Title: PuddleJumper Estates and ZPM Enterprises
Author: wingwyrm
Beta: sardonicsmiley(lj)
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Gate: Atlantis. Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper own it.
Rating: M
Summary: John Sheppard owns a new Real Estate business and when billionaire Rodney McKay demands that he finds him a house, how could John not? Slash, AU, Earthbound
A/N: Previously posted on Livejournal March 3/2008. I was going through my stuff and realized that I didn't have any SG:A stuff up on FF Net, so I decided to post it :) Hope you like it.
Part One
The message that John Sheppard got from his secretary made him wince and make a mental note to get her flowers, possibly a small bouquet of pink and peach roses. She was a botanist; she'd know what he meant.
And if he had the money, she'd totally be getting the raise she deserved.
He looked at the note again and sighed.
Dr. McKay called again. PICK UP YOUR PHONE MR. SHEPPARD
Well. Next time she told him that McKay was on the line he'd take the guy off her hands. John had no idea why McKay was so insistent on talking only to him, but really. All John did was sell houses and apartments.
His phone beeped at him and he pressed the intercom.
"Yes, Katie?"
"It's Dr McKay."
Crap. Just because he'd decided to talk to McKay didn't mean he wanted to talk to him right now. "Put him through Katie." His hand was just above the phone when the door to his office slammed open and John jumped back, "What the hell!?"
"Sorry Mr Sheppard." Katie Brown stuck her head in the door and shrugged, "You said you'd deal with him."
"You are John Sheppard of PuddleJumper Estates, yes?" The man didn't bother to let John answer, just stalked up to the desk and tossed a file on top of John's notes. "I want a house and I don't care how you find it or the cost of it." John blinked at him and opened his mouth. "This doesn't require any input from you." The man huffed and crossed his arms as John's mouth snapped shut, "I want something quiet, somewhere to put a cat, an office as big as possible and two master bedrooms. I want neutral colors. I want hardwood and carpet. I want a large kitchen. I want full bathrooms." He paused and cocked his head to the side. "I don't care if there's a view. I don't care who my neighbors are, as long as they're quiet. I don't like small children."
"Dr. McKay--"
"I am ready to put five hundred thousand dollars on your desk right now as incentive. I don't have a price limit. Get me a place to live." He sneered, "Do you think you can work with that?"
Five hundred thousand dollars. That wasn't a small bit of change. His fledgling company could really use that money. John shook himself, "I can tr--"
"Good. I need it by the end of next week." McKay tossed a single piece of paper that fluttered to the desk, spun on the heel of his foot and stomped from the room.
John picked up the check for five hundred thousand and sat back, staring at his door in shock. Okay, so that was 'Hurricane McKay'. No wonder the man had a PR rep.
"John?" His business partner graced his office with her presence, smiling widely at him, "What was that?"
"That, Elizabeth, is a good question." John leaned his chair back and crossed his legs at the ankles on the desk. "What do you know about Dr. Rodney McKay?"
"Well," She sat, "He's a genius and he's rich. A billionaire. He owns ZPM Enterprises and last I heard he never goes out in public; at least, not unless his daughter is doing something. Apparently she plays volleyball, basketball, baseball, hockey and cello." Elizabeth sighed, "I still remember when the press announced that Major McKay was killed in action ten years ago. McKay and Jillian weren't seen for months."
"He was married?" John goggled at Elizabeth and she just smiled faintly.
"It was mutually beneficial. McKay wanted to pass his genes on; Samantha Carter wanted someone to come home to that didn't mind that she was gone for months on assignment."
"What about the daughter? Jillian?" John snorted, "McKay just told me that he didn't like small children." He eyed Elizabeth, "And how, exactly do you know all of this? Did you stalk him or something?"
"No John, don't be silly." Elizabeth grinned widely, "He was the Times Man of the Year two years ago. Practically the whole issue was about McKay. As for Jillian, she's sixteen this year and in university. The news surrounding her birth is a little spotty but McKay was only a millionaire then. She was a bit of an early surprise, but not unwanted. And," Elizabeth stood, "It's told that she melted her father's frozen heart."
