Tested
Author: wanderingsmith
Feb 2008
Summary: if only husbands and wives may trade... sooo cliche, but it
refused to leave my head
Warning: none that I can think of
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I ain't got no money, and nobody'd be daft enough to pay me
for this. As it is thought so let it be said; you make the toys, I play
with 'em.
AN: sorry sorry sorry. it just wouldn't get out of my head! Years
ago I did a much more complex version in J/C land and never finished
it.. So this is only a brief scene. umm, infringing on myself? rotflol
John returns from a mission to a new planet with Teyla and Lorne and
is discussing it with Elizabeth in her office.
"From what we saw of the city, they have to have some kind of
heavy-duty power sources. If it's not ZPMs, I'm sure Rodney can
interface whatever they are."
Elizabeth tilted her head at him with a quizzical smile. "So why
didn't you and Teyla..." She wiggled her brows expressively, only
half-teasing.
He rolled his eyes, "Well for one thing I couldn't imagine them
just taking our word for it and for another I figured you'd want to run
the negotiations."
Elizabeth's brow rose, "And...?" If he though he could make such
cryptic comments and not explain himself...
"Oh come on, I'm not nearly a good enough actor to remember to pretend
being madly in love with Teyla, especially not for any length of
time.
Never mind the fact that I have a feeling Ronon would kill me for any
attempt to prove it we could get asked for."
Trying to dismiss the relief she felt at his admission, Elizabeth was
tempted to continue the line of questioning and get him
to say something about his second statement. But the firm look he
was giving her said he knew what she was thinking and was not going to
spill any more, so she dropped it with nothing but a smirk. She
had a pretty good idea that having her pick someone else to pretend to
be her husband, which she'd have to if he'd put himself forward as
Teyla's, would make her oh-so-carefree colonel become
temperamental. Not that she could honestly say she'd have enjoyed
pretending to
be easy with his playing house with Teyla.
She didn't really stop to think about the fact that he was all but
saying he'd have no trouble pretending to be madly in love with
her. Or that she was allowing herself to get manoeuvred into a
situation where she would have to show such feelings for him. How
long they could continue to dance around each other this way
without burning themselves was something that always rested at the back
of her mind, an un-scratchable itch.
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"Let me get this straight. These people won't deal with anyone
that's not married??" McKay's voice was incredulous.
"That is what they said Rodney. It has apparently been their law
for millennia that only those who have mates may hold positions of
responsibility, both among themselves and those they deal with."
Teyla was pensive, "It does make a certain sense. More, for
example, than only giving responsibility to males, as many cultures
do. The Talerian we met said that the historical root of the law
was a time of war, when many people lost loved ones and remained
alone. Hurting and lonely, making ill-fated decisions." She
shrugged, "Not that having a mate necessarily makes people wise... but
I can see where it would have avoided *some* misunderstandings we have
encountered over the years." She very carefully did not look at
anyone around the conference table, a very faint echo of a smirk
showing on her features.
"Yes. Well." McKay shifted uncomfortably,
"Nonetheless. You
two," He looked pointedly at John and Elizabeth, "do realize these
people are not likely, after 'millennia', to just take your word that
you're married and hand you a few ZPMs?"
John rolled his eyes. "Come on McKay, what can they ask for as
proof; we'll hold hands and call each other sappy names. They're
a
civilized people..." He responded to Elizabeth's visual daggers
with a laughing smirk.
The scientist smirked at the self-deceiving assumption of his
happy-go-lucky friend but then got back
to business, "And if they have some sort of machine that can tell..."
"Tell what? Seriously McKay, how the heck would a machine make a
decision like that?? These people don't predate the Ancients, and
we haven't come across anything in *their* many gadgets that even goes
near this..."
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"Please put your hands on the pads." John carefully didn't look
at his friends as the Talerian couple showed them all to the machines
that would tell their hosts whether they were mated or not. So
much for getting power sources for Atlantis. Damned clairvoyant
McKay. He shared a grim look with Elizabeth as she stood on the
opposite side of the same machine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flash ~~~~~~~~~~~~
John ran, knowing he wouldn't make it, watching the beautiful alien
shoot Elizabeth in the gut. "No!" He screamed, empty hands
balling into powerless fists, "I will kill you, if it's the last thing
I do." The last was no more than a whisper as the alien
disappeared, leaving John kneeling at Elizabeth's side. Gathering
her broken body in his arms, knowing there were tears trailing down his
cheeks even as dark fury burned through him, competing with the
agonizing
pain. "I am so sorry, so sorry. Please Elizabeth. God
please don't leave me."
"John." Her voice was so weak, so faint, "I'll always be with
you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flash ~~~~~~~~~~~~
John watched the two Labrador puppies chase each other on the balcony,
wondering
why he felt as though he'd been somewhere else just moments ago.
Why he felt so on edge.
"John!" He turned to see Elizabeth hurry toward him with a
welcoming grin. He was laughing as she reached him, dissonance
vanishing from his thoughts, enfolding her
in a hug before lifting her up in his arms for a spin and a kiss, too
glad to be
home to restrain himself from the exuberance.
