damn good shot."
"I thought I owed you when I took Teal'c," John explained as he smiled proudly.
"'Bout time the big guy got his own team," Cameron agreed easily. "I'll miss him though; no one else will be that intimidating."
"Thanks for the heads up with the dress..." John offered shyly. "I'd probably still be looking."
"Daniel said red was her color," Cameron said as he looked over his list of supplies. "You probably want to thank him or Vala, she's the one who pointed it out to me. If anyone knows how to pick out the most expensive thing in the store...it's her."
John nodded slowly; he'd have to say something discreetly. "Coming to the wedding?" he asked Cameron after the silence had been comfortable long enough. Across the bazaar, Vala was still arguing, and from where they stood she seemed to be making progress.
"Wouldn't miss it," Cameron replied, flashing John an amused grin. "Kinda funny it only took the end of the world for those two to get together..."
"Rodney's going to go into mourning," John predicted with mock sorrow. "His last chance with Carter is gone."
"Speaking of mourning, what do you think the protocol is out here?" Cameron wondered nonchalantly. "I've been asked to the wedding and I'm not really sure..."
John shrugged. "It's my first apocalypse," he replied lazily. "Who caught you?"
"One of the new scientists has the cutest little girl," Cameron began optimistically. "She ran by and nearly made of with my tech vest to play dress up while I was waiting for Doctor McKay to give me my new IDC. Her mother and I had a nice talk over lunch. Absolutely brilliant..."
"Jeannie?" John guessed with a sad smile. "She lost her husband, didn't she?"
"I was thinking...maybe she just meant it as a friendly..."
"...yeah," John finished for the other man. "Though, to warn you, that's McKay's sister."
"I thought Jeannie had a sister on the Science team, not a brother?" Cameron asked, deeply confused, "kept referring to 'Meredith'."
"It's a long story," John promised with a trace of a laugh. "Well, it's a story anyways, get her to tell you at the wedding."
"The civilian elected Petrov Zelenka," Catherine Lorne announced as she settled into her chair at the conference table. "Your father's going to be a very important man," she predicted as she glanced across at Radek.
The scientist shrugged and crossed his arms nervously over his chest. "He's a good man, Doctor Weir, quiet, thoughtful..." he broke off grinning in quiet pride, "...mother always thought he had an interest in politics, but this..." he fluffed his hair and continued to smile as he muttered to himself.
"We're still conducting a final recount," Catherine continued with a slight smile. Though she shared the same thoughtful eyes as her son, her hair had grown icy white with age. "He won by a very significant margin, taking nearly seventy percent of the vote." Her smile faded as her eyes grew grim. "It is worth mentioning that the loser will pose a problem."
Beside his mother, Lorne nodded quickly. "His name is Sheldon Praice, we aren't entirely sure how he got on General Landry's list. He hasn't been forthcoming, but we believe he is the ex-husband of one of the scientists from the SGC. Unfortunately she didn't survive the attack and our biographical resources are limited..."
"...what has us concerned is his platform," Catherine finished for her son. "He advocates leaving Atlantis."
"Leaving?" Elizabeth nearly choked on her juice and it stung the back of her throat. Without John to correct her, she'd broken Carson's restrictions and worked through her dinner; which sat mostly uneaten on the conference table in front of her. "Where would he go?"
"Some people are having trouble adapting," Lorne mentioned softly, "it's easier for people with families. They have something to hang on to," he rested his hands on the table and felt his mother shift position next to him. It was odd, trying to work with her.
"He's convinced parts of Earth might still be habitable," Catherine muttered as she shook her head in disgust. "Idiot."
Elizabeth drummed her fingers lightly on the table and pushed what was left of her dinner aside. The pasta dish was actually one of the better things the kitchen had managed to come up with recently, but she just couldn't stomach it. "Worst case scenario?"
Neither Lorne met her eyes for a moment. Zelenka looked across at the younger Lorne and finally Catherine spoke.
