Becoming Connor Davids
Chapter 48 : Parachute
Author's Notes :
- I'm not an avid SG1 fan, I'll put that out there. So I'm not exactly sure about the SG1 world of politics. For the purposes of this story, a new president was elected last year, as mentioned in a much previous chapter.
- Parachute is from the Train song of the same name. "I'll open up and be your parachute, I'll never let you down."
- This chapter was party inspired by The Scientist by Coldplay.
- Edited content is available at my listed homepage.
- Thank you to all of you who review. I really appreciate it. =)
BETA : JackD
John wasn't bouncing, per se, he was just really excited. A month without his husband was a month too long and John wanted Connor back now, now, now.
Teyla shot John a look that said he wasn't fooling anyone. Ronon was smirking at John but John didn't care. Connor was coming home today. He knew they were just as excited. John also knew that Lorne's and Ramsey's teams were both cursing him as they were off-world right now and couldn't be here when Connor returned. John tried to feel bad about that, but really, it meant more time with Connor for him.
"Scheduled off-world activation." Chuck said. "It's Stargate Command."
"Lower the shield." Carter said with a smile from where she was standing next to John. She seemed pretty excited herself. John thought it had probably been a little bit lonely without Jackson and now she was getting Jackson plus Mitchell.
Whatever John was expecting, it wasn't what he got.
Mitchell came through the gate first, pushing a cart of luggage and a second later Jackson and Connor came through at once, both pushing a cart full of supply cases.
They looked absolutely horrible.
All three of them had black eyes, Jackson was limping slightly, Mitchell had a butterfly band-aid across his nose and Connor had a white bandage stretched across his cheek. John could tell from the way Connor was walking that the younger man probably had some broken ribs or some bruised ones.
Connor's eyes met John's and, despite his appearance, his eyes lit up and a smile stretched across his face. Connor left the other two and quickly walked over to John and his team. Teyla stepped up and bent her forehead towards Connor's and he bent his in return before she pulled him into a light hug. Ronon was next and John watched as his teammate pulled Connor into a hug. The linguist winced a little and Ronon eased up but promised a real one later. Connor laughed and moved on to John.
John carefully pulled Connor into a hug. It was shorter than Ronon's or Teyla's had been and John wanted nothing more than to just stand there and breathe Connor in but he had to let go as Mitchell and Jackson were both rapidly approaching.
"Cam," Carter greeted. "Good to see you. Daniel, great to have you back."
They each got hugs of their own and all three had matching smiles.
"Should I even ask…?" John questioned, gesturing to the three of them.
Connor blushed and ducked his head. "I'll, uh, tell you about it later."
John took later to mean 'in a few minutes when we're alone in our quarters and I can really greet you' and nodded. "Okay."
"Um, I have to talk to Sam for a second."
John nodded, "I'll get your stuff."
"Thanks." Connor answered softly. "I'll just be a moment."
He stepped away and walked with Mitchell and Jackson up to Carter's office. John's eyes followed him the whole way and he smiled. Connor was home.
John went over to the cart that Mitchell had pushed through. He sorted through the numerous bags there, briefly wondered if Mitchell was staying or just visiting, grabbed Connor's three bags, wondered why Connor had three bags, and pulled them off the cart. He glanced up into Carter's office to see Connor handing her something before offering Mitchell and Jackson both hugs.
Connor quickly left her office and gingerly walked down the stairs. He stopped to say something to Teyla and Ronon who both nodded before making his way back over to John. John glared at his husband as Connor attempted to take one of the bags from him.
"I've got them, Con." John said quietly.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
It took three minutes to get up to their quarters. Three really long minutes where John bit the inside of his cheek in an effort not to fire question after question at his husband.
As soon as the door to their quarters closed behind them, John dropped the bags and was pulling Connor into his arms. Connor seemed to melt into John and they stood there, breathing each other in.
"I missed you," John said, voice thick with emotion. "One month is too fucking long without you."
"I agree," Connor mumbled into John's neck. "I completely agree."
One of John's hands worked its way up the back of Connor's shirt while the other one slid down into the top of the linguist's pants. "I missed your skin."
"I missed your smell," Connor inhaled deeply.
"I didn't know you could miss someone as much as I missed you," John said softly. "Connor, tá grá agam duit," John answered roughly.
"I love you, John."
The words were a balm to the ache that had taken up residence in John's chest. As they stood there, wrapped around each other, John felt the ache ease away, steadily replaced with warmness.
"I want… fuck, I don't know what I want." John said with a bit of a laugh. "I want to stand here, with you, forever."
"Whatever you want, a chuisle," Connor whispered.
"God," John said softly. "I imagined you saying that every time I read your e-mails. I could hear it perfectly in my head but it sounds so much better when you say it out loud."
"Do you have anything you need to do today?"
John shook his head. "I staffed it all out yesterday. Lorne's off-world but should be back shortly, so I have to have my radio with me, but otherwise… I'm all yours, Con."
"Mmm," Connor sighed happily. "John."
"Connor."
"Can we maybe… take a nap?" Connor asked, nuzzling John's neck.
"Tired?"
"It's been a really long night." Connor admitted.
"Want to…" John bit his lip. "Want to tell me what happened?"
Connor exhaled loudly. "Yeah, I just… maybe we can sit?"
"Your ribs." John murmured and pulled away. "Let's get you into bed."
Connor pulled back from him. John reached out and carefully helped his husband out of his clothes. Connor winced as his shirt came off and John winced with him. Connor's torso was a mixture of purple, black and blue.
"Ouch." John said, fingers ghosting over the bruises.
"Yeah."
Connor's pants came off next and the linguist toed his shoes off with them. John didn't hesitate to push Connor's boxers down with his pants. Connor, though, blushed as John did so. The older man directed his husband to the bed and made short work of his own clothes before joining Connor under the sheets.
John waited as Connor tried to get comfortable. Eventually they ended up with Connor on his right side facing their living room and John curled up in front of him, arm loosely thrown over Connor's waist. John could tell that this wasn't the position that Connor could have chosen, but for now, it was all they could do. Connor's hand snuck up between their bodies to grab John's dog tags.
Connor took a deep breath. "Last night, Cam, Daniel and I went out to a nearby restaurant. Kind of a last night on Earth sort of thing…"
"C'mon, Davids. There's nothing left to do here and we're gating out bright and early. Come out with us."
Connor bit his lip indecisively. John did want him to get out more but Connor remembered what happened the last time he went out on Earth without John… Connor nodded, "Okay, but I want to be back by twelve."
"Two." Cam countered.
"One."
Cam smiled. "You drive a hard bargain, Davids. Okay, let's go get Jackson and we'll go."
Connor grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and followed Cam to Daniel's quarters. Cam knocked and Daniel answered in jeans and a t-shirt, similar to what Connor and Cam had on. "Ready?"
"We've been ready, Jackson." Cam answered. "We're just waiting for you."
"I'm ready."
"Good. I'm driving."
The steakhouse wasn't far. It was about fifteen minutes from the Cheyenne mountain complex and was frequently frequented by many of the SGC personnel. Connor had never been, but apparently they had the best steak in town. Connor wasn't much of a steak person, but usually where there was steak, there was fish and fish was something Connor could get behind.
"So you went out to dinner? And what? Had to wrestle your own cow?"
Connor poked John's arm. "Patience, John."
John sighed. "You're lucky I love you, Connor."
"I know."
"What can I get for you boys tonight?" The waitress asked.
"I'll take the house special, medium rare." Cam said, handing her his menu.
"I'll have the same." Daniel said.
"Um, fish and chips, please, with some vinegar."
The waitress smiled. "Sure thing, honey. Anything to drink?"
"Just a coke for me." Cam said with an easy smile.
"I'll take a Bud Light if you have it." Daniel requested.
"We sure do, and for you?" She asked, looking at Connor.
"Do you keep Stella Artois on tap?"
"We sure do."
"One of those, please."
"Coming right up."
"You went out and ordered beer?"
"Just two."
