A/N: This is it, people! The last chapter! I will be writing an epilogue, but darlings, and then it's over. I hope you've enjoyed the ride.
And, as always, go read my friend and favorite SGA author's stories. That is Marianne H. Stillie! She is truly brilliant and outdoes herself with every new story.
Chapter Nineteen: All These Things That I've Done
She tried not to let the worry get to her.
As they say, however, old habits die hard.
She paced the confines of her office, smiling at the familiarity she now remembered to feel. There were small changes here and there from the last time she'd been in it, but it was still basically the same. The same desk, the same chair, the same view out the window; more than anything else, this room made her feel like she was well and truly herself again.
That and Rodney's overbearing superiority complex.
"I don't understand why I wasn't asked to join them. I am the intelligent member of the team! What if they need to form some sort of tactic or get themselves in a life-threatening situation-"
"-because that happens so often, right, Rodney?" Elizabeth interrupted as she slipped into her desk chair. "Kolya is dangerous and the entire mission risky. I'd rather not risk Atlantis'-" she hesitated before continuing, biting back the amusement, "-premier scientist. I'm sure you have a lot of work here to occupy your mind and time."
Rodney pouted and looked away. "I just feel a little left out."
"Rodney?"
"Yes?"
"Remember a few days ago when I flipped you like a pancake?"
"...yes."
"If you don't get out of my office I'll do it again."
"Goodbye, Elizabeth."
"Goodbye, Rodney," she replied with a smile, waiting until the door had shut behind him to sink her head into her hands. Since she'd watched her teams walk through the Stargate this morning Elizabeth could feel the slow drag of an approaching headache weighing at her. By now it was waging behind her eyes and making all colors seem a bit duller, yet the light way too bright. It was an odd contrast that only served to make her predicament worse.
A small knock at the door echoed across the room and she called out for whomever it was to enter without thinking. Carson's round and cheery face poked through, soon followed by his soft and rounded body. He shuffled in and around the desk, studying Elizabeth's face as he did so. "You look tired," he noted somewhat obviously in that thick Scottish brogue she could listen to for hours on end.
"I feel tired," she replied as she rubbed at her eyes.
"Today was a big day, Elizabeth. No one would blame you if you decided to cut it short, or at least took a few hours for yourself."
"The team should be contacting us soon. Until then," she gestured to the mounds of paperwork on her desk, "I've got papers to catch up on."
"I'm saying this as your doctor, Elizabeth. Go take a nap. Rest your mind for a little bit."
Elizabeth stood and grasped one of Carson's hands. "Thanks for your concern, but no."
He sighed and joined her in walking to the door. "You really are yourself again. I think I'm going to miss Beth. She was such an easier patient."
"You wish," she replied with a smile and a chuckle. Everyone in command glanced over at Elizabeth as if to assure themselves she was really there before getting on with there work. So far they'd done it every single time she'd stepped out of her office.
Before the argument could go any further, however, the Stargate began to dial up. She moved to the bank of windows that overlooked the large ring and waited for the wormhole to form. As usual with such events the tension in the room skyrocketed as everyone waited for the signal that this was either friend or foe.
When Sheppard keyed in his code the entire room breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed with the notable exception of one. Elizabeth became even tenser, waiting for her un-official favorite team to come through the 'gate and alleviate some of her fears.
Teyla came in first, frowning at something Sheppard must have said. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and her face was flushed from either anger or exertion. On her heels came Sheppard, his mouth open and moving and clearly the reason for Teyla's frown and flush. That was the usual way of things, however. Sheppard said something mean or mocking, Teyla's good-natured prevailed and she scolded him, only to have it all repeat the next day.
Ronon always played the "straight man" to Sheppard; somber with only a certain flash in his eyes to betray his amusement. He, of course, followed Sheppard through the 'gate, but for the first time that she could remember he hesitated just on the inside of the 'gate, his brown eyes flickering up to find her.
Somehow just that look calmed the knots in her stomachs and replaced them with butterflies, which wasn't an altogether better feeling. Elizabeth couldn't stop the small smile the lifted the edges of her smile, or the slide of her fingers on the glass as the trio started up the staircase.
The frustration on all of their faces was much clearer up close. Whatever news they brought her wouldn't be good.
"Cleaned out?"
