Disclaimer: We own nothing except an eclectic collection of DVDs and a ton of Terry Pratchett books.

A/N: This is going to be the last update for a little while, I'm afraid; Exploded Pen's computer died earlier this week, and it's going to be a little while before she's up, running and online again. So on behalf of the both of us, thank you all very much for the reviews we've received so far, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter :)

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Chapter Six

More than a day later, and Rodney was once again in the infirmary in the – supposedly – capable hands of Carson Beckett. The doctor had insisted he redress Rodney's bandages, and had actually used his own fear of cross-infection as a means of getting the task done.

Carson tutted loudly as he examined the bare healing skin of Rodney's arm. "Have ye actually washed this since I last checked it?"

Rodney scowled. "Yes, I do use that miracle device known to so many as a shower. It gets the dirt right off."

Carson sighed – also very loudly – but before he could say anything, Atlantis' klaxons erupted into sound, drowning out any reply he might have had – or just about any sound for that matter.

"What? What is it?" Rodney asked, starting to panic in spite of himself.

"Medical emergency," Carson growled, motioning to his medical staff and getting two beds ready at the same time. "You'd best stay out of the way for the moment, Rodney."

More than happy to do so, Rodney retreated to the very back of the infirmary, instinctively holding his bare arm close to his chest. Exactly three seconds later Teyla, Ford and two medical technicians burst into the room, pulling a gurney between the four of them.

Rodney stared as the entire medical team in the infirmary leaped into action, following Beckett's orders with a scary precision. A few more seconds, and the gaps between people's moving forms widened enough for Rodney to be able to see who the patient was.

He swallowed.

It was Sheppard.

Rodney started to move forward, but stopped when he saw a distraught looking Zelenka hurry in. It wasn't his team anymore, he told himself firmly. They could look after themselves.

Sheppard looking like he'd gone three rounds with a Wraith and lost.

Not his team...

Rodney stayed where he was, against the wall, and watched, the worry inside him growing by the second. He saw Beckett bark out orders for however many kinds of drugs and methods of entry into the body, at the same time as Zelenka telling one of the other doctors about two bodies back in the Jumper.

Wait a second. Bodies? Rodney's eyes flickered over the moving crowd in the infirmary. Gaul and Abrams. They weren't there.

"What the hell happened?" he hissed to Zelenka, breaking his own vow of quasi-invisibility.

Zelenka stared back at him blankly. "There was a Wraith," he explained slowly. "It... fed. There was nothing we could do."

Mouth moving without anything coming out, Rodney glanced at Sheppard's unconscious – and blood covered – form before looking back at the Czech. "Well, it doesn't look like he tried to feed on the Major!"

Zelenka grimaced, closing his eyes briefly. "Major Sheppard tried to take the Wraith on by himself. He ordered me to stay behind with Gaul. Abrams was already dead, nothing could be done for him."

"So what happened to Brendan?" Rodney demanded. "If he was alive when the Major left, what the hell happened to him?"

"The Wraith fed on Gaul!" Zelenka hissed back. "Gaul was dying, that is why I was told to stay behind with him!"

Rodney gaped. "And let Sheppard take on a Wraith by himself?! What, are you insane?!"

Several of the medical staff threw dirty looks at Rodney, but there and then he couldn't have cared less.

"I was following orders!" Zelenka shot back.

Rodney pointed with his covered arm to where Sheppard was still being tended to by way too many doctors. "Then I hope you're happy with the outcome," he hissed. He stalked out of the infirmary. "I'll do the arm myself, Carson," he threw back over his shoulder.

"Aye," Carson replied absent-mindedly.

Rodney had almost made it to the door when he felt an arm on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw it was Ford. "Did you have to shout at Zelenka like that?" the Marine asked coldly. "Like the man said, he was following the Major's orders out there."

"And look where it got Sheppard," Rodney shot back.

Ford eyeballed him, making him squirm a little. "And you seriously think you would have done any different, McKay?" he asked coldly, and behind him, Rodney saw Teyla tilt her head in assent to Ford's question.

He hesitated for a second. "Well, we're never going to know that one, are we?" he shot back. With some effort, he shook Ford's hand off his shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I have work to be getting on with."

Ford shook his head. "Is that all you can think about, McKay?" he asked.

