Title: Vacation
Author: Goatcheese
Characters: Sheppard and McKay
Rating: PG
Season: One
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to someone with more money than me.
A/N: I wrote this for a 22 minute challenge.A big thanks to my new found beta's Jen, Heidi and Jill. And to TJ, misunderstandings are always fun, but not very productive. Glad we got that figured out! Thanks!
Vacation
Bewildered, John stumbled and slipped through the deep forest - sliding unexpectedly down a dew-ridden, grassy slope that opened into a bright clearing. The sudden sunshine nearly blinded him; its warmth a welcome contrast to the cool, damp mustiness of before.
He knew he couldn't stop. They were right behind him. The pain from the arrow was excruciating, but he willed himself not to falter. Rodney was depending on him. Stumbling along the well-marked path, he tried to find a spot to hide and rest, if only for a moment. They were getting closer, he could feel it. John forced himself to go faster; his friend was counting on him.
John didn't think he had been dragged this far. He couldn't remember much of anything past the first blow; it had all been very confusing. Just when he figured he was going to pass out either from exhaustion and fatigue or the searing pain in his leg, the beautiful sight of a broken down puddle jumper came into view.
Exploding with energy that he didn't know he still possessed, John sprinted to the ship. He dodged the basket and arrow pierced beach ball that was supposed to help make this a relaxing trip, and hurled himself inside.
Rodney startled awake as John landed on him, scrambling up to cloak the ship. With no way of telling if they were safe or not, the two men held their breaths. The noises of the search party could be heard all around them, echoing in their minds. John shivered uncontrollably as Rodney stayed deathly pale.
What seemed like hours had passed but it was only mere minutes. Two thumping heartbeats were all that was left to be heard. They were safe, for the time being.
"How did you get away?" Rodney asked his friend as soon as he was able to remove the fear induced lump from his throat.
"I'm not sure; it's all a bit fuzzy." John's eyes trailed to Rodney's ashen face. "Are you ok? I saw you fall. You took quite a blow," he inquired.
"...no, I…uh, I'm fine," Rodney answered, head bowed.
"Rodney, I know you're hurt. Let me see if I can help."
"No, I said I was fine. Leave it alone."
John tried to get up to move closer and take a better look at Rodney's obviously bleeding head, but the partial arrow embedded in his thigh prevented him from doing so. With a cry of pain, John collapsed when his leg would not hold his weight.
"Oh god, what's wrong, what happened?" Rodney asked, terrified that he might be left alone again. Everyone knew he had limited medical training; he never knew what to do and felt very uncomfortable around sick or injured people.
Knowing what Rodney was thinking, John tried to sooth the stricken man, "its ok, Rodney, it's nothing serious."
He was good at lying, a master, some might say. But even with Rodney in the mental state that he was in, John could have said he was the Queen herself and Rodney would have believed him.
"Look, let me take a look at your head, and then you can see about getting us a ride out of here."
Rodney slowly nodded his head and sat crossed legged on the floor of the jumper with a sigh. He held out the medical kit that was under the seat next to him and tried not to hiss in pain when John started cleaning his wound.
"You're lucky, it's not that bad. You'll have one hell of a headache for a while and I'm sure Carson will run all sorts of scans on you, but you know he just likes to show off his toys."
Rodney gave a weak smile at the John's attempt at lightening the mood.
"All right, all finished, see if you can get the engines working."
John knew Rodney believed he'd already let the Major down today, in a big way. One simple, recreational object was all it took. Even though there was no way he could have known the indigenous people were going to attack them, he knew Rodney would feel better if he could fix some part of the broken trip.
While Rodney was busy in his own world, John took out a pair of scissors from the med kit and carefully cut away his pants from the arrowhead. It hadn't gone in very far, and he decided to try and pull it out. He grasped the arrow ad tightly as he could, took a few deep breaths and pulled for all he was worth. Luckily the arrow cam right out and the bleeding was just a small trickle. He bandaged his thigh and popped a couple of pain pills, after offering some to Rodney.
The Puddle Jumper's engines finally started up. John hobbled to the pilot's seat and tested out the scientist's work. With only a few hiccups, the ship was off and heading back to Atlantis, the basket with beach towels and sunscreen long forgotten on the planet.