A/N Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts so far, but there are lots of you still not leaving a comment! I'd like to hear what you think.
The breeze blowing across the balcony brought the late morning heat down to a pleasant temperature as Sheppard sat at a table outside the mess hall, feet up, sipping coffee, and reading one of his comic books while enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the ocean view. He didn't get many moments to himself on Atlantis; his schedule was always hectic due to the various responsibilities that came with being the ranking military officer on base. But today he found himself with one hour free, and he meant to enjoy it to the full.
Of course, his plans were always subject to change; that was one of the more immutable laws of life in the Pegasus Galaxy.
He sensed as much as saw Elizabeth when the mess hall door opened to let someone else out to join him. He tried very hard not to acknowledge her, even as she pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, waiting for him to look up at her. Realising she wasn't about to take the hint, he reluctantly dragged his eyes up from the page he was reading.
'Good morning, Colonel.'
'Oh, you're back already,' he replied, matter-of-fact, tossing his comic onto the tabletop.
Elizabeth turned it round and examined the cover as she spoke. 'Yes I am, and I'm here to tell you to get your glad rags on, because you're going to a party tonight.'
Sheppard squinted back at her, swinging his legs off the table. 'They agreed to keep Sarayah away?'
'No need. She's no longer living on Medulsa.'
He frowned, then squinted some more. 'Say again?'
'Apparently, she was having difficulty settling into the new social structure, so she decided a more nomadic lifestyle might suit her. She probably likes not having anyone else to answer to.'
'Yeah, that sounds about right,' Sheppard replied, trying his best to keep the sourness from his tone. 'But what's stopping her from turning up tonight?'
'Well, at the time she left, the Medulsans had been about to imprison her for violent crimes against various members of the village. Leaving was her get-out-of-jail-free card, and they gave her strict instructions she was not allowed to set foot on the planet again without their express permission. Alishia told me Sarayah had been involved in a large number of very physical altercations with several men in the community and was considered a disruptive influence. They're not exactly about to welcome her back with open arms after that.'
Sheppard chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully. It wasn't exactly a guarantee, but since she was under threat of jail it seemed pretty unlikely she would turn up that evening, especially during the two-hour window he planned to be there. Of course, this could all be a trick to get him back to the planet, but surely the men of Medulsa wouldn't play along so readily. No...no he was just being paranoid; time to rein it in.
'So, did all the men look well?' he asked, masking his suspicion in what sounded like a genuine question.
'Yes, they did. Balfor asked after you. He's doing remarkably well considering he had the sickness when you left him behind. I guess the medicines Carson sent to the planet worked for him. Perhaps we'll be able to get some blood samples from him given time. Carson might be able to figure something out from it.'
'Well, it's good to hear he's better, but I wouldn't go holding your breath on getting anything useful from his blood after two years,' Sheppard replied. He'd often wondered about the Balfor, feeling guilty for leaving without knowing if he would make it, or even whether anyone would take him the medicine he needed. Thankfully, it seemed they had. 'So, what time do I have to be ready to head out tonight?'
Elizabeth checked her watch. 'Well, due to the time differences between here and Medulsa, I estimate you should aim to be ready to set off in about five hours.'
He checked his watch, too. 'Okay.'
'And I've cleared your schedule for the day, so don't think you can make any excuses for not being ready on time,' she added.
He raised his eyebrows in an expression of pure innocence. 'The thought never crossed my mind. So, are you meeting me in the jumper bay, or should I swing by your office when it's time to go?'
Suddenly looking sheepish, Elizabeth struggled to answer his question. 'Ahhh, well...you see...I can't actually make it now. There's an urgent matter I need to discuss with General Landry at the SGC, and he can only speak with me at the time you need to be going.'
Sheppard wasn't one hundred percent convinced with her explanation. He figured if this supposed talk was happening at all, she'd deliberately set it up for that time. 'I don't mind waiting until you've finished,' he offered.
'Well, that's very kind of you, but I got the impression it could be quite a lengthy discussion. Tell you what...if it finishes in reasonable time, I'll get Major Lorne to fly me through to join you there.'
'Sure you will,' he replied, smirking at her over his now folded arms. 'Does this mean I'm expected to go there alone now?'
'No, of course not. You can take whoever you like, I'll clear their schedules, too.' She stood up now, pushing his comic book back toward him. 'Anyway, I wouldn't want to keep you from your important work any longer.' She took a few steps toward the door then stopped and spoke to him again. 'I know this isn't easy for you, John, but I really appreciate it; I hope it goes well tonight.'
'Yeah...you and me both,' he muttered as she walked away.
He watched the ocean for a while longer, hoping the fresh air and rolling waves would calm his nerves, but they didn't. He had a horrible suspicion this evening was going to be a painful experience, even if Sarayah wasn't going to be there. Parties weren't really his thing, especially when he wouldn't be allowed to drink since he had to fly back through the Stargate.
