Chapter VII: A Long Time Coming

A/N: Thanks to IzzieStar and Blackwidowmistress for all of their help with this chapter. They know what they did. Enjoy! She-Demon.

The commotion from the corridor was enough to rouse Elizabeth who had been relaxing on her balcony listening to the radio. She immediately turned the volume down to listen, and realizing it was Rodney voice she was hearing, made her way across her room to the corridor. The scene before her was not what she expected as she witnessed the smirks on her children's faces and the red-faced anger on Rodney's.

"What is going on here?" She demanded.

"Why don't you ask Dad of the Year over here?" Rodney said, not taking his eyes away from John's face.

"John." Elizabeth said.

John turned to her with a roll of the eyes in Rodney's direction, "We were just playing a harmless-"

"Harmless? Life-threatening is more like it!" Rodney spat.

"Oh come on, we put them in places where we knew you'd find them before asphyxiating or whatever would have happened." John said, lazily.

"It was a very risky trick to play John." Carson said.

"Can somebody just tell me what exactly is going on?" Elizabeth said.

"John and the twinnies thought it would be fun to lay a few oranges around McKay's room." Jack volunteered.

Shocked, Elizabeth recalled the expressions on the twins' faces when she had first come from their room and felt a spike of anger that they could have done this, that he could have encouraged and allowed them to do this.

"I think there is something that you should say to Rodney, you two."

Much to her annoyance, the twins did not instantly apologize, but looked to John and waited for his confirmation with a nod before they turned to Rodney and said sorry. With that they tried to make their way past her to return to their room, but she put her hands to stop them. Both looked up at her with confused expressions.

"Now I want you to go and get every single orange out of Rodney's room."

Although they both protested against this, they ultimately gave in and trooped into Rodney's room with their glares back at their Mom. She chose to ignore this and turned to John with a forced smile.

"John, a word please?"

John, obediently, followed Elizabeth to her room not wanting another scene on the corridor. As soon as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at him with that look in her eyes, he knew he was going to be on the defensive for the duration of this conversation.

"How could you have been so irresponsible John?"

"Come on Liz, there is no way that he wouldn't have noticed them."

"Don't call me Liz, and that is not the issue here. JJ and Olivia are six years old; they don't understand how dangerous that prank really was. What happens if they decide to take it one step further and put, I don't know, a slice of lemon in his drink?"

"I think you're taking this a little out of proportion, don't you?"

"No, I don't. They are impressionable and you can't just come into their life and let them think that they can get away with bad behavior by laughing it off as a prank."

"Or maybe you don't like the idea of somebody else coming into their life and letting them do something that you don't approve of." John accused.

"I think you would struggle to find many parents who would approve of their children playing pranks which they know could put a person in danger."

"And I suppose that's a dig at me for not being around?"

"That's not what it was at all John. I am happy that they have a Dad and you have them, but parenthood comes with responsibility and you can't be the good cop all the time."

"And you have got to let them be kids. I know it's been hard for you, but they're kids and they're gonna do naughty stuff."

"That doesn't give you the right to encourage it." Elizabeth said, raising her voice.

"Wouldn't you rather that they did something like that with me around than on their own?"

"John, they would never even have considered it if it wasn't for you. I want you to go and tell them that what you did today was wrong."

"You know what; I'll leave it to you. You'd only complain about the way I did it."

With final angry glance at Elizabeth, John left the room, slamming the door behind him as he went.

The next day was relatively quiet. It was the second to last day of the trip and John wanted to spend as much time as possible with his kids. Even if it meant spending some time with O'Neill, whom both kids seemed to adore. He'd come to accept that O'Neill was one of their few contacts with the outside world. The twins had been talking nonstop about a hockey game that he'd taken them to last year. John could tell that the general had done his best to try and give them a view of the outside world. They were in the bar, and he, Rodney, Jack and Carson were playing Buzztime Trivia. Olivia was with them as her brother wasn't feeling particularly well and was being slightly clingy towards Elizabeth. As he'd gone to sit on Elizabeth's knee, she asked her son,
"You gonna be my lucky mascot for this evening?"
Even though he wasn't feeling well, it made JJ smile and burrow further into Elizabeth's arms. Watching this, John couldn't help but smile at the intimacy that they clearly shared. While his shock at discovering he was a father had been overwhelming, he found that he was still adjusting to the reality that Elizabeth was not only a parent, but the mother of his children.

