Fic: Well Chosen - Part 2 of 2 (McKay/Sheppard, NC-17)
Title: Well Chosen
Author: goddess47
Recipient: aqualegia
Rating: NC 17
Warnings/Spoilers: All of Season 5
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Length: 18,000 words (meep!)
Summary: "I chose you."
Note: For aqualegia who asked for "John/Rodney. Must have happy ending and prefer both John and Rodney using their brains. Plot (not PWP). Mission fic, Team genfic." Hope this fits, thanks for a great prompt!
Many thanks to mezzo_cammin for filling in as beta! You made it a better story!
Dedicated to Fenny, the kitty who could.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
( Well Chosen - Part 1 of 2 )
It didn't take long for them to fill their coffee mugs and for Rodney to lead John to the lab he referred to. John looked around the room, it looked like most of the rest of the labs they used for any variety of experiments.
"No one will bother us here," Rodney said, setting up the computers side by side. They could sit near each other without touching this way. He brought up the work he had saved on the network, "I believe it was your turn."
John looked at the formula and numbers on the screen and had a sudden vision of an intricate structure in his head. He blinked to clear the memory and started entering information on the keyboard. This was a longer entry that any of the ones last night and he knew Rodney was waiting patiently for him to finish. This time instead of simply handing the work over to Rodney for the next step, he looked at what they had done together.
"Energy...." he agreed. "Something...... intricate and yet... simple. But it needed your Ascended math to have a chance to make it work ourselves."
Rodney had been looking over John's shoulder as he worked, "I agree. The math I developed might fill in some holes we've had. But," he turned to John, "you're part of this. It took advantage of your ATA gene and... and I don't know what." John could hear the frustration in Rodney's voice.
Without thinking, he put a hand on Rodney's arm to offer comfort and reassurance. When his hand touched Rodney's skin, the electrical shock was minor but somehow more profound.
"John?" Rodney's voice was warm, concerned, close. Too close. John needed to back away, wanted to move closer.
"I..... " John didn't know what to say. He became conscious of his hand on Rodney's arm as he moved his thumb slowly back and forth. The sensation of smooth skin sent shivers up his spine, feeding the desire to touch even more. He should move his hand, he really should. He shouldn't indulge in this, it would only make it worse when he couldn't do this again.
"John." Barely a breath of sound as Rodney shifted infinitesimally closer. Not enough to make John reflexively move away but enough for John to feel the heat radiating from his body. John wanted to lean into the warmth, to feel Rodney against him.
John closed his eyes and forced himself to still. He stopped the movement of his thumb but didn't remove his hand. "I..... " He swallowed. "You.... also are unexpected. I..." want ".... chose you."
"You idiot."
Startled, John opened his eyes to look into Rodney's shining blue eyes.
Rodney didn't move, just looked back at him. "Just... if you don't stop me, I'm going to kiss you," Rodney whispered against his lips.
Stunned, John didn't move, didn't respond then whimpered as Rodney started to pull back. He leaned forward to chase Rodney's lips and Rodney settled back in against him. John put his hands on Rodney's hips to hold himself steady as much as to keep Rodney in close contact. One of Rodney's hands was on John's shoulder, the other around his back.
John didn't want to stop but Rodney drew back and said, "Umm... not that I don't want to keep doing this but....well, I need to write down the next part. Now."
John grinned what he suspected was a goofy grin but he couldn't help it, "Okay. Not going anywhere." He moved back half a step, "Go ahead."
Rodney turned back to the computer and started working.
As Rodney worked, John leaned gently against his shoulder. Not enough to get in the way of the other man as he worked but enough to maintain the contact between them. Being that much closer, John could see better what Rodney was doing and follow along as he typed.
"Wait," John stopped him and pointed to the screen. "There, that needs..... not that.... something else. That formula I used..." John scrolled up the window... "here."
Rodney looked at it and considered. "That changes the ionization ratio but... it might work. Let me try it." He changed the entry he had made to the one John suggested.
They both jumped when Ronon's voice announced, "Lunch!"
They turned to see their teammates standing in the doorway, looking at them curiously. John knew he was blushing as Teyla obviously noted how close together they were.
Rodney turned back to the keyboard, "Let me just...." He finished up what he was doing, saved their work and then turned back to ask, "So, what's for lunch?"
They walked back to the mess, for John the exercise felt good after sitting still for a couple of hours. He watched Rodney and Ronon walk in front of him, discussing the various aspects of 'chili' since that was on the lunch menu. They had various forms of chili while in Pegaus -- the only consistency had been spicy and some form of beans. Beyond that, it was anyone's guess. Now that they were on Earth, it was a more 'traditional' meat and beans and tomato-sauce based combination. Rodney was explaining about some of the Earth variations - different types of meat, with or without beans and different types of chili spices.
Lunch was spent dissecting the chili and the side dishes served with it. Corn bread with and without jalapeno peppers was a big hit with Teyla, the texture reminded her of a traditional Athosian dish.
"Corn? Where did we miss corn?" Rodney demanded.
"There is a grain that was grown that is not like your corn but gave the same texture," Teyla corrected him gently.
"We'll look for it when we go back," John promised. He felt the others looking at him, "When. No, I haven't heard anything but I... I have to believe we will go back."
Ronon gave a rumble of approval and Teyla nodded in agreement.
"If we're done being fourteen, we have work to do," Rodney broke the tension.
"Slave driver," John retorted with a grin.
"We will come to get you at dinner time," Teyla let them know.
The afternoon was spent making progress on the work they were doing. John and Rodney took turns of varying lengths in adding to .... whatever they were doing. John couldn't totally resist touching Rodney but tried to keep it to a minimum. It was something he didn't want to become too attached to because he didn't think he could live with losing it.
When Rodney was working, John watched the hands flying on the keyboard, the broad shoulders hunched over the workstation. John had watched Rodney for a long time and had locked the want into a small box. Rodney was a friend first, in some ways a first friend -- a friend he had never had before, and he didn't want to lose the friendship
Now, that box had been opened and it scared John. He didn't want Rodney's affection because of something an Ancient machine had done to them.
As Rodney turned the control over to John, he asked, "How do you think we're doing?"
Rodney snorted. "I could answer that better if I knew what we were doing," he admitted. "But, not done yet and... don't know. When we run out of things to enter, we'll be done."
John mentally poked at the impulse that was making him do this work and didn't get anything helpful back from it. "Okay, just wondered if maybe you had more of a sense for what's going on since you understand more of this," he looked to Rodney for assurance.
"'Understand' is a loose term, John," Rodney shot back. "Some of this is engineering and physics that I haven't had to use in a long time and the math will take some work, even once we're done...with whatever we're doing here."
Dismayed, John asked, "This may be for nothing?"
John didn't know if he was comforted or not by the fact that not only did Rodney not answer quickly, he took a full minute to consider his answer. "I want to think...I have to think we're doing this for a reason. I'm not sure we will know right away why what all this is and it may take another visit back to the room at some point to get more details."
"Carson won't be happy with that," John warned him.
Rodney shrugged easily. Getting around Carson was the least of the problem, John could see. "Deal with that when we have to," Rodney declared. He pushed the computer they had been sharing toward John, "Here."
They worked steadily until dinner time. At one point they took a break and John went back to the mess for coffee and cookies while Rodney checked on the scientists in the labs who were working on their own projects.
Teyla came at dinner time and John was ready for a longer break. This was more sedentary than he had been in a while and he had missed his morning run with Ronon. As Carson joined them at the dinner table, John asked, "Any reason I can't run with Ronon in the morning? Feeling fine."
John had to give him credit in that Carson debated for a moment before answering, "Maybe the day after. I want to get your scans for tonight and then tomorrow first thing morning anyway so it's better if you don't. Sorry."
"Anything from Dr. Lam?" Rodney asked.
Carson looked around the mess to see who was nearby. "Rather not do that here," he decided. "Stop by the infirmary in about an hour and I'll tell you what she said."
Knowing that was all they would get at the moment, John turned his attention back to Teyla. "Have you picked out a movie for tonight?" John asked.
Teyla nodded, "You will see."
Rodney rolled his eyes, "Oh, no, a chick flick!"
"So what if it is?" Teyla asked warningly.
Backpedaling, Rodney answered, "So I should bring a handkerchief? And extra popcorn?" Everyone knew Rodney had ordered cases of popcorn and had them stashed in his room and his lab in anticipation of at some point being on the end of a long supply line.
"Better," Teyla replied with a small grin.
John took advantage of the time after dinner to check on the security patrol reports. There was the usual 'nothing to report' but keeping up to date made him feel better and took some of the load off Teldy. He noted that there was a scheduled delivery of some earth moving equipment and tractors scheduled for two days from now, Teldy had worked fast on that.
John had his scan done first since Rodney hadn't shown up yet. Rodney was hovering as Carson had finished with John and climbed into the machine. "Sorry, hope I'm not late. Had to get Teyla's popcorn."
"Dug into your stash?" John teased.
Rodney rolled his eyes, "Like you don't have one, too."
When Rodney's scan was finished, they went back to Carson's office.
"Yes, what have you decided?" Rodney asked.
"I sent Carolyn the scans from last night and this morning and after she had a look at them, we had a good chat," Carson settled back into his chair. "We'll be more comfortable after tomorrow morning's scans but we think that neither of you are in an immediate danger of ascending. There is expanded brain activity for both of you, a teeny more for Colonel Sheppard than for you Rodney but that's mostly because Rodney's brain had a higher level of activity to start with."
"Ha!" snorted Rodney. "Knew you didn't always use your brains."
John ignored the jibe, "You kept this between you? I just don't want to be on the bad end of an experiment and that's easier to do now that we're on Earth."
"Carolyn's done what she can," Carson assured him. "She's put this as an entry about an encounter with an Ancient machine and I have the details locked up here on Atlantis where it's harder for the SGC to get at them."
"Now what?" John asked.
"Go off and watch your movie," Carson grinned. "Stop in here after breakfast for new scans. If there are no changes I'll let you both go back to duty but I'll want scans every morning for couple of days and regularly after that. If there are any changes, then what I do will depend on what the changes are."
