Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
thanks to dahan for the beta
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Before the Atlantis expedition were to head back to base, it was customary for the leaders to meet with General Landry and the founders of the Stargate Programme, namely SG1, to say a final farewell. Only this time, it wasn t as happy an occasion as they had planned.
Lt Col Sam Carter looked as though none of this was fazing her; but then again she was a US Air Force pilot, trained to keep her head in stressful situations. Like battling space aliens off-world, or the potential down fall of a colleagues career.
She began seeing the warning signs not too long ago, when the arrogant Dr Rodney McKay started acting differently. He was quieter, more withdrawn, and only spoke out when provoked; nothing like his usual opinionated self.
Sam even started to make mistakes in front of him, to see if he d notice. He didn t.
"Oh come on McKay!" She scolded, not able to take it anymore.
"What?" he responded looking up. Directing his attention toward her notes he flatly stated, "That s wrong." as if she didn t know.
"What s been going on with you lately? You ve been, kind of withdrawn."
"Nothing!" was his response as Rodney stood, and looked as if he was about to run away.
"You can talk me. If there s something going on-"
"No, Colonel I m fine. Maybe you should start concentrating on your equations, rather than my life." And with that, he stormed out of the room, leaving Sam with more questions than answers.
Of course, it was foolish of her to think that life in Atlantis hadn t changed him. From what she s heard and read in the mission reports, McKay had been fighting the Wraith and has been dealing with the consequences of such a war first hand. It was enough to send some highly trained people off the deep end, let alone a less than well-adjusted civilian scientist. The fact that he was still able to function and talk and communicate was something he should be proud of. So in her opinion a little depression before going back to Atlantis was to be expected.
The only exception was that it wasn t like this before. He s never been depressed before a trip back to Atlantis and this was hardly his first trip back. So, so much for that theory
As protocol dictated, when there was any doubt about a fellow team mate, especially one who was often off world, it was your duty to report it to your direct superior. But at this point, Sam wasn t sure it was warranted just yet.
If McKay was in some sort of trouble, it was best to keep it under wraps before the IOA had anything to do with it. After all it wasn t like she hadn t dealt with this type of thing before.
Although maybe she was also just kidding herself; and if McKay had been brain washed off world or was being used by the Trust, it may be just as bad.
Still, she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even when she would enter her lab and he would abruptly hang up his phone, or cover his computer screen. She and McKay were close, but never good friends. That is why she knew if she wanted to know what was going on with him, it would be best to talk to someone who knew him much better than she did.
She found Col John Sheppard in the Mess Hall, trying to use his rank as a means to get an extra serving of pudding. He was so far unsuccessful. After a short talk, Sheppard agreed to chat with McKay, only because he thought Carter was being too cautious.
"It s McKay!" he told her, "he does weird things every now and then. It s his thing."
For the rest of the day, Sam was pleased. At least she had told someone; now whatever happened she knew Sheppard would be in with her. He was a Colonel now, so he too would have the duty to report any and all suspicious behaviour.
And maybe he was right. McKay had changed a lot over the years and she hadn t known him that well in the first place. It was logical to believe that maybe this was just a funk that McKay got into sometimes. Maybe the person on the phone was his family, or someone else he d left behind. There was no reason why he would tell her such things.
Carter had just finished convincing herself that she was wrong, and that the next time she would see McKay he would be back to his old self, when she was on her way to invite Dr Lam to lunch. If she had taken the long way, or just telephoned instead of visiting in person she would have missed seeing Sheppard sitting on a gurney, getting a wound on his hand treated. If she hadn t chosen this particular time, she would have believed that everything was alright.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"It s nothing." He shrugged. "I talked to McKay and on my way back when I hit my hand on the door."
"The door?" She asked, not believing him for a second. A side ways glance to the treating nurse revealed she didn t believe the Colonel either.
"Yeah. I m used to Atlantis, where a hit of the door will open it. That doesn t work here." And With that, Sheppard made to leave the Infirmary.
"Wait Colonel." Sam stopped him. "What about McKay?"
"He s fine, Sam. Leave him alone." Sheppard stated as he stalked out of the room.
She was about to leave it alone, to write it all off as a fight between the friends. Even she knew the best of teammates fight sometimes, when she entered the lab to find McKay talking on his cell phone. From what Sam could hear, McKay was planning on meeting someone this afternoon, to pick it up . He was just assuring the person on the other end of the line that he had everything he needed, and yes he had done this many times before, when he noticed Sam was in the room. A quick goodbye and the phone was gone.
"Sam. Hi. How are you?"
"I m fine." She lied. "Making plans for leaving tomorrow?"