"If that was McKay melted, I'd hate to have seen his black undead heart before." Before she vanished out the door the words John had muttered under his breath reached her ears, making her laugh freely.
Thinking about what exactly what McKay wanted, and fitting in what he knew about the man, like the fact that he had a daughter who was away at university, John decided that he'd start looking for houses in gated communities. They were usually quiet and even if McKay didn't care if he had a nice view, John was pretty sure that Jillian would like one when she was home.
The first house John crossed off his list was Little Secret Gated Community, 51002 Nevada and Aria. True, the neighborhood was exactly what McKay was looking for, however the house itself wasn't big enough. There was only one master bedroom and by the way that McKay had thrown his arms around John's office, the home office in 51002 was way too small.
The second house was a bit different, the small Russian immigrant community was very secular, but McKay would have fit in perfectly. However, the small house on Cyber and Briar had no carpeting and there was tiled floors all over. The bathrooms were also small and figuring that McKay had specified full bathrooms for a reason, he wasn't going to take the chance.
He shifted through the package that Katie had left him that 'sort of maybe' fit what McKay was looking for. It took a long and lonely six days to get through the houses and apartments and still nothing fit with what was in the list of requirements.
Having just two days left until McKay came back, John resorted to the pile of new housing that had come up.
One house caught his attention immediately. 31415 Atlantis and Command in the Pegasus South Gated Community. The South community was quieter then the other three Pegasus communities, housing more people around McKay's age with only a few young couples who were likely to produce children. The Pegasus SGC also had a beautiful view around it and in it. There were few dogs and only two children under the age of fifteen in the whole community.
Tracking the house down in his old Ford truck, John parked on the road, knowing his engine was leaking transmission fluid. He didn't want to ruin the driveway. He walked to the house, got the keys from his pocket, unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
Perfect. Light beige and cream colors. There was hardwood in the entry, kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms and carpet everywhere else. Two floors with a master bedroom on each floor and a home office that was twice as big as John's. The other rooms, which included two guest rooms, a laundry room and a plush basement suite with its own smaller kitchen and laundry room, were nice as well. They were done in soft blues and light rose colors.
Listening carefully in all the rooms, John realized that he couldn't hear a single sound from the outside world in this house. It was perfect.
Now he just had to show it to McKay and get him to pay the one point eight million dollar price tag. Even rich people didn't spend that much on a house this small. They bought mansions, not houses.
Of course, considering how stubborn McKay was, the dickering over the price would probably range it down to one point two, possibly even just one million. Now, to get everything started.
Friday morning McKay was in his office long before John got there.
"Dr. McKay?"
"I've been up all night at the lab. Give me good news." John beamed at his ragged visage.
"Okay! I have a house for you. It's at the Pegasus SGC." Rodney nodded and waved a hand for him to continue, "It fits all of your requirements, although it is listed as one point eight million."
McKay pulled out his check book and scribbled a check and held it out to him, "When can I move in?"
John blinked at him. "Uhm--"
"I told you I needed the house by today. When can I move in?"
"Err, it's empty, so today if you want--" John stared at the check with something akin to horror. McKay had already given him half a million and this check was for one point eight. "Dr McKay, you already gave me a check--"
"That was for you. This is for the house. Take whatever commission you want from it." McKay held out a hand and snapped his fingers, "Keys, keys. I need to get the moving truck on its way."
John blindly handed over the keys to the house, "You'll need to sign--"
"Send the papers to ZPM Enterprises, care of Miko Kusanagi. She's my PA." McKay paused at the door and looked over his shoulder. "Thank you."
Rodney was gone midway through John's first word, "You're welcome. Huh." He looked down to the check again.
He'd told the previous owners of the house that the buyer would buy the house for one million. They'd agreed and signed the papers. He thought he'd get McKay down to one point two million and get a check for the other seven hundred thousand.
