Fic: Five Times Rodney Suspected Something and the Moment He Finally Got It
Category: Fic
Title: Five Times Rodney Suspected Something and the Moment He Finally Got It
Summary: There were five times Rodney suspected something was happening with his best friend. He finally got it. J/T
Characters: Rodney McKay and the rest of the gang
Pairings: John/Teyla, Teyla/Kanaan, Rodney/Jennifer, Ronon/Amelia
Author: sakurablue13
Word Count: 4500-ish
Warning: S3’s “The Return Pt. 1”, S3’s “Sunday”, and S5’s “Enemy at the Gate”. Also mentions of S1’s “The Gift” and S4’s “Missing”
Disclaimer: None of them are mine. Darn it…
A/N: First try on the five thingy story. Unbetaed, so all faults are mine.
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FIVE TIMES RODNEY SUSPECTED SOMETHING AND THE MOMENT HE FINALLY GOT IT
1. After Being Kicked Out of Atlantis by The Ancients
After almost three years knowing the lovely Athosian, Rodney had grown accustomed to Teyla’s habit of touching foreheads. But according to his keen observations skills, people who had been given the Athosian greetings were only a handful in Atlantis. Rodney himself had been bestowed with the intimate gesture a couple of times before, usually as her token of gratitude after him saving her life.
So, when he saw Teyla and Sheppard exchanging their goodbyes for the last time as he descended the stairs to the Gateroom, Rodney had never suspected anything. Although, he had been wondering why he, Elizabeth, and Carson hadn’t been treated the same way. They were her friends, too. Well, maybe it was because Sheppard had been the first one to accept her openly and completely, even when finding out she had Wraith DNA in her genetic makeup.
Shrugging off his confusion with an indignant snort, Rodney continued his steps down and passed an embarrassingly awkward goodbye to Teyla as he traipsed around her, then hurriedly joined the last three people from Earth waiting for him in front of the shimmering event horizon.
Somehow, he felt like this wouldn’t be the last time he saw the head-touching greeting. Well, who knows? They could still come with the Daedalus, right?
2. A Week After The Dreaded Sunday
Just two weeks after Carson Beckett’s tragic death, once again SGA-1 was caught in an unexpected situation which forced them running for their lives back to the Gate under a rain of flying arrows. And axes. And God knows what else. Fortunately for them, Lady Luck had chosen to stand right by their side. Besides from light bruises, scratches, and small lacerations from the tumble and mad dash they made through the forest, SGA-1 had came back mostly unscathed. Mostly.
Of course, a strand arrow just had to choose John Sheppard as pincushion, sending the pilot to flip sideways in the air before crashing violently to the ground followed by a faint crack. Bleeding profusely from the arrow on his side and a head wound that looked pretty bad from the size of the lump forming on Sheppard’s temple, Ronon had to manhandled Colonel Gene Boy in a fireman carry to safety.
The lump turned out to be a quite severe case of concussion. As soon as the anesthesia he had for surgery to take out the forsaken arrow had worn off, Sheppard had woken up extremely disoriented. But the thing that made the other’s hearts squeezed in agony was, while delirious, Sheppard kept on asking for Carson over and over again. After the fifth time Sheppard had tried to wrestle his way off the bed to look for the dead doctor, Rodney declared that he had had enough and darted out the infirmary, eyes brimming in tears.
Before, Rodney always found an eerily calming effect from burying himself in work beneath the safe walls of his lab. That had changed quite a bit though since he came to Atlantis. Especially after Carson Beckett and John Sheppard came into the picture. They had managed to drag him out of his shell-his hiding place, his sanctuary-and somehow succeed on forming a sort of weird friendship, an unexpected bond which Rodney then treasured highly. And now Carson was dead and Sheppard had gone nuts.
Lost under the newest program he had been writing for the last two days to increase sensor’s sensitivity in detecting explosives materials, Rodney almost tumbled off his stool when his com chirped. He was ready to give the person on the other side one long peevish rebuff when Elizabeth’s voice came through instead, informing that Sheppard had went AMA from the infirmary.
