Understudy

Author: Cheryl W.

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Chapter 12: Safeguard What You Treasure

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The mission was not going how Rodney had envisioned. Course it didn't help that Sumner had stolen Teyla and Ronon for his own op leaving McKay to fill in their absences with two marines that he couldn't even remember their names. That shouldn't have mattered since McKay's gate team objective was supposed to simply be a nice meet and greet. However, instead of being met with happy villagers offering baked goods, they walked into a wraith ambush and had been on the run for the last four hours.

Thanks to the Wraith herding them, they were heading in the opposite direction of the gate. And the civilization that the one Marine had spied, it turned out to be a long abandoned village: Ramshackled buildings, no people to aid them in the fight and offering no additional weapons at their disposal. As if that wasn't bad enough, they hadn't shed their ten Wraith admirers, who McKay expected to stroll into town in the next half an hour to try and finish them off.

One final tidbit to add to the 'this mission sucks' tally: they were boxed in by a mountain range they had no hopes of climbing. They had run right into a dead end. 'Just brilliant, Rodney, brilliant," McKay snarled internally, as he and his teammates huddled behind a barn.

"I think we need to utilize a high ground advantage," Sheppard advised, pointing to the roof of the tavern. "From there I can take out a few of them as they enter town before they get a lock on my position." John grimly knew it would take a serious barrage of bullets to take even one down because this band of wraith had gorged themselves on the villagers his team had come to meet. And well fed Wraith he had come to know, were pretty unbothered by little gnatty bullets hitting them. But it was worth the risk to better their odds, even if he only succeeded in thinning their number a little.

It didn't take much consideration on McKay's part to concur. "Agreed." But when John pushed off from his lean against the building beside McKay to put his plan into action, Rodney grabbed John's tac vest and halted his departure. "Lt. Saba…keew? Neew? Find a way onto the roof," he directed at the young male Marine crouched to his right.

"Yes sir," the soldier readily snapped back, scampering off across the open ground toward the tavern.

Turning to the other member of their four person squad, McKay ordered "Lt…ah, your last name starts with a V…?"

"Vinck," the woman Marine sniped back, had told the Doctor her name three freaking times now.

Unperturbed by the Marine's frustration, Rodney ordered, "Yeah, right. You circle the perimeter, radio when you have any contact." Giving a sharp nod, the Marine darted off to the left.

Alone with McKay, Sheppard voiced his objection to his leader's orders. "The roof was my suggestion! I should be the one up there."

"I decide where you should be," McKay coldly retorted without showing an ounce of the emotion surging under his skin. 'And where you should be is with me, so I can have your back.' Because as nerve wracking as it had been when Sheppard was off on Sumner's team without him, it was worse having the man be his responsible, to not have Ronon or Teyla there to help protect him, for John's safety, for John's life to be solely in his hands. Because he had had that charge before and under his appalling brand of protection, the man had ended up shot and dying in a Vegas desert.

Pissed that McKay was keeping him on a short leash, John petulantly snapped back, "Yes sir."

McKay didn't miss Sheppard's tone but ignored it. The man would just have to get used to him calling the shorts and take his orders as he gave them.

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Not really keen on pretending they weren't the superior race, the Wraith didn't bother with tactics, simply came at them hard and fast. Lt. Vinck barely radioed, "They're on the edge of the village," before sounds of her rifle fire erupted over the open line. Lt Sabaneew's rifle soon joined in with the racket after he announced, "targets sighted."

John and Rodney were set up in their own positions. Since high ground was covered, they took low ground, adopted guerrilla warfare tactics. So as the Wraith boldly marched down the village fairway, the doctor and the Air Force Major broke free of the holes they had dug in the opposite corridors between the few standing buildings of the village and caught the wraith in a cross fire. John saw movement out of the corner of his eye and wished to God he hadn't looked to see Lt. Sabaneew's body falling from the perch on the tavern roof. The marine didn't let out a sound of alarm, was most likely stunned unconscious. But there was a gut churning crunch when his fall came to an unforgiving end on the ground.

"No!" John snarled, enraged the kid was down because he took his advice, because he took the position that should have been his. His fury overriding his thoughts of safety, he stalked toward the Wraith, unleashing automatic fire that struck the prey, managing to take a few down that did not get back up. But there were still five left, absorbing the bullets like they were paintball rounds instead of lead. With a cry of outrage, Sheppard pulled his knife from his belt and charged into the fray, was ready to take it to down and dirty tactics to kill this enemy, to avenge the lives they had taken today and the thousands more on their agenda.