"You're welcome to join us for the movie," John offered.
"Thanks but I'm going ashore for a few hours," Carson waved them off. "Just for a change of scenery."
Surprisingly, Teyla had selected Up! for their movie.
"Flying houses?" Rodney demanded, "And a cartoon?" But he handed over Teyla's extra-butter popcorn and settled in next to John on the couch. John heard a discreet sniffle at the end and looked to see Rodney surreptitiously wiping his eyes.
John leaned into Rodney slightly, feeling misty eyed himself at the unexpected poignancy in the movie and having to take a few deep breaths to maintain his own control. Teyla grinned at them as she removed the movie from the player.
"Dr. Beckett says you are not to stay up late," Teyla warned them as she and Ronon took their leave.
"No, we won't," John promised her.
John sat next to Rodney in the darkened room. He leaned against the other man but wasn't sure what to do next.
"I...." John swallowed and looked down at the floor. "If you stay, I'm not going to let you go."
"Not going anywhere," Rodney turned to face him.
John reached out and took Rodney's hand. Standing, he led the way to his room where he drew Rodney in closer so he could touch. John leaned in to kiss Rodney and was pleasantly startled to have Rodney plaster himself against John.
They were both breathing heavily and John could feel Rodney's erection against his thigh. "Skin," John begged. "I need to touch you."
Rodney stepped back and pulled his t-shirt over his head. Wanting to watch, yet wanting even more to touch, John focused on toeing off his sneakers and getting out of his own clothes.
Rodney moved toward the bed and sat down. "Next time, we're going to my place. You and your munchkin bed," he snorted.
John's cock gave a jerk at the promise of next time. "Lay back," he told Rodney. John crawled up from the end of the bed, touching Rodney's legs as he slowly moved over the other man.
Rodney jerked slightly at a touch on the side of a knee, "Ticklish!" he protested. John moved his hand more firmly over the sensitive skin and Rodney groaned at the touch. "Come here," he commanded.
John moved up the rest of the way so they were chest to check and their cocks moved against each other. John leaned in for another kiss, enjoying the sense of warm skin against his own. Rodney's hips moved up, seeking friction against John.
"Not going to last," John ground out as he felt his balls grow heavy and a tightening in the base of his spine.
"Don't care," Rodney growled back. "Need to...." He placed his hands firmly on John's ass to hold him in place. John ground his hips against Rodney and rocked back and forth slightly.
Rodney stiffened and John could feel warmth between them, which was enough to bring on his own orgasm. He closed his eyes to remember the feeling of warm skin against his own, Rodney's hands on him and the sharp pleasure of adrenaline spiking through his system.
John wriggled slightly to not have his entire weight on Rodney. The kissing was slower, sweeter now and John didn't want to move but he knew he had to do something or they'd stick together and it wouldn't be pretty in the morning.
"Shhh..." John kissed Rodney one more time. "Be right back," he promised.
John took a quick leak as the water in the sink heated up. He cleaned himself up quickly and grabbed another washcloth and a towel and brought them back into the room.
He stopped and just looked. Rodney was mostly asleep on top of the covers. John could really see the broad shoulders, pale skin and a limp cock resting in a bed of brown curls. It was a good look for Rodney.
John used the washcloth to clean Rodney up. He gently ran the warm cloth over Rodney's front and grinned when Rodney sighed at the touch.
Wrestling the blankets out from under the almost-asleep Rodney, John eeled his way into the bed and re-arranged them so they fit into the narrow space. John closed his eyes and fell asleep.
In the morning, John woke to Rodney wrapped firmly around him. There was something touching, comforting to wake up to someone else in his bed, something that hadn't happened in a very long time. For it to be Rodney.... that was beyond comprehension.
"Nnnrrrggghhhh..." Rodney groaned.
"Morning to you, too," John murmured, holding Rodney close.
Rodney burrowed into the bed and further into John's arms.
Much as he hated to move, his bladder was demanding that he move. "Sorry," he whispered, placing a soft kiss on Rodney's forehead, as he extricated himself from the warm bed. John padded to the bathroom, relieved himself and took a moment to brush his teeth.
Looking at the time, he sighed. They needed to get to breakfast and then to see Carson for the next scan. John had to believe that today's scan would show no differences from the previous scans.
"Come on sleeping beauty, we need to get to breakfast," John called softly to Rodney. When Rodney barely twitched, John called, "Coffee's ready." He laughed softly when Rodney looked up at that. "Need to get up."
"Okay, okay," Rodney grumped.
John leaned in for a quick kiss. "I need a shower before breakfast. You want one here or do you need to go back to your room?" John didn't want to crowd Rodney too much.
Rodney stretched, "If you have something you think I can wear for a bit, I'll take that shower here."
John rummaged through his clothing for some boxers that had been stretched out over time. He found a t-shirt and running pants that were clean. He tossed them to the end of the bed, "Not elegant but it should work."
"Okay," Rodney yawned and got up. John got to look more at all the pale skin he finally got to touch last night and his hands itched to touch more. Rodney must have noticed, "Get in the shower, I'll be there in a minute."
Grinning slightly, John did as Rodney suggested -- he had started his own shower when Rodney joined him. Rodney stepped between John and the shower head.
"Hey!"
"You've had time to get started, what have you been doing in here?" Rodney teased.
John put his hands on Rodney's waist to hold him steady, "Waiting for you."
"Good answer," Rodney shot back. He handed John a washcloth. "Oh, god, you can scrub my back. There's a spot I can never reach." He turned into the water and presented his back for washing.
"Geez, McKay," John laughed. "Delicate skin or what?"
"Don't worry, I'll wash your back," Rodney assured him. "Now, scrub."
John shrugged, using the washcloth to work on Rodney's back. Rodney leaned forward, putting his hands on the wall front of him, his ass sticking out slightly. Regretting that they didn't have the time to do more this morning, he used the washcloth to soap up and clean Rodney's back. Rodney's moans of pleasure at the simple act of having his back washed made other parts of John's anatomy start to pay attention.
Rodney turned and kissed him firmly. "You promised me coffee," Rodney reminded him with something of an evil grin. But as John opened his mouth to protest, Rodney reached for John's erection. Rodney didn't break the kiss as he firmly jacked him and John was faintly embarrassed that he came after only a few pulls from Rodney's hand.
"Better?" Rodney asked as John shuddered through the aftershocks.
John nodded, "For that, I'll wash your back daily." He nuzzled into Rodney's neck.
"Coffee," Rodney repeated ruthlessly.
"Okay," John hoped his grin wasn't too goofy and that he could lose it by the time they got to breakfast.
They spent the next week doing much the same things. John went back to his running with Ronon in the morning and he urged Rodney to work out with Teyla, to give them all something to do as much as anything. After breakfast he and Rodney would go for scans with Carson and after they'd go off to do their respective jobs - John touching base with his soldiers, one morning checking the delivery of the equipment Teldy had requisitioned that had been delivered the night before, Rodney checking on the work the scientists had done - then the afternoons in Rodney's lab working on.... whatever it was they were working on.
Carson told them that there were no changes in the scans. After the first week he had them come in every three days and then once a week. John and Rodney continued to show the expanded brain activity and the other tests showed nothing out of the ordinary. Carolyn Lam also had nothing to add to the diagnosis and had closed out their records at the SGC to ensure that no one else would learn what had happened to them.
As they worked on their project, Rodney would explain some of what he understood as they went along. The combination of math, physics, engineering with an occasional foray into astronomy was fascinating and John enjoyed the crash course in the various sciences. John knew he didn't understand it at a level that Rodney did and it sometimes felt like working on multiple advanced degrees at the same time. Rodney dug out additional information for John to read from the Ancient database while he worked, to help John integrate the volumes of information Rodney was casually throwing at him. John always knew that Rodney's bragging he was 'the smartest man in two galaxies' was true but learning a fraction of what Rodney already knew made him appreciate that even more.
Teyla and Ronon would then drag them out for dinner and a movie, taking turns picking the movie and not letting John or Rodney have a pick. John didn't mind especially much since he felt faintly guilty that the two Pegasus natives didn't have much to do.
Nights.... nights he spent with Rodney. After the first night, they went back to Rodney's room where Rodney had a bigger and more comfortable bed. The first few nights were spent exploring each other, enjoying the sex and the closeness of waking up with another warm body in his bed. John scrubbed Rodney's back regularly, coming to enjoy the small task and how happy it made Rodney.
"Woolsey's coming back tomorrow," John told his team at lunch.
"Do we know anything?" Rodney asked. Are we going home? John knew he was really asking.
John shrugged. "Nothing. It was a second hand message passed through the SGC. So I have no idea what's going on," John reported.
"Anything we should prepare?" Teyla asked as Ronon looked interested.
Another shrug. "You'll know when I know, I guess," John had to tell them.
"Not getting anything in advance isn't good," Rodney predicted. "He's coming back to break the bad news in person." He frowned at his sandwich as if it was responsible for whatever was happening.
"We don't know," John reiterated firmly. "I'm going for 'no news is good news' myself."
"Oh, right, Mr. Optimist," Rodney scoffed. "You'll see, they'll send Teyla and Ronon back on one last run of the Daedalus and then break up the city for parts."
"Rodney!" Teyla was shocked. "They would do that?"
Rodney sat back, abashed. "Well, okay, they might not break it up completely," he allowed. "But they'd gut it eventually, taking advantage of the technology and trying to see how far they could push it."
"What of what you and John are doing?" she asked.
"I don't know!" Rodney was obviously frustrated. "It's coming along, we think, but until it's done I'm not quite sure what it is. And we'll need time to analyze it. If we can't go back, I'm not sure we'll get to do it." John knew that Rodney was afraid that if they didn't go back to Pegasus that the SGC would send them off in different directions. Rodney would be able to continue working with what they had but John wasn't sure they'd get to do it together. Explaining about what happened would cause more questions than he wanted to answer but he'd do it if it meant they could stay together.
