Disclaimer: Not mine, never mine
Teyla stared at John, daggers flowing from her eyes. Rodney had already had to keep her from going over there and hitting him. He'd never really known how close she and Elizabeth were but it seemed to be enough to make Teyla lose her respect for John.
"He is such a..."
Teyla stopped and turned to Rodney
"Give me an Earth word to insult him"
Rodney shrugged; he'd been going through certain words in his own head so they just rolled off his tongue
"Slut, whore, Kirk, son of a bitch, bastard..."
Teyla stopped him, she'd had heard that word fly around Atlantis several times, though she'd never used it and she didn't know what it meant
"He is such a...bastard"
Rodney smirked; he had never heard Teyla swear before. She always seemed far too polite and sweet, a bit like Elizabeth. Rodney patted her on the shoulder lightly just a Ronon and Elizabeth rejoined them.
Teyla took Elizabeth hands in her and smiled apologetically at her, before Teyla could speak Elizabeth smiled at her.
"It's fine Teyla. I'm fine"
Teyla nodded slowly but still held onto her hands, running her fingers over Elizabeth knuckles.
"If you are sure"
Elizabeth nodded
"I am"
Teyla dropped Elizabeth's hands, dropping her own arms to her side. Elizabeth took a deep breath as Ronon nodded over to John, Mokian and Lokmic as they walked over to the group. John stood between the two groups people are started to introduce them.
"This is Dr Weir, our leader. Dr Weir this is Lokmic and his daughter Mokian."
Elizabeth smiled and shook the hand which Lokmic offered her.
"Greetings Dr Weir, it is good to meet you, your people speak highly of you"
Elizabeth continued to smiled
"It is good to meet you too. I have heard nothing but good about you and your people."
Elizabeth than turned to Mokian and took her hand, shaking it and smiling.
"It is good to meet you Mokian"
Mokian smiled genuinely at Elizabeth's warm greeting. John knew better though, he knew that the smile Elizabeth was wearing was her fake diplomatic smile, and he shot her a glare which was immediately deflected by the glare he received from Ronon.
Atlantis
The team arrived back on Atlantis several hours after Elizabeth had left. Lokmic had enjoyed a long, very long, talk with Elizabeth, that she had managed to stay awoke during, only due to Ronon and Rodney nudging her at specific intervals. She had concluded though, that Lokmic was a nice guy and she was looking forward to getting to know him and his people. The part she hated was that she had had a talk with Mokian and had started too actually like the woman. If she was honest with herself she knew Mokian wasn't at fault, she didn't even know what had happened between John and Elizabeth, all she knew was that Elizabeth was their leader.
When they stepped back onto Atlantis, Elizabeth ordered them all to the infirmary and then to a briefing where they discussed the terms of the treaty with the Krickmarkians, introduction of more effective medicines and an ally against the Wraith. Eventually after a short meeting Elizabeth sent them all away with an instruction to get some rest and take a few personal days.
All the team left the briefing room, except John who held back. When Elizabeth looked up and saw him she sighed inwardly
"What can I do for you Colonel?"
John stood up and moved to the chair next to her. He cleared his throat
"I know there is a way I could have done it smoother than I did. For that I am sorry"
Elizabeth nodded and bit the inside of her mouth. She didn't know how to respond, she didn't know if she wasn't to respond.
"I understand and I'm fine with it. Let's not mention it again"
"Elizabeth..."
Elizabeth stopped him by standing up
"Please John. Not again"
With that final word she left the room, leaving John in the briefing room.
Two months later
It had been just over two months since they first met with the Krickmarkians and things between them were going great. Both sides were sticking to what they had promised the other and they had had no upsets yet, major or minor.
John had been spending a lot of time on Krickmarkian and in the beginning Elizabeth tried to pretend that it didn't bother her, but Teyla, Ronon and Rodney knew it did. After a few weeks Ronon had found Elizabeth in the mess hall early in the morning. She'd told him she was having trouble sleeping, when Ronon asked her how long it had been going on and she admitted that it had been happening since going to Krickmarkian, Ronon had dragged her down to the gym and started to spar with her, telling her that she needed the training and if she was going to be awoke so early in the morning she might as well do something useful, and her training was going well. Ronon had been surprised at how quickly she was learning, she was still no match for him but he could tell she had a natural ability which, properly nurtured, could grow into something amazing. She'd never missed a session and Ronon knew that despite the bruises she was receiving from getting her ass kicked everyday she was enjoying herself and enjoying what she was learning, so one morning when she didn't show up Ronon headed off to her quarters. He knocked on the door softly
"Dr Weir. Dr Weir"
When he received no answer in punched in his identification code and stepped into the room. He saw Elizabeth curled up on her bed, still sleeping. Ronon considered leaving her there but knew that she would have to get up soon anyway, so instead he walked over to the bed and bent down next to her.
