Surprise! *g*
I said I'd write birthday fic for some people (you know who you are). Have a birthday chapter instead. *coughs*
Title: While You Were Sleeping SGA Redux
Author: lavvyan
Pairing: McShep
Rating: R (for language mostly)
Summary: Well. See title.
Notes: I tried to steal as much of the plot and as few of the lines as possible. Needless to say, this is all not mine (hence me using the word 'steal' in the first sentence). Look up 'While You Were Sleeping' here and 'Stargate: Atlantis' here if you want the proper credits.
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six
~~~
The phone call came early the next evening. Rodney's head hurt from the five beers he'd chugged sitting morosely on his couch, in his dark apartment, running his fingers through the fine fur of his cat's belly and waiting for the world to go away. He'd fallen asleep like that and his neck still hurt like a bitch as he hurried through the hospital, past the nurses' station to where Art was waiting for him.
"What happened?" he wanted to know, dreading the answer. It had to be Elizabeth, no doubt, and the simple fact that Cadman hadn't wanted to tell him more made him feel nauseous. "I came as fast as I could, but they wouldn't tell me anything on the phone, is she all right, what happened?"
"She woke up!" Art beamed at him, and Rodney turned to flee. Better to run away now than suffer the family's accusing stares and pointed fingers. But Art grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall, happily telling Rodney that "Elizabeth will be so glad to see you."
"Yeah, I'll bet she will," Rodney muttered and resigned himself to his fate. It wasn't like he hadn't had it coming.
Elizabeth was asleep when they reached her room, the rest of the family - sans John, thankfully - gathered around her bed. For one insane moment, Rodney thought it had all been just a stupid joke, but of course that Dr. Beckett guy had to gently shake her awake.
"Elizabeth. Wake up, lass, your family's here."
Her lashes fluttered as she slowly blinked her beautiful green eyes open. She looked groggy, lovely, and Rodney wanted nothing more than to run away. Longingly, he eyed the elevator, just a few feet down the hall and still it couldn't have been further away. He grimaced a smile, trying to look excited as Elizabeth looked from one member of her family to the next, her confused gaze finally coming to rest on him.
"You… who are you?" she wanted to know, uncertain and still a little out of it. Rodney felt his smile slip away as everyone turned to stare at him, Radek with a wince that said how sorry he was.
"Oh my god." Art's face was grave as he looked from Rodney to Elizabeth and back, his eyes sad with the enormous betrayal he only now realised. Rodney had never felt so bad in his life. "She's got amnesia."
Yes, and he was so sorry- wait a minute, what? No, that was nonsense, except Rodney could feel the forced smile return to his face at that idiotic solution. I guess lying to them is a reflex by now, he thought, disgusted with himself even as he accepted the soothing hugs and pats on his shoulder. Radek just shook his head.
~~~
"Lacunar amnesia is the loss of memory about one specific event or person," Dr. Beckett explained to the worried people gathered in front of the nursing station while Rodney hovered in the background, trying to decide if it would be bad form to kill himself by jumping out of a hospital window. He had to tell them, but he couldn't, but he had to. Continuing this charade, now that Elizabeth was awake, making everyone believe she'd lost her memory, was something only a sick and depraved person would do. Only… he'd have to tell them to tell them, and he wasn't quite ready for that. He'd never be ready for that.
"What, like, selective amnesia?" Marcy asked, and Beckett nodded.
"That's right. Now, treatment can include-"
"Ex- excuse me," Rodney interrupted, feeling shaky and nauseous and generally awful, "I… there's something I need to tell you." Oh God, here goes. "I… Elizabeth and I, we… she's not…"
"Relax, dear, we already know," Marshal interrupted him, and Rodney blinked.
"You… you know?" Huh?
"Yes, John told us all about it. We know Elizabeth's not pregnant."
Pregnant? Oh, yes, he remembered, but that wasn't- "I-"
"Hey. So she's come out of it, huh?" John walked casually past Rodney, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. "I hate to say I told you so, but…"
"John. Thank god you're here!" Marcy exclaimed, and there was the usual hugging and chatting while Dr. Beckett was called away, leaving Rodney to quietly hyperventilate in his corner of the room.
