The Friendship Files
Chapter 9
One Loyal Friend
"Now all I have to do is get him back to my quarters without waking him…or being run over." Teyla said it with a small smile so Rodney and John would know she was not too terribly upset that they'd almost tripped her with their remote control hot rods while she was carrying her son.
"Yeah, well we're done here…we're just, you know, finishing up." Rodney stuttered as an idea popped into his head. All he had to do was beat the living daylights out of John in this race then he could get started on the new project he'd just thought of.
"'Night."
"Have a good one."
The two men watched their friend until she was out of sight then went back to their car race with a vengeance.
* * * * *
Rodney looked at the scanner as he walked the dimly lit corridors of Atlantis. He was looking for a particular lab to use for this project. It had to have certain features, most notably nothing that was dangerous or had the potential to turn dangerous at some unknown time in the future and not too far from the barracks. That left a few rooms on this level, 37.
His footsteps slowed, came to a stop in front of a door that looked just like all the other doors in this corridor. And it was just like the other doors. It was the contents that were different. He went to the access panel, pried the cover off, rearranged the crystals and the door opened with a grinding sound. After ten thousand years it could use some lubricant. I'll bring some the next time I come down.
They'd explored this lab somewhere around the end of the fourth month after their arrival. The room didn't contain much of any significance so he'd shifted it to the bottom of the low-priority list and they'd just never gotten back to it. His team had had to clean before they could have a look around because, for some reason they hadn't been able to figure out, the room had been filled with dead potted plants.
The consoles were draped with white cloths now covered with almost five years of dust. "I guess the first order of business is dusting." He yanked the cover off the nearest console and coughed when dirt went up his nose and in his eyes. "Crap! I should've taken my allergy meds before I came down here." He dropped the cloth when he sneezed. "Oh, now that's just great! You try to be nice and this is what you get for it!"
With a heartfelt sigh Rodney settled down to getting the room so clean a baby could crawl on the floor. He reached into his back pocket and removed a small device, the Ancient version of an iPod. Hooking it to the room's sound system he cranked it up loud and got to work.
* * * * *
It had taken several sleepless nights to get the room clean enough to work in but he was finally ready to get started. Setting his tool box on an inactive console he began removing the tools he would need and laying them out so he wouldn't have to rummage for them. He hummed along with the music as he got down on the floor and crawled under the console farthest from the door.
* * * * *
John watched thoughtfully as Rodney inhaled his dinner then headed out the patio exit of the Mess Hall without bothering to say good-bye…again. This had been going on for a week now, passing annoying around the third day, and had segued into downright maddening, aggravating, irritating and a few other adjectives he didn't want to think about because then he'd be tempted to say them and that wouldn't be good for his image. Not that he cared what people thought of him but he had to maintain the fiction that he did if only because of his position in Atlantis.
Well, tonight was the proverbial straw. He got up, leaving his unfinished meal and a full glass of tea on the table, and trailed after Rodney. It wasn't that he had an insatiable curiosity. He just really, really wanted to know what was going on and it bugged him when he was left out of the loop.
The physicist had no idea he was being followed so he didn't try to hide his destination but John still lost him when he stepped into a transport and disappeared in a flicker of light. By the time John got there someone else had used it and the Colonel ended up outside the gym. He was certain there was no way his friend would be working out just after eating but he made a quick check of the training rooms nearby just in case.
With a growl of frustration he went down the hall to the stairs and took them two at a time to the next level. The original Brian's Song was playing in the rec room tonight and he didn't want to miss the beginning.
* * * * *
After determining that Teyla and Torren were in their quarters and asleep for once, Rodney decided to take a night off before springing his surprise on the Athosian. He rushed through the food line gathering up enough to feed at least three people then headed out. Jennifer had been very understanding while he worked on his special project. She'd even come down and kept him company a couple of times but tonight was the night he would make it all up to her…if she could get away from the Infirmary. They'd planned on having dinner together but she'd had to do emergency surgery so he was meeting her at her quarters with a hot meal and, hopefully, a night of cuddling with the woman he loved.
