Chapter IV: Carson and McKay
A/N: Again I have to thank Izzie Star for help with this chapter. Black Widow Mistress also provided inspiration. Enjoy the chapter! She-Demon
1645 hours, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, AZ
After spending most of the day getting familiar with Sedona, John had to head back down to Phoenix to pick up Rodney and Carson. Even though he hadn't invited him along, O'Neill drove down to Phoenix. He'd said,
"Colonel, if I come along you will not have to split your attention between driving and answering all of the questions. You need to rest. I imagine that both Rodney and Carson have a lot of questions to ask you."
So he'd slept for most of the two and a half hour drive. John hated to admit it, but O'Neill was right: His kids were little beams of energy that never seemed to stop moving.
Once they'd arrived at the airport, all they had to do was wait for the planes to arrive.
When Carson and Rodney arrived, John got a surprise. The first thing Rodney did was frisk his pockets. Shoving him away he asked,
"What the hell are you doing Rodney?"
"Checking your pockets for hallucinogens; alright where are they?"
"I dinnae think he's on drugs. He doesn't look like he's on them."
John then gave Rodney a look that basically said "Ha". As they headed back to the car, he heard Rodney say to Carson,
"I'm still going to check his room when we get there."
Once they got to the car and loaded the luggage into the back, and were on their way, Rodney asked,
"So where is she? Why isn't she with us right now?"
John took a deep steadying breath. He knew that Rodney was going to be a tough sell until he saw her with his own eyes.
"She has some stuff to take care of in Sedona, so she was unable to come along with us to pick you guys up."
Rodney rolled his eyes with a great deal of cynicism. He then said,
"I am sure that there is a totally logical explanation for all this, not that anything that happens to you is logical, Sheppard."
After Rodney said that, O'Neill without taking his eyes off the road said,
"Doctor McKay, if you want me to turn around and take you back to the airport, just say the word."
Seeing that Rodney was about to make a snarky reply, Carson interrupted.
"Look everyone's probably tired from the recent events. I know I am. Let's get to wherever we're going, and then we can get ready to go see Elizabeth tomorrow."
He looked between Rodney, John, and O'Neill silently asking them to wait to have their argument until they got to Sedona and out of the car.
Once they got to Sedona it was about 19:30. When they got back to the hotel from dinner, it was 20:45.
As they got into the parking lot, Rodney as he yawned said,
"You know, I'm going to go and get some sleep."
The other three men rolled their eyes. Rodney was never much of a night owl except when it came to working on one of his projects. And since he was convinced that John had finally gone over the edge into insanity, he planned on going to sleep quickly.
At around 23:00, pretty much everyone was back in their rooms and in bed. But sleep was still difficult to come by for John so he was watching TV.
When he heard the knock on the door he thought,
"That better not be O'Neill. I don't feel like talking to him at the moment."
"Hey, John; do you have a moment?" He heard Carson say on the other side.
After he let the Scottish doctor in, Carson stated,
"You've had quite the week haven't you?"
"You have no idea, Carson."
"Enlighten me." Carson made himself comfortable on the couch
At that, John started to fidget. How could he tell Carson that he had two kids with Elizabeth, when he was still getting used to the idea itself.
"I'll start at the beginning. First I find out after all this time, Elizabeth's alive. She had somehow been rescued from the Asurans by an IOA contingent. Apparently they wanted to see what the nanites could do after they'd finished the healing job; to see if they could be used again. When they found out that they were not going to work for anyone else, they put Liz in hiding about seven years ago."
"And you just found this out?"
"Yes. O'Neill told me three days ago. Apparently he's known that Elizabeth's been alive all along. And he didn't say a word."
Carson thought it over. John was pissed that he hadn't been told right away. He then said.
"General O'Neill must have had a good reason, whatever it was."
As he was about to say he didn't think that anything the IOA made him sign would've held him, he realized something. O'Neill did have a good reason for keeping his mouth shut. Maybe the reasons that he'd kept his mouth shut for so long were the kids.
Carson noticed that John was deep in thought, he got up to leave. But before he left he asked.
"How's Elizabeth doing?"
John didn't seem to hear his question. But when he got to the door, John replied,
"She's doing great. As great as she can get being forced into hiding and being told that she couldn't contact anyone from her previous life."
"I can see why they wouldn't want that. You probably would've come after her. Is that everything?"
Carson then noticed that John was fidgeting.
"I'll take that as a no."
"You might want to sit down for what I'm going to tell you."
Once Carson sat down, he noticed that John was looking at him uneasily. He said,
"I haven't been entirely upfront with you. It's not just Elizabeth that the IOA have been hiding-she… we have two kids."
The look on Carson's face was one of pleasant surprise. After thinking it over for about five minutes, he said,
"Well I wasn't expecting that- congratulations. How long have you known for?"
