SGA Fic - Fortunate Pt. 7

[kriadydragon]

Back to Pt. 6

At some point in time after cleaning up the vomit and getting Sheppard's upper body back on the bed, Rodney had dropped into the chair and dozed fitfully for... the fourth time that day? Third? He woke up, his brain sticking to a newly formed tradition and expecting to hear rapid thudding on the door. He could almost hear phantom knocking echoes, but they faded beneath the gentle breathing with a slight wheeze of Sheppard.

Rodney rubbed his face, turned his head, and lifted the curtain enough to see out the window. The day was practically over, twilight fading closer to night, and it left Rodney a little shell-shocked. He'd expected this day to be a hell of a lot longer, full of pacing, waiting, and asking out loud unnecessarily why Lam hadn't called yet.

Maybe she had, except then Daniel would have said something. Unless, of course, he was currently still on the phone with her. Rodney ignored the ache of a stiff neck when he pushed himself out of the chair, propelling himself from the bedroom to the living room.

Daniel was on the couch, reading a book – the kind of book you'd get at the library, with a brown cloth cover and frayed edges - with not a cell phone in sight. Seeing this made Rodney's shoulders slump.

“I take it Lam hasn't called yet.”

Daniel turned a page. “Nope.”

“Should we be worried?”

“No. Because I called her an hour ago. She said to be patient; she was still working.”

Rodney blinked. “And that was it? No update? Not even a hint?”

Finally, Daniel closed the book all together and set it on the coffee table. “Carolyn likes to work in alls or nothings. She won't tell us anything until she has everything she needs to tell us. For it to take this long most likely means she has a lot of somethings.”

Rodney nodded. “The offer to leave still stands, by the way. There's really no reason for you to stay, especially this late.”

“I know,” Daniel said. “I was considering it then realized that when Carolyn does call, I'm the one she'll be calling. No offense to you, she just knows me better.”

Rodney wondered if it was just an excuse to stick around then wondered why the hell Daniel would want to stick around in the first place. This wasn't his fight... if one could even call it a fight. More like chaotic indecision – so this wasn't his chaotic, indecisive mess. Yet, all the same, Rodney was selfishly glad that somewhere in Daniel's backward way of thinking, he thought that it was. Once upon a time, Rodney had been quite content in being a loner when it came to tackling complicated problems. Then he'd come to learn the hard way that, on occasion, two heads really were better than one, especially when one of those heads had a lot of experience in remaining level in the midst of chaos.

In all painful honesty, Rodney doubted he could have handled this alone. Well, no, he could have, but progress would have been zilch. He would still be making decisions that came to dead ends and still mistrusting everyone.

“Um....” Rodney began in a stammer. “Thanks, by the way. For all your help in this. Just so you know.” And also because it probably needed to be said, what with Sheppard having said it, too. It was only fair to suffer the same discomfort for the right reasons.

Daniel dipped his head. “No problem.”

“Yes, it is, actually. To you it is. You could get in trouble for this.”

Daniel shrugged as if it was no big deal, and maybe to him it wasn't. Rodney had read the SG-1 missions reports, knew of how deep the team had gone: not just dancing on the line of insubordination but even crossing it once or twice. Rodney and Sheppard had always joked it was why Sheppard hadn't been fired yet, because O'Neill knew what it took to save the day so knew it would be hypocritical to punish anyone for it. Reprimand, yes, but not hand out pink slips.

A knock on the door ended the conversation – not that Rodney had been able to think of anything more to say. Rodney looked at Daniel who looked back at him, and Rodney was quite sure he was wearing a similar bewildered expression as the archaeologist, only times three.

“Lam?” he asked.

“She said she would call first,” Daniel replied.

There was another knock.

“Unless she thought it was that urgent?”

Daniel shook his head. “She still would have called.”

The knocking was more insistent, making Rodney worry that it would wake Sheppard up. The last thing the man needed was another reason to flip.

Spinning on his heel, Rodney hurried to the door. Peering through the peephole revealed to him a nondescript man in nondescript clothes – medium height, sandy hair combed back and gray at the sideburns, blue windbreaker, and khaki pants with his hands in his pockets. A man Rodney had never seen before in his life. For that reason, he left the chain intact when he unbolted the door and opened it.