Which was why he was roaming the corridors of Atlantis in the middle of the night with an LSD in one hand and a glowering Satedan on his heels. Nearly an hour later and several gruff of intimidations by Ronon, the LSD had finally brought them to a secluded balcony at one of the towers in a barely used area.
The same second the door slid open, Rodney too had his mouth open, all sarcastic comments ready in hand. “Finally, do you have any idea how-”
Huddled at the corner of the balcony was Teyla, both knees drawn up. Sitting on her right, in scrubs covered by an Athosian woven blanket, was Sheppard. Asleep. Part of his upper body was splayed over Teyla’s lap, lips slightly opened, his head cradled uncomfortably at the crook of her arm as she embraced him. His right arm was draped over his knees loosely, his left tucked between his body and Teyla’s legs.
“I usually came here alone to think,” Teyla started to explain, a beautiful rosy tone creeping up her ears. Rodney had come into terms that the Athosian was always fully composed, but the bright glassy eyes were tale-tell that she had been crying. “The Colonel came here and all of the sudden, he was asleep. I did not bring my com and was unsuccessful on waking him. So…”
Sheppard had been acting strange since they came back from Scotland. Survivor guilt or not, he was supposed to show any hint of sadness. Instead, he had put on his usual stoic mask and had chosen running and sparring with Ronon or working out with the Marines. Carson didn’t deserve that, not after God knows how many times the doctor spent patching him up and it made Rodney royally pissed. Against Teyla and Ronon’s liking, he had been giving the colonel the cold shoulder act for the last two weeks.
Ronon walked quietly to crouch near her. “It finally hit?”
Though the smile she showed to the bigger man was etched with exhaustion, it was tinted with relief. “Yes.”
Suddenly Rodney felt guilty. Streaks of dry tears freckled on both of Sheppard’s gaunt cheeks, the dark circles under his puffy eyes more prominent under dim light. He had known that Sheppard hadn’t been sleeping well or eating. He had seen the haunted gaze flickering in the hazel eyes every time they passed the infirmary. He had known all along that Sheppard had acted bravely for the sake of appearance as his poor attempt to boost up everybody’s spirit. Still Rodney had treated him badly.
Reading through his abrupt silence, Teyla’s brown eyes locked with his. “It is not your fault, Rodney. You too should let go.”
Unintended tears sprung to his eyes. “I, uh… He…”
Rodney had always thought the gentleness Ronon rarely displayed, such as now while the Satedan lifted Sheppard into his arms in a seemingly effortless move, was touching. Teyla unfolded herself from the corner, her hands busy tucking the blanket around Sheppard more tightly, and placed a brief Athosian head-butting to the sleeping man’s. She then came to Rodney, smiling in her serene kind of way, slipped a warm hand under his arm and tugged him to follow Ronon back to the infirmary.
“By the way, Teyla.” The question had unsuspectedly popped in his head. “Why was he looking for you anyway? We’re a team, we usually do these kind of things together. And if you said you often came here alone, how come he knew how to find you?”
The secretive smile Teyla threw at him was the only answer he got.
3. Finding Out Teyla was Pregnant
Awed and absolutely dumbstruck were Rodney’s initial reaction upon hearing Teyla’s words of her pregnancy. A baby? Seriously? On Atlantis? This place is no place to raise a baby! By the way, who’s the father? Anybody we know? Surely the Colonel wouldn’t be so dumb… Did they…? Myriads of inquiries hacked into his brain and stopped in a halt over the two last ones.
“No, Rodney, the father is among my people.” With a knowing smirk and a warm hand placed over his arm, Teyla advanced the question hanging over the tip of his tongue.
“That obvious, huh?” Rodney winced with embarrassment. The lady in front of him knew him even better than his own sister. Suspicion started to creep in his mind. “How far… um… are you…?”
The unfinished line had caused Teyla dipping her head as if she was apologizing on something. “Almost three months.”