"Dr Weir"
When she didn't move he switched on the light which sat on the bedside table. When he looked at her again he could see properly that she was shaking and had a layer of perspiration on her whole face. He touched her forehead carefully and was shocked by how feverish she was. Quickly he tapped his radio and called Carson
"Beckett is Ronon. I need you in Weir's room"
"What's wrong lad?"
The Scot sounding tired and groggy as if he'd fallen asleep during his night shift
"Weir's feverish, shaking, she's deathly pale"
Carson suddenly woke up quickly; Ronon could hear him rushing around as he spoke
"I'll be right there son, just try and keep her temperature down till I get there"
Ronon pulled her out of the covers which were wrapped tightly around her, hoping it would cool her down, he he looked down and saw that she was wearing only a tank top and shorts, he pulled the thinnest and coolest blanket back round her, while struggling to avert his eyes and opted to cool her down with a wet towel. He went to the bathroom and soak a towel in ice cold water before returning back to her and pressing it around her head, neck and the top of her chest. As he did this he wondered what the hell could be taking Carson so long to get there. A moment later Carson showed up the room. Ronon was pushed to the side as Carson quickly assessed what was going on.
After a while Carson moved away from her and got on his radio asking someone to move Elizabeth to the infirmary.
Ronon turned to Carson. Carson could see that he was clearly worried and that for him was quite interesting. He'd never know how close Ronon and Elizabeth were.
"Is she going to be okay?"
Carson smiled and nodded
"Aye lad, it looks like she's caught that flu virus that's going around. A few days in the infirmary and she'll be fine."
Ronon smiled slightly and nodded
"Good. That's good"
Carson nodded in agreement
"I don't want her worrying about the city. You might need to call back Colonel Sheppard early from his mission"
Ronon shook his head
"High level mission, I can't. He won't be anywhere near the Stargate anyway"
Carson sighed and shook his head
"Then who's in charge. It's too late the call back Colonel Caldwell, he's half way back to Earth right now"
Ronon nodded and sighed
"Who's the most senior civilian member of the expedition?"
Carson grimaced and looked at Ronon, less than enthusiastic at who he was going to say
"With Colonel Sheppard off world and Elizabeth incapacitated the most senior member is Rodney"
Ronon closed his eyes and shook his head trying to get the image, of how badly Rodney would screw up the city in two days, out of his head. Slowly he opened his eyes and sighed
"So, we team him up with Teyla. At least that way we can limit the damage"
Carson nodded in agreement
"Good idea lad"
Two days later
Ronon sat watching Elizabeth as she slept. It had been two days and she still hadn't woken up. Beckett wasn't worried though, he said it was probably best that she was sleeping through the worst of it. John still wasn't back on Atlantis which meant that the terrible tag team of Teyla and Rodney were still ruling the city. Not that they were doing a bad job, it was just that neither had the skill Elizabeth had.
Ronon had decided to stay out of it so he had spent most of his time just down in the infirmary waiting for Elizabeth to wake up or in the gym kicking the asses of a few cocky Marines who decided that comments about Ronon's concern for Elizabeth where necessary.
So when Elizabeth did wake up Ronon was glad.
"Hey."
Ronon looked at Elizabeth and smiled. Her voice was raspy and her hair was going in all directions across her face.
"Hey. How you feeling?"
Elizabeth sighed and closed her eyes
"Like I've just had the best sleep of my life."
Ronon nodded
"You've been asleep for at least 48 hours so it's not surprising."
Elizabeth nodded, than realised a something shocking.
"48 hours? Who's been in charge of my city?"
Ronon smirked and leaned closer to her
"McKay..."
A look of absolute horror crossed over Elizabeth's face
"...and Teyla"
Elizabeth faced softened slightly at the mention of Teyla's name.
"Thank God for Teyla. Rodney hasn't been giving her a hard time as he"
Ronon shook his head.
"No. Actually they're a great team. Half the city hates McKay but respects Teyla and the other half are scared Teyla but respect Rodney"
Elizabeth nodded
"Never forget there is a two percent margin of error. They'll be someone out there who hates them both and doesn't respect them."
