Fic: Nowhere are there more hiding places than in the heart
Title: Nowhere are there more hiding places than in the heart
Author: amothea
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 6,600
Recipient: pushkin666
Author Notes: I'd like to thank icarusancalion for beta reading this story. She went WAY above and beyond the call of duty in helping me with this story. She's a ruthless taskmaster and she wouldn't let me settle on my first revision, second, or third and no amount of words can ever describe just how much I appreciate that. Any and all mistakes are ultimately mine.
"I think it's safe to say we over-stayed our welcome," Rodney stated the obvious as the villagers escorted them at gunpoint towards an ancient ruin that strongly resembled a Mayan temple.
"You think?" Sheppard was still struggling to get his flack vest on properly, his boots were unlaced, and he didn't look happy. The temple was a good four or five miles from the village and they were only halfway there.
Teyla spoke calmly, "Now is not the time for this discussion." She also looked vaguely irritated and half-dressed as well. Ronon must have slept in his clothes because, while disgruntled about getting woken up at in the middle of the night, he at least had all his clothes.
The walk to the temple was a miserable affair. Rodney hated surprises, especially the “angry villager" variety. His feet hurt because they didn't really give him time to tie his boots either and they chafed against his ankles; adding in the three hours of sleep he got before the rude awakening, this was turning into a rather bad day.
He couldn't see their hostess amongst the crowd of people silently escorting them. They reached the temple entrance; the townspeople had lit torches guiding their way the last fifty meters and a larger crowd had gathered to meet them there, it looked like the entire village. Small children ran up and down the steps off into the dark, shadows moving too quickly out of the range of the torchlight.
It looked primitive for a people who'd mastered the art of indoor plumbing and carried firearms with casual ease. It reminded him of a stage play of sorts, except normally people didn't carry fully loaded guns to those or forced their guests to join the party.
According to Lorne's mission reports these people were friendly and willing to trade. Sadly Rodney's team was sent to finalize the trade agreement.
This time Rodney was reasonably sure he'd done nothing wrong; even Teyla appeared bewildered, well, not so anyone that didn't know her could tell. It was her tight press of lips, and the furrowed eyebrows that gave it away. Ronon, didn’t have his customary scowl which meant he was trying to look less threatening. Not that it worked, the guy was over six feet tall, but Rodney gave him points for trying. John finally had his flak vest on properly, and his arms looked awkward without his P-90. John smiled at the people surrounding them with weapons, but it was the 'we're fucked and I don't know what to do next' smile. Rodney kind of wished he'd stayed back home on Atlantis for this mission.
He edged closer to Ronon and waited to see what would happen next. Teyla bumped into him backing up as the crowd quieted and shifted. John moved closer until his arm brushed against Rodney's. That brief unintentional contact gave Rodney a greater sense of comfort than he'd ever to admit to anyone.
The crowd quieted when their hostess arrived, she was the only one dressed in an unusual fashion, and by dressed he realized he meant completely naked except for the artfully designed paint that covered her body in strategic locations. The headdress she wore glittered in the firelight, Rodney would care more about the types of jewels they'd used, except her full breasts swayed with every step she took climbing up the stairs to stand above the crowd.
Sure, she was no blonde and didn't strike him as brilliant but then surely it wasn't fair to compare every woman to Samantha Carter. Rodney couldn't help but appreciate the lithe lines, the confidence in her step, and the way the lines of paint accented her attributes.
He felt something hit him in the ribs and it took him a moment to realize it was Teyla elbowing him. "Ow! What was that for?" Seriously, Teyla had issues or something. He rubbed his side thinking he should have put on his flak vest too, Teyla had sharp elbows.
"Colonel Sheppard, you may pick one person amongst your people to help you appease our gods for your indiscretion."
Indiscretion! He knew it! "I can't believe this we're here because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?" Rodney glared at John, who turned and gave him this incredulous look that almost convinced Rodney he had no clue what was going on.
"Rodney, this is not the time." Sheppard barked before turning his attention to their hostess. Sheppard stepped forward, or as forward as the guns poking him in the stomach would allow, "I don't understand, what indiscretion?"
Rodney felt anxious for John. Did the man not have survival instincts? Rodney didn’t want the barrel of any gun pointed anywhere near him, let alone pressed against his body.
"I cannot answer until you have appeased our gods."
Sheppard tilted his head in that attractive angle that made most women sit up and take notice, not that Rodney ever paid attention. His tone had a light edge to it, like this was a joke and not their lives on the line. "If you don't mind my asking, what does this 'appeasement' require?"
"Appeasement? Is that even a word?"
Sheppard answered without turning away from the men holding the guns, "Yes, Rodney, it's a word."
Their hostess crossed her arms and Rodney shut up when he saw her mouth pressed into a tight line.
She continued speaking, "Simply, enter the temple with your chosen partner and make an offering when you reach the center. When you have completed your offering you may rejoin your people.
That didn't sound too difficult.
"What kind of offering?" Sheppard asked.
"You will know when you reach your destination."
Sheppard nodded his head, seriously contemplating their hostess's words. "What if we don't appease your gods?"
Sheppard just had to ask, Rodney worried that maybe the natives would think they were too much trouble and throw them down a well and say good riddance. Why did Sheppard have to give the natives time to rethink things?
"Then, we will be enemies." She didn't elaborate but Rodney figured if they treated potential allies to loaded guns as their two am wake up calls, their enemies probably suffered worse.
"I accept." Sheppard sounded weary.
"And your partner..."
Before Sheppard had a chance to make his choice, Rodney stepped forward, though not close enough for the guns to poke him, he wasn't suicidal like Sheppard. “He picks me,” Rodney announced loudly.
He didn’t want to take the chance that Sheppard would choose Teyla or Ronon to keep him safe, when it was obvious to everyone that he was the one who had the most knowledge of the Ancients and would understand anything they found in the temple.
"Rodney," Sheppard turned and scowled at him.
"Choice accepted," their hostess announced, maybe a little quickly. Someone hit a gong and people started clapping.
"Wait...I didn't..." but Sheppard's protests were overridden as the men escorted him to the main entrance. Rodney didn't need the guns at his back to make his way to Sheppard's side. He ignored Sheppard's pissy expression, Sheppard just didn't realize how important he'd be until the time came and then he'd appreciate Rodney for being there instead of Teyla or Ronon.
Everyone backed away, but no one lowered their guns. It quieted down again. "You may proceed," their hostess announced, and with the guns motioning them forward, Rodney had no choice but to follow Sheppard down the dark corridor and into the temple.
The torchlight eventually gave way to complete darkness, with most of their gear still sitting at the foot of their beds, they had no choice but to inch forward into the darkness.
"Rodney, when we get back to Atlantis, I am going to kick your ass."
"I'd like to see you try," Rodney shot back, annoyed that Sheppard didn't appreciate his sacrifice.
Rodney's outstretched fingers brushed against a cool rough surface, "I think we’ve hit a wall." He had flashbacks to Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom and the wall of bugs, but what he touched felt cool and dry. Sheppard’s presence at his side, alleviated some of his worry.
"Wait, I think I found something," Sheppard's hands bumped into his, "It's a door. Stand back." Rodney shuffled back a few paces and heard a loud creak, a thin silver of light fell onto Rodney's shoe. It widened enough for the two of them to enter.
Rodney hesitated, realizing he'd also left behind all his normal scanning equipment, and with no clue as to what lay beyond the doorway, his confidence deserted him.
Sheppard held the door open for him and raised his eyebrow, practically daring him to admit he'd made a mistake volunteering himself for this stupid god appeasement mumbo-jumbo crap.
Rodney smiled grimly, and walked past Sheppard’s outstretched arm. His ears popped passing through the entrance. Rodney shook his head and ignored it; he’d felt worse going up and down elevators.
Stepping into the chamber was like entering a bordello, only without any beautiful half naked women. He gawked for a minute staring at all the gaudy silk fabric draped over the canopy bed. The soft glow of electric lights strung along the walls made the bed placed in the middle of the room positively glow. Someone had fixed the bed with a red comforter and huge pillows lay innocently at the head of the bed. Steps covered in furry rugs led up to the bed.
