Chapter 25: The Mortal Coil Unwinds

As Elizabeth was wheeled into the infirmary, the Asurans arrived. It was the same moment that Rodney finished adapting the two ZPM's bringing the city practically to full power. An explosion sounded, but the city was not rocked. "Oh no," Keller muttered as she looked around. "I guess our guests are here."

"Lad," Carson began as he started to look Elizabeth over. "What happened."

"We were arguing and—"

"Sheppard," Sam's voice sounded in his ear. "I need you in the chair."

"—and what?" asked Carson.

"And nothing," John finished. "That's all I know. Carson, take good care of her."

"Go lad," Carson stated, not needing to say anything more. Carson watched as John took one last look at Elizabeth before he disappeared out of the infirmary.

...

"Carter," Sheppard began as he sat down. "I'm here."

"Good," she replied via the communication system as another explosion impacted the shield. "See if you can't give those jerks a piece of our mind."

"Aye ma'am."

...

It didn't take much to push the Asurans back. A few well placed drones from Sheppard had the Asurans turning and fleeing. It was a miracle to all those left on Atlantis, especially considering the Asurans had made some modifications to their own drones which allowed one of them to get through the shield and impact the city. "Is everyone alright?" John asked, splitting focus for a moment.

Yes, came Sam's voice in his ear. It hit an empty part of the city.

With that knowledge John had been able to finish the job and when he was given the all clear that the Asurans were fleeing he allowed himself to think about Elizabeth and what was happening to her in the infirmary.

"So?" he asked Carson just a few feet from Elizabeth's bed. "What's going on?"

"You are aware that she was reinfected by nanites?"

John nodded. "Yes."

"Well the Asurans activated them."

"Activated them?" asked John. "How?"

"From orbit," Rodney answered. "I think they wanted to use her as a weapon."

"Weapon?" asked Sam. "What kind of weapon?"

"We think that they wanted her to destroy Atlantis from the inside out," Rodney explained.

"Aye," Carson agreed. "But the lass has had experience with these buggers before and she was able to fight them off."

"Have you tried an EMP?" John asked, remembering the last time they were in this position.

Rodney shook his head. "We can't. It'll kill her."

"How can it when it worked the last time?" Teyla asked.

"This time the nannites have been replacing her own cells with theirs," Carson explained. "Every moment she is becoming more and more like them."

"So what can we do?" asked Ronan.

"We can put her in the machine," John stated. "Like we did last time."

Carson shook his head. "My blood samples have been destroyed."

"Alright," Sam began, stopping John from talking. "We need a new plan, let's see what we can come up with."

...

As every hour passed Elizabeth became less and less herself. Rodney worked as hard as he could, but even with Zelenka's help, there was nothing that he could come up with. Carson and Keller worked as hard as they could to slow the progress of the nanites but they too were met with little success. And as for John, well he kept an ever constant vigil at Elizabeth's side.

"John?" asked Sam as she came to see how her second in command was doing.

"She hasn't woken up," he stated in a broken whisper.

"That's probably for the best."

John shook his head. "We were arguing,"

"Sorry?" she asked.

"Before she..." John trailed off, hardly able to say what had happened to her. "We argued."

"About?"

"It doesn't matter."

"John—"

"It doesn't matter now."

Sam sighed. "We can always put her in the machine."

"But the blood samples have been destroyed," John pointed out. "She'd die."

"She might ascend," Sam answered. "There's a difference."

"Doesn't the SGC have any samples on file?"

Sam shook her head. "They don't."

"How about anywhere on Earth. There has to be something."

"There probably is something," Sam agreed. "But it would take too much time."

"We can't lose her,"

Sam nodded. "I know."

"No!" John exclaimed as he turned away from Sam. "I can't lose her."

"John—"

"Dammit Sam," he cursed. "I love her."

"John?" she asked, surprised yet not surprised at the same time.

"I love her," he repeated, his voice broken. "And now it's too late."

Sam sighed, an eerie feeling of deja vu washing over her. "Why do we wait to tell people how we really feel?"

"What?" he asked, unable to hear her whisper.

Sam shook her head. "Nothing. I just... I know what you're going through right now."

John nodded. He had read Sam's SGC file and her mission reports. He knew how she had lost people that she had cared about and yet she had persevered. John however wasn't so sure how he would be able to live knowing that his Elizabeth was dead.

...

"Lad are you sure?" asked Carson.

John nodded. "We have to try," he stated after coming to a startling realization. If the machine worked to heal her then it would buy them more time before she ascended and if they couldn't figure it out in time at least she would be ascended and not dead. And so, Carson with the help of Ronan placed Elizabeth on the bed of the machine and Zelenka brought the thing to life.

Like before, a beam of light encircled Elizabeth and when it vanished, she opened her eyes. "What," she began in a hushed whisper as John helped her to her feet. "What happened?"

They had all decided that John should be the one to explain to her what had happened but for John, he found that it was the hardest thing that he had ever had to say. "So we defeated the Asurans?" she asked as they walked along the balconies of Atlantis.

John nodded. "Yeah. They didn't like us fighting back."

Elizabeth smiled. "I"m sorry to have missed the battle."

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"John?" she asked. "What happened to me?"

"Elizabeth you—" he sighed. "You were dying."

"I'm not dead."

"The nanites were turning you into one of them," he explained. "You would have been—"

"—entirely Asuran," she finished. "Not a pleasant thought. But I'm all human now right?"

