"Colonel, this is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you."
Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard panted, the pain in his shoulder like a jagged knife blade making itself comfortable, slicing away.
"Rodney," John said, breathing through his nose now as he ground his teeth through a particularly sharp stab, "it's just you and me here. You, ah!" Sheppard stopped talking momentarily, and pushed back against the hard rock. He opened his mouth to breathe again, worried that if he didn't get lots of air really fast there'd be lots of his breakfast all over the nervous and more than worried astrophysicist.
"Oh, geez. We…we should do this," Dr. Rodney McKay said urgently. He checked again to make sure he was positioned properly, as Sheppard had explained.
"Yeah. Look. Remember what I said. If I pass out…" He remembered how out of it Ronon had been when he re-set his own separated shoulder. And that was Ronon. Sheppard's own previous experiences in separated shoulder hell had always included immediate medical attention and lots of good drugs.
"Yes, yes," McKay interrupted. "I'm not supposed to worry. I reiterate, for the record, how inane that suggestion is. I also want to make sure we have on record how much of a bad idea I think this is. We should wait and let Carson take care…" Rodney paused, realizing what he'd said. "Um, let the doctors take care of this. I don't want to be responsible for crippling you for life. Must I explain once again, I know we've been over this once or twice before and I shouldn't have to tell you again, how I react to certain doom?"
"Yeah, your bad habit," John said, remembering the comment from long ago. Sheppard was sure that had seemed like certain doom, those minutes stuck in a puddle jumper stuck in an event horizon, the nasty Eratus bug stuck to him. McKay had been through a lot since then, but he'd managed to maintain a healthy fear at the appropriate times, but 'certain doom' seemed a bit dramatic, even for McKay, considering their current situation. John suspected that everything they dealt with lately had the potential for 'certain doom' to Rodney, especially after what happened to Beckett.
"Apparently one of many, now can we do this?"
"Wait, wait, what do you mean…aaah!" Rodney did as John had described. He had placed himself securely at John's side, grabbed hold of the damaged arm and pulled with all his might. He heard a distinct 'snick', as though the shoulder had slipped back into place. Rodney felt nauseous at the thought of what ligament and other damage he might have caused by his actions, but Sheppard had been insistent that it be done. He said that he needed the pain and the discomfort of the dislocation a lot less just that minute than he needed more mobility, even if that mobility meant less actual use of his left arm.
The two team members were in a small cavern not far from the crevasse they had been attempting to cross. John had taken point after a pretty intense argument with Rodney about the need for this rock climbing adventure, now misadventure. McKay's tongue was turning numb from all the many times he'd wanted to say 'I told you so' in this last hour. He didn't want to think about the fact that John's anger after their fight might have caused him to be a little careless; that it might be Rodney's fault that they were stuck where they were.
He wanted to think even less about why the colonel remained reluctant to listen to him in these matters. He understood that much of it had to do with John's mindset, a military mindset and seemingly single-minded determination to seek and find anything that could help them fight the Wraith and any other evils they might encounter in this galaxy. Rodney often felt that goal overrode simple good sense. Did Sheppard really think that the genius Rodney McKay was providing advice and warnings for his health? Well, JUST for his health?
In his rush to get away from the annoying scientist, John had slipped and fell hard and fast down the surprisingly sheer far side of the large rock wall. It had been a long way down, and there was no doubt that Sheppard had been injured considering the lack of response from the team's repeated hails.
McKay had insisted on staying and climbing down to see about Sheppard's condition. Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagen had recognized implacable when they'd seen it, even if the word wasn't one that tripped readily from their tongues.
The physicist had packed as much of the medical supplies, food and water from each of their packs as he could, removing most of the scientific equipment from his pack, just in case they ended up stuck at the wrong end of a steep rockface for any significant period of time.
Ronon had planned to stay at the top of the rock, in case Rodney had needed immediate help, but once McKay worked his way down to Sheppard, they had agreed that staying in teams of two would be wiser. Rodney had found bones, human-like remains, on his trek to John, and though these dead may have just succumbed to exposure, these rocks weren't high enough or sheer enough to conceive of anyone not being able to get down safely. Other elements had contributed to their deaths, and until they could determine what those elements might have been, it was safer not to venture out alone.
Sheppard was awake and alert by the time McKay arrived, and had instructed Ronon and Teyla, after hearing Rodney's story of his climb down, to remain together. Rodney McKay had thought that idea a good one, before…before John Sheppard had inconsiderately passed out from having his arm yanked and re-positioned.