"He's been collecting followers all through the elections," she began.
Elizabeth watched the warmth drain from the other woman's eyes. There was a look all military personnel had that she dreaded seeing.
Catherine tried to finish: "I'm not saying they are yet, but violence is a..."
"Elizabeth, we need you in control," Rodney's voice begged over the intercom.
"We'll be right there," Elizabeth replied as she left the table. Her fork bounced across the table when she pushed her chair in too quickly; she didn't even reach for it as she left the room.
Cameron's team returned to chaos. Rodney was on the stairs up to the control room. John knew the annoyed look on Rodney's face, but he heard the note of fear no one else would have recognized. He moved his hand until he felt the cool stock of the P-90 in his grip.
"Yelling is not going to make things better!" Rodney's voice carried over the din in the gate room as the wormhole faded away. "I'm not sure where you are all so desperate to go. There's nothing left."
"He's right," Jack called from the balcony that overlooked the gate room and the small mob in the corner. "You can gate to Earth..." he began dryly, "...and you'll die there," he leaned lazily out over them, being far more attentive than he let on.
"How do we know?" asked one man from the front of the group. "We've gotten all our information from you and some diplomat who fancies herself leader of all of us because she was appointed..."
"...by a bunch of people you keep telling us are dead!" screamed someone else.
Vala moved quickly behind Cameron and Daniel, she had seen enough mobs to know she wanted to be elsewhere. Daniel looked up at Jack and then sadly out at the people; the noise was getting worse. Nearly thirty pairs of feet shuffled against the cold floor of the gate room and John could see the marines starting to assemble in the hallways in and out of the gate room.
He held his P-90 closer and cut through the crowd on his way up to control. For a moment the leader looked like he was going to give John some trouble, but Cameron holding his gun lazily against his chest and Lieutenant Hartford behind him was enough to part the mob. John passed Rodney at the top of the stairs.
"I don't know where they came from," Rodney whispered hysterically to his friend. "One minute I was explaining to General O'Neill and Elizabeth how to access some of the new computer systems I've discovered and the next there's this bunch, demanding to be allowed to gate to Earth."
John patted his shoulder confidently and looked down at his sidearm. "Elizabeth and the general can handle them."
"You just had an election for a civilian representative to the government," Elizabeth's voice carried calmly through the room, "you all had a chance to vote for your leader."
"Who voted for you?" someone yelled up, and a few jeers followed. "Who voted for the Military? Who decided the Americans should be in charge?"
"Fine!" Jack's voice cut through the chattering. "Where do you want to go?" he dropped his voice, "I'll open up the gate and send you goddamn anywhere you please!"
Elizabeth shot him a look, and he read her concern in her eyes. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the railing. "We can't keep them against their will, if they want to leave we have to let them."
John wished he could ease her burden, she'd been in such a good mood after lunch. Without a word, he slipped in behind her. Getting just close enough that she'd know he was there if she needed him.
Whipping her head towards Rodney, she pointed down beneath the stairs and called him over. "I want a MALP ready to go and one of the spare IDC transmitters..."
Rodney nodded and left the stairs to prepare the device.
"This city..." Elizabeth began softly enough that the mob had to become quiet to hear her. "...is not a prison. We didn't take you from your homes and bring you here to ruin your lives; we brought you to save you. I am sorry that some of you don't have families here. I am sorry that some of your families are dead. We've all lost someone..."
"We've lost more than people!" the leader replied angrily. "We've lost our homes, our jobs, our means to be independent. Here we sleep where you tell us, eat what you give us and wait for handouts for clothing. This is no way to live!" His supporters agreed with him; muttering behind him in support.
"Who is he?" John whispered as he leaned closer to Major Lorne.
The major sighed heavily and rubbed his hands together. "Mr Sheldon Praice, he was some kind of attorney back on Earth. I guess his ex-wife was one of the scientists we lost in the invasion. At first they were just asking a lot of question about the election..." he paused and surveyed the group below before shaking his head, "...now they want to leave."