Rodney shook his head, and rubbed his eyes, not quite believing he wasn’t drugged with an hallucinogen. He turned to ask Sheppard if he saw the same thing he was seeing, and found Sheppard was on his knees on the stone walkway with his hands over his eyes.
Rodney dropped to his knees and pulled at Sheppard’s hands, to see what had happened to his eyes. Sheppard swatted at him without much force and his mouth was moving but Rodney couldn’t hear anything. “Sheppard, stop it I need to see what happened,” Rodney ordered or at least he thought he did. He felt his mouth say the words but couldn’t hear himself.
“Sheppard, can you hear me?” Rodney was terrified that maybe he’d shifted to another dimension. He’d read something like that had happened to Dr. Daniel Jackson at some point.
Sheppard shook his head and opened his mouth again but Rodney couldn’t hear anything. Rodney poked at John’s shoulder and got his hand swatted in return. Sheppard’s face turned up towards him and Rodney finally saw why Sheppard had been covering his eyes: They were completely filmed over with white.
"Oh, this isn't good," Rodney said, or at least he thinks that's what came out of his mouth. He dropped to his knees and grabbed Sheppard's hands before he got hit again.
"Sheppard, can you hear me?"
Sheppard nodded his head and his mouth moved too quickly for Rodney to even begin to read his lips. "Wait, wait I can't hear you!" Rodney felt overwhelmed and held onto Sheppard's hands a little harder to keep from panicking. He needed to stay focused. Sheppard's mouth was pressed into a hard line and he kept blinking as if that would return his vision.
He imagined it was worse for Sheppard, because at least he could see they weren't in immediate danger while Sheppard was still in the dark.
"We're not in danger here!" He thinks he might have yelled, because Sheppard winced, pulled one hand free, and waved his hand down like maybe Rodney should lower his voice down a notch or two.
Okay, Rodney just had to remember that just because he couldn't hear himself didn't mean he needed to speak louder.
Sheppard pulled his other hand free from his sweaty grip and stood up slowly, his arms held out to the sides trying to feel for a wall that wasn't there. Oh, man…Rodney didn't know how they were going to get out of this mess.
"We're in a large chamber, there's nothing in here except a huge bed in the middle, but I think maybe I'm imagining it because nothing that tacky can possibly have made it out of Vegas..." Rodney didn't think he was babbling but Sheppard turned his head in his direction and his eyebrow went up, he used his hand to motion for Rodney to keep talking, or at least he thought that's what the hand circle wavy thing meant.
"Um, I was thinking maybe you should sit while I explore...” Rodney thought he sounded reasonable but Sheppard was already shaking his head.
Rodney paid strict attention to Sheppard's lips, he thought Sheppard was saying something about leaving now.
"You want to leave?"
Sheppard nodded his head.
Rodney pictured the angry natives with the guns standing outside the temple just waiting for an excuse to riddle them with holes. "But what about the offering?" He didn't think it would be wise to leave before they finished the task they were given.
Sheppard's mouth moved and while Rodney could kind of guess that was a "fuck them." The one finger salute confirmed his guess. Rodney sighed, yeah Sheppard was right; something had gone wrong and they needed medical attention now. Or maybe it was this room causing their temporary blindness and deafness. Rodney refused to believe this was going to last forever.
He turned towards the entrance and saw instead a blank wall with lights strung along the crown moldings, or what passed for them in this galaxy. He rubbed his eyes and looked again; same wall, he couldn't believe he missed seeing the entrance disappear but with Sheppard on the floor -- possibly injured -- Rodney wasn't paying attention. How could he have been so stupid!
Dismayed, Rodney told Sheppard, "The doorway is gone!"
Sheppard, frowned and shook his head. His mouth moved again but Rodney was already trying to think of possible explanations. Doorways just didn't disappear without cause. Eventually, Sheppard calmed down. He sat back down on his heels and put his hands on his head.
"Don't worry! I'll find out what happened. There's always an explanation. It could be a cloak or maybe a trick door." Rodney didn't voice his worst fear that maybe they were transported to another location on planet and there was no way out of the room except the way they'd come, which meant they were screwed. Rodney stared intently at Sheppard's face, particularly his mouth, waiting for him to say something, give him a clue, tell him what to do, anything?
Worried by Sheppard's non-reaction Rodney reached down and patted Sheppard on the shoulder. Sheppard knocked his hand away hard. Rodney's wrist went numb. "Hey, what was that for!" Rodney hated that he hadn't even seen Sheppard move. His reflexes were that sharp. Rodney took a few steps back, wary of Sheppard now.
Sheppard's head jerked upwards, stricken for a brief moment, before he schooled his face into showing nothing again. Sheppard stood slowly and his hand reached out, searching. His mouth kept repeating the same word over and over again, but Rodney wasn't getting it.
Rodney stopped rubbing his wrist and grabbed Sheppard's hand before the man managed to poke out his eye waving it around like that.
Sheppard pulled him closer and patted him on the back, Rodney relaxed into Sheppard's touch. This didn't feel like Sheppard angry with him; maybe more of an apology? Rodney gave the last interaction some more thought wondering what he'd done and then felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner.
"I startled you," he said and carefully brought his hand up to rest on Sheppard's shoulder.
Sheppard nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders, he looked lost. "But, Colonel, there is no one in the room with us." Rodney didn't think he was very successful at keeping the exasperation out of his voice.
Sheppard smiled broadly flashing the whites of his teeth. Rodney couldn't help but respond he smiled back and squeezed Sheppard's shoulder, hard. This felt like a sort of understanding, now they just needed to get the hell out of here.
Rodney looked at the room more closely. While there were no obvious entrances or exits, there were tapestries decorating the walls, rugs on the floor and the bed in the middle of it all.
Rodney grabbed Sheppard's arm and gently led him to the bed in the center of the room.
"Stay right there," Rodney ordered. He didn't have time to play seeing-eye-dog for Sheppard. "There are tapestries on the wall that may be covering up control panels or something. You can sit on the bed while I look around.”
Sheppard shook off Rodney's hand, his fingers clenched into fists before he crossed his arms, Rodney wasn't too surprised. Of course Sheppard wouldn't want to sit this one out, not when there was the opportunity to walk face first into walls. "Fine, you do whatever it is they taught you at your Army school. I'm getting us out of here."
Rodney walked to the opposite side of the room and the largest tapestry, one with trees. The heavy material felt old and the colors were faded even in this sunless room. It was too heavy to move and firmly attached to the hooks in the ceiling.
He gave up on moving it and turned to see if there were any smaller tapestries, just in time to see Sheppard ripping one off the wall with his bare hands, smiling grimly. The fabric tore from hook at the top and tumbled down to the floor in a cloud of dust. Rodney stared in shock before his brain was able to react. Was Sheppard crazy?
"Stop that! You could trigger something!"
Sheppard turned around and mouthed, "Good!" before turning around and feeling along the wall for another tapestry. Rodney ran across the room and checked the wall behind the tapestry. No use letting Sheppard's efforts go to waste. Rodney tried not to step on the tapestry with his dirty shoes, but he had no choice if he wanted to get closer to the wall. The wall was a slightly different tone than the rest of the room probably because of the tapestry, but he found no inscriptions or any technical devices to help them. In the meantime, Sheppard was feeling his way down the side of the room and ripping down tapestries. He’d already taken down one wall of tapestries and had moved onto the second.
Rodney followed along closely and searched for any clues, sneezing from the amount of dust in the air. Obviously these people hadn't dusted this room in ages.
Rodney lost track of time and his eyes were strained from exhaustion and the soft light. By the time they fully circled the room it was a mess, the pedestals were knocked over after a full examination, and tapestries lay in lumps on the floor. Rodney had pulled up every rug and his knees hurt from examining the floor. He found no control panels or rudimentary trap door mechanisms in the one or two hours it took them to tear this room apart.
"Well, that was a big waste of time. There’s nothing here," Rodney admitted and flopped down on the bed. He just wanted another four hours of sleep, eight would be great, but his stomach was already reminding him to eat.