Now? That idea no longer seemed all that inspired.
"Sheppard?" The colonel was out cold. "Crap," Rodney said, followed by, "I'm going to let you stay like that while I immobilize your arm. But once I'm done, I'll be slapping you silly to get you awake." Rodney grunted as he repositioned John against the rock. Sheppard had tipped forward after passing out; McKay would need both hands in order to properly wrap the bandage and stabilize the injury, so he forced him as upright as he could against the cave's wall. "You're the one who said we should remain in pairs," he continued. "You're not holding up your end of the deal. I mean, we are a pair, there's no doubt about that, even I can do that math, but when I was thinking pairs I was thinking in the conscious sense. Maybe you could…what was that?"
Loud scratching and rustling noises came from outside their small lair. McKay pulled out his sidearm and sat quietly, looking intently at the cave's entrance. Long moments passed. Sheppard remained unconscious, his arm only partly wrapped as Rodney continued to wait out whatever he'd heard outside.
Something walked into the opening, an animal in silhouette. A dog or a wolf, it looked like, but it was hard to tell with the sun acting as backlighting, tricking Rodney's eyes into seeing just a black, furry…something. And they were on an alien planet. Whatever it was didn't necessarily have to be familiar, not that McKay felt any particular warm and fuzzies at coming face-to-face with a wolf or wild dog, despite their familiarity.
Rodney watched, remaining quiet, keeping his breathing as silent as he could keep it and still catch enough breath. He looked over to Sheppard. Still out. It was funny how mere moments before he had been complaining about the colonel passing out on him, but now he was grateful that he didn't have to worry about John making noise inadvertently to call attention to them.
"Oooh," McKay heard from his team leader.
"Fuck," Rodney whispered. The 'dog' turned and looked straight at him. His gun was ready, in case the animal made any threatening moves.
McKay reached out his hand and placed it on Sheppard's chest. "Quiet," his said softly. John opened his eyes, looked at Rodney and immediately quieted down, instinctively grasping the threat potential.
"What?" he whispered to the scientist.
"We have a visitor," Rodney said, nodding his head toward the opening.
The colonel squinted, having the same trouble discerning detail under the current conditions that McKay had.
"Dog?" Sheppard asked.
"Wolf?" McKay replied. "Quiet."
"Why do you always have to think the worst…" John started, but stopped quickly as the animal headed in.
"Didn't I ask you to be quiet?" Rodney asked, still keeping his voice low.
"It's not a secret that we're here anymore, Rodney. You can stop whispering," John instructed.
"Oh, really?" Rodney replied. Very Rodney. Too loud.
"And you don't have to get hysterical, either."
"Who's hysterical?" McKay challenged, his voice decidedly higher in pitch, like he was when he would get hysterical, because despite the fact that John wanted Rodney on his team, and needed him for these missions, and wouldn't want to do this work without his friend, McKay did have a tendency to go a little bit off the deep end in stressful, dangerous situations. It had taken a lot of practice to learn how to rein in Rodney McKay. Sheppard still didn't consider himself an expert at it.
This time, the growl from the entrance stopped their argument cold. Rodney raised his gun toward the animal.
"Don't," Sheppard said.
"What? Are you kidding?" McKay countered. "'Growl' is the step before 'Lunge', that step that separates us from 'Mawl'."
"He's probably just scared. And hungry," John insisted.
"Me, too, but I don't see you being nice to me."
"I haven't shot you yet, have I?"
"Not today," Rodney retorted smartly. He looked over to John quickly, taking his eyes off of their visitor for just a second. "Sorry, that was, um, uncalled for." Sheppard hated to see it. He'd been seeing guilt in Rodney's face for a few weeks now, since they'd lost Carson. Rodney had told John about how he'd blown off the fishing date; he did not need to tell John about how he felt about it. He doubted that Rodney would ever forgive himself for the way things had gone on that fateful Sunday.
"It's all right. Hey, look. No more growling. Do you think he'd like a piece of powerbar?" John asked.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"McKay, it'd be better to have him as an ally than as an enemy." Rodney didn't take his eyes off the beast as he contemplated John's advice.
"Fine. But I'm keeping my gun out. Go ahead and feed him. But don't blame me if he turns around and bites your hand."
