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PART 6
Rodney had known he hadn’t been very popular on Atlantis. It wasn’t something that he cared about, either, because if he had, he wouldn’t have acted like a jackass more than half the time. He knew that he rubbed off on people the wrong way - some people never appreciated brains - but he was content with the way things had been. So long as they respected him. That was how it had been - they were scared of him, but they respected him as well.
Therefore, when he had come back to Atlantis, he had not expected a big welcoming committee. He had not expected to be hugged, to have had his hand shaken, more times than he could remember. (He would have to disinfect it soon.) He had been expecting the few he actually liked - Sheppard, Elizabeth, Teyla, Ronon, Carson and Radek - to be pleased to see him, but even then, he hadn’t expected what had actually happened.
He had missed them dearly, and they had missed him. What had resulted from that was a series of emotional outbursts that made Rodney uncomfortable but left him feeling touched all the same. What he hadn’t expected was for the rest of Atlantis to say that they were happy to have him back, even if he was a jackass.
Rodney knew they only wanted him back because of his brains. When he had seen the amount of damage that had occurred in the time that he had gone, he had gone mental. Ballistic. He’d torn up his working room and then set to fixing things and making sure things had a long term plan instead of just a short term solution. That had been a few weeks ago, and now, Rodney was finally settling back into his old routine in Atlantis.
But he had still been attacked by the rush of well-wishers, and while he’d tried to remain polite, his patience was being sorely tested. In the end, it had snapped, sending a lot of military recruits running. It was only later that he realised that Carson and Radek had set it up, to see if he really was still the Rodney they knew and liked.
That had made Rodney laugh in private, although he had put on a big show of being annoyed in public.
But now … now he was just happy with the relief he got. He had been followed around the past couple of weeks, and now he just wanted to settle in his quarters and relax without having to worry about just who would come to bother him. He didn’t like so much attention. He’d had more people get into his personal space than he’d like to think about.
But he wasn’t allowed to do that yet. Stupid Elizabeth. As it turned out, the main person Rodney wanted to speak to, didn’t want to speak to Rodney.
At first, Rodney had hoped that Sheppard had just been a busy man to catch, but he began to think that he was avoiding Rodney when he’d been walking down the corridor, seen Rodney coming and back peddled. That had hurt, somewhat. And Rodney had been fully prepared to just go and tackle the guy and punch him.
But then Elizabeth had convinced him that he would have to do something about it himself, instead of just leaving him alone.
Which was why Rodney could be found walking down the familiar hallways to Sheppard’s rooms.
He had loved being back in Atlantis again. He had found himself walking round the city, familiarizing himself with old paths. If he didn’t know better, he would say that Atlantis herself was welcoming him home, the way it constantly pulsed all around him and lit up when he entered and opened doors for him too.
…
Well, everyone’s door, except for the stupid, stubborn man that was behind this one. Rodney scowled and with a quick step forwards banged on the door twice. Then he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Sheppard to answer the door so he could enter and be the good best friend that he was and make the man feel better. Although really, you’d think that just being alive after being thought dead would make the man happy.
No one had said that Sheppard was normal, sadly. But then again, Rodney dealt with the abnormal, so maybe that was better. There was no response and the door stayed shut. Rodney scowled.
“Sheppard! Open this door right now!” He shouted at the closed door. “I’ll force my way in otherwise, and you really don’t want that.” He threatened, but then couldn’t keep off the smirk on his face. He knew that would get Sheppard up and moving, and if it didn’t then it would prove Rodney was serious about his threats, which -
Speak of the devil. Rodney watched as the door opened and Sheppard stood in front of it. For a second, Rodney was momentarily shocked by the state the man, and couldn’t stop himself.
“What the hell have you done to yourself?!” He cried, dismayed. Colonel John Sheppard looked like crap. There were bags around his eyes, his hair was an even messier mess than usual, he had lost weight, he looked like he had the world on his shoulders - and he gave off an air of an annoyed stance.
“Nice to see you too, McKay,” He said stiffly. Rodney raised an eyebrow.
“Seriously? That’s it?” He asked. At Sheppard’s look of confusion, Rodney continued. “I’ve grown used to the hugs or handshakes. Everyone has done so, even people I’ve never met before. And yet when I stand before someone who I thought was my best friend, all he can say is ‘nice to see you too McKay’,” Rodney quoted, rolling his eyes.
“I’m sure you love the attention,” Sheppard spat. Rodney blinked. “You always wanted it - wanted to stroke your ego, loved being the centre of attention. Well, you got it. No need to worry about me, go back to your posse.” And with that, Sheppard made to shut the door. It was only the lightning fast reflexes that Rodney had learn while he was with his new friends that allowed him to get to the door before it closed, putting a foot between the door and wall and leaving enough room for him to pop him face around.
“You’re just mad that I stole your fan girls,” He smirked.
“As if I want them in the first place,” Sheppard retorted. “Now get. Out.”
“No way,” Rodney said, and then easily pushed back the door enough to let him slip inside and leaving Sheppard with the momentum to shut the door with a thud. Rodney smirked as Sheppard blinked in astonishment. Slowly, the lieutenant turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Where did you learn that?” He asked curiously. Rodney shrugged.