Sheppard stood at the corner of the bed where Rodney had guided him earlier, one hand holding onto the bedpost. A streak of dust stuck to his chin and his flak vest had a fine grey streaks, his eyes had dark circles under them.
Sheppard hit the bed post a few times, frustration plain as day on his face. Then his eyes opened wide like he had an idea. He let go of the bedpost and felt along the edge until he reached Rodney's leg. "What is it?" Rodney unable to keep the irritation out of his voice he jerked his leg away from Sheppard.
Sheppard grabbed his hand and pulled him. "I'm tired," Rodney complained but got to his feet anyway. Sheppard pointed at the bed again, Rodney wasn't getting it. "I don't understand," Rodney said.
Sheppard pushed him to the side. "Hey!" Rodney yelped and grabbed the bed post to keep his balance.
Sheppard began to rip the sheets and pillows off the bed until he found the mattress and began to push it. "Oh!" Rodney looked at the bed and the rest of the room strewn with tapestries. Under the bed was the only place they hadn't searched and the wooden frame was too heavy to move with the mattress still on it.
Rodney touched Sheppard's arm so he'd know Rodney was right next to him. Sheppard stiffened for a moment before he nodded his head and turned his attention to moving the mattress. They both pushed at the mattress until it was halfway off the bed. Rodney taped Sheppard on the arm, "You stay there, I'll finish moving the mattress." He didn't wait to see Sheppard's response, just climbed onto the box spring the mattress sat on.
Rodney stood on the box spring and after getting a good grip on the mattress, flipped it over and off the bed. It helped that the bed was raised on a small platform. After that it wasn't too hard to push the bed off the platform in the opposite direction.
Rodney looked at the empty spot and sighed loudly, "I doubt dust bunnies are going to get us out of here." Rodney kicked at a stray pillow it flew a few feet in the air before landing on the amongst the rest of the pile of blankets and pillows.
"This sucks!" When he saw Sheppard's worried expression, Rodney toned it down. "It was worth a shot."
With the room completely trashed, Rodney had to guide Sheppard to the flipped mattress so he wouldn't trip over anything. Rodney pushed the bed until it lay mostly flat on the ground. Once Sheppard was on the makeshift bed, Rodney went and grabbed the comforter and pillows. The room wasn't cold but sleeping on a bare mattress was not his idea of comfort.
"Look," Rodney began, once he had the comforter laid out, "I've had three hours of sleep, I'm hungry, tired, and it looks safe for now. I'm sleeping."
He shoved a pillow into Sheppard’s hands and lay down on his side, quickly wrapped the comforter around his body, and closed his eyes. Before he had the chance to fall asleep, something poked him in the ribs. It felt like John’s knuckles. He frowned and opened his eyes and saw Sheppard kneeling next to him, "What?"
Sheppard looked startled and kind of guilty when Rodney noticed his comforter was already halfway towards Sheppard's side of the bed. "Fine! I'll get you a blanket." He didn't want to get up from his nest, but apparently Sheppard didn't want to sleep on the bare mattress either.
It took some work but Rodney managed to pull the sheet out from under the bed, he threw it at Sheppard and it landed on Sheppard's head before Rodney remembered that Sheppard couldn't have caught the sheet when he didn't see it coming.
Rodney stifled the urge to giggle at the sight, he didn't think Sheppard would appreciate it. When Sheppard finally managed to get the sheet untangled from around his body, he looked mussed but not angry; his white eyes zeroed in on him and Sheppard mouthed slowly, "Thanks." Rodney could imagine the amount of sarcasm Sheppard instilled into that simple word.
"Sorry," Rodney said and made up for it by getting Sheppard situated on the bed with his sheet and multiple pillows. He even took off Sheppard's shoes, which wasn’t easy since Sheppard kept pulling his feet away; Sheppard crossed his arms over his chest and refused to let him remove the flak vest.
Rodney removed his own shoes and fixed his pillow so it was next to Sheppard's. As soon as his head hit the pillow, Rodney fell instantly asleep.
*****
John waited until Rodney’s breathing evened out before he sat up slowly enough to not lose his sense of balance. This darkness wasn’t the same as stumbling to the bathroom without turning on any lights and hoping you aimed into the toilet well enough or your girlfriend would chew you a new one for pissing all over the floor. This was complete and utter and possibly irreversible. John pushed that thought aside and focused on finding his damned shoes.
John felt along the bed until he’d reached the edge, he’d told Rodney to leave his shoes alone but Rodney was too busy yanking them off to pay attention. John slowly, he did everything slowly now, waved his hand out over the edge of the bed until his fingers brushed against something soft and furry and hard. John felt around it until he figured out it was a stone step leading up to the former bed platform.
John went in the opposite direction of Rodney’s breathing. He felt along the floor hands encountering the silk sheet trailing off the side of the bed, a rougher material that felt like one of the hanging tapestries and then the cool stone floor. With more patience than he’d imagined ever having, John continued following the edge of the bed, hand outstretched. He couldn’t stand watch in an alien prison without his shoes on. Except, maybe this time he would, since he was back at his pillow.
“Great, Rodney, this is just fucking great.” John contemplated waking Rodney up except he’d heard the exhaustion in his voice and John didn’t have the heart to ruin Rodney's sleep just because he couldn’t find his God-damned shoes.
That, and John wasn't sure if his ears could handle another round of Rodney alternating between shouting and whispering. It got on his nerves rather quickly though the silence bothered him more.
He sat down Indian style after his knees protested against him kneeling. He’d just sit this watch down, John decided and promptly lost track of time. The watch on his wrist was completely useless. He made a mental note to ask the SGC for watches that could sound out the time with a push of a button, or something.
With Rodney out cold, John began to realize how completely he’d begun to depend on Rodney’s observations and babbling to keep his bearings and stay focused. Now he felt alone. If their captors arrived John wouldn’t see them coming until too late. He couldn’t defend himself or Rodney.
“Rodney, I know you can’t hear, but if anyone comes in to kill us, please wake me up.” John felt for his pillow and lay down just as carefully as he’d sat up earlier. His flak vest tightened under his armpit and he readjusted until he felt comfortable. One of the spare pillows Rodney had thrown on his side pressed against his back until John reached over and pulled it in front; he almost threw it across the room, but changed his mind and hugged it to his chest instead.
John closed his eyes and, listening to Rodney steady breathing, finally let himself drift into sleep.
**********
On normal days, John liked to wake up slowly, stretch under his sheets, and stay in bed another thirty minutes. Today sadly, was not one of those days. He opened his eyes, blinked five or six times, hoping that maybe this blindness problem would have gone away by the time he woke up. He thought about rolling over, sitting up, maybe shaking out his arm until feeling returned but Rodney’s head was currently using it as a pillow. It was enough reason for him to not move.
His free arm was wrapped around Rodney’s wide chest, his fingers rested against the standard issued 100% cotton t-shirt all expedition members wore. He could still smell traces of scented soap through the faint odor of sweat and deodorant. His free hand rubbed the cotton material softly. His morning erection pressed happily against something soft yet firm. He squeezed his arm tighter and inhaled deeply, his lips brushed against skin maybe the base of Rodney’s neck. John knew he should roll away. His numb arm would thank him.
"John?" Rodney's voice, low and rough from sleep, cut across the silence.
Oh, shit, Rodney was awake. John tightened his grip on Rodney momentarily. He started to pull away when his wrist was caught in a tight grip.
John stopped breathing for a moment. His breath hitched as Rodney guided his hand downwards until his hand came to rest on the front of Rodney's BDUs. He felt the undeniable shape of Rodney's erection through the thick layer of pants.
"Oh, God," John muttered to himself. His head fell forward against the nap of Rodney's neck as his free hand, guided by Rodney's, continued to stroke and tease Rodney through his BDUs.
Without saying anything, Rodney removed his hand guiding John's and kneaded John's ass, pulling him closer. John shoved forward, his hand on Rodney's cock. He groaned loudly and exhaled against Rodney's neck, before biting him lightly. Rodney moaned, and pushed back to meet John's thrusts. The friction wasn’t enough to get him off, they'd have to remove a few more layers of clothing for it to be enough.
