ROME
By Indygodusk
Episode 10
"I've seen Rome, and I shall go to bed a wiser man than I last rose-yesterday morning."
-HENRY JAMES, letter to William James, October 30, 1869
That evening at half-past nine, Meredith finally tossed down her Expo marker and stretched with a pained groan. Her action was mirrored in the dark window, reminding her that it had been light outside the last time she'd come up for air and a bottle of Coke Zero. Her stomach gurgled in protest and she felt faintly nauseous. Her body wasn't happy with her. "Okay, that's it, I'm done. Time for me to leave for my hotel."
Despite the workday officially ending hours ago, not a single person had left R&D during her visit. Teams of engineers crowded around computers and whiteboards, playing with the new designs and materials she'd suggested and testing how they fit into the existing infrastructure.
"But—but we still need to talk about how the new design will alter the thermal cycling and pressure ratios, and how it will affect the wastewater composition, not to mention that you obviously have more ideas about how your equations simplify alternating current in the new transformers! Can't you stay just a little longer to explain the equations you just wrote on the board?" begged Dr. Kaiser, Meredith's shadow for the last several hours.
Mckay liked the flattery but could use a few more feet of distance. Kaiser's breath still smelled like the garlic knot he'd eaten hours ago. She'd been too busy discussing energy cycling to grab any food for herself. "I could stay for years and still not teach you everything I know. Figure out what I already gave you. You have some good people here, but they need time to digest my ideas. If you get stuck and I'm still on planet—I mean, in the States and not too busy, have Patrick Sheppard invite me back. Don't email me anything proprietary! I work for the government and my emails aren't secure. Right now, I need to go eat before my blood sugar gets any lower." Pulling out the pen from her hair, Mckay scrubbed at her head. She hated the way her scalp tingled when she first released her hair from bondage.
"We understand, Dr. Mckay," the floor manager said with a smile, patting the disappointed Dr. Kaiser on the back and subtly pulling him back so Mckay had a clear path to the door. "On behalf of Sheppard Energy, thank you for consulting with our R&D department. You've revolutionized our understanding of energy cycling and capacitance."
"This changes everything," Dr. Kaiser broadly gestured to the whiteboard covered in equations and the tables full of scribbled on schematics, "everything."
Smiling back at them with satisfaction, Mckay put a hand on her hip. "Just remember that we discussed the benefits of rolling out the first of your next-gen generators in Colorado and the Intermountain West, followed by the West Coast, before moving through the rest of the country. Also, don't skimp on the safety checks! This is a lot more power than your people are used to, so an accident will have much higher and deadlier consequences."
Before the researchers could continue their litany of praise, something she never really got tired of hearing, her stomach gurgled loudly.
"Dr. Mckay's right. It's time to go," John interjected, standing up from where he'd been talking quietly to his brother on a corner couch. Patrick had also come and gone several times during the hours of her scientific frenzy. It looked like they'd decided to forgive each other and start talking again. She didn't want to know the messy details, she just wanted John to be happy.
"We can order you something to eat at the hotel as soon as you start walking to the limo outside. It's been waiting out there for over two hours," John said pointedly when she drifted sideways, distracted by the equation being written on a whiteboard by a stocky female with short black hair.
Coming over, Dave gave her a quick hug. "It was nice seeing you again, Meredith. Thanks for all the excitement." She just shrugged, which made him grin.
At her continued presence, Dr. Kaiser drifted over purposefully. Dave sent her a wink and intercepted the man. "Should I order catering before I take off?" At his enthusiastic nod, Dave cupped his hands and asked the room, "How many people are staying and need more food?"
All but two hands shot up into the air.
"I've got to go pick up my kids from my mother's house," a ginger-haired woman apologized, glancing at the clock.
The mustachioed man next to her gave a guilty grimace. "I've got to feed my cat. I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning, though," he assured his team.
Dave waved as they exited the lab's security doors.
It took a few minutes to make their way down the elevator and through the hallways to the exit. As Meredith and her two military escorts walked over to the limousine waiting at the curb, exhaustion hit her all at once. She wasn't as young as she used to be. Maybe she should've eaten the garlic knots after all. The chill night breeze made the hair on her arms stand on end. She shivered.
