Thank you Hettie, Mercury's Winter, and Elisa for your kind comments. I'm so glad you Like this. Also Thanks to the three hundred other people for giving it a look see as well as the people who put this on their alert list. It makes it all worth while

AN: Someone said that Rodney and John seem out of character, if that's true then I apologize, but they also said it should be an AU, so whatever you guys wish it to be go for it!

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Chapter Two - The Long and Lonely Nights

Rodney had tried to sleep that night, but the thought of the next day's mission made him too restless, so once again he found his way into his lab. He tried working on a project, but soon lost interest and ended up closing his eyes just for what he thought would be a moment to rest them.

It felt like only a few minutes later when someone was shaking his arm and calling his name.

"Rodney, wake up!"

He opened his eyes and found himself leaning over his desk, head resting on his arms. Radek was staring at him with that look of quiet exasperation that he did so well.

Wiping his face with his hand, Rodney looked around him and was surprised to find that it was still night. He calmed himself for he had been afraid that it was morning already and he'd missed the mission briefing.

"Radek... ah, what time is it?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Radek shook his head, "It's still early, 6:00am. You need to take shower and get dressed. Colonel Sheppard is not patient man. You do not want to anger him by being late. Trust me!"

Rodney had to smirk at that, even Radek must have been subjected to Sheppard's temper.

"Yes, yes, I know. He's just a joy first thing in the morning!"

Radek smirked, "Yes, he is and you need to eat breakfast. If you pass out I think he will leave you where you fall, step over you and march on."

Rodney smiled slightly, as bad as he maligned Radek, the man had his redeeming features and one of them was his loyalty to Rodney as head scientist. At least that's what he thought it was. It could also be that Radek didn't like military types, having worked under an authoritative regime at one time.

Radek adjusted his glasses and watched McKay get up off the stool. The way the chief scientist moved one would think he was a hundred years old.

Pushing his glasses back up his nose , Radek took a really good look at Rodney, noting that his eyes were sunken in and had dark shadows evident underneath them. The scientist also looked much thinner and very pale. Not a good sign for someone with so many medical problems.

"Rodney, you look terrible! What are you doing to yourself? Or are you letting others do this to you?"

McKay was startled by the sudden concern, his face flushed, "I'm just tired, but thank you for that observation, Dr. Kildare." He didn't put much bite into the remark, not wanting to hurt Radek's feelings for just showing concern.

Radek looked at him puzzled, "Who?"

"Forget it," Rodney told him, far too exhausted to explain the vintage TV reference. "I'd better go change and then get something to eat before I face our fearless leader."

Radek smiled slightly, It was good to see some of the old Rodney resurfacing ,even if it was his abrasive side. "Yes, yes, you must hurry. Not to keep Colonel Grumpy waiting, for that is not a good thing."

Rodney was suddenly unsteady on his feet and Radek grabbed his arm to support him.

Rodney looked at him, he was clearly puzzled by Radek's concern. After all, he had yelled at him and bullied him to get his way with the Arcturus project. The scientist had told him it wouldn't work, but had been ignored.

"Why are you helping me, Radek? I thought everyone hated me?"

Radek stared at him for a moment. McKay could be insufferable, arrogant and sometimes even act like a jerk, but he was still a human being and the head of the science department. Radek wasn't about to let the science team forget that for a moment. He knew who the trouble maker was and what he'd been saying about Rodney behind his back.

"You mustn't listen to Kavanaugh, he is a nasty piece of excrement, not worthy of anyone's notice!"

Rodney smiled slightly, grateful to have at least one champion on his science team.

"I need to get my backpack, laptop and powerbars."

Still holding onto Rodney's arm, Radek started to lead him towards the door.

"Listen to me. Go take shower, get dressed and come back here. I will put together your backpack for the trip. I know what you need to take."

Rodney couldn't let it pass, "Yes, Dr. Mum!"

Radek squinted angrily at him, "Don't even go there!" He then gently pushed Rodney out the door.

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John was seated in the mess at his team's usual table. Ronon joined him a few moments later with a food laden tray in hand, followed closely by Teyla.

Greetings were exchanged and they all started to eat. Ronon kept glancing around the room between mouthfuls and this caught John's attention.

"What is it?", he asked the Satedan.

Ronon looked at him, "Where's McKay?"

John shrugged, annoyed that the subject had even come up before he'd finished his breakfast. He'd hope for a little piece and quiet before having to put up with the arrogant scientist and his whining.

"I don't know, maybe he's not hungry," he said sarcastically.

Teyla stopped eating and stared at John with an unhappy look on her face.

"What?", Sheppard said to her, "I'm not his babysitter!"

She glared at him obviously not pleased by his response.

"Do you not worry about whether he is ill? I thought you were his friend?" She continued to glare at him waiting for an answer.

Ronon also waited to hear what Sheppard had to say to Teyla's question.

