Elizabeth

Brian was cleared for active field duty about a month after arriving in Atlantis. Sheppard was already back on active duty and he and the rest of AG-1 were off-world on the day Lorne grinned and gave him the news ending with "welcome to the madness, heh." So Brian spent the evening before his first mission alone in his quarters, anticipation humming through his veins the same way it had before his first undercover assignment.

He was restless in his own skin and, if he'd been back on earth, he would have grabbed his keys and gone for a long, fast drive, using speed as his pressure valve to bleed the tension away. He gave serious thought to sweet talking a jumper for a night flight but figured his chances of that were pretty slim. So instead he gritted his teeth and settled down for the night, lanky form folded up in his one chair, reading through his mission briefing with more stubborn determination than actual interest. He was still at it when a knock at his door had him opening up to an empty hall. Frowning, Brian looked down and broke into a wide grin when he saw the sweating bottle of Corona sitting mysteriously on the floor, a wide red ribbon tied jauntily around its neck.

The knowledge that someone had cared enough to leave his favorite beer as a good luck gift sent warmth flooding through him and Brian knew he was grinning like a loon as he scooped up the beer and brought it back into his room. He sat for awhile on the edge of his bed, just rolling the chilled bottle between his hands and letting the memories tease through him. For once they were only good ones; no regrets tainting the images that flashed through his mind. He hoped Mia and Dom were doing okay. Maybe…maybe when—if—he made it back to earth he'd try to see them again. But for now…for now it was good to be here in Atlantis; this fantastic, far away city that was starting to feel like home.

The next morning Brian reported to the Gate Room and even with the nerves running underneath his calm façade he noticed Dr. Elizabeth Weir. He knew who she was of course; the brilliant, civilian leader of Atlantis. He'd researched her out of curiosity even before he'd left Cheyenne Mountain, wanting to know more about the woman who commanded a legendary city. Weir's public record had been amazing and even a layman like Brian had been impressed at her long and brilliant list of accomplishments which read like a how to guide on being a kick-ass diplomat in two galaxies.

Once Brian actually arrived in Atlantis he'd found that Weir also commanded the loyalty of those around her to an impressive degree. He hadn't been too surprised that the scientists and other civilians respected her. After all, he figured in an operation like this—not that there was an operation anywhere else like this—the civilians would just be happy that the head guy wasn't military. But it had surprised the hell out him that the military contingent seemed to hold her in equally high regard. Sheppard sure as hell respected her…it was there, clear as crystal if you could see beneath the lazy smile and 'refusal to be serious' surface. And it wasn't just Sheppard; the respect and honest affection was almost universal in the faces and voices of the soldiers he talked to. It left Brian curious about what kind of civilian woman could successfully lead such a diverse group of people and command the respect of the notoriously chauvinistic and insular military.

So Brian had been prepared to like Doctor Elizabeth Weir; had even been looking forward to meeting her. But in no way had he been prepared for the sheer want that punched through him when they finally came face to face. Fighting down the arousal, the intense awareness of Weir as a female, as she smiled and introduced herself with a friendly nod, Brian could only give himself a mental eye roll of disgust and think 'Well fuck, O'Conner, it's been a few months since you screwed up so I guess you were due.'

And then he was too busy standing with his teammates watching the gate engage in an amazing geyser of electric blue energy and, as Brian stepped through the Star Gate for the first time, he pushed any thoughts about the disturbingly hot leader of Atlantis firmly from his mind.

The mission was a disaster. There were natives. Unfriendly natives. Unfriendly natives with pointy spears. Eberhart the team linguist/anthropologist shouted back and forth with them while Brian and the marines stood under the pounding heat of the planet's unforgiving red sun and held their P-90's in as threatening a manner as possible. Turned out the natives weren't really interested in trading but were kind of interested in taking the pretty blonde with the eyes that 'shone like the ancient ring when it flared' as a love slave. Eberhart later swore that those were the native leader's exact words even after Brian started threatening him very seriously while the marines snickered in the background.

Brian felt like he'd somehow screwed up the mission but no one seemed very upset about it. Instead he got a lot of 'dude it happens all the time' comments and in McKay's case a hissed 'Oh God, I knew it! I knew it! You're God damn twins!"

Atlantis was a very strange place Brian concluded. And maybe the old rules, the known rules, required a little translating. He decided he liked it. Yeah, sure there were fights and petty bickering and bad shit happened (life sucking aliens still not a good thing) but, in all, Atlantis was a family; a tight knit, dysfunctional, 'I'd give my life for you' family. It was like Dom's eclectic circle—only bigger and with a whole lotta geniuses—and Brian felt the acceptance of this second self-made family soothing the raw edges of his soul.

