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A/N: For the sake of this story, I assume that Rodney doesn't carry a gun outside of missions. So he also hasn't one in his quarters!

Intrigued? Well, read on...


12. Dire Consequences

When they returned to Atlantis John continued to support Rodney, not quite ready to let go yet. Elizabeth already awaited them and raised an eyebrow when she saw Rodney's condition. "Welcome back SGA-1. What happened?"

"Oh, he just slipped and sprained his ankle."

Teyla had asked them not to tell about the attack. She was afraid that it would just complicate things and she was confident that Cayan would handle the situation to their full satisfaction.

John had been surprised when Rodney had easily agreed. He'd complained and grumped about it for 5 minutes, but in Rodneys case that was like nothing.

But it seemed that he wasn't that approving of John's explanation. "What do you mean 'just'? And I didn't slip, you pushed me!"

But Elizabeth was already asking Teyla about the negotiations. She didn't seem to be too concerned about their contradicting explanations. She was, after all, talking to two men who could argue for hours about totally trivial things.

John was momentarily distracted from Teylas brief conversation with Elizabeth when hushed whispers reached his ears. What he saw dampened his mood considerably.

Lt. Connolly was arguing animatedly with another marine that John only knew by sight. John was instantly intrigued by the way Connollys face was bright red and sweaty and how he seemed to restrain himself from shaking the other guy. The nameless marine however seemed collected and calm, a slight frown the only indication that something was bothering him.

All of a sudden his gaze darted towards their small gathering and he locked eyes with Sheppard. Connolly, seeing that his companions attention wasn't on him anymore, turned to follow his gaze and while his friends face was impassive, Connollys eyes narrowed and his lips turned into a thin line. John had the ridiculous urge to snarl like a dog, but a hand squeezing his shoulder stopped him cold.

Rodney was staring straight ahead as if he hadn't noticed the quick exchange between the two soldiers. But John could tell that he had noticed it and that he hadn't liked it.

'He still doesn't know how dangerous this secret admirer really is.' John realized and felt slightly bad for keeping Rodney in the dark about the invasion of his private quarters, but squished that feeling almost immediately. Rodney didn't need to know about it. John would protect him. John would show everyone that there would be dire consequences when you messed with his most important person.

He pulled Rodney closer than was probably necessary and spoke more husky than was definitely necessary. "Come on Answerman. Let's get you to Carson."

He had barely enough time to enjoy the heat of Rodneys body or the deadly look he received from across the room, before Carson appeared at his side out of nothing. By then Sheppard was ready to support Rodneys theory that Cason must have found some kind of device that allowed him to float, rather than walk, across the city.

"Don't bother Colonel. Rodney shouldn't walk on the ankle anyway." With that the doctor pointed at the wheelchair he had brought with him.

"What are you doing here, doc?" John asked while he (reluctantly) lowered Rodney into the offered wheelchair.

It was the scientist who answered, "Hello! Earth to Sheppard! Elizabeth called him just a few minutes ago. Don't you remember?"

It was more like he hadn't even noticed the call at all. He had been...preoccupied with other things.

"Come on lad." Carson said while he began to wheel the pouting scientist away. "Let's see what you've done this time."

"What I've done? You think I do this kind of thing on purpose? What kind of doctor are you?"

"A very impatient one." Carson replied with (partly) faked exasperation.

John contemplated to go with them but Elizabeth stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Her serious expression and the almost unnoticable shake of her head told him everything he needed to know. She had some news for him and he wasn't going to like them.

"Oi Sheppard!" He turned to see Rodney and his awkward attempt to shrug out of his jacket while he was still sitting in the wheelchair. "Your jacket..."

"Don't worry about it Rodney! You can give it to me later." he yelled back and with a smirk added, "After you washed it by hand of course."

Rodney huffed and murmured something that sounded suspiciously like "In your dreams" but pulled the jacket closer anyway, as if savoring the warmth of it.

The sight made John's heart beat a little bit faster.

When Carson and Rodney were gone and Teyla and Ronon followed them, Elizabeth asked John to come to her office, so they could "discuss" a few things. While he followed her, he looked back to discover that neither Connolly nor his mysterious friend were anywhere to be seen.

He had a brief feeling of foreboding but ignored it. Rodney was with Carson, perfectly safe.

Nonetheless, he would try to keep this "discussion" as short as possible...