"Radek," he hissed, dragging the man away from the others.
"Yes, yes. I will handle this. You just relax, all right?"
"I swear, if you tell me 'everything's gonna be okay', I shall have to hit you." Rodney glared, and Radek pushed his glasses up and straightened, probably aiming for competent and reassuring.
"Just let me take care of it. They will be loathe to shed blood when it's me who tells them."
Oh God, blood shedding. Rodney groaned and shook his head even as he nodded. Radek gave him a hearty clap on the back.
"Very good. Come, I will end this misunderstanding right now." Rodney felt himself being pushed forward and reluctantly followed the animatedly talking Sheppard family to Elizabeth's room.
"… you feeling?" Art was asking when Rodney arrived, belatedly realising that Radek was nowhere in sight.
"I'm not sure?" Elizabeth replied hesitantly, frowning when she spotted Rodney.
"So. Remember him yet?" John wanted to know, sounding far too cheerful for someone who could finally prove that Rodney was a dirty, rotten liar. Oh. Perhaps that was where the cheerfulness was coming from.
"Should I remember him?" Elizabeth was visibly confused and irritated.
"Look at him, dear!" her mother coaxed, and Rodney found himself on the end of a searching stare as Elizabeth tried to place him. Naturally, she came up blank.
"I suppose he looks a little familiar. Why?"
"I think it's already getting better," Art said proudly and Marcy nodded happily. Rodney barely suppressed a groan.
"What? What's getting better? Tell me."
"You have amnesia."
"Amnesia?" Elizabeth looked alarmed, and Marshal obviously decided to calm her down.
"You're engaged, Elizabeth."
If anything, Elizabeth seemed even more shocked. Rodney couldn't blame her. "Engaged? To who?"
"To Rodney."
"Who's Rodney?"
"You don't remember, remember?"
"What, but-"
"Excuse me." Nurse Gordon - Grodin? - strode into the room and set down a tray with a cup of blue Jell-O. "Dinner time."
"I think we should let her rest for a while," Dr. Beckett said earnestly, and everyone nodded.
"Yes, let's go home."
"Bye, Elizabeth!"
"Hang in there."
"Bye, uh, Mom." Elizabeth shook her head, clearly puzzled, and Rodney allowed himself a last look before he got caught in the general filing out of the room. He'd tell them now, and never see her again… only, everyone was already by the elevators, John hanging back a little but gently pushed along by Dr. Beckett, and oh, look. The traitor.
"Where the hell were you?" Rodney demanded angrily. At least Radek had the grace to look sheepish.
"Sorry, I, uh. The bathroom?"
"Radek!"
"I'll tell them, I'll tell them."
"When? During my Nobel Prize speech?" Rodney dragged Radek after the rest of the family, telling him, "Go, tell them!"
"I said I will tell them!" Radek protested.
"Damn right you will!"
And when everything was out in the open, Rodney would just go back to living his life. Perhaps move somewhere nobody knew him to save everyone the embarrassment. He was good at being alone.
He was used to it.
~~~
John drove him home. There was an uncomfortable silence hovering between them, punctuated by little sideways glances and helpless sighs. They arrived at Rodney's apartment building without having spoken a single word, and it was like a heavy ache in Rodney's belly. He still remembered how John's skin had felt under his searching fingers, how they'd laughed when John had walked him home, and this awkwardness between them was killing him.
"Listen, John… I had a great time this week. With, uh, with you. I just, I wanted you to know that."
"Yeah, sure." John let out a little laugh. "Must've been real fun when I told everyone you were lying. And being Steve Jr.'s boyfriend. Or, hey, how about when I told all your friends that Elizabeth was pregnant and you shouldn't be drinking so much?"
"Yeah, that was… something, all right." They shared a quick grin, then Rodney grew serious again. "Look, John. Things will be, ah, different. Tomorrow. I just, I want you to know, uh." I think I kind of fell in love with you when I thought I loved your sister and tomorrow you both will hate me. "You're a great friend," he said hurriedly, almost choking on the words. A friendship based on lies and misunderstandings, ain't that special?
