Just Married
Summary: It was supposed to be just your average alien celebration… only by morning John Sheppard will be waking up a married man to none other than Doctor Elizabeth Weir.
A/N: John and the team go on their first mission since their 'marriage' only for things to go from bad to worse as it results in a bad fight!
Part Twelve "From Bad to Worse"
"No Colonel! Get back to the Stargate! We'll send the puddle jumper to find her once you've returned! It's too dangerous!"
"She'll be dead by the time we send the jumper! I have to get to her now!" John told her through the radios.
"Colonel Sheppard, I ORDER you to head towards the gate with the rest of your team!"
"Ronan can protect Rodney, Elizabeth! He can get Rodney to the gate with the ZPMs. I have to do this!"
"John I gave you an order! Now follow it! It's not worth it if you get yourself killed! Just trust me, we will get Teyla back. We have a jumper ready just as soon as you get back. It's too dangerous John, don't try to be the hero here."
"I'm sorry Elizabeth… but I won't let her die!" John turned off his radio and turned to look at Ronan and McKay. "Head towards the gate and get outta here! I'll get Teyla."
Ronan frowned. "I'll go with you."
"What?!" exclaimed Rodney.
"No, I need you to help McKay get the ZPMs to Atlantis. This mission was for nothing if we lose those ZPMs. Go, I'll be fine."
Ronan nodded hesitantly.
McKay frowned. "Elizabeth wants us all to come back. You're disobeying orders."
"Teyla will be dead by the time they find her in the jumper! There's no time to argue McKay, just go!"
Rodney sighed. It would be a waste to try and talk Sheppard out of it. Ronan grabbed McKay's arm and propelled him forward while John headed the other way towards the creature that had taken Teyla.
"What's going on?" General O'Neill asked as he rushed over to Doctor Weir.
Elizabeth frowned. "Teyla's been taken by some creature."
"Did they find the ZPMs."
"Yes, but Colonel Sheppard believes Teyla will be dead by the time they return. He's gone after her."
The two walked down the steps of the control room, watching the gate activate. Elizabeth glanced at Jack, trying to suppress her anger and fear. Finally the code came in and the shield was lowered just before two figures ran through… Ronan and McKay. "Great," Elizabeth muttered sarcastically under her breath. The gate deactivated soon after. Weir and O'Neill walked towards the two. "Are you two okay?"
Ronan nodded as he cradled his left arm, it didn't look good. Elizabeth could feel her stomach twist as she saw how much blood Ronan was losing. "The beast got me pretty good, but I'm fine."
The General raised an eyebrow, wincing as he took a better look at Ronan's injured arm. "You certainly look it."
"Get to the infirmary… have Doctor Wallace look at that," she ordered, ignoring General O'Neill.
Rodney was breathing hard as he talked, obviously tired from the run towards the gate. "The Colonel's going after Teyla. We tried to stop him, but he ordered us to get back to Atlantis."
"It's fine Rodney. Go get checked out by Simon."
Rodney nodded, and then looked down at the ZPMs they'd managed to grab from the abandoned Ancient outpost. "We found the ZedPMs in storage; they're all at full power. We could fly the city to Earth if we wanted to."
Elizabeth nodded. "Get checked out first, and then you can do with the ZPMs what you will."
McKay nodded, walking away towards the infirmary. At least there were two people listening to her…. Elizabeth sighed.
When the gate activated again an hour later, Elizabeth rushed to the control room, both relieved and terrified at the same time. Chuck turned to look at her. "It's Colonel Sheppard, ma'am. He has Teyla."
"Lower the shield!"
Chuck nodded, lowering the shield. The two waited, staring at the shimmering pool anxiously. Finally John came through, holding an unconscious Teyla in his arms. She was bleeding badly. "I need a medic!" he shouted.
Elizabeth moved a hand to her radio. "Simon! Get down here now! Teyla's hurt!"
After shutting back off her radio, she ran down to the gate room. "What happened?!"
"I found her lying in this cave. The beast was nowhere in sight until I took her. I had to hurry to get back before the beast got me. For a second I wasn't sure I'd make it." With each word he struggled to catch his breath. It was obvious John was going to collapse soon if he didn't take a moment to rest.
Simon ran into the gateroom along with one of the other Doctors. John laid her down gently onto the gurney. "She's lost a lot of blood. I didn't have time to try and stop the bleeding."
"Then that's our first priority," Simon told him. "Alright, let's get her out of here."
