Six

He's really starting to get impatient. How long can it take to go back to Atlantis, pick up Laura and come back here? Certainly not more than two hours tops, right? Okay, granted, they took away everything from him, even his watch, and he still hasn't gotten around to adjusting his sense of time to foreign planets, but it does feel like an eternity already. And where the hell is everyone? Right now, he'd even be thankful for Rodney coming by… or Simmons.

"Come on, Rodney, be nice and tell him." Ah, finally someone remembers him.

"Is that really necessary? I mean…" Uh-huh, and someone knows that it's partly his fault he's sitting here.

"Yes, it is. Now go in." If he was Rodney McKay, he'd quit contradicting Teyla right now. It really doesn't sound like she's in the mood for a lengthy discussion. Most probably, because they already had a lengthy discussion about this.

And obviously by now Rodney knows Teyla well enough to stop whining and simply do as she tells him, because first Teyla and then a pretty disgruntled Rodney enter the prison. Let's see what they have in store for him. With a soundless sigh he stops his pacing and leans at the back wall of his cell, his arms crossed, waiting for Rodney to state his business. He just hopes that Rodney is much too excited with his science stuff to remember that today it's obviously National Gloat-At-Major-Lorne-Day.

"Ah, yes… well, seeing as you might feel a little out of loop here, Teyla forced me to…" Insert death glare from Teyla here. "Kindly reminded me that it would be a good idea to tell you what hit you."

"I'm all ears, Doc." And he really is. Would be just his luck if that energy blast had some other effects aside from the hangover.

"Well… it seems like the obelisk in the square is giving off energy bursts when a male person touches it." No, really? Could have fooled him, honestly. "It seems like it has been installed here by a female Ancient to protect that female population of this village. From what we could gather it seems like it can project a force field over the village if operated by a female ATA gene carrier. If it's touched by a male carrier, though…"

"Yeah, I know what happens then." Teyla and Rodney share a look that he really doesn't like.

"Not… exactly." What's that supposed to mean?

"Doc… what are you trying to tell me?" McKay holds up his hand, knowing full well that whatever is coming now, it's his fault.

"You should be okay, at least for now. But touching the obelisk a second time wouldn't be a good idea." Not as if he was thinking about doing that again, thank you very much. "The first burst obviously was something of a warning shot. The second… would have much more dire consequences." Can't he just stop beating around the bush?

"How dire, Rodney?" Rodney really doesn't want to answer this, so in the end it's Teyla who takes it upon herself.

"It would kill you." Oookay… he should have counted that in. After all, the Ancients really had this tendency to build in fetching catches to their technology.

But at least this time, the solution is fairly easy. He shrugs. "Shouldn't be a problem. At least if Dr. Clumsy Feet here keeps looking where he's treading." That earns him a rather dark look from Rodney, but really, what did he expect? Up to now the scientist hasn't even said sorry. And given different circumstances – for example if he hadn't been standing in Rodney's way – he could be sitting inside this cell now. He honestly doubts that Ronon would Dr. Keller let save Rodney's hide or that for example Dr. Brown would be willing to do that.

"I am sure Rodney will watch his steps a little more carefully now." Another look from Teyla reminding Rodney of the consequences if he doesn't.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Let's all just beat up the innocent…" Before either Teyla or he can give Rodney a piece of their mind about him being anything but innocent, suddenly Simmons comes in to tell Teyla and Rodney that Colonel Sheppard just radioed about being back with Laura in tow. About time.

He'd love to talk to her, but not with Teyla, Rodney and Simmons listening in. This whole mess is much too complicated and there's much too much behind all of this to have a casual chat with each other, within earshot of lots of other people. Apart from that the radios obviously don't work in that building anyway. So he simply nods as Teyla and Rodney say their goodbyes – Teyla with a smile that tells him to keep his chin up and Rodney with a kind of relieved expression on his face. After that, it's only him and Simmons, and the Lieutenant strangely looks like he wants to say something.

Another soundless inward sigh. "Is there something else, Lieutenant?" At first it looks like Simmons simply wants to shake his head no, but then he seems to take heart.

"Not… really, sir." He raises his eyebrows.

"Come on, I'm not gonna rip your head off. What's bugging you?" He just knows the Lieutenant wants to say something, and he's really had it now with that guy's closed-off behavior.