"Oh crap," Rodney muttered as he heard John's war cry saw the man wade into the Wraith hoard like it was an offensive football line instead of lifeforce sucking aliens. Fearing that John would get himself killed, Rodney abandoned logic and instead adopted Sheppard's kamikaze mindset. His cry was more a shriek of I-have-no-idea-why-I'm-doing-this but his bullets from his handgun sunk reassuringly into the closest Wraith he ran toward. He shot another point blank in the face and choked back a gag when wraith blood splattered his face.

But something more disturbing was happening a few feet away: John was wrestling on the ground with a wraith and the wraith's greedy hand was reaching to press down on John's chest, to suck the life out of him. Plowing through the two Wraith in his way, not out of tactic or bravado but fear, Rodney got close enough to shoot the Wraith on top of John three times before his gun clicked empty. Before he could reload, he was jerked backwards by one of the wraith that he had bowled over. The alien's grotesque hand wrapped around Rodney's throat, lifting him off the ground, while his other hand came to rest on Rodney's chest.

Numbly wondering how it would feel to be sucked dry, Rodney hoped Sheppard got out of this Ok, did the smart thing and ran away. But then again, they were taking about John Sheppard here. Who, in that moment, tackled the Wraith holding Rodney, sending all three of them crashing to the ground.

John put his knife to good use, sank it into the Wraith's heart. Then, sensing the threat behind him, he yanked the blade from the wraith corpse under him and sailed it through the air to expertly imbed in the other wraith's throat. The mortally wounded Wraith staggered one step before falling. The remaining Wraith took that opening to cowardly run away.

Looking to Rodney who was lying on the ground to his right, John reached out, grabbed the man by the shoulder, worriedly demanded, "Rodney, are you alright?"

"I'm…yes…I wasn't …snacked on," Rodney stammered, a bit shamed that he was shaken up as he was before his eyes widened with his own worry as he took in Sheppard's ripped shirt front. "You, he was trying to…"

"He died hungry…thanks to you," John reassured, before he stood up, reached a hand down to help Rodney up. Then he was crossing the space to Lt Sabaneew's unmoving form, his fingers sought out a pulse in the man's neck but there was only stillness under his touch. "No," he mournfully bit out, listened as McKay called for Vinck without getting an answer. Pushing to his feet, he started for her last known location, Rodney at his six. He stumbled to a stop when he saw the husk on the ground, the Stargate uniform now housing a dried up corpse that had once been a young promising Marine.

Two lives gone. Two lives he didn't save. Two lives he should have saved. And Rodney had almost been number three. Spinning around he snarled at McKay, "What was that?! You turned your back on a hostile! Three hostiles!" Though he was fighting for his life at the time, he had seen Rodney plow through the two wraith to get to him, leaving himself vulnerable, open for attack. His leader seemingly didn't care that the wraith were getting up to finish him off because Rodney was too busy killing the wraith trying to feed on him to worry about his own freaking life.

Rodney refused to justify his actions, didn't have to. He was the leader here. "Get Vinck's dog tags, I'll get Sabaneew's," he grimly ordered, was turning to go back to the fallen Marine when Sheppard got in his face.

"Their dog tags?! The threat is gone, we can bring back their bodies, give their families…"

"Closure," Rodney derisively snapped, just as disheartened at their loss of lives as John but too used to the occasion to think of them in the terms John still did. "Dead is dead, Major. And the "threat" is not over, just delayed. If that Wraith reaches the gate and calls for reinforcements, there will be darts here searching for us. We need to move now, beat the Wraith back to the gate or at least get off this planet before any darts arrive."

John sullenly left to retrieve the dog tags of the fallen female Marine and Rodney felt a tang of regret that John would think less of him for not honoring the two Marines' bravery as he would have. But this wasn't like any warfare John had been in before, the stakes were not global, they were galaxies at stake, their own included. Yes, lives were lost but it wasn't without honor or sorrow, but there would be no burial arrangements or posthumously medal ceremonies, not here, not how. Later, maybe when the war was won, when the wraith were dead, the replicators shattered apart forever, maybe then there would be time to honor the lost ones. And just maybe someone would even be alive to remember their acts of bravery.

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For miles they travelled in silence, bitter, uncomfortable silence before John rasped out, "Setting up on the roof, that was my idea. I should have been the one up there."

"Yeah and you would probably be dead instead of Sabaneew," Rodney snapped back, internally shivered at the imagined role reversal. 'Yeah I wasn't going to let that happen.' As much as he understood that there would be casualties in this war, he couldn't stomach the idea of Sheppard being one of them.

But John embraced Rodney's grim conclusion instead of repelling it. "Maybe that's the way it should have happened!"

