oOo
"Rodney, I know you are not a warrior. I do not expect you to behave like one"
As they move away from the gate, Teyla gives him a smile, that seems to Rodney, condescending. They are discussing their respective places in the team. Rodney is feeling defensive: Sheppard has him on a training programme to improve his combat skills.
"I can be brave too you know!", he retorts.
Teyla ignores Ronon's guffaw and Sheppard's raised eye brows, and says tactfully,
"I am sure you can, Rodney. But, I am here for your defence, so that you may... do... those things..", she seems momentarily lost for the right words, but then finishes swiftly, with a flourish, "...that you do best."
And she throws him a relieved, and radiant smile.
"But you're a woman...", whines Rodney.
He realises his mistake too late, and the Athosian's eyes flash their disapproval and... was there anger too?
"Do not make the mistake, doctor, of dismissing me because of my.. gender." She says the last word like it is a profanity, and her lips no longer smile.
Later, they wander through the abandoned complex. Genii were here once; it's dirty and there's a smell of non-specific filth that makes them all pass on lunch. There is an uneasy silence, as Rodney tries to find a cheap way to apologise, but is unsuccessful.
They need a signal boost to call home, so Rodney leaves the stuff with Teyla as he and the other two go on. He sees her competently attach wires and make the required adjustments. She doesn't care to look at Rodney, and he begins to realise that a cheap apology doesn't exist.
They move past a doorway and a click is heard. Sheppard looks alarmed for a moment, and there is even time for both Rodney and Ronon to look shocked, and then...
"Booby trap!", the colonel yells, and everyone scatters to find appropriate shelter. As Rodney turns he sees Teyla, emerging from the passage still pushing stuff into her pack. She has not heard the warning.
Before he really knows what has happened, he has launched himself at the woman, knocking her to the ground. Then he is flattened by a blast of hot sulphurous air, and a noise like a cannon blast.
It's awkward, sprawling on top of a beautiful woman and he bangs his shoulder on something hard, as he goes down.
There is shouting to his right and it's hard to breathe. He realises, then, that his face is pressed into warm and fragrant fabric and this is stifling him. A little embarrassed, he pulls back from what is probably Teyla's chest, with a jerk and...
... like a lightning flash, white hot pain shoots from the back of his neck to the top of his head.
His eyes screw up against the ache gnawing at the top of his spine, but his right hand finds its way there instinctively.
He feels something... but it's not neck; it feels like a buckle off his back pack.
It popped open, he thinks, but just then a wave of weakness, has him drooping sideways and with a thwack the side of his face hits the grimy wall.
Ow...
Someone says, "No... I am uninjured", and Teyla must still be mad at him because she is kicking at him now. He falls face down in the dirt, when she at last wriggles and kicks herself free. It's cold on the ground and he'd get up if someone would give him a hand.
"Get- ge- m'up", he mumbles between gritty lips.
No one is listening though, so he gets onto wobbly hands and knees in the gloomy passage.
He feels bad about knocking Teyla down, so,
"Sorry... jus' tryin' you know, to...", he says, heaving a great and strangely empty breath," ... help."
He is kneeling, or at least it feels like he is kneeling, close to the wall with one cold cheek and a bruised shoulder resting there. It's chilly and his nose is running, so he sniffs loudly and wipes at it with a sleeve covered hand.
Voices drift in...
"Are we all okay?"
"His nose is bleeding... McKay? Here..." A crinkly wrapped package bumps off his knee; it's a dressing.
He raises his sleepy head, and sees his three team mates standing whole and undamaged in front of him.
Teyla smiles a small smile, and says coyly, hands on hips,
"You did not have to prove yourself so soon, Rodney... but I thank you nonetheless"
Glancing down he sees his hands and they are bloodied, streaked with red, garish in the half light.
Suddenly, Teyla is there kneeling opposite him like a mirror image. She tears open the package and presses the wadding into his hand,
"Next time, do not push with your head...", she admonishes, but the words are said lightly and her eyes dance.
It occurs to Rodney, just then, that she is one of the strongest and most courageous people that he has ever known... and she is his friend.
Emotions well up and there is nothing he can do to stop the tears that squeeze from his eyes.
"M'sorry, T-Teyla... really... s-sorry..."
She looks at him strangely, and he wonders why he feels so breathless doing nothing down here on the ground. Now she looks mad again and her head tilts slightly,
"Colonel...?", she says sharply, but her eyes never leave Rodney's.
"Something is wrong...", she continues, and her hands are warm on his; she doesn't care that they are bloodstained.
And it's then that everything just seems to give up, and he pitches forward, face-planting against Teyla's chest - again - and he thinks, how will he ever explain it all to his team mates.
This time though she doesn't kick him off, she simply cradles him to herself, motionless, and he hears her murmured voice vibrate through her chest, words he cannot understand.
A weight is removed from his back... his pack, probably. His shirt is damp, making him shiver, but there are warm hands on him now.
He feels a sting in his thigh, and things get even hazier. He's bumped and jostled, he forgets which way is up. His arms are around someone; he knows it's Teyla.
There is cold, a searing pain, and a fear that just won't be quieted, but through it all, there is Teyla...solid, wonderful Teyla, holding him...
and holding him...
and holding him.
oOo