"He doesn't seem the type." It was in the eyes that John could see that this animal was friend not foe: eyes that were big and brown and warm, despite the growl that denoted the animal's initial threat assessment. Sheppard pulled out the powerbar, oatmeal-raisin, opened it with as little noise as he could make with the plastic wrapper, broke off half with his right hand, bending the bar against his thigh since he didn't really want to use his left hand if he could help it, and offered the piece to his furry 'friend'. The animal sniffed but didn't venture any closer.
"Hm."
"Yeah," John replied. "He wants it, but he's still not too sure. I'm thinking you're probably scaring him, pointing that gun at him like that. Plus, you know they can smell fear."
"Well, then he should be overwhelmed by my aroma right now. Maybe what I should do is step over to him, give him a big hug to show him how much I don't fear him, and then offer the treat to him from my teeth!"
"McKay," Sheppard said warningly, "yelling isn't really your best plan to keep him calm, is it? No wonder your staff all runs in the opposite direction when they see you coming."
Rodney took his eyes off the dog and looked at his friend. "They're not…they don't still do that, do they?" McKay seemed really, really upset that what Sheppard just said might be true. He had worked hard after almost…ascending, to make sure people knew that he appreciated them. When they deserved it. Not everyone did, and Rodney McKay wasn't the type of person to fake trust or admiration, or offer it when it wasn't earned. Affection was even harder to come by. Beckett's death had made that commodity even more scarce.
John Sheppard recognized a misstep when he'd made one. He needed to right this right now.
"Rodney, I was kidding."
"Really? Because I have been trying, you know, to be…better. When I can."
'When I can.' It was hard being a genius. Sheppard hadn't realized just how hard until recently, when Rodney had been, for that brief period of time, a super genius. A super genius who had not been able to find a way to save himself until John and the scientist's other good friends had thought they'd lost him to the Ancients, and because of the Ancients' failed technology.
Sheppard hated the Ancients more and more with every passing day, and with each cherished life lost to their unfathomable recklessness.
"You're fine." John watched the dog out of the corner of his eye. "Why don't you just toss this over to him?" Rodney could see that John was tired. The sooner the dog ate, the sooner Rodney could finish binding the colonel's bad arm.
McKay took the piece of powerbar, setting the gun on Sheppard's leg, and turned to the animal. Now that it was so close, disconcerting as that was, it looked more like a dog than a wolf. He was a little skinny, not a lot, but John had probably been right, he was just looking for something to eat. Rodney positioned the treat on top of a piece of rock, way closer to the dog than John would have expected.
"You're a softie, McKay."
"I'm a softie. This was your idea, Colonel."
"'Colonel'. Rodney, we need to talk about this," John said.
"Talk about what? I'm not gonna be able to concentrate on anything while Cujo's over there NOT eating the food."
"Look," John instructed as the dog tentatively took the powerbar in his mouth. "And he's a lot more like Rin Tin Tin than Cujo."
"So far," Rodney agreed warily. He sat back next to John, took a couple of relaxing breaths and then said, "Let me finish binding your arm."
"We're gonna have that talk, McKay," Sheppard warned.
"Fine. You seem to be feeling better, by the way."
"Yeah. Thanks for…" he paused, looked at his shoulder, nodded down to it and continued, "this. I know it wasn't what you wanted to do."
"Colonel, I've given up on getting what I wanted long ago," McKay replied sharply.
"What…" No. That comment he would have to leave unchallenged. For now. Rodney McKay was a complicated man, far more complicated than most people realized. But most people weren't as close to the man as John Sheppard. John knew that recent events had been hard on the scientist. He knew that Rodney had developed a special relationship with Carson Beckett. They'd talked out their pain at losing their good friend, and the Canadian had admitted he'd never expected to become so close to the Scottish doctor. Well, 'best friend' was how Sheppard felt about McKay, though he was pretty sure that Rodney would have failed to notice that considering the colonel's own unstable behavior towards the chief of science and Rodney's own preoccupations of late. He knew that Rodney's current fragile mental state needed careful handling. John was still dealing with the loss of their friend, though admittedly not all that well. None of this precluded asking important questions when they needed to be asked.
"Why do you do that?" John asked instead.
"Do what?" Rodney asked as he finished wrapping John's arm up against his body. He tied and then knotted the bandage, and then started rifling through the medkit.
"Call me 'Colonel' when no one else is around."