“Here and there. I’ll tell you if you stop acting like an arsehole,” Rodney bargained. Then he took a sniff of the air and grimaced. “On second thought, make that when you’ve had a shower. You stink.” He ran a hand through his hair and glanced around the man’s quarters. Dirty clothes, food wrappers, some UIOs (Un-identifiable Objects), and a few other items littered the floor. The bed was a mess, like someone had been tossing and turning.
“I don’t need you to tell me how to live me life, McKay,” Sheppard’s voice brought him back to reality. Rodney glanced at the scowling man and scowled himself.
“I leave you alone for 5 months and you turn into a living wreck. What happened?” He asked, quite concerned.
“None of your business,” Sheppard said.
“You’re going to tell me, because Elizabeth and Teyla and Ronon are getting worried and they sent me in because they’re hopeful that you won’t kill the guy who everyone thought was dead,” Rodney informed him. “So stop acting like a baby, face it like a man so we can get through this as quickly and painlessly as possible.” And then he grimaced. “Although I really would prefer it if you took a shower.”
He heard Sheppard snort and he smiled sadly. Something had to have happened to make Sheppard act this way. Rodney was not going to let it go now that he was here. He stepped towards Sheppard and put his hands on the man’s shoulder. “Go. Shower. Sleep. Whatever. I’ll be here when you’re back,” Rodney said gently, and then gave the man a shove towards the bathroom.
Sheppard glowered at his back, but didn’t protest and was soon locked away in the bathroom. Rodney then wondered what the hell he could do to pass the time, and the answer came to him easily. Try and tidy up the room. He was a perfectionist. If he did something, he went all out.
Wondering how he had got shoved into this situation, Rodney started by straightening the bed and making the covers until it looked ready for use instead of just-been-used. Then he turned to the floor and tried to locate the bin, which he soon saw was hidden behind a desk. Once he knew where the bin was, he then began to put all the rubbish into it, which managed to clean up half the mess on the floor. What he was going to do about the dirty clothes he had no idea, but he didn’t dare touch them. Which resulted in him kicking them all into a pile in the corner of the room and making him promise to disinfect his trainers later.
When he was just about done was the time that Sheppard came out of the bathroom, looking better and smelling a little better too, and wearing clean clothes. Rodney glanced up from where he was sat on the bed and gave the man a hesitant smile. He couldn’t stop the snicker at the expression on the man’s face as he saw how much tidier the room was. He glanced over at Rodney and raised his eyebrows in question. Rodney just shrugged.
“I’m a perfectionist,” Was all he responded with. Sheppard snorted and then shook his head, getting his dripping hair to shake off droplets. Rodney couldn’t help a laugh at the sight. “What are you Colonel, a dog?” He grinned. “Your hair is even worse now than it was before.” He teased.
“Dog’s are a man’s best friend!” Sheppard defended. “You’re just jealous because if you had to be compared to an animal, you’d be a skunk.”
“A skunk?” Rodney blinked. “I am not a skunk, thank you very much! Skunk’s smell and are annoyed easily, and annoying, and small and black and white and, although they were quite sweet in the Bambi movie, they are very dangerous. That is nothing like me. Except for the, you know, annoyed easily, annoying and very dangerous bit.” Rodney added on as an afterthought.
He was surprised when he heard laughter from Sheppard and realised that he was helping the man, even if he didn’t think so. That, for some reason, made him feel rather warm inside, and he couldn’t stop a soft smile going on his face. He pushed himself back on the bed until he was leant against the wall, and then he patted the spot beside him, indicating that Sheppard should sit there. With a roll of his eyes, Sheppard followed his orders.
“You’re bossy, you know that, right?” He grumbled. Rodney raised an eyebrow.
“Your observation skills astound me Colonel,” Rodney said sarcastically.
“You always were easy to please,” Sheppard said, managing to slowly fall back into the insulting/bickering routine that had long been their trademark. They kept up the banter for several more minutes, in which Sheppard had been insulted 15 times and in 3 different languages, and Rodney had got riled up 4 times, before they finally came to a standstill. Even as silence started to enter the room, Rodney could see that already Sheppard was starting to relax. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as he had thought it would, but then again, they hadn’t reached the hard bit yet.
“Rodney?” Sheppard’s voice came. Rodney glanced up from the floor.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“What happened to you?” Sheppard asked, and Rodney couldn’t stop himself from tensing slightly. He hadn’t told anybody what had happened to him, except give them a brief description of the Tenukkians (and leaving Teyla to fill in their back story) and that they had promised to be allies. But he knew that Sheppard wasn’t asking about that - he was asking about what happened before.
“What do you mean?” Rodney tried to keep his tone light.
“You know damn well what I mean!” Sheppard said, raising his voice. “Why did you save the scientists, but not yourself! Why did you save the technology, and not yourself! Anything along those lines would be good McKay,” Sheppard scowled. Rodney sighed, running a hand through his hair, thinking.
“I - I guess it’d be good to start from the beginning, huh?” Rodney sighed. “I’ll only tell you if you tell me about what happened to you while I was gone. You really did look like crap, Colonel, although you’re better now.” He shut his eyes, hearing the verbal agreement. Leaning his head back against the wall and pulling his legs up, he began.
PART 7