| Nothing Important Happened Today Either 0811 It's going to be a good day. John knows this because it's finally his day off. All week he and the other pilots have been shuttling people back and forth to the mainland for their designated day off, but he had to return and work in the hours between drop-off and pick-up. Today is his scheduled day, however, and he can hang out and play football and visit with the Athosian kids � he's missed them, especially Jinto � and do whatever he wants for 12 hours. It's going to be a good day. 0827 John is headed for the mess hall, whistling to himself, when he spots a familiar form up ahead. "Elizabeth!" he calls, and she turns and waits for him to catch up. She's wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and her hair is pulled back into a small ponytail. It's not often he sees her dressed so casually and for a moment it throws him for a loop � in a good way � to see the ever-elegant Dr. Weir in something other than her work clothing. "Ready for a day of fun in the sun?" he asks cheerfully, falling into step beside her, and she smiles. "I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing trees," she tells him, looking pointedly around the grey corridor. They ditched the ten-thousand-year-old dead plants a week or so after their arrival and replaced them with new ones, but John has to admit, growing things are few and far between in the city. At least he and his team get to 'gate to planets with trees once or twice a week, but Elizabeth has only been to the mainland once and so far her only trip off-world was to the misty planet when they thought they'd found a way home. He can understand how the Atlantis-bound personnel might go a little stir-crazy. "There are plenty of trees," he assures her. "And a small beach. And, of course, a field so we can play football." He gives her a sideways look. "You set to play?" He thinks he sees her roll her eyes. "Are you sure you still want me on your team?" she asks, as they enter the mess hall and head for the food line. "Hey! Are you trying to get out of it?" She's grinning now. "Wouldn't dream of it. Just giving you a last chance to rethink your plans so that you have no reason to complain when you see how horribly I play." He doesn't believe that Elizabeth's as bad as she's been trying all week to convince him she is. He's just not sure if she really doesn't think she can play well or if it's false modesty. "I'm willing to take my chances." It's only for fun, after all, and he's looking forward to some exercise in a form other than running for his life from the Wraith. John's team makes room for the two of them when they stop by their table, trays loaded with food. The vacation schedule has put everyone in a better mood than they have been in a long time and the entire room is noisier than usual, with Ford, McKay, and Teyla being no exception. The conversation is non-stop as the group makes its way through breakfast. John is the first to finish eating and he stands, collecting his dishes. "Well, boys and girls, I have pre-flight preparations to make before we leave for the day." He points to Elizabeth and Ford, the only other two at the table who are going to the mainland today. "Jumper leaves at 0915 sharp. Don't be late." He can tell that Elizabeth is very carefully not rolling her eyes. Ford gives him a mock salute and belts out, "Sir, yes, sir!" like he's back in boot camp. John "accidentally" elbows him in the head as he walks by. 0918 John plots a course for the section of the mainland they've dubbed Club Med � Ford's idea � and sets the Ancient version of cruise control before turning to Elizabeth, who has claimed the co-pilot's seat. "You sure it's such a good idea to leave McKay in charge?" he asks, wondering how many people will be waiting with resignation letters by the time they return tonight. Elizabeth is staring out the window, and he's reminded that she's only been in a puddle jumper once. He'll have to take her to see the world from orbit sometime, he thinks; it's an incredible sight. "Grodin and Bates are there if there's a problem." She smiles, somewhat evilly in his opinion. "And they've got Carson on standby with a 'vital system malfunction' if they need Rodney out of the command center for a while." "And whose idea was that?" She doesn't answer verbally but her expression says it all. He knew there was a reason they get along so well. They're halfway to the mainland when John suddenly remembers something he's been meaning to discuss with Elizabeth. Without any preamble he turns to her and announces, "You lied to me." She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "I did?" He nods. "You did. You said that you didn't like football, and then I find out that you play every year with your family." It's one of the very few pieces of personal information she's ever volunteered. He repeats, "You lied." Her brow furrows for several seconds before it clears, and he figures it took her a moment to remember the conversation he's referring to. "I did not lie," she corrects. "I meant that I don�t like watching football. Playing is fun. Watching is boring." He clutches at his chest in mock pain, as though he's been shot. "Boring? Watching football is boring? It's the cornerstone of American civilization!" She nods thoughtfully. "Very boring," she reiterates. They spend the remainder of the trip arguing about sports. 