Sheppard nodded and glanced at his two friends who flanked him in seats beside him. She'd kept her voice cool and calm but they could all hear a thread of tension in it. "It looks like they were in the midst of relocating when they were attacked by the Wraith. We found four bodies, all drained."
Elizabeth bit the inside of her lip and stared at the wall over their heads distantly. Her mind was very much elsewhere as she tried to remember the facts of her incarceration by the former Genii Commander. "A lot of Wraith, or just one?"
Sheppard cracked his neck from tension, and spoke quietly. "The damage is more on par with one Wraith than a ship-full. We found a couple cells in the middle of the compound; two of them looked like someone had been in there recently. We, uh, found this in one of them."
It was a watch.
Correction, it was Elizabeth's watch. She hadn't even noticed it was missing. Immediately upon seeing it her wrist felt torturing bare. She rubbed the skin on its usual wrist before reaching for the watch. She struggled to keep her face placid as she viewed the broken adornment.
"And the other cell?"
"I believe it was Michael," Teyla stated, ignoring the way Sheppard glared at her.
"We don't have any proof of that," Sheppard muttered under his breath.
"I can feel his energy there. Particularly in that cell."
Elizabeth nodded and stopped any argument Sheppard may have started. "Anything else?"
"No clues as to where they went. The bodies we found looked to be a prisoner escort."
"We'll catch him, Elizabeth," Teyla said as a way of comfort, though Elizabeth did not welcome it. She didn't want comfort or platitudes. She wanted justice, something that was not going to happen anytime soon.
"I want written reports on my computer by 0800 tomorrow," Elizabeth ordered as she stood and moved around the large table she used for debriefings. Her three friends stood as she neared them and she smiled at them. "In the meantime, get some rest. We've all had a...trying couple of weeks."
Sheppard sighed mockingly. "There's an understatement."
Teyla grasped Elizabeth's forearms and smiled up at the taller woman. "It is good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," Elizabeth replied. Teyla released Elizabeth only to watch with a large grin as Sheppard wrapped his long arms around her tightly, so tightly that he lifted her off the ground. Since they were the same height that was truly something to see.
"You're never allowed to leave again," Sheppard commanded as he released his commander and chief with a brief laugh. "Your job is hell."
"It's not so bad," she replied, patting his shoulder consolably. When he and Teyla had left she turned to the room's sole other occupant. He leaned against the table and watched her from beneath half-lidded bedroom eyes. "Do you have something to say as well?"
Ronon watched as she leaned over and grabbed the papers she'd left on the table. Her skin was pallid and her eyes red. Her movements stilted where they were usually laced with grace. "You look tired."
Elizabeth ignored the way his vest stretched around his back when he crossed his arms, and the way his eyes followed her every movement. "That's most likely because I am tired."
He smiled a little and waited until she'd turned back around and slid onto the table beside him. "You should go get some sleep."
"What is it with everyone wanting to put me to bed today?" She muttered under her breath.
"Hmm?"
She grinned and shook her head, sending small dark curls bouncing around her face. "You're the second person today to tell me to get some sleep. Too much to do to go to bed just yet. John isn't exactly proficient with paperwork, so there's a lot of it piled up."
Ronon nodded, because he understood that after a month of not being here there was a lot of work that needed to be done. All of Atlantis was backlogged, from the exploration teams to the scientists to the controllers. Not only had many things been put off without her here, but the things that were getting done had taken longer than usual. Morale had been very low for the past month.
"You too busy to eat?" He asked suddenly, looking away from her as he did.
"Excuse me?"
"I asked if you're too busy to eat."
She was a little shocked to tell you the truth. Ronon normally wasn't the type of person to seek out others' company, and the fact that he sought hers definitely was out of the norm. Then, however, Elizabeth thought on the past few days and realized that while out of the norm, it wasn't unwanted. "No, I'm not."
They waited in silence for a few moments, he stridently not looking at her, she gazing at him with a quirky half-smile on her face. A half-smile that with every minute of silence grew wider.
Finally, he sighed and cocked his head to the side, looking at her in what can only be described as mock-exasperation. "Do you want to come eat with me?"
"Sure," she replied, sliding her hand into the crook of his elbow.
It was probably a bad idea.
Actually, almost surely it was a bad idea. Ronon was very attractive, and her will of late had been astonishingly weak around him. He was far too attractive to be safe, and during her time as "Beth" had managed to insinuate himself under her skin.
She didn't mind.
