[Resolve, Pt. 1 - girl!Eli/Rush - PG-13]
And The Muse keeps rolling on... may she never cease.
Resolve, Part One
Elizabeth Wallace/Nicholas Rush
PG-13 for violence
1120 words
Spoilers up to 1x10 - "Justice", will more than likely be Jossed in April for anything post "Justice"
Sequal to Pride
Word on Destiny travels fast.
The crew rallies around Eli. Even Greer, which is surprising.
“Life is life,” he says, after Eli’s pregnancy is officially confirmed to the crew by Young. “Even if it is Rush’s spawn.”
That garners a chuckle from her, because it’s completely true.
Some of the crew aren’t as… demonstrative, though, and Eli knows why. What do you say to a girl whose lover was lost only the day before? Who’s carrying the child of a dead man, the child of the one person who… may have gotten them home?
Eli tries not to think about it.
--
She carries on Nicholas’ work. She, Brody, and Lisa keep trying to crack the code. She prays that Franklin wakes up. She prays that he knows how to work this blasted tin can they’re stranded in once he comes to. She doesn’t want to think that his suffering, goaded on by the man she loved, was all for naught. She doesn’t want to think that she’s not smart enough.
She doesn’t want to let him down.
--
Weeks pass, and they’re still no further along in their quest. Franklin’s dead, his body unable to handle the trauma The Chair caused.
Eli cries for hours afterwards.
It was Colonel Young who found her in the Chair Room, sitting on the floor behind The Chair, her knees barely able to tuck up underneath her chin.
He sits down in front of her. “It wasn’t your fault, Eli.”
“Wasn’t it, though? I saw the look in his eye. I knew that he had something to prove to Nicholas. I shouldn’t have left him alone.”
“If it hadn’t been for Dr. Rush’s instance-“
She cuts him off. “Don’t you dare, Colonel. Don’t you even dare.”
She stands. “I will not have you talk about Nicholas like that, not after what you did. We all knew the risks. Franklin was just… he was just…”
The words stop.
The tears start.
Young stands and moves toward Eli, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Eli.”
“No," she says with finality. “You’re not.”
“No, I am. If I had known…” He looks at her intently. “Maybe things would have turned out different.”
Eli wipes a tear away. “I’m not so sure about that.”
She walks past him toward the door. “I’ll be in the infirmary. It’s my two-month check up, not that TJ can do much.”
Before she leaves, Young catches her hand. “Do you… do you need anyone to go with you?”
“No, Matt and Chloe offered, but… thank you.”
Eli’s face softens. “It was… very considerate of you.”
--
Eli wishes that an Ancient sonogram machine would magically appear out of thin air.
There are so many things she wants to know, like if he has all his fingers and toes. If he’s growing the way he should. No folic acid, no prenatal vitamins… she just needs to know that he’s okay.
She likes to think she’s having a boy, Karma’s way of replacing what was lost.
TJ helps her out the best she can. Vitamin shots, the best of what can be considered vegetables from what they’re able to harvest off-ship and from Franklin’s hydroponics bay, now run by Riley. It’s not ideal by any means, but Eli appreciates everyone’s effort. They seem to know that this, that he, is special.
Chloe stands by her the most. Their joint yoga sessions are the few times that Eli can just… vent. About her frustrations with The Chair, how Telford’s intrusions drive her insane.
How she misses Nicholas so much it hurts.
How she wants to hate the Colonel with the intensity of a star, but can’t, because she can see the sincere regret behind his eyes.
Chloe doesn’t know what to say, but she’s there, which is enough for Eli.
--
It’s during makeshift movie night in the gate room that she feels the baby kick for the first time.
It’s only a flutter, but it’s there, and it’s good.
When the lights come back on, she’s grinning from ear to ear.
--
Young checks on Eli daily, even if there isn’t a disaster looming over their heads. Usually they find themselves taking a walk down to the mess to see what ever Becker has been able to put together into something edible.
Sometimes they even try some, Eli being fearless, and usually regretting it later when it comes back up violently.
