CHAPTER FOURTEEN - The Planets Bend Between Us

And I won't end my days

Wishing that love would come along

Because you are in my life where you belong

Now that I've found you I'll call off the search

Call off the Search byKatie Melua

John liked to think of himself as a patient man. You had to be, when you dealt with the kind of things that he had seen. Whether it was dealing with green recruits, waiting in ambush for an enemy or negotiating between bickering parties, it was a quality that was frequently needed in a profession such as him.

But he had found, over the years that he had been in Pegasus, that in some things, his patience was short lived and easily tested. Number one on that list was one Rodney Mckay. Ever since they had first met, he was constantly reminding himself that patience was the one thing that was necessary when dealing with a stubborn Mckay, and simply giving in to the urge to throttle the man senseless was a rather pointless, if not satisfying act.

The other, simpler things on his list paled in significance to Rodney. The man was as stubborn as an ox and twice as immovable when he set his mind on something. He did what he wanted when he wanted, and trying to impose rules and regulations on him was like about as pointless as throwing oneself off a balcony trying to fly.

Still, John was about the only person who could manipulate Rodney into doing things, seemingly without Rodney even realizing sometimes. It took a lot of passive aggressive maneuvering on his behalf, and more than a little quiet persistance, but he was more that willing if it meant that Rodney did what he was supposed to for a change.

However, making him stick to things that he had eventually agreed to was next to impossible, mainly because he was too busy to remember things that he didn't see as necessary.

Pregnancy hadn't made his stubborn tendencies disappear. If anything, it made them worse, and he was driving Sam, Keller and John to distraction. Just trying to locate the man was a migraine waiting to happen, and John was almost at the end of his patience. He had tried their quarters, the labs, and mess hall, their favorite haunts, the rec rooms, the control room and Sam's office, and everywhere else he could think of that Rodney was allowed to go.

The infirmary was his last resort, and he couldn't remember that Rodney had any check ups or anything on. But if something had happened, Keller knew to let him be one of the first informed.

When he stuck his head in the door and surveyed the usual bustle that went on in the place, he saw no sign of him. It was mid evening, so things were starting to quiet down, the nurses settling their patients for the night, and the doctors finishing up their research for the shift.

Keller looked up and frowned when she saw him.

"Colonel Sheppard. Is something wrong?"

John straightened with a scowl and headed towards her.

"You seen Rodney recently?" he asked, trying not to let his irritation show in his voice.

She smiled.

"I have actually," she seemed a little too smug for his liking and he eyed her suspiciously. "You might like to try down on the North Pier. I hear he's spending his evenings down there lately."

"What's down there?"

She smiled at him and patted his arm. "Go and see for yourself."

Feeling a little put off, he left the infirmary and took all the short cuts he knew to the Pier in question.

If Rodney was out there somewhere by himself....he couldn't be held responsible for what he would do to the man.

He really was starting to try John's patience. He was well into his sixth month of pregnancy and his energy levels were at their height it seemed, and keeping up with him was next to impossible. He seemed unaware of his own physical limits, and almost every night, the moment he sat down on their bed, he was out like a light. Both Keller and John were struggling to get him to realize that he needed to take it easy and rest.

John himself was going through changes that startled him. As his relationship with Rodney deepened, so did his attachment to the baby that had come to be the centre of all of their daily routines. Only Rodney seemed to be the one actively avoiding thinking about the small life that was growing inside him.

He complained of shooting pains in his legs and tingling in his hands, and the awkwardness of having a football growing in his stomach, but aside from that, he made no mention of it. Sometimes, he'd catch Rodney with a funny look on his face, as if something was puzzling or paining him, but when questioned about it, he would dismiss it almost immediately. To say that John was irritated was an understatement.

He turned his thoughts to what Rodney could possibly doing this far out on the pier at the late hour that it was. There wasn't much on this Pier, only abandoned factory like buildings that had once been used for the manufacture of Puddle Jumpers and warships. Now they stood empty, and were mainly used for storage.

