Fic: Inter-Service Support: What She Can Do (Stargate)
Title: What She Can Do
Fandom: Stargate
Rating: K+
Genres: gen, friendship
Summary: Evan Lorne needs to vent off frustration, Laura Cadman was bored on the Hammond. Here's where they meet. Tag to jo_graham's and amygriswold's The Lost.
A/N: This is my second tag after Best Laid Plans to the Legacy series written by Jo Graham, Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, playing sometime during The Lost, after the Hammond finally makes it to Atlantis. It was inspired by the question "But where are Lorne and Cadman during that dinner?". After a little chat with Jo on her LJ regarding timeline, I decided to be a little vague, so this is not excatly at the time of the dinner but somewhere in the couple of days that the Hammond stayed in Atlantis. There are a couple spoilers for the series in the story, so if you haven't read Homecoming and The Lost and don't want to be spoiled, probably not read it. Everyone else... have fun ;)
PS.: Yes, mackenziesmomma, I believe in the power of foot notes. You should, too.
What She Can Do
“I wouldn’t if I were you
I know what she can do
She’s deadly, man
And she could really rip your world apart
Mind over matter
Ooh, the beauty is there
But a beast is in the heart.”
Hall & Oates, “Maneater”
This just isn’t his week. Or maybe month. Okay, probably not even his year. Okay, so Atlantis is back in Pegasus and he’s still serving here which is definitely a plus. But that’s about it, to be honest.
Because, see, there this thing with the sensors and the pigeon incident Zelenka has been giving him crap over continuously - what is it with that guy and pigeons? - and also the damn inconvenient fact that a posting at Elmendork* AFB, Alaska would look cozy compared to their current home planet, at least temperature wise and well, he also pretty much screwed up scouting that Wraith “neutral ground” planet…
But yes, the worst thing really is that they still haven’t found Rodney and even though intellectually he knows better he thinks he had his part in that as well. Yes, more than “just” messing up the scouting mission. No, not in actually letting it happen - at least not this time because wouldn’t that have been great, being responsible for the disappearance of yet another one of Sheppard’s teammates - but in failing to keep morale up.
For some reason he had always felt responsible not only for keeping as much crap as possible off Sheppard’s back but also for keeping up the contingent’s spirit and even though they are trying to go on with business as usual he just knows that none of his soldiers, old and new alike, are unaffected by the uneasiness, restlessness and confusion that seem to have slowly infiltrated the city. And he just seems unable to actually do anything about it.
So now he’s stalking through the corridors, somehow in the mood to get rid of all the tension coiled up inside of him… and almost all by themselves his feet carry him to the work-out room the Marines use to spar. And judging by the catcalling and the wolf whistling there seems to be quite the fight going on. Well… having a look won’t do any harm, right?
So he takes another step… just to see Hernandez’s and Jacobs’s backs and hear Hernandez say, “Whoa, she’s wiping the floor with him.”
Who… oh, right. He should have known he’d find Cadman here sooner or later, seeing as the Hammond arrived a couple of days ago and she’d told him she’d run out of opponents - that’s victims for you, he’d thought but refrained from voicing it - on the ship and was looking forward to some new faces. And she really is wiping the floor with Lance Corporal Benjamin O’Reilly, Royal Marines**.
He can’t help smirking at how Cadman just tricked O’Reilly into tripping over his own feet… but stops smirking when he hears Jacobs say, “What do you think, how would a fight between her and that Teyla Emmagan be?”
Hernandez surely wants to answer something as O’Reilly tries to push Cadman’s legs away from under her but… that’s really is enough. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he beats Hernandez to it. “Certainly too hot for you, gentlemen.” Two crew-cut heads whip around to him, colored in a quite striking shade of pink. Cadman nearly gets pulled into a choke hold by the Brit and he doesn’t show any mercy to his men either, adding, “Most of all because those two could give you a run for your money.” When they just swallow, obviously at a loss for a suitable answer that won’t get them into further trouble, he delivers his death blow, “I believe you have some reports to finish, gentlemen.”
Realizing that resistance is futile, they just nod and throw him a perfectly synchronized “Sir, yes, sir,” before hurrying away. He’s pretty sure he saw Jacobs slap Hernandez on the back of his head before rounding the bend.
