Sheppard, John and the colonel walked to the control room, stares following them wherever they stepped. "This is just like at the court martial trial," all three of them muttered.
The colonel stopped and looked at the other two. "You know, we should really come up with a system so we aren't doing that all the time. It's distracting to everyone around us."
Sheppard crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? What would you suggest? That you do the talking for us?"
John stepped between the two men. "Hey, look, we're all in this crazy mess together. Let's try to just move past this until McKay comes up with a way to fix this."
Sheppard looked at him as if he was crazy. "The charm card only works on people who aren't yourself." His gaze shifted to the colonel. "No, no system. No rules. If you want to stop talking, fine. But I'm going to say what I want when I want."
The colonel was in disbelief. "Am I, I mean, are we really that defiant?"
John opened his mouth to answer, but was distracted when he saw Teyla and Ronan approaching them. "Teyla, Ronan, what are you doing here?" he asked with a smile.
"Weir wants us to watch you," Ronan rumbled.
Sheppard couldn't believe it. First, he had one of his clones insult him and now Elizabeth was turning his team into babysitters. He forced a smile. "That's ok. We're fine on our own."
Ronan turned to Teyla. "See? I told you. Let's go."
"Wait!" said Teyla and John at the same time for different reasons. "Let us at least go down to the mess hall and pick up something to eat. I know it has been hours since any of us has eaten," Teyla offered.
They all agreed, some more reluctantly than others. Throughout dinner, everyone walked by the table just to see "The Three Musketeers" as someone on base so eloquently decided to call them. The colonel was polite to those who stopped by; Sheppard wished that everyone would stop treating them like they were the freak show of the week; John talked with Teyla between each bite of food.
Teyla tried to hide her amusement towards the three men. When they were eating, they moved in sync with each other. Bite. Chew. Chew. Swallow. Repeat.
While this was entertaining, she knew soon enough the novelty of the situation would wear off. Soon, all three men would start to feel oppressed by having Ronan and her around all the time. She could tell Sheppard was already getting restless and knew the other men would be quick to follow.
No, she decided, to really help John through this ordeal, she would respect their personal space, being there when they requested it. She would need to talk to Elizabeth later.
After the third time of them picking up their drinks and swallowing simultaneously, Ronan finally had enough. Sure, he and Sheppard were friends, but three of them was almost too much to bear. "I'm going for a run."
Four pairs of curious eyes turned to him as he walked away. Teyla smiled apologetically to the men. "It has been a long day for us all. It is probably best that we go to our quarters for the night," she suggested.
The men looked at each other. Finally, they nodded. "You're right, today seems like it's been going on forever," the colonel said.
"Good night," Teyla said politely.
John put on his puppy dog look. "You're not going to walk me to my quarters?"
"I am sorry. I am afraid there are some things I must attend to before going to bed," she said apologetically. She got up from the table and left the men alone.
"You know, that is something we haven't figured out yet," John said.
"What's that?" the colonel asked.
"Who gets the bed," John answered.
The three of them looked at each other with a determined look in their eye. None of them were going to give up the bed easily. "First one there gets bed privileges?" Sheppard asked.
The other two nodded. "It's a deal."
Twenty minutes later, Teyla walked towards Sheppard's quarters. After speaking with Elizabeth, she and Ronan were no longer required to monitor John, Sheppard or the colonel's activities. She had tried to page them on the radio to let them know, but got no response.
Knowing that they couldn't have fallen asleep so quickly, she wanted to stop by and make sure everything was ok with the three of them. When she activated the door chime, there was still no answer. Seconds later, she heard a loud thump from the other side of the room.
She tapped her earpiece. "Chuck, this is Teyla. I need you to override the door controls to Colonel Sheppard's quarters. I believe there may be something wrong."
"All right," the young man responded, "you should have access now."
She waved her hand in front of the console and the door opened to a scene she could not have ever imagined. John, Sheppard and the colonel were on the ground wrestling with each other. "Excuse me," she said loudly.
All three men looked up at her with identical expressions of embarrassment on their face. One had a bloody nose, the other a busted lip, another one had the beginnings of a black eye.
"What happened?" she demanded.
The three got up and sat on the edge of the bed. "Um, each one of us wanted to sleep in the bed," one of them answered.
"Could you not have requested two other rooms?"
"But, this is my room," another answered.
"And mine."
"And mine."
Teyla was not impressed by their childish behavior. She was relieved she had gotten out of watching them; the three of them together were worse than when Sheppard and Rodney bickered. "Then I would suggest that you have someone bring you some sleeping bags. Fighting like children is unacceptable," she scolded.
All three nodded. One of them, who Teyla assumed was John, walked forward. "We're sorry. It's just really hard adapting to this. We'll be better, I promise," he said with a charming smile, his eye already turning a slight purple.
She turned her glance to the other two. "Teyla, I truly apologize. There is no excuse for our behavior. We'll get this problem worked out," said the colonel, though it was a little hard for her to understand because of his swollen lip.
Sheppard shrugged, wiping the blood off his nose. "Let's just hope McKay gets this problem figured out quickly."
She sighed, she knew Sheppard was going to be the most difficult to convince to "behave". At least the other two were willing to get along. "Should I have Dr. Beckett come down to assess your injuries?"
The three shook their heads. "Nah, we'll have someone being us up some ice and sleeping bags."
Teyla nodded. "Very well. Good night."
"Teyla, why did you come in here anyway?" asked Sheppard.
"I spoke with Dr. Weir and convinced her that the three of you did not need to have Ronan and I watch you. Perhaps I spoke too soon," she answered. Even Sheppard looked ashamed. "Good night."
After the doors closed, the blame started getting passed back and forth. "Good going, Sheppard. Now she's pissed," complained John.
"Well, if you hadn't tripped me in the hallway none of this wouldn't have happened," Sheppard shot back.
"You guys, we said that we were going to get along, remember?" reminded the colonel.
"Whatever," Sheppard said. "Let's just get those sleeping bags up here and get to sleep. Maybe I'll wake up and this will all be a bad dream."