Part Four

Over the last few years Carson had found himself to be a person who was quite comfortable sleeping wherever was necessary and wherever he was needed and so he was totally at ease with waking up in Imogen's room and her bed. What he wasn't quite so happy about was stretching over and finding the bed empty, the covers on her side neatly smoothed back down, the occupant clearly having been gone for quite some time. He frowned as he sat up, taking just a moment to hear a soft tapping of keys coming from the lounge.

He got up, slipping his underwear on before wandering off to find her. She wasn't exactly hard to discover, sitting cross legged on her sofa, wrapped in a soft dressing gown and pouring over some work on a laptop.

She glanced up with an apologetic wince when she saw him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No love," he said, coming and sitting down in the chair opposite her, unable to hide the unwelcome surprise in his voice, "But I'm curious as to what was so important that you couldn't even say 'good morning'."

She looked up hurriedly from her laptop apparently a bit startled by his mild scolding. She studied his gaze for a long moment as he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her explanation. Then she seemed to finally realise what she'd done and how it must seem to him, and she looked away, shaking her head, suddenly seeming very weary.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, sighing in annoyance at her own thoughtlessness, "I didn't mean anything by it. I just hoped to have these database translations done days ago and I'm still nowhere near finishing... The syntax is just a nightmare and I just keep getting this dreadful feeling that I'm going to miss something important and it'll be all my fault if-"

She was silenced as he quickly knelt in front of her and softly pushed his lips against hers, wrapping his fingers through her hair and only pulling away after the longest moment. She smiled a little when he looked at her which was something at least.

"I'm sorry," she repeated again, still looking guilty, "I didn't mean to just leave you like that. I just...I didn't think."

"Shh..." he consoled, running his hand across her cheek and then kissing her to silence.

"I know, I'm being silly, aren't I?" she said with contrition as their lips parted again, "I just can't help it. You have no idea how many times I've woken up in a panic over this during the last couple of weeks."

"Then," he said with a cheeky smile, "As your doctor I order you back to bed where I can keep a very close eye on you."

Her smile broadened, "Really? And is that your considered medical opinion? Or were you thinking with something else?"

"Well you won't know until you take my advice."

She shook her head with a grin. "Let's compromise. Let me finish writing down what I've found out and then I'm all yours."

"Tempting," he said raising an eyebrow, "All mine, eh?"

She batted him lightly on the shoulder, "Didn't we go through this last night?"

"Hmm," he agreed, "And look where that led."

Without another word, he stood up and sat down on the sofa behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back towards him. There was a moment of tenseness and then she seemed to accept it and relax, getting on with her work and barely even noticing he was there. He liked that. He loved that she was so comfortable with him. He loved the easy companionship of being with her and the affection in her fingertips brushing over his hands as she paused to think before typing again.

The bottom line was he felt honestly happy, something he never could have imagined six weeks ago when all he could think was that he was leaving behind all his friends and a mission that was important to him. For the first time since their return from Atlantis he felt totally at ease with being here. Even glad that they had been forced to come back. After all, things weren't exactly working out badly for him and he certainly wouldn't have had time for all this on Atlantis.

"Do you want to come to dinner tonight?" he asked softly after long, quiet moments.

She smiled, not taking her eyes off of her work.

"Not particularly, no."

"No?"

"You're supposed to be having dinner with your friends, aren't you?" she explained simply, still typing away, "And you should be doing just that. I'm sure I'll cope quite well without you for one evening."

He laughed a little, "But won't you miss me?"

"I'll pine for you terribly," she said dryly, "But I'll survive."

She paused and then finally put the laptop down, turning to face him a little.

"Look it's not that I don't want to meet your friends properly but from what you've been saying, this meal is a little special for you all and I wouldn't fit in with that. So go, share your memories, say goodbye to Atlantis or whatever you're doing. There will be plenty of other opportunities for me and you to spend some time together," her smile broadened a little, "Besides, I have plans for you and I tomorrow and I need time to organise things."

"Plans?"

"Surprise plans which you will find out more about if you turn up here at nine in the morning..."

"What 'surprise plans'?" he asked with a curious frown.

"Do you understand the definition of 'surprise'?" she teased.

He smiled, accepting defeat, "Fine. It's a date."

He sealed it with a kiss.

"Besides," he admitted, "I probably wouldn't hear the end of it from Rodney if I brought a lovely young lady without bringing one for him."

She laughed.

"Speaking of whom, don't you have to go and pick him up?"

"Not for hours yet."

