Hello!
Apologies for the delay...real life has no right getting in the way!
Many thanks to mkoepp63026, JodyMarie, VividVideoGeek, sheppardlover928, cmtaylor531 and Forahr for the reviews!
mkoepp63026 and VividVideoGeek - I'm hoping you'll learn to like the President! :)
I'm really beginning to get quite overwhelmed with all the reviews. I'm not having the best of times at the moment and I'm so grateful for all the kind words on this story. It really means a lot!
Carson took a quick look around the infirmary's reception and waiting area and breathed a sigh of relief – It wasn't perfect, but it would do for now.
"Okay folks, the President will be here in a minute or two, just continue working away while she's here, thank you."
"She is so tiny!" Dr. Biro exclaimed as she burst into the reception and dumped the box she'd been carrying on the nearest chair, "I just bumped into her and Sheppard in the corridor and I couldn't even see her for this box!"
Carson walked forward and picked up the surprisingly heavy box, "Jeezo Sandra. What is in this thing?"
"I have absolutely no idea...I thought it was just bits and pieces but maybe there's something else in there."
"Well we'd better get it out of here," Marie said, grabbing the box from Carson, "I'll stick it in one of the offices for now."
Marie disappeared with the box, and literally seconds later The President and Sheppard arrived at the infirmary.
"Dr. Beckett," Robins smiled, not waiting for any introduction from Sheppard, "It's good to see you."
"Likewise Mrs President," Carson smiled, "and welcome to our Infirmary!"
Sheppard trudged up the control room steps looking to get an update from Lorne. Robins had insisted Sheppard return to his duties and he'd been forced to follow her order though he had recalled a couple of men from her security detail to ensure her safety.
"How we doing Lorne?"
"Pretty shipshape surprisingly, although we've got a backlog of city staff who we can't beam in until the President's finished her tour, and what happened? First we heard McKay was off the tour, then Woolsey shuffled through here and now here you are."
"I think The President's getting pretty sick of always being flanked by people. She asked Carson to take over the tour when I got to the infirmary."
"I could never be a politician, I need my space. I don't know how they do that, being trailed all day by their little pack of sycophants," Lorne remarked, looking at a readout from a laptop perched on Chuck's console.
"Tell me about it," John chuckled, "My dad had a group of those and he was just a businessman!"
"You seem in a better mood," Lorne said, not looking away from the laptop.
"Don't want to go into it, but the President actually gave me a little pep talk. How did you know I was in a mood?"
"Monosyllabic responses...McKay shouting in my ear about you being pissy with him...all the usual telltale signs."
John grimaced, "Yeah...I was on a bit of a hair trigger with him earlier...Better go find him I guess."
"Could you put the two chairs next to each other?" Jeannie asked.
"Definitely not," Radek shook his head, "They need to be in separate locations – if the city gets attacked putting them both in the same place might see us losing them both."
"So where's the original chair located?"
"At the top of the Eastern tower," Rodney drew Jeannie's attention to the schematic on their screen.
"Well why not put it in the Western tower?"
"Because this is the Western tower, and it looks like we might fill this place to capacity," Rodney advised.
"I think one of the suburbs might be a good idea," Miko interjected.
"You're probably right," sighed Rodney.
"Thank you!" she grinned.
The collection of scientists – sans Bill who'd been sent back to the SGC – turned as they heard the transporter door opening.
"Hi McKay," John said quietly as he appeared in the room.
"Oh look everybody! The Great Dictator's returned from his tour with the other Great Dictator!" Rodney declared loudly.
Miko quickly picked up her laptop and scurried from the room as Jeannie and Radek drew each other concerned looks.
"Did you just call the President of the United States the 'Great Dictator'?" John responded tersely.
"What, you're more angry at me calling her that than you? It's just some socio-political commentary."
John's eyes flashed at the scientist, "McKay!"
Sheppard steeled himself for a moment, stopping himself from snapping at the physicist, "I need to talk to you in private."
"Nope." Rodney responded swiftly, "Anything you want to say to me can be said in front of these two. I mean we are going for public humiliation today, aren't we?"
"Rodney, stop it."
"You took me to task in front your President, don't you dare get tetchy when I give you an inkling of just how angry I am with you in front of a couple of our colleagues, Now if you'll excuse me, we're rather busy doing actual work. So if you'd like," Rodney waved a hand at the transporter, "Leave us alone to get this place sorted, and when I'm no longer interim civilian lead and the IOA's found me a boss then I'll talk to them. I'm not on your team Sheppard, so I no longer need to ask 'how high' when you say jump."
His tirade over, Rodney returned to the city schematic, zooming in on a derelict tower on the North Pier.
