Are you ready for Elizabeth? Are you?

Or do you just think you are? Either way...LETS PLAY.


Chapter 3: Midnight Show

She doesn't look like the type of girl you'd see in a dark nightclub, one full of bad people and worse crimes. She doesn't look the type; until she removes that shiny veneer of innocence and begins to move through the crowd with the kind of slinkiness usually associated with cats, big and dangerous jungle cats. She moves with a grace that deserves a stage to move on, but the look on her eyes is hungry enough that she might frighten any audience watching.

She stalks down the stairs, hips swinging, eyes dancing, the urge to leap into the crowd of gyrating strangers before her quite clear. Instead, she pauses at the bottom and looks over her shoulder at the shadows behind, and the tall blond man who steps from them. He smiles at her and holds his hand out for her coat. With a laugh, she hands it to him and waits for him to join her.

Even just standing there, the music gets to her. Her hips swing back and forth, her fingers moving to the beat. Her feet tap, and her head bops. She lowers her eyelids and spins in place, the urge to just move so fierce inside her that it practically dances in the air around her.

The man, clearly a soldier, hands off her coat, and his, to a clerk, before jumping down the stairs, and grabbing her arm. "We gotta find the guys."

She pouts at him, still slowly moving to the music. "Why?"

"Because they're here to watch our backs, and I asked them to come."

She sighs, and wraps her arm around one of his, and together they part the crowd and head for the wall of tables. The guys ogle the minidress she wears, or rather, what the dress doesn't cover; and the man gets his own share of looks, being of the tall, broad-shouldered Adonis-type. Together, they make quite a pair, god and goddess, both with their own type of power about them.

Reaching the other side of the floor, the man holds her hand and helps her up the stairs, taking the chance to ogle her mile-long legs and share a commiserating look with a table of fellow soldiers near the wall. He doesn't know the soldiers, but he knows their kind, and notes the special interest they take in his charge.

His charge, a refugee who remembered being called "Bethie" sometime in her past, caught sight of the men they were seeking and broke his grip to jog ahead. With a loud laugh and a swing of dark curls, she took the last remaining seat at the table, and stole the drink of the tallest man of the bunch, and also the darkest. He grinned at her, a flash of white in all that dark, and removed the drink from her hands.

"I don't think our superiors would appreciate us taking you out and getting you drunk, Beth."

Beth laughed and took the drink back. "You didn't take me out. Shal over there," she nodded at the approaching blond, "snuck me out. I don't think the drinking is going to be a concern."

At that point, Shal, short for Shalimar, strode up and grasping Beth's arm pulled her from the seat and sank into it with a sigh. Beth, stuck standing there, shrugged and slipped into the arms of the darker man with a laugh. It wasn't a sexy laugh, but rather a comfortable one, telling any audience that might be watching that she was friends with this man, and little else. The man, also a soldier, and second to Shalimar in rank, had been named Gordiny at birth, but preferred to be called Gordy. He was taller that Shalimar, and in Beth's opinion, a whole lot nicer.

"Aww, Gordy, I think I exhausted our leader."

"Must be all that hot sex," Gordy commented.

Beth laughed. "I wish."

"Aww, not satisfying you?"

"Won't even try," she replied, watching with interest as Shal began to blush.

"How many times must I tell you? You are under my protection, I am not taking advantage!" He yelled, drawing glances from surrounding tables and causing himself to blush more.

For their part, the other five men at the table, excluding Gordy, laughed their asses off. It was common knowledge that for the past month, since the team had rescued Beth from a Genii-controlled world, that Beth had a crush on Shal, and that though Shal reciprocated, duty and honor kept him from following up.

Since that night they rescued Beth, they had spent most of the month alternately escorting her between safe points on their homeworld, and hanging out. This was, in fact, the first time Beth had been "allowed" to interact with their people since she'd arrived. The militia had been worried that, first, she had some virus that might contaminate what little populace they had left, two, that she would remember her homeworld and recruit the people into following her home, or three, that she was a danger of some sort. It turns out that the third option was the true one. Within days of rescuing Beth, Genii leader Kolya had contacted the militia here and demanded her return, citing that she was a prisoner of war. Since the only way Kolya fought was with the Wraith, and Beth was no Wraith, Beth had been sent into hiding while Kolya came and "searched for her" himself.