John mouthed the back of Rodney’s neck, rocking against him roughly. Rodney didn't sound like he was minding judging by the soft gasps and the way Rodney's hand tightened on his ass. John groaned in frustration. Rodney removed his hand from John's ass and grabbed his wrist again before twisting in John's arms and shoving John onto his back, holding his wrist above his head, and leaning heavily onto John's chest.
They were both breathing heavily, John licked his lips, and waited. "Rodney?"
When warm lips touched his John didn't panic, not even when Rodney coaxed his mouth open and kissed him. He relaxed into the kiss, his free arm held onto Rodney's arm and he opened his mouth wider. Rodney groaned and he added more force to his kiss, his hand settled on John's side, right where his shirt had come un-tucked from his pants sometime during the night. His other hand still held John's wrist trapped above their heads.
Rodney rubbed a smooth circle with his thumb over his exposed skin. John moaned and his hands reached for Rodney's shirt.
Rodney broke off the kiss breathing heavily, "Wait, you're okay with this right?" Rodney broke off the kiss breathing heavily. Rodney whispered brokenly against his neck. "Please say yes."
Only Rodney would get a guy hot and botheredbefore asking. He nodded his head and said, "Yes!" and just in case Rodney didn't get it the first time he said it again.
"Thank you," Rodney didn't return to kissing him and John had no clue what he was doing until he felt hands on his belt, and Rodney's warm breath against his stomach.
He felt hands on his belt, and Rodney's warm breath against his stomach. "God," John said. "Yes, yes please."
Rodney yanked John's pants all the way down and John heard them land somewhere in the mess they'd made of the room. Warm air caressed his bare skin, his cock throbbed in anticipation, and Rodney didn't disappoint.
Warm lips surrounded his cock and sucked, John gasped for air and parted his legs, while Rodney's hands reached under his shirt and touched his sides before coming back to rest on his cock. Rodney's tongue did this thing under the head and John almost came from that alone. Rodney used his free hand to hold the base of his cock, alternately sucking and jerking him off. John's thighs trembled and he shook, his hands came to rest on Rodney's head, they shook too.
"Please, please," he begged. Rodney sucked harder and it had been so long since someone had blown John he came way too quickly. Rodney swallowed and continued sucking him through the aftershocks. John panted harshly into the still room, sweaty and trembling while Rodney held his legs down. Rodney licked him clean.
His dick twitched in interest but Rodney had finished. The air felt cool against his wet cock. John sat up when Rodney asked, his body felt limp and completely relaxed as Rodney gently removed the flak vest and then pulled his shirt off over his head.
John heard Rodney undressing next to him but feeling Rodney's bare chest against his arm when he leaned over to kiss him again felt like something new. He hadn't done this in years with another man. John didn't know how long they'd kissed before Rodney pulled away and nibbled along his jaw, his other hand was busy pinching his nipples, and caressing down his stomach to lazily jerk his cock back to hardness again.
"I want to fuck you," Rodney said and John nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't imagine it not being good with Rodney.
Rodney parted his thighs and settled between them still touching his body, "You have anything?"
"Flak vest," John reached his hand out groping for it randomly. Rodney's hand beat him to the vest. John heard zippers unzipping, and then the sound of a cap opening.
Rodney's finger rubbed between the crease of his ass. opening, before slowly slipping in. It burned and stretched but when Rodney's mouth surrounded his erection again John gasped. Rodney used another finger, thrusting in and out, finger fucking him.
Apprehension didn't hit John until Rodney had settled between his legs again and pushed his thighs up, he couldn't believe he was doing this on a mission and completely blind and at Rodney's mercy, even if he'd asked Rodney to stop it was hit or miss if Rodney would understand.
It burned as his body stretched to accommodate Rodney's cock. John grabbed onto Rodney's arms and held on tightly, the noises escaping his throat were not whimpers. Rodney paused catching his breathe, "You're so tight, and I can't believe how hot you look stretched out with my cock so far inside you."
John's cock twitched at the imagery those words provided and he pushed back on Rodney's strokes. Rodney knew exactly how to thrust and John gasped for air and urged Rodney on faster with his heels on Rodney's lower back.
Rodney stretched out over him and kissed him on the lips, his thrusts slowed into slow steady rocking. John wrapped his arms around Rodney's back and held on, feeling the orgasm build up inside him. He came first, his body jerking and coming and he might have cried out as he convulsed around Rodney's cock buried inside him.
"Oh, God," Rodney muttered and thrust hard and fast rocking John almost off of the bed before he stilled and John felt Rodney coming inside him. Rodney collapsed on top of him; apparently he didn't care about John's come getting on his stomach.
John felt Rodney's heartbeat pounding against his chest. Rodney took two or three shuddering breaths before he rolled off John. Rodney's sides were slick with sweat. "We should do that again," Rodney said still touching him. John laughed and kissed Rodney's arm or shoulder. He couldn't tell. Rodney's hand cupped his chin and he kissed him again. It was nice and slow and John figured it may not hurt to take a small break.
"Maybe we should get dressed," Rodney said after they'd cooled down and had rolled over to the non-messed up side of the bed.
Rodney was right, they really shouldn't lounge in bed naked, anyone could technically walk in on them, which would be bad. Rodney stole a lot of kisses while re-dressing John. Normally, John would have protested but putting his clothes back on inside out would have looked pretty bad.
Rodney had finished tying John shoe laces with a tug when Rodney yelled practically in his ear, "The door! It's back."
"Help me up," John demanded, they needed to get to that door right away. They didn't know how long it would be there. Rodney kept a firm grip on his arm and pulled him forward. John almost stumbled and tripped over the crap they'd thrown all over the floor but Rodney kept him on his feet and moving forward; he just had to trust that Rodney wouldn't let him go face first into a wall or fall down.
John felt a weird sensation of vertigo and his eyes burned. "Shit!" He rubbed his eyes, unable to stop his hands. He fell to his knees again, damn it, this hurt!
"I can hear!" Rodney exclaimed next to him. "You did say shit, right?"
"Yeah, Rodney, that was me."
When John finished rubbing his eyes, he opened them and saw they were at the entrance of the temple again. The daylight stung his eyes for a moment until they adjusted. John laughed with relief; he could see again!
Rodney's face was a little flushed, but no more than when he got excited over finding new Ancient artifacts to study. John felt a little disoriented and he bet everything was on his face, based on how Rodney's smile toned down a notch when he looked down at him. Rodney offered him a hand and helped him to his feet. John spent a moment spot checking his clothing, but it looked like Rodney got him dressed just fine.
Teyla and Ronon were there waiting for them, standing by the entrance. No armed guards, just men and women busy in the square setting up two or three long tables, kids ran underfoot laughing, it looked peaceful.
He turned his attention back to Teyla and Ronon. "You guys all right?" John asked and scanned them up and down, but they appeared okay.
"We are fine, John." Teyla assured him, and Ronon nodded.
Their hostess arrived, fully dressed this time, and without an armed escort. She had a wide smile and it softened her features. "The gods have clearly accepted your offering, as you live."
"You mean we could have died in that room?"
"Room?" Ronon asked.
"The room with the tacky-never mind." Rodney waved his hand, before bringing it up to scratch the back of his head.
"You are not supposed to speak of the offering." Her smile left her face. She looked shocked.
John nodded, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He spared a glance in Rodney's direction.
"There is a party in preparation of your return," Teyla added quickly smiling. "There will be plenty of food and drink."
Rodney was already nodding his head, and John smiled. "Yes, sure, we'll join the party."
Everyone turned and walked towards the square, the tables, now set up, had men and women ferrying food trays and arranging them. It looked like it would take a little longer before everything was prepared.
John hung back with Rodney, waiting until they out of range for Teyla or Ronon to hear. "So, uh, you're, ah... okay then?"
"What? No! I'm starving! One powerbar in how many hours?"
John laughed out loud and clapped Rodney on the shoulder, steering him towards the food. Of course they were okay.
