Chapter 5: Travel

When they reached the airport Mitchell parked in the long term car park explaining as he did so; "we don't know how long before you are ready to come back, plus the IOA is footing the bill, they just don't know it."

Sheppard and Ronon both smiled at this, there was no love lost between any military personnel and the IOA but they were more distrustful of the IOA due to their past experiences dealing with the paper pushers.

As they walked into the main terminal, Ronon carrying Sheppard's bags as well as his own. Sheppard hunched up minutely in discomfort at the attention their uniforms were attracting. Walking towards the ticket desk he could feel several pairs of eyes following their every move.

"This is worse than I remember." He muttered to Ronon "It's bad enough being in one place with this many people but I'm so aware of every single person watching me." Ronon just nodded in agreement.

"Relax" Mitchell said, so lowly that no one else could possibly overhear, "no one here is going to attack or ambush you, they are just curious." He was intensely aware of how tense his companions were. It wasn't possible to imagine exactly what it was like for them, after all, normally when they were in a strange crowded place surrounded by strangers they had to be constantly on their guard. Mitchell understood this but unlike Sheppard and Ronon he had the opportunity to kick back and relax after work in a way that just wasn't possible on Atlantis.

Reaching the ticket desk Mitchell took charge, smiling down at the girl sitting behind it. "hi there, we're booked on the nine thirty-seven flight to JFK."

The girl's bored face lit up as her eyes came to rest on the well-built men standing before her. "Of course, can I see some ID please?"

Her eyes glinted cheekily as she watched the three pull out their ID. Sheppard and Mitchell both pulled out their military ID while Ronon located the piece of plastic that the air force had issued him on his previous visit.

"Thank you very much... Colonel Mitchell" the girl said as she checked the ID they handed her. "You'll be pleased to know to know you've been upgraded to Business class... these are your boarding passes, the plane leaves from gate 10. I hope you have a good flight."

All three smiled as they took their passes and ID. Some of the tension that Sheppard was feeling drained as he started to remember the peace of mind he used to have in crowded places.

Approaching security Ronon watched with mild surprise as the people in front of him started to remove their shoes. Looking back at Sheppard he saw the man give a one shouldered shrug before adding "Terrorism has changed air travel, you should have seen security fifteen years ago, practically non-existent."

Ronon just shook his head and bent down to undo his shoelaces. He heard minute moan, so quiet he wasn't sure he at first if he had heard anything at all. Turning around he was just in time to hear Mitchell, who already had his shoes off, asking Sheppard if he needed a hand. Ronon could see from the stubborn set of Sheppard's shoulders that he was going to refuse. Instead, once he had his shoes off Sheppard said; "I'm going to need to take this sling off, it's got metal parts, could you just unclip it please?"

Mitchell nodded and quickly stepped behind Sheppard to undo the clasp before stepping up to the x-ray machine and depositing his hat, jacket and shoes on the belt then stepping through the detector and heading to the other end of the x-ray machine to collect his belongings.

Sheppard did the same, adding his sling to the top of the pile. Moving gingerly he walked through the metal detector but, as he stepped through a shrill beeping erupted from the detector indicating the presence of metal. Sheppard quickly checked his pockets with his good hand for loose change he may have overlooked even as a security guard approached. "Would you please step to the side sir." The guard asked politely.

Sheppard nodded, slightly worried. As he moved he said to Mitchell "I guess the doc missed a piece" turning back to the guard he said; "look, I got shot a few months ago and the bullet fragmented, I don't have a doctor's note because the doctor thought she got all the pieces. I can show you the scars if that will help."

The man hesitated in indecision and Sheppard, deciding he'd rather reveal the scars on his front than risk the discovery of the devices on his back, pulled his shirt up careful to keep the back of it tucked into his trousers.

Sheppard heard some of the other passengers who were passing murmur as the pink scars came into view but blocked out them out, focusing solely on the man standing in front of him. After thirty seconds the man nodded and said; "I believe you... good luck out there."

Sheppard nodded his thanks pulling his shirt back down. At that moment the metal detector once more went off as Ronon stepped through. Looking at the beeping, flashing machine Ronon quickly added; "I have a note."

Ronon had been shot at the same time as Sheppard but due to some accidental healing on Sheppard's part he still had a bullet buried in his shoulder due to the fact that the surgical team had decided it would do more harm to remove it than to leave it be.

