Nine

Ah, finally free again. He wishes he could just grab his stuff and make a run for the 'Gate, but there's still the issue with the unstudied Ancient technology here and Rodney's profound desire not to leave the job unfinished, even if he has to hand over the field work to a female scientist. So no running to the 'Gate and thus alienating the local population for him.

He wishes they would give him back his stuff, but obviously he's only out on parole and until there's someone who can legally compensate the village for any possible further missteps, he's obviously damned to feel like a teenager who has to wait for his parents to pick him up from the police station. And so he's the only one sitting at the table the council has granted their team who's not in full combat attire, and feels very stupid because of that.

Suppressing a sigh he forces himself to concentrate on Laura's account on how this whole wedding is supposed to be conducted and what's expecting of them during the ceremony and afterwards. From what she tells them, it sounds as if it has some similarities with Celtic or pseudo-Celtic wedding traditions, involving a lot of symbolism and stuff. He just hopes he can remember it all when it's time to. He takes another good look at Laura beside him, and gets the impression that she's a little wound-up and not exactly happy, and he wonders if this is just because she's probably just fed up with talking and planning or if it still has something to do with their argument from before.

To his slight dismay, he finds himself wanting to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder or rub her back to make her relax a little. He has to remind himself that it's not forgiven and forgotten yet, and that he still needs to hear what brought her to do something like this behind his back to decide whether to forgive her or not. But he was never good at seeing her unhappy, and it is putting strain on him to see her unhappy now.

So to distract himself from the sight of her, he turns his gaze to the rest of the team to do a quick study of his teammates. There are, for example, Colonel Sheppard and Teyla. He's seen both of them sneaking him and Laura strange looks, as if they are both waiting for a bomb to explode, and he has the uncomfortable feeling that one of them has noticed some of what went on between Laura and him and has told the other one about it.

Then there's Ronon, who took great care not to sit beside Rodney, and he wonders not for the first time how deep the rift between these two really became with Keller making a decision. Maybe he should suggest to Sheppard to lock them up in the work-out room and have them battle it out, as archaic as that sounds.

Next are his two Sergeants, one of them looking relaxed like always and just a tad disappointed to hear that "bachelor bash" is something unknown in this society, the other looking just a bit like being glad that he's not the one having stumbled against the obelisk and happy to just be observing from the sidelines rather than having to be an active participant in any of this.

Simmons… Simmons looks like he's trying to make himself invisible, probably because he knows that he's already done enough today. Or is he now afraid of his CO? That guy really needs some straightening out, and he feels irritation at himself creeping up because obviously he didn't try hard enough to set the Lieutenant's head right. A little annoyed he pushes that thought away, because it just serves to remind him that Laura obviously only needed a day to crack Simmons' shell open whereas he didn't manage any of that in several weeks.

Beside him, Laura is finally done with talking and leans back in her chair, looking a little exhausted and frustrated… not much different from him, probably. What wouldn't he give now to be alone with her… no, scratch that. Scratch all thoughts in this direction until further notice.

For a moment, it's silent. Then Rodney clears his throat. "So G.I. Joe is marrying Lara Croft. Wow, wedding of the year."

Before he knows it, his frustration has gotten the better of him and he mutters loud enough for everyone to hear it, "Just shut up, Rodney."

Rodney gives a huff of righteous indignation. "What? I was just making an observation based on…"

"Do you want the first swing or may I?" Surprised, he looks at Laura. The look on her face can't really decide between smirking and genuine annoyance. He gets the feeling that she's just that close to make her suggestion real. And quite frankly: If she did, he wouldn't stop her, seeing as all the stupid remarks are starting to get to him as well… and the fact that Rodney is the one responsible for all of this.

But Sheppard decides to step in. "Hey, no one takes a swing at the resident scientist, kids."

As if on cue, both of them answer him with a disappointed "Awww." There's a snort from Meyers' direction… and did Ronon just throw him a look of total understanding? He looks at Laura and she gives him a subtle, but infectious grin that makes him want to do… things that would be highly inappropriate right now.

Thank God for him, Sheppard clears his throat and says, "Okay, now that we know all our places… let's get to work, huh." Unmistakably the cue for Laura and Teyla to leave the room and go… do whatever they are expected to do. They get up, and he wants to walk over to her and show her through some gesture that his anger has dissipated a little and that he just wants to get this over with as much as she wants. But the room is full of people and the last thing he wants is everyone watching them and guessing what exactly is going on.

So the only thing he does is try to catch her eyes. Shortly before she leaves she looks back a last time and gives him a tight little smile. He tries to answer it with something encouraging, but he's not quite sure if he actually managed that. Ah, hell. Who would have thought that a mission like this – without any shooting, running or explosions – could be a lot tougher on both of them than the usual crap the universe likes to throw at them?