“WHAT?!” That confirmed the bad feeling Rodney had been having in his gut since she brought the news. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times without succeeding on making any sounds, blue eyes bulging wide, before the infamous Rant-of-McKay came to form. “And you’ve been out there with us for, what, a month or so!? Are you nuts?! Do you have any idea what kind of danger we were facing out there?! Not to mention all the mad-dash-to-safety! Or the beatings. Or the stunning. Oh, my GOD!” If only his eyes could go wider, it surely would. “We were stunned yesterday! Are you okay? Did you see Keller? What did she say?”
“As the matter of fact-” Teyla smiled and tried answering, only to be faced by another launch of more words from the panicking scientist.
“I can’t believe this! You should’ve said something! And what did Sheppard said? Have you talked to him about this? For God’s sake, Teyla, how could you be so-”
“Rodney!” Teyla barely used that tone, the high-pitched tone that somewhat sounded quite desperate, the tone usually used by kindergarten teachers during a break out in the classroom-not that Rodney ever went to one, anyway-but it served its purpose as he clamped shut almost instantly. The light grip on his arm felt a bit reassuring. “Yes, I have seen Jennifer and we are fine. And, yes, I have talked to John, too.” Then she took a deep breath and made an attempt to smile. It fell short. Her smile was tight and colored with a sadness Rodney didn’t understand. “He put me out of active duty since yesterday.”
“Okay…” Rodney’s eyes blinked a couple of times as the word mulled over his brain. “That was kind of…abrupt. Don’t you think he’s a little bit…extreme, pulling you off just like that? I’m sure you could still get involve into trading and negotiation missions for a couple of months, right? Why would he do that?”
The Sheppard he knew was a man of reason. A control freak. Everything around him seemed to happen for a reason. Or with a reason. And pulling Teyla out of active duty in such a sudden way was not exactly his style of decision making.
Teyla shrugged in clear uncertainty. “I have tried to talk to him, but he remained with his decision. In fact, he seemed…peevish every time I tried talking to him.”
“What?” Rodney snorted with mirth since the thought of Sheppard being peevish in front of a woman was totally unbelievable. “Captain Kirk being peevish? Right.” But he wiped his smirk as soon as he saw Teyla’s exasperated face. He had to close his eyes to completely wipe the image of a blushing Sheppard before looking into Teyla’s deep brown eyes. “Look, he’s probably stressed out about the whole situation we’re in now. Why don’t you try talking to him again after everything got sorted out?”
Unfortunately, both Rodney and Teyla knew exactly that Sheppard too was a man who rarely changed his decision. They knew right away that no amount of talking would put Teyla back into active duty in any close future.
Teyla slid her hand over Rodney’s arm, holding his larger hands in hers. The smile she gave him now was no better than before, but there was a sign of gratefulness in her eyes. “Thank you, Rodney. Maybe I shall talk to him again after this matter is solved.”
Nodding dumbly, Rodney started walking with her hand still in his. “So, you’ve got a name already?”
4. While Atlantis was Perched on Earth
Chippewa Falls. A small, quiet town where Jennifer Keller spent her entire happy days as a child until she entered med school. The people were friendly, the air clean, the atmosphere calming. Jennifer’s father was a remarkable man, too. An old town’s doctor with warm personalities and blue eyes so young it twinkles every time he smiled.
And it took only a day for Rodney to start missing Atlantis already. He missed the bustling energy, the hum she constantly produced, the activeness, Mess Hall’s food. But a pout and a pair of blue puppy dog eyes from Jennifer had sent him folding. He managed to tell his screaming nerves to slow down and actually relax. At day five, he was on the verge of bursting. In the manliest way he could muster, Rodney dropped his pride-only for a moment-and practically begged to Jennifer.
Leaving Jennifer in Chippewa Falls for another three days with her father might not be the wisest thing he had ever made, but only after he set foot back onto Atlantis, Rodney felt like he could breathe normally again. It made him start wondering whether Atlantis was causing certain addiction to him. When he placed a hand tentatively on her wall as he climbed up the stairs to the Control Room, he almost swore he could feel the old girl giggling beneath his palm. Maybe Sheppard was right after all, she was sentient.