"Okay, kids, we don't know anything, let's not borrow trouble," John soothed. "We won't know anything until Woolsey comes back tomorrow, so let's just go on with what we were doing and be patient."
"Okay," Ronon answered for the others.
John threw him a grateful look. "Okay, then. Come and get us for dinner," John told Teyla and Ronon. "Rodney?"
"Okay, okay," Rodney grumped.
Once in the lab, Rodney looked at the screen they had been sharing and asked softly, "What if we can't go back?"
John put a hand on Rodney's back, "I have to believe there's a reason for all this." He waved his other hand at the screen. "We have to be on the track of something important. That I can feel."
Rodney looked up and John looked into worried blue eyes. "I want to believe but..... "
"Rodney," John interrupted. "Believe."
"Like Tinkerbell?" Rodney snorted. But John could see a small grin trying to escape.
"Okay, maybe not like Tinkerbell," John admitted. "But this is important."
"If you say so," Rodney turned back to their work and started entering more information on the keyboard and when it wasn't his 'turn' John worked on his reading.
When it was time for dinner, John ventured, "It's starting to feel like it's coming toward a.... summary?" He wasn't quite sure what it felt like. "End" wasn't right since even once they had gotten everything out of their heads, they had some serious analysis ahead of them. For that, he knew, they could use some help and he was looking forward to Zelenka and Kusinagi returning to the city and being able to help them.
After the movie and Ronon and Teyla had left, Rodney asked somewhat hesitantly, "Umm..... interested in a walk?"
Curious, John agreed, "Sure. Where to?"
"You have to see," Rodney put him off. "Not that far."
John shrugged. "Okay then, lead on."
Rodney took him to the nearest transporter and tapped the map for somewhere in the next tower. They passed a balcony with a view that told John they were up higher than his existing room. Rodney went to the end of the corridor and opened the door.
"Here."
John went through the door and found himself in an obvious living space.... an apartment. Lights came on automatically as he wandered into the open room with floor to ceiling windows along one wall that overlooked the command tower and even in the dark he could see the lights of the jumper bay. He peered through the doorways and found three bedrooms, one with a balcony, a huge bathroom with a tub and a shower and something that could have been a kitchen.
"Rodney?"
Rodney shuffled nervously near the entrance way. "Jennifer and I went exploring, looking for someplace to live together and... well, this one made me think of you. Jennifer didn't like it for some reason but... if we're going to... at least I hope we will..... you know..... so I thought that maybe we could.... there are three bedrooms so your military won't.... and, shutting up now."
"You want to?" John asked, stunned that Rodney had thought about moving in together. "With me?"
Rodney rolled his eyes, "D'oh. Yes, you." But the look in his eyes was wary, uncertain.
John knew how to fix that. Moving with intent, he plastered himself against Rodney, wrapping himself around the other man and hugging him tightly. Rodney's arms came up around him and hugged him back.
"It's perfect," John whispered against Rodney's skin. He could feel Rodney relax against him. "Thank you."
"Too bad there isn't any furniture," Rodney commented. "Don't think I'm up to doing anything on a bare floor."
John drew back and laughed, "Well, I could think of some things, but you're right. We can wait for furniture." He looked around, mentally arranging furniture and their belongings.
"Come on," Rodney said. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
"I suspect you're right," John agreed but reluctant to leave. He shook himself, "Okay."
In bed that night, John tried to show Rodney how much he appreciated the idea of really living together. What he didn't have the words for, his body could say for him.
After breakfast the next morning, John checked on the schedule to see if Woolsey was going to return as planned. Seeing nothing that should affect the timing, John took care of the Security reports and made sure his own reports were up to date.
John wandered down to the dock they were using to transport staff back and forth to San Franciso.
Woolsey stepped off the boat and smiled, "Ah! Colonel Sheppard! Good to see you." They shook hands. "Thank you for meeting me, I have several things to discuss with you before I make any announcements to everyone."
John didn't know if this was good or bad. Anything Woolsey didn't want to discuss in front of the entire senior staff was most likely from the SGC and that made John nervous. He walked with Woolsey back to his office and watched as Woolsey fussed about, settling in. John was glad he had gotten coffee and cookies sent up to the office when Woolsey's eyes lit up and he poured himself some coffee. John refused any when Woolsey waved the thermos at him, "Had enough at breakfast, thanks." That and his stomach was starting to tie itself up in knots.
"First of all, I have this for you," Woolsey handed John a small envelope that obviously had only a single sheet of paper in it. It was blank on the outside and sealed. John looked up, curious and Woolsey motioned, "Go ahead, open it. It's germane to our discussion." He sat in the chair next to John, not in back of the desk as he normally did.
With minor trepidation, John ripped open the envelope and read the handwritten message.
Sheppard,
Sorry. I couldn't do more. Take the deal, I'll watch your back.
O'Neill
Mystified, John looked up. "Deal?" John asked.
Woolsey cleared his throat. "Well, you have to understand a couple of things first. The IOA has a couple of vocal members who are very unhappy with the Americans running the military side of the operation on Atlantis. Not with you in particular, just that, well, you're American. The Chinese member has been working behind the scenes to gather a coalition together to get more control over the city and how it is run. The good news is that she hasn't been able to get a majority but she has stirred up trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" John asked quietly.
"While the IOA has recommended that Atlantis be returned to Pegasus," -- at that John gave a silent sigh of relief -- "they aren't so happy about the dominance of the Americans in their general involvement in the entire operation." Woolsey held up a hand as John was about to speak. "I reminded them that unless they all were willing to repay the Americans for their financial and personnel investment to date, and were willing to step up their own investments in the project, that they really didn't have too much say in the day-to-day operation and to be glad they were involved at all."
Remembering the IOA representative, what was her name? Right, Shen Xiaoyi, who had been out to take Woolsy's job, John asked, "What about your position?"
Woolsey looked faintly smug for a moment and John wondered what that was about. Woolsey waved a self-deprecating hand, "I've been re-appointed as the leader of the expedition for the foreseeable future so we have nothing to worry about there."
"And?" John asked, waiting for the inevitable but...
Woolsey looked less pleased and explained, "The IOA has created a military oversight subcommittee that you will need to report to in addition to the reports you do for the SGC. The Chinese organized that and loaded it with their interests but the Brits got their member onto the committee which will slow them down a bit."
Dismayed at yet another master looking over his shoulder, John took a mental deep breath and asked, "What does that mean to me?"
"Well, the good news is that General O'Neill was able to convince your military Powers That Be that between your ATA gene and experience in Pegasus you are needed here. With the increased level of international involvement and that the IOA wants you to report to them regularly, O'Neill interpreted to mean you need another promotion in rank to have the authority to deal with them, so congratulations on being made full Colonel," Woolsey obviously thought he'd start with the good news.
"And...." John prodded.
"You'll have to send the IOA reports on our activities in Pegasus and make semi-regular trips back to Earth to report to them," Woolsey elaborated. "And.... they will be watching what you do closely, which is why General O'Neill got involved. He's been dealing with the IOA in his Homeworld Security position and has no love for the entire committee. I don't know for sure but suspect the British member of the committee reports to the General in some fashion."
That would explain the I'll watch your back message, John thought to himself.
"More reports?" John asked.
"Sorry," Woolsey commiserated. "But once we take Atlantis back to Pegasus, it will be more difficult for the IOA to interfere quite so directly in what we do."
"I suppose they will be 'recommending' some people that could be useful to us as we go back," John said wryly.
"Oh, yes, clearly they will have their own spies among us," Woolsey grinned at him. "On the other hand, we will pretty much know who they are and can deal with them as we need to."
John grinned back. This he could deal with. "Full bird Colonel?" John asked.
"O'Neill insisted," Woolsey confirmed.
"Just... never thought I'd get that far," John confessed honestly.
"You've earned it," Woolsey offered enthusiastically. "I'm glad to have you staying with us and, in spite of what the IOA has done, that we will continue to work together."
"Anything else?" John asked, faintly worried there might be more.
"Not right now," Woolsey answered. "I'll be making the announcement that we'll be going back to Pegasus to the city next. Simply easier than doing it piecemeal."
"Good idea," John replied. "If there's nothing else, I.... well, guess I have some work to do."
"Go to it," Woolsey let him go.
John found his feet taking him not toward his office but out to the apartment Rodney had found for them. The empty rooms now had potential and he sat on the floor of the balcony, in the sun but sheltered from the wind. He heard the announcement from Woolsey over the city-wide system but tuned it out.
There was something bittersweet about this promotion. This, like the previous promotion from Major to Lieutenant Colonel, was the result of someone else insisting that he be promoted and not necessarily something he had earned on his own. He knew very well that Elizabeth had insisted he stay on as Military Commander and had used her authority to get him promoted. Not that he had been ungrateful, for without the promotion he probably would not have been able to stay on Atlantis. The current promotion was pretty much the same, O'Neill insisting with the military on his behalf so John got to stay with Atlantis but, again, something he wasn't totally entitled to.
The other part was being able to stay at all. One of the basic tenets of the U.S. military was that one never stayed in any one place for very long. Staying more than three, four years in any one place meant either you had serious family or medical issues, or that you were on your way out and it wasn't worth the military's time to send you somewhere for only a year. Being in Atlantis for five years meant that John was over due to be rotated out to another base or encouraged to leave the service. Yet O'Neill had confirmed that he could stay in Atlantis and gotten him a promotion.
It was dark as he heard footsteps approach the balcony. Rodney slid down the wall next to sit next John and leaned into him. The heat from Rodney's body made him shiver a bit in the cool air.
"We're going home," Rodney said softly. "That's supposed to be a good thing, you know."
"Yeah," John agreed. "It is." Silence. "O'Neill did a deal for me to be able to stay. Even got me promoted to full Colonel."
"And that's a bad thing, how?" Rodney asked practically.
"I.... it isn't. It's just....." John didn't know how to explain it without sounding like he was complaining.