Eli’s found the Colonel’s effort of… reconciliation very endearing. She’s also come to the conclusion that she shouldn’t let his shortcomings get in the way of their friendship.
Even if his biggest shortcoming cost her the father of her child.
The apologies have been accepted, and the two of them have moved on.
There’s laughter now where there used to be stony silence, and that makes Eli feel… great.
--
She borrows a pair of headphones and plugs them into her phone. Putting the headphones around her swollen stomach, she clicks through folders until she comes across a small classical playlist she has and presses play.
“It’s not as good as Baby Einstein, but it’ll have to do, eh, little one?”
Listening to the muffled sounds of Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Schubert… she dreams. Dreams that this child she’ll be bringing into the world will have a full life. That he’ll feel the sun on his face. Grass under his feet.
Not some other-worldly substitute, but their sun.
Their grass.
Earth.
--
Clothes become an issue soon enough.
“MCCUUs were so not designed for pregnancy,” Eli whines as she tries to zip up a pair of fatigues donated to the cause, and fails miserably.
Her radio clicks on just at the Destiny’s warning klaxons sound. “Eli, it’s Young, come in.”
Waddling over to the Kino Console, she picks up her radio and answers. “What’s going on, Colonel?”
“We have unscheduled wormhole activity. You need to get down here to the gate room. Now.”
“I’ll be right there.”
‘I’ll be right there’ takes longer than normal, but Eli manages to clothe herself, even if her belly hangs over slightly. Surely no one would fault a little pregnancy tummy if the other alternative was her running to the gate room completely naked from the waist down.
Opening the gate room doors, she sees something she never dreamed she would see again.
Nicholas.
Nicholas standing over Colonel Young, his fist bloody.
“Okay, I guess I missed something.”
Nicholas looks up from his fighting stance and locks eyes with Eli. With purpose, he steps over Young and moves toward her.
Standing toe-to-toe with her, he smiles.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
She smiles back. “Hello, Nicholas.”
Continue to Part Two
crossposted to rush_eli, sg_universe_fic, fecundfic and crediniaeth
Resolve, Part One
Elizabeth Wallace/Nicholas Rush
PG-13 for violence
1120 words
Spoilers up to 1x10 - "Justice", will more than likely be Jossed in April for anything post "Justice"
Sequal to Pride
Word on Destiny travels fast.
The crew rallies around Eli. Even Greer, which is surprising.
“Life is life,” he says, after Eli’s pregnancy is officially confirmed to the crew by Young. “Even if it is Rush’s spawn.”
That garners a chuckle from her, because it’s completely true.
Some of the crew aren’t as… demonstrative, though, and Eli knows why. What do you say to a girl whose lover was lost only the day before? Who’s carrying the child of a dead man, the child of the one person who… may have gotten them home?
Eli tries not to think about it.
--
She carries on Nicholas’ work. She, Brody, and Lisa keep trying to crack the code. She prays that Franklin wakes up. She prays that he knows how to work this blasted tin can they’re stranded in once he comes to. She doesn’t want to think that his suffering, goaded on by the man she loved, was all for naught. She doesn’t want to think that she’s not smart enough.
She doesn’t want to let him down.
--
Weeks pass, and they’re still no further along in their quest. Franklin’s dead, his body unable to handle the trauma The Chair caused.
Eli cries for hours afterwards.
It was Colonel Young who found her in the Chair Room, sitting on the floor behind The Chair, her knees barely able to tuck up underneath her chin.
He sits down in front of her. “It wasn’t your fault, Eli.”
“Wasn’t it, though? I saw the look in his eye. I knew that he had something to prove to Nicholas. I shouldn’t have left him alone.”
“If it hadn’t been for Dr. Rush’s instance-“
She cuts him off. “Don’t you dare, Colonel. Don’t you even dare.”
She stands. “I will not have you talk about Nicholas like that, not after what you did. We all knew the risks. Franklin was just… he was just…”
The words stop.
The tears start.
Young stands and moves toward Eli, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Eli.”
