Establishing
territory
Author: wanderingsmith
July 2008
Summary: let's call it crackish, slightly OOC and made to feed my silly
sappy side again
Rating: PG13(?)
Disclaimer: I ain't got no money, and nobody'd be daft enough to pay me
for this.
AN: un betaed. So I think it was talking about John, and growly John in particular, that started this
thought process. other than that, I thought it would do as just a
little going away piece of fic for a skilled, courageous lady -sorry,
luv.. I tried for smut..-. this will almost certainly get something
added on to it..
Chapter one
She was close, so close! The scene in her mind getting urgent,
frantic,- Beep!
Elizabeth's hand jerked away as she gulped, and forcefully controlled
her breath as she reached for her earpiece, hurriedly putting it on and
acknowledging the call, "Yes?"
"The Cithka delegates have arrived early, Dr. Weir." She could
hear the urgency the man was trying to pass on, easily interpreting
that the
visitors were being unpleasant. She hurriedly got up, grabbing
the first clean shirt and trousers to hand, "I'm on my way. Thank
you."
John met her just outside the control room, starting to give her a
rundown of the surprise visit. When she stepped up to him he
stuttered for a second and her brows rose at the way his nose
flared. But then he shook his head and continued his report as
they walked into the unnaturally silent gateroom.
With John right behind her, she greeted the leader of the people they
were hoping to establish as trading partners. This ceremony was
supposed to have happened tomorrow and she wasn't especially pleased at
the change -the interruption to her time off- but the man was
reasonably friendly, which was always a pleasant surprise.
Unlike the way John kept snipping and practically snarling at
him... She finally convinced their visitor to take a tour of
Atlantis with Teyla before they all sat down to discus the final
details of
their deal.
As soon as the visiting dignitaries were out of the room, she took a
hard grip on John's shirtfront and *pulled* him to her office, too
annoyed after the half-hour spend covering for him to mind his,
*their*, reputations.
She pushed him in and then closed the door, earnestly wishing it was
possible to slam it. She growled as she walked to her desk,
glaring at him as he followed to stand besides her, looking grumpy and
out-of-sorts, "What was all that about?? You were practically
*rude* to the man!"
John growled back, "He was hitting on you!-"
Elizabeth gaped at him, controlling her tone only through long
practise, "*Hitting* on me?? He has **3** wives!-"
He almost shouted his reply, "Exactly!"
"What is the *matter* with you, colonel??" As she lost it, her
unaccustomed shout was loud in the small room, jarring them both.
Closing her eyes for an instant, Elizabeth sat down slowly and
tightened her hands together on her desk before she looked at
him. She was too tense, far too tense to deal with this.
John took a deep breath, again feeling his heartbeat rise for no
reason, "Nothing!" Still feeling twitchy and defencive, he
shrugged, mumbling half apologetically, "I don't know. I'm just...
unsettled for some reason."
She frowned, now that she was staring at him rather than hearing him
snarl from over her shoulder, and had forced some control on herself,
she could see he wasn't being childish; was actually tense. Her
fury changed to caution, too used to paying attention to John's
reactions, even if she didn't always go with them, to ignore them
here. Even if his behaviour with their would-be allies did
deserve a serious reprimand. "Do you think they're hiding
something? Untrustworthy?"
".." He wanted to pace but on the other hand, he didn't want to move
away and so ended up turning in place, then shifting his butt onto the
corner of Elizabeth's desk before admitting, "Nooo, not.. really.
Just..."
"Unsettled."
"Yeah," his fingers automatically reached for a weird object on her
desk.
Elizabeth saw his hand move out of the corner of her eye and hurriedly
moved to intercept his ATA magic touch on the mystery Ancient device,
"No!"
Their hands collided at the device and it went rolling to the floor
with a melodious 'ding'. "Don't put your hand on it! Its
Ancient, Rodney left it here when he was called away in the middle of
explaining something about a weapon."
John grunted acknowledgement, hopping off the desk to pick it up with
the sleeve of his uniform jacket. He ended up crouched right next
to Elizabeth and suddenly froze, his eyes widening as his mind
stuttered to a halt. Ok, *that* scent he knew. His head
turned slowly toward Elizabeth, unaware of the look in his eyes;
unaware of instinctively breathing more of the scent in.
Shifting on her chair with the combination of still-present traces of
arousal, John-effect, and just to give him room to manoeuvre, Elizabeth
saw him go still and looked at him in curiosity, shocked when he turned
to
her with suddenly dilated eyes and an expression... That was lust if
she ever saw it! What the hell?? Did he get himself bitten
by something again?
Then he suddenly straightened and stepped away from her for the first
time since this unpleasant meet-and-greet had started, "Sorry.
You.. you're right. I'm not myself. I think I need a walk."
Before she could say a word he was gone toward the balcony door.
####
John walked right up to the edge of the balcony before exhaling
explosively. Shit! Shitshitshit. Shit. He gripped the
railing tight as the ugly pain squeezed at his chest. He had no
right to feel this way! None. But damn it! What the
hell was he supposed to do? To feel?
And a whispery, cruel-edged voice added the weaselly question, 'Who?'
He heard the door open behind him, not surprised she'd followed him;
hunching in on himself automatically in expectation of more hurt.
