"Hey" John said as he sat down next to him on the sofa.
"Hey" Rodney replied.
"How are you feeling?"
"Actually pretty alright. I guess you heard that?" he asked referring to the argument.
"Yeah, I am sorry."
"Its fine. Why are you back anyway?"
"I came to get changed to go spar with Ronon."
"Ah. Did you take my laptop?"
"No." John replied with a smirk on his face.
"You did, didn't you?" Rodney said while grinning
"I knew you would end up doing work and Carson specifically said no work, so I took it with me."
"Where is it now?"
"That I am not telling you." John said smiling.
"Come on, please?"
"Nope!" John said as he got up to get changed. He went to spar with Ronon and when he returned a few hours later he heard Rodney and Jeannie arguing again.
"We are your family Rodney you should care more about us than your friends!"
"Have you been there for me the last few years? No you haven't but John and everybody else have and I don't care if you are related by blood right now. You haven't done anything to show you care for me. You couldn't even visit the infirmary after I had collapsed! I could have been shot and then you ask my friends about me and John instead of just coming to ask me directly."
John entered the quarters and they both turned to face him "I think you should leave." he said without looking away from Rodney. He only knew she had left because he heard the swish of the doors closing behind her.
"Hey, are you okay?" John asked as he sat down next to Rodney.
"Yeah I am I promise."
"Okay" John replied knowing not to push Rodney or he wouldn't talk about it.
Later that night Carson stopped by again to check on Rodney.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Fine." Rodney replied
"Okay. Tomorrow you can go back to work but just in the lab. You can't go off-world yet and I will tell John and Woolsey exactly the same thing."
"Thanks Carson and not just for this. John told me that Jeannie was asking you about us and he told me what you said to her. Thank you."
"It's alright; she shouldn't have been poking around in other people's business even if it is family."
On the way out Carson told John exactly what he had told Rodney in regards to Rodney's health. He also told John to keep an eye on Rodney and Jeannie as any stress on Rodney might cause his health to decline again. John waited for Rodney to fall asleep and then got up to head to the labs to find out if Jeannie was still there. When he arrived, Radek was the only one there and John asked where Jeannie had gone.
"She went to the mess hall to get some coffee, she should be back soon." Radek answered.
"Thanks Radek I'll go and find her." John replied. John left the lab and headed to the mess hall to find Jeannie on his way there he bumped into her in the hallway.
"Hey Jeannie can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked after he stopped her.
"I guess so." she replied and followed John to his office.
"So what do you want?" she asked when they were in and John had shut the door.
"I want you to lay off Rodney." he said bluntly.
"You do, do you?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yes because right now it is having an impact on his health ,and that can be bad for Atlantis and everyone here, including you, but also because I care about him and I hate to see what this is doing to him. If you cannot get along with Rodney and be nice just don't talk to him. As the military commander on this base I can send anyone back to Earth that poses a threat the safety of the people here, and if our head of science isn't at peak performance that sure as hell counts as putting the base in danger. Therefore, anyone who causes Rodney to be off game seriously, gets sent back to earth and then questioned by the SGC."
Jeannie just looked at John. "You know what, I don't care if you send us back to earth but Rodney is family and I can talk to him however I like. I don't care if it puts him in a bad mood but he needs to be told. He has to put family first!"
"Rodney considers most people on this base as him family and you may not be able to choose who your family are by blood but you can choose who you consider family. Here that means a hell of a lot more than blood as no one here will get to see their relatives again, you should count yourself lucky that you are here and that you still have Rodney. I could always send you back to Earth it's up to you, but stay away from Rodney for a while."
Jeannie glared at John before she stood up and went back to the lab. John completed some paperwork that was on his desk and then headed back to his quarters. He was sure that Rodney would be upset with him for his talk with Jeannie but they could deal with that in the morning.
The next morning John got up before Rodney woke up and headed out for a run with Ronon, by the time he got back, Rodney had left for the lab. John left for his office to prepare for the meeting he had with SG1 before lunch. At lunch time he met up with Rodney and the team in the mess.
"So what's everyone up to this afternoon?" John asked after he had sat down.
"More lab work." Rodney replied.
"Ronon and I plan to spar this afternoon. How about you?" Teyla asked while feeding Torren.
"I have a meeting with Lorne and SG1 or as they are now going to be called AR13" John said with a hint of distaste.
"They aren't going to like that. "Rodney said with a hint of smugness.
"Well they are going to have to deal with it, and I suppose they are not going to like having to follow major Lorne's orders either"
"They are definitely not going to like that considering they outrank him"
"Well Evan is second in command and the leader of AR2 so they are going to have to deal with that as well" John said.
"Would you be able to look after Torren once your meeting has ended?" Teyla asked.
"I would love to watch the little guy, do you want me to watch him while you spar?"
"Do you not have your meeting?"
"Yeah, but it will be fine." John picked up Torren and headed up to the conference room. Once there, he settled Torren on the floor and began getting ready for the meeting. Five minutes later Evan walked in and walked over to Torren.
"Hey little guy what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well his mum and dad are sparring right now and I offered to watch him as Uncle Rodney is busy."
"No disrespect sir but you do know SG1 aren't going to like this" Evan said looking a little worried.
"Well they will have to deal with it won't they?" John said while shuffling through the papers he had in front of him. Evan was just telling him of their last mission when SG1 walked through the door.
"Major, Lieutenant Colonel" Sam said in way of greeting as they walked through the door. John and Evan nodded in return and sat down at the end of the conference table.
"Right then" John said and started the meeting.
"From now on you will be known collectively as AR13 and not SG1. Also I am military commander of the city and therefore you follow my orders and Major Lorne's, as he is second in command. This is regardless of any rank held above us am I clear?" he asked and looked around to see them all nodding.
"Right, as this is your first time through the gate in Pegasus, you will be joining Major Lorne and his team on a simple mission to a planet we have established trade links with. As you have never encountered the wraith before, if something goes wrong, you follow major Lorne's orders. On the mission you will be meeting the people of a local village, they will be wary of you at first as they have only dealt with Major Lorne's team and my own team. If you follow Major Lorne he will guide you through the proper greetings in the Pegasus galaxy and …" John never got to finish his sentence as his radio buzzed.
"Sheppard." he said and could hear Rodney's voice on the other end.
"John, we have a problem" he said
"Right give me two minutes I am on my way." he said to Rodney.
He turned to Evan "Major could you finish the debriefing, there is a problem and i am needed in the lab." he asked.
"Sure." Evan replied while John picked up Torren and quickly made his way down to the lab.
"Rodney, you radioed?" he asked.
"We have a problem. A hive ship just appeared above the city."
