Chapter 42
Spoilers for Quarantine.
He's sitting at her feet, near her desk, as she's finishing writing a few recipes in her cookbook. She's spent a lot of time experimenting on new ones and he's waited patiently for her to spend time with him. His shift finished more than an hour ago but she's still working on it and he's starting to get really bored. It seems all she does is spend time in her kitchen these days.
At first, she would make time for him, humor him when he'd offer to do something together. They would have breakfast together before anyone came in, at the crack of dawn, and often end up there as well for dinner on the balcony when the weather was warm enough. He'd take her on walks to the piers or they'd spend time in her quarters or his, watching movies or playing games. That was the first couple of weeks.
Since then, she's repeatedly eluded his offers to do things together. Go to the TV room to watch a movie with other marines he knows, eat together in the mess hall, go to the gym – nothing he offers seems to please her. All she still grants him is time in her room but even when she does, he often spends half of the time waiting for her to tie loose ends.
He's sat next to her in the hope she'd see how bored and alone he feels. He's leaned his head on her thigh and his currently massaging her calf. She finally bends and removes his hand gently. "Don't do that. It's distracting and I've already had to make corrections twice. If you want me to finish it soon, let me work," she chides him.
He scowls and rolls his eyes. "Surely, honey, that can wait. And I can't," he adds mischievously, pulling her from her chair and making her tumble on his lap. She yelps but he wraps his arms around her and rolls her on the floor playfully so she lays on top of him. She huffs and pushes herself off of him but he tightens his grip around her waist, pulling her against him. He's unmistakenly turned on and she knows what's next.
At first, it was exciting. She has to admit she's still hooked on the feeling of being safe and secure in his arms at night and enjoys their lovemaking. He's a gentle lover who always listens to her needs but that in itself has become a problem. She doesn't want to be pampered. She wants to feel alive. She wants the excitement of sitting on the edge – the way she felt when the guys took her on missions and things turned out the way they always do with John's team. With Chris, it's always sweet and safe and she's realized recently this is not what she's after. She might have been, in another life, but she's changed and that hit her like a ton of bricks when she realized it a few days ago.
She pushes him away and gets to her feet. "It could if you let me breathe but I haven't had time for this in weeks. I need to do it. Period," she answers more forcefully than she intended and sees the look of hurt on his face.
She walks to the door and passes her hand over the sensor. "Leave," she says. "I need to focus and yes, finish this. We'll talk later."
He stands and walks to the door that suddenly closes shut. She passes her hand over the sensor again but nothing happens. "What's going on?" she mutters.
"Let me try," he offers but nothing happens either so she taps her communicator.
"Rodney? This is Louise. I have a problem with my door..." She gets no answer so she repeats her message, to no avail. They try to call the Control Room and get the same silence that can only mean communications are down. She growls in frustration and stomps to her computer and powers it up. "Let me look," Chris offers and takes her place. He navigates through the intranet for several excruciating minutes until he finds it – the lockdown that is probably due to a contamination quarantine.
"You got to be kidding me," she groans. "Not again!"
"Honey," he says, wrapping his arm around her waist and drawing her on his lap. "There's nothing we can do. The doors are sealed shut and communications are down. Plus, we're on read-only from here so you can't even send a message. We're marooned. I think the best way to go through this is sit tight until Dr McKay finds a way to unlock the doors that are safe and allow the medical teams to work."
She pouts. "There's just a tiny glitch, Chris. Rodney was supposed to have lunch with Katie and intended to give her his undivided attention, which means no computer or tablet and no headset. And if we're really jinxed as I think we are, they might even be trapped in the greenhouse."
"Don't worry," he says kissing his way up her neck. "Someone will figure something out. There's always a team of scientists working in the Control Room."
She shakes her head. "You don't understand. They'd need Rodney's password to override the quarantine... or John's, which they don't have." She sighs. "Damn, why am I here? I feel so useless."
He's lifted his eyebrows at her mention of his CO's name. He looks away, his jaw set. "Why do you always have to bring him in the conversation?" he demands.
She huffs. "God, Chris. Stop being a pain! John could do something about it but for all I know, everyone is quarantined. Rodney is likely unable to reach a computer and Teyla told me she was going to see John to talk to him. He was supposed to be at Rodney's lab. He's not in the Control Room either."
"And what do you want to do about it?" he sniggers.
"Well. I know his password. If I can reach the Control Room, I could stop the quarantine," she says, setting to work on the computer, trying to find a solution.
"Wait! You know his password?" he growls. "How's so?" he demands.
"Damn, Chris. Stop being so wound up! We know each other well. And we used to be on speaking terms," she adds, lifting her eyebrows. "I know his lucky numbers. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out..."
She browses the blueprints of the City. She looks up and points at the ceiling. "There's an air vent one level up that will lead me to one of the outside staircases. It leads directly to the Control Room. Ten levels up to walk but it's worth the try. Thing is, to get to the air vent, I'll have to climb the tower to the next level." She sighs and walks to the window but he blocks her.