Well then… let’s see who else is making googly eyes at a fellow and in most also an outranking soldier, he thinks when he takes another step into the room… and finds himself standing next to Ronon.
They nod at each other and he focuses his attention on Cadman and O’Reilly again. Currently, they’re circling each other and he can get the first good look at Cadman since he entered the room.
Owing to the fight that seems to have been going for on a while, her cheeks are reddened and the usual neat tightly braided hair is in disarray with a couple of strands having escaped the braid and clinging to her face and her neck. Not exactly a pretty moment for Cadman but somehow the animated sparkle in her eyes makes up for the disheveled look.
Even after a couple of minutes she’s still holding her own. He can see her struggling with O’Reilly’s greater physical strength but it’s amazing how she manages to balance the fight out by saving her strength and letting O’Reilly do most of the moving. However, if he remembers it correctly, from a couple of sessions with her on the Hammond, she only tends to do that when she’s got a few fights behind her.
He frowns. Without turning towards him, he asks Ronon, “How long has she been at it?”
Without hesitation the big guy answers in his usual rumble, “Better part of an hour.” Whoa, she must have been really bored on the Hammond.
However, he tries not to sound too surprised when he asks, “How many fights?”
“Five,” is all Ronon answers and he’s almost convinced he heard a smirk somewhere in there.
Still keeping his eyes on Cadman and O’Reilly trying to beat the crap out of each other, he continues asking Ronon, “Her score?”
“Four won, one lost,” is the immediate answer and now he’s positive he just heard a smirk.
Turning towards Ronon, he asks with another frown, “Who was the one she lost to?”
Instead of an immediate answer, Ronon just grins. Well, she’s really got guts, he has to give her that. Oh, okay, he always knew she has guts. But going against Ronon in a fight voluntarily… that takes almost more guts than offering to let go when sharing a brain with McKay. Yes, he heard about that one little unofficial detail in the whole mind meld from hell thing, just don’t ask how.
He can’t help nodding appreciatively at Ronon and apparently the Satedan feels compelled to add, “She nearly got me a couple of times, though. She’s sneaky.”
At that he can’t help grinning. “That she is.”
It’s also the moment she has finally sent O’Reilly to the mat with something that might have had its roots in a uki-otoshi. For a moment, the Brit tries to get up but apparently, she knocked him around enough that he admits defeat in the end.
She offers to help him up and when he’s back on his feet, it seems she’s throwing a look at the group of other Royal Marines and some Australian SAS soldiers but somehow… there’s this itch for some physical action again and before he knows it, he offers, “How about you pick on someone your size, Captain?”
Her head swivels around and after a moment of surprise, she manages to drawl, “Are you volunteering, sir?”
Okay so he knows it would be unfair to challenge her now because he’s still fresh and she must be really worn out but… she’d probably never forgive him if he chickened out now because of that. She’d know he did it because this would be her seventh fight in a row and everyone else would know as well and he knows that Laura Cadman would rather lose in an honest fight than have someone take pity on her. So there’s really only one option left. “What does it look like to you?”
Her only reply is a grin that looks almost feral and taking up her battle stance again. He walks up to her and does the same, taking a moment to tune out the renewed whistling and cheering. It doesn’t really work but it’s working well enough for him to go through everything he learned about her fighting style in the couple of times he had the chance to observe or fight her.
Likes to lull you into a false sense of security, wants you to underestimate her, likes quick and dirty attacks… but isn't exactly patient once the fight started. Varying between tempi isn't her forte because once she really starts to get going at you, she likes to get into a flow of rapid exchanges, to compensate for the lack in weight and height.
So he decides to play her, like she usually plays her opponents. He’s not sure how far that will get him but it’s worth a try. He keeps taking jabs at her; short strikes that get aborted shortly before hitting home, little stabs at her defenses to find out where the previous fights weakened them… and finding out that she slightly favors her right leg over her left one. The superior in him feels the strong urge to send her to the infirmary to have that looked at but the fighter in him finally found the hole in her defenses he’d been looking for.
