A/N: Will they find a way to settle their differences? Ok, it may be a bit cheesy but they really needed to talk after that mission. Betaed by twinchaosblade who I always and always will owe one for this.
I put on the entire rest of the story in one heroic act, so enjoy the ride!
oOo
Picking up the Pieces
"McKay, are you actually somewhere in this chaos?" John called from the door.
"No!" Came the expected answer.
John couldn't help but smile.
"Fine, then I might just sit here a while and wait for you", he teased, fumbling nervously at some random equipment.
"I'm busy, dammit! Anyone with the wits of a plain toast can easily see that." Rodney was furiously typing something into his laptop.
"So, you're apparently well enough to leave the infirmary, I take?"
"Yeah, you know, Carson told me I could walk around a bit if I didn't take it too hard on me."
McKay's indirect way of asking for his welfare encouraged him.
"Rodney, I…", Sheppard started, only to get cut off immediately.
"If you didn't come here to apologize, you can save your breath altogether."
"I was", John muttered guiltily.
"As you should!" Rodney was still not looking up from his work and Sheppard hadn't quite figured out yet where his friend was hiding.
"Rodney…", he tried again.
Somewhere in the back something dropped to the floor. A short curse followed.
"See?" The scientist raised his head above the workbench several feet away from John, "this happens when every two minutes people come in and distract me. Now I have to start these calculations all over again. Thanks to you, I might add." He shot his friend a dark look and submerged again.
"Rodney! Come out from under there. Now!" Sheppard was slowly losing his patience.
"Ronon's waiting outside but you bet I won't need him to kick your butt right back to the Milky Way. Rodney!"
This time McKay emerged, arms crossed in front of him, looking all dismissive.
"You want to talk? Fine."
"Rodney, I know I should have told you earlier. But there was nothing anyone could do about it anyway. So I figured I save you all the worry."
"And continue with the mission as if nothing had happened, hm?" Rodney demanded.
John didn't answer at once.
"We needed the ZPM", he said lamely, staring down.
"I give you that", McKay admitted surprisingly. "But what about returning to Atlantis and strolling off with some silly excuse about wanting to talk with Carson in private for an instant?"
When Sheppard looked at him again, Rodney had a hurt expression on his face.
"It's not like you didn't mention something very, very important." McKay hissed cynically. "You were as good as dead… and don't even start to interrupt me now", he angrily waved away John's remark. "You didn't tell us on the darn planet. You didn't tell us when we were on the Daedalus. You didn't tell us when we were waiting for the accursed council. And you didn't tell us when we came back here." Rodney's face had turned red while he chided Sheppard.
Then, after a short pause he added very silently: "You didn't tell me…"
John instantly knew they finally had hit the crucial point.
"Rodney…"
"What do you think, Sheppard? When I went to the infirmary, I wanted to join in your little chat with Carson. I surely didn't expect to find you more dead than alive!"
John felt somehow this was not the time to further discuss that at that precise moment he had actually been on his way to recovery already.
"I'm sorry", he muttered guilt-stricken.
McKay looked at him for a long moment. He knew this wasn't easy for the Colonel as well but he also didn't want to let him off the hook just yet.
"It looked a hell of a lot like you didn't want to have any of us around when you needed help for a change. I thought we were supposed to be friends?" With his chin stubbornly protruding, his voice nonetheless lacked the sharp tone of his earlier accusations.
Sheppard shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. McKay had a point in that and they both knew it. He had always been restrictive with showing too much of himself, especially his weaknesses. Always en guard, afraid someone could use the rare opportunity to really hurt him. He sighed deeply, looking calmly at his friend.
Rodney and he had been through a lot together in these past two and a half years on Atlantis. And he knew he could trust him without exceptions. The man was neither a brilliant shot nor a fierce fighter but he had earned himself a rightful place in the strike team, coming a long way for just a genius, geeky scientist. Even though McKay didn't go for all the super-macho manner, he had saved John's life more than once, displaying incredible courage. Despite all this, the friendship they shared also provided enough of a safe distance to draw back to just teasing each other sometimes, which of course was fine with both of them. But now he also saw how it hurt Rodney to be left out when something severe happened.
"Rodney, I promise to tell you next time." He hesitated, rolling his eyes. "Oh God, I really hope there will be no next time. Point is, I didn't leave you out on purpose."
"Which leads us back to the philosophical question of whether or not it hurts less when it's not on purpose…"
John smiled broadly, genuinely relieved and grateful for this offer. The wisecracking of course earned McKay a slap around the head from Sheppard, which he on the other hand repaid with a playful punch at the Colonel's side. The two men looked at each other, smiling, once again entirely comfortable in the other's company.
"So, are we good?" John asked somewhat still uncertain.
"No", McKay exclaimed amused, "I'm good; you're cool."
oOo
To be continued…
A/N: Idea paraphrased from Nancy Springer, "Metal Angel"