"I'm just surprised." John said. "I know you don't drink a lot when you eat."
Connor shrugged awkwardly. "I really wanted a Carlsberg but it's hard to get that in the States."
"Got it. Continue."
John let his hand wrap around the one hold his dog tags.
"Excited to be returning to Atlantis?" Cam asked them both, glancing around the mostly empty restaurant.
Connor was sitting next to Daniel in the booth and Cam was across from them.
"Yeah," Daniel answered. "There's so much to study there and to explore."
Connor nodded. "Yeah."
Daniel nudged his shoulder a little. "Connor has someone waiting back there for him."
Cam's eyebrows raised. "You never mentioned anyone, Davids. You holding out on me?"
Connor blushed. "Not intentionally. I'm, uh, married and my spouse is on Atlantis."
Cam's eyes bugged out. "Married? Really? I mean, I saw the ring, but you never mentioned anyone…"
"Well, we're not legally married. We bonded." Connor admitted. "We can't get married in the States."
"Because you're not a citizen?" Cam asked, taking a sip of his soda.
Connor shook his head. "Because I'm gay."
Cam's mouth dropped open just a little. "Oh, wow. I never see these things coming."
Connor stared at his beer. "Me neither," he said with a small smile.
"You told Mitchell you were gay?" John asked, a little surprised.
Connor looked at him, "Of course."
"How did he take it?"
"I was getting there…"
John rolled his eyes. "Patience, I know. I seem to have no patience when it comes to you, Con."
Connor leaned forward and offered John a small kiss. "That's okay, I love you anyways."
"So gay. Wow." Cam blinked. "I can't believe you never told me."
"He's not really gay." Jackson put in.
"Not really gay?" Cam asked, looking between them. "How does that work?"
"It means Connor's really more like pansexual."
Cam stared at them blankly. "What does that mean?'
Before Daniel could launch into one of his lengthy explanations, Connor cut in. "What Daniel means to say is, uh, that I've only been attracted to one, um, person and it happened to be a man."
Cam blinked. "And you met on Atlantis?"
"Yeah."
"How long have you been together?"
"We've only been married for, um, a little over a month. We've been together for about a year and a half."
Cam looked at him in surprise. "You were only together a year before getting married? Isn't that kind of soon?"
Connor shook his head. "Not for me and not for him. We are both quite sure about this."
"Wow." Cam said again. Connor wondered what his fascination with the word was. "So who is this mysterious man?"
Connor flushed. "Um, you can't ask and I can't tell."
Cam's eyes bugged out. "No way, really? You're married to a Marine?"
Connor could see how he would assume that since 95% of the US military forces on Atlantis were Marines. He winced. "Um, I really can't say any more."
Cam held up his hand. "No problem. That's cool, though, that you found someone. So you were only married for a couple weeks before being sent back here?"
"Yeah, it's been… hard."
"I can only imagine." Cam said. He held up his drink. "Well, cheers to you and your recent marriage."
Connor blushed and picked up his beer, clinking it with Daniel's and Cam's. "Sláinte."
"So he was cool with it?"
"Yeah."
John's arm moved from resting on Connor's waist to tracing his body, caressing skin. The linguist shivered and arched into John's touch.
"John…"
"I know."
"This is really good steak." Cam said, biting into another piece.
Daniel nodded. "Oh yeah."
"Do they have steak on Atlantis?"
Connor nodded. "The replicators make it."
"Doesn't taste quite as good." Daniel put in. "But close."
"Replicators?" Cam asked warily.
"Food replicators." Connor corrected. "They're sorta similar to replicators but they're not self-replicating and they, uh, only make food as far as we can tell."
"Yeah, Connor and I think that there's some in the city that make something other than food. We just haven't found them yet."
"I think they're in the main hall we, um, found a while back."
Daniel nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Too bad Rodney and Sam won't let us back in."
"John won't even let us anywhere near there."
"John?" Cam asked.
Connor blushed. "Colonel Sheppard."
"You're on a first name basis with Sheppard?"
Daniel laughed. "Connor has many friends in high places."
"So if I ever need anything while I'm there I should ask Davids here?"
Connor blushed a deeper red as Daniel nodded. "Oh yeah, he can definitely hook you up. Most of the military thinks he's some kind of computer god. Sam and Sheppard definitely cater to him… Lorne as well. But he doesn't really ask for much."
"They do not…" Connor protested. "… do they?"
John laughed. "I can definitely tell you that you've been missed. Rodney's back to complaining about Marines acting like cavemen and breaking their computers. And sorry, Con, we definitely cater to you."
"I… I don't ask you to." He protested lightly.
John kissed Connor's nose. "Nope. You get it anyways."
"We're gonna talk about this."
"We are, are we?" John asked with a smirk. "Deal with it, we all love you."
Connor sighed and continued.
Connor had just finished his second beer when a second later Daniel finished his third. Cam, since he was driving, had stuck to Coke. Connor would have had a third, but it was getting late and he really wanted to get home.
They sat there for an hour or so after their food had been taken away. Cam had ordered some ice cream and Daniel stole part of it. Connor ordered cheesecake and thought it was pretty good for a steakhouse.
"Connor."
"Hmm?"
"I love you and I want to know everything about you, but really, I can live without a blow by blow of everything you ate."
"So skip to the good part?"
"Yes, please."
"I have to go to the bathroom." Daniel declared, standing up.
"Well, be quick, Jackson. I told Cinderella we'd have him home by one." Cam said with a grin, jerking a thumb in Connor's direction.
Daniel laughed and Connor blushed. "I'll just be a minute."
Cam and Connor waited. And waited. And waited.
"Should I go check up on him?" Connor asked quietly.
"In the bathroom?"
Connor nodded and stood. "I'll be right back."
"This is not sounding good." John said. His voice was strained and he was mentally bracing himself for whatever came next.
Connor squeezed his hand.
Connor pushed the bathroom door open and immediately tensed. He could hear noises of a fight. He pushed the door all the way open. "Daniel?"
Daniel was there, along with eight huge men. Connor had seen them come in earlier on motorcycles. Daniel was attempting to hold his own as three of them attempted to beat the shit out of him.
"What's this? Another fairy?" One of the guys asked.
Connor relaxed his body. "You don't want to fight me."
"Oh, don't we?" Another asked, already stalking towards Connor.
Connor changed his stance, arms at the ready, body braced, adrenaline pumping into his veins. John was really not going to like this.
Four of the men charged him and Connor could only fight back as Daniel continued fighting in the corner.
"Four guys came after you?! What the hell, Connor?!"
Connor winced. "It wasn't so bad, you know I've fought more than four at once."
"Which doesn't explain how you ended up black and blue."
"I was getting there."
Connor ducked another punch and swung his leg in a roundhouse kick at a man behind him. He went down briefly and then got back up. That was the problem. These guys kept getting back up.
Connor worked his way through them to Daniel's side. The other man looked horrible and Connor pushed him behind him.
"Stay there, Daniel."
Daniel hesitated. "Connor…"
"I can do this. Just stay there."
"Okay."
Connor punched one of them in the face and brought his hand down swiftly to the man's neck, hitting a nerve. The man screamed lightly and fell to the floor. Connor barely spared him a glance as his foot found another man's stomach.
"Jackson? Davids?"
Connor looked away momentarily from the man in front of him. Cam had come bursting into the bathroom. That second of distraction ended with Connor getting a fist shoved in his face. He reeled for a second and kept going.
Cam jumped into the fighting.
"Wait so Mitchell distracted you? Exactly how big were these guys?"
"Uh…"
"Connor." John warned.
"They all probably outweighed me by a hundred pounds and several centimeters of height."
"Jesus, fuck, you went to Earth and got beat up by some biker gang?"
Connor winced. "Maybe?"
"That seals it. You're never going anywhere without me ever again."
Connor sighed. "I could probably deal with that."
"Tell me what happened next."
Connor inwardly groaned when he saw that Daniel was fighting someone else again. Connor knew that Daniel could take care of himself, but the man had three beers in him and had already been injured.