"Approximately 48 hours, maybe a little less. O'Neill's known for sure that they're mine for about 3 years."
"You met them yet?"
"Yes. They were having a water fight. My son won, but my daughter had the last move and pulled him down."
"I take it your son is named after you?"
"How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess; and your daughter?"
"Her name is Olivia."
"She's probably going to wind up looking a lot like her mother when she's older."
"Why should she wait? She already looks like a six year old version of Elizabeth."
Carson smirked at the thought. John, noticing Carson's crooked grin asked with narrowing eyes, asked,
"What's so funny?"
Snickering, Carson still with a smile on his face, replied,
"She's going to be the little heartbreaker, isn't she?"
Carson then heard John say gruffly,
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
Carson then decided that it might be wise for him to leave. He said,
"'Night John."
All he got was a nod for a reply as he left.
As he walked back to his room he thought,
"It's amazing at how fast the worrying starts."
The next morning 0645…
Jack O'Neill had many things planned for the coming day. All of them did not involve being waked up at the crack of dawn by Rodney McKay. Only one scientist got to do that to him and got away with it.
"Come on O'Neill, wake up. Don't you and John have something to show us?"
Growling he said,
"Doctor McKay, only one scientist gets to wake me up at this hour. And you're not her. I am a general in the United States Air Force; I am armed at all times."
That was apparently enough to get the man to leave. O'Neill got up and mentally grumbled,
"I might as well get up. Because once I'm awake, I'm awake."
Outside Carson's room about 5 minutes later, Rodney was doing the same thing. Carson said rather venomously through the door,
"I'm already bloody awake Rodney! Stop that or you'll wake up the whole damn hotel!"
When he got to John's room, Rodney pounded on the door and said,
"C'mon Sheppard get up, don't you have something to show Carson and I today?"
"I know I do. Now go away before I decide to shoot you!"
"You wouldn't…" Rodney then booked it back to his room as he heard the racking of the Berretta.
John then said with a smirk,
"Works every time!"
After getting dressed, John headed downstairs for breakfast. When he got down there he noticed two visibly irritated people: O'Neill and Carson. When he sat down he asked,
"So did you guys also get the 'Rodney McKay' wakeup call?"
Judging from the look on O'Neill's face as he drank his coffee and the look on Carson's, the answers from both of them would be a resounding yes.
"Though I was already awake, I still dinnae appreciate the noise he was making."
O'Neill asked,
"From what I've heard, Doctor McKay usually isn't much of a morning person. Why would he be now?"
Carson and John looked at each other. They both knew the answer well. Carson replied first by saying,
"There are two reasons why Rodney gets up early on occasion. One of the reasons is if he's working on an important project."
"And the second reason?"
John finished with,
"The second reason is because he wants to see someone being proved wrong."
O'Neill rolled his eyes. He'd figured that McKay would be a tough sell. And that was without bringing the kids into the picture. He had a feeling that Rodney would be biting his tongue when he found who "Dad" was.
When Rodney came strutting in, he noticed that the other three were pointedly ignoring him. He asked John,
"You weren't really going to shoot me were you?"
"I hadn't decided yet."
They finished their breakfast in silence.
Once they got outside and to the car, John turned to Rodney and said,
"There's one more thing you need to know Rodney about Elizabeth."
Rodney sarcastically said,
"What could be a bigger surprise than Elizabeth being alive?"
When all he got was silence, Rodney looked from John, to Carson, to O'Neill, then back at John again. He then asked suspiciously,
"Is she a replicator hell bent on domination?"
"No Rodney, she's not a replicator. In fact, she's got two kids and I'm the father."
Rodney mulled it over for a few seconds when what John said really hit him. He eyes went wide he said,
"'You Kirked it up with Elizabeth? Is there anybody you didn't sleep with in the Pegasus galaxy?"
Everyone around him gave him looks that could've melted titanium. John then said to him in a deadly calm voice,
"I skipped you."
After a few minutes of glaring at each other, John said,
"Want to meet them? I was going to pick them up and bring them here, so we can talk more freely."
"Why can't we go straight there?"
"This is for Elizabeth and the kids. Not you."
After he left, O'Neill thought,
"Oh boy, I can't wait to see the look on McKay's face when he sees all three of them."
Just like the time before, John drove like a madman to get to Elizabeth's house. But unlike the time before, he didn't break as many traffic laws in order to get there. He couldn't wait to see the looks on Carson and Rodney's faces when they saw all three of them.
He got out of the car and figured that he'd have to make his presence known quietly. It was early and the kids were probably still asleep. Elizabeth's sleeping habits had most likely changed in the past six years, but was most likely still an early bird.