And speaking of Sheppard…
“Where is everybody?” To tell the truth, he was kind of expecting his team to be here and boost up his ego a bit after being flattened by Jennifer’s too peaceful hometown. So being greeted solely by the ever present Chuck was definitely not helping his foul mood.
Chuck, recognizing the pissy expression on Rodney’s face, just smiled knowingly. “You do remember we’re on indefinite stand down, right, Dr. McKay?” Seeing the irritation on Atlantis’ number one scientist climbed a notch instead, Chuck quickly added the answer he required. “Ronon and Amelia went down town, and Colonel Sheppard took Teyla and Torren to San Diego.” Suddenly Rodney found amusement dancing in the technician’s eyes.
“San Diego?” One hand groping for an empty chair, Rodney let himself flopped on it with wide eyes, duffel bags dumped unceremoniously by his foot, and scooted closer to Atlantis’ most notorious gossip source. “Why would Sheppard bring them there?”
“He’s meeting his brother.” The shit-eating grin Chuck was showing him should be more than enough to send Rodney’s curiosity rocketing sky-high in a matter of seconds.
“Still, why would he bring them along?” To Rodney, it didn’t make any sense. Why would Sheppard take anybody to meet his unacquainted brother? And of people, Teyla and Torren? Didn’t he know the implication of it to his brother? Unless… Rodney put on his best glare to the still smirking technician, arms folded firmly over his chest. “You know something I don’t, don’t you?”
In his usual calm manner, Chuck kept his face straight, pretending to watch over the steady readings on the monitor in front of him. “Just rumors, doc, nothing serious. But from what I heard right before they departed, the Colonel promised Torren a ride on the Ferris wheel. And a trip to Sea World. And a horse-back ride.”
Rolling his eyes, Rodney stood back on his feet with a huff. “Figures. Introduce the kid to the most incorrigible ride on Earth.” He bent over to grab his bags, already getting a pang of regret over his impulsive actions of leaving Jennifer only to be left alone on the city. “I’m gonna drop over my bags to my quarters and head for the Mess Hall. Any words on when they’re coming back?”
Chuck went all business in a blink of an eye. “Ronon and Amelia should be back in a couple of hours. Colonel Sheppard won’t be back until tomorrow, though.”
Rodney sighed, his shoulders slumped on the thoughts of spending a couple of hours alone when he needed a little company. “Great.”
“By the way, Dr. Beckett will be waiting for you in the Mess Hall for lunch,” schooling his feature not to look to the scientist’s way, Chuck added mischievously after Rodney made a couple of feet away. “He knew you’re home.”
Finally, the day seemed more likable for him.
5. Seeing a Photo Album with Torren
As a scientist, curiosity acted as fuel in doing his job most of the day. But there were days where Rodney was just being…nosey. Such as today as he saw Torren sitting on Sheppard’s bed like an angel. Just when he was about to bombardier the colonel with his protest on why he was 30 minutes late on fulfilling his promise to the lab, Rodney lifted his head and skidded to a stop, one hand still hovering in the air theatrically.
“Hi, Uncle Wodney.” The lisp never ceased to irritate him. A lot. Though even Rodney had to admit it was cute. But a two-year-old Torren sitting quietly without making a riot was too highly suspicious.
“Why are you here? Where’s your mother? And where’s Sheppard?” Wincing his eyes to the object on the toddler’s lap, Rodney stepped closer tentatively, expecting Torren to suddenly jump up and toss himself over as he usually did. “What are you doing, exactly?”
The boy didn’t even look up to him. He was totally transfixed to the book in his hand, flipping the big stiff pages with little fingers. “Mothe’ is spawwin’. John taking showe’.”
The sound of the running shower came to his ears belatedly. “Oh.” So much for the dragging the Colonel out. Exhaling in annoyance, and partly curious too over the book that took the usually energetic child’s attention, Rodney made his way to the bed and sit on Torren’s side. He surmised that the boy had just been bathed, smelling good and all fluffy. “And what are you looking at, little man?”