However, there was one building way out on the furthest possible edge from the city that housed a wonder. It was a recreation room, housing a large bathing house. A huge pool, three times the size of any Olympic swimming pool dominated the hall, its temperature controlled by thought alone. There were several smaller rooms that held private spa-like baths.

The best part though, was the retractable roof. The whole building was made of the same, stained glass windows that made up the rest of Atlantis, but the roof and one entire window retracted silently back to reveal a view of the never-ending ocean. At night time, the view of the night sky would be breathtaking. Knowing that it was the only place the Rodney would be, he headed in that direction.

But the area was off limits at night time, and everyone was good at following orders and rules set around Atlantis. It was a rec area that was open at certain hours of the morning and afternoon, and was rather popular, but no one ever stayed after the area was closed. The very thought that Rodney, of all people would be the one the break those rules baffled him beyond all reason.

It was a good half hour walk from the central tower of Atlantis, and there were lights glowing softly when he approached. Swallowing his rapidly growing anger, and telling himself that there was probably a good explanation (he hoped) he told the locked doors to open for him. They did so after a moment's hesitation, and he entered.

And there was Rodney in the water at the far edge of the pool, resting at the edge with his arms folded and his chin resting on them pensively as he looked out at the dark ocean.

Silently, he approached from the side that Rodney couldn't see him, keeping his anger in check and counseling himself to patience, patience, patience, a familiar mantra that had become his companion over the last few months.

"Mind telling me what you think you're doing?" he asked as he approached, keeping his tone light. As energetic and good tempered as Rodney had been of late, he was just as quick to anger and stir to a fight, and Keller had been worried about his rising blood pressure enough lately.

Besides, he wasn't looking for a fight. He was tired and aching from a long day of work, and while his anger was simmering away, what he really wanted was a quiet evening with his lover and friend.

Rodney looked up at him and smiled, all wet and inviting, and John had a hard time not caving right there and then.

"Hey you. Where have you been hiding yourself today?"

John crouched down, just out of reach. He rubbed his eyes tiredly before eyeing Rodney once more.

"Busy shepherding the hoards as usual. And you?"

"The same," it was Rodney's turn to eye John. "You look tired. You should come in for a swim."

And that was another thing that threw John off. The irritable, snarky man who would stress and worry and snipe at the smallest things had disappeared, leaving a laid back and relaxed man in his wake, who was surprising sensual and tenacious. While John loved the different sides of Rodney that pregnancy presented him with, it still tended to throw him off balance every now and then.

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" he asked, changing the subject and looking around nervously.

"He's not," another voice replied before Rodney could.

John looked over his shoulder to see both Heightmire and Teyla emerging from the private rooms, dressed and with damp hair.

"Colonel, nice to see you again," Heightmire smiled at him. She looked down at Rodney. "Good work today Rodney. We'll see you again on Friday."

Teyla smiled at them both, her eyes twinkling at John's confused look, before she followed Heightmire out. The doors snicked closed behind them.

"What's going on, Rodney?" he looked down at his lover, trying and failing to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Rodney grinned at him and pushed away from the wall, floating on his back. He was dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts, his swelling stomach blatantly obvious, and his scars standing out even with the distortion of the water. John had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

"Why don't you come in and I'll tell you about it?"

The offer was too tempting to resist anymore, so with a roll of his eyes, John stripped off his jacket and shirt, his thigh holsters, boots and trousers following in quick succession.

Rodney was still smiling at him as he watched, paddling around on his back and John felt the hot flush of the beginnings of arousal as he looked at the man he loved beyond all rhyme and reason.

Gingerly, he dipped a foot in to Rodney's laughter, and found the water pleasantly warm.

"C'mon you big baby. Get your ass in here."

With an annoyed huff, he sat on the edge and slipped in, his black cotton boxers a hindrance that he would rather do without, but they were in a public place and it wouldn't do to be caught skinny dipping.

With a sigh, he ducked his head under before surfacing and shaking the water out of his eyes.

"Feel better?" Rodney asked knowingly as he swam towards John.