Adding the other check that McKay had given him, he now had one point three million from the man and one million for the house. That was a lot of money.
That would cover a lot of business expenses. He could hire real estate agent Ronon Dex. Dex had huge sales.
He had one point three million dollars. To spend as he saw fit. As commission.
"Holy shit."
By Monday the money was in the bank, he'd stolen Dex away from Satedan Real Estate and hired Elizabeth a secretary. Peter Grodin was amazing and by Wednesday John was wondering how they'd managed to get everything done with just the three of them now that they were five.
It also seemed that over the weekend business had boomed. Suddenly there were people from everywhere coming to see him about buying a house. There were reporters hanging around asking about McKay's new house and John had rolled his eyes at them. Like he was going to lead reporters to the guy who'd given him one point three million dollars.
PuddleJumper Estates was suddenly a business with prospects and an income that was larger then its bills.
Thursday found John standing outside of the massive glass and steel tower of ZPM Enterprises. It was bigger then he'd thought it would be. Tightening his fingers around his new briefcase, John went in, heading directly to the desk.
The woman there raised an eyebrow at him coolly, "Yes?"
"I'm John Sheppard. Dr. McKay bought a house through my real estate company and I have a few papers here that he--"
"Oh yes!" She brightened and flashed a big smile, warming immediately, "I'm Laura Cadman, Building Manager. Please, come with me." She grabbed his elbow and started towards the large glass elevator in the corner. She pulled a small key card out of her pocket, slipped it into the key lock, placed her hand on the pedestal and winced a bit. She smiled at him. "Don't worry, it was just a pinprick to get my blood for my DNA and to make sure that I'm alive and no one chopped my hand off."
John made sure not to swallow too loudly. That was some serious security. And she was a little too calm about it. "You're not worried about that happening?"
"Oh no!" Laura waved him into the elevator, "No," She pressed the top button, "Dr. Dumais was the Building Manager before me and they just killed her outright with a virus that caused a brain aneurysm. No, I'm not too worried about them chopping my hand off." She gave him a wide grin and John could only nod at her in reply.
There was a soft ding and John tried not to seem rushed as he exited the elevator. He had no wish what-so-ever to stay anywhere near the woman who talked so casually about the person who used to hold her position dying so calmly. "So, ah, where are we?"
"This is the midway floor where we need to change elevators to get to Dr. McKay's office. Then we'll talk to Miko. If she says that Dr. McKay is busy, we leave the papers with her and she'll return them to me to give to you later. If she lets us into Dr. McKay's office then we go in, you get your signatures and we leave." Laura pinned him in place with the fiercest glare that he'd ever seen on a woman before, "You do not talk to Dr. McKay unless he asks you a question that he wants answered. You do not argue when we have to leave. Is that understood?"
John nodded. Laura Cadman would have made a perfect officer in the military. He'd had commanders with less balls then she had.
Miko Kusanagi was a small Japanese woman sitting at a huge shiny black desk covered in paper and folders and post-its. "Miko, is Dr. McKay busy?"
"Yes." She didn't even look up, "Sorry Laura, no one goes in today. He is having a hard day." John cleared his thought and Miko looked at him. "Yes?"
"I'm John Sheppard--"
"Oh!" Miko stood and gestured to the door, "Go right ahead, sir! Dr. McKay thought you would send the papers over, but he told me that if you came to send you in, no matter what time it is or his previous orders."
"Uh. Thanks. Thank you Ms--"
"Ah, it is doctor, but you may call me Miko." She smiled at him and sat back down as he opened the door. It seemed that he was always getting interrupted by McKay and his people. Go figure.
"Dr. McKay?" John stuck his head into the office past the huge black wood doors, realizing that they were thick enough to stop bullets from a handgun. They were also heavier than plain wood doors, so John was going to assume that there was bullet proof metal inside the wood. McKay sure was paranoid.
