The Way It Should Be

Chapter One – Fishing Kills

He sat idle, staring into the darkness about to consume him. An abyss of nothingness that would take him, finish him, just when he felt that life was getting somewhere. Just when it had become interesting…Damn. He hated that.

A moment of anger surged through him, he could feel his grip on the table tighten, knuckles whitening. He really hated that. Besides, he had been through worse. Hell, he'd died before and he was still here. Facing Wraith armadas and evil alien entities, even friends a little twisted in the head at one point or another. Not there fault of course, what had happened to them had been out of their control, and yes, he may have shot them once - or twice – but they were alive and well and sitting right by him, facing the darkness together, as a team. The way it should be.

But nothing could have prepared him for this. It was too horrible to comprehend. How could he sit here and let it happen, he wasn't completely helpless, was he? No. He would fight it, like he fought everyday against all kinds of chaos and destruction. And he would win, come out of it in one piece and march to those comfy chairs with a huge bucket of popcorn, and watch the play offs that Major Hawthorne had been kind enough to "lend" him. This was the plan, and nothing would dissuade him from it, no doom so terrible and massive would stop him.

'There's no way.' He growled.

'You have no choice.'

'I have a choice.'

Doctor Weir swooped down on him, her hands planted firmly on her hips, studying him with commanding eyes.

'If I have to go, you have to go.'

'Why do you have to go at all? As the leader of Atlantis, you need to stay put. And if you stay put, then I can stay put. So stay put.' John ordered, hoping that his firm tone would make her understand how much he would loathe going.

'Ah, the bravery of John Sheppard in action everybody, how extremely heroic.' Mckay leant back in his chair grinning at John who scowled at him.

'And you're fine with going, Rodney?' Weir raised an unconvinced eyebrow.

'Mh, can't, have far too much lab work to do, all that paperwork and cataloguing…' Rodney waved a hand as though the list went on to infinity, avoiding Elizabeth's eyes.

'If I have to go, he has to go.' John folded his arms, determined.

'What? No! Cataloguing, hours of torturous and – and dull paperwork able to make even the sturdiest brain dribble out of the ears and onto the floor-' Mckay stuttered, alarm making his eyes wide.

'And wouldn't you prefer a nice little fishing trip instead of doing hours of tedious and dull paperwork, cataloguing…' He grinned.

'No. This is work that has to be done-'

'You can give it to someone else, you have at least fifty people working for you, McKay, I'm sure a couple of them have a spare hour or two. Besides, you hardly get out of the lab anyway, it's not healthy.' John nodded in agreement with himself.

'John's right, Rodney, you do need to get out more.' Weir insisted.

'God, you sound like my parents.' He whined, glaring at them both.

'Wonderful, so, two volunteers…' She turned, ignoring Rodney's splutter of disagreement, to face Ronan.

The Satedan immediately stopped grinning at Mckay and straightened up, folding his arms and looking to the floor.

'I have training this afternoon; a bunch of soldiers wanted me to help 'em out.' He muttered, his eyes flicking to Doctor Weir who pinned him with her green eyes.

'I'll reschedule it.' She stated. Ronan looked up at her and caught the smirk from Mckay. 'Good, I'll tell Carson. Be ready in an hour, I would like you to take a few weapons, just as a precaution, but otherwise, you should be appropriately dressed for the occasion.'

'You mean like, massive Wellingtons?' Mckay frowned.

Weir shrugged, 'If you've got them.'

Mckay nodded and stopped, catching the funny looks both John and Ronan were giving him. 'I don't have massive Wellingtons, just the normal sized - look, there could be leeches, and I don't know about you, but I would rather not have a worm-like creature sucking the life out of me.'

'I didn't hear anybody say there were any Wraith on the planet, Rodney, you'll be fine.' John narrowed his eyes, the subtle humour doing wonders for Mckay's pride, as always.

'Funny, you're a funny man, Colonel. How would you like it if hundred of those little suckers latched onto you and started-' Mckay began, anger rising.

'It's fishing, Mckay, nothing bad is going to happen in fishing. Worst case scenario – you come back empty handed and Carson hits the mother load.' John shrugged.

'Oh please, there is no way that Carson is better at fishing than me.' Mckay shook his head at the absurdity of the suggestion.

'How do you know, your always trying to avoid going fishing with him, making up some lame excuse which he buys-'

'I do not make up lame excuses to get out of fishing, okay? Carson and I have a very special connection – as friends – and I would do anything for him, it's just that every time he asks me to go something comes up…'

'Paperwork and cataloguing?' John repeated incredulously.

