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: Hey folks, we're winding down to the end. Just a chapter or two left, I think. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys are still enjoying the story!!

Chapter 12- Something new

"… if those two would just realize that they're half in love with each other."

John sighed and pushed the words out of his head. The strain of the day combined with lack of sleep was obviously having an effect on him. He should really go to his quarters and get some rest before the briefing, but he just couldn't leave Elizabeth alone in the infirmary. Having woken up here too many times to count, he knew it was nice to see a friendly face. Elizabeth had stayed with him a number of times and he would do the same for her now. Besides, he knew that he wouldn't be able to fully rest until he saw her awake and unharmed.

After a while of just sitting there listening to the quiet beeping of the infirmary machines, John decided he needed a more comfortable seat, and moved to the chair Rodney had occupied, shifting it closer to the side of Elizabeth's bed. He noticed for the first time the bruises and cuts that ringed both of her wrists. Lorne said they had been restrained and from these injuries it looked like Elizabeth had been trying to escape. He couldn't help but feel proud of her for trying to fight her own way out, of course, knowing Elizabeth she probably would have tried to talk her way out of the situation first. Although the wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, they were a sharp reminder of the day. Well, atleast now she was back safe in Atlantis.

"You're not allowed to do that again, okay. I was really worried." The words left his mouth before he had even realized he was speaking. A quick glance around the room confirmed that they were alone. There weren't any patients spending the night in the infirmary and Carson was behind the closed door of his office. John breathed a sigh of relief, feeling rather exposed talking to an unconscious Elizabeth. He reached out to gently to take her hand. The feel of her hand, warm in his, helped to ground his emotions.

"How about from now on, I get to be the one that gets captured and you get to wait." He added in a soft voice.

Of course there was silence. Talking to Elizabeth was nice, but kind of weird because she couldn't respond. Yet he continued the one-sided conversation, attributing it to his sleep deprived brain.

"While I have you here, I would appreciate a heads up the next time you think Rodney is going to try and talk me into one of his experiments. Chuck did manage to deflect him for a while, but he eventually cornered me in your office, which by the way I'm almost convinced has some sort of magical power to make McKay shut-up...Oh and just so you know, I wouldn't let Rodney blow up the city."

This time there was a quiet moan in response to his comment. John instantly stood from his chair to peer down at Elizabeth's still form on the bed, trying to assess whether she was waking up or if he had just imagined the noise.

"Elizabeth?" He said carefully, watching for any sign of movement. Relief washed over him when finally her eyes fluttered open and then a moment later focused on him.

Elizabeth was floating in a familiar haze. She didn't know why it seemed familiar as her thoughts were too scattered to remember, but it really did feel like she had done this before. The sound of a voice slowly penetrated the cloudiness, helping her fight back to consciousness. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light, but the first thing she noticed was John leaning over her. His expression was entirely unguarded, a mix of concern and relief, tinged with tiredness. She stared at him for a moment, a little confused to exactly what was going on before her memory of the long day returned.

"Hey."

The edges of John's mouth quirked up into a warm smile. "Hey, yourself."

Elizabeth felt a pressure on her hand, realizing that John was holding it tightly. She looked around the room, instantly recognizing it as Atlantis' infirmary. How exactly had she ended up here? Her memory was a foggy after they had started through the forest.

"You're in the infirmary." John said, as if he was reading her mind. "You guys ran into one of the search teams after escaping the farm. You've been back for about an hour now."

"Did everyone make it back okay?"

"Yep, and except for you, with only very minor injuries." A serious look briefly crossed his face. "How are you feeling?"

"A little out of it. My head's all fuzzy." She admitted, and then sifted to sit up. Talking to John from this angle was disorienting.

"Hey, take it easy." John released her hand and put an arm around her shoulders for support, in the process finding the correct button to incline the bed. "Carson says you have a concussion," he explained, settling on the edge of the bed.

"Well, that explains the headache and dizziness." She had been prepared for the throbbing pain and vertigo, although it wasn't as bad as before. "But at least this time I'm not tied up in a cellar." Her attempt at humor failed miserably as John's eyes dropped to her bandaged wrists. From the look of it, they had taken nearly as much damage as the ropes she had been trying to break through.

John surprised her by reaching out to gently trace one of the bandages with a finger, staring at it with a thoughtful expression on his face. When his gaze met hers again, there was a look in his eyes that sent a slight shiver through her, trapping her for a long moment. Before she could figure out what was going on, the spell broke as John snatched the hand back, running it through his hair. "Your wrists will probably sting for a bit, but shouldn't take too much time to heal." He said quickly.

Elizabeth tilted her head a little, regarding her second in command carefully. He was acting kind of weird. Wasn't he? Or was that the head injury talking?

"John, is everything all right?" She asked and then instantly regretted the words. In addition to pain and dizziness, aparrently concussions also resulted in the partial loss of an internal monologue.

"What?" He looked a little flustered. "Elizabeth, you were missing!"

"Well, yes." She replied, trying to downplay the situation. "But in the grand scheme of missing it was only for a handful of hours so-"

"It was long enough." He interrupted. "You have no idea how worried I was."

Elizabeth held his gaze for a moment, noticing the traces of concern still there, and then answered softly, "Believe me, I do."

Hearing this, John looked a little embarrassed. "Right…….Ah, sorry about that."

"It's okay, I've come to accept that worrying about you is a given." Yeah, she really needed to stop talking now, especially with just having figured out how she felt about John earlier that evening.

John looked at her sharply and opened his mouth, but didn't get the chance to say anything.

"Elizabeth, it good to see you're awake." Carson was walking across the room with a chart in his hands. "Colonel, you should have come to get me as soon as she woke up." He admonished, coming to stand by the other side of the bed.

"It hasn't been that long, Carson." Elizabeth replied.

After consulting her chart, he started taking her vitals. "Well, you have a concussion."

Elizabeth nodded. "I was drugged too."

"Yes, I know. The rest of your team told me. There are still traces of the substance in your blood which I think is multiplying the effects of the concussion. Do you remember being hit in the head?"

"No, but I think I fell when the drug started to kick in." She thought back, but still wasn't able to remember anything more detailed than getting dizzy and blacking out.

"That makes sense." He replied, "Everything else looks fine, but I want you to stay in the infirmary overnight while the drug clears your system."

"Is that really necessary? You said-"

"Sounds good to me Doc." John interrupted, settling onto the edge of her bed again. He had moved while Carson was examining her. "I'll even reschedule the debriefing to late afternoon to give you more time to rest."

Elizabeth sighed, realizing that it was pointless to fight them both. "Fine." She narrowed her eyes at John. "But I'm remembering this Colonel."

John just smirked at her, his eyes twinkling.

"And you Colonel," Carson caught John's attention and pinned him with a look that was more amused than anything else. "Stop pestering my patient and go to bed. As you can see for yourself, she's going to be fine, so go get some sleep." With that Carson headed back to his office, leaving them alone again.

John turned to her and said a little sheepishly, "Well since I've been kicked out, I'll say good night. You need your rest."

"Good night, John" she replied, smiling softly at him.

John paused for a moment and then surprised her by reaching out to tuck a curl behind one ear, his hand lingering for a second on her cheek.

"Good night, 'Lizabeth."

TBC