It was also nice to get the chance to spend a bit of extra time with Olivia, who he still felt he needed to make things up to, and was happy to enjoy her sitting on his knee, while letting her press the buttons for them.

As the waiter came back to refill their drinks, he offered to get them all another round of drinks, hoping in vain that the alcohol may dull Rodney's competitive side. With Olivia still wide-awake, John ordered her a Root Beer, realizing she hadn't had a drink for a couple of hours and wanting to show that he could work the responsible side of parenting for Elizabeth's benefit. When the waiter returned, he noticed Rodney wince slightly at something behind him. John turned around and found out that he was being treated to one of Elizabeth's best death glares. He didn't know what he'd done, but he figured he'd find out later.

When Rodney had finally been declared the winner as the clock approached eleven, none of them could say they were too disappointed to be escaping his slight drunken, gloating manner. Both children were fast asleep, and so as not to wake them, John offered to carry Olivia to bed, while Elizabeth was still hugging John Junior tightly to her.

As they walked past the bar, Elizabeth didn't fail to notice John's face light up as he the barmaid he'd been getting on so well with smiled at him.

"Hey Dani." He said, coming to a stop.

Elizabeth felt obliged to awkwardly stand beside him, straining under the weight of her son and more than ready for bed herself. Not to mention, she didn't really appreciate the idea of her former lover sharpening his verbal foreplay while his two kids and former lover were less than a meter away.

"Hey yourself. How's the little man feeling?" Dani asked.

"Still feeling a bit rough." John admitted.

"That's a shame. So, are you off to bed now too?" Dani asked coyly.

"I was going to come back down for nightcap, if you're interested?"

"I'd like that." Dani replied, barely hiding her delight.

With that, John smiled at her one last time before heading to the elevator with Elizabeth, who was barely able to control the sudden anger she felt towards him. As much as she know that she shouldn't be getting into an argument when she felt so tired and petulant, she couldn't help bring up their earlier argument when her and John were out of earshot.

"You still haven't apologized for the way you left yesterday." Elizabeth said in a harsh whisper.

"I figured that we were agreeing to disagree."

"You think that's sensible?"

"The alternative is that we keep arguing so, yes, I do." John said.

"And what happens the next time you get a 'fun' idea into your head, like, buying Olivia a Root Beer at half past eight at night." Elizabeth hissed.

"So that's what the look was about?"

"What look?"

"You know exactly which look I'm talking about, and, for the record, I was worried she hadn't drunk enough today." John replied.

"So you decided to fill her up with sugar?" Elizabeth scoffed.

"Okay, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said.

Their quarrelling had taken them all the way to Elizabeth's room, and as Elizabeth struggled to reach for her key, John slid his spare arm under John Junior to take some of the weight off her. It occurred to Elizabeth how naturally and instinctively they worked together, even now, and she found herself smiling at John for the first time all day. When she had finally got the door open, they laid the children down in their beds, and after kissing both of the twins goodnight, John made his way to the door, turning just as he opened it.

"Night." He said.

"Night." Elizabeth reiterated.

The door swung closed behind him, but Elizabeth continued to stare at it with a small sense of wistfulness.

"Enjoy your nightcap." She said quietly.

Given that it was their last day, Elizabeth had allowed herself to be persuaded into letting the kids have a little longer in the pool than usual, and was sat watching them at half past seven with a hint of worry in her eye which, thankfully, had gone unnoticed by her companions. Although it hadn't really dawned on the twins yet that this was their last day, it was playing on Elizabeth's mind heavily. In twenty-four hours time, she would be resuming normality; raising two children on her own with little in between, and even though she trusted in John's love for the twins it was going to a tough ask to expect him to stay in frequent contact with them. Jack had, to an extent, tried to alleviate this problem by buying Elizabeth a private cell for John to contact her on, but she doubted that a couple of phone calls a week would ever be enough for Jonny and Livie.

"Speak of the Devil", Elizabeth thought as John sauntered over to her and sat down beside her. She tried to force a smile, but she still felt a flicker of irritation towards him.

"Are you free to talk?" He asked.

"Of course." Elizabeth said, placidly.

