Disclaimer: Not mine...never will...god, I'm depressed now!

Spoilers: The Siege

A/N: Not as long as I intended it to be but it was one of those weeks where everything than can go wrong, will go wrong! I'm sure you know what I mean. The little one-shot I wrote was actually only so I could blow off some steam (that's why it got kinda angsty) so I could continue this one without letting it get too depressing.

Thanks for your awesome reviews. They made the week seem not quite so horrible! Please keep them coming or I'll feel bad again... *blackmailing*

11. Mud Wrestling

The parting from the Kesslers had been one huge blur for Rodney. But not because it had been a hurried goodbye, far from it.

The Kessler's had point-blank begged them to stay a little bit longer. Especially the children had been persistent, much to Ronons hidden pleasure. The Kessler's had lenghtened the farewell, much to the charging of Rodney, who had itched for a long shower.

No, it hadn't been quick at all. It had been frantic and it had been pure mayhem.

Everywhere he had looked, Rodney had seen dancing, laughing and in some cases even singing couples. They had been all over the place, bumping into each other with delight. Rodney had suspected that some of them were still a little bit drunk from yesterdays feast. And he couldn't blame them. He had taken one swig of the stuff and immediately put it down again. It had tasted like vodka and had been at least as strong.

When he had danced with Sheppard (and he was still blushing everytime he thought about that) he had felt kinda dizzy, but blamed it on the constant dancing in a round.

Now, though, he thought that he had been more drunken than he'd thought. Although it couldn't possibly be, he had quite vivid memories of Sheppard, pulling him against his chest and running circles on his back. Weird...

Rodney just hoped that he hadn't let his guard slip. Alcohol tended to loose his tongue and the control over his emotions. Needless to say that he never drank too much.

But Sheppard hadn't acted any different around him, so Rodney thought that it was safe to assume that his secret was still safe.

Cayan had almost burst into tears when he had said good bye to Teyla. She had been slightly embarrassed, but everyone who knew her saw that she had also been flattered.

It seemed as if the entire village had been there but no matter how hard he had tried, Rodney couldn't find Cerans face in the crowd. He didn't know if he should be relieved or worried about that.

"I hope you enjoyed your visit here, yes?" Cayan had asked at last and Sheppard had shot Rodney one of his unreadable looks before he had grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. It was...enlightening."

His choice of words had puzzled Rodney, but he hadn't asked. Sometimes it was better not to.

After a tearful (on the Kessler's side) and a hestitant (on Team Sheppards side) break-up, Rodney and the others had set out for the stargate.

"That was a truly delightful visit." Teyla said, still grinning from Cayan's open affection.

Ronon grunted: "It was okay."

"And you Rodney? How'd you like it?"

Rodney didn't answer Sheppards question right away, because he was fully concentrating on the ground so he wouldn't slip and fall. It had begun to rain during the party and hadn't stopped for hours. As a result, the ground consisted more of mud than anything else right now.

"Well," he mumured while he tried to free his boot out of a tiny mud pool, "apart from the insane singing and dancing it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

He didn't say that that was mostly thanks to Sheppards company, but he didn't need to.

"Yeah, the company wasn't too bad." Sheppard drawled, his eyes monitoring their surroundings.

Now Rodney concentrated on the ground because he didn't trust his face, not to show what he felt right now.

That's why he didn't see the brief exchange of a curious look between Ronon and Teyla, or how both of them suddenly tensed, because they had heard something in the forest in front of them. Therefore he also didn't see how Sheppard drew his gun or how a knife was flying right towards him. But what he heard was a scream near his ear that almost sounded like his name and what he felt was a body crushing into his and dragging him to the ground.

When he fell face down into the mud, his first thought was 'I'm going to kill him!'

When Sheppard wouldn't let him sit up, his second thought was 'What the hell is his problem?'

And when a familiar noise reached his ears, his third thought was 'Who is he shooting at?'

It were just mere seconds but to Rodney, lying in the freezing mud, not daring to breath, it felt like hours before Sheppard finally moved away and let him at least sit up. "What the hell happened?" He frantically searched their surroundings for any sign of danger and noticed that neither Ronon nor Teyla were anywhere to be seen.

Sheppard was crouching besides him on the ground with a dark expression on his face while he surveyed the trees with narrowed eyes.