Taunting her one last time, he quickly launches towards her with his hand, pretending to go for her throat but cutting it short a couple of inches before he could do some actual damage to her. However, she still slightly leans back and that’s when he strikes. Taking a step forward, he grabs her by her right shoulder and pushes her left one away from him with his shoulder. At the same time, he uses his left leg to swipe her weakened leg away from under her with swing. All in all, a pretty neatly executed and almost perfect o-soto-gari.
He’s got her on her back now and because she doesn’t show signs of yielding - would have surprised him if she did - he quickly straddles her and puts his lower arm against her throat. He’s about to grin at her and ask if she’s giving up yet but suddenly he feels something connect with his chin and pain is shooting through his head.
Holy shit, what the hell… “Rule Number One: always secure your opponent’s hands. Sir,” he hears Cadman say and shakes his head to clear it of the haze caused by what he thinks was the heel of her hand making forceful contact with his chin.
And on top of that she also managed to use his temporary mental absence to get away from him and try to get up again. Well, only if he can’t prevent it and he didn’t plan on that. So he tries to use her scrambling up and jumps up to launch at her, saying, “Rule Number Two: always get out of range before you start wise…” and that’s how far he gets because she dropped to the ground way faster than he would have given her credit for and somehow got him off his feet again.
Lying on his back he starts to get pissed at himself again - that’s not the first time Cadman used that trick by turning on her side and knocking him off his legs with hers on him - because that slip of a Captain managed to screw him over twice in the last couple of minutes.
And of course she doesn’t waste time and he finds himself struggling against a surprisingly tight kesa katame. Very obviously, Cadman also had her share of judo lessons at some point in her life. For a woman of her size and stature, she really has quite the grip on his neck and arm and she even has the guts to ask between clenched teeth, “Do you yield, sir?”
Yeah, as if. He just needs to wiggle a little and reach one of her legs… “Don’t… make me laugh,” he growls and tries to get a hold of her waist. This used to be easier when fighting against people actually wearing a gi but… he can make do. And after another moment of struggling he catches one of her legs and even manages to throw his free left arm around her waist.
Hoisting her up, he rolls over and even though she does her best to get away - did he just hear a protesting squeal from her? - he has her on her back again, this time straddling her and pinning her arms on either side of her head.
“Do you yield, Captain?” he can’t help asking between panting breaths and grinning at her. He also half registers that the room went quiet but his main attention is focused on the woman beneath him.
Like he kind of expected her to, she doesn’t outright agree. But she doesn’t negate it either, instead saying, “Let’s… call it a draw.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“Well,” she replies and takes a deep breath, her chest heaving as she obviously tries to get her own panting back under control, “I could pull a hand free… like this…” she does pull her hand free and he’s too interested in what’s coming now to keep her from doing it, “then I could shove away your knee like this,” what… oh, “and I could have you on your back like this.”
And suddenly she really has and is grinning at him from ear to ear when she adds, “And where would we be then, sir?”
He can’t believe… he just fell for that. She’s red-faced, exhausted, probably sporting dozens of bruises and she still managed to teach him a lesson. But in spite of being pissed at himself again, he feels laughter at the absurdity of the situation welling up and barely able to contain it, he concedes, “Alright, a draw it is. But I will get back at you for that.”
Still grinning, she gets off of him. “Wouldn’t expect differently, sir.” Then she tries to get up like he just did but her left leg must have been hit worse than he initially thought and now that the adrenaline is starting to wear off… He holds out his hand for her.
For a moment he can see her hesitating but then she takes it and lets him pull her upwards. He briefly catches Ronon’s eye and there’s a lot of appreciation in his look, probably for both of them. He’s not quite sure if he’ll ever tell Cadman of Ronon’s appreciation - gotta keep those Marine egos from overinflating, after all - but he does tell her, “Don’t know if I told you yet but… good to have you back, Captain.”
She hesitates again, seeming to search his face for any hints of… what? Sarcasm? Oh well, after a moment, she seems to have realized that he really means it, she smiles at him. “Don’t know if I told you yet… it’s good to be back, sir.”
There’s another moment of silence until someone starts clapping and suddenly the rest joins in and when she starts grinning again, he’s tempted to thank her for being able to give them something else to worry about than McKay having been taken and the implications of that which could very well mean a lot of dead soldiers in the future.