"I've been doing some thinking, and I think it's going to be difficult for me to keep in contact with you and the kids as much as I'd like to."

As she heard him voice her own concerns, Elizabeth felt a knot form in her stomach. Despite this, she still managed to nod her head in an encouraging manner.

"I'm going to transfer to Phoenix." John continued with a grin.

"What?" Elizabeth asked in shock.

"There's a base in Phoenix which is perfect travelling distance from you and the twins."

"John this a very hasty decision to make." Elizabeth said, warily.

A look of annoyance crept up on John's face as he very quickly realized where this conversation would be leading to.

"It's the right decision to make." He said, firmly.

"I'm not sure it is; there are a lot of things to take into consideration."

"Like what? They need their Dad." John said angrily.

"If you are trying to imply that I have, in anyway, not been enough for them Elizabeth began", in a raised tone.

"Sorry, I forgot for a second there that I was talking to a clinical control freak." John sneered.

From the corner of his eyes, John spotted Jack approaching them, but Elizabeth was completely undeterred.

"Being in control is certainly an improvement of your haphazard approach to life."

"You know nothing about my life." John snarled, despite himself.

"I see you're enjoying you're daily argument." Jack commented, as he joined them.

"I'm taking the kids to bed." Elizabeth said.

"You're not going anywhere until we've sorted this out." John said angrily.

"There's nothing to sort out. It's not happening." Elizabeth replied callously.

While John and Elizabeth were giving each other daggers, Jack saw that the children were no longer occupied by the pool, but were very much aware of the argument between their parents and were watching with a mixture of worry and intrigue.

"Look guys, it's pretty clear that you guys have a lot to talk about; get your asses out of here and sort it out before the kids become too accustomed to you two shrieking like a pair of banshees. I'll take them for the night." Jack said.

"Jack, everything is-"Elizabeth began, with a sweet smile.

"Just do it." Jack said returning her smile.

Elizabeth turned to look at John, but he'd already gone over to say goodnight to the twins and was eying her with annoyance. Reluctantly, she kissed her children goodnight and followed him.

When they arrived at his room, John thrust his hand into his pocket angrily and pulled out his key, which he then dropped. Groaning inwardly, he picked it up and finally managed to get the lock undone. Remembering his manners, he held the door open for Elizabeth but he couldn't help but glare at her as she walked past. For her part, she remained cool and composed which only served to infuriate him even more. He closed the door with a resolute slam and turned to focus his glare on her once more.

"You cannot move to Phoenix." She said resolutely.

"I can and I am." John replied, unable to mirror Elizabeth calmness.

"The IOA have made it clear time and time again that my continued existence depends on my isolation from my previous life. The moment you put in that request, they are going to put two and two together and where would we be then?"

"Are you sure it's the IOA you're really worried about Doctor Weir?"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Elizabeth demanded, defensively.

"Maybe it's me you're worried about; maybe you don't really want the twins to have a Dad."

The words had the desired effect as John saw fury flash through Elizabeth's eyes.

"How dare you." She said, her voice shaking.

"Oh, I dare." He said, harshly.

"I have done everything to accommodate you as a father –"Elizabeth began.

"Except for actually telling me they existed for six years, but maybe that suited you. You've made it pretty clear that you don't actual want me to be involved in their upbringing." John sneered.

"Oh yes, because you're such a good influence John." Elizabeth sneered back.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" John fumed.

"You know exactly what it means."

"I want you to tell me." John demanded.

"For a start, you've openly undermined my authority on repeated occasions; letting them stay up late, eat sugary food after five, fizzy drinks –"

"They're on vacation for Christ's sake." John interjected.

"Children need a routine, and more importantly than that, they need to learn to respect people, something that is not going to happen when you refuse to do it yourself." Elizabeth said shrilly.

"I suppose I need to remind you that respect works both ways. I am their father and I have as much right to decide on their routine as you do."

"And that is just the tip of the iceberg," Elizabeth said, as if she hadn't heard, "your behavior in front of them also leaves a lot to be desired; drinking, gambling-"

"One friendly game of poker with the guys." John interjected.

"And not to mention your flirting." Elizabeth continued.

Once she said it, she regretted it. If he realised how much it bothered her that he was pursuing another woman, he would assume that she still had feelings for him, of which she was absolutely trying to persuade herself wasn't true and was failing miserably at that task.

