Elizabeth was worried. The team that returned through the gate was not only looking worse than it had on its departure, it didn't look like a team at all. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember how the whole mess started. How Carson tried to protect Rodney by not telling him he shot John. When she opened her eyes, they were all in front of her. Her CMO said in a bitter voice: "Thank you for your act of compassion, Dr. Weir, but it was a failure. Sorry." With that, he left, leaving the others to face Weir.
"What's the meaning of this, Colonel?" she asked, trying to contain her anger. This mission went worse than she imagined it could. If Carson was angry with them, angry enough to act that way, then very bad things happened.
"Things didn't go so well."
"I figured that much. What I want to know is what happened."
"It's really simple." They all turned, surprised to hear Ronon interfere. "McKay and Sheppard have some problems. They couldn't solve them on their own, so they used Carson as a shield. And they made him angry."
Sheppard's eyes would have burned a hole in the Satedan if he could. Instead, he left, closely followed by Dex. The only ones who were left in front of the gate were Elizabeth, Teyla and Rodney.
In a bitter voice, Elizabeth asked "Aren't you going to storm off, Rodney?"
Rodney's response was a whisper. "We fucked up. We really fucked up this time."
Elizabeth wanted to ask some more questions, but was stopped by Teyla who delicately suggested with a nod that she should let him be. The Athosian was the only one who made any sense of the whole mess, maybe she knew what was best. "I expect a report as soon as possible. Head to the infirmary for the check-ups."
Ronon caught up with John in a deserted corridor.
"You can't just run away like that!"
At first, Sheppard was shocked by his interference, but now he was downright furious. "You have no right to tell me how I should behave and what I should do. You don't know what I want."
"I know that a week ago you were blaming McKay. For not listening, for running away from the truth, for judging without knowing all the facts. Think of what you have done. I'm sure you and Rodney will get over it one way or another, but how you do it depends on you right now. McKay wasn't upset or furious... he was hurt. But there's no point in me explaining this to you."
As Ronon walked away, John realised just how bad things were. If Ronon of all people understood McKay things better than him. If he felt he needed to tell him about it...
Entering the infirmary, Teyla was surprised to find four boys on four chairs, all guilt-stricken. Too bad they weren't looking at each other, maybe that way they would understand some things.
Dr. Schwartz came and asked for a little mission report after hearing the usual "I'm fine" from all five.
As Rodney was explaining the incidents in the forest, John cut in: "Well, nothing interesting happened there, so we reached the caves where -"
"Will you let me finish, Colonel?" Rodney asked, annoyed by the interruption. "On the contrary, Dr. Schwartz, something interesting did happen." Looking at Carson, he searched for the right words. "Thinking that one of the attackers was there, Carson shot at John."
"Again?" Dr. Schwartz asked, realising his mistake too late.