Rodney noticed that Sheppard had not a single drop of mud on him, while he himself was soaking in the damn stuff. How the hell was than even possible? But he noticed something else too and the anger died in his throat.

"You are bleeding!" He didn't like how shaky his voice was.

Sheppard finally looked at him like he had just realized that Rodney was there. Rodney pointed at his arm, which was bleeding from a gash on his upper arm. Sheppard followed his pointed finger with his eyes and seemed to be surprised by what he saw.

"Huh. The knife must have nicked me after all."

Rodney blinked. Knife? What knife? "What the hell happened, Sheppard?" He didn't like that he was so completely in the dark. The whole incident had been one big rush for him.

Sheppards eyes returned to the forest, scanning it, and the dark expression was once more firmly in place. "Seems like our friend was even more bothered by our visit than we thought. Ronon and Teyla went after him."

Right on cue, Ronon and Teyla broke through the treeline with a seriously pissed of Ceran in tow. The Kessler writhed and winced in Ronons tight grip and spat at them from time to time. "Let go of me! I will kill you! You'll never take over the village! I won't let you!!!"

Rodney groaned, just loud enough for Sheppard to hear. "Figured that it was too good to be true."

Sheppard smirked at him and stood up to went over to their fuming captive. "What are you talking about pal? We don't want to take over your village. We came to trade with you."

Ceran spit on the ground and Ronon growled darkly. "Don't fool with me, off-worlder! I have seen the world you live in, full of hate and betrayal. You would betray us too! Probably sell us to those Wraith as soon as you have the chance to!"

"We would never do that." Teyla said. She had heard the reason why the Kessler's had been so hestitant to trade from Cayan. "Not everyone is like the people you have met on your journey. We just want to be your allies, not your enemies."

"Silence woman!" Caran screeched. "I know you made my father sick, so you could heal him and gain his trust. I won't be fooled by your evil tricks!"

By now Ceran was as red as a beet and spittle flew from his mouth everytime he spoke. His eyes were wide open and darted from one tree to another instead of looking at them, as if he expected someone to watch them from the shadows. Rodney thought that he looked like someone on the edge of madness and he almost felt pity for him. Almost.

Rodney realized that he was still sitting on the cold ground (for no apparent reason) and made an attempt to stand up, just to fall back immediately when a sharp pain shot trough his ankle.

Sheppard was at his side faster than Rodney thought possible. "Your ankle?"

Rodney snorted humorlessly. "Oh I don't know Captain Obvious. You think?" Because honestly, wasn't the way he held his right ankle answer enough?

Sheppard looked down at him in exasperation and Rodney berated himself. Sheppard was just trying to be nice but Rodney tended to get a bit touchy when he was in pain. A trait of his personality he didn't like much, but couldn't help either.

Sheppard fingered the ankle gently. "It doesn't seem to be broken." he murmured thoughtfully before turning towards the others. "Ronon, Teyla. You take him back to the village and explain what happened. If they give you any problems contact me immediately over the radio. Rodney and me will go to the gate and wait there for you."

Ronon looked like he wanted to object but kept still. After all, Ceran seemed to be the only madman in town they'd have to deal with. He waited while Teyla took some bandages out of her vest and patched up Sheppards arm. The wound didn't seem to be too bad, since Sheppard didn't even blinked when she tightened the knot.

"We will come back as soon as we can." She said and followed Ronon who was already dragging the now oddly lifeless Ceran back towards the village they had left just half an hour ago. Sheppard turned back to Rodney and watched him how he shivered in his wet clothes.

"W-what?"

Sheppard sighed and wordlessly handed him his own jacket, which he had taken off when Teyla had tended his arm. Rodney looked at it for a few seconds before he awkwardly shrugged out of his drenched jacket and putting on Sheppards instead. His eyes lingered a moment on the bloodstain.

"So," he drawled, still sitting on the ground, but at least in a dry jacket. "you jumped in front of me."

"And knocked you down, yep." Sheppard said easily, not noticing how low Rodneys voice had been. "Couldn't let you get hit by that knife, could I?" He offered him a helping hand, but Rodney just stared at it blankly.

Suddenly a fierce surge of anger passed through him and without further ado he slapped the outstretched hand away.

