Chapter 18: Sam's Town

Oh, have you ever seen the lights?
Have you ever seen the lights?


She went to bed thinking she knew who she was. She slept and thought that she knew where she was going and who with. In dreams she found peace refused to her in reality and in amnesia.

She woke up as Elizabeth and scrambled to catch up.

Grabbing the floor length robe that lay over the back of her desk chair, Elizabeth ran from her quarters with no thought to waking the sleeping warrior on her couch. It wasn't even dawn but she had no doubt that he'd be up. Though he portrayed the role of the laid-back charmer, underneath it all he was a trained professional who took great pride in waking before even his subordinates and getting in a run and some work out.

Then, to maintain the image he so carefully crafted, he slipped back into his quarters to pretend that he'd slept in.

Elizabeth and the night crew were one of few who knew his secret.

She found him in the gym doing stretches with Ronon. She ignored Ronon.

"John."

The sound of her voice saying his given name had Sheppard pausing mid-stretch and losing his balance. Ronon continued to stretch and fixed his gaze on the rumpled and dishabille Elizabeth. Sheppard pushed himself up off the floor and sauntered over to the door. "What can I do for you?"

"You can get your team together and prepare for an assault on Kolya's base."

It wasn't so much the words she said as much as the tone that got their attention. It wasn't the light carefree tone of Beth, but it was the confident and authoritative voice that only ever came out of Elizabeth's mouth. She held herself more rigid and stiff in the doorway and when she moved it was with purpose. The gentle and feline-like Beth was not in residence any longer, and Ronon almost found himself missing that vibrant chink in her armor.

"Excuse me?" Sheppard asked as he crossed his arms and studied the woman before him. There was something different about her this morning, now wasn't there?

Elizabeth stepped close and cradled Sheppard's face in her hands. "John?"

"Yes?"

"I've given you an order. Go do it."

Realization dawned in his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

Elizabeth smiled as Sheppard rushed past her, a smile that faded as Ronon stood and slowly made his way over. He stood tall and intimidating next to her and she fought the flashes of "Beth" that made her want to flirt and maybe even touch his arm casually.

Elizabeth was back and in control...

...but she couldn't quite stop that sultry smile at the edges of her mouth.

"Ronon."

"Elizabeth."

They stared each other down. On the western wall, the one adorned with a large faceted window, the sun began to peak up over the horizon. The yellow light splintered through the glass and moved across his honey colored skin. Elizabeth became a bit fascinated by the play of light and her fingers twitched from the urge to touch him.

"You remember, now?" He asked, though the answer was fairly obvious. Maybe he just wanted to hear it from her. Would he feel relief that his Leader was whole and healed again, or would he feel regret for not having more time with Beth?

"Yes. I remember...everything." She put emphasis on that last word, a smile creeping out as she spoke.

Ronon nodded and stepped close. He brushed the back and his fingers down her soft cheek and whispered. "I think I'll miss her."

"She hasn't gone anywhere."

"She has."

Elizabeth shook her head, pressing her cheek into his hand. "No. She's just hiding now."

Ronon nodded again, slowly so that the few dreadlocks that slipped from the leather thong at the back of his head swayed back and forth in the light. "This is for Beth, then."

Elizabeth stared up at him, unsure of what he meant to do when he fisted one of his hands in her hair and pulled her head impossibly far back. He fastened his hard unyielding mouth to hers and her insides melted. Her knees felt weak and her hands clenched and relaxed where she gripped the lapels of his leather vest. She could feel the hard length of his knife pressing into her hip, or at least she hoped it was his knife.

When he finally pulled away her eyes had closed tight and her lips were full and lush from their kiss. He waited until she'd gathered the energy to look at him before releasing her. When she could safely stand on her own, he said nothing but swept past her.

Elizabeth waited until she was sure he was gone to sink limply to the floor with a sigh.


Dr. Beckett pulled out his pen light for the fifth time.

Again, for the fifth time, he started to shine it in Elizabeth's eyes.

This time, however, she smacked it out of his hands before he could. "Don't do that."