"Yeah." John nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. "Rodney, listen. About that night, when we-"
"I know," Rodney interrupted him, waving his hand around in a gesture even he couldn't decipher. "It was just-"
"Right, and we shouldn't-"
"No, definitely not."
"Great." John nodded again. "Glad we talked about it."
"Right." Rodney swallowed and pointed outside. "Well. All right."
He opened the door and climbed out of the truck, shivering against the sudden blast of cold air.
"Rodney," John called after him, and he turned.
"Hm?"
"I. What I said. About you and Elizabeth," John stuttered, determinedly meeting his gaze, cheeks flushed. "I didn't mean that. I… You'll be great together. And, uh. I know she'll make you very happy."
Right. Sure. Seeing John's honest expression, Rodney felt like crying. If they'd just met under different circumstances… But no use dreaming, was there? Tomorrow, Radek would have told everyone just what kind of man Rodney really was, and the only way John would be looking at him then was like Rodney were something he'd just stepped in.
"Good-bye, John," Rodney said quietly, closing the passenger side door so he wouldn't have to hear John's answer. John drove away, and Rodney told himself that the burn in his eyes was from the chilly wind.
~~~
"Hey Dad," John greeted his father the next morning. It was still dawn outside, and Art was sitting alone at the table having breakfast and going through the paper.
"John? What are you doing here?"
John waved the box of Dunkin Donuts he was holding and grinned. "Breakfast."
"My dear boy, you must be sent from heaven. Your mother's making me eat wholemeal bread."
They both shivered exaggeratedly, then John sat down next to his dad. "So. Doing business?"
"Yup. Did you know that Collins is dead? He's been collecting model planes for years and his wife hates 'em. Should be a fine profit in there for us."
"Yeah. About that."
"What?"
John shifted nervously on his chair but held his father's quizzical gaze. Rodney's words had hit a nerve, even if John hadn't admitted it that night, and he was determined to clear things up. However that might turn out.
"I, uh." If only he knew how to begin. "Remember that plane model I made for Aiden's fifteenth birthday?"
"The one he broke and cried over for a week?"
"Yeah, well, I made a couple more. Sold them, too, and got orders for eighteen more."
"Huh." Art leaned back, smiling proudly. "That's a good side business."
"It's a good business, Dad. Good money."
Art blinked, and John could tell the exact moment his father got it - simply from the insulted frown on his face. "Are you saying our business isn't making good money?"
"I'm saying it's your business, Dad, not mine. I… I don't want it."
There was a long pause. Then Art took a deep breath and nodded. "How long have you been wanting to tell me this?"
"A long time. I guess I just didn't want to disappoint you."
"Disappoint me! The only disappointment is that I could have sold this thing to Uncle Jack and his weird librarian two years ago, for more than it's worth! Damn it, John, I could have taken your mother to see Siegfried and Roy before one of them was eaten by a damn tiger!"
Art shook his head with mock sadness. Slowly, John started to grin.
"You're not mad at me." It wasn't a question. And really, he probably should have known.
"You're mad, you want to build model planes."
John laughed, flooded with relief as he reached for the doughnuts, prepared to hand four out of six to his dad as a peace offering even as he craned his neck to look at the paper.
"Oh, hey, Colonel Everett's finally kicked it, huh?"
They chatted amicably about their… about his father's business until the sun was up and Aiden stole the last doughnut.
~~~
"3-4-7. The code for my bicycle lock in third grade," Elizabeth said smugly. "Mom's birthday: 4-6-41. First man on the moon: 7-20-69."
"So what about Rodney?" Aiden wanted to know.
"Founding of the UN: 06-26-45."
"He's such a lovely guy. No wonder you fell for him," Marcy told her daughter as she rearranged Elizabeth's blanket. Radek hovered in the doorway while Elizabeth recited grade point average, her past boyfriends, and the birth date of Alexander the Great, shaking his head at the his arrogant goddaughter. He stepped into the room to ask, "Can I talk to Elizabeth alone for a moment?"
"Something the matter?" Marshal inquired, and Radek shook his head.
"No, just want to talk to my goddaughter."
