RP: Visiting New Athos

[shepcrew]

[some time after this and this.]


She's still stinging from the conversation she had with John following the Marine sweep of Michael's base of operations. She had expected it to be unpleasant, but never had one of their arguments been so violent. She tried to reconcile his uncharacteristic behaviour during the mission with the aftermath as she waited for Chuck to dial the 'Gate. She was returned to her people for several days, a subtle request granted by a concerned Doctor Beckett.

That John was hurt and betrayed by her lies was no surprise; still, why a part of her had underestimated his ire was beyond her. She should know better.

The wormhole sprang into being, and Teyla barely registered the sounds. She repositioned her pack on her shoulder, double checked to make sure she had her GDO and then stepped into the glistening puddle.

She was met by her people as she stepped out on the other side. She forced a smile and allowed them to escort her back to the settlement, giving vague answers to their questions. She smiled at Rane, the young Athosian man she had decided would be the go-between for her and Michael, and headed to the tent her people had set up for her.

Once she had refreshed herself, she took a solo-hike out to the drop-point to make sure the place was still as hidden as she had remembered it. Satisified that all was in place, she sat down to meditate, hoping that the solitude would help calm her already frayed nerves.




[Um, I just realized that we forgot to do the "Beckett's dead bit" in the other RP, so, um, he'll be alive and we can kill him when Atlantis flees Lantea. Keller's presence is easily explained by stating that she was there for field experience and to work under Beckett so she could be more effective in her stint at the SGC and ends up being permanently stationed on Atlantis as Beckett's replacement.]

Comments

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She ventures a hand on his knee. A reassuring physical touch to go with the mental. [Why would you have captured me, then?]


[She's going to end up with two Michaels, isn't she? And, um, other thread: Michael's computer: Tablet-style computer or laptop style computer?]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He makes himself not stare, for that. [Leverage. Ronon Dex would shoot me on sight.] But it's obvious, or may be considering he's still getting used to her increase in telepathic skill, that that's not the only reason. He could capture McKay for leverage, and it would probably be easier.

[*snickersnort* Most likely. *sighs* He's so, so alone. And she's the only one who ever shows him any kindness. And, tablet.]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She's amused by that. [Ronon would shoot you regardless.]


[*sigh* See what being nice gets you? Groupies. ;) ]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

Slight smile. [He might hesitate if he thought I could harm you before he could shoot me.] He's relaxing a little. Which is probably what makes him say what he does next.

[Possibly just to talk. Possibly... I don't know.] Looking down. [I do not know.]

[*g* Yes. Also, HEE Kaylee! Maybe she can meet Michael now!]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[Fair enough.] She won't press the issue. And something of her relief at seeing him safe and at rest may leak across to him. She isn't that adept at her newly refurbished skills.

And there may be something else that makes it across, something undefinable to those who don't think it possible.

[Oh dear :) If McKay makes her cry, Shep is going to be coming to the rescue, so feel free to tag along in that if it happens :)]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

Even the hint, the under-tone of what she feels is enough to shake him. It's so different from what was before. He isn't sure what to do with it.

[What happened to you?] he asks, softly, wondering and afraid and so very, very skittish right now.

[HEE! Okies, I'll keep an eye. *g*]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She tilts her head curiously. [Nothing, I...oh.] she suddenly realizes where her thoughts had been straying and she blushes. She sighs deeply. [I have had certain...things...made clearer to me in the course of my travels. Among them were things that you and I have already touched upon. Others...]

How did she explain this?

[It is complicated.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

She's blushing. He can't quite believe it, but she's blushing. It's strange.

[Complicated.] It makes him a little angry that she won't tell him, won't explain. Mostly it just makes him... more upset than angry. It's a change, a big change in the way he understood himself percieved by the world, and it rattles him.

[The last time we met I was your prisoner. My choices were the retrovirus or death, and of those, death was preferrable, and you didn't even...] He might be winding himself up a bit. [Grant me that. It would have been perfectly safe for you, for Atlantis, and instead you chose to lock me into a living torture like this, this ... state. I find myself in, by giving me the retrovirus again. And now...] Now. Now things are different and he isn't sure what or how or why.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

Another sigh, this one self-deprecating. [I am sorry. I come to you to put the past behind us, and instead of giving you the honesty you deserve I fall back into old habits.]

She thinks a moment, before, [I have obviously had time to re-think my position on a number of things. Not the least of which are my personal relationships and the boundaries that encompass them.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

[And what conclusions have you drawn, if any...?] The apology disarms him. Again. He just stares at her, tired, confused, helpless.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[That the way in which I care for certain people are not what I had expected. Some were discoveries laced with sadness.] And here she's thinking about Sheppard. [Others were with pleasant surprise.] Here she's thinking about him. Michael.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He listens. To the words under the words; he wonders how any of this is possible. It almost doesn't seem real.

[I understand.] He does, a little. Now that he's just listening.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[I was hoping that maybe, you and I could reclaim what we had begun to build when you lived with us.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

That is close to a lie but not enough of one for him to call her on it. And he isn't sure what to say. Except. [You seem to be further along than I am.]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[Possibly because I have had more time without fear of being hunted.] Again with the neutrality. [How about we start with our current plan to stay in touch and move from there?]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

That, actually, is a fair point. A very fair point. And one he hasn't considered up till now, too busy looking for the ulterior motive and the hidden gun waiting to shoot him in the face.

[All right.] Pause. He'll have to unbend more than that, won't he? [I would like that.]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She smiles, her pleasure and happiness at his reply very much evident. [The path to true healing is a long and painful one, Michael. I will be here when you need me, if not physically, then in spirit.]

And she really means it.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He nods slightly. A long path, indeed; it will take him some time to get used to this. Just the idea of it.

[Thank you.] Still quiet, still almost subdued. And yet grateful.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[You're welcome.]

And she doesn't know what else to say after that.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

[How are your people doing?] For whatever reason, he finds himself reluctant to end the conversation there.

Perhaps simply because he doesn't want to leave her company. This peaceful moment.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[They are well. Adjusting nicely to their new settlement. Glad to no longer have to rely on Atlantis for protection.]

No need to lie. The man can go see for himself, after all.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He nods a little. [I can imagine.] Not so much a dig at Atlantis as an expression of empathy for a need to be self-sufficient.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[Having to move back and forth between the city and the mainland took its toll on them, I'm afraid. As much as they love the Lantean's it was a little difficult to set down new roots.] And her feelings on the whole thing are bitter-sweet, and slightly torn.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

And as much as he is still bitter and wary and on edge and all those things, the underlying sentiments are too familiar to be ignored.

[It is hard, when the world keeps changing around you, forcing you to keep up with it. Especially so when you have nothing that remains the same to cling to.] Ah, there's the bitterness. [You do, at least, have each other.]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[And yet I continue to find myself torn between the people I lead and those that I follow. I often wonder what my life would have been like had Colonel Sheppard not arrived on our planet three years ago.]