He also found himself watching Elizabeth Weir. A lot.

It wasn't stalking, he assured himself.

Well, okay, maybe it was semi-stalking.

Brian was honest enough to admit that it wasn't pure coincidence (or, okay fuck, any kind of coincidence) that had him finding excuses to be in the gate room when Elizabeth was on duty there; or memorizing her work-out schedule; or noticing that she liked Sunflowers. But it wasn't stalking. It was just…the instinctive observations of a trained cop.

Yeah, right.

Brian picked up a scary amount of information about Elizabeth Weir in the weeks that followed and it all just made his whacked—because you are whacked, O'Conner—attraction grow. He learned that while John may have been the soul of Atlantis, and McKay the brain, Elizabeth…Elizabeth was the heart. He learned that she was a brilliant woman who never condescended to others about her intellect and that massive braininess was apparently a newly discovered kink for him which, as long as he didn't start getting a hard-on around McKay he could live with just fine. Elizabeth was a scholar who valued learning. She was also a leader who cared about her people with a fierceness that hid beneath the diplomat's training and natural calm. Brian learned that it was hard for her—harder than people realized because of that calmness—to be left behind in the safety of the city while her people stepped into the unknown every day.

It made him want to distract her. It made him want to see her smile. Although Elizabeth possessed a serious nature, smiling seemed to come naturally to her. Brian managed to spot nine different types of smiles, four different laughs, and six frowns (three of them reserved exclusively for Sheppard and McKay) and was fascinated at the way she could go from looking as dignified as a Queen to snickering like a six year old when she thought no one was looking.

The more Brian learned, the more he wanted to learn and he knew, he knew, that this was stupid. He was just a grunt, a foot soldier and Elizabeth…well, she was so far out of his league that he felt like a peasant in some stupid medieval romance mooning after the God damn Queen. But, fuck it. Brian had never been much good at listening to logic over instincts anyway, and his instincts were insisting—loudly—that Brian would be good for Elizabeth; that they would be good together.

So, after staring restlessly up at the ceiling of his quarters every night for a week, horny and pissed off and tired of arguing with himself about what a stupid thing he was about to do he told his smarter side to shut the fuck up and began his pursuit. He started slowly, gradually. It was almost like going undercover again except he sure as hell didn't plan to arrest Elizabeth at the end of it. He kept a leash on his bolder instincts which urged him to talk Elizabeth—Liz—into a dark corner and use sex and seduction until the objections he knew she'd have fell away under sheer want. He ruthlessly repressed his 'go for it now' alpha dog tendencies and carefully carved out a more subtle pursuit.

Brian was realistic enough to know he was a good looking guy and that people responded to him. Of course, sometimes they responded by trying to bash his brains in, like Vince back in L.A., but one way or another they were rarely indifferent. He still wasn't completely sure why people seemed drawn to him but he just prayed whatever he seemed to have worked on brainy diplomats.

He started putting himself around Liz more and more; hovering at the edges of her peripheral awareness and then slowly edging closer. He smiled and he joked and he made himself useful, joining groups she was in when he could, although she tended to go solo a lot of the time. Their casual in passing "hey Dr. Weir" and "hello Brian" greetings became less polite friendliness and more 'hey, it's you' smiles and they started to talk. Brian let his awareness of her as a female come across—never let it all out, but never tried to completely hide it either. He was rewarded when he saw the answering female appreciation flash in her eyes before quickly being masked by a more neutral expression.

As the days passed, Brian felt Liz's eyes follow him more and more from across the gate room or the gym or the cafeteria; caught from the corner of his eyes the way she would look up when he entered a room. He never gave an indication of awareness and ruthlessly suppressed the desire it filled him with to back her against a wall and run his calloused hands over the softness of her skin while he kissed her for about six hours. No, he was taking things slow.

He really sucked at taking things slow.

Brian knew she'd have objections. Even as he felt her awareness of him grow, he knew that if he took the traditional approach and just asked Liz out she'd come up with excuses—no not excuses—valid reasons for why their dating would be a bad idea. The age difference, the position difference, her need to be objective from those she was leading, fears of favoritism and more. He could almost hear the conversation in his head; Elizabeth smiling with a hint of regret, as she firmly said 'I think you're a wonderful man Brian and if circumstances were different but, as head of Atlantis, I have to keep my distance.' He wasn't going to put her in the position to give him that speech.

