Hello, Stargate Lovers!
I know, I know, Adela... I'm being mean. But everything will have an answer soon enough. Promise!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 70: Original Chapter 0.27
Talks. Laughs. Flirting. Kisses. Heart wrenching moments. Arguments. Goodbyes.
She had almost lost him once. She wouldn't be able to stand to do it again.
And all it took was a kiss.
All the dreams she had for the past weeks, the beating heart moments, the way she always felt her skin tingle everytime he was near, everytime she caught hazel eyes watching her, everytime he asked if she remembered. That kiss made her flee from him, when all she wanted was to pull him back down and find out where it could lead them.
She cursed at the box that gave no answers.
In an empty lab, her face fell onto her palms and she sobbed.
"What did you do, Ganos? I have to go back! They're in danger."
"She's weak. So are you. Alex, you need to let go. Become human."
"What? No! I can't! John..."
"He will be alright. None of us will hurt him."
"I won't be able to fight her as a human."
"You will. Just let go. You'll be so much stronger. Just let go. Trust me."
So, she let go. Of her memories, of her feelings, of him.
Until, a wraith stunner shot put everything in perspective, in order, and fleeting moments up until that moment, became full fledge memories.
In that moment, she knew why she had lost her memories of John Sheppard.
"Dr. O'Neill, you will be accompanying Col. Sheppard and Comm. Larrin to the Travelers starship."
The Daedalus commander said as he entered the lab the scientist had been cooped up in, alone for the past twelve hours, working on the box they had retrieved from the planet. After beaming the team up, Steven Caldwell had successfully avoided to engage in a battle with the Wraith hive ship. Even with the new shields Samantha Carter had developed with her team back on Earth, he didn't want to push his luck with an Ori in the mix.
The woman looked up from her station and stared at the commander. Immediately, the older commander gathered she hadn't seen a bed since the start of that mission. However, he was well aware of how the scientist was.
"Col. Caldwell, I'm sure Major Lorne can do that in my stead. I am of no use to Comm. Larrin at the moment. I have better things to do."
"Have you made any progress with the box?" The older Colonel looked from the scientist to the box that was currently on a table, being analised by the ships matrix.
"Not yet. I need Atlantis data base to keep working on it."
"Well, then we need to keep our allies close. So, per Comm. Larrin's request..."
Alexandra narrowed her eyes with a sigh.
"She requested my presence?" Now she felt angry. What was that woman trying to do?
"Yes. She says that she's in debt to you. For saving her life."
"I did what I am supposed to do. Nothing more. Like I said, Major Lorne can accompany Col. Sheppard..."
"Dr. O'Neill, this is not a request from me. It's an order."
"Col. Caldwell..." Taking a deep breath, calming herself, the scientist stood. "Please."
"You have one hour. Freshen up, Doctor."
With that, the Colonel turned and left, leaving a dumbfunded Alexandra staring at his back.
The door to the jumper was already open when John got there and his eyes immediately fell on the woman checking the controls.
"Dr. O'Neill." Following the pilot inside, Larrin offered a smile as soon as she saw Alexandra glacing up at them.
"Larrin. How are you feeling?" The scientist avoided John's eyes as he sat on the pilot's chair.
"Much better. Your power... is something else, I will tell you that."
"I'm glad I could help." Alexandra offered a quick smile as she finished with the controls and stood from her chair.
"So, where should I sit?" The Travelers leader continued, looking between the two.
"On the rear." John said, gruffly.
"Next to him." Alexandra said at the same time.
Larrin knew tension when she saw it, so she kept quiet.
"Sit back down, Alex." Narrowed hazel eyes glanced back at her profile. "I can make it an order, if you prefer."
Turning her lips into a thin line, she ended up sitting back down next to him.
"I'm not under your command, Colonel." She hissed as the puddle jumper came alive upon his touch.
"And yet you just did what I asked." Offering her a smirk, John knew he was pushing her buttons. And that was exactly what he wanted. Rile her up. Make her slip up. Perhaps, furious. After all, he was angry. "I didn't take you to act up like a child."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Her head whipped towards him, her brown eyes narrowed.
"You know what I mean, doc." His eyes were glued to the space in front of them, teasing with the nickname.