1043 They decide to hold their football game in the morning because it's supposed to get very warm this afternoon. John suggests modified rules so the Athosians can play as well, and they set up a simplified game of touch football to minimize both confusion and injuries. As it turns out, Elizabeth is half right about her playing abilities. Her aim is absolutely terrible � John plans to mock her mercilessly about this, every chance he gets, for the foreseeable future � but she can catch anything thrown even remotely in her direction. And there is an added bonus he hadn't considered. At first, the members of the Atlantis expedition are wary of laying hands on their boss, which makes it easier for her to score touchdowns. Partway through the second quarter, however, Zelenka finally "tackles" her and they both end up tripping and falling. When she goes down with a shriek and comes up laughing, everyone loosens up and she becomes fair game. At the end of the second quarter Ford makes an off-hand comment about a half-time show and ends up getting drawn into a complicated discussion with an Athosian, trying to explain the notions of televised sports, half-time, and cheerleaders. John is standing off to the side trying not to laugh too hard at Ford waving his arms around, demonstrating a cheer, when Elizabeth edges up beside him. "What is he doing?" she asks, watching the lieutenant curiously. "Explaining the concept of cheerleading," John says, choking on a laugh. Elizabeth shakes her head. "I'd like to see him describe the use of pom-poms." He turns to answer but pauses when he gets a good look at her. Her face is flushed, she's covered in dirt, and her hair has all but fallen out of her ponytail to hang messily around her face. She looks good. The thought throws him off-balance for a second, but luckily she doesn't seem to notice because he's not sure how he would explain himself. After everyone's had time to rest and get a drink of water they return to the game, and John's team wins by only a few points. "You stacked the teams," Ford claims. "Our side had way more scientists." "Excuses, excuses," John scoffs. "Don't be such a sore loser, Lieutenant. Just 'cause I'm naturally such a good player�" He gets a bottle of water dumped over his head for his comment. 1306 John finds himself a turkey sandwich among the supplies they brought with them from Atlantis and lets himself be dragged away to eat lunch with the Athosian kids. He'd always taken the time to visit with them when they lived in the city and it seems they missed him as much as he missed them, even if they still don't understand ghost stories. Given how they'd always lived under the shadow of the Wraith, who are still a threat even here, he decides it's probably a good sign that they are more confused than frightened by his tales. They haven't let the bad guys wear them down. The resiliency of children continues to amaze him. 1454 "Ahhh!" John hurriedly backs away as Zelenka whips around to see who sprayed him with water, and the scientist begins reeling something off in Czech that John is pretty sure shouldn't be repeated around children. He dives under the water and swims parallel to the shore for several seconds, and when he breaks the surface Ford is waiting to pull him back under. He's laughing and spluttering and trying not to choke when he's let back up. Looking around and noticing that the rest of the people on his team for the water fight have somehow disappeared, leaving him on the wrong end of a five against one showdown, John beats a hasty retreat for the shore. He deliberately drips all over Elizabeth as he walks by and she mutters something half under her breath, holding her book out of the way. "Language, Doctor," he admonishes as he drops down beside her in the sand. She narrows her eyes at him. "Since when do you speak Russian?" she demands, sitting up straighter. "I don't," he says. "Not really. But I can swear in seven different languages." Eight, if he can get Zelenka to teach him a few useful words. Her face is straight, but John can tell she's trying not to laugh. "Glad to see you put your Air Force career to good use, Major." "Some of my postings were really boring," he tells her. "We were mostly just supposed to be visible. Didn't have anything to do except walk around and talk to the locals. You learn a lot that way." He grins. "Besides, I'll have you know that I learned to swear in German by hanging out in McKay's lab. You should hear Dr. R�hm when Rodney's in one of his moods. She swears like a Marine." This time, Elizabeth can't contain her laughter. "Rodney does have the ability to bring out the best in people, doesn't he?" "It's a gift," he agrees. He lies back, realizing too late that now he's going to have sand in his hair. He thinks about asking Elizabeth to share her blanket but he doesn't want to invade her personal space. Besides, he's still wet from being in the ocean so he's pretty sure she'll say no. John folds an arm beneath his head as a temporary measure. Elizabeth goes back to her book and he (mostly) leaves her alone, the quiet punctuated only occasionally by a random question or comment of his. She humours him and doesn't simply tell him to shut up when he interrupts her reading, though he's sure she must be tempted to do exactly that. The warmth of the sun and her company is comforting, and he's not quite sure when he falls asleep. 