What he does do, in the end, is telling his men not to play too rough with each other - and pointedly ignoring each and every called in innuendo and wisecrack following that - and following Cadman who’d used the distraction to slip out of the room. She didn’t really think he’d miss the limping, did she?
So he follows her and when he reaches her, he puts her right arm around his shoulders and his left one around her waist without preamble. When she starts protesting, he simply says, “I don’t think Dr. Keller will like it very much but I do think someone needs to have a look at that leg. After all… what’s to become of us if we lose our unarmed combat champion?”
She glares at him for a moment. Then, “Fine. But I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” With that, she pulls free of his grip and starts walking again. After a few steps that he’d just stood there and wondered if he should pull rank at her after all, she turns around and says quite impatiently, “Are you coming or not, sir?”
What… oh. She doesn’t mind being accompanied by him, she just doesn’t want to be seen needing his - or really anyone’s - support in public. Oh, okay… he can work with that. After having caught up with her and falling into step beside her, he can’t help saying, “Though next time… you might want to sound a little less insubordinate. Wouldn’t want to have to report you to Colonel Carter.”
There’s a moment of looking… terrified? Is that the right word? Was Cadman just terrified at the thought of him reporting her to Colonel Carter, even though he thought it was pretty clear that it was meant as a joke? But anyway, there’s none of that a moment later when she turns around and says, “No, we wouldn’t. Because I’m not sure you could handle the echo. Sir.”
What the… he’s close to pulling out the superior at that but is stopped by the hearty laughter that follows her remark and makes him forget about whatever he’d been about to say. And then he just keeps on bantering with her on the way to the infirmary and God, is he glad that there’s someone able to make his brooding stop for a while and… maybe he’ll even tell her that some day… but for now, he’ll just enjoy being around her for as long as he can before some new major or minor incident calls for his attention. Yeah, sounds very much like a plan.
*No, of course it’s not called Elmendork AFB. That’s just how Elmendorf AFB is called on Air Force Blues but I had a feeling Evan would agree.
**Yes, pingulotta, a lobster :D
Fandom: Stargate
Rating: K+
Genres: gen, friendship
Summary: Evan Lorne needs to vent off frustration, Laura Cadman was bored on the Hammond. Here's where they meet. Tag to jo_graham's and amygriswold's The Lost.
A/N: This is my second tag after Best Laid Plans to the Legacy series written by Jo Graham, Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, playing sometime during The Lost, after the Hammond finally makes it to Atlantis. It was inspired by the question "But where are Lorne and Cadman during that dinner?". After a little chat with Jo on her LJ regarding timeline, I decided to be a little vague, so this is not excatly at the time of the dinner but somewhere in the couple of days that the Hammond stayed in Atlantis. There are a couple spoilers for the series in the story, so if you haven't read Homecoming and The Lost and don't want to be spoiled, probably not read it. Everyone else... have fun ;)
PS.: Yes, mackenziesmomma, I believe in the power of foot notes. You should, too.
What She Can Do
“I wouldn’t if I were you
I know what she can do
She’s deadly, man
And she could really rip your world apart
Mind over matter
Ooh, the beauty is there
But a beast is in the heart.”
Hall & Oates, “Maneater”
This just isn’t his week. Or maybe month. Okay, probably not even his year. Okay, so Atlantis is back in Pegasus and he’s still serving here which is definitely a plus. But that’s about it, to be honest.
Because, see, there this thing with the sensors and the pigeon incident Zelenka has been giving him crap over continuously - what is it with that guy and pigeons? - and also the damn inconvenient fact that a posting at Elmendork* AFB, Alaska would look cozy compared to their current home planet, at least temperature wise and well, he also pretty much screwed up scouting that Wraith “neutral ground” planet…
But yes, the worst thing really is that they still haven’t found Rodney and even though intellectually he knows better he thinks he had his part in that as well. Yes, more than “just” messing up the scouting mission. No, not in actually letting it happen - at least not this time because wouldn’t that have been great, being responsible for the disappearance of yet another one of Sheppard’s teammates - but in failing to keep morale up.
