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Fic: Unspoken Part 20
Title: Unspoken
Author: Chaps1870
Pairing: Rodney/Carson Sheppard Friendship
Rating: R for language
Summary: After finding out about Rodney and Carson’s relationship, John’s friendship with Rodney is threatened.
Disclaimer: They belong to someone else, I’ll return them when I’m done….maybe. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Chapter 20
The jungle heat was oppressive, keeping conversation to a minimum exchange of directional cues. They’d stopped several times to rest, spending more time resting on the final leg than actually moving. The only sounds were the twitter of birds in the canopy and the labored breathing of the two men as they trudged through the undergrowth. Sheppard was relying on his sense of direction and a lot of luck to get them back. After several misguided attempts, they finally crested a hill and he exclaimed loudly, “Yes!”
Concentrating on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other, Rodney was startled by Sheppard’s shout and stopped suddenly, alarmed. About to ask what was so important it had to be shouted in his ear, his foot slipped on the wet ground. He stumbled trying to regain his footing, but the ground seemed to slip away under his feet and he fell hard. Landing on his backside, he was momentarily stunned and began sliding down the steep embankment. Digging his feet in, he tried desperately to get some purchase and still hold onto John. They picked up speed despite his efforts and when his foot finally snagged a root, it sent them both head over heals. Rodney reached out blindly for Sheppard as he lost his grip, but the last bit of contact eluded his fingertips and they were separated. “MAJOR!”
John’s eyes had widened when Rodney fell and any comment he been about to make about grace was lost when he’d realized they were still sliding. The hill was steep and wet and he should have been paying more attention to where McKay’s feet were rather than the buildings he could make out through the trees. Rodney had tried to dig his feet in but there was nothing within reach to stop them or even slow them down. John could only watch helplessly as McKay tried to gain some purchase.
He’d seen the root in the path they were on, but before he could open his mouth, it was too late and he was catapulted off of the scientist’s shoulders. He saw Rodney reach out for him, panic and fear etched in his face as he flipped through the air. It was like a snapshot, flashing on his brain for only a second before impact. The pain was like an explosion in his already aching ribs and there was no time to even register what had happened before darkness welled up and took the pain away. Crumpled against the stump that stopped his fall, he wasn’t witness to Rodney’s crash to the bottom.
Unable to see, McKay was helpless as his hands reached out to grasp something tangible on the way by. Panic tore through him, blindness increasing it tenfold, not knowing where he was going or what to expect.
The anxiety reached its peak when he suddenly went airborne. It seemed an indefinite amount of time, but physics was his mainstay and he knew what went up, must come down. It was still a shock when he landed hard on his back, knocking all the air from his lungs. He thought he heard the splash of water or maybe it was the sudden coldness that seeped into his clothes, whatever it was he only considered it a brief nanosecond before his head followed the motion of his body, slamming hard into the ground. There was a brief flash of pain before his body went limp and settled in a still heap at the bottom of the hill.
He woke up slowly, wanting nothing more than to slip back into that wonderful oblivion that kept the pain away. It was worse now, if that was possible and it made thinking difficult. It would be easy to just lie where he was, except he was cold and wasn’t sure why. Disoriented, he opened his eyes and panicked for a moment when the all consuming darkness failed to go away. Oh yeah, he was blind. It should be more disconcerting than it was but his head was about to explode and blindness really wouldn’t matter at that point. The thought of gray matter dappling the bushes around him made him chuckle and threatened to escalate if he didn’t stop. He tamped down on any more morbid thoughts, sure if he let them go someone would find him sitting in the forest laughing hysterically.
The coldness had seeped into his bones, making him shiver. Shifting a bit, his hand dropped off his chest and slapped at the water under him. His brain made the connection, albeit slowly, and Rodney congratulated himself on his brilliance. Water, wet, cold. Oh yeah, took a genius to figure that one out and yet he was still laying half in and half out of the chilly water, thinking he should move. He wondered only absently about where he was and why, but the pounding in his skull overrode any real curiosity. Only the bone-chilling cold made him finally make some effort to get out of the water.
