All I Ask Of You

All I Ask Of You

He had been up for days now, maybe a week or more, he couldn't tell. His eyes were blurry and unfocused but he kept at it, trying to figure out how to gain access to a secondary weapons system they had recently found while exploring part of the city. He was pushing to figure them out because there was the eminent threat of the Wraith looming over their heads and if he could just get this one system to turn on and work, they could possibly have their best defense against them.

Radek had left him to it after the first few days, claiming Rodney to be unbearable to work with. He was positive that he was hallucinating now, with this much sleep deprivation and caffeine withdrawals. He was positive he must be if the dancing dandelions around his work station were any indication. He started nodding off again when he was jolted awake by the feel of another person pressed against him.

His eyes were open in shock as he stared down at her face, now more than one-hundred percent positive he was hallucinating.

“Rachel?” his voice was wobbly and unsteady, like the rest of him. He looked around the room he was working in, thinking he must be going insane now. He could blearily make out what looked like Carson and a medical team standing just outside the door, looking anxious.

“Hey, sweetie.” Rodney's eyes snapped back to the figment of his imagination.

“What?” She smiled, taking the data pad from his loose fingers and placing it on the table behind her. He frowned and made a grab for it. “No, I need-”

“Rodney, no.” He looked at her again, confused. She shook her head. “No. You need to rest. You need to eat something properly and you need to do it now.” He started shaking his head, but he couldn't leave! He had to keep doing what he was doing! How could this apparition not understand the importance of this?

“No, Rodney. You're going to come with me.” her arms wound around his waist, pulling him gently with her. Wait, how could a figment of his imagination pull him...? “Come on, Rodney.” He shook his head again.

“No, but-”

“Rodney.” her voice was firm. “You either come with me or Carson gets to poke you with a big needle.” Now Rodney stopped, looking warily at the door where he could still see Carson standing. His presence there now made sense.

“Come on, just come with me, and he won't poke you with a big needle. He promised. As long as you come with me to get some rest.” She continued to pull at his waist, smiling brightly when he finally let himself be pulled. When they were out in the hall, she turned her head,

“Radek, you can keep going with what he's done. Carson, will you lead us to his rooms?” Rodney had to close his eyes – the flurry of movement around him was making him dizzy.

“Aye. This way.” Rodney kept his eyes closed, trusting her to keep him safe.

~

His eyes shot open when he felt his bed against the back of his knees.

“What?” Gentle hands were pushing him down, pulling his shirt off and pushing him to lay back in his bed.

“It's ok, sweetie. You're in your rooms.” His eyes screwed up in confusion again as he looked up at Carson. He was pretty sure Carson had never called him sweetie before. He was pretty sure Carson also didn't have such a feminine voice, either.

“Jus' lay back, Rodney. I'm going tae take your vitals and then you can get some rest.” Now Rodney was beyond confused. How was Carson doing the voice changing act? He became less confused when he felt someone – someone who wasn't Carson – pull of his shoes and kneel on the bed next to him, unbuckling his pants.

“John?” He was positive that even if it was John taking his pants off – and really, hadn't they had a talk about not doing anything while someone else was in the room? – he wouldn't sound like a girl either.

“No, sweetie. It's just me. Remember?” He closed his eyes against the pounding headache he knew would be coming. He just couldn't handle this. He allowed his mind to pull him into oblivion and promptly forgot any confusion or any reason to be confused.

“Right, well, his vitals are good. I suggest he sleep for at least twenty-four hours, lass.”

“I can do that. Thank you, by the way, for giving me a chance to get him out of the lab without having to sedate him.” she smiled brightly at Carson.

“It's no problem. I don't necessarily like having to sedate Rodney, he's not exactly the best patient to have.” She laughed softly.

“Yeah, I know. I was wondering if you would do me a favor.”

“What's that?”

“Would you be able to tell Elizabeth that I won't be able to start working until Rodney is able to? Because I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one he'll listen to without being sedated.” Carson nodded.

“Aye, I can do that.”

“And one more thing?” she asked hesitantly.

“Aye?”

“Would you tell who ever it is that takes the personal belongings of the people to their quarters, that my things should be brought here?”

“To Rodney's quarters?” he was surprised and she nodded.

“Yeah. I'm going to be sharing a room with him.” Now he looked like the confused one.

“Why?”

“Well, I don't know how differently you do things here in the Pegasus Galaxy,” she started slowly, “but you might remember that on earth, when two people are married, they do tend to share rooms, right?”

The look on Carson's face was priceless and she wished for nothing more than having a camera at that moment to get a picture of it. But really, she shouldn't be enjoying this so much because she did know that Rodney hadn't told anyone that he was married. She understood. That was part of their agreement when he left to go to Atlantis.

“Yer married to him?” Carson was pretty sure that he did not just squeak.