Late in the evening, Sheppard and Ronon could be found at the makeshift firing range in Atlantis. John was emptying his clips into normal paper targets. They'd put a Kevlar vest on Ronon's mark, hoping that would increase its usage lifespan somewhat.
John was in the middle of reloading when the door opened, and he was rather surprised by who came inside. "Elizabeth?"
"Mind if I join you?" she asked.
"Kind of," John replied a bit warily. "I'm still trying to get the image of you and a gun out of my head from the last time." Nevertheless, after receiving a raised eyebrow, he put his weapon in her outstretched hand. Ronon had finally obliterated his target, and so folded his arms across his chest, amusedly watching. "Have you ever even fired a gun before?" John asked as she took aim.
Three bullets went straight through the center mark on the target. "It's been a while," Elizabeth replied, trying not to smile at their open-mouthed stares, "But I know how to fire a gun. That's part of why I don't like them so much, but that's a story for another day."
"Remind me not to piss you off," John muttered. Weir considered the weapon for a long moment before she handed it back to him.
"We're trying to put together a movie night in the rec room tonight, if you're interested."
"No chick flicks," John instantly responded.
"I make no promises," she replied with a grin before leaving.
Somehow Rodney had become the one in control of the movie box, so they wound up watching the Incredibles. Everyone had moaned and complained and tried to offer up other suggestions, but it DID provide a much-needed bit of amusement.
John flicked a couple of kernels of popcorn in Rodney's direction at one point in the movie, but he just rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you're a bit too old for this?" he asked.
"No," John replied with a grin.
"If you could have one super power, what would it be?" Beckett tossed out for discussion.
"Super power?" Ronon asked.
"You know, like in the movie. Super speed or strength or what have you."
"That's an easy one," Sheppard said. "I'd fly."
That got snickers from everyone. "It's a bird, it's a plane, it is a Lieutenant Colonel," Zelenka teased, which got more laughs from all the earthlings in the room and a few well-aimed pieces of popcorn from the Air Force officer in question.
"I would want healing powers," Beckett predictably responded.
"Telepathy," Elizabeth chimed in. "It would come in handy with negotiations. And in getting a certain officer – who shall remain unnamed – to play by the book a little more often."
"What is this, pick-on-Sheppard day?" John asked.
"Is that not every day?" Teyla replied with a smile.
"I already have my superpower," Rodney cockily stated. "Brains beat anything else." That earned several handfuls of popcorn flying at him from multiple directions. Having not expected the onslaught, he screamed rather girlishly and upturned the bowl that he'd been holding in his lap. Kernels went flying everywhere. Everyone froze for one second, looking around at each other, before a full-out popcorn fight began.
"What is going on in here?" Lieutenant Cadman asked as she came to the door. "I could hear you guys halfway down the hall."
"We were watching a movie," Beckett told her. She looked to the TV, which was displaying the last few seconds of the end credits. "WERE being the key word," he amended.
"Right."
"You want to join us?" John asked her. "What are we watching next?" he questioned the group. Everyone began playfully bickering over the choices. Teyla caught Elizabeth's eye for a moment and was glad to see her friend smiling. Things were getting back to normal – or at least as normal as they ever got in Atlantis.
FIN.
So? What'd you think? (hint, hint: use the blue button)