She raised an interested eyebrow, "Hours?"

He grinned, catching her meaning as he easily grabbed her and pulled her towards him.

----------------------

"There you are."

A little startled by the sudden voice in the silence, her gaze shot up from her work to see Daniel standing in the doorway with a slightly amused expression on his face.

"Although to be honest I didn't really have to look very far, did I?"

She looked skywards. He was convinced she was pinning and throwing herself into her work as a means of forgetting no matter how much she protested that that wasn't the case. He hadn't even considered that the quicker she finished, the quicker she could leave with good conscience. She wasn't even sure if he knew she was going.

He didn't reply to her look, just took a few steps into the room and handed her a data disk. She looked at it in dismay.

"More translations?"

"No," he said with a sympathetic smile, "A message for you."

He left without further comment.

Curiously, she crossed to the computer, put the disc in and ran the only file there. As soon as she saw him she knew she should have realised who it was from all along.

He looked nervous. She hoped it was just because he wasn't particularly comfortable on camera and not that he felt so ill at ease about talking to her.

"Hello, Imogen, love. How are you doing? I hope this finds you well."

His manner and pleasantry was forced though and after a moment he dropped the pretence, his shoulders sagging.

"Look, I feel bloody terrible about the way I left. I should have called you before we went, explained what was happening but I was just so focussed on what we were doing and things happened so quickly...When I realised the next day that I should have been meeting you and you would have thought I just didn't show up or I forgot or..."

He sighed, wiping his hands across his face, a guilty gesture.

"I'm so sorry, love, really I am. I feel like a total sod, leaving like that the day after we..."

He stopped just short of saying it and for some reason it made her smile. He probably was well aware that the military may screen the message before she got it and he clearly didn't want some sergeant knowing the ins and outs of their private life. His slight blush and nervous manner didn't leave much to the imagination though.

"I like you. I really, really do and I wish...Well, I hope you don't think badly of me because of this. I've spoken to Elizabeth. She said you've applied to come over as soon as your current project is finished so I'm hoping that means you can't be too irate with me."

She shook her head fondly.

Idiot man.

Her first thought when it was clear that something was wrong had been worry. When he hadn't shown up and she couldn't contact him she had been concerned that something had happened. When he didn't answer his door, she had, her heart thudding with doubt, phoned the SGC to see if he was there and had finally discovered what they had done. Instead of reassuring her however that had just made her even more nervous. He wasn't a soldier. He may have been active in the field before but that was quite different from being directly in the firing line, particularly when being in a hopelessly outnumbered team and facing a very powerful enemy. When she had heard that they were okay, that they had rescue the General and Woolsey and retaken the city, she had been utterly relieved. Soon after a tinge of disappointment had hit with the realisation that he couldn't come back now. The rest of the Atlantis team would take possession of the city and they needed their CMO. A small, selfish part of her argued that she needed him more, that there were plenty of doctors who could be out there but she needed this particularly one back on Earth. Her sensible mind always won that argument in the end however. She understood that were precious few things more important to him than his job and responsibilities. She respected that. Even if she did miss him something rotten.

She'd felt all that but never once had she'd been angry. She may not profess to knowing him as well as she'd like but she was well aware of what type of man he was and she couldn't blame him for that. It was the nature of their jobs after all.

On screen, his image smiled.

"I was hoping you'd let me take you to lunch when you arrive...The commissary's hardly a romantic getaway but..."

He was quite for a moment before looking into the camera with a blinding honesty.

"I do miss you, love..."

For a moment his words hurt and she realised what an awfully long way away he really was.

He forced his demeanour to become brighter, obviously not wanting to leave it on such a melancholy note.

"You take care of yourself, okay? And I'll see you soon."

Yes, she would. She knew she had to finish this work and never would feel right just leaving it to someone else, but as soon as she was done she'd be on the Daedalus and out to Pegasus. At last. And now not only did she have an amazing city, new races, new planets and new cultures awaiting her, but she had a charming Scottish doctor to greet her on the end too. It was just a matter of time, that's all. A few weeks, a month, two at the most. It wasn't really that long.

He reached forward as though going to turn the camera off before suddenly pausing and returning to the screen.

"One more thing – those turtles in my apartment could you please go and check on them? Poor little buggers have probably had it by now but...Thanks."

He smiled wanly before moving right up to the camera and, after a moment, the recording ended.

She smiled too, glancing across at the tank re-housed in her office and just for a moment inspected her sore and thoroughly nipped fingers.

"The things I do for you," she said, shaking her head with a smile.