There was a moment of silence, where she considered his words, but thought better of it. After all, Alexandra was very much aware of Larrin sitting right behind them, watching them. And she didn't want to offer the other woman a spectacle.
"We should make this quick." She offered the truth. "I'm sure Col. Caldwell would like to return to Atlantis as quickly as possible. Just like me. I need Atlantis systems to look at the box."
That pricked his curiosity.
"Did you got anything from it?"
"No. It's just like the others. Maybe putting them together..." Alexandra shrugged as she let the words linger between them as they saw the Travelers starship coming up right ahead.
As they were permitted to enter, Larrin was received by her second in command and a few other Travelers officers.
Staying behind, hoping it would just be it and they would be on their way in no time, Alexandra saw John follow the small group for some kind of mission report. For a brief moment they had exchanged a look, but she didn't move. She had done her job and she had the last box. Why couldn't he understand that getting the boxes together was more important?
She was reading about Ancient myths in the tablet database when footsteps were heard and a voice took her out of her own little corner inside of her mind.
"Larrin requests your presence for dinner, to celebrate her return. After that, we can go home."
"I'll be there." The scientist nodded, not taking her eyes from the screen.
Sitting in front of her, John placed his elbows on his knees, his eyes watching her for a moment as she read the Ancients device. For the first time in weeks he was able to actually look at her. Since when did she remembered? Since when had she been hiding that she remembered him? Since when has she been lying to him?
Then, he noticed the dark circles under her eyes and he frowned, worried.
"Did you rest? Sleep?" John asked softly.
"Yes."
"Alex…" He knew she was lying. Caldweel had mentioned she had spent the night in the lab, with the box.
"I'm doing my job, Colonel."
Offering them a moment of silence, John leaned back, crossing his arms, his eyes never straying from her.
"Nothing happened last night. If you care to know."
"I don't. It's your life, Colonel. I have no say or care on what you do after work. I don't even know what I'm doing here. Lorne was capable enough to accompany you."
"Would you stop with that Colonel crap?" The pilot sent an annoyed look at her quick glance at him. "Larrin trusts you."
"She trusts me? That's a joke, right? You do remember what happened the first time we met?" Her temper flared as she looked up at him and saw the conceited smirk he sent her way upon her slip up. Then, she blamed it on the fact that she was too tired and sleep deprived to see through his trap.
"So, you do remember." John leaned back down on his elbows again, seeing her lips turned into a thin line. "And here I thought you had gotten past that."
"I did."
He wanted to ask her. He wanted it to be in a private setting, not in a Traveler's ship. But he couldn't help it. Because all he wanted was to close the puddle jumper door and finish what that kiss started one month ago.
"Alex, c'mon… You remember. When did you...?"
Cold brown eyes fixed on hazel ones and he was taken aback at how different she suddenly look, even if remembering him now.
"Col. Sheppard. Dr. O'Neill. Commander Larrin requests your presence." A traveler officer came upon the entrance of the jumper.
"We'll be right there." John huffed at the interruption, offering a quick glance towards the young man that nodded.
However, Alexandra stood, glad by the interruption as she placed her jacket on.
"Lead the way."
"Alex. We haven't..." The pilot stood, stepping closer to her.
"Larrin wants us. And we need to wrap this up. I need to go back to Atlantis."
"We haven't finished this conversation."
"There's nothing to finish, Colonel."
Narrowing his eyes at her retreating back, John narrowed his eyes.
"I do have to appreciate our allies for the quick save of our commander." Sitting next to John, one of Larrin's senior officers raised a glass towards the two guests of honour.
"It was the least we could do. You've helped us before. That's what means being allies. Especially in the coming war." The colonel leaned his head to the side, trying to be as diplomatic as he could given the circumstances. His hazel eyes found a quiet Alexandra sitting opposite to him on the table. "My partner was the one that found the coordinates."
Brown eyes found hazel ones at his words. It wasn't the first John stared at her and was confused at the fact that he couldn't read them. Not like before.
"Ah, well, then I must thank Dr. O'Neill. I would never imagine, given what happened years before, she would be the one to save me." Larrin started, her green eyes going from the pilot to the scientist.
