Recovery

Chapter Four

The next morning after breakfast, John Shepherd whistled happily as he and the others packed the commandeered puddle jumper with coolers, tents and anything else he could think of to make this confusing camping trip as fun as he could make it.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." Dressed in faded jeans, a t shirt with "Experiment with a Chemist" printed on it and sneakers, Casie struggled with her own supplies for the trip as she entered the landing bay.

John turned, giving her a huge smile. "Now there's a lady who knows how to go camping!" He, Ford and Rodney rushed over to relieve her of most of her burdens that included a guitar case, jury-rigged fishing pole and tackle, a backpack of personal items and, what John seemed to think the most important, a boom box!

"Hope you brought a good supply of CDs!" he grinned down at her.

"Actually, I thought we'd just try to pick up the local country/western stations on the radio." She rolled her eyes at him, but softened the sarcasm with a smile.

"You've been hanging around McKay too much, you're starting to sound just like him!" he said with a mock growl.

Rodney threw him a dirty look. "Where have you been hiding this?" he said to Casie, indicating the guitar he carried for her.

"My room." She answered with a challenging rise of one eyebrow. "If you'd ever been in there or even glanced through the door you couldn't have missed it." She thought with a sigh.

"I'll look forward to hearing you play it."

"What kind of CDs did you bring?" John asked between grunts as he stored the last of the equipment in the jumper.

"A bit of everything," she said, "my taste in music is pretty eclectic."

"I too, look forward to hearing a musical instrument from your home world." Teyla said. "I think we will all enjoy this outing. Though my people live in the way you seem to think of as recreational."

"Most of the people on Earth," Casie said, "live and work in cities. Our ancestors lived off the land, much as The Athosians do today out of necessity. Camping tends to separate us from the regularity and stresses of everyday life. Most of us," she gave Rodney a sideways glance, "find it very enjoyable and relaxing. Actually, the more I've thought about it since John came up with the idea, the more I look forward to it. I hope you and I can do some more sparring while the guys are laying around like lumps on the beach."

Teyla smiled. "Still need to work off some frustrations? I would have thought, after last night, it would be a while till you felt the need."

"To tell you the truth, even though I've wanted to deck Cavanaugh for a very long time, it wasn't quite as… satisfying as I'd imagined." She paused, "But it's always nice to know that I can!"

"Dynamite comes in small packages." Was heard from Dr. McKay's direction. "And C4… nitroglycerin…"

"As do strychnine… cyanide… Viagra…" Casie mumbled as she entered the jumper.

Ford doubled over laughing at the look on Rodney's face.

"Yes, but who would actually need Viagra when she looks that good in jeans?" Radek said quietly only for Rodney.

"Oh, ya…" He replied quietly, sucking in air through clenched teeth as he tried to stifle a grin. "Damn, she is starting to sound like me!" he thought.

"Dr. Wier… Dr. Cavanaugh would like to speak to you." Major Lorne said through the earphone on her radio. She could tell that the Major wasn't thrilled with the idea and she knew exactly what Cavanaugh wanted to talk to her about. She had been expecting it and steeled herself for the confrontation.

"Did he swear out a formal complaint?" She asked Lorne, knowing that only he could hear her question through his earpiece.

"I informed him that he was required to talk to you about it first."

Sighing, she told him to tell the scientist to be in her office in one hour, since she was occupied at the moment. It wasn't true, she was just reading over the days repair schedule and enjoying a cup of coffee, but she didn't feel like starting the day off with Cavanaugh, who very few in Atlantis could stand, and his whining about how he was accosted by a woman half his size, who everyone liked.

She had watched the security tape that Major Lorne had supplied and saw and heard everything that was said. Of course, she thought Casie had over reacted, but seeing her scare the living daylights out of that man did her heart good. It will be interesting to hear his side of the story, see how much he exaggerates his innocence then show him the video to see his reaction.

She smiled, took another sip of coffee and decided to play the video one last time before she had her meeting with 'The Pain in the Ass of Atlantis'.

"OK Casie," John said getting out of the pilot seat of the puddle jumper. "Let's see if you've been practicing your flying."

"Gee John," she winked quickly at Rodney and Zelenka, "I really haven't had much time to practice. You sure you wanna risk life and limb on me?" She said as she took his place.

"Um, I think we'd better hold on to something." Rodney whispered to Radek. John shooed Ford out of the right hand seat, just in case Casie needed his help.

The moment Shepherd had his butt in the seat, Casie pulled back on the controls, bringing the jumper into a steep climb till they had reached 10,000 feet, at which point she put it into a diving barrel roll. Pulling out at the last moment before hitting the surface of the water, then climbing back up and leveling off at 1,000 feet, all the time with a huge grin on her face. Glancing over at a very pale John Shepherd, she said, "So, think I need more practice?" John's dropped jaw was his only response. The others thanked God for inertial dampeners while they shoved the camping supplies off their heads. "OK, so I have been practicing a couple times a week with Murdock."

When John finally regained the ability to speak, he said. "You enjoyed that didn't you?"

"Who me? Na, not in the least."

"Well," he sighed, "You're a natural! Teyla, remind me to punch Murdock in the face when we get back."

From the rear of the jumper, quiet Czechoslovakian oaths could be heard from under the sleeping bags.