Strange Bedfellows
Spoilers: There is a spoiler in this chapter for the episode "The Defiant One." If you haven't seen it (good ep!), and don't want to be spoiled, I suggest you skip the fourth paragraph. All you will miss in that paragraph is Rodney is sad, lol.
Before you read this chapter, know that it is a transition chapter. Nothing much happens (sorry!), but I needed to put it in there. The next 2chaptersare good,I promise! And I realized I didn't respond to your comments last time because I'm a dork, so here goes:
mtee1958: Glad you like it. Whumping? Me?? Yes, I LOVE Sheppard, he's so fun to write, and yes, there will be lots of whumping later on. ;)
Sabrina: That's so nice! It's so different writing for fun like this as opposed to writing because you required to in class or something.
Ashkash: Thanks a lot. It takes me FOREVER to write these chapters. The last one I wrote (chapter 8) took me like six hours.Eek!
df: Thanks! There will be plenty more.
Joey's girl: I love writing the sad stuff, so look for more later on.
highonscifi: Sorry about the evil cliffie, I can't help it! There's some more in later chapters, so consider yourself warned! I try to update the following day, but it takes me forever to write the next chapter. I'm trying to stick to posting every other day, but my life is crazy, so we'll see... As for taking years from Liz and John.... muahaha. That's all I'm saying. ;)
Moi: That review was...random. My username is 'choose the light' in Japanese. Booya.
Espiritu: Yes, Sheppard knows all!
MN Talbert: Thanks! I need to say that I LOVE your stories.
Mari: Thank you, I'll update ASAP.
Chapter 6: Culpability
Rodney stared at the empty sky. The spot fires still burned around them, a reminder of the destruction and madness of only several minutes ago but what already seemed like an eternity past. It reeked of smoke and fuel, and the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the leaves of the smoldering foliage.
For the past several minutes, no one had dared to say anything to one another. Teyla, Rodney, and Aiden had simply followed the Wraith Dart with their eyes until it could be seen no more. It was over; they had been lost. Major John Sheppard and Dr. Elizabeth Weir were now at the mercy of the Wraith.
The three stood silent until suddenly Lt. Ford lashed out with his foot, pouring all his hate and rage into a stray piece of debris, which he proceeded to effectively relocate a dozen feet or so. He then picked up a fallen tree branch, no doubt knocked down by one of the Wraith energy blats. In fact, the end of it was still glowing from the heat, but the Lieutenant didn't seem to notice or care. He swung the makeshift weapon at anything he could find, destroying several saplings in the process. Aiden bellowed in anger; anger not only at the Wraith but at himself as well.
Dr. McKay and Teyla watched, content to let the man harmlessly channel his feelings into a meaningless piece of wood. They both felt the same way. Rodney shifted his gaze to the ground, turning away so that his teammates would not see his pain. Sure, he had dealt with loss before, especially since coming to Atlantis. He had dealt with the death of Dr. Gaul, which was tough enough, plus the deaths of several members of the expedition team, including some of the scientists in his department… but this… this was different. These were his close friends, part of his sort of surrogate family. Friends… he thought. He didn't realize until now -- until they were gone, -- that he had real friends. Most of the people on Atlantis tolerated him at best, and the ones who seemed pleasant to him on the outside he knew mocked and scoffed at him behind his back. But John and Elizabeth, they were true friends. They actually listened to him, unlike most, and put up with his dumb shenanigans. They always asked for his input (even if they weren't sharp enough to fully comprehend my talent, he added silently, and then immediately chastised himself for thinking like that), and he rather enjoyed their company. They had actually cared, and for the first time in his life, he had felt wanted.
Teyla remained still, her head bowed, as Lt. Ford continued his assault on the treacherous saplings. This had gone on for far too long; if there was any chance of finding the Major and Elizabeth, they would have to move soon.
"Lt. Ford," she said quietly.
He chose to ignore her, opting to instead attack a downed tree.
"Lt. Ford, I know you are upset. We all are. But if there is any hope at all left of saving Major Sheppard and Dr. Weir, we must act now. I am afraid destroying logs and tree stumps will not help the situation," she added.
