Chase the Sun, Chapter 9
Chase the Sun
Burningchaos
Stargate Atlantis/Stargate SG1 Crossover
Past Sheppard/McKay, McKay/Mitchell
Mature
Warnings: Character death, severe description of depression.
Disclaimer: Neither Stargate nor Stargate Atlantis belong to me. I am making no money.
Thanks to darkmoon711 for the wicked fast beta. ILU!!! Also my muse still likes me but I have been promoted to management and seem to have less time than ever to write. Hopefully I'll have another soon.
Catch up
Banner by from_the_corner
Cameron hadn’t slept a wink, not in days, more specifically since he’d brought Rodney home with him. He was tired too, exhausted to the point of collapse, but sleep still escaped him. He was on edge, he was always watching himself, and terrified he would do something or say something stupid and drive Rodney back into hiding. Daniel told he was an idiot, but then again Daniel always told him that, so it was nothing new.
He also felt like he was waiting for something to happen, he didn’t know what but he was waiting. Rodney hadn’t left the house yet, not once in the week he’d been there but he’d had no qualms about making sure Cameron knew exactly what he wanted. Apparently he’d missed fast food. Cameron sighed and rested his fingers on his temples. It was a quite day at the office, his paper work was piled high and it was definitely something he should be working on instead of contemplating going to the infirmary for a fucking sedative and sleeping there for the next twelve hours.
A knock on the door startled him, he swore softly as he hit his knees on the desk. “Come in.” The door opened and the last person he expected to see walked through, well maybe not the last, but pretty damn close. He stood quickly bumping his knees again, “Doctor Weir? When did you arrive?”
Elizabeth smiled and warmly shook the hand Cameron offered her. “Oh, late last night.” She walked over and sat next to his desk. Cameron couldn’t help the trickle of fear that ran through him, Rodney wasn’t ready yet and he hoped she wasn’t here to push the issue.
“I can practically hear what you are thinking.” She cocked her head and looked at him, he swore she could see everything he was feeling and thinking. He hated that.
“And what would that be Ma’am?”
“I am not going to ask you about talking Rodney into seeing me. I can promise you that.” She sat back, her face now drawn and white. He could tell she was worried but so was he. This woman, as nice as she was, had made everything infinitely worse for Rodney. “I just wanted to meet you again, and ask you personally how he was doing.”
Cameron was puzzled, meet him again? He grimaced; the headache that was threatening earlier was now pounding painfully behind his eyes. “He seems good, I have no idea what he is working on but I know he has been talking to Sam over the computer.” He scratched his eyebrow and thought another moment, “He seems to be taking less meds and he still refuses to leave the house but…”
Elizabeth stood abruptly and hugged him. “It’s alright, I just found out what I wanted to know. Thank you, Colonel Mitchell.” Her hand brushed over his shoulder as she turned and left as quickly as she’d arrived leaving him even more tired and puzzled than before. He needed a fucking nap.
Rodney snapped the screen on his laptop down and sighed. He liked being here but he hated waiting for Cameron to get home and he really hated the idea that Cameron could be off world getting into trouble while he was sitting down and wasting time. And he was working Millennium Problems again and compared to what he used to work on it was nothing. He closed his eyes, the cool blue walls of Atlantis along with the accompanying hum that was everywhere in the city invaded him. Nothing he could possibly do was as challenging or satisfying.
He looked out the window, the sun was bright even though it was almost five in the afternoon and suddenly he wanted to be out there moving. He missed walking by the lake, and the sense of peace the water gave him. He knew he wouldn’t find that here, just like he wouldn’t find anything as challenging as Atlantis, but it was time to make due. He dragged his sneakers out from under the bed, put them on and quickly walked out the back door before he changed his mind. He came here because he was ready for a change and sitting in the spare room of Cameron’s house worrying about the man wasn’t going to make that happen.
It was dark when Rodney made his way up the walk to Cameron’s house, he wasn’t sure how far he’d walked but he was tired, sore and extremely hungry. Also he was convinced that small children were tools of Satan, if he believed in hell that was, especially after some kid kicked him in the shin for not wanting to push him on the swings at the park he’d found. Rodney looked over at the house and saw the windows were still dark and Cameron’s car was missing, fear instantly washed over him. He tried to rationalize with himself, maybe Cameron was driving around looking for him, after all it was terribly late but he couldn’t make it happen.
The key felt heavy in his hands, as he tried and failed to unlock the door, he took a deep breath and tried again but his hands were shaking so badly. He didn’t like the thoughts running through his mind, the images of blood and despair, but he couldn’t push them away either. He took another deep breath and managed to open the door this time and rushed into get the phone when he tripped over a pair of Cameron’s shoes. He stopped; they hadn’t been there earlier, looked around and heard a loud snore coming from the couch.
Cameron was sleeping, one arm thrown across his face, mouth open, the other laying on his stomach while still in uniform. Worry and fear instantly melted away and were replaced by something else... he wasn’t sure what but it had been so long since he’d been close to anyone he wasn’t surprise. Without another thought Rodney walked into Cameron’s room, grabbed a blanket from the bed and placed it over his friend.