"Oh yes because I'm sure in Saint Elizabeth of Sedona's world, the twins are gonna grow up to be monks who have no interest in relationships." John commented.

"That's exactly the issue John; you don't have any interest in relationships. You're a man in his forties who lives like he's a college student." Elizabeth spat.

"Maybe you're jealous." John said, with a smirk.

"Don't be ridiculous." Elizabeth said, trying to ignore the blush that was rising in her cheeks.

Realizing that he was almost certainly correct, John slowly made his way over to Elizabeth and slowly stroked a curl away from her eye.

"Then prove it." He said softly.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, making a move to turn when he spoke.

"When was the last time you honestly relaxed? Let yourself just be you?" he asked, his face inches from hers.

"I don't have time for that, I have two kids to raise" she said moving her head, breaking the contact between his hand and her hair.

"You mean, we have two kids" he corrected her, bitterness in his voice.

"Oh, do we just? I know you knocked me up and I raised them for the better part of their life, alone I might add" she hissed, her arms folded across her chest.

John walked forward to her, his hand reaching out to grasp her hand causing her to flinch and pull it back, moving towards the door.

"Don't do it John" she muttered, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Don't do what Liz? Don't do what? Show me that you honestly don't feel anything for me, and don't you dare bring up how I wasn't there to raise those kids, in case you didn't realize I never got a choice in the matter." he yelled after her causing her to turn around and look at him.

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at him and took a breath before speaking, her voice wavering slightly at first.

"You want me to tell you, I honestly have no feelings for you, that everything I ever felt is a lie, I can't do that John Sheppard, I don't want to, but as much as I feel for you, I can't do this, I can't do us, we're too different!" she said yelling at him, her eyes pleading him to drop the subject.

"We can do this Elizabeth and you know it! His face reflecting the emotion shown on hers.

"Don't do this to me" she pleaded as he stepped closer, his face once again inches away from hers.

"Don't do what?" he asked watching as Elizabeth tensed slightly before closing her eyes, his lips meeting hers softly, his hand snaking to her hip holding her close to him.

"This" she murmured before deepening the kiss, her hands threading through his unruly hair, pulling him closer.

'"Too late, I'm doing it" he said, grinning against her lips as he pushed her against the wall, her back meeting with the wood in a solid thump, momentarily distracting her from her goal of unbuttoning his shirt with her free hand.

They parted slightly for a moment, to regain their breaths and John grinned mischievously at Elizabeth as he gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it up exposing the perfect skin of her stomach and her black lace bra.

"Black, I like it" he said, causing her to giggle slightly.

John grinned again, in return and moved his face to her neck, his lips ghosting across the skin, eliciting a small moan from her mouth.

"Oh god" she murmured against his ear, as his fingers slid up her back stopping as they reached the clasp of her bra; his fingers deftly unclasping it sending a small shiver up her spine as she thought back to another time when they had been like this.

Elizabeth lowered her arms from around his neck and allowed the item of clothing to slide down her arms, a coy smile on her lips that caused his eyes to darken with pleasure.

"You're gorgeous" he said to her as he stepped back to admire her creamy skin of her upper body, the tops of her legs still covered in the pair of tight denim cut offs she had been wearing earlier.

A smirk curved the edge of his lips as he kneeled before her, his hands finding their way to the button on her shorts, moving to unbutton it and pull the zipper down, the pants coming to slide down her thighs where he helped pull them the rest of the way down, exposing her black panties.

Elizabeth moaned as she felt his lips on her inner thigh, his fingers hooking the sides of her panties and bringing them down her legs, her hands threading through his hair. She glanced at him through heavy lids, her eyes half closed and her breasts heaving, creamy skin flushed with arousal.

John pouted at her momentarily before moving upwards again, taking the silent question and answering it with a long drawn out kiss, his hand skimming across her exposed stomach and lower across her thigh before moving between her legs.

Elizabeth moaned, her head falling backwards as he stroked her, her eyes closing with pleasure as her breathing increased, a gasp escaping her mouth as he entered a finger into her, his lips ghosting across her ear before speaking.

"You know you want it, you just have to let yourself have it" he said, his voice husky with arousal as he felt her near the edge, her whole body tensing before she moaned loudly, his finger still teasing her as she came down from her high, his lips moving over her neck.