"Helluva lot better," John admitted, settling himself on the sitting ledge that ran along the edges of the pool. He grinned as Rodney swam right up between his legs and pressed a close mouthed, sweet kiss to his mouth before pushing off and ducking underneath.

"So tell me why you're really here?" John asked when he'd surfaced.

Rodney huffed a little in embarrassment, but started swimming back towards him.

"If you must know, Teyla and Kate are teaching me exercises to help me relax. The swimming makes it easier,' he admitted, his cheeks flushing a little. "I'm finding it harder and harder to do the normal stretches."

Rodney could be quite bashful when it came to his thickening waistline, but if John was honest with himself, he had never been more fascinated or so much in love with Rodney's changing body.

It was clichéd but there was something different about him, something a little more sensual about the way he moved. Maybe it was because the feelings that John had for Rodney were growing by the day. It was the most ordinary, mundane things that changed a man, he thought to himself, as he found his arms full of Rodney.
"It's a good idea," John murmured, pressing a chaste kiss to his mouth, followed swiftly by another. Rodney retaliated with another kiss, and John was suddenly drowning in a completely different way, staring at Rodney in thrall.

He'd never seen eyes so blue until that fateful day he'd met Rodney. The strong chin and jaw line, the crooked mouth that expressed so much, the curve of his nose, his fine eyebrows, it all added up to one picture that he would never grow tired of studying.

To John, Rodney was Atlantis. He was everything that made it work, that kept them floating, kept them going one more day with his lightning fast thinking and his razor sharp tongue. Atlantis wasn't the same without Rodney; that was a lesson that he had learned the hard way. Rodney had been there since the beginning, and should he ever feel the need to leave for any reason, John would gladly follow him without a second thought.

And here he was, facing the very man to whom he had given his heart, swimming in circles around each other, and he couldn't quite believe that his life had led him to where he was. A life growing between them, the future looming up ahead, full of big decisions and doubt, and there wasn't a moment of heartache he would take back, if it led him right to Rodney.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" Rodney asked, breaking the quiet. "We both know I'm not really an outdoor man, but it's impossible to stay inside when there's a view like this, isn't it?"

Rodney had tilted his head back and was staring at the star laden sky with a slight smile on his face. John couldn't find the words to agree with him, because the only beautiful view he saw before him was the happiest he had been for a long time.

"What do you think Jeanie is doing right now?"

"Oh I don't know," John finally, tearing his eyes away from his completely unique lover and launched himself away to float on his back. "Probably rounding up Maddy and that husband of hers."

Rodney laughed a little at that.

"You're probably right. I never thought that her having a family would make her so happy, but I guess I was wrong."

John grinned and paddled back towards Rodney slowly.

"It's been known to happen every now and then."

Rodney snorted and splashed water at him, then grinned, his eyes sparking bright as he reached out and poked John in the side.

"Hey!" he flinched back, fighting a grin and losing as Rodney did it again.

"Admit it. You loved it there, and you loved them. I saw how relaxed you were there."

John smiled at him and reached out to run a hand briefly across Rodney's jaw.

"I did. They remind me of what family is supposed to be like. Of how mine used to be before....before it all went wrong."

It was hard to acknowledge the pain of a past long pushed into the back ground, but with everything that had happened recently, it had been becoming harder to ignore the ghosts of his family.

A mother who had died too early, a father who had worked too hard and a brother who had shut him out so completely that he had felt as if he didn't even exist. He had grown up in a family that knew money, and stood so solidly on what was right and proper that emotions never even came into the equation. He had been cut from a different cloth, unable to not care and unable to let go.

Rodney sobered quickly at that and seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"Do you want a family of your own? After whatever went wrong with your own?"

John thought about the question for a couple of minutes, swimming around as he mulled it over.

"So many things went wrong when I was growing up. My father was a hard man, my mother quiet and closed off. Me and my brother, we learnt to be seen and not heard. When she died, my mother left us in the care of a man who was more concerned with his career than he was about his own sons. No house we ever lived in was a home in any way to us. I felt...claustrophobic for most of my teenage years. The moment I could find a way to escape, I took it without a moments hesitation," he said eventually, before pausing for a moment to duck his head under water.