It wasn't like those weren't reasonable imaginary arguments that imaginary Liz used in his head either. But valid reasons or not, Brian had learned about taking your moments of happiness where you could find them. He figured Elizabeth had learned that too. She had lived in the Pegasus galaxy for the past three years after all. But while in some ways she was just as insane as the rest of the Atlantis crew—she had actually spearheaded this mission after all—in other ways she was a cautious woman.

She was going to need a little convincing.

So Brian continued his plan to take things slow, putting himself in Liz's path and moving closer, letting her know him inch by inch and not screwing things up. And it was working. As frustrating as Brian felt at the slow approach, he also felt elation building as her walls slowly came down. He just needed to stay patient; stay on course.

The course and the plan exploded to hell the day Elizabeth disappeared on a diplomatic mission to MX9-647. It was rare for her to go off world and Brian had felt the tension rising inside of him from the moment she stepped through the gate and disappeared from his sight. It was supposed to be as safe as a Pegasus mission could get. Relations with the Eldans had been carefully built over several weeks and the state dinner Liz was attending was the culmination of those negotiations. He'd wanted to be on the team that was protecting her, but it was Sheppard's team instead and he kept telling himself that was good because Sheppard's team was the very best. Of course Sheppard's team also seemed to attract the weirdest shit, but at least they were as equally famous for getting themselves out of the weird shit as they were at getting themselves into it in the first place.

If Brian found himself haunting the Gate Room not at all coincidentally at the same time of each check-in, well, he didn't raise too many eyebrows. The Gate Room personnel had long since gotten used to his presence at all hours and, since he usually ambled in with coffee and something sweet from the cafeteria, he was a popular guy. So he was there when the third check-in came and went without contact, and the low level tension that had been humming inside of him kicked up into a cold knot in his gut. Twenty minutes later, when Lorne started putting together an extraction team, just in case, Brian was suiting up with them because no way in hell was he being left behind.

When, an hour after the last missed check-in, there was an unscheduled gate activation and Sheppard's IDC popped onto the monitor, followed by his voice tersely growling that they were coming through hot, Brian was there with a P-90 in his arms and ice washing through his veins. As the team stumbled out of the gate, bloodied and bruised but relatively unhurt, he felt his stomach start to unclench until he got a look at Elizabeth's face where blood was flowing from a gash on her forehead. He didn't know what his expression showed but it must have been bad because Jessup, a six foot five, bad ass Marine from Lorne's team, took one look and very carefully spent the next few minutes telling Brian in a suprisingly soothing tone that it was okay and Brian should 'really put the P-90 down now.'

The team was whisked off to the infirmary while Brian stripped off his gear with choppy, graceless movements in the locker room. Filled with energy that threatened to boil over into something dangerous, he found himself in a mindless run across the city, pushing at a punishing pace as he tried to work off the rage and fear and overload of emotions. Liz could have died out there. She could have died out there without knowing how he felt because he'd been wasting time plotting and planning and taking things God damn slow. He ran the thoughts away and, as his feet fell with dull thuds against the empty corridors of the city, Brian found himself missing his old Supra and the open roads of home with a fierce, painful twist of longing. If he could just feel the thrum of an engine, the powerful torque, be enclosed in a purring machine on a twisting road, it would all be okay. Driving had always, always made him feel better about anything and everything. He ached with the need for it now.

When Brian finally jogged back to his quarters he was drenched, muscles trembling with fatigue. He still felt an overflow of energy but at least it was calmer, with a purpose. Brian was fucking done with taking things slow. Time to take a page out of Dominic Toretto's manual and live his life like there was no tomorrow.

Brian called the infirmary to make sure Liz had been released and then set about tracking down what he would need. He had contacts with the botanists' lab and he bribed Parrish into parting with a bouquet of alien flowers that bore a startling resemblance to Sunflowers. He also managed a close approximation of Tiramisu which he hadn't even had to bribe anyone for once he convinced the cooks it was going to Dr. Weir. He left his quarters and headed over to Elizabeth's at 2100 hours, resolutely ignoring the jitters in his stomach that were insisting 'don't screw this up' and 'this fucking matters.'

He stood in front of her door for a moment, stomping down nerves and feeling like an idiot until he finally knocked. Oh fuck, he felt awkward and dorky and he was holding flowers and a present like some sixteen year old going to prom. Not that he'd ever made it to prom—too busy being locked up in juvie, making sure he wasn't somebody's date. Then the door slid open and Elizabeth was looking at him with surprise and the dark circles under her eyes made Brian want to rip some Eldan heads off. Resisting the sudden urge to shuffle his feet, Brian smiled down at her instead. His smile felt weird, trying for easy going and charming and not quite making it. But it seemed to work okay because Elizabeth's own warm mouth curved upwards, still puzzled but welcoming. "Brian, what are you doing here?"