He tapped on the door and heard soft footsteps before it opened and he was faced with Elizabeth. Her jaw-dropped slightly as she processed that he was stood on her doorstep at this early hour before she re-arranged her features into a smile in the hope that it would distract from the blush that was rising in her cheeks, embarrassed that she had allowed herself to let John see her like this.
John noticed the blush and smiled to himself. She had always looked amazing without make-up, despite what she was clearly thinking, and the rumpled hair was a poignant memory of waking up with her at four am before sneaking back to his quarters.
'John.' She said.
'Hey. Just wondering if you had any plans for today?'
Elizabeth smiled bitterly, 'No.'
'Well the hotel that I'm staying at has this great pool and I thought maybe it would be a nice place to start some Daddy bonding time.'
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him, 'Daddy bonding time?'
'Hey – I'm new to this.' He said defensively, but Elizabeth noted the twinkle in his eyes.
'So you want to take the kids swimming? They should be okay with that and it'll be nice just to sit back and relax with a book while you're out.'
'Whoa – you're not getting out of this one. I've got something for you too.'
'What?'
'You'll have to come with me.'
'John.' Elizabeth said warningly.
'I'll go wait in the car.' John said with a smirk, turning his back on her.
Elizabeth's first thought after he went to the car was,
"Some things never change. Impossible man!"
Once she got to John and Olivia's room, Elizabeth got a small surprise. Both of them were already awake, dressed, and had their swimming stuff packed. She had expected them to still asleep. They'd obviously been listening to the conversation.
"This listening into my conversations is starting to get repetitive kids - don't make it a habit."
Both of them still had smiles on their faces, even though they knew they were being chastised.
"Go downstairs; I have a few things to get myself. And wait in the living room!"
When Elizabeth and the twins finally made their way into the car, the atmosphere was tense to say the least. Pulling out from the house, John considered putting the radio on, but he knew that would all but end his chance of chatting to the kids before they'd be back at the end of the hotel and the pool would seem so much more attractive to them. He did talking; it was one of his best assets, so why did it suddenly seem so hard?
For ten minutes, they silence continued John anxiously checking the rear-view mirror to see the blank impressions on his children's faces. He still couldn't quite believe that he was a father – despite the obvious similarities staring him back in the face. Pulling onto the I-17, he was suddenly struck by a wave of inspiration and pressed the accelerator taking them just far enough over the speed limit for him not to be caught, but to try and get something out of his kids.
'John.' Elizabeth said warningly.
'It's fun, isn't it kids?' He said, checking the rear view mirror.
Both Olivia and John Jr's faces had been transformed into big grins and they were nodding enthusiastically. Spurred on, he pressed they accelerator even harder.
'Stop it!' Elizabeth said.
'No!' Olivia pleaded.
'Mommy always drives slowly!' John Jr chirped up.
'I drive sensibly.' Elizabeth said, sternly.
'Now when I'm flying, that is fun and fast.' John said.
Both kids exchanged an excited glance, before turning to look at John with eager faces.
'Have you ever flown a rocket?' John Jr asked.
'Or a plane?' Olivia chirped up.
John couldn't suppress his pleasure in finally having something to bond with his kids over and smiled at their reflections in the mirror.
'When I used to work with your Mommy, I got to fly these cool little ships called jumpers -'
'Jumpers?' John Jr interjected.
'Yes, jumpers. I named them myself. Well, they really were cool; they could turn invisible, and they could go even faster than a plane.'
'Wow.' John Jr said.
'Did you go into space?' Olivia asked, 'I want to go into space when I grow up.'
'You mean be an astronaut, sweetie.' Elizabeth said.
'I used to go into space all of the time – there's nothing better than flying through open space staring out at the stars.'
'Can you take us?' John Jr asked.
John looked at Elizabeth, but she gave him a look which deliberately left him to answer this question himself.
'One day maybe, but you've already got your swimming stuff now so it would be real shame to waste it.'
Beside him, from the corner of his eye, he saw Elizabeth smile to herself and, somehow, he felt like he'd passed some sort of fatherhood test.
"Just wait and see who's here to see you."
Once they got to the hotel and parked, John turned to Elizabeth saying,
"Now that we're here, I'm going to cover your eyes."
"John…" Elizabeth warned.
"Trust me?" he asked with the puppy eyes that he knew she couldn't resist.
She looked at him for a few moments, trying to resist. If his kids were good at the puppy eye look, John was even better. She nodded, and made sure that the twins were out of the car. Once all that was taken care of, she let John cover her eyes and walk her towards the entrance. Their kids were jabbering in their twinspeak.
No sooner did they get near the pool, John's jealousy spiked again when his kids yelled happily,
"Uncle Jack!"
A/N 2: A cliffhanger here was what was thought to be a good idea. Again please don't string me up. Reviews with ideas as to how the reunion can go make the next update come a lot faster!