Sheppard watched in confusion when Rodney came to his feet. With difficulty and a good amount of pain, but this time he didn't say anything about it and just clenched his teeth.

He didn't want to take Sheppards hand. Hell, he didn't even want to look him in the eye right now. He began to limp down the path, not acknowledging John's bemused expression. "I can walk on my own, thank you Colonel."

Maybe for the first time in his entire life, Rodney McKay concentrated gratefully on the pain his body gave him so he wouldn't have to think about the man behind him.

When Ronon and Teyla reached the village, Cayan already awaited them. Teyla had never seen him this somber during the entire tree days, not even when he had told he about the changes of his son.

There was no trace of that familiar cheeky grin she had seen so often in his face and he had hung his head in shame when he had seen them coming.

He looked defeated.

Ronon seemed to see the same, because he relaxed slightly and his hand didn't lay on his gun anymore. Teyla had refrained from telling him how suspicious he acted because she knew that he did it automatically. The Kessler's had never been any threat to them. Just one.

They stopped in front of Cayan whose eyes were on his son. She couldn't tell what she saw in those eyes; Disappointment? Anger? Sadness? Understanding? Fear? Maybe a bit of everything?

She just knew that Ceran couldn't meet his fathers gaze and that it saddened her more than it should.

Teyla didn't know what to say, something she wasn't familiar with, but Ronon beat her to it. "He attacked us."

She winced at his brute honesty and was worried how Cayan would react.

The ambassadors eyes never left his son when he spoke. "When I searched for him and couldn't find him I feared something like that. I hope nobody was injured?"

Teyla had the impression that the last question was directed at his son but answered nonetheless. "Colonel Sheppard has a gash on his arm and Dr. McKay a sprained ankle." She felt sorry for Cayan when the man winced at her words but didn't regret them. When there would be a punishment, it should be suitable for the crime. Although she felt kinda sorry for Ceran too, she wasn't willing to downplay his actions.

Cayan composed himself quickly and her admiration for the man grew. "I understand." His voice was low but his next words were sharp as a razor. "Son, you will go to my hut and wait there for me. Now." He then nodded to Ronon to release his son and the Satedan hestitated only a second before he released Cerans arm. The young Kessler almost ran towards the ambassadors hut and Teyla wondered how old the young man actually was.

Some of the steel that had entered Cayans eyes disappeared with his son and he finally focused on the two off-worlders. "I hope you will accept my apology. I will see to Cerans punishment." He looked much older than he had an hour before. "I would understand if you would never want to see my people again."

Teyla smiled at him in, what she hoped, an encouraging way. "Please don't worry about that, Ambassador Cayan. Nobody was hurt too bad and your people have been very kind and inviting. We will not let one incident endanger our newfound friendship." Ronon nodded absentmindedly. Teyla assumed that he was already bored, now that he had nothing to do but listen to the two of them.

Cayan grinned, a poor imitation of his usual grin but Teyla was nonetheless very happy to see it.

"That is wonderful. Thank heavens." Suddenly his grin got wider and more warm. "Why don't you stay, so we can celebrate our first overcome crisis as allies?"

Teyla almost laughed at the obvious attempt to get them to stay. "I am afraid that will not be possible. Our friends are already at the gate and need medical treatment."

Cayan sobered a little but didn't loose the small smile on his lips. "That's too bad but maybe next time."

A few children called for Ronon and waved their little arms in excitement. Ronon didn't bother to wave back but it was him who said "Sure." with a small grin on his face.

The Kessler beamed at that and he seemed to loose some of the years his son had forced onto him in the last hour. When Teyla and Ronon turned to go, Cayan touched her arm and caused her to look back to him.

"Please send Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay my regards. I hope they'll be okay." And for some inexplicable reason, he blinked at her with a secretive smirk on his lips, like he was talking about something else entirely.

John was confused. Okay, so confused was an understatement, but at least a good beginning to describe the way he felt.

There he was, Dr. Rodney McKay, the biggest hypochondriac he had ever met, limping in front of him on a sprained ankle and not uttering a single word about it. And although Sheppard could tell by the way Rodney was sweating and biting his lip, that the scientist had to be in a great deal of pain, he refused to accept John's help. And on top of that, he was giving John the cold shoulder. He wasn't even complaining about anything. And he would have good reasons at that. Drenched from head to toe in mud and walking through the forest on a sprained ankle.