Rodney rolled the MALP out in front of the gate. Elizabeth turned to Charles and Walter, both technicians were waiting patiently for her instructions. "Dial Earth," she ordered grimly.
The lights in the gate began to glow, and everyone backed up as Rodney did.
"We'll show you Earth..." Jack called down grumpily as he pointed to the MALP. "It's a lovely little vacation spot now, just north of hell..." Two of the marines pushed in one of the portable Lantian screens and stood by it. As the eighth chevron locked, Rodney lurched the MALP forward. He looked as apprehensive as Elizabeth did. Her lips were pale as she tightened them into a thinner line.
The MALP disappeared and the monitor went to black as the MALP waited to materialize. In that time everyone grew quiet, waiting as one for the picture.
The MALP emerged in smoke. The screen showed clearly that the Stargate had been moved and set upright again. It had somehow survived the nuclear explosion and now sat in an empty parking lot of what John guessed was Cheyenne Mountain. Crumpled and scorched blacktop was all around it and the wind carried smoke as it blew past. Heavy machinery sat patiently around the gate, waiting to be picked up by the mining crews Caldwell had reported.
"It's a trick," Mr Praice shouted through the silence. "I'll show you..."
One of the marines lunged for him as he ran towards the gate. The marine was held back by a larger member of the mob. As Jack shook his head, he backed up.
Rodney just stayed out of the way as Praice stared at the rippling gate. "Don't do it!" the scientist warned in a panic. "The atmosphere is full of radiation, sulfur and chlorine gases..."
"Oh shut up," Praice snapped irritably. "Let me live my life..."
"Let you die horribly is more like it," Rodney muttered as he turned his eyes away to watch the Replicator mining equipment creak to life as someone arrived off camera to use it. "That planet is incapable of supporting human life. ANY life. Don't you understand that? The moment you step through, you will die. Chlorine will burn your lungs and you'll die choking on your own blood."
Rodney's horror got through to the crowd in a way reason could not. The restless muttering grew quieter and some fists unclenched.
"Let us go somewhere else," Praice demanded, though with less vehemence than before.
"Where?" Jack wondered sarcastically. "Should I just pick a planet?"
"That Alpha site," Praice suggested. "There were structures there, one of your stargate things..." he trailed off and waved towards the gate.
"The Odyssey took nearly everything," Cameron murmured behind Jack's head. "Nothing left there but a few slabs of concrete."
"Can we talk about this?" Elizabeth suggested down to the mob. "Come up to the conference room and we'll find a better planet; something safer."
John watched as her teeth tightened into her lip. There was no safe anymore. Earth, the last haven of free humanity in either galaxy, had fallen into darkness and become a toxic ball of rock.
The tension in the room eased when Priace nodded and came towards the stairs. Reluctantly content with the idea of leaving Atlantis, even he turned and stared sadly at Earth before the wormhole dissipated. John only watched the ring for a moment before he turned his eyes back to Elizabeth. He always looked down before he looked up, lately.
"You're going to be the first couple to get married in space," Cameron toasted with the soft green bubbling liquid in his cup. "First Earth couple anyway."
Sam smiled, radiating her patience outward over her friends. The pale blue dress Daniel had helped her find was obviously Genii. It reminded John faintly of the first time they'd visited the Genii home world. There was something calming about the way it fell down around her feet. Maybe it was because he didn't see women in dresses much, or perhaps the fact that the color reminded him faintly of a very pleasant senior prom; either way, he contented himself with his musings.
"It means so much to me that you're here," Sam explained gently as she lifted her cup to Cameron, Daniel, Teal'c and Vala. "It wouldn't be our wedding without you."
Vala clinked her glass against Sam's and grinned brightly. "Of course not," she teased before her face fell when she looked around. "I did expect more presents."
The corner of Sam's mouth twitched and she shared a look with Daniel. "You look lovely," she offered as a change of subject. Daniel had managed to pick out a dark green dress that made her look like the peasant girl who could stop the king's carriage.