Sheppard helped Doctor Wallace and Doctor Freeman wheel her down to the infirmary, Elizabeth walking behind them. Simon took it from there once they were in the infirmary, leaving Sheppard and Elizabeth behind. John could see the disappointed look on Weir's face the moment he looked at her. "Look, I know I disobeyed your orders, Elizabeth, but I knew it'd be too late if I left her on that planet. She might be dead by now if I hadn't done what I did."
Elizabeth didn't say a word for a few second, choosing to ignore his excuse. "Have Simon call me when he finishes with Teyla. I'd like to know if she's going to be okay," she told Sheppard then turned around and left.
John frowned, knowing he was in trouble by the look in her eyes.
Once Simon had assured John that Teyla was just fine, and that the wounds weren't as bad as they looked, Sheppard left to wash up. After changing into a fresh uniform he headed towards Elizabeth's office, knowing he would have to explain himself. It was almost becoming routine. First he would disobey her to save the world… or a member of his team, and then he'd go and apologize for it. She couldn't be too mad at him could she? It wasn't like it really was the first time he'd done something like this. Yeah, he'd be fine… she'd admit that everything worked out and then tell him not to do it again, he'd agree and they'd be fine again. Yup, everything was gonna be fine.
John took a deep breath as he reached Elizabeth's office, noticing she was sitting at her desk. She was silently reading over a report while massaging her temples. That wasn't good. She also looked a little pail and worn down. John silently took a seat opposite her on the other side of her desk. Elizabeth looked up slowly. "Colonel," she greeted coldly.
Okay… so maybe he wasn't going to be fine. Sheppard almost shivered at the blizzard coming his way after her greeting. He'd known he'd have to explain himself, but he never thought it'd be this bad. "I just wanted to-"
"Colonel Sheppard, I don't have the time to discuss this," she interrupted.
"Elizabeth-"
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "Dismissed," she interrupted once more.
John was shocked to say the least. This was not what he'd expected. "Yell at me, do whatever you want! Just please… stop this-"
"Colonel, by tomorrow I have to be ready to return to Shatish's planet on the Daedalas to discuss our trade agreements. So I'm very busy right now. Dismissed."
Now John was getting a little annoyed. It wasn't like he hadn't broken the rules before, so what made this so different? "Elizabeth, I came here to apologize!"
"For what, John? Refusing to obey orders for the hundredth time? Why do you even bother apologizing anymore? It's not like your not going to do it again the next time someone from your team is in trouble. I don't want to hear your excuses and I don't want to hear you apologize for something when you don't mean a word of it!"
"Teyla is a member of my team! I care about what happens to her! I wasn't about to just leave her there and you know that!"
"And you think I care any less about what happens to Teyla?! She is just as important to me as she is to you! She's a friend, John, and I didn't want to see her die anymore than you did!" Elizabeth shouted, standing up.
John stood, matching her stance. His hands planted on the desk, their faces mere inches apart. "It sure didn't seem that way when you ordered me to the gate! We don't leave our people behind!"
"That beast was the size of a T-Rex, Colonel! I wasn't about to let you sacrifice your life like that! I would have sent the jumper just as soon as you got back! I asked you to trust me! Obviously our friendship isn't enough to prove to you that I'm worthy of being in charge of Atlantis."
"Now don't start putting words in my mouth! I never said that!"
"You didn't have to! Actions speak louder than words Sheppard!"
"I didn't follow your orders because I knew if I left Teyla might be dead right now! And the last time this happened I saved everyone's life remember?! I was right to do what I did! And I was right this time too!"
"Really? You wanna try your hand at running Atlantis too?!"
"Elizabeth-"
"I'm in charge here, Colonel! I am! Not you! I give the orders! You follow them!" Elizabeth pushed away from the desk, shaking her head. It was then that John realized tears were falling down her face. She was crying? "You know, I knew this would happen! I just knew it! I don't know why I ever believed we could work through what happened between us. This is why the Armed Forces have rules against fraternization. I should have known better."
John closed his eyes, sighing. "Elizabeth-"
"Just go," she whispered.
"But I-"
"I don't want to hear it! Just go!"
John closed his mouth, watching her wipe the tears from her eyes, trying to gain back her control. Without saying another word, he left her office.