His muscles felt sluggish, slow to respond to his commands, that and it was hard to concentrate when everything hurt. Visions of his brains leaking out his ears, pulsing in little gray rivulets, flashed in his head. Focus. He really needed to focus on something besides his head, but the daggers piercing his brain weren’t making it very easy. Basics. Go through the basics and work from there. Who? Dr. Rodney McKay. That was simple enough. What? Okay, little backslide there. What was what? Was that trick question and can you ask yourself a trick question? Focus, focus. Skip ahead to why. Why, why, why he singsonged in his head. Why was he stuck on this godforsaken planet, soaked to the skin with a headache from hell and where the hell was Major Sheppard?
Oh shit! Forgetting his headache and the way it hurt to even move, Rodney scrambled to his feet. His world tilted precariously and he slammed to his knees retching violently. Tears streaked his face as the pain in his skull worsened, sending another wave of dry heaves. The sickness left him breathless and hurting more but he didn’t have time for a pity party, he had to find the Major. Calling out, there was no answer and Rodney clawed at the earth to get up the hill. With no direction, he stretched his arms in all directions, hoping to touch some part of Sheppard in his random search. After several minutes of blind searching, frustration, and panic, exhaustion caught up with him and he sat with his head between his knees, gasping for air and fighting off the fear and nausea that was welling up.
For the first time since being blinded he was alone with no one to guide him, no one to ground him and it terrified him. He sat shaking in the shade of the trees, unsure which way to go, afraid if he kept moving he’d move completely out of range and wouldn’t be any good to the Major. Calming his breathing he listened, afraid he would miss the tiniest sound that would tell him where Sheppard was laying…injured, hurt, maybe dying. The silence was deafening, screaming at him over the pounding in his head and the thudding pulse of his heartbeat.
It came to him first as a familiar rustling of material and then a mere whisper, “Rodney.”
McKay’s head jerked up at the sound, wincing and biting down hard at the agonizing pain in his brain. He ignored it and spoke with as much calm as he could but even to his ears he sounded desperate, “Major, I need you to talk to me so I can find you.” He was already crawling towards the last sound, hoping it would get him closer.
“Up…to your left,” wheezed Sheppard, his voice not much above a whisper. Talking was as much an effort as breathing. Still wedged against the stump that had stopped his fall, he had twisted enough to see McKay crawling towards him. Wrapping his arm tightly around his ribs, he eased himself into a sitting position, taking some of the pressure off his wounded side. Whatever hope he had of not having broken ribs was completely overruled by the stabbing pain in his side. As Rodney got closer, he sighed, “Over here, McKay.”
Rodney’s hands found him, clamping down tight to his leg as he rambled, “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I lost my footing. I didn’t mean to drop you. Where are you hurt?”
Looking up, he saw the unguarded terror in Rodney’s eyes and he wondered how long he’d been out. Grabbing the hand that was still latched to his pant leg, he took it in his own and could feel it trembling before letting it go. “I’m fine. I just cracked my ribs again. How long was I out?” The shortness of breath and strained speech weren’t very convincing.
Shrugging, Rodney sat back on his haunches beside him. “I don’t know. I woke up and I couldn’t find you. I had to wait for you to say something.” He tried to joke but it came off flat, “Seemed like forever.” Dropping his head, he added guiltily, “I couldn’t do anything.”
“You did fine, McKay. I can see the buildings. All we have to do is get there, free the others and we can go home.” He didn’t add that he had no idea how they were going to do that, because there was no way he’d be able to ride on Rodney’s shoulders, not without passing out anyway. He looked at McKay as he sat beside him, his hair sticking up everywhere with bits of twig, grass and leaves stuck everywhere. “You look like the Swamp Thing.” Reaching out, he plucked a twig from Rodney’s hair.
Rodney batted his hand away and smoothed out his hair, finding other twigs and leaves. He tried to brush away the rest off his coat, but gave up, too tired to care. “How do you propose we get there, because I don’t think I can get you on my shoulders?” The last bit was said reluctantly, as if he was ashamed to admit he couldn’t do it. All morning he had fought to stay upright, hauling John through the underground labyrinth, but the last stretch through the jungle had taken what reserves he had. It was no longer a question of mind over matter. The tumble left him shaky and lightheaded and there was no way he’d be able to lift the major.