"So does Daniel," Vala giggled as she entwined her arm with his.
"Feels kind of strange, doesn't it?" Cameron wondered as he twitched in his shirt. He felt like he was undercover, sneaking into some peasant village after the Ori in his black shirt and jacket. It was Sam's wedding and he would have shown up naked if she had asked him to, so he tugged at the sleeve one more time and relaxed.
Daniel seemed entirely at ease as he walked Vala over to the railing of the upper balcony. With the city's forcefield around them, the little wedding party could look out into the stars and down over the city. The Artemis even had a place of honor on the North pier, where Sam could look down over her vessel.
John waited by the table with the sparkling green wine Teal'c had managed to procure on his trading mission. It left a spicy taste in his mouth, reminding him that even champagne was different in the Pegasus Galaxy. He poured his second glass and wondered how much longer he'd lose Elizabeth to her meeting. He'd offered to stay, help her find a planet for Praice and his fellow deserters, but she'd declined. She thought too much military assistance would scare them off.
It was already past twenty-one hundred hours. Four hours past when Carson said she should stop working. He fidgeted with the metal cup in his hands and wondered what he could do to make time go faster. Sam seemed to share his impatience when she leaned back on the railing next to him.
"Seems like we're always waiting, doesn't it?" she wondered as she nudged his shoulder playfully. Clinking her cup against his, Sam realized that next to everyone else here, he understood how she felt. Love always came in second to duty and that reality seemed to be hitting him harder now.
John sipped his drink and felt bubbles tickle the inside of his nose. "They should be done by now," he complained as he looked over his shoulder anxiously. "She's not supposed to be working this late."
"He knows," Sam reminded him as stared into her cup. "Thank you," she finished softly.
"For what?" John asked distractedly. Watching the technicians work on the Artemis gave him something to do.
"Sharing her," Sam explained as she touched his shoulder with his. "I know it's the last thing you want to do."
"The city has to come first," John repeated dully as he finished the last of his wine. "That's the way it goes, isn't it?"
"How's she doing?" Sam asked as she watched Vala coax the story of Cameron's sisters wedding out of him. Teal'c's rich laughter carried across the balcony.
"She fakes it," John murmured lazily. Sparks from welders on the hull of the Artemis carried up into the sky. "I guess I wait."
"I know it sounds stupid.." Sam started shyly as her lips curled around the rim of her cup, "...love is worth waiting for."
"You're the expert," John agreed. Heading the table, he filled his cup halfway and grabbed one of the sweet cakes Halling had brought. Maddie tugged on his sleeve and demanded one as well. Leaning down to her, he found his smile again.
"Having a good time?" he wondered as he watched her cake crumble onto her lips.
Maddie nodded eagerly and swallowed her cake. "Mommy's smiling today," she replied calmly as she waved over at her mother. Jeannie was between a laughing Rodney and Carson who were trying to explain to Cameron something that involved a great deal of hand gestures.
She waved him in closer, as if she were sharing a secret. "She misses Daddy lots," Maddie pointed out.
"I'll bet," John answered. Somehow it was impossible not to be cheerful watching a child smear cake all over their face. He reached for one of the colorful scraps of the cloth the Athosians practically used as napkins. Scrubbing her face made her giggle and he escorted her back to the laughing group around her mother.
"Cake!" Maddie announced to her mother as Rodney scooped her up.
"Thanks!" Rodney replied gleefully as he took a bite out of what was left of her cake.
"Thank you Colonel," Jeannie offered politely. She was pale and much thinner than she had been the first time they'd met.
"Call me John, remember?" he started to extend his hand but shock won out when he found her arms wrapped around him.
"I remember," Jeannie replied as the flush spread across her face. Rodney looked somewhat mortified that she'd hugged him, but he calmed when Jeannie smiled. "That's for saving Meredith as many times as you have," she explained. "I realized I hadn't thanked you and I-"
"Thanks," John interrupted quickly. "I kinda like having him around, don't I, Meredith?"