The Sheppards nodded and filed out of the room, leaving Radek and Elisabeth alone. She looked at him expectantly and he shook his head.
"Elizabeth… we're friends, right? We've known each other since we were this tall," he indicated about a foot height with his hand, "and you beat up Pauly McGuire for me in grade school. You were always popular, and now you have a great job with a big apartment and a lot of money, and I don't envy you a thing. But, Elizabeth, for all your good grades and your success, you are stupid."
Elizabeth's nostalgic smile fell to be replaced by a look of incredulity. "Excuse me?"
"Listen, I'm your godfather, and we both know that as the joke it is, but it still gives me the right to scold you when you deserve it, and you do. You're going through your life with your eyes closed, and that is not the Elizabeth I know."
"Radek, what are you trying to tell me?"
"Rodney. There's something you don't know about him, and that's… it's… uh…" Radek started to stutter, helpless before Elizabeth's guileless curiosity. He thought of Rodney, how alone he'd looked even in the midst of all those people when he'd tried to tell them the truth. Of the desperation in the other man's eyes when he'd made Radek promise to tell the Sheppards in his stead exactly what kind of man he was.
And Radek would. "He's… he's not only your fiancé, he saved your life. Jumping on those railway tracks after you, it was very, very brave. And when he comes to visit you today, I want you to look at him, and to think of that." Elizabeth was hanging to his lips, and Radek felt almost giddy. This was going to work, and no one would have to get hurt. "And if you find you cannot love the man you have the chance to get to know all over again, then tell him and be stupid. But if you look into his eyes and find what all of us saw seconds after we met him, you will tell him you'd be happy to accept a new ring from him." Radek beamed at his own cleverness.
"What happened to the old ring?" Elizabeth asked, wide-eyed after that speech.
"Oh, the train destroyed it. Very sad indeed."
"Oh."
"You will think about what I told you?"
"Sure." She smiled up at him, big green eyes and pale cheeks. "Thank you, Radek."
He waved her words away. "Never mind."
Picking up his coat he'd draped across a chair earlier, he went to the door, stopped, and grinned.
"In fact, you are very welcome."
~~~
tbc
Title: While You Were Sleeping SGA Redux
Author: lavvyan
Pairing: McShep
Rating: R (for language mostly)
Summary: Well. See title.
Notes: I tried to steal as much of the plot and as few of the lines as possible. Needless to say, this is all not mine (hence me using the word 'steal' in the first sentence). Look up 'While You Were Sleeping' here and 'Stargate: Atlantis' here if you want the proper credits.
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six
~~~
The phone call came early the next evening. Rodney's head hurt from the five beers he'd chugged sitting morosely on his couch, in his dark apartment, running his fingers through the fine fur of his cat's belly and waiting for the world to go away. He'd fallen asleep like that and his neck still hurt like a bitch as he hurried through the hospital, past the nurses' station to where Art was waiting for him.
"What happened?" he wanted to know, dreading the answer. It had to be Elizabeth, no doubt, and the simple fact that Cadman hadn't wanted to tell him more made him feel nauseous. "I came as fast as I could, but they wouldn't tell me anything on the phone, is she all right, what happened?"
"She woke up!" Art beamed at him, and Rodney turned to flee. Better to run away now than suffer the family's accusing stares and pointed fingers. But Art grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall, happily telling Rodney that "Elizabeth will be so glad to see you."
"Yeah, I'll bet she will," Rodney muttered and resigned himself to his fate. It wasn't like he hadn't had it coming.
Elizabeth was asleep when they reached her room, the rest of the family - sans John, thankfully - gathered around her bed. For one insane moment, Rodney thought it had all been just a stupid joke, but of course that Dr. Beckett guy had to gently shake her awake.
"Elizabeth. Wake up, lass, your family's here."
Her lashes fluttered as she slowly blinked her beautiful green eyes open. She looked groggy, lovely, and Rodney wanted nothing more than to run away. Longingly, he eyed the elevator, just a few feet down the hall and still it couldn't have been further away. He grimaced a smile, trying to look excited as Elizabeth looked from one member of her family to the next, her confused gaze finally coming to rest on him.
