Carson took a second when he stepped out of the Gate to take in the scene before him, he then entered full doctor mode. Carson motioned his team forward into the aftermath of the explosion as he headed to treat his patients.

The first person he came to was Laura Cadman; she was lying on the ground with Rodney at her side. His jacket pressed against her shoulder, wrapped around what Carson assumed was a metal pole of some kind. Carson pushed down the automatic feelings when he saw her pale face, Laura was obviously in pain and he had to force himself to remember that here he was not a friend, not an ex-boyfriend but her doctor. As he moved to Rodney’s side, Carson saw that Rodney’s face was almost as pale as the woman whose blood he was holding back.

“Rodney?” Carson asked, “Are you hurt?”

Rodney shook his head, “It’s all Cadman’s blood.”

Carson frowned, hoping that his friend wasn’t going into shock. He had a lot of wounded to see to.

“Danson, Ellis,” Carson called over, “Danson, take over from Rodney for a moment.”

As the nurse pressed his hands onto Rodney’s makeshift bandage, Carson moved the scientist to a rock.

“Rodney, I need you to do something for me,” he said, knowing that there were very rare moments in time when Rodney was both this quiet and obedient, “Laura is stable for the moment but I need you to keep pressure on her wound and keep her warm.”

Rodney nodded.

“Sit against the rock,” Carson ordered, amazed that Rodney didn’t question him at all, “We’re going to sit Laura against you, I need you to keep her awake but don’t antagonise her too much.”

Rodney nodded again, sliding down to sit where Carson had told him. The nurses helped Carson move the injured woman to rest against the scientist. Rodney wrapped one arm around her waist, the other pressing the pad of material against her wound.
Carson placed a tag on Rodney’s jacket, thankful he’d spent all that time creating a system for this kind of emergency, “The Daedalus will be here soon.”



“Rodney?” Laura’s voice shook.

“Just hold on, Cadman,” Rodney told her, “You’re going to be fine.”

“Cold,” she gasped.

Rodney hugged her closer to him, “Don’t worry. We’ll be beamed aboard the Daedalus soon, then back in Atlantis and then Carson will fix this.”

She nodded and Rodney took a moment to catch his breath. This shouldn’t be happening; they’d been here to look at an Ancient lab.

Rodney grimaced as he thought back a few hours when everything had looked as though it was going to be a good day. The lab was filled with a load of things that were going to help them, especially what could be instructions to make their own ZPM.

Rodney had left the team with strict instructions not to touch anything until he got back while he, John and Teyla went to check out what was possibly a cache of ZPMs.

The call from Ronan sent them sprinting across the fields, the lab had been booby-trapped. A sudden explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet, sending them sprawling. The moment they could move again, Rodney and John headed back to the lab while Teyla called for Carson and his team.

Laura was the first person they’d seen and Rodney didn’t remember how he’d gotten to her side, all he knew was one moment he saw her from a distance, the next he was pressing his jacket against a pool of blood coming from her shoulder. He’d only glanced around once but he could see parts of what had been scientists and soldiers. That was why he kept his eyes down, focussing on the woman who was now resting against him.

*********************************************

“Okay, Cadman,” Rodney said, reaching for a topic, “What about your family?”

“I thought you didn’t care about things like that,” she murmured.

Rodney frowned, “I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to know,” he told her, hoping Carson would get to them soon.

They’d been back in Atlantis for a while now; Carson had stopped for a few minutes to check on Laura. Her shoulder had been dislocated when she slammed against the wall before the spike had impaled her through the shoulder. It had been pure luck, because with the force the spike had been slammed through her would have shattered the bone if it had been in its proper place.

“I have a sister,” Laura told him.

“Younger? Older?” Rodney demanded, “Come on, Cadman. Details please.”

Laura sighed, “She’s older.”

“Since when did you do one or two word sentences?” Rodney demanded, “Cadman, until Carson gets here to fix your shoulder, you have to talk. So tell me everything.”

Laura gave a soft sigh, “Okay.”



John leaned against the wall in the infirmary, he was exhausted. They’d lost fifteen people today, so far, during the explosion and afterwards from injuries too severe. Carson had been working non-stop for hours and still had Laura Cadman’s surgery to do. Thinking of her, John glanced over to where the lieutenant was sitting with her back against Rodney’s chest and her head resting against his shoulder. The scientist had not moved, not complained about staying with the woman he claimed to despise.

As he looked over at them, John noted that their fingers were entwined, it made him almost laugh. Rodney and Laura had the most intimate, distant relationship he’d ever witnessed. They avoided one another as much as possible but they would always be there if the other was in trouble. He knew that Rodney would destroy anyone who dared hurt her, and he also knew the reverse were true.

As he watched them, it occurred to John this had to be the longest they’d ever spent together without it dissolving into a fight. This was also the most they’d ever touched one another. John just hoped that she would be fine by the end of this because he didn’t know how Rodney would handle it.