"I thought I told--" McKay stopped short, seeing John. "Oh. Hi. Sheppard." The man kneeling next to McKay stood and patted his shoulder.
"I'll just be going now, Rodney. Call me when you're done with the lad."
"Yeah, sure, Carson." He waved the Scotsman away, out a door on the left side of the office, and turned to John. "Sorry about that. Carson Beckett is my personal Doctor." McKay stood and waved to the chairs, "Here, please. Sit."
John sat and fiddled with his briefcase, "So, uh, I brought the papers."
"Why didn't you just send them courier?" McKay took the papers and grabbed a pen, speed reading through the legal mumbo-jumbo and signing his John Hancock at all the required places.
"I-- Well, I like to give people a personal touch." John shrugged, "It wasn't that hard to get up here either. It seems like you told everyone to let me come up."
"Just expedient," McKay pressed his lips together and a blush rose on his cheeks, "I didn't choose you because you were the first ad that I saw." He raise his eyebrow, "I did do research."
"So, uh. Can I ask why you need a house?"
"Sure." McKay smirked at him and John rolled his eyes in response, "I need a house because I need a place to get away from everything. Somewhere that no one knows about. I'm very glad that you didn't tell anyone the address."
"Hey, it's a privacy thing." John let the briefcase rest on the floor as he relaxed a little, "Everyone deserves a little privacy."
"Thank you."
"So. Have you been to see the house yet, or did you just move your stuff in and call a maid service for every other day or whatever?" The blush told John exactly what McKay had done and he snorted. "It's a really nice house, McKay. You should at least go and see it."
"Call me Rodney." McKay, no, Rodney smirked and rolled a pen on his fingers, slouching down, "I haven't exactly had a lot of time in the last week to go and see the house. I'm sure it's just fine and the hot young strawberry-blonde that I hired will do a wonderful job at keeping it up to snuff, Sheppard."
"It's John, and yeah, for the one point eight that you spent on it, it is nice. And the five hundred thou that you gave me."
"As I said," Rodney waved a hand dismissively, "Incentive. It worked, didn't it?"
"It did." John subtly took in the emptiness of Rodney's desk, "I thought Dr Kusanagi said you were busy?"
"I am." Rodney's expression darkened and he threw a hand at the door Beckett had gone through, "Carson comes by every other day or so. I have an hour of drugs and then the rest of the day I spend throwing up." He frowned deeply and meshed his fingers together in front of himself. John watched and tried to think of something that wasn't as hot as Rodney McKay.
It was a little interesting to get his first crush since he'd left the Air Force. It'd only been a year or so and now he was allowed to have a crush on a guy. He had to remind himself that he didn't have to hide it.
"What kind of cancer do you have?" Elizabeth had been in remission for three years. John only knew that because he'd been friends with her for ten years. They had met in a third world country while he was on tour and she was keeping the peace. The UN had sent her in as a diplomat and John had been her helicopter pilot.
"Leukemia," Rodney shook his head. "Carson hasn't given me anything yet today, I usually get my IV before lunch and it's what?" He looked to the clock, "11:30 now."
John nodded, confirming the time with his cell. "Should I go?" He pointed to the door and Rodney smiled tightly at him.
"I don't mean to kick you out, but please. I wouldn't mind if you come back though."
"I don't have any more papers for you to sign."
Rodney grinned then, "Make something up." John grinned back and left with a tiny wave.
Laura was waiting for him at Miko's door. She was leaning one hip against the desk and twirling a lock of her blonde hair in her fingers, "Mr. Sheppard."
"I'm done." She smirked at him as he continued, "I may be back later on to clarify some things, but I'm ready to go."
"Sounds good. See you, Miko."
Miko waved them off and John followed the crazy woman who wasn't afraid of losing a hand into the elevator. Relaxed now, John spotted the outline of both her nine mil's in shoulder holsters.
He didn't ask. Rodney McKay was a billionaire. If his ' Building Manager' was security then who was he to say anything? He didn't know what kind of threats Rodney had, what kind of danger surrounded him.