"The past is in the past." Alexandra stared at the other woman, offering her a smile. "It's like the colonel said, we are allies. Now more than ever."
"Please, Dr. O'Neill, do tell us about this new threat. How can we defend ourselves from her?" The Traveler's commander asked.
And John saw it, the moment her body turned into rock at the question.
"We're working on a way to do it. I'm sure Mr. Woolsey will convey the news when we find the answer." It was the most political answer John had ever heard her utter.
"I'm sure the boxes will help, right?" Larrin's tone was soft and amiccable.
"Exactly." Alexandra offered a quick smile, even if inside she just wanted to run in the other direction.
"Do you have any clues on what they do?" The other woman continued, genuinely curious.
"Not yet."
"Is there anything we can do to help, Dr. O'Neill?"
Frowning, the scientist leaned her to the side.
"You already found the last box. Which I thank you for, Larrin." Alexandra glanced back at John that had a similar expression on his face as he stared at the other woman. It was the first time he saw them have a decent conversation.
"The Ori you fought... the reports we've been getting... Should we be worried?"
"Yes. Adria... she's not like the Wraith. Or any other threat. She has powers. And one of those is persuasion. What she has... She makes everything seem easy, if you just pray to her religion."
The table went quiet at her words. And John could see that it was taking everything in her self-control to stay calm.
"She makes you think that if you pray, everything will be good, there will be no illnesses, no war, no poverty, nothing. And it will be the opposite. Because she will set you back, she will make you ignorant, heartless." At that, her eyes found John's that released a breath he didn't know he was holding at the cold look she sent his way.
"Howecer, Atlantis is working on finding something that will stop her." The pilot added, glacing between the two women.
"Adria... does she have any weaknesses?" Larrin had a frown on her expression.
"No. As far as I know."
"Perhaps that will be a start. To find one."
Alexandra had never thought in that possibility. Adria's power was always connected to the Ori that gave her life, the power of the prayers from the Origin religion, alongside the human body given by Vala, so their followers could relate to it. There was nothing she loved or cared about. Perhaps her mother, but even then, she was never able to persuade her to do any good.
"Alex?" John's voice brought her back to the present as he now stared at her. He knew her thinking face when he saw it.
"I need to go back to Atlantis. Now."
The pilot merely nodded.
The trip was silent.
The colonel decided to give it to her, letting her read something in the tablet. And it also helped him to gather his own ideas of the last seventy two hours.
However, as they exited the jumper into the Daedalus platform, John couldn't help but to speak up.
"I know you have some idea on what to do with the boxes, but we have hours to kill until we arrive in Atlantis. So, we need to talk, Alex."
Offering no answer, she kept walking ahead of him. Angry, he clenched his jaw, following her.
"Why didn't you tell me you remembered? Alex, do you know…?"
The scientist stopped in her tracks, making him brake his stride almost on top of her.
"Yes, I do, John." Her brown eyes found his as she turned. There was pain in them. "I watched over you. Over all of you. I saw what my absence did. What I did to you."
"You... You lied. Again!" His jaw clenched.
"I saved you. I told you to move on. For crying out loud, John! I am trying to protect you."
"I don't need you to protect me, Alex!" John was struck once again by the coldness in her eyes. "You're pulling away."
"What?"
"You are breaking your promise. You are pulling away." He took one single step towards her, making her look up at him.
"I thought you didn't want my promise."
His hand closed into a fist, eyes turned hard and he knew what he was about to say would hurt her.
"Do you remember when you told me about your uncle and Sam? About loyalty?"
Alexandra narrowed her eyes at the comparison.
"No." She turned to leave. "I'm not doing this with you, John."
However, he was quick and grabbed her arm. Immediately, he felt the static electricity sent into his body, but he didn't budge this time as he saw her cheeks turn red.
"Alex."
"Let go, John. I don't want to hurt you." She tried to yank her arm from his hold.
"Go ahead." His jaw was clenched. "Hurt me."
A shimmer enveloped her arm, then her body and the heat became too much, so the pilot had to let go, taking a step back.
"End of discussion, Colonel."
At that, Alexandra turned and walked away, leaving a lost and angry John Sheppard staring at her back.
Ps: Thoughts?