Rodney eased his way out from under Laura as the anaesthetic took hold of her. He took one last look at the pale face of the injured woman before he turned and left.

Rodney staggered across the room, ignoring John and headed out of the infirmary as fast he could. John followed on to make sure his friend was alright. When Rodney entered his quarters, John followed watching as Rodney headed straight to the bathroom where he promptly vomited.

“You okay?” John asked, from the doorway.

“Smell of blood,” Rodney muttered, “Just need to get rid of it.”

John nodded, he hadn’t seen, until this moment, how caked in Laura’s blood Rodney was.

“She’s going to be fine,” John reminded him, “Carson’s the best surgeon we have.”

Rodney shrugged, “I know. I’m not worried.”

John hid his smile, Rodney had reverted back to form quickly but not unexpectedly.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Rodney told him, “I promised Laura I’d be there when she woke up.”

John stopped for a second, amazed by what he’d just heard. Especially at the use of her first name, something he was sure Rodney had never done before.

“Sure,” John replied, “We should be able to get something to eat before she’s out of surgery.”

Rodney nodded, disappearing once more into the bathroom leaving John to wait.

*********************************************

“Hey,” Laura grinned sleepily at up at the man sitting there.

Rodney looked up from his laptop as she spoke; he had been sitting here for about an hour waiting to keep his promise to her. She was still pale but her shoulder had been fixed back into place and it was bandaged, a clean white bandage, completely free of blood.

Rodney pulled his seat slightly closer to the bed, “How’d you feel?”

“Good,” she continued to smile, slightly inanely.

Rodney laughed, “That must be some amount of morphine Carson gave you.”

Laura grinned up at him, “Yeah, it’s nice.”

He smiled again, his eyes flicking to her damaged shoulder. Rodney looked around, making sure that no one was watching before he gently rested his hand on hers.

“I was worried about you,” he whispered, pretty sure she wouldn’t remember this once the drug wore off and if she did, she’d shrug it off as a weird dream.

“Nice to know,” Laura continued to smile, “It’s nice that you’re here.”

Rodney rolled his eyes, “You asked me to be here when you woke up.”

“Did I?” wide eyes stared at him before she squeezed his hand tightly, “And you did.”

“Yeah, I did,” Rodney replied gruffly, “Now I see you’re fine, I have work to do.”

“‘Kay,” Laura sighed, her eyes closing.

Rodney watched her eyes close. He leaned over her, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.

“Don’t you dare do that to me again,” Rodney whispered, he softly brushed his lips to hers.

As he left the infirmary, he missed the self-satisfied smile Laura wore as she slept.

Elizabeth stood in the doorway to Carson’s office, watching the doctor’s head droop before he jerked awake again.

“Carson,” she let him know she was there.

“Elizabeth,” the exhausted man greeted her, “What can I do for ye?”

She bit back the comment about him getting some rest, knowing he would simply ignore her.

“How many did we lose?” Elizabeth took a seat across from him.

Carson dropped his head, “Seventeen. Lieutenant Marks started bleeding internally and we just couldn’t stop it.”

“And the rest?”

Carson dropped his head, “Dr Ortiz lost her arm, we couldn’t save it. She’s being shipped back to Earth on the Daedalus.”

Elizabeth reached out and squeezed his hand, “You did the best you could, Carson. We could have lost many more without you and your team.”

“We have several minor injuries which have all been taken care of,” Carson dropped his head before sighing, “Though Lieutenant Cadman, Dr Wells, Captain Sullivan and Lieutenant Simmons will all be here for a while.”

“I heard you had Rodney stay with Cadman until you could operate,” Elizabeth smiled slightly.

Carson laughed tiredly, “I’ve never known Rodney to be so compliant. Anyway, her shoulder’s been fixed but I just want her to stay where I can keep an eye on her. Wells and Sullivan will both be on crutches and Simmons will be in bed for the next few weeks.”

“Carson,” Elizabeth decided to broach the subject, “Maybe you should go get some sleep?”

He shook his head, “I still have work to do.”

She frowned, but knew better than to push him. Rising once more, Elizabeth gave him an encouraging smile, “Keep me informed of their conditions.”



Carson stood at the door to his office, watching Rodney and Laura converse. He laughed as he watched Rodney give her a quick kiss; it was something he wouldn’t dare do when Laura was not doped up. Their ‘friendship’ consisted mostly of short interspersed periods where they would fight and argue, along with the times they would eat together and just talk. Laura’s injury had obviously scared the scientist in such a way he needed to break the rules of their involvement to reassure himself that she was alright.

Carson remembered how their bizarre relationship had made him slightly jealous when he and Laura were dating, in a way it still did.

Rodney turned away from Laura’s bed and stopped dead when he saw Carson watching him.

“I…em…I…” Rodney stammered.

Carson laughed, “I’m pretty sure she won’t remember.”

“Good,” he nodded before focussing on his friend, “You look like hell by the way.”

Carson rolled his eyes, “Goodnight Rodney.”