The man was fuming.

He had changed shifts so he could witness his lovers return after three long, long days, only to see how the smug bastard Sheppard had an arm around his precious' waist.

When the man had realized that Rodney was injured, it had taken him everything he had, not to run over and rip him out of that bastards arms.

He had been furious when Sheppard had smirked at him and pulled his precious even closer. And he had been confused when Rodney had acted like he didn't mind at all. But the man knew that that had to be wrong. Rodney loved him! Just because he didn't know it yet, didn't make it any less true.

When the man had heard that Rodney wore Sheppards jacket it had almost been to much. He'd had to leave.

His hands were shaking and he was breathing hard. The last few days had been very unpleasant. Dr. Weir and her constant prying had kept him on edge and he had felt like a criminal. He was fed up with it and with Rodneys constant rejections.

His precious had to learn that certain actions required certain consequences.


Elizabeth had known that something was different the second John and Rodney had returned through the gate.

It certainly hadn't been the first time that they had returned from a mission injured and supporting each other. Truth to be told, it happened more often than any leader would have liked.

But their awareness of each other had been different this time. Their postures more relaxed. She even thought that Sheppards expressions had been more tender, more loving.

'God,' she thought while she took a seat in front of her desk. 'I really hope I'm right but it would make this also a lot more difficult.'

"So? What do you have?"

Elizabeth sighed. She hadn't really thought that John would begin this conversation with small talk, but this was a bit sudden. But the sooner she told him, the better he would handle it. At least that's what she told herself.

"I asked around a bit. Discreetly of course. I have spoken to people who know Connolly and to people who know what's going on around here."

John smiled at that. "You mean the tattletales."

Elizabeth chose to ignore him. "And I heard some interesting things."

"What kind of things?" John asked, all serious again.

She eyed him a few seconds and tried to predict his reaction. "It seems like Connolly had a (not so secret) affair with Dr. Merry."

She was once again amazed how well Sheppard could hide his emotions when he wanted to. The only indication that he had heard her at all was a sharp intake of breath.

"Well... that would explain some things."

Dr. Merry was a sore point for all of them.

Roughly two months earlier, Rodney had started to act strange but had refused to tell anyone what was bothering him. He had worked more and slept less than usual. And that meant working hours that would have killed any other person.

He had been more grouchy, almost aggressive, and it had seemed like he was pondering about a problem 24/7.

John had been about to call him out on it, when Rodney had come to him and Elizabeth on his own. It turned out that Dr. Merry had been the reason for his exhausted state and that she had almost managed to blow up the whole city just a few hours ago.

And it hadn't been her first grave mistake.

You could say what you wanted about Rodneys methods as the chief of the science departement, but he would never let one of his scientists go without a fight.

He had berated her everytime she made a mistake, everytime she was late for work and everytime she had refused to work in a team and instead had hampered the others. He had given her impositions and the most disliked (and harmless) projects he could find. Rodney had even tried to be gentle with her and to talk with her, instead of to her.

Nothing had helped. Nothing about her demeanor had changed.

So he had begun to observe her, even if it wasn't his shift, and to recheck all her projects. But his exhaustion had finally taken over and his attention had slackened...what had almost lead to the destruction of the city.

Rodney had told them, head hung in shame, that Dr. Merry wasn't suitable for a position on Atlantis and that she was an intolerable risk to the city and that it would be better to send her back to earth.

Elizabeth had understood his devastation. It had been the first time that he hadn't been able to straighten things out with one of his scientists. He had failed with Dr. Merry, where he had succeeded with Dr. Atlas just a few week before. And he didn't take failure very well.

Elizabeth on the other hand, had immediately supported his decision. Truth to be told, if the loss of one minor (and apparently dangerous) scientist was all it took to get Rodney to rest again, she would gladly pay the price.

Was that biased of her? Probably.

Two weeks later, Dr. Merry had left Atlantis but Rodney had been gloomy about it for weeks although he had tried to hide it.

Yes, the Merry-episode was a sore point for everyone, especially his friends.

But it also meant that there had never been a real secret admirer if John was right and Connolly had been the one to send the letters. At least Elizabeth couldn't imagine how somebody could fall in love with someone who was, indirectly, responsible for the break-up. 'Although you could never know...' she mused.