“Photos!” The bright smile flashed by the boy won over his sour mood. And his curiosity. “Look!”
Rounding an arm across the small shoulders, a smile slowly curled Rodney’s lips upwards as his eyes fell upon a photo of him, Carson, and John standing arm-in-arm on a balcony, looking a bit tipsy. “Oh, my goodness. I remember this. Elizabeth took it during our first party.”
“Lithbet,” Torren nodded solemnly as if he knew the woman lost to the hands of the Replicators. His mother must’ve told about her. In fact, there were people who still held some guilt over her death. Sheppard was only one of them.
They kept turning the photo album, commenting and giggling over the photos arranged neatly on the album, until they reached the mid part.
A big sized photo took the whole page, showing John and Teyla standing side by side with Torren hoisted high on his shoulders, all three with wide grins on their faces, and a big Ferris Wheel as the background. Rodney squinted over the picture. It was dated a year ago, when the city was stationed on Earth after the battle with the ZPM-powered hive ship.
Smacking his little palm a little too hard over the photo, Torren beamed up to Rodney. “Fewwis!”
As the child treaded over other photos following the one with the majestic wheel, Rodney could see other photos of the boy with his mother and the Colonel at many places. In one, the three of them were sharing ice cream in front of a gigantic aquarium in Sea World. Below it, Torren sat with Sheppard on the back of a gorgeous black horse while Teyla sat stiffly-obviously nervous-on another as she gave a death grip on Sheppard’s hand. Then across of it, they were all soaked in a swimming pool-probably the one on the back of the beautiful mansion Sheppard had-splashing water all over, laughing like there was no tomorrow.
The photos kind of surprised him for Rodney never saw Sheppard being so relaxed. In fact, the soldier looked happy in all those photos. Not that Rodney thought he was never happy, but Sheppard seemed to let all his guard dropped as he held the boy with one hand and Teyla with another. They all looked happy. A perfect picture of a happy family.
Rodney had heard about the friction between Teyla and Kanaan upon her decision of staying on Atlantis with their son. The guy had stopped showing up in the city a few weeks before they got stranded on Earth. Rodney had never mind though, he never liked the guy after all. Too uptight, he always said, which then would made the Colonel guffawed out loud. But Torren seemed like he never missed his father. Of course he would still squeal in delight upon seeing Kanaan when they came over to visit New Athos, but after a while, the boy would go find his favorite Uncle John and stayed by the colonel’s side for the rest of the day.
By the way, he just realized that Colonel Calamity had been spending a lot of his leisure time with Teyla and her son lately. I wonder if…
“Hey, kiddo, you doing okay?” The voice of the Colonel reached his hearing before making an appearance from behind the bathroom’s door. Sheppard stepped out covered in nothing but a towel hanging precariously around his slim hips, holding another towel as he scrubbed his hair dry only to make it stuck into all directions. “Oh. Hi, Rodney.”
“Geez, Sheppard, you’re gonna give me nightmares with your scrawny white ass,” Rodney groused as he quickly adverted his eyes from the lean figure back to the photo album in Torren’s hand.
Torren had burst out into helpless giggles. “Uncle Wodney, you said bad word!”
Still in the lazy gait, Sheppard snickered while he crossed to his cupboard to pull out some clothes. “Teyla is going to have you’re a-behind for that.”
Glaring at the Air Force officer who quickly disappeared once again behind the door to the adjoining bathroom, Rodney took out the reason he was there in the first place. “You promised to come to my lab yesterday. I tried reaching you on the com for 30 minutes without answer. That’s why I’m here. But then I see that you’ve been busy.” He slid a playful sideway glance to the still giggling boy on his side.
Sheppard came out fully dressed now. “Sorry, gotta make a rain check on that. Little man here needs a babysitter and I’m the only one available.” Walking closer to them, he got that maddening smirk on his face again. “Unless you want me to bring him along to you lab…”
Rodney was fast to jump on his feet and darted out to the door. “No, thank you, I can barely stand it with you alone there and I absolutely don’t need a minimize version of yourself to add into the mixture. Not sure I can keep my insanity.”