“Okay, Carson,” John marched into the office less than an hour later, Rodney at his side, “Up.”

“What?” the doctor looked at them confused.

“You have been working almost two days straight,” John told him, as he grabbed his arm and Rodney grabbed the other. Between them, the two men hoisted the Scot to his feet, “And you haven’t eaten properly or slept in all that time.”

“So,” Rodney continued, “We’re all going for food then you are getting some sleep.”

“I cannae…”

“Temple is going to be looking after things while you get some rest,” John told him, both men started moving Carson out of the door, “You have to trust in your people.”

“Alright,” Carson cried, wrenching himself free, “But I can walk by myself.”

John and Rodney shared a look before releasing Carson.

“If you try to escape,” John told him, “We get Ronan. Understand?”

Carson rolled his eyes, “Understood.”

*********************************************

Rodney sat in his lab for the first time in three days. Ever since the explosion, he’d spent most of his time working off-world on the remains of the ancient laboratory, trying to work out what had happened.

The base was finally getting back to normal, the memorial services were over and now, now they had to deal.

Except, Rodney just couldn’t focus on the things in front of him as the memory of the carnage continued to fill his mind. With a sigh, he closed his laptop and decided to wander down to the infirmary to see if Carson was still there, despite being ordered to get some sleep.

Strolling through the corridors, Rodney realised that the entire city was still. Usually there was something going on, people training, others joking, just something but just now, silence.

Entering the infirmary, he glanced around making sure Carson wasn't here. Satisfied that the doctor was finally following orders, Rodney stepped in further heading to the bedside of Dr Adam Wells.

“Wells,” Rodney greeted him, “How’re you feeling?”

Completely surprised at his visitor, Wells took a second to answer, “Better, much better. Broken leg but Dr Beckett says I’ll be up and about soon.”

“Good,” Rodney nodded sharply, “I’ll get you some work once Carson says you can have it. He’s a bit of a pain in the ass in that department.”

Wells nodded, “I guess you’ve had experience of that.”

Rodney folded his arms across his chest, a frown passing over his face but knowing the other man was on painkillers meant he didn’t say anything else.

“I’ll see you later,” Rodney nodded at the other scientist.

Wells watched him go; still completely stunned the man had come to visit. Closing his eyes, he decided not to bother thinking about it.



“Rodney?”

Laura looked at him surprised as he appeared at her bedside; she had been trying, unsuccessfully, to read. Having only one arm meant she couldn’t turn pages while holding the damn book and putting it down meant she lost her place anyway.

“How’re you feeling?” the scientist asked gruffly.

Laura shrugged, wincing at the movement, “Not bad. Carson’s still giving me pretty powerful drugs.”

“Well, you were in a lot of pain,” Rodney turned and found a stool, he pulled it over and took a seat, “This is probably better.”

“Having dislocated my shoulder once before,” Laura told him happily, “When there were no drugs around for several days, I’m in total agreement to being doped up.”

Rodney nodded slightly in agreement.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” Laura told him.

Rodney winced, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “I couldn’t concentrate so I came to make sure Carson wasn't here and thought since I was here…”

“You’d come visit,” Laura smirked, “You were concerned about me.”

Rodney rolled his eyes, “Please, the drugs are scrambling that tiny military mind of yours.”

Laura giggled; an unusual sound from the woman. Rodney was sure it had to do with the drugs. Laura didn’t giggle; she never had in all the time he’d known her. She laughed, her laughs ranging from amused to dirty but never a giggle.

“Admit it, Rodney,” Laura waved her good hand accusingly, “You ‘like’ me.”

Rodney snorted derisively.

“You do,” she continued to accuse with a grin; “You think I’m wonderful.”

“I better get Carson in here,” Rodney told her, mock concern in his voice, “You’re delusional.”

Laura laughed, before letting out a slight cry of pain as she moved her shoulder in a way she shouldn’t have.

“Are you okay?” Rodney cried, slightly startled.

“Just jarred it slightly,” she winced, looking up at him with a smirk, “Were you worried?”

Rodney rolled his eyes at her, “I didn’t want to listen to you whining on.”

“Whatever you say, genius,” Laura laughed.

“You’re already trained, Cadman,” Rodney told her, his hand waving dismissively, “It’d take forever to get someone new sorted satisfactorily.”

Laura twisted slightly and snagged one of his flailing hands in hers.

“I remember you staying with me, Rodney,” she reminded him, “And I remember you telling me to stay with you,” she squeezed his hand, “Thank you for being there. Thanks for staying with me.”

Rodney licked his lips nervously, “No problem.”

“Told you,” Laura grinned at him again, “You like me.”

“Actually, Cadman,” Rodney replied, a smirk appearing on his own face, “I saved your life when you were stuck in my head,” he leaned into her ear, “You should really take better care of yourself. It’s not my fault you don’t and I have to sort it out.”

Laura turned so they were almost nose to nose, “My hero,” sarcasm filled her voice.

“Finally recognition,” Rodney moved back, “See you later, Cadman.”