Life, with a little spice 7
She paces outside the infirmary until Jen leaves it for a brief moment to tell them Teldy is going to make it. "You need to rest, now, Louise," she orders her friend. She turns to John. "Colonel, I would very much appreciate if you took care of her. She won't rest otherwise."
He nods. "Keep us posted on Teldy's condition. I'll need to debrief her as well."
Louise protests. "John. Let her rest. I can tell you everything you need to know."
He nods and pulls her towards the exit. "Let's return to our quarters. We can talk when you've rested a little."
She takes a quick shower and changes into her sweats. It's the middle of the afternoon, hardly a time to go to bed, though she feels drained and wants nothing more but to crawl under the comforter and sleep for the rest of the day. She sits cross-legged on top of the bed instead and pats the space next to her. "Come sit with me, John. We have things to discuss."
"Don't you think it would be best to debrief you in the conference room?" he counters.
She pouts. "Look. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole thing so I need you to listen to me first."
He nods and she starts recounting what happened to her from the moment she left the first time – barely a day from now.
He gulps when he hears her say she'd disappeared for three years. He never interrupts her though, letting her finish her story first before he pulls her to him and wraps his arms tightly around her, breathing her in. She feels him tremble against her. She pushes him away gently and looks into his eyes. He looks both scared and murderous. "Louise, do you realize what you're saying?" She nods quietly. "This is going further than anything we've been through until today. If what you say is true, Atlantis is not safe anymore. We had surmised we would have a respite but it was never the case. We need to warn General O'Neill asap," he says, standing hurriedly.
She stops him before he can tap his communicator to call the Control Room. "John, there's more," she says, making him sit back on the bed. "I left a couple of things out because they were not relevant to the main issue but you need to know before we get to the conference room."
He pouts. "I don't want you to exert yourself. You've been through a lot these last few days. You heard Keller. You rest. We'll debrief you later."
She shakes her head. "We can't wait for this. Right now, we may still have a head start. I'd like to keep it that way. I worked hard enough for that." She looks so resolute he doesn't dare counter her. Besides, she's right.
"Alright, then. Tell you what. I call for a debriefing in the conference room. You tell me the rest on the way. We discuss all this with McKay and I call O'Neill. How does that sound?" he offers.
She nods and stands, following him to the door.
"So, if I get that right, you mean Nancy's husband was purposefully murdered to serve the Trust's interest. But she's only collateral damage," he adds hopefully.
She nods, laying her hand gently on his arm. "It was one of the hardest things I had to live, John – seeing her by your side," she confesses, smiling sadly. "But at least, it's a comforting thought she's not a Trust agent. We need to protect her and her husband."
He nods and lets her enter the conference room first. The whole team is already waiting for them. "What's going on?" Rodney demands. "Sheppard told us," he says, waving at himself and Zelenka, "to get to work on the jumper you brought back from that mission. I need to know how you laid your hands on it, Louise."
She smiles and sighs with content at being here with them all and not stranded in a time where she does not belong. She bites her bottom lip, seeing Zelenka watching her. She hasn't told John yet about her little foray into the Czech's stash of moonshine. It'll have to wait.
John nods at her and sets the recorder on. She starts recounting her story once again – this time trying to be as thorough as possible.
Rodney doesn't let her off the hook. He asks her question after question, wanting to know what she saw, what his older version did to alter the jumper, anything that could help him fast forward the process. "Look, Rodney. I never saw him or Zelenka working on it. They were at it all night and in the morning, things got suddenly real crazy. All I know is what he told me." Rodney scoffs in frustration. She rubs her hands over her face. "I'm sorry I didn't pay enough attention," she apologizes. "I was under a lot of stress and he only gave me a crash course."
"Sorry," Rodney mutters and looks away. "I understand it was hard for you."
She smiles at him. He's changed so much since the first time they met and she feels so blessed to have him as her friend. Without him, she wouldn't be here. She turns to John. "This all back to my own time line thing, I'm afraid it's changed things. I want to believe it's for the best but we haven't been able to stop the scout ship or bring Wicker back with us or even learn who's behind all this, apart from the assumption it's got to do in one way or another with those rogue NID ex-agents."
John has stopped the recording a little earlier. No need for the big brass back on Earth to hear her concern and fear. "I say we send the report in our transmission and let Homeworld Security deal with it. In the meantime, we're gonna have to put Atlantis on a lock down," he says, turning to Lorne who nods in agreement. "Get all the teams back here. We abort all missions. Once everyone's on board, we search the premises and interrogate everyone. I want to know who I can trust." Lorne stands and leaves the room to relay his CO's orders.
John turns to Rodney. "I'm afraid the time machine will have to wait. We need to know if our systems have been tampered with, starting with the wormhole device."
Rodney nods and motions for Zelenka to follow. John calls them back. "Wait. For all we know, we could have a security breach and highly trained spies on board. You two had better be careful. Keep a gun with you at all times and stay together."
Teyla looks worried too. "If that's the case, Colonel, you might not want them to be aware we're after them," she advises him.
Ronon agrees. "Might turn pretty ugly if they feel cornered."