"Having been through a long childhood of disappointment and expectations, I'm not sure I'd be able to be a family man. The thought of it scares me. I can't stand the thought of turning into my father."

Rodney snorted rudely, startling John out of his melancholy thoughts.

"I'm sorry, but there's no chance of that happening in a million years. I know you, and I know that you would never become someone like your father. If anything, your only fault would be caring too much."

John blinked in surprise at that then smiled, touched at Rodney's unquestioning loyalty in him. That was one thing people took for granted in Rodney and it was honestly their loss.

There wasn't much he could say to that, so he followed Rodney back over to the edge of the pool and they arranged themselves on the underwater ledge side by side.

"See, my family was entirely the opposite of how you describe yours. Instead of being distant and closed off, if anything they were too honest with each other, too cruel. When they weren't too busy yelling at each other, which was most of the time, they were yelling at me and Jeannie. And when they stormed off in righteous anger, they'd spend days at a time in their labs, leaving me and Jeannie alone. The result was still the same though. We all ended up lonely and alone, Jeannie and I stopped talking and that was that. Not much of a family at all, by any standard."

There wasn't much he could say to that so he bumped his shoulder gently against Rodney's in silent support. Rodney smiled again, but it was twisted and bitter and it wasn't a look that John liked to see on his face.

"Look at us huh? A couple of middle aged guys sitting in a pool in another galaxy completely and our family problems still manage to get us down," Rodney chuckled. "How pathetic huh?"

"Not pathetic, no," John said, looking out across the water, and watching the underwater lights reflect the rippling of the pool on the walls. "Just different."

"Right. Just different," Rodney laughed for real. "I think different for us qualifies as completely bat-shit crazy, don't you?"

John grinned at him. "I'm starting to get that."

Rodney frowned a moment later, a funny look crossing his face.

"What?"

"Nothing just..." Rodney started, but then winced sharply.

John straightened up, his hand clutching Rodney's shoulder.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's okay, its just...Ow." He winced again, his hand going to the swell of his stomach.

"Should I call Keller? Is there something wrong with the baby? Rodney...."

"I'm okay," Rodney exhaled slowly, his hand rubbing his stomach under the water. "I think...I think the baby kicked me. It's never done that before. Moved, I mean."

"Really?" John's fear died down a little at that, but he kept his hand on his shoulder, ready to haul him out of the water at the moments notice.

"Yes really," Rodney scowled at him, annoyed. "Would you calm down? I'm not going to break. Keller said that feeling movement was normal. It just feels....weird."

Rodney took his hand and placed it down low on his stomach on his right side. A couple of moments later, he felt something brush his hand softly.

"Wow...that's amazing." John whispered in amazement. "That's the first time it's moved?"

Rodney nodded, his eyes closed. "Keller was getting a little worried about it, because it's been so still, but apparently it's decided to get active."

The baby moved against John's hand again, and they sat there, locked in silence as the baby shifted within Rodney's belly restlessly. It just made everything feel so much more real to John, with the evidence of new life beneath his very hand, moving and growing in its cramped little world.

He would never admit it to anyone, certainly not Rodney, but he had started to love the baby more each day, wondering at the blooming of fresh life. Feeling it move made his chest ache in a funny way.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked several minutes later, both his hands glued to Rodney's stomach.

Rodney shook his head. "Must have got in a lucky shot." he murmured, with his eyes still closed.

John leaned forward and pressed his lips to his shoulder reverently, before pressing another to where his shoulder met his neck and laying his head there, feeling damp skin and heat beneath his cheek and breathing in the sharp, clean smell of Rodney.

A cheek rested gently against his head, and he closed his eyes when he felt Rodney's arms close around him.

He left his hands on Rodney's stomach, longing fiercely for further movement of the tiny child.

