Rodney marched through the corridors towards his room, still fuming with John over the ‘Ancient’ woman. He couldn’t believe the man, who was supposed to be in charge of their safety, had spilled his guts on everything to the bimbo. Fine, she was an Ancient, but the Major hadn’t known that from the start.
“Lissa?” he called sharply when he entered the lounge, “Lissa, are you in here?”
Rodney let out an annoyed huff, she was supposed to be studying today. He had all the exams for her so she’d be able to pass the school year and he’d planned for her to do them within the next few weeks. The last thing he needed, today especially, was his daughter to start acting up.
“Lissa?” he yelled again.
The door to her room slid open and his daughter staggered forward, looking pale and weak.
“Dad, I’m not feeling well,” Alisa groaned, leaning heavily against the doorframe.
Rodney strode forward and gently touched her forehead, he frowned at how hot she was.
“Let’s go see Carson,” he placed his arm around her, starting her out the door.
Carson came over the instant he was told Alisa wasn’t well. He already had met Rodney the mother-hen from hell; he was not giving the other man the chance to bitch about Carson’s medical skills.
“Well, Alisa,” Carson greeted her with a gentle smile, taking the thermometer from her mouth, “You have a fever. Have you had any other symptoms?”
Alisa sighed, “My head hurts, I feel really cold and I was sick.”
“Have you been sick more than once?” Carson asked, checking her blood pressure.
“No,” she replied, “But I’ve felt like it most of the day.”
“Well,” Carson turned to Rodney, including him in the conversation, “There’s a bug going round the Athosians. A few of the science team that were on the mainland a few days ago caught it. It’ll probably make its way round everyone over the next few weeks.”
“So,” Rodney started, “There’s nothing to worry about?”
Carson smiled reassuringly, “Of course not. However, with your work schedule I’m going to keep Alisa here. It means she won’t be alone and I can keep an eye on her.”
Alisa’s eyes fluttered as she tried to stay awake and concentrate on the conversation
“Good,” Rodney told Carson before gently stroked his daughter’s forehead, “Go to sleep, Lissa. You’ll feel better for it.”
“Uh hu,” she sighed; sliding down on the bed, curling up and falling asleep quickly.
Carson draped an extra blanket over the girl then motioned Rodney away from the sleeping teenager.
“You’ve no need to worry,” the doctor told him again, “It’ll make her sick and she’ll be tired for a few days but it’s not that bad.”
“You’re sure?” Rodney demanded.
Carson smiled, “Aye, Rodney she’s gonna be fine. And since she’s here, you don’t have to worry about her being alone.”
*********************************************
Alisa opened her eyes blearily and smiled seeing who was sitting at her bedside, thumbing through a comic book.
“Hey, Aiden,” she murmured, her throat dry and rough.
“Hey,” Ford dropped his reading material and handed her a glass of water, “Here.”
Alisa sighed in relief as the water cooled her burning throat, “What’re you doing here?”
Ford laughed, “Thought I’d see how you were feeling. You look terrible by the way.”
“Thanks,” she replied wryly, “You know you’ll probably catch this if you stick around here.”
Ford shrugged, “I’ll take my chances. Doc Beckett’s got some orange juice; I think that’s what it is, if you want,” he frowned in thought, “That is if you can have that.”
Alisa looked a little confused but realisation dawned quickly, “I’m not allergic to citrus,” she told him, “I was lucky.”
“Considering how many allergies your Dad supposedly has,” Ford laughed, finding her frowning at him, “What.”
“It’s not supposedly,” she rasped annoyed, “It’s serious.”
“Really,” he looked at her in disbelief.
“I’ve seen him go into anaphylactic shock,” Alisa whispered.
Ford stared at her horrified, “When?”
“It was my best friend’s thirteenth birthday party,” Alisa explained, a slight shiver went through her at the memory, “He took a bite of a cake, there was a tiny bit of lemon juice in the mix for flavouring,” her blue eyes fixed sharply on her friend “It was terrifying.”
Ford looked contrite instantly, “Sorry.”
“S’okay,” she sighed, yawning again despite having just woken up.
“Are you allergic to anything?” Ford couldn’t stop himself asking.