-end-
Author: amothea
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 6,600
Recipient: pushkin666
Author Notes: I'd like to thank icarusancalion for beta reading this story. She went WAY above and beyond the call of duty in helping me with this story. She's a ruthless taskmaster and she wouldn't let me settle on my first revision, second, or third and no amount of words can ever describe just how much I appreciate that. Any and all mistakes are ultimately mine.
"I think it's safe to say we over-stayed our welcome," Rodney stated the obvious as the villagers escorted them at gunpoint towards an ancient ruin that strongly resembled a Mayan temple.
"You think?" Sheppard was still struggling to get his flack vest on properly, his boots were unlaced, and he didn't look happy. The temple was a good four or five miles from the village and they were only halfway there.
Teyla spoke calmly, "Now is not the time for this discussion." She also looked vaguely irritated and half-dressed as well. Ronon must have slept in his clothes because, while disgruntled about getting woken up at in the middle of the night, he at least had all his clothes.
The walk to the temple was a miserable affair. Rodney hated surprises, especially the “angry villager" variety. His feet hurt because they didn't really give him time to tie his boots either and they chafed against his ankles; adding in the three hours of sleep he got before the rude awakening, this was turning into a rather bad day.
He couldn't see their hostess amongst the crowd of people silently escorting them. They reached the temple entrance; the townspeople had lit torches guiding their way the last fifty meters and a larger crowd had gathered to meet them there, it looked like the entire village. Small children ran up and down the steps off into the dark, shadows moving too quickly out of the range of the torchlight.
It looked primitive for a people who'd mastered the art of indoor plumbing and carried firearms with casual ease. It reminded him of a stage play of sorts, except normally people didn't carry fully loaded guns to those or forced their guests to join the party.
According to Lorne's mission reports these people were friendly and willing to trade. Sadly Rodney's team was sent to finalize the trade agreement.
This time Rodney was reasonably sure he'd done nothing wrong; even Teyla appeared bewildered, well, not so anyone that didn't know her could tell. It was her tight press of lips, and the furrowed eyebrows that gave it away. Ronon, didn’t have his customary scowl which meant he was trying to look less threatening. Not that it worked, the guy was over six feet tall, but Rodney gave him points for trying. John finally had his flak vest on properly, and his arms looked awkward without his P-90. John smiled at the people surrounding them with weapons, but it was the 'we're fucked and I don't know what to do next' smile. Rodney kind of wished he'd stayed back home on Atlantis for this mission.
He edged closer to Ronon and waited to see what would happen next. Teyla bumped into him backing up as the crowd quieted and shifted. John moved closer until his arm brushed against Rodney's. That brief unintentional contact gave Rodney a greater sense of comfort than he'd ever to admit to anyone.
The crowd quieted when their hostess arrived, she was the only one dressed in an unusual fashion, and by dressed he realized he meant completely naked except for the artfully designed paint that covered her body in strategic locations. The headdress she wore glittered in the firelight, Rodney would care more about the types of jewels they'd used, except her full breasts swayed with every step she took climbing up the stairs to stand above the crowd.
Sure, she was no blonde and didn't strike him as brilliant but then surely it wasn't fair to compare every woman to Samantha Carter. Rodney couldn't help but appreciate the lithe lines, the confidence in her step, and the way the lines of paint accented her attributes.
He felt something hit him in the ribs and it took him a moment to realize it was Teyla elbowing him. "Ow! What was that for?" Seriously, Teyla had issues or something. He rubbed his side thinking he should have put on his flak vest too, Teyla had sharp elbows.
"Colonel Sheppard, you may pick one person amongst your people to help you appease our gods for your indiscretion."
Indiscretion! He knew it! "I can't believe this we're here because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?" Rodney glared at John, who turned and gave him this incredulous look that almost convinced Rodney he had no clue what was going on.
"Rodney, this is not the time." Sheppard barked before turning his attention to their hostess. Sheppard stepped forward, or as forward as the guns poking him in the stomach would allow, "I don't understand, what indiscretion?"
Rodney felt anxious for John. Did the man not have survival instincts? Rodney didn’t want the barrel of any gun pointed anywhere near him, let alone pressed against his body.
"I cannot answer until you have appeased our gods."
Sheppard tilted his head in that attractive angle that made most women sit up and take notice, not that Rodney ever paid attention. His tone had a light edge to it, like this was a joke and not their lives on the line. "If you don't mind my asking, what does this 'appeasement' require?"
"Appeasement? Is that even a word?"
Sheppard answered without turning away from the men holding the guns, "Yes, Rodney, it's a word."
Their hostess crossed her arms and Rodney shut up when he saw her mouth pressed into a tight line.
She continued speaking, "Simply, enter the temple with your chosen partner and make an offering when you reach the center. When you have completed your offering you may rejoin your people.
That didn't sound too difficult.
"What kind of offering?" Sheppard asked.
"You will know when you reach your destination."
Sheppard nodded his head, seriously contemplating their hostess's words. "What if we don't appease your gods?"
Sheppard just had to ask, Rodney worried that maybe the natives would think they were too much trouble and throw them down a well and say good riddance. Why did Sheppard have to give the natives time to rethink things?
"Then, we will be enemies." She didn't elaborate but Rodney figured if they treated potential allies to loaded guns as their two am wake up calls, their enemies probably suffered worse.
"I accept." Sheppard sounded weary.
"And your partner..."
Before Sheppard had a chance to make his choice, Rodney stepped forward, though not close enough for the guns to poke him, he wasn't suicidal like Sheppard. “He picks me,” Rodney announced loudly.
He didn’t want to take the chance that Sheppard would choose Teyla or Ronon to keep him safe, when it was obvious to everyone that he was the one who had the most knowledge of the Ancients and would understand anything they found in the temple.
"Rodney," Sheppard turned and scowled at him.
"Choice accepted," their hostess announced, maybe a little quickly. Someone hit a gong and people started clapping.
"Wait...I didn't..." but Sheppard's protests were overridden as the men escorted him to the main entrance. Rodney didn't need the guns at his back to make his way to Sheppard's side. He ignored Sheppard's pissy expression, Sheppard just didn't realize how important he'd be until the time came and then he'd appreciate Rodney for being there instead of Teyla or Ronon.
Everyone backed away, but no one lowered their guns. It quieted down again. "You may proceed," their hostess announced, and with the guns motioning them forward, Rodney had no choice but to follow Sheppard down the dark corridor and into the temple.
The torchlight eventually gave way to complete darkness, with most of their gear still sitting at the foot of their beds, they had no choice but to inch forward into the darkness.
"Rodney, when we get back to Atlantis, I am going to kick your ass."
"I'd like to see you try," Rodney shot back, annoyed that Sheppard didn't appreciate his sacrifice.
Rodney's outstretched fingers brushed against a cool rough surface, "I think we’ve hit a wall." He had flashbacks to Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom and the wall of bugs, but what he touched felt cool and dry. Sheppard’s presence at his side, alleviated some of his worry.
"Wait, I think I found something," Sheppard's hands bumped into his, "It's a door. Stand back." Rodney shuffled back a few paces and heard a loud creak, a thin silver of light fell onto Rodney's shoe. It widened enough for the two of them to enter.
Rodney hesitated, realizing he'd also left behind all his normal scanning equipment, and with no clue as to what lay beyond the doorway, his confidence deserted him.
Sheppard held the door open for him and raised his eyebrow, practically daring him to admit he'd made a mistake volunteering himself for this stupid god appeasement mumbo-jumbo crap.
Rodney smiled grimly, and walked past Sheppard’s outstretched arm. His ears popped passing through the entrance. Rodney shook his head and ignored it; he’d felt worse going up and down elevators.
Stepping into the chamber was like entering a bordello, only without any beautiful half naked women. He gawked for a minute staring at all the gaudy silk fabric draped over the canopy bed. The soft glow of electric lights strung along the walls made the bed placed in the middle of the room positively glow. Someone had fixed the bed with a red comforter and huge pillows lay innocently at the head of the bed. Steps covered in furry rugs led up to the bed.
