“So?”
Rodney frowned; looking over to where his daughter stood, staring at him expectantly.
“So what?” he asked confused.
“You were on a Wraith ship,” she cried excitedly, “And you got to use their technology.”
“And?” Rodney grimaced at her.
“What was it like?” she demanded, a little petulant that he was being so unforthcoming with the answers she wanted.
“Terrifying,” he replied blandly, “Lissa, this wasn’t a fun trip.”
His daughter rolled her eyes at him, “I’m not talking about that,” she folded her arms across her chest, “I’m talking about the actual technology they use which you were able to operate. I mean how cool was that?”
“You have to stop hanging around with Ford,” Rodney muttered as she continued to wait expectantly.
Alisa rolled her eyes at him again, “Dad, this is a completely alien technology that there has been no one working on before you to give you any ideas on how to use unlike the Ancient tech around us which was studied on Earth...” she trailed off as he smiled at her, “What?”
“And you still say you’re not going to be a scientist,” he laughed.
“I’m just interested is all,” Alisa sniffed slightly in derision; “You know I want to follow in Mom’s footsteps and be a writer.”
“Of course,” Rodney replied flatly, “Despite a few little experiments that are in your permanent record from school?”
Alisa spread her hands and gave him an innocent smile, “I’ll use it in my book.”
Rodney laughed, “Go, it’s time to get some sleep.”
“What about you?” Alisa asked concerned.
Rodney smiled at her, resting his hand on her head, “I’ve just got some stuff to finish then I will get some sleep myself.”
“Really?” she frowned suspiciously at him.
Rodney nodded, “Yes. I promise. Is that okay?”
Alisa shrugged before stretching up and kissing his cheek, “Night, Dad.”
Rodney watched her wander out and smiled, “Night, Lissa.”
“Help us!!”
Rodney gasped as he woke up from the nightmare. He’d seen them trapped in one of those Wraith cocoons, both Lis and Lissa, his wife and daughter screaming at him to help them. Shakily, he went to the sink and quickly threw some water on his face before he had to check on her.
When they’d arrived on Atlantis, John had found this apartment for them which had two bedrooms and a lounge, Alisa had tried to argue that she should get a room of her own but Rodney vetoed it instantly. This thankfully, hadn’t been a long argument; Atlantis had been frightening at night at first. It sometimes still was.
Rodney stumbled through the lounge, swearing under his breath as he hit his foot on the table that shouldn’t have been in that position.
“Lissa, move things back,” he muttered as he slid it across the floor, out of his way.
Rodney continued to hobble over to his daughter’s room, gently pressing the panel and opening the door.
Sliding in, he smiled to see his daughter fast asleep, curled around her pillow. Her pale face was relaxed as she dreamed what he was sure were good dreams from the smile on her face. She didn’t wake up; she almost never did when he watched her sleep. It was something he had done more often than he would admit to anyone; he got a great deal of comfort just watching her like this.
After a few minutes; he slipped out and after pulling on some clothes went wandering the corridors of Atlantis, in search of a little peace of mind.
“Dr McKay?”
Rodney stopped as he entered the mess to find Teyla sitting eating some chocolate pudding, staring out at the starlit sky.
“Sorry,” he said, “I didn’t think anyone else would be here.”
“I could not sleep,” Teyla told him, offering him the seat beside her.
“Tell me about it,” Rodney sighed; grabbing one of the puddings, taking the seat at her side, “So, why can’t you sleep?”
Teyla didn’t flinch at the bluntness of his question, she was getting used to Rodney’s nature, “I cannot stop thinking of what happened to Tyrus,” she told him sadly, “I knew him for a long time…even if I did not truly know him.”
“Yeah,” Rodney sighed, leaning back against his seat.
Teyla turned to him, “His daughter Sora is now without her father, do you worry about this yourself?”
Rodney blanched.
“I apologise,” she said quickly, “I didn’t mean to…”
“Its fine,” Rodney cut her off.
They sat in silence for several minutes finally Teyla turned to him.
“I hope you do not take offence to this,” she spoke softly, “But when we first met, I would never have suspected you to have a child.”
Rodney snorted amused, “Nobody does.”
“Is that why you never speak of her to those who do not know?” Teyla asked.
Rodney dropped his head for a second.
“You do not need…”
“Alisa is my world,” Rodney told her, “I have given up a lot of opportunities because I had to raise her and I know that I wouldn’t change that for anything. The reason I don’t talk about her is because I don’t want anyone trying to use her against me.”
Teyla looked a little shocked, “Have people tried…”
“Once,” Rodney replied, dropping his eyes back to his pudding before looking up at her again, “And I won’t let it happen again.”
Teyla smiled softly at him and as they both turned back to look at the stars, she rested her head against his shoulder; Rodney sighed and tilted his head to rest upon hers, both of them taking comfort from a friend.
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Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
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