When things go wrong

Chapter 9

Carson's first day back had not gone well, first it was the incessant spate of cuts and bruises and then one of the ancient devices in one of the labs had exploded, taking most of the scientist's equipment with it and by what Carson was hearing the explosion had left the lab in complete dis-array. Luckily there were no major injuries and Carson was relieved to hear it was the lab the furthest away from Rodney's.

He was just about finished wrapping Radek's hand when a very pissed off Rodney stormed into the infirmary. Carson looked up at his lover and could see his pulse throbbing hard against the taut muscles in Rodney's neck.

'Radek, when you've done playing in the infirmary, I want to now who was working in that lab and want to know how the hell they managed to detonate an ancient grenade despite most of them being stored securly until needed by the gate teams. Please tell me, why do I put up with imbeciles that are intent on making my life HELL'. Carson watched with horror as Rodney's face got redder and redder, noticing the signs of his lover completely seeing red.

'When you know who did this Radek, I wan't to see them in my office ASAP. You think you can manage that'. Radek nodded and hung his head down, looking at his feet as they hung docily off the edge of the bed. When his lover had stormed in Carson had noticed the atmosphere change completely and he had no doubts that he could have sliced it with a knife. All the injured scientists looking as though they were sitting on pins, squirming with embarrassment and fear as their boss walked in and started his tirade.

'Och Rodney, this is a bloody infirmary. Don't ye dare come stomping in here shouting at my patients, I'll not have it turned into a ........' Carson stopped when he saw the look on his lovers face, the angry red slowly deepening to a crimson hue and the veins at Rodney's temple bulging as the anger took hold.

'Rodney, are you OK love, you're not looking to well. Come sit down and let me check your bloodpressure'. Rodney shook his head ferociously and turned on his heels, stomping frantically out of the infirmary towards the labs.

'Oh and Dr Beckett, don't expect me home tonight. I'll be down in my lab'. The words were full of spite and Carson felt them seep into every pore in his skin, quickly making their way to his heart and stabbing at it hotly. Rodney had stopped briefly to spit the acerbic words out of his mouth but had continued down towards his lab, so angry he had no idea how much his anger boiling over like this had hurt the one he loved.

'Wha..............Oh bloody hell. I feel for ya at the moment lad because when his heads like that there's no getting through'. Radek sat and watched his good friend as Carson deflated before him, the worry and hurt radiating off him as he carried on tending to Radek's hand.

'Tell me about it, Carson he's a complete........a complete.......what's the word.....never mind, hes a complete Voleh when he's like this. We'll all be up all night'. Carson patted Radek's shoulder, trying to pacify the man knowing there was nothing he could do to pull Rodney out of his mood and just had to ride out the storm.

'Don't worry Radek, I'll be trying to pull him away before that. Right you're just about done. Keep the bandages dry and careful ye don't pull those stitches'. Radek nodded and jumped down off the bed. He was only a small man but there were times when his size had worked to his advantage. Other times, like this one, the man seemed tiny as the weight of the world........no, the weight of Atlantis pushed down on his shoulders, hunching him over like an old man.

'Thanks Carson. I should go check the security cameras now. At least they may point me in the right direction'. He felt Carson pat his arm gently as his hunched shoulders plodded out of the infirmary towards the raging bull that awaited him in the lab.


It was only lunchtime and Carson was already starting to feel exhausted. His body started to ache and the little man wielding a jackhammer to drill into his skull wasn't letting up his relentless rhythm. It was only the first day back after the flu and the lingering effects still affected him, surprising him slightly even though he knew deep down, it would take a while to get over the whole ordeal.

'Carol love, I'm going to grab a wee bite to eat'. He had walked up to the nurses desk, putting his hand on Carol's Shoulder. She was busily writing up some of of the patient notes that had backed up in the days Carson was sick but stopped briefly to nod her head.

'Were quiet today so I should be able to hold the fort until you get back. I would suggest you taking the rest of the day though Carson, you look exhausted already'. Her tone was clipped and she barely raised her head from the chart she was writing. Carson wasn't offended by it, he knew how his number two was when she was trying to concentrate and if he was honest, she was a hell of a lot easier to handle than Rodney.

'Aye I may well do that. Call me if there's anything you need'. She nodded and Carson headed back to his office, hanging his lab coat on the door hook before making his way to the mess hall. He felt exhausted and Rodney's mood had cast a shadow over his mind that was lingering ominously, troubling him more than he would admit to anyone in fear of looking like an emotional fool.

He was deep in thought as he walked, putting one foot in front of the other but not actually seeing where he was going. He had started to think about the wedding and wondered whether he should remind Rodney of the rehearsal dinner that had been planned for tomorrow night, the rehearsal dinner that Rodney had been keen to have as he thought it would bring their friends together in joy rather than heartache.