Beth had no idea why this Kolya wanted her so bad, nor did she knew why just the mention of his name terrified her. What she did know was that these men were the reason she wasn't in his hands, and that even when she had no idea who or what she was, they were her friends. It meant more to her than they realized.

As the men began to joke around, making light of the situation, Beth studied their faces. Shalimar had a hard face, one made such by years of leading. He had a scar over his right eyebrow; splitting it and giving him a debonair air that made her salivate...just a little. He also had the body of a god, with abs hard enough to bounce a quarter off of, and arms that begged to be kissed. He also had an ass that looked like two pigs fighting in a blanket. Add in those boy-next-door looks and what more could a girl ask for? A good personality for one.

Of course, she didn't really need Shal for the good personality, she had Gordy for that. Sweet, affable Gordy, just as hard and tough as Shal, though nowhere near as attractive. After taking shrapnel to the face whilst saving Shalimar's life, they told her, he'd been scarred and had for almost a year barely spoke. Before that, she was told, he was more attractive than even Shal. Beth had a certain fondness for Gordy. He didn't smile often, but she liked to think that since she'd "joined" their team that he did do it more often. His laugh was enough to brighten a room, and his eyes were usually dancing with mirth, even if he didn't express it vocally.

Between those two men, she had all the entertainment and protection she truly needed. Still, as a matter of principle, more often than not, five other soldiers joined them, though they never knew who she was, or why she had to be moved around so often. It was better for them that way. Less dangerous.

Sipping the drink she'd stolen, almost gagging on it, and setting it back down, Beth brought herself out of that little self-induced stupor and gently slapped Shal on the arm. "Are you not going to ask me to dance?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "No."

"Why not?"

"We didn't come here to dance."

"Then why did we come to the dance club, Shalimar?"

"So you could get some fresh air."

"So you could drink."

"I do not need to drink, though admittedly around you I get the urge," he said smartly, sipping his just arrived ale to prove it. Behind her, Gordy stifled a laugh, before wrapping a long arm around her waist and standing.

"I'll dance with you, Bethie!" He yelled, before twirling her around and pulling her toward the floor. Behind them, Shal turned to watch their progress, taking note that once gain, when Beth walked by, the table of soldiers avidly watched. One of them had a camera of some sort, and had focused it directly on Beth, who now swung around back and forth to Gordy. When she'd first arrived here, she'd had longer hair, deep and rich and dark like the bark of a very old tree. When Kolya had arrived searching for her, Shal had convinced her to hack it all off to within an inch. It made her face seemed younger somehow. In the weeks since arriving, her face had lost years of stress, and many of the worry lines she'd arrived with had dissipated.

Shalimar watched her move, her body long and thin, but not to the point of emaciation. It was more lean muscle than anything. After a week of examinations, the doctor told him that her memory would come back with time, but there was nothing they could do to force it. They'd also told him that when she'd arrived, she'd had small burns on her wrists and feet, as if from some sort of restraint. She'd also had a blow to her head, which is what they believed caused her memory loss.

He had no doubt that Kolya had caused her those wounds, and just thinking about it made his hands clench in anger. He disliked a man who threatened a woman, but he hated a man who lifted his hand to one. Kolya had once been his people's ally, but given radically different morals and ideas, they'd long since broken alliance. A month ago, Shalimar and Gordy had been dispatched to an unknown planet for a meeting with Kolya, who'd tried to get them involved in what was surely a foolish dream.

Shalimar supposed that next time, before he beat the hell out of Kolya for hurting Beth, he should thank him, since without that meeting, Shal would never have met her and rescued her. Even if he didn't follow up on it, he did care for her. She had a vulnerability to her that she tried to hide, but never quite succeeded. There was also something else to her, something she didn't hide, and wasn't aware of. She was used to leading, to being listened to. It made Shalimar wonder just what she'd been before her Kolya got her.

Turning around, Shalimar gestured for ale, and watched morosely as the other soldiers at the table stood to take stations at various places around the room. They were good kids, but very young. They weren't "in" on the situation, and wouldn't be. Kolya was questioning every one and he couldn't risk them spilling the information about Beth. The cover story Gordy had told them was that they were escorting a higher ups' daughter on the town. They believed it with the foolish faith of the young.