John nodded. "You are except,"

"Except that I'm changing," she stated. Since she had woken up, Elizabeth had felt like something was off and now it all made sense. "I'm ascending."

John nodded. "Yes you are."

He stopped and so did Elizabeth. "This was your choice?" she asked.

"To buy us more time."

"John—"

"Don't you dare say that it wasn't my right," he argued. "I couldn't lose you."

"John," she stated more firmly, her voice quavering just a little. "You might lose me anyways."

He shook his head. "I can't think like that."

"Why not?" she asked.

John said nothing.

"John?" she asked, pressing for an answer. "Why not."

But John couldn't tell her. It wouldn't be fair to her or to him and so he stayed silent. The hours counted down, neither Rodney nor Radek nor Carson and Keller could find a way to save Elizabeth and so after saying goodbye to her friends and family, Elizabeth Weir, ascended.

...

It was days after her memorial. He was standing on their balcony. The control room was behind him and although the doors were closed he knew that everyone there was in quiet contemplation. To say that the last few months had been a roller coaster would be a gross understatement. It started with something that was border-line immoral, and ended with something that could only be described as horribly unfair and wicked. And now, as he stood in the dying light of their new home, John Sheppard couldn't help but wonder if Elizabeth hadn't been right all along.

'If I had only listened to her…' John thought despairingly to himself. '…if I had only tried to convince Commander Ellis that going ahead with the first strike wasn't a good idea! If only…'

"You shouldn't blame yourself John…"

Her voice was soft as it whispered in his ear and John looked to his left and saw her standing there. Elizabeth was standing before him in a plain white gown, her hair flowing around her shoulders and her hazel eyes wide and full of life. All around her a white aura glowed and John knew that he was looking at her ascended form.

"-Lizabeth-!" He breathed out taking a halted step towards her.

"I'm here John." She answered quietly, her voice calm and sure. "I had to let you know that I was alright."

"So are you back?" He asked curiously, the shock of seeing her wearing off as he thought back to a half-forgotten conversation. "Or are you-"

"I am an ascended being now John." She explained apologetically. "I know what I said but- I can do more like this."

"Dr. Jackson thought so too." John pointed out, his brow furrowed. "And look where that got him."

"Yes." Elizabeth agreed with a small laugh as she clasped her hands in front of her and cast her gaze down to them. "I have been hearing stories about how us mortals from Earth have a very strange way of looking at things- how we rock the boat to much."

"But you won't-" John stated knowingly, causing Elizabeth to catch his eye. "-never a rash decision when it comes to you right?"

"My decision to get where I am now was somewhat rash…" Elizabeth admitted with a sigh as she took a step towards John. "…but at the time, it was the only way that I could think of to save you-all of you-"

"And yourself," John added softly, taking another step towards her so now they were standing toe to toe. "-you had to save yourself."

"John," Elizabeth began with a sigh, shaking her head. "-Teyla once told me that you would do anything for any member of your team. Did you think that you were alone in that conviction?"

"Well I-er-"

"You have defended and protected me too many times to count John," Elizabeth paused and laughed at a memory before continuing. "-you even defended my honour once." Elizabeth sighed and looked out to their new sea-green ocean, placing her hands upon the railing of the balcony. "But you have to know that while you may be willing to lay down your life for any of us, we are willing to lay down our life for you."

"I just wish that it hadn't been you." John stated suddenly catching Elizabeth's gaze and her hand as it rested on the railing. "I have so many things to say to you…"

"I have so many things to say to you too John," Elizabeth agreed, looking into his mournful eyes, knowing that she was projecting the same loss. "-but my time is up-"

"You could always come back you know…" He pointed out hopefully, taking her hand and squeezing it- inwardly shocked that she was solid. "You could always retake human form..."

"I made a commitment." Elizabeth stated firmly, echoing her words of so long ago. "And besides," She continued, pulling her hand away and taking a step back. "-it doesn't seem right to just ascend to fix a problem and then de-ascend for my own gain…"

"But it wouldn't be for just your own gain!" John exclaimed, his frustration mounting slightly. "You'd be returning to the place that you belong! You'd be returning to the position that you committed yourself to three years ago!" John sighed and let his tense shoulders slump. "You'd be returning to the people whom you befriended, who care about you, who l- love you."

"Oh John," Elizabeth sighed, her heart breaking at his last words. "If I only could-"

"Just promise me one thing," John interrupted, taking both her hands into his own; an intimate gesture that not only shocked Elizabeth but John as well.

"Anything…." Elizabeth agreed, squeezing John's hands as tight as she could.

"Promise me that I'll see you again one day."

"One day." Elizabeth promised with a nod and a smile as she kept a tight hold of John's hands even as she began to turn into white light. "One day we will meet again."

And with that Elizabeth was gone, leaving John standing alone on the balcony wondering if what he had just experienced was real or not. A part of him confirmed to himself that he had indeed seen Elizabeth and that she had promised him that one day they would meet again.

"I'll hold you to that Elizabeth." John whispered softly turning from the balcony and heading into the control room. "I'll hold you to that…"

And as he left, he could hear the waves of the sea crashing against the piers of Atlantis and interspersed with them he could have sworn that he had heard her sweet laughter and a promise in response.

"We will meet again John, I swear that we will..."

Authors Note: So things have come around full circle. We're back where we started and yeah, this is a rather sadish ending, but since when have I left sad endings for my beloved sparky ship? You're just going to have to read the epilogue to find out what happens. :D