"In the end, no one will care, you know," Rodney assured him seriously. "Just that you get to stay, that's the important part. I don't care why, just that, now that I've got you, not going to give you up." Rodney scrambled a bit to stand up, held out a hand to offer to help John up. "Come on, there's a party going on with good booze that we probably shouldn't miss."
John took the offered hand and stood up. He stretched, stiff from sitting on the floor so long. "Party?" John asked,
"A going home party," Rodney elaborated. "We have more crazy folk than I thought, they mostly all want to go back with us."
Home. John hadn't had a home or a family in a long time but he had found one here. Rodney. Teyla. Ronon. Maybe he could think of O'Neill as an eccentric uncle. Nah, that was too weird.
John didn't drink much, enough to feel mellow and Rodney was right, they were crazy. The folk who had stayed, they wanted to go back... everyone had a different reason but there was something that drew them back to Pegasus.
The next month was spent in recruiting personnel and requisitioning supplies. Even with the hyperdrive Zelenka had cobbled together and the ships the SGC was still building, they were on the far end of a long supply line, so the more they could take with them, the easier life would be. John didn't know how the military got everything shipped to them and moved out to an invisible city in a body of water surrounded by millions of people. He heard enough of the local radio to know the talk shows had come up with some seriously paranoid reasons why the Bay was still shut down after several months.
John, Rodney and Woolsey made a game of "spot the IOA plant" as they interviewed applicants.
"Dr. Mona, for sure," Rodney put in. John nodded and Woolsey ticked his name on their list.
"What about Sergeant Cho? Or is that too obvious?" Woolsey asked.
Rodney looked at the personnel file on his computer screen. "I'm going to say not," he said slowly. "He's ATA positive and spent time in Afghanistan. I don't see it."
John shrugged. "I don't know either. He could go on the 'maybe' list," he suggested.
"Okay," Woolsey made another entry.
Rodney looked up, "Anything else? I have a simulation running I want to get back to."
Woolsey shifted in his chair uncomfortably and John looked up. "I thought you should hear this one from me before... well, before anyone else tells you. Dr. Keller has informed me that she's staying at the SGC and not coming back with us."
Rodney stilled. "Umm... I.... I expected as much, so it's not a surprise," he told Woolsey. "But thank you for letting me know." He took an obvious deep breath. "Anything else?"
"No, nothing," Woolsey replied.
John gathered his things and stood. Rodney followed him out of the office.
When they were alone, Rodney told John, "I'm not surprised, and is it wrong of me to be glad?"
"Only if it's wrong of me to be glad, too," John admitted.
They went off to dinner with Teyla and Ronon.
"I have heard that Dr. Keller is not coming back," Teyla said to Rodney.
Rodney shrugged. "It wasn't going to work," he offered. "I guess that 'break' was really a break-up."
"I am sorry," Teyla said seiously. Teyla had never even hinted that she thought Keller wasn't right for Rodney but just the way she offered sympathy suggested she was not too sorry to see Keller not come back with them.
John noticed that Ronon didn't say anything, just kept eating his meal.
They took Teyla and Ronon to see their new apartment that night. John could see Teyla looking around, speculating and probably putting two and two together. He didn't mind that she and Ronon would know about his relationship with Rodney.
"We've opened up this entire block of apartments to anyone that's interested," Rodney told them. "We've swept most of the rooms on this floor already for Ancient devices and they're pretty clean. Now that we have more help, we can open more up before we go back and people can move in."
"Woolsey took a place on the floor below," John put in. "You could get one if you wanted. There are smaller units for singles and a couple larger for families or those that want to share."
Teyla and Ronon looked around carefully. John and Rodney hadn't had a chance to move much up here yet because John, feeling faintly superstitious about it, hadn't wanted to make the commitment of fully moving in until they had left Earth. He wanted to be out of immediate reach of the military before he moved in with Rodney. He hadn't been able to explain his foot-dragging, but Rodney seemed to understand.
Rodney offered, "Teyla, there's an apartment just down the corridor that I put your name on, if you want it. We can take a look at it, if you want."
"I would like to see it," Teyla replied. "I am pleased that you would have thought to do such a thing."
"There's a smaller place for you, Ronon. If you want," Rodney offered diffidently. "It's down a couple of floors but... it's nice."
Ronon nodded. They went off and inspected both apartments and John was glad to see their teammates pleased with the choices Rodney had made for them.
John and Rodney had carved out some time to work on their project. The compulsion to work on it grew if they ignored it, so they made sure to take a few hours a couple of times a week.
"Think we should ask Miko and Radek to take a look at this? No one else, that's for sure. But we could see if they could figure out what we're working on," John suggested.
Rodney considered. "Not... not yet, I don't think," Rodney countered. "It's not ready and... I have this feeling of reluctance to share as yet. It's not stopping me but it doesn't want to share."
"That you or the compulsion?" John teased.
"More the compulsion, I think," Rodney replied seriously.
"Just a thought," John said.
With the work of organizing the return to Pegasus, John didn't have as much time to keep up his reading but occasionally would get Rodney to explain some of the theory to him. Zelenka had looked at John oddly one afternoon when John stopped by the lab to ask Rodney about an odd reference he had been puzzling over. Rodney had pointed out something he could read from the books they had downloaded off Earth's internet. They had downloaded all the reference books they could get their hands on in anticipation of the return to Pegasus.
They set a couple of the new hires on the downloading task, much to their disappointment.
"You will thank me for having these references once we go back," Rodney stormed when one had the audacity to complain about the work she was doing. "Yes, you think you're fluent in Ancient but we'll run into Ancient dialects that need more work and alien languages that we have little point of reference for. Download everything you can get your hands on and make sure everything is properly cataloged."
"I'm not a librarian, I'm a linguist," the woman, Dr. Bending, had protested.
"You are now both," Rodney cut her off. "There's nothing else productive for you to do and, no, you can't just go trolling through the city database, so don't ask again."
Bending had walked away, fuming.
"Do you realize how many of the original expedition have applied to come back with us?" Rodney demanded one day over dinner.
John nodded. "A lot more than I would have expected," he replied over Salisbury steak and mac-n-cheese. "Even Bates has applied as a civilian contractor."
Teyla looked interested in that. "I am surprised that he is interested in coming with us."
John shrugged. "Well, we worked with him that once when we chased that replicator and he seems to be truly interested. I have to get Carson's input on his physical status but I'm willing to give him a shot." Knowing that any of the newbies came with a six-month probationary period made it easier to make some of the personnel decisions, John thought. "We'll see what happens when we get back," John added.
"Lorne wants to know what he did to deserve having to do all of the newbie orientation," Rodney teased.
"Besides working with the new gene carriers we're getting, which he can sort out best himself, he's just better than most of us at hammering home how dangerous all this is," John replied.
"You have Teldy doing your reports," Ronon threw in pragmatically. "Besides, Lorne looks harmless."
They all laughed. Lorne's good looks and casual demeanor sucked in a number of the new recruits. The newbies figured that most of what they learned in the SGC orientation was exaggerated and it wasn't until Lorne showed them the 'exploding tumor' machine and told them about the people that died that day, that most understood there were no exaggerations.
"Movie tonight?" John asked.
When Rodney hesitated to answer, Teyla offered, "Your turn to pick."
"What? You haven't let me pick a movie in weeks!" He looked at Teyla and Ronon, who both looked back innocently. "Okay, what do you have planned?"
"We would not plan anything without you, Rodney," Teyla answered and Ronon shrugged.
With a sigh, Rodney gave in, "Okay, okay. I'll be there. But we get to watch Torchwood."
"You just like to watch to see if they show Ianto and Jack kissing," Ronon teased and John laughed to himself when he saw Rodney turn pink.
Then, finally, they were ready. Or as ready as they figured they would be. Tomorrow was the day, leaving just after eleven in the morning so that it was low tide in the bay. There had been varying opinions but it was finally decided that the disturbance they would make in the water while leaving would be attributed to both the natural agitation of the water and some "underwater demolition" that would remove the dangerous debris that had been the excuse for closing off the bay in the first place.
O'Neill came to see them off.
He cornered John in his office. "Homeworld security and all that," he gave the official excuse as he settled in John's guest chair. "Just wanted to check on you and make sure everything was okay."
"I didn't get a chance to thank you, sir," John said. "For the promotion." John offered O'Neill a cup of coffee, pouring one for himself and one for his visitor.
O'Neill leaned in and said seriously, "You earned it. Don't ever think otherwise. I've been out there and probably would still be doing it if I thought my knees could take it." He absently rubbed one knee as he talked but John could see the man Presidents listened to carefully. "If I could, I'd come with you. But you need me here to keep that damned IOA off your back."
"I appreciate that, sir, thank you," John replied.
"I'm working on the President to go public with the entire Stargate program so we can tell the IOA to stick it up their ass," O'Neill recounted. "President's teetering, so keep that to yourself."
John thought of all the publishing that would happen if the project went public. Rodney would be ecstatic to be able to tell all those other scientists off. "No problem," John assured him.
"So, you and McKay?" O'Neill said cheerfully, leaning back in the chair.
John choked on the coffee he was drinking, spilling it all over himself. "Me...... what?" John spluttered.
O'Neill laughed. "Ha! Daniel owes me dinner. He didn't think so, but I could tell -- that time you rescued me and Woolsey from the Asurans," O'Neill smirked.
"But....." John wanted to protest. It had only happened in the last couple of months. O'Neill had seen it then? That was almost three years ago.
A hand wave, "Don't sweat it. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't already suspect, and no one will think anyone could put up with McKay."
"Umm.... " John didn't know what to say. "Thanks, I think."
O'Neill laughed as he wandered out of John's office.
Sitting in the chair the next morning, John waited for Rodney to tell him when to start the engines.
"Almost ready," Rodney announced. "Five minutes."
Taking that as a cue, John leaned back in the chair.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Identify
Colonel John Sheppard
Warrior and Seeker of Knowledge
Yes
Additional access granted
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"John!" Rodney was calling him. There was a tinge of panic in his voice.
John shook his head, "Sorry. Umm.... tell you about it later." He leaned back again and concentrated on starting the engines.