"I'll see you later, Mr. Sheppard," Laura waved him out the door and John stared up at the building. Rodney was up there, on the top-most floor, getting out-patient care for Leukemia from his personal doctor. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
So he didn't think about it.
He went about his job and tried to forget about Rodney McKay, with his lopsided smirk and snarky sarcastic wit; his large hands and wide mouth and perfect ass. His blue eyes and voice really were two of the features that John would never forget. They were so bright and deep that at night, when he was laying in bed trying to sleep, his hand strayed from the covers to reach for the phone.
Damn his eidetic memory with numbers anyway. He wasn't supposed to remember Rodney's number. He hung up before he finished dialing the number.
At work, Ronon Dex and Peter Grodin were doing perfect. The company had picked up and John realized that it was because Rodney McKay had been there that they were getting free advertising. Just because he wasn't complaining about the service, Rodney was flagging them as impressive. If he didn't have anything bad to say, he didn't say anything. It was a McKay thing.
Two months after going to the ZPM Enterprises main tower, John found himself standing outside the doors again. This time it wasn't 11:00 in the morning, but 8:30 pm and he had no idea why he was there.
"Mr. Sheppard?" One of the on-duty guards came over and John jerked back. "Sorry, sir." The security guy grinned openly at him and pointed to the door, "Do you want to be let in, sir?"
"No. No, I'm just passing by."
"Are you sure, sir?"
John shuddered at being called 'Sir' again and nodded, "Yeah. Just passing by."
Home for the night, John stepped into his shower and soaped up.
What the hell had he been thinking? Rodney McKay was a billionaire. He had a daughter. He bought a house from him. Seriously, even if Rodney did like him, it was probably only a passing fancy. Rodney McKay could have anyone he wanted.
Just thinking about Rodney made him harden in the warmth of the water and John groaned, trailing a hand down his chest to his cock, closing his fist around himself, jacking up and down. His eyes closed.
There. A tiny glimpse of blue from his imaginary sex partner. And an ass that just wouldn't stop. A mouth that was so perfect--
John threw his head back, hips thrusting, the soap smoothing his way in his fist as he thought about pushing his leaking cock into that wide, open mouth. The warm wetness of Rodney around him, Rodney's tongue along the underside of his cock. Grabbing the short, soft blonde hair and thrusting hard into that unresisting mouth.
Come streaked the shower curtain and John slid down the wall to sit under the spray of the water. Which was getting cold.
"Jesus fuck. The man has Leukemia. You are one sick puppy, Sheppard." He hauled himself out of the shower and dried off, pulling on boxers for bed.
The phone rang before his eyes closed.
"What?" He practically barked into the phone and scowled.
"John?"
Breath caught in his throat, John blinked rapidly, "Rodney? What are you doing calling me? How did you get my home number?"
"I'm a genius with computers, moron," John could see the sneer through the phone and Rodney's eye roll. "Really. You're in the phone book." A short laugh came over the line and John brightened up. He'd never heard Rodney laugh before. He'd never heard of Rodney laughing either.
It was a nice sound.
"Okay. So why are you calling?"
"Stackhouse reported that you were at the building today."
"Who? Oh," John shook his head, "You mean the security guard?"
"Whoever it was that talked to you. I only know his name because he's on loan from the Marines." Rodney verbally eye rolled again, "I have to give the Marines back in the same condition that I got them in. Unless I am injured. Then they are allowed to be injured."
"That's a sucky policy." John snorted and flopped onto his back. "So. Uh. Stackhouse told you I came by. Why'd you call?"
"I wasn't sure you wanted me to." Rodney's voice quieted and then he sighed. "I thought you had a problem with the cancer thing."
"What?" John sat upright, "No! No, I don't have a-- why would you think that?"
