StormWake
Author: wanderingsmith
Apr 2008
Summary: 1x11-The eye ep 'addy', based on leave_me_light's world of
Awake before
Rising
Warning: Spoilers for The storm/The eye and Awake before Rising up to
ch5
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I ain't got no money, and nobody'd be daft enough to pay me
for this.
AN: so. This is based on (a spin-off, seperate from: it is not a
chapter of...) leave_me_light's wonderful world of Awake before
Rising -with the lady's gracious permission :):)-. It takes
off after chapter 5. Then encounters 1x11 - The eye. And picks up after
John kills the company of Genii with the shield. Change of scene:
Instead of being in an anonymous stairwell, John is working his way to
grounding station 3 and is near when Kolya contacts him. Oh! and the
conversation is different too ;)
Goto Chapter 2: Morning
Chapter one
"Major Sheppard. You just killed 55 men!"
John never stopped jogging down the corridor toward the last known
location of his prey, feeling the frozen hatred burning in his chest.
The frigid, wet exhaustion of his body, the terrible pain hiding at the
back of his mind; neither mattered. The cold of his wedding band,
pressed into his skin by his grip on the P-90, kept him focused, made
him keep moving; overwhelmed the thoughts clamouring to take him over
and make him break. He would not grieve. Not yet.
His voice was a dull, animal growl, unrecognizable as his own, "Did I.
Good. The rest of you won't be a problem either." He'd never believed
he was capable of being a cold-blooded killer, but he was finding
himself damned skilled at it. Once, that would have disgusted him, but
now. Now the icy wind in his mind relished knowing he could avenge her.
The men he was dispatching as he encountered them were no more than
pawns, like the ones he'd killed with the gate. They weren't his real
target; but they had stood by, had done nothing. And were interfering
with his goal. They were non-innocent casualties of his war.
"Your actions are going to destroy the city."
The city. The city belonged to Elizabeth; she would never have wanted
that bastard to have it, even if that meant destroying it. And he would
do her will. Always.
John smiled humorlessly, surprised the man didn't yet realize the
mistake he'd made. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to have a
reason to live Kolya? Is there anyone you would *die* for?"
~~
Kolya stilled, the hungry hatred he heard from the man who was
single-handedly killing his strike force giving him a rarely-felt
shiver of dread. "You stay away from her, Sheppard." Too late he
realized what his stressed mind had let slip.
~~
John's lip sneered, not really giving a damn, other than as a way to
torture the bastard back. He made sure to inject gloating in his tone,
"She's *here*? Goldilocks? You sound too old for her."
~~
Kolya hand spasmed on the radio, "You stay away from her!" He knew
first-hand what could happen in an enemy's hands; what *he* would do.
"Why the Hell would I do that Kolya? You killed *my* reason to *live*;
let along to be *honourable*. Now I'm going to kill you. And if that
means going through every other goddamn Genii that's invaded our
home... All to the good." The words had risen until they were being
shouted furiously.
Kolya looked at the shivering woman a few feet from him. So that was
where he'd miscalculated; not merely the man's leader but his lover.
Well, there were worse things to have someone suffer than killing, and
he needed to protect... his people. He pulled his knife out and stepped
over to Dr. Weir.
Elizabeth had been listening to the conversation. When she saw the
Genii commander come after her, she yelled John's name as she jumped
up, letting go of the ring she'd been holding onto through her shirt,
hoping he heard her, feeling Rodney stand with her. She could plainly
guess what her captor was planning; could only hope that John was near
enough to get here in time.
All aside from not wanting to die, the thought of being the source of
more pain for her... husband, filled her with fury. Made her want to
scream and kick and to *Hell* with diplomacy.
~~
The instant the thin sound of her voice had filtered through the noise
of the storm, John's world had spun on its axis again. The fear in her
tone was driving him to run long before he assimilated the fact that
she *lived*. Eyes wide as his heart dropped to his gut in terror at the
weapon he'd just blithely handed their enemy. As he reached the last
corner before the station, he heard Kolya yell his name in stereo;
radio and real. Heard Elizabeth cry out in pain.
He didn't stop, didn't let himself think and feel. Spun around the
corner with his gun ready and eyes scanning desperately for the danger.
