Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy and please review! :) This is dedicated to StargateCrazy who joined Sparky at around the same time and always had a hug waiting for me when I return. Kitty xx
Chapter 6:
Elizabeth felt all the tension leave her body as the doors to her quarters shut behind her. Breathing a heaving sigh of both relief and desperation she lent against the doors and slid down to the ground, exhausted.
Whilst Rodney had had the courtesy to go red and apologise profusely for his sudden outburst later on in the day, the damage had been done. She had practically legged it out of the control room in mortification and tried as best as she could to get on with the rest of her day, but the looks, stares and sniggers were impossible to ignore. News travels fast, Elizabeth mused. And it had, too fast. Living off military rations with only a select number of films, games and activities on offer, gossip had become a fuel for Atlantis which had kept the city going whilst facing down the Wraith and worse. Gossip put a smile on people's faces during the most difficult times and therefore Elizabeth turned a blind eye and deemed it acceptable. It was acceptable when everyone was speculating whether Dr. White and Maj. Schrieker were going to marry after the Genii siege, whether Nurse Thatcher was pregnant and with who's baby after the Wraith attacked at the end of their first year and it had even been acceptable when everyone speculated whether Carson and Rodney were a couple after the infamous kiss involving Lt. Cadman. To Rodney and Carson, not so much, but Elizabeth wasn't concerned. Then again, it hadn't involved her. Everybody speculating on sex dreams involving herself and her military commander, that was intolerable, unendurable and wholly inappropriate, not to mention incredibly embarrassing, for both her and John.
Elizabeth pinched the bridge of her nose and stretched out her legs on the floor before sighing again and leaning her head back. By the time she'd got to the labs and started translating Rodney's damn translations, everyone knew. To her surprise, the looks of disgust, shock or puzzlement were in the minority, most personnel had that unsurprised look on their faces, that 'told you so' demeanour; the same look my mum gave me when I tried to eat her cookies fresh out the oven and discovered that, yes, she was right, they were scolding hot. Elizabeth smiled gently at the memory, trying to dismiss her questions as to why the majority of people under her command had responded in such a way. She stood up, stretched and took off her jacket. God, I need a shower. And ice cream. Most embarrassing moment of my time on Atlantis so far deserves ice cream.
Getting into the shower and standing under the spray, Elizabeth relaxed her aching muscles and tried to think of happier memories. When she'd got her degree, when she'd met the President for the first time, when she'd broken her first major treaty, when she was made head of the Atlantis project, when her nephews and nieces were born….when the people here still had respect for me…Elizabeth rolled her eyes, turned off the tap, grabbed a towel and started drying herself off. So, it wasn't my finest moment…or day…but it could have gone worse. Nobody's died, there's no imminent invasion of some dangerous foe, everybody is merely aware of the fact that I have sex dreams about my second-in-command. She went to her dresser and picked out some underwear, tee-shirt and jeans. Thanks to Rodney, her eyes narrowed at that afterthought whilst she got dressed, "you told her about your sex dreams, didn't you?" God, why couldn't he keep his big mouth shut-" Elizabeth stilled mid-thought and she zipped up her jeans. She frowned. She'd spent the whole day trying to keep as busy as possible that she hadn't really properly considered what had happened in the control room, frankly she hadn't wanted to. He was talking to John!?! Elizabeth shook her head, what were the chances both she and John had had sex dreams about each other? John was a friend, a good friend who liked women who were very pretty on the eyes with an IQ matching their age. But I didn't tell Rodney about my dreams, I told Teyla and she wouldn't break my confidence, especially to Dr. Blabbermouth. She pulled her top down and her eyes widened In realisation. John has had a sex dream about me. She felt…almost honoured. She zipped on some boots and headed towards Teyla's quarters before grinning in relief. And that's what everyone had heard. That John was the one having the sex dreams; Elizabeth was nothing more than the object of them. An innocent bystander, if you will. She nodded, congratulating herself. Respect still intact.
However, Elizabeth was also aware that any respect she had left wouldn't last long if John and she acted on any feelings, but John could be very persuasive. God knows how those puppy dog eyes have landed me in trouble over the years. But, Elizabeth thought positively, no one knows about my dreams and so I will continue to suppress my feelings and within a few months, maybe even weeks, everything will be fine and normal again.
Feeling elation for the first time that day, Elizabeth entered Teyla's quarters happily to see Teyla……AND JOHN!?!?!?! They appeared to be in a deep conversation as John paced the room and Telya sat calmly on her bed, but, upon seeing a dumbstruck Elizabeth in the doorway, all eyes snapped to Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked between them anxiously; Teyla looked guilty and John looked shocked. Oh, I'm doomed.
"You've been having dreams too?!?" A wide-eyed John looked at Elizabeth accusingly.
Moments passed. Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She clenched her jaw and turned to a sheepish-looking Teyla. "I'm so telling Ronan you fancy him…."
TBC….