Fic: Sympathy for Eve, 9/27

May 08, 2006 14:10

Title: Sympathy for Eve, 9/27
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Beckett, Sheppard, Emmagan, Dex, Weir, Zelenka
Relationships: McKay/Beckett
Rating: PG for this part, but the series as a whole is NC-17
Warnings: mpreg
Spoilers: Mention of Grace Under Pressure
Summary: Part 9 of the Sympathy for Eve series. When Rodney gets turned into a woman for a month, he decides to experiment, but little did he know it could have unforeseen consequences. Set somewhere in a nebulous third season after any cliffhanger-y stuff has been resolved.
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.



"Dammit, Doc, no! Stay put," John yelled into his headset. "I'm on my way to come get you. Rodney's being taken care of."

"I need to get to him," Carson argued.

"The operative phrase being 'get to him,'" John said. "I don't want to be doing another underwater rescue, nor do I want to be digging your body out of a hunk of metal that used to be a jumper. Stay put."

"I can fly."

"Okay, I'll tell you what. Hold your hands out in front of you. If they're shaking I'm coming for you." There was silence on the other end of the radio. "Doc?"

Carson's sigh came through softly. "All right. Come get me."

***

Elizabeth sat in the infirmary waiting area, watching Ronon pace and Teyla watching him with an apparent air of serenity, only the slight crease between her eyebrows giving away her worry.

A quiver of guilt ran through her as she realised she wasn't really worried. Other than some scrapes and bruises, Rodney was okay. It was the baby's wellbeing that was everyone's concern. She wanted to worry about it, too, but she couldn't, and she couldn't ignore the little voice in her head that said everything would be so much easier if this all ended now.

She knew, of course, that she hadn't done anything to cause this accident, but she still felt responsible somehow, as if the universe had reacted to her silent wishes.

The door slid open and Radek stepped in hesitantly. "Is there any news?" he asked. "The science department is very anxious."

"There has been no news as of yet," Teyla said, then nodded to the seat beside her. "Would you care to join us in waiting?"

***

John had seen Carson in a lot of stressful situations. He had never seen him so tense or pale. Practically the entire Athosian settlement seemed to have surrounded him with comforting touches and encouraging words. Halling and some others were holding some sort of a prayer vigil.

The normally polite doctor left them, however, with hardly a word of thanks or goodbye as soon as he caught sight of John.

"Any news?" he asked, hurrying past John and toward the jumper.

John shook his head. "I asked that they not contact me with news while I was flying."

Carson gave him a quizzical look.

"I needed to concentrate," John admitted.

They settled into their seats and took off, John's calm handling of the controls hiding his inner turmoil. Carson's hand hovered over the comm button, and then withdrew. There followed a long, tense silence as the mainland faded into blue ocean. John watched the HUD map. Carson fidgeted. As always, John noted when they overflew the spot where a jumper lay crushed under thousands of feet of seawater, the grave of a pilot John had never met.

"I should have slowed down," he blurted out suddenly.

"What?" Carson asked.

"He was trying to keep up with me when he got tangled in his sarong. Or something. I didn't realise he wasn't keeping up until he was already falling." John sighed. "I should've slowed down. I'm sorry."

Carson was silent for a moment. "Ye didn't mean it to happen. I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

***

Carson was out of his seat and on the comm before the jumper had touched down in the jumper bay. John followed him out as soon as he could, anxiously listening to the one-sided conversation.

"Is it still...? That's good. ... Bloody hell, that's not good. How's Rodney taking it? ... I'm at the transporter. I'll be there in a minute."

Carson stepped into the transporter and punched his destination, apparently so intent on getting to the infirmary and his lover that he didn't even notice he'd left John in the corridor. John stood and watched the doors slide shut on Carson and shook his head. Left behind again.

***

Teyla's hand was warm, stroking his arm calmingly. "He will be here soon."

Rodney perked up as Biro turned from him and clicked her radio. "Yes, Carson! Are you back?" He tried to listen further, but she stepped away from the bed.

"Dammit!"

"You must stay calm, Rodney," Teyla said.

Ronon grunted. "For the baby."

Rodney nodded, but his eyes were focused on the doorway, slowly growing more tense as the seconds dropped away until... "Carson!"

And then Carson was there, taking him in his arms, smelling of herbs and wood smoke. "Ah, Rodney, love. Are you all right? I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"I'm okay," Rodney answered, holding him tightly. "But the baby..."

"Shhh. I know. We just have to take care of you to take care of him. He'll make it."

"You can't know that! Biro says there's nothing to be done except watch and wait."

Carson drew back, looking serious. "Aye, love, she's right. But we have to keep up hope. If ye give up now, then the worst will almost definitely happen."

Rodney gave him a disbelieving look.

"I know, it's voodoo, but it's true. Your attitude will affect the outcome. You need to stay positive."

"Hey," a voice said from behind Carson. Rodney looked and saw it was Sheppard.

"Colonel. Thank you for getting him."

John shrugged. "It seemed the thing to do. So, uh, I take it that it's not the worst that could happen, but still bad?"

"He's got a placental abruption," Carson answered. "Basically, it's a bruising of or blood clot on the placenta. It's very rare it happens this early in pregnancy and it's never a good thing."

John nodded, looking grim.

"But, with bed rest, it may clear up. We'll just have to wait and see."

"And if it doesn't?" John asked.

"Miscarriage," Rodney answered, his voice wavering as he said it. "I'm going to have to stay here in the infirmary till they know one way or the other."

"God, I'm so sorry, Rodney," John said.

"Let's not give up just yet," Carson said. "John Nikola deserves better than that."

"John?" Sheppard asked.

"Aye, Colonel. We decided to name the baby after you."

John swallowed hard, and then smiled. "Thanks. That's... Well..." He shrugged. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Ye can keep him company," Carson answered. "He'll likely be in here a few days on complete bed rest. He'll need someone keeping him from inciting my staff to murder."

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Rodney said.

His four visitors exchanged amused glances. "We will all be sure to visit often," Teyla said.

Ronon nodded.

"Excellent," Biro said from the end of the bed. "But for now, I need everyone but Carson to clear out."

***

"Come in!" Elizabeth called.

John stepped into her office. "Hey. Rodney says you didn't stick around very long earlier. Was wondering if everything was okay."

Something flashed across her face and was gone. "I had to get back here to see Stackhouse's team off."

He nodded. "They want to name the baby John."

"Congratulations," she answered, then gave him a smile. "Planning on returning the thought?"

"Hell, no," John answered. "No American kid should be stuck with a name like Rodney."

"What about Carson?"

John shrugged. "Carson Sheppard doesn't really flow all that well. Besides, if I use Carson, then I have to use Rodney."

For a brief moment, when she'd considered giving up Atlantis for that other life, she'd thought about names-- Simon, Danielle, William, Abigail.

"Are you okay?" John asked.

She gave him a fragile smile. "I guess I'm not handling this all very well." She considered her hands. "I keep thinking how much easier things would be if... if this whole pregnancy thing would just go away. Is that horrible of me?"

John shrugged. "Actually, I know how you feel."

"You do?" she asked.

"But it won't go back to the way it was. Rodney and Carson would be devastated. They might try to shrug it off. One more death in a galaxy full of deaths." He shook his head.

"But it would still break them," she said, nodding.

"Yeah," he answered, thinking of the look on Rodney's face. "Yeah, it would."

Next part

non-smut, sympathy for eve, fiction, slash, beckett/mckay, mpreg, pg

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