John felt badly for him, especially after how much he done throughout the day. McKay looked terrible, the gray pallor and shakiness even worse than earlier. “Don’t feel bad, McKay. If you put me on your back now, I’d probably scream like a little girl.”
Rodney smirked but it lacked his usual flair, “I’ll leave that visual for Kavanaugh, somehow with you it just comes out disturbing.” He plopped back on his butt and pulled up his knees, using them to rest his head on. “Short of dragging your ass, I’m out of ideas.” He closed his eyes, his voice slurring a bit as he spoke, “Wake me if you come up with something.”
Sheppard’s hand darted out and nudged him firmly, “No sleeping.” Rodney was startled awake and his confused look was very disconcerting. “You said you passed out, did you hit your head again?”
“Huh?”
John tried to shift closer to check him out but stopped when his ribs rebelled. With a grimace of pain, he asked instead, “Your head, did you hit it again before you passed out?”
Reaching his hand up, Rodney rubbed at the back of his head, “Yeah, maybe.”
“Were you sick?” He really didn’t need the answer to that. The smell of bile was unmistakable.
“I’m getting sick of all of this. I want a shower, a warm bed and sleep until I can’t sleep anymore.” Getting irritable at the questions, Rodney stormed to his feet and swayed dangerously on the hillside before his balance returned. He swallowed hard a couple times and paled even more. His voice was weak as he said lightly, “I’m fine. Nothing a little food won’t cure. I’m hypoglycemic, remember. Tends to make me edgy and flighty. I’m sorry.”
“Sure, McKay.” John wasn’t convinced, but there was no point in arguing. Until they could get back neither of them would be receiving any help for their injuries. If it were just himself, he could crawl back if he had to but he wasn’t about to leave McKay by himself. In his present condition, he return and find he’d wandered off. “Think you can drag me. It’s not more than a hundred feet through the trees.”
“I thought dragging was undignified.” Rodney was leaning up against a nearby tree half asleep, afraid to sit down knowing he might not get up again.
“I’ll make an exception this once. I’ll even scrounge up something for you to eat when we get there.”
“Water would be good.” Rodney was already moving, his hands finding Sheppard and wrapping around his upper body. His movements were sluggish. He felt John tense under his hands and tried to loosen his grip but still maintain a good enough hold to pull him through the underbrush. “This probably isn’t too good on your ribs either.”
John took a ragged breath, hissing between clenched teeth, “Beats the alternative and I doubt it’s doing you much good either.”
Stopping when they were both situated, Rodney had his own eyes closed tightly, fighting nausea and dizziness, “Which way?”
“The path is two feet to your right. Be careful it looks a little wet.”
“That might have been a good thing to mention earlier.”
John was barely hanging on to consciousness so he ignored the comment. His breathing was shallow as his ribs fought any attempts to take in a deeper breath. When Rodney broke through the trees a few minutes later, the warm sunlight startled them both back from their misery. Asking breathlessly, Rodney turned so Sheppard could see behind them. “Which way?”
“Straight back about fifteen feet and you’ll hit the building everyone is in.” The darkness crept closer and he let himself be dragged, muttering between breaths, “You’re gonna have to blow the doors, McKay. Soldiers first, let Ford do the rest.”
“Don’t you pass out on me now. I can’t do this without you. I can’t see,” snapped Rodney, his voice rising at the thought of being alone again.
Rodney’s back hit the wall just as John went limp in his arms. He swore loudly as he set him on the ground. Fumbling for the Major’s neck, Rodney found a pulse, strong and steady if a bit fast. It would be so easy to slip into the space beside him and fall asleep, but he stayed standing, fighting back the overwhelming helplessness he was feeling without the Major’s eyes.
Another quick check to make sure Major Sheppard was still breathing, Rodney reached a trembling hand to the wall and inched forward, ignoring the throbbing demand in his head to just give in and sleep.
