Disclaimer: I don't not own Stargate Atlantis or any of it's characters. Do you THINK I would be here If I did?! So I do not in any way shape or form own any of the plot or the characters. They belong to whoever owns 'em. I just took the general idea for a test jaunt. So, don't sue me...not that it would be beneficial, as I am a poor university student, yadda yadda yadda.

Authors Note: Please read and review. I am excited to see what you all think. I am open to comments, advice, and constructive criticism. I want to thank all my reviews for following this story thus far.

Warning: This chapter is going to be a bit more explicit then the others. So count yourselves as forewarned.

Those Were Not His Hands

Chapter Ten – He screams for more, more then just some blue-eyed Metaphor

He was up and stumbling across the room before he had even realized he had yarded himself free from the bed clothes, nearly tripping over the pile of gear he had dumped on the floor from after the mission. It felt as though he had stepped through some sort of spatial distortion as everything around him started to happen in slow motion. His feet seemed to sink into the floor with every step..slowing him down..even the door seemed to get farther and farther away as he pulled himself forward.

It was like a dream..something he could never fully hope to comprehend…so he slogged forward, ignoring the clutching vice that had cranked tighter within his chest then ever before as the dark walls of his room began to stain with the faint orange and red tinge of dawn...slowly lighting up the metallic-blue of the walls all around him, banishing the darkness from even the farthest corners and bringing warmth that flooded across the right side of his body.

He knew that voice. He knew the sound of those heavy foot falls. He knew them almost better then he knew the sound of his own voice...his own body. He didn't know how...he didn't know why. But he knew. He knew!

But before he could make it to the door it screeched open in front of him in a flash of sapphire-blue sparks, it was something akin to an explosion as Atlantis wrenched the door open, the movement causing a percussive wind to stream through the room, whipping through his hair and whispering along his skin.

And there he was, silhouetted in the shadow of the door frame, listing slightly to the side, the fingers of one hand digging into metal of the frame, heedless of the tumbling sparks and flashing lights..looking for all the world like some strange, avenging angel.

His blue eyes were blazing, his face desperate, mouth agape in panic and confusion, his other hand only just clutching at the trailing cream-colored morgue sheet wrapped hastily around him, the material clutched loosely at his breast. It was Rodney. His Rodney. Pale, pink, flushed and freckled. He was unblemished, whole, unburnt, unscarred... Definitely and entirely alive. Very much alive. Rodney was alive!

They stood there, both caught in the moment, each of them suddenly unsure. Both a step away from the edge, poised before the drop. This was the moment, the climax, the second after the big cliff-hanger. It was a time for action...not words. What would they do? What would he say? How would he react? So many questions and no answers. It was all up in the air, the cards had been thrown on the table, with all hands played, and now everyone was waiting for the final call.

The seconds ticked by, their heavy, surprise-laden breathing echoing in the silence. There wasn't a single sound from outside..even the ever present sound of the waves from the ocean below seemed somehow muted, it was as if even Atlantis herself was holding her breath...

And suddenly it seemed all too simple. There was only one thing he could do. It was the one thing he should have done years ago, and he was not going to let the chance slip through his fingers again.

It happened without another thought, it was after all, a time for action, not words. He met him at the doorway, crossing the room in a few quick steps and colliding with him in a tangle of limbs and needy, half-heard noises.

He would remember that moment for the rest of his life, finally...finally taking him in his arms, feeling him skin on skin. He would remember the smell, the familiar Rodney-like scent of him, he would remember the comfortable weight, the feel of his breath gusting along his neck..he would even remember those little noises the man had made when he found himself utterly speechless, unable to form words for one of the few times in his life.

He grabbed him, pulling him into his embrace with a force that nearly sent them both sprawling out into the hallway as he dug his face into the crook of the mans neck, simply breathing him in. His own breath hitching as Rodney's stunned arms returned the gesture a fraction of a second later, his grip so tight and strong that it dug into his ribs. And he had never felt better.

"John..John..John.." Rodney whispered, his voice breaking as the chant continued, the words so muffled that they were nearly undistinguishable. "I know Rodney, I know." He replied, his mind totally empty of words, even in the best of times he had never really known the right thing to say. But this was one of those times that the metaphor was actually true. Actions did speak louder then words. So, with great emotion, he leaned down and kissed the man on the forehead, the only place he could reach from their position. It was a sloppy, messy kiss with no style or finesse, coming out as more desperate then anything, but it felt more right, and true then any other kiss he had ever given in his entire adult life.

A few moments later Rodney stumbled into him, pushing them both through the doorway and into the room, the door swishing shut behind them with barely a noise or spark. Rodney pulled away slightly, loosening the grip on his ribs to a bit less then a strangle hold, as he looked up at him his shoulders slightly hunched as the sheet rode decidedly low around his hips, his face open, naked of everything but pure relief, contentment, and hope.

"John?" He questioned, his eyes searching, the word coming out more like an answer then a question, as if he was the answer. Years later and they would still argue about how Rodney had beaten him to the punch, he would always say that he had been seconds away from doing it himself, but now he was pretty sure the snarky Canadian would hold it up as a sign of superiority and child-like pride over him until judgement day. It was a conversation that held a lot of conations...especially when they were in the bedroom...However that was something that was to come, and in that sense an entirely different story.

Before he had a chance to react, or even pull his relief-clouded thoughts together Rodney did something that took his breath away, literally. It was just like Rodney, pushy, sweet, shy and desperate all at once as he lunged forward, grabbing his head in both his large hands and pulled him in for a kiss, the abrupt movement sending them both off balance and sprawling onto the floor. The kiss was raw, unchecked, and perfect. It was all teeth, lips, and tongue, the kind of kiss that only seems to happen in the movies, but not in real life.

Something was digging into his back on the floor, and the floor itself was freezing on his naked back, but he couldn't have cared less, he was so immersed in the kiss that Atlantis herself could have been under attack and he would have likely remained oblivious. Finally, when they broke apart, resting their foreheads together as they caught their breath, he looked up, his wide grin nearly matching Rodney's devastating smile as both of them grinned at each other like loons.

"We are both idiots." He commented with a shake of his head, peering up at the man, somehow narrowly avoiding banging heads as Rodney looked up abruptly.

"Hey! Speak for yourself! I mean, hello, genius here!" The scientist shot back indignantly, the sting of the words severely hampered as he snorted in mirth a few seconds later, the Canadