Fic: Lizzie's Really, Really, REALLY Bad Day
Title: Lizzie’s Really, Really, REALLY Bad Day
Author: caroly_214
Rating: PG
Paring: John/Elizabeth
Length: 9,801 words
Summary: The title says it all.
Author’s notes: My first Stargate fic! Huge thanks to my beta control_freak80 - who read this the week before her wedding! She is amazing! Any mistakes that remain are mine. This takes place a couple years before Dot Com. Enjoy!
6:00 am
Beep…beep…beep
Elizabeth awoke abruptly, her hand automatically smacking the snooze button on her alarm. Her heart was pounding; she hated waking to the obnoxious buzzer. She must have accidentally have switched the alarm setting from radio to buzzer last night. Elizabeth stretched, trying to convince her body to calm down. Her room was dark and she could hear freezing rain hitting her window. It was a dark, dreary, and nasty January day.
Crawling out of her nice warm bed, she smiled at Sedge, sleeping next to her bed. Stumbling into her bathroom, she flipped on the light and stepped into her shower, reveling in the feeling of hot water coursing over her body. As much as she wanted to linger, she quickly began to wash, lathering her hair with shampoo. She was almost ready to get out when she noticed something odd: her feet and ankles were completely covered with water. Elizabeth moved her foot to the drain, figuring something was blocking it. To her surprise, there was nothing blocking the drain; instead of feeling suction, she felt water coming up out of the drain. Despite the fatigue-induced fuzziness pervading her brain, Elizabeth knew that was not a good sign.
Quickly rinsing her hair, Elizabeth grabbed her towel and stepped out of the shower stall, drying herself quickly and trying not to shiver in the cold air. She looked in the shower and saw that the water was not going down at all. This was not good; she was going to have to call a plumber.
As Elizabeth combed out her wet curls, she glanced down and noticed her sink was half-full of water. Another glance confirmed that the drain stopper was not closed. She walked over to the tub and saw several inches of standing water. This was now officially very, very bad.
A few minutes later, dressed and ready for the day, Elizabeth started to leave her bedroom but noticed Sedge was no longer sleeping next to her bed. She looked around and didn’t see him anywhere in the room. That was odd. Sedge always waited for her to go downstairs.
“Sedge,” Elizabeth called. Even more strange, she got no response. She called again, but still, nothing. Elizabeth was starting to get worried. Walking out of her room and down the stairs, she kept calling for Sedge, but didn’t hear a response.
Downstairs, Elizabeth began searching the rooms. Elizabeth finally moved to the patio door and looked outside. To her immense relief, she saw Sedge on the patio and went to him.
She called Sedge softly, but he didn’t come to her. Elizabeth knelt next to him, petting him gently. “Sedge,” she asked softly. Sedge finally looked up at her mournfully. When he moved his head, Elizabeth saw the reason Sedge had been acting oddly: obviously, something had not agreed with his stomach. Elizabeth was happy he’d been able to get outside before he threw up.
At that moment, Sedge convulsed and began throwing up again. Elizabeth quickly went back indoors, grabbed the phone, and hit the speed dial for the vet, once again thankful for their 24-hour emergency service. When the nurse answered the phone, Elizabeth explained the situation; the nurse told her to bring Sedge into the vet’s office. Elizabeth hung up the phone, grabbed a banana for breakfast, and prepared to take Sedge to the vet.
7:14 am
Elizabeth wearily climbed back into her car, already exhausted - and it was only 7:14! She’d been able to get Sedge to the vet without too much difficulty, but he hated the car.
She hated leaving him with the vet. Although they were the best vets she’d ever found, Elizabeth felt like she was abandoning him. It was hard enough leaving him every day when she went to work, but to leave him in an unfamiliar place was almost unbearable.
Elizabeth glanced at the clock again, mentally planning the rest of her morning. She had 45 minutes until the trustees meeting. She still couldn’t believe that they had scheduled a meeting on the first day of classes. Even if the trustees had nothing to do today, professors - and teaching deans - had a ton to do.
Elizabeth drove along, grateful for the light traffic. She was passing Maybourne’s bar when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Elizabeth slammed on the brakes. Before she could react any further, a car slammed into the front passenger side of her car.
Elizabeth was thrown against the car door, the airbags ballooning. Her foot instinctively pressed even harder on the brake and her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
After a moment, the car stopped shaking and Elizabeth opened her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them. She couldn’t see much over the top of the airbag, but looking to the right, she could see that the front passenger corner of her car was crumpled in, and another car, with its front crumpled in, was next to hers. A disheveled man was unsteadily climbing out of the other car. In the distance, Elizabeth heard sirens.
Elizabeth sighed. This day was rapidly going downhill.
8:48 am
Elizabeth resignedly walked upstairs in the administration building. She was over 45 minutes late for the trustees meeting and she wasn’t looking forward to facing Kinsey, who seemed to think of these meetings as being for his benefit alone. During a lull in the action, she’d called Peter and asked him to let everyone know she would be late and why, so they’d hopefully cut her some slack.
At least the accident was mostly resolved. Her car had been hit by a drunk leaving Maybourne’s. His blood alcohol had tested at three times the legal limit and he had been arrested on the spot (after the paramedics checked him out, of course). The police had taken her statement and the paramedics had checked her out at the scene. A tow truck had taken her car to the shop; her insurance company was now dealing with the problem. Luckily for Elizabeth, two campus police officers, Det. Shanahan and Sgt. Bates, had heard about the accident on the radio and graciously offered her a ride to campus.
Elizabeth walked down the hall to the boardroom, only somewhat surprised that she could already hear shouting coming from the room. Sounded like business as usual. Elizabeth paused at the door and closed her eyes, quickly centering herself to prepare for what lie within.
As she entered, the yelling (which seemed to be between Kinsey and Jack) stopped and every eye focused on her. Immediately, every man in the room (and most of the people in the room were men) jumped up. Elizabeth found herself surrounded by men - an event that would have been more enjoyable under different circumstances. Paul Davis was on her right, George Hammond and Jacob Carter were on her left, Jack and Teal’c were in front of her; all of them were speaking at once.
“Elizabeth, are you all right?”
“We heard you were in an accident -”
“Are you hurt?”
Elizabeth looked around at the men surrounding her, not sure where to begin. She was spared the decision, however, when President Hayes raised his voice.
“Gentlemen, don’t crowd the doctor. She’s already had a difficult day. Let’s not make it worse.”
With sheepish smiles, the men cleared away and Elizabeth moved to her seat. Across the table, Catherine Langford smiled knowingly at her, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Paul pulled out her chair for her and Elizabeth sat, giving him a grateful smile. It was odd: the slightest hint that she might have been hurt, and most of the men in the room started falling over themselves and each other to act like perfect gentlemen. If her brain were more functional, she’d analyze that a bit more, but right now, there were other issues that required her attention.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to apologize for being late and to ask what she had missed, but before she could utter a word, Kinsey spoke up in a brusque and impatient tone.
“Well, now that Dr. Weir has so kindly decided to grace us with her presence, let’s continue,” he said, ignoring the glares being thrown at him. Of course, Kinsey probably had quite a bit of practice ignoring the many, many glares that were directed at him every hour. Kinsey seemed to be about to continue, but Jacob Carter jumped in.
“Why don’t we go straight to a vote? We’ve been debating funding for sports teams for over a half hour, and I doubt there’s much more to say. And if Dr. Weir would prefer, she can just abstain from the vote.”
Catherine quickly added, “I second the motion.”
A vote was then taken on whether to vote (and once again Elizabeth was confronted with the absurdities of parliamentary procedure), and the motion carried. Elizabeth didn’t really pay attention to the vote; she abstained. It must have been a good vote, because Jack started grinning and Kinsey looked even more pissed off than normal.
The meeting continued for quite a while, filled with mind-numbingly boring administrative matters. Finally, the President mercifully adjourned the meeting, and once again, Elizabeth found herself surrounded by sympathetic men. Their concern was very nice, but she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment as she glanced at the faces around her. Something - or maybe someone - was missing.
Elizabeth realized they were all staring at her. She must have zoned out. Not surprising, considering the day she’d had so far.
“So…what happened,” Jack asked.
Elizabeth felt resignation settle on her. She knew this scene - having to explain what had happened to everyone who knew her name - would replay for the foreseeable future.
“I was driving past Maybourne’s bar and a drunk floored it coming out of the parking lot and slammed into my car. That’s about it.”
“Are you hurt,” Paul asked worriedly.
“Nothing serious. The paramedics checked me out and pronounced me fine. I’m stiff and sore, but that’s all.”
George smiled at her. “Well, we’re glad you’re all right. We were rather worried when President Hayes told us why you would be late.”
Elizabeth smiled at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the clock and gasped as she realized the time.
“What is it? What’s wrong,” Paul asked.
Elizabeth belatedly realized how her gasp must have seemed to the concerned men surrounding her. “Nothing. I just saw the time. I have a class in twenty minutes.” As she spoke, Elizabeth gathered up her things and began to stand.
“Ah, yes, the semester starts today. We’ll stop harassing you and let you get to class,” Jack said.
Elizabeth turned to leave and realized Paul was still next to her. She glanced at him quizzically.
Paul shrugged. “I thought I’d be a good friend and walk across campus to the law school with you. Although you weren’t badly injured, a walk that long while carrying all that stuff could be tiring for you. Besides,” he continued, lowering his voice and leaning in conspiratorially, “I’d like to postpone the inevitable. I’m going to have to announce the board’s decision, and something tells me Kinsey is going to do everything he can to stop it, or failing that, make everyone’s lives miserable.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him and Paul laughed.
“Ok, more so than he normally does.”
Elizabeth laughed with him. “Well, far be it from me to make your life more miserable. Please join me.”
Paul grinned and took her bag. Together they walked down the stairs and out of the administration building. Elizabeth was content to walk in silence; she was mentally reviewing her lesson plan. Luckily, Paul seemed content to walk in silence, too.
They were halfway back to the law school when Paul started speaking.
“So, I haven’t seen you for a while. How have you been?”
Elizabeth took a moment to shift her mind from civil procedure to small talk. “Busy. Being dean and teaching classes takes up a lot of time.”
“And I hear your social life has picked up, too. That must take up a lot of time.”
Elizabeth looked at Paul curiously. The expression on his face was one she had not seen before. He couldn’t seem to decide whether he was teasing or nervous. She decided to answer cautiously.
“Well, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but yes, I suppose my social life has been more active lately. Making new friends will do that.”
Paul had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure if you knew that you and John Sheppard have been the main subject of the rumor mill for months now.”
Elizabeth sighed. Paul was a friend, but she really didn’t need this now. “I know. Jack’s thrilled that he and Sam aren’t the main topic anymore.”
Paul laughed. “Well, they had been the main topic for what, three years running? I’m sure he’s thrilled. Now they can flirt without the entire university taking note.”
“Yes, now it’s just the vast majority who notice instead of the entirety,” Elizabeth retorted dryly.
Paul laughed again. Elizabeth was glad to know that, even if she wasn’t completely functional, she was still funny - in a good way.
Elizabeth continued, “And how about you? I heard you were a big hit with your students last semester.” Paul had temporarily taken over a small computer science introductory seminar when an immigration snafu kept the real instructor out of the country for weeks.
Paul smiled ruefully. “Yeah, it was nice going back to my first career for a little while, but I quickly remembered why I got out of that field in the first place. Computers can be a real pain.”
Elizabeth smirked at him knowingly. “Is that the only reason? I also heard some of the students took a liking to you, almost to the levels that they like John and Daniel.”
Shuddering, Paul responded, “Don’t remind me. I’m glad only a couple girls decided to stalk me. I think I’ll stick with public relations from now on.”
They approached the door to the law school and Elizabeth paused to take her bag back from Paul. Instead of giving her the bag, Paul opened the door and motioned for her to precede him into the building. Elizabeth scowled at him but walked in the building, too tired and too late to put up a fight. She just barely had enough time to run to her office and freshen up.
Climbing the stairs, they started down the hall to her office. The absence of giggling, brainless sorority girls showed that John was not in his office. She felt a small, strange pang but pushed it aside as she strode as purposefully as she could to her office, Paul matching her strides exactly.
When they reached her officer, Paul opened the door and motioned for her to walk in. Inside, Peter rose from his desk as soon as he saw her, a worried expression on her face.
“Dr. Weir,” he exclaimed in his not-quite English accent. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Peter,” she answered, deciding to keep a running toll on how many times she was asked that question today. Elizabeth then turned to Paul, who was standing in the doorway. She held out her hand and he handed her the bag.
Elizabeth smiled at him. “Thank you, Paul.”
Paul smiled back. “Anytime, Elizabeth. Let me know if you need anything else. And we should get together for coffee sometime - assuming you can fit me in your busy social schedule.” With a mischievous grin and a wave, Paul was gone, leaving Elizabeth staring after him, bewildered.
Turning, Elizabeth was treated to the sight of Peter smirking at her. Ignoring him, she walked into her office. She quickly freshened up, grabbed her notes, and walked out the door, waving to Peter as she left. So much for preparation.
She walked down the stairs, avoiding the work crew as she did. She had forgotten they would be working on the ventilation system. Just another thing going on today.
Elizabeth walked into the classroom, noting that all conversation stopped as soon as the students saw her. The terrified expressions on their faces were actually quite amusing, and it was all Elizabeth could do to keep from laughing. She settled for a smile, hoping it would put them at ease. Although the trend was for law deans to teach classes, she didn’t know many who taught first year classes. Elizabeth enjoyed first year classes; 1L’s were a lot easier to deal with - still easily intimidated. She remembered the skepticism she’d felt upon learning the axiom about law school: the first year they scare you to death; the second year they work you to death; and the third year they bore you to death. How surprised she had been to find out how true the axiom was.
Elizabeth also liked civil procedure, more commonly referred to as “civ pro.” There was just something that her organized mind liked about procedural rules.
“Good morning. As I’m sure you all know, I’m Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Now, let’s talk about personal, in rem, and quasi-in rem jurisdiction. Mr. Clark, please tell us the facts and holding of Pennoyer v. Neff.” Elizabeth hid a smile at the groans the students had to be hiding at having to discuss Pennoyer, one of the worst cases she had ever read, in law school or since. She could also feel the relief all the students other than Mr. Clark felt at not being called on.
Once again grateful for the Socratic Method (though she had not been nearly as appreciative of it when she had been a law student), Elizabeth spent the first half of the class asking a few questions and letting the students do most of the talking. Suddenly, a loud noise began blaring throughout the room, accompanied by a flashing strobe light. Startled, it took Elizabeth a moment to recognize it: the fire alarm.
Raising her voice over the noise, she told her students, “All right. Everyone out. Go out the back door and cross the street.” Elizabeth quickly gathered up her papers and waited for all her students to leave. She watched as they students quickly packed up their laptops and books. In a couple minutes, they were all out and joined the flow of people walking to the back door.
Outside, they went to the appointed area. Unfortunately, the freezing rain had started again and Elizabeth didn’t have her coat. Once she made sure all her students were outside, Elizabeth moved to talk to other professors, hoping one of them would know where the fire was. It was likely in the law school café.
For several minutes, she and the other professors talked and watched the firefighters, trying to figure out what had happened. No one had even smelled smoke; nor did anyone see any smoke now. There was no indication of where the fire was.
They had been outside for a little while when Elizabeth saw two firefighters moving toward the group of people standing across from the law school. Elizabeth walked over to meet them halfway.
“Are you in charge?” a female firefighter asked, holding out her hand. Elizabeth shook the hand and introduced herself.
“I’m Capt. Montgomery. I’m happy to say there was no fire. Apparently, maintenance workers accidentally blew smoke into a smoke detector, setting it off. It’s safe for everyone to go back in.”
Elizabeth just managed not to roll her eyes or show her frustration as she thanked the Captain and walked back to the professors. She explained what happened, unable to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Normally she would have berated herself for such a lapse, but she was soaking wet, freezing, and having a really bad day, so she figured she was justified in showing a little annoyance. She felt a little more justified as she saw open annoyance on the faces of all the professors around her. After she completed her explanation, they separated to tell to students they could go back in. Elizabeth walked over to where her civ pro students had congregated.
Raising her voice, she said, “Listen up, everyone. It was just a false alarm. You can go back in. Go to you 11 am class. I’ll send out an email about your assignment for tomorrow.” As she finished, the students began walking back towards the building, and Elizabeth followed them, but instead of following them to the stairs, she went to the elevator. She was too tired to walk up two flights of stairs.
Once upstairs, she walked to her office. The outer office was empty; she had beaten Peter back. Closing the door to her inner office firmly, she walked into her private bathroom. She had never been so grateful for the perks of being dean as she was now. Shivering from the cold, she changed into a dry outfit. Almost afraid to, she looked in the mirror and saw that her hair was a frizzy mass of tangled curls. Elizabeth sighed and pulled out a comb, spending several minutes trying to tame her unruly hair.
Finally believing herself to be presentable, Elizabeth walked to her desk and turned on her computer. She glanced at the clock and was shocked to see it was 11:19. At least the day was going by quickly.
She had just finished sending an email to her civ pro students about the next day’s assignment when her phone rang.
“Dr. Weir,” Elizabeth said.
“Dr. Weir, this is Rick from the Campus View Vets. I’m calling about your dog, Sedge.”
“Yes, how is he?”
“I’m afraid he has an intestinal virus. He’ll be fine, but he’s going to need to stay here for a few days.”
Elizabeth felt both concern and relief. She was glad he would be ok, but wished she would be able to take him home today. After the call ended, she noticed an email from Kinsey with a rather nasty subject line. Deciding to get it over with, she opened the message and discovered it was yet another of Kinsey’s rants about his personal pet peeves. Today it was one of his favorite causes: the students’ lack of respect for the big, circular sculpture in the quad. Elizabeth skimmed and deleted it, grateful it wasn’t any worse.
Before she could open another message, the phone rang again. “Dr. Weir.”
“Dr. Weir, this is Angela Roberts, your insurance agent. I’d like to talk to you about your car.”
Elizabeth held back a sigh, trying to push back the headache she’d been fighting all day but that was now threatening to become full blown. She spoke with the insurance agent for over 15 minutes, but she felt a little better when the conversation was over. She had a good insurance company and they were taking care of everything. It was a shame, though, that there was no car rental agency in town. She was going to have to figure out alternative means of transportation until her car was fixed. Perhaps John would give her a ride. She’d bought him dinner often enough - not to mention the fundraiser - and now he owed her.
Hanging up the phone, Elizabeth turned back to her computer. No sooner had she done so, than a knock came at the door. Sighing for what seemed the millionth time that day, Elizabeth called, “Come in.”
Peter stuck his head in her office. “Dr. Weir, the Student Bar Association committee is here to speak with you about the library. And don’t forget, you have the International Law Review ceremony at 12:30 in the moot court room.”
Elizabeth nearly groaned. She had completely forgotten about both meetings.
“Thank you, Peter. Please send the students in. And could you find me some lunch? I don’t think I’ll have a chance to go get some.”
“No problem.” Peter’s head disappeared and she overheard him telling the students to go in. Rising, she smoothed her clothes and walked around her desk to greet the students.
Five students from the SBA filed into her office. Elizabeth recognized four of them; the fifth must be a 1L - she didn’t know all the 1L’s yet.
Elizabeth shook their hands and invited them to sit around her desk, while she sat behind her desk, folded her hands, and looked at them expectantly. “So, what can I do for you?”
The apparent leader, a 2L named Linda Rodriguez, began speaking. “Dr. Weir, we’re concerned about the availability of study areas in the library.”
Elizabeth frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. When they renovated this building five years ago, making sure there was enough study space in the library was a priority. Even though we’ve increased enrollment in the past few years, there should be more than enough space for everyone.”
“There is plenty of space for all the law students. The problem is that it’s not just law students who are using the law library.”
Uh-oh, Elizabeth thought, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She felt an intra-university battle coming on. “What are you getting at, Linda?”
“We’ve been receiving an unprecedented number of complaints about the lack of study space in the law library. Undergrads using our library has always been a minor annoyance, but over the past semester, the problem has become much worse. And it’s not just that they’re taking space in the library; they talk loudly, even in the reading room, no matter how many times they’re asked to be quiet. We attribute the increase to several undergrad professors, namely Prof. Sheppard, moving their offices into the law school. What we want to do is take measures to make the library a better place to study.”
Elizabeth considered this. They may have a point (though why did they all stare at her accusingly when Linda mentioned John?). The number of undergrads in the building had increased since the math professors moved in. And then, of course, there was the near constant presence of the sorority girls in the hall, who made quite a racket.
Undergrads normally didn’t go into law school buildings. Law schools, as a rule, were fairly insular; all law classes were held in the law building and social gatherings were held either in the law school commons or off-campus. And law students usually spent hours each day in the library studying. Undergrads didn’t understand how important studying was to law students - or how much they had to do. Undergrads didn’t have to deal with the Socratic Method or having their entire grade for a class based on one three-hour exam. And if the students were upset enough to send a Student Bar Association committee to the dean, instead of just bitchin’ and moanin’ amongst themselves like they normally did, this was a serious problem.
“What do you propose,” Elizabeth asked.
“We would like to institute assigned carrels and study areas. We intend to have an open discussion on the matter next week and put the matter to SBA vote at our meeting later this month. We’d like to get faculty input as well as student input, which is why we’re coming to you.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly. “I’m not sure what the faculty will say, but I’ll bring it up at our faculty meeting today. We can set up a time for you to present you case to the entire faculty.”
The students smiled and thanked her. They chatted for several minutes, mostly complaining about having to stand in freezing rain for almost 20 minutes. Elizabeth finally was able to hear about the “Jeopardy song incident” from someone with first hand knowledge - the 1L - and she couldn’t help but chuckle. Late last semester, after Prof. Applegate asked the last in a series of obscure questions that no one in his first year contracts class knew the answers to, a student played the “Jeopardy” theme on his laptop and set the entire room, including Prof. Applegate, cracking up. Elizabeth had heard about it from another professor, but it was even funnier hearing about it from someone who had been there. Finally, Elizabeth noticed it was after noon and quickly and politely ushered them out of her office.
As soon as they were out the door, Peter’s head popped back in her office. “I have your lunch, Dr. Weir.”
She smiled at him tiredly as he walked to her desk. “Thank you, Peter.”
Peter grinned. “Pesky undergrads causing problems again?” Elizabeth rolled her eyes as he sat a plate down in front of her. “I got you the manager’s special: stuffed eggplant.”
Elizabeth inhaled the tempting aroma. She rarely went to the law school café - it was usually very crowded and had limited hours. But they did serve good food.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Peter. How much do I owe you,” she asked, grabbing her purse and pulling out her wallet.
“$4.50.”
Elizabeth pulled out the correct amount and handed it to Peter. He pocketed the money and nodded toward the clock. “You should hurry. The ceremony starts soon.”
She responded by putting a bite in her mouth. Peter smiled and left her office, closing the door behind him. Elizabeth hurriedly stuffed the eggplant in her mouth.
The ceremony wasn’t really necessary, but it was an important milestone for the students involved. Over a year ago, a group of enterprising 2L’s had decided the law school needed to start an international-themed law review. Because of her background in international affairs, they had asked her to be the faculty advisor. Although she had more than enough to do, Elizabeth hadn’t been able to turn them down. For the first issue of the new review, she had written both the introduction to the issue and an article. The first issue had come back from the printers during finals last semester and they were having a ceremony to celebrate. As the faculty advisor, she had been invited to give a few remarks.
Elizabeth smiled, realizing it had been a good thing she had written both articles before John had moved his office into the law school, because she never would have been able to get either written had he been around. As she had done her author review last semester, John had been a constant distraction, pestering her about working too hard and not eating. He had even gone so far as to make her explain the thesis of her article. If she ever again wrote a law review article, she’d have to sequester herself away from John to make sure she would actually be able to accomplish something.
Quickly finishing her lunch, Elizabeth stood to go to the ceremony. Checking in a mirror to make sure she was still presentable, Elizabeth left her office.
2 pm
Elizabeth glanced at the clock on her office wall. It was time to go to class. For the past hour, she had tried to prepare, but had been constantly interrupted by phone calls and people dropping by. Surprisingly (and perhaps unfortunately), John had not stopped by. Despite her better judgment, Elizabeth found herself wishing he would drop in. She hadn’t seen him since Winter Break began. She had stayed in town, but she knew he had gone to visit his family in Chicago. John always made her smile, and she could use a friend like that today.
Saying good-bye to Peter, Elizabeth walked down the hall to one of the smaller seminar rooms. The room was actually directly across the hall from John’s office. She saw that his office hours must be about to start - the crowd was beginning to form outside his office door. Doing her best not to roll her eyes at the giggling sorority girls, Elizabeth opened the door and walked into the classroom.
Elizabeth always enjoyed teaching her upper-class international law and negotiation seminar. It was one of the few ways she managed to combine her brief career in foreign affairs and her law career. It was usually a fun class full of dedicated students, mostly 2L’s - the 3L’s knew better than to take a class with the demanding dean.
Elizabeth looked at the clock. It was 2:08. Time to start class.
“Good afternoon. As I’m sure you all know, I’m Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Now, do I have a volunteer to discuss the first case?”
A volunteer was quickly found, and for the first hour of class, the discussion was lively and well informed. The problem was the noise coming from the hallway: the giggling, yelling, etc. It had been present since the beginning of class but had steadily grown in volume. Her students had been throwing annoyed glances toward the hallway for about twenty minutes; Elizabeth had to stop herself from doing the same.
The noise continued to grow to the point where she and her students were straining to hear one another. Elizabeth felt her anger grow despite her efforts to control it. Right before she was about to announce it was time for their break, several loud screams (or were they squeals?) came from the hallway, causing most of the people in the room, including Elizabeth, to jump.
That was it. Elizabeth had put up with the noise for long enough.
“All right, everyone, let’s take our break. Be back in ten minutes.”
Without looking at her students, Elizabeth stalked out of the room, stopping in the middle of the hallway, staring at the mindless sorority girls, mentally willing the girls to turn into smoking craters through the force of her glare.
She continued to stare for about thirty seconds before the girls started to notice. The giggling slowly stopped and was replaced by whispers and nervous glances. Once Elizabeth was sure she had their attention, she began to speak.
“Ladies,” she began, keeping her voice cold and soft, “contrary to what you may believe, this is a school. Students come here to learn. You are obviously not here to learn and you are impairing my students’ ability to do so with your childish behavior. If you do have a legitimate purpose in being here, I expect that you act like adults and behave yourselves, instead of acting like five-year-olds. If you do not have a legitimate purpose in being here, I suggest you leave. Now.” Turning her glare up to full, she stared the girls down and watched stonily as they slowly walked down the hall to the stairs.
Elizabeth caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to see what it was, she saw John and, ignoring the shock that ran through her, met his gaze. He looked both stunned and impressed. She then saw more movement and realized she had a large audience: her students were staring at her with expressions similar to John’s.
Elizabeth didn’t want to deal with them. Turning on her heel, she stormed down the hall to her office. Peter met her at the door (his expression showing that he, too, had been a member of her audience), but she ignored him as he quickly moved out of her way. She walked into her office and closed the door. For a moment, she paced like a caged animal. The fury she felt at the sorority girls’ childishness started to boil over and she grabbed a throw pillow from her armchair and hurled it across the room. The pillow hit a stack of files on her desk, which, along with the pillow, went crashing to the floor. Feeling suddenly drained, she collapsed into her armchair, closed her eyes, and tried to use several of the calming techniques she had learned over the years.
Elizabeth was ashamed of herself. She prided herself in her control and rarely lost her temper. And not only had she lost her temper, but she had done so in public, and all for some annoying little sorority girls.
After using several techniques with limited success, Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at the clock. The break was over. It was time to go back to class. She took a deep breath, stood up, smoothed her clothes, and walked out of her office.
4 pm
Class was finally over and Elizabeth practically ran out of the classroom. Although her students had gazed at her admiringly for the rest of class, they also knew better than to approach her while she was in such a bad mood. Returning to her office, she grabbed her gym bag and coat, told Peter she was going to the gym, and left the law school as quickly as she could.
Thankfully, the freezing rain had once again stopped. Elizabeth walked swiftly to the gym, hoping she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew. She was eager to get to the gym and work out her frustration. Once she arrived, Elizabeth changed clothes and found a free stair stepper, letting her mind drift as she began stepping.
Like many other lawyers she’d spoken to, Elizabeth found physical activity - especially mindless physical activity - very relaxing. There was just something freeing about not having to engage the brain. For this reason, among others, Elizabeth thoroughly cleaned her house every two weeks (she’d prefer every week, but didn’t have the time).
Determined to work out her frustration, Elizabeth increased the intensity. She had lost control of her emotions too many times today and she didn’t want it to happen again. She continued stepping, ignoring the twinge in her knee.
At least, she ignored the twinge until the knee gave out. With a cry of pain (a slip for which she immediately berated herself), Elizabeth collapsed, barely managing to not hurt herself on the steps as she fell.
“Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth closed her eyes, more in dread than in pain. It was Janet. There was no way she’d be able to argue her way out of a trip to the clinic. But she was a lawyer, and she would certainly try.
“I’m fine, Janet. It’s just a twinge.”
Janet was now at Elizabeth’s side, helping her off the stair-stepper. “Like hell, you’re fine. I saw you collapse and heard you cry out.” Janet started probing Elizabeth’s knee with her fingers and Elizabeth involuntarily winced. Unfortunately, Janet saw it.
“That’s it. I’m taking you to the clinic.”
Elizabeth started to protest, but Janet held up a hand to stop her.
“Either you come with me voluntarily or I get a couple football players to carry you.” Elizabeth looked at Janet, horrified; she nodded, giving in. Not her best performance as a negotiator, but in her defense, no one went up against Janet and won when someone’s health was at stake.
Elizabeth let Janet help her up, trying not to laugh at the strange situation: 5’0” Janet helping 5’7” Elizabeth. Elizabeth towered over Janet and Janet wasn’t really supporting Elizabeth very well. Elizabeth kept her mouth shut on that point, however; she wouldn’t put it past Janet to follow through on her threat to make football players carry her. Elizabeth knew the rumor mill would undoubtedly have a field day with her acts today, and she didn’t need to provide additional fodder for it.
Janet first steered Elizabeth to the locker room and helped her into the shower. For the first time that day, Elizabeth was grateful for the miserable weather; if the weather had been nice, Janet might have insisted on taking Elizabeth to the clinic in her sweat-soaked gym clothes.
Both clean and in clean clothes, Elizabeth and Janet left the gym. For obvious reasons, the clinic was near the gym, stadium, and practice field. So Elizabeth soon found herself in the X-ray room, covered with a lead jacket. A few minutes later, she was on a bed, her knee elevated and iced.
Janet strode into the room, moving with near lightening speed. Elizabeth had always marveled at how someone so tiny could move so quickly.
“Well,” Janet began, putting the x-ray film on the display. “The good news is that it looks as though you just wrenched it. So you’ll need to ice it and elevate it. I’ll give you a pain-killer, a knee brace, and a cane.” Elizabeth started to protest about the cane, but for the second time in a half-hour, Janet held up her hand to forestall the protest. “I don’t want to hear it, Elizabeth. I know better than to require you to go home and stay off your feet. Instead, I’m requiring you to use a cane. If you refuse, I’ll go get those football players and make them carry you home.”
Elizabeth reluctantly nodded. This was likely to be the most she’d get from Janet. She laid back and tried to relax as Janet began to poke and prod her knee.
Janet continued, “Actually, it’s a good thing you’re here. I heard about the accident and I wanted to check you out to make sure you weren’t hurt.”
“Janet,” Elizabeth responded, “the paramedics checked me out at the scene and said I was fine.”
Janet gave Elizabeth her Patented Doctor Look #42: Don’t tell me that crap because you know it doesn’t help you. “Paramedics, Elizabeth. Not a doctor. Paramedics are great at their jobs, but they’re not doctors.”
Elizabeth sighed, knowing she’d lost to Janet again. As Janet began to examine her, Elizabeth considered asking her how she had known about the accident. Normally, Elizabeth wouldn’t stoop so low as to overly concern herself with the rumor mill. However, being a main topic of the rumor mill for months (along with John) had made her somewhat paranoid. Besides, she had a sneaking suspicion about how Janet knew.
“So, how did you learn about the accident,” she asked.
Janet paused in her exam and looked curiously at Elizabeth. “Paul told me. I ran into him at lunch.”
Elizabeth just nodded, but internally, she was scheming. She was right: it had been Paul. She knew he meant well, but she didn’t really care about that at this point. Now she just had to plot her revenge.
Janet must have sensed her train of thought, because she looked at Elizabeth reproachfully. “He was concerned, Elizabeth. There’s no need to punish him. Though,” she continued, her eyes twinkling mischievously, “I’m beginning to wonder if John Sheppard might have some competition for your affections.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help herself: she burst out laughing. “John and Paul are good friends. That’s all. They are not ‘competing for my affections,’” she said between giggles.
Janet cocked an eyebrow. “Are you so sure?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied firmly.
“Maybe you’re the one competing for their affections. But which one do you want?”
“Janet,” Elizabeth exclaimed, scandalized. “They’re my friends. It is possible for men and women to have purely platonic relationships.”
“Even when the men are as attractive as John and Paul are?”
Elizabeth groaned. “Is this what I get for joining Sam in teasing you about Daniel? I only did it once!”
Janet smiled sweetly. “And you’ll never do it again, will you?”
Elizabeth just groaned again and let her head sink back into the pillow. Janet soon finished the exam and pronounced Elizabeth fine. “But I want you to take it easy. And if you have any problems - anything at all - I want you to come back. And if you can’t make it, call and I’ll send a couple football players to come get you. Or maybe I’ll be able to convince John and Paul to carry you over.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted when a nurse walked into the room.
“Dr. Fraiser, Dr. Jackson just arrived.”
Elizabeth and Janet shared a knowing look. Janet sighed and gave the nurse her Patented Doctor Look #47: what has Daniel done NOW? Matching her look, she said, “What did he do this time?”