After another hour had passed, and many of the crew began to arrive for their lunch, Sheppard quickly grabbed something to eat, and tucked his comic in his back pocket ready to go back to his room. Then, realising he only had four hours left before he had to leave, he figured he should put some effort into finding someone to accompany him on his trip. Thankfully, he knew just the trio of people to start with.
oooOOOooo
'Of course I will travel with you. Making amends with the Medulsans could prove very useful in our attempts to find an effective weapon against the Wraith,' Teyla said, her eyes still closed as she sat crossed-legged and seemingly in a semi-meditative state on the floor of her room.
Sheppard frowned as he watched her, wondering how she could talk and meditate at the same time. 'You're sure, because this might get pretty boring and I don't want you holding this against me.'
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. 'You seem to forget I have been to many such festivities. I am sure the Medulsans hope to honour you with their celebrations, and I would very much like to see the changes in their society.'
'Well, if you're sure you want to go, I could definitely use the company.'
The door opened behind him. 'Why. Where you goin'?' he heard Ronon ask.
He turned to face his friend. 'I've been invited to a celebration in my honour on a planet called Medulsa, and I'm looking for volunteers to go with me. You interested, big fella?'
'Medulsa?' the huge Satedan repeated thoughtfully. 'Isn't that the planet with the hot chick who kicked your ass?'
Sheppard pressed his lips together to stop the first answer that sprang to mind falling out. 'And who told you that...as if I can't guess.'
'McKay's mentioned it once or twice. Don't worry, buddy; if you need a bodyguard, I'm your man,' his friend grinned, pulling his gun from his thigh holster and twirling it around on his index finger.
'Thanks for the offer, but that won't be necessary. Apparently, the "hot chick" now lives elsewhere.'
'Is that so?' Teyla asked thoughtfully. 'I suppose it must have been very difficult for someone like her once the hierarchy in the village changed.'
'Yeah, must've been tough. My heart bleeds for her,' Sheppard sneered. Ronon grinned and nodded. 'So, you comin'?' the colonel asked him.
Ronon's face screwed up in consideration. 'I don't know...'
'There may be good ale...or at least a stout wine,' Teyla said by way of temptation.
His expression unchanged, Ronon asked, 'What time are we leaving?'
That was answer enough for Sheppard. Ronon was a man after his own heart; his pleasures in life were few and simple, and mostly revolved around alcohol. 'Be in the jumper bay in two hours.'
'Okay. You guys comin' for somethin' to eat?'
Sheppard told him he'd already eaten, but Teyla agreed to join him in the mess hall a little later. He grumbled something about saving her a seat and headed back out of the room.
'Do you intend to ask Rodney if he would like to join us?' Teyla asked Sheppard after the Satedan had left.
'That's the plan,' he nodded.
She looked immediately doubtful. 'I am not certain he will agree. I do not believe he is the type to engage in such...activities.'
'Oh, he might surprise you,' Sheppard smirked. 'The quiet ones sometimes do.'
Teyla stood and followed him to the door, apparently keen to see how his conversation with the scientist would turn out. 'I'm not sure many people here on Atlantis would describe Rodney as quiet,' she told him with a playful smile.
'Hmmm...you may have a point,' he mused, 'but I'll ask him anyway. If he's there, at least I won't have to be the designated driver at my own party. Even McKay could manage that short trip.'
oooOOOooo
'The answer's no.'
Sheppard had barely set foot in McKay's lab before he fired the rebuttal at him. They'd worked together for two and a half years now, and he could recognise the colonel's combat-booted swagger anywhere. He had a casual, almost lazy gait that ate up the ground with a surprising efficiency he couldn't match. He'd trotted alongside him enough times to know that to his detriment.
'But you don't even know the question,' Sheppard replied, doing his best to look hurt.
'Ahh, but that's where you're wrong,' McKay smirked, holding up a finger in front of Sheppard's quizzical face. 'I spoke to Elizabeth a few minutes ago, so I know exactly why you've come here. You're going to Medulsa tonight for some kind of thank you party, and she can't make it. So I'll give you the same answer I gave her when she suggested I accompany you. No way.'
Teyla, now standing beside him, tried her best to change his mind. 'Rodney, you work far too hard. You should take this as an opportunity to relax and...enjoy the pleasantries a different culture may have to offer.'
He could tell she was reaching, and figured she knew better than any of them how tedious these events could be. If even Teyla was struggling to make it sound like a positive event, there was no way he was setting foot in the place. 'I had quite enough of their culture when I was there two years ago, thank you very much,' he assured her, burying his head into the three laptops he had running simultaneously on his workstation. Did these people really think he had time to waste on such trivialities? Besides, didn't they understand that quantum equations and astrophysics were relaxation to him?
Sheppard lifted up the top slice of bread in a sandwich Rodney had grabbed for his lunch, peering at the contents, and McKay snatched it away from him protectively. Did the man have no respect for other people's food at all?