He ducked and put his fist in the guy's sternum. The man fell to the floor with a groan. A foot landed in Connor's stomach but he quickly pulled himself together and made sure his foot landed in the guy's face.
Three down.
He looked at Cam. There was one body on the ground by him and then the man he was fighting.
So four down.
Connor hesitated before leaving Cam to fight by himself. He made his way back to Daniel's side. Connor pulled one man off of Daniel and quickly kneed him in the back leaving the man writhing on the floor. Now Connor was pissed off.
He pulled the second man away and shot a kick to his face before turning and planting another one in his torso. Connor grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back, jerking his wrist up towards his shoulders. He brought a knee around and pushed it into the man's groin. The man fell to his knees on the floor.
Connor spared Daniel a glance, the other man looked like he might pass out, before heading over to Cam. Cam was putting up a pretty decent fight. Connor was a little impressed. Cam had just punched the man in the stomach when Connor approached. Connor grabbed the man's arm, used some momentum and physics to flip the guy onto his back harshly. The man met his eyes briefly before passing out. Cam looked up at him, impressed.
"Wow."
There was that word again.
Connor shook his head. "Check on Daniel."
He bent down to get the pulse of the man underneath him. He moved on to each of the men, checking that they were all still alive and breathing. He also made sure to pull out each of their wallets and look at their name. When he finished he looked up to find Cam and Daniel hovering by the entrance. Cam had an arm under Daniel's shoulders and was helping the other man stand. Connor thought Cam probably needed a little help standing too. Instead he just moved to Daniel's other side and slipped his arm under Cam's, relieving some of the weight.
"Wait, so that's it? You went to get food and Jackson gets attacked in the bathroom?" John exhaled. "That's so… crazy, Connor. All three of you go off-world regularly and you can't even get a steak without being attacked?"
Connor pulled his and John's joined hands up to their mouth and kissed John's. "Daniel told me that they thought he was gay. They saw him eating some of Cam's ice cream… he was attacked in that bathroom, John. His eyes… Daniel's seen a lot of things, but in this… in this I think he was still innocent."
"So were you, Con." John said quietly.
"Not completely." Connor said. "And Cam… he was so angry, John. I'm so angry. I should have checked on Daniel sooner. I should have been watching the other people, I just… How could this happen?"
Connor's eyes were wet and a tear slid down them into the pillow under his head. John felt one leave his own eye. He pulled Connor closer. "Shh…"
"He was bleeding so much, John." Connor said softly.
"I know."
"I wanted--I wanted to hurt them. I wanted to make them pay. And I could. I knew how."
John felt his husband shudder. He ran his hands up Connor's bare back. "It's alright that you didn't."
Connor shook his head against John's body. "It doesn't feel alright, John. It feels horrible. What if they do that again? To someone else who doesn't have two friends?"
"Did you report it?"
"Cam did. I gave him the names. It's not enough, though."
"There was nothing else you could have done, Con."
"I know." Connor whispered. He looked up at John, cheeks glistening with tears. "I don't understand all of this John. How can people be so mad at someone, so angry at someone they've never met? They don't know Daniel. They don't know that he's a great guy, so nice and kind. They hate him because he likes men as well as women. How can someone just hate someone they don't know?"
John took a deep breath and pushed some hair out of Connor's face gently. "It's really easy, Con. You don't think of them as people, as normal people. You convince yourself that you're helping the world be a better place. When you think you have the moral high ground, everything is so easy."
Connor blinked up at John and ran his hand across John's face. "You hated the men you killed, John?"
John nodded. "I had to. I had to or I would have eaten my gun after the first one."
"That's war, John. This was dinner." Connor said quietly.
"It's all the same, Con. War is just justification to the rest of the world. Those men had no right to do that to Jackson or you or Mitchell. I know you wanted to hurt them, but I think, a few years down the road you will be glad you didn't."
Connor offered John a sad smile. "Maybe."
John touched Connor's cheek. "And in a few years if you still want to kill them dead, I'll be there with you to help you hide the bodies."
Connor let out a soft laugh. "Thank you, John."
"How much pain are you in?" John asked quietly.
"It's not that bad. I don't think any of my ribs are bruised--"
"Don't think?" John groaned. "Did any of you get checked out?"
"Um… well, it was really late when we got back and we left so early…"
John sighed and turned to the bedside table, reaching for his headset. "Sheppard to Jackson."
"Jackson here."
"Get your ass to the infirmary and get Mitchell's ass there too."
There was a long pause and then. "We're already on our way. Sam ordered us to go."
"Got it. Sheppard out."
John rolled out of bed. "Up, up, Con."
"John." Connor moaned. "I'm fine."
"You could be bleeding out internally. Let's go. I'll get you some sweat clothes." John said, leaving no room for argument.
Connor sighed but slowly got out of bed. John dug through their dresser to come up with a zip-up hoodie of his and a pair of track pants that John honestly wasn't sure who they belonged to anymore. Connor pulled on the pants faster than they had taken his other ones off and he dug his feet into his shoes while John slipped the jacket onto his shoulders. Connor pulled his ring off of his dog tags and handed them to John.
Connor's dog tag was on top, followed by one of the ones that John had given him as a wedding present with his married name and then John's rested on the bottom, closest to his skin. Keller wouldn't see any but the top.
John slid Connor's ring onto his own necklace next to his own.
"Do you outrank Cam?" Connor asked as they left their quarters, heading for the transporter.
John sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That's a bit tricky." He answered. "Yes… I guess. I have the time in grade ahead of him, but only by a couple months. So really, not really."
"But you're military commander of Atlantis, doesn't that put you ahead of him here?"
John nodded as they stepped into the lift. "Yeah. Even when Caldwell's in the city, I technically have power over him, but it's not something I've ever exercised, for the most part."
"When it comes down to chain of command, though, you outrank Cam?"
"Yeah. But it's sort of a courtesy that I wouldn't really use."
"The military does courtesy?" Connor asked as the lift stopped. They stepped out on the infirmary's level.
John laughed. "I do courtesy."
"Oh." Connor paused. "And you can order Daniel to the infirmary?"
"You really ask the hard questions, Con." John said fondly. "Since the city is under military control now, yes. Back when Elizabeth was in charge… I probably couldn't. But I could get Keller to order Jackson in."
"Oh. But if the city is under military control doesn't that make Sam the military leader of Atlantis?"
John exhaled. "It's a bit more complicated than that. Colonel Carter and I talked about it and had several discussions with the SGC. She's essentially a military Elizabeth. She is needed to oversee the city and everything that goes on. That includes the scientists and the military. But since there really aren't enough hours in the day… the military has been delegated back to me like it was before. So while Carter is my boss, I'm everybody else's. It's understood that while she is ranking officer and everyone has to follow her, I'm to be considered the military leader."
"Oh." Connor turned to look at John as they quickly approached the infirmary doors. "Shouldn't you have more work to do then?"
John grinned. "That's what Lorne is for."
"Ah."
John maneuvered Connor into the brightly lit infirmary. Jackson was already sitting on a gurney, in just his underwear, while Mitchell was sitting on a bed next to him with his shirt off. They both had nurses poking them and John winced as one of them touched a particularly dark bruise on Jackson's torso.
"Dr. Davids." Keller greeted from next to them. "Please take a seat on the bed next to Colonel Mitchell's."
Connor sighed and shot John a betrayed sort of look before making his way over to the bed. John just grinned and helped Connor out of his sweatshirt. The linguist carefully sat on the bed and John tried not to hover like a worried husband. Keller came over to them and gestured for Connor to lay back.
"Should you, um, be helping the others?" Connor asked softly.
Keller smiled warmly. "Dr. Wright is already with Dr. Jackson and Dr. Chan will be with Colonel Mitchell shortly. You're all mine, Dr. Davids."
Connor blushed and John hid a smile. "Um, call me Connor, please."
She smiled again. "Sure thing." Her hands moved gently down Connor's torso and John's husband winced a bit. "Nothing feels broken… give me some numbers, Connor."