"You… who are you?" she wanted to know, uncertain and still a little out of it. Rodney felt his smile slip away as everyone turned to stare at him, Radek with a wince that said how sorry he was.
"Oh my god." Art's face was grave as he looked from Rodney to Elizabeth and back, his eyes sad with the enormous betrayal he only now realised. Rodney had never felt so bad in his life. "She's got amnesia."
Yes, and he was so sorry- wait a minute, what? No, that was nonsense, except Rodney could feel the forced smile return to his face at that idiotic solution. I guess lying to them is a reflex by now, he thought, disgusted with himself even as he accepted the soothing hugs and pats on his shoulder. Radek just shook his head.
~~~
"Lacunar amnesia is the loss of memory about one specific event or person," Dr. Beckett explained to the worried people gathered in front of the nursing station while Rodney hovered in the background, trying to decide if it would be bad form to kill himself by jumping out of a hospital window. He had to tell them, but he couldn't, but he had to. Continuing this charade, now that Elizabeth was awake, making everyone believe she'd lost her memory, was something only a sick and depraved person would do. Only… he'd have to tell them to tell them, and he wasn't quite ready for that. He'd never be ready for that.
"What, like, selective amnesia?" Marcy asked, and Beckett nodded.
"That's right. Now, treatment can include-"
"Ex- excuse me," Rodney interrupted, feeling shaky and nauseous and generally awful, "I… there's something I need to tell you." Oh God, here goes. "I… Elizabeth and I, we… she's not…"
"Relax, dear, we already know," Marshal interrupted him, and Rodney blinked.
"You… you know?" Huh?
"Yes, John told us all about it. We know Elizabeth's not pregnant."
Pregnant? Oh, yes, he remembered, but that wasn't- "I-"
"Hey. So she's come out of it, huh?" John walked casually past Rodney, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. "I hate to say I told you so, but…"
"John. Thank god you're here!" Marcy exclaimed, and there was the usual hugging and chatting while Dr. Beckett was called away, leaving Rodney to quietly hyperventilate in his corner of the room.
"Radek," he hissed, dragging the man away from the others.
"Yes, yes. I will handle this. You just relax, all right?"
"I swear, if you tell me 'everything's gonna be okay', I shall have to hit you." Rodney glared, and Radek pushed his glasses up and straightened, probably aiming for competent and reassuring.
"Just let me take care of it. They will be loathe to shed blood when it's me who tells them."
Oh God, blood shedding. Rodney groaned and shook his head even as he nodded. Radek gave him a hearty clap on the back.
"Very good. Come, I will end this misunderstanding right now." Rodney felt himself being pushed forward and reluctantly followed the animatedly talking Sheppard family to Elizabeth's room.
"… you feeling?" Art was asking when Rodney arrived, belatedly realising that Radek was nowhere in sight.
"I'm not sure?" Elizabeth replied hesitantly, frowning when she spotted Rodney.
"So. Remember him yet?" John wanted to know, sounding far too cheerful for someone who could finally prove that Rodney was a dirty, rotten liar. Oh. Perhaps that was where the cheerfulness was coming from.
"Should I remember him?" Elizabeth was visibly confused and irritated.
"Look at him, dear!" her mother coaxed, and Rodney found himself on the end of a searching stare as Elizabeth tried to place him. Naturally, she came up blank.
"I suppose he looks a little familiar. Why?"
"I think it's already getting better," Art said proudly and Marcy nodded happily. Rodney barely suppressed a groan.
"What? What's getting better? Tell me."
"You have amnesia."
"Amnesia?" Elizabeth looked alarmed, and Marshal obviously decided to calm her down.
"You're engaged, Elizabeth."
If anything, Elizabeth seemed even more shocked. Rodney couldn't blame her. "Engaged? To who?"
"To Rodney."
"Who's Rodney?"
"You don't remember, remember?"
"What, but-"
"Excuse me." Nurse Gordon - Grodin? - strode into the room and set down a tray with a cup of blue Jell-O. "Dinner time."
"I think we should let her rest for a while," Dr. Beckett said earnestly, and everyone nodded.