"As soon as I told you I had cancer you shut down and then I don't hear from you even though I ask you to come by. With or without a reason. Just to see me." Rodney paused. "I was asking you to come by so we could try dating, in case you didn't get that." He stopped then stumbled on, "Oh God. I really am that bad at subtle aren't I? Jesus, you'd think that I'd learnt my lesson and just stayed blunt like always, but Laura and Miko were giving me all these tips about guys and then you showed up and I tried them and then you didn--"
"Whoa! Hold up, Rodney. You were asking me to a-- what? Pre-date?"
"Um. Yeah."
"--Okay." John buried his face in his hands. He just said yes. To a 'pre-date' with Rodney McKay. Richest Canadian in the world. After jerking off to a fantasy of him in the shower. He couldn't believe how screwed he was.
"Oh. Really?" Rodney perked up and John bemoaned his fate silently.
"Okay, Rodney, I agreed to a 'pre-date'. I'll come by tomorrow or the next day. That's it. That's all I'm committing to right now."
"I, yes. Of course. So." He slowed down, "I guess I'll see you later then."
"Yeah. Okay. Good night, Rodney." John hung his phone up and collapsed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I am so screwed. What the fuck am I thinking?"
As it turned out, dating Rodney McKay wasn't that hard. Rodney did most of the talking and when they were actually physically in the same place, they ordered out for food and watched cheesy sci-fi and argued whether Star Trek TOS was better than TNG or not. There was some kissing, but mostly they called each other. They would spend lunch and hours after work on the phone because Rodney just wasn't up to doing more then talking most days.
"So, how's the house?" They'd been phone dating for five months and John was curious. He'd heard good things about the Pegasus SGC.
"Err, house?" Rodney paused then coughed, "Ah, yes. The house. It's fine."
John stared at the phone in shock. "Rodney, you bought the house seven months ago. Have you even seen it?"
"I've been a little busy." Rodney snapped, defensively. "Just because I have time to talk to you on the phone doesn't mean that I have time to leave my office and see a fucking house. When I talk to you I'm working. I'm typing, writing and calculating."
"Oh." John's voice was flat and he licked his lips. "So when you said you 'needed a house', you didn't mean one that you were going to live in."
Rodney huffed, "Listen John, in between now and a few more months I'm not going to be going anywhere at all. I'm going to be lying in a bed and doing hard core chemo. That's what I wanted the house for." He stopped then, his voice was quieter, "I don't know how long this out-patient thing is going to last, I don't have a set timeline. Carson has already set everything up that he needs in the huge office I demanded and he'll be living in the other master bedroom to keep an eye on me. When he tells me that I'm moving there, that's it. I'll be spending days, weeks, possibly months in bed and I probably won't be in my right mind."
John sucked in a shocked breath. "I..."
"My cancer isn't hereditary; it was caused by too much radiation." Rodney was still quiet, "I have to confess, I was worried about Jillian until Carson told me that."
"Jillian knows?"
"Yeah. She was asking if she should go get tested for cancer and I told her. She took it fairly well." John could hear Rodney fiddling with the handless, "I have another call. Do you want to wait or call--"
"I'll wait."
"Okay."
John finished filing his later day reports from Ronon and Elizabeth to the classical music that played from his ear piece. He was always the last one to leave the office, the first one there and it drove Katie around the bend. She kept shaking her finger at him and telling him that she was the secretary and it was her job to be there first and last. He just laughed and picked her up more roses.
His business had boomed. PuddleJumper Estates was the Real Estate company of the rich and famous now. Rodney had only been the beginning and thee months after Rodney - which Katie called A.R. - they'd moved the whole company to a new building with more space and he'd had to hire/steal Evan Lorne of Tauri Estates and Eugene Bates of Security Estates. Elizabeth and John mostly handled the rich and famous themselves. Ronon liked to take the foreigners around to show off houses, Bates enjoyed taking their military clients and Lorne had this thing for the young and newly in love couples. Grodin had moved up from being Elizabeth's secretary to showing houses to the blue collar people and Chuck Campbell had been hired to take over for him. Chuck was a god send.
"John?"