Connor closed his eyes. "Um, probably a three for the stomach."
"What else hurts?" She asked immediately.
Connor hesitated. "I've had a headache for a while."
"Start of a migraine?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when we're finished here, I can give you something for it to take with you."
"Thanks." Connor said quietly.
"I don't think anything bleeding, but I want to get a body scan just to make sure. Dr. Jackson's going to go first and then we'll get you in after him." She smiled as she pulled her stethoscope out from around her neck. "Can you sit back up? I want to listen to your lungs."
John gently settled a hand on Connor's back and helped him sit up. The younger man flashed John a grateful smile and John let his hand drop as Keller set the round end of the stethoscope on Connor's back.
"Take a deep breath, please." She asked. Connor inhaled slowly. "And exhale." Connor's chest deflated. "And one more time." She smiled. "Sounds pretty good. Are you the one who bandaged everyone up?"
"Um, yeah, sorry. They didn't want to go to the infirmary and I read that field medic book you gave me…"
"It's fine, Connor. I was just checking. You did a good job from what I can tell."
"Thanks." Connor said with a blush.
Connor's radio beeped and he looked up at John. John reached out and took the radio out of his ear.
"Lorne to Davids."
John tapped the radio. "Major Lorne this is Colonel Sheppard--Dr. Davids is in the infirmary."
"Is he alright, sir?"
John was pretty sure Lorne and his team were about to show up in the infirmary. "That remains to be seen."
Connor rolled his eyes. Keller pulled back and re-wrapped the stethoscope around her neck and Connor made a grab for his radio. John let him have it.
"I'm fine, Evan… well, uh, yeah but--… you really don't need to… about an hour… uh, well, I didn't get hurt on Atlantis… yeah… no, John is here…" Connor squinted up at John. "He'll stay… Dr. Keller wants me to get scanned and then I can go…" Connor blushed suddenly and John really wished he knew what his XO had said to the other man. "Yeah… Davids out." Connor put the radio back in his ear.
"Is he coming?" John asked.
"Um, I think so."
"Doc!?"
Connor reached for his sweatshirt but it was too late. Lorne was suddenly in front of both of them, Reed, Parrish and Coughlin behind him. "Hey, Evan."
"What happened?"
"Geez, Doc I hope you kicked their ass in return." Reed remarked.
"He did." John put in.
All at once they seemed to notice he was there and John got three hastily composed salutes. He offered one back and they lowered their arms and returned their attention to Connor.
"What happened?" Lorne repeated.
"Ran into some angry bikers on Earth." Mitchell said from the next bed over.
"Very angry." Jackson added.
"You beat up a biker gang?" Coughlin asked Connor.
Connor flushed and Mitchell and Jackson nodded.
"I don't know if they were really a, uh, gang." The linguist offered.
"Way to go, Doc!" Reed said, offering Connor a high five that the scientist reluctantly returned.
Coughlin held out his fist and Connor glanced at John before bumping it with his own. Parrish just winked at Connor and when Connor blushed John wondered what Connor knew about the botanist that John didn't. Lorne leaned in and gave Connor a hug. One Connor returned.
"Glad you're back, Doc."
"Me too, Evan."
Connor closed his eyes and winced before opening them again. The headache that had lingered all day had finally turned into a full blown migraine. John was curled up behind him, asleep, but Connor hadn't been so lucky. His head was pounding so badly that he couldn't think beyond the pain, he couldn't relax enough to fall asleep.
Closing his eyes hurt, as they tried to focus behind his eyelids so Connor kept them open in the dark. Every breath was painful and Connor tried not to think about how good it would feel to just stop breathing for a while.
He weakly reached a hand out and curled his fingers into John's which had been resting on Connor's stomach. Their wedding rings clanked quietly as they hit each other.
His head hurt.
Connor tried to steady his breathing. He could already feel bile rising up in his throat. Every second was more painful than the last and Connor wasn't at all sure that he wasn't about to puke everywhere.
The pills Keller had given him were on the bedside table, along with a glass of water. Connor knew they weren't a painkiller, but a sedative, so that he would fall asleep. Too bad he couldn't move to reach them. If breathing hurt, Connor didn't want to find out how much doing anything else would hurt.
He held his breath and the pain lessened by a small degree, only to come back in full force as he exhaled. He felt a tear leak out of his eye and Connor started to pray in equal parts that his head would and wouldn't explode. He was hoping it would so that the pain would be over, he was hoping it wouldn't because then the pain would permanently be over.
Connor took a deep breath and tried not to close his eyes. "John."
"Mmm, Connor?"
"John." He whispered again.
John shifted on the bed and Connor moaned.
"Shit, sorry." John said quietly. "You want the pills?"
"Yes."
Connor tried not to die as John fumbled around in the dark for the sedatives.
"You have to sit up." John whispered softly.
"I might puke." Connor warned shakily.
"I have a bucket."
John's hands went to Connor's back and then Connor was gently being eased into a sitting position. His head swam and Connor felt blood rush out and the pounding increased. His head was hot and his eyes hurt so much that Connor was sure they were about to fall out. He grabbed John's hand and squeezed tightly.
A bucket appeared under his face and a second later Connor lost what little dinner John had managed to get into him. A warm hand rubbed his back and Connor shook with pain. It hurt to sit up, it hurt to throw up and now that he had, Connor wasn't sure he could keep the pills down.
"Should I call Keller?" John asked quietly. John was doing everything quietly.
Connor tightened his hand on John's. He didn't want his husband to leave. Connor gasped before heaving again. His stomach was churning, his head was pounding and Connor just wanted to stop breathing.
"Please, John." Connor begged.
"Whatever you need, Con."
"Let me stop breathing." He pleaded.
Connor heard John swallow and this time it was John's hand that squeezed his. "I can't do that."
"Please." Connor sobbed. "It really hurts."
"I know." John said soothingly. "I'm going to call Keller, okay?"
"Don't leave."
"I have to put on a shirt." John paused. "If I help you lay down again, do you think your stomach will be okay?"
"Don't know." Connor whispered. John handed him some water and held it against his mouth. Connor took a small sip, rinsing his mouth out before spitting the water out into the bucket.
John set the water and the bucket aside and he gently, so gently, helped Connor lie back onto the bed. Connor gasped as his head tilted back and his hand grabbed a bit of John's pajama pants and squeezed.
Connor wasn't really sure what happened after that.
John called in sick. Lorne obviously knew he wasn't, as did Carter, but neither of them said anything. Well, Carter told him to take a few days. He was pretty sure both of them thought he was getting laid in some capacity. John wished he were.
Instead he was more worried than he'd ever been in his life. He was propped up against the wall on his and Connor's bed. He had a pillow in his lap and Connor's head was on the pillow. His husband's breathing was ragged and John was keeping tabs on Connor's pulse.
Last night had scared him. Connor had begged John to let him stop breathing. More than once. It was all the younger man kept asking after Keller arrived.
Keller had been worried too, John could tell. She stopped by every hour to check on Connor. She hadn't said anything about finding John in Connor's room and John figured they would cross that bridge if they ever came to it. He would talk to Ronon and ask the Satedan to politely talk to Keller. It was time that she knew.
John glanced at his watch. Keller would be there in another fifteen minutes for her seventh check-up.
Connor had been crying last night. Tears streamed down his face as he pleaded with John. John was pretty sure he would never forget his husband asking him to help him stop breathing.
Keller had arrived with an IV. John wasn't sure what was in it, but he knew it was potent. He knew she was worried about the effects it might have on Connor. Hence why John was monitoring Connor's breathing and pulse. If at any time Connor's breathing became shallow or his pulse sped up too much, John was to call her immediately.
He knew that Connor should really be in the infirmary but his husband had pleaded with both of them to let John stay. Keller hadn't been able to say no and John was pretty sure he would have cried if Keller had moved Connor to the infirmary. John couldn't follow the younger man there and they all knew it.
Connor let out a small moan and John ran his fingers through Connor's red-brown hair. His eyes roamed over the rest of Connor's body that he could see.
