Title: Clear Blue Skies
Author: Starrylizard
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG
Notes: A short Tau of Rodney tag.


He was dying after all; it was worth a shot.

"Think of clear blue skies."

He remembered the blue skies back home in winter, when Jeanie used to drag him out, bundled up in their jackets against the cold, and they'd lie on their backs, arms and legs outstretched as they made snow angels. That always made Jeanie laugh and they'd lie there breathless, panting and happy, arguing everything and nothing, staring at the blue sky above them as snow flakes landed cool in their lashes.

Then afterward, there was hot chocolate and the comfort of a crackling fire and they'd read to each other. Clear blue skies.

"Know that we love you Rodney."

Elizabeth's words came as a shock. He knew that he cared for all of them, that they had replaced the family that had never really (except for Jeanie) cared much for him, that he'd mostly lost contact with. He regarded these people as his family now; he was just never sure if the feelings ran both ways. You love me? Really?

"Back to the blue skies, let your thoughts go."

Sheppard's voice and his thoughts wandering free and of course he thought of clear blue skies - the clear blue of the sky above Atlantis, the welcoming hum of a puddle jumper and Sheppard sitting beside him at the controls. The simple pleasures of a time and a place when he wasn't afraid. Of a clear blue sky rushing past the puddle jumper windows.

And then he was floating, flying through the clear blue sky as it washed away his thoughts, the blue sky became darker, his flight slower.

He was floating in a vast black emptiness.

That's it! Carson you have to…