They were going home.
Author: goddess47
Recipient: aqualegia
Rating: NC 17
Warnings/Spoilers: All of Season 5
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Length: 18,000 words (meep!)
Summary: "I chose you."
Note: For aqualegia who asked for "John/Rodney. Must have happy ending and prefer both John and Rodney using their brains. Plot (not PWP). Mission fic, Team genfic." Hope this fits, thanks for a great prompt!
Many thanks to mezzo_cammin for filling in as beta! You made it a better story!
Dedicated to Fenny, the kitty who could.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
( Well Chosen - Part 1 of 2 )
It didn't take long for them to fill their coffee mugs and for Rodney to lead John to the lab he referred to. John looked around the room, it looked like most of the rest of the labs they used for any variety of experiments.
"No one will bother us here," Rodney said, setting up the computers side by side. They could sit near each other without touching this way. He brought up the work he had saved on the network, "I believe it was your turn."
John looked at the formula and numbers on the screen and had a sudden vision of an intricate structure in his head. He blinked to clear the memory and started entering information on the keyboard. This was a longer entry that any of the ones last night and he knew Rodney was waiting patiently for him to finish. This time instead of simply handing the work over to Rodney for the next step, he looked at what they had done together.
"Energy...." he agreed. "Something...... intricate and yet... simple. But it needed your Ascended math to have a chance to make it work ourselves."
Rodney had been looking over John's shoulder as he worked, "I agree. The math I developed might fill in some holes we've had. But," he turned to John, "you're part of this. It took advantage of your ATA gene and... and I don't know what." John could hear the frustration in Rodney's voice.
Without thinking, he put a hand on Rodney's arm to offer comfort and reassurance. When his hand touched Rodney's skin, the electrical shock was minor but somehow more profound.
"John?" Rodney's voice was warm, concerned, close. Too close. John needed to back away, wanted to move closer.
"I..... " John didn't know what to say. He became conscious of his hand on Rodney's arm as he moved his thumb slowly back and forth. The sensation of smooth skin sent shivers up his spine, feeding the desire to touch even more. He should move his hand, he really should. He shouldn't indulge in this, it would only make it worse when he couldn't do this again.
"John." Barely a breath of sound as Rodney shifted infinitesimally closer. Not enough to make John reflexively move away but enough for John to feel the heat radiating from his body. John wanted to lean into the warmth, to feel Rodney against him.
John closed his eyes and forced himself to still. He stopped the movement of his thumb but didn't remove his hand. "I..... " He swallowed. "You.... also are unexpected. I..." want ".... chose you."
"You idiot."
Startled, John opened his eyes to look into Rodney's shining blue eyes.
Rodney didn't move, just looked back at him. "Just... if you don't stop me, I'm going to kiss you," Rodney whispered against his lips.
Stunned, John didn't move, didn't respond then whimpered as Rodney started to pull back. He leaned forward to chase Rodney's lips and Rodney settled back in against him. John put his hands on Rodney's hips to hold himself steady as much as to keep Rodney in close contact. One of Rodney's hands was on John's shoulder, the other around his back.
John didn't want to stop but Rodney drew back and said, "Umm... not that I don't want to keep doing this but....well, I need to write down the next part. Now."
John grinned what he suspected was a goofy grin but he couldn't help it, "Okay. Not going anywhere." He moved back half a step, "Go ahead."
Rodney turned back to the computer and started working.
As Rodney worked, John leaned gently against his shoulder. Not enough to get in the way of the other man as he worked but enough to maintain the contact between them. Being that much closer, John could see better what Rodney was doing and follow along as he typed.
"Wait," John stopped him and pointed to the screen. "There, that needs..... not that.... something else. That formula I used..." John scrolled up the window... "here."
Rodney looked at it and considered. "That changes the ionization ratio but... it might work. Let me try it." He changed the entry he had made to the one John suggested.
They both jumped when Ronon's voice announced, "Lunch!"
They turned to see their teammates standing in the doorway, looking at them curiously. John knew he was blushing as Teyla obviously noted how close together they were.
Rodney turned back to the keyboard, "Let me just...." He finished up what he was doing, saved their work and then turned back to ask, "So, what's for lunch?"
They walked back to the mess, for John the exercise felt good after sitting still for a couple of hours. He watched Rodney and Ronon walk in front of him, discussing the various aspects of 'chili' since that was on the lunch menu. They had various forms of chili while in Pegaus -- the only consistency had been spicy and some form of beans. Beyond that, it was anyone's guess. Now that they were on Earth, it was a more 'traditional' meat and beans and tomato-sauce based combination. Rodney was explaining about some of the Earth variations - different types of meat, with or without beans and different types of chili spices.
Lunch was spent dissecting the chili and the side dishes served with it. Corn bread with and without jalapeno peppers was a big hit with Teyla, the texture reminded her of a traditional Athosian dish.
"Corn? Where did we miss corn?" Rodney demanded.
"There is a grain that was grown that is not like your corn but gave the same texture," Teyla corrected him gently.
"We'll look for it when we go back," John promised. He felt the others looking at him, "When. No, I haven't heard anything but I... I have to believe we will go back."
Ronon gave a rumble of approval and Teyla nodded in agreement.
"If we're done being fourteen, we have work to do," Rodney broke the tension.
"Slave driver," John retorted with a grin.
"We will come to get you at dinner time," Teyla let them know.
The afternoon was spent making progress on the work they were doing. John and Rodney took turns of varying lengths in adding to .... whatever they were doing. John couldn't totally resist touching Rodney but tried to keep it to a minimum. It was something he didn't want to become too attached to because he didn't think he could live with losing it.
When Rodney was working, John watched the hands flying on the keyboard, the broad shoulders hunched over the workstation. John had watched Rodney for a long time and had locked the want into a small box. Rodney was a friend first, in some ways a first friend -- a friend he had never had before, and he didn't want to lose the friendship
Now, that box had been opened and it scared John. He didn't want Rodney's affection because of something an Ancient machine had done to them.
As Rodney turned the control over to John, he asked, "How do you think we're doing?"
Rodney snorted. "I could answer that better if I knew what we were doing," he admitted. "But, not done yet and... don't know. When we run out of things to enter, we'll be done."
John mentally poked at the impulse that was making him do this work and didn't get anything helpful back from it. "Okay, just wondered if maybe you had more of a sense for what's going on since you understand more of this," he looked to Rodney for assurance.
"'Understand' is a loose term, John," Rodney shot back. "Some of this is engineering and physics that I haven't had to use in a long time and the math will take some work, even once we're done...with whatever we're doing here."
Dismayed, John asked, "This may be for nothing?"
John didn't know if he was comforted or not by the fact that not only did Rodney not answer quickly, he took a full minute to consider his answer. "I want to think...I have to think we're doing this for a reason. I'm not sure we will know right away why what all this is and it may take another visit back to the room at some point to get more details."
"Carson won't be happy with that," John warned him.
Rodney shrugged easily. Getting around Carson was the least of the problem, John could see. "Deal with that when we have to," Rodney declared. He pushed the computer they had been sharing toward John, "Here."
They worked steadily until dinner time. At one point they took a break and John went back to the mess for coffee and cookies while Rodney checked on the scientists in the labs who were working on their own projects.
Teyla came at dinner time and John was ready for a longer break. This was more sedentary than he had been in a while and he had missed his morning run with Ronon. As Carson joined them at the dinner table, John asked, "Any reason I can't run with Ronon in the morning? Feeling fine."
John had to give him credit in that Carson debated for a moment before answering, "Maybe the day after. I want to get your scans for tonight and then tomorrow first thing morning anyway so it's better if you don't. Sorry."
"Anything from Dr. Lam?" Rodney asked.
Carson looked around the mess to see who was nearby. "Rather not do that here," he decided. "Stop by the infirmary in about an hour and I'll tell you what she said."
Knowing that was all they would get at the moment, John turned his attention back to Teyla. "Have you picked out a movie for tonight?" John asked.
Teyla nodded, "You will see."
Rodney rolled his eyes, "Oh, no, a chick flick!"
"So what if it is?" Teyla asked warningly.
Backpedaling, Rodney answered, "So I should bring a handkerchief? And extra popcorn?" Everyone knew Rodney had ordered cases of popcorn and had them stashed in his room and his lab in anticipation of at some point being on the end of a long supply line.
"Better," Teyla replied with a small grin.
John took advantage of the time after dinner to check on the security patrol reports. There was the usual 'nothing to report' but keeping up to date made him feel better and took some of the load off Teldy. He noted that there was a scheduled delivery of some earth moving equipment and tractors scheduled for two days from now, Teldy had worked fast on that.
John had his scan done first since Rodney hadn't shown up yet. Rodney was hovering as Carson had finished with John and climbed into the machine. "Sorry, hope I'm not late. Had to get Teyla's popcorn."
"Dug into your stash?" John teased.
Rodney rolled his eyes, "Like you don't have one, too."
When Rodney's scan was finished, they went back to Carson's office.
"Yes, what have you decided?" Rodney asked.
"I sent Carolyn the scans from last night and this morning and after she had a look at them, we had a good chat," Carson settled back into his chair. "We'll be more comfortable after tomorrow morning's scans but we think that neither of you are in an immediate danger of ascending. There is expanded brain activity for both of you, a teeny more for Colonel Sheppard than for you Rodney but that's mostly because Rodney's brain had a higher level of activity to start with."
"Ha!" snorted Rodney. "Knew you didn't always use your brains."
John ignored the jibe, "You kept this between you? I just don't want to be on the bad end of an experiment and that's easier to do now that we're on Earth."
"Carolyn's done what she can," Carson assured him. "She's put this as an entry about an encounter with an Ancient machine and I have the details locked up here on Atlantis where it's harder for the SGC to get at them."
"Now what?" John asked.
"Go off and watch your movie," Carson grinned. "Stop in here after breakfast for new scans. If there are no changes I'll let you both go back to duty but I'll want scans every morning for couple of days and regularly after that. If there are any changes, then what I do will depend on what the changes are."
