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Movies and Sparkiness

by Alternate Ego

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Elizabeth bit her lip, frowning as she tried to decipher Rodney's latest science report, an intricate piece of work on the newly-discovered hydraulics system found in sector five – she believed. She wasn't entirely sure…it might have been about the plumbing in the lower levels…

Rubbing her forehead in an attempt to ward of the impending headache she could feel building behind her temples, Elizabeth glanced at the clock on her desk. 9:30 PM. She looked at the stack of papers and files besides the clock, about three inches thick. She had to get through all of them before going to bed.

Suppressing a groan of frustration, Elizabeth pushed aside the report just as John entered her office.

"Hey," he said.

Elizabeth looked up and smiled wanly. "Hello."

John approached her desk, picking up Rodney's report. "Bedtime reading material?" he said, eyebrow raised. "Looks kind of…"

"Obscure?"

"I was going to say boring, actually," Sheppard said. Tossing the folder aside, he said, "Come on, Elizabeth. Just one night off can't hurt."

"Colonel, I told you last week – I really don't have time for movie night," Elizabeth said.

"Why not? It's only a few hours long, and we've got popcorn and comfy couches and we're going to watch Alien vs. Predator," John said enthusiastically, as if watching a sci-fi movie was the best thing about it.

Elizabeth was tempted to give in; she'd been resisting John's invitations for three weeks now, and each time her will weakened a little more. Unfortunately, the Colonel seemed to be able to sense this.

"And…" he drawled, "we even have…chocolate."

That caught her attention. "Chocolate? Didn't all the chocolate run out two weeks ago?" Although the Daedalus had only just restocked their supplies three weeks ago, the chocolate never lasted long – especially when certain astrophysicists snuck into the kitchen to steal bars at the dead of night.

"Well, it just so happens that I kept a secret stash…which I'd be very willing to share with you – if you come to movie night," John said slyly.

Elizabeth looked at him, eyes narrowed. "How much chocolate?"

"Oh, you know…just a dozen or so bars…"

Elizabeth pushed the folder away decisively. "All right, Colonel," she said, smiling. "You have yourself a deal."

They were halfway through the movie when John realized something.

Elizabeth was a girl.

She yelped and giggled and squealed, yes, squealed, squirming in her seat during moments that weren't even remotely scary.

At first, they had been occupying the same sofa, sitting on opposite ends. Thirty minutes into it, though, she had managed to unconsciously jump and squirm her way the half-way mark, and John had casually done the same (without the girly squealing, of course).

She was also constantly covering her face whenever the main characters were being hunted by the aliens (or predators). Which happened throughout the entire movie, so she hid her face pretty often.

Interestingly, one of the places she would hide her face in was the front of John's shirt.

The first time this had happened (the alien-offspring had been hatching out of their eggs) John had jumped, completely startled…not to say that he disliked it. Quite to the contrary, in fact. Sheppard was just glad that they had the entertainment room to themselves tonight; Ronon and Teyla had already watched this movie, and Rodney claimed to have important work to do.

In any case, the majority of the movie went ignored by John, who was too busy enjoying the feel of Elizabeth's body pressed against his own to care as each of the main characters got killed off, one by one.

He'd learned something. Scary movie + Elizabeth + plus sofa equaled: one very interesting movie.

When the movie was finally finished, Elizabeth yawned and stretched, pulling away from John with a smile. John reluctantly let her go, careful to hide from her how much his body already missed the warmth of hers.

"Well, that was interesting," Elizabeth remarked.

"You could say that," John murmured, unable to stop his eyes from flicking over her body and face.

"With all the stress and fear we suffer from the Wraith and Replicators, why would anyone bring along a movie about more aliens who want to kill us?" Elizabeth asked. "Whose movie is this, anyways?"

"Don't look at me. One of the lieutenants brought it," Sheppard said, standing up from the sofa.

Elizabeth smiled and glanced down. "Thank you. For this. I really enjoyed it."

"Me too," John said. "So…does this mean we'll do it again? Soon?"

"Maybe," Elizabeth said, a sparkle shining in her eye as she walked towards the door of the room. "But only if there's chocolate."

John grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

It had been three months since their first movie night, and true to her word, Elizabeth had attended a few more of them; some with her and John only, others with the rest of John's team there. Whenever John was allowed to pick the movie, though, he chose scary ones, or those of suspense or horror.

Elizabeth was somewhat puzzled about this; she'd always figured Sheppard for more of an action junkie; not to say that the movies he picked didn't have action, but they didn't quite measure up to James Bond and Mission Impossible.

When she asked him about it, he just shrugged it off, saying that he'd watched MIII way too many times to be healthy, anyway.

It was Major Cadman who finally enlightened her, during an unforgettable lunch conversation.

"So he only picks the movies with lots of scary, tension-filled moments?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Elizabeth said.

"Is there any chance that you get a little…I don't know…jumpy, during these movies?" Laura asked.

Elizabeth thought it over. "Yes, sometimes. I mean, I never really could sit still and stay quiet during those types of movies; it used to drive my father crazy," she said, mouth quirking at the memory.

"And, do you sometimes…you know…get closer than normal to John?" Laura said.