"Oh." McKay seemed genuinely surprised by the question. "You're my commanding officer and we're on a mission," he answered, plain and simple.
"Nobody's here but you and me and…oh, just you and me." Rodney turned to see that the dog had left them while he'd finished immobilizing Sheppard's arm. "You can call me John."
McKay had returned his eyes to Sheppard's face as the Air Force man told him this. Rodney nodded his head once, and then dipped it to continue checking through the medkit. "We've got plenty of Tylenol. Do you want three?" Rodney asked without looking up.
"Why won't you call me by my first name? You don't even do it off duty."
McKay took the cap off of the canteen, handed three pills to Sheppard, then the water, and then re-capped the container. He took the gun back and holstered it, and then sat back next to his friend once more. He leaned his head back, took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes.
Sheppard looked at McKay, cocked his head in confusion and asked, "Are you going to pretend that I didn't ask the question?"
Rodney rolled his head to his right and opened his eyes. He looked at John, his eyes projecting his worry in how his answer might be perceived.
"On missions, it's important that we retain a professional demeanor."
"Professional demeanor? McKay, half the time you ignore my orders, the other half you argue with me about them. How is that professional?"
McKay lifted his chin in defiance, ready to counter Sheppard's assessment. "You aren't getting my point. I have to keep our relationship one of team leader and team member, commander and subordinate."
"You don't even think of me as your commander, McKay. And to be honest, I really can't look at you as a subordinate, except for when your safety is in question."
"But I do. I do think of you as the commander of our unit. I may give you a hard time about it, but I do think of you as the leader of our team. And I question you when I think it's appropriate. I am on this team to question those things that need questioning. But I do look to you, look up to you, on missions and back on Atlantis."
"Is this in your dreams, because this doesn't sound like real life to me," John retorted smartly. He wasn't smiling the way he might normally have after a comment like that. Sheppard was serious and he seriously wasn't getting what Rodney was saying.
"Why are you being so dense? Your injury must be affecting you more than I thought."
"Rodney, god damn it, there's nothing wrong with me. Look, I get that you might want to keep things separate while on missions. I'll give you that. And maybe even the part about keeping up the 'Colonel' thing even when nobody's around to hear it, though I suspect that Kate Heightmeyer might have a thing or two to say about that."
"Hey…"
"I'm not gonna say anything to her." McKay breathed a visible sigh of relief. "What I don't get is you calling me 'Colonel' all the rest of the time. And if it's not 'Colonel' it's 'Sheppard'. Are we friends?"
"I…um…of course…of course we're friends," Rodney answered.
"Good friends?"
"Yes. Definitely."
"Why can't you call me John? Have I ever said that you can't? Have I ever given you a reason to…" John stopped. Shit. He had. Sheppard had given McKay any number of reasons, over time, to not get too close. How had he not seen it before now? After nearly three years? In particular, his behavior after Arcturus had been abominable. He knew his actions had left a scar on Rodney's psyche. In spite of all that he'd done since, he and Rodney together, after the progress they had made in repairing their friendship…in the pain that he'd felt each time they'd…each time 'he' had almost lost McKay: the energy cloud, what Kolya might have wrought during the storm, the nanovirus, the puddle jumper, the near-ascension. John chose not to run through the complete list. And after all of Rodney's most recent saves, because they continued to come fast and furious, there was still something missing, something that Rodney wasn't getting. Something that someone like Rodney McKay, genius that he was, should have been able to see, but because he was who he was, would have a hard time fathoming without a huge push in the right direction. And right now, especially, after losing Carson, Rodney needed to know the truth.
"You still don't believe it, do you?" John challenged.
"Believe what?" Rodney asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
"That I love you."
"You…um…no. I mean, yes, of course I do."
"You do?"
"Yes. You aren't the kind of person to say something like that if you don't mean it, no matter that it was hard for your military…" McKay waved his hand, finally coming up with, "self to say out loud."
John looked Rodney in the eyes. Definitely fear there. And worry. Definitely worry. Sometimes it was hard to tell which emotion Rodney wore between these two. This time, the intensity of the emotion written over McKay's face was nearly too much for the Air Force man to bear. The physicist had been forced to know so many things that he had never been properly schooled in how to face: using a gun - well, he'd finally gotten more training, but success seemed to be elusive on this subject, staunching a bleeder, watching colleagues die, being tortured, shooting to kill, acquiring a best friend…and taking that friend home to his final resting place in Scotland.