"I've got your jacket if you're cold," John said quietly.
"Thanks," she said gratefully. Handing her bag over to the major, she took the jacket from John and slid her arms into the sleeves.
Meredith's eyes caught on the front gate. It hung open along with the door to the security booth. The security guard was nowhere to be seen.
"Down!" Hands grabbed Mckay and threw her to the ground, painfully banging her elbows and knees. The prongs of a stun gun thudded into the pavement inches from her nose. As she stared at them disbelievingly, they sparked menacingly. Those things could cause heart attacks! And accidental deaths!
Pushing herself up in a panic, she saw chaos. Sheppard Energy's security guards were running out of the building as John and Mr. Clean fought hand to hand with men dressed head to toe in black. Guns fired. People shouted. A man screamed and then abruptly went silent.
Tires squealed as a black SUV with tinted windows and no plates zoomed through the open gate and up onto the sidewalk. It skidded to a stop in front of Mckay. The doors burst open and two men jumped out, heading straight for her prone body.
"John!" Meredith screamed, scuttling backward until she hit the limo. She reached up and desperately tugged on the handle, but the door wouldn't open and the men were getting closer. Eeling out of her jacket as fast as possible, Meredith scrambled underneath the limo. Skin tore and gravel cut into her forearms, but all she cared about was staying out of those men's hands. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
She really didn't want to be kidnapped again. The third time was not the charm. She hated being kidnapped.
Hands snatched at her leg. Mckay kicked frantically. The hands flinched back and someone cursed.
Desperately she wiggled farther beneath the car, trying to make herself small. Bullets strafed the pavement nearby. A tire popped, dropping the limo lower to the ground.
A large hand clamped onto her leg, trying to wrench her out. Screaming, Meredith buried her hands into the undercarriage of the limo and did her best to hang on. The fingers dug painfully into her leg and pulled, too strong to resist forever. "No!" she cried, terrified as her fingers slipped one by one off the oily metal overhead. "No!"
Suddenly she heard the loud retort of a nearby gunshot. The fingers around her arm spasmed and went limp. Hyperventilating, she jerked her leg free and curled as small as possible. Another gunshot sounded close by, followed by more shouting. Someone pulled the limp arm away from the limo.
Legs dressed in military fatigues crouched down next to the limo. The person dropped flat to the ground and John's face in fearsome military mode appeared in the gap. "Rome, are you hurt?" he demanded, eyes darting desperately over her body.
Letting out a small sob, she bit her lip. She forced herself to take a quivering breath before answering. "They tried to kidnap me. Again. I skinned my elbows and my cheek. My hair is dirty and I'm covered in bruises and grease. Also, I'm stuck under this limousine."
Releasing a shaky sigh at her complaints, John let his chin drop to his folded arms. "Are you sure? Have you tried wiggling back out?"
"No, I don't want to hurt myself more," Meredith whined, dropping her cheek flat onto the gritty ground with self-pity. "Can't some of the security guards lift the car off me or something? Mr. Clean's got to be that strong."
"That limo probably weighs 6,000 pounds," John said incredulously. "Just scoot yourself out."
A piece of gravel dug uncomfortably into her jaw. "That's not as much as a hippopotamus," Meredith argued stubbornly, refusing to move.
"So? I'm not going to ask anyone to pick up a hippo either. You're a grown woman, not a baby. So hurry up and wiggle your butt out of there, Mckay," Sheppard ordered impatiently.
Irritated, Meredith stopped whining and tried to get herself out, which was probably his intention, the manipulative bastard. She wiggled about ten inches before her chest became squeezed so tightly between the ground and car that it felt difficult to breathe. "My boobs are too big," she gasped, "and that's not something I usually complain about, which tells you something."
Meredith tried to move back but found herself wedged tight. "I'm stuck and can't breathe," she wheezed, fear making her hands bang against the ground uselessly. "John!"
"Alright, hold on. Slow breaths, don't hyperventilate. I'm going to get you out of there, Rome. I promise," John's face disappearing from view as he sat up. Muffled voices conferred. All she could see were his legs. Then John's military jacket dropped to the ground.