"It's all I'll let myself think about, Lieutenant," Rodney replied quietly. Then, to Teyla as well. "I hope the Major recovers."

And then he left.

o o o o o

It wasn't until much later that the details started coming into light. The mission had gone more-or-less as Zelenka had described it, and as a result, John Sheppard was still in the infirmary, heavily sedated with a severe onset concussion, a broken arm, and who knew how many bruised ribs and joints.

It had fallen to Rodney – as usual – to retrieve as much information from Jumper Four as possible. In addition to the standard equipment stocked on the jumper, there was also a significant amount of ammo and tech from Sheppard's ship onboard as well. Rodney had frowned at that, but knew instinctively that the only way he was going to get any more answers was to ask a member of the rescue team exactly what had happened out there.

Teyla was the candidate least likely to try and break his neck over a few questions, so Rodney decided to ask her about the mission. On the way to her quarters, however, he was stopped by voices coming from an empty laboratory.

After a few indiscriminate sentences, he heard his own name mentioned, and moved closer to the door.

He could hear Ford talking inside the room. "...He was bang out of line. I knew McKay had changed, just not this much."

Rodney frowned, slightly hurt at the lieutenant's comments.

"Perhaps he was unwell," another voice offered – Teyla.

"No," Ford replied. "He was nursing his arm like it was about to drop off or something. I can't believe he's still making a fuss about a stupid little injury."

Rodney flared up for a split second at the same time as Teyla replied: "Aiden, do you know the exact cause of the injury to Doctor McKay's arm?"

"Well... no..."

"Then perhaps it is unwise for you to refer to it as 'stupid' and 'little'," she replied serenely.

Rodney mentally whooped. Score one for the hot Athosian.

"Yeah." Ford sounded unconvinced. "But did you see the way he looked at the major back there? It was like he was barely even there, or something."

Rodney took a deep breath and opened the lab door, stepping inside the room. "Ah, good, I've found you. I need to ask you both some questions about what happened on the planet."

Ford openly glared at him. "And what makes you think we'd tell you anything, McKay?" he demanded.

Teyla placed an arm on the lieutenant's arm. "Aiden," she said warningly. She then looked at Rodney. "What purpose would these questions serve, Doctor?" she asked.

Rodney bristled. But only slightly. "Doctor Weir has charged me with assessing Jumper Four, and sadly enough that includes a complete inventory of what is and isn't onboard the ship."

Teyla nodded. "I see. What do you need to know?"

"What happened out there?" Rodney managed to keep the latent anger out of his voice – he hoped.

"Major Sheppard attempted to deal with a lone Wraith on his own," Teyla replied. "In doing so he used several rounds of his P-90, and also some... grenades and stunners," she added, looking briefly at Ford as she struggled with the alien terminology. "It appears as though the Wraith gained access to the major's Jumper, which I assume would explain some of the missing equipment and ammunition?"

Rodney nodded. "Yeah, it does."

There was a moment of awkward silence until Teyla spoke up again. "Is that all you wished to know, Doctor?" she asked.

Rodney started. "Yes, uh... yes, that's all. Thank you." He turned back towards the door, then turned back around. "How is Major Sheppard?" he blurted.

"Doc says he's stable, and will be fine in a few days," Ford replied curtly.

"Right," Rodney nodded. He knew a dismissal when he heard one – and he'd heard plenty in his time. One more awkward look at his two former team-mates, and Rodney left the lab, making sure to close the door behind him again.

He made it all the way back to the Jumper bay before sagging down against one of the walls. He still couldn't figure out why he was still feeling this way, and Rodney McKay, PhD, didn't like not knowing something like that one little bit.

It was his choice to leave the team, so they were none of his concern anymore.

It was his idea to have Zelenka replace him on said team... so why in the name of everything that was sacred and rooted in physics was Rodney feeling... feeling like he could have done something where Zelenka clearly hadn't?

But then again, like Rodney had told Ford only hours before, there was no way any of them were going to know if Doctor Rodney McKay would have had the guts to disobey an order and chase Sheppard and a Wraith, and possibly avert the outcome that they were faced with now?

Rodney sighed, and changed mental topics to the issue at hand.

He could question his own personal bravery – or lack of it – some other time.

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