"Right, so I'm supposed to apologize that I didn't let you go out in a blaze of glory. Again," Rodney sarcastically snapped back, eyes blazing into John's. Knew it would be a cold day in hell before he let Sheppard get that particular wish of his granted.

John shoved Rodney's arm, causing him to face him as they came to a stand still. "But it was Ok to let that kid die instead of me!? Why can't you …everyone …get it through your stupid heads that I'm not him! I'm not that heroic, savior to the galaxy you met! I'm the screwed up knockoff, remember! Who already got people dead…who should be dead instead of that twenty two year old kid! You going all protective on me…that's a dishonor to those two Marines who bravely dedicated their lives to the Stargate program, to defending this fight that I've been in a whole five seconds!"

Rodney matched Sheppard's decibel with his growl back, "They did their job! Their Duty!

Instead of yelling back another accusation, John deflated, muttered, "That's more than I did. Why am I even here if you've got no faith in my abilities?! Why don't you just tote around a picture of your superhero Sheppard instead of dragging me along like some goodluck charm? Because I sure am not lucky…for anyone."

Opening his mouth to dispute John's claim, Rodney was treated to John's departing form. Did a jog to draw up beside him but by the set look on the other man's features, he knew now was not the time to convince Sheppard of his own worth.

John had sworn that he had said his peace but other words bubbled out against his will when Rodney matched his stride. "I'm not the damsel in distress! I'm a soldier! I don't need you to protect me like some weak, untrained, scared civilian!"

'I'm protecting you like you are my friend, who I don't want dead,' Rodney wanted to rail back but bit out something harsher and a harder to swallow truth instead. "Maybe I wouldn't think I had to protect you if I believed you'd do everything in your power to not go out in a blaze of glory. To not let your guilt for an atrocious but unintentional tragedy make you believe that sacrificing yourself was a great way to pay penance. You convince me you're favorably fond of living instead of dying and I'll gladly let you treat me like the damsel in distress." With that said, Rodney pulled out one of his scientific doohickeys and started taking planetary readings, effectively shutting out John's presence until they reached the gate and got home.

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Ronon noticed the tension between McKay and Sheppard after the mission but wisely didn't bring it up to either man. Teyla wasn't so stingy with her curiously but neither man fell under her empathy's web and spilled their guts. But when it was nearing two weeks and even McKay was down to grunting out replies to questions he usually liked to answer in bragging tones for an hour, Ronon was almost set to intervene.

Instead the Genii did.

Apparently gossip even traveled to the Genii that Atlantis now had a strong bona fide Ancient gene team member. They too had tried to synthesize the gene but had even less luck than Atlantis, which, without someone to make them work, made their stockpile of Ancient weapons useless paperweights. So they thought they'd do what they did best: steal the tech they needed. It didn't seem to make them bat an eyelash that the "tech" was actually a person.

Not knowing the Genii's target, Dr. Weir had sent guards to the ZPM, other power hubs, the weapons and the hangar bay when the invasion force stepped through the stargate. Meanwhile their intended target was dispatched to confront the invaders, exactly what President Acastus Kolya expected to happen.

"Not that I'm complaining but why aren't they shooting us?! Why stun us?" McKay shouted out to his teammates as they traded fire with the ten Genii trying to force their way down the corridor.

"Rodney is right, that is not their way," Teyla agreed, ducking behind the wall as a stun beam went over her head.

"A dead enemy doesn't come back for another shot at you," Ronon surmised the Genii's usual headspace.

"So I take it you don't like these guys? Thought all the humans here would band together against the Wraith," John said over his intercom, having been across the base at the time of the attack, he was at the other end of the corridor than his teammates. Thought it wasn't a bad turnout though, having the bad guys in boxed in.

McKay's comeback dripped with disdain. "That's like thinking I have to respect every member of my scientific team, Sheppard. Ludicrous."

Ronon chuckled and John snorted, "Yeah, Kavanagh and you becoming best buddies…I think you'd rather kill each other than the Wraith most days."

"Very appealing notion," Rodney drily concurred. "What…why are they turning around?" he noted about their targets.

"Like the odds of one man versus going up against three?" John hazarded, still trading shot with the enemy, who now were mostly all facing his direction.

"Lay down your arms, now! You're not getting out of here!" McKay commanded of the Genii, thought they were agreeing to his terms when they crouched down, seemingly to lay down their weapons. Instead they sent a barrage of stun beams toward John, who ducked behind the wall in time until a stun shot from behind him caught him in the back, sending him spraying to the ground unconscious.

"John!" Teyla shouted as she saw him collapse, felt Ronon begin to surge forward but she yanked him backwards as the Genii turned back to them and opened fire, now with live ammunition.