For some reason he had always felt responsible not only for keeping as much crap as possible off Sheppard’s back but also for keeping up the contingent’s spirit and even though they are trying to go on with business as usual he just knows that none of his soldiers, old and new alike, are unaffected by the uneasiness, restlessness and confusion that seem to have slowly infiltrated the city. And he just seems unable to actually do anything about it.
So now he’s stalking through the corridors, somehow in the mood to get rid of all the tension coiled up inside of him… and almost all by themselves his feet carry him to the work-out room the Marines use to spar. And judging by the catcalling and the wolf whistling there seems to be quite the fight going on. Well… having a look won’t do any harm, right?
So he takes another step… just to see Hernandez’s and Jacobs’s backs and hear Hernandez say, “Whoa, she’s wiping the floor with him.”
Who… oh, right. He should have known he’d find Cadman here sooner or later, seeing as the Hammond arrived a couple of days ago and she’d told him she’d run out of opponents - that’s victims for you, he’d thought but refrained from voicing it - on the ship and was looking forward to some new faces. And she really is wiping the floor with Lance Corporal Benjamin O’Reilly, Royal Marines**.
He can’t help smirking at how Cadman just tricked O’Reilly into tripping over his own feet… but stops smirking when he hears Jacobs say, “What do you think, how would a fight between her and that Teyla Emmagan be?”
Hernandez surely wants to answer something as O’Reilly tries to push Cadman’s legs away from under her but… that’s really is enough. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he beats Hernandez to it. “Certainly too hot for you, gentlemen.” Two crew-cut heads whip around to him, colored in a quite striking shade of pink. Cadman nearly gets pulled into a choke hold by the Brit and he doesn’t show any mercy to his men either, adding, “Most of all because those two could give you a run for your money.” When they just swallow, obviously at a loss for a suitable answer that won’t get them into further trouble, he delivers his death blow, “I believe you have some reports to finish, gentlemen.”
Realizing that resistance is futile, they just nod and throw him a perfectly synchronized “Sir, yes, sir,” before hurrying away. He’s pretty sure he saw Jacobs slap Hernandez on the back of his head before rounding the bend.
Well then… let’s see who else is making googly eyes at a fellow and in most also an outranking soldier, he thinks when he takes another step into the room… and finds himself standing next to Ronon.
They nod at each other and he focuses his attention on Cadman and O’Reilly again. Currently, they’re circling each other and he can get the first good look at Cadman since he entered the room.
Owing to the fight that seems to have been going for on a while, her cheeks are reddened and the usual neat tightly braided hair is in disarray with a couple of strands having escaped the braid and clinging to her face and her neck. Not exactly a pretty moment for Cadman but somehow the animated sparkle in her eyes makes up for the disheveled look.
Even after a couple of minutes she’s still holding her own. He can see her struggling with O’Reilly’s greater physical strength but it’s amazing how she manages to balance the fight out by saving her strength and letting O’Reilly do most of the moving. However, if he remembers it correctly, from a couple of sessions with her on the Hammond, she only tends to do that when she’s got a few fights behind her.
He frowns. Without turning towards him, he asks Ronon, “How long has she been at it?”
Without hesitation the big guy answers in his usual rumble, “Better part of an hour.” Whoa, she must have been really bored on the Hammond.
However, he tries not to sound too surprised when he asks, “How many fights?”
“Five,” is all Ronon answers and he’s almost convinced he heard a smirk somewhere in there.
Still keeping his eyes on Cadman and O’Reilly trying to beat the crap out of each other, he continues asking Ronon, “Her score?”
“Four won, one lost,” is the immediate answer and now he’s positive he just heard a smirk.
Turning towards Ronon, he asks with another frown, “Who was the one she lost to?”
Instead of an immediate answer, Ronon just grins. Well, she’s really got guts, he has to give her that. Oh, okay, he always knew she has guts. But going against Ronon in a fight voluntarily… that takes almost more guts than offering to let go when sharing a brain with McKay. Yes, he heard about that one little unofficial detail in the whole mind meld from hell thing, just don’t ask how.
He can’t help nodding appreciatively at Ronon and apparently the Satedan feels compelled to add, “She nearly got me a couple of times, though. She’s sneaky.”
