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Chapter 19: Making Nice

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John's mouth was so dry his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Shuffling on the ground in his misery, he felt someone watching at his back. And it wasn't McKay, remembered he wasn't there anymore. At least that memory had stuck. But not who was behind him. Too well drilled into him to not let an enemy at your back, he began to push himself into an upright position, was making it ..until he started tilting to his right.

Hands caught him and he looked up to see it was the woman soldier. She helped him lean back against the table then retreated back to the chair she'd made her home. She'd been there with him before, he had a vague recollection. Didn't think he'd asked her name, so he tried some of the old Sheppard charm, what was left of it. "Thanks for the assist," he said, trying to come off boyishly thankful but his croaky voice wasn't all that attractive.

Sensing his need, she handed him a cup filled with water and he greedily drank, hated that his hand shook even holding up that easy weight. Having drained the cup, he set it on the ground, saw it tilt over and couldn't waste the energy to set it upright. Wondered if that was going to be his life now, spilled cups, so very meager strength, faulty memory. Her voice broke him out of his dark ruminations.

"I don't know why Kannar suddenly believes your people know how to be honorable, what lies you told him," Frata spit out, knew how very much Kannar risked by opening negotiations with the Ancients. Was certain that this man had tricked Kannar into trusting him.

John nearly sighed, wasn't up to another political debate. Wearily asked, "Aren't you tired of mistrusting everyone, hating people you've never even met?"

Krata stiffened at his impertinent question. "We have our ancestors' memories! We know…"

"..only the past," John finished, almost angrily. "Don't you want more for your future? Kannar does. Wants a bigger, safer life for your people. How can you fault a leader for wanting that?"

His words had caught her by surprise. She eyed him mutinously but remained silent. She was not one to question those in charge, only she worried for Kannar, for his father, Sakar, if this should turn out badly. "Kannar would give his life for his people, I know that. But he's always been…"

"A dreamer," John supplied, a small but honest smile tipping up his lips. "I've been guilty of that too. And it's how we get different outcomes, by dreaming for the best scenario and just trying for it. No matter it's sometimes a fool's errand."

His admission had her seeing Sheppard in a new light, like Kannar in his unguarded moments, different in his way. Their people didn't look much to the future, so much of the past was seeded in their minds, their memories, it left little contemplation …or hope for what might be ahead. "You say you are not the Ancients…"

"No. We came to Atlantis from somewhere else. Someplace that still believes in hope," John said, not in a brag but trying to get her to believe in hope too.

"Hope?" she echoed the word like it was a foreign word on her tongue.

John's head tilted at her tone and he lightly explained, "Yeah, you know, thinking things will get better, wishing for dessert after dinner, wanting it to not rain so you can frolic in the sun. Hope."

She was looking at him like was more alien than a Wraith, but he hoped he was getting through to her. Because Kannar could use another ally and she seemed loyal enough to him. He didn't know what she might have replied because something caught their attention over their heads.

"Muvar, what are you doing up there?" she scowled at the boy staring down at them from the rafters.

"Reconnaissance," he boldly shot back before he got nervous about Krata's reaction. "I heard them talking…the ship is almost here." His eyes went to John. "You'll tell your people I'm your friend so I can meet them, right?"

Krata sighed, Muvar was so like Kannar they should be more closely related. "I would order you to your home, but I think you'll get in more trouble out of my sight. So stay where you are but remain quiet when the other Atlanteans come. Understood?

"Yes, Auntie Krata," the boy beamed.

John was giving her a smile when she refocused on him, proving that her tough veneer had been undermined by the nine year old boy. "Don't think I am weak," she warned the ill man. "I will kill you instantly if I'm ordered to."

"And probably enjoy doing it. I'll try to not make it necessary for you to dirty your clothing with my blood," John sardonically drawled, trying to not let his own relief show. Carson was nearly there. He might know how to fix up his body that he'd damaged. He always did, right? But John's more cynical side retorted, 'Until he can't, until someone's number is just up. Like yours might be thanks to you reacting instead of thinking.' John decided he favored the dreamer side of his personality than the pessimistic jerk yammering away in his head right then.