"You're welcome to join us for the movie," John offered.
"Thanks but I'm going ashore for a few hours," Carson waved them off. "Just for a change of scenery."
Surprisingly, Teyla had selected Up! for their movie.
"Flying houses?" Rodney demanded, "And a cartoon?" But he handed over Teyla's extra-butter popcorn and settled in next to John on the couch. John heard a discreet sniffle at the end and looked to see Rodney surreptitiously wiping his eyes.
John leaned into Rodney slightly, feeling misty eyed himself at the unexpected poignancy in the movie and having to take a few deep breaths to maintain his own control. Teyla grinned at them as she removed the movie from the player.
"Dr. Beckett says you are not to stay up late," Teyla warned them as she and Ronon took their leave.
"No, we won't," John promised her.
John sat next to Rodney in the darkened room. He leaned against the other man but wasn't sure what to do next.
"I...." John swallowed and looked down at the floor. "If you stay, I'm not going to let you go."
"Not going anywhere," Rodney turned to face him.
John reached out and took Rodney's hand. Standing, he led the way to his room where he drew Rodney in closer so he could touch. John leaned in to kiss Rodney and was pleasantly startled to have Rodney plaster himself against John.
They were both breathing heavily and John could feel Rodney's erection against his thigh. "Skin," John begged. "I need to touch you."
Rodney stepped back and pulled his t-shirt over his head. Wanting to watch, yet wanting even more to touch, John focused on toeing off his sneakers and getting out of his own clothes.
Rodney moved toward the bed and sat down. "Next time, we're going to my place. You and your munchkin bed," he snorted.
John's cock gave a jerk at the promise of next time. "Lay back," he told Rodney. John crawled up from the end of the bed, touching Rodney's legs as he slowly moved over the other man.
Rodney jerked slightly at a touch on the side of a knee, "Ticklish!" he protested. John moved his hand more firmly over the sensitive skin and Rodney groaned at the touch. "Come here," he commanded.
John moved up the rest of the way so they were chest to check and their cocks moved against each other. John leaned in for another kiss, enjoying the sense of warm skin against his own. Rodney's hips moved up, seeking friction against John.
"Not going to last," John ground out as he felt his balls grow heavy and a tightening in the base of his spine.
"Don't care," Rodney growled back. "Need to...." He placed his hands firmly on John's ass to hold him in place. John ground his hips against Rodney and rocked back and forth slightly.
Rodney stiffened and John could feel warmth between them, which was enough to bring on his own orgasm. He closed his eyes to remember the feeling of warm skin against his own, Rodney's hands on him and the sharp pleasure of adrenaline spiking through his system.
John wriggled slightly to not have his entire weight on Rodney. The kissing was slower, sweeter now and John didn't want to move but he knew he had to do something or they'd stick together and it wouldn't be pretty in the morning.
"Shhh..." John kissed Rodney one more time. "Be right back," he promised.
John took a quick leak as the water in the sink heated up. He cleaned himself up quickly and grabbed another washcloth and a towel and brought them back into the room.
He stopped and just looked. Rodney was mostly asleep on top of the covers. John could really see the broad shoulders, pale skin and a limp cock resting in a bed of brown curls. It was a good look for Rodney.
John used the washcloth to clean Rodney up. He gently ran the warm cloth over Rodney's front and grinned when Rodney sighed at the touch.
Wrestling the blankets out from under the almost-asleep Rodney, John eeled his way into the bed and re-arranged them so they fit into the narrow space. John closed his eyes and fell asleep.
In the morning, John woke to Rodney wrapped firmly around him. There was something touching, comforting to wake up to someone else in his bed, something that hadn't happened in a very long time. For it to be Rodney.... that was beyond comprehension.
"Nnnrrrggghhhh..." Rodney groaned.
"Morning to you, too," John murmured, holding Rodney close.
Rodney burrowed into the bed and further into John's arms.
Much as he hated to move, his bladder was demanding that he move. "Sorry," he whispered, placing a soft kiss on Rodney's forehead, as he extricated himself from the warm bed. John padded to the bathroom, relieved himself and took a moment to brush his teeth.
Looking at the time, he sighed. They needed to get to breakfast and then to see Carson for the next scan. John had to believe that today's scan would show no differences from the previous scans.
"Come on sleeping beauty, we need to get to breakfast," John called softly to Rodney. When Rodney barely twitched, John called, "Coffee's ready." He laughed softly when Rodney looked up at that. "Need to get up."
"Okay, okay," Rodney grumped.
John leaned in for a quick kiss. "I need a shower before breakfast. You want one here or do you need to go back to your room?" John didn't want to crowd Rodney too much.
Rodney stretched, "If you have something you think I can wear for a bit, I'll take that shower here."
John rummaged through his clothing for some boxers that had been stretched out over time. He found a t-shirt and running pants that were clean. He tossed them to the end of the bed, "Not elegant but it should work."
"Okay," Rodney yawned and got up. John got to look more at all the pale skin he finally got to touch last night and his hands itched to touch more. Rodney must have noticed, "Get in the shower, I'll be there in a minute."
Grinning slightly, John did as Rodney suggested -- he had started his own shower when Rodney joined him. Rodney stepped between John and the shower head.
"Hey!"
"You've had time to get started, what have you been doing in here?" Rodney teased.
John put his hands on Rodney's waist to hold him steady, "Waiting for you."
"Good answer," Rodney shot back. He handed John a washcloth. "Oh, god, you can scrub my back. There's a spot I can never reach." He turned into the water and presented his back for washing.
"Geez, McKay," John laughed. "Delicate skin or what?"
"Don't worry, I'll wash your back," Rodney assured him. "Now, scrub."
John shrugged, using the washcloth to work on Rodney's back. Rodney leaned forward, putting his hands on the wall front of him, his ass sticking out slightly. Regretting that they didn't have the time to do more this morning, he used the washcloth to soap up and clean Rodney's back. Rodney's moans of pleasure at the simple act of having his back washed made other parts of John's anatomy start to pay attention.
Rodney turned and kissed him firmly. "You promised me coffee," Rodney reminded him with something of an evil grin. But as John opened his mouth to protest, Rodney reached for John's erection. Rodney didn't break the kiss as he firmly jacked him and John was faintly embarrassed that he came after only a few pulls from Rodney's hand.
"Better?" Rodney asked as John shuddered through the aftershocks.
John nodded, "For that, I'll wash your back daily." He nuzzled into Rodney's neck.
"Coffee," Rodney repeated ruthlessly.
"Okay," John hoped his grin wasn't too goofy and that he could lose it by the time they got to breakfast.
They spent the next week doing much the same things. John went back to his running with Ronon in the morning and he urged Rodney to work out with Teyla, to give them all something to do as much as anything. After breakfast he and Rodney would go for scans with Carson and after they'd go off to do their respective jobs - John touching base with his soldiers, one morning checking the delivery of the equipment Teldy had requisitioned that had been delivered the night before, Rodney checking on the work the scientists had done - then the afternoons in Rodney's lab working on.... whatever it was they were working on.
Carson told them that there were no changes in the scans. After the first week he had them come in every three days and then once a week. John and Rodney continued to show the expanded brain activity and the other tests showed nothing out of the ordinary. Carolyn Lam also had nothing to add to the diagnosis and had closed out their records at the SGC to ensure that no one else would learn what had happened to them.
As they worked on their project, Rodney would explain some of what he understood as they went along. The combination of math, physics, engineering with an occasional foray into astronomy was fascinating and John enjoyed the crash course in the various sciences. John knew he didn't understand it at a level that Rodney did and it sometimes felt like working on multiple advanced degrees at the same time. Rodney dug out additional information for John to read from the Ancient database while he worked, to help John integrate the volumes of information Rodney was casually throwing at him. John always knew that Rodney's bragging he was 'the smartest man in two galaxies' was true but learning a fraction of what Rodney already knew made him appreciate that even more.
Teyla and Ronon would then drag them out for dinner and a movie, taking turns picking the movie and not letting John or Rodney have a pick. John didn't mind especially much since he felt faintly guilty that the two Pegasus natives didn't have much to do.
Nights.... nights he spent with Rodney. After the first night, they went back to Rodney's room where Rodney had a bigger and more comfortable bed. The first few nights were spent exploring each other, enjoying the sex and the closeness of waking up with another warm body in his bed. John scrubbed Rodney's back regularly, coming to enjoy the small task and how happy it made Rodney.
"Woolsey's coming back tomorrow," John told his team at lunch.
"Do we know anything?" Rodney asked. Are we going home? John knew he was really asking.
John shrugged. "Nothing. It was a second hand message passed through the SGC. So I have no idea what's going on," John reported.
"Anything we should prepare?" Teyla asked as Ronon looked interested.
Another shrug. "You'll know when I know, I guess," John had to tell them.
"Not getting anything in advance isn't good," Rodney predicted. "He's coming back to break the bad news in person." He frowned at his sandwich as if it was responsible for whatever was happening.
"We don't know," John reiterated firmly. "I'm going for 'no news is good news' myself."
"Oh, right, Mr. Optimist," Rodney scoffed. "You'll see, they'll send Teyla and Ronon back on one last run of the Daedalus and then break up the city for parts."
"Rodney!" Teyla was shocked. "They would do that?"
Rodney sat back, abashed. "Well, okay, they might not break it up completely," he allowed. "But they'd gut it eventually, taking advantage of the technology and trying to see how far they could push it."
"What of what you and John are doing?" she asked.
"I don't know!" Rodney was obviously frustrated. "It's coming along, we think, but until it's done I'm not quite sure what it is. And we'll need time to analyze it. If we can't go back, I'm not sure we'll get to do it." John knew that Rodney was afraid that if they didn't go back to Pegasus that the SGC would send them off in different directions. Rodney would be able to continue working with what they had but John wasn't sure they'd get to do it together. Explaining about what happened would cause more questions than he wanted to answer but he'd do it if it meant they could stay together.