John was pleased to note that Connor didn't seem to have lost much weight in the past month, something John had been seriously worried about. He wondered how much of that was thanks to Mitchell's apparent nagging.
John gazed at his husband and felt love pulsing through him.
"I love you." John whispered to the unconscious man. "Mo chuisle mo chroí." [Pulse of my heart]
Connor blinked awake slowly. His head felt fuzzy--but it didn't hurt anymore--his body was a little stiff and he could definitely use a toothbrush. And a toilet. Not in that order. Connor pushed up off of the bed, surprised that John wasn't in it with him. He brought the lights up part way to find Evan sleeping in a chair by his bed. Something caught his arm and he looked down to find an IV needle sticking out of it, connected to a plastic line. His eyes followed the line up to where it was hanging on a pole.
Connor wondered how long he'd been asleep. He picked his watch up from the bedside table. 0834. Now Connor was wondering what day it was. Except that his bladder wasn't about to wait long enough for him to ask Evan.
He carefully stood up and took a deep breath against the lightheadedness that hit him. The linguist grabbed the two bags attached to his IV line and then stumbled a bit across the room and into the bathroom. The door shut firmly behind him and he quickly relieved himself. He sighed and the toilet flushed. Connor set the small pouches of medication on the sink and then washed his hands. When he finished with that he reached for his toothbrush.
"Doc?"
Connor spit toothpaste out. "Yeah?"
"Everything okay?'
"Yeah."
He finished brushing and put his toothbrush back into the holder next to John's. It looked much better standing next to another than it had all alone in his quarters at the SGC.
Connor splashed some water on his face and dried it before opening the door again. Evan was hovering nervously on the other side. His best friend stepped forward and grabbed the two bags attached to Connor's IV and then wrapped an arm around Connor's waist.
"I've called for some food."
"I'm not really hungry."
"Colonel Sheppard's orders." Evan said firmly. "And Keller will be here soon."
They slowly made their way across the room and Connor sat back down onto the bed while Evan hung the IV bags back up. "Where is John?"
"He got called off-world."
"At eight thirty in the morning?"
Evan shook his head. "He's been gone since last night."
"Last night…? What day is it?"
"You've been back for three days, Doc." Evan said gently. "If you hadn't woken in the next couple of hours, Keller was gonna give you something to wake you up."
Connor frowned. "Three days? I don't… I don't really remember much."
"You've been in and out of it." Evan told him. "Mostly out of it. I know that Colonel Sheppard was looking a bit haggard when he showed up in the middle of the night telling me that I'd better not let anything happen to you while he was gone."
Connor winced a little. "Sorry."
Evan waved it away. "It's okay. How are you feeling?"
Connor blinked. "My head feels a little… floaty."
His friend nodded. "From what I understand they had you on some pretty strong stuff."
The linguist ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends to try and stop them from sticking up all over.
"Wait." Evan said.
Connor froze. "What?"
His best friend reached for his hand and Connor let Evan grab it. Evan turned Connor's hand over and studied his ring.
"I've never seen this up close before." Evan explained. "It's pretty awesome."
Connor blushed. "Thank you. John's is different than mine."
"Yeah?"
"His has a knot pattern… ask him to show you."
"I'll do that."
The door beeped and Evan let go of Connor's hand and went to go get the food. Jake Reed was on the other side with a huge tray full of stuff. He followed Evan back into the room.
"I'll make you some tea." Evan said and moved to the other side of the room.
Jake took Evan's seat and settled the tray onto his lap. "Hey, Doc. You had us pretty worried there for a while."
Connor frowned. "Sorry."
"As long as you're okay now." He offered a bowl of soup to Connor and Connor reluctantly accepted it. It was tomato.
The scientist took a small sip and it was like someone flipped a switch inside of him. Connor was suddenly ravenous and he held the bowl up to his face and slowly drank down the hot liquid. He finished it in record time and sheepishly handed the empty bowl back to Jake while accepting a napkin. His eyes were glued to Connor's hand.
Jake's face adopted a hurt expression. "You got married."
Connor hesitated. "Bonded. On New Athos."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I'm sorry." Connor whispered. "We only told five people."
"I wouldn't tell anyone, Doc."
"He's in the military. I--I can't say anything, Jake. I'm sorry."
Jake nodded slowly. "I get it." He paused. "Will you tell me someday?"
Connor bit his lip. "If I can."
"That's all I ask."
"I'm sorry." Connor whispered again.
"It's okay, Doc." Jake smiled weakly.
Connor gently squeezed Jake's arm before reaching for some toast.
"Have you seen my team?" Connor asked softly, changing the topic.
"I'm not positive, but I think they gated out with Colonel Sheppard's team along with SGA-3 and SGA-9."
"They did." Evan offered, walking over with a mug of steaming liquid. He held it out to Connor who accepted the tea.
"What happened?" Connor asked.
Evan shifted a little. "Perelli's team got lost."
"Lost?" Connor blinked.
"They gated to some jungle planet with… some sort of magnetic thingy that doesn't work well with technology and makes their compasses spin."
To Connor that sounded absolutely fascinating. But he could see where that would be a problem. "Oh."
"So Colonel Sheppard's team, Ramsey's team, Mason's team and De Rosa's team all gated out with jumpers."
"How do the jumpers work with the interference?" Connor asked before taking a sip of his tea.
Evan scratched his head. "You know… I have no idea. You'd have to ask McKay."
Connor decided he'd ask Eric instead. "So what's been going on with, uh… you know…?"
"We've got the petition finished." Evan said. "Every single civilian has signed it, along with every member of the military not from the US."
"And the cameras?"
Evan frowned a little. "We've got confirmed chatter amongst four of the suspects."
"What about the other three?"
"Honestly?" Evan asked. "I think they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And, uh, so does the city. I think she turned their water back on."
Jake looked back and forth between them. "What's going on?"
Connor hesitated, "There's been some problems with harassment."
"Harassment?" Jake asked. "Who…?"
Evan shook his head. "It's probably better that you don't know."
Connor turned back to Evan. "Anything incriminating?"
"Not yet, they're pretty smart, Doc."
"Not smart enough."
Connor was sleeping when John got back. John really wanted his husband to take a shower with him. He kicked his boots off and threw his jacket over the back of the desk chair and then perched on the edge of the bed. John reached a hand out and gently shook Connor's shoulder.
"Con."
John grinned as one of Connor's hands moved out from the blanket to slap at him.
"Connor." He said, a little bit louder.
"What… Jo-ohn, 'm sleepin'."
John laughed. "Come take a shower with me."
"Sleeeepin'."
"Please." John said, leaning to next to Connor's ear. "Then I'll blow you and you can do me."
"Why can't you ever want to do that when I'm awake?" Connor asked, sitting up. The blankets pooled in his lap and John let his eyes roam over his naked husband.
"I always want to do that when you're awake." John countered with a grin.
"Oh yeah."
"C'mon." John pulled Connor up and out of the bed. The linguist shivered and then John felt the room start to warm up.
"I missed that." Connor said with a sigh.
"She spoils you." John said, pulling his shirt over his head.
"Yeah."
John worked his pants off and tossed them in the direction of the hamper. When he was as naked as Connor was he pulled his husband into a hug. "I can't wait to get you in me."
Connor blushed. "How was the mission?"
John laughed and pulled Connor along behind him towards the shower. "Fine. We're deleting that planet from the database though, it really kind of sucked."
"I wish we could take a bath together."
John paused at that as the city turned the water on for them. "There has to be a bathtub here somewhere."
"I'll look for one." Connor promised.
"Or maybe I can build one."
Connor eyed him funny. "You're going to build a bathtub?"
John sighed. "Yeah or not."
Connor smiled at him and pulled John into the shower. The water was hot and warmed their skin quickly. John ran his hands over Connor's body and he felt himself grow hard.
"Jesus, I don't know how long I can wait." John murmured.