'Yes.' Mckay squeaked indignantly.

'Alright.' Weir stepped up. 'Go, get ready, Carson will be disappointed with you if you're late.' Her eyes twinkled.

John rose, a hard smile on his face. 'Funny.' He whispered to her.

'Hold on a second!' Rodney didn't move. 'I didn't hear you mention Teyla in all of this.'

Teyla gave a fake look of surprise and then smiled at Elizabeth from the corner of her eye.

'Oh, I see, they're in cahoots, trying to make us look bad. That's okay; I once caught a salmon the size of a naquadah generator with my bare hands.' Rodney stood, showing them the size with his hands. He smiled widely with his usual arrogance. John shook his head.

'That big, huh?' He jested. 'How come Teyla doesn't have to go?'

'I have trade negations with my people this afternoon, the outcome is vital to Atlantis.' She insisted.

'Huh. So you'll need a pilot to fly you over there-'

'And a scientist to tell you what's useful and what's not-' Mckay jumped in.

'And a hand to move things.' Ronan added hopefully.

The three men stood, edging toward Teyla hopefully.

'Gentlemen you are going fishing with Carson and that is final. You need the rest.' She said softly.

'Fine, we'll go.' John groaned, Ronan and Rodney casting him a resentful look. 'We as in all of us, you included, right?' John's eyebrow inched to the top of his head.

Elizabeth turned to her desk and retrieved some paperwork.

'Well, actually, I only had to go if I couldn't find someone to take my place, and I found three.' She smiled at them as she and Teyla left the room. Teyla lingered a moment, resting a hand on John's arm.

'Have a nice time – fishing. I'm sure it will be a wonderful experience.' She grinned, giving a soft laugh and turning to leave.

'Oh you laugh now missy, but you wait till we bring back a bucket load of fresh fish just waiting to be marinated in teriyaki and barbequed – and of course, as the fishers, we get all the good grub.' John nodded at her.

Teyla nodded. 'Yes well, I hope you enjoy your barbequed fish. My brethren on the Mainland insist that I enjoy their bountiful harvest feast and fine wine.' Teyla smiled all the way to the end of the hall, leaving her team mates gaping.

'Fine wine.' John echoed.

'Bountiful feast.' Mckay croaked.

'And barbequed fish.' Ronan growled as he pushed past them. 'Let's go, since we're going.'

Mckay drooped. 'This is all your fault.'

'How is it my fault, Rodney? It's not like I can say no to the leader of the expedition when she gives a direct order.' John said defensively.

'You said that we'd go, you took our voices and meshed it into yours, stealing our freedom to choose what we would like to do with our afternoon off.' Mckay snarled.

'And what were you going to do that was better than fishing?' John asked, squinting at him.

'Lots of things, important things which needed attention, lots of attention.' He said slowly.

'You were going to sleep the entire afternoon away, wake up at one in the morning and work 'till nine when everyone else gets in, and then you would be cranky and mean because you were so tired.' John corrected.

Ronan grinned.

'I've been working a lot lately, I need to sleep, do you see how pale I am, the bags under my eyes? All in the effort to better your life!' Mckay pointed a finger at him while John patted him on the back.

'The fresh air'll do you good.' John walked on and spotted Zalenka walking down the corridor. 'Hey Radik, don't suppose you'd like to-'

'Sorry, can't, I have much paperwork and cata-'

'-cataloguing to do, right.' John nodded with a sense of frustration. The scientist smiled and shrugged.

'You'll have a good time, I'm sure. The planet is very beautiful with rich vegetation and picturesque views of the mountain range in the distance.' He informed, hoping to make them feel better.

'And apparently some really good fish.' John added. Zalenka nodded enthusiastically.

'Yes, very good, initial test results were able to show the specimen contained an unusual protein which is in fact very good for the body. Doctor Weir believes a change in the food would do the base a world of good, and I agree.' Zalenka nodded slightly.

'Yeah, something tells me that there's only so much of Chef's meat surprise the human body can take.' John grinned.

'Meat surprise? I love that stuff, is Chef serving it today? I wish he wouldn't change lunch at the last minute, I was prepping myself for that god awful curry chicken he advertised yesterday.' Mckay, who had of course, not been listening, stared at the two with sudden interest.

Ronan shook his head slightly, casting John a weary and yet slightly amused look.

