Many thanks to my wonderful beta Marie who helped me a lot with this. I also want to thank drdredd for lending Schwartz.
I also want to thank all who reviewed and waited patiently for the new chapters :)
"I spoke to Carson."
"I know."
"It felt good."
"You confused him." John turned to look at Rodney and saw the physicist frown. "He asked me what I told you, because you had a 'strange reaction'."
"I... damn it!" Rodney was about to leave his half-emptied tray, but John stopped him, "It's okay. He was worried I was too... rough with you."
Rodney snickered and sat back down. "Did it work?"
"Work?" John asked, clearly not understanding what Rodney meant.
"Yeah. You know, him forgiving me and all that," the Canadian explained, nervously playing with his fork.
"I'd say so."
"Then why is he avoiding me? After we spoke, he's been..."
"I have a theory." John leaned back on his chair, with a small smile on his face, unable to hide the smugness.
"Congratulations!" Rodney said with mocking admiration. "Care to share?"
"I'll take care of it." Sheppard rose and took his empty tray, adding, "I'll let you know how it goes."
"Wait a minute! There are things we should talk about. Sheppard!"
"We'll have plenty of time for that, Rodney."
Carson was pacing his office like a caged animal. It was quite surprising that he didn't bump into anything. The desk was a mess, with everything you could imagine on it, and then some more. John could feel the distinct smell of steak and it was coming from the small desk.
"Everything okay, Carson?" he asked after watching the doctor for a few moments.
"John! You startled me." The Scot's eyes fell on the mess that covered his desk and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry about the setting. Anything I can do to help you?"
"Came to see how you were doing. You know... If Mahomet won't come to the mountain..."
"And why was I supposed to see you, John? We spoke just hours ago."
"I was thinking about Rodney, but now that I'm here, and you're clearly troubled by something..."
Carson smiled, looking at his friend. "Just because you're here." His face turned serious again as he sat on his chair. "I've been thinking about leaving. And I realised I'm more selfish than I would have liked to think."
John smiled, "That's the best news you could have given me."
Carson was massaging his left hand with his right. In the past weeks, it became an automatic response to stress. Just like Rodney played with his pen, Carson massaged his hands. It was unnerving to see how tough he was with his still fragile skin. For the first time since he noticed this, John stopped Carson. He took Carson's hands in his, feeling the soft skin and the small scars. "Don't do this to yourself. It's normal to be a bit selfish, Carson, especially when we all benefit from it." John smiled, hoping he didn't misinterpret Carson's words.
"I thought I'd give it a try. There's so much work to be done, maybe I could just... you know... do some of it, without standing in the others' way."
"Thanks." John smiled, letting go of Carson's hands, and left the doctor's office.
"Why am I here? I told you I'm not leaving," Carson said, almost pleadingly, after Colonel Caldwell summoned him to the Daedalus' bay.
"I know, Doctor, but there's someone who's leaving and -"
"Carson! I thought you weren't leaving!" Rodney's eyes were measuring him from head to toe. "You said you weren't leaving."
Caron sighed in frustration, looking at the two men alternately. "I'm not. But the Colonel has called me here."
"Oh, you're here to say goodbye," Rodney said, smiling.
"Apparently." Carson frowned, trying to ignore Rodney's raised eyebrow. "I'm not stealing your lines."
"Of course not. You should go and check in on my staff, though."
"When? Why?" Carson asked, surprised by the request.
"You don't know? Oh, I was so caught up with everything that I -"
"We're going to Earth," Sheppard explained, with a grin. Carson looked at John, still surprised by the man's ability to sneak up on them. "Rodney and I had a little chat and we realised we need more time to talk. And Rodney needs to take care of some things back home, so..."
Carson smiled, finally understanding. "Take care of Jeannie, Rodney."
"I will." The scientist smiled, grateful that Carson understood. "Thanks."
"Will you stop that!" Carson said, trying his best to look upset, but not getting it quite right. "This is not how I imagined this leave of the Daedalus."
"Did you ever think we'd let you go?" John smiled, moving closer to Rodney. The smile on Rodney's lips matched John's and Carson wished they didn't leave. But they had their own demons they had to face.