“He said he walked into a wall.”
Janet rolled her eyes while Elizabeth chuckled.
“Thank you. I’ll be there in a moment.” The nurse left and Janet turned back to Elizabeth. “I’ll send a nurse to get you checked out.”
“Have fun with Daniel,” Elizabeth replied with an innocent look on her face. A look that Janet obviously didn’t buy, because she treated Elizabeth to her Patented Doctor Look #7: I am not amused. Elizabeth just grinned as Janet left the room.
5:05 pm
Figuring she had an excuse, Elizabeth used the elevator in the law school. Most classes were done for the day, so the building was relatively quiet. She finally reached her office, not surprised to see Peter still at his desk; he’d probably stay for the faculty meeting at six.
Peter looked up to greet her, but anything he might have said died on his lips when he saw the cane.
“I’m fine, Peter,” Elizabeth said, preventing comment from him as he came around his desk to meet her. “I just wrenched my knee. Janet already checked me out.”
Peter nodded but didn’t look convinced. He held out a folder for her. “Here are the notes you wanted for the faculty meeting.”
Elizabeth took the folder from him, trying to balance it along with her gym bag and the cane. “Thank you, Peter.” Elizabeth reflected that, as often as she said them, she ought to get Peter a mug with those words inscribed on it.
Peter nodded toward her office. “Dr. Sheppard is waiting for you in your office.”
Elizabeth nodded in response and walked to her office door. She opened it and walked inside. John was sitting in her armchair, though perhaps ‘sitting’ wasn’t the right word. John’s head was thrown back and his legs were stretched out in front of him. A calculus book was lying open on his chest. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard soft snores coming from him. He actually looked quite adorable.
After several moments, Elizabeth realized with a start that she was staring at John. She was glad he was still asleep so he couldn’t see her lapse. Moving quietly so as not to wake him, Elizabeth went to her desk and sat down. She noticed with chagrin that Peter had apparently picked up the files she had knocked down when she had thrown the pillow. Making a mental note to thank him later, she started going over her notes for the meeting.
She read for a while as John slept. It was odd, but she found his mere presence comforting. However, she was rather envious: it was completely unfair that he was sleeping not five feet from her when all she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep.
Elizabeth decided she needed caffeine if she was ever going to get through the faculty meeting. She turned to get a soda from her refrigerator and accidentally knocked over her cane, which she had propped up against her desk. She tried to grab it but it was too late. The cane fell, hitting her printer before crashing to the floor with a loud noise.
Across the room, John came awake with a start, twisting in the chair to face her. When he saw her, he was on his feet in an instant, coming toward her desk.
“Are you all right?” John asked, concern written all over his face.
“I’m fine, John. I just knocked something over.”
John came around the desk and saw the cane on the floor. He looked up at her, alarmed. “I thought Peter said you weren’t hurt.”
Elizabeth picked up the cane and propped it up again. “I wasn’t hurt. I just wrenched my knee on a stair stepper.”
John frowned at her as he perched himself on the edge of her desk. “You should be more careful.”
Elizabeth barely managed to keep the edge from her voice. “I know, John. I don’t need you looking after me.”
John frowned at her again, but his face brightened after a moment. “On the bright side, you got the annoying sorority girls to leave. Wanna join the pool for how long ‘til they come back?” He pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket. “I have one week, Peter has two days, Daniel has three days, Jonas, four, Rodney, ten, Jack has five, Sam has two weeks, and Carson, twelve days. There aren’t many choices left, but you can probably go in with someone. Only ten dollar stake.”
Elizabeth stared at John in shock. “How did all those people find out?”
John shifted uncomfortably under her stare. “Well, I ran into them when I went to get a snack.”
“And you told them,” Elizabeth said, aghast.
“Well, why not,” John replied defensively. “It’s a shame you couldn’t see yourself, Lizzie. You were magnificent. I can see you in a courtroom. Remind me never to go up against you.”
Despite the compliments, Elizabeth was livid. “John, why did you tell them? Everyone’s going to be talking about it. I can see the headline now: Dean of Law School Beats Up on Brainless Sorority Girls.” John started to smirk but quickly wiped it off his face when Elizabeth glared at him. “I’m serious, John! I shouldn’t have done it and now everyone knows about it. What will happen when President Hayes, or, God forbid, Kinsey, learn about it?” Elizabeth was yelling and she knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t help it.
John clearly knew she was overreacting. “It’s fine, Lizzie. Don’t worry about it. You were completely justified. They were disturbing your class. I’ve asked them to be quiet more times than I can count. They’ll listen to you.”
Elizabeth didn’t answer at first. She just rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of her headache and calm down. “They may have been disturbing my class, but that’s no excuse for my behavior. I’m dean. I can’t act like that. And I wish you hadn’t told anyone.”
John started pleading. “Oh, come on, Lizzie - ” but Elizabeth cut him off.
“And don’t call me ‘Lizzie!’ My name is Elizabeth!”
John looked taken aback by her vehemence. “Sorry,” he muttered. The silence quickly became awkward, but Elizabeth didn’t know what to do. She felt bad about yelling at John but she was still mad at him.
Several minutes passed in the awkward state. Elizabeth found she couldn’t even look at John. After what seemed like an interminably long time, John cleared his throat.
“Well, I suppose I should go. Peter said you have a faculty meeting at six.”
Elizabeth murmured, “Yeah,” still unable to raise her eyes to watch him leave. She heard the door open.
“See you later, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to say goodbye, but the door closed behind John before she could. She felt awful. John, though he had only been her friend for a relatively short time, was probably her best friend. Although she was annoyed that he told so many people about her outburst, she shouldn’t have taken out her frustration on him.
A knock on her office door startled Elizabeth out of her melancholy reverie. “Yes,” she called.
Peter’s head appeared in her doorway. “The faculty meeting is in five minutes, Dr. Weir.”
“Thank you, Peter.” Peter’s head disappeared and Elizabeth began to gather her things. Her bad day was almost over; she just had to face the faculty first.
8:13 pm
After paying the driver, Elizabeth climbed out of the cab, grateful to be home but annoyed that it was raining again. The faculty meeting had been especially contentious, with several issues causing long arguments. She had begun to wonder if it was ever going to end. At long last, the meeting had ended, and Elizabeth tried to get some work done in her office, but had been too tired to concentrate. She had also been disappointed that John hadn’t been in the building; she wanted to apologize and bum a ride. After waiting for twenty minutes, she gave in and called a cab.
Elizabeth unlocked the door to her home and stumbled inside, sagging against the door as she closed it behind her. Finally, she thought. With a pang, she realized Sedge was still at the vet; he normally met her at the door, happy and excited to see her. She could use a little comfort from her dog right now. Instead, she decided to take a long, hot bath, put on some music, light some candles, and forget this day had ever happened.
Dropping her coat, bag, and cane on the floor, she slowly climbed the stairs, leaning heavily on the rail for support. Once in her bedroom, she had to fight the impulse to simply collapse on the bed. She peeled off the wet clothes, too tired to throw them into the hamper. Slipping into her silk robe, she went into her bathroom, turned on the light, and stopped dead in her tracks.
One of the advantages of being a dean was the salary (not that law professors come cheap). In looking for a home near Langford U, she had had a few requirements: 1) a large and well-equipped kitchen; 2) a decently sized backyard; and 3) a gigantic bathtub. Her bathtub was truly gigantic, actually a Jacuzzi, into which at least two people could fit - although she had never found that out for certain. What she had forgotten was that the pipes were backed up and there was standing water in the tub. She had meant to call the plumber today, but in all the chaos, she had completely forgotten. So her long, hot, luxurious bath was no longer an option.
Once again, feelings of frustration threatened to overcome her. Nothing had gone right today! There was only one thing left to do: crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head, and forget the world existed. Turning off the bathroom light, she walked back over to bed and pulled down the blankets. Before she could climb in, however, a sound rang throughout her house.
Ding-dong!
Elizabeth almost screamed. Would she never get a break? She considered ignoring it, but the person would probably ring the bell again. Throwing the blankets down, muttering to herself, she walked downstairs. At the last moment, it occurred to her to check to make sure she was decent, and she decided the robe would have to be decent enough. She was so frustrated and distracted she didn’t even look through the peephole. Instead, she flung open the door and found herself face to face with…John Sheppard? She stared dumbly at him, not comprehending that he was actually standing in her doorway.
After a moment, he hesitantly spoke, “Elizabeth?” When she didn’t respond, he lifted the box he was holding into her view. “I brought cheesecake.”
Elizabeth shifted her gaze to the box and then back to John’s face. He really looked worried and uncertain. If she hadn’t felt so awful, it might have been funny. But here he was, after her horrendous day, after she had been awful to him, with an offering of cheesecake. She had endured so much that day. And now, a simple act of kindness from someone she valued more than she even knew undid her entire resolve. Unable to help herself, she burst into tears.
Through her tears, she was able to see glimpses of John’s face, his expression nearing panic. She tried to apologize, to let him know he hadn’t done anything wrong, but she couldn’t get any words out. She couldn’t do anything, which only made her cry harder.
John must have gotten over his panic, because she heard the door close and felt him move closer to her. Without warning, a warm and gentle arm wrapped around her shoulders and she found herself being softly, but firmly, guided. She didn’t know where they were going, but at this point, she was more than willing to go wherever John wanted her to. Elizabeth could only walk and cry, not even able to exert herself to wonder where John was taking her. A moment later, she felt a blanket being wrapped around her and his hands guided her into a sitting position.
“I’ll be right back. Stay here,” John said. Elizabeth could only nod.
Finally able to calm herself some, and after blowing her nose, she looked around and discovered she was on the couch in her living room. From the sounds, it seemed as though John was in her kitchen. Still sniffling, she turned in the direction of the kitchen so she could see when he came back.
Soon he was back with a plate and glass. Unlike the normal John Sheppard, he was serious, his expression determined. Elizabeth had never really realized how impressive he could be when he wasn’t joking around; truly, a man of action. Silently, he sat beside her and gently pulled her against him, wrapping his arm around her. With his other hand, he took a fork and cut off a bite of cheesecake, moving the fork directly in front of her mouth. Obediently, she opened her mouth, and he popped the bite in. As she chewed the delicious dessert, she realized she should be insulted that he was feeding her as if she were a child, but decided against it. Sometimes it was nice to have someone take care of her, and she had to admit, if anyone had to take care of her, she would prefer it be John. She knew he would never think less of her for it.
When she finished the bite, he gave her a drink; she was somewhat surprised and pleased he had been able to find her supply of alcohol.
Rubbing her arm, he said, “Now, why don’t you tell me all about your bad day.”
Nodding reluctantly, she started speaking, at first slowly, but then the words started tumbling out. As she spoke, John rubbed her arm and occasionally popped more bites of cheesecake in her mouth, but remained silent. He just held (and fed) her as she vented. She’d never realized just how good a listener he was. And for once, the still functional part of her brain noted with amusement, he wasn’t stealing her dessert.
Finally, both her account and the cheesecake were done, and Elizabeth was getting very sleepy. John wrapped his other arm around her as she unconsciously snuggled in closer. He was so warm and welcoming, as relaxing as a bath.
“Just go to sleep, Elizabeth. I’ll be here,” John whispered, speaking for the first time since she had started telling him about her day.
“Okay,” she drowsily responded. As she drifted off, she realized that, although the day had been horrific, the ending wasn’t so bad, and almost made up for everything that had gone wrong. “Thank you, John,” she whispered just before oblivion overtook her.
