sga_santa | Fic: By the Light of Evening Stars (Reply)

Due to the fact that Blueyonder seems to be having hissy fits with some other ISPs, I thought a story needed to be written when it actually didn't. Here is the original requested fic, and

skandrae gets to have two Christmas pressies this year *grin*

Title: By the Light of Evening Stars
Author:

terrie01
Pairing: Zelenka/Weir
Summary: A little post-Intruder scene
For:

skandrae

By the Light of Evening Stars

Atlantis at night was all soft and gentle lights. Those scientists with a bent towards astronomy complained that it was still enough to interfere with their work, but for Elizabeth, used to the constant lights of Earth's big cities, the sky seemed alight with a million pinpoint stars. She leaned against the balcony railing. Far beneath her, water lapped against the side of the city. The sounds that reached her ears were distant. Even high up on the balcony, the air carried the smell of salt water.

"You know, if you are going to stand outside in the wind, you should at least dress for the occasion."

She turned to find Radek standing in the doorway to the balcony. He held her sweater in his hands, which he held out to her. "You left this in your office."

"I'm not cold."

Radek touched his fingers to her bare arm. "You have goose bumps."

Elizabeth self-consciously rubbed at her arms. "Well, not too cold, anyway."

"Still, humor me." He shook the sweater out and draped it over her shoulders. "There. Now you don't look like you will freeze."

Elizabeth ran her fingers along the material. It was soft beneath her finger tips. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Radek moved to stand next to her at the balcony railing. "It is good to have you back."

"It's good to be back. It was odd being on Earth."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it." She leaned forward to look down at the ocean. "It wasn't any one thing. There were so many people. It always seems so quiet here, but you don't realize how used to it you are until you're back on Earth."

"It must have been more than that," Radek said.

"Well, there was the food. You don't realize how disgusting McDonald's is, until you've been in another galaxy for several months. Tastes like synthetic grease."

"That bad, hmm? Who needs to pay for the privilege, when we have MREs?"

"It wasn't all bad. It was nice to have fresh vegetables that I actually recognized. I lost track of how many salads I ate."

Radek laughed. "Now you are going to make me jealous. Even with the new supplies the Daedalus brought, we've had nothing like that."

"Well, I did make Rodney include some biologists, including a few botanists, in the new recruits, so we should be able to set up hydroponics for growing Earth foodstuffs. If everything works out, we should have fresh vegetables."

"How did you get Rodney to agree? He tends to consider biology barely one step up from the social sciences."

Elizabeth smiled to herself. "I tried appealing to his stomach first, reminding him that biologists would be able to feed us. Turns out Rodney actually likes MREs, so I pulled rank and told him that if he didn't include any botanists, I'd pull rank and the make the choices for him. He grumbled quite a bit, but went along with it."

"You blackmailed him?" Radek looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't call it blackmail."

Radek frowned. "Maybe I am confused about the word?"

"It's… well… No, maybe you're right."

"Still, it must have been wonderful to see Earth again."

Elizabeth thought about towering mountains instead of endless ocean. About solid concrete instead of delicate spires. About Simon. "I was nice. But coming home is nicer."

"So Atlantis is home now?"

"Yes." She nodded once to emphasize the point.

"Yes, I suppose it is now."

Something in his tone made Elizabeth pause. "You don't sound happy about that."

"No, I am not unhappy. Just perhaps overwhelmed. Home is a place of safety. If Atlantis is home, then we are safe here. I'm not sure I am ready to believe that yet."

"I understand." Elizabeth thought about the darkness as they had shut down the systems aboard the Daedalus. She shivered slightly.

Radek frowned. "You are still cold. We should go inside."

"No. I want to stay here."

"You wish to freeze?"

"It's not that cold. And being out here reminds me that I'm really back."

"Was Earth so bad that you need a reminder?"

"It just wasn't what I expected." She leaned back to look up at the sky, holding onto the railing for support. "You have all these ideas about what's going to happen. All these plans. It's easy to forget that the rest of the world has its own ideas and plans. You expect things to be where you left them, but they're not."

"Everything changes," Radek said. "Even now, the universe is expanding. Galaxies and planets turning and spinning. From one moment to the next, nothing is exactly the same."

"Part of me knows that. But the rest really wanted to believe that somehow, my life is the exception. That while I'm here on Atlantis, Earth stands still, until I get back."

Radek placed a gentle hand on her wrist. "But it didn't, did it?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"I had a friend who… I thought he'd jump at the chance to come to Atlantis. He's not here, so obviously I was wrong. And I'm left wondering if it's because he's changed, or if I never really knew him that well."

"It is hard to believe." Radek shrugged. "Even if I'd known of the danger, I think I still would have come. Something like this is too unique an opportunity to miss."

"I feel the same way." Elizabeth sighed. "I suppose that's why it was such a shock. I can't imagine feeling any other way."

"I don't think any of us could. That is why we are here. And we're all very glad to have you with us." Radek paused. "Except possibly Kavanaugh. I'm not sure he actually likes any of us."

The laughter burst out of Elizabeth before she could stop it. "Did you know that he used his message back to Earth to complain about the way Atlantis is being run?"

"I should say I am surprised, but, in honesty, I am not. It sounds like something he would do."

"I really am glad to be back." She gripped Radek's hand with her own.

"I know."

The End