“Can I help you?” he said, tone nearly flat except for a hint of irritation in hopes of hurrying things along. It had yet to fail on even his chattiest and most persistent of neighbors.

The man smiled, all perfect white teeth and amiable features, like someone straight out of a JC Penny catalog. “Hey there! Sorry to bother you, but our dog got loose, and I was wondering if you'd seen him. Golden Retriever with a blue collar. Really friendly but not too bright if you ask me. I've been up and down this block for an hour, and the kids are really taking it hard -”

“Sorry, no. No dog here,” Rodney said and was already shoving the door shut in the guy's face when the guy slapped his hand against it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I'm sure.”

The man grimaced briefly then the cheery smile plastered itself back where it had left off. “Look, I know we don't really know each other, but if you don't mind, I could really use the help looking for him. I already have a couple of people lending a hand but, you know what they say,” his smile widened, super-nova bright, “the more, the merrier.”

Rodney didn't even know the man's name, and already he hated him. But then he'd always despised people who forced you into things you didn't want to and couldn't do by backing you into a corner with kindness and guilt trips. Manipulative bastards, all of them, making Rodney scum in the eyes of others all because he had the fortitude to say no and stick with it.

“Can't,” Rodney said. “Busy.”

“It shouldn't take long. I'll even pay you for the trouble. The kids... the kids won't go to bed until he's back.”

“Can't,” Rodney said again then added without really meaning it, “Sorry.” He shoved the door closed, the man craning his neck to get a word in edgewise and failing. After snapping the bolts, Rodney returned to the living room in an irritated huff.

“You could have helped for a few minutes,” Daniel said.

Rodney gave him a narrow-eyed glower. “And give Sheppard a reason to flip out when he wakes up to see you instead of me? I don't think so.”

“I would think us past that point by now.”

Rodney marched over to the coffee table and snatched the remote. “That's because Sheppard has unwittingly lulled you into a false sense of complacency. He'll notice me gone, start thinking too much about it, stress himself out, and more than likely make himself sick doing so. Besides, I refuse to come to the aid of idiotic animals. The guy said the dumb thing had a collar. That's a lot more than my dog had when it took off.” He aimed the remote at the TV, thumb hovering over the on-button. “I should check on Sheppard.” So he tossed the remote onto the couch. The knocking had been pretty loud, and if Sheppard was still strung-out even in exhaustion, it might have woken him up.

The bedroom was dark and cool and near quiet except for the chirping crickets outside. Which was odd. Rodney didn't remember the window being open. Brow bunched, Rodney switched on the lights.

“Sheppard? You cold -” His jaw dropped.

The blankets were tossed aside, the pillow on the floor.

The bed was empty.

TBC...

A/N: Behold the vile cliffhanger! Mwhahahhahahahaha! And now on to part eight :D

On the Pt. 8

Comments

[flingslass.livejournal.com]

Argghhh!!!!!

[linziday.livejournal.com]

Oh crap! The dog guy took Sheppard!! Well, not *him* obviously, but his nefarious friends. (Also, I think there's a joke in there somewhere about the dog guy being after Sheppard... you know, shepherd. But I'm too tired to think of it.)

[radioshack84.livejournal.com]

Crap, I knew dog-man was bad news! *Hurries to click on the next part!*

[titan5.livejournal.com]

Sorry - no time. Rushing madly off to part 8. And thank you, by the way, for posting it!! Stupid dog guy. Stupid fake dog guy.

[abracah.livejournal.com]

aack --zip to next part~~~~~

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I knew the dog guy was a distraction but I thought he was looking for info not that a segret person kidnapped John!

Sneaky and evil!

Onto the next paret, thank you for that!

[giusytriso.livejournal.com]

I just caught up and this story is FANTASTIC. The plot is so captivating and your caractherization of John and Rodney but Daniel too is perfect.
I love this story, it seems like to read a good mystery/adventure book.
Can't wait for the next chapter.

[d_odyssey.livejournal.com]

Yay - two chapters at once! Rodney don't answer the door. Nooo, don't trust the sneaky dog guy. Aaah, where is John? On to the next part, so happy I can say that.

[space1traveler.livejournal.com]

Oh shit, shit shit!


That's all I'm saying.