"Actually, we make a pretty good team," Rodney replied after an initial wince. "Any idea when this is going to start? Ketterman's saving the good food until after the ceremony."
John shrugged looked around the balcony at all of the people waiting. "They'll get here," he assured Rodney without much faith. The last time he'd let Elizabeth stay late in a meeting she'd collapsed. He wasn't ready for that again. Carson had warned her. They'd tried to cut her schedule back; force her to slow down, but Elizabeth kept going at the same frantic pace. In the back of his mind it suddenly made sense. He remembered going like that, pushing his body until he couldn't feel the pain in his heart over the screaming of his muscles. He knew what she was running from; he just hoped he'd be able to keep up.
The fighting sticks clashed over her head and Teyla jammed her elbow back and up, feeling Ronon's slick skin against her own. Sweat filled her hair, running hot down the back of her neck into her workout top. Hit, parry, retreat, and then he knocked her down to the mat.
Blood rushed in her head, feeling his body thump down on top of her as he pinned her. She slammed her hand into his chest instinctually, feeling the pounding of his heart beneath the musculature. Hunger raged inside of her, desperate to be stated as it ate at her control.
Teyla had picked Ronon, forced Michael's mind to focus on him. Michael had contemplated other victims. He toyed heavily with the idea of John or Carson, but as soon as Michael's mind had wandered across Elizabeth she'd focused every part of her being on Ronon. He was the strongest, she promised Michael; the biggest challenge, the brightest life, but none of that convinced him. It was letting her guard down that did it.
The love she'd kept in her heart tipped Michael towards Ronon. Teyla could taste blood in her mouth, feel the weight of Ronon's heaving chest against hers; she needed him. Michael and the Wraith mind told her she needed his life, but she'd loved him longer than that. She'd needed him since before the Wraith were born. In the darkest corner of her mind, the last part he hadn't been able to touch, Teyla kept her hope. Ronon could fight her. He could hold her off, resist anything Michael tried to do.
His head was centimeters away from hers. Breath rushed from his lips, hot and moist against her skin. Her flesh crawled with hunger. Her hand was ineffectual. She lacked the Wraith orifice to drain his life and she dug in her nails in protest.
As the new pain from her fingernails tore into the flesh of his chest, he grunted; both surprised and aroused. His blood was up and as hot as the knot in her stomach. He crushed her lips, devouring the firmness of them as he took them as trophies. For a moment her passion overtook Michael's control and Teyla kissed him as she had wanted too. She fought back, running her teeth against his lower lip before they parted.
With their eyes centimeters apart, eternity passed between them. Teyla felt her fragile victory slipping as Michael resumed control of her body. She wondered what Ronon saw as Michael forced her back beneath his consciousness. Drowning in darkness, Ronon's brown eyes were the last thing she saw of her own accord.
Michael whipped her arm up, catching Ronon under the chin. Twisting her body against the mat, she slipped from beneath him. Michael lashed out with her arm and her fist, driving it into the back of Ronon's skull. His breath escaped his lungs in a rush as he collapsed to the mat.
"It would be a waste to kill him without feeding," Michael whispered to her, "all that energy..."
Teyla understood the hunger and the desperate desire to drain all the power from the unconscious form of the giant before her. Michael's memories of feeding promised an experience unlike anything she had ever felt. The singular, perfect sensation of being entirely filled and for that moment wanting nothing else from the universe was tantalizing in a way nothing in life had been before. Fulfillment was possible. She could find peace.
They were running; tearing down the hallway, then up the stairs. They hid in the shadows, moving with a shared grace that became more Wraithlike as they continued. He led them to the armory, where they retrieved one of the small Wraith stunners. She was relieved he hadn't chosen one of the deadly weapons. Had she been able to steer his hand?