"I'm just trying to ascertain that you are completely physically-"

"-and mentally fit," Elizabeth finished for him. "I understand that, but if you shine that light in my eyes again I'm going to break it."

Carson admonished her with a frown, "Elizabeth! This is my job, please let me do it." He ruined it all by smiling, however. "Nice to see some of that "Beth" charm sticking around. Think you'll flip Rodney like a hotcake again soon? I'd love to see that myself."

Elizabeth sighed and pressed her fingers to her aching eyes. "No, I am not flipping Rodney, and yes I know what day it is, what year I was born, what I did right before my sojourn to the Genii home world. I have my memory back, Carson, how many more questions are you going to ask me?"

Carson sighed. "As many as I feel necessary. Now, why don't you tell me why you're sending Colonel Sheppard's team after Kolya?"

Since it was a new line of questioning, one not focusing on her past, she answered him. "While I was his captive he kept questioning me about the virus we used on Michael. I don't know how he knows about it, and I want to. Either we have a leak within Atlantis, or..."

"...or Michael," Beckett finished for her this time. The treatment and ultimate situation of "Michael" was still a source of regret and guilt for the Scottish doctor. Most days he preferred to ignore what he considered a mar on his record. A lapse of judgment that resulted in one of the more infamous incidents here on Atlantis.

Elizabeth nodded as she slipped off the examination table and started for the door. "Exactly!"

"Elizabeth! We're not done!"

"Yes!" She called back with a wave. "We are!"

Dr. Beckett was not entirely pleased to note that along with some of "Beth's" charm, she retained some of her "bad patient" mentality as well.


The gateroom was a hive of activity as everyone prepared for an outgoing mission. Elizabeth stood above that den of movement and enjoyed the sight of so many people preparing. They all had a purpose, something that must be done for the process to be successful. The process, in this instance, was Sheppard's operation. He'd be taking his team, as well as three others, for the assault on Kolya's home base.

Sheppard and Teyla stepped up beside her, all three of them standing at the top of the staircase leading down into the actual gateroom. Elizabeth glanced at them from the corner of her eyes, acknowledging their presence without words.

Teyla liked words though.

"It is good to see you well again, Elizabeth."

"It is good to be well. Has John explained to you what you're trying to find?"

"He has...tried, but I am still not sure what exactly we are searching for."

"Kolya knows about the Wraith virus. I want to know how. There are only a finite number of explanations. Getting into his base is the only way to find out."

Teyla listened, but asked another question. "Does he not have security? Men of his own to protect him?"

"I was there, Teyla. He has some men, maybe twenty, twenty-five. He left behind a lot of his supporters on the Genii homeworld when he escaped. I'm sure Colonel Sheppard's team can handle them."

She felt rather than saw Ronon join them. He remained standing behind the group, there but a part of them.

The floor below them began to clear of technicians and a number of soldiers began to line up at the bottom of the stairs. Elizabeth turned to the trio on the landing with her and smiled. "There's a chance Michael will be there so be watch out for him. If Kolya knows this, then there's no telling what he could know about us or our operation. I want him taken alive if he can be captured. Understand me, John?" She asked in a stern voice, not waiting for an answer before moving to the control room.

"Dial the gate," she commanded into the crowded room. She walked to a large bank of windows facing the Stargate and watched as small symbols began to light up. Symbols she'd remembered and had been able to tell them all about. If they'd had more time they might have alerted the Genii and offered to let them in on this raid.

However, maybe the Genii couldn't be totally trusted. Though they hadn't been officially told, surely some of the soldiers or scientists had made friends with some of the people. They might have told a few stories, stories that had gotten back to Kolya.

Officially, nothing that goes on in Atlantis can be spoken about to anyone outside of Atlantis without official dispensation.

Unofficially, friends talk and that cannot be controlled.

With the wormhole open and Sheppard ordering his men/women through the gate ready for combat, Elizabeth clasped her hands in front of her and struggled to remain calm. Her emotions were very close to the surface today. Perhaps an aftereffect of her recent amnesia and probably something she should have spoken to Carson about.

Ronon paused before he walked into the gate, and his eyes slid to hers.

Her eyes said what her mouth would not say.

Be careful, Ronon.