"Yes, let's go home."
"Bye, Elizabeth!"
"Hang in there."
"Bye, uh, Mom." Elizabeth shook her head, clearly puzzled, and Rodney allowed himself a last look before he got caught in the general filing out of the room. He'd tell them now, and never see her again… only, everyone was already by the elevators, John hanging back a little but gently pushed along by Dr. Beckett, and oh, look. The traitor.
"Where the hell were you?" Rodney demanded angrily. At least Radek had the grace to look sheepish.
"Sorry, I, uh. The bathroom?"
"Radek!"
"I'll tell them, I'll tell them."
"When? During my Nobel Prize speech?" Rodney dragged Radek after the rest of the family, telling him, "Go, tell them!"
"I said I will tell them!" Radek protested.
"Damn right you will!"
And when everything was out in the open, Rodney would just go back to living his life. Perhaps move somewhere nobody knew him to save everyone the embarrassment. He was good at being alone.
He was used to it.
~~~
John drove him home. There was an uncomfortable silence hovering between them, punctuated by little sideways glances and helpless sighs. They arrived at Rodney's apartment building without having spoken a single word, and it was like a heavy ache in Rodney's belly. He still remembered how John's skin had felt under his searching fingers, how they'd laughed when John had walked him home, and this awkwardness between them was killing him.
"Listen, John… I had a great time this week. With, uh, with you. I just, I wanted you to know that."
"Yeah, sure." John let out a little laugh. "Must've been real fun when I told everyone you were lying. And being Steve Jr.'s boyfriend. Or, hey, how about when I told all your friends that Elizabeth was pregnant and you shouldn't be drinking so much?"
"Yeah, that was… something, all right." They shared a quick grin, then Rodney grew serious again. "Look, John. Things will be, ah, different. Tomorrow. I just, I want you to know, uh." I think I kind of fell in love with you when I thought I loved your sister and tomorrow you both will hate me. "You're a great friend," he said hurriedly, almost choking on the words. A friendship based on lies and misunderstandings, ain't that special?
"Yeah." John nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. "Rodney, listen. About that night, when we-"
"I know," Rodney interrupted him, waving his hand around in a gesture even he couldn't decipher. "It was just-"
"Right, and we shouldn't-"
"No, definitely not."
"Great." John nodded again. "Glad we talked about it."
"Right." Rodney swallowed and pointed outside. "Well. All right."
He opened the door and climbed out of the truck, shivering against the sudden blast of cold air.
"Rodney," John called after him, and he turned.
"Hm?"
"I. What I said. About you and Elizabeth," John stuttered, determinedly meeting his gaze, cheeks flushed. "I didn't mean that. I… You'll be great together. And, uh. I know she'll make you very happy."
Right. Sure. Seeing John's honest expression, Rodney felt like crying. If they'd just met under different circumstances… But no use dreaming, was there? Tomorrow, Radek would have told everyone just what kind of man Rodney really was, and the only way John would be looking at him then was like Rodney were something he'd just stepped in.
"Good-bye, John," Rodney said quietly, closing the passenger side door so he wouldn't have to hear John's answer. John drove away, and Rodney told himself that the burn in his eyes was from the chilly wind.
~~~
"Hey Dad," John greeted his father the next morning. It was still dawn outside, and Art was sitting alone at the table having breakfast and going through the paper.
"John? What are you doing here?"
John waved the box of Dunkin Donuts he was holding and grinned. "Breakfast."
"My dear boy, you must be sent from heaven. Your mother's making me eat wholemeal bread."
They both shivered exaggeratedly, then John sat down next to his dad. "So. Doing business?"
"Yup. Did you know that Collins is dead? He's been collecting model planes for years and his wife hates 'em. Should be a fine profit in there for us."
"Yeah. About that."
"What?"
John shifted nervously on his chair but held his father's quizzical gaze. Rodney's words had hit a nerve, even if John hadn't admitted it that night, and he was determined to clear things up. However that might turn out.
"I, uh." If only he knew how to begin. "Remember that plane model I made for Aiden's fifteenth birthday?"
"The one he broke and cried over for a week?"