Connor's fingers dipped into the space between John's cheeks, teasing him lightly. "You're the best thing I've seen in weeks."
"Ditto." John whispered.
"Let's get you clean first."
John groaned softly but nodded. He closed his eyes as Connor poured some shampoo into his hair. He'd missed this. John loved showering with Connor. He loved having the other man bathe him. Fingers massaged his scalp and John felt some suds slide down his face.
Connor gently tilted John's head back into the water and rinsed the shampoo out. When it ran clear John let his eyes open and watched as Connor squirted some soap onto a washcloth. He pulled John's body against his and slowly began to move the washcloth all across John's skin, down the front of his torso. It was incredibly sensual and incredibly intimate and John just relaxed into Connor's arms.
"Your stomach is okay?"
"It's fine." Connor promised, pressing a kiss to the back of John's shoulder. John didn't really believe that but let it go for now.
Connor had to separate their bodies as he bent down to wash John's legs. John leaned forward and braced an arm against the shower wall as Connor's hands moved up the back of his legs. The washcloth dipped between John's legs gently skimming his balls before moving back up across his butt. John moaned as Connor let a finger slide between his cheeks again.
"Don't tease me." John begged.
Connor pressed a kiss to John's back and the washcloth fell to the floor. "Bed."
John nodded. "Okay."
The water stopped and John didn't think he'd ever dried off so quickly in his life. He followed Connor back to their bed and rolled on top of him.
John covered Connor's mouth with his own. It tasted like home. He plunged his tongue into Connor's mouth and the younger man opened wider for him. Connor's hands trailed down John's back before stopping on his butt. The linguist gently squeezed each cheek and John moaned and rubbed their bodies together.
John was so hard that he wasn't sure he'd make it to the grand finale. Connor didn't seem to be in much better shape. They were both panting when John pulled away.
"Tá tú go h-álainn." Connor whispered.
John shook his head as he looked down at his husband. "Trust me," he said quietly. "If anyone's beautiful, it's you."
"No," Connor said, smiling so perfectly up at John. "Mo shíorghrá. You bring so much to my life, John." [My eternal love]
John was pretty sure he fell in love all over again just then. Connor was smiling up at him, their skin pressed together and hearts beating rapidly.
He kissed his way down Connor's body. His lips found every inch of available skin. Connor moaned softly with each kiss and John just really wanted to make it so that his husband never stopped making such amazing noises. Connor was pretty much humming with pleasure by the time John's mouth hovered over his erection.
[Edited Content]
"I missed you." John said, hooking his arms around Connor's neck. "I missed you so fucking much, you're never going anywhere without me again."
Connor let out a small. "I'll remember that."
"See that you do," John said, pulling Connor down into a kiss.
Later that night, after they'd both taken another shower, Connor was lying on John in his usual position. John had protested for all of two seconds, but Connor claimed the bruises didn't really hurt. So there they were, Connor's head pillowed on John's chest, his hand in John's dog tags. John had one hand going through Connor's slightly wet locks and the other was running fingers up and down the arm on his chest.
"Connor?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you seen someone about your migraines? A doctor?"
"Yeah."
"And they couldn't help?"
"No." There was a pause and then, "There's really not a lot known about them, John."
John knew this. He'd done research on them after finding out that Connor suffered from them. "You just… you were in so much pain."
"Yeah." Connor said softly.
"I wish I could help you."
"You help a lot, John."
"I don't do anything. I just sit there while you're in so much fucking pain…"
"John…" Connor let go of his dog tags to place a hand on John's cheek, gently pushing so that John would look down at him. "Before you… I passed out on the floor of my bathroom twice while in Atlantis… I puked all over the floor trying to get to the bathroom only to collapse next to it… it's not really something I'm proud of, but I'm telling you so you can know--you do a lot, John."
John swallowed. "Why didn't you ask for help?"
Connor released John's face and his hand once again found it's way to John's tags. "I didn't know anyone, I didn't want to bother the infirmary staff… take your pick. My da always said I was too independent in my suffering."
John was quiet for a long time. He listened to Connor's even breathing, the way his chest would expand and deflate against John's side. What seemed so easy for his husband now but had been so painful just three days ago.
"You begged me to let you stop breathing."
John blinked as he realized he'd said that out loud. He hadn't meant to say that, but now he couldn't take it back. And he didn't want to.
"I'm sorry." Connor said quietly. "I… I… my brain doesn't really think when it's hurting so much."
"You scared me a lot." John admitted softly. "Every time I had to tell you 'no', something twisted in my gut and you would get this look in your eyes… like I… betrayed you or something."
"I'm really sorry, John. Maybe I… I should… be by myself--"
"No."
"I don't want to hurt you--"
"No."
"You shouldn't have to--"
"Fuck, Connor." John swore and then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was much calmer when he said, "I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own. I'm your husband, Connor, not your roommate. I'd rather sit with you forever, while your words tear me to pieces, than spend another minute away from you. I love you. This is non-negotiable."
"John--"
"Non-negotiable." John repeated.
"Thank you." Connor whispered.
"You're welcome, Con."
"Rodney, did John mention him at all?"
Rodney sighed and froze. "Are you seriously asking that now?"
Eric nodded. "He's been back for days."
"And he's been sick or something." Rodney muttered.
"I haven't seen him once. You were with John all day, did he mention Connor?"
"What is it about sex that makes you think about Sheppard and Davids?" Rodney asked. "I mean, really, Eric, I'm going to start having some sort of psychological trauma if every time I put my dick in your ass you start babbling about Davids."
"Rodney."
"Eric."
Eric shrugged. Which Rodney thought was quite the feat considering he was basically bent in half, with his legs on Rodney's shoulders. "Sex relaxes me and gives me time to think."
"So we're making love and you're going through your daily mental list?!"
"Did you just say 'making love'?"
"No, and don't avoid the question."
"You so did." Eric smiled and Rodney felt something warm spread through his chest.
"Can we get back to this?" Rodney asked, gesturing to their joined bodies.
"Oh. Yes. Sorry."
Rodney rolled his eyes and started moving again.
"Hey."
Jennifer looked up from her computer to see her boyfriend standing in the doorway. "Ronon, hi." She smiled.
"How much longer do you have?"
Jennifer shrugged. "I don't have anything that absolutely needs to be finished tonight, why?"
Ronon gave her a look, one that Jennifer knew meant he had something he wanted to talk about. It had taken months for her to be able to tell his different looks apart. But it was so worth it. She quickly shut down her laptop, stood up and grabbed her jacket.
"You eat?" Ronon asked.
"Yeah, I had dinner a while ago."
Ronon led them up to his room and Jennifer couldn't help but glance at Dr. Davids' door. She had seen him earlier that morning, checking him over. She fought the urge to check on him now. Ronon ushered her into his room and closed the door.
They went about their nightly routine. Jennifer pulled on a large shirt of Ronon's to sleep in while Ronon slid into bed in only his boxers.
"So what did you want to talk about?" She asked quietly.
Ronon was playing with some of her hair and she was holding one of his hands, tracing all the small scars on it.
"Sheppard… asked me to talk to you about something."
Jennifer frowned. "If you don't want to talk about it, Ronon then that's okay with me."
"It's not that… I need you to promise you won't say anything about this to anyone else."
Jennifer glanced over at her boyfriend. "Of course."
"It's about Sheppard… and Irish."
She frowned. "What about them?"
"They're sharing pillows."
"Sharing pillows…? You mean they're… together?"
Suddenly it all made sense. The way Colonel Sheppard was always with Dr. Davids, how he had been there last night--had been the one to call her to the linguist's quarters. It was why so much of the base thought Davids was with Teyla even though Jennifer knew that Teyla was with Major Lorne. Teyla and Sheppard were friends and Teyla was Sheppard's beard, so to speak. Jennifer really couldn't believe she'd missed it. She'd thought about it a couple times but nothing had ever come of that.
"Yeah."
"Wow. I mean… I thought maybe… but then I always just dismissed it. They really don't give it away in public."
"Yeah."
"Who else knows?"