"So it's some sort of revenge then?" Sheppards asked and she shook her head no. This was the hard part.

"We can't know that John." She silenced him with a raised hand. "According to his friends and colleagues he had never said anything bad about Rodney. Most of them thought that he wasn't that sad about Dr. Merrys departure. And even if he is mad at Rodney, we don't have any proof just assumptions. And I can't send someone to the brig because of assumptions."

John chewed on his lip in thought and when he looked her in the eye, Elizabeth felt a shiver run down her spine.

"And what if we'd have a confession?"

Before she could ask what he meant, or wonder if she even wanted to know, his hand flew to his radio and the dark expression was immediately replaced by a small smile. "Sheppard here. Miss me already Rodney?"

A bemused expression crossed his face as he listened before he uttered a startled, "Whoa Rodney, hold on! What are you talking about?"

While he listened, Sheppard's face became unreadable but Elizabeth knew instantly that it was going to be a long day.


-Some minutes earlier-

In his quarters, Rodney McKay let out a quiet cry when the hot water finally hit him.

These acients might have invented some stupid things, but their showers were pure bliss for a battered scientist. And he really needed this right now. The mud had begun to dry and itch where it had gotten under his clothes.

Carson had wanted him to take a quick shower in the infirmary so he could bandage his ankle (which should be fine in a few days and didn't require crutches as long as he didn't walk too much), but Rodney had outright refused. He had wanted a long shower in his own quarters. He thought that he deserved as much.

After a long (and sporadically pointless) argument, Carson had finally relented and agreed to come to Rodney's quarters after his shift was over, so he could tend to his foot. So long as Rodney promised to stay his quarters and to put some ice on the ankle.

Rodney had quickly agreed and even felt a bit guilty for giving the man more work than he already had. But on the other hand, he didn't feel that guilty... he really, really wanted this shower.

When the water ran over his body and reached the ground of the shower it was pitch-black and Rodney was momentarily fascinated and disgusted at the same time. At least his ankle really didn't hurt that much. He doubted that he would need a bandage at all. Maybe he could radio Carson and tell him that he didn't have to come after all...

He grabbed the soap and began the tedious work of cleaning himself. To clean his body was fairly easy, but his hair was another thing altogether.

He had already shampooed his hair five times and he could still feel traces of mud when he ran his fingers through it. What was wrong with this mud, anyway?! He scrubbed harder and harder and wished that he had stronger fingers. Like Sheppard.

An image of Sheppard washing his hair flashed through Rodneys mind and he tried his best to not get a nosebleed. Sheppard, naked, with him under his shower... It wasn't the first time that Rodney had imagined something like that, but he had never pictured how it would be if Sheppard would wash his hair. That was almost more erotic than everything else, because it was so much more intimate.

He imagined how Sheppards chest would lay against his and how his strong fingers would massage his scalp. How John would whisper into his ear to lean his head back, so that the shampoo wouldn't get into his eyes.

He was totally lost in his rather vivid daydream when a noise jerked him out of it.

It hadn't been very loud, especially not with the sound of the running water in the background, but Rodney knew it by heart and knew that he shouldn't have heard it.

"What the-"

He had heard the door open and close. Someone had just entered his quarters...

Rodney's heartbeat began to pound in his ears and he couldn't move an inch. Not even when the shampoo began to run down his face, taking with it the last remnants of the mud. He barely noticed it.

His common sense told him that it could only be either Sheppard or Elizabeth, the only Atlanteans who knew the code for his door. But another part of him screamed that something wasn't right.

Despite the hot water that was raining down on him Rodney began to shiver when he finally realized what was wrong.

Elizabeth never entered his quarters without his permission, except it's an emergency or he asked her to. And while Sheppard seemed to love unannounced visits, he always made a racket when he entered, especially when he saw that Rodney was in the bathroom.

But no matter how hard Rodney listened, he couldn't hear anything else. Since the doors had opened it had been quiet except for his own harsh breathing and the running water. He considered to turn it off but his body just wouldn't move.

He didn't understand his panic. It had to be Sheppard. God, it had to be!

Rodney just stood there for a few minutes, his senses going into overdrive, but he didn't hear anything else. He was just about to resume his shower and tell himself that he had just imagined the noise after all, when there was another sound.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'Get a grip Rodney! This is not 'Psycho' and you are not Janet Leigh! This is just Sheppard who is playing a bad joke on you!'

