A/N: So, here we go with the next chapter … I know, it took me quite a while to get it done, but life etc. etc. … you know the drill.
Anyways, I hope you like this one! I'd love to hear, or better read what you think! Which reminds me: THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the reviews I received! I loved each and every one of them :-D
As always the other incredible huge THANK YOU goes to my wonderful beta enough, who always does amazing things to my texts :-))))

A/N No. 2: I've updated this chapter already a few hours ago, but there were some mysterious problems. I hope it works this time. Tell me, if there are still problems ...

6. Names and Games

"So this is where you think we're going to find the perfect wedding gifts?" One and a half hours of driving, three phone calls to his sister and two times asking strangers for the right way later John and Elizabeth had finally reached shopping centre the art shop was hidden in.

And now, looking around in a room that felt more like a museum than a shop John honestly doubted if it was worth it. He had absolutely no clue what anyone would do with the stuff this store was full of.

"Yeah, Simon likes African Art." Elizabeth answered. She was also busy looking around, but while John was mystified, Elizabeth was fascinated.

John turned around to her in order to ask her what kind of a guy this Simon was, but couldn't bring himself to say a word when he saw the look on her face. As she was strolling between the different paintings, sculptures, masks and figures, she was smiling blissfully at the items, like they were living beings with souls. Unaware of John's observation Elizabeth continued to talk, although John wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to herself. "This is so beautiful, isn't it? It seems so natural. These works come from all over Africa and a lot of them are used in indigenous rituals. They often have symbolic functions … "

John genuinely tried to follow her monologue, but the look on the doctor's face was too distracting. Like a child in a candy shop, John smiled inwardly, completely caught in her own world … and she's even more beautiful without that strange distance in her eyes.

"… stand for honesty and beauty …"

"Beautiful indeed." John only became aware that he had expressed his thought aloud when he noticed Elizabeth's irritated look. Damn! Caught blatantly staring – again, John reflected as he watched the enthusiasm that had lit up Elizabeth's face so beautifully disappeared, leaving a harsh contrast..

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bore ..."

"No, please, I mean, you're absolutely right, you … " John cut her off immediately, desperately looking for a way to keep her poker face from appearing again. "… I mean I can't imagine how anyone can live without those stunning dust catchers around. My life suddenly appears empty."

"Well, that's the spirit." Elizabeth smirked back and probably for the millionth time in his life John inwardly thanked his father for passing on to him the "genetic diabolic cuteness", as his mother had always called it, most of the time while shaking her head in surrender. His dad, on the other hand, had christened it "the Sheppard-gift".

And Elizabeth seemed to be very susceptible to the gift, because now she was not only grinning, but smiling back at him with her whole face.

For the second time in mere hours John and Elizabeth seemed to get lost in each other.

I'm falling… John's epic line of thinking and their moment became once more victims of rude interruption. This time it was one of the saleswoman who was politely addressing them. "Hello, can I help you?"

For both, John and Elizabeth, it was like waking up with a start. Whereas John coughed subtly and declined for them, Elizabeth turned away, desperately praying that she was not blushing.

The saleswoman couldn't help but smile at the two adults looking like teenagers being caught making out. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Her retreat was accompanied by most innocent nodding on John and Elizabeth's side.

After the woman was gone John shook himself inwardly, took a deep breath and raised his eyes to Elizabeth again, only to realize that she was yet again focused on the "exhibits". Luckily for Elizabeth, John never knew what it cost her to ignore the latest attack of mean butterflies on her stomach and appear so engaged in art.

John instead decided to take another try on humor. "How about this one?" He asked Elizabeth, pointing at a small wooden statue of a fertility goddess. "Anni'd be thrilled if we gave them this."

At first Elizabeth giggled, but only until she'd processed his words altogether. Anni? Who the hell is Anni? Elizabeth wondered … and her thought wandered back to their first meeting. For a weird reason Elizabeth decided not to ponder over, she still could hear the words he'd said on the phone in the elevator. I love you, too … Bye, bye baby. Okay then, so"baby" seemed to have a name now. But Anni? Why did these girls always have to have such ridiculous names? Were real names out of fashion? Anni … Tiffy … Sandy …. Men, it was always the same with them!

While the major part of Elizabeth's mind was talking itself into a rage, a quiet voice tried to convince her that she really had no reason to become angry, after all, it was not like they were having "something". Maybe she had just misinterpreted his behavior …

"You alright? You seem a little …"

John's voice pulled Elizabeth out of her thoughts. It was also only then that she became conscious how close he was standing all of a sudden.