"Teyla, McKay, Lorne and that Marine… and the one with the glasses who came from Earth and talks too fast."
Jennifer laughed. "Dr. Jackson?"
"Yeah."
"So not many." Jennifer surmised. "How long have they been together?"
"Been bonded since right before the big party."
"Bonded?"
"On New Athos."
"Wow, so they're pretty serious."
"Yeah. On Sateda we would have called them eternamora--eternal lovers."
Jennifer smiled. "Thanks for telling me."
"Sure."
"Come have some tea with me." John said softly. He was sitting on the side of the bed, mug of tea in hand, trying to rouse his sleeping husband.
"What kind?" Connor asked, slowly pushing the blankets off of him.
"Some of that fruity stuff you brought back from Earth."
"The pomegranate?"
John held his tea up to his nose and inhaled. "If that's what this is."
"It smells like it." Connor answered. His hair was mussed from sleep and his eyes were only open part way, but to John he was beautiful.
"Go brush your teeth and then come sit with me." John patted Connor's leg and stood up.
"Only because I love you." Connor mumbled. He stumbled out of bed, heading blindly for the bathroom.
John took a sip of his tea before setting it down. He walked over to their dresser and pulled some boxers out for Connor. About five minutes after he entered the bathroom, Connor exited. He looked a little bit more awake and blushed lightly as John held out the boxers for him. The linguist slipped them on and followed John over to the big chair. John sat down and tugged Connor down on top of him. He handed a mug of tea to the younger man, before picking up his own again.
Connor's back was against John's chest and he was leaning backwards so that his head rested partly on John's shoulder and partly against the chair. John wrapped an arm around Connor's waist, settling his hand onto his husband's stomach.
"Tell me about the meetings you went to on Earth." John said softly.
Connor sighed and took a drink of his tea before answering him. "I can't really say much."
"What can you say?"
"Do you remember me mentioning last year that the new presidential candidate was running on gay rights issues?"
John scrunched his forehead. "Vaguely."
"And then he got elected."
"Really? That was him?"
"Yeah." Connor nodded. "I, uh, met with some people and there's a bill right now, in Congress, that could change a lot, John."
"Good change or bad change?"
"Philosophically some argue that change can only be good." The linguist commented.
John tightened the arm around Connor's waist. "How about not philosophically?"
"I'd say good."
"Hmm." John slowly relaxed his grip. "Tell me about Mitchell."
"What about him?" Connor asked. He took a large gulp of tea and sighed happily.
"You seem to have spent a lot of time with him on Earth."
"Yeah. He… he reminded me of you a bit. Him and Daniel are funny to watch together."
"Carter says he's here indefinitely."
"Cool. I like him."
"How was your first Thanksgiving?"
Connor took another sip and then set his tea aside. "He has a lot of family."
"He seems like the kind of person who would." John remarked.
"And they're all very loud."
"So not your kind of people?" John asked with a laugh.
"Not really. One of his cousins kept asking if I wanted to go on a hayride with her."
John hid a smile. "What did you tell her?"
"That I was allergic to hay." Connor admitted.
"You are?"
"No." The younger man shook his head. "I lied to get her to leave me alone."
"Did it work?"
"Um, sort of. She stopped asking about the hayride and then started asking me if I liked pie."
"Oh really?" John drawled.
Connor's hand played with the one on his stomach, occasionally lacing his and John's fingers together. "I told her that I like pie."
John laughed. "And then what?"
"And then apparently Daniel or Cam told her that I really like butterscotch and the next day there was a butterscotch pie with dinner."
"There's a butterscotch pie?"
"Apparently."
"Did you eat it?"
"Yeah, well, some of it. It was really good."
"And then what?" John asked.
"Then Cam's family watched some socc--football." He corrected himself.
"Did you watch? Who played?"
Connor shook his head. "I didn't watch. I helped Cam's mom and aunts wash dishes."
"And the cousin?"
"She was putting extra food away."
"And then what?"
"Daniel and I went outside to talk."
"To talk?" John asked.
Connor shrugged. "Mostly about the work we were doing."
"Ah."
"And then Lucy came outside and joined us."
"Lucy is the cousin?"
"Yeah."
"How old was this Lucy?"
"Um… maybe late twenties? I'm not sure. I can ask Cam."
"No, I'm just curious."
"Oh. Well, she told me she had been dating a guy but then he got shipped out to Iraq and he dumped her."
"Didn't want to leave someone behind." John murmured.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. She didn't seem very happy about it, though."
"I imagine she wouldn't be."
"Anyways, we left the next day and she, uh, gave me another butterscotch pie to eat when we got back."
"You should have gotten the recipe."
"I did. I e-mailed her and she sent it."
"E-mailed?"
"Yeah, her e-mail address was with the pie."
"Ah."
Connor reached across John and grabbed his tea again. He took a few sips before setting it back down. John finished off his tea and set his empty mug next to Connor's.
"John?"
"Yeah?" John rubbed his hand over Connor's stomach.
"Was she… I mean did she want…"
"In your pants?" John grinned. "Definitely."
"John." Connor said with a blush.
John chuckled. "What? It's the truth."
"I was wearing my wedding ring."
John shrugged. "But you never mentioned a wife, did you?"
Connor was quiet for a moment. "No."
"For all she knew, you had been widowed or something. I mean, you did spend Thanksgiving with Mitchell and Jackson… that doesn't exactly scream romantic entanglement."
"Oh."
"What about that other Marine you mentioned?"
"Rachael?"
"Yeah."
"What about her?"
"You're… friends?"
"Yes." Connor paused. "Is that okay?"
"You're allowed to have friends, Con." John said quietly.
"I know, I just… wanted to make sure."
"Well, it's definitely okay with me." John told him, pressing a kiss to the side of Connor's head. "How're the bruises?"
"They're--"
"And no lying."
"--a bit sore." Connor admitted. "I can't believe I did so badly."
"Did so badly with what?"
"With blocking all the punches. I should have been able to block them all easily."
"Well, you did have two beers in you by then." John reminded him.
"Yeah… I don't think I want to drink in public anymore."
"Well now, that's not very Irish of you." John teased.
"It slowed my reflexes."
"Yeah, probably." John agreed. "But I doubt you thought you would be attacked while out to dinner."
"Daniel was attacked, I just sorta… stepped in. I don't know why they chose Daniel. He's… he doesn't seem that gay to me."
"I think it's the muscles." The older man said. "I'm pretty sure he wasn't always so buff, though."
"Still… I'm way more gay than he is."
John laughed. "I guess it depends on how you're defining gay. I think Jackson's probably slept with more men than you have."
Connor turned to him and gaped. "What? Really?"
John nodded. "For sure."
"Hmm, well it only takes two." Connor mused.
"Yup."
"But he's also slept with more women."
"Yup."
"Do you think it was me?" Connor asked softly. "Like they knew I was gay and since Daniel was sitting next to me…"
"If you're asking if I think it was your fault… the answer is definitely 'no', Con. It was no one's fault. Well, maybe it was their fault for being so close-minded."
"They don't know what they're missing." Connor murmured, interlocking his and John's fingers again.
"Exactly." John pressed another soft kiss to the side of Connor's forehead.
"I love you, John." Connor said, turning his head to look at John.
John smiled. "I love you too, Connor."
"John?"
"Hmm?"
John looked up from his computer to glance at his husband. Connor was turned in his seat and looking at him. They were both in the linguist's lab, John was situated on Connor's couch and Connor was working. John had basically followed the younger man to work after they had lunched together. John had his laptop and was working on performance reviews. Every thirty minutes or so he tried to talk his husband into making out on the couch with him. So far, Connor wasn't going for it. John was sure he would eventually.
"Why do people in the US keep their eggs in the refrigerator?"
John was pretty sure he was used to Connor's questions about the US by now, but this one actually baffled him.
"What?"
"Their eggs--they keep them in the refrigerator. I saw it at Cam's apartment. I, uh, didn't want to ask him…"
"So you thought you'd ask me?"
"Yep."