"Okay, kids, we don't know anything, let's not borrow trouble," John soothed. "We won't know anything until Woolsey comes back tomorrow, so let's just go on with what we were doing and be patient."
"Okay," Ronon answered for the others.
John threw him a grateful look. "Okay, then. Come and get us for dinner," John told Teyla and Ronon. "Rodney?"
"Okay, okay," Rodney grumped.
Once in the lab, Rodney looked at the screen they had been sharing and asked softly, "What if we can't go back?"
John put a hand on Rodney's back, "I have to believe there's a reason for all this." He waved his other hand at the screen. "We have to be on the track of something important. That I can feel."
Rodney looked up and John looked into worried blue eyes. "I want to believe but..... "
"Rodney," John interrupted. "Believe."
"Like Tinkerbell?" Rodney snorted. But John could see a small grin trying to escape.
"Okay, maybe not like Tinkerbell," John admitted. "But this is important."
"If you say so," Rodney turned back to their work and started entering more information on the keyboard and when it wasn't his 'turn' John worked on his reading.
When it was time for dinner, John ventured, "It's starting to feel like it's coming toward a.... summary?" He wasn't quite sure what it felt like. "End" wasn't right since even once they had gotten everything out of their heads, they had some serious analysis ahead of them. For that, he knew, they could use some help and he was looking forward to Zelenka and Kusinagi returning to the city and being able to help them.
After the movie and Ronon and Teyla had left, Rodney asked somewhat hesitantly, "Umm..... interested in a walk?"
Curious, John agreed, "Sure. Where to?"
"You have to see," Rodney put him off. "Not that far."
John shrugged. "Okay then, lead on."
Rodney took him to the nearest transporter and tapped the map for somewhere in the next tower. They passed a balcony with a view that told John they were up higher than his existing room. Rodney went to the end of the corridor and opened the door.
"Here."
John went through the door and found himself in an obvious living space.... an apartment. Lights came on automatically as he wandered into the open room with floor to ceiling windows along one wall that overlooked the command tower and even in the dark he could see the lights of the jumper bay. He peered through the doorways and found three bedrooms, one with a balcony, a huge bathroom with a tub and a shower and something that could have been a kitchen.
"Rodney?"
Rodney shuffled nervously near the entrance way. "Jennifer and I went exploring, looking for someplace to live together and... well, this one made me think of you. Jennifer didn't like it for some reason but... if we're going to... at least I hope we will..... you know..... so I thought that maybe we could.... there are three bedrooms so your military won't.... and, shutting up now."
"You want to?" John asked, stunned that Rodney had thought about moving in together. "With me?"
Rodney rolled his eyes, "D'oh. Yes, you." But the look in his eyes was wary, uncertain.
John knew how to fix that. Moving with intent, he plastered himself against Rodney, wrapping himself around the other man and hugging him tightly. Rodney's arms came up around him and hugged him back.
"It's perfect," John whispered against Rodney's skin. He could feel Rodney relax against him. "Thank you."
"Too bad there isn't any furniture," Rodney commented. "Don't think I'm up to doing anything on a bare floor."
John drew back and laughed, "Well, I could think of some things, but you're right. We can wait for furniture." He looked around, mentally arranging furniture and their belongings.
"Come on," Rodney said. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
"I suspect you're right," John agreed but reluctant to leave. He shook himself, "Okay."
In bed that night, John tried to show Rodney how much he appreciated the idea of really living together. What he didn't have the words for, his body could say for him.
After breakfast the next morning, John checked on the schedule to see if Woolsey was going to return as planned. Seeing nothing that should affect the timing, John took care of the Security reports and made sure his own reports were up to date.
John wandered down to the dock they were using to transport staff back and forth to San Franciso.
Woolsey stepped off the boat and smiled, "Ah! Colonel Sheppard! Good to see you." They shook hands. "Thank you for meeting me, I have several things to discuss with you before I make any announcements to everyone."
John didn't know if this was good or bad. Anything Woolsey didn't want to discuss in front of the entire senior staff was most likely from the SGC and that made John nervous. He walked with Woolsey back to his office and watched as Woolsey fussed about, settling in. John was glad he had gotten coffee and cookies sent up to the office when Woolsey's eyes lit up and he poured himself some coffee. John refused any when Woolsey waved the thermos at him, "Had enough at breakfast, thanks." That and his stomach was starting to tie itself up in knots.
"First of all, I have this for you," Woolsey handed John a small envelope that obviously had only a single sheet of paper in it. It was blank on the outside and sealed. John looked up, curious and Woolsey motioned, "Go ahead, open it. It's germane to our discussion." He sat in the chair next to John, not in back of the desk as he normally did.
With minor trepidation, John ripped open the envelope and read the handwritten message.
Sheppard,
Sorry. I couldn't do more. Take the deal, I'll watch your back.
O'Neill
Mystified, John looked up. "Deal?" John asked.
Woolsey cleared his throat. "Well, you have to understand a couple of things first. The IOA has a couple of vocal members who are very unhappy with the Americans running the military side of the operation on Atlantis. Not with you in particular, just that, well, you're American. The Chinese member has been working behind the scenes to gather a coalition together to get more control over the city and how it is run. The good news is that she hasn't been able to get a majority but she has stirred up trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" John asked quietly.
"While the IOA has recommended that Atlantis be returned to Pegasus," -- at that John gave a silent sigh of relief -- "they aren't so happy about the dominance of the Americans in their general involvement in the entire operation." Woolsey held up a hand as John was about to speak. "I reminded them that unless they all were willing to repay the Americans for their financial and personnel investment to date, and were willing to step up their own investments in the project, that they really didn't have too much say in the day-to-day operation and to be glad they were involved at all."
Remembering the IOA representative, what was her name? Right, Shen Xiaoyi, who had been out to take Woolsy's job, John asked, "What about your position?"
Woolsey looked faintly smug for a moment and John wondered what that was about. Woolsey waved a self-deprecating hand, "I've been re-appointed as the leader of the expedition for the foreseeable future so we have nothing to worry about there."
"And?" John asked, waiting for the inevitable but...
Woolsey looked less pleased and explained, "The IOA has created a military oversight subcommittee that you will need to report to in addition to the reports you do for the SGC. The Chinese organized that and loaded it with their interests but the Brits got their member onto the committee which will slow them down a bit."
Dismayed at yet another master looking over his shoulder, John took a mental deep breath and asked, "What does that mean to me?"
"Well, the good news is that General O'Neill was able to convince your military Powers That Be that between your ATA gene and experience in Pegasus you are needed here. With the increased level of international involvement and that the IOA wants you to report to them regularly, O'Neill interpreted to mean you need another promotion in rank to have the authority to deal with them, so congratulations on being made full Colonel," Woolsey obviously thought he'd start with the good news.
"And...." John prodded.
"You'll have to send the IOA reports on our activities in Pegasus and make semi-regular trips back to Earth to report to them," Woolsey elaborated. "And.... they will be watching what you do closely, which is why General O'Neill got involved. He's been dealing with the IOA in his Homeworld Security position and has no love for the entire committee. I don't know for sure but suspect the British member of the committee reports to the General in some fashion."
That would explain the I'll watch your back message, John thought to himself.
"More reports?" John asked.
"Sorry," Woolsey commiserated. "But once we take Atlantis back to Pegasus, it will be more difficult for the IOA to interfere quite so directly in what we do."
"I suppose they will be 'recommending' some people that could be useful to us as we go back," John said wryly.
"Oh, yes, clearly they will have their own spies among us," Woolsey grinned at him. "On the other hand, we will pretty much know who they are and can deal with them as we need to."
John grinned back. This he could deal with. "Full bird Colonel?" John asked.
"O'Neill insisted," Woolsey confirmed.
"Just... never thought I'd get that far," John confessed honestly.
"You've earned it," Woolsey offered enthusiastically. "I'm glad to have you staying with us and, in spite of what the IOA has done, that we will continue to work together."
"Anything else?" John asked, faintly worried there might be more.
"Not right now," Woolsey answered. "I'll be making the announcement that we'll be going back to Pegasus to the city next. Simply easier than doing it piecemeal."
"Good idea," John replied. "If there's nothing else, I.... well, guess I have some work to do."
"Go to it," Woolsey let him go.
John found his feet taking him not toward his office but out to the apartment Rodney had found for them. The empty rooms now had potential and he sat on the floor of the balcony, in the sun but sheltered from the wind. He heard the announcement from Woolsey over the city-wide system but tuned it out.
There was something bittersweet about this promotion. This, like the previous promotion from Major to Lieutenant Colonel, was the result of someone else insisting that he be promoted and not necessarily something he had earned on his own. He knew very well that Elizabeth had insisted he stay on as Military Commander and had used her authority to get him promoted. Not that he had been ungrateful, for without the promotion he probably would not have been able to stay on Atlantis. The current promotion was pretty much the same, O'Neill insisting with the military on his behalf so John got to stay with Atlantis but, again, something he wasn't totally entitled to.
The other part was being able to stay at all. One of the basic tenets of the U.S. military was that one never stayed in any one place for very long. Staying more than three, four years in any one place meant either you had serious family or medical issues, or that you were on your way out and it wasn't worth the military's time to send you somewhere for only a year. Being in Atlantis for five years meant that John was over due to be rotated out to another base or encouraged to leave the service. Yet O'Neill had confirmed that he could stay in Atlantis and gotten him a promotion.
It was dark as he heard footsteps approach the balcony. Rodney slid down the wall next to sit next John and leaned into him. The heat from Rodney's body made him shiver a bit in the cool air.
"We're going home," Rodney said softly. "That's supposed to be a good thing, you know."
"Yeah," John agreed. "It is." Silence. "O'Neill did a deal for me to be able to stay. Even got me promoted to full Colonel."
"And that's a bad thing, how?" Rodney asked practically.
"I.... it isn't. It's just....." John didn't know how to explain it without sounding like he was complaining.