'it may pull him out of his godforsaken mood, give 'im something to look forward to'. He knew it was a long shot and soon found himself veering away from the mess hall, his feet automatically taking him to the Rodney's lab.

'Oh for the love of god Johnson.........No......put it down...........I SAID PUT IT DOWN'. Carson was startled as his fiance's voice boomed through the corridors, ringing as it echoed off the beautiful pale green walls that were no doubt supposed to inspire the Lanteans when they lived and worked here.

Carson frowned and followed the yelling down to one of the labs that Rodney very rarely frequented, knowing it was Kavanagh's lab made it hard for his lover to go in there and Rodney often resigned himself to leaving the 'softer' scientists to their work, relying souly on daily reports from them unless there were any issues that deemed his presence. He was shoved aside sharply as Johnson ran out of the lab, her face contorted with the sobs that were carrying down the corridor towards the living quarters.

Rodney was standing in the middle of the destroyed lab, blackened equipment was strewn around the small room and seemed to emanate from a central point in the middle. Carson stood and gaped at the damage and thanked what ever deity's the inhabitants of this lab prayed to, thanked them for the fact that no one was more seriously hurt. His eyes skimmed the equipment and slowly trailed to his lovers hunched back and he watched as Rodney's hands slowly rubbed circles on his temples as though trying to appease a headache. Carson hesitantly made his way over, placing his hands on his lovers shoulders reassuringly as he started to gently massage the mans taught muscles.

'Stay there a moment love, it'll still be here in 5 minutes. You OK'. Rodney stiffened under Carson's touch and tried to pull away, firm hands gripping onto to his shoulders preventing him from moving away.

'Och love, are you really that pissed off at me for the comment I made in the infirmary. Rodney, I've taken harsher from you and what ya said when you left was a bloody doozy, I don't mind telling you Rodney, but if you ever call me Dr Beckett out of spite again, I shant talk to you for a bloody week'.

Carson's voice was desperate and the words sounded harsh even to his own ears. He knew the stress his lover was under, what with the wedding, running himself ragged looking after Carson and now dealing with the war zone that was stretched out in front of them, but he had no idea why Rodney was so god damn pissed off at him.

'Rodney talk to me, for heavens sake man, I'm not yer enemy'. He felt Rodney blanch at the last comment, knowing the last thing his fiance had wanted to do was make Carson feel the way he did. Rodney slowly relaxed his muscles and his shoulders hunched forward, his hands slowly going back to rub the pain away from his temples.

'Sorry. God Carson I'm just so god damn tired and this is the last thing I want to deal with right now. Everything here has been destroyed and I can't figure out why the hell they would have grenades down here. After Kavanagh left, this lab was converted so it could be used as research unit, not for ancient devices, but to analyse ancient data and languages. Shit it was used for the softer sciences'.

Carson reached over Rodney's back and bought his hands up to gently ease Rodney's hands down to his side before guiding him out of the research unit down to his own lab. Rodney's eyes were slightly glazed and Carson noticed the way his right hand was twitching before coming up to start rubbing at a point above his eye.

'Sit down Rodney, before you bloody well fall down. You got a head ache?'. Carson pulled Radek's chair from behind his desk and sat directly in front of his broken lover.

'Yeah, just tired I guess. I didn't sleep too well last night so got up at four to work on some simulations'. Carson had wondered why their bed was empty when he woke up but didn't want to broach the subject in fear of starting a slanging match that would leave the pair avoiding each other for a couple of days.

'I didnae feel ya get up'. Carson had cupped Rodney's chin with one hand and was gently lifting his lovers eyelids in order to look in his eyes. Rodney flinched in annoyance and pulled his head back, the pain making him wince.

'Rodney, I'm going to give you something for the headache before it gets worse. I want you to come to the infirmary with me and then I'll take you to bed so you can get some rest'. Rodney looked at Carson, the exhaustion making him look like a small child, and shook his head.

'I'll take something for my head Carson but I'm not going to bed, I need to get to the bottom of this. Can't you ask one of the nurses to bring something down?'. Knowing there was no point in arguing with his lover, Carson tapped his radio and managed to bribe one of the nurses to bring him Tylenol down to Rodney's lab. He was still staring at Rodney when he stood, pulling Rodney into a tight hug, relieved that the fight had left Rodney, at least towards him that was.

'Thanks Carson, I really am sorry'. Rodneys' voice was muffled as he nestled his head into Carson's chest and wrapped his arms round his firm waist, tucking his cold hands into Carson's back pockets to steal the warmth they provided.

'It's OK love, it's OK,we'll talk later'. Carson felt Rodney melt further into him and didn't hear the nurse walk through the door, he was only aware of Shel's presence when he felt a soft tap and turned his head to see her place a shall bottle of pills on Rodney's desk.