Elizabeth had all but forgotten their visitors by the time she saw him
standing there trying to make himself smaller; too worried about
John now. She hurried to him, convinced now that he needed to see
Carson. "John? What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he mumbled, staring at his feet.
She grabbed his shoulder tightly, jerking him to face her, knowing
surprise was the only way she'd get him to move; to face her.
Shocked when she saw the pain in his eyes, she softened her grip;
softened her voice, "John?? Please. Please tell me what's
wrong."
The concern, for him, added to the pain somehow, "I.. I didn't know you
were.. seeing someone," he was too wrapped up in dealing with the harsh
spin his world had taken to hear how his voice had gotten soft and then
cracked on the last words.
Elizabeth's mouth fell, her eyes blinking in confusion, "What?
I'm not *seeing* anyone! What are you *talking* about, John??"
Her reaction made him wonder for a second, but there was no mistaking
the smell of sex. On the other hand.. maybe she wanted to keep it
completely quiet; even from *him*... Probably safer. His
lips tightened at the thought that she didn't trust him, a different
jab hitting him in the gut. But then he got a sharp grip on
himself, reminding himself firmly that he owed her a thousand
kindnesses; his very presence on Atlantis in the first place and
probably his staying here after they reconnected with Earth.
What kind of friend was he, in the end? He straightened, clearing
his throat and trying to keep his eyes on hers, giving up the concept
of protecting his pride, "Listen, I promise I'll mind my manners.
You can go back to... whatever you were doing before we interrupted
you. I'll make peace with the Cithka and get that treaty
signed. I swear."
Elizabeth frowned in hurt confusion, trying to understand what could
possibly be causing him such anguish. "John? Why do you
think you interrupted me?" It wasn't until she said the words
that
she even remembered what she *had* been doing. But why would he
think she was... her eyes widened, wait; 'involved' with
someone?? That was.. a little close to.. But he *couldn't*
know.. could he?
He nodded when he saw her suddenly changed expression, "Yeah.
So. Go ahead. I'll take care of the shop," he essayed a
grin, aware it probably wouldn't have swayed a 5 year old, "You,
go. Have.. fun." The word cost him, but he couldn't call
himself her friend and not.. want her to be happy. He started to
turn away, what her happiness cost *him*.. well that was *his*
problem. She had enough things to deal with every day.
Elizabeth refused to let him go, let him turn away, narrowing her eyes
and applying her knowledge of people, and her own flyboy in particular,
to figuring this out. The look on his face and his questions
about involvement made no sense if he actually knew what she'd been
doing. Which meant he didn't. "John?" she used her calmest
most non-nonsense, 'this is the leader of Atlantis speaking' tone,
"Tell me exactly why you think I'm involved with someone." When
he stared at her mutinously, she glared right back, she needed to know
what was going on. He could still need to go to
Carson. "Right damn now John Sheppard, or you are *off* field
duty for a month and I'm giving you to Rodney as a guinea pig."
His eyes widened, "Hey!" even down in the dumps that was unfair!
He was *trying* to be nice, and polite, here... well, fine then!
He relied as matter-of-factly as he could, barring the slight undertone
of growl he really couldn't help right now, "You were having sex just
before Chuck called you to the control room."
Elizabeth didn't twitch, staring at him just as hard as ever, prepared,
somewhat, for the topic after her own memory flash a minute ago.
"No. I wasn't. Why do you think I was?" She wasn't
counting masturbating as sex when he was obviously including someone
else in *his* picture...
His voice got husky without his noticing, eyes darkening as he stared
right back at her, "Because you smell of it." And that was
probably why he'd been so unsettled before, now that he thought about
it. Smelling aroused Elizabeth was bound to mess with his
instincts...
Wait. Why were her eyes gleaming with suppressed laughter all of
a sudden?? The blush he could get. Could feel one on his
own face. But she was honestly amused! Damn it, what the
hell had he missed *now*? And a quieter voice at the back of his
mind, 'Did he care? If she really wasn't seeing anyone...
Did he care why she was laughing??' even if it was at him.
Elizabeth cleared her throat carefully. Keeping her lips from
stretching into a grin with conscious effort. "Sorry. Chuck
made it sound urgent so I didn't take the time to wash up." She
took a calming breath, sobering as she remembered the look on his face
when she'd come out here, glad he was looking more like her John
again. "I wasn't having sex with someone John," not unless in her
head counted.. but she didn't think he would object to *that*,
especially not if his reaction here was anything to go by. "I
was..." she tilted her head briefly to the side, giving him an impish
grin, wondering how he'd react, "Pleasuring 'myself'."
She watched him carefully as the silence stretched. For such a
usually bright man it took him quite a few seconds to make sense of the
euphemism. But then the wave of red that swept up his neck
matched the wide eyes and gaping mouth. And then he stepped back,
his body finally relaxing into standard 'John being teased' position,
swearing under his breath as he slapped a palm to his forehead.
The words idiot and moron came through his mumbling and some sibilant
tones that had to Czech. When he finally got over the shock
enough to look at her with pitifully apologizing puppy eyes, she let a
smile half stretch her lips.
It occurred to her as he stepped back again that as close as he always
stood.. he's probably been smelling her still-overheated body the whole
time they dealt with the delegates. Which... probably accounted
for his territorial behaviour. She winced. So having to
deal with growly John had been her own fault, had it?
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