“Good night, Elizabeth.”
Author: caroly_214
Rating: PG
Paring: John/Elizabeth
Length: 9,801 words
Summary: The title says it all.
Author’s notes: My first Stargate fic! Huge thanks to my beta control_freak80 - who read this the week before her wedding! She is amazing! Any mistakes that remain are mine. This takes place a couple years before Dot Com. Enjoy!
6:00 am
Beep…beep…beep
Elizabeth awoke abruptly, her hand automatically smacking the snooze button on her alarm. Her heart was pounding; she hated waking to the obnoxious buzzer. She must have accidentally have switched the alarm setting from radio to buzzer last night. Elizabeth stretched, trying to convince her body to calm down. Her room was dark and she could hear freezing rain hitting her window. It was a dark, dreary, and nasty January day.
Crawling out of her nice warm bed, she smiled at Sedge, sleeping next to her bed. Stumbling into her bathroom, she flipped on the light and stepped into her shower, reveling in the feeling of hot water coursing over her body. As much as she wanted to linger, she quickly began to wash, lathering her hair with shampoo. She was almost ready to get out when she noticed something odd: her feet and ankles were completely covered with water. Elizabeth moved her foot to the drain, figuring something was blocking it. To her surprise, there was nothing blocking the drain; instead of feeling suction, she felt water coming up out of the drain. Despite the fatigue-induced fuzziness pervading her brain, Elizabeth knew that was not a good sign.
Quickly rinsing her hair, Elizabeth grabbed her towel and stepped out of the shower stall, drying herself quickly and trying not to shiver in the cold air. She looked in the shower and saw that the water was not going down at all. This was not good; she was going to have to call a plumber.
As Elizabeth combed out her wet curls, she glanced down and noticed her sink was half-full of water. Another glance confirmed that the drain stopper was not closed. She walked over to the tub and saw several inches of standing water. This was now officially very, very bad.
A few minutes later, dressed and ready for the day, Elizabeth started to leave her bedroom but noticed Sedge was no longer sleeping next to her bed. She looked around and didn’t see him anywhere in the room. That was odd. Sedge always waited for her to go downstairs.
“Sedge,” Elizabeth called. Even more strange, she got no response. She called again, but still, nothing. Elizabeth was starting to get worried. Walking out of her room and down the stairs, she kept calling for Sedge, but didn’t hear a response.
Downstairs, Elizabeth began searching the rooms. Elizabeth finally moved to the patio door and looked outside. To her immense relief, she saw Sedge on the patio and went to him.
She called Sedge softly, but he didn’t come to her. Elizabeth knelt next to him, petting him gently. “Sedge,” she asked softly. Sedge finally looked up at her mournfully. When he moved his head, Elizabeth saw the reason Sedge had been acting oddly: obviously, something had not agreed with his stomach. Elizabeth was happy he’d been able to get outside before he threw up.
At that moment, Sedge convulsed and began throwing up again. Elizabeth quickly went back indoors, grabbed the phone, and hit the speed dial for the vet, once again thankful for their 24-hour emergency service. When the nurse answered the phone, Elizabeth explained the situation; the nurse told her to bring Sedge into the vet’s office. Elizabeth hung up the phone, grabbed a banana for breakfast, and prepared to take Sedge to the vet.
7:14 am
Elizabeth wearily climbed back into her car, already exhausted - and it was only 7:14! She’d been able to get Sedge to the vet without too much difficulty, but he hated the car.
She hated leaving him with the vet. Although they were the best vets she’d ever found, Elizabeth felt like she was abandoning him. It was hard enough leaving him every day when she went to work, but to leave him in an unfamiliar place was almost unbearable.
Elizabeth glanced at the clock again, mentally planning the rest of her morning. She had 45 minutes until the trustees meeting. She still couldn’t believe that they had scheduled a meeting on the first day of classes. Even if the trustees had nothing to do today, professors - and teaching deans - had a ton to do.
Elizabeth drove along, grateful for the light traffic. She was passing Maybourne’s bar when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Elizabeth slammed on the brakes. Before she could react any further, a car slammed into the front passenger side of her car.
Elizabeth was thrown against the car door, the airbags ballooning. Her foot instinctively pressed even harder on the brake and her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
After a moment, the car stopped shaking and Elizabeth opened her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them. She couldn’t see much over the top of the airbag, but looking to the right, she could see that the front passenger corner of her car was crumpled in, and another car, with its front crumpled in, was next to hers. A disheveled man was unsteadily climbing out of the other car. In the distance, Elizabeth heard sirens.
Elizabeth sighed. This day was rapidly going downhill.
8:48 am
Elizabeth resignedly walked upstairs in the administration building. She was over 45 minutes late for the trustees meeting and she wasn’t looking forward to facing Kinsey, who seemed to think of these meetings as being for his benefit alone. During a lull in the action, she’d called Peter and asked him to let everyone know she would be late and why, so they’d hopefully cut her some slack.
At least the accident was mostly resolved. Her car had been hit by a drunk leaving Maybourne’s. His blood alcohol had tested at three times the legal limit and he had been arrested on the spot (after the paramedics checked him out, of course). The police had taken her statement and the paramedics had checked her out at the scene. A tow truck had taken her car to the shop; her insurance company was now dealing with the problem. Luckily for Elizabeth, two campus police officers, Det. Shanahan and Sgt. Bates, had heard about the accident on the radio and graciously offered her a ride to campus.
Elizabeth walked down the hall to the boardroom, only somewhat surprised that she could already hear shouting coming from the room. Sounded like business as usual. Elizabeth paused at the door and closed her eyes, quickly centering herself to prepare for what lie within.
As she entered, the yelling (which seemed to be between Kinsey and Jack) stopped and every eye focused on her. Immediately, every man in the room (and most of the people in the room were men) jumped up. Elizabeth found herself surrounded by men - an event that would have been more enjoyable under different circumstances. Paul Davis was on her right, George Hammond and Jacob Carter were on her left, Jack and Teal’c were in front of her; all of them were speaking at once.
“Elizabeth, are you all right?”
“We heard you were in an accident -”
“Are you hurt?”
Elizabeth looked around at the men surrounding her, not sure where to begin. She was spared the decision, however, when President Hayes raised his voice.
“Gentlemen, don’t crowd the doctor. She’s already had a difficult day. Let’s not make it worse.”
With sheepish smiles, the men cleared away and Elizabeth moved to her seat. Across the table, Catherine Langford smiled knowingly at her, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Paul pulled out her chair for her and Elizabeth sat, giving him a grateful smile. It was odd: the slightest hint that she might have been hurt, and most of the men in the room started falling over themselves and each other to act like perfect gentlemen. If her brain were more functional, she’d analyze that a bit more, but right now, there were other issues that required her attention.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to apologize for being late and to ask what she had missed, but before she could utter a word, Kinsey spoke up in a brusque and impatient tone.
“Well, now that Dr. Weir has so kindly decided to grace us with her presence, let’s continue,” he said, ignoring the glares being thrown at him. Of course, Kinsey probably had quite a bit of practice ignoring the many, many glares that were directed at him every hour. Kinsey seemed to be about to continue, but Jacob Carter jumped in.
“Why don’t we go straight to a vote? We’ve been debating funding for sports teams for over a half hour, and I doubt there’s much more to say. And if Dr. Weir would prefer, she can just abstain from the vote.”
Catherine quickly added, “I second the motion.”
A vote was then taken on whether to vote (and once again Elizabeth was confronted with the absurdities of parliamentary procedure), and the motion carried. Elizabeth didn’t really pay attention to the vote; she abstained. It must have been a good vote, because Jack started grinning and Kinsey looked even more pissed off than normal.
The meeting continued for quite a while, filled with mind-numbingly boring administrative matters. Finally, the President mercifully adjourned the meeting, and once again, Elizabeth found herself surrounded by sympathetic men. Their concern was very nice, but she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment as she glanced at the faces around her. Something - or maybe someone - was missing.
Elizabeth realized they were all staring at her. She must have zoned out. Not surprising, considering the day she’d had so far.
“So…what happened,” Jack asked.
Elizabeth felt resignation settle on her. She knew this scene - having to explain what had happened to everyone who knew her name - would replay for the foreseeable future.
“I was driving past Maybourne’s bar and a drunk floored it coming out of the parking lot and slammed into my car. That’s about it.”
“Are you hurt,” Paul asked worriedly.
“Nothing serious. The paramedics checked me out and pronounced me fine. I’m stiff and sore, but that’s all.”
George smiled at her. “Well, we’re glad you’re all right. We were rather worried when President Hayes told us why you would be late.”
Elizabeth smiled at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the clock and gasped as she realized the time.
“What is it? What’s wrong,” Paul asked.
Elizabeth belatedly realized how her gasp must have seemed to the concerned men surrounding her. “Nothing. I just saw the time. I have a class in twenty minutes.” As she spoke, Elizabeth gathered up her things and began to stand.
“Ah, yes, the semester starts today. We’ll stop harassing you and let you get to class,” Jack said.
Elizabeth turned to leave and realized Paul was still next to her. She glanced at him quizzically.
Paul shrugged. “I thought I’d be a good friend and walk across campus to the law school with you. Although you weren’t badly injured, a walk that long while carrying all that stuff could be tiring for you. Besides,” he continued, lowering his voice and leaning in conspiratorially, “I’d like to postpone the inevitable. I’m going to have to announce the board’s decision, and something tells me Kinsey is going to do everything he can to stop it, or failing that, make everyone’s lives miserable.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him and Paul laughed.
“Ok, more so than he normally does.”
Elizabeth laughed with him. “Well, far be it from me to make your life more miserable. Please join me.”
Paul grinned and took her bag. Together they walked down the stairs and out of the administration building. Elizabeth was content to walk in silence; she was mentally reviewing her lesson plan. Luckily, Paul seemed content to walk in silence, too.
They were halfway back to the law school when Paul started speaking.
“So, I haven’t seen you for a while. How have you been?”
Elizabeth took a moment to shift her mind from civil procedure to small talk. “Busy. Being dean and teaching classes takes up a lot of time.”
“And I hear your social life has picked up, too. That must take up a lot of time.”
Elizabeth looked at Paul curiously. The expression on his face was one she had not seen before. He couldn’t seem to decide whether he was teasing or nervous. She decided to answer cautiously.
“Well, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but yes, I suppose my social life has been more active lately. Making new friends will do that.”
Paul had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure if you knew that you and John Sheppard have been the main subject of the rumor mill for months now.”
Elizabeth sighed. Paul was a friend, but she really didn’t need this now. “I know. Jack’s thrilled that he and Sam aren’t the main topic anymore.”
Paul laughed. “Well, they had been the main topic for what, three years running? I’m sure he’s thrilled. Now they can flirt without the entire university taking note.”
“Yes, now it’s just the vast majority who notice instead of the entirety,” Elizabeth retorted dryly.
Paul laughed again. Elizabeth was glad to know that, even if she wasn’t completely functional, she was still funny - in a good way.
Elizabeth continued, “And how about you? I heard you were a big hit with your students last semester.” Paul had temporarily taken over a small computer science introductory seminar when an immigration snafu kept the real instructor out of the country for weeks.
Paul smiled ruefully. “Yeah, it was nice going back to my first career for a little while, but I quickly remembered why I got out of that field in the first place. Computers can be a real pain.”
Elizabeth smirked at him knowingly. “Is that the only reason? I also heard some of the students took a liking to you, almost to the levels that they like John and Daniel.”