"I'm here." John smiled grimly. He was about to tell Rodney off for getting John to sell him a house to die in when a young woman's soft breathy voice interrupted him.
"John Sheppard?"
"...Yeah?"
"My name is Jillian." The daughter. Oh was he in deep shit or what?
"Hi Jillian!" Be nice, be kind and don't say anything stupid.
"Dad told me that you've been helping him through his chemo." Her voice reminded John of Rodney, but tempered.
"Yes, yes he has. I'm also dating him." Rodney cut in and Jillian laughed.
"Oh, Daddy." John could hear her smile, "Of course you are. But you have to do more than phone-date. That's almost as bad as internet dating. You have to go out. In person."
So she may have sounded tempered, but she wasn't much better at curbing her tongue than Rodney was. "I was just about to ask him, Jillian. So Rodney? The new Italian place?"
"Ah. Okay." Rodney was flustered and John counted that as a good thing. "When?"
"How about Friday?" Friday was a good day for John. End of the work week so that if anything after dinner happened, he wouldn't have to rush in the morning. That and it was four days away which meant that it wasn't one of the days that Rodney took chemo.
"Friday, Friday sounds good."
"Oh, you old folks are so cute." Jillian laughed again and made two kiss noises into the phone, "Kiss kiss, Dad, love you."
"Love you, Jillian."
"It was nice to talk to you, John."
"You too, Jillian." And then it was just Rodney and John again.
"So that was Jillian."
"Yeah, that was Jillian." Rodney sighed. "I haven't told her how bad the cancer actually is." Both men were quiet and John finally sighed.
"Call me tomorrow, Rodney. Okay?" Rodney mumbled out his yes and John hung up. He'd learned to hang up immediately or he wouldn't hang up until Rodney did, and Rodney happened to like listening to John breath. They'd spent eight hours once, just listening to each other breath.
Friday morning was bright and even though Ronon stormed into his office ranting about some albino freaks who had a list of demands so long it was sucking the life out of him trying to find them what they wanted, John still felt good.
The phone call he got at noon from Carson Beckett crashed his whole world down around him.
Rodney had been taken to the house in the Pegasus SGC.
"Katie, Chuck, I'm off for the rest of the day. Possibly next week too. Cancel everything I have."
"Sure John," Chuck waved him out of the office, "Give Dr. McKay my best wishes."
John couldn't think about anything as he drove to the PSGC. Shit. The address again. Never mind. "Perfect memory, please don't leave me," John sighed.
31415 Atlantis and Command.
Carson was at the door before he'd even managed to knock once, "How is he? Beckett?"
Carson reached up and removed John's hands from his shirt, "Rodney is just fine right now. I determined this morning that what we were doing wasn't working. I told him months ago that if he didn't have somewhere quiet for intensive Chemo, he was going to be admitted so I've had everything set up here in just incase."
"And?"
"Slow down son. Rodney is upstairs." Carson gripped his arm tight just above the elbow, "Listen to me John." John stopped and looked into Carson's face. He could see the threat hovering behind the soft façade of the kindly doctor, "When you go up there you don't disturb any of the IV's or wires. You may touch him gently but he is bruising easier and easier every day. When I tell you that enough is enough and you have to leave, you leave. Do not make me call Laura down here to remove you from the room, do you understand me?"
"Yes, Dr. Beckett, I understand." John waited until Carson let him go and raced up the stairs, skipping two at a time. He paused outside the door.
The question was would Rodney want to be seen like this.
He opened the door.
"It's a nice house, John." Rodney smiled weakly and John couldn't help but laugh brokenly.
"Jesus, Rodney." John stepped into the room and crossed the floor, kissing Rodney gently. "When you told me why you needed the house, I had hoped that you wouldn't ever see it."
Rodney took his hand as John sat in the comfortable chair beside the bed, "Sorry, John." Their fingers twined together and John contented himself with feeling Rodney's pulse through his thumb and wrist.
**To Be Continued**