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As the ship landed, Carson gathered the courage to pipe up to Kannar, "I'm not giving anyone anything until I see Colonel Sheppard. And if you think to kill us.." his voice cracked a bit on that, but he bravely continued his blackmail, "well..I haven't activated the treatment I've brought along yet. Is useless to you until I do. Which I will do when I've seen to Colonel Sheppard," knew he'd gone to a bit of rambling but hoped his threat was taken seriously even if his mean talk couldn't be.

It was a ballsy move by Beckett and Ronon admired him for it, even as he read the clear rejection on Kannar's features. He looked to Rodney, surprised he wasn't voicing his own mouthy agreement to Carson's coercion. But the man had been fidgety, more so than usual and now remained silent. Ronon didn't miss that McKay's eyes darted to Kannar and the two men exchanged something silently that they weren't sharing with anyone else. But Ronon found that he couldn't doubt McKay's loyalty, not to Atlantis and certainly not to John Sheppard. So he'd have to trust McKay knew what he was doing…and be prepared to save his butt if he didn't.

Kannar finally gave a verbal reaction to the doctor's threat. "You will treat my people first," he steely commanded, eyes boring into Carson's until the doctor squirmed. But then, nearly under his breath he muttered, "And, for the love of the stars, don't do anything to make them sicker. I've worked too hard on this truce for you to throw fat into the fire now." Because it all hinged on "healing" his people, only then did he have a foundation for proving these people were nothing like the Ancients, had honor and compassion instead of an agenda that superseded things like morality.

That caused the Atlanteans to fall silent, each processing his words. Rodney was praying Carson pulled out his good old country doctor magic. Ronon was busy planning contingencies in case Carson's cure didn't fly. And Carson began to perspire now that it was clear the fate of not just John was in his hands but everyone at Atlantis and Kannar's people.

'I should have listened to my mother and stayed a small country doctor, treating skinned knees and the occasional high blood pressure,' Carson bemoaned as he joined his place in the line to leave the ship.

Behind him, Rodney whispered by his ear, "I hope your medical voodoo works on these people. And super fast."

"It will. It's what I give you every time you think you've got an incurable disease," Carson lowly shot back, couldn't resist looking over his shoulder to see McKay giving him the stink eye for his comment. And some of Carson's panic subsided. He wasn't doing this alone, and Rodney was surprisingly good at this being in danger stuff. But even more remarkable, his friend was fanatically loyal. They would make it through this, together. And oh yeah, a huge part of that bold reassurance came from the menacing form of Ronon who was proceeding them out of the ship.

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Kannar wasn't surprised that his welcoming committee consisted of his father and Olpwen, and three soldiers loyal to the man. The Satedean's presence definitely put the tension to a 10…and he had to hide a smile. The warrior was going to be the distraction he thought he could be. While everyone feared what violence he would unleash, Kannar could be free to put things in place for this peace.

"Father, this is the doctor who has come to heal our people," Kannar notably pledging his faith in the man with his words. Then to add another layer, he nodded his head to Rodney, "And McKay has brought us a generator that we can hopefully use to power our shield."

Sakar seemed to be on the verge of maybe thanking McKay but Olpwen jeered, "And what do they want in exchange for this power source?! To wipe our minds of our ancestors' memories of Atlantis to ensure we don't know more of their home than they do?! So we can not attack through your poor security measures once again?!" he taunted the Ancient's armed warrior, who dispassionately didn't even flinch.

"Olpwen!" Sakar sharply hissed. "You do not rule here or say what will be among us and the Atlanteans."

"I see through their pretensions…unlike your son," Olpwen insulted, though he was not willing to direct part of his censure toward Sakar. Not without more support from other members of the council.

"This was your idea to bring the Atlanteans here," Kannar goaded, loved the councilor's furious expression at the reminder. Couldn't resist tacking on, "I was opposed, if you remember."

Before Olpwen could sputter out a retort, Sakar raised his hand, silencing him. Approaching the Atlantean doctor, he offered, "Heal our people then I will allow you to tend to your Colonel."

"Gather your sick into a common area and I'll start treating them right away," Carson instructed. Then to ensure Ronon could come with him, he asked, "Please show me where my friend," his hand drifting in Ronon's direction, "and I can set up my work station." Hoping it would also be somewhere he could work on a treatment for John as well.