"This is so unfair," Rodney said for the thousandth time that morning, a grumpy glare on his face as he rested propped up on the pillows of their bed.

John, who was digging through the contents of their closet looking for his favorite jacket, rolled his eyes, knowing Rodney couldn't see it.

Confining him to bed rest had been necessary for his and the baby's health, but Keller obviously hadn't been thinking of John's peace of mind or his sanity when she had reinforced the decision.

"So you've said for the umpteenth time this morning Rodney, but there isn't anything I can do about it, as I've also said for the hundredth time this morning."

"Bullshit. You're the military commander of Atlantis. There has to be something you can do. You're just choosing not to."

"You're right," John agreed as he freed his jacket with an aggressive tug before he straightened up and shrugged into it, turning to face him. "And it's for your own good. You were working too hard and it was taking a toll on you too much."

"I can work sitting down, you know that," Rodney grumbled.

"Yeah, that's what you said a month ago too, but it didn't slow you down at all. You'll also notice that I haven't taken away your computers, and that Sam hasn't restricted your access to the city servers."

John tightened his holsters and checked that his firearms had the safety's flipped on. After that unfortunate accident with Smith and a gun without the safety on a week ago, he wasn't taking chances.

"And here you are going on a mission again when you should be resting," Rodney said accusingly. "Don't think I don't know your knee is hurting you again. I'm not blind, John."

"And I'm not disabled. I can walk and run just fine. Keller wouldn't have cleared me for the mission if I wasn't fit."

"Whatever. Don't blame me if you're pulled from duty for a month because you hurt yourself again," Rodney muttered sulkily.

John couldn't help the smile that was teasing at his mouth, so he turned around and leaned down on the bed to press a kiss to that down turned mouth.

"Now don't be a sour puss Rodney," he grinned when he'd pulled back. "I'll be back this evening, remember? And tomorrow Leander's going to visit, remember? Carter finally approved his arrival in Atlantis."

John knew that Rodney still had mixed feelings about the man, but Keller had wanted to talk to him about that other man who Leander had helped, and she and Heightmire had both agreed that his visit might help put things in perspective for Rodney himself.

"Please. Sourpuss? If that's all you've got, go now and don't come back until you've thought of better insults." Rodney grumped, but John could see that he'd relaxed a little.

He pressed another, deeper kiss to Rodney's beloved mouth before dragging himself away. It wouldn't help to get too interested right before a mission. Besides, they were giving Martinez a try on the team today, and it wouldn't be a good look to be turned on their first meeting.

"I've gotta go, I'm going to be late. You look after yourself, you hear?"

"You too. Don't go getting yourself held hostage or roughed up or anything ridiculous like that."

John grinned at him, and shouldered his pack before heading towards the door.

"Zelenka will be here in a few to go over re-scheduling with you. Bye!"

Grinning to himself, he headed for the gate room, and what promised to be an extremely boring trade mission. The one comfort being that it wasn't an over night mission, and he'd be back in Atlantis in less than eight hours.

Best just to grin and bear it until it was over.

John scowled in pain and irritation as Ronon hefted him a little higher on his shoulder and they staggered another couple of steps.

"I'd never have thought I'd start missing Rodney on missions," Ronon growled. "I never knew you were as clumsy as he is."

"I'm not clumsy," he retorted before gritting his teeth as a hot flash of pain engulfed his knee once more. "It's just been a bad week."

"It's not much further to the gate." Teyla squinted into the distance. "Perhaps I can go ahead and send a stretcher back for you."

"That won't be necessary," he muttered, recognizing their teasing for what it was. If anything it took his mind off of the pain of his dislocated knee. Keller was going to kill him.

"Seriously, how is it possible for you to injure yourself walking down a flight of stairs?" Ronon groused as they hobbled along.

John was seriously starting to wonder that himself. One minute he had been fine, the next he had gone down, not exactly howling in pain, but not being quiet about it either. His knee hurt like a bitch and he had been warned by Keller to take it easy, or surgery might become necessary to correct the damage to his knee.

