On Any Given Day - The Watch Stander
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I'll stop talking now, on with the story.
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Chapter Three - The Road To Redemption Is the Longest Road In The World
Elizabeth was waiting at the gate for Sheppard's team to arrive and get ready for the day's mission. She liked being here to see each team off, feeling that it was her job to wish them well and tell them to stay safe.
John came down the stairs first, followed by Ronon, then Teyla and McKay, who walked down side by side.
Elizabeth smiled when she saw Rodney with the team, it made everything seem normal again. The events of two weeks ago somehow put behind them. Teyla and Ronon seemed to accept Rodney, John however was unreadable as always. He seemed standoffish towards the others.
She noticed how tired the scientist looked, with dark circles under his eyes. He also looked ... thinner! His uniform baggy, as if it were a size too large. Rodney had always been on the chunky side, but now he looked almost too thin, causing his face to look gaunt with an unhealthy pallor added to his skin. It made her wonder if anyone else had noticed; then she decided it was probably a gradual change that hadn't caught anyone's attention. It was very noticeable to her, only because she hadn't seen Rodney in over a week.
I wonder if John has noticed how ill Rodney looks, or cares for that matter?
She decided not to say anything now, fearing that John would pull Rodney from this mission. It would be better to talk to Rodney afterwards and find out how he felt. The past two weeks had obviously been very stressful for him.
In the meantime, I'll talk to Radek and see what he thinks as well.
Radek had been the one who had told her about Rodney's behavior in the first place. It was why she had spoken to John; she wanted an end to the self imposed exile that Rodney had bestowed upon himself.
Finally they were all gathered in front of the steps ready to leave. Elizabeth greeted all four with a nod.
They all smiled at her with the exception of Rodney, who seemed to find his feet fascinating. She decided to walk over and stand in front of him. His Tac-vest was unzipped, so she took the mother hen approach and started to zip it up. It was done more to give him a thumbs up and let him know that everything was all right between them, but also to get a better look at him.
"Rodney," she said as she carefully zipped the vest closed. "Are you ready for this mission?" hers eyes twinkled, trying to add a bit of teasing to put him at ease.
Elizabeth being this close startled Rodney and when she started to zip up his flak vest, it made him blush as he looked her in the eye.
"Of course," he managed in a soft voice; not knowing what to say to her.
"Good. We'll have lunch when you come back. I have some ideas I'd like to run by you." She tried a smile to convince him.
Rodney's eyebrows rose, "Really?" He couldn't believe he had heard her correctly. His eyes suddenly showed a spark of life in them, something that had been missing the last time see had seen him.
"Yes," she smirked at him reassuringly, trying to convey that she was no longer angry. In the past they had always had lunch together and exchanged ideas about the running of Atlantis; she missed that and wanted their friendship back as well.
Rodney took a deep breath of relief, Elizabeth was actually wanting to talk to him again. Maybe all wasn't lost after all. It gave him hope that - just maybe, their friendship could be salvaged.
John watched this exchange impatiently, eager to leave and get on with the mission; already tired of McKay and how everyone was acting around him. Now even Elizabeth was babying him.
Elizabeth stepped back from Rodney and turned toward John. "You have a go then, and ...stay safe," she added as they started to walk to the now open portal.
Ronon and Teyla both smiled to themselves as they left, glad that Dr. Weir had also come around and seemed to no longer be angry at Rodney, each thinking that maybe now things would get back to normal.
John went through first ,followed by McKay, with Teyla on McKay's left and Ronon on his right; they seemed to be protecting the scientist.
This was not lost on Weir, who smiled as she watched them disappear; glad that once more John's team seemed complete.
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The planet had lush vegetation and woods surrounding the small plateau that held the stargate. It looked like many of the other worlds they had been on while searching for allies as well as ZPM's. Rodney looked around and immediately took his energy reader from his vest pocket.
John continued to ignore McKay and looked at the trail ahead, that lead away from the gate - presumably toward the settlement ,where the other team had come in contact with the local inhabitants. Theirs was a basic society ,living off the land with primitive weapons and dwellings.
