Selection Factor9
Moira stepped out of the bathroom. Calmer. Cleaner. Relaxed. Echoes of pleasure a pleasant reminder of her time with John. She smiled, but froze. John was sitting on the bed. Waiting.
"Oh oh," she muttered. "Um, John? I...I...I have a new schedule now, colonel. And wild sex with Colonel Sheppard is not on it. At least not again, okay?"
"New schedule?" he asked, watching her. "What is our new schedule, baby?"
"My schedule, not yours," she argued, trying to be stern. But he appeared so happy. So alluring as he sat on their bed. Watching her warmly.
"Because I will make damn sure that wild sex with Moira Sheppard is on mine, don't you worry, baby. That is a priority!"
She laughed. "Hilarious, John." She sat on the bed. Reclined on her side, facing him. "You wear me out, sweetie. I need a quick nap before I go back to work." She glanced at the clock.
"Ah." He scooted close. Ran his fingers through her loose hair. Along her arm. "And then what? Your mutiny?"
"Yes." She eyed him. Touched his thigh. "I...I don't suppose you could–"
"Done." He laid next to her. Held her close, kissing her. "Relax, Moy. I'm tired too. All that exuberant release all at once can tire a guy, you know."
She snuggled into him, closing her eyes. "And now Carson knows we did it in the Wraith lab. Good God, John, what is wrong with us?"
He smirked. "Nothing, baby. Absolutely nothing. Table sex is hot. Really hot. Could have been hotter though. Naked. That would have been better. But I guess nudity is only allowed here? Thought so," he answered his own question. "Don't you worry, baby. I'm almost certain that Carson knows. Knows we have sex, that is. You being pregnant and all."
"John!" she snorted laughter. Relaxing in his arms. "It's not funny."
"No? It's funnier than my zipper injury, Moy, I 'm not kidding. Fuck...you should see the mark. You will see it, later." He kissed her brow, stroking her back. "Go to sleep, baby. John junior must think we live at a carnival. All those wild rides."
She laughed. "John! Stop it!"
"I'm just saying, Moy. Think about it. Up and down, back and forth. Fast and slow. Full throttle. He must think we're carny folk or very avid carnival attendees."
She giggled. "Poor guy," she remarked. "We really should dial it down, shouldn't we?"
He gently laughed. "Yeah, poor guy. But no. Not a second of it, baby. Turbulence training, remember? My son. My delicious, exuberant wife. All mine." He kissed her. "Go to sleep, sweetheart. There's no place I would rather be."
"But?" She lifted to view his handsome face. "John? Well?"
"We need to talk, sweetheart. After our nap." He closed his eyes, drawing her against him. Stroking her back, her hair. "Sex. Mutiny. The usual."
"The...huh? Oh...oh..." She sighed, staring at him. "John?" He was silent, drifting pleasantly. She snuggled into him again, relishing his warmth, his love. "Okay, John."
John woke. Sat suddenly, surprised he had fallen so deeply asleep. Sprawled alone on the new bed, the comfort had seduced him into a restful repose. He looked round. "Moira?" Frowned. Wondered where she had gone. Needed to talk to her. He moved to his feet in one flowing motion. Crossed to his room. Snatched a beer from the fridge, smiling over having it there. Drank and tapped his earpiece. "Moira, copy? Baby? Where are you, baby?"
Moira started, John's voice sounding husky in her ear. She smirked. Tapped the earpiece. "John, copy? Sweetie? Don't tell me...ordnance check again?"
He laughed at her exasperated tone. "No. Zipper injury check, baby, stat! Where are you?"
"Working, John. Why don't you–"
"Where?"
She sighed. Eyed Katie and Julie as they watched her, amused. "I'll meet you in botany, okay? And John...could you, um, bring some potato chips with you? The honey-dipped ones? John?" She frowned as his gentle laughter filled her ear. "It's not funny, colonel! Sheppard..." She paused, corrected, "Sheppards out!" She smiled, knew he would be charmed by that. And pleased. She stood. "Busted."
"I guess. Well, we were almost done here anyway," Katie remarked, glancing round the lab. "At least for today."
"What are you going to tell him?" Julie asked.
"As much as I can. He needs to know. Don't worry."
"But what if he disagrees, or worse pull the plug on all of this?" Julie asked, not convinced. She looked round at the computers, the consoles. "We're making progress and if we stop now because he gets cold feet or has to go through the chain of command and it gets to Weir we–"
"No. John will support this, and he will keep it close. Trust me, Julie. Like I said, we will need him on our side when are ready to report our findings."
"Besides, John would never betray Moira's trust," Katie urged.
"That is true," Moira agreed. "Let's wrap it up for now. Shit, I've got to make it to botany before he does!"