'Rodney, why don't you grab those Wellingtons and meet us in the gate room in ten?' Sheppard said lightly. Mckay was momentarily confused before nodding and walking toward his office. He paused and walked back a few steps.

'So, we're not staying for lunch?' He asked. John raised an eyebrow. 'Right.' Mckay continued walking.

Twenty minutes later, John and Ronan were sat on the Gate room steps whilst Carson paced in front of them. Carson huffed stroppily and yanked his sleeve back to look at his watch.

'Where in the bloody hell is he?' He folded his arms and looked expectantly at the two men on the floor.

Ronan and John had dressed in their usual gear making no changes to accommodate fishing; they had also decided to disregard Elizabeth's suggestion of going light where weapons were concerned. Both were in full gear. Carson however was wearing a pale green T-shirt with a green sleeveless jacket and green baggy trousers with pockets down the sides. He wore a green hat with different hooks pinned to the front, different coloured feathers hanging from each of them. He tapped his foot on the ground.

'If he thinks he's going to get out of this by being late, he's got another thing coming.' Carson looked at his watch again, and growled. 'The sun on that planet went up half an hour ago, we're wasting precious time!'

'Don't sweat it Doc, he'll be here. Soon.' John insisted, fiddling with a vest pocket.

Carson raised an eyebrow, doubtful.

Elizabeth jogged down the stairs and faced them, losing patience herself.

'Did he radio any of you to say that he would be late?' They all shook their heads. She tapped her headset. 'Rodney, where-?'

'Here!' A voice gasped. 'I'm here.'

They turned to see Mckay struggling through the door with three bags, two of which were huge. But the bags weren't what made them stare. He was wearing bright blue Wellington boots which stopped at his knees and forced the green trousers to poof out giving him thighs the size of tree trunks. He wore a polo neck jumper under a zip up jacket, done up all the way to his neck, underneath a sleeveless jacket much like Carson's. His hat was white with some sort of netting attached to cover his face and neck; it fell to his shoulders and hugged them as though he had tugged it down as far as it would go. One of the bags fell to the floor, his grip not as strong with the black pair of gloves he wore.

The four spent the next minute or so doing the best they possibly could not to laugh, covering their mouths and passing each other looks of hysterics. Rodney cocked his head.

'What?' He asked, dropping the other bag on the floor and putting his hands on his hips. The sound of all the tight material squeezing to change position with him was the final straw – all of them burst out laughing. Elizabeth was the only one trying desperately not to laugh, but she turned to see the tears in Carson's eyes as he howled and she couldn't help herself. Ronan was propping himself up on his knees, one hand coming to ease the pain in his chest from laughing so hard. John who had been sitting on the stairs was now lying on them, a hand on his stomach and the other on his eyes trying desperately to breathe.

Mckay nodded looking very unimpressed. 'Yeah, uhuh, that's nice.' He walked forward, the material straining. Carson thrust a hand out at him.

'No! No closer!' He rasped in between fits of laughter.

'Okay, that's great, I look a little unusual – but I will be the one who returns minus the sunburn, leeches and insect bites.' He said proudly. The laughing continued and the smile fell from his face. 'Seriously! Are you twelve?'

Elizabeth managed to dial the laughter to a chuckle and cleared her throat, wiping her eyes. 'Rodney, it is almost thirty degrees on that planet.' She stated.

Rodney stood his ground. 'I'll keep to the shade.'

'Mckay, what is with the hat? We're not collecting honey.' Sheppard asked.

'Water equals mosquitoes, a mosquito equals bites which swell and itch.' He insisted.

Ronan stood. 'What's in the bags?'

'Mosquito repellent, various sun blocks, water, camera, lunch, a few fishing items…' He trailed off, glancing at the bags and than at his team mates with a look of defiance.

'It's nice that you've taken a real interest Rodney, but there is such a thing as being a little too careful.' Carson raised an eyebrow.

'Another galaxy, life-sucking aliens, leeches – there is no such thing as being too careful, Mr Hulk.' He smiled at his wise words.

Carson's smile fell. 'Green allows the fisher to blend into the surroundings so as not to spook the fish, Rodney.' He adjusted his hat. 'And there's no way you can pick on the flaws of my outfit when you look as ridiculous as that.'

Rodney was about to fly into a rage when Sheppard stepped forward, pointing at the bags on the floor.

'Mckay, there's no way you will keep up dragging what looks like your whole lab along.' John informed him, looking over the bags again.

'Of course not, I thought my buddy Ronan could give me a hand, seeing as he is twice the size I am – muscle and all…which I have, but I'm more in the brains department, so…' Rodney grinned, oblivious to the dark look Ronan gave him.