"You're so not climbing the tower, let alone get into that air vent. Give me the password. I'll do it," he tells her sternly.
She sniggers. "Hello! Twenty-first century? Women know how to fend for themselves! Besides, you're too tall and muscular to fit into that vent. See, being a petite is not only cute. It also comes in handy sometimes!" she banters, grabbing a stool to break the window.
He takes it from her. "You're not doing this! This is too dangerous." He puts the stool down and points at her, pissed. "Colonel Sheppard is rubbing off on you, Louise. You think because the guy has saved the galaxy several times over you can do the same. Well, let me tell you something, lady. You're not him or Ronon. You're petite and fragile and reckless. You got to stop that before it kills you."
She shakes her head in disgust. "You guys have to stop smothering me! I'm going," she says, her jaw set and grabs the stool back.
He grabs her from behind. "No, you're not!"
"Chris, let me go or I swear..." she kicks and screams so he puts her down and circles her.
"Or what?" he dares her.
She sighs. "Look, I don't want to fight but this is my damn decision. And yes, John wouldn't approve but I'm not doing anything he wouldn't do."
"Or what?" he repeats, his eyes boring into hers.
"Or if we get out of this unscathed, you will be sleeping alone tonight," she replies.
He presses his lips together and motions for her to pass, looking pained. "I was trying to protect you and you throw that in my face."
"I don't need your protection," she tells him and throws the stool throught the window.
"No, you don't," he replies, defeated. "You already have your knight in shining armor. Who am I compared to him?"
She doesn't even reply and climbs through the window.
She is breathless when she gets to the Control Room and as Murphy's Law goes, John has already reached it and left. She sighs but refuses to stay and makes her way to them, hoping she can help people down there. She gets to them as Zelenka has already gotten the systems back online.
He watches her approach him in disbelief. "Louise, how did you get here?" he asks, walking to her.
"I climbed up the tower, got into an air vent and walked up the staircase," she announces proudly.
Lorne sniggers. "As reckless as a certain CO I know."
"You should have stayed put, Ms Léger," Sam tells her. "That was dangerous."
"And reckless," John adds, his eyes dark with anger. "And stupid."
She pouts and crosses her arms defensively over her chest. "You would have done the same thing," she points out.
"Actually, he did," Lorne informs her. "All four levels to the Control Room."
"I only had one to go," she replies. "Piece of cake," she says smugly.
John rolls his eyes. "The scope of your arrogance reminds me of a certain scientist's," he remarks nastily. "I can't believe you came up with that stupid idea. And of course, no one was there to stop you! Perfect!" She looks at her feet. "Louise?" he demands. "No one was with you, right?"
"Uh-uh," she replies non committally.
"Louise..." he growls. "Answer the damn question!"
"Captain Johansen was with me," she mumbles.
Lorne frowns. "He should have stopped you."
"He tried. I didn't let him," she replies, not wanting Chris to take the blame. "Look," she adds, turning to John who's currently fuming, "it was my damn decision. He has nothing to do with it."
John ignores her. "I need to send teams to the different areas of the City to evaluate the damage," he tells Carter, looking at her intently.
She nods. "Go, Colonel. I'll head back to the Control Room with Dr Zelenka and run diagnostics. Ms Léger, you're with me," she adds sternly.
Sheppard leaves with Lorne. Louise wants to follow him but Carter lays a hand on her arm. "You'd do more damage by trying to talk to him now," she advises her. "He's really angry with you."
She huffs. "Are you going to punish me?"
Carter scoffs. "No, I guess not. You tried to help and it was your life after all. But Colonel Sheppard is not going to forgive you that easily."
He walks to her that night as she's sitting in the mess hall with Chris, eating in silence. They've barely uttered a word since the end of the quarantine. She sees him approach her table and cringes. "I'm gonna get a talking-to," she tells Chris. He stands abruptly and leaves without a word, nodding respectfully at his superior. He already had one not an hour ago, for letting her put her life at risk.
She tries to stand but Sheppard sits in front of her. "Sit, Léger. We need to talk."
She pouts. "I'm sorry," she apologizes.
"Really?" His voice is dripping with sarcasm.
She rolls her eyes. "What am I supposed to say, John? Everything I do or say is always wrong in your eyes these days," she says reproachfully.
He huffs. "Look, I know Carter didn't get angry with you but you need to understand. I climbed that tower myself and I know it's dangerous. You could have slipped and fallen. Louise, we're at odds. It doesn't mean I don't care about your well-being. Quite the contrary, actually. You've got to stop scaring the shit out of me."
"And you've got to stop mothering me, John," she counters. "You could tell me you're proud of me. A few words of encouragement would be most welcome these days, ya' know..." she adds, standing. "But of course, I'm not worth them anymore, I guess."
He pouts, embarrassed, but does not reply, so she leaves and heads back to her kitchen. She's not on duty today but it's one of those days when she really needs to cook till she drops because, let's face it – if she doesn't have the support of her friends, what has she got left?
TBC
So much angst, uh? Well, I'll give you some fluff in the next chapter. Promise ;)