Guns and Science do mix

"Colonel"

"Colonel," Sam replied with a smile. "Take a seat John."

Sheppard pulled out a chair and sat. Cater fiddle with some files before looking up at Sheppard.

"John, have you noticed any behavioral changes in McKay over the last few weeks?" Carter asked bluntly.

Sheppard looked at Carter with astonishment.

"What is this? Some sort of conspiracy?" Sheppard asked, anger coloring his reply.

"Conspiracy?" Carter questioned.

"Zelenka just stopped me on the way here. Asked the same thing," Sheppard replied.

"Ah."

"Look Sam, Rodney's going through a rough patch right now. He just needs some time to work through some things. I told Zelenka the same thing. Just give the guy some space," Sheppard all but snapped.

"John, it's not just Zelenka," Sam said.

"What do you mean?"

"Zelenka has come to me with concerns over Rodney's recent behavior, so has Major Lorne, most of Rodney's original science team who are still here …"

"What the hell!" Sheppard exclaimed, pushing his chair back and standing up. "What is it with everyone? They moan and bitch because McKay is rude and arrogant and the moment he isn't they come running to the boss …. It's a crock of shit and you know it," Sheppard snapped out.

"It's more than that John," Carter replied calmly. "You read McKay's report regarding yesterday's events?"

"Yeah," Sheppard said with a puzzled frown.

"Rodney lied," Sam stated.

Sheppard gripped the back of the chair. "McKay doesn't lie," he growled.

"This time he did John," Carter said. "He didn't trip over Radek, he pulled him to safety and then he tackled Franklin and disarmed him."

"Zelenka had a concussion; he was confused about what he saw. McKay's come a long way in combat training, but he knows better then to tackle a trained and armed marine," Sheppard replied.

"So you think McKay tripped over Zelenka, fell on top of Franklin and dumb luck managed to keep him from being gutted until the other marines arrived," Carter said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Sheppard protested at Carters tone. "McKay doesn't lie, if that's what he said happened, then that's the way it happened."

Carter sighed. "I'm sorry John; I just assumed that you would have known what McKay's been up to. Why he's changed."

"What do you mean 'been up to?' Been up to what?" Sheppard queried.

Carter paused, she had been so certain that Sheppard would know what was wrong with McKay, it had never occurred to her that Sheppard won't have noticed, would not have known.

"All seven marines in the jumper bay at the time of the incidient confirmed that McKay had disarmed Franklin before they reached him. None of them seemed surprised that McKay had been able to do it. Granted if the marines hadn't arrived when they did, McKay would probably have got his ass kicked, but the fact remains that McKay, through surprise and training, disarmed Franklin," Carter explained.

Sheppard moved to sit back down in the chair he had abandoned. He went to speak but Carter cut him off.

"McKay has been joining in with Lorne's daily exercise routine for the past six weeks. Sergeant Davis confirmed that McKay has joined his combat training sessions for the last four weeks. Lieutenant Sharma also confirmed that McKay has attended weapons training for the last three weeks." Carter paused, looking at the astonishment on Sheppard's face. "Zelenka, Miko, Rogers, Simpson, Paterson, the list goes on of all of McKay's staff who have come to see me regarding the change in his behavior. Concern, not complaints." She stressed.

She looked at Sheppard who looked shell shocked.

"I didn't realize," he said softly. "I just thought he …he," Sheppard trailed to a stop, he looked down at his hands.

"You thought he was getting over Katie?" Sam asked.

Sheppard's head shot up. "You know?"

"I've had too many people come and see me over this. I worked back from what happened in the jumper bay. The only notable event that occurred around the time McKay started to change was the lockdown," Carter explained. "I talked with Katie."

"Oh"

"John, I think there is more going on then Rodney getting over the loss of a relationship. He has had a complete personality change; he's gone from rude and sarcastic to polite and friendly." Sam said.

"How the hell did I miss this?" he asked sadly. "I just thought…"

"McKay's not an easy guy to get to know," Sam said wryly.

Sheppard shot up out of chair, pacing the length of the room. "But that's it, I know McKay. He's my teammate, my friend. I'm meant to be his friend," Sheppard said angrily. "Dammit, dammit all to hell," he swore, he turned towards Carter. "I never missed it, I never noticed it was gone," he slumped back into the chair. "The most sarcastic man in the galaxy and I didn't notice it had gone."

He jumped back up from the chair, pacing again.

"How the hell can I have missed it all?" Sheppard pondered, he look at Sam. "He's been training with Lorne and Davis, he must have got fitter, trimmer … I haven't noticed. Some friend I am," he whispered, as he sat back down again.

"John, don't beat yourself up. We don't expect the unexpected from McKay, we…" Sam started, as John exploded from the chair again.

"Yes we do," he said. "We expect McKay to pull miracles out of his ass every time this city is threatened. We expect the impossible out of him and he has never failed. Never." Sheppard said angrily, he started pacing again.

"Zelenka saw it. Rodney's staff saw it. But not me, not you, not until others pointed it out. We never expect McKay to be anything other than McKay, but he's the one amongst us all who's changed the most." Sheppard stopped in his pacing and faced Carter. "I had a hell of a time getting him to hold a gun, let alone fire one, when we first came here and now …." Sheppard starting pacing again "…. now he carries a 9 mil and a P90 like they're part of him. He's a hell of a shot too. I've put him on point, he's taken our six." Sheppard sat back down. "I trust him with my life in a firefight." Sheppard said wearily.

"John, people have had to adapt being out here. Rodney has had to learn to defend himself, support his team ….." Carter started to reply.

Sheppard shook his head, leaning forward in the chair, his arms leaning on his legs. "That's not what I'm getting at Sam," he interrupted. "McKay is the only scientist on Atlantis who can fire a P90; he's the only one who carries a P90 for God's sake. He can strip it down and re-assemble it faster then most of the marines. I can rely on him to protect the team. But me, Ronon, Teyla, we don't know squat about Ancient or Wraith technology; we rely on McKay to fix whatever needs fixing, to decipher things. He's the only one here who belongs in both camps, scientist and military," Sheppard said.

"Well, I don't know about the only one," Carter said.

Sheppard gave a small smile. "You're Air Force Sam, you and McKay are as smart as each other, but McKay spent all his life, up until four years ago, working in labs. The most dangerous thing he did, besides not blowing up experiments, was avoiding citrus."

Sheppard looked at his watch and stood up.

"I'll fix this Sam. I'll get to the bottom of it and I'll fix it. I'll get McKay back," he promised.

"John," Carter said, also standing up. "I don't think it's that simple, a person doesn't have a 180 degree personality change without having some serious issues. We need to look at ways to help McKay. Perhaps some vacation time, some time back the SGC …." Carter explained.

"You think he's gone insane?" Sheppard asked calmly, a little too calmly.

"I'm just saying that I don't think this is as easy to fix as you think it is," Sam replied.

"No, it probably won't be," Sheppard said, "we are talking about McKay after all," he smiled. "But Atlantis is his home; some of us are his family. We'll fix it. I'll fix it," Sheppard promised, he looked down at this watch again. "I've gotta go."

Carter nodded as she sat back down.

"Go get the real McKay back," she said to Sheppard's departing back.