"In the end, no one will care, you know," Rodney assured him seriously. "Just that you get to stay, that's the important part. I don't care why, just that, now that I've got you, not going to give you up." Rodney scrambled a bit to stand up, held out a hand to offer to help John up. "Come on, there's a party going on with good booze that we probably shouldn't miss."
John took the offered hand and stood up. He stretched, stiff from sitting on the floor so long. "Party?" John asked,
"A going home party," Rodney elaborated. "We have more crazy folk than I thought, they mostly all want to go back with us."
Home. John hadn't had a home or a family in a long time but he had found one here. Rodney. Teyla. Ronon. Maybe he could think of O'Neill as an eccentric uncle. Nah, that was too weird.
John didn't drink much, enough to feel mellow and Rodney was right, they were crazy. The folk who had stayed, they wanted to go back... everyone had a different reason but there was something that drew them back to Pegasus.
The next month was spent in recruiting personnel and requisitioning supplies. Even with the hyperdrive Zelenka had cobbled together and the ships the SGC was still building, they were on the far end of a long supply line, so the more they could take with them, the easier life would be. John didn't know how the military got everything shipped to them and moved out to an invisible city in a body of water surrounded by millions of people. He heard enough of the local radio to know the talk shows had come up with some seriously paranoid reasons why the Bay was still shut down after several months.
John, Rodney and Woolsey made a game of "spot the IOA plant" as they interviewed applicants.
"Dr. Mona, for sure," Rodney put in. John nodded and Woolsey ticked his name on their list.
"What about Sergeant Cho? Or is that too obvious?" Woolsey asked.
Rodney looked at the personnel file on his computer screen. "I'm going to say not," he said slowly. "He's ATA positive and spent time in Afghanistan. I don't see it."
John shrugged. "I don't know either. He could go on the 'maybe' list," he suggested.
"Okay," Woolsey made another entry.
Rodney looked up, "Anything else? I have a simulation running I want to get back to."
Woolsey shifted in his chair uncomfortably and John looked up. "I thought you should hear this one from me before... well, before anyone else tells you. Dr. Keller has informed me that she's staying at the SGC and not coming back with us."
Rodney stilled. "Umm... I.... I expected as much, so it's not a surprise," he told Woolsey. "But thank you for letting me know." He took an obvious deep breath. "Anything else?"
"No, nothing," Woolsey replied.
John gathered his things and stood. Rodney followed him out of the office.
When they were alone, Rodney told John, "I'm not surprised, and is it wrong of me to be glad?"
"Only if it's wrong of me to be glad, too," John admitted.
They went off to dinner with Teyla and Ronon.
"I have heard that Dr. Keller is not coming back," Teyla said to Rodney.
Rodney shrugged. "It wasn't going to work," he offered. "I guess that 'break' was really a break-up."
"I am sorry," Teyla said seiously. Teyla had never even hinted that she thought Keller wasn't right for Rodney but just the way she offered sympathy suggested she was not too sorry to see Keller not come back with them.
John noticed that Ronon didn't say anything, just kept eating his meal.
They took Teyla and Ronon to see their new apartment that night. John could see Teyla looking around, speculating and probably putting two and two together. He didn't mind that she and Ronon would know about his relationship with Rodney.
"We've opened up this entire block of apartments to anyone that's interested," Rodney told them. "We've swept most of the rooms on this floor already for Ancient devices and they're pretty clean. Now that we have more help, we can open more up before we go back and people can move in."
"Woolsey took a place on the floor below," John put in. "You could get one if you wanted. There are smaller units for singles and a couple larger for families or those that want to share."
Teyla and Ronon looked around carefully. John and Rodney hadn't had a chance to move much up here yet because John, feeling faintly superstitious about it, hadn't wanted to make the commitment of fully moving in until they had left Earth. He wanted to be out of immediate reach of the military before he moved in with Rodney. He hadn't been able to explain his foot-dragging, but Rodney seemed to understand.
Rodney offered, "Teyla, there's an apartment just down the corridor that I put your name on, if you want it. We can take a look at it, if you want."
"I would like to see it," Teyla replied. "I am pleased that you would have thought to do such a thing."
"There's a smaller place for you, Ronon. If you want," Rodney offered diffidently. "It's down a couple of floors but... it's nice."
Ronon nodded. They went off and inspected both apartments and John was glad to see their teammates pleased with the choices Rodney had made for them.
John and Rodney had carved out some time to work on their project. The compulsion to work on it grew if they ignored it, so they made sure to take a few hours a couple of times a week.
"Think we should ask Miko and Radek to take a look at this? No one else, that's for sure. But we could see if they could figure out what we're working on," John suggested.
Rodney considered. "Not... not yet, I don't think," Rodney countered. "It's not ready and... I have this feeling of reluctance to share as yet. It's not stopping me but it doesn't want to share."
"That you or the compulsion?" John teased.
"More the compulsion, I think," Rodney replied seriously.
"Just a thought," John said.
With the work of organizing the return to Pegasus, John didn't have as much time to keep up his reading but occasionally would get Rodney to explain some of the theory to him. Zelenka had looked at John oddly one afternoon when John stopped by the lab to ask Rodney about an odd reference he had been puzzling over. Rodney had pointed out something he could read from the books they had downloaded off Earth's internet. They had downloaded all the reference books they could get their hands on in anticipation of the return to Pegasus.
They set a couple of the new hires on the downloading task, much to their disappointment.
"You will thank me for having these references once we go back," Rodney stormed when one had the audacity to complain about the work she was doing. "Yes, you think you're fluent in Ancient but we'll run into Ancient dialects that need more work and alien languages that we have little point of reference for. Download everything you can get your hands on and make sure everything is properly cataloged."
"I'm not a librarian, I'm a linguist," the woman, Dr. Bending, had protested.
"You are now both," Rodney cut her off. "There's nothing else productive for you to do and, no, you can't just go trolling through the city database, so don't ask again."
Bending had walked away, fuming.
"Do you realize how many of the original expedition have applied to come back with us?" Rodney demanded one day over dinner.
John nodded. "A lot more than I would have expected," he replied over Salisbury steak and mac-n-cheese. "Even Bates has applied as a civilian contractor."
Teyla looked interested in that. "I am surprised that he is interested in coming with us."
John shrugged. "Well, we worked with him that once when we chased that replicator and he seems to be truly interested. I have to get Carson's input on his physical status but I'm willing to give him a shot." Knowing that any of the newbies came with a six-month probationary period made it easier to make some of the personnel decisions, John thought. "We'll see what happens when we get back," John added.
"Lorne wants to know what he did to deserve having to do all of the newbie orientation," Rodney teased.
"Besides working with the new gene carriers we're getting, which he can sort out best himself, he's just better than most of us at hammering home how dangerous all this is," John replied.
"You have Teldy doing your reports," Ronon threw in pragmatically. "Besides, Lorne looks harmless."
They all laughed. Lorne's good looks and casual demeanor sucked in a number of the new recruits. The newbies figured that most of what they learned in the SGC orientation was exaggerated and it wasn't until Lorne showed them the 'exploding tumor' machine and told them about the people that died that day, that most understood there were no exaggerations.
"Movie tonight?" John asked.
When Rodney hesitated to answer, Teyla offered, "Your turn to pick."
"What? You haven't let me pick a movie in weeks!" He looked at Teyla and Ronon, who both looked back innocently. "Okay, what do you have planned?"
"We would not plan anything without you, Rodney," Teyla answered and Ronon shrugged.
With a sigh, Rodney gave in, "Okay, okay. I'll be there. But we get to watch Torchwood."
"You just like to watch to see if they show Ianto and Jack kissing," Ronon teased and John laughed to himself when he saw Rodney turn pink.
Then, finally, they were ready. Or as ready as they figured they would be. Tomorrow was the day, leaving just after eleven in the morning so that it was low tide in the bay. There had been varying opinions but it was finally decided that the disturbance they would make in the water while leaving would be attributed to both the natural agitation of the water and some "underwater demolition" that would remove the dangerous debris that had been the excuse for closing off the bay in the first place.
O'Neill came to see them off.
He cornered John in his office. "Homeworld security and all that," he gave the official excuse as he settled in John's guest chair. "Just wanted to check on you and make sure everything was okay."
"I didn't get a chance to thank you, sir," John said. "For the promotion." John offered O'Neill a cup of coffee, pouring one for himself and one for his visitor.
O'Neill leaned in and said seriously, "You earned it. Don't ever think otherwise. I've been out there and probably would still be doing it if I thought my knees could take it." He absently rubbed one knee as he talked but John could see the man Presidents listened to carefully. "If I could, I'd come with you. But you need me here to keep that damned IOA off your back."
"I appreciate that, sir, thank you," John replied.
"I'm working on the President to go public with the entire Stargate program so we can tell the IOA to stick it up their ass," O'Neill recounted. "President's teetering, so keep that to yourself."
John thought of all the publishing that would happen if the project went public. Rodney would be ecstatic to be able to tell all those other scientists off. "No problem," John assured him.
"So, you and McKay?" O'Neill said cheerfully, leaning back in the chair.
John choked on the coffee he was drinking, spilling it all over himself. "Me...... what?" John spluttered.
O'Neill laughed. "Ha! Daniel owes me dinner. He didn't think so, but I could tell -- that time you rescued me and Woolsey from the Asurans," O'Neill smirked.
"But....." John wanted to protest. It had only happened in the last couple of months. O'Neill had seen it then? That was almost three years ago.
A hand wave, "Don't sweat it. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't already suspect, and no one will think anyone could put up with McKay."
"Umm.... " John didn't know what to say. "Thanks, I think."
O'Neill laughed as he wandered out of John's office.
Sitting in the chair the next morning, John waited for Rodney to tell him when to start the engines.
"Almost ready," Rodney announced. "Five minutes."
Taking that as a cue, John leaned back in the chair.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Identify
Colonel John Sheppard
Warrior and Seeker of Knowledge
Yes
Additional access granted
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"John!" Rodney was calling him. There was a tinge of panic in his voice.
John shook his head, "Sorry. Umm.... tell you about it later." He leaned back again and concentrated on starting the engines.
They were going home.