Author: Chaps1870
Pairing: Rodney/Carson Sheppard Friendship
Rating: R for language
Summary: After finding out about Rodney and Carson’s relationship, John’s friendship with Rodney is threatened.
Disclaimer: They belong to someone else, I’ll return them when I’m done….maybe. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Chapter 20
The jungle heat was oppressive, keeping conversation to a minimum exchange of directional cues. They’d stopped several times to rest, spending more time resting on the final leg than actually moving. The only sounds were the twitter of birds in the canopy and the labored breathing of the two men as they trudged through the undergrowth. Sheppard was relying on his sense of direction and a lot of luck to get them back. After several misguided attempts, they finally crested a hill and he exclaimed loudly, “Yes!”
Concentrating on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other, Rodney was startled by Sheppard’s shout and stopped suddenly, alarmed. About to ask what was so important it had to be shouted in his ear, his foot slipped on the wet ground. He stumbled trying to regain his footing, but the ground seemed to slip away under his feet and he fell hard. Landing on his backside, he was momentarily stunned and began sliding down the steep embankment. Digging his feet in, he tried desperately to get some purchase and still hold onto John. They picked up speed despite his efforts and when his foot finally snagged a root, it sent them both head over heals. Rodney reached out blindly for Sheppard as he lost his grip, but the last bit of contact eluded his fingertips and they were separated. “MAJOR!”
John’s eyes had widened when Rodney fell and any comment he been about to make about grace was lost when he’d realized they were still sliding. The hill was steep and wet and he should have been paying more attention to where McKay’s feet were rather than the buildings he could make out through the trees. Rodney had tried to dig his feet in but there was nothing within reach to stop them or even slow them down. John could only watch helplessly as McKay tried to gain some purchase.
He’d seen the root in the path they were on, but before he could open his mouth, it was too late and he was catapulted off of the scientist’s shoulders. He saw Rodney reach out for him, panic and fear etched in his face as he flipped through the air. It was like a snapshot, flashing on his brain for only a second before impact. The pain was like an explosion in his already aching ribs and there was no time to even register what had happened before darkness welled up and took the pain away. Crumpled against the stump that stopped his fall, he wasn’t witness to Rodney’s crash to the bottom.
Unable to see, McKay was helpless as his hands reached out to grasp something tangible on the way by. Panic tore through him, blindness increasing it tenfold, not knowing where he was going or what to expect.
The anxiety reached its peak when he suddenly went airborne. It seemed an indefinite amount of time, but physics was his mainstay and he knew what went up, must come down. It was still a shock when he landed hard on his back, knocking all the air from his lungs. He thought he heard the splash of water or maybe it was the sudden coldness that seeped into his clothes, whatever it was he only considered it a brief nanosecond before his head followed the motion of his body, slamming hard into the ground. There was a brief flash of pain before his body went limp and settled in a still heap at the bottom of the hill.
He woke up slowly, wanting nothing more than to slip back into that wonderful oblivion that kept the pain away. It was worse now, if that was possible and it made thinking difficult. It would be easy to just lie where he was, except he was cold and wasn’t sure why. Disoriented, he opened his eyes and panicked for a moment when the all consuming darkness failed to go away. Oh yeah, he was blind. It should be more disconcerting than it was but his head was about to explode and blindness really wouldn’t matter at that point. The thought of gray matter dappling the bushes around him made him chuckle and threatened to escalate if he didn’t stop. He tamped down on any more morbid thoughts, sure if he let them go someone would find him sitting in the forest laughing hysterically.
The coldness had seeped into his bones, making him shiver. Shifting a bit, his hand dropped off his chest and slapped at the water under him. His brain made the connection, albeit slowly, and Rodney congratulated himself on his brilliance. Water, wet, cold. Oh yeah, took a genius to figure that one out and yet he was still laying half in and half out of the chilly water, thinking he should move. He wondered only absently about where he was and why, but the pounding in his skull overrode any real curiosity. Only the bone-chilling cold made him finally make some effort to get out of the water.