"Can't we come up with something? Like you say you need to issue new orders because of the possibility of contagion from an alien virus... It would hardly be the first time," Louise says, rolling her eyes at the mere idea. They've had to deal with it countless times and she still has a few very vivid memories of people turning crazy or their bodies being taken over by alien forms.
He grins at her. "Léger, you're a genius," he compliments her, making her blush.
McKay points at himself, hurt. "Hey, that would be me!" he protests, offended.
Louise snorts. "No one would dare question that!" she mocks him.
He shakes his head and heads for the door. "Alright, you guys. Stop having fun at my expense and start working. Zelenka and I will again try to save the day while you figure out how to lie to the whole City."
"He's right," Louise points out. "That would be quite a hoax."
John nods and pouts. "And it's gonna be the longest investigation ever. We don't even know what we're looking for or if it's even here and we've got miles of premises to search."
Louise yawns and rubs her eyes. She is bone tired and could use a nap. "Do you mind if I head back to our quarters?"
He pouts. "Actually I do. You're not going anywhere without me or someone I trust and the list is getting shorter by the minute."
She rolls her eyes. "I know how to take care of myself." He gives her a look and she sighs. "OK, at least, can I use the couch in your office?"
He finds her there a couple of hours later. He's talked to Homeworld Security and organized the lock down, with O'Neill's approval. Security measures have already been changed and he's informed the personnel of the new rules, telling them to be extremely cautious. No one remains alone. Teams of two have been established by himself and Lorne and everyone's been made aware of an ongoing investigation to find an alien entity that might jump from body to body.
He shakes her shoulder gently to wake her up. "Louise, sweetie. I'm taking you back to our quarters," he whispers.
She opens her eyes and stretches on the couch then rubs her neck. "Thanks God. Your couch is really not up to my expectations," she informs him.
He chuckles. "As I recall, you never voiced out any complaint when we were here the last time, sweetie," he says smugly, reminding her of the night they'd spent on this very couch not so long ago.
She makes a face. "That was because I had no choice. You said you had work to finish and I didn't want to return to our quarters and leave you here all alone," she points out.
He chuckles again. "You're such a bad liar."
She tucks her tongue at him cheekily and stands. "Are we done for the night?" she asks.
He nods. "Yeah. All the teams have returned and everyone's been ordered to stay put for the time being. Lorne and a handful of trusted marines are taking the first watch. I'm taking you back to our quarters. You need to rest."
She lifts her eyebrows. "So do you," she points out.
They make their way slowly through the empty corridors, his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist. They relish in the feel of each other's close proximity. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this," he tells her.
She shrugs. "Guess it goes with the job's description," she answers casually to mask her unease. She knows she's going to have nightmares in the days to come.
"Don't need to play it all cool and detached with me, sweetie. I know what it's like to be lost away from your own time line," he points out.
She chuckles humorlessly. "I thought the second time would be easier."
"Was it?" he prods, passing his hand over the door's sensor.
She sighs. "Nope." She falls silent and he sees there's something she needs to say.
He pulls her gently inside the room and closes the door. He makes her sit on the bed. "What is it you're not telling me? Were you hurt? Did someone do something to you?" he asks worriedly. They share most of their worries now and she's more open but sometimes, he feels she keeps things from him not to plague him with her own thoughts and fears.
She shakes her head. "No one hurt me, John. I hurt myself." She smiles sadly. "I did something I'm not proud of and I'm not gonna make excuses because what I did was unforgivable."
He looks up in alarm. She lays her hand gently on his arm. "I... I think I hit rock bottom at some point back there and I snapped. You refused to believe it was really me and you were so intent on pushing me away and there was Nancy..." She pouts. "I'm not making excuses. I'm just trying to explain how I got there..."
"How you got where?" he prods.
"On the west pier, with a bottle of Radek's moonshine," she whispers, looking away in shame.
"Louise..." he chides her then realizes how brave it was of her to tell him. She could have hidden the truth, pure and simple, and dealt with it on her own. "I'm sorry," he amends and pulls her in his arms. He sits with her on his lap, rocking her slowly, her head buried in his neck. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this on your own. And I'm sorry for being judgmental."
"Is OK," she mumbles and wraps her arms around his neck, drawing him to her. "I promise it was a stupid, one-time thing."
"I know," he says and kisses her hair. He tickles her. "Cause I know all you need to get rid of an addiction is to replace it with another and I'm your newest one, if I recall properly," he whispers in her ear smugly, making her giggle. Her hands trail down his chest and untuck his shirt from his pants. "You're absolutely right, Colonel. I'm hooked on you."
Her last words turn into a moan when he trails his hands along her sides and the sensitive skin of her breasts. "God, Louise, I'll never get tired of hearing that sound. We should sleep, though," he sighs. He knows the days to come are going to be anything but easy, what with having to interview the whole base.
"Please, John," she begs and looks at him with such needy eyes that he cannot refuse her.
He smiles. "Alright, but don't ask me to stay awake until the crack of dawn," he says, telling himself he needs it as much as she does, the mere thought of losing her for good taking its toll on him. Of all the things he had imagined could happen, he'd never thought it would be him who'd be left behind.
TBC