Title: The Hidden Strength of Quiet Waters

Author: Hawkeye/Katy

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Rodney/Carson

Thanks: I realized as I was about to post this that I hadn't included any thanks in this yet. So here goes. Better late than never, I suppose. Thanks to my mate, Nox/BJ, and Onigami/Ryan, for reading over this fic. But major, major thanks in this story go to Alex/Odysseus. Without her help this story would never have had a title. Thank you much, Alex.

Rodney hauled himself to his feet, picking up the laptop and walking out of the lab. Radek followed him, still cursing softly in Czech. The two scientists hurried down to the control room, their faces somber. Turning into the hallway, the two paused, hearing raised voices. Elizabeth and Sheppard. Glancing at each other, Zelenka and Rodney carried on down the hall, sticking their heads around the corner. They stopped as they saw Elizabeth and Sheppard standing on the bridge, facing each other down, yelling loudly.

"I don't care, Elizabeth! You weren't there!" Sheppard yelled, obviously continuing a conversation that had been going on for a while.

"John, you can't honestly expect me to believe that a door that recognized titles wouldn't open when Carson introduced himself as a doctor, but opened when he went into a long-winded, detailed introduction about mermen and…" Elizabeth waved her hands in frustration, "Whatever else it was!"

"If anyone else had come to me with that story, I'd react the same way," John sighed, "But… I swear to you, that's what happened."

"Where is Carson now?"

"I have no idea. Infirmary, maybe? Teyla and I were pretty freaked out. We both had our hands over our guns, he noticed and left."

"Elizabeth!" Rodney called, hurrying into the gateroom, Zelenka on his heels.

"Not now, Rodney," Elizabeth answered, before turning back to the Major, "Do you think he's a threat?"

"What! Carson?" Rodney interrupted, "You have to be kidding. But… that's beside the point… Elizabeth, we need to talk to you."

"Rodney, please, this is an important, private discussion. Whatever it is can wait," Elizabeth snapped.

"No, can not wait," Radek cut in, "Wraith darts are approaching Atlantis."

"What!" Elizabeth and Sheppard exclaimed in unison.

"How many?" Sheppard asked.

"Almost two hundred," Rodney replied.

"Power up the shield, we'll wait them out," Elizabeth said, turning back to the Major, "Major Sheppard, my office please."

The two walked off, leaving the two scientists staring after them. Rodney and Radek turned to look at each other in disbelief. Elizabeth had just turned away from finding out the most important part of the crisis. This was not good. Grabbing Radek's arm, Rodney pulled him into a deserted corner. He looked at the Czech for a moment, biting his lip, before speaking quickly.

"Radek… when I went to talk to Carson… he… we talked about who he was, what he could do. Radek, he created whirlpools off the East Pier just by thinking about it! There's a possibility he could create storms and control the ocean."

"My God…" Radek breathed, before starting slightly and staring up at Rodney, "You mean…? Ask Carson to help? Rodney… is that good idea?"

Rodney sighed, rubbing a hand over his tired face, "Right now, it's the only idea I've got."

Radek nodded slowly, "I will be on balcony by research lab. Will have good visual from there."

With that, the bespectacled Czech scientist took off towards the labs. Rodney watched him leave for a moment, once again thanking every deity in creation that Radek was his second-in-command. The man just took everything in his stride. Turning away from the Czech scientist, Rodney broke into a jog, heading towards the infirmary. He turned a corner, coming to an abrupt halt as he saw Carson finish talking with a Marine.

"Here… take some ibuprofen now. Then when this is over, come back and I'll give you some more. Alright, lad?"

"Yessir, Doctor Beckett," the Marine answered, before jogging off and throwing over his shoulder, "Thanks!"

"Not a worry, lad," Carson threw over his own shoulder as he hurried on towards the infirmary.

"Carson!" Rodney called after the doctor.

"Not now, Rodney, I've got to get the infirmary prepped for the inevitable casualties this wraith attack will bring about."

"Carson!" Rodney jogged after him, grabbing him by the elbow, before continuing in a low voice, "Carson, unless you help us, there won't be an infirmary to prep!"

Carson turned to Rodney, face pale, "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

Rodney looked at him, biting his lip, face worried, "It means that the shield can't hold back another wave of wraith darts, there isn't enough power. I tried telling Elizabeth, but she was too busy yelling at the Major to listen. Carson, please…"

Carson tilted his head up to Rodney's worried gaze, "I don't know if I can…"

Rodney gave a short, bitter laugh, "Carson… we can either throw whatever you've got at the wraith darts… and maybe win… Or we can sit here and wait to die. Personally, I'd like to take my chances with your voodoo."

Carson's brow crinkled, "It's not voodoo," he retorted absently, lost in thought, "Fine… I'll do what I can. But… Rodney… ye have to understand… I don't even know exactly what I can do."

"Somehow I don't think Atlantis cares," Rodney answered, grabbing Carson's arm and jogging towards the balcony that looked over the South Pier.

Rodney and Carson barged through the knot of people gathered on the balcony, until Carson was at the front, looking out over the huge Lantean ocean, Rodney and Zelenka on either side of him. Despite the horror going on around him, the sight of the wide blue expanse of ocean made the corners of Carson's mouth curl up. Rodney caught the small smile and nudged the doctor, gesturing for him to 'do his thing'. Carson took a deep breath and tried to concentrate, but was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder and a voice by his ear.

"Hey doc! Shouldn't you be down in the infirmary or something?" Sheppard said, frowning slightly.

"Or somethin'," Carson agreed, giving Rodney a helpless look.

