Title: Comfort

Author: stella_pegasi

Rating: K

Genres: Gen, Friendship, Whump

Word Count: 1,970

Spoilers / Warnings: None

Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan

Disclaimer: I do not own them; I would have treated them better.

Summary: Everyone needs a little comfort.

Author's Notes: Fluff…pure fluff with a dose of whump.

Written for sga_Saturday community on LiveJournal…Week 23: Trick or Treat (I chose treat), submitted during Amnesty Week.

Comfort

by stella_pegasi

Debris continued to reign down periodically; one of the last rocks falling from the cave's ceiling had knocked Ronon unconscious. Teyla was tending to him, simply because she was still mobile. Anxious moments passed before she announced that his pulse rate was fine, then after using her flashlight to check his eyes, she leaned against a rock outcropping, a slight whimper escaping her lips. Her right side was badly bruised, and she had wrenched her back.

"His eyes are responsive, colonel; he appears only to be knocked out."

"Good…now…no one move; if we're lucky, maybe the roof won't cave in completely." Sheppard moved gingerly, in a vain attempt to get comfortable. He grimaced, realizing that was not going to happen. His left shoulder was dislocated; he had a gash across his left arm and leg, and he suspected a badly sprained knee. The knee injury came when he tripped over Rodney.

At least there was a little light in the cave, Teyla had pulled a couple of light sticks from his rucksack. Through the dim light, Sheppard saw McKay lying unconscious about five feet from him. McKay had taken a direct hit from a timber that fell as the support structure in the cave collapsed. The timber hit Rodney in the head, followed by a large boulder striking his right leg. His leg had been pinned under the rock, and when Ronon rolled the rock away, he discovered Rodney's leg was broken. Ronon had just finished splinting Rodney's leg when he was hit by more falling rock.

"John, when will Atlantis being expecting us?"

"'Bout two hours from now, then it'll be another hour or possibly two until Atlantis gets antsy and starts to think about checking on us."

"Do you think Rodney will be okay?"

"Ronon tucked the emergency blanket over him before he got knocked out, so I think he'll be fine. At least, help keep him from going into shock."

"I have done the same for Ronon; I believe he moved a bit, so he may be awake soon." She coughed, "At least there are gaps in the rocks that fell across the cave entrance, so we will not run out of air to breathe."

"Yeah, there is that," his voice broke as a wave of pain radiated from his shoulder.

"John are you okay?"

"To quote McKay…peachy…no, I'm fine. Try to rest, conserve your energy, we're gonna be here a while." Sheppard closed his eyes, trying to will away the pain in his shoulder, and drifted off to sleep.

He woke abruptly, hearing Ronon's voice, speaking sternly to McKay. "Stop, you've got a broken leg and a head injury…now lay…," he broke off.

Teyla's calm voice interrupted, "Rodney, please stay still; we are safe. There have been no cave-ins for the last couple of hours."

Sheppard shook off the cobwebs, "McKay calm…down. Everyone's okay; Atlantis…will be here soon." His raspy voice caught a couple of time as pain shot through his shoulder.

McKay groaned, "What the hell happened?"

"There was a cave-in," was Ronon's quick reply, accompanied by a grunt.

"I know that. Why did it cave-in?"

"If I was guessing," Sheppard answered, "it happened when…you barreled in here, yelling…something about…an energy signal. We followed…cave was unstable…we're trapped."

"Trapped? What about air?"

"Dr. McKay," Teyla replied, "there are gaps in the rock that is covering the entrance of the cave. We are not going to run out of air."

McKay forgot and tried to move, eliciting a sharp yelp from the scientist. "Damn it, my leg hurts. When's Atlantis going to get here to get us out?

Sheppard sighed, "You broke your leg, McKay; stay still." He struggled to sit up, having slipped onto his side when he fell asleep. The sling Teyla had fashioned from the bandana he always carried was not enough to immobilize his arm, and he barely stifled a moan from the pain in his shoulder. "Atlantis should…be here in less than an hour."

"You…okay?" Rodney asked.

"Yeah, just dislocated my shoulder; I'm fine. Ronon, you hurt?"

"Head's sore, but I'm fine."

Rodney whined, "Hungry…anyone got a powerbar?"

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have eaten the three you had with you within the first hour we were here."

"I was hungry, Sheppard."

Teyla crawled over to Rodney and handed him a powerbar, "You may have one of mine."

"Thanks," he answered as he ripped open the wrapper. After taking a huge bite, he mumbled, "Love these things."

"Geez, McKay…it's a powerbar; not a comfort food. Besides, aren't you too badly injured to be enjoying that so much?"

"Bite me, Sheppard; my head's throbbing…and my leg is hurting like a son-of-a-bitch but I need to eat."

"Colonel, what do you mean by comfort food? I do not understand what kind of food is comfort."

"Comfort food is food that makes you…feel good when you eat it; might be when you're upset or mad or whatever. Some people like cheese burgers…or macaroni and cheese, or brownies…"

"I like macaroni and cheese," Ronon interjected.

Sheppard chuckled, "Yeah; I've seen…you put it away. Just food Teyla that is pleasing…usually something you've enjoyed for a long time."

