Chapter 59

2008

Sheppard's team had departed ten minutes ago. Without Sheppard. Sheppard was wounded and confined to the infirmary, and who might very well still be there in about a year. He'd ignored Keller's orders to stay in bed after his injury at Michael's compound, and now she was determined to keep him under close observation for as long as necessary and probably even a bit longer. And now McKay and Ronon were going off-world to check up on yet another strange energy reading which de Clare, who was accompanying them, had encountered a few weeks ago while on a mission with Murdoch.

Murdoch's team was just vacating the embarkation area and Murdoch and Fisherman were walking up the stairs, trailing mud and dirt along with them. That wasn't going to sit too well with the cleaning crew that afternoon. Jonas and Nabi stayed below to tell the airmen where the boxes they'd brought along were to go next.

Murdoch brushed his hand through his damp hair as he reached Evan at the top of the stairs. "Back on duty?" he asked, throwing a meaningful look at Evan's crutches and the cast.

"Back on duty," Evan agreed. "As long as I don't run, fight or overexert myself. Doctor's orders."

"Alex's or Keller's?"

Evan grinned and shrugged as best he could. "Does it matter?" Keller had ordered it, Alex had backed her up. But Evan was done sitting around. Two days of it had been enough. The break was there, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd feared and with a little luck, he'd be back on track in six weeks or so. It was still an awfully long time, but at least he was back at work, even if he was sitting down most of the time. Even if most of what he could do was paperwork. It wasn't an entirely bad thing. With Sheppard on bedrest, most of the responsibility in that area landed on Evan's shoulders anyway.

Murdoch sneezed and quickly turned his head away from him. "Guess not. Is Woolsey there?" Fisherman, Nabi, Woeste and Jonas had accompanied him to the planet where Alex had begged them to go. They'd brought back more artefacts which looked like they'd been made by a tribe of migrated Athosians a couple of hundred years ago, according to Teyla, and Alex and Anna had both insisted that they needed more artefacts to get a better picture of the situation. And so Oliver had set out with his team and he'd taken Evan's team along. Since Evan wasn't going anywhere right now, they were going on missions without him now, which wasn't a pleasant thought. But at least it wasn't as though he was completely unable to function. At least here he could do more than sit around and whittle tools for the neighbours and toys for their children.

"Mr Woolsey is in a meeting with Teldy's team."

"Right," Murdoch said, and Evan could see he was on the brink of saying something else, but not in front of all the technicians. He looked over at Chuck, who was leaning against the railing and talking quietly with Fisherman.

"How'd it go, then?"

"Jonas took all the pictures Alex and Anna could ask for before we packed up the things in that cave. Looked like it was more of a storage facility, or a sort of bunker, a bit like the catacombs on Athos?"

"Look at you, talking all excitedly about old stuff."

"You should see Anna when I talk about flying. It's like she can't get enough of it."

Evan smiled vaguely and sat down on the stool someone had brought for him.

"What have you been up to, then?" Murdoch asked as Evan leaned his crutches against the console at which Johnson was busy working. She wasn't paying them any attention.

"Woolsey demanded we start filing reports for every shift of guard duty. And rounds. So… I'm trying to write an e-mail that's not going to upset everyone." Also he was just about to check how the new rotation system of security guards around the city was working out. Really, apart from going off-world and instructing the new arrivals in flying Jumpers not a whole lot had changed. Except of course that off-world and the flying lessons had been a huge part of his weekly routine and sitting at a desk full-time was far less enjoyable than Alex had made it sound in her early days at the university.

"Fun times. Please don't tell me you need help with that?"

"Absolutely not."

"Good. Any idea when that meeting with Teldy will be over? We might need another trip to that place and a couple of more people to lift one of the extra heavy chests. And I checked, the only place we can land a Jumper in that terrain is right in front of the Gate." He was on the brink of rolling his eyes. Really, he wasn't all wrong. Not only was it troublesome to ask Woolsey for permission every single time they went through the Gate, but on top of things, debriefings had started getting longer the moment Woolsey had taken over command of the Atlantis expedition. As to why Carter had been sent back to Earth was a mystery to most of them, but it was clear that Woolsey had brought a change of pace with him. There was a lot more paperwork and a lot more sticking to military protocol, something which both Weir and Carter, along with Sheppard, had slightly softened over time.