Alisa laughed, which turned into a slight coughing fit; she took the water he handed her quickly, sighing as she leant back against her pillows.
“I’m actually allergic to the one thing he’s not,” Alisa told Ford.
“What’s that?” he grinned.
“Cats,” Alisa replied, “Which sucked, ‘cause Dad wants one. He seems to like them for some reason.”
She yawned again closing her eyes for a moment, falling asleep within seconds.
“And the sleeping beauty awakens,” a voice made her turn, blinking at the man at her bedside.
“Peter?” she pushed herself to sit up, looking confused at the man glancing down at the laptop sitting in front of him, “What are you playing?”
Peter looked down at his screen and back at her with mock horror, “I happen to be working on something of great importance.”
“Solitaire or Freecell,” Alisa smiled as she took a drink of the water at her bedside cabinet.
“Actually,” Peter grinned back, “Minesweeper. Need some actual skill to play.”
Alisa coughed, still managing to keep the amused smirk on her lips.
“Is there a rota or something?” she asked, waving at the chair he was sitting in.
Peter looked at her innocently before nodding, “Your Dad can be a right bastard when he’s in a bad mood and with him worrying about you as well…let’s just say it’s to stop him being pissed at one thing.”
“Is he in bad mood?” Alisa asked, she hadn’t actually seen her father since the teams return from Proculus, other than when he’d brought her here.
Peter winced, “He and Major Sheppard appear to have had…a disagreement.”
Alisa frowned at him, “What do you mean by disagreement?”
“All I know,” he told her, “Is that when they’re not talking everyone else is happier. Because when they are talking, they’re yelling.”
Alisa grimaced, “Do you know why they’re arguing?”
Peter shook his head, “I’m not precisely sure,” he checked the time, “Sorry, kid. I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes”
“I’m going to sit and stare at a wall for a while,” she said, noticing a book sitting on her bedside cabinet, although unsure where it came from she picked it up.
Peter gently squeezed her shoulder, “I’ll see you later, Alisa. Feel better.”
“Thanks, Peter,” Alisa smiled softly, she waited until he was gone before she opened the book and started it.
*********************************************
“Ow.”
John frowned, confused when he heard Alisa cry out slightly as he walked into the infirmary to see her.
“Stop moving and it won’t hurt,” Rodney was saying when John arrived at the teenager’s infirmary bed.
The picture that greeted him was something he never in his life would have imagined. Alisa, dressed in scrubs was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed with Rodney behind her, braiding her hair.
“John,” Alisa smiled when she saw him, wincing as her father pulled on her hair slightly.
“What do you want?” Rodney glared at the Major.
John grimaced at the venom in the other man’s voice but couldn’t resist baiting him, “At the moment, to see if you’ll do my hair.”
Alisa swallowed her laugh, choking slightly.
Rodney fixed an angry glare on him, “You try having a five year old daughter with hair to her waist and a tendency to crawl through hedges. The day you have to untangle that then you can make fun of me.”
Alisa let out another yelp of pain, returning Rodney’s attention to her, “Stop complaining, Lissa. You were the one who wanted your hair fixed.”
“Fixed,” she replied, her voice still rough, “Not yanked out by the roots.”
Rodney leaned forward, “Then stop squirming,” he muttered into her ear.
Alisa let out a sigh but stayed silent as Rodney finished and moved to the chair beside her bed. She slid back against her pillow, sliding back under the covers which Rodney fixed properly.
“How’re you feeling, Alisa?” John moved to the other side of her.
She turned to him, “Much better. Carson’s going to keep me here for a few more days though.”
“I’ll be back later, Lissa,” Rodney said suddenly standing up, he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead, “Get some more rest.”
Alisa waited until he was gone before turning to John, “What the hell is wrong with the pair of you?”
He looked at her confused, “What?”
“You guys are friend,” Alisa reminded him, “Why are you acting like grade-schoolers?”
John sighed, “It’s complicated…”
“No,” she cut him off, “It’s not. You just like to think it is so you can justify being bitchy to one another.”
“Bitchy?” John raised a questioning eyebrow.
“You know what I mean;” Alisa sighed, leaning back tiredly, “Dad doesn’t have many friends. You need to talk to him.”