"I don't think you do." Sheppard struggled to get up.
"What are you doing? Sit down." Rodney stood up and went to John's other side, taking the colonel's good right arm and steadying him as he reluctantly sat down. Sheppard grabbed hold of McKay's hand, slipping his fingers in between the scientist's, and held on tight.
"What…" Rodney started, attempting to wrest his hand away. John cut him off and continued to hold his friend's hand.
"When I thought you were dying, when you were going to ascend, I agreed with Elizabeth that I loved you." John's eyes never left Rodney's. That told McKay so much about how important this was to John…he knew that Sheppard really hated this shit.
"The way a friend loves another friend," Rodney quoted verbatim, his eyes big and blue and still unsure of this conversation.
"Yeah." John lowered his eyes, shook his head slightly and said, "Sorry about that."
"Why are you apologizing?" McKay asked.
"Because I am a chicken shit Air Force pilot who couldn't say what he really felt." Sheppard looked up to see a confused expression from McKay. That was better than fear and worry. "What I should have said is that you're my best friend and that I love you like a brother. I'm sorry I didn't say that…before."
Rodney nodded once, then twice. "Oh. Okay. That's okay, um…I feel…well…you're very important…to me. I consider you my…well, um…I feel much, um…I feel the same way…uh…about you."
John snorted a laugh, which morphed into a warm smile. "I know you do, Rodney."
"You do?" John raised his eyebrows in an effort to coax McKay into figuring it out. "Oh," Rodney finally said as he pointed to his own face. "No poker face. Right."
"It's good to have a best friend, even if he sucks at poker," John said.
"And a brother," Rodney added, "even if in many ways you remind me of my sister." The dumfounded-leaning-towards-uncomfortable look now adorning John's face wasn't exactly what the genius was going for. McKay waved his hand. "You know. Smart, annoying…"
Sheppard interrupted. "Funny, knows you too well."
"Hm. Yes." They smiled at each other.
"You know there's nothing wrong with having more than one best friend," John said.
"I've got," Rodney stopped, blinked a couple of times, on the verge of tears, but continued, "I've had two great ones."
John released Rodney's hand after squeezing it tightly. "So, do you think you'll ever call me John?"
"I've called you John before," Rodney insisted.
"You have not."
"Have to."
"Have not."
"Have." Rodney looked at John with confidence. "You'll remember."
"It'd be hard to remember something that never happened," John noted irritably.
"Hm. Whatever." Rodney looked at John and said, "I could never have made it through the last weeks without you. Even before that, the whole ascension thing. I don't know how…"
"I know." John did know, but he would save Rodney from having to verbalize it. Rodney wasn't as recovered as he thought he was. But he would be.
"You know, I'm feeling pretty good. Maybe we should head out," Sheppard suggested.
"You think? The way back is pretty steep. Teyla and Ronon were going to get some rope and harnesses. It could be really rough out there, especially one handed."
"Do you mind if we try. I'd like to get home sooner rather than later. And we're gonna lose too much light if we wait much longer. I really wanna get home."
"Me, too, but I don't want to break my neck, either."
"We can do it. Come on, help me up."
"Fine. Here." Rodney reached down and used his right arm to grasp Sheppard's and put his left arm around his team leader's waist and hoisted him up. "Okay?" Rodney asked.
"I'm good," John insisted. McKay thought that he probably was. "Pack up our stuff."
"Yes sir," Rodney said, sending a sloppy salute John's way.
"Knock it off." Sheppard leaned against the cave wall as McKay cleaned their mess.
"Ready?" the colonel asked.
"Anxious?" the scientist challenged.
"A little."
"Okay. Let's go. And take it easy. Slow. S-L-O-W."
"You don't need to spell it out for me."
"If you say so," Rodney mumbled. They stopped to look up at their immediate destination.
"Higher than you thought?" McKay asked.
"It's high. We can do it."
"Yes. Well, hopefully Teyla and Ronon are around the corner. Or rather, just over the top. Well, Ronon definitely is over the top, in many ways. I guess you'd have to say Teyla is, too, with her amazing…"
"Rodney," John warned.
"Athletic skills. What did you think I was going to say?" Rodney asked, acting deeply offended.
"Nothing. I was just going to say that my entire team seems to suffer from 'Over-the-top' syndrome."