"Yes, you wouldn't want to miss out on those chips," Julie teased. The women laughed.
Moira waited. Heard the distinctive sound of his boots clomping down the hallway, then into the botany lab. She lingered, oddly nervous. Wringing her hands together as she looked at the plants surrounding her. Tensing with anxiety.
John looked round the lab. "Moira? Moira, I've got your chips." He shook the bag. Smiled as she suddenly appeared, but he studied her. "Sweetheart?"
Moira licked her lips. Took the bag. Set the bag aside. Picked it up. Put it down again. "John...John..." She didn't know what to say, where to start. She sighed. "Thank you, John." She took the bag again. Opened it and ate. Wordlessly offered him some. He took some, watching her eat. Her nervous gaze darting round the room. Then fixating on the motions of his mouth as he chewed. Swallowed. Licked his lips.
"What are you doing in botany?" he asked, pondering how to ease her into discussion.
"Eating chips."
He smiled. "Cute. Very."
"And looking at the most gorgeous guy in Atlantis. You?" she asked with a smile. She ate more chips, finally set the bag aside and grabbed a bottle of water to drink.
"Waiting for my beautiful, pregnant wife to spill it. All of it."
She handed him the water bottle. He sipped, sipped. Swallowed and licked his lips. Handed it back to her. She smiled, set it aside. Stepped close and kissed him. "Hmm...John...you..." She touched his chest. Fingers caressing the black fabric of his t-shirt. She felt his dog tags underneath, and suddenly realized he hadn't removed them. "You...you're leaving, aren't you?"
He caressed her cheek, drawing her gaze up to his. "Soon, yes, Moira. A mission will pop up, they always do. Talk to me, Moira. You look tired, sweetheart, and not just from last night. Have you been sleeping all right while I've been gone?"
"No. I mean, I've been having trouble sleeping, so it's the perfect time to work."
"Work? You've been working in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Wait...you..." His thoughts raced. Brows furrowing. "The mutiny."
She nodded, not surprised at his swift conclusion. "A mutiny of science, John. We..."
"You've been working on all five projects again, haven't you? Damn it, Moira, you need to slow down and take care of yourself! Of John junior! What do I have to do, assign a babysitter to you when I am gone?" he flared, concern turning to anger.
"Don't be silly, John. I'm fine. John junior's fine. You heard Carson, and you saw the scan. Besides, I'll sleep better now, don't you worry, sweetie. John...we..." She took his hand. "It's better that I show you. Please." She led him out of the botany lab. "We've been working on the migration trajectory, along with your deserted planets. They don't go together."
"They don't?" he asked, disappointed.
"No. But they do form a pattern. Another pattern, as you well know. Anyway, I've been working on that and some of the protein work, but I'm hitting a wall there because it's not really my field. Instead I decided to concentrate on my field. Evolutionary biology. But I studied two groups over the centuries and compared population densities and overall rises and falls."
John followed her into a transporter. Watched her choose a destination. "Back up, Moira. What pattern? Those deserted planets? Ah. The aliens, right? Where we've been finding that tech. Did you know that Rodney thinks he had identified them? From our own galaxy, or visa versa, who knows? A more corporeal form than in the Milky Way. Once, anyway, maybe not now. Ah. Those planets weren't touched by the Wraith, were they? It was the Ancients."
Moira smiled, led him down a hallway. "Yes, John . That's my Mensa boy! I first thought those planets were decimated by the Wraith, but they are so far off the grid of the migratory pattern that it couldn't be them. It had to be the Ancients, and those aliens. Which are?"
"Some sort of blue crystalline structured things, well, maybe not blue here, but composed of energy. Not mass, not physical beings like us or the Ancients or the Wraith. At least not anymore. Rodney's still researching, and putting together the stuff we found. It interfaces with our equipment better than with the Ancient's. He can only guess at what the stuff does or is supposed to do. Weird, huh? Hey, where are we going?"
They were climbing the stairs. "A disused portion of the city. That's interesting, John. I will have to compare notes with Rodney later. More evidence that the Ancients were not as benevolent as many believe."
"Wait!" He stopped her, looking round. "This is Section five, grid seven. This hasn't been cleared. It's inert and mostly unexplored. We couldn't activate any of the systems here." He frowned at the shadows. The silence of the deserted corridors. "There's nothing down here, Moira. And you shouldn't be here in an uncleared area. We can't even initiate the systems," he repeated.
Moira smiled at him. Tugged his hand. Led him into a darkened room. She touched a panel and the lights flickered, then filled the space with a soft glow. She touched a console and it flared to life. The monitors humming quietly. Water bubbled soothingly in the greenish blue walls. "I can. Well, I can now thanks to your son, John. Welcome to bio two."