He walked down the hall with a jaunty bounce to his step, entered the transport then was gone. What he didn't see was John skidding to a stop in front of that same transport seconds later just ahead of Radek Zelenka. He said a hurried "Excuse me, Doc", jumped inside the small room and vanished leaving a very puzzled physicist staring at the closed doors with his mouth open.
John appeared on the barracks level but stayed inside the transport peeking cautiously around the door. He heard Rodney humming as he walked down the hall and hurried in that direction. His footsteps carried him to a junction and he saw his quarry just making a left turn a little ways down. When he arrived at that same corner he edged around it then jogged a few steps to the next turn.
He arrived just in time to see Jennifer's door open. She was dressed in a slinky nighty and smiling brightly up at Rodney. The physicist murmured a greeting as the physician took the food trays from him. She turned away just as Rodney took that final step inside so the door could close.
John made an abrupt about face when he saw Jennifer throw her arms around Rodney, pull his head down for a hot kiss then drag him towards the bed while pushing his jacket off his shoulders. Thankfully the door closed before he saw more than he wanted to of either of them.
His long strides carried him down the hall, around a few more corners then to his own door. A swipe of his hand over the bioscanner and he was inside. With a growl of frustration he reached out with a booted foot and kicked the crap out of a pile of dirty clothes. That done, he sat on the side of his bed, pulled off his boots, socks and uniform, gathered up the items he'd just strewn across the floor, dumped it all in the laundry basket then went into the bathroom. He emerged a few minutes later, skin and hair damp from the shower, his pajamas sticking to his body.
Still a little ticked that he'd once again been thwarted in his mission to discover Rodney's secret he threw himself down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He wanted to go to sleep but couldn't so he sat up and reached for his guitar. After tuning it by ear he began to strum one of his favorite tunes, one that always relaxed him. His favorite artist was Johnny Cash but sometimes this was the one song that would stop the spinning wheels inside his head. He didn't have a great voice but it didn't matter because he didn't have an audience. "When you're weary…feelin' small….when tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all…I'm on your side…"
* * * * *
Morning came and Rodney slipped carefully out of Jennifer's bed. The room was cool so he pulled the covers up to her neck tucking them around her back and shoulders. She moaned in her sleep and rolled into the warmth left by his body but thankfully did not wake up. He dressed quietly in the dark then set her alarm to get her up for her shift at noon. After one last look at her beautiful face, vulnerable and almost child-like in sleep, he was gone.
The end of the day couldn't have come quickly enough for him and now that he was off duty he would show Teyla what he'd been working on for the last week or so. Hopefully she, and Torren, would finally be able to get some much needed rest.
He touched his headset. "McKay to Teyla."
"Yes, Rodney." Even her voice sounded tired and he could hear her son fretting in the background.
"I have a strange request. Could you meet me on level 37 of the tower near section 281B?"
He heard her huff of annoyance in his ear. "I am sorry but Torren is very fussy tonight and…"
"Bring him along. I promise you will understand once you get here." There was silence while she thought it over.
"Alright. We will meet you in a few minutes."
* * * * *
Teyla and a sniffling Torren met Rodney at the requested spot. He could see the dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep. Kanaan was offworld and the poor woman had to cope with a colicky child on her own. She had everyone in the expedition but had refused their help much of the time. Mostly because Torren was at the age where he didn't want to go to anyone but his parents.
She didn't waste any time on small talk. "What is it you wish for me to see that could not wait until morning?" Rodney gestured for her to follow him farther down the hall. He opened the door of the lab he'd been working in then gestured for her to proceed him. "It is just another Ancient lab, Rodney." She raised her voice when Torren began crying louder spurring the physicist to hurry.
He pulled the cover off one of the consoles with a flourish and waited to be praised. The console revealed had been reworked and now had an indention in the middle. Its height had been shortened until the surface was even with the cot beside it. The depression was curved in the same way a child's car seat is with a thick cushion and raised sides all covered with a small Athosian blanket. Safety straps were included. "This, my dear Ms. Emmagan, is the answer to all your troubles. Well, at least the ones that are keeping you from sleeping."