"I have such a food; when I was young, after my mother was culled, my father would take me to the base of the Cortar Mountains where a berry called lesheya grew. We would pick them by the basket full and take them to Charin. The berry was large, dark red; it dripped thick red juice when you ate it. It was tart, but tasty to eat raw but in Charin's hands, it became this luscious pie. She would mix sweetener from the aga root, and these little berries called icate and cook it until it was thick and sweet. She then poured it into a bowl covered with pastry, then topped it with more pastry and baked it. It was wonderful…I love it because my father, and I gathered the berries. After he, too, was gone; Charin would make it for me when I was unhappy." She paused, "You are right, John; I have a comfort food… the wonderful lesheya berry pie."

"Sound delicious."

Teyla turned to Ronon, "Do you have such a food?"

The big Satedan was quiet for a moment, "Panci…it was called panci, maybe it's why I like macaroni and cheese; it's a bit like your dish. My grandmother made it for me when I was little, it was made from rosorts, like potatoes, onions, a sausage that my grandmother made herself, and cheese. It was hot, creamy; I loved the flavor of it…it made me feel good inside."

Sheppard rested on his head against the cave wall, "I could go for some of that right now."

"Colonel, what about you, what is your comfort food?"

"Believe it or not, I have a couple but my favorite comfort food was a banana split from the Howard Johnson's restaurant a few miles from our house."

"What is a banana split?"

"A banana split is made by splitting a banana in half, then putting three scoops of ice cream on top…"

"I like ice cream, too."

"Yeah, Chewie, we know…," Sheppard chuckled and continued his voice raspy from the pain.

"One scoop of vanilla, one chocolate, and one strawberry, then pineapple topping is poured over the…vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup over the chocolate, and strawberry topping over the strawberry. Then the entire…thing is covered in whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and crushed nuts." Sheppard paused; visions of having banana splits with Miss Gilly flooded his memories.

"It's my favorite because Miss Gilly, the woman who raised Dave and me after our mom died, used to take…me there when I was upset. Usually because Dad had taken Dave somewhere with him or gone to one of Dave's school events. Miss Gilly always knew when I needed something, no matter what it was and she knew that a banana split always made me happy. Today, I don't always get a banana split, but an ice cream sundae is a pretty good substitute."

"I, too, like ice cream; we shall have to try one when we return to Atlantis." Teyla looked at McKay, "Doctor, what is your comfort food?"

"Poutine."

Sheppard sputtered, "Poutine…that sounds…uh…like something nasty…what is it?"

"French fries topped… with fresh cheese curds, and covered with brown sauce."

"Yuck, it is something nasty."

"Nasty…well, ice cream boy, I'll have you know that poutine is the national food of Canada."

"Oh…well…that explains it…it's Canadian."

"It is delicious…the French fries are fairly thick and fried to perfection, crispy on the outside, nice and soft and warm on the inside. Then it's topped with fresh, snow-white cheese curds, they…shouldn't be over a day old…they still need to be squeaky. Then top it all off with a thin gravy, the best made from chicken and beef…broth thickened slightly. Heaven on a plate." Rodney's voice had gotten weaker as he spoke, and he had paused to cough a couple of times.

"That's gross, Rodney…you just described a food as 'squeaky', and Ronon, don't say it sounds good…it sounds gross."

McKay coughed, taking a deep breath before he could continue, "You…just don't have very…good taste, Colonel."

Rodney coughed roughly again, and Teyla rose to check on him. As she reached him, he doubled over with a sustained bout of coughing, when he silenced, she gasped, "John, he has coughed up blood."

"Sit him up, he might have a punctured lung. He'll…breathe easier. It won't be long until Atlantis arrives."

Ronon rushed to help Teyla, and together they managed to sit Rodney up right, leaning against the cave wall. The two then settled next to McKay and Sheppard waiting for rescue.

~ooOoo~

Over seventy-two hours later, after being rescued from the cave, only Rodney McKay remained in the infirmary. Doctor Keller kept Teyla and Ronon for observation the first night, and released Sheppard to his quarters on the second morning. McKay, however, had broken a rib, puncturing a lung, and broken his leg in two places, and would be in the infirmary at least a couple more days.

Rodney was bored. Ronon and Teyla had been sitting with him during the morning, but both were called to a mission-planning meeting. Sheppard had sent word he would drop by later in the afternoon. After pleading with Keller for his laptop, she finally acquiesced, and he was busy catching up on his department reports when a steward from the mess hall approached his bed, carrying a tray with a covered dish.

"Dr. McKay, this is for you, sir."

The steward pulled a bed tray table in place over Rodney's bed, and placed the covered dish, along with some silverware on it and left. Rodney, puzzled because he had lunch just over an hour ago, pulled the lid off the dish.

"Poutine." He grinned widely, as he quickly dug into the dish, stabbing a French fry and cheese curd covered in brown gravy with his fork, then stuffed the big bite in his mouth. He moaned in enjoyment. The fries were perfectly cooked; the cheese curds fresh and the gravy delicious. Someone in the kitchen had to be Canadian and knew exactly how to make the curds; the poutine was delicious.

As he took a second bite, he thought that if they hadn't already had their treat, Teyla would soon have her lesheya berry pie, and Ronon, as close to his panci as the kitchen could muster. Rodney smiled; that damn flyboy doesn't miss anything. He was scooping up another bite, when he had a thought. Grabbing his COM, which was laying on the bedside table, he slipped it on and tapped four times for Sergeant Billy "Cookie" Gaines in general services. He was determined that everyone was going to get their comfort food.

"Cookie, I need to order a banana split."

The end…

Thanks for reading. Hope everyone has their favorite comfort soon!