Chapter Two
After being assigned their own quarters, Meredith had given John and Elizabeth the prerogative to explore the city and see if there were any advances that had been discovered in this version of Atlantis that could be of use to them. In other words, Meredith had told them that they were surplus to requirements, as Carson had excitedly been ushered off to meet...himself and Rodney and Radek had gone to look over the research in the science department. She didn't really mind having nothing to do, in fact, it was rather welcomed, but she felt rather useless as the rest of her team was able to help in some way. The look on John's face indicated that he felt the same way. For him, it was probably even harder; he was used to being at the forefront of the action on missions. Not left wandering around a city he already knew inside out.
Not really knowing what to say, and feeling awkward about Meredith's revelation about the relationship between herself and John in this world, they hadn't said a word to each other in the whole time they were walking aimlessly. Eventually, they ended up in a corner of the mess hall looking into their coffees, trying to ignore the curious stares in their direction. That was until they were joined at their table by a certain John Sheppard. Major Jonathan Sheppard.
'Hey. I've been watching you for five minutes now and you haven't said a word to each other. Did he leave his clothes on the bedroom floor again?' Jonathan teased.
'Okay, let me stop you right there. We're' John waved a hand between him and Elizabeth, 'not together.'
'You're not?' Jonathan asked sounding genuinely surprised.
'No.' Elizabeth assured.
'Sorry. I just assumed.' Jonathan said.
'That's okay. We were equally surprised to find out that we're together here.' Elizabeth said.
'And expecting.' Jonathan said, happily.
'Congratulations. Is there any way I could meet-' Elizabeth asked tentatively.
'Lizzie? She's asleep at the moment, but I'm sure we could arrange something for later.'
Elizabeth was then surprised to see Jonathan's attention drawn away by the view of Laura Cadman walking past them and across the mess hall. Even her John wasn't that blatant in his admiration of the female body. She looked over to her own John who was watching himself with a look of amusement on his face. Jonathan turned back to look at them.
'Finished?' John asked, sarcasm weighing heavy on his voice.
'Sorry. I was thinking.' Jonathan said, lying with ease.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in the direction of her John who looked equally dubious about what Jonathan had just said. Suddenly, Jonathan stood up.
'I've got a few things that I need to be doing. I'll come and find you when Lizzie's feeling better.'
When he was out of ear shot, Elizabeth moved slightly closer to John.
'Did you see that?' She asked.
'I know. Carson's not gonna be happy.' John said.
'I was more thinking about Lizzie. I mean, do you think she knows? How must that make her feel?' Elizabeth asked.
'You tell me?' John asked, cheekily.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him. Clearly she had chosen the wrong person to have a meaningful conversation with about the alternate versions of themselves. It just didn't sit comfortably that Lizzie – or any woman for that matter – was lying asleep somewhere with her unborn child, while the father was seeking cheap thrills eying up other women. She thoroughly doubted that her John would do that, despite Rodney's claims about his likeness to Captain Kirk.
Rodney appeared in the mess hall and grabbed a bagel, before practically skipping in their direction and sitting down next to John.
'Meredith is just fantastic.' Rodney gushed.
'Here we go.' John muttered to her.
'I mean, he's just like me, same ideas, same conclusions about theoretical physics...' Rodney said.
'Who knew it was possible to reach new heights of self-loving when talking about somebody else?' John asked.
Elizabeth suppressed a smile at this and tried to look interested.
'I'm being serious. I mean you should see the solution he had for their power shortages.' Rodney said eagerly.
'I'm all ears.' Elizabeth said.
'Wind power.' Rodney said, smugly. 'They have four generators situated around the city which covers over fifty percent of their energy requirements. Can you believe that? The guy is a genius.'
'Why didn't you think of that?' John asked.
'Well, we've been more focussed on finding ZPMs and the war with the Wraith. Something that Meredith doesn't have playing on his mind.' Rodney said, uncomfortably.
'Or maybe he's just smarter than you?' John suggested, nonchalantly.
'I hardly think so, given the several brilliant ideas that I've had that he hasn't. He was particularly impressed with my ingenious idea of converting the shield into a cloak using technology from the jumpers.' Rodney said.
'Sure, but when is he ever going to need to use that? They don't need to hide from the Wraith. We, on the other hand, do need power.' John pointed out.
'I've had other ideas which could be of use to them.' Rodney said petulantly.
'Name one.' John challenged.
'Gentlemen, can we just give it a rest? For once.' Elizabeth pleaded. 'Where's Radek, by the way?'
'Oh I left him behind to look at the material structures for the generators?'
'If this is such a groundbreaking project, shouldn't you be doing that?' Elizabeth asked.
'The idea was groundbreaking, putting into practice is pretty mundane.' Rodney said, through a mouthful of bagel.
Elizabeth looked away from this sight to see Carson walking towards them, looking just as excited as Rodney had been. She wasn't sure she could cope with them both going into overdrive explaining new discovers in their areas of expertise.
'Oh, Elizabeth, the research that Doctor Beckett has done into the cell structure of Wraiths is just breathtaking.' Carson said.
'Lizzie and Jonathan are having a baby.' John said, out of nowhere.
Each of them turned to look at him, curiously. He looked back at Elizabeth.
'I just wanted to prove that we can do cool stuff too.' He said, defensively.
Elizabeth smiled at him appreciatively, before turning back to look at Carson.
'With some more research, I think we might be able to alter the DNA of future Wraith.'
'No offence, but I'm more interested in the present Wraith.' John said.
'Nevertheless, this breakthrough could save the lives of millions of future generations.' Carson said.
'You will never guess how Meredith has overcome their power shortages.' Rodney said to Carson.
John leant across to Elizabeth, 'How do you fancy continuing our stroll?'
'Love to.' She whispered back.
'Err, we've got plenty to be getting on with, so we'll see you later.' John said.
Quickly, they exited the mess hall before they could become embroiled in another detailed account from Rodney. Once in the corridor again, Elizabeth was reminded of the complete lack of anything for them to do. No paperwork. She couldn't remember the last time she didn't have paperwork to do. In a perverse way, she almost missed it. It gave her a purpose.
'McKay seems happy.' John said.
'Yes. I suppose it's his dream come true.' Elizabeth said.
'I can't say I'm that taken with myself. I'm not like that, right?' John asked.
'No. You haven't got me pregnant for a start.' Elizabeth said, smiling to herself as she walked back to her quarters.
