The Other City von T L Kay
Rodney stood in the gate room watching the personnel from Atlantis who were going on the Andromeda expedition come through. He was trying very hard to contain his jealousy, but it wasn’t very easy. He really wanted to go on this mission, to the point that he was no longer allowed near General Landry from pestering him so much. He plastered a fake smile on his face and stepped forward to greet his friend.
“Hello Rodney,” said Zelenka with a smug smile.
Rodney frowned. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you Radek?”
Zelenka nodded. “A little bit. Oh come Rodney, you always get a chance to shine, now it’s my chance. I’m sure they all wish that you could go, but then you wouldn’t be at Atlantis and then where would we be? What you need to do is clone yourself, then you could go both places.”
“But that wouldn’t solve anything, because then my clone would be getting to have all the fun and we’d be back where we started.”
“That was a joke, doctor,” said a voice from behind them. They turned to see Major Lorne coming down the ramp as the gate shut down. “We’ll all miss you McKay, but I’m sure we could send you a postcard or something.”
Zelenka laughed.
Rodney opened his mouth to say something scathing but was cut off by John and Kate’s entrance.
“Rodney play nice,” said John. “We all wish you were going on this mission.”
“We do?” whispered Zelenka to Kate.
John shot them a warning look. “Dr. Lam is waiting for you all in the infirmary. You know the drill; once you’ve been cleared you can do what you want. And Rodney,” he added, grabbing the man’s arm as he turned to leave with Zelenka. “Play nice.”
“Don’t I always?”
John laughed.
“I’ll walk with you,” said Kate to Major Lorne. “See you later John.”
John nodded.
“Colonel,” said Lorne, before turning and following Kate out. “So I really didn’t get a chance to talk to you back on Atlantis, what with that whole dying thing.”
She smiled. “Yeah, that was a bit inconvenient. “
“Yes. But I take it you’ve been well?”
She nodded. “As well as could be expected, with not knowing where my brother was and what he was doing.” Suddenly she stopped, looking at him with a very serious expression. “Why didn’t you tell me, Evan? I mean, it’s not like we haven’t talked over the past few years.”
“Kat, I didn’t know.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“Sheppard is a pretty common name. He never said anything, and I never got enough out of you to make the connection. I swear I didn’t know.”
Kate smiled reluctantly. “I could never stay mad at you.”
“Am I allowed to hug my commanding officer?” he asked with a smile.
She laughed and pulled him into a hug.
“Congratulations by the way,” he said as they started walking again.
Kate shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
Evan smiled. “Sure.”
“Oh look, the infirmary, I get to abandon you,” she said with a smile.
He gave her a childish push on the shoulder.
“You’re coming out with us later, right?”
“When?”
She shrugged. “Sometime tonight, it’s John’s thing. He thinks we should blow off some steam before we go. But not too late, I have to be in early for briefings.”
He nodded. “Sounds like fun. I assume I can crash at your place?”
She smiled. “Always.”
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