Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard
Pairing: Sparky
Spoilers: This takes place sometime after The Tower, so I guess anything before that is fair game.
Disclaimer: I still don't own them or Firefly.
Summary: Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.
Author's note: Yeah, so this is definitely not going to be done before new Atlantis starts on Friday. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but its definitely more than I can write and post in two days. Anyway, I hope you're still enjoying the story! And now back to Elizabeth...
Chapter 10- The recessional
After Imely left, Elizabeth didn't really know what to think. Their conversation had left her rather mentally drained, so instead of attempting to puzzle through the endgame of the Genii, she went back to work on her bindings. Quietly. She assumed there were people guarding the cellar door, so it seemed that her best chance at escape would be when they came to move her. If she could manage to get free before that then maybe she could hit at least one guard over the head with a jar or something and slip by the others. Her plan after that was to run away, even if it meant getting lost in the forest. It wasn't the most sophisticated strategy, but Atlantis would eventually send a team to look for them, so staying on this world was important.
The repetitive motion of wearing down the rope lulled her into almost a trance where her mind drifted aimlessly for a while before eventually coming to settle on Imely's last words to her. She must have given too much of her personal feelings for John away when she was trying to be nice and console the disappointed fiancé. Big faker she turned out to be. Elizabeth didn't know if it was a result of the her impending capture by the Genii or her spinning head not working correctly, but somewhere in that swirl of random thoughts she realized that she couldn't classify what she felt for John as just a crush any longer. She had tried for so long to write off her feelings for him as a simple attraction or a stubborn infatuation. It was obvious now that what she felt for him went much deeper and way beyond friendship. The fact that her feelings had endured for this long, despite her repeated attempts to deny them meant that they weren't going to go away anytime soon.
Yet, unlike Imely had suggested, she couldn't just tell John how she felt. All of those reasons, the ones she had previously used to try to overcome her crush on him, still existed. Despite what she felt and what she wanted, the reality of the situation was that they had to work together. And they already had a good, albeit not romantic, relationship. John probably was her best friend in Atlantis, and she didn't know how she would function without his candid advice and support, both personally and professionally. It was something that she just couldn't afford to jeopardize. Elizabeth tried not to dwell on the sadness that filled her with this last revelation, but in the seconds that followed she wished she could return to that self-delusion she had been living in, more or less happily, only a few days ago.
Then her attention was drawn by several thumping sounds above her. Elizabeth stilled, not wanting her captors realizing that she was trying to escape, however unrealistic the attempt would be. Bright light again flooded the room as the door at the top of the stairs opened and this time she recognized the profile in the doorway. It was Ronon. Elizabeth watched as he glanced around the room before his eyes settled on her, looking relieved.
He quickly made his way down the stairs, coming to kneel beside her. "Let's get out of here."
"I like that plan," Elizabeth said, bending forward a little to give him room slide a knife under her bonds. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ronon smirk a little in response. "Did you find the others?"
Ronon nodded, "Lorne was tied up in a barn with me. After we both got free he went to look for the rest of his team and I came to find you."
Elizabeth felt the rope snap and stretched her arms, trying to work out some of the stiffness from being tied for several hours. Then she took Ronon's hand and let him pull her up to stand next to him. This sudden movement caused her world to shift violently. She couldn't help but let out a small groan and reach out to catch her balance. Ronon managed to grab an arm to steady her, his other hand pressed firmly against her back. Elizabeth was grateful for the help and after a moment her vision cleared.
"Are you going to be okay to walk?" Ronon asked quietly.
"I think so. Whatever they gave us really hasn't agreed with me." Elizabeth drew in a calming breath, feeling a bit better. "Besides it's not like I have a choice, right."
Ronon gave her a long look and then handed her a tac vest, "Here put this on. We're meeting Lorne at the well. Then we're going to try to get back to the gate."
Elizabeth put on the vest, happily noticing that Ronon had all his weapons back, at least the ones she could see. "Let's go."
"Stay close to me and try to keep quiet." He instructed.
She followed Ronon up the stairs, taking note of two guards sprawled out on the floor, and then out of the house. The well was on one side of the property, fairly near the forest. Ronon led her through deep shadows, keeping close to the buildings for cover. They ran into two more guards on the way, but managed to stun them quickly. After each guard had been subdued they both crouched, waiting to see if they had been heard before continuing. Elizabeth didn't know how long it took them to reach the well, only not to find Lorne's team there.
"We should go back for Lorne." She said quietly, trying to look for them in the shadows. It was a cloudy night and therefore rather hard to see.
Ronon shook his head, "We wait five minutes and then I try to get you back. Thats what we decided."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest, but then Lorne's team emerged from some shadows at a nearby stand of trees. The Major held up one hand in greeting and then tilted his head toward the forest.
"Good to see you Dr. Weir." Lorne said once they had met up in the cover of the trees.
"You too Major," Elizabeth replied with a smile.
"I don't suppose you know why all this is going on?" He asked in a low tone, as Ronon handed over two more tac vests to the team.
"Well, they were going to hand us over to the Genii."
Lorne looked thoughtful, "Huh. But I thought we-"
"Yeah I thought so too," She said quietly. "But Imely said thats who she was receiving-"
"Sheppard's fiancé?" Now he looked surprised. "I didn't see that one coming."
Elizabeth shrugged.
"Hey," Ronon interrupted their whispered conversation now that the team was ready. "We should leave now."
"Right. The gate is this way." Lorne immediately got back to the business of their escape. "My concern is that we have to cross that grassland to reach it. It was too easy to get out of the farm, so that means they'll have people guarding the gate, and we'll be easy to see without cover."
"Atlantis will send a team eventually," Ronon pointed out.
"Yeah, that's what I'm counting on. Hopefully we won't have to wait that long." Lorne looked at her, suddenly concerned. "Are you okay ma'am?"
Elizabeth carefully nodded. The spinning feeling was returning now that some of her adrenalin was wearing off. "Just a little dizzy. I'll be fine."
Lorne paused and then nodded. If Elizabeth hadn't been watching him carefully she wouldn't have noticed his eyes flick quickly over to Ronon before saying, "All right. Lets head out then."
Their flight to the gate was a blur for Elizabeth. They quickly moved through the forest, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Partway through the journey her balance started faltering; causing her steps to sway, and it took her a while to realize that Ronon had a hand on her arm to keep her steady. Not too much later her vision started clouding over and suddenly she wasn't walking anymore, but rather was being carried. She was too out of it to protest, instead watching the trees blur past. Elizabeth thought she saw the stargate across a meadow and then a puddlejumper appearing before everything faded to darkness.
TBC