"God" she said as she fell limp against the wall, his hands holding her up, her body sweaty and hot, eyes heavily lidded as she regarded his half dressed state.

"John will do" he said, his boyish smirk that she loved showing through.

"Well John; you're way over dressed" she said, her voice velvety and smooth as she said the words, a smirk curling the ends of her lips, causing John to flush as he thought of the last time they'd done this.

Elizabeth moved her hand over his bare chest and to his belt, which she unbuckled with ease, her fingers deftly flicking the button and pulling his fly down. She grinned as he closed his eyes as she moved her hand so that she was stroking him through his boxers.

"Jesus Liz" he said causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Been a long time?" she asked immediately wishing she hadn't she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Something like that" he murmured gripping her hand and pulling it away. "Keep doing that and we won't make it to the bed" he said grinning at her, his eyes glittering in a predatory manner.

The brunette looked at him for a moment feigning hurt before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bed, stopping just before it to kiss him, smiling as he pushed her down onto it.

"I'm afraid" she said suddenly causing John to cock his head to the side and look at her confused.

"I'll be gentle" he stated, unsure of what else to say.

Elizabeth giggled for a moment before regaining composure and speaking. "Not about that, god, I know you're gentle and caring... when I want you to be" she winked causing him to grin. "I meant about us" she said softly".

John stared at her for a moment before laughing. "Most people talk after they've had sex not before, sorta kills the mood".

Elizabeth glared at him and stood up; "I knew you couldn't take anything seriously!" she spat making her way to her clothes before being stopped by a hand on her wrist pulling her back to the spot in front of John.

"Let me go" she said half heartedly, before noticing the look on his face. "What?" she asked sighing, waiting for an excuse.

"I'm sorry" he said catching her off guard, her temper still flaring.

"For what?" she hissed, trying to get out of his grip.

"For being an ass all the time, what else? Shit, you think I like this? You think I like having you doubt me? I don't; I don't like it at all" he said causing her temper to go down, the look on his face pulling at her heart.

"I kinda like you being an ass" she said running her hand across his chest, her fingers dancing across his muscles.

John raised an eyebrow this time, causing Elizabeth to smile.

"I'm scared John, I have feelings, but I can't let them cloud by judgment, I have two kids now, a mini you and a mini me to look after, I have to take them into account as well" she said her eyes pleading with him to understand.

John smiled as he leant down to kiss her. "Just feel, for once, just feel, don't think; be Elizabeth, not Doctor Weir and not Mummy Liz" he said smiling at the last part, before leaning down once more to kiss her, his tongue entering her mouth and entangling itself with hers.

Elizabeth smiled into the kiss as she felt the bed behind her knees and her body colliding with it.

"Just feel" John whispered in her ear as he ran his hands down her thighs, gently parting them so he could lie between them.

Elizabeth's hands fisted his hair tighter as he moved to enter her, a loud gasp coming from her mouth as he did, his hands gripping her hips as he allowed her a moment to adjust to his size.

"Oh!" she said against his ear, a half gasp half moan, breathless and needy already as he began an even rhythm, her hips meeting his thrust for thrust. His right hand moving to cup her breast, as he continued to thrust into her.

"God, you feel so good" he said into her ear, his right hand gently kneading her breast, his left gripping her hip as they both worked their bodies.

Elizabeth moaned as his hand slid down her body from her breast to the nerves above where they were joined, his fingers teasing them, her body tensing as she felt the sensations, a low groan coming from him as he too neared the edge.

"So close"; she groaned as he thrust into her harder and faster, his fingers working her, his own body growing tense as he muscles clamped around him, her body convulsing suddenly as she went over the edge.

He smiled to himself for a moment as he watched her come undone before him, a look of absolute bliss upon her face. John moved to kiss her, his lips melding with hers as she brought him down from a high, before his hand gripped her hip once more as he thrust into her harder, his movements becoming jerky as he neared his release.

"Holy" he said as he collapsed on top of her before rolling off beside her.

Elizabeth grinned slightly. "I gotta say; I didn't realize I missed that, that much" she said leaning up to kiss him once more.

A/N 2: So… what do you guys think? Is the rating necessary now?