Rodney shook his head, and rubbed his eyes, not quite believing he wasn’t drugged with an hallucinogen. He turned to ask Sheppard if he saw the same thing he was seeing, and found Sheppard was on his knees on the stone walkway with his hands over his eyes.
Rodney dropped to his knees and pulled at Sheppard’s hands, to see what had happened to his eyes. Sheppard swatted at him without much force and his mouth was moving but Rodney couldn’t hear anything. “Sheppard, stop it I need to see what happened,” Rodney ordered or at least he thought he did. He felt his mouth say the words but couldn’t hear himself.
“Sheppard, can you hear me?” Rodney was terrified that maybe he’d shifted to another dimension. He’d read something like that had happened to Dr. Daniel Jackson at some point.
Sheppard shook his head and opened his mouth again but Rodney couldn’t hear anything. Rodney poked at John’s shoulder and got his hand swatted in return. Sheppard’s face turned up towards him and Rodney finally saw why Sheppard had been covering his eyes: They were completely filmed over with white.
"Oh, this isn't good," Rodney said, or at least he thinks that's what came out of his mouth. He dropped to his knees and grabbed Sheppard's hands before he got hit again.
"Sheppard, can you hear me?"
Sheppard nodded his head and his mouth moved too quickly for Rodney to even begin to read his lips. "Wait, wait I can't hear you!" Rodney felt overwhelmed and held onto Sheppard's hands a little harder to keep from panicking. He needed to stay focused. Sheppard's mouth was pressed into a hard line and he kept blinking as if that would return his vision.
He imagined it was worse for Sheppard, because at least he could see they weren't in immediate danger while Sheppard was still in the dark.
"We're not in danger here!" He thinks he might have yelled, because Sheppard winced, pulled one hand free, and waved his hand down like maybe Rodney should lower his voice down a notch or two.
Okay, Rodney just had to remember that just because he couldn't hear himself didn't mean he needed to speak louder.
Sheppard pulled his other hand free from his sweaty grip and stood up slowly, his arms held out to the sides trying to feel for a wall that wasn't there. Oh, man…Rodney didn't know how they were going to get out of this mess.
"We're in a large chamber, there's nothing in here except a huge bed in the middle, but I think maybe I'm imagining it because nothing that tacky can possibly have made it out of Vegas..." Rodney didn't think he was babbling but Sheppard turned his head in his direction and his eyebrow went up, he used his hand to motion for Rodney to keep talking, or at least he thought that's what the hand circle wavy thing meant.
"Um, I was thinking maybe you should sit while I explore...” Rodney thought he sounded reasonable but Sheppard was already shaking his head.
Rodney paid strict attention to Sheppard's lips, he thought Sheppard was saying something about leaving now.
"You want to leave?"
Sheppard nodded his head.
Rodney pictured the angry natives with the guns standing outside the temple just waiting for an excuse to riddle them with holes. "But what about the offering?" He didn't think it would be wise to leave before they finished the task they were given.
Sheppard's mouth moved and while Rodney could kind of guess that was a "fuck them." The one finger salute confirmed his guess. Rodney sighed, yeah Sheppard was right; something had gone wrong and they needed medical attention now. Or maybe it was this room causing their temporary blindness and deafness. Rodney refused to believe this was going to last forever.
He turned towards the entrance and saw instead a blank wall with lights strung along the crown moldings, or what passed for them in this galaxy. He rubbed his eyes and looked again; same wall, he couldn't believe he missed seeing the entrance disappear but with Sheppard on the floor -- possibly injured -- Rodney wasn't paying attention. How could he have been so stupid!
Dismayed, Rodney told Sheppard, "The doorway is gone!"
Sheppard, frowned and shook his head. His mouth moved again but Rodney was already trying to think of possible explanations. Doorways just didn't disappear without cause. Eventually, Sheppard calmed down. He sat back down on his heels and put his hands on his head.
"Don't worry! I'll find out what happened. There's always an explanation. It could be a cloak or maybe a trick door." Rodney didn't voice his worst fear that maybe they were transported to another location on planet and there was no way out of the room except the way they'd come, which meant they were screwed. Rodney stared intently at Sheppard's face, particularly his mouth, waiting for him to say something, give him a clue, tell him what to do, anything?
Worried by Sheppard's non-reaction Rodney reached down and patted Sheppard on the shoulder. Sheppard knocked his hand away hard. Rodney's wrist went numb. "Hey, what was that for!" Rodney hated that he hadn't even seen Sheppard move. His reflexes were that sharp. Rodney took a few steps back, wary of Sheppard now.
Sheppard's head jerked upwards, stricken for a brief moment, before he schooled his face into showing nothing again. Sheppard stood slowly and his hand reached out, searching. His mouth kept repeating the same word over and over again, but Rodney wasn't getting it.
Rodney stopped rubbing his wrist and grabbed Sheppard's hand before the man managed to poke out his eye waving it around like that.
Sheppard pulled him closer and patted him on the back, Rodney relaxed into Sheppard's touch. This didn't feel like Sheppard angry with him; maybe more of an apology? Rodney gave the last interaction some more thought wondering what he'd done and then felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner.
"I startled you," he said and carefully brought his hand up to rest on Sheppard's shoulder.
Sheppard nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders, he looked lost. "But, Colonel, there is no one in the room with us." Rodney didn't think he was very successful at keeping the exasperation out of his voice.
Sheppard smiled broadly flashing the whites of his teeth. Rodney couldn't help but respond he smiled back and squeezed Sheppard's shoulder, hard. This felt like a sort of understanding, now they just needed to get the hell out of here.
Rodney looked at the room more closely. While there were no obvious entrances or exits, there were tapestries decorating the walls, rugs on the floor and the bed in the middle of it all.
Rodney grabbed Sheppard's arm and gently led him to the bed in the center of the room.
"Stay right there," Rodney ordered. He didn't have time to play seeing-eye-dog for Sheppard. "There are tapestries on the wall that may be covering up control panels or something. You can sit on the bed while I look around.”
Sheppard shook off Rodney's hand, his fingers clenched into fists before he crossed his arms, Rodney wasn't too surprised. Of course Sheppard wouldn't want to sit this one out, not when there was the opportunity to walk face first into walls. "Fine, you do whatever it is they taught you at your Army school. I'm getting us out of here."
Rodney walked to the opposite side of the room and the largest tapestry, one with trees. The heavy material felt old and the colors were faded even in this sunless room. It was too heavy to move and firmly attached to the hooks in the ceiling.
He gave up on moving it and turned to see if there were any smaller tapestries, just in time to see Sheppard ripping one off the wall with his bare hands, smiling grimly. The fabric tore from hook at the top and tumbled down to the floor in a cloud of dust. Rodney stared in shock before his brain was able to react. Was Sheppard crazy?
"Stop that! You could trigger something!"
Sheppard turned around and mouthed, "Good!" before turning around and feeling along the wall for another tapestry. Rodney ran across the room and checked the wall behind the tapestry. No use letting Sheppard's efforts go to waste. Rodney tried not to step on the tapestry with his dirty shoes, but he had no choice if he wanted to get closer to the wall. The wall was a slightly different tone than the rest of the room probably because of the tapestry, but he found no inscriptions or any technical devices to help them. In the meantime, Sheppard was feeling his way down the side of the room and ripping down tapestries. He’d already taken down one wall of tapestries and had moved onto the second.
Rodney followed along closely and searched for any clues, sneezing from the amount of dust in the air. Obviously these people hadn't dusted this room in ages.
Rodney lost track of time and his eyes were strained from exhaustion and the soft light. By the time they fully circled the room it was a mess, the pedestals were knocked over after a full examination, and tapestries lay in lumps on the floor. Rodney had pulled up every rug and his knees hurt from examining the floor. He found no control panels or rudimentary trap door mechanisms in the one or two hours it took them to tear this room apart.
"Well, that was a big waste of time. There’s nothing here," Rodney admitted and flopped down on the bed. He just wanted another four hours of sleep, eight would be great, but his stomach was already reminding him to eat.
