Alisa jogged to the infirmary when she heard her father was there. As she walked in to the room she smiled slightly, relieved to see her father lying on the bed and amused at what she saw.
“So many colours,” Rodney slurred, touching the canula in his nose, “All the pretty horses.”
Elizabeth turned to Carson, “What's he talking about?”
“I gave him some morphine for the pain,” Carson told her apologetically; he smiled as he saw Alisa walking over giving her a small wave in greeting as she stood just out of sight so she could watch.
Alisa noted one of the Marines standing by, he seemed to be trying to talk to her father and she couldn’t help but smile as he was getting absolutely nowhere.
“I need to know how many villagers,” the man, Alisa was almost certain his name was Olden but wouldn’t swear to it said to Rodney, “How far is the Gate from the village?”
Rodney looked up blearily at the other man, “Have you seen a guy around? He looks like you, but he's got messy hair. I think I lost him somewhere,” he paused for a second, “And ... and...and a pretty girl and a caveman.”
“I may have given him a wee bit too much,” Carson noted apologetically, “But he was making it impossible for me to treat him.”
Olden frowned before continuing his questioning, “Snap out of it, McKay! It's important!” as Rodney ignored him he lost his patience, “Come on! What kind of weapons did they have?”
“I'd say something that shoots arrows is a good guess,” Carson interrupted.
“Excuse me,” Rodney called out, “Why am I lying here?”
“You have an arrow, Rodney,” Carson called over to him, “In your gluteus maximus.”
“Oh. Well, that sounds painful,” he put his head back down on the bed and sighed contentedly, “Gluteus maximus, Glootus ... maaxim ...” he turned his head drowsily, still speaking calmly, “Oh my God! That's my ass, isn't it?”
“Aye,” Carson sighed.
Elizabeth shook her head; she had work to do, “Call me if he makes any sense.”
As Elizabeth left the room, Olden leaned in to try again.
“Why don’t you let me try,” Alisa said as she walked over to her father.
“Lissa,” Rodney cried happily, reaching out to touch her arm, “There’s my baby.”
Alisa smiled down at him, “Hi, Daddy,” she deliberately geared her reactions to his, “How’re you feeling?”
“I have an arrow,” he stated with a dopey grin, “In my Glutius Maximus.”
Alisa smiled, “I heard.”
“We need answers,” Olden reminded her sharply.
Before Alisa could tell him to back off, Rodney motioned to Olden.
“Have you met my baby?” Rodney grinned at the Marine, “Isn’t she just a little angel. Absolutely beautiful, just like her Mom. My little angel.”
Olden, obviously not impressed, almost growled out his question, “Where is Colonel Sheppard?”
Alisa rolled her eyes and stepped in front of the Marine, “Daddy,” she crouched in front of Rodney and took his hands, “We need to find John, can you tell me where he is?”
“In a village,” Rodney told her, he motioned her forward, “They wanted Ronan,” he whispered secretively, “They had arrows and,” he waved his hand vaguely.
“Major Olden,” Elizabeth’s voice came over the radio, “Colonel Sheppard and Teyla are back.
Alisa heard the Marine let out a sigh of relief and head away. She glanced up at the doctor who smiled back at her.
“Where’d he go?” Rodney asked, confused that Marine had disappeared.
Alisa squeezed his hand, “It’s okay, Daddy. John and Teyla are back, it’s going to be okay.”
-
“Hi.”
Rodney opened his eyes and saw his daughter sitting at his side.
“Ow,” was all he could manage as he tried to move, “What happened?”
“You were shot in the ass with an arrow,” Alisa smirked, “Now there is something I never thought I’d say.”
“Me neither,” Rodney groaned, he frowned as the memory of what had happened flooded back, “The others?”
Alisa dropped her head, “Ronan’s missing. John and Teyla are with Elizabeth, they’re trying to work out what to do.”
Rodney nodded and eased himself off the bed.
“What are you doing?” Alisa cried in astonishment, “Dad, Carson doesn’t know you’re awake yet.”
“Then tell him while I get dressed,” Rodney ordered, making her frown and he sighed, “Lissa, I’m fine now go get Carson.”
-
“Miss McKay.”
Alisa turned and smiled as she saw Caldwell walk towards her, “Hi, Colonel. Nice to see you again,” she hesitated, “Or are you going to be yelling at me for the last time?”
Caldwell smiled amused, “I believe you’ve already learned your lesson. I also know that Hermiod is looking for your report.”
“Oh yeah,” she rolled her eyes, “I was kinda busy checking up on my dad.”
Caldwell nodded, “I’m sure I’ll see you later.”
Alisa smiled and headed away to send Hermiod her report then see what she could do to help locate Ronan. She was worried that they’d lost him forever but had clung onto John’s hope that the Wraith would make him a Runner again. Because if they stuck another tracking device in his back – her father could find him and John could save him.
*********************************************
Ronan moaned slightly as he woke up, the moment he saw the infirmary he relaxed.
“Finally,” a voice said from his side.
Ronan turned to find the teenager sitting at his side; she had a laptop sitting on the table in front of her and an apple in her hand.
“What are you doing here?” Ronan demanded confused.
“My shift,” she shrugged, taking a bite from her apple, “We were hoping you would wake up during Teyla’s watch but no such luck, you’ve been sleeping like a baby.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked again, still confused.
Alisa rolled her eyes, “You were injured. We didn’t want you to wake up alone.”
“What are you doing here?”
“You...” she trailed off, annoyed that he wasn’t catching on to the concept, “Ronan, you were almost killed, you had another tracking thing shoved in your back and you were sent back to somewhere that holds many bad memories for you. We wanted someone here when you woke up so you know you’re not alone anymore.”
Ronan stared at the girl at his side, the affection in her eyes filled him with a strange sense he hadn’t had in a long time. He belonged here, here with these people – as strange as they were.
“Hey, buddy,” John’s voice broke through the silence of the room, “Awake at last. We thought we would have to light a fire under you to get you out this bed.”
Ronan frowned at him, “How long was I out?”
“Three days,” Rodney noted as he joined them, he glanced over Alisa’s shoulder to see what she was working on.
Alisa waved him away and gathered up her stuff, “Now you’re up, I have to go and finish some stuff in the lab. I’ll see you guys for lunch.”
-
Ronan was anxious to be let out of the infirmary and finally Carson shooed him, with orders to rest. He walked slowly through the corridors, taking in the city that had become his home. As he walked past the labs he could hear Rodney and Radek discussing, loudly, something he had no idea about but they were obviously very intent that the other was wrong. Ronan glanced inside and saw Alisa sitting watching them, amusement covering her face. She turned and spotted him, giving him a wide smile and raised an eyebrow at the other two. Ronan grinned back and slipped away.
Continuing on he came to the gym where Teyla was training with several of the marines, he spotted Laura Cadman nursing her arm at one side as Teyla explained several of the techniques she used.
Next he watched John and Elizabeth as they sat on one of the balconies going over supplies and requisition forms to send to Earth on the next scheduled contact. They were laughing at something on one of the forms, both relaxed in this place they called home.
As he started towards the mess to join them all for lunch, Ronan stopped for a second at one of the balconies. He closed his eyes and thought of Melena, of how much he still missed her and how much she would have loved being here.
Whispering a soft, final goodbye to the pain of her memory he allowed himself to remember everything good for the first time. As he started to join his team, his friends Ronan saw Alisa just ahead of him. He jogged to catch up with her and rested his hand on her shoulder, asking what had been happening earlier in the lab.
This was home.
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Fortune\'s Favor by Offworlder FAM
Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
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