1603 Except for the handful of people still playing in the water he's alone when he wakes up, but Elizabeth's blanket and book are still there so he assumes she'll be back soon. He's studying the sunburn that's just starting to show and wondering how much it's going to hurt tomorrow when she reappears, carrying something in each hand. When she gets close enough, she tosses him what turns out to be an apple. "We still have fresh fruit?" John asks, surprised; he was sure they'd run out weeks ago and the Minareans had claimed they couldn't supply them with any more for another half-season. "They're from right here on the mainland," Elizabeth tells him, biting into her own apple. "The Athosians found them growing wild not too long ago." Now that he's looking closely, he can see subtle differences. The colour is slightly off, the shape a bit different than he's used to, and when he bites into it the skin is thicker and the taste sweeter than any apple he's tried on Earth. But it's good, and it doesn't take him long to finish it as they watch the antics of the people in the ocean. 1649 "This reminds me of the park where I used to walk my dog," Elizabeth says, sounding wistful, as they weave their way through the trees. "You have a dog?" John asks, surprised, though he's not sure why. Maybe it's because she's spontaneously offering personal information, and she almost never does that. "Sedge. There's a park nearby where we used to go for walks every day. He loves to chase squirrels." Her voice is quiet and he wants to ask where her dog is now, while she's in the Pegasus galaxy, but he figures that sort of question only serves to make her think of how Sedge isn't here with her, so he doesn't ask. They walk without speaking for a while until John can think of another topic of conversation, though he notices that Elizabeth seems comfortable enough with the silence. "Has Bates talked to you yet about what the exploration team found on the north side yesterday?" he asks, holding back a low-hanging branch so she doesn't get smacked in the face. "You mean the family quarters?" "Yeah." It's as good of a description as any, he thinks; the rooms are laid out kind of like apartments, with a central living area and several attached bedrooms. "We should have looked for them before. It only makes sense; I mean, even the Ancients must have had families. Before they went all glowy, anyway." The quarters they've been using around the center spire are all obviously intended for individuals � the single-sized beds give that away, if nothing else does. He's starting to wonder if they were intended to be used as a temporary place to crash between shifts or as guest rooms rather than actual living quarters. "It wasn't a primary concern," she says. "Besides, I'd rather have everyone in a central location for now. We don't have the power resources to spread the population out all over the city." "That's true," he agrees. "But if we can't find a way back to Earth we're probably going to have to start making use of them at some point." He's never really stopped to think about it before, but if they really are stranded here indefinitely then there's the almost inevitable issue of children. They are only human, after all. Elizabeth waves a hand at him. "I'm on vacation. I don't want to think about that today." "Okay," he concedes. "But we should probably discuss it sometime. People are going to start pairing off soon and we'll have to address that." She gives him an odd look. "People have already started pairing off." He stops dead. "Since when?" He can tell she's trying not to laugh and can only imagine the look on his face right now. "Observant, aren't you?" She doesn't give him time to respond. "If you're really that concerned about it, we can talk tomorrow. Today is my day off." John's so busy trying to figure out what he's missed that he almost trips over a fallen tree trunk. 