NOTES: One of my betas said this could be read as Sheppard/McKay. First time I've written anything that could be construed as Shep/McKay!

Interlude, With Astrophysicist

Carson was just about to begin preparing himself for bed when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"I've got to talk to you." No introduction, no apology; Rodney McKay at his very blunt best.

Definitely not someone Carson needed to calm him down after a long, hard day.

"I don't suppose it can wait," he said with some asperity.

The doors slid open and Rodney walked in without so much as a by-your-leave. Carson knew better than to protest although he thought it rather rude. Rodney was Rodney. Carson was accustomed to the other man's ways by now.

"I see it can't," he said sourly.

"Look, I need someone to talk to and Elizabeth's in the infirmary, and Ronon wouldn't understand, and Sheppard and Teyla are completely out of the question, so you're it!"

"I'm gratified you feel comfortable barging into my quarters, Rodney," said Carson with a dash of sarcasm. It did little except relieve his own mind; the scientist rarely caught anything but the most over-the-top comments.

However, judging by the scowl that deepened on Rodney's face, he caught the tone of voice but wasn't in the mood for amusement - even the very dry, Scottish amusement of the Atlantis chief medic. "This isn't a laughing matter, Carson! It's...difficult. Delicate, even."

"God help us all," Carson muttered. The thought of a delicate matter in the hands of Rodney McKay was like the thought of a nuclear weapon in the hands of a member of the IRA.

Rodney was already pacing the floor like he was on the Wraith enzyme again. He wasn't going to go away until he'd gotten whatever it was off his chest. And Carson would have to listen - or else.

The last twenty-four hours had been exhausting. Between the two aliens taking over Elizabeth and Sheppard's bodies and starting up their own private war with Atlantis as the battleground, fixing up the soldiers injured in the melee, and performing impromptu surgery on Ronon, Carson was in need of some rest himself.

He wasn't going to get it with Rodney around, or in such a state of mind.

"All right, then," he said with a sigh, "what is it?"

He'd been expecting some kind of personal trouble, some private issue that Rodney was too proud to take anywhere else. Or possibly something of dire importance like a killer virus on the loose in the city. What he didn't expect was what he got.

"Sheppard's in love with Teyla."

As dramatic statements went, it was a pretty good one. For once, Rodney hadn't wasted words.

The statement took a moment to sink into Carson's brain, before a number of responses presented themselves. None of them involved much surprise; the Colonel was an attractive man according to most of the women on the base, and Teyla was a 'babe' according to most of the men. They weren't so disparate that there was no common ground between them, their personalities seemed to mesh well, and they were friends.

And Carson had heard rumours about the 'stick fighting' training Sheppard had been taking from Teyla since her people first came to stay in Atlantis. He'd dismissed it as mostly jealousy, and a little paranoia on the part of Sergeant Bates. Sheppard didn't seem the kind to sleep with a woman he had to work with just because he found her attractive, and Teyla's people held a considerably narrower view of acceptable sexual behaviour than more than a few of the personnel from Earth.

Still, as things went, Carson couldn't say he was surprised. "Good for Sheppard. Teyla's a lovely woman--"

"She's a member of his team! Aren't there rules about that?"

"She's not one of the military, Rodney. She's not even from the expedition. And, like I said, Teyla's a lovely person--"

Even as he said the words, Carson knew Rodney wasn't listening. The man had the bit in his mouth and was quite firmly running with it.

"I mean, what if he endangers us all on her account? What if, while we're on a mission, Teyla gets into trouble and John risks his life to save her - and ours while he's at it? I mean, nothing against Teyla, she's not all bad for someone from a technologically inept society--"

"You once called her 'Xena'." Carson couldn't forbear from pointing that out. It had been a rather nasty slam on Rodney's part, although privately Carson had always rather liked Lucy Lawless in that show.

"I was in a bad mood."

"Rodney, you're always in a bad mood."

"Yes, well. I was saying - about Teyla - I've got nothing against her, but I don't want to think Sheppard's out there worried about her when there are other things at stake!"

"Like your life?"

This time Rodney missed the sarcasm - or ignored it. "Like my life!"