"Whaddyou mean?" Rodney asked as he walked slightly ahead. John smirked as he watched his friend take point.
McKay had made the climb down so was able to forge a fairly simple criss-cross pattern up the steep rock to make the ascent easier on Sheppard. He moved slowly, constantly checking on John all the way. There were some particularly high grades where Rodney stopped so that he could give John a hand up. As they reached the apex, both men were panting and sweaty, but exceedingly pleased with their progress.
"This is good," McKay said as they took a break. He handed his opened canteen to Sheppard. "It's actually quite pretty here," he added as he removed the wrapper from a powerbar.
"See, and you didn't want to come," John said jokingly.
"I still say it was a waste of time, Colonel…uh," he stumbled on his words, but quickly regained his verbal footing. "The end result seems to have proven, once again, how perceptive I am."
"Yeah, right," John answered, his irritation over their earlier argument started to simmer once again. "Are you done?" he asked, and without waiting for a reply added, "Can we go?"
"Huh. Uh, sure," Rodney answered, chewing quickly as he replaced his pack and his canteen and then gave John a hand up. McKay looked in the direction of the stargate and said, "Look."
"Oh. A stargate," Sheppard replied sarcastically.
"Oooo-kay," Rodney said, his tone indicating a little sarcasm of his own.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?" John shot back sharply.
"It means it's time to get you back to Atlantis."
"Just move."
They took the downward hike slowly as well, but more for Sheppard's benefit than that the path was tricky. This side of the mount had more terraces, more dirt and grass and other flora. It was a far simpler trek, but John was tired and cranky and mad at McKay – again. Rodney chose to keep the pace moderate to accommodate all of those things. And though Sheppard seemed mad at McKay, he still made liberal use of his friend's shoulder for support.
"Sorry," John said as they neared the end of their hilly hike. It would be flat and relatively smooth sailing to the gate from here. Rodney helped steady John as the colonel took his last step down from the rocky climb.
"It's okay. I'm sure you've had to deal with me once or twice when I've been…" Rodney waved his hand, looking for the right words, "out of sorts."
"Once or twice," John answered with a sarcastic smile. Rodney ignored him.
"So, you've had this happen before, this dislocated shoulder thing? Good call on leaving, by the way. We'll be home in time for dinner," McKay advised as he checked his watch.
"Third time. It sucks, but it will be nice to get home."
Rodney turned to look at John. The colonel had fallen behind, just a step or two. McKay slowed down for his friend.
"So, what magic will Carson…damn it." Rodney shook his head sadly. "What will the doctors have to…oomph." McKay slammed hard into Sheppard's right arm – not the bad arm – but there would be bruising, and the body slam echoed throughout his body and straight for his bad shoulder. Rodney fell to the ground hard, tripping John, who fell to his knees. The colonel saw something move out of his line of vision, to his left. Sheppard quickly grasped the trigger of his P-90 and spun left, scoping the area. He didn't see anything, but that didn't mean that nothing was there. He took his eye from the scope and did a longer-range scan.
"McKay?" Sheppard continued to search the area in a slow circle. They were on a fairly wide open section of ground, except for a couple of large boulders, and on a direct path to the stargate through the forest up ahead. "McKay!" he called louder, hoping to get some movement out of the silent and too still heap at his knees.
"Teyla? Ronon?" he called urgently into his comm.
"Colonel Sheppard?" Teyla Emmagen responded.
"Where are you?" he asked, the pain in his arm flaring from holding the weapon so tightly.
"We are almost through the woods. Major Lorne's team is with us."
"There they are!" Ronon announced.
"Careful," John commanded. "We just got attacked by something. Rodney's down."
Sheppard could see Ronon and Teyla and Lorne's four man team coming hurriedly towards his location. He scanned the area again and spotted…he wasn't sure, though it was pretty obvious that whatever kind of creature it was, it was looking for another opportunity to attack.
It was small but solid, grayish-brown. It looked like a cat, except its fangs were like nothing that he'd ever seen on a cat, wild or domesticated. More like something in a horror movie. Its ears were oversized. It was ugly and it was scary as it snarled and salivated as it stared Sheppard down.
"Stay where you are," John warned the new arrivals. "I've got it in my sights." Well, he would, as soon as he lifted his weapon to aim. But just as he did that, the cat jumped…and was knocked off the ledge by Rin Tin Tin.