"Dad!" Still carrying his playfully objecting wife, he looked up,
bracing for the impact when his son barrelled into his legs. He
got down on one knee, keeping one arm around Elizabeth to hold her
balanced on
his thigh. Pulling his son into a hug with the other arm and
growling into his neck to make him squeal.
When his eyes met Elizabeth's smiling ones over the boy's head, he
whispered, "I love you so much."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flash ~~~~~~~~~~~~
As he finished speaking, he was standing, opening his eyes to Elizabeth
opening her eyes, both of them shocked, their mirrored words hanging in
the air. Minds slowly readapting to reality, trying to assimilate
the sudden burst of memories instilled by the tests.
------------------------------------------------------
"We accept you as mated."
Elizabeth's eyes jerked from John to the Talerian man. Seeing out
the corner of her eyes her friends doing the same. Using her
years of political experience to put aside her feelings and get herself
back in negotiator mode until they had leisure to deal with what had
just happened. What had been admitted. And heard.
"And we would like to promise here and now that we will never interfere
with, nor in any threaten your mates." As John opened his mouth
with a questioning frown, the man waved his hand, "Each of you reacted
very violently to the first part of the test. You obviously form
much more powerful attachments than we are accustomed to. We
would not wish to ever trigger such a reaction toward ourselves.
Nor have you suspect us of such." He bowed quickly. "Now,
if you will follow me, I will take you to our negotiation chamber."
Giving Elizabeth a quick, hesitant glance, John asked, "Could we have a
few moments alone first?" He nodded his head at the machines, "Just a
few moments?" He figured if the aliens had seen enough to understand
their reaction, they aught to realize they'd need to deal with those
violent feelings they'd brought up. He would have a Hell of a
time keeping his attention on his job if he didn't know where he stood
with Elizabeth. He'd do it, but...
The Talerians looked back sympathetically and the woman nodded, "Of
course." She pointed down the hall, "Second door to the left, whenever
you are ready." And they walked away.
John looked at Ronon and Teyla, mindful that they'd *all* passed; the
two also had a twitchy edge to their expressions and gave him relieved
nods, walking a little
further away so both couples could speak privately. He turned
back when
Elizabeth stepped up to him with a familiar mock scowl. "What
happened to
my running these negotiation colonel?"
He'd have been apologetic if she hadn't slid her hands to his shoulders
as she said it. Instead he smirked a little, cupping her cheek
hesitantly, still not really believing they'd gotten to this point so
suddenly. Not quite ready to simply believe, after all this time,
that her feelings could run as deep as his. Let alone that she
would be willing to let them out.. But when she turned and
pressed a kiss to his palm, his
breath caught at the intimacy, a soft relieved laugh escaping
him. Trusting what he thought he saw in her eyes to mean it was
safe for him to let how he felt show, stepping closer
until they were hugging, foreheads leaning together.
Thinking of the 'life' he'd accepted as his during the tests, John
shook his head a little, "This is probably going to get me kicked,
but..." the pads of his
fingers ran down her cheek, their eyes locked, smiling at each other,
"you are so beautiful pregnant."
Elizabeth's breath caught with sudden yearning, eyes blurring at the
love blazing from his
eyes. It was her turn to laugh softly, hands at his temples,
unconsciously wanting to hold on to the amazing feeling she had gotten
knowing
she was intimately not alone anymore. "And
you looked like a man in heaven rocking our baby boy to sleep with our
3 year old daughter leaning on your shoulder." And he had;
he'd looked up from the sleeping babe in his arms as she walked up to
him, one hand still caressing the auburn spikes on their daughter's
head. His eyes had been shining with nothing but joy, the softest
smile on his lips; all the guardedness
he usually wore vanished.
John could see the vision reflected in her eyes, see himself look up
from his children to his wife. Feel how unfamiliarly happy he
would be. His arms tightened around her, "Our son was 5. Ran out
of his room and tackled us for a group hug." Odd how they both
accepted the fictional children as theirs so easily
They stood together, enjoying the unaccustomed joy and mutual support
they felt, not thinking about anything for a few precious
minutes. Internalizing the idea and feeling of this closeness
being a part of their life now.
John finally straightened as he heard movement next to him, looking up
at Ronon and Teyla walking up to them, the Satedan's arm at her waist
very possessively.
The four looked at each other, exchanging rueful looks until John
groaned, "Oh crap, Rodney is never going to let us live this down."
Elizabeth blinked at him while in the background Ronon swore too.
"The machine! And even without being here, the fact that we're
going to negotiate with them will tell him the story..." She
dropped her head to John's shoulder with a moan, anticipating McKay
teasing for months to come. "This had better be worth it."
She
mumbled grumpily. Knowing that even if they got nothing from the
Talerians, they had already gotten a precious gift out of it;
worth anything at all.
AN: have I apologized already? My brain is just full of sap.
Believe it or not, what actually leaks out is actually only a small
percentage... Hey! I don't have to apologize for messing with
Carson this time! Yay!
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