When the girls are gone, it's his turn to start preparing. From what Sheppard told him he's supposed to change into traditional garb, and he just has this feeling that they're only doing this to embarrass the strange aliens that stepped through the 'Gate and disturbed their peace. Anyway… off to just another building it is. At least they aren't accompanied by guards anymore.

As they walk over, they pass the Obelisk, with a few feet of distance between them and that ugly looming thing, and he feels dread building up inside of him. It's stupid, he knows, but the thing with what would happen if he touched that again is really getting under his skin. "Major Lorne?"

He can just hold back from jumping at the low voice of his CO suddenly beside him. "Sir?"

"Everything okay between Cadman and you?" He frowns. This really isn't the right place to… wait. Where's the rest of the team? Oh… obviously Sheppard has told them to keep a respectful distance. Great. That means he's probably going to get an earful for letting himself be so distracted.

Taking great care to control his voice and not let any apprehension show through, he says, "We have everything under control, sir."

"That's not what I asked you." Dammit. But at least Sheppard doesn't have this menacing undertone. Well… yet.

He swallows a little. "I know, sir."

Sheppard sighs. "Look, I'm not… prying. I'm just… trying to make sure this will go smoothly."

Yeah, great how much his CO trusts him. And here he thought he'd made clear enough that he's capable of separating private problems from professional assignments. Which is why he can't quite hold back a tight undertone to his voice. "I also know that, sir. But believe me, if there was something wrong enough to influence our performances, I'd tell you."

Sheppard sighs again, this time a little resigned. "I wasn't asking as your CO."

Oh. Errr… huh? If this isn't about being professional… what is it about then? But anyway, they have reached the building he's supposed to stay in until the ceremony, and he doesn't want to occupy Sheppard too long, because that would raise suspicions among his own men. "I… appreciate that. It's just that… I'd prefer not to talk about it right now. There's already enough unwanted attention on the two of us." He hopes Sheppard will accept that, because the last thing he wants to do now is anger his CO with turning down a well-meant enquiry.

After a moment of consideration, Sheppard just shrugs and says, "Okay, I get that. And hey, just another day and you can step back from the limelight, Major." With that, his CO gives him a slight smirk.

He makes a face. "It's really not funny, sir."

Again some glee in the Colonel's face. He knew an answer like that would be a real treat for his CO. "Well, from your perspective, maybe."

And so he keeps up the morose act just a little longer. "It's not funny from anyone's perspective." Alright… keeping up the act isn't that hard, because he still doesn't see what's so funny about his predicament.

"Oh, just a little bit." They enter the building, alone since Sheppard has gestured for Ronon to stay outside with the rest of the gang and have an eye on McKay and his continued research. Lucky, lucky McKay…

"Not in the least."

"Aw, come on, Major, try to see the upside: Just for once Cadman can save your ass without having to risk her own life." He wishes Sheppard wouldn't have reminded him of all the times Laura has risked her own life to save his. Every time he thinks of them, he feels inadequate as a soldier and as an officer. So often they all tell him one way or the other that he's doing a great job, but that nagging doubt still lingers on.

And so his voice is a little tighter than he would have liked to when he replies, "I would prefer it if she wouldn't have to save my ass at all."

Sheppard probably has sensed that this isn't a particularly nice topic for him and tries to lighten it up a little. "Then maybe you shouldn't have leaned against that obelisk."

Unfortunately it's not really working and he finds himself throwing Sheppard an odd look. "Erm… I didn't."

That only gets him a grin which tells him that Sheppard just wanted to get exactly this reaction. "Oh, you know what I mean."

Now it's his turn to sigh. "You've got an answer to everything, don't you?"

Smug grin now. "Yep. And damn proud of it."

He has to fight down the impulse to stick out his tongue to Sheppard. Instead he stays with a dry "I'll remind you of that next time I have to bail you out of something, sir."

Sheppard snorts. "Point taken, Major." Then he gets into business-mode in. "Anyway… get ready. I'll send someone in when it's time for your grand entrance."

He can't help smirking. "I'm already looking forward to it."

"Liar." is the only thing Sheppard answers, and then he claps him on the shoulder. It's his final cue to get in the room already prepared for him and with a sigh that sounds a little like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, he gets in.

A/N: First of all, of course thanks to mac's awesome betaing. Thanks to that, I could finally get behind a few secrets of English punctuation ;) Apart from that, I may have to rework my plan for following chapters, so it could take a while until the next ones are posted. Some things... just don't add up, at least for now. Hopefully, I'll get this done before Christmas.

That said: I just realized that for a lot of you it's finals time, so I wish everyone who's busy with finals good luck and utmost success. It's been three years since my last finals, but I think I can still remember the frenzy they can drive you into. Hope you all do fine :)