The two animals went at it, ferociously, the screeching and the growling horrible at such close proximity. Sheppard noted Teyla, Ronon and Lorne, all aiming at the animals. The other members of Lorne's team were searching for other potential dangers around them.
"Don't shoot," John commanded. He kept his gun aimed at the cat. "Aim for the cat. Don't hurt the dog," Sheppard ordered. He was presented with strange looks from all around. Sheppard couldn't see them, those looks, but he knew they were there. "Just kill the cat," John said calmly, "if you can."
"Haaah!" Ronon growled. The cat jumped back, clear of the dog, and all four weapons sprayed ordnance into the wild animal. It fell to the ground dead, as Rin Tin Tin ran away.
John dropped his gun and his butt to the ground beside McKay.
"Rodney?" he asked. McKay was laying face down. Sheppard couldn't get positioned quite right to get a good look at his friend. Teyla crouched down on the other side of her fallen teammate.
"Rodney?" She pushed him over, just enough to see blood on the right side of McKay's face and neck. John let the scientist's body ease gently against his legs.
"He is bleeding," Teyla commented. She and John rolled Rodney onto his back, Sheppard shuffling back in the dirt to make room.
"The cat attacked him out of nowhere," John said worriedly.
"Oh," the Athosian replied with a grimace. "He has a wound at his temple as well."
"From the fall. He went down hard," John answered, and then looked down at the scientist. "Rodney, come on, wake up." Sheppard tapped his friend's face lightly. Rodney's eyes moved suddenly under closed lids. "Good job, buddy," John encouraged. Finally, McKay opened his eyes, though focus seemed to be a problem currently.
"Lie still," Teyla ordered as she pulled bandages from Rodney's pack.
"What…oh, god. My head." He looked at John intently, trying desperately to get something into focus. "What happened?" he asked, followed by, "My neck hurts."
"Yeah. Looks like we found what happened to those people whose bones you found," John explained. Sheppard and McKay had stopped briefly to check the bones again on their return trip, but chose not to linger in a place where it turns out a cat had clearly had an advantage in the past.
Teyla prepared to clean the wound, but John stopped her with his hand. He nodded 'No', and then whispered, "Just wrap it." Teyla cocked her head in question, but followed the order. Cleaning those scratches was going to hurt, a lot. Sheppard preferred that Rodney get some nice drugs in his system first before having to endure that. Beckett would…John snorted bitterly; it was now his turn to shake his head.
"Really? And that's why I'm here…um…where am I?" McKay asked. He looked at Johns face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Sheppard said as he patted McKay's chest. "We're not far from the gate. A wild cat, nasty teeth, long claws. That's probably why your neck is hurting."
"Burns," Rodney emphasized.
"Yeah, swiped you with its claws."
"What about infection?" Rodney asked, surprisingly patient as Teyla wrapped his injuries. He sighed, looked at John and said, "Thanks for taking care of that."
"Actually, your friend Rin Tin Tin had a lot to do with that. We'll have you in the infirmary before you know it. I wouldn't worry about infection," John assured his friend.
"Yeah?" McKay asked, perking up a little, now more interested in the dog than in possible infection. A minor miracle, that.
"Yep. He didn't like that you got attacked. He looked like he was defending you. First whales, now a dog."
"Hm. Dogs and I don't usually mix all that well, no doubt usually the dog's fault."
"Sure, I can see that," John answered with humor.
"Ha, ha. Huh, I guess he was more Rin Tin Tin than Cujo after all."
"What are you two talking about?" Ronon asked.
"Long story," John replied. "We'll tell you later." To Rodney he said, "You ready to get up?"
"I could use a hand," McKay suggested. Ronon helped him up. "Oh, shit," Rodney said as he tipped forward precariously, his head colliding with Ronon's chest. "Ouch."
"Rodney, perhaps we should give you more time," Teyla suggested.
"No, no. I can make it, so long as the big guy here stays close."
"Not going anywhere," Ronon assured Rodney.
"Okay," Sheppard said, a crooked smile coming to his face as he watched Ronon care for his injured comrade. The 'big guy' had become a little more protective of the science member of the team since almost losing him to the Ancients. And the whole team had spent extra time together since Beckett's passing. It was a strange dichotomy, watching those two, Sheppard thought. He was sure others felt exactly the same way about his own relationship with McKay.
They took a few steps before McKay saw the remains of the cat.