His muscles felt sluggish, slow to respond to his commands, that and it was hard to concentrate when everything hurt. Visions of his brains leaking out his ears, pulsing in little gray rivulets, flashed in his head. Focus. He really needed to focus on something besides his head, but the daggers piercing his brain weren’t making it very easy. Basics. Go through the basics and work from there. Who? Dr. Rodney McKay. That was simple enough. What? Okay, little backslide there. What was what? Was that trick question and can you ask yourself a trick question? Focus, focus. Skip ahead to why. Why, why, why he singsonged in his head. Why was he stuck on this godforsaken planet, soaked to the skin with a headache from hell and where the hell was Major Sheppard?
Oh shit! Forgetting his headache and the way it hurt to even move, Rodney scrambled to his feet. His world tilted precariously and he slammed to his knees retching violently. Tears streaked his face as the pain in his skull worsened, sending another wave of dry heaves. The sickness left him breathless and hurting more but he didn’t have time for a pity party, he had to find the Major. Calling out, there was no answer and Rodney clawed at the earth to get up the hill. With no direction, he stretched his arms in all directions, hoping to touch some part of Sheppard in his random search. After several minutes of blind searching, frustration, and panic, exhaustion caught up with him and he sat with his head between his knees, gasping for air and fighting off the fear and nausea that was welling up.
For the first time since being blinded he was alone with no one to guide him, no one to ground him and it terrified him. He sat shaking in the shade of the trees, unsure which way to go, afraid if he kept moving he’d move completely out of range and wouldn’t be any good to the Major. Calming his breathing he listened, afraid he would miss the tiniest sound that would tell him where Sheppard was laying…injured, hurt, maybe dying. The silence was deafening, screaming at him over the pounding in his head and the thudding pulse of his heartbeat.
It came to him first as a familiar rustling of material and then a mere whisper, “Rodney.”
McKay’s head jerked up at the sound, wincing and biting down hard at the agonizing pain in his brain. He ignored it and spoke with as much calm as he could but even to his ears he sounded desperate, “Major, I need you to talk to me so I can find you.” He was already crawling towards the last sound, hoping it would get him closer.
“Up…to your left,” wheezed Sheppard, his voice not much above a whisper. Talking was as much an effort as breathing. Still wedged against the stump that had stopped his fall, he had twisted enough to see McKay crawling towards him. Wrapping his arm tightly around his ribs, he eased himself into a sitting position, taking some of the pressure off his wounded side. Whatever hope he had of not having broken ribs was completely overruled by the stabbing pain in his side. As Rodney got closer, he sighed, “Over here, McKay.”
Rodney’s hands found him, clamping down tight to his leg as he rambled, “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I lost my footing. I didn’t mean to drop you. Where are you hurt?”
Looking up, he saw the unguarded terror in Rodney’s eyes and he wondered how long he’d been out. Grabbing the hand that was still latched to his pant leg, he took it in his own and could feel it trembling before letting it go. “I’m fine. I just cracked my ribs again. How long was I out?” The shortness of breath and strained speech weren’t very convincing.
Shrugging, Rodney sat back on his haunches beside him. “I don’t know. I woke up and I couldn’t find you. I had to wait for you to say something.” He tried to joke but it came off flat, “Seemed like forever.” Dropping his head, he added guiltily, “I couldn’t do anything.”
“You did fine, McKay. I can see the buildings. All we have to do is get there, free the others and we can go home.” He didn’t add that he had no idea how they were going to do that, because there was no way he’d be able to ride on Rodney’s shoulders, not without passing out anyway. He looked at McKay as he sat beside him, his hair sticking up everywhere with bits of twig, grass and leaves stuck everywhere. “You look like the Swamp Thing.” Reaching out, he plucked a twig from Rodney’s hair.
Rodney batted his hand away and smoothed out his hair, finding other twigs and leaves. He tried to brush away the rest off his coat, but gave up, too tired to care. “How do you propose we get there, because I don’t think I can get you on my shoulders?” The last bit was said reluctantly, as if he was ashamed to admit he couldn’t do it. All morning he had fought to stay upright, hauling John through the underground labyrinth, but the last stretch through the jungle had taken what reserves he had. It was no longer a question of mind over matter. The tumble left him shaky and lightheaded and there was no way he’d be able to lift the major.
