John was going to kill someone. Dr. Rollins. They'd gone to investigate a hidden Ancient lab. Everything looked safe, Rollins assured him, nothing here, but when they entered the cave, some kind of barrier had come up around the whole thing. Even under their feet. Not even air could penetrate.

After stuttering that he might have noticed very slight fluctuations in the power readings, Rollins had panicked, crying about his worst nightmare being death by suffocation. When the man had actually begun to sob, "We're going to die!" over and over, John had moved as far from the man as he could go. John was seriously going to hurt him.

They had finally convinced the crying man to sit quietly by pointing out that he was using more oxygen than he needed to. He couldn't figure out how to turn it off, and they couldn't blow their way out of a force sheild. So they sat to wait for help.

They spoke little, sharing water and power bars. They took shifts to keep watch because, really, even though they were in a cave and nothing could get in, this was the Pegasus galaxy. You just never knew what the Ancients left lying around. It was only a few days, but it seemed like weeks. Finally, they heard a short crackle, and the bluish glow faded. They lost no time in exiting the cave.

Aah, fresh air! He took a second to breath, then started towards the jumpers. Lorne and Carson were telling him to stop, but he really, really wanted to go home. Get away from Rollins. Take a shower, eat a hot meal. Sleep. When Ronon yelled, he pulled up his weapon and scanned the area. He didn't see anything, and turned to ask Ronon what he'd seen, but the Satedan was holding someone tight.

He staggered, would have fallen if Cadman hadn't grabbed his elbow. Rodney! He's here. "Jesus Rodney!" He's alive.

He reached the two men just as Teyla did. They both tried to add their arms to Ronon's. John gaped when Rodney lurched backwards with a look of terror on his face..

"No, no. Wait. I need a bit of space." Rodney looked different. He was thinner, and his face bore traces of bruising. There were scrapes and small cuts on his face and neck. John also didn't overlook the sling or crutches. The scientist had lost weight, too.

But what really held him was the look in Rodney's eyes. They were haunted, hurt, afraid. It hit him like a fist. Rodney had been hurt. All his hope that he'd been somewhere waiting, safe, or that he'd had amnesia or something disappeared. Someone had hurt his friend. Because he hadn't done his damned job. His anger at himself rose and he gripped his weapon to keep from screaming.

He watched as Teyla touched her forehead to his, then hugged him. Rodney looked uncomfortable at the physical touch, but soon her aura of peace calmed him. He couldn't look away.

Rodney looked at him. "What?" If he could see how much of what he felt was revealed in his face, he knew the Canadian would die of embarrassment.

"You look like shit. Where've you been?" John wanted to take it back, really, but he didn't know what to say and it just came out. What did you do when someone practically came back from the dead? It was wonderful, and it hurt.

"Is that what you say to me after all this? No 'glad to see you' or 'we missed you'? Hey, you didn't even thank me! You do realize that I had to drag myself from the infirmary to save you from death?" God, Rodney looked hurt. But it was still him, still Rodney.

Desperately trying to control his emotions, he said with a smirk and a shrug, "We'll talk about that once you get back to the infirmary."

Carson interrupted, telling Rodney it was time to go back to the jumper. And he couldn't take his eyes off the man the whole time. He said nothing until he noticed Rodney start to breath funny, and he was looking around the cargo bay wildly. "Rodney?" He didn't think the man even heard him. When the Canadian collapsed, he leaped forward. Feeling his heart pound, he yelled, "Hey, Carson? There's something wrong with Rodney!"

9999999999999

They waited in the hallway. Ronon and Teyla kept sending him looks that he was too worried to pay attention to. Until Ronon gave him a look.

"What?"

"We need to talk." Ronon pulled them a little off to the side so they could talk privately.

Teyla laid a hand on his arm. "We need to talk to you about Rodney."

John narrowed his eyes. "Why? Know something I don't?" He straightened from his slouch. Oh shit, that look said they did, and it was bad. "What is it?"

Ronon, always blunt, said, "We think the men had sex with him."

"Huh? Rodney wouldn't do that, he doesn't like men that way." He knew that, not that it was something he ever thought of. Nor was it something that would bother him. It took a second of both his teammates staring at him with brows raised until he understood. He sagged against the wall again. "Of course he wouldn't. Not willingly." So, now the pieces fit all together now.

"We think you should speak to him."

Was Teyla crazy? "Me. Talk. That's a really bad idea.."

"John, you are closer to him than anyone else, save Carson, and I imagine he has already spoken to him. He needs to know that we are here for him." She looked to Ronon, who twitched his head in agreement.

"Why can't you talk to him?" Teyla would be a much better choice.

"I do not think Rodney would be comfortable talking to me of this. And I think, perhaps, he already knows my opinion of him would not change." Teyla smiled with a hint of disgust. "Your people are not so understanding of such things."

When John looked at Ronon, the big man lowered his head and his lips quirked up. OK, so Ronon wasn't going to do it.

"Fine. I'll talk to him. But don't blame me if I do it wrong."

((((00

He did it wrong. It was more than wrong. He managed to hit every nerve the man had. He said the wrong things. Talking was not his area of expertise, and it showed. But in the end, he and Rodney were good. Well, Rodney seemed fine. John couldn't believe how light he felt knowing that Rodney didn't blame him. He wasn't totally blameless, but hey, he'd been worried that Rodney would want him strung up from the Stargate.

It was be a long, hard road Rodney had to walk, but he did it. And the team gave him whatever they could. Time, patience and, yeah, ok, Teyla mothered him. She fussed over him while he was restricted from duty, teaching him a game of strategy played by the Athosians. She made him a calming tea each morning, and accompanied him to his physical therapy.

John and Ronon treated him like they would any soldier injured in the line of duty.

When Ronon cut the scientist's meat was just polite assistance because Rodney's injuries made it hard for him to use his left hand. He always found it funny that just as Rondey would sit across from them, Ronon would rumble, produce a knife and quickly reduce the food to small, baby-sized pieces. Rodney would scowl at him, but them comment on how nice it was to know that they finally appreciated him.

Ronon had become Rodney's constant shadow. The Canadian had lost weight, so it made sense for them to make sure he ate enough. Since Ronon liked food as much as Rodney, he was the most likely choice. He wouldn't explain his sudden love of the labs, though, but Rodney seemed to appreciate it.

John checked on Rodney in the night, sometimes. He worried about something, though he never really thought about it too hard. Kate said it was understandable, but that he might want to eventually tell Rodney. He never told him.

John kept Rodney company in the evenings, sitting on the balcony. They didn't talk, and finally one night, as he looked at his friend, he knew they'd all be fine.