Uh…flowers. Hastily he held up the flowers to her and watched her face light up because every woman liked flowers, even—especially—leaders of entire cities. That at least he was smart enough to know.

"Why Brian I…thank you," her face was still lit with pleasure at the simple gift and Brian felt a warm glow start in the pit of his stomach and shit…he was acting like such a girl. "I just wanted to say I'm glad you're alright," he said simply and watched her sober and then lift a hand to finger the tidy white bandage peeking out from underneath her bangs. "It bled a lot but the cut actually wasn't that bad," she offered.

She gestured back in her living space. "Would you like to come in?" she invited, standing to the side as he edged past her into her quarters. They were pretty big. Easily twice the size of his own and—unlike his own Spartan quarters—looked like someone actually lived there, with art on the walls and books neatly filling shelves and exotic looking knickknacks giving the place a warm feeling without making it fussy. Instead of taking a seat on the couch he followed her to lean against a cabinet while he watched her pull down a tall vase from one of her cabinets and go about arranging the 'almost' sunflowers into a cheerful arrangement which she settled onto her desk.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked, eyes skimming up and down her thin form. She was in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, the most casual he'd ever seen her. The white bandage peeking out from behind her bangs was small and neat and even in her casual dress, she still managed to look like her regular poised, regal self.

"Oh, I'm much better," her smile was rueful. "Unfortunately I'd say that relations with the Eldans have taken a major step backwards."

"We could always bomb the shit out of them," Brian offered with a half smile, not really joking at all.

This earned him an eye roll and a chiding stare. "Yes, John and Ronon have already suggested that." Shaking her head, she went to a carafe plugged in at one of her counters. "Would you like some tea?" she asked as she dispensed hot water into a large, curved mug and dropped a round metal ball filled with leaves into the steaming liquid.

Brian looked at the brewing drink skeptically. "Tea's not really my thing," he admitted.

This earned him one of her imperial eyebrow arches. "Well I'm afraid I'm currently out of Corona," she smiled at him suddenly, impish.

Brian laughed at that. "I like Corona," he agreed. "But it's not the only thing I drink."

"What else do you like?" she asked as she curled up on the couch with her mug, staring at him with what looked like genuine curiosity.

"To drink?" Brian asked, raising a hand to rub at the back of his head. "Uh, Guinness, wine, coffee, Mountain Dew. I'm not that picky."

"But not tea?" she asked, lips curving into a teasing smile.

An answering grin appeared on Brian's face. "Well maybe I just haven't given tea a chance," he admitted, walking over to sit beside her on the couch.

"So Brian?"

"Yeah," he wondered if she'd kill him if he tried to kiss her.

"What's in the bag?"

Bag? Oh! "Oh, I, uh, brought you some dessert."

"Really?" she perked up, much like she had when she'd seen the flowers. Placing the mug on the glass coffee table she rose and went to the counter to examine the contents of the package.

"Tiramisu!" she exclaimed with pleasure. "I love tiramisu!"

"Uhm, yeah, I know," he admitted with a grin. The ground was starting to feel firmer beneath his feet. Yeah, he still might be about to make an ass of himself but, hell, it wouldn't be the first time and the goal was sure as hell worthy.

"Share?" she asked as she got two forks out from a drawer and brought them back to the couch. "Or do you not like tiramisu either?"

Brian grinned and took a fork from her. "Tiramisu I could go for."

"So, you seem to have really settled into things around here," Liz smiled at him as she cut off a bite of the dessert with her fork.

"Yeah," Brian laughed. "Although it's a little scary how often our missions end up with us either running for our lives or getting married to each other in native ceremonies."

Liz laughed. "Right, who was it you ended up married to on that last mission? Eberhart?"

Brian shook his head ruefully. "No man, that was on MX4-820. On this last mission I ended up married to Barnes and Taylor in a three way marriage." Barnes had joked about alimony the entire trip back. The embarrassment of the ceremony—the natives hadn't been big believers in clothes—was made up for by the snicker it teased from Liz.

"If it makes you feel better we ended up with a very successful trade agreement with the Alarans," Liz finally said when she managed to stop laughing.