Pinned down, Ronon shouted across the hallway now zinging with bullets to McKay, "They wanted Sheppard, alive. That's why they were using the stun guns."

"They didn't know which one of us was him..until I said his name," Rodney realized with self-hatred.

"It must be his Ancient Gene," Teyla theorized, hoped that meant they would keep John alive until they could free him. The Genii in the corridor were retreating, having gotten what they sought.

Ronon growled in rage as he watched them drag Sheppard's unconscious form across the corridor and out of sight. "They have to take the transporter back to the gate," he said before he turned and ran the opposite direction of the soldiers who had taken his best friend. He knew what John would call the tactic he was about to put into play, this John, not his: Heading them off at the pass. This John liked western references, probably because of his time in Vegas..or else he thought of himself as a cowboy from the Earth's old west era, Ronon could never determine which.

Following his lead, McKay and Teyla were hard at his heels. Using a tranporter of their own, they popped out at the corridor closest to the gate transporter and pelted down the hallway at a full out run. Since their communications had obviously been hacked, none of them trusted to radio a coordinated pincher move with any of the Marines.

Rodney, running down the corridor a few paces behind Teyla, found that his mind was going mach one: replaying the argument he and John had had two weeks ago on the mission. Fervently wishing now that he had apologized or talked things out with the man, hated to think he wouldn't get the chance now. That some Genii thugs were stealing Sheppard away and they'd never see him again.

Rounding the corner, hoping for surprise to be on their side, Ronon saw the transporter door was open and feared he was too late. Surging forward, he pointed his gun muzzle into the transporter's interior. Instead of finding the interior empty, John Sheppard stood there, splattered in blood with his captors lying unmoving at his feet. Ronon was shaking with relief as John stepped over the corpses to exit the kill box the Air Force Major had created for the hapless Genii.

"Some more bodies are in the hallway ..by the training rooms," John supplied, using his forearm to smear some blood off his eyebrow.

Latching onto John's elbow, Ronon demanded, "Where are you hurt?" prayed that only a small portion of blood on John was his friend's.

"Not hurt," John boasted before catching Rodney's emphatically relieved gaze. "Like I said…I'm no damsel in distress needing protected or rescued." Expected a snippy, challenging comeback from McKay, a demand that further proof was needed. He was in no way expecting Rodney to yank him into a fierce hug.

"Thank God you're so stubborn to prove a point," Rodney tightened his hold on John a moment more, ensuring that the man was there with him and in one piece after what he had feared before pulling back.

"Oookkkk..Not the reaction I was expecting," John drawled, totally out of his element with McKay's relief and outward show of affection.

Ronon looped an arm around John's shoulders, a huge smile on his face. Felt something in him shift, some fear give way to happiness that wasn't all attributed to this newest scare that Sheppard would be taken from him. "I've never seen it before but I think that's McKay actually being proud of someone besides himself."

"Very funny," Rodney sallied to Ronon but he felt immeasurably giddy so he let the insult go without further retaliation.

"We are all very relieved you are alright, John," Teyla announced, companionably loping her arm through Rodney's.

John was still reeling at the notion that Rodney was proud of him, that he'd gained the man's trust that he wouldn't just lay down and die in some weak notion of penance for past sins.

Ronon patted John on the chest. "I'm proud of you too." Then he began steering the man down the hallway, away from the carnage as a Marine contingent showed up to clean up the aftermath. "Except I have one question…what's a damsel in distress?"

Cocking his head over his shoulders to look back at McKay, John brazenly smirked, "Rodney. He's what's known as a damsel in distress. Always needing rescued, cries under pressure, whines the entire time the hero is saving his butt."

"Har har. Maybe you hit your head because you are delusional." Rodney didn't care what he had offhandedly promised Sheppard on that mission, he had been talking out of desperation, surely Sheppard knew that.

Confused by the term and the conversation, Teyla murmured, "That description does not seem to describe Rodney." A second later, her eyes lighted up with devious mirth. "But there is one person on Atlantis who would meet all those criteria."

"Kavanagh," the foursome said in unison, chuckled at their agreement and began relating tale after tale about the contemptible antics of Rodney's subordinate.

More Marines passed them intent on rounding up the rest of the Gemii. Reassured that Atlantis was in good hands, Rodney could finally believe that so was John. Today he had proof that the man would do all in his power to survive. 'And Ronon, Teyla and I will do what we can to keep him safe, regardless of Sheppard's whining about being protected. Because he's the whiner not me,' he smugly thought before he dove right back into another 'just how stupid can Kavanagh be' tale. "Then there's the time when Kavanagh initiated a self-destruct sequence….."

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TBC

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Thanks for all those out there still reading and reviewing!

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.