John feeling both suitably, yet undeservedly chastised, returned to the transporter and left without a word.
Rodney ignored John's leaving and turned back to Radek and Jeannie. "Can you get Miko back here, we need her for this."
"I'll get her," smiled Jeannie, ignoring her brother's outburst "And after that mind if I skip out for food?"
"Hm, Sure."
Carson felt the eyes of the entire expedition on him as he sat and tried to enjoy a quiet lunch with the President of the United States in the main mess.
Robins had listened intently while Carson showed her the infirmary and some of the Ancient technology his team utilised. After their tour had been completed, Robins had invited Carson to join her for lunch, eschewing the offer to use the Mission Commander's Office in favour of just eating in the mess hall.
The security detail had accompanied them but had sat a short distance away, leaving Jolene and Carson to eat their sandwiches out of earshot of the rest of the expedition.
"So what can you expect food-wise when you're in Pegasus?" she asked.
"It tends to be a rotation of Salisbury steak, Macaroni cheese, Salisbury steak, salads, burgers and Salisbury steak...Sometimes supplemented with food from our trading partners – Tuttleroot Soup's an Athosian dish which is a bit of a favourite, and anything with Tava beans is welcome when we can get them."
"I've never tried alien food."
"It was funny, we seemed to find more culinary delights in Pegasus than we ever did in the Milky Way, mostly because the Goa'uld seemed to hoard all the good food for themselves. The Pegasus natives on the otherhand...Well they've never had much but they are surprisingly resourceful. Some of the most delicious food I've ever tasted has been on wee planets that are considered galactic backwaters."
"I wish I could go to Pegasus and see some of what you've all seen...But politicians and space don't tend to get along that well," she sighed, alluding to the deaths of both Vice President Kinsey and Senator Armstrong.
Carson gave her a warm smile, "Things are different now Jolene, maybe you'll get a chance to visit Pegasus when we're secured."
Robins returned his smile with a wide grin of her own, "And then maybe I could enjoy another lunch with you."
Carson was a little taken aback by her comment, but also very flattered, "Maybe we can!"
Robins looked away from the doctor for a moment, smiling to herself, "You know, whenever you're back on Earth I'd love to be kept up to speed with what your infirmary's doing, so please visit the White House when you can...I enjoy our conversations."
"Likewise," he gave her an appreciative smile.
"It's been a while since I could just talk to someone, you know, without it being clunky and awkward and presidential."
"I can imagine...I've had a fair few awkward conversations with patients over the years, and that was bad enough...At the end of the day we're all just people."
Robins gave him yet another warm smile and reached across the table, placing her hand on his, "I've really enjoyed my day today, especially our lunch. It's been a very welcome break from well, everything, really...And I hope you'll take me up on my offer to visit the White House."
"I think I might just do that," he smiled at her as she rose from her seat and walked away, her security detail quickly following her.
Lorne kept a close eye on Sheppard as the President and her team beamed out of the city and back to DC. The man's bad mood had returned since he'd visited R&D, and Lorne was really beginning to wonder what was up with the man.
"What's eating him?" Chuck mumbled, echoing Lorne's thoughts.
"Your guess is as good as mine, but someone looks like they're on a mission," Lorne nodded towards the lower level where Jeannie appeared, heading straight for John.
"John!" she shouted.
"Jeannie," Sheppard ground out a polite smile as he walked down the steps to join her.
"You got a minute or two you could spare?"
"I guess."
"Good!" Jeannie gave him a tight smile, "Lorne, you hold the fort!" she shouted to Evan.
"Uh...what she said," Sheppard smiled sheepishly.
"What's going on?" Jeannie started the conversation from their spot on the control room balcony.
When Sheppard remained tight-lipped, Jeannie pressed on.
"Seriously...Something's up. Mer told me about what you said to him in front of the President, and then you had that spat back there and you didn't even argue back. What is going on? And I'm asking you this because I don't actually see what Mer did wrong apart from calling you the 'Great Dictator', so spill."
John bit the side of his mouth as he tried to work out what to say to Jeannie. He decided to come straight out with it.
"Nancy took Patrick. She's got emergency custody and I won't get a say on anything for a month. It was really sudden I'm still kind of dealing with it...I mean, how would you feel?"
Jeannie brought both hands up to her mouth, before rushing over and enveloping him in a hug, "John, why didn't you say anything! Oh god, I'm so sorry!"
John tolerated the hug for a moment or two, still not comfortable with gestures like that, before he drew back from her.
"Why didn't you say anything John...Why bottle it all up and snap at the people who care about you?"
"I wasn't thinking," he mumbled by way of apology, "It was just so sudden yesterday...I'm still dealing with it...I tried to resign but they wouldn't accept it."
