To Be Continued
Summary: My version of what happens after the end of the Siege pt II...
Spoilers: Everything, specifically for Siege pt I II
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: John/Elizabeth
Warnings: None
Author: Angel of Fire SG1 (although for some reason the '1' has disappeared…)
Disclaimer: Stargate: Atlantis does not and never will belong to me…damn…
A/N: They left us on such a nasty cliffhanger and I don't think my patience will last till July, so my muse is going to make up something to keep me entertained till then…I blame a boring English class for this…
It starts from the last 3 minutes of the damn cliffhanger…and the prologue ends where that episode did.
Prologue
"Elizabeth wait."
Dr Elizabeth Weir spun around, following the noise of running footsteps. Major John Sheppard was halfway up the stairs when he stopped and turned to face her. Instant dread came over her, she knew exactly what he was going to do…
"You can't," she said.
"I have to and you know it."
The reply she dreaded. Of course he had to, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't want him to. Not one little bit did she want him to leave, to fly the puddlejumper, loaded with an a-bomb, up to the Wraith Hive ship and blow himself up. Just thinking of it filled her with complete and utter dread.
Sure it would save Atlantis, sure it would protect Earth, and deep inside she knew he had to do it. But he couldn't go.
She paused for a moment, wondering why she cared so much what happened to her. Or course she cared for everyone under her command, but had it been anyone else she would have understood the need and given them the go ahead already.
What was different about him?
"John…" she stopped, not quite sure what she was about to say, or what she even wanted to say.
When had she even developed feelings this deep for him? She hadn't. That could be the only plausible explanation, she didn't want him to leave because he was her friend and her close colleague. That was all.
But there in his eyes was something else, she could see in his eyes, he was trying to communicate with her, willing her to let him go and at the same time trying to show her that he didn't want to do this anymore than she wanted him to. To show…something else.
She pushed away the thought, here was her worst nightmare, picking between her friend and the city of the Ancients.
She knew there was only one option.
"Go…" she said eventually.
He nodded slightly and jogged off up the stairs, leaving Elizabeth standing alone in the control room of the large city. She closed her eyes and looked down, pushing away her fears and the tears that were developing. She didn't have the time to cry, not now, when this was all done she could lock herself in her room and cry, but until then she had to be strong.
No matter what Colonel Everett said, she would always be the first leader of the Atlantis expedition…
Her mind wandered back to John. He was gone. Most probably forever. She tried to imagine life without his optimism, without his sarcastic remarks, without his comments on sport, without his arguing with McKay, without their conversations on the balcony, without him…
Just as this thought crossed her mind the radio came to life.
"What's the status on that damn jumper?"
Colonel Everett's voice seemed foreign, Elizabeth so lost in her own thoughts that any outside noise felt foreign. Drawn back to the reality she replied.
"It's on its way," she said finally.
She turned away, knowing she had to focus. She couldn't let John's sacrifice go to waste, if that's what it came to.
Why the hell hadn't he heard anything? Colonel Everett punched the button on his radio.
"What's the status on that damn jumper?" he asked.
There was a few moments pause. What the hell was Dr Weir up to?
"It's on its way."
She sounded distant, forlorn even. He pushed away that thought and pulled back from aiming his gun over the edge of the balcony slightly.
What he didn't notice was the white body dropping down from above him. A moment later he heard his fellow marine fall to the ground. At the same time another dot appearing on his screen.
Taken over by adrenaline he spun around aiming his weapon at the alien. The wraith knocked it to the ground. Instantly he reached for his handgun, firing it into the alien's chest. It didn't even falter, kept coming at him.
Everett had flashbacks to every horror movie he'd ever seen.
He fired again.
And again.
And again…
He continued firing until he finally heard a click.
His gun was empty.
And the Wraith was mere inches in front of him…
The battle was still going on above them, she could hear the firing, but somehow it all seemed distant. Elizabeth turned and walked toward the screen which would show her whether or not the jumper had gone out.
"Dr Weir, Sheppard is taking the jumper out," Zelenka's voice came through the radio.
"I'm aware of that Dr Zelenka," she replied.
She paused for a second, trying to make a decision. If this worked someone was going to have to fly a second jumper into the other Wraith Hive ship.
"Start prepping jumper two," she said.
Everything fell silent again for a moment, Elizabeth trying not to think about who else she would have to send to their death if this worked. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a loud flurry of gunfire from nearby.
Teyla was in that area.
"Teyla I'm hearing gunfire, what's your status?"
Nothing.
"Teyla do you hear me?"
Still nothing.
"Teyla!"
Distant gunfire continued, but the closer stuff had ended.
Teyla wasn't replying. Elizabeth closed her eyes, that was two of her friends gone. This wasn't looking good. Was it worth it? For a city?
John watched as the other puddlejumpers fell away below him, knowing that his own jumper was rising steadily. As he exited the city he turned it towards space and took off.
"Hopefully if I take this one out, the other one will back off," he said to himself, although he knew it was wishful thinking.
But he could always hope.
He punched the button and headed out…
Elizabeth glanced at the screen for a moment, her attention moving away from the open Stargate. John was on his way. The noise of people evacuating through the Stargate was blocking out the space battle.
"We can't stay here Elizabeth," the familiar accent of Dr Carson Beckett, the Scottish doctor, came from next to her.
"He's right, they're beaming in all over the place," Canadian accent this time, Dr Rodney McKay, astrophysicist.
She looked from Rodney to Carson and then back at the screen. John would pull this off.
"We're not going anywhere," she replied.
McKay continued to look at her, curiosity on his face. She looked at him for a moment.
"Not yet," she continued, looking back at the screen.
Rodney turned and looked at the screen, after only a few moments figuring out why she wouldn't leave. There were three kinds of blips on the screen. The red of the Wraith Hive ships, the light blue of the Wraith darts and another blip, slightly larger than the darts. A puddlejumper.
The radio came to life.
"You know if this works somebody might have to do it again," John's voice came through the radio.
"Understood," Elizabeth said, having already prepared herself for this.
"Gotta keep up!" Lt Aiden Ford shouted, running along the narrow balcony. "Over there!"
The officer running behind him. As he rounded the corner a purplish beam appeared in front of them. He halted in his tracks.
Suddenly he found himself facing a squadron of Wraith.
Hold your ground, he told himself, continuing to aim his weapon at the aliens.
The noise from behind him confirmed that there were more Wraith attacking from behind. The ones they had previously been running from…
This wasn't looking good…
Rodney reached forward, pushing a button on the screen and enlarging the radar. The way the jumper was flying, it was very obviously being flown by someone. He turned back to face Elizabeth.
"You let Sheppard fly that jumper?" he asked, shocked that she would.
He got no reply, just a cold hard stare from the leader of Atlantis. She had let him fly the jumper, but she wasn't happy about it. In fact he swore he saw something inside her…fear?
He turned back to the screen.
"Help me arm the self destruct in case this fails."
Her voice was firm, but beneath it Rodney could sense that same fear. He left the screen and walked over to where Elizabeth was typing in her code. He watched her for a second, worried about her. Then he bent over and typed in his own codes.
The noise of the self destruct countdown began.
They were going to blow up Atlantis.
Sheppard was already on his way to blowing himself up.
And who knew where Teyla and Ford were.
"Haven't detected my approach," Sheppard's voice came over the radio. "Weapon is armed and ready. I'm going in…"
A/N: I know its an evil cliffhanger...not my fault! It's the whole reason this fic popped into my head! Next chapter I'll start my version of what happens next :D