Seconds later he reappeared in his black t-shirt. John lay down on his stomach and slid his arm under the car until he had her wrist encircled in one broad hand. At his touch, she felt her panic recede slightly. "Major McLean and a few of the men are going to try and lift the front of the car a bit so you can breathe better until someone finds a carjack. As soon as you're loose enough, I'll help pull you out. Ready?"
"My genius...brain cells...are being deprived of...oxygen...and dying. Of course...I'm ready," she complained between rapid breaths. Sirens approached in the distance.
Turning his head, John called out, "Whenever you're ready, McLean."
"One, two, three, lift!" grunted the major's distinctive raspy voice. Metal strained and groaned. The pressure on her chest eased.
"Now," she wheezed, trying to wiggle herself free.
Immediately John pulled. Other hands reached down and helped, finally yanking her all the way out. They lifted her over the curb and let her sprawl out on the sidewalk.
John crouched down by her side, brow furrowed. He had a dark red scrape across the tip of his pointy ear but otherwise looked unharmed. "Is anything broken?" he asked.
"Everything's broken," Meredith groaned, forcing herself to sit up. Lying on pavement hurt. Everything hurt. "Did you at least catch the bastards that did this to me?"
"Yeah, we got them," John growled, glaring over at the group of black-clad men tied up against the wall of the building. He dropped an unconscious kiss on her forehead.
Eyes going wide, Meredith caught her breath.
John looked down at her. His eyes darkened and he swallowed. Meredith bit her lip. John's hand came up and cupped the back of her neck. Green eyes searched her face. His warm thumb rubbed a line of fire back and forth across her cold cheek. "I'm just glad you're okay," he whispered lowly. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
Breathless now for a reason that had nothing to do with a limo the size of a hippo sitting on her chest, she decided to take a chance. "In the movies, this would be where you kiss me."
John's caressing finger stopped. She couldn't tell if he was shocked, appalled, or interested. He didn't seem to be breathing.
"I like movies," Meredith prompted nervously, wetting her lips. "However, if you're going to be weird about this, I'd like to blame what I just said on low blood sugar and the lack of oxygen in my brain after having a limo smashing my chest. Brain cells have died. It's a tragedy of galactic proportions."
Lips tilting upward, John leaned forward and pressed his amusement ever so gently against her mouth. Their lips caressed softly, with hints of adoration, barely restrained passion, and a promise of later. Kissing John felt like coming home, but to a home depicted only in Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel instead of the trainwreck of her childhood.
Someone cleared their throat awkwardly. Annoyed, she pressed harder into the kiss. John gave her as good as he got and then pulled back slowly. Eyes meeting, they shared a private smile.
Meredith brushed the hair out of her face and touched his arm. "Our first kiss went better than I imagined, which is saying a lot considering I'm covered in bloody wounds and engine grease right now."
"Me too," John said with a giddy little grin.
"Sir, the police and paramedics are here," Major Clean announced, not looking directly at either of them.
Leaning back, John sighed and became serious. "Duty calls. We'll figure the rest of it out later, alright?" He touched her jaw and then stood up.
"Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were we." She rolled gingerly to her feet. "There's no rush... not to say I'm going to be patient about getting to the good parts later, because I won't."
John's teeth flashed. "I'll definitely look forward to later."
"John! Meredith!" Dave cried as he ran out of the building and past an exasperated security guard.
Patrick Sheppard followed a few seconds later, eyes wild as he searched for and finally found his son unharmed in the crowd.
Giving Meredith a nod of promise, John turned back into a military man and began snapping out orders at the growing crowd. Sending the paramedics her way, he accepted a rough hug from his brother and father before taking an open cell phone from Major Clean to update the SGC.
After passing off the phone, Mr. Clean took up station next to Meredith to make sure nothing else happened to her. He even retrieved her bag and jacket. He may be a jerk, but he was also a comforting mountain of a man who'd made good on his word to keep her safe. The paramedics eyed him nervously and made sure to treat her with extra care, which was a win for her since she usually hated their cold, rough hands.
Besides, if she couldn't have John, she'd take the comfort of prescription strength painkillers. The ambulance ride would give her time to think about this new development. Figuring out the details of "later" would require a detailed bullet-point list. And if the notoriously bad patient Meredith Mckay smiled dreamily while the paramedics patched up her scrapes? Well, that was nobody's business but hers.