Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long to post this next chapter. I've been a bit crazy with school. Anyways, here is another chapter, a shorter one :) More to come soon! Hope you enjoy and please review! :) -Cristina H.
"We can make it Elizabeth. Ronon and I can go inside and Teyla can stay here the jumper in case something goes wrong. They haven't detected us yet…"
Elizabeth listened to John's voice coming through her headset then sighed, closing her eyes. "We're talking about a Wraith hive ship John. You and Ronon cannot possibly make it out without being detected. I can either send another team to aid you or you can abort the mission."
"By the time they get here, the ZPM will be moved someplace else. They know we're after it Elizabeth. We've been hunting the damn thing for days now."
"I'm sorry Colonel. I can't risk your life and that of your team for a ZPM. We will just have to find another one. "She sighed. "Come back home."
"Elizabeth…"
"That's an order Colonel." She interrupted him, not wanting to listen to his arguments anymore. "Weir out." She closed off her headset, disconnecting herself from a probably very angry John Sheppard.
"Well that was two weeks wasted on my part…" Rodney scoffed, moving away from the control room, going back to his lab.
Elizabeth turned to him. "Do you have something to say McKay?"
Rodney turned around, rolling his eyes. "I just wished you'd given Sheppard a chance. He usually comes out of it alive…"
"Two men cannot take out an entire Wraith hive ship Rodney. Do you seriously care more about a ZPM than the life of your friends?"
After a moment of silence. "Well, now that you put it that way…." Rodney replied uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I thought so."
Rodney turned to leave then he stopped, turning back to Elizabeth. "…I was just glad we could have another ZPM…"
Elizabeth smiled, nodding in understanding. "I know. Don't worry about it."
Rodney nodded then he turned around, walking out of the control room and back to his lab. Elizabeth sighed then turned to Chuck. "Let me know when Colonel Sheppard's team is back. They should arrive in a couple of minutes."
Chuck nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Dammit!" John snapped, frustrated.
"Dr. Weir is right Colonel Sheppard. You and Ronon cannot possibly take on an entire Wraith hive ship alone."
"We've been hunting for this ZPM for days! It's not right to just give up now."
"John, let's just go. We can just come back for it or we'll find another one…" Ronon replied, for the first time choosing the safer route.
John cursed softly under his breath. "Fine. We'll go back…" He touched a couple of buttons, as he dialed up the stargate back to Atlantis. Teyla and Ronon glanced at each other amused, shaking their heads.
"You know it is the right thing to do…" Ronon said again, smacking John's shoulder lightly.
"Yeah, yeah…" John rolled his eyes, still pretty pissed. They had done this entire search and for what? So they can walk away in the end? Dammit, if he was the one in charge…He sighed, shaking his head.
A couple of minutes later, the puddle jumper was safely stored inside the jumper bay. Ronon and Teyla remained behind as John stormed out of there, wanting to just get away before Elizabeth would come looking for him. He didn't know what he would say to her right now. He knew her decision was the right one but he couldn't help but feel frustrated at all the time they wasted on that stupid ZPM.
So he made his way to his quarters, careful to stay away from the main hallways. Once he arrived there, he sighed heavily, flopping down face down on his bed, groaning softly against his pillow.
Chuck knocked softly on Elizabeth's office door. "Come in." she called out, looking up from her paperwork.
"Colonel Sheppard's team is back Dr. Weir." Chuck peered inside her office.
"Thank you Chuck." She smiled at the gate tech.
"Ma'am?"
"Yes?"
"Colonel Sheppard did not sound very…happy."
Elizabeth sighed. "I suspected as much." She looked up at him. "Thank you for letting me know." Chuck nodded then he left, moving back to the control room.
Elizabeth stood up, pacing around her office restlessly. Should she go talk to John now or wait until tomorrow when he'd probably be calmer? She bit nervously on her lower lip, analyzing her choices then decided on the latter. She'd better wait. She really didn't want to have yet another fight with him. They seemed to be fighting a lot lately. Well, since that morning after the party to be more exact. Elizabeth sighed, sitting back down at her desk. They haven't talked about it, whatever it was. So things went somewhat back to normal. Sure it had been a little awkward at the beginning but they both ignored it, trying hard to stay professional. And they succeeded. That was until she had "disobeyed" a direct order from him when he got captured by the Wraith. She agreed to the Queen's terms and in turn they had to let John go. She took a big risk on trusting that Wraith Queen and sure enough, she had heard enough yelling from John that time to last her a life time. That is pretty much when the fighting started and then things just seemed to go downhill from there. She couldn't explain it. Half the time she didn't even know why they were fighting. That man just drove her crazy!