Shuddering, Paul responded, “Don’t remind me. I’m glad only a couple girls decided to stalk me. I think I’ll stick with public relations from now on.”
They approached the door to the law school and Elizabeth paused to take her bag back from Paul. Instead of giving her the bag, Paul opened the door and motioned for her to precede him into the building. Elizabeth scowled at him but walked in the building, too tired and too late to put up a fight. She just barely had enough time to run to her office and freshen up.
Climbing the stairs, they started down the hall to her office. The absence of giggling, brainless sorority girls showed that John was not in his office. She felt a small, strange pang but pushed it aside as she strode as purposefully as she could to her office, Paul matching her strides exactly.
When they reached her officer, Paul opened the door and motioned for her to walk in. Inside, Peter rose from his desk as soon as he saw her, a worried expression on her face.
“Dr. Weir,” he exclaimed in his not-quite English accent. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Peter,” she answered, deciding to keep a running toll on how many times she was asked that question today. Elizabeth then turned to Paul, who was standing in the doorway. She held out her hand and he handed her the bag.
Elizabeth smiled at him. “Thank you, Paul.”
Paul smiled back. “Anytime, Elizabeth. Let me know if you need anything else. And we should get together for coffee sometime - assuming you can fit me in your busy social schedule.” With a mischievous grin and a wave, Paul was gone, leaving Elizabeth staring after him, bewildered.
Turning, Elizabeth was treated to the sight of Peter smirking at her. Ignoring him, she walked into her office. She quickly freshened up, grabbed her notes, and walked out the door, waving to Peter as she left. So much for preparation.
She walked down the stairs, avoiding the work crew as she did. She had forgotten they would be working on the ventilation system. Just another thing going on today.
Elizabeth walked into the classroom, noting that all conversation stopped as soon as the students saw her. The terrified expressions on their faces were actually quite amusing, and it was all Elizabeth could do to keep from laughing. She settled for a smile, hoping it would put them at ease. Although the trend was for law deans to teach classes, she didn’t know many who taught first year classes. Elizabeth enjoyed first year classes; 1L’s were a lot easier to deal with - still easily intimidated. She remembered the skepticism she’d felt upon learning the axiom about law school: the first year they scare you to death; the second year they work you to death; and the third year they bore you to death. How surprised she had been to find out how true the axiom was.
Elizabeth also liked civil procedure, more commonly referred to as “civ pro.” There was just something that her organized mind liked about procedural rules.
“Good morning. As I’m sure you all know, I’m Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Now, let’s talk about personal, in rem, and quasi-in rem jurisdiction. Mr. Clark, please tell us the facts and holding of Pennoyer v. Neff.” Elizabeth hid a smile at the groans the students had to be hiding at having to discuss Pennoyer, one of the worst cases she had ever read, in law school or since. She could also feel the relief all the students other than Mr. Clark felt at not being called on.
Once again grateful for the Socratic Method (though she had not been nearly as appreciative of it when she had been a law student), Elizabeth spent the first half of the class asking a few questions and letting the students do most of the talking. Suddenly, a loud noise began blaring throughout the room, accompanied by a flashing strobe light. Startled, it took Elizabeth a moment to recognize it: the fire alarm.
Raising her voice over the noise, she told her students, “All right. Everyone out. Go out the back door and cross the street.” Elizabeth quickly gathered up her papers and waited for all her students to leave. She watched as they students quickly packed up their laptops and books. In a couple minutes, they were all out and joined the flow of people walking to the back door.
Outside, they went to the appointed area. Unfortunately, the freezing rain had started again and Elizabeth didn’t have her coat. Once she made sure all her students were outside, Elizabeth moved to talk to other professors, hoping one of them would know where the fire was. It was likely in the law school café.
For several minutes, she and the other professors talked and watched the firefighters, trying to figure out what had happened. No one had even smelled smoke; nor did anyone see any smoke now. There was no indication of where the fire was.
They had been outside for a little while when Elizabeth saw two firefighters moving toward the group of people standing across from the law school. Elizabeth walked over to meet them halfway.
“Are you in charge?” a female firefighter asked, holding out her hand. Elizabeth shook the hand and introduced herself.
“I’m Capt. Montgomery. I’m happy to say there was no fire. Apparently, maintenance workers accidentally blew smoke into a smoke detector, setting it off. It’s safe for everyone to go back in.”
Elizabeth just managed not to roll her eyes or show her frustration as she thanked the Captain and walked back to the professors. She explained what happened, unable to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Normally she would have berated herself for such a lapse, but she was soaking wet, freezing, and having a really bad day, so she figured she was justified in showing a little annoyance. She felt a little more justified as she saw open annoyance on the faces of all the professors around her. After she completed her explanation, they separated to tell to students they could go back in. Elizabeth walked over to where her civ pro students had congregated.
Raising her voice, she said, “Listen up, everyone. It was just a false alarm. You can go back in. Go to you 11 am class. I’ll send out an email about your assignment for tomorrow.” As she finished, the students began walking back towards the building, and Elizabeth followed them, but instead of following them to the stairs, she went to the elevator. She was too tired to walk up two flights of stairs.
Once upstairs, she walked to her office. The outer office was empty; she had beaten Peter back. Closing the door to her inner office firmly, she walked into her private bathroom. She had never been so grateful for the perks of being dean as she was now. Shivering from the cold, she changed into a dry outfit. Almost afraid to, she looked in the mirror and saw that her hair was a frizzy mass of tangled curls. Elizabeth sighed and pulled out a comb, spending several minutes trying to tame her unruly hair.
Finally believing herself to be presentable, Elizabeth walked to her desk and turned on her computer. She glanced at the clock and was shocked to see it was 11:19. At least the day was going by quickly.
She had just finished sending an email to her civ pro students about the next day’s assignment when her phone rang.
“Dr. Weir,” Elizabeth said.
“Dr. Weir, this is Rick from the Campus View Vets. I’m calling about your dog, Sedge.”
“Yes, how is he?”
“I’m afraid he has an intestinal virus. He’ll be fine, but he’s going to need to stay here for a few days.”
Elizabeth felt both concern and relief. She was glad he would be ok, but wished she would be able to take him home today. After the call ended, she noticed an email from Kinsey with a rather nasty subject line. Deciding to get it over with, she opened the message and discovered it was yet another of Kinsey’s rants about his personal pet peeves. Today it was one of his favorite causes: the students’ lack of respect for the big, circular sculpture in the quad. Elizabeth skimmed and deleted it, grateful it wasn’t any worse.
Before she could open another message, the phone rang again. “Dr. Weir.”
“Dr. Weir, this is Angela Roberts, your insurance agent. I’d like to talk to you about your car.”
Elizabeth held back a sigh, trying to push back the headache she’d been fighting all day but that was now threatening to become full blown. She spoke with the insurance agent for over 15 minutes, but she felt a little better when the conversation was over. She had a good insurance company and they were taking care of everything. It was a shame, though, that there was no car rental agency in town. She was going to have to figure out alternative means of transportation until her car was fixed. Perhaps John would give her a ride. She’d bought him dinner often enough - not to mention the fundraiser - and now he owed her.
Hanging up the phone, Elizabeth turned back to her computer. No sooner had she done so, than a knock came at the door. Sighing for what seemed the millionth time that day, Elizabeth called, “Come in.”
Peter stuck his head in her office. “Dr. Weir, the Student Bar Association committee is here to speak with you about the library. And don’t forget, you have the International Law Review ceremony at 12:30 in the moot court room.”
Elizabeth nearly groaned. She had completely forgotten about both meetings.
“Thank you, Peter. Please send the students in. And could you find me some lunch? I don’t think I’ll have a chance to go get some.”
“No problem.” Peter’s head disappeared and she overheard him telling the students to go in. Rising, she smoothed her clothes and walked around her desk to greet the students.
Five students from the SBA filed into her office. Elizabeth recognized four of them; the fifth must be a 1L - she didn’t know all the 1L’s yet.
Elizabeth shook their hands and invited them to sit around her desk, while she sat behind her desk, folded her hands, and looked at them expectantly. “So, what can I do for you?”
The apparent leader, a 2L named Linda Rodriguez, began speaking. “Dr. Weir, we’re concerned about the availability of study areas in the library.”
Elizabeth frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. When they renovated this building five years ago, making sure there was enough study space in the library was a priority. Even though we’ve increased enrollment in the past few years, there should be more than enough space for everyone.”
“There is plenty of space for all the law students. The problem is that it’s not just law students who are using the law library.”
Uh-oh, Elizabeth thought, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She felt an intra-university battle coming on. “What are you getting at, Linda?”
“We’ve been receiving an unprecedented number of complaints about the lack of study space in the law library. Undergrads using our library has always been a minor annoyance, but over the past semester, the problem has become much worse. And it’s not just that they’re taking space in the library; they talk loudly, even in the reading room, no matter how many times they’re asked to be quiet. We attribute the increase to several undergrad professors, namely Prof. Sheppard, moving their offices into the law school. What we want to do is take measures to make the library a better place to study.”
Elizabeth considered this. They may have a point (though why did they all stare at her accusingly when Linda mentioned John?). The number of undergrads in the building had increased since the math professors moved in. And then, of course, there was the near constant presence of the sorority girls in the hall, who made quite a racket.
Undergrads normally didn’t go into law school buildings. Law schools, as a rule, were fairly insular; all law classes were held in the law building and social gatherings were held either in the law school commons or off-campus. And law students usually spent hours each day in the library studying. Undergrads didn’t understand how important studying was to law students - or how much they had to do. Undergrads didn’t have to deal with the Socratic Method or having their entire grade for a class based on one three-hour exam. And if the students were upset enough to send a Student Bar Association committee to the dean, instead of just bitchin’ and moanin’ amongst themselves like they normally did, this was a serious problem.
“What do you propose,” Elizabeth asked.
“We would like to institute assigned carrels and study areas. We intend to have an open discussion on the matter next week and put the matter to SBA vote at our meeting later this month. We’d like to get faculty input as well as student input, which is why we’re coming to you.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly. “I’m not sure what the faculty will say, but I’ll bring it up at our faculty meeting today. We can set up a time for you to present you case to the entire faculty.”
The students smiled and thanked her. They chatted for several minutes, mostly complaining about having to stand in freezing rain for almost 20 minutes. Elizabeth finally was able to hear about the “Jeopardy song incident” from someone with first hand knowledge - the 1L - and she couldn’t help but chuckle. Late last semester, after Prof. Applegate asked the last in a series of obscure questions that no one in his first year contracts class knew the answers to, a student played the “Jeopardy” theme on his laptop and set the entire room, including Prof. Applegate, cracking up. Elizabeth had heard about it from another professor, but it was even funnier hearing about it from someone who had been there. Finally, Elizabeth noticed it was after noon and quickly and politely ushered them out of her office.
As soon as they were out the door, Peter’s head popped back in her office. “I have your lunch, Dr. Weir.”
She smiled at him tiredly as he walked to her desk. “Thank you, Peter.”
Peter grinned. “Pesky undergrads causing problems again?” Elizabeth rolled her eyes as he sat a plate down in front of her. “I got you the manager’s special: stuffed eggplant.”
Elizabeth inhaled the tempting aroma. She rarely went to the law school café - it was usually very crowded and had limited hours. But they did serve good food.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Peter. How much do I owe you,” she asked, grabbing her purse and pulling out her wallet.
“$4.50.”
Elizabeth pulled out the correct amount and handed it to Peter. He pocketed the money and nodded toward the clock. “You should hurry. The ceremony starts soon.”