Sheppard stood at the corner of the bed where Rodney had guided him earlier, one hand holding onto the bedpost. A streak of dust stuck to his chin and his flak vest had a fine grey streaks, his eyes had dark circles under them.
Sheppard hit the bed post a few times, frustration plain as day on his face. Then his eyes opened wide like he had an idea. He let go of the bedpost and felt along the edge until he reached Rodney's leg. "What is it?" Rodney unable to keep the irritation out of his voice he jerked his leg away from Sheppard.
Sheppard grabbed his hand and pulled him. "I'm tired," Rodney complained but got to his feet anyway. Sheppard pointed at the bed again, Rodney wasn't getting it. "I don't understand," Rodney said.
Sheppard pushed him to the side. "Hey!" Rodney yelped and grabbed the bed post to keep his balance.
Sheppard began to rip the sheets and pillows off the bed until he found the mattress and began to push it. "Oh!" Rodney looked at the bed and the rest of the room strewn with tapestries. Under the bed was the only place they hadn't searched and the wooden frame was too heavy to move with the mattress still on it.
Rodney touched Sheppard's arm so he'd know Rodney was right next to him. Sheppard stiffened for a moment before he nodded his head and turned his attention to moving the mattress. They both pushed at the mattress until it was halfway off the bed. Rodney taped Sheppard on the arm, "You stay there, I'll finish moving the mattress." He didn't wait to see Sheppard's response, just climbed onto the box spring the mattress sat on.
Rodney stood on the box spring and after getting a good grip on the mattress, flipped it over and off the bed. It helped that the bed was raised on a small platform. After that it wasn't too hard to push the bed off the platform in the opposite direction.
Rodney looked at the empty spot and sighed loudly, "I doubt dust bunnies are going to get us out of here." Rodney kicked at a stray pillow it flew a few feet in the air before landing on the amongst the rest of the pile of blankets and pillows.
"This sucks!" When he saw Sheppard's worried expression, Rodney toned it down. "It was worth a shot."
With the room completely trashed, Rodney had to guide Sheppard to the flipped mattress so he wouldn't trip over anything. Rodney pushed the bed until it lay mostly flat on the ground. Once Sheppard was on the makeshift bed, Rodney went and grabbed the comforter and pillows. The room wasn't cold but sleeping on a bare mattress was not his idea of comfort.
"Look," Rodney began, once he had the comforter laid out, "I've had three hours of sleep, I'm hungry, tired, and it looks safe for now. I'm sleeping."
He shoved a pillow into Sheppard’s hands and lay down on his side, quickly wrapped the comforter around his body, and closed his eyes. Before he had the chance to fall asleep, something poked him in the ribs. It felt like John’s knuckles. He frowned and opened his eyes and saw Sheppard kneeling next to him, "What?"
Sheppard looked startled and kind of guilty when Rodney noticed his comforter was already halfway towards Sheppard's side of the bed. "Fine! I'll get you a blanket." He didn't want to get up from his nest, but apparently Sheppard didn't want to sleep on the bare mattress either.
It took some work but Rodney managed to pull the sheet out from under the bed, he threw it at Sheppard and it landed on Sheppard's head before Rodney remembered that Sheppard couldn't have caught the sheet when he didn't see it coming.
Rodney stifled the urge to giggle at the sight, he didn't think Sheppard would appreciate it. When Sheppard finally managed to get the sheet untangled from around his body, he looked mussed but not angry; his white eyes zeroed in on him and Sheppard mouthed slowly, "Thanks." Rodney could imagine the amount of sarcasm Sheppard instilled into that simple word.
"Sorry," Rodney said and made up for it by getting Sheppard situated on the bed with his sheet and multiple pillows. He even took off Sheppard's shoes, which wasn’t easy since Sheppard kept pulling his feet away; Sheppard crossed his arms over his chest and refused to let him remove the flak vest.
Rodney removed his own shoes and fixed his pillow so it was next to Sheppard's. As soon as his head hit the pillow, Rodney fell instantly asleep.
*****
John waited until Rodney’s breathing evened out before he sat up slowly enough to not lose his sense of balance. This darkness wasn’t the same as stumbling to the bathroom without turning on any lights and hoping you aimed into the toilet well enough or your girlfriend would chew you a new one for pissing all over the floor. This was complete and utter and possibly irreversible. John pushed that thought aside and focused on finding his damned shoes.
John felt along the bed until he’d reached the edge, he’d told Rodney to leave his shoes alone but Rodney was too busy yanking them off to pay attention. John slowly, he did everything slowly now, waved his hand out over the edge of the bed until his fingers brushed against something soft and furry and hard. John felt around it until he figured out it was a stone step leading up to the former bed platform.
John went in the opposite direction of Rodney’s breathing. He felt along the floor hands encountering the silk sheet trailing off the side of the bed, a rougher material that felt like one of the hanging tapestries and then the cool stone floor. With more patience than he’d imagined ever having, John continued following the edge of the bed, hand outstretched. He couldn’t stand watch in an alien prison without his shoes on. Except, maybe this time he would, since he was back at his pillow.
“Great, Rodney, this is just fucking great.” John contemplated waking Rodney up except he’d heard the exhaustion in his voice and John didn’t have the heart to ruin Rodney's sleep just because he couldn’t find his God-damned shoes.
That, and John wasn't sure if his ears could handle another round of Rodney alternating between shouting and whispering. It got on his nerves rather quickly though the silence bothered him more.
He sat down Indian style after his knees protested against him kneeling. He’d just sit this watch down, John decided and promptly lost track of time. The watch on his wrist was completely useless. He made a mental note to ask the SGC for watches that could sound out the time with a push of a button, or something.
With Rodney out cold, John began to realize how completely he’d begun to depend on Rodney’s observations and babbling to keep his bearings and stay focused. Now he felt alone. If their captors arrived John wouldn’t see them coming until too late. He couldn’t defend himself or Rodney.
“Rodney, I know you can’t hear, but if anyone comes in to kill us, please wake me up.” John felt for his pillow and lay down just as carefully as he’d sat up earlier. His flak vest tightened under his armpit and he readjusted until he felt comfortable. One of the spare pillows Rodney had thrown on his side pressed against his back until John reached over and pulled it in front; he almost threw it across the room, but changed his mind and hugged it to his chest instead.
John closed his eyes and, listening to Rodney steady breathing, finally let himself drift into sleep.
**********
On normal days, John liked to wake up slowly, stretch under his sheets, and stay in bed another thirty minutes. Today sadly, was not one of those days. He opened his eyes, blinked five or six times, hoping that maybe this blindness problem would have gone away by the time he woke up. He thought about rolling over, sitting up, maybe shaking out his arm until feeling returned but Rodney’s head was currently using it as a pillow. It was enough reason for him to not move.
His free arm was wrapped around Rodney’s wide chest, his fingers rested against the standard issued 100% cotton t-shirt all expedition members wore. He could still smell traces of scented soap through the faint odor of sweat and deodorant. His free hand rubbed the cotton material softly. His morning erection pressed happily against something soft yet firm. He squeezed his arm tighter and inhaled deeply, his lips brushed against skin maybe the base of Rodney’s neck. John knew he should roll away. His numb arm would thank him.
"John?" Rodney's voice, low and rough from sleep, cut across the silence.
Oh, shit, Rodney was awake. John tightened his grip on Rodney momentarily. He started to pull away when his wrist was caught in a tight grip.
John stopped breathing for a moment. His breath hitched as Rodney guided his hand downwards until his hand came to rest on the front of Rodney's BDUs. He felt the undeniable shape of Rodney's erection through the thick layer of pants.
"Oh, God," John muttered to himself. His head fell forward against the nap of Rodney's neck as his free hand, guided by Rodney's, continued to stroke and tease Rodney through his BDUs.
Without saying anything, Rodney removed his hand guiding John's and kneaded John's ass, pulling him closer. John shoved forward, his hand on Rodney's cock. He groaned loudly and exhaled against Rodney's neck, before biting him lightly. Rodney moaned, and pushed back to meet John's thrusts. The friction wasn’t enough to get him off, they'd have to remove a few more layers of clothing for it to be enough.