2009 They've long since built a big bonfire and are currently taking turns telling ghost stories, but people are too busy interjecting inane comments every few minutes for anyone to actually be scared. The entire group � including the storyteller of the moment � keeps breaking into laughter, and the atmosphere is anything but spooky. It's relaxed, though, and John can tell everyone's had a good day, which was the whole point of getting away from the city. Mission accomplished. It's approaching the end of their time on the mainland, so a couple of people start dousing the fire. Once they're sure it's completely out everyone heads for John's puddlejumper, where they'll wait for the rest of the pilots to arrive from Atlantis to take them back home. John reaches a hand down to Elizabeth to help her to her feet, and narrows his eyes at her as they walk in the near-darkness to the rendezvous area. "Are you limping?" "Just my knee," she dismisses, sounding unconcerned. "I probably overdid it today. An hour or so with an ice pack and it'll be fine." He vaguely recalls that she's mentioned this once before � or, rather, Rodney had mentioned it. That had been the reason he'd had to take the two furthest grounding stations when they were trying to protect the city from the storm. He was annoyed at the time but now figures it all worked out for the best. 2132 John does a last check of the surrounding area to make sure they're not leaving anyone behind before he launches the puddlejumper and follows the others back to Atlantis. Everyone in the 'jumper is quiet and he feels pleasantly tired and content. It reminds him of being half-asleep in the back seat on the way home after a day at the beach with his family, back when he was a kid, before it all went to hell. He's missed this feeling and he spends the trip home revelling in the sense of family. 2201 Elizabeth insists on checking in with the command center and John decides to go with her, just in case they end up having to cut Rodney down from the balcony or something. All is quiet, though, and Sergeant Murphy reports that nothing of importance happened while they were away. "How many people threatened to send McKay to an uninhabitable planet?" John asks, earning a raised eyebrow from Elizabeth for his lack of diplomacy. Murphy looks taken aback. "None, as far as I know, sir." He takes in John's doubtlessly surprised look and adds, "Of course, I've only been on duty for half an hour. If anything like that happened today I would have been sleeping." The joys of working the night shift. John just nods and figures he'll get the real story tomorrow, because he knows there's no way Rodney managed to go the entire day without arguing with someone. He and Elizabeth bid Murphy good night and head for the personnel quarters, and he notices that her limping is more pronounced than it was an hour ago. "Want me to get you a cold pack from the infirmary?" he offers, since the medical center is quite a distance from their rooms, and she looks grateful. "If you don't mind," she says, and now he knows that her knee is hurting more than she's admitted. "I need to get something for this sunburn anyway. I'll see you in a few minutes." He heads for the infirmary, where Carson is still up, and endures a lecture about wearing the proper protection when he's out in the sun for extended periods of time before the doctor finally gives him some kind of cream to put on his burn, and a cold pack for Elizabeth's knee. John detours to McKay's lab to pick up one other thing before he makes his way to Elizabeth's room. She's showered, if the wet hair is any indication, and is sitting on the bed with her back against the headboard and her knee propped up by a pillow as she reads. She sets the book aside just in time to catch the cold pack he tosses her. "Fifteen minutes on, fifteen minutes off," he tells her, relaying Carson's instructions. "I know," she says, putting it on her knee and eyeing him curiously. "What's that?" John holds up the object he took from Rodney's lab. "I borrowed McKay's chess set. You up for a game?" It's getting late and it's been a long day, but he's not quite tired enough to sleep yet. "Sounds good," she agrees. There's nowhere in her room where they can play and she can still prop up her knee so they make room on the bed, her at the head, him at the foot, the board in between and her leg stretched alongside. She's a decent player but he's better, and John beats her in four straight games before she calls it a night. "You're just sick of losing," he says as he packs away the pieces. "No kidding," she drawls. "Whatever gave you that idea?" He just gives her a quick grin in response. "Breakfast tomorrow?" he suggests. It's not unusual for them to meet for breakfast several times a week. Mostly he's asking because he wants to make sure she's not still limping in the morning, or else he's dragging her to see Carson before their briefing, whether she likes it or not. She nods in agreement and he squeezes her outstretched leg before gathering the chessboard and standing. "'Night, Elizabeth." She smiles in return. "Good night, John." 0014 John dumps McKay's chess set on the desk in his quarters � he'll return it tomorrow � before changing clothes and collapsing into bed on his back, since his front is a not-so-pleasant shade of crispy red. It takes him only a few minutes to find a comfortable position, exhausted as he is from the day. The past few hours with Elizabeth have left him in a content mood and as he drifts into sleep, his last conscious thought is that it really has been a good day. --end-- back to Atlantis fanfic |