John Sheppard (goodoldshep) wrote in wherehomeis, @ 2008-04-16 18:41:00 |
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Current mood: | okay |
Continued from here.
As much as John liked the work that he was doing on the expedition and living on Atlantis, it was nice to get away for a little while and just spend time with Fred. It wasn't often they got to spend hours lounging around in bed, making love to each other. And they needed this so much, touching and kissing each other, reassuring each other that they were there together.
And even though John wasn't much of a shopper, he didn't mind going with Fred to the outlet mall the next morning so they could get things for their daughter. It was actually fun, picking things out. He found a little mini-football jersey, which he got - there was nothing to say that their daughter wouldn't be a fan.
After they finished in the baby store, John took the bags out to the car, hurrying up as he didn't want spend too much time away from Fred. When he returned, they went to the toy store, which amused John for a bit. It seemed they always ended up at the toy store. Of course, this time, they weren't in the middle of a nerf shooting match. Instead, John found himself looking at the shelves of colorful bears and other stuffed animals, trying to find something that jumped out at him.
Then he noticed the section with a sign above it that said "In Honor of Nellis A.F.B." and moved over to look at the military bears there. A wide grin formed on his face when he saw the bear wearing a flight suit and hat. Picking it up, he stared at it for a minute then turned it around next to him for his wife to see.
"What do you think? Looks like me?" he asked. "I think we should get this one."
**
Fred was staring at a rather ugly monkey when John spoke. Turning, she looked at the bear in his hand and grinned. "It's adorable!" she said as she took it from his hand. She snorted a little and glanced at him. "And for the record, you don't look like a bear." Leaning up, she kissed his cheek. "I think we should get it. I know she'll love it." She handed the bear back to John and pursed her lips. "Books. We should get her a couple books."
Taking his hand again, Fred led him to the section of the store that was filled with books for all ages. In one section, there were several books that taught children how to read and do math. Fred wondered, for a moment, if they were still be on Atlantis when Alex was old enough to start reading. She figured that would be something they would discuss when the time came. So instead of worrying about their daughter's future education, Fred looked at the selection of books.
"We should get her something we can read to her before she's born," she said. She saw a small section of books made for babies and picked a couple out - one was about a bunny and they other had the alphabet in it. Fred figured the two would be enough for the moment and knew they could get her more when the time came.
With the books in her hand, she glanced over at her husband. "Is there anything else you want to look at here?" she asked before her eyes traveled to the teddy bear in his hands. "By the way, you look adorable holding that." Grinning, she leaned up and softly kissed him.
**
After they had done their damage, John and Fred headed back to the Venetian. They decided to go look around downstairs, and after taking a gondola ride through the area made to look like Venice, John decided to play one dollar on the slot machine. Just for fun. He didn't expect to win.
He won $50. John decided that Fred was his good luck charm. Which was probably very true, considering what they had both been through recently.
The next morning, they headed to San Diego, where they stayed at a hotel overlooking the ocean. The next week was spent wrapped up in each other - making love, taking walks on the beach, going to Sea World, making love, sitting outside together on the beach and making love. It was probably the best week John remembered having.
At the end, they drove to Edwards Air Force Base instead of going all the way back to Las Vegas, where they were flown to Peterson. Soon, they were back on Atlantis, being greeted by everyone.
"You guys look great!" Jennifer said as she hugged them. "Tan and everything."
"It's good to have you two back," Carter said with a smile. "I understand you have four relics now and not three?"
**
Fred had never been to San Diego before and loved their time there. She enjoyed walking on the beach with John and laying out in the sun. True, the planet Atlantis was on was warm and sunny but they never had time. And, of course, she enjoyed all the time she spent in bed with her husband. However, Fred felt herself missing Atlantis by the end of the week. It was her home now and she missed her friends, and Jake. By the time they were at SGC, she was about ready to run through the gate as they started to activate it.
When she saw all their friends waiting for them on the other side, Fred grinned and returned Jennifer's hug before looking at Carter. "Yeah. An old friend of mine found one outside of Las Vegas," she explained. "I think there's five all together. I put the four together and there's room in the middle for one more." She then turned and smiled at Rodney. "And we have a present for you."
"Oh?" Rodney asked as he pushed past Ronon and Teyla.
Fred sat down one of the bags and opened the flap. Inside was an orange tabby cat. "I think this belongs to you," she said as she held the animal out for him.
"Einstein!" Rodney said as he took the cat from Fred's hands. "I can't believe you got him for me!" He leaned forward and hugged Fred before looking at John. Instead of hugging him, Rodney clapped him on the shoulder.
"We even got you cat food and other things for him," Fred said as she handed a him a small bag. Just then, there was a bark and Fred turned to see Jake and Callie running into the gate room. "Hey, buddy!" Fred got to her knees and laughed as Jake jumped on her and licked her face. "I missed you, too." Jake barked again and turned his attention to John.