She responded by putting a bite in her mouth. Peter smiled and left her office, closing the door behind him. Elizabeth hurriedly stuffed the eggplant in her mouth.
The ceremony wasn’t really necessary, but it was an important milestone for the students involved. Over a year ago, a group of enterprising 2L’s had decided the law school needed to start an international-themed law review. Because of her background in international affairs, they had asked her to be the faculty advisor. Although she had more than enough to do, Elizabeth hadn’t been able to turn them down. For the first issue of the new review, she had written both the introduction to the issue and an article. The first issue had come back from the printers during finals last semester and they were having a ceremony to celebrate. As the faculty advisor, she had been invited to give a few remarks.
Elizabeth smiled, realizing it had been a good thing she had written both articles before John had moved his office into the law school, because she never would have been able to get either written had he been around. As she had done her author review last semester, John had been a constant distraction, pestering her about working too hard and not eating. He had even gone so far as to make her explain the thesis of her article. If she ever again wrote a law review article, she’d have to sequester herself away from John to make sure she would actually be able to accomplish something.
Quickly finishing her lunch, Elizabeth stood to go to the ceremony. Checking in a mirror to make sure she was still presentable, Elizabeth left her office.
2 pm
Elizabeth glanced at the clock on her office wall. It was time to go to class. For the past hour, she had tried to prepare, but had been constantly interrupted by phone calls and people dropping by. Surprisingly (and perhaps unfortunately), John had not stopped by. Despite her better judgment, Elizabeth found herself wishing he would drop in. She hadn’t seen him since Winter Break began. She had stayed in town, but she knew he had gone to visit his family in Chicago. John always made her smile, and she could use a friend like that today.
Saying good-bye to Peter, Elizabeth walked down the hall to one of the smaller seminar rooms. The room was actually directly across the hall from John’s office. She saw that his office hours must be about to start - the crowd was beginning to form outside his office door. Doing her best not to roll her eyes at the giggling sorority girls, Elizabeth opened the door and walked into the classroom.
Elizabeth always enjoyed teaching her upper-class international law and negotiation seminar. It was one of the few ways she managed to combine her brief career in foreign affairs and her law career. It was usually a fun class full of dedicated students, mostly 2L’s - the 3L’s knew better than to take a class with the demanding dean.
Elizabeth looked at the clock. It was 2:08. Time to start class.
“Good afternoon. As I’m sure you all know, I’m Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Now, do I have a volunteer to discuss the first case?”
A volunteer was quickly found, and for the first hour of class, the discussion was lively and well informed. The problem was the noise coming from the hallway: the giggling, yelling, etc. It had been present since the beginning of class but had steadily grown in volume. Her students had been throwing annoyed glances toward the hallway for about twenty minutes; Elizabeth had to stop herself from doing the same.
The noise continued to grow to the point where she and her students were straining to hear one another. Elizabeth felt her anger grow despite her efforts to control it. Right before she was about to announce it was time for their break, several loud screams (or were they squeals?) came from the hallway, causing most of the people in the room, including Elizabeth, to jump.
That was it. Elizabeth had put up with the noise for long enough.
“All right, everyone, let’s take our break. Be back in ten minutes.”
Without looking at her students, Elizabeth stalked out of the room, stopping in the middle of the hallway, staring at the mindless sorority girls, mentally willing the girls to turn into smoking craters through the force of her glare.
She continued to stare for about thirty seconds before the girls started to notice. The giggling slowly stopped and was replaced by whispers and nervous glances. Once Elizabeth was sure she had their attention, she began to speak.
“Ladies,” she began, keeping her voice cold and soft, “contrary to what you may believe, this is a school. Students come here to learn. You are obviously not here to learn and you are impairing my students’ ability to do so with your childish behavior. If you do have a legitimate purpose in being here, I expect that you act like adults and behave yourselves, instead of acting like five-year-olds. If you do not have a legitimate purpose in being here, I suggest you leave. Now.” Turning her glare up to full, she stared the girls down and watched stonily as they slowly walked down the hall to the stairs.
Elizabeth caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to see what it was, she saw John and, ignoring the shock that ran through her, met his gaze. He looked both stunned and impressed. She then saw more movement and realized she had a large audience: her students were staring at her with expressions similar to John’s.
Elizabeth didn’t want to deal with them. Turning on her heel, she stormed down the hall to her office. Peter met her at the door (his expression showing that he, too, had been a member of her audience), but she ignored him as he quickly moved out of her way. She walked into her office and closed the door. For a moment, she paced like a caged animal. The fury she felt at the sorority girls’ childishness started to boil over and she grabbed a throw pillow from her armchair and hurled it across the room. The pillow hit a stack of files on her desk, which, along with the pillow, went crashing to the floor. Feeling suddenly drained, she collapsed into her armchair, closed her eyes, and tried to use several of the calming techniques she had learned over the years.
Elizabeth was ashamed of herself. She prided herself in her control and rarely lost her temper. And not only had she lost her temper, but she had done so in public, and all for some annoying little sorority girls.
After using several techniques with limited success, Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at the clock. The break was over. It was time to go back to class. She took a deep breath, stood up, smoothed her clothes, and walked out of her office.
4 pm
Class was finally over and Elizabeth practically ran out of the classroom. Although her students had gazed at her admiringly for the rest of class, they also knew better than to approach her while she was in such a bad mood. Returning to her office, she grabbed her gym bag and coat, told Peter she was going to the gym, and left the law school as quickly as she could.
Thankfully, the freezing rain had once again stopped. Elizabeth walked swiftly to the gym, hoping she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew. She was eager to get to the gym and work out her frustration. Once she arrived, Elizabeth changed clothes and found a free stair stepper, letting her mind drift as she began stepping.
Like many other lawyers she’d spoken to, Elizabeth found physical activity - especially mindless physical activity - very relaxing. There was just something freeing about not having to engage the brain. For this reason, among others, Elizabeth thoroughly cleaned her house every two weeks (she’d prefer every week, but didn’t have the time).
Determined to work out her frustration, Elizabeth increased the intensity. She had lost control of her emotions too many times today and she didn’t want it to happen again. She continued stepping, ignoring the twinge in her knee.
At least, she ignored the twinge until the knee gave out. With a cry of pain (a slip for which she immediately berated herself), Elizabeth collapsed, barely managing to not hurt herself on the steps as she fell.
“Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth closed her eyes, more in dread than in pain. It was Janet. There was no way she’d be able to argue her way out of a trip to the clinic. But she was a lawyer, and she would certainly try.
“I’m fine, Janet. It’s just a twinge.”
Janet was now at Elizabeth’s side, helping her off the stair-stepper. “Like hell, you’re fine. I saw you collapse and heard you cry out.” Janet started probing Elizabeth’s knee with her fingers and Elizabeth involuntarily winced. Unfortunately, Janet saw it.
“That’s it. I’m taking you to the clinic.”
Elizabeth started to protest, but Janet held up a hand to stop her.
“Either you come with me voluntarily or I get a couple football players to carry you.” Elizabeth looked at Janet, horrified; she nodded, giving in. Not her best performance as a negotiator, but in her defense, no one went up against Janet and won when someone’s health was at stake.
Elizabeth let Janet help her up, trying not to laugh at the strange situation: 5’0” Janet helping 5’7” Elizabeth. Elizabeth towered over Janet and Janet wasn’t really supporting Elizabeth very well. Elizabeth kept her mouth shut on that point, however; she wouldn’t put it past Janet to follow through on her threat to make football players carry her. Elizabeth knew the rumor mill would undoubtedly have a field day with her acts today, and she didn’t need to provide additional fodder for it.
Janet first steered Elizabeth to the locker room and helped her into the shower. For the first time that day, Elizabeth was grateful for the miserable weather; if the weather had been nice, Janet might have insisted on taking Elizabeth to the clinic in her sweat-soaked gym clothes.
Both clean and in clean clothes, Elizabeth and Janet left the gym. For obvious reasons, the clinic was near the gym, stadium, and practice field. So Elizabeth soon found herself in the X-ray room, covered with a lead jacket. A few minutes later, she was on a bed, her knee elevated and iced.
Janet strode into the room, moving with near lightening speed. Elizabeth had always marveled at how someone so tiny could move so quickly.
“Well,” Janet began, putting the x-ray film on the display. “The good news is that it looks as though you just wrenched it. So you’ll need to ice it and elevate it. I’ll give you a pain-killer, a knee brace, and a cane.” Elizabeth started to protest about the cane, but for the second time in a half-hour, Janet held up her hand to forestall the protest. “I don’t want to hear it, Elizabeth. I know better than to require you to go home and stay off your feet. Instead, I’m requiring you to use a cane. If you refuse, I’ll go get those football players and make them carry you home.”
Elizabeth reluctantly nodded. This was likely to be the most she’d get from Janet. She laid back and tried to relax as Janet began to poke and prod her knee.
Janet continued, “Actually, it’s a good thing you’re here. I heard about the accident and I wanted to check you out to make sure you weren’t hurt.”
“Janet,” Elizabeth responded, “the paramedics checked me out at the scene and said I was fine.”
Janet gave Elizabeth her Patented Doctor Look #42: Don’t tell me that crap because you know it doesn’t help you. “Paramedics, Elizabeth. Not a doctor. Paramedics are great at their jobs, but they’re not doctors.”
Elizabeth sighed, knowing she’d lost to Janet again. As Janet began to examine her, Elizabeth considered asking her how she had known about the accident. Normally, Elizabeth wouldn’t stoop so low as to overly concern herself with the rumor mill. However, being a main topic of the rumor mill for months (along with John) had made her somewhat paranoid. Besides, she had a sneaking suspicion about how Janet knew.
“So, how did you learn about the accident,” she asked.
Janet paused in her exam and looked curiously at Elizabeth. “Paul told me. I ran into him at lunch.”
Elizabeth just nodded, but internally, she was scheming. She was right: it had been Paul. She knew he meant well, but she didn’t really care about that at this point. Now she just had to plot her revenge.
Janet must have sensed her train of thought, because she looked at Elizabeth reproachfully. “He was concerned, Elizabeth. There’s no need to punish him. Though,” she continued, her eyes twinkling mischievously, “I’m beginning to wonder if John Sheppard might have some competition for your affections.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help herself: she burst out laughing. “John and Paul are good friends. That’s all. They are not ‘competing for my affections,’” she said between giggles.
Janet cocked an eyebrow. “Are you so sure?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied firmly.
“Maybe you’re the one competing for their affections. But which one do you want?”
“Janet,” Elizabeth exclaimed, scandalized. “They’re my friends. It is possible for men and women to have purely platonic relationships.”
“Even when the men are as attractive as John and Paul are?”
Elizabeth groaned. “Is this what I get for joining Sam in teasing you about Daniel? I only did it once!”
Janet smiled sweetly. “And you’ll never do it again, will you?”
Elizabeth just groaned again and let her head sink back into the pillow. Janet soon finished the exam and pronounced Elizabeth fine. “But I want you to take it easy. And if you have any problems - anything at all - I want you to come back. And if you can’t make it, call and I’ll send a couple football players to come get you. Or maybe I’ll be able to convince John and Paul to carry you over.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted when a nurse walked into the room.
“Dr. Fraiser, Dr. Jackson just arrived.”
Elizabeth and Janet shared a knowing look. Janet sighed and gave the nurse her Patented Doctor Look #47: what has Daniel done NOW? Matching her look, she said, “What did he do this time?”
“He said he walked into a wall.”