John mouthed the back of Rodney’s neck, rocking against him roughly. Rodney didn't sound like he was minding judging by the soft gasps and the way Rodney's hand tightened on his ass. John groaned in frustration. Rodney removed his hand from John's ass and grabbed his wrist again before twisting in John's arms and shoving John onto his back, holding his wrist above his head, and leaning heavily onto John's chest.
They were both breathing heavily, John licked his lips, and waited. "Rodney?"
When warm lips touched his John didn't panic, not even when Rodney coaxed his mouth open and kissed him. He relaxed into the kiss, his free arm held onto Rodney's arm and he opened his mouth wider. Rodney groaned and he added more force to his kiss, his hand settled on John's side, right where his shirt had come un-tucked from his pants sometime during the night. His other hand still held John's wrist trapped above their heads.
Rodney rubbed a smooth circle with his thumb over his exposed skin. John moaned and his hands reached for Rodney's shirt.
Rodney broke off the kiss breathing heavily, "Wait, you're okay with this right?" Rodney broke off the kiss breathing heavily. Rodney whispered brokenly against his neck. "Please say yes."
Only Rodney would get a guy hot and botheredbefore asking. He nodded his head and said, "Yes!" and just in case Rodney didn't get it the first time he said it again.
"Thank you," Rodney didn't return to kissing him and John had no clue what he was doing until he felt hands on his belt, and Rodney's warm breath against his stomach.
He felt hands on his belt, and Rodney's warm breath against his stomach. "God," John said. "Yes, yes please."
Rodney yanked John's pants all the way down and John heard them land somewhere in the mess they'd made of the room. Warm air caressed his bare skin, his cock throbbed in anticipation, and Rodney didn't disappoint.
Warm lips surrounded his cock and sucked, John gasped for air and parted his legs, while Rodney's hands reached under his shirt and touched his sides before coming back to rest on his cock. Rodney's tongue did this thing under the head and John almost came from that alone. Rodney used his free hand to hold the base of his cock, alternately sucking and jerking him off. John's thighs trembled and he shook, his hands came to rest on Rodney's head, they shook too.
"Please, please," he begged. Rodney sucked harder and it had been so long since someone had blown John he came way too quickly. Rodney swallowed and continued sucking him through the aftershocks. John panted harshly into the still room, sweaty and trembling while Rodney held his legs down. Rodney licked him clean.
His dick twitched in interest but Rodney had finished. The air felt cool against his wet cock. John sat up when Rodney asked, his body felt limp and completely relaxed as Rodney gently removed the flak vest and then pulled his shirt off over his head.
John heard Rodney undressing next to him but feeling Rodney's bare chest against his arm when he leaned over to kiss him again felt like something new. He hadn't done this in years with another man. John didn't know how long they'd kissed before Rodney pulled away and nibbled along his jaw, his other hand was busy pinching his nipples, and caressing down his stomach to lazily jerk his cock back to hardness again.
"I want to fuck you," Rodney said and John nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't imagine it not being good with Rodney.
Rodney parted his thighs and settled between them still touching his body, "You have anything?"
"Flak vest," John reached his hand out groping for it randomly. Rodney's hand beat him to the vest. John heard zippers unzipping, and then the sound of a cap opening.
Rodney's finger rubbed between the crease of his ass. opening, before slowly slipping in. It burned and stretched but when Rodney's mouth surrounded his erection again John gasped. Rodney used another finger, thrusting in and out, finger fucking him.
Apprehension didn't hit John until Rodney had settled between his legs again and pushed his thighs up, he couldn't believe he was doing this on a mission and completely blind and at Rodney's mercy, even if he'd asked Rodney to stop it was hit or miss if Rodney would understand.
It burned as his body stretched to accommodate Rodney's cock. John grabbed onto Rodney's arms and held on tightly, the noises escaping his throat were not whimpers. Rodney paused catching his breathe, "You're so tight, and I can't believe how hot you look stretched out with my cock so far inside you."
John's cock twitched at the imagery those words provided and he pushed back on Rodney's strokes. Rodney knew exactly how to thrust and John gasped for air and urged Rodney on faster with his heels on Rodney's lower back.
Rodney stretched out over him and kissed him on the lips, his thrusts slowed into slow steady rocking. John wrapped his arms around Rodney's back and held on, feeling the orgasm build up inside him. He came first, his body jerking and coming and he might have cried out as he convulsed around Rodney's cock buried inside him.
"Oh, God," Rodney muttered and thrust hard and fast rocking John almost off of the bed before he stilled and John felt Rodney coming inside him. Rodney collapsed on top of him; apparently he didn't care about John's come getting on his stomach.
John felt Rodney's heartbeat pounding against his chest. Rodney took two or three shuddering breaths before he rolled off John. Rodney's sides were slick with sweat. "We should do that again," Rodney said still touching him. John laughed and kissed Rodney's arm or shoulder. He couldn't tell. Rodney's hand cupped his chin and he kissed him again. It was nice and slow and John figured it may not hurt to take a small break.
"Maybe we should get dressed," Rodney said after they'd cooled down and had rolled over to the non-messed up side of the bed.
Rodney was right, they really shouldn't lounge in bed naked, anyone could technically walk in on them, which would be bad. Rodney stole a lot of kisses while re-dressing John. Normally, John would have protested but putting his clothes back on inside out would have looked pretty bad.
Rodney had finished tying John shoe laces with a tug when Rodney yelled practically in his ear, "The door! It's back."
"Help me up," John demanded, they needed to get to that door right away. They didn't know how long it would be there. Rodney kept a firm grip on his arm and pulled him forward. John almost stumbled and tripped over the crap they'd thrown all over the floor but Rodney kept him on his feet and moving forward; he just had to trust that Rodney wouldn't let him go face first into a wall or fall down.
John felt a weird sensation of vertigo and his eyes burned. "Shit!" He rubbed his eyes, unable to stop his hands. He fell to his knees again, damn it, this hurt!
"I can hear!" Rodney exclaimed next to him. "You did say shit, right?"
"Yeah, Rodney, that was me."
When John finished rubbing his eyes, he opened them and saw they were at the entrance of the temple again. The daylight stung his eyes for a moment until they adjusted. John laughed with relief; he could see again!
Rodney's face was a little flushed, but no more than when he got excited over finding new Ancient artifacts to study. John felt a little disoriented and he bet everything was on his face, based on how Rodney's smile toned down a notch when he looked down at him. Rodney offered him a hand and helped him to his feet. John spent a moment spot checking his clothing, but it looked like Rodney got him dressed just fine.
Teyla and Ronon were there waiting for them, standing by the entrance. No armed guards, just men and women busy in the square setting up two or three long tables, kids ran underfoot laughing, it looked peaceful.
He turned his attention back to Teyla and Ronon. "You guys all right?" John asked and scanned them up and down, but they appeared okay.
"We are fine, John." Teyla assured him, and Ronon nodded.
Their hostess arrived, fully dressed this time, and without an armed escort. She had a wide smile and it softened her features. "The gods have clearly accepted your offering, as you live."
"You mean we could have died in that room?"
"Room?" Ronon asked.
"The room with the tacky-never mind." Rodney waved his hand, before bringing it up to scratch the back of his head.
"You are not supposed to speak of the offering." Her smile left her face. She looked shocked.
John nodded, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He spared a glance in Rodney's direction.
"There is a party in preparation of your return," Teyla added quickly smiling. "There will be plenty of food and drink."
Rodney was already nodding his head, and John smiled. "Yes, sure, we'll join the party."
Everyone turned and walked towards the square, the tables, now set up, had men and women ferrying food trays and arranging them. It looked like it would take a little longer before everything was prepared.
John hung back with Rodney, waiting until they out of range for Teyla or Ronon to hear. "So, uh, you're, ah... okay then?"
"What? No! I'm starving! One powerbar in how many hours?"
John laughed out loud and clapped Rodney on the shoulder, steering him towards the food. Of course they were okay.
-end-