He had *one* chance, and this time he *wasn't* going to fail to protect
his wife. He couldn't.
~~
As Kolya pulled her by her hair, Elizabeth could hear Rodney moaning
nearby where he'd been struck down. Heard Kolya shouting John's name
into the radio. Felt his knife come to rest on her cheek; couldn't
struggle anymore for fear of doing the damage herself. Fear for what
they were all about to suffer, for her city and her people, warred with
the fury at her helplessness, the lack of choices available to her.
Grief for lost opportunities: the knowledge they could have gained from
Atlantis, the life she had begun to contemplate with the man who was
her husband. Grief and fury both for the hollow pain she'd heard in his
voice; pain that was about to be made worst.
Thinking of him, likely aware now that she still lived, she looked up
to the doorway. And saw movement. Praying she was doing the right
thing, she took the risk and jerked her head away from the blade,
knowing she would only have this one chance, ignoring the pain to her
hair. Hearing a shot and feeling the grip on her disappear, she
staggered, finding her balance a second before John was reaching for
her.
~~
By the grace of whatever powers existed in this galaxy, John's eyes and
sights locked on Kolya before the man saw him. He saw Elizabeth jerk
herself away from danger even as he pulled the trigger, was running
forward without waiting for their enemy to fall. Still holding his gun
in one hand, he wrapped both his arms around the woman pulling herself
upright.
"Elizabeth." He was out of breath and shaking with reaction. That she
was alive, at how close he came to losing her. Again. Burying his face
in her neck, gripping her too tightly and unable to say more than her
name; aware that his gun was probably digging into her back. Relief
mixing with elation, for a minute unable to think of anything beyond
holding on to her. Right there and then she was safe and in his arms
and nothing else mattered. Words were trying to pour out of him, of
promise and belonging and possession. Need and love. But he couldn't;
couldn't bring them to making sense when holding her was so much more
important.
When he finally did start to think again, the last few hours came back
to him with a raw awareness of his actions, of the darkness he'd
allowed to take him. He stiffened, adrenaline-fed emotions swinging him
into the thought that he had no right to hold her like this. Not now.
He.... But she had to know what he'd been doing, and *she* was holding
onto *him* for dear life, the nails of one hand digging into his neck,
the other hand gripping his vest, her shoulders shaking with choked-off
emotions.
She was alive. Alive and in his arms. Damned if he was letting her go
again until she pushed him away. She deserved better, but he was the
one here; the one she held onto. The one whose ring she willingly
wore...
He heard the sound of movement and looked up, senses re-expanding to
remember where they were. Automatically raising his weapon before he
realized it was McKay, moving to stand in the corridor, out of the rain
and on guard.
Keeping his cheek on Elizabeth's soaked temple for another breath, he
exchanged nods with the man, silently thanking him for letting them
have this time. And taking the watch when he wasn't paying attention.
Wondering how Elizabeth would feel about this side of their
relationship becoming public. He felt her pull herself together before
he got around to making himself straighten.
She lifted her head, hands still holding onto him; yelling to be heard,
"We have to finish Rodney's plan, John. The storm is about to hit."
He nodded, running his free hand down her back one last time before
fighting off the reluctance to let her go, taking her hand to keep her
close as he gathered McKay along by eye. "We stay together, they're
guarding the generators now. Come on."
"John, no. That'll take too long!" Elizabeth saw his jaw tighten
stubbornly but she wasn't about to let him make bad judgements based on
their relationship, their feelings; he had to understand there would
always be more important things than the two of them. "If you give me
the P-90, I can guard the door while Rodney works. You get that
generator back up and running as fast as you can and then come back."
He wanted to argue. Desperately. But the spray of the rising waves
hitting the railing was no joke; and she was right, as usual. The
terror that rose at the notion of letting her out of his sight choked
all words from him, but after he handed her his weapon, he took the
precious seconds to cup her cheeks and pull her into a fierce kiss,
refusing to let anything in the damned universe keep him from what he'd
thought he would never have again. Even if it was the last time, even
if it made her furious. When he let her go, he pulled his handgun out,
scavenged Kolya's and once again ran down the corridor, not looking
back. Drawing reassurance from the ring still cold between his hand and
the handgun.