Turning to the three soldiers, Sakar called two forward. He ordered them to take the doctor and his warrior friend to the designated area. Curiously watched the exchange of looks between the Atlantean doctor and McKay, sensed a deep affection there among the tension before they parted ways. That left McKay still before him. Noted that the scientist held a machine the like Sakar had never seen before, not in all the schematics his forebears had passed along of Ancient technology. "I do not recognize this power source as an Ancient one."

"It's not. It's from our world," Rodney boasted as if he himself had built it. Which he could have, he knew, had someone not done it before he could come up with the idea.

"Your …world," Olpwen repeated in astonishment.

"Yes. Our world. As in not Atlantis, or even from this universe. If you'd believed Sheppard when he was telling you we aren't the Ancients, you might have saved yourself some bullets," McKay snapped to the man he absolutely didn't like or trust.

Not wanting hostilities to rise, Sakar stepped to McKay. "We have had many enemies in the past and very few allies. It will take us…time to learn the art of trust again."

Rodney wanted to snort at the pretty speech. 'I bring a generator as a carryon and all of a sudden they wanted to be friends, after the way they treated John…er well didn't treat him.' "I'm not offering you trust," he bit out, before he thought about what Elizabeth would want him to say. So he begrudgingly added, "Not yet." But then thought of John, that he might not be able to be moved from this sadistic village until Carson fixed him. "But it's not inconceivable we can get there," he stiffly acknowledged.

Sakar didn't smile but his expression lightened. "I think that's a goal we can both seek."

Kannar felt some of his apprehension lessen as his father offered some hope for a peaceful alliance between their people. But he didn't quite trust McKay to not say something defamatory and blow it up in their faces. Stepping to the scientist's side, he said, "I'm assuming you won't install the generator until you've seen Sheppard."

Rodney almost startled when Kannar came up to him, had forgotten the man's presence among the thick tension. "Yes. Yes, that was the requirement I was going to make."

"Come," Kannar barked and McKay gladly followed the man away from the politicians. Alone for the first time since Rodney had come through the gate, he took the time to strategize. "After your doctor heals my people, I'll bring him to John. If you get the generator working, that will be leverage to get all of you out of here."

Rodney had to admit their failings. "We don't have a cure for John yet so we can't take him through a Stargate."

Kannar's jaw clenched, that wasn't the news he needed. "I'm not sure how much good will anything you do today can earn you, but most of my people think John got them deathly ill. They want him gone, not here to reinfect them."

"He didn't get anyone sick! That was your idea to make them think he did," Rodney accused, saw Kannar take on a sheepish look.

"I know," he tersely accepted the blame. "But I thought it would lead to you both getting safely home and a peace among our people."

"Is there another village, somewhere on this planet that we can take John. Somewhere with shelter and maybe even electricity?" Rodney's mind going a mile a minute trying to come up with alternate solutions.

Kannar's expression told the tale before he gave Rodney the bad news. "No, the water is polluted on the other side of the planet and the rest of the inhabitants left, fearing the planet's water would all be poisoned."

"But you stayed? You guys really do have a death wish," Rodney scathingly retorted. Was thinking less and less of Kannar's people's ability to be logical….or friendly.

"No, we don't wish for death," Kannar defensively snapped back. "We can test the water, know if it's polluted and even purify it in small quantities. That everyone else abandoned the planet was perfect for our desire for seclusion."

"You say seclusion, I say cult community," Rodney muttered. "Ok, then you need to convince your father to allow us to treat John here…" Suddenly, he got that holy light of an idea in his eyes, "…and I'll use the generator as leverage to ensure they accept those terms."

"Use the generator how?" Kannar growled, knew leveraging always created tension and they had far too much of that already.

"You'll see," Rodney evaded his question as he rushed to the building that John was in. He noted there were no guards at the door and that Kannar was not following him in. It had him turn to face their ally. "No guards posted?" Swiftly his fear spiked, thought maybe they believed that John was now too ill to even be a flight risk. His face paled as he stammered, "He's not…he's still…"

"He's not much worse than when you left," Kannar reassured. "One of my soldiers is in with him, she ensured he didn't need anything."

"She?" Rodney echoed with a smile now. "My luck is I would have Olpwen tending me but he gets a women. Figures." Then Rodney ducked inside the room, took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darker interior. Then he was rushing to John's side, who was sitting up, though he was pale as paper and the table's leg was the only thing keeping him upright. Ignoring the woman soldier, Rodney dropped to his knees beside John. "Hey, miss me?"