If John didn't know better, he'd say that Rodney was mad at him but he really couldn't figure why. And that irked him.

"Do you want to take a break? It's still almost a mile to the gate."

"No."

Does your ankle bother you much?" 'Stupid question John.'

"No."

'Ok, no more beating around the bush.' "What is bothering you Rodney?"

Silence, then: "Nothing."

Sheppard's eyebrow began to twitch. Speaking in single syllables was so not Rodney and John had enough of talking to his back.

He grabbed Rodneys arm and spun him around, forgetting about his ankle until he heard Rodneys strangled gasp. But John didn't let go. A silent Rodney unnerved him more than he would have liked.

"What is wrong with you?"

Rodney shot him that I-could-kill-you-and-make-sure-no-one-ever-finds-your-body glare he used with incapable scientists, but John didn't care. It was better than nothing at all.

"You knocked me down." Rodney hissed as if that would explain everything.

John looked at him like he was nuts. That was it? God, sometimes Rodney could be as ungrateful as they came.

"Look. I'm sorry that you sprained your ankle during the fall but I had to act fast, otherwise the ankle would have been the least of your problems."

It was Rodneys turn to look at him like he was the biggest idiot walking on earth, or...well, P3X-975. He tried to rip his arm out of Sheppards grip, but John held on.

"That's not what I meant! God, sometimes you are so dense!"

"If I am so dense, then please enlighten me genius!" Sheppard was yelling by then. It was hard to keep your countenance when arguing with McKay.

Rodney averted his eyes. "You knocked me down."

"Yeah we already clarified that."

"When somebody threw a knife at me." He finished darkly.

Sheppard was at a loss for a moment before he realized that Rodney hadn't just averted his eyes but actually focused on another spot. His arm.

Oh.

"Rodney," he said softly, relaxing the grip he had on Rodneys arm, "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have seen the knife in time to get out of the way on your own. Shit, I barely saw it in time. Besides, it is my job to protect you."

Rodney stiffened momentarily and wrenched his arm out of Sheppards loosened grip. "Yeah, the perfect job for an altruistic fool like you."

John was slightly taken aback. It wasn't the first time that Rodney had accused him of being an 'altruistic fool'. The first time had been after his attempted suicide mission during the siege. When they had been save again, Rodney had screamed at him in his quarters before he had avoided him like the pest for a whole week. Apology #101 had finally done the trick and he had finally been able to tease his favorite scientist again. Those reactions had been born out of anger and maybe even fear over loosing his best friend. But this time, Rodney didn't sound mad but bitter and dejected and John couldn't fathom why. He repeated what he had said in his mind and suddenly it hit him.

Job. He had said that Rodneys protection was a job to him.

And it was. He was, after all, the chief of security. But that wasn't all. Rodney wasn't just a job to him. Would never be just a job to him. And yet he had told Rodney that he was.

"Rodney" he said but restraied from touching the upset scientist again. It wouldn't do them both any good right now. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

A mask of indifference slipped back on Rodneys face.

'Probably thinks he said too much.'

"Sure I know. Let's go already. I want to be at the gate before the Kessler's decide that one whacko is still more important than new allies." He had resumed limping while he'd talked, but Sheppard didn't move an inch. That hadn't been enough. Not nearly.

'Come on John, don't be a coward. Rodney needs this.'

"I didn't put myself between you and the knife because it was my job. I did it because I would rather take the risk of loosing an arm, than do nothing and let you die."

Rodney stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at him, suspicion and hope fighting on his expressive face. Sometimes John was astounded how insecure Rodney could be when someone showed him some affections. It made him wonder how often he received those before he came to Atlantis.

After some anxious seconds, in which John barely dared to breath, some tension left Rodneys shoulders. "Like I said. Altruistc fool." he muttered but a smile played on his lips, so soft that John almost missed it.

"That's me." he said and grinned. Seeing Rodney smile made something funny to his gut.

Rodney stared back at him, favoring his right leg. "What are you waiting for? Christmas?" John just kept grinning. Yep, that was his Rodney. "And anyway. How come that you have no mud on you whatsoever? Did you use me as a shield after all?"