John sighed, this was not going well. They hadn't even gone on the dam mission yet and already McKay had screwed it up and he wasn't even here. Now even his team mates were turning against him all because of McKay.

Right now he really hated McKay for causing all this.

"Look, guys, I know McKay is part of the team and you all seem to worry about him, but right now is not the time for me to explain the issues I have with him. Just drop it, OK? "

Ronon leaned forward staring at him, "When's the right time?"

Sheppard tried not to get angry, "Not now! I'll talk to you later after the mission."

Ronon sat back, looked at Teyla, then started eating again. Teyla got up , picked up her tray and left, too angry to reply to Sheppard.

"She's not happy with you," Ronon said as he continued eating, not even looking at Sheppard.

John shook his head annoyed, "She'll get over it."

Ronon looked up, "No, she won't...and neither will I."

John's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Just great! Now Ronon is mad at me as well. This day just keeps getting better and better!

Ronon smiled at him, then went back to eating, knowing for once he'd had the last word.

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Rodney took a long hot shower, too long in fact, since there wasn't enough time left to dress, pickup his backpack, eat and make it to the meeting by 8:00am. He needed it though, trying to get some of the aches and pains out of his body.

If he arrived late, the Colonel might chew him out good. He didn't want that.

In the end he chose to skip breakfast and took extra power bars to get him through the day.

When he put on his uniform it felt very loose; the pants practically hanging on him, he had to take the belt in three notches to hold them up. He'd always wanted to lose a few pounds, but this was absurd; if his pants were this loose the jacket would look ridiculous, so he choose to wear just his blue T shirt.

Once he had his 9mm fastened down on his thigh, he put on the utility vest/flak jacket that Sheppard made them all wear. It was also loose, but he didn't bother to adjust or zipper it up; there wasn't time to fuss with anything right now.

At the lab door, Radek was waiting with the backpack as promised; shaking his head when he saw Rodney hurrying down the hall toward him looking frazzled, his face red from the exertion of running.

Rodney could be such an idiot. How could someone so smart do such dumb things? Sheppard would eat him alive if he were late for the briefing.

McKay was having trouble catching his breath when he finally stopped at the door and leaned against the wall.

Handing him the backpack, Radek tried to push him back into action. "Go, go...you must hurry, you do not want to be late!"

Rodney nodded, too winded to reply. He turned and started to hurry down the hall

"You're Welcome!" Radek shouted at him and McKay just waved his hand in goodbye.

It was enough though, for Rodney never said -Thanks. That didn't matter to Radek, for someone had to watch out for Rodney.

No one else seemed to care what happened to him lately...

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Just before he arrived at the meeting room, Rodney checked his watch and found that he had 5 minutes to spare. Enough time to catch his breath and wash his face with a paper towel at one of the water coolers they had placed in the hallway.

The cold water revived him and took away some of the heat from his face and neck. Taking deep breaths, he managed to slow his breathing. His heart was still pounding so hard it made his chest hurt, but he knew that was just nerves and also the running hadn't helped.

I'm really out of shape. I need to walk more or I'm just going to drop dead one day. Then Carson would tell me I told you so.

The fact that Sheppard had said he could go on this mission might mean that he was trying to bring things back to normal and maybe, just maybe he had forgiven Rodney. It was only a possibility, but the scientist hoped it was true.

He was about to turn around and head toward the briefing room, when someone slipped their arm through his. Startled, he practically spun around. Teyla's sweet smile greeted him and he took a deep breath.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Teyla saw the stricken look on his face and also how exhausted he looked.

"I'm sorry, I thought you heard me say ,'Good Morning'."

"No, I didn't. My ears are still ringing from running here... It's all right, I'll live," he added when he saw her concerned look.

She again smiled sweetly at him and still holding his arm, together they headed toward the briefing room.

Their entering the room together arm in arm wasn't lost on Sheppard, who was already there preparing for the mission brief, he was sitting casually on the corner of the desk in the front of the room.

Teyla didn't even look his way, instead she seated herself next to Rodney and ignored Sheppard. Rodney said nothing, but he could feel the chill between Teyla and Sheppard.

He wasn't sure that he wanted to know what was going on between the two; just glad that for once, he wasn't the target of the Colonel's anger. Sheppard completely ignored him.

Ronon showed up next and plopped himself in the chair next to McKay's, he actually smiled at Rodney."Hey, McKay, glad you're with us."

"Uh, Hi. Glad to be here," Rodney managed to sputter, for Ronon smiling like this gave him the creeps. Ronon never smiled.

John watched the two alien members of his team carefully, noting how each of them had gathered protectively around McKay.

It irked him, for he felt their loyalty was misplaced; the arrogant scientist didn't deserve this attention. He deliberately didn't look at McKay, he was too angry and didn't want to show how he felt.

It was then he realized how childish playing this game seemed. Just because he was angry at McKay didn't mean the others should be.

But then, McKay hadn't done anything to them... yet.

TBC