"Yeah, well, I made a couple more. Sold them, too, and got orders for eighteen more."
"Huh." Art leaned back, smiling proudly. "That's a good side business."
"It's a good business, Dad. Good money."
Art blinked, and John could tell the exact moment his father got it - simply from the insulted frown on his face. "Are you saying our business isn't making good money?"
"I'm saying it's your business, Dad, not mine. I… I don't want it."
There was a long pause. Then Art took a deep breath and nodded. "How long have you been wanting to tell me this?"
"A long time. I guess I just didn't want to disappoint you."
"Disappoint me! The only disappointment is that I could have sold this thing to Uncle Jack and his weird librarian two years ago, for more than it's worth! Damn it, John, I could have taken your mother to see Siegfried and Roy before one of them was eaten by a damn tiger!"
Art shook his head with mock sadness. Slowly, John started to grin.
"You're not mad at me." It wasn't a question. And really, he probably should have known.
"You're mad, you want to build model planes."
John laughed, flooded with relief as he reached for the doughnuts, prepared to hand four out of six to his dad as a peace offering even as he craned his neck to look at the paper.
"Oh, hey, Colonel Everett's finally kicked it, huh?"
They chatted amicably about their… about his father's business until the sun was up and Aiden stole the last doughnut.
~~~
"3-4-7. The code for my bicycle lock in third grade," Elizabeth said smugly. "Mom's birthday: 4-6-41. First man on the moon: 7-20-69."
"So what about Rodney?" Aiden wanted to know.
"Founding of the UN: 06-26-45."
"He's such a lovely guy. No wonder you fell for him," Marcy told her daughter as she rearranged Elizabeth's blanket. Radek hovered in the doorway while Elizabeth recited grade point average, her past boyfriends, and the birth date of Alexander the Great, shaking his head at the his arrogant goddaughter. He stepped into the room to ask, "Can I talk to Elizabeth alone for a moment?"
"Something the matter?" Marshal inquired, and Radek shook his head.
"No, just want to talk to my goddaughter."
The Sheppards nodded and filed out of the room, leaving Radek and Elisabeth alone. She looked at him expectantly and he shook his head.
"Elizabeth… we're friends, right? We've known each other since we were this tall," he indicated about a foot height with his hand, "and you beat up Pauly McGuire for me in grade school. You were always popular, and now you have a great job with a big apartment and a lot of money, and I don't envy you a thing. But, Elizabeth, for all your good grades and your success, you are stupid."
Elizabeth's nostalgic smile fell to be replaced by a look of incredulity. "Excuse me?"
"Listen, I'm your godfather, and we both know that as the joke it is, but it still gives me the right to scold you when you deserve it, and you do. You're going through your life with your eyes closed, and that is not the Elizabeth I know."
"Radek, what are you trying to tell me?"
"Rodney. There's something you don't know about him, and that's… it's… uh…" Radek started to stutter, helpless before Elizabeth's guileless curiosity. He thought of Rodney, how alone he'd looked even in the midst of all those people when he'd tried to tell them the truth. Of the desperation in the other man's eyes when he'd made Radek promise to tell the Sheppards in his stead exactly what kind of man he was.
And Radek would. "He's… he's not only your fiancé, he saved your life. Jumping on those railway tracks after you, it was very, very brave. And when he comes to visit you today, I want you to look at him, and to think of that." Elizabeth was hanging to his lips, and Radek felt almost giddy. This was going to work, and no one would have to get hurt. "And if you find you cannot love the man you have the chance to get to know all over again, then tell him and be stupid. But if you look into his eyes and find what all of us saw seconds after we met him, you will tell him you'd be happy to accept a new ring from him." Radek beamed at his own cleverness.
"What happened to the old ring?" Elizabeth asked, wide-eyed after that speech.
"Oh, the train destroyed it. Very sad indeed."
"Oh."
"You will think about what I told you?"
"Sure." She smiled up at him, big green eyes and pale cheeks. "Thank you, Radek."
He waved her words away. "Never mind."
Picking up his coat he'd draped across a chair earlier, he went to the door, stopped, and grinned.
"In fact, you are very welcome."
~~~
tbc