This time he wasn't stalking anyone. He ran hell-bent for leather,
using the lifesigns detector to avoid everyone he could, using speed
and surprise to shoot the few he couldn't. He didn't waste a second
when he got to the generator, dropping the missing piece straight in
before he'd even stopped moving properly, detector still in his hand.
Swinging back out of the room as the machine started up again.
-----------------------------------
He'd met up with Ford and the rest of his people on the way back to the
station. Rodney had completed his repairs quickly and they'd all headed
to the control room together, herding Genii out of the
about-to-be-dangerous corridors as they went.
John had managed to keep from pulling Elizabeth to him when he got back
to the station but not once they secured the control room. With Rodney
scampering around putting his plan in action and everyone else busy
locking down their prisoners, he had too much time to think, to again
feel the blast of pain that had numbed him when he'd heard she was dead.
He hadn't let her more than a few steps from him since he'd taken his
P-90 back, and now he closed even that distance. Standing in front of
the bank of consoles Rodney was twitching around on, she turned her
tired eyes toward him when he stepped up behind her.
She was the one to take his left arm and pull it around her waist,
leaning her back on his chest without word or hesitation. Annihilating
at last the niggling fear that she would be disgusted with him after
what he'd done, now that she'd had time to recover from being held
hostage.
Just feeling her breathing under his hand calmed him. Drew down the
adrenaline that had overdriven his system and left him feeling empty
and exhausted. Her weight on him forced his reflexes to keep him up,
and the way she stroked his hand kept him grounded in reality. He kept
lazy watch on everyone, too drained to bother hassling McKay to hurry,
glad Teyla and Ford were capably covering for his too-tired self.
He just stood, holding Elizabeth; every so often rubbing his prickly
jaw against her hair. Not giving a damn that he was being obvious.
Elizabeth had pulled *him* close, aware of the people around them; she
had to know he would take that as permission to relax their rules of
conduct.
He finally saw the shield rise over Atlantis, felt his teammates coming
to stand besides them, watching along with him as the tsunami hit the
shield and splashed over and around. The boom of the encounter only the
beginning of the show of arching tendrils of white-water, highlighted
with ocean bottom particles and the dark blue of the concentrated wave
hit. The antithesis of fireworks; equally riveting.
----------------------------------
Once the tsunami had passed, Carson had started treating McKay, and
everyone else had dispersed, John and Elizabeth making their way to the
windows looking out. With the shield safely up and the invaders safely
corralled, they could rest for a bit.
Elizabeth watched the storm raging outside the shield, her soaked
clothing a cold layer on her body. She decided there were definite uses
to a warm-blooded husband. The word, and her increasing use of it, even
if it was only in her mind, made her smile. John was snugged up behind
her, both arms around her now, his head resting heavily on hers. His
even breathing sounded almost like sleep, which made her smile widen
into a grin. Romantic he might be, but he wasn't given to trusting
people; and yet, here he was, letting himself rest on her. Her fingers,
absently caressing his hands and forearms crossed over her stomach,
touched the metal of his ring, stilling. Tracing the material as she
thought.
When this was over, they needed to talk. All aside from his overheard
words to Kolya, they'd both displayed far too many emotions in front of
their people.
She didn't *regret* any of it. Couldn't allow herself such blindness.
Even before this storm had hit, their emotions were getting too strong,
too near the surface. Kissing him that day had been... maybe a mistake.
But mostly a source of torture.
The general had been all too right; whatever made them marry mere hours
after meeting hadn't been made of alcohol. Merely exposed by it. They
were attracted to each other; and by now, the potential for stronger
emotions between them had had enough time and proximity to grow. The
possessive tone in his voice when he had called her his wife had been
as plain as day. She'd never thought she would marry someone possessive
either. Had never thought such a thing could actually make her feel
safe.
She heard him grunt softly in her ear as he woke from his doze,
identifying what she felt in response as her own dose of possession.
She *wanted* to be warm, to always feel stronger for the steel-hard
support besides her, to not think twice about spending the night
besides him in the infirmary. To protect him when she could. Damn
anyone who had something to say about it; she trusted him to work with
her, she trusted John to not see a relationship between them as
anything to do with the command structure. Cut off from Earth as they
were, if they wanted to rewrite the rules... She had a feeling Atlantis
would need every bit of their shared strength if they were to survive.