And so Rodney went back to his lab with no Colonel Gene Boy at his disposal, but with the image of John Sheppard smiling warmly over a certain Athosian in a way he never knew Sheppard was able to do stuck in his mind.
And Finally, Realization Came
Rodney was sitting on one of the gym’s side bench, babbling about his fascination of seeing Jennifer and Teyla sparring as he waited for his new wife to cool down when he saw the sparkling of a diamond ring entwined to a chain Teyla had just pulled out her own bag across the room. He stopped mid-rant, mesmerized as the Athosian serenely put the chain around her neck.
Jennifer, who was stuffing back her belongings into her own bag, noticed Rodney had stopped talking. She turned to find Rodney staring at Teyla with mouth ajar. “Rodney? What’s wrong?”
“I-is that…?” Rodney stammered. His jaw snapped closed, and then he blinked a couple of times before finding his voice again. Only this time, he lowered his voice into a whisper. “Is that what I think it is?”
“What are you talking about?” Jen’s brow crinkled as she frowned and snuck another quick glance at the Athosian. “Oh, you mean, the ring? Yes, Rodney, that is an engagement ring.” She smiled knowingly and scowled, picking up her bag with a mild accusing gaze aimed at him. “I thought you’ve known. She is your teammate, you know.”
Rodney was clearly baffled to receive the news as he continued to gape. “B-b-but… Who…”
As to the answer of his question, the door of the gym slid open and a small figure came in running with a squeal, barreling straight onto Teyla’s legs. “Mothe’! You finished? I jus’ came fwom Uncle Wichad’s office. Met Aunt Amelia and Uncle Chuck, too. And, I saw Uncle Evan came home. You know adults hop like bunnies too when they huwt? Oh! And you said befo’e, we going to watch TV tonight! With popcorn! We going, wight, Mothe’? Wight?”
Rodney had to admit, three-and-a-half-year-old Torren John was extremely bright. It was probably the perk of growing up in a place like Atlantis. The kid absorbed almost everything around him in an alarming rate, hence the vast vocabulary which had continued to increase in a more terrifying speed. The good side was he also took other lessons to heart, especially those made by his mother and one Colonel John Sheppard.
“Cut your mother some slack, kiddo. She’s going to have to shower and you’re gonna have to finish dinner before the movies,” the pilot warned, the stern tone blurred by his lazy lopsided smirk. Across him, Teyla chuckled at her son’s enthusiasm, gathering her own belongings while listening to Torren’s prattling in his adorable lisp patiently. After she finished, she lifted the still babbling boy into her arms, planting a gentle kiss to his temple.
Rodney glanced sideways to the owner of the familiar drawl who was now leaning over the door jamb. John gave him a jerk of his head. “Hey, Rodney.”
Too bad for the colonel, Rodney was far from paying attention as he put two and two together in his head.
The private head touching at the Gateroom. The shared tears on the balcony after that Sunday. The anger John displayed over Teyla’s pregnancy. The days they spent on Earth. The bond between Torren and Atlantis’ ranking officer. It all suddenly fell into place.
“I can hear your brain grinding, Rodney,” a teasing whisper by Jen tickled Rodney’s ear. She curled her lips in a fashion which always sent Rodney’s heart to make a flip. “For a genius, you could be so dense sometimes.”
While Torren chattering non-stop, Teyla walked towards the door, nodding her farewell as she went. “I shall take my leave, then. Rodney, Jennifer.”
Still astonished by the realization downed to his head, Rodney harrumphed as an answer.
John pushed himself away from the door and reached over Teyla to swoop the boy, sending Torren screaming in glee, up to his shoulders. Then, the Colonel swung one arm around Teyla, landed a kiss to her cheek, and made a turn to leave. “See ya’, McKay.”
Slowly Rodney pivoted to face his wife. “They, uh… Since when…”
Jennifer let her head slumped along her shoulders, groaning exasperatedly.