Michael held back as they passed the infirmary. Teyla could feel the disgust and terror rip through them as his memories of the retrovirus flooded his mind. He set their jaw tightly, biting their lip as he made up his mind. She had wondered how he planned to get out of the city. As they rounded the corner, weapon up and pointed at the back of Carson's head, sick realization settled in her stomach.
"Teyla, love," he startled at the sound of footsteps behind him and sighed, relieved it was her. It took a few beats of her heart before he saw the weapon. "What's going on?" The fear in Carson's eyes lanced through her painfully as Michael's anger exploded in her stomach.
Then fear solidified into terror and Carson understood what he saw. Teyla's eyes had already begun to change.
Jack sat lazily on the edge of the bed in Elizabeth's quarters. He toyed with the brass buttons on the jacket Ladon had given him. The Genii dress uniform was dark grey and double breasted, but it was nicer than anything he'd been able to scrounge up. He hadn't ever expected that his wedding with Sam would be in another Galaxy on an Ancient city in a strange uniform.
Elizabeth washed her face with the coldest water she could coax from the sink in her bathroom. Her hair was getting longer, curling down her back and getting thicker as it grew. She toyed with a piece, wondering how stress could actually be good for her hair. Then she remembered something she'd heard. Why hadn't she paid more attention when her friends had gotten pregnant? Or even listened to one of her mother's stories...
Her head ached again and the edges of her vision were a little fuzzy. Her stomach twisted and promised to make the rest of the night more difficult. Elizabeth avoided looking at her own nearly naked form in the mirror. Her body was changing faster than she wanted to deal with. Her stomach was rounded outward just enough for her pants not to fit comfortably. Carter's were thankfully still baggy enough not to bite. She sighed and turned away.
John's package sat in the corner, right where he'd promised to leave it. She unwrapped the rough paper. Soft red fabric flowed over her fingers. Elizabeth put her free hand over her mouth and stifled her tiny cry. It was beautiful; deep, multifaceted red that must have been dyed in by hand. Like everything else she'd seen in the trade villages on Pegasus it had been stitched carefully by hand as well. She pulled it on over her head, feeling the dress settle lovingly over her skin. Intricate laces tightened hung loosely in the back and she reached around but couldn't.
"Would you?" she called finally to Jack in the bedroom.
"Are you indecent?" Jack teased as he wandered in with a playful leer on his face. "I didn't get a bachelor's party..." he trailed off and whistled gently when she turned around. The cut of the dress fell deeply over her fuller breasts before clinging attractively to her stomach.
"Are you sure it's my wedding?" he remarked lightly as he turned her around to lace up the back. Thin cords slipped tight beneath his fingers and Jack paused to admire how it accentuated the curve of her back. "You look amazing," he assured her. "Who knew John had any taste..."
Elizabeth started to playfully hit his shoulder in defense of John but then stopped and shrugged. "I had no idea," she admitted with a tiny smile. The dress swirled around her feet and drifted over the floor. It felt funny to wear it with her combat boots, but extra shoes hadn't been in her backpack when she'd left Earth the last time. "I don't think he's even seen me in a dress."
"Well," Jack began as he offered his arm to her. "It's a good thing it's not his wedding. I think you'd have to have that Ronon stand behind him and hit him to remind Sheppard to speak."
"I, General Jack O'Neill, being recently convinced that you are the only person I could ever spend the rest of my life with," Jack began in a jovial tone before he turned serious. Sam's eyes were blue and liquid as she stared across at him. He could have stood there forever, "do promise," he continued, "before our friends...our family, to love you with all I've got until the end of our days...and nights together."
"Sam?" Elizabeth asked softly, watching a tear escape the other woman's blonde lashes. "Do you promise, before these assembled guests, to love Jack with all of your heart, until the end of your time together?"
"I, Colonel Samantha Carter, do promise," Sam stopped for a second, tightening the death grip on his hands, "before our family and friends, to love you with all of my heart until the end of our time together."