"Well, sometimes, when it gets really bad…" Elizabeth trailed off, realization dawning on her. "Are you saying - "

"Seems so," Laura said, her eyes glinting in amusement.

Elizabeth's jaw dropped, her face flushing red; for several moments she found herself speechless. The thought that John had carefully selected movies in order to her get close to him had never occurred to her. She wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or worried. After all, she was his boss; common sense dictated that their relationship should be purely professional, proceeding no further than a strong friendship.

Laura seemed to read her thoughts, saying, "Come on, Elizabeth, he's a guy – give him a break. Chances are he knows better than to try and further his relationship with you to a more…intimate…level, so he's just getting his kicks this way."

"Well – I mean – we can never have a serious relationship - "

"True," Laura said. "You could always just stop going to movie night."

Elizabeth though it over for a minute, remembering all the laughs she'd shared with John, and often his team, part of her most treasured memories. She didn't want it to stop. "No, I think I have a better idea," she said, a small, wicked grin on her face.

John entered the recreational room, flashing Elizabeth a smile when he saw her already settled down on the sofa, bowl of popcorn in her lap.

"Hey," he said. "Where's Ronon and Teyla?"

"Oh, Teyla wanted to meditate and Ronon is training," Elizabeth lied. In reality, she'd asked Teyla to do something with Ronon instead of coming; the woman had understood, without Elizabeth even telling her anything.

"Really? Too bad," John said, managing to push a hint of disappointment in his voice, although in reality his spirits lifted with anticipation. "I come bearing chocolate," he added, handing Elizabeth a bar of it.

She smiled, accepting the offering. "Good. We're all ready." With that, she took the control and turned on the TV – so that the words 'Pride and Prejudice' rolled across the screen.

Sitting down on the sofa, John frowned. "Pride and Prejudice?" he asked. "Now I know I didn't choose that movie."

"No. I did. After all these nights, I think I should get a turn at choosing," Elizabeth said.

"Well, your choice is very…"

"Interesting? Sophisticated? Classy?"

"I was going to say girly," John said.

"Don't worry, John, I promise you'll like this movie," Elizabeth said.

John looked at the opening scene doubtfully, giving her a disbelieving look.

"You will," Elizabeth insisted, her eyes gleaming. "Trust me on this."

John was disappointed; this wasn't exactly his idea of an enjoyable movie night with Elizabeth. But he resignedly sat on the couch besides her, acknowledging the fact that there were probably no terrifying aliens in this movie.

But it looked like Elizabeth didn't need the aliens.

Ten minutes into the movie, she had scooted towards him and settled down besides him. Several minutes later, her head rested against his shoulder, and John could swear that the scent of her, having her so close, was making him dizzy. Several minutes after that, she had managed to rearranged their positions, so that he lay down on the couch, with her snuggled up in front of him.

And it didn't end there.

She got closer to him, closer than she ever had in the other movies; John was having difficulty restraining the overpowering urge to cover her mouth with his, to take and share and never let go. He'd always had feelings for Elizabeth, but had known better than to express them vocally or physically – it was only common sense to not get romantically involved with your boss.

That was getting kind of hard now, when she was so damn close to him. He could feel her soft curves against his body, hear the steady sigh of her breathing, see the green color of her eyes and soft sheen of her hair…it was the most pleasurable torment he had ever gone through.

Near the end of the movie, when the two main characters (John didn't know their names, or who they were, or why he should care – he had been too wrapped up in Elizabeth) were getting ready to kiss, Elizabeth turned over so that her face was only inches from his.

"So," she said, placing a hand delicately on his side, so that he had to hold back a moan of frustration and longing, "The movie wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No," John said, trying hard to keep his voice steady, "It wasn't bad. 'The Cave' would have been better, though."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, pushing closer to him, something he hadn't thought possible.

John frowned, a sudden thought striking him as he locked eyes with her. She didn't know, did she? She couldn't possibly know…

"Not really," he breathed, his face getting closer to hers as he scanned her eyes, trying to gage her feelings on the situation. He'd never approached her in this way, never thought she'd felt the same way he had…did she?

"Let me try and convince you, then," she murmured.

Hardly daring to believe it, John hesitantly brushed his lips against hers, testing her. Meeting no resistance, he pushed aside all cautiousness and kissed her. Elizabeth sighed quietly and melted against him, making no move to stop it.

"So, what movie have you chosen now? 'Snakes on a Plane'?" Elizabeth asked as she entered the rec room. It had been a few days since their last, rather eventful, movie night.

John raised an eyebrow. "No, actually."

"Alien VI, then," she said. "If there's such thing."

"Nope. And there isn't, by the way…I think. Guess again," John said, inserting a DVD and turning on the TV.

Elizabeth scanned the screen her eyes going wide when she saw the opening. "'Titanic'?" she said, glancing at him with surprise.

John grinned, sitting down on the couch besides her and slinging an arm over her shoulders. "Yup."

"You do know that there are barely any terror-filled moments in this movie?" Elizabeth said.

"Yeah," John said. "But if you act like you did when we watched that other chick-flick…then I'd say we don't need them."

Elizabeth shook her head, smiling as she looked at the ground. When she did look up, John met her lips in a kiss, one that she wholeheartedly welcomed.

To hell with common sense.

--The End--

A/N: Remember - feedback. Is. Love!