Ronon nodded
"Yeah, that'll be Kavanagh and Bates."
Elizabeth laughed slightly and closed her eyes again.
"Leave Bates alone, he's okay"
Ronon smiled
"What about Kavanagh?"
Elizabeth opened her eyes and smirked deviously
"Him, you can torment"
The Stargate activated, drawing Teyla and Rodney from Elizabeth's office which they were currently sharing. They headed to the technician in charge of the Stargate and its shield who turned to them and before they could even ask he reported
"It's Colonel Sheppard and the team"
Teyla nodded
"Lower the shield."
The technician did as he was asked and a moment later he John, Lorne and the team stepped through the 'Gate. It looked like the mission had been successful; they were all wearing smiles and not one of them looked injured.
Teyla and Ronon headed down the steps and walked towards the team.
"Welcome back. Was the mission successful?"
John nodded, handing his P-90 to a member of the team to take to the armoury.
"So what happened while I was gone? Where's Weir?"
Rodney cleared his throat nervously, knowing that he would be pissed about not being called back.
"Erm...she..."
Teyla cut him off, knowing he would spend a few minutes babbling
"Dr Weir was taken ill a few days ago. She is in the infirmary, resting"
John looked in disbelief
"So who's been in charge of the city?"
"Myself and Rodney took command"
John continued to look at them in disbelief
"Excuse me"
John walked away from them and headed in the direction of the infirmary. He was pissed about being kept out of the loop. He knew Elizabeth had done it to spite him, he couldn't believe that she would be so petty. By the time he reached the infirmary he had worked himself into a fury, so when he saw her laughing with Ronon he saw red.
"Elizabeth"
Elizabeth looked up and smiled slightly.
"John, you're back. How was the mission?"
John didn't take to well to the tone of Elizabeth cheeriness.
"Why the hell didn't you get Teyla to call me? I should have been in command, not those two"
Ronon didn't even let Elizabeth answer as he pushed John to one side.
"Hey, do you want to get your facts straight? Elizabeth was asleep for over 48 hours. She woke up today. She had no say in who was in charge. I told Rodney and Teyla that calling you would be pointless, you wouldn't have been able to come back before now anyway, not if you wanted the mission to be a success. So before you start blaming her, get the facts straight."
John relaxed his muscles and lent back against the wall.
"I didn't know"
Ronon nodded
"That's because you didn't ask. Now I'm sure she'd gladly put you in charge now you are back."
John sighed and walked over to Elizabeth, who had obviously been watching them. She was still slightly pissed by how John had spoken to her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know"
Elizabeth nodded slowly and swallowed hard.
"Get Carson to check out and your team out, than get some rest, you're sleep deprived."
John nodded slowly and sulked off to see Carson.
Ronon walked back over to Elizabeth but before he could speak she cut in.
"Call Rodney and Teyla and ask them to come down here."
Ronon nodded and tapped his radio, asking Rodney and Teyla to come down to the infirmary. A few moments later the two of them walked into the infirmary and smiled when they saw Elizabeth awake.
Teyla walked over to her and hugged her lightly.
"It is good to see you awake Elizabeth."
Elizabeth smiled at them as the surrounded her bed.
"So what did you want to see us about?"
Elizabeth became very serious as she looked at them all.
"I want it to end. I want all the prejudice you've been giving towards John to end. I want you to give him the respect he deserves. He is your team leader and if I heard about any one of you giving him a hard time, I will not be happy"
Rodney shook his head slightly
"But..."
Elizabeth cut him off quickly
"No Rodney. I mean it, I've gotten over it and you should too"
Elizabeth watched as Teyla and Rodney nodded slowly. She then turned to Ronon who hadn't responded.
"Ronon"
Ronon sighed and nodded
"Okay"
"I'm serious Ronon"
He nodded
"I know. I'll be civilised to him, but I'm doing this for you. Not him"
Elizabeth sighed slightly, knowing she would have to deal with just having that.
When the infirmary was quiet Carson left his office and walked over to where Elizabeth was laying.
"How are you feeling Elizabeth?"
She smiled
"Much better"
Carson sat down on the chair next to Elizabeth bed. He sighed slightly.
"Elizabeth I took a sample of your blood when we brought you into the infirmary the other day. While going through your sample I found something which I didn't expect to."
Elizabeth sat up and nodded.