"Then by the power of my office as Governor of the city of Atlantis," Elizabeth paused and cleared her tears from her throat. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the general," she teased from her position at the front of the balcony.
In the silence, even Elizabeth's heartbeat seemed loud. Jack and Sam looked at each other. The silence turned to rustling and muttering as the crowd waited.
"Hasn't it been long enough already?" Daniel coughed and whispered from his place at Sam's side.
Jack caught Sam's chin. "I love you," he promised more sincerely than he'd ever been in the long years of his life.
She stood on her tiptoes, bringing their lips just close enough to excite the crowd. "I love you too, Jack," Sam finished before closing the distance between their lips.
It was as if all present had been waiting for that kiss. The roar of the crowd drowned out the racing of Elizabeth's heart. Teal'c cheered at Jack's side, and someone Daniel kissed her cheek with giddy enthusiasm. Cameron squeezed her shoulder, thanking her with his eyes before SG-1 surrounded their newly married members.
Her head spun wildly with the chaos around her but she couldn't help smiling. If she passed out now, she'd still be smiling. Warmth and strength closed around her body and she clung to the hand draped over her shoulder.
"You're beautiful," John whispered as he rested his chin on her other shoulder.
"John, I-" Elizabeth started as she turned her head. His eyes cut through the terror she'd been fighting in her heart; he knew. It was all over his face that he knew, but she still had to say it. The crowd was cheering and goading Sam and Jack on as the kiss continued but all she could hear was him.
"John," she started again, looking down at the hand he had on her stomach before she looked back up.
The alarm shattered the wedding. Bates' internal security alarm had been tripped and the screaming siren ruined the merriment. Elizabeth felt desperation settle cold in the pit of her stomach.
"For crying out loud," Jack yelled at the ceiling. "This is my goddamned wedding for Christ sakes..."
Elizabeth pulled her earpiece out of her boot and jammed it into her ear. Sergeant Bates' voice carried through the siren.
"One of the jumpers just went through the gate," he reported grimly. "It appeared to be Teyla and Doctor Beckett."
John shared her confusion. Mouthing: "Teyla and Beckett?" as he waited for the rest of the report.
"Scramble Major Lorne's team and go after them," Elizabeth ordered quickly. Teyla and Carson had no reason to steal a jumper. Confusion settled in when desperation and disappointment faded. "I'll be right down..."
John stayed glued to her side as she made her way to Jack and Sam.
"One of the jumpers has been stolen," she explained and apologized in the same breath. Major Lorne's team is going after it but I should..."
"Let him handle it," Jack suggested, he had seen how much color she'd lost in the short ceremony. The rich red of the dress only made her seem paler. "Is there anything you can do from control you can't do from here? This is a once in a millennia event. Do you know how many wagers of aliens are riding on this very moment?"
John managed a smile but Elizabeth couldn't stir one.
"He's right," Sam agreed; a tear still glistening on her cheek. "All of our lives are so short, so precarious now...we can't afford to waste a single moment. Trust your people."
John nodded at her side. He hated to agree with them. He wanted to be there fighting to bring Teyla and Beckett both home. Jack's eyes flickered to Elizabeth and he followed the general's gaze. The concern on Jack's face was genuine. Elizabeth's skin was cold to the touch as she held his hand. She needed to sit, not to run up to control and worry. Ronon, Zelenka, Lorne, Bates...they could figure it out.
"Come on," John urged gently as he took a step towards the table filling with fresh food, "they can always radio you if they need us."
"It's the first Atlantian wedding for the last ten thousand years," Daniel pointed out as he arrived with Vala on his arm and several cups of sparking wine.
Vala handed across a cup of water to Elizabeth. "And you did a lovely job," she complemented. "You kept it short."
Teal'c's smile infected the team, and soon Cameron started to chuckle.
John hugged her shoulders. "You did great," he promised soothingly. Elizabeth appreciated the gesture, but she knew he was worrying just as much as she was. It made his kiss on the cheek all the more genuine as Daniel started to lead a toast.