After some more deep breaths he finally had enough courage to call out, "Sheppard? S'that you?"

He didn't have to wait more than a second before there was a loud bang that sounded like scattering glass. Rodney forgot how to breath for a second.

"Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod...." he whispered in sheer panic when he suddenly realized his predicament.

There was some freak in his quarters and a door was the only thing that separated him from Rodney. From a naked Rodney who was pressed agains the wall.

There was just one coherent thought that he could think of at the moment.

'I don't want this person to see me naked!'

He felt exposed, violated in his privacy. But above all he felt vulnerable.

Without a second thought he darted out of the shower, without turning the water off and without acknowledging the pain that shot through his foot at the movement. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist and was just glad that he had locked the bathroom door. Sometimes, paranoia was your friend after all.

Before the scared scientist could decide what he should do next, he heard running footsteps and the unmistakable sound of his doors swishing open and close again.

Then nothing.

Rodney realized that he had never been quite as scared as he had been a few seconds ago. Sure, Wraith were the stuff of nightmares, but at least you could gun them down (or at least try to) and you knew a Wraith when you saw one. This was like walking through an abandonned house and knowing that there was something but not knowing what or where.

Rodney had felt like a kid again, staring at the closet all night and wondering when the monsters were finally coming out to eat him. The uncertainty was scarier than any Wraith could ever be.

Rodney just stared at the bathroom door for a long time, trapped in his own horror, until he began to shiver in the cold air. He was fairly certain that the mysterious person was gone by now and he knew that he couldn't stay in here forever.

Especially because his radio lay on his nightstand. And he really needed to see John now.

He began to put on the T-shirt he had brought with him into the bathroom. He hadn't bothered with pants at the time but now he really wished that he wouldn't have to go out there with only a towel covering his bottom half.

When he felt ready enough to open the door he grabbed his deodorant spray. It was better than nothing.

With the improvised pepper spray in his hand, he reluctantly unlocked the door but listened for a few seconds before he opened it.

He could survey the whole room from where he stood and took his time to reassure himself that he was, indeed, completely alone. Rodney released the breath he had been holding and stepped out of the bathroom, one hand still holding the deodorant, the other holding the towel in place.

He was about to rush to his nightstand, when his eyes fell on the floor besides his desktop.

"Well, at least I know now that I didn't imagine anything."

He bend down to pick up the picture frame that had been standing on his desktop when he had gone to take his shower. Now it lay face down on the floor and when he turned it over, he saw that the glass was cracked in many places, like the whole thing had been thrown against a wall. Rodney stared at the picture for a few seconds with a soft smile on his face. It showed Team Sheppard in front of the Stargate.

Someone from the Daedalus had taken it a few months ago and at first, Rodney hadn't wanted a copy of it. They had posed in front of the Stargate and Rodney hated photos where he had to pose. It awakened too many memories of the family portraits that were taken when his parents had already despised each other. It had always felt awkward and he had never been able to look at them without wanting to throw up afterwards.

So he had suspected that this picture would be just as awkward, but when Sheppard had practically shoved it into his face he had been surprised to see his own smiling face stare back at him. He hadn't even realized that he had smiled. But maybe that was due to Sheppard's arm over his shoulders. Everyone in the picture had a smile on his lips and even though they had posed for it, their postures looked totally natural.

Rodney really liked that picture. The first family portrait he could look at with a smile on his face.

He placed it back on the tabletop and wondered why the intruder would have a grudge against an ordinary picture. But then he noticed something else.

John's jacket, which he had thrown over the desk chair upon entering his quarters, was gone. He stared at the vacant chair for a few seconds. All of a sudden he felt ridiculous and stupid and would have laughed wouldn't he have been furious at the same time.

It had been Sheppard after all.

Sheppard had come back to get his jacket but when Rodney had called out he had dropped the picture. And then he had quickly left in order to evade Rodneys wrath. It made total sense!

Rodney felt too humiliated to realize that it didn't make sense at all, because Sheppard would never do something like that. And he was too relieved to remember Sheppards earlier words.

He downright flew to his nightstand and radioed Sheppard in righteous anger.

"McKay to Sheppard."

"Sheppard here. Miss me already Rodney?"