Elizabeth looked down at the papers in front of her and sighed. So much work and it just seemed to keep piling up. She looked up at her watch and sighed. Only six o'clock in the afternoon. She had a long evening ahead of her. She needed to work over time again. The story of her life. She couldn't remember the last time she had a good night's sleep.
"We have to tell them." Teyla insisted, hoping it would get through Ronon's thick skull as she leaned against a desk in Rodney's lab.
"Hmm, I agree. I mean this has gotten out of control too fast. Nice going, Ronon." Rodney replied, distracted as his fingers continued to hit the keyboard at a fast pace.
Ronon growled slowly in frustration. "I was so sure he wouldn't screw this up. I mean, I know the guy doesn't like talking about his feelings and all that but I didn't even think he'd be this stubborn. And I just wanted to have a little fun! You cannot possibly blame me for all the fighting that's been happening between them lately…"
"They obviously have no talked about what they thing happened that night. And this is putting a strain on their personal and working relationship."
After a few moments of silence, Ronon sighed. "You're right." He sounded defeated and just a little annoyed. "So what do we do now?"
"Tell them and hope and pray Sheppard doesn't kill us. He's not exactly fond of pranks, especially when they're played on him."
"I believe it is better if we split up in two teams. I can tell Elizabeth and you and Ronon can take care of John. This way we can make sure no harm will come to you, Rodney." She replied, amused.
"Oh, I don't know about that. If John takes a swing at me, I'll happily push Rodney before me."
"Oh yes, ha ha. That's very funny. Make fun of the little man." Rodney replied, glaring at his friend. He sat up, taking his jacket off the back of the chair. "Let's just go and get this over with, Cupid. Unlike you, I have a lot of work to do."
Ronon turned to look at Teyla, an exasperated expression showing on his face. "This is the thanks I get for trying to fix two people up?"
"We should have never meddled with their relationship…" she sighed. "Or lack thereof."
Before Ronon had a chance to reply Rodney's voice could be heard from the hallway. "Am I going to have to wait here all day?"
Ronon groaned, he turned around, walking out of the science lab, leaving an amused but troubled Teyla, alone.
A soft knock on her office door brought Elizabeth out of her thoughts.
"Come in!" She called out, sighing softly.
"Dr. Weir? Are you free to talk?" Teyla asked, taking a step cautiously into Elizabeth's office.
"Yes, of course. Please, take a seat." She responded, taking in Teyla's anxious expression.
"Thank you." Teyla replied, sitting down.
"What can I do for you?"
"There is something I must tell you…"
Elizabeth leaned back in her seat, waiting for Teyla to continue, raising an eyebrow at her.
"…About that morning after the birthday party…"
Elizabeth tensed. "Yes. What about it?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest, defensively.
Teyla took in a deep breath the summoning up all her courage; she started explaining the situation to Elizabeth as best as she could, hoping they were not in much trouble. As she continued with the story she could see all the color drain from Elizabeth's face.
"…So Ronon thought it would be a good idea to make you two believe that something had happened, even though nothing did. " Teyla finally finished the story, letting out a relieved breath, glad to have that off her chest. She was still worried about Elizabeth though. She didn't seem at all relieved by what she had told her.
After a moment of silence, Elizabeth finally spoke up. "S-So nothing happened then?"
Teyla shook her head, watching Elizabeth closely. She was biting nervously on her lower lip, hey eyes unfocused. "Is something wrong Elizabeth? I thought you would be relieved. "
Elizabeth cleared her throat, shaking her head, a blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks. "No, I mean…Yes, I am relieved. Of course I am." She chuckled nervously.
"We really are sorry. We never thought it would cause this much trouble…"
Elizabeth nodded, giving her distressed friend a reassuring smile. "I know. Don't worry about it. I will have to speak to Ronon later, however. "
Teyla smiled, nodding. "Of course. I do believe he is getting yelled at just now by Colonel Sheppard."
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, her expression amused. "Ouch. That cannot be fun."
"I believe he can handle it. Now Rodney on the other hand, I am not so sure."
Elizabeth groaned softly, letting her head fall back against her chair. "Don't even remind me Rodney was involved. Knowing him, he probably told half the people on Atlantis about Ronon's little plan."
"Actually, he did not tell anyone about our little plan. Ronon made sure of that." Teyla smiled.