'No bags.' John stated, Rodney was about to argue. 'And lose the hat.' He walked past Mckay and signalled for Zalenka to dial the gate, he frowned when he saw that Zalenka was not there. A moment later, the scientist surfaced from below the control interface, removing his glasses to wipe away the tears. John smiled slightly. He could see a number of the scientists enjoying themselves at the sight of Mckay. 'Zalenka!' He called.

The scientist paused momentarily. 'Right, of course, my apologies.' He then burst out into a new bout of laughter. 'Beginning the dialling sequence!'

Mckay snatched the hat from his head, glaring at the Czech with ruffled hair.

'I'd get rid of the gloves and at least one of the coats too Rodney, you can't fish in those.' Carson lifted his fishing gear from the floor.

Rodney almost looked happy at this thought when Elizabeth stepped in front of him, eyes narrowed. 'And fish you will.' She whispered.

Rodney glared at her, quickly pulling his gloves off.

Elizabeth jogged up the stairs, seeing that Zalenka had basically gained control of himself again. The Gate activated.

Rodney had taken his zip up coat off and threw one of the larger bags over his shoulder, stumbling to the side before regaining his balance.

He threw a dignified look to the people above in the control room and stormed through the Gate. Ronan and Carson followed. John gave Elizabeth a quick salute, indicating his pleasure at being chosen for this mission. She nodded, smiling.

The Gate shut down. Zalenka looked up at Weir and burst into laughter once more.

Mckay had taken off on the other side of the Gate, leaving his friends behind. Carson sighed and yelled. 'It's to the left Rodney!'

Mckay, who had been veering to the right, paused and began marching to the left.

'He'll be fine.' John stated, slipping sunglasses on his face and surveying the landscape. 'How far is the river from here?'

'Decent twenty minutes. Rodney'll wish he hadn't brought that bag, I'm sure of it.' He smiled.

Ronan fell in behind them. 'No human activity.' He stated.

'Aye, the team that explored this place seems to think it's uninhabited – there's certainly nothing to indicate otherwise. Elizabeth's even considering making this lovely planet our new Alpha site.' Carson informed.

'Why not? Green fields, mountains, weird fish – sounds like a nice place to stay.' John studied the tree line across the open grassy bank, his military training teaching him to always watch.

'And apparently, there's a beach not far from the Gate where the waves are of surfing potential. Sergeant Harris was very excited.' Carson grinned. John looked at him suddenly.

'Maybe we should check it out on the way back, just to see if it's safe – I mean what's the point of setting up an Alpha site on a planet with whimpy waves, ah?' John smiled slightly, trying to hide his enthusiasm.

Ronan noted the look on his face, and having seen it before knew that John was excited about something. 'Surfing?'

John eyeballed him before remembering that Ronan was not from Earth, he dropped back with his big friend and let his MP5 hang round his neck. 'Surfing is where you take a board and you swim out into the ocean a little way before catching an awesome wave, and riding it.'

'You ride the waves?' Ronan said sceptically.

'When we set up here – if we set up here – I will teach you how to surf, it'll be great. I'll teach Teyla too, we'll make a day of it. Sun, sea, sand - beer – and surfing.' He said perkily. 'What do think Carson?'

'Sounds wonderful, apart from the surfing.' Carson smiled slightly. 'I'm more of a sunbathing man.'

John smiled, shaking his head.

'I also didn't bring a bathing suit, and considering the whole city is surrounded by water, it might not be a bad idea to get one.' Carson added, slipping his own sunglasses on his head.

Ronan frowned again. 'Bathing suit?'

'Yeah, looks like we need to take you shopping buddy.' John nodded.

'And Teyla.' Carson added. They both paused. Ronan looked between them.

'Nothing.' John cast Carson a half smile, eyes twinkling mischievously. Carson returned the smile, his blue eyes blushing. 'So, is there anything major we need to know about the wonderful world of fishing?'

'Not really, the bait goes on the hook, the hook goes in the water, and then you wait for a little scaly rascal to get hungry.' Carson walked ahead with John while Ronan tried to figure out the previous awkward moment.

'Can you please hurry up? The Sun is scorching my skin and I can't stop to put my sun block on until we get to the trees because it is underneath everything else, and if I do it here, then I will be in the sun even longer.' Rodney complained, waiting for them to catch up, clearly out of breath from lugging the large bag half way across the field.