And damned if they didn't deserve a little happiness, a little ease.
Feeling the nonetheless-shocking decision made, Elizabeth reached up
for the string around her neck, conscious of the way John had stiffened
and seemed to hold his breath.
Dragging his feet to where Elizabeth and the major where standing,
Rodney wasn't sure what made him hesitate. But then he saw Elizabeth
reach for that cord she'd taken to wearing around her neck. Saw her
take something pale from it and into her right hand. As Rodney's eyes
widened, the major took her left hand and kissed the ring finger, his
shoulders seeming to relax for the first time since the Genii had
attacked, smiling faintly at the woman in his arms. Then he reached for
what Rodney briefly saw was a ring, slipping it on her finger, then
holding their hands side by side.
He started forward again slowly. Side by side, even from ten feet away,
it was obvious they were wedding bands. How he'd missed that
realization when the major had started wearing jewelry was a mystery.
When he got near he finally looked up at their faces. Elizabeth was
resting back on her 'husband's' chest, eyes closed now and her head
turned into his shoulder, seemingly unaware of Rodney's approach. Major
Sheppard, on the other hand, was looking right at him, calm; not
bothering to hide what they were doing. Just as well. The words he'd
heard while on the grounding station, not to mention that kiss, had
made this... a great deal less surprising to him than it could have
been.
"I take it congratulations have been in order?" Elizabeth's eyes opened
and he watched the two look at each other.
When she shrugged and went back to taking her turn resting, John's lip
quirked, rather enjoying the rare occasion of being left in charge;
enjoying being trusted and wondering if she planned to at last start to
let some of that control go. Not sure what she'd really meant to imply
by putting on her ring but content to follow his wife's lead wherever
it took them.
"Yeah McKay, a little while."
AN2: -Rant ahead- I was witting this (the beginning especially) and
trying to follow Awake and change their behaviour to two people who are
on their way to admitting their married... but then I realized that
there was no difference between that and the show! I mean seriously,
his reaction... *not* that of a military commander. not even one
friends with his boss! I'll excuse the negotiating with kolya.. though
considering they had him win against the menarans.. seems an odd
message that he would do such a crap job here.. unless his emotions
were way too involved. but not even asking about McKay (so there
mcshep! lol) after she's declared dead, and dropping negotiations,...
and yeah, killing invaders is well within his job... but... and then
the stairwell. seriously, 'Weir is alive?' out of that whole statement
form kolya that's all that meant anything to him. sheesh, oh no, no
romantic feelings there... hell, even kolya could see it and he never
saw them together!!
so, yeah, didn't like Goldilocks, not believable as a fighter and way
too whiny. But I got vibes between her and kolya.. very weird. and that
whole tsunami hit shield and just vanish.... what, the shield absorbs
water?? why didn't they say so? -sorry, rant over now :) thanks for
reading!
And now go check out anuna_81's gift sequel Like
an old married couple would!! :)
Chapter two: Morning
Feb 2009
AN: B-day/timestamp
fic for momm2five, Storm Wake - the next day
Heat and pressure. Not usually a good way to wake up.
But being lulled by the sound of calm breathing and the scent of
Elizabeth's hair and skin... More than made up for being held down to
the bed under too many covers.
He reluctantly opened his eyes to see a flood of indirect yellow light
in the room; like some mythical beach under a caressing sun. He
almost expected to hear the surf on the sand outside the window.
To see a honeymoon fruit basket on the dresser.
Smiling with content joy, John's eyes were drawn to the hand stroking
lazily in the hair over his heart. Every twitch made light shift
and flicker on her ring and he reached the fingers she wasn't laying on
to gently bring her palm to his lips. He felt her lashes move on
his skin and turned his head to meet her opening eyes, laying a kiss on
her wedding band before pulling his lips back.
She was still half-asleep, shivering from the soft kiss on her tender
skin and feeling so warm, safe and rested... the small smile on his
lips as he let her rest her hand on his jaw was as tender as the look
in his eyes, and she didn't want to wake up any further, didn't want to
move from this perfect instant.
She had to strain to hear the soft words when he finally spoke.
"I love you."
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