In his mind, he was griping silently to himself about how it was exactly why he had joined the air force, rather than the army or the navy. He flew planes, he didn't do ground work. He was a pilot for chrissakes, and finding himself in another galaxy, Commander of a mission that regularly seemed doomed to end horribly had not been something he had signed up for. But like everything else he had come to accept the blows that life dealt him and to roll with the punches.

While he had regretted that at times, there were some things he wouldn't change for the world.

His knee on the other hand was viciously and vindictively hating him for his decision.

"Holy shit this hurts," he gasped, unable to keep his pain silent any longer.

The gate loomed in from of them and Ronon set him down with surprising gentleness. Teyla had splinted his knee with expert hands and was dialing the gate.

"You're getting old, Sheppard. Couple of years ago, this would hardly have slowed you down," Ronon said, taking a seat beside him and stretching out his legs.

Coming from anyone else, the words would have stung John into action out of spite and a stubborn need to prove them wrong. Coming from Ronon, however, the words were only meant to tease. Especially with this that subtle glint in his eye that told John he was getting way too much enjoyment out of his suffering.

"Colonel," Teyla called from somewhere behind them, sounding worried.

Both he and Ronon turned to look over their shoulders from their seats on the ground.

"The gate to Atlantis is not engaging. I fear something had happened to prevent the gate from making a connection."

"Damn it," John cursed, allowing Ronon to help him to his feet. All notion of teasing had vanished from their minds in that instant. "This is why we need Rodney. Try it again."

Teyla nodded and did as he asked as Ronon shouldered their packs once more and pulled John's arm over his shoulder.

Teyla shook her head grimly when the gate yet again failed to engage.

"Try the alpha site," he ordered, not letting the building distress cloud his mind or his judgment.

They all breathed a sigh of relief when the gate to the alpha site engaged.

"Not a problem on our side then," Ronon remarked as Teyla sent her IDC through.

"Small mercy," John muttered as Teyla stepped up to his other side and took his arm. Together they moved towards the gate, with the throbbing pain in his knee increasing with each step they took. Now the possibility of a situation on Atlantis was just what he needed.

Upon emerging on the other side, they were greeted with grim faced marines and a face full of weapons.

"Relax guys, it's just us," John said through gritted teeth.

"It's good to see your face, Sir," Lieutenant Markham said, jogging up to them as they staggered down the stairs.

"What's the situation with Atlantis, Lieutenant?"

"They contacted us a couple of minutes ago sir. There was some kind of malfunction with the gate on their end, but they've managed to re-establish a connection with us. Colonel Carter has ordered that all gate activity is to cease until they've run some tests to establish that the wormhole is stable and that it's safe to travel."

"Good," Sheppard sighed. All the built up tension drained from his body. Atlantis was safe, Rodney and the baby were safe. "That's good. Now someone get me to the damn infirmary before I fall on my face."

"Doctor Abraham is ready and waiting for you, Sir," Markham smiled.

Half an hour later, he was settled on an infirmary bed, his knee surrounded with icepacks and the pain dulled considerably by drugs. Teyla and Ronon had washed and changed and were sitting at his bedside as they all waited rather impatiently for the gate to be fixed.

"Well guys, I have a feeling I won't be out in the field for a while," John told them ruefully as he ran a hand through his hair. "Keller threatened to ground me for a few months if I did my knee in again."

"Stairs can be a fearsome enemy, can't they?" Ronon said casually, cleaning underneath his fingernails with one of his many knives.

John scowled at him and crossed his arms. The whole day had been irritating at very best, and Ronon's teasing wasn't easing his concern over this gate problem.

"I'm sure it won't be very long John," Teyla reassured him calmly, with a withering look at Ronon. "Keller's team of doctors are very good."

"I have no doubt," John agreed. "But Rodney will never let me here the end of this."

Teyla smiled. "I think you may be right."

"He's getting big," Ronon said bluntly, moving to his other hand. "Like he's going to explode soon."

"I hope you didn't actually say that to him, Ronon," John scowled at him once more.