"What did you find?"
She tried to act brave but she was slightly scared what he had to say. Carson sighed.
"Elizabeth, you're pregnant"
Elizabeth looked at him in confusion.
"What?"
Carson told her again but received the same answer. Elizabeth continued to look at him in shock before finding her voice again
"How long?"
Carson cleared his throat again.
"Two and a half months"
Elizabeth closed her eyes and lent her head against the wall behind her and Carson continued
"It's John's, isn't it?"
Elizabeth nodded slowly as she drew her legs up to her chest. Carson placed his hand on her should as a sign of support before leaving her alone to work through what he had just told her.
Ronon entered the infirmary. It had been several hours since Elizabeth had made him promise not to give John a hard time anymore.
He'd gone and took his frustration out on a few Marines and now he was going back to Elizabeth to make that promise again, he hadn't meant it the first time and he knew he wouldn't honour it. So he'd decided to go back and see her and promise that he wouldn't give John a hard time.
He walked to Elizabeth's bed, when he saw her with her legs pulled up to her chest and her head resting on them, looking away from him, he got very worried.
"Dr Weir."
She didn't answer or even recognise his presence. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder
"Elizabeth"
Elizabeth turned round to face him. Her face was slightly red and he could tell she had been crying. He sat down next to her on the bed.
"Are you okay?"
Elizabeth shook her head and sighed
"No"
Ronon slipped his arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Elizabeth turned her head away from him and tried to shift away but Ronon wouldn't let her.
"Hey, what happened?"
He thought he could hear Elizabeth crying but when she looked at him that wasn't the case.
"I'm pregnant"
Ronon's reaction was much like hers
"What?"
Elizabeth shifted away from him.
"I'm having a baby, John knocked me up. Which part of that don't you understand?"
Elizabeth rubbed her face with her hands and sighed.
"I'm pregnant"
She said it again as if still trying to believe it herself. Ronon didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to make this better.
"Are you going to tell him?"
Elizabeth shook her head quickly.
"I can't. He's with Mokian, he as a right to live his life. I won't destroy that for him"
Ronon sighed
"What about you? What about your life?"
Elizabeth shrugged.
"The baby will become a part of my life and I'll deal with it"
Elizabeth turned to him, a look of pleading on her face
"You'll be there, right? If I need you"
Ronon nodded and held her hand
"I'll be there for you"
One months later
Krickmark
Mokian moaned in pleasure as John slip into her, hard and rough. She knew something was going on in his head, it had been since they got together, but he'd never told her. All he'd said is that was that it was work related and she shouldn't worry. She nibbled at his neck as he pushed down into her. She loved John. She was sure she'd made that obvious to him. She hoped he loved her too. Her father liked him and always hinted at the two of them joining in matrimony and giving him grandchildren, and Mokian wanted it all. She wanted John, she wanted to be his wife and have his children, although John didn't seem receptive to that. She'd drop hints but he never picked up on them. Sometimes she wondered whether he was right for her, but than he was kiss her and make her feel this way and that would melt away any doubts she had.
She still feared there was something important that he wasn't telling her but decided that if John told her it was work related, it must be.
Mokian moaned as John's lips kissed her neck. He was saying something over and over again. but she couldn't make out the word, she could just feel it as his lips kissed her.
When he moved away from her neck and rested his forehead on her she still knew he was saying something. His warm breath tickled her face as he came inside of her. But as he did, something beyond his control slipped out of his mouth.
"Elizabeth!"
Mokian stopped. John stopped. They both stared at each other until Mokian pushed him off of her, got and the bed and found her clothes.
John couldn't even look at her, he felt so guilty.
"Mokian..."
Mokian cut him off sharply
"Elizabeth...that is Dr Weir's first name. You were thinking of her while you were with me?"
Mokian asked him, she hoped there was some excuse but knew that nothing he sat could make it right.
"I'm sorry, it just slipped out"
He was sorry, he didn't want to hurt her that was the last thing he wanted to do. He cared about her a lot, he wasn't in love her, he didn't know why but he just wasn't.
Mokian sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed.
"I can not forget this John. I don't think I can forgive it."
John nodded understanding. He knew why it was difficult for her.
"So what now?"
Mokian stood up and looked at him. The tears were piercing her eyes threatening to fall.
"I can't be with you if you're thinking about someone else"
Mokian gave him one last look of sadness before leaving the room, and leaving him all alone.
TBC…