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Three rings later Elizabeth was greeted by an out-of-breath utterance. �Sheppard,� John said, breathing heavily.
�Did I interrupt something?� Elizabeth asked, alarmed, thoughts of the closeness shared between John and Samantha Carter flashing through her very active imagination�despite the assurances she had been offered before leaving the SGC.
�Morning run,� John said, still breathing heavily and completely oblivious to the reasons for the tension in Elizabeth�s tone. �What�s up?� he asked before taking a long draw from the water bottle he�d brought with him on his run.
�You and Jack are in cahoots,� Elizabeth accused.
�I honestly have no idea what you�re talking about, Elizabeth, but if I did I�m sure I would have a witty retort to your accusation,� John said.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. �Seriously, John. First I get a note from Jack saying that our morning meetings have been cancelled, then I get a pamphlet for the hotel spa with a note saying to �call John�. You two are in cahoots.�
�Okay� first of all I don�t think you should say �cahoots� anymore. Ever,� John said seriously. �Second, I really don�t know what you�re talking about�I wish I did, but I don�t. And third, you do realize that it�s four in the morning here, right?�
�Yeah, well, you�re already up and running, literally, so it�s not like I pulled you away from lusty dreams of Carmen Elektra or anything.�
�She�s not my type,� John replied automatically. �So� again I ask� what�s up? And don�t you dare say anything about me being in cahoots with the General. In fact, take it step by step. It is only four in the morning for me, remember?�
Rolling her eyes again, Elizabeth said, �Jack cancelled our morning meetings.�
�Okay, I�m with you so far,� John said.
�And I got an envelope with my breakfast with a list of spa treatments available in the time I have off today,� Elizabeth continued while looking the list over, mentally scheduling as many treatments as she could in the few hours she had away from the world of intergalactic diplomacy. It had been a long time since she had treated herself to something to frivolous and utterly girly as a spa day�half day, technically�that Elizabeth was determined to make the most of it. Still, she was disappointed that she didn�t have any girlfriends around to go with, spa days being much more fun with friends around. Elizabeth made a mental note to bring Teyla to Earth sometime to do the girly bonding thing that was so incredibly hard to do while running a city and fighting a war that had been raging for ten thousand years or more.
�That�s handy,� John commented.
Elizabeth frowned. Either John was a better actor than she knew or he truly didn�t know what was going on. She wasn�t sure which option was more appealing. �Isn�t it though?� Elizabeth replied. �In the envelope with the list was a note.�
�And what did the note say?� John inquired cautiously.
�Call John,� Elizabeth said.
There was a long pause before John spoke again. �That�s it? �Call John�? No wistful poetry, no secret admirer bullshit, nothing to indicate the sender?�
�Honestly, I thought that you had sent it,� Elizabeth said.
�Hence your slightly indignant insistence that General O�Neill and I are in cahoots.�
�I was not indignant,� Elizabeth protested. John laughed, the deep, resonating sound of his laughter a balm to a soul-deep wound Elizabeth didn�t even know existed. �Okay, maybe I was a little indignant. But I thought two people I consider close friends were ganging up on me.