Janet rolled her eyes while Elizabeth chuckled.
“Thank you. I’ll be there in a moment.” The nurse left and Janet turned back to Elizabeth. “I’ll send a nurse to get you checked out.”
“Have fun with Daniel,” Elizabeth replied with an innocent look on her face. A look that Janet obviously didn’t buy, because she treated Elizabeth to her Patented Doctor Look #7: I am not amused. Elizabeth just grinned as Janet left the room.
5:05 pm
Figuring she had an excuse, Elizabeth used the elevator in the law school. Most classes were done for the day, so the building was relatively quiet. She finally reached her office, not surprised to see Peter still at his desk; he’d probably stay for the faculty meeting at six.
Peter looked up to greet her, but anything he might have said died on his lips when he saw the cane.
“I’m fine, Peter,” Elizabeth said, preventing comment from him as he came around his desk to meet her. “I just wrenched my knee. Janet already checked me out.”
Peter nodded but didn’t look convinced. He held out a folder for her. “Here are the notes you wanted for the faculty meeting.”
Elizabeth took the folder from him, trying to balance it along with her gym bag and the cane. “Thank you, Peter.” Elizabeth reflected that, as often as she said them, she ought to get Peter a mug with those words inscribed on it.
Peter nodded toward her office. “Dr. Sheppard is waiting for you in your office.”
Elizabeth nodded in response and walked to her office door. She opened it and walked inside. John was sitting in her armchair, though perhaps ‘sitting’ wasn’t the right word. John’s head was thrown back and his legs were stretched out in front of him. A calculus book was lying open on his chest. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard soft snores coming from him. He actually looked quite adorable.
After several moments, Elizabeth realized with a start that she was staring at John. She was glad he was still asleep so he couldn’t see her lapse. Moving quietly so as not to wake him, Elizabeth went to her desk and sat down. She noticed with chagrin that Peter had apparently picked up the files she had knocked down when she had thrown the pillow. Making a mental note to thank him later, she started going over her notes for the meeting.
She read for a while as John slept. It was odd, but she found his mere presence comforting. However, she was rather envious: it was completely unfair that he was sleeping not five feet from her when all she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep.
Elizabeth decided she needed caffeine if she was ever going to get through the faculty meeting. She turned to get a soda from her refrigerator and accidentally knocked over her cane, which she had propped up against her desk. She tried to grab it but it was too late. The cane fell, hitting her printer before crashing to the floor with a loud noise.
Across the room, John came awake with a start, twisting in the chair to face her. When he saw her, he was on his feet in an instant, coming toward her desk.
“Are you all right?” John asked, concern written all over his face.
“I’m fine, John. I just knocked something over.”
John came around the desk and saw the cane on the floor. He looked up at her, alarmed. “I thought Peter said you weren’t hurt.”
Elizabeth picked up the cane and propped it up again. “I wasn’t hurt. I just wrenched my knee on a stair stepper.”
John frowned at her as he perched himself on the edge of her desk. “You should be more careful.”
Elizabeth barely managed to keep the edge from her voice. “I know, John. I don’t need you looking after me.”
John frowned at her again, but his face brightened after a moment. “On the bright side, you got the annoying sorority girls to leave. Wanna join the pool for how long ‘til they come back?” He pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket. “I have one week, Peter has two days, Daniel has three days, Jonas, four, Rodney, ten, Jack has five, Sam has two weeks, and Carson, twelve days. There aren’t many choices left, but you can probably go in with someone. Only ten dollar stake.”
Elizabeth stared at John in shock. “How did all those people find out?”
John shifted uncomfortably under her stare. “Well, I ran into them when I went to get a snack.”
“And you told them,” Elizabeth said, aghast.
“Well, why not,” John replied defensively. “It’s a shame you couldn’t see yourself, Lizzie. You were magnificent. I can see you in a courtroom. Remind me never to go up against you.”
Despite the compliments, Elizabeth was livid. “John, why did you tell them? Everyone’s going to be talking about it. I can see the headline now: Dean of Law School Beats Up on Brainless Sorority Girls.” John started to smirk but quickly wiped it off his face when Elizabeth glared at him. “I’m serious, John! I shouldn’t have done it and now everyone knows about it. What will happen when President Hayes, or, God forbid, Kinsey, learn about it?” Elizabeth was yelling and she knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t help it.
John clearly knew she was overreacting. “It’s fine, Lizzie. Don’t worry about it. You were completely justified. They were disturbing your class. I’ve asked them to be quiet more times than I can count. They’ll listen to you.”
Elizabeth didn’t answer at first. She just rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of her headache and calm down. “They may have been disturbing my class, but that’s no excuse for my behavior. I’m dean. I can’t act like that. And I wish you hadn’t told anyone.”
John started pleading. “Oh, come on, Lizzie - ” but Elizabeth cut him off.
“And don’t call me ‘Lizzie!’ My name is Elizabeth!”
John looked taken aback by her vehemence. “Sorry,” he muttered. The silence quickly became awkward, but Elizabeth didn’t know what to do. She felt bad about yelling at John but she was still mad at him.
Several minutes passed in the awkward state. Elizabeth found she couldn’t even look at John. After what seemed like an interminably long time, John cleared his throat.
“Well, I suppose I should go. Peter said you have a faculty meeting at six.”
Elizabeth murmured, “Yeah,” still unable to raise her eyes to watch him leave. She heard the door open.
“See you later, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to say goodbye, but the door closed behind John before she could. She felt awful. John, though he had only been her friend for a relatively short time, was probably her best friend. Although she was annoyed that he told so many people about her outburst, she shouldn’t have taken out her frustration on him.
A knock on her office door startled Elizabeth out of her melancholy reverie. “Yes,” she called.
Peter’s head appeared in her doorway. “The faculty meeting is in five minutes, Dr. Weir.”
“Thank you, Peter.” Peter’s head disappeared and Elizabeth began to gather her things. Her bad day was almost over; she just had to face the faculty first.
8:13 pm
After paying the driver, Elizabeth climbed out of the cab, grateful to be home but annoyed that it was raining again. The faculty meeting had been especially contentious, with several issues causing long arguments. She had begun to wonder if it was ever going to end. At long last, the meeting had ended, and Elizabeth tried to get some work done in her office, but had been too tired to concentrate. She had also been disappointed that John hadn’t been in the building; she wanted to apologize and bum a ride. After waiting for twenty minutes, she gave in and called a cab.
Elizabeth unlocked the door to her home and stumbled inside, sagging against the door as she closed it behind her. Finally, she thought. With a pang, she realized Sedge was still at the vet; he normally met her at the door, happy and excited to see her. She could use a little comfort from her dog right now. Instead, she decided to take a long, hot bath, put on some music, light some candles, and forget this day had ever happened.
Dropping her coat, bag, and cane on the floor, she slowly climbed the stairs, leaning heavily on the rail for support. Once in her bedroom, she had to fight the impulse to simply collapse on the bed. She peeled off the wet clothes, too tired to throw them into the hamper. Slipping into her silk robe, she went into her bathroom, turned on the light, and stopped dead in her tracks.
One of the advantages of being a dean was the salary (not that law professors come cheap). In looking for a home near Langford U, she had had a few requirements: 1) a large and well-equipped kitchen; 2) a decently sized backyard; and 3) a gigantic bathtub. Her bathtub was truly gigantic, actually a Jacuzzi, into which at least two people could fit - although she had never found that out for certain. What she had forgotten was that the pipes were backed up and there was standing water in the tub. She had meant to call the plumber today, but in all the chaos, she had completely forgotten. So her long, hot, luxurious bath was no longer an option.
Once again, feelings of frustration threatened to overcome her. Nothing had gone right today! There was only one thing left to do: crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head, and forget the world existed. Turning off the bathroom light, she walked back over to bed and pulled down the blankets. Before she could climb in, however, a sound rang throughout her house.
Ding-dong!
Elizabeth almost screamed. Would she never get a break? She considered ignoring it, but the person would probably ring the bell again. Throwing the blankets down, muttering to herself, she walked downstairs. At the last moment, it occurred to her to check to make sure she was decent, and she decided the robe would have to be decent enough. She was so frustrated and distracted she didn’t even look through the peephole. Instead, she flung open the door and found herself face to face with…John Sheppard? She stared dumbly at him, not comprehending that he was actually standing in her doorway.
After a moment, he hesitantly spoke, “Elizabeth?” When she didn’t respond, he lifted the box he was holding into her view. “I brought cheesecake.”
Elizabeth shifted her gaze to the box and then back to John’s face. He really looked worried and uncertain. If she hadn’t felt so awful, it might have been funny. But here he was, after her horrendous day, after she had been awful to him, with an offering of cheesecake. She had endured so much that day. And now, a simple act of kindness from someone she valued more than she even knew undid her entire resolve. Unable to help herself, she burst into tears.
Through her tears, she was able to see glimpses of John’s face, his expression nearing panic. She tried to apologize, to let him know he hadn’t done anything wrong, but she couldn’t get any words out. She couldn’t do anything, which only made her cry harder.
John must have gotten over his panic, because she heard the door close and felt him move closer to her. Without warning, a warm and gentle arm wrapped around her shoulders and she found herself being softly, but firmly, guided. She didn’t know where they were going, but at this point, she was more than willing to go wherever John wanted her to. Elizabeth could only walk and cry, not even able to exert herself to wonder where John was taking her. A moment later, she felt a blanket being wrapped around her and his hands guided her into a sitting position.
“I’ll be right back. Stay here,” John said. Elizabeth could only nod.
Finally able to calm herself some, and after blowing her nose, she looked around and discovered she was on the couch in her living room. From the sounds, it seemed as though John was in her kitchen. Still sniffling, she turned in the direction of the kitchen so she could see when he came back.
Soon he was back with a plate and glass. Unlike the normal John Sheppard, he was serious, his expression determined. Elizabeth had never really realized how impressive he could be when he wasn’t joking around; truly, a man of action. Silently, he sat beside her and gently pulled her against him, wrapping his arm around her. With his other hand, he took a fork and cut off a bite of cheesecake, moving the fork directly in front of her mouth. Obediently, she opened her mouth, and he popped the bite in. As she chewed the delicious dessert, she realized she should be insulted that he was feeding her as if she were a child, but decided against it. Sometimes it was nice to have someone take care of her, and she had to admit, if anyone had to take care of her, she would prefer it be John. She knew he would never think less of her for it.
When she finished the bite, he gave her a drink; she was somewhat surprised and pleased he had been able to find her supply of alcohol.
Rubbing her arm, he said, “Now, why don’t you tell me all about your bad day.”
Nodding reluctantly, she started speaking, at first slowly, but then the words started tumbling out. As she spoke, John rubbed her arm and occasionally popped more bites of cheesecake in her mouth, but remained silent. He just held (and fed) her as she vented. She’d never realized just how good a listener he was. And for once, the still functional part of her brain noted with amusement, he wasn’t stealing her dessert.
Finally, both her account and the cheesecake were done, and Elizabeth was getting very sleepy. John wrapped his other arm around her as she unconsciously snuggled in closer. He was so warm and welcoming, as relaxing as a bath.
“Just go to sleep, Elizabeth. I’ll be here,” John whispered, speaking for the first time since she had started telling him about her day.
“Okay,” she drowsily responded. As she drifted off, she realized that, although the day had been horrific, the ending wasn’t so bad, and almost made up for everything that had gone wrong. “Thank you, John,” she whispered just before oblivion overtook her.
“Good night, Elizabeth.”