"What?" McKay looked at the phone, as if it was about to say something incriminating. "Right yeah. I best be off then." He moved quickly towards the door, stopping just before he left.
"Sam?" She waited, hoping this would be the moment he d come clean. "I double checked your equations, because you were having so many problems with them."
Then he was gone. Carter went directly over to the red emergency phone, and asked to speak with General Landry.
So there they all stood, waiting for McKay to arrive; to accuse a trusted member of the Atlantis expedition of treason. It was not a moment Carter was looking forward to. Along with herself and General Landry, Dr Elizabeth Weir, Colonel Sheppard, Col Cameron Mitchell, and Teal c were also waiting. All but Sheppard had been informed of the allegations; though he was aware of Carters theories.
"Alright, alright. So sorry I m late, just had to finalise some stuff." McKay announced loudly as he approached the group, a giant backpack in his arm. He stopped, wide-eyed, and looked at them all staring at him. "What are you all doing?"
Landry sighed and stepped forward. "Dr McKay, there has been some questions, regarding your recent behaviour."
"Oh well what d I do?" McKay pointed at Dr Weir. "She told me to be on my best behaviour and so far she hasn t once told me to shut up since I ve been here."
"We just have to ask you a couple of questions, would you mind stepping into my office?"
McKay hugged his bag tight to his chest. "Well yes, actually, we need to head back home."
"McKay." Col Mitchell tapped his Zat gun. "Just put down the bag and go with the General."
"No." McKay stated, wildly looking around the room. "My bag, my stuff. This is ridiculous; Sheppard, tell them this is ridiculous."
"McKay, it s probably best if you just open your bag." The Colonel replied, avoiding eye contact.
"Oh that s just great, some help you are!" McKay struggled to keep his breathing calm, but was having difficulty.
At a nod from the General, both Teal c and Mitchell stepped forward, pointing their Zats at McKay.
"Please hand over the bag." Teal c asked.
McKay hesitated slightly, and Teal c made a grab for the bad. McKay suddenly burst into action and moved the bag well out of Teal c s reach.
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on!" he assessed the situation, and sighed with defeat. "Fine. I just gotta treat this carefully."
He knelt down and slowly opened the zip. He reached inside and pulled out a small kitten.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"See, I told you it was nothing!" Sheppard told Carter. "It s just a dumb cat."
"It s not a dumb cat! She s a genius; she already knows where to go to the bathroom, and to ring the little bell when she wants food, it took my first cat months to figure that stuff out." McKay hugged the kitten closely, as people started to advance.
"Dr McKay, I m very sorry for all this trouble, but you know the rules. No pets allowed on Atlantis. People could be highly allergic." General Landry looked wearily at the kitten, who was well aware she was the centre of attention and was batting playfully at Mitchell s hand.
"Oh no see, she s been bred a special, hypo-allergenic or something, see." McKay thrust the kitten into the arms of the uneasy General, and the Doctor smiled at Elizabeth.
"See, there s nothing wrong. She ll be fine in my room." McKay pleaded.
Elizabeth s resolve was faltering. "There there are certain rules, Rodney. We can t just."
"What?" McKay advanced slightly, looking her directly in the eyes. "She can stay in my room, and she won t hurt anyone."
Elizabeth appeared to be grasping for straws, trying to keep professional while slightly blushing under McKay s gaze. "She s a kitten and will want attention. You can t bring her into the lab, even when no one else is there."
"No problems. I ve been working on an automatic cat feeder built into the scratch tree connected to the litter box that interacts with the city s systems through to my lab that will "
"McKay!" Colonel Sheppard interrupted gesturing to the glaring General.
Elizabeth looked between the doctor and general. "Well, maybe if you can promise."
McKay beamed, and he grabbed the kitten from Landry. He placed the kitten gently into Elizabeth s arms, and spoke only to her.
"Her name is Elizabeth."
Elizabeth looked up into McKay s eyes and smiled. "It wouldn t be very scientific to state animals are bad when we haven t even tested the theory."
Carter looked at the two, shocked at the display. She turned towards Sheppard, who looked as though this type of thing was a natural occurrence.
"Ok, the cat can stay." Elizabeth announced. "And General, I m assuming that since this is only a trial basis, there s no need to tell the IOA?"
Landry shook his head and smiled. "Just as long as you remember that I cannot control what the people on your base tell them. Are we clear?"
Elizabeth, who had already gone back to playing with the kitten, looked to the General. "Of course."
Carter shook her head. She would have to find a gift for McKay to apologise for the mess. Some sort of squeaky toy might work out best.