Laughing, Carter shook her head. "As you can see, we all missed the both of you. There's a staff meeting in a few hours. Nothing overly exciting happened - just a small fight at the outpost on M-3617. Major Lorne took care of it and has a full report for you, John," she said. "I'll let the two of you get settled before the meeting."
"And we want to hear about your trip," Teyla said before she and the others walked off.
Standing, Fred looked over at John with a smile. "It's good to be home," she said.
**
John chuckled when Rodney saw Einstein. The old sap. Obviously, Fred's idea had been a good one, judging from the fact that he almost hugged him.
After receiving his greeting lick from Jake, John scratched the dog's head while Carter explained what had been going on. It was good to hear that things had been fairly quiet save for the fight, which he wasn't surprised Lorne had handled. Despite what had happened during Lorne's first team lead, he knew the other officer was good.
So after they got settled back in their quarters and put all the things they had bought for Alex in the extra bedroom, they went to the meeting. Fred and John explained what had happened during their trip - although they went light on the later Vegas and San Diego portion of things. Fred also showed them the relics, demonstrating how they fit together. They spent some time brainstorming ideas for what the relics could be for with ideas ranging from a gun (from Ronon, of course) to a transporter (from Rodney), and Carter then called the meeting.
The next morning, John headed down to debrief Lorne and take back command of the Atlantis military squad.
"Heard you go to fly one of the new in-atmosphere flyers," Lorne said once he was done giving his report. "How was that?"
"Would have been better if my hand hadn't been wrapped up," John said with a laugh. "But it was good. A lot better than the old way to get to Antarctica. Not that I really wanted to go back."
"I bet San Diego was nice, though."
"Lorne?"
"Yes?"
"We're not telling anyone what we did."
"Right, Sir."
**
"She's a mad woman! She only did this to get back at me for...whatever I did this time! Who in the hell gives a cat a full bag of catnip?!"
"Rodney...shut up," Fred muttered.
"I'm injured and I'm suppose to shut up?" He asked with a look of disbelief on his face. "You're in a bad mood, aren't you?"
It was true - Fred was in a very bad mood. She'd spent most of the morning trying to test the relics in hopes of finding the final one. Every time she thought she was close, the machine would shut down. After a few tries, she finally decided to stop for a while. Which was a good thing since Rodney's cat decided to go homicidal and try to kill the both of them. Apparently, Laura Cadman had given the animal a mouse with an extreme amount of catnip in it.
"All finished," Carson said as he finished taping up Rodney's hand. He then moved over to take care of the scratches on Fred's arm. "And you know Rodney, Laura only did it because she likes you." He poured some antiseptic on a cloth and looked at Fred. "This is going to sting a little."
WHen the cloth touched the scratches, Fred jumped a little. "A bit?" she scoffed.
"And Laura doesn't like me! She's only doing it because of what happened between us."
"She liked you before then, Rodney," Fred said. Just then, all of the computers in the lab started to beep. Furrowing her brow, Fred leaned forward a bit and looked at her screen. "Is that a distress signal?"
Rodney, who'd found the closest computer, nodded. "It is. From 2015. What the hell?" he muttered.
Fred pulled the message up and looked at it. "It says 'Meet me by the Gate at 4pm today'," she said. "How are we getting a distress signal from a date in the future?"
"I don't know," Rodney said as he started to type. "All the failsafes are in place and only me or you could do that."
With a sigh, Fred hit her earpiece. "Colonel Carter, Colonel Sheppard - we're getting a distress signal in the lab you might want to look at," she said.
"On my way," Carter said.
**
"So what was it like to pilot the new flyer?" Sam asked as they walked up to Operations after John had finished debriefing Lorne and seeing a few of the other officers on the expedition to catch up with what had been going on.
"I liked it," he told her. "Would have been better if my hand hadn't been bandaged and aching, but at least it made the trip a lot shorter. By the way, Daniel Jackson said he'd contact you once he was back at SGC. Sounded like he was going to be down in Antarctica a while longer."
"Yeah, he was doing translations on some more ancient files that the tech people managed to recover on the computer systems. Probably will end up being someone's shopping list or something." Laughing, she shook her head. "That reminds me - I need to contact Colonel Mitchell and see how things are going with SG-1."
"Do you miss it?"
"What, getting in trouble week after week on some new planet?" She shrugged. "Sometimes. But I like it here. For a lot of reasons."
John grinned, sure that one of those reasons had the initials C.B. He didn't say that, however. Before they could speak any more, Fred's voice came over their headsets, calling them to the lab because of a distress signal. As Carter answered, they turned around and hurried down to find Carson there with Rodney and Fred. John noticed the bandage on his wife but didn't have a chance to ask what was going on.
"What's happening?" Sam asked. "What's this about a distress signal?"