Elizabeth turned from the latest report she was being given on the progress of the teams to glance down to where Alisa was sitting, silently hunched into a little ball on the stairs, her blue eyes filled with fear. She’d originally been there waiting for her father to return so she could find out how his first mission had gone but since the accident she couldn’t be moved by any of them.
Elizabeth tried, Carson tried, Peter and even Bates had tried but Alisa had her father’s stubbornness and refused to be moved from her spot until her father arrived back or the Gate shut down.
Elizabeth was worried about how this was affecting the teenager, especially as Alisa had also unfortunately witnessed Halling’s request to perform the Athosian death ritual. Elizabeth knew someone would have to talk to the girl about this, though she knew it would be better for it to be Carson if Rodney didn’t return. Elizabeth in the past few weeks had become very fond of the teenager; it was hard not to be. She was smart and as witty as her father but a hell of a lot nicer, which Elizabeth attributed to Alisa’s mother whoever she was. However, Alisa didn’t interact much with the female members of the expedition, spending most of her time with Carson, Zelenka and Ford when she wasn’t with her father. She wondered if Alisa even knew that Rodney had asked herself and Carson to be Alisa’s guardians if anything happened to him.
When the Puddle Jumper finally appeared through the Gate, a gasp of relief sounded from Alisa.
“I’ll be in the Jumper bay,” Elizabeth told Peter, “Alisa, come on.”
Alisa jumped up, jogging alongside the commander of Atlantis; the moment she saw her father though she ran, throwing herself into his arms. Elizabeth smiled slightly as Rodney gripped the girl tightly; quickly kissing the top of her head, murmuring softly into her hair before turning to check on John.
Alisa stood with her father and the rest of his team as they waited for the nurse to be finished with the Major. Rodney was in a surprisingly good mood, considering they’d been almost been killed less than two hours ago.
“How are you feeling?” Elizabeth asked as she walked over to the bed.
“Starving,” John told her with a frown.
“He's got quite the hickey, but Doctor Beckett says he'll be fine in a few days,” Rodney spoke up with a grin.
“Could start a few rumours with that,” Alisa noted.
John grimaced at her before looking up at Rodney, “Why did you teach her to talk?”
“There was no way to stop it,” Rodney shrugged, “She is my kid after all. Genius remember?”
Elizabeth grinned as Teyla moved forward, “We should let you rest.”
“You should get me food,” John replied.
“I think we can arrange that,” Elizabeth told him.
“Good,” John muttered, waving away the rest of them, “Go away.”
“With pleasure,” Rodney replied, “You may be stuck here but I have better places to be than here. Come on, Lissa; let’s go get some proper food.”
“Bastard,” John muttered after the scientist before grinning at Elizabeth once they’d left, “You were right.”
Elizabeth gave him a smug smile, “I know.”
*********************************************
John woke up when he heard movement near his bed and blearily watched the girl who was cleaning up.
“Hi,” John mumbled.
“Good morning, Major,” Alisa gave him a bright smile, “How’re you feeling?”
“Better than last night,” he threw her a crooked smile back, “What are you doing?”
“I’ve to help Carson for today,” she shrugged.
“Oh,” he rubbed his eyes and sat up, “I think this is the first time I’ve talked to you properly since the first day here. Weird.”
Alisa shrugged, “Not really. You’ve all got a lot of things to do; I’m not military so you don’t have to worry about me.”
John looked confused before shaking his head, “I just meant since your Dad’s on my team.”
“I don’t think he expected that,” she told him.
John laughed, “So, is it true the only reason he came was because you were allowed to come too?”
Alisa shrugged, “He told me I had the choice, I decided to come.”
“That’s quite a burden to place on someone your age,” John pointed out.
“Dad wouldn’t leave me,” Alisa sat on the bed across from him, “It’s just been us for a long time.”
“You got no other family?” John couldn’t help probing since Rodney didn’t talk about himself much, not that you could get him to shut up on any other subject.
Alisa shrugged sadly, “My Mom died just after I was born and my grandparents were killed almost five years ago in a car crash.”
“What about Antarctica?” John asked, “Where were you when he was there.”
“My best friend’s mother made some sort of arrangement with Dad so I stayed with them for the three weeks and Dad would come back home for the last week of every month,” Alisa explained before frowning, “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, Major.”
John laughed, “Don’t worry about it. And call me John.”
“You know it’s funny,” Alisa noted, “Everyone has told me to use their first name but if we were back on Earth no one would ever think of it.”
“Well this isn’t Earth,” John reminded her.
Alisa laughed, “I’d better tell Carson you’re awake.”
“Hey, Alisa,” John called after her, “Make sure he gets me some food. I’m starving.”
She grinned, “I will.”
Alisa left the infirmary for lunch; she’d arranged to meet her father and was heading to his lab to make sure he would have lunch. The events of the previous day had been weighing on her mind almost constantly. As she entered the lab, she was greeted by the sound of her father yelling at a few of the other scientists. Leaning against the doorframe, she waited until he finished before going up to him.
“Dad,” she grabbed his attention away from glaring at the poor souls, who took advantage of her arrival to sneak out of the lab.
“Is it that time already?” Rodney frowned, “I’ve barely got anything done thanks to those idiots.”
“Before we go,” she stopped him moving, “Can I talk to you about something?”
Rodney frowned at how worried she looked, “What’s wrong, Lissa?”
“Yesterday,” she started, hesitating slightly, “It’s just…”
“Lissa, tell me,” Rodney encouraged, worried by her hesitation.
“If I asked you never to go on another mission would you?” she blurted out.
Rodney stared at his daughter, “What happened yesterday was not the norm.”
“I know,” she replied, tears filling her eyes, “But there will be something else and you could be the one in the infirmary or you could die and I don’t want to be alone, Dad. I don’t, I can’t…”
“Sh,” Rodney pulled her into his arms, rocking her gently, “Lissa, its okay,” he continued to soothe her until she calmed down enough to continue the conversation, “I know you were scared yesterday and I’ll admit I was too but I am going to do everything in my power to come home fine. I want us to get back to Earth at some point and that means finding a ZPM. I am, especially after the evidence shown by this morning, the best person on Atlantis to find it.”
“I know,” Alisa whispered.
Rodney rested his hand on her cheek, “If something does happen to me, and I’m not saying it will, but if it does I spoke with Carson and Elizabeth, they would be your guardians until you were old enough.”
“It’s not the same,” she sighed before frowning in confusion, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I didn’t want you to worry,” Rodney gave a slight smile, “You obsess on things you shouldn’t you know. Just like your mother.”
Alisa smiled at this; she always did when he compared her to her mother.
“Do you want me to stop going on missions?” Rodney asked seriously, his eyes intense.
“Yes,” she glanced down before looking back up at him, “But I know you can’t.”
“I will be careful,” he promised, her wiping away the tears on her cheeks before pulling her up, “Come on, let’s go get lunch.”
“Dad,” Alisa asked as they started walking, “Do I have to work in the infirmary this afternoon?”
“It’s that or you start studying,” Rodney replied.
Alisa made a disgusted noise, “Fine, infirmary it is.”
Rodney laughed and settled his arm around her shoulders, guiding her through the corridors.
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