He was frustrated. Okay, that was a lie. He was angry, beyond angry! He was so sick of women! No, that was a lie too. He was sick of Doctor Elizabeth Weir! Everything had been going so great while they'd been on that stupid planet! He'd finally gotten to the point where he could admit he cared about Elizabeth a lot more than he was probably supposed to! They had finally gotten to a place where there was no tension between them! He knew she cared about him. She knew he cared about her. Everything was going great! They'd agreed to wait, John was willing, but they'd only been 'waiting' for a few days and suddenly everything was screwed up! First Simon Wallace, then that completely idiotic fight! Over what?! He wasn't even sure what the fight had been about! Elizabeth knew him well enough to know how he operated. He never left a man behind! Never! She'd known that before she'd even decided to make him a part of the expedition!
John slammed his coffee mug down, too furious to drink. Normally when he was this angry he'd go spar with Ronan or Teyla, unfortunately both were in the infirmary….
"You know, if you're frustrated enough that you can't sleep, coffee isn't going to help," came a voice from the commissary door.
John frowned when he saw Simon Wallace walk toward him. "Really? I had no idea!" John barked sarcastically.
Simon raised his hands in mock surrender. "Easy! You can drop the gun!" Simon shot back, slowly walking towards John.
John deflated, knowing he was being a jerk. He didn't even know Simon; it was fair to be angry at a guy he didn't even really know. "Sorry."
"It's okay… I heard about the fight. Word travels fast here. Apparently Elizabeth's office isn't sound proof."
John smiled at that. "What'd you hear?"
Simon shrugged. "Oh, just that you got into a bit of trouble for disregarding Elizabeth's order to fall back to Atlantis. I wouldn't be too worried about it through."
"And why not?"
Simon sighed, shaking his head. "She still cares about you. Believe me, we were together for years… Elizabeth may have changed here in Atlantis, but she's still Elizabeth." Simon smiled for a second, as if reliving a memory. "I know her too well."
"I would have thought you'd be happy… she's why you're here isn't she?"
Simon raised an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't miss a beat. "It doesn't matter why I'm here. The only person she wants is you."
"It sure didn't look that way when I watched you two hugging the other day," John shot back.
Simon laughed at that. "You mean in the infirmary? You're kidding right? The reason why we were hugging is because I was trying to make her feel better… by being a friend. She was upset because you blew her off when she asked you to join her for lunch with the General."
"What?" Could it really be true?
Simon smiled. "She was upset… over you."
John frowned, suddenly feeling like the biggest idiot in three galaxies. All the things he said! He was such an idiot! "Oh…."
Simon laughed at that. "You should probably go talk to her now."
"Isn't it kinda late?"
"She leaves first thing tomorrow… remember? For that planet you two were on before…."
John jumped out of his seat. "Oh great!" he muttered before rushing out of the room. She was gonna hate him for waking her up, but Simon was right. It had to be tonight!
"Isn't it rather late?" Jack asked as he walked into Weir's office and took a seat.
Elizabeth smiled back at him. "Hey… yeah… just trying to get ahead on some paper work before I leave. You'd be amazed at how fast it can pile up," she told him, dropping a folder onto her desk.
Jack smiled at that. "Don't forget who you're talking to. You have a stack on your desk… I have a mountain. If it gets any bigger I'm going to have to bring a shovel everyday to work with me so I can find my desk."
Elizabeth laughed at that. She didn't much feel like laughing, but General O'Neill had a gift.
Jack frowned, obviously noticing she wasn't herself. "So… you alright?"
Elizabeth sighed. John had knowingly disobeyed her orders. She'd had a huge fight with him once he'd returned about the whole thing and realized her fear that their feelings for each other might get in the way of their work. She wasn't even sure if she could continue to work in Atlantis with what had happened between her and John. "To tell you the truth… I don't even know anymore."
Jack seemed to understand. He was a lot smarter than he tried to make people believe. "You'll figure it out, trust me."
Elizabeth smiled. He must have heard about her fight with John. Word traveled fast in Atlantis, something she'd been made aware of more than once. "How can you be so sure?"
Jack just shrugged, and slowly got up from his chair. "You're a genius… it's what you guys do. Believe me; I've been stuck around enough of ya to know these things."
Elizabeth shook her head at that, unable to hide her growing smile as she watched O'Neill walk out of her office. Jack O'Neill was way smarter than he tried to make people thing he was.
John sighed, knocking on the door one last time. 'She's probably asleep you idiot!' He should leave. It was obvious she wouldn't be opening the door anytime soon, and it wasn't like he should be heading in himself. Crap! He'd really screwed this up. He would just have to hope he could patch things up with her before she left… or if not, he'd just have to wait for her to get back. Crap!
To Be Continued…