At that he can’t help grinning. “That she is.”
It’s also the moment she has finally sent O’Reilly to the mat with something that might have had its roots in a uki-otoshi. For a moment, the Brit tries to get up but apparently, she knocked him around enough that he admits defeat in the end.
She offers to help him up and when he’s back on his feet, it seems she’s throwing a look at the group of other Royal Marines and some Australian SAS soldiers but somehow… there’s this itch for some physical action again and before he knows it, he offers, “How about you pick on someone your size, Captain?”
Her head swivels around and after a moment of surprise, she manages to drawl, “Are you volunteering, sir?”
Okay so he knows it would be unfair to challenge her now because he’s still fresh and she must be really worn out but… she’d probably never forgive him if he chickened out now because of that. She’d know he did it because this would be her seventh fight in a row and everyone else would know as well and he knows that Laura Cadman would rather lose in an honest fight than have someone take pity on her. So there’s really only one option left. “What does it look like to you?”
Her only reply is a grin that looks almost feral and taking up her battle stance again. He walks up to her and does the same, taking a moment to tune out the renewed whistling and cheering. It doesn’t really work but it’s working well enough for him to go through everything he learned about her fighting style in the couple of times he had the chance to observe or fight her.
Likes to lull you into a false sense of security, wants you to underestimate her, likes quick and dirty attacks… but isn't exactly patient once the fight started. Varying between tempi isn't her forte because once she really starts to get going at you, she likes to get into a flow of rapid exchanges, to compensate for the lack in weight and height.
So he decides to play her, like she usually plays her opponents. He’s not sure how far that will get him but it’s worth a try. He keeps taking jabs at her; short strikes that get aborted shortly before hitting home, little stabs at her defenses to find out where the previous fights weakened them… and finding out that she slightly favors her right leg over her left one. The superior in him feels the strong urge to send her to the infirmary to have that looked at but the fighter in him finally found the hole in her defenses he’d been looking for.
Taunting her one last time, he quickly launches towards her with his hand, pretending to go for her throat but cutting it short a couple of inches before he could do some actual damage to her. However, she still slightly leans back and that’s when he strikes. Taking a step forward, he grabs her by her right shoulder and pushes her left one away from him with his shoulder. At the same time, he uses his left leg to swipe her weakened leg away from under her with swing. All in all, a pretty neatly executed and almost perfect o-soto-gari.
He’s got her on her back now and because she doesn’t show signs of yielding - would have surprised him if she did - he quickly straddles her and puts his lower arm against her throat. He’s about to grin at her and ask if she’s giving up yet but suddenly he feels something connect with his chin and pain is shooting through his head.
Holy shit, what the hell… “Rule Number One: always secure your opponent’s hands. Sir,” he hears Cadman say and shakes his head to clear it of the haze caused by what he thinks was the heel of her hand making forceful contact with his chin.
And on top of that she also managed to use his temporary mental absence to get away from him and try to get up again. Well, only if he can’t prevent it and he didn’t plan on that. So he tries to use her scrambling up and jumps up to launch at her, saying, “Rule Number Two: always get out of range before you start wise…” and that’s how far he gets because she dropped to the ground way faster than he would have given her credit for and somehow got him off his feet again.
Lying on his back he starts to get pissed at himself again - that’s not the first time Cadman used that trick by turning on her side and knocking him off his legs with hers on him - because that slip of a Captain managed to screw him over twice in the last couple of minutes.
And of course she doesn’t waste time and he finds himself struggling against a surprisingly tight kesa katame. Very obviously, Cadman also had her share of judo lessons at some point in her life. For a woman of her size and stature, she really has quite the grip on his neck and arm and she even has the guts to ask between clenched teeth, “Do you yield, sir?”
Yeah, as if. He just needs to wiggle a little and reach one of her legs… “Don’t… make me laugh,” he growls and tries to get a hold of her waist. This used to be easier when fighting against people actually wearing a gi but… he can make do. And after another moment of struggling he catches one of her legs and even manages to throw his free left arm around her waist.
Hoisting her up, he rolls over and even though she does her best to get away - did he just hear a protesting squeal from her? - he has her on her back again, this time straddling her and pinning her arms on either side of her head.
