Oh Gosh I'm sorry this took forever to write. I've moved three times in the past month, badly sprained my ankle, and came down with a severe case of writers block. Hopefully you all enjoy it though. The next chapters will hopefully come more quickly now that I'm settled in one location and actaully have internet connection.
With a small amount of luck Wynnie was able to avoid McKay for a week while her team was on a mission. It was a cool morning when they returned back to Atlantis. Wynnie stood on the balcony watching the mist rise from the vast ocean. She heard the soft sound of footsteps make its way towards her but didn't look up. "It's quite peaceful here in the morning," an accented voice said to her. She looked up slightly startled and then smiled as Dr. Beckett made his way towards her.
"Carson, you're up early." She said almost questioningly. "What's up?"
"Well illness never sleeps and you missed your post mission check up."
"Did I," she said concealing a smile knowing she was trying to avoid it. "I'm sorry I must have forgotten." Beckett shook his head knowing she was lying to him.
"Oh dear, I don't want to be dealing with another Colonel Sheppard on my hands, one is quite enough. However if you don't come with me now I will be forces to report this to your team leader and I do hold the authority to ground you." Wynnie looked at him with a tired gaze. She wasn't going to fight with him so she submissively followed him to the infirmary. He checked her over and shook his head, "See that wasn't so bad was it, and you're completely fine. Although some rest wouldn't hurt ya." Wynnie giggled slightly.
"Nor you Doc, and I suppose the check up wasn't so bad." She sighed as Beckett cracked a smile. "Hey I've got an hour before I need to meet with my team to brief Dr. Weir, you wanna grab some coffee?"
"That sounds lovely." His smile widened. "So how'd your mission go?" He asked as they made they're way to the cafeteria.
"It was alright, I like the others in my team but I've been having some trouble getting along with Lieutenant Myles. He doesn't really trust me and I'm used to giving the orders not taking them. Also after this mission I'm pretty sure he hates me. Uch he got me so flustered I missed my landing site and made some errors that took a while to fix. We were late to our meeting with the towns people because of me. I just wish he's let me fly and not hang over my shoulder barking at me to double check my coordinates. I know he'll reprimand me in the debriefing."
"Well I'm sure it will get better. This was your first mission with the team and if I can recall correctly, his pilot was one of the best in our fleet so he expects a lot. Don't worry he has set the bar high, but I know you'll meet it in no time." She looked at him gratefully for the reassurance. Wynnie stirred her coffee slowly letting a comfortable silence settle.
"So how've you been Doc?" Wynnie asked breaking the silence, as Beckett started on his second cup of the bitter liquid. She wasn't quite sure how he could stand drinking it black.
"Oh I've been alright. Busy as could be expected, Major Lorne's doing quite well, he's almost fully recover from his severe concussion. At least he's stopped calling me and the nurse Bethany. Last time I checked I wasn't anywhere close to looking like a lass." Wynnie laughed loudly before covering her mouth slightly embarrassed. Carson's face fell slightly as he continued. "Also SGA-3's team came under some fire on one of their missions so I had some holes to patch up and unfortunately one of their men didn't make it." His brow furrowed in grief, and she placed her hand over his in comfort.
"Knowing you Carson, you did the best you could. That's all anyone can ask."
"I know, but it still hurts all the same. These people have become a family to me and losing family is hard." Wynnie looked down.
"Trust me I know," she whispered dejectedly. Carson looked at her questioningly but she shook her head at him and frowned. "My brother… but you don't want to know."
"Well if you say so I won't push ya. You're a lovely girl Wynnie, and I'm saying this as your friend, but I think you need to have more confidence in your self. You've got a couple guys who are quite fond of you. Maybe you can push McKay away, but I know you like him so you'll only be hurting your self."
"You know about Rodney? Oh I feel so stupid." She put her head in her hands.
"It wasn't hard to tell from the way you watch him, and I know he's interested in you. He practically tore the door to the infirmary down trying to make sure you were alright after you returned from Saphus. He's a difficult man but he can also be very caring… he just has some very odd ways of showin' it."
"I know… he just wouldn't understand..." She paused and slowly formed her words to continue. "First of all I'm not like him, he's far more intelligent and I am and frankly it kind of scares me. I barely past physics in college, and when he talks about it he may as well be speaking gibberish. But then he smiles that boyish smile and I can help smiling back." She smiled distantly then looked down embarrassed. "I've done some horrable things in my past and I know if he found out about it he'd hate me." She smiled quickly and stood up. "I'm thinking that I should make my way to Dr. Weir's office, lord knows if I'm late I'll never hear the end of it from Myles. Then I promised Maddy I'd go running with her. I'll see you later." Carson frowned knowing she was trying to push him away.
"Wynnie lass, you underestimate people. I really think you need to let your self open up. Despite what you may think everyone deserves a second chance, and you'll find most of people here are willing to accept any faults you may bring with you. Now you know I will not force you to tell me anything, just know I'll always keep my door open to listen." She contemplated this and offered him a genuine smile.
"Thank you, I'll think about it."
The debriefing went well and to Wynnie's surprise Lieutenant Myles actually commented on how well she was performing. She left Dr. Weir's office feeling unexpectedly good. The man she thought hated her with all his being actually respected her. Maybe, she thought, I don't give people enough credit. I always thought people only liked or disliked me for what I did, not who I was. I've done some less than honorable things, but everyone here really is willing to look beyond my mistakes and take me for a good person. Maybe Carson was right, I am getting a second chance at what I thought was a broken life.