"Yeah, great," Brian said wryly, a little distracted as his eyes focused in on a dab of cream from the tiramisu that was resting temptingly on her bottom lip. He blinked and thought about resisting for almost two seconds. Oh hell…

"Are you…" Elizabeth's question was muffled by Brian's mouth as he gave in to the inevitable and leaned in to kiss her, tasting the sweetness of the dessert against the softness of her lips. His actions were firm and sure now as he moved in and her mouth opened under his gentle assault. He wasn't sure if it was because she was into the kiss or about to tell him to go to hell but Brian wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away—especially, if this was the only shot he was gonna get. He slipped his tongue in and met hers, feeling the electric current riding them both as he lifted his hands up to cradle the back of her head, sliding his fingers into soft short waves of silky dark hair. The knowledge that Elizabeth was kissing him back sent a wave of elation through him even as he felt the drug of need build. He lost himself in the pleasure of the contact and he was breathing like he'd raced a mile when he felt Elizabeth start to pull back and he reluctantly let go. Time to face the music.

"Brian I…" she sounded just as out of breath as Brian felt, her cheeks flushed, and there was a dazed expression in her eyes that gave Brian a surge of pure male satisfaction. Of course the dazed expression was quickly replaced by her customary sharp eyed intelligence and she took a steadying breath as she opened her mouth to talk.

Bad idea.

"Wait," Brian said, holding up a hand to cut her off. He couldn't let her get started. She was a freaking world class diplomat. There was no way he'd win an argument with her.

"I know what you're gonna say okay?" he said, staring at her intensely as if he could forestall her objections through sheer will power. "I know all of your arguments because, believe me, I've been having this conversation in my head for weeks but just…hear me out."

"I…"

"Just hear me out," Brian repeated, blue eyes gleaming with pure stubborn, "and if you want me to leave after and forget this ever happened then I will."

"I…alright," the words were said on a soft huff as Liz settled back on the couch giving him an assessing stare.

"Let me guess," Brian started. "You're a very busy woman and you don't have time for a relationship."

"Well actually I…"

He raised his hand again and she fell into silence, this time arching an eyebrow either in amusement or annoyance and crossing her arms across her chest.

"As the leader of Atlantis you have to be seen as fair and impartial."

The continued raising of one perfectly arched brow was her only response as she let him continue.

Brian shook his head as he just let everything he was feeling come out. "The thing is Liz, those are all decent reasons but we live in a Galaxy where we face global disasters, life sucking aliens, Replicators, hostile civilizations, and that doesn't even begin to cover the average, ordinary weird shit that goes on around here like telepathic whales and ancient tech. So in the face of the completely insane and scary shit that happens around here just about every single day, the craziest thing of all would be to let any opportunities for happiness slip away."

He took a deep breath. "And the thing is. I like you. I like everything about you. You're beautiful and you're brilliant and God knows I never knew what a turn on your ginormous brain could be. And if you're not into me…if that kiss did nothing for you and if I bore you then that's one thing and I'll take it like a man. I'll leave. But if you are interested then take a chance." Brian's face was taut and his eyes were electric with sincerity. "Take the chance to have a little happiness. Because I guarantee I'll do whatever I can to make you happy."

He finally stopped, feeling breathless and tense but he wasn't nervous. He was focused. It felt like he was in the middle of a race; hyperaware with reflexes honed to the millisecond. And all of that awareness was focused on the woman beside him.

Elizabeth kept her silence for a brief moment as she stared back at Brian with solemn eyes, face a calm mask that disguised what she was thinking. "Brian…"

"Yeah…?" Brian felt every muscle in his body tense.

The corner of one mouth twitched and fireworks of joy started going off inside even before she leaned forward to say with a smile "You'd make an excellent diplomat."

Brian reached forward to meet her, sliding a hand up to cradle her cheek, running his thumb in a subtle caress against tender skin as he gave a low husky chuckle. "Nah. I don't have the temperament for it."

The kiss was long and drugging and they were both gasping for air when they pulled back.

"So you like big brains, hmm…?" Elizabeth whispered, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Apparently so," Brian grinned back as they both settled back against the couch, Brian's arm over her shoulders, tucking her in at his side. "You know," Liz smiled up at him, expression impish. "Rodney McKay's smarter than I am."

Brian laughed, the low sound filling the room and then he moved in fast and without warning, startling a small yelp of surprise from Elizabeth as he tumbled them both back onto the couch. He grinned down at her, her, bracing his weight on his forearms. "Yeah, well," he shook his head. "McKay's not my type."

"No?" She was smiling up at him, eyes gleaming in invitation.

Brian shook his head, eyes darkening as his voice took on a rasp.

"No." He held himself a whisper away. "You are."

And he showed her that he meant it.

THE END

A/N - Thanks for reading! I might try to do an epilogue but my work has swamped me so we'll see how it goes. I really want to see Sheppard and Brian end up racing the puddlejumpers though. And, of course, everyone in Atlantis needs to be given the opportunity to threaten Brian with creatively dire death if he screws it up and hurts Elizabeth, heh.