Carson took a deep breath; best to get back to the root of it all. "Rodney, where did you get this idea from in the first place?"

"It was something he said earlier today. When Teyla had him in custody and was negotiating with Phoebus. How are they, by the way?"

"They're fine," Carson said shortly. The din and ruckus Phoebus had made through the infirmary as she left Elizabeth was not something anyone was going to forget in a hurry - not least of all the Colonel, who'd had a stunner gun held on him by some rather nervous marines in case 'Thalen' decided to help Phoebus on her way. In spite of Carson's explanations that such measures weren't necessary, it seemed the marines weren't exactly willing to forgive and forget. Not that they could be blamed for distrust; Thalen and Phoebus - in the guise of Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir - had taken them all for a ride.

"Oh, good," Rodney said with rather more cheerfulness than Carson felt was warranted. "Ronon?"

Ronon's ride ended with a bullet in the belly and an operation from which the young man would be recovering some good while.

"He's pulling through." Carson reached for a convenient explanation. It was too late to contemplate such things right now, and he didn't particularly want to listen to the other man raving for the next hour. "Rodney, I don't admit to knowing all the details of the circumstances, but if it wasn't the Colonel speaking - if it was Thalen in control - isn't it possible he lied?"

"Well, of course it's possible he lied," Rodney said, "but I heard the whole conversation." He paced around the room again, his hands bouncing up and down in fists as he spoke. "Thalen was trying to persuade Teyla not to kill him; but telling her Sheppard's in love with her only works if Sheppard thinks he can give Teyla enough reason to hold back from killing him. Not that it made much difference."

Carson sighed. He'd heard the basics of the standoff, if not the specifics, and the situation had seemed logical enough to him. "Rodney, if it came down to your life against two-thirds of the expedition, I don't think anyone would be holding back." Privately, he considered that there wouldn't be too many people holding back if it came to Rodney versus anyone else in the expedition. Well, perhaps Dr. Kavanaugh, whose attitude had endeared him to no-one in the city.

"And even if he lied," continued Rodney, ignoring Carson's words, "that still means Thalen - through Sheppard's memories - thought there was the possibility of something there that might convince Teyla, which means it's all just waiting to happen anyway!"

A headache threatened. Carson tried to massage it away. Frankly, he wasn't particularly worried about the Colonel and Teyla. If they were attracted to each other - and it was still an if - then they were attracted to each other and there wasn't much that could be done about it. Besides, they were sensible adults. Well, mostly sensible. Carson sometimes had doubts about Sheppard when it came to risking his life and limb - or the lives and limbs of his team-mates.

"Rodney, you do realise this is all speculation? You don't have a shred of proof to go on - just a confession which may or may not be true, and a lot of paranoia?"

"Yes, but--"

"No buts." Carson interrupted him. "You've been up for over twenty-four hours, and you need sleep." And so do I.

"But this is important! My life might be in danger because of this!"

And there they had it. "Rodney, the only thing I see being in danger because of this is your sense of self-importance."

"My sense of-- What? What are you talking about?"

Carson rolled his eyes. "Never mind, Rodney. Look, I'm not going to sit here and listen to you ramble all night. You look like you could do with some sleep." Either that, or a good, hard slap. "Tomorrow is a new day."

Rodney glanced up sharply. "What? With no mistakes in it yet?" At Carson's bewildered expression he made a 'never mind' gesture. "You know, if this escalates, I'm blaming you."

"Because I have so much to do with Teyla and Colonel Sheppard's love lives," Carson retorts. "Rodney, go to bed."

"But--"

"Rodney."

Rodney huffed but went. Thank God.

The doors closed behind him with a hiss, and Carson lay back on his bed and sighed. Rodney was tiring at the best of times, but when a man was already tired...

He didn't get up when the doors to his private bathroom slid open, and a body bounced on the coverlet beside him. He did, however, eye the woman who propped up her head so her reddish-blonde hair spilled over hand and forearm as she regarded him with an impish twinkle in her brown eyes.

"So, Dr. Beckett," said Laura Cadman. "What do you really think of inter-expedition relationships?"

Tired as he was, Carson didn't bother answering with words.

- fin -