John felt badly for him, especially after how much he done throughout the day. McKay looked terrible, the gray pallor and shakiness even worse than earlier. “Don’t feel bad, McKay. If you put me on your back now, I’d probably scream like a little girl.”
Rodney smirked but it lacked his usual flair, “I’ll leave that visual for Kavanaugh, somehow with you it just comes out disturbing.” He plopped back on his butt and pulled up his knees, using them to rest his head on. “Short of dragging your ass, I’m out of ideas.” He closed his eyes, his voice slurring a bit as he spoke, “Wake me if you come up with something.”
Sheppard’s hand darted out and nudged him firmly, “No sleeping.” Rodney was startled awake and his confused look was very disconcerting. “You said you passed out, did you hit your head again?”
“Huh?”
John tried to shift closer to check him out but stopped when his ribs rebelled. With a grimace of pain, he asked instead, “Your head, did you hit it again before you passed out?”
Reaching his hand up, Rodney rubbed at the back of his head, “Yeah, maybe.”
“Were you sick?” He really didn’t need the answer to that. The smell of bile was unmistakable.
“I’m getting sick of all of this. I want a shower, a warm bed and sleep until I can’t sleep anymore.” Getting irritable at the questions, Rodney stormed to his feet and swayed dangerously on the hillside before his balance returned. He swallowed hard a couple times and paled even more. His voice was weak as he said lightly, “I’m fine. Nothing a little food won’t cure. I’m hypoglycemic, remember. Tends to make me edgy and flighty. I’m sorry.”
“Sure, McKay.” John wasn’t convinced, but there was no point in arguing. Until they could get back neither of them would be receiving any help for their injuries. If it were just himself, he could crawl back if he had to but he wasn’t about to leave McKay by himself. In his present condition, he return and find he’d wandered off. “Think you can drag me. It’s not more than a hundred feet through the trees.”
“I thought dragging was undignified.” Rodney was leaning up against a nearby tree half asleep, afraid to sit down knowing he might not get up again.
“I’ll make an exception this once. I’ll even scrounge up something for you to eat when we get there.”
“Water would be good.” Rodney was already moving, his hands finding Sheppard and wrapping around his upper body. His movements were sluggish. He felt John tense under his hands and tried to loosen his grip but still maintain a good enough hold to pull him through the underbrush. “This probably isn’t too good on your ribs either.”
John took a ragged breath, hissing between clenched teeth, “Beats the alternative and I doubt it’s doing you much good either.”
Stopping when they were both situated, Rodney had his own eyes closed tightly, fighting nausea and dizziness, “Which way?”
“The path is two feet to your right. Be careful it looks a little wet.”
“That might have been a good thing to mention earlier.”
John was barely hanging on to consciousness so he ignored the comment. His breathing was shallow as his ribs fought any attempts to take in a deeper breath. When Rodney broke through the trees a few minutes later, the warm sunlight startled them both back from their misery. Asking breathlessly, Rodney turned so Sheppard could see behind them. “Which way?”
“Straight back about fifteen feet and you’ll hit the building everyone is in.” The darkness crept closer and he let himself be dragged, muttering between breaths, “You’re gonna have to blow the doors, McKay. Soldiers first, let Ford do the rest.”
“Don’t you pass out on me now. I can’t do this without you. I can’t see,” snapped Rodney, his voice rising at the thought of being alone again.
Rodney’s back hit the wall just as John went limp in his arms. He swore loudly as he set him on the ground. Fumbling for the Major’s neck, Rodney found a pulse, strong and steady if a bit fast. It would be so easy to slip into the space beside him and fall asleep, but he stayed standing, fighting back the overwhelming helplessness he was feeling without the Major’s eyes.
Another quick check to make sure Major Sheppard was still breathing, Rodney reached a trembling hand to the wall and inched forward, ignoring the throbbing demand in his head to just give in and sleep.
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That is all.
-Pas
PS. The new layout looks nice. :)
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I was fiddling. LOL *G*
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A side note: I like the new look.
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