But the Lieutenant suddenly seems wanting to play hard to get again. "It's nothing, sir. Nothing… important." How he hates it when people are like that. And he just has this inkling that he knows what this is all about. For someone so hung up on what is – or used to be – wrong with what Laura and he are doing, Simmons has been pretty quiet about the whole wedding-issue until now. Actually, he wants Simmons to say it out loud, because then at least it would be out in the open and he'd know what exactly he's dealing with.

"Lieutenant… I know we haven't had the best of working relationships until now, but I promise you I won't get off on you for whatever is on your mind." He's just this close to throwing up his hands in frustration.

"Yeah, maybe you won't." Huh? What is that about?

"Lieutenant? Is there something I should know about?" As a team leader, one of his responsibilities is making sure his team members don't get in trouble with other members of the expedition's personnel, and if Simmons managed to make someone else mad enough to get into something more than just an argument…

"Uh… no, sir." Simmons replies, but it's very evident in his face that he just realized he already said too much. He's really had it.

"Okay, you and I both know that you just lied to me. And if there's one thing I really hate it's my subordinates lying to me. How do you expect to get out of this now, Lieutenant?" For a moment, nothing happens. And then Simmons kind of… explodes. Not loud, but agitated enough to speak in a very crisp and punctuated manner.

"With all due respect, sir, I am fed up with everyone trying to tell me what to do and what not to do if all they can do is setting a bad example and infringing on the UCMJ and the Code of Conduct every moment they get. There are rules, and these rules are there for a reason. How am I supposed to show respect to officers who don't respect any of these rules? Four years, I was taught to abide to each and every one of these rules, and I accepted that. I embraced it. It made me a better man. And then I come here, and I see officers older and with more responsibility breaking them every day and finding nothing wrong with it. You accuse me of lying, because I don't want to talk to you about a private matter, but I am supposed to keep my trap shut every time you go against the UCMJ? Am I the only one finding that just a tad strange?"

O… kay. That was clear. And it's not as if he hadn't wanted Simmons to spell it out a few moments ago, but he does have a few choice words to say on this as well. However, as much as he'd love to tell them now, this is neither the place nor the time do to it. After taking a steadying breath, he says, "I see, Lieutenant. Honestly, I do understand your agitation." And at least partially he does. But then again… "You know, I did offer you to talk about it. And obviously we need to have this talk, so once again…"

"You really don't have to dress me down for this, sir. Captain Cadman already did that." Wham. She did what?

"Come again, Lieutenant?" Again, Simmons looks like he said something wrong. Granted, for just a moment the Lieutenant had looked like actually being pleased about the incredulous look on his own face, but that had changed very fast into a look saying 'Oh… crap.'

"Look, sir… I…"

"What did Captain Cadman tell you?" He really wants to believe that Simmons is exaggerating with this, or maybe trying to play some strange game here – because that's what that pleased look had said – but he just has this feeling of dread building up in his guts that Laura really went as far as giving the Lieutenant a tongue-lashing, even though she knows it's simply not her place. And that feeling in his guts… feels a lot like betrayal and disappointment as well. He really thought they were over doing things behind the other one's back.

"She… uh… it's not what it might seem like…"

"Mind stepping aside, Lieutenant? I think the happy couple might deserve a few minutes for themselves." Argh. Why now? That's possibly the worst moment to put Laura and him together. Because right now… he doesn't know if he really wants to see her. What he wants is hearing where Simmons wanted to go with the "It's not what it might seem like"-comment.

But it's too late. Simmons already stepped aside and practically fled out of the prison – which tells him that something's really messed up here – and Laura comes in. She's got a smile on her lips, and that nearly makes him smile back… until he remembers what just happened. As she sees his rather closed-off face, whatever she wanted to say dies on her lips. He's almost sorry, but he simply can't bring himself to make believe now. Doing something like this behind his back is too grave for him to ignore it any longer.

Sheppard also seems to have sensed that something is afoot here, and beats a hasty retreat, saying, "Alright, I'll give you two lovebirds a few minutes, huh. Remember that you're expected before the village council ASAP, Captain." At that, Laura simply nods at him, already knowing that whatever is going to come now won't be pretty.

A/N: Yep, I'm still working on this one... first of all: Lots of thanks to my beta mac who still managed to beta this although her laptop gave her a pretty hard time (I can sympathize, believe me...) :) And second: Today I received an invitation for the written entrance examn for the German Federal Foreign Office. Yay me! Only means I have to brush up my almost non-existent Spanish... and the English test from last year looks like... uh... hell :S I felt like a first grader reading that :S