“No," she says with finality. “You’re not.”
“No, I am. If I had known…” He looks at her intently. “Maybe things would have turned out different.”
Eli wipes a tear away. “I’m not so sure about that.”
She walks past him toward the door. “I’ll be in the infirmary. It’s my two-month check up, not that TJ can do much.”
Before she leaves, Young catches her hand. “Do you… do you need anyone to go with you?”
“No, Matt and Chloe offered, but… thank you.”
Eli’s face softens. “It was… very considerate of you.”
--
Eli wishes that an Ancient sonogram machine would magically appear out of thin air.
There are so many things she wants to know, like if he has all his fingers and toes. If he’s growing the way he should. No folic acid, no prenatal vitamins… she just needs to know that he’s okay.
She likes to think she’s having a boy, Karma’s way of replacing what was lost.
TJ helps her out the best she can. Vitamin shots, the best of what can be considered vegetables from what they’re able to harvest off-ship and from Franklin’s hydroponics bay, now run by Riley. It’s not ideal by any means, but Eli appreciates everyone’s effort. They seem to know that this, that he, is special.
Chloe stands by her the most. Their joint yoga sessions are the few times that Eli can just… vent. About her frustrations with The Chair, how Telford’s intrusions drive her insane.
How she misses Nicholas so much it hurts.
How she wants to hate the Colonel with the intensity of a star, but can’t, because she can see the sincere regret behind his eyes.
Chloe doesn’t know what to say, but she’s there, which is enough for Eli.
--
It’s during makeshift movie night in the gate room that she feels the baby kick for the first time.
It’s only a flutter, but it’s there, and it’s good.
When the lights come back on, she’s grinning from ear to ear.
--
Young checks on Eli daily, even if there isn’t a disaster looming over their heads. Usually they find themselves taking a walk down to the mess to see what ever Becker has been able to put together into something edible.
Sometimes they even try some, Eli being fearless, and usually regretting it later when it comes back up violently.
Eli’s found the Colonel’s effort of… reconciliation very endearing. She’s also come to the conclusion that she shouldn’t let his shortcomings get in the way of their friendship.
Even if his biggest shortcoming cost her the father of her child.
The apologies have been accepted, and the two of them have moved on.
There’s laughter now where there used to be stony silence, and that makes Eli feel… great.
--
She borrows a pair of headphones and plugs them into her phone. Putting the headphones around her swollen stomach, she clicks through folders until she comes across a small classical playlist she has and presses play.
“It’s not as good as Baby Einstein, but it’ll have to do, eh, little one?”
Listening to the muffled sounds of Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Schubert… she dreams. Dreams that this child she’ll be bringing into the world will have a full life. That he’ll feel the sun on his face. Grass under his feet.
Not some other-worldly substitute, but their sun.
Their grass.
Earth.
--
Clothes become an issue soon enough.
“MCCUUs were so not designed for pregnancy,” Eli whines as she tries to zip up a pair of fatigues donated to the cause, and fails miserably.
Her radio clicks on just at the Destiny’s warning klaxons sound. “Eli, it’s Young, come in.”
Waddling over to the Kino Console, she picks up her radio and answers. “What’s going on, Colonel?”
“We have unscheduled wormhole activity. You need to get down here to the gate room. Now.”
“I’ll be right there.”
‘I’ll be right there’ takes longer than normal, but Eli manages to clothe herself, even if her belly hangs over slightly. Surely no one would fault a little pregnancy tummy if the other alternative was her running to the gate room completely naked from the waist down.
Opening the gate room doors, she sees something she never dreamed she would see again.
Nicholas.
Nicholas standing over Colonel Young, his fist bloody.
“Okay, I guess I missed something.”
Nicholas looks up from his fighting stance and locks eyes with Eli. With purpose, he steps over Young and moves toward her.
Standing toe-to-toe with her, he smiles.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
She smiles back. “Hello, Nicholas.”
Continue to Part Two
crossposted to rush_eli, sg_universe_fic, fecundfic and crediniaeth