"I think we'll head this way... McKay, you're in the middle, Teyla, cover our six and Ronon, you can be point." They all fell into place and headed down the trail.
As they walked, the temperature continued to rise as the planets two suns climbed higher into the sky; making the air hot and humid and very uncomfortable for McKay, who was already sweating ,even though he was only wearing a T-shirt and his vest.
He felt dizzy as droplets of sweat trickled down both sides of his face as his stomach suddenly growled, adding to his misery and making him wish that he'd made time for breakfast.
This was going to be a very long day.
As the team continued down the trail, they were unaware that someone was observing them.
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At first they made good time, but as the morning wore on, Rodney was finding it harder and harder to keep up. Sweat continued to pour down his face from trying to keep pace with Sheppard and Ronon, who were getting further and further ahead. The air was stifling - he could hardly breathe. He was definitely out of shape - long hours in the lab and lack of sleep were catching up to him.
Teyla, noting his distress, had slowed her pace to walk beside him.
"Rodney, Are you all right?" she asked, concern evident in her tone.
Suddenly, Rodney stopped, leaned over and put his head down - resting his hands on his knees - trying to make the road and everything around him stop spinning.
"Colonel Sheppard!" Teyla called out, grabbing Rodney's arm to steady him when he suddenly swayed.
Hearing his name, Sheppard turned and seeing McKay bent over with Teyla holding his arm, went running back to them. Ronon followed.
Rodney was still trying to get his head to stop spinning, "I'm all right," he tried to tell Teyla, but it came out more as a whisper; his face red from the exertion and heat. Black spots were now flashing before his eyes - he knew he was close to passing out.
When Sheppard arrived and found McKay in distress, he didn't know whether to be angry or concerned. He was aware that the scientist wasn't the healthiest person on Atlantis, but also knew that McKay was a hypochondriac and would complain about everything.
"McKay, are you all right?" Sheppard asked, unsure what he was dealing with.
"Yes, yes!" Rodney gasped breathlessly, as he tried to straighten up; his face beet red as sweat continued to stream down his face. "Give me a minute, it's so... hot."
John also grabbed an arm when the scientist stumbled; afraid that the man was going to feint or fall over. McKay's knees finally gave way and he ended up sitting on the ground, with both Teyla and John still holding his arms.
Teyla instantly kneeled down beside him, "Rodney, what is it?"
He was gasping for air now and trying not to hyperventilate, as his three team mates looked on helplessly, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Just kinda dizzy, probably need a glucose tablet," his face was covered with sweat and he still felt like he was about to pass out.
When he began fumbling in his vest pocket for the pills, Teyla gently pushed his fingers aside and retrieved the packet, opening it and taking out a tablet, handing it to him.
McKay took it gratefully and placed it in his mouth. Teyla continued to watch him as he sat still, trying to get his symptoms under control; inside he knew that he was holding up the mission, all because he had forgotten to eat. She offered him a bottle of water.
"Thanks," he told her as he drank from it and she smiled back at him.
Finally he looked up at Sheppard, waiting for him to say something and for a moment Rodney thought he saw concern on Sheppard's face, but it was gone in a flash, replaced by annoyance. There was a time that Sheppard would be the one kneeling beside him, asking if he was all right, but not now, not after Doranda. Rodney let his head drop and stared at the ground; disappointed by that look from Sheppard and embarrassed at being this weak in front of everyone.
Sheppard hadn't known what was wrong with McKay at first and started to become concerned. That is, until he saw McKay take one of the glucose tablets, then it dawned on Sheppard that hypoglycemia was the problem and not something else.
Probably forgot to eat!
Now angry again, John looked away... always something with McKay!
It was unfair, but he was angry that Rodney had been this careless. John tried to calm himself down, telling himself McKay was sick and shouldn't be made the target of his anger. He put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, trying to get his temper under control, before he said something he might regret. Finally, he turned back to the scientist, who was still seated on the ground, his face now in his hands.
Teyla had seen John's annoyed look and the resulting deep hurt in Rodney's eyes in response. It was heartbreaking knowing that once these two men were such good friends.