"You crazy?" Ronon snorted. "I don't have a death wish. His temper is..."

"Quite volatile these days," Teyla broke in. "And understandably so. His time is coming near and he is undoubtedly anxious about it."

"Has he said anything to you about it?" he asked sharply.

Teyla shook his head and smiled at him indulgently.

"He doesn't need to John. While he hasn't said anything about it, it is obvious in the way he carries himself, and it's natural in all expectant parents."

"It's amazing that he's carried the baby this far," John said softly, looking away from her and down at his roughened hands. "Keller told me she wasn't expecting him to make it past the third month at the latest, and now he's almost through month six and it's getting closer to his due date. No one knows what's going to happen to him or the baby and I think he's avoiding thinking about what that means...."

"John," Teyla reached out and took one of his hands. "Rodney is stronger than he thinks he is. He has one of the best teams of doctor's on all of earth to help him through this. He has us. He had you."

"Yeah, some help I've been," John replied cynically. "I hardly know how to act around him myself, let alone...."

He broke off and rubbed at his eyes in exhaustion. "Sorry guys. I'm just tired. Maybe I should get some rest."

"Pain does that," Ronon said, standing up. "I'll wake you as soon as Atlantis contacts us again."

With that he left them alone. Teyla herself stood up, smiling down at him.

"You need not worry, John. Rodney knows that you love him. If he has nothing else, he has that and he knows that's enough."

John looked up at her, trying not to let his surprise show. Although really, he should have been surprised. It was Teyla he was talking to, and there had actually been a point when he'd been worried that her powers of observation were actually some kind of supernatural phenomenon.

"You...you know about that huh?"

"Do not fear, John Sheppard. I am aware of your military's rules and regulations on same sex relationships, and I can assure you that neither you nor Rodney have been obvious about your relationship. It is, however, obvious to both me and Ronon, but only because we know you both so well, and that the culmination of you relationship was inevitable. I have never met two people who complement each other so completely."

There wasn't much he could say to such a compliment, so he squeezed her hand gently, grateful that she never seemed to need words to know what he was feeling.

"Do not worry about what's going to happen a week from now. Concentrate on getting Rodney through another day. Now, get some rest."

Teyla patted his hand and left quietly. John lay back in the bed and stared at the ceiling.

The Alpha site had been developed and built upon since their arrival in Pegasus. There were still tents that slept soldiers, or held supplies but more buildings were going p every month. There was the Communications and Co-ordination building, the infirmary and the mess hall, shower and bathroom facilities.

They didn't have the beauty, nor the calm, serene colors of Atlantis, and he'd give everything to be back there. He needed to see Rodney; just being away from him when he was becoming heavily pregnant rapidly.

There were so many untidy ends to the whole messy saga, and it had been nagging at him ever since they'd gotten Rodney back. John needed answers, and he had no doubt that Rodney did too.

But a long day of boredom, pain and worry had worn down him, and made his mind dull. Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

It was almost one in the morning when they finally were able to gate back to Atlantis. The gate room was quiet, except for the few Techs and scientists who were diligently tying up loose ends of the problem that they had finally solved.

It was Keller and Sam that greeted them on the floor of the gate room.

"It's good to have you back," Sam greeted them tiredly. "Sorry about the delay. We didn't want to risk losing you when we could wait and run some tests to ensure we wouldn't."

"We understand, Colonel Carter. There was no harm done," Teyla assured her.

John was dopey with tiredness and drugs, but he managed a smile for Carter anyway.

"We should get you to the infirmary, Colonel Sheppard," Keller stepped forward. "I'd like to do some scans on your knee."

There was no recrimination or accusation in her voice though, but her eyes were filled with anxiety, and he suddenly knew it wasn't aimed at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly alert.

"You should come to the infirmary, John," she told him seriously. "We'll talk there."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on."

She sighed and closed her eyes briefly, before looking at him directly.

"It's Rodney."

TBC

A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. Hopefully the next chapter will be up next weekend and thank you to all of you who kept reviewing and encouraging me to continue. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think!!!!