'Well, I don't think they've invited us back there just to kick our butt's again,' Sheppard pointed out, plunging his hands in his pockets as he smirked at him. 'This is supposed to be a party to thank us for bringing about positive changes in their world. And, since you were a major player in bringing about that change, it only seems right that you share their thanks with me.'
McKay sat back from his work for the first time and fixed him with a sneering scowl. 'Uncharacteristic as it is of me to shy away from acclaim, on this occasion I'm happy to say the thanks are deservedly all yours. I want no part of it.'
'Hey, those men would still be living as slaves if you hadn't fixed that machine,' Sheppard pointed out.
Rodney could see what he was trying to do and was having none of it. There was no way Sheppard was turning this round on him. The Medulsans wanted to thank him, and he was happy for Sheppard to enjoy the limelight for once. 'And if you hadn't selflessly volunteered to stay and help those men get free, we wouldn't have ever found out about the device. Really...much as it pains me to say this...you were the hero on that occasion.'
Sheppard looked into McKay's blue eyes, challenging him until the scientist had to avert his gaze. 'It doesn't pain you at all, you coward. You're just scared you might have to see Alishia again.'
They really had worked together for too long if Sheppard could read him that easily, Rodney realised. 'Look, you have no idea how frightening it is to see a huge, buck-naked woman running toward you out of the darkness. I still have nightmares now.'
Sheppard exchanged a glance with Teyla, and Rodney watched her wrestling with the urge to laugh. 'Oh, that's right. Make fun of the scientist, why don't you? I'm sorry, but we're not all cut out for dealing with things like that, okay?'
'Rodney, they're not going to be running around naked; it's a thank you party, not an orgy,' Sheppard told him.
'You don't know how these people say thank you. That might be exactly what they have in mind, and I for one do not intend to be there to find out.'
Even Sheppard looked wary now. McKay couldn't honestly believe his friend had agreed to go back to the planet after the condition he'd returned in last time. Only luck had kept him alive, especially after taking a bullet in the thigh. Just thinking about how quickly he could have bled out if it had hit his femoral artery brought Rodney out in a cold sweat of hypochondria.
Teyla obviously sensed Sheppard's worry and tried to set his mind at rest. 'I am certain whatever the Medulsans have in mind, they would not make you do anything you were not comfortable with at a celebration in your honour, Colonel.'
That seemed to settle any anxieties the colonel had after Rodney's wild suggestions, and he bounced right back to trying to make him feel bad about not going. 'You're gonna wish you'd come when we come rolling back to Atlantis in the early hours,' he told McKay, apparently giving him one more chance to change his mind.
'No...no I honestly don't think I will,' McKay said, getting back to his work. 'You go ahead and have fun, though. I'll be thinking about you.'
'Sure you will,' Sheppard grumbled.
'I suppose this means you will now have to be the...how did you put it...designated driver?' Teyla asked the colonel with just the barest of smiles.
'Looks that way.'
'Oh, right!' Rodney spat, his temper finally flaring. 'So you didn't want to share the glory with me at all. You just wanted to off-load the flying on me!'
Sheppard shrugged. 'Well, it was just a thought, considering the party's in my honour.'
'Were you seriously considering getting wasted on a planet like that?' Rodney demanded, frightened by how much he sounded like his own mother as he said it. 'That's crazy!'
'I wasn't going to get drunk, Rodney. But a few drinks would have softened the blow of being there,' Sheppard told him.
'Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there is no way I'm going back to that place for any reason other than studying that Wraith weapon of theirs,' Rodney assured him, still seething. 'I should have known this wasn't about me having fun at all.'
'Rodney...you can come and I will fly the jumper both ways,' Sheppard offered, trying to make peace.
'No,' Rodney squeaked. 'No...I know what you were thinking and you're not squirming out of this that easily. You owe me for this one. Besides, I've just set up all these diagnostics and programs, so I can't just leave all my equipment here without monitoring it.'
'Whatever, Rodney. You just stay here and play with your equipment, and we'll see you in the morning.'
The insinuation in Sheppard's comment was clear, but McKay chose not to rise to the challenge. He watched as Teyla and Sheppard walked away, suddenly feeling bad that he'd refused to go with his friend when he seemed unhappy about returning to the planet.
'You make sure you're careful out there,' he called after them, his voice sounding small and plaintive even to him.
Sheppard waved an acknowledgement and called, 'Yes, Dad,' over his shoulder to him.
Rodney stared at the now empty doorway for several more minutes after they'd departed, knowing he still had time to change his mind and join in the fun. But he already knew there was no way he could face going back there without Sheppard checking things out first. He had no desire to face the kind of torture he'd seen the colonel put through in those few hours he'd been there to witness it. Sheppard could handle that kind of thing, but he wasn't fool enough to think he was forged from the same mettle as his military friends.
No, guilty he might feel, but his place was in the lab until his genius was required with that Wraith weapon he'd fixed for them. Nothing less would budge him from his seat or his sandwich.