Suddenly, a man pulled a chair from the table and sat. He studied Shalimar's face, and the veiled eyes that studied him in return. "Who was that woman just with you?"

Suddenly, Shalimar didn't seem so relaxed anymore. He didn't move, not a muscle, but the new man at the table knew all the same that the man was prepared to attack and defend. "Why?"

"I know her."

Shalimar leaned forward, setting his drink on the table, and removing a blade from his thigh sheath without the other man seeing. "How so?"

"Her name is Elizabeth, and she is the leader of my expedition. She's been missing for a month, and we've been searching everywhere."

"And who are you?"

"Major Evan Lorne." The man said proudly, pointing to his name on his jacket, and reaching out to shake Shalimar's hand. "You can call me Mark. It's my middle name."

"You have a middle name?"

"Yeah. Evan Marcus Lorne."

"My people only use one name. We've no need for more." He didn't point out that they didn't have a real need of surnames when so little of his people still lived.

Mark nodded, before gesturing at Beth again, who now moved through the crowd single-mindedly, heading back for the table. "How do you know her?"

Shalimar watched Beth approach and stood, bringing Mark with him. "I don't want her to see you. Meet me here tomorrow, in the morning. We'll see if you can make me believe you, then."

Major Lorne looked incredulously at first, but the vaguely threatening nature of Shalimar, and the apparent ease with which Elizabeth interacted with him convinced him to leave the situation as it was, for now. It was hard for him to do, but Mark left Elizabeth in Shalimar's capable hands and returned to the table to inform his team of what was going down.

Beth watched as the soldier hurried by, pointedly not looking at her, but ignored it in favor of leaping into Shalimar's arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist so she wouldn't immediately slide to the floor.

"Having fun?" He asked.

"I am. Who was that?"

"No one. Wanted to know if I was attracted to him." It was hard to lie to her, even such a bad lie as that, but he didn't want her to know that someone had approached him about her.

A horrible idea occurred to Beth, one so horrible that it explained Shalimar's lack of want to mate with her. "You weren't, were you?"

Shalimar laughed at the horror on her face. "No."

She relaxed. "Oh, that's good. Are you attracted to me?"

"I'm not answering that."

"You don't have to, I can tell."

"How can you tell?"

"I'm straddling your waist, and let's just say you're not as soft as you used to be."

Shalimar blushed and put her down. "Where's Gordy?"

"Getting me a drink."

"Just what we need."

"I like getting tipsy."

"Yeah, well," Shalimar started, "Tipsy Beth sneaks into my bed at night."

"Non-tipsy Beth does too."

"Non-tipsy Beth is quieter about it."


Major Mark Lorne stopped speaking, looking around him at the dozens of people avidly watching him. The crowd included Interim Atlantis Leader John Sheppard, as well as his team, the entire Science Department, the entire Control Room crew, the cooks, and various other exploration teams as well. It was a very crowded room.

Rodney, even though he'd been shoved to the back of the room several times, elbowed in the face twice, kicked in the shin thrice, and punched in the stomach (not so accidentally) once, squeezed his way to the front and stood there, hands on his hips. "And?"

"And what?"

"What happened?!" Rodney practically screamed, his voice going high enough to have been a girl's.

"We met, and he agreed to allow me to return and present more evidence that she is who I say she is."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Lorne looked entirely too pleased with himself, whilst Rodney looked ready to blow. Everyone was frustrated with the lack of progress, and even this lead, maybe the actual finding of Elizabeth, didn't ease that frustration.

Fighting the urge to poke Rodney in the cheek and dispel all that pent up air, John stood and ran his hand down his face. "Okay. Tomorrow, I'll return to the planet in your place and meet with this Shady character."

"His name is Shalimar."

"Okay, with this Shalimar character." John replied smartly to Teyla's observation, turning to glare at her.

"Who'll run things here while you run and do that?" Rodney asked, his eyebrows sky high, even as he quickly input data into his notepad. Multi-tasking is another of his many, highly developed skills.

"You will."

A collective groan filled the room, shaking the foundations of Atlantis, and causing two unoccupied rooms in the abandoned sectors of Atlantis to collapse.