THE RUNAWAY BRIDE AND HER TRUSTY WINGMAN
See chapter one for warnings, spoilers, etc.
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. Please don't sue me. I'm a student – all I could give you is my thesis and some photocopied articles.
Author's note: The action will be picking up in the following chapters, with this one setting the scene. John and Teyla sleep through part of this chapter, but Ronon and Rodney are in fine form. Thank you so much for all of your comments, alerts, etc. Checking my e-mail the day after posting a chapter always is always a happy time!
CHAPTER 10 – THE BIG GAME
The woman was punishing herself for bringing this upon her friend, Ronon realized. He would never be able to convince her otherwise, so instead he took a seat up front to keep an eye on all of his teammates.
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Teyla spent the next few hours giving John water whenever he woke to semi-consciousness and soothing him when he became restless. In the moments she was sure no one could hear her, she apologized to John and spoke to him of their friendship.
After a couple more hours' sleep, Ronon woke to find Teyla sitting on the floor next to Sheppard, her head resting on one arm on the bench. The other gently held Sheppard's hand, and he was sure both would be mortified if he ever brought it up. He couldn't help but smile at the image as he filed it away for future blackmail, wishing he had a digital camera handy.
He kept watch in the cockpit until after sunrise, when Rodney stirred. Hushing the scientist before he was awake enough to start talking, Ronon pointed to the others. They sat together in the cockpit for a while with the bulkhead door closed, and then Ronon went outside to disarm the perimeter alarm. Neither Sheppard nor Teyla had stirred when the back hatch was opened.
Ronon managed to wake Teyla long enough to convince her to sleep on the other bench, and as soon as she was settled, both men went outside. Rodney had left post-it notes on both the closed bulkhead door (to keep out the light) and the back hatch telling their teammates where they had gone. Hopefully Sheppard would be awake enough to notice the notes before he flew away and left Ronon and Rodney with a long walk back to the gate.
Ronon wanted to explore the area while Rodney favored staying close to the jumper in case the other two woke up, so they settled for heading to the beach.
"Do you think they're really okay?" Rodney asked as they stood watching the surf roll in.
"I think they're both tired," Ronon answered. "I don't know the last time either of them took a break."
"Sheppard never relaxes while we're off-world," Rodney admitted. "Teyla, well, she's Teyla. She probably just needs to light a few candles and meditate or something."
"No matter what we think, no one is infallible," Ronon said in a strange moment of sentimentality.
Rodney was quiet for a moment. "Except for you, right?"
Ronon smiled and snorted. "Yeah, sure."
It was late morning by the time the Satedan and the scientist wandered back to the jumper. "We'd better wake them," Ronon said, loathe to disturb his teammates. "Check-in is in half an hour."
Rodney paused. "Do you think we should knock or something first?"
Ronon gave Rodney a disbelieving look and hit the button to lower the ramp.
Teyla raised her head and blinked in the bright light as her teammates entered. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Rodney called out.
"You'd better be talking to Teyla," came a grumble from the other bench before Sheppard rolled over, trying to block out the light. Ronon grinned and went over to annoy his friend by poking him in the ear. As long as you didn't wake Sheppard from a dead sleep, he was fun to toy with.
Teyla eventually rose and went to get ready in as dignified a manner as possible while the rest of her team prodded each like rowdy young boys.
Half an hour later found them parked in front of the gate, dialing the DHD for Atlantis. John hit the radio as soon as the event horizon had settled back into the ring.
"Morning, Kids! No one stayed up late partying, did they?" he said, far more cheerfully than Rodney thought prudent for someone who had just woken.
A moment later Elizabeth came on. "John," she said, and Sheppard sat up a little straighter. There was something about the way she had said his name…
"How's it goin'?" he asked carefully. By now his teammates were listening intently.
"Good," she answered with a cheerfullness that was definitely fake. The thing was, it wasn't them she was so obviously trying to fool.
Sheppard turned to his other teammates and they exchanged a glance. Something was definitely up.
"Us too," he said, then added, "Anything interesting happen while we've been away?"
"It's been pretty quiet around here," she said in a way that screamed it's been anything but quiet – in fact, the sky may be falling.
"Good to hear," John said. "I guess you can survive without us a little longer, huh?"
"I don't suppose I can convince you to give us the address to the planet you're on so we can send you some fresh supplies?" she asked.
"Sorry," John said, not feeling sorry at all.
She sighed. "It was worth a try. By the way, the Daedalus just dropped off the video of that football game you've been waiting for. I hope you don't mind, but we started watching it without you."
"Do tell," Sheppard said.
"What are you doing?" Rodney hissed behind him. "How can you be talking about football at a time like this?" Sheppard silenced him with a look, and when Rodney opened his mouth again a moment later, Teyla took over muzzling-the-scientist duties.
"It was the August 19th game between the Warriors and the Raiders. The Raiders were playing a tight 20-man game, keeping about six guys guarding the goal the entire time and another dozen or so playing high winger positions. Even though the Warriors didn't have their fiercest team out front, they managed to restrict play to the main part of the field."
"Anyone get hurt? These games can get a bit rough," Sheppard said.
"The Warriors had a couple of minor injuries, but nothing that's going to end the season for any of the players. The Raiders' roster is down a couple of people, though."
"So where did you guys leave off the game?" the colonel said, smiling slightly and ignoring the muttering from the back.
"Toward the end the Warriors scored a couple of points for technical plays, but they couldn't quite gain the upper hand. I think the Raiders are hoping for revenge after their previous loss. I know the Warriors are your team, so we all had our fingers crossed for a Hail Mary," she answered. "We were waiting for you to join us to watch the end."
"Right, well it sounds good, but it'll have to wait a bit once I get home. You know how it is, it always takes an hour or so to get cleared with the infirmary and get unpacked before I'll have time to watch," John said. "Sounds like a good game. Sorry I missed the beginning. I can't wait to see it."
"I think you'll enjoy it," Weir said, and then they could hear some shuffling in the background. "I have to go, but I do hope you guys decide to come home soon."
"Yeah, well let's discuss it next time we talk. Sheppard out."
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The wormhole on Atlantis snapped closed and Elizabeth sighed. Beside her, Kannath and three of his followers stepped closer to her. "Well?" the man asked. "What was that all about?"
Elizabeth sighed again. "Football. It's a game that men from my world love, for some unknown reason. I figured that if the colonel had some enticement, it might get him back here faster," she explained.
"If you are lying…" Kannath growled, once again unsheathing his knife and waving it toward Elizabeth.
This man was not nearly as intimidating as Kolya. Kannath had come to Atlantis begging news about Teyla but had stayed for an armed occupation. Fortunately, most of the scientists hadn't reported for duty yet, and the few remaining in the gateroom had managed to immediately isolate it from the rest of the city, thereby containing the incursion. Only a couple of marines had been in the gateroom at the time, and so far Elizabeth had managed to talk down anyone wanting to commit violence after the initial skirmish.
Still, her patience was wearing thin. "If I had been truthful with him, he would already be here with guns blazing, and more people would get hurt," she snapped. "Either that, or he would never bring back Teyla."
Kannath jumped back at her outburst before falling back into his usual glower. Apparently the wrath of a woman could startle even this man. He wouldn't have lasted two seconds against Teyla, Elizabeth thought.
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"Just spill it before you pop a gasket, McKay," Sheppard said, turning to the back of the jumper once the wormhole disengaged.
"Something is obviously horribly wrong, and all you can talk about is football?" the scientist shouted. All three teammates were looking at John now with varying degrees of expectation and curiosity.
"Of course not," John said with a laugh. "She just gave me a sit-rep. It looks like we're needed at home."
TBC