"Listen Sheppard. You wanted your jacket back, fair enough. But you really didn't have to scare the shit out of me, okay? I mean, one little 'It's me' would have done the trick, don't you think?! Oh and you will compensate me for that picture frame you destroyed! It wasn't that expensive but-"

"Whoa Rodney, hold on!" Sheppard interrupted his rant. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on Sheppard," Rodney said, a little uneasy now, "I know that you were in my quarters while I took a shower. No need to-" This time he was cut short by a sharp intake of breath and the following silence made him even more queasy than before. "Sheppard?"

It took a few seconds before Sheppards calm, yet somehow urgent voice said, "Stay where you are Rodney! I'll be there in a minute."

The line went dead and Rodney felt adrift.

He didn't want to think about how he didn't feel save in his own four walls anymore. He didn't want to think about the amount of fear he had heard in Sheppards voice.

Rodney lowered himself on his bed. His legs didn't seem to support his weight anymore. He absentmindedly thought that Carson would tear him to pieces when he found out that he still hadn't put some ice on his ankle while he stared at the door and his grip on the deodorant tightened.

Every minute now, Sheppard would walk through that door and tell him that everything had been just a big joke. He would laugh about the way Rodneys hand were shaking and how pale his face was. And he would invite him to a cup of coffee to make up for it. 'Yes', Rodney thought, 'every minute now...'

But he knew it was futile.


When John bursted into Rodneys quarters his eyes trained immediately on the scientist; sitting on his bed, eyes focused on the ground.

Rodney was still wet from his shower and the T-shirt was pasted against his chest. John swallowed hard when he saw that Rodney was just wearing a towel to conceal his bottom half and was amazed at how much the view pleased him.

He also noticed the deodorant and he felt proud of the man in front of him. 'Good idea Rodney.'

But he didn't like the way Rodney hadn't looked up yet and when he did he had expected to see fear and not irritation.

"What is going on Sheppard?"

"Why don't you tell me exactly what happened here?"

And Rodney did. He told him about the noises he had heard and about the broken picture frame and about the missing jacket in every detail.

When he finished, Sheppard had clenched his fists so tight that they began to hurt. He wanted to break something. Preferably the neck of one secret admirer. The pervert had been here. Again. While Rodney had taken a shower. God knows what could have happened!

John was furious with himself. He should have seen this coming. He had sworn to protect Rodney, but when Rodney had needed him, he had been chatting with Elizabeth.

He didn't want to imagine what could have happened to his Rodney if this bugger would have been just a little bit more reckless, a little bit more desperate to finally gain Rodneys attention. And he didn't want to imagine how anxious Rodney must have been when he had realized that there was someone else in his room.

What he did want was to hug the shivering scientist. But he didn't. Rodney was shaken up enough and he needed to stay in control right now. John knew as much.

"What do you think? Who was it? And why would this person steal your jacket?"

John had a pretty good idea about the last question but ignored it for now. "I think we both know who it was."

Rodney stared at him with a blank expression, before recognition entered his eyes and he began to look slightly green. "You don't really think that, do you?!"

"I do!" John growled but couldn't say more because his radio chirped and a very worried Elizabeth asked, "Weir to Sheppard. Is everything alright John?"

He hadn't stopped long enough to explain the situation when Rodney had radioed him. She had to feel like a cat on a hot tin roof.

"Not quite. Someone broke into Rodneys quarters while he took a shower and I think we both know who it was."

"Scientist's Lover." she all but breathed.

"Yeah, he did it again!"

"That's bad." Elizabeth observed simply, but the amount of shock in her voice told John that she just couldn't say much more right now.

Before he could answer her, a quiet but deadly voice stopped him cold.

"Again?"


A/N: Oh John, you are in a world of trouble now! You want to know just how much trouble? Then I guess you'll have to review like mad again cause reviews will make me update faster... LOL I hope the suspense in Rodneys quarters got to you, I tried to make it as creepy as possible...

Attention guys: Many things will happen in a short amount of time from here on. So if things might seem a bit rushed in the next couple of chapters, balme it on the freaky nutcase I created. He is so eager to finally meet Rodney that he threatens to send 'me' some Extolias if I don't hurry... *shiver* John save me...ehh I mean, us!!!

(btw, I thought it was necessary to point out that Rodney doesn't have a gun in the first A/N, because otherwise, it would be stupid to cling to a deo when you could have a loaded gun, right?)