"Major, you are in the way of the only thing stopping the wraith darts from destroying this city… You like Atlantis? Move! And get these gawping idiots off the damn balcony!" Rodney snapped at the hapless military man.

Carson shot Rodney a grateful look as the Major, looking decidedly confused, but knowing Rodney's moods began to move the knot of personnel off the balcony, until only himself, Bates, Elizabeth, Teyla, Zelenka, Rodney and Carson remained. Looking decidedly freaked out, Carson shot Rodney a shaky smile before turning back to the balcony. He placed his hands on the balcony railing and closed his eyes. A look of concentration flitted across his face, prompting Elizabeth to ask Rodney what was going on. Carson's eyes opened and he frowned. He turned back to Rodney.

"I dinna have enough contact with the water," he scowled.

"Huh?" Sheppard asked confusedly.

"Hush, John," Zelenka murmured absently.

Carson frowned, lost in thought. He brought a hand up to wipe away the fine coating of ocean spray on his face and stopped. He turned back to Rodney, a determined look on his face. The spray from the sea. If he could… Ignoring Elizabeth's repeated questioning of what was going on and Rodney's startled gasp, Carson pulled off his shirt. His eyes slid closed and his lips curled up as the sea spray fell on his now bare chest. He turned his back on his audience, placed his hands on the balcony, closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Rodney… what is he doing?" Sheppard said, looking from the now-shirtless doctor to the stunned astrophysicist and back again.

"Hush, John," Zelenka murmured again, this time nudging the Major in the side.

Rodney watched Carson avidly, his eyes never leaving the Scot. He frowned in concern as Carson stilled, seemingly stopping breathing. He took a step towards the doctor, but his attention was diverted. Rodney blinked in surprise as a drop of rain hit him in the nose, followed quickly by another and another, until both the Scot and the Canadian were standing in the middle of a deluge. Squinting against the rain, Rodney tilted his head back, his jaw dropping as he saw the blackened skies and the churning thunderstorm above him. He dropped his head back down to look at Carson, taking another step towards him, ignoring Elizabeth's yell to come back. Rodney let out a startled gasp as Carson's eyes snapped open, revealing the same darkened blue, flecked with green and white that Rodney had seen on the East Pier. He heard a sound behind him and spun to see Sergeant Bates with his gun up. Without even thinking about it, Rodney moved in front of Carson, staring down the Sergeant. Eyes wide, face pale, Rodney saw Radek talking quietly to the Major, before the Major turned to Bates.

"Stand down, Sergeant, that's an order."

Breathing a sigh of relief as Bates reluctantly lowered his gun, Rodney turned around to watch Carson again. His head tilted to the side as he watched the doctor lift his hands off the balcony railing, almost as though he were conducting an orchestra. He frowned again, then stared as he looked past Carson to the Lantean sea. His jaw dropped again as he watched the waves. More tsunamis than waves, his scientific mind told him pedantically. Either way, they were huge. Rodney gaped as one of Carson's arms came up and, seemingly without effort, threw a wave at an incoming wraith dart. The wave clipped the dart, which wobbled for a few moments, before correcting itself and continuing its attack. Carson frowned. Rodney watched as he clenched his fist, holding the waves in check, before bringing up his other arm and gesturing almost carelessly at the dart and the five it flew in formation with.

A crack of thunder was heard and a bolt of lightning split the sky. The people on the balcony watched, completely stunned as all six wraith darts were blown out of the sky. Almost as one, they backed up until their backs were pressed against the wall. Rodney's eyes widened, as Carson's shoulders slumped and he let out a soft gasp when the darts exploded. He went to take a step forward, but was stopped by Radek's hand on his arm. The Czech shook his head at him. This was Carson's domain now. Rodney watched worriedly as Carson visibly straightened, looking around, catching sight of a wraith dart swooping low over the water. Carson frowned slightly, reaching for another lightning bolt, before pausing. Rodney frowned with him. What was he doing? The dart was right there. Carson stared at the dart, seemingly waiting for it. Then without warning he simply unclenched his fist, releasing the fury of the waves onto the single dart stupid enough to fly low.

Rodney stared, his back pressed against the wall, spray from the roiling seas hitting him in the face. His eyes were wide, not with fear, like everyone around him, but with awe. This new Carson… my God… Rodney's eyes ran over him. Carson stood, deaf to the world around him. The muscles in his bare chest rippled as he threw out his arms, commanding the sea. His arms strained, like the power of the waves and the ravaging storm could overthrow him at any time. But the look in his eyes told a different story. Oh God, Rodney thought, his eyes. Carson's normally warm and placid blue eyes were dark with anger and they blazed. Rodney suppressed a shiver of something that was definitely not fear. There were many words that could describe the Carson they knew before. Calm. Warm. Comforting. Placid. Peaceful. Gentle. There was only one word that could describe Carson right now. Powerful.

Arms straining, Carson made one final gesture towards the last formation of wraith darts. Another lightning bolt streaked through the sky, blowing five out of the six out of the sky and sending the final dart swooping in low. He lowered his arm and unclenched his fist, shoulders slumping, swaying precariously. The previously controlled waves exploded over the unfortunate dart, sending it spinning into the ocean. Carson's eyes slid closed and he lowered his hands back to the balcony. Rodney stepped forward, reaching one hand out to Carson as the doctor swayed on his feet. He took another step closer. Carson turned a pale, tired face towards Rodney. He shot the Canadian a shaky smile. Rodney returned the smile, which faded rapidly as Carson's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.