By the time all the relevant paperwork had been sorted, Sheppard had donned his jacket and shoes and Mitchell was in the process of helping him re-secure his arm. "Yet another eventful chapter in the life of an officer serving on the front line" Mitchell joked as he did so

"I'm not sure I would classify our job as front line" Sheppard admitted equally as quietly "More like deep behind enemy lines"

"I see where you're coming from."

By this point they were all sorted and headed towards their assigned departure gate. The one advantage of being held up at security was that they didn't have long to wait before the plane began boarding. None of them were in any rush and as such they waited until all the other passengers had boarded before they themselves boarded.

Stepping onto the plane Sheppard commented "I love flying but this is a bus with wings... I can't stand commercial airlines. I'm more of a behind the controls guy anyway."

Ronon smiled, he knew all too well what Sheppard was like. An action man at heart Ronon understood all too well how difficult it was for Sheppard to do nothing. "It's only going to be for a couple of hours I'm sure you'll survive, after all you've endured worse."

Sheppard smiled playfully saying "I'm not sure... I think this may be up there." He was trying to take his mind off the people staring at them as they moved through the cabin looking for their seats.

"You know this whole staring thing gets really old really fast." He added as he finally found what he was looking for. He huffed lightly in what could almost have been mistaken for a sigh as he noticed the large, round eyes of a small boy who was watching their every move. Remembering where he was he turned to Mitchell and asked; "Are there ever times, especially when you're recovering from injury, that you regret your decision to join the programme?"

Mitchell thought about the question for a minute before answering. "the worse injury I suffered occurred before I joined the programme. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into so... no I guess."

"See I didn't have a clue what I was getting myself into. I supposed there are times when I get down but my team is my family and I would never take back my decision."

Ronon who had been listening smiled and said "Admit it Sheppard, if it wasn't for us Keller would have had to resort to restraints a long time ago to keep you in the infirmary."

"Hey!" Sheppard protested before smiling "I never said I was a good patient, only that I didn't regret my decision."

"I understand what you mean about the infirmary" Mitchell admitted "I think most frontline soldiers do, it's a required character flaw. I do know of soldiers who regretted joining the programme but they are few and far between and they are usually transferred out again fairly quickly."

"By the time they get to us they are rearing for action. I've never had a regretful soldier but we do get the occasional scientist who missed the memo on the fact that we are usually in mortal danger. They get reassigned fairly quickly, it's bad for morale."

"I hear you there, we try to get rid of those types fairly quickly as well, they cause far too many problems otherwise."

They lapsed into silence as each thought about various problems they had had in the past.

Sheppard saw Ronon smile and looked in the same general direction and he too smiled when he saw what Ronon had seen, a small ear angled in their direction.

Speaking in an exaggerated stage whisper he said; "I think we have a spy among us."

Mitchell looked mystified for a second until he heard a giggle and turned to see the boy with big eyes looking at them. "Oh well in that case he must know all about the spaceships and aliens."

The boy sighed in frustration thinking that they were pulling his leg and that all the interesting conversation was over.

The trio passed the rest of the flight in relative silence. Sheppard spent a large portion of his time trying to learn how to control his oversensitive awareness of other peoples pain. He tried his best to force his awareness out as far as possible glad that there were only a couple of headaches and a mild cold to deal with, before pulling it all back in, each time trying ever harder to shut out what everyone around him was feeling. By the end of the flight, as they were coming in for a slightly bumpy landing, Sheppard was fairly happy with what he had managed to achieve; only feeling the small paper cut on the man sitting behind him.

He was fairly sure that with concentration he could maintain a one meter area around himself, meaning that only people in his immediate vicinity would affect him. This was a major relief as he had been more than a little apprehensive about going into a hospital, let alone one that was full of people dying from cancer.

A/N: ok so i know i said i would have this chapter up weeks ago but the microsoft word on my computer stopped working and then i ahd exams to deal with so this is the first chance ive had sorry guys... i have to admit a few reviews might help motivate me a bit, let me know what you think so far... are the characters true to form, is it working as a stand alone? i know the last few chapters have been a bit slow for those of you who are action/whump loving, dont worry things are going to pickk up soon and for the time being ENJOY!