"Well one thing I know for sure is that Ronon is good at two things. Fighting and scaring the hell outta people." Elizabeth chuckled. An awkward silence fell between the two of them as they stared at each other.
"I should probably get back to work now…." Elizabeth mumbled softly under her breath, sitting straight in her chair.
Teyla nodded, still watching Elizabeth closely. "Elizabeth?"
"Yes?" she responded, not looking up from her notes. She knew what Teyla was going to ask and she honestly had no answer to her question.
"What will you do regarding Colonel Sheppard?"
Elizabeth bit on her lower lip then she looked up from her desk, sighing heavily. "There is nothing to be done regarding the Colonel, Teyla."
"Do you not think it would be a wise idea to speak to him?"
"About?"
Teyla frowned. "Well about this of course."
"There's nothing to talk about Teyla. It was all a bad joke. I'm sure he'll be just as eager to put it behind us as I am."
Teyla nodded, knowing it wouldn't be safe to push Elizabeth even more. She stood up and with a slight nod she turned around and walked out of Elizabeth's office, closing the door behind her.
As soon as the door closed, Elizabeth let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes. She didn't think she would have been able to keep the easy going façade going for much longer. Thoughts started racing through her mind until she thought she'd go crazy. So if nothing had happened, why the hell was she naked when she awoke? By what Teyla had told her, they only locked her and John in the room with ALL of their clothes on. They had apparently tried to get out a couple of times by yelling and banging on the door and Ronon had to stay there to make sure no one would let them out. And after some time, everything quieted down and Ronon assumed they had fallen asleep. But obviously that hadn't happened! She groaned softly, shaking her head. How stupid can you be Elizabeth? She sighed then tried to focus on the pile of papers in front of her knowing she had to get back to work if she wanted to get any sleep at all.
"You did what?" John asked, staring wide eyed at the two men in front of him, his brain having a hard time catching up to what they were saying to him.
Ronon shrugged, watching John closely in case he decided to take a swing at him. "It was all my idea. I'm…sorry." Rodney could tell by Ronon's expression that it was really hard for him to get those words out. Not because he didn't like admitting it or anything but because he knew it was wrong to apologize for something he did not see as a mistake and was still certain would work out.
John cursed softly under his breath, scratching the back of his neck as he plopped himself down on a bench.
"You don't look relieved…" Rodney stated, frowning a little.
"You think? Of course, I'm not relieved. What you just told me makes no sense!"
"What do you mean?" Ronon asked, glancing worriedly at Rodney who has a similar expression on his face.
John sighed. "When we woke up…." His voice trailed off, wondering how to tell his friends what really happened that morning. How he had found Elizabeth in her underwear trying to sneak out of the room. He shook his head. "Never mind." He mumbled finally, knowing he couldn't tell them what happened. He had to think about Elizabeth's reputation here. As long as that thing remained between the two of them…
"John? What's wrong?"
John looked up, Rodney's voice, bringing him out of his thoughts. "What? Oh…nothing." He stood up abruptly, took his bag and turned to leave.
"Wait! That's it?" Rodney asked, incredulous, causing John to turn around and glare at him.
"What do you mean that's it? Do you really want to be the recipient of my rage?" John spat, glaring at Rodney then turning his glare on Ronon, who simply sat there unaffected by John's rage.
"John…"Ronon started but John cut him off.
"No, it's now time that you two listen to me and listen closely. I don't care what kind of prank you pull on me. We are friends after all and it's common for that to happen. But never, under any circumstances are you allowed to do that to Elizabeth! She's my boss! She's your boss too! You have no idea what trouble you could have gotten her into if word got out that we "slept" together!"
"John—"
"I don't want to hear it Rodney. I'm not mad at you. If it was anyone else, I probably would have found it funny. But not with…" he sighed. "I'm sure she'll want to talk to you sooner or later and don't count on me to save your asses this time. You probably deserve whatever punishment she comes up with for you." With that, John turned around and walked out of the gym, leaving Rodney and Ronon alone.
After a moment of silence, Ronon chuckled. Rodney rolled his eyes, looking up at him. "What now?"
"He was mad because we could have gotten Elizabeth in trouble. But not once was he worried about himself…"
"Oh for God's sake Ronon, can you stop with this?" the scientist asked, exasperated.
Ronon looked at Rodney's exasperated expression then he sighed, shaking his head and walked out of the gym, mumbling softly under his breath. "So freaking oblivious…"