"You don't keep eggs in the fridge in Ireland?"
Connor frowned. "No."
"Where did you put them?"
"In the pantry."
"What?"
"In the pantry." Connor repeated. "The cupboard."
"But… in the stores they're in the refrigerated section… you just went home and stored them in the cupboard?"
"What are you talking about, John? In the store they're just on the shelves."
"Not in the States. You never went shopping while you lived in Colorado? Or California?"
Connor shook his head. "Uh, my mother went shopping for us in California, and in Colorado I just ate on base."
"You really kept your eggs on the shelf?"
"Yes."
John blinked. "That is so fucking weird."
"So everyone in the US keeps them in the refrigerator?"
"Well, I can't speak for everyone, but everyone that I've ever met--yeah."
"Oh. Is it better for the eggs?"
"I thought it made them last longer." John told him.
"Oh." Connor smiled at him. "Thanks." With that he turned and went back to his work.
John shook his head and turned his attention back to his computer. Then he remembered.
"Want to make-out now?"
Connor didn't turn around, he just answered, "Give me ten minutes."
John grinned. He had the best fucking husband in the world.
Connor groaned a little when someone rung the door to his lab. John didn't seem too bothered as he sucked Connor's top lip back into his mouth. His hands were slowly making their way down the inside of Connor's pants. Connor was sitting on top of John's lap, facing him and straddling his waist.
The door chimed again.
"Mmm, John…" Connor murmured, in between kisses. "I have to get that."
"No you don't."
Connor was pretty sure that John had done away with Connor's higher brain functions sometime in the past twenty minutes because he completely agreed and went back to letting John have his way with Connor's mouth.
The door chimed again and this time John groaned.
"Can't they take a hint?"
"Ignore it." Connor mumbled and kissed John's chin.
"Good idea."
John's mouth landed on his again and a finger fell between Connor's cheeks, gently rubbing the soft skin there. Connor easily maneuvered his tongue into John's mouth, licking at the inside of it. John hummed with pleasure and swiped his own tongue across Connor's.
When they pulled back, Connor took large gulps of air to try and catch his breath. He rested his head on John's shoulder, nuzzling his husband's neck, occasionally pressing a kiss to John's pulse point.
The door ran again and Connor sighed. "What if someone needs me?"
"Your radio hasn't beeped." John murmured.
Connor's radio was sitting next to John's on the arm of the couch. It was close enough that they would hear a call on it but far enough again that they didn't have to worry about hitting them off of the couch.
The linguist froze. "Wait, what time is it?" He pulled back from John's body and glanced at his watch. "Oh no."
Connor carefully extracted John's hand from his pants and John made a soft noise of protest. The younger man scooted backwards off of John's lap. His face was flushed and his clothes were wrinkled and if John's lips were any indication of his own, than Connor know they were swollen beyond belief. He ran a hand down his clothes anyways, aware that it was a futile attempt to straighten up.
He jogged over to the door and let Eric in.
"Eric, hi."
The corporal took one look at Connor and raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"
Connor nodded. "Yes, sorry. I, um, lost track of time."
Eric looked skeptical at that and Connor followed his gaze over to John who definitely looked like he'd just been making out with Connor. Despite the laptop he was using to try and cover his lap.
"Should I come back?" Eric asked with a small smile.
"Uh, no, sorry… just give me a minute, please?"
"Sure thing."
Connor walked back over to John and John, in response, stood up to meet him.
"Sorry." Connor whispered into John's ear.
"That's alright." John murmured. His hands ran up the Connor's back. "Did you have something planned?"
"We're going to work out in the gym."
"Your gym?" John asked.
"No, Eric wants me to spot him on the bench."
"You're going to bench press?" His husband asked in a disapproving tone.
Connor shook his head. "Not today. I'm, uh, still a bit sore from what happened on Earth."
"Be careful." John pleaded. "Don't over do it, Con."
"I won't. We should be finished in an hour or so." Connor met John's hazel-green eyes. "Are you going back to your office?"
"Yeah, for a bit. Come find me when you're through?"
"If you want me to." Connor answered with a smile.
"I definitely want you to." John told him, tugging Connor a little bit closer. "Have fun."
"I will." Connor promised.
"And really, please be careful." John looked over the younger man's shoulder briefly before looking back at Connor and offeering him a soft kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, John."
Lorne looked up as John entered his office.
"Good afternoon, sir."
"'afternoon." John returned. He took the seat across from Lorne and set his laptop down on his desk.
"I've set up the schedule for next month's OTS, sir."
John hadn't really liked Officer Training School, and honestly, he liked teaching it even less. But because they had so many young recruits on Atlantis the SGC had asked if John and Lorne would hold some classes, while the rest could be done through correspondence. John couldn't really say 'no' so now he was stuck teaching the damn classes and feeling older by the minute.
"Great."
"Did you get the gate team schedules finished, sir?"
John nodded. "Yeah. Let me send it to you."
"Thank you, sir."
John clicked open his e-mail and sent the new schedules to Lorne. After the major reviewed them, then Carter and all gate team leaders would receive a copy.
"Is Connor feeling better today, sir?"
"Yeah." John paused. "Well, his migraine's gone. He's still sore from the fight on Earth."
"In my head I know that he can take care of himself," Lorne said. "But it's a bit hard to picture him taking on a biker gang, sir."
John totally agreed and tried not to picture it at all as every time he did his heart would leap into his throat.
"Agreed." John said.
"Sir?"
John looked up from his laptop at his second in command. "Major?"
Lorne hesitated. "I was wondering… the Doc mentioned that you have a different ring than him and I was just wondering if I could see it, sir."
John raised an eyebrow. It was a personal request that John hadn't expected, especially coming from Lorne. He nodded though and pulled his ring out from underneath his shirt. John leaned forward across the desk and Lorne moved to match his position. Holding the ring out, John watched his XO study the wedding ring.
"Doc said they were… knots?"
"Celtic knots." John confirmed. "They interlock and represent, uh… eternal love." He finished quietly.
"It's great, sir." Lorne told him, leaning back.
John thought it looked even greater on his finger where it belonged. He tucked the ring and his dog tags back into his shirt and shifted back into his seat. "Thanks."
"Colonel?"
John looked up again. "Yeah?"
"Uh, never mind, sir."
"Lorne."
"Yes, sir?"
"What are their names?" John asked softly. The names of the four homophobic men under his command.
Lorne didn't even bother not to know what John was talking about. "Johnson, Williams, Jones, and Brown, sir."
"And otherwise their conduct has been acceptable?"
"It's been perfect, sir. That's part of what's so frustrating." Lorne admitted. "The Doc and I have been trying to catch them doing something--anything--that we can get them shipped back to Earth for."
"When's the next personnel rotation?"
They regularly rotated Atlantis' military personnel back to the SGC. Every eight months a quarter of the men went back to Earth. John thought they next rotation had to be soon, but he wasn't positive.
"Five weeks, sir."
"I want their names on it."
"Yes, sir."
John suspected that their names had been on that list for weeks.
"Did Connor mention anything about the meetings he took on Earth?" John asked.
"No, sir."
"Carter called me into her office the day after he got back. She said there was likely to be some policy change within the next few months. She didn't say what it would be though. This morning Connor mentioned something along the same lines--a bill in Congress that could change things for the better."
"I'm not really up to date on politics back home, sir." Lorne admitted.
"That's okay, I was just wondering if maybe you knew something."
"I can try and find out, sir."
John thought about it. "Nah, that's okay."
"Yes, sir."
John went back to his laptop. He answered a few e-mails and scheduled some time to play 'touch that Ancient thing'. When he finished with that he checked the clock and sighed. Connor was still at the gym and would be for another twenty minutes. John clicked open a game of Hearts. He had just selected three cards to pass to the left when his heart stopped as a blood curling scream came over his radio. John was out of his seat in microseconds and running for the transporter with Lorne at his heels.
As he ran along the corridors, one thing echoed in John's head. That was Connor screaming his name.
"JOHN!"