"Did you mention how you were feeling to the President? Surely she could intervene."
"She knew all about it," John informed her, "She asked me about it...Asked me to make this sacrifice, and at the next hearing she said they'd have my back...But a month? A full month away from my son, with Nancy and her other ex-husband playing happy families? I don't know if I can do that."
"Look...From what little I know about the situation with you and your ex, I can't see how the courts would give her custody. I don't know all the intricacies of the US legal system, but she probably only got emergency custody because you never got a chance to have your say. There's going to be a lot of families in the city within a couple of months, and some of the officers under your command have already moved their families here. The IOA is encouraging families to settle in Atlantis, and that'll count in your favour. Plus - and I hate to bring this point up - you're stinking rich!"
John had the humility to blush a little, before continuing, "So is Nancy."
"What, because of the divorce?"
"No...She's always been very secure financially."
"Well...You're the one who took time out to care for Patrick. She's not been around, so your son will have bonded with you more than he has with her."
"I know a whole bunch of things count in my favour Jeannie, but that isn't going to help me sleep at night, or to stop worrying. I need my little boy back."
"Well that's a different solution, but it'll work," Rodney announced.
Miko nodded, "We'll need to get permission from Sheppard though."
"Base of the Control Tower it is then, just above the ZPM room," Zelenka rubbed his hands together in excitement.
"We'll beam the chair there for now. That area already has security in place so it should be fine."
The transporter doors opened for the umpteenth time that day, permitting Jeannie back into the R&D building.
"Jeannie, perfect timing – You and Miko may very well get to observe Radek and I plumbing in our new chair – We're going to install it at the base of the Control tower."
"That's great Mer, but I really need to talk to you."
"What? No vegetarian lunch option?" He joked with his sister, but she didn't smile in response, instead opting to drag her brother over to the transporter by the elbow.
"I'll bring him back in five minutes, maybe," She shouted to Radek as she tapped the controls, whisking her and Rodney away to their residential block.
"Oh that's just great, kidnapped from my own department by my own sister! What do you want Jeannie?"
Jeannie waited until a small tour group led by a smiling Lieutenant Bakewell wandered by before continuing, "Well while you men are busy posturing and sniping I decided to get to the bottom of what's been upsetting Sheppard."
Rodney sighed at this, "Okay, I shouldn't have snapped at him earlier but..."
"I know, and he knows he shouldn't have had a go at you either."
"Then why did he-"
"They took his son off him."
Rodney eyes went wide as Jeannie gave him that bit of news, "Oh God...Why? Was it Nancy? Has she got him permanently?"
"Just temporarily but he's completely devastated. You need to talk to him. He's really upset and I don't think he's dealing with it at all."
"What can I say to the guy? I'm sorry and I'm sorry you were an ass to me?"
"Mer!" she grumbled, "Be the bigger man! What about starting with 'I'm sorry, It's been a bad day, let's move forward and remember we're all here for you at this difficult time.'"
"That's a bit wordy for me," Rodney said, earning a glare and a soft punch in the arm from his sister.
"Okay...I'd be beyond gutted. No wonder he's in such a bad mood...I'll go grab lunch and talk to him. We need his permission to install the chair anyway."
"Jennifer!" Evan shouted happily as his second-in-command arrived in Atlantis.
Captain Hailey for her part gave her boss a wide grin and left her family's side to give him a rather unprofessional hug, "It is good to see you Sir!"
"Likewise!"
"Well, I'd like to introduce you to my fiance Joe, and our kids, Christopher and Sasha," she grinned proudly, nodding at the seven year old boy and five year old girl.
Captain Jennifer Hailey was a near-legendary figure at the SGC, having been virtually head-hunted by Sam many years earlier. She'd joining the SGC immediately after graduating from the Air Force Academy. Despite Sam's encouragement, Hailey had devoted her time to fieldwork rather than the theoretical physics she had already proven to have an incredible aptitude for, wanting to be out exploring the galaxy rather than being stuck in a lab in the mountain. But she could still prove a valuable member of the SGC's science team when the need arose. She'd taken time out from the military to have her two children, but had suffered a particularly difficult setback in returning to active duty, having had to tackle Lymphoma shortly after Sasha's birth. She'd been back at the SGC and on Lorne's team for a little over two years, and her relatively low rank belied her abilities and experience. Lorne had been very happy that she and her family had taken the opportunity to come to Atlantis.
"It's an honour to meet you sir," Joe McNab smiled, extending a hand to Lorne, "I'll admit prior to this week I didn't know a thing about you or the rest of the team."
"Well the team have heard all about you and these two," Lorne grinned at the kids, "We'll get you all settled and then I can take you on a tour of the city if you'd like."
"Awesome!" Christopher shouted.