'Thanks love'. He smiled at her in thanks, knowing she would actually be happy with that and wouldn't expect the chocolate bar that was being offered as payment for the favour. She smiled back at him and walked out of the room, Carson made a mental note to leave her a bar of the white chocolate she loved on the nurses station in the morning.

Carson pulled Rodney's hands out of his pockets and pulled away, shaking two tablets out of the bottle before handing them to his lover.

'Here, take these love'. He watched as Rodney chased them down with the proffered bottle of water before standing, listing slightly to the side before righting himself and picking up his laptop.

'Carson, I really need to be getting back to this otherwise I'm not going to be home until silly o'clock again'. Carson nodded and kissed him gently on the mouth as he turned to walk away.

'Oh Rodney, I've got the afternoon off so I'll be in our quarters, please try not to be too late and take some more pain killers if that headache persists. If you fancy taking a break you know where I'll be'. He walked out of the door and made his way to his original destination for lunch, knowing he wouldn't be able to get any real rest whilst his lover was wound so tight he was putting himself at risk of a migraine.


Three hours later.........

Rodney had been sitting at his desk, arms folded on top cradling his throbbing head. The Tylenol were having no effect at all and the distortions that faded in and out of Rodney's vision signalled a corker of a migraine, the latter being jolted along it's merry path of pain by a small Czech scientist slamming into his office like a bat out of hell.

'Rodney, oh my, oh my. You won't believe this, I can't believe this. I know what happened, it wasn't our fault. Oh my got Rodney you have to see.........' The words were uttered so fast they reminded Rodney slightly of automatic weapon fire. The Czech was talking so fast it was difficult for Rodney's sluggish mind to process the verbal assault as it fed fuel to his throbbing brain and he wondered whether Radek was speaking to him in his native tongue.

'Radek. Will you just stop a minute. What the hell is going on'. Radek had entered Rodney's office, red faced and extremely flustered, talking to Rodney so fast he was hyperventilating. He managed to calm himself enough, regulating his breathing before carrying on.

'Rodney, I have reviewed the footage from the camera's outside the lab.........I can't believe it'. Radek was frantically rubbing his hand though his hair making him look more and more like a mad scientist from one of the old black and white movies John seemed to like so much.

'It's... No, you need to see it, here'. He hurried round to the side of Rodney's desk and pushed his boss's laptop to the side, replacing it with his own.

'What....'

'Rodney just watch, please'. The pleading tone made Rodney stop as he watched the screen intently, patiently waiting as Radek connected the video cable and found the encrypted file. Rodney could feel the impatience creeping in as his right hand started to twitch involuntarily more and more.

'Radek......'

'Right. here look please'. He pointed to the large plasma screen mounted on the wall and Rodney saw the decryption programme running, the thin blue lines of binary code running up and down the screen making his vision blur.

'Rodney, are you alright'. Radek had seen his friend pull both hands up to his face, resting his eyes in his the palm of his hand as if trying to block out the light. Radek was concerned, his friend looked pale with a fine sheen of sweat starting to appear on his face.

'I'm fine OK, can we get on with this'. His tone had lost it's usual sharpness and was starting to sound weary, the glassy blue eyes squinting when the light hit them. Radek nodded and turned back to the plasma screen to see the decryption had finished. He turned his attention back to the laptop and Rodney saw the security video start to play.

He had been sitting watching the video for five minutes when he saw a dark figure sneak up to the door of the lab. Rodney leaned forward in his chair and leaned heavily on his desk as he watched the figure look behind him before pulling out one of the grenades. They watched in horror as the figure twisted the grenade to activate it and tossed it into the lab.

'Oh crap, Radek...........' Rodney stood so fast his chair skidded behind him and crashed into the bookshelf behind the desk. He was standing there wide eyed as he saw his panicked scientists stampeding out of the lab before being hurled to the floor as the blast shook the corridor.

'I came round the corner as the grenade detonated, I cut my hand as I fell and when I looked up............'. Radek's voice caught in his throat and Rodney could see his friend struggling to find the words.

'When I looked up I saw the devastation. People lying there......' He stopped and composed himself before tapping again on the laptop.

'We managed to track this person. Rodney he really wasn't careful. Look'.

Another video started and Rodney watched as the bomber ran through the corridors towards the cargo holds, he reached up and removed the black stealth mask he was wearing and Rodney balked before picking up his empty mug of coffee, throwing it against the wall.

'What the fuck Radek, How did he get here........when did he..........Shit. Call Elizabeth now'. Rodney tapped his own Radio and shrieked down it forcing Radek to move to the other side of the room in order to hear Elizabeth.

'Shepperd, we have a huge problem'.

TBC


HI Guys, sorry for leaving you with a little bit of a cliff hanger but I just couldn't resist (Mwahahaha) and I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post the next chapter. Unfortunately I managed to catch the dreaded flu that has been making it's way round my office so haven't really been in a fit state to write.

Please let me know what you think, I really enjoy reading your reviews =oD