Distancing herself from him, Elizabeth answered. "What? Ahm, I mean yeah, of course. Everything's just peachy." She wasn't even able to muster the effort to keep the sarcasm from her reply, although the voice inside her mind still tried to fight the losing battle of convincing her that she had no right to blame John Sheppard of all people for her collected failures with diverse representatives of the mean men folk.

John for his part couldn't help but notice the strange undertone her voice had adopted unexpectedly. I'm probably simply imagining things, he concluded and decided to take one step forward.

"What would you want to have for your presents? Would your … boyfriend like dust catchers as well?" John hadn't been able or brave enough to look in her eyes throughout his second question and was therefore more than a bit startled when he took in Elizabeth's aggravated reply."Would you please stop that?!"

"What?" Looking up from his feet he felt scared and attracted at the same time by the way her hands were resting on her hips and her eyes were sparkling.

"For starters you could stop laughing about these artifacts since they represent entire cultures, and then … How can you? I mean, you … and …". While speaking her hands had left her hips and were now flying around frantically.

Okay, maybe I wasn't only imagining things. She is mad.

And hot for that matter.

But still he had no clue about the reasons why she was mad – and hot . "No offense, really, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

His calmly articulated utterance seemed to infuriate her even more. Some other people in the shop had already taken the precaution of putting some distance between themselves and Elizabeth's flying hands. "I mean … there was … there was a moment! At the main entrance of the university we had a moment. There was … something!"

This is getting nowhere. Although her desperation was genuinely entertaining John had to stop her to finally get to know what was going on. "Okay, and the problem lies where?"

"You know what? I have a lot of work to do and I don't have time for this. Go and play with your Tiffy-Sandy-Anni-bunny-baby-honey or whatever."

Running his hand through his hair in a most desperate gesture, John was truly close to giving up any attempts to understand women in general. But at this point the situation was too crazy to throw in the towel; he had to know what had changed the beautiful doctor's behavior in the span of a few seconds. Accordingly, John followed Elizabeth as she was trying to stalk away from him. As smoothly as possible he grabbed her arm to stop her and positioned himself in front of her.

"Would you please explain the problem you seem to have with me? Slow, short sentences, one syllable words. Just humor me; please."

That did it. Elizabeth couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Don't you play innocent! First you … you … do your … prince-charming-attractive-flyboy-routine on me and in the next second you talk about your girlfriend, wife, good lay or whatever! It's always the same!" It was only the irritated and curious looks of the other people in the store that kept Elizabeth from screaming.

In any other circumstances John would have had a good laugh on hearing her saying something like "good lay", but right now he was too busy trying to find out what was bothering her so much.

"My what? I don't have … " And then it dawned on John. Anni. She was talking about Anni.
"Anni is my sister." He said, slowly emphasizing word after word as if he was talking to a child.

"How could that be? How many sisters do you think you have?"

"Just the one you know as far as I'm aware."

"But her name is Finn for heaven's sake!"

John had to muster a lot of self-discipline to avoid laughing at her. "Okay, I know this is not easy: I have one sister, we live together in our parents' house and she works at the university, just like you do. On the same page so far?" John looked at her with big questioning eyes, while she only raised an eyebrow. "I take that as a yes. The name of that sister of mine is Annika Josephine."

"What about … ? I mean …"

"Finn?" John said helpfully. Elizabeth nodded.

"Finn is the "cool" nickname she gave herself when she started getting rebellious. Didn't want to be a child anymore."

"And you … ?"

"Still use Anni since it annoys the hell out of her."

"But …" Elizabeth Weir had never been so speechless in her whole life.

"And as for that phone call back in New York: That was also my dear sister."

"You say 'bye bye baby' to your sister?"

"Eavesdropping?"

Smug bastard. "Making phone calls in tiny elevators? Nobody in that damn elevator had a choice but listen!"

"Whatever you say. But yes, I said 'bye bye baby' to Anni. I wanted to annoy her because we had an argument and she was harassing me over the phone."

Shit. "Shit." Elizabeth swore in a whisper. "I have to go." Speechless and embarrassed. The former diplomat literally prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her. But since she estimated that the odds for this to happen would be against her, she beat a retreat when his phone surprisingly started to ring.

"Elizabeth, wait", he attempted to stop her until he checked the display of the cell phone. Sumner calling, it said.
"Damn, I have to … "

She didn't hear the end of his sentence or even his phone call any more. Passing him without looking at him she practically ran out of the store.

I didn't … there was a moment.John silently - and belatedly – agreed with Elizabeth, but found himself now denied of the possibility to tell her that. She would be long gone before Sumner would come only close to an end.

Crap/Elizabeth was right/ There was something/Elizabeth/Something special/Something worth of following/Something worth pissing off superiors…

And John Sheppard would be damned if he didn't go after that something that might be worth everything. Switching off his phone brusquely he started sprinting after her.