"Can't tell you," Evan said evasively, throwing a look over his shoulder. Johnson was just packing up for her lunch break and Chuck patted Fisherman's hand before returning to his own console.

"He has a time slot scheduled for work in his office in half an hour, if that helps," Johnson said, pulling on her jacket.

"I suggest you clean up first, Oliver?" Evan grinned with a meaningful look at the puddle of brown water gathering at Murdoch's feet. "Did you go bathing in a pond or something?"

Fisherman pulled a face and watched Johnson leave with a frown. "Nah, the whole area around the Gate was starting to look like a bog as soon as the rain started. We should ask the engineers to build a bridge if we want do avoid the cleaning crew's wroth." He shuddered slightly.

"What? You mind getting wet?"

Fisherman shrugged slightly and pushed away from the railing. "Jonas and Nabi are done with the boxes. Should we track the mud down the flight of stairs over there or go back the way we came."

"Go back the way you came, if you please," Evan smiled.

With a nod, Fisherman started towards the main stairs, but he halted in front of Murdoch and Evan. "Seriously, are you sure she's not your cousin or something? She reminds me of someone!"

"Who?"

"Johnson?!"

Evan frowned at him. Surprised and baffled at the same time. "Excuse me?"

"Just saying," Fisherman whispered as the Gate started to receive a signal from off-world, the chevrons flashing brightly behind him, "she's cr-"

"Seriously?!" Murdoch interrupted him, "Are you really going to tell him you think she looks like his cousin and then tell him she looks creepy?!"

He shrugged. "Sorry."

Evan was still frowning at him. "Talking badly about another member of this expedition is not usually a good idea, Lieutenant." He kept his voice cool and controlled and couldn't help but wonder if maybe they'd allowed things to go too lax around here after all.

"Sorry, Sir," Fisherman mumbled, throwing a look at Chuck who can't have heard what he had just said. Had the two of them talked about Johnson like that?

"Keep your opinions to yourself in future, then."

"Yes, Major."

Evan nodded. "Dismissed." He wouldn't have said it five minutes ago, but he clearly needed to establish that he wasn't Fisherman's friend here.

Fisherman barely looked him in the eye before he scuttled off, leaving Murdoch and Evan near the consoles to look at each other.

"Don't be mad, he's just… you know."

"Yes, I do." And usually he was glad things weren't as strict around here as they were at the SGC, but for once he was worried that things might get out of hand. Was Woolsey maybe right?

"When do you get off? Care to join us for movie night? If I can persuade Anna to abandon her work a bit early tonight?"

"Sure," Evan said. "Can't wait to sit around a bit more."

"Don't you have physical therapy?"

"Yes, but I want to be back on my feet already."

"Believe me, I know, though, to be fair, it's not the worst thing. That way you get to spend a bit more time with Alex right now. That's not too bad."

"No, you're right. Really, I shouldn't be complaining."

"No," Murdoch agreed, and his eyes widened. "Shoot. Woolsey." He was starting to blush and Evan looked round to see Woolsey standing at the top of the stairs, staring at the stains and bits of dirt sprawled out on the ten thousand year-old staircase.

"I should go," Murdoch whispered and before Woolsey could spot him, hurried down the other staircase.

A/N: Another rather short chapter. I wanted to add another scene, but this just seemed like a nice enough scene and I couldn't find a way to add what I wanted, which means there'll be another shorter chapter later this week.

Also… I'm not apologizing for the Fisherman's friend pun. It happened by accident and it made me happy and laugh out loud and it sparked a little conversation on the writer's Discord server I'm on. Did you catch it? I only did about five seconds after writing it.

And I have a little announcement to make: I'll be part of Fandom Trumps Hate again this year, so if you're interested you're welcome to bid on a work I'm going to create just for you. I'll post more details as the time draws nearer. Thank you for reading!