Rodney looked up sharply at her suggestion. "Are you nuts? Didn't you just see what happened, because I did! The Wraith came and took the Major and Elizabeth to God-knows-where and are going to kill them, and do God-knows what else to them. We can't help them," he said disconsolately.
"While there is still time, there is still hope," she maintained.
"Still time? We don't know if they're even still alive! The Wraith could have sucked them dry by now for all we know!" He was becoming panicky again. He couldn't think.
"Dr. McKay," Teyla began, her volume escalating with her increasing annoyance with her teammates. Could not they see? "They could also still be alive, but the longer we remain here doing nothing, the less likely that is to be true."
"Look, I want to help them as much as you do, but--"
"Lt. Ford," Teyla pleaded, cutting Rodney off. She was getting nowhere with him and they needed to move. Now. She directed her attention to Aiden, who had calmed down and was now sitting atop the stump he had so recently assaulted. "Lieutenant, please. Our friends need our help."
Ford looked dejected, defeated. Teyla imagined he would be baring the brunt of the guilt, feeling the most responsible because he was the 2IC. She supposed that he felt like he had failed his CO. Aiden sat with his head in his hands. When he looked up at her, his eyes said it all.
"It was not you fault, Lt. Ford. It was Major Sheppard's decision. You could do nothing to stop him--"
"No, you're wrong!" he cried heatedly. "I should have been the one to get Dr. Weir. I should have never let my CO risk his life out in the open."
There was a pause, a moment of silence.
"Ford, you know Sheppard would have never allowed something like that." This time, it was Rodney. Teyla glanced at him, surprised. Maybe she had won him over, after all.
She spoke. "Lieutenant, none of this is your fault. It was not preventable."
"Yeah? Tell that to the Major and Dr. Weir," he whispered.
Teyla sighed. This was going to be difficult to get over. She had seen this behavior before in her own people after Wraith cullings. Oftentimes, when a family member was lost, another would blame himself for not doing enough to save him. She had known it well; she went through it herself as a child when her father was taken by the Wraith. But she had also seen something else in Ford, perhaps the same something Sheppard had seen. The Lieutenant's actions today exemplified courage under fire, despite what Ford may say, and she knew that the young man's CO would be proud.
"If I had just had better aim," he continued, "if I had been looking skyward before it happened, if I had been the one to go after Dr. Weir--"
"Then we would be in the same situation as we are now, only the Major's and your roles would be reversed and we would be no closer to a solution," said Teyla with an air of finality. "Do you not think we all share some guilt in this? That I do not feel responsible as well?"
Ford looked up at her, listening.
"I wonder if I had sensed the Wraith coming as I usually do, would we be mourning the loss of two dear friends?"
"And if I had woken up sooner, like I was supposed to, would we have already been home when the Wraith attack took place…." realized Rodney, his mind wandering. I am partly responsible for this. But he was shocked to find that he did not want to run, as he had in the past from all his other problems. No, this time, he wanted to find a solution. He owed them that much.
"Ford, off your ass and let's go," he said firmly.
Teyla's eyebrows shot up, as did those of Ford. They had never seen McKay like this. Most of the time he was whining about whether or not they could leave a given planet so he could return to Atlantis's mess hall and load up on the strawberry shortcake. But Teyla saw a fierce determination in his eyes, something she had never seen in him before.
McKay grabbed Ford's arm and yanked him to his feet. "Look, there's no time for self-pity. You can mope all you want later, but right now we have to find the Major and Elizabeth. Come on, clock's ticking." And with that, he turned and strode purposefully toward the Jumper, mentally plotting a route through the debris to their craft.
Teyla smiled at his optimism. She turned to Ford, who was still shocked at Rodney's rant, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He will be alright, she decided. And though he may have much to learn, he will make a fine leader one day. She could see he was beginning to let go of the guilt, though it would take some time before he could fully absolve himself from all blame. These wounds would heal.
They walked back to the Puddle Jumper together.
TBC
Fluff, I know, but I needed to put something from their perspective after the 'abduction', for lack of a better word. I wanted to make a little change to Rodney's personality; I wanted him to be the gung-ho one, after some prodding of course, and Ford to be the reluctant one. Next chapter will focus on John and Liz's situation. Please review, even if this one sucked, lol.