"Rodney, why are you back here? You were safe," John voice weak and hoarse but his worry for Rodney strong.

"I came back for you," Rodney said like it was something John should have known without asking. "Brought Carson and Ronon too. They are curing the townspeople then they'll be here."

John smirked at Ronon's inclusion; the man probably came regardless of Elizabeth's feeling on the matter. Then he saw what Rodney had sat on the ground when he came to him. "You brought them a generator," happy pride in his tone.

Rodney shrugged off the praise. "We had an extra one gathering dust," which was totally a lie, but he didn't want John's ego to get too big by admitting he'd brought it only because John wanted him to offer that olive branch to Kannar's people.

"Sure we did," John smirked back, then a shudder went through him, causing Rodney's heart to drop as he clasped a hand on John's shoulder. He felt the feverish heat through John's clothing.

"How about you lie down while we wait for Carson to get here, huh?" he gently suggested, John's laconic nod had him sliding his hands behind John's back and shifting him carefully to the floor. He was almost startled when the woman soldier moved forward and straightened John's legs out so he'd be more comfortable. He gave a thankful nod to her before she retreated back to her chair.

Seeing a bucket of water and a rag on the ground nearby, Rodney wet the rag and swept it over John's forehead and his cheeks, then down the column of his neck where his trembling pulse and shallow breathing were detectable. Didn't want to give John more to worry about but John was his leader, deserved to know the full status of his "rescue." "Carson is working on a theory how to isolate your affected DNA cells but he's not had the breakthrough yet."

John's eyes went to Rodney's, and he hoarsely posed with a wane smirk, "So no easy pill to swallow, huh?"

"You don't like easy, remember?" Rodney chided. "That's boring." Running the rag down John's chest before rewetting it, then he laid it on John's forehead. "So we need to earn enough brownie points to stay here until he's got it figured out. So no making more enemies. Allies only."

"Enemies come naturally," John slurred a bit, bluntly accepting that truth.

"That's another thing we have in common," Rodney admitted almost remorsefully. He usually didn't care if people liked him or not, just didn't like being surrounded by idiots.

"Probably why we became fast friends," John guessed, his smirk blossoming into a smile. "So maybe you better get to the bribery portion of our sales pitch and get the generator working." Knew Rodney wouldn't want to leave his side but had to if they wanted the villagers to turn their swords into plows and their spears into sickles.

Rodney's reluctancy was understandable, but he knew John was right and that he was also giving him an order. The mission first and foremost, sacrificial idiot rescues after that. He leaned down, spoke lowly by John's ear so the nearby soldier couldn't hear, "I put a locking code on the generator, so we'll have some leverage. I'll get it to work then shut it down and tell them our terms, that we're staying here until you are well enough to go through a stargate."

"McKay, don't piss them off when we're finally making progress," John warned.

"Trust me," Rodney replied, but it wasn't flippant, was an aching entreaty.

When Rodney pulled back and he could see his eyes, John read the need and fear in them. "I trust you, Rodney." Knew his actions on the other planet that morning had put that in doubt but when their chips were down, Rodney always turned it into a win, always came for him, saved him. "You always find a way to save me."

Rodney felt his eyes prickle with tears. "And you save me when my ego gets me into trouble. And since I'm not about to become humble, I need you to stick around."

"I'll see what I can do," John remarked, striving for a joking climate, but it was his words that put a serious note into their banter. He refused to promise an oath he wasn't sure he could uphold.

Trying to not read too much into what John didn't say, Rodney encouraged his best friend, "Do what you can and Carson and I will do the rest. And Ronon…will vaporize anyone who gets in our way."

"So, what we usually do," John pulling on his cocky smirk, even if it was down a few watts.

Rodney smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah. We stick together and we survive." Then the door opened. Looking up, Rodney saw Kannar standing there expectantly. Returning his look to his ill friend, Rodney boasted, "Time for me to bring these neanderthals into the modern age." With John's approving nod, he forced himself to grab the generator and stand up. Giving John a meaningful look, he headed for the door. It was time to prove that his people did whatever they had to do to bring one of their own home again. Blackmail, fake outs, leveraging, threats and down right violence, they would employ it all, just like John Sheppard had taught them to.

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TBC

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Love that some of you are still out there reading and enjoying this story!

I'm still having fun writing and sharing it.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.