“Do you yield, Captain?” he can’t help asking between panting breaths and grinning at her. He also half registers that the room went quiet but his main attention is focused on the woman beneath him.
Like he kind of expected her to, she doesn’t outright agree. But she doesn’t negate it either, instead saying, “Let’s… call it a draw.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“Well,” she replies and takes a deep breath, her chest heaving as she obviously tries to get her own panting back under control, “I could pull a hand free… like this…” she does pull her hand free and he’s too interested in what’s coming now to keep her from doing it, “then I could shove away your knee like this,” what… oh, “and I could have you on your back like this.”
And suddenly she really has and is grinning at him from ear to ear when she adds, “And where would we be then, sir?”
He can’t believe… he just fell for that. She’s red-faced, exhausted, probably sporting dozens of bruises and she still managed to teach him a lesson. But in spite of being pissed at himself again, he feels laughter at the absurdity of the situation welling up and barely able to contain it, he concedes, “Alright, a draw it is. But I will get back at you for that.”
Still grinning, she gets off of him. “Wouldn’t expect differently, sir.” Then she tries to get up like he just did but her left leg must have been hit worse than he initially thought and now that the adrenaline is starting to wear off… He holds out his hand for her.
For a moment he can see her hesitating but then she takes it and lets him pull her upwards. He briefly catches Ronon’s eye and there’s a lot of appreciation in his look, probably for both of them. He’s not quite sure if he’ll ever tell Cadman of Ronon’s appreciation - gotta keep those Marine egos from overinflating, after all - but he does tell her, “Don’t know if I told you yet but… good to have you back, Captain.”
She hesitates again, seeming to search his face for any hints of… what? Sarcasm? Oh well, after a moment, she seems to have realized that he really means it, she smiles at him. “Don’t know if I told you yet… it’s good to be back, sir.”
There’s another moment of silence until someone starts clapping and suddenly the rest joins in and when she starts grinning again, he’s tempted to thank her for being able to give them something else to worry about than McKay having been taken and the implications of that which could very well mean a lot of dead soldiers in the future.
What he does do, in the end, is telling his men not to play too rough with each other - and pointedly ignoring each and every called in innuendo and wisecrack following that - and following Cadman who’d used the distraction to slip out of the room. She didn’t really think he’d miss the limping, did she?
So he follows her and when he reaches her, he puts her right arm around his shoulders and his left one around her waist without preamble. When she starts protesting, he simply says, “I don’t think Dr. Keller will like it very much but I do think someone needs to have a look at that leg. After all… what’s to become of us if we lose our unarmed combat champion?”
She glares at him for a moment. Then, “Fine. But I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” With that, she pulls free of his grip and starts walking again. After a few steps that he’d just stood there and wondered if he should pull rank at her after all, she turns around and says quite impatiently, “Are you coming or not, sir?”
What… oh. She doesn’t mind being accompanied by him, she just doesn’t want to be seen needing his - or really anyone’s - support in public. Oh, okay… he can work with that. After having caught up with her and falling into step beside her, he can’t help saying, “Though next time… you might want to sound a little less insubordinate. Wouldn’t want to have to report you to Colonel Carter.”
There’s a moment of looking… terrified? Is that the right word? Was Cadman just terrified at the thought of him reporting her to Colonel Carter, even though he thought it was pretty clear that it was meant as a joke? But anyway, there’s none of that a moment later when she turns around and says, “No, we wouldn’t. Because I’m not sure you could handle the echo. Sir.”
What the… he’s close to pulling out the superior at that but is stopped by the hearty laughter that follows her remark and makes him forget about whatever he’d been about to say. And then he just keeps on bantering with her on the way to the infirmary and God, is he glad that there’s someone able to make his brooding stop for a while and… maybe he’ll even tell her that some day… but for now, he’ll just enjoy being around her for as long as he can before some new major or minor incident calls for his attention. Yeah, sounds very much like a plan.
*No, of course it’s not called Elmendork AFB. That’s just how Elmendorf AFB is called on Air Force Blues but I had a feeling Evan would agree.
**Yes, pingulotta, a lobster :D