Her eyes showed her confusion. "Torren is what is keeping me awake at night, Rodney. How…"
"What you see before you is the soon to be patented McKay Baby Soother. That's…just a working name, by the way. We can figure out the details later."
"How does this…device help me to sleep?" She had to raise her voice to be heard over Torren's cries.
Rodney put out both hands gesturing and Teyla obediently passed her son to the physicist. His crying slowed at the touch of someone other than his mother then began again…until Rodney laid him gently into the indention. The boy kicked his legs and squirmed trying to get out but that eventuality had been taken into account and he could not get leverage as Rodney buckled him in.
Touching the white power control pad, the console began to vibrate but the crying continued so Rodney touched another control and the sound of a car engine drifted into the air. Torren gave a few more sobs then stopped. As Rodney and Teyla watched the boy sniffed a few times then was quiet. A few minutes later he was asleep.
"Rodney! How did you…" The frazzled and shocked mother whispered.
Rodney drew her to the controls pointing out each and describing its function. "Power turns on the vibration. These buttons allow you to add different sounds, a car engine, and tires as they move over the road, the sounds of other vehicles, even potholes. They can be used separately or in any combination until you find one that works."
"This is amazing! That sound. Is it a simulation of a…car?"
"Yeah." Rodney looked down at his hands a moment as he explained, "I told you my parents just let me cry myself to sleep when I was colicky. Well, that didn't work with Jeannie. The only thing that soothed her was riding in the car. My dad would drive all over Vancouver in the middle of the night. If he was out of town on business, mom would take the three of us out for a drive until she went to sleep."
"What is this one for?"
He stared at the indicated touch control as if he'd never seen it before. "Oh! It, uh, well in addition to the ride we'd sometimes have to roll the windows down so the breeze would blow in her face. It was no fun in winter, I can tell you."
Teyla made a small laugh then hugged him. "I cannot believe you did all of this. Thank you, Rodney!"
"You're my friend and I couldn't stand watching the two of you suffer when I could easily do something about it." He moved her away from him. "Well, it wasn't that easy but you get the idea. The cot is so you can sleep here when he's especially fussy. That way you don't have to carry him back to your room." Teyla and Rodney watched her son sleep for a few silent moments.
She gave Rodney's hand a squeeze, he put his arm around her shoulders while she leaned into him and said, "We have a saying: One loyal friend is worth ten thousand good intentions by strangers."
"We have a similar saying. Um, I do have one request."
Looking up at him she smiled and rested her head against his chest for a moment. "You have done such a great…kindness that I will never be able to adequately repay you. What is your request?"
"Don't tell anyone about this. I've got a reputation as a curmudgeon to uphold."
"A what? What is a cur-cur…"
"…mudgen. Spoilsport. Killjoy. Sourpuss. Grouch."
"Ah." The light of understanding dawned in Teyla's eyes. "I promise I will not tell anyone what a wonderfully unselfish and thoughtful thing you have done for me and my son." She kissed him on the cheek making him blush.
They turned quickly when a voice came from the open doorway. "I promise not to tell either." John was leaning on the doorjamb, arms and ankles crossed.
"John! What are you…how did you find me…us?"
John pushed off and walked over to look down at the sleeping child. "It was an amazing feat of deduction and logic taking into account more than a few random factors that…"
Rodney crossed his arms and glared at his friend. "You followed me, didn't you?"
"Uh…yeah." The Colonel said with a sheepish grin while the physicist snorted.
"Rodney, what is the refrigerator for?"
"Ah, now that, in my opinion, is one of the best features of this room." He opened it and inside was a selection of Teyla's favorite drinks. On top was a box of power bars and MRE's. "Just in case you get hungry or, you know, thirsty."
"Yeah, you would think that's the best part." John said derisively. Rodney mocked him then turned back to the Athosian.
"It seems you have thought of everything, Rodney. Thank you again."
"You're welcome. Uh, why don't Colonel McSnoops-a-lot and I get out of here and let you and, uh, Torren get some rest?"
* * * * *
Out in the hall the two men headed for the transport and stepped inside. "You know, Rodney, that really was a nice thing to do and a great idea."
"I know." He said smugly as the light flickered and took them away.
The End