"I thought you said Rin Tin Tin took care of it?"
"We helped," Ronon offered in explanation of the bloody, bullet-riddled mess.
Their half mile walk to the gate remained uneventful until Teyla dialed the address for Atlantis. Just after the whoosh of the event horizon settled, Rin Tin Tin made an appearance.
"Hey McKay, wake up. Someone wants to say goodbye," Sheppard called to his friend.
"I'm awake."
"Barely," Ronon qualified.
"Hey, fella," Rodney said as he turned to head toward the dog. He loosened his vice grip on Dex's arm and immediately fell to his knees.
"Rodney?" John and Teyla asked worriedly.
"Ugh. I'm…I'm okay," McKay insisted, though he neither looked nor sounded okay to anyone surrounding him. He snapped his fingers and demanded, "Hand me some powerbars." He kept his eye on the dog and said, "Come here, boy." The dog stared at him quizzically, his head cocked a bit to the left. "I won't hurt ya," Rodney assured, speaking calmly to the dog, remaining as still as possible, his unsteadiness from a guaranteed slight concussion and pain from his other injuries making that a challenge.
John and Teyla handed him three of the fortified treats.
"Three?" he asked.
"Chocolate's not good for dogs, McKay," John reminded helpfully.
"Okay, fella. Oatmeal-raisin it is. Come on." The dog took the next steps without hesitation. Rodney gave him the first powerbar. "Thanks for helping back there," he said quietly. His team could just barely hear what was being said. John figured he'd have to talk to them, and Lorne's team, later to make sure they didn't kid Rodney too much about his 'conversation' with the alien canine.
McKay was petting the dog now. Not necessarily a good thing in Sheppard's eyes. Getting too friendly was sure to lead to disappointment later. Rodney had broken the second bar in half in an effort, it appeared, to prolong the moment when he would finally have to leave the dog behind. John understood that emotion, the hesitancy in letting go, in finding something, anything in this galaxy that was positive and could counteract all of the negative. You never wanted to let go once you had hold of it.
John stayed back until the last bit of the treats were handed over to the big hound-like animal. Though they'd christened him Rin Tin Tin, he held little resemblance to the famous German Shepherd. His coloring was bronze-brown and black, with hints of white, which sort of matched a Shepherd's coat. But the body was more a combination of Foxhound and Coonhound, with maybe little bit of Labrador Retriever, and possibly some Shepherd – that coat had to come from somewhere - mixed in. A mutt, and a beautiful animal he was. He definitely had more hound in him than anything else.
Except maybe heart. He was a lot like McKay in that respect.
"Okay, Rodney. Time to get you to…the infirmary," John said, catching himself this time as he approached his friend and man's best friend. Rin Tin Tin wasn't crazy about that and ran, but stopped about fifty feet away and looked back.
"Can…" Rodney started.
"No, you can't keep him, son," John answered lightly.
"But…"
"He saved your life and he's skinny. It's early spring, so I'm thinking he's usually skinny this time of year. He'll be fine. Plus, your mother will kill me if I let you bring a dog home," Sheppard added jokingly. "Especially without talking to her about it first."
"Very funny," McKay said sadly. "Maybe we could come back and check on him." Rodney turned around quickly to check John's reaction. "Oh, god. I feel sick."
"Take it easy," John warned, putting his good hand on Rodney's shoulder as the scientist grabbed his head.
"Maybe…uh…we could relocate him. Jinto might like him," McKay suggested.
"We'll talk to Halling about it." John liked the idea, but they couldn't force a strange dog on their Athosian friends, though he suspected that this dog would make a great pet. But the Athosians lived a precarious life these days…it had to be their call as to whether bringing a dog into that mix would be the right thing to do.
"Okay." McKay turned back, slowly this time, to say goodbye to the dog, but Rin Tin Tin was already gone.
"Bye," Rodney said sadly. He sank to the ground tiredly, as though the hard dirt was luring him down.
"Ronon? Teyla?" Sheppard asked, not needing to actually ask any question.
"Yup," the Satedan said, carefully pulling McKay to his feet. Teyla had entered their IDC and they headed through the stargate to home. Rodney looked back and caught a glimpse of his new friend standing near the treeline, watching, making sure they were safe. McKay closed his eyes to help ward off the dizziness that gate travel combined with a concussion always delivered, and imagined Rin Tin Tin continuing to watch until the event horizon shut down.
The End.