She started fussing over McKay, trying to sooth him. Sheppard seeing this, wanted to pull her away and tell McKay to suck it up and stop being a baby. Instead, he offered another solution.
"McKay,... just how far is that energy signature in relation to us?"
Rodney at first didn't react, then slowly spoke without looking up. He knew Sheppard was angry and right now he didn't have the energy to face that anger.
"About a mile from here more or less," he didn't sound very enthused.
Sheppard took a good look at the exhausted man sitting on the ground before him and came to a quick decision.
"Ok, change of plans, we'll go to the energy signature first, then on to the village. This way McKay can take a look and rest for a short while; then we'll head out for the village. There's no need to even let them know why we're here, just came to say "Hi!"
Teyla looked up at Sheppard, surprised by the change of plans. "Is that wise, Colonel? What if someone sees us? It might make them suspicious."
John looked pleased with himself, "Well, we'll just have to be careful."
Ronon shook his head, but he could see no other option.
McKay wasn't gonna make it another five miles to the village that was for sure.
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Teyla helped Rodney to stand and together they now headed on a new path toward the source of the energy signature. Ronon and Sheppard followed behind watching for any sign of trouble. Normally they would alert the local people about their presence and explain what they were doing, but Sheppard planed on doing it in reverse because of McKay's condition.
Yes, it's always a problem with McKay! Sheppard thought angrily.
It really annoyed the hell out of him that the acerbic scientist hadn't eaten and caused all this...
Up ahead, Rodney had started to feel slightly more human as he headed toward the energy source holding the reader in his hand before him. The signal appeared to be getting stronger.
After half an hour, John started getting tired of walking - he was hot and angry - as the trail led thru the forrest and walking around trees was a pain - doing it at a snail's pace was even worse.
"McKay are you sure you're reading that right?" he snapped at the man.
"Yes... it should be just up over this ridge. Just give me a minute", Rodney adjusted the screen and continued to walk. He was bone tired, but the glucose tablet and water had helped, giving him some of his energy back.
Teyla put a hand on his arm to reassure him and smiled when he looked surprised.
They continued to walk, finally coming came up and over the ridge.
At the top, it opened up to a plateau and what seemed to be a large rock formation covered by bushes and vines. Running water could be heard in the distance which meant a river or stream was nearby.
Rodney walked over to the rock formation and found a cave like entrance hidden behind vines. He started to clear away the vines with his hand, but stepped aside when Ronon drew his sword and cut them for him.
"There's something here", Rodney said as continued inside, using his flashlight to light the way. His curiosity now stimulated.
Sheppard followed quickly behind, at full alert in case of trouble. Ronon automatically stood watch while Teyla followed Rodney and Sheppard.
A large door with symbols appeared before them, outlined by the light from Rodney's flashlight and John's P-90.
"Interesting... it seems we've found a door," Rodney quipped, happy at finding it so easily. His eyes seemed to sparkle in contrast to the dullness that had been there before.
Sheppard smirked as he lowered his P-90. Sometimes the scientist just got lucky and found what he was looking for right away.
"What are you waiting for, McKay? Open it!", he said impatiently.
"Yes,... just a second while I hook up my tablet."
It took a couple of minutes, but Rodney soon had the tablet attached to the insides of the control panel beside the door. Now under pressure, his hand shook as he typed on the keys, knowing Sheppard was impatiently waiting. The small computer beeped twice as it activated the opening sequence.
A loud screeching noise assaulted their ears as the door started to slowly move and open inward. The metal scraping along the stone made it sound like it was being ripped off it's hinges, but it finally opened fully then stopped.
"Presto!", Rodney said, as he waived a hand toward the door and smiled smugly.
Sheppard was about to smile as well, but stopped himself.
"Let's see what's inside, shall we?" He practically spit at the scientist.
"Ahh... right," Rodney, disappointed by Sheppard's response , turned away and quickly made his way inside using his flashlight to lead the way. He knew that things were never going to be the same between them, unless he played the game and that meant doing what he was told with no arguments. He'd even dropped the snark, knowing that Sheppard would not appreciate it and probably lash into him.
Guess that's the way it'll have to be from now on... but it hurt just the same.
TBC
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