CHAPTER 45 – BRIDGES TO MEND

The meeting went better than expected. And longer. They asked a lot of questions and John understood why. It was difficult to comprehend. Perhaps the most poignant moment had been when he had tossed the picture of Rodney taken beside the Saturn V rocket onto the table and seen the shocked faces. That is when the new version of the old reality had hit them. The visitors from earth. They saw then, that this step had changed the dynamics of an entire programme. And seeing Rodney's smiling face, albeit arrogant one, had brought a large smile of it's own to Sam Carter's face and she had leaned slightly against the General. This had made John's eyebrows raise slightly. Sam had been careful always, to keep her feelings about the General totally private. Obviously some things had changed back on earth since she had left the SGC.

John had left them then, after excusing himself and leaving the visitors in Elizabeth's hands. He leaned down briefly to kiss Gina on the cheek and murmured in her ear. "Later sweetheart. I have some bridges to mend. Ronon's taken this pretty hard – obvious really when he didn't even bother to turn up for this meeting. I need to smooth the way between us again. He's one of the good guys, the best. I need to make sure he understands." She smiled at him, but saw the way that Cam's eyes followed them and hardened slightly as John left the room. She suspected that Grandpop, when he had come to visit Cam, had given him some clear instructions on exactly what to do to John if he messed his precious daughter around. Chuckling to herself, she caught Cam's eye and raised her eyebrows, laughing a little louder when she saw he had the good sense to look slightly embarassed. Yep, General Nate had been meddling...

Ronon and Teyla were sparring together in the rec room. They had been at it for some time, sweat covered their bodies and John saw by their serious faces that their focus had brought them closer to their own thoughts. Neither appeared to have any injuries. They were evenly skilled partners. While Teyla was the much smaller of the two by far, she was fluid to watch, her movements styled and canny and Ronon large and fast, was sometimes no match for her delicate and intricate movements. John stood for some time in the door way watching them. He knew they were aware of his presence, however it did not appear to distract them in any way and he was simply content just to watch them for now.

Finally Ronon threw down his stick and stalked away. Picking up a towel he scrubbed it hard over his face, his glance shooting in John's direction, waiting for the other man to take the lead.

"Missed you two at the meeting." John kept his tone light.

Teyla looked slightly discomforted. "I am sorry Colonel, if this brought you trouble in any way. We considered it earth business and did not feel as though our presence was either needed nor welcomed."

She spoke for the both of them, thought John. Her glance had been to Ronon first, to make sure that he was content for her to be the spokesperson. Ronon remained still, brooding but he was looking at John as though waiting for something.

"I would have liked the support of my team. The earth representatives came to Atlantis on a witch hunt and guess who they wanted to tie up at the stake. You may not understand what went down – or even agree with it. But I'd like to think that I've taught you something in my time as leader of this team. We stay together. One goes down, we all go down."

Teyla looked slightly ashamed and did take her glance from John. He did not sound angry. He had deliberately kept anger from his voice, choosing instead to insert a hard quality that they did not often hear from him. Censure.

"I understand that you're upset and disappointed about Rodney leaving the way he did. I even get that you think I left you out of the loop. Not true. I wasn't even in the loop most of the time. The players in this arrogant little game were kept apart most of the time and you have to understand. It turned out that Rodney was one of those key players. That pretty much made his day..."

He saw the glimmer of a smile on Ronon's face, and knew that he was making some progress in explaining some of the events that had occurred over the last two weeks. Or was it three now? John had lost count. Flitting between time lines had blurred the edges of his current time and he needed a straight run in this one to place himself firmly back in the commander's chair again. This was his team, his people and he needed them to trust him and to back him up. Without that, the team fell apart. Yes, Rodney had been a member of their team too, an important part. But they'd move right on along without him, knowing that he was doing what he was meant to do – somewhere else.

"I need to know that you guys have got my back. At the moment, I'm not getting that. This us against them crap? Don't pull that on me Teyla. There is no us against them. The earth visitors came here to get the full story – you guys were a part of that story and needed to be there to support me. I don't want that to happen again. Copy that?"

Ronon and Teyla both nodded and John knew that his approach had been the right one. This was his team and as their leader they needed to look at him with respect, not disappointment.

"Will you ask Gina to take his place on the team? I understand that she is to take over some of his projects with the help of Radek."

John knew that much hinged on his answer. Gina wasn't ready to join his team, or any other team. She needed to get her feet wet in the Pegasus galaxy first, find her way not just in the city, but in her role here. He wouldn't throw her into missions until she was ready and he needed Teyla and Ronon to know that she was not to be considered a liability in any way.

"She's got her own role to play here. For now, it'll be the three of us. We'll do ok – and if we need outside help on a mission, we've got a huge pool of people to choose from. And we'll choose wisely, together. Ok people?"

John saw the relief in Ronon's eyes and knew he'd given them the right answer. Ronon didn't want any distractions when they were out on a mission and knew that Gina would provide more than a distraction for John.

"So Sheppard – you up for some sparring time? Teyla just got me warmed up..." Ronon's smile was a little devilish now, wanting too to get their friendship back on it's old footing.

"I've still got the damn bandage from the last session..." and gingerly he touched the small cut that had required a dose of the special glue that Carson used to patch them up quickly. But he did look longingly at the sticks and shrugging his shoulders, figured it was as good a way as any to make things right between them.