'Why didn't you put some on before we came?' John narrowed his eyes at him.

'I thought my hat would have taken care of it, but I was told to leave it, and now I am likely to die from extreme sun exposure.' He explained snippily.

Carson shook his head as they walked past him.

'What?' They continued walking. 'Hey! Wait! Ronan, buddy, ol' pal, would you mind giving me a hand with…hey! Wait up!' Rodney heaved the bag from the ground and shuffled forward. He continued on like this until he reached the tree line. 'Stop!' He bellowed.

'We're almost there Rodney!' Carson exclaimed, turning to the scientist.

'That's fabulous, but I need to look for my sun block.' He began digging around his bag. 'Have any of you heard of unsightly lesions? Skin cancer? Does any of it ring bells?'

John looked at Ronan and knew he would be a few minutes looking for the sun block. Carson sat on a tree stump while John leaned against a tree.

'Oh perfect!' Rodney snapped.

John raised his weapon slightly. 'What?'

'The sun block has covered the entire bottom of my bag – including my lunch, I can't eat that-' He threw the creamy covered wrapper of a sandwich to the floor.

'Don't you dare leave that there! We've just arrived on the planet Rodney; let's leave it a few years before we start to destroy it.' Carson nagged.

'I was going to pick it up! Just give me a minute, Boy scout.' Rodney snarled delving back into his bag.

Ronan moved away from the tree. 'What was the point in bringing so much?' He nodded to the bag.

'Because I am careful, I don't enjoy pain like you do-'

Rodney stopped when Ronan yelled in agony and fell to the ground, grasping at his leg. A shower of arrows flew through the forest as Carson pushed Ronan's torso to the ground while John bounded to the other side of the tree, weapon raised. He couldn't see anyone. The forest wasn't dark, and there weren't many places for them to really hide – so who in the hell was shooting at them?

'Ronan?' John bellowed.

'He's got an arrow in his calf!' Carson yelled back.

More arrows filled the air. 'Take cover!' John shouted again. He retreated behind the tree and saw Mckay cowering behind his bag. Apparently it had been good for one thing.

'Hold your fire! We're not here to cause any trouble!' He yelled to the trees. The arrows continued. 'Ronan, can you move?'

He heard a grunt of pain and a snap. Ronan had broken the arrow in half. 'Yeah.' He growled.

'We can't make a run for the Gate! He won't make it, not with this injury!' Carson said, inspecting the leg.

'If we run into the field, their arrows will be far more accurate! As in deadly accurate! I would rather not be skewered with hundreds of wooden shafts, thank you very much!' Rodney shouted.

He was right, and John knew it. In the open, there would be no where to take cover and these people were obviously in range, so outrunning them was not going to happen, especially with Ronan's leg. But then surrendering to an enemy who apparently didn't want prisoners was also a bad idea. John rolled his eyes. So much for fishing.

'Carson! You and Rodney get Ronan to the Gate; I'll lay down cover fire and follow!' He yelled to them.

'Are you insane!?' Rodney rose from his position momentarily and arrows flew at him. He shrieked, ducking once more.

'Don't argue with me, Rodney!' John shouted.

'Colonel, how do you think you're going to escape even if we do get far enough away?' Carson asked.

'He can't.' Ronan gritted his teeth. The arrow had gone clean through the muscle of his calf, there was little blood, but it hurt like hell.

'I'll run real fast, now go!' He shouted.

'That's not exactly a plan-' Mckay began.

'Go!' John leapt out from behind the tree and began shooting blindly; hoping the noise more than anything would scare them off. Rodney leapt up and grabbed Ronan's arm while Carson grabbed the other. They took off as fast as Ronan could go, which was pretty fast considering the extent of his injury.

John dodged behind the tree to avoid another wave of arrows, they punctured the ground and trees around him, mud and bark flying into his face. He paused a moment before coming out again and firing more shots to where he thought the enemy were. Another minute or so and he would take off after the others. He reloaded the weapon and waited for the next shower. He waited. Waited some more. He frowned. No arrows.

He edged out to look at the trees in front. There was still nothing – no people, no arrows. Just silence. Were they waiting for him to rise? To run? He ducked behind the tree again. If he ran, they would fire, but if he just sat there – well, he would be sitting there, and he didn't like that plan. John looked around the side of the tree and didn't have time to react to the object that slammed into his forehead, making the world fall black.

More soon! Please review! If you prefer something with more action and quite a bit of Sheyla, than check out my other story 'Trials of Faith.' Any and all comments are appreciated!