“Alisa…”
“Please,” she pleaded, her big blue eyes beseeching.
John winced at the emotional blackmail he was getting. It was hard to believe that this girl had ensconced herself so deep into his heart in such a short time but she had and he hated disappointing her.
“Alright,” he cried after a few moments.
The teenager gave him a small smile, “Thank you,” she sighed before yawning, turning away from him to get some sleep.
John had avoided Rodney for the past few days after the Chaya thing. Anytime they had been in the same room ended with one or both of them yelling. With a sigh, he headed to find Rodney.
“What do you want?” the sharp question came from behind the computer when John entered the lab.
“To talk to you,” John moved and grabbed the spare stool.
“Why?”
John winced, he hated trying to talk to McKay when he was in this kind of mood but he had promised.
“Because your daughter looked at me with big sad eyes and asked me to,” John replied with a grimace.
He noticed the tiny smirk that appeared on Rodney’s face so John decided to stay on that track.
“Yep,” he mused, “That girl of yours has the emotional blackmail bit down pat. She knows I find it hard to say no to her.”
Rodney finally looked up at him, “You’ve talked to me, now go away.”
“Look, Rodney,” John sighed, “I’m sorry alright. But I knew what I was doing.”
Rodney snorted, “Like hell you did.”
“I knew I could trust her,” John countered, “Just like I knew I can trust you.”
“Bullshit,” Rodney yelled, “You didn’t trust me until after I stepped into that cloud. I know that; I’m not stupid, Major.”
John grimaced but before he could think of an answer Rodney jumped off his seat and left the lab.
“I’m trying to sleep, Dad,” Alisa sighed, seeing her father march into her room.
“Well that’s tough,” he replied taking a seat, “I want a word with you.”
She groaned, “About what?”
“Your interfering ways,” he frowned at her.
Alisa looked innocently at him, “I haven’t done anything.”
“Major Sheppard came to talk with me and said you sent him,” Rodney glared at her.
“Dad!!!” she moaned, wanting him to go away.
“Alisa, I do not need you telling John Sheppard to talk to me,” he snapped, “I am the adult, not you.”
“So act like it,” she snapped back; biting her lip, worrying she’d stepped over the line.
Rodney sat beside her, “Lissa, this is complicated.”
Alisa rested her head against his shoulder, “You’re the one who always said talking about things clears the air.”
Rodney snorted, “You were ten and you and your best friend had fallen out over a rock. Of course I told you to talk.”
Alisa gave a soft laugh before sighing, “I hate when you’re angry, Dad. I hate when you’re so obviously unhappy and I hate that I can’t do anything to help,” tears filled her eyes, “You are happy here, Dad and I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen you content. Major Sheppard is the first friend of yours I’ve ever met and I hate that you’re not talking to each other because you’re sad again.”
“Lissa,” he sighed, pulling her into him, “I never realised you thought of me like that.”
“All I knew was that you worked and you spent time with me,” she murmured drowsily, “I never got to see you laugh at stupid things, play practical jokes on people and swap insults playfully. I never saw that side of you till we got here.”
Rodney frowned, gently stroking his daughter’s hair as she fell asleep again; once he was sure she was completely asleep, Rodney moved and rested her back against the pillows. He’d never thought about how his isolated existence affected his daughter. Rodney stood watching her sleep thinking about how life was before they’d come here, he did work most of the time and had only acquaintances. The closest thing he had to a friend was Diane and that was only because their children were best friends. It saddened him that the only person before Atlantis he could possibly call friend had a distinct function.
John entered the infirmary to try one last time to talk to Rodney; finding the other man standing, watching his teenage daughter sleep.
“Rodney,” John said very softly, not wanting to wake the girl.
“She’s right,” Rodney turned to John, folding his arms across his chest, “We both said things that we shouldn’t have. I’ll forget if you will?”
John looked at him amazed, finding his voice after several moments, “Sure.”
Rodney nodded before leaving the infirmary and John standing over the girl.
“Damn,” John murmured amused, “You’re good, kid. You’re really good.”
With that he left her alone, not noticing the self-satisfied smile on Alisa’s face.
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Fortune\'s Favor by Offworlder FAM
Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
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