John began to move towards him, shrugging as nonchalantly as he could. "Oh I don't know Rodney. Maybe I'm just falling more graceful than you do." He hadn't even finished, when he suddenly tripped over a branch. For a few seconds, the only thing that held him upright were his rolling arms before he lost the battle with gravity and landed on his butt.

Hard...on the ground...in the mud...in front of Rodney.

'Crap!'

He looked up to find Rodney staring down at him, his expression blank. For a brief second, John though that Rodney wouldn't react at all but suddenly the scientist broke into a wide sunny smile before he doubled over and burst out laughing. Not a mocking or sardonic, but a ringing laughter full of childlike delight.

John had never heard him laugh like that. On the few occasions when he had seen Rodney laugh it was rarely more than a chuckle and even if it had been more it had always sounded kinda choked and restricted. Like he had practiced it many times but didn't trust himself to do it right.

'That's his true laughter.' Sheppard realized suddenly. 'Not a fake one, but the very real thing.'

And he had caused it.

John Sheppard had done many things in his life, that he could be proud of. Heroic things, like saving whole planets in another galaxy. But despite all that, he had been never more proud of himself than he was this very moment. He was sure that he had never achieved something quite as wonderful as this.

But as much as he loved the sound of Rodneys laughter, it was more what he saw that made him all warm and fuzzy inside.

Rodney was doubled over, one hand resting on his chest, the other on his left knee. John could see from his position that he had laughed himself to tears. Occasionally, his laughter would die down to a chuckle but as soon as his eyes landed on John he would burst out laughing anew.

And everytime John got a glimpse of his eyes, a jolt went through his body.

There were still traces of mud on Rodneys face and in his hair, but that only made the blue of his eyes much more pronounced. An intense blue he had never really noticed before and his laughing fit had turned Rodneys cheeks red with excitement.

He was just looking stunningly beautiful.

'I love this guy.'

The insight came out of the blue, but he didn't push it away like he had done the last three days. He embraced it because, in this moment, he knew that it was true. It was an incontrovertable fact. It was inevitable. He realized that nothing he could say or do would ever change that.

So he didn't try anymore.

He was in love with Rodney McKay.

He repeated that over and over in his mind, while he watched Rodney calm down and everytime he did so, it sounded better. Sounded right. He wanted to shout it, to grab Rodney and tell him that he felt the same. He wanted to...

"Come on Superman." A hand appeared in front of his face and a flushed Rodney looked down on him, smile still firmly in place. "Let's go home."

...wait.

No he didn't wanted to, but he had to. Home was Atlantis and Atlantis was currently the home of some deranged stalker. John couldn't let himself get distracted and he couldn't confuse Rodney in a time like this.

'No.' he vowed while he grabbed the offered hand. 'First I will catch this pervert. After that, there will be still time for other things.'

Rodney winced when he put too much pressure on his damaged ankle. Sheppard slung Rodneys arm over his shoulder and was relieved when Rodney didn't pull back.

"Are you sure you are up to this? When I tell Carson that you tripped, again, and pulled me with you, he's going to eat you alive." Rodney asked and smirked at him. John couldn't help but smirk back and pulled him closer.

"I guess I'll have to risk it. Cause, you know, I'm not gonna let go of you." He laughed inwardly when Rodneys eyes widened and his cheeks turned bright red. Rodney looked down again and mumbled something unintelligible, but John catched it nonetheless and smiled softly.

Who would have thought that there wasn't much difference between flirting with a woman and flirting with a man. And just because he'd decided to wait, it didn't mean that he couldn't do just that. Rodneys reactions made the waiting almost woth it.

The smile never left his lips while they walked to the gate or while they waited for Ronon and Teyla. And that's how they found him and Rodney two hours later.

A/N

: Okay, so the scene with with Cayan and Teyla and Ronon wasn't planned but when I reread the whole thing I knew something was missing. Sorry if it seemed a little bit rushed at certain parts and I have the feeling that the grammar is more than crappy... as crappy as this whole week. Narf, sorry! I'll cheer up during the weekend, promise!

The feelings are clear now (on both sides) and they are retuning to Atlantis! There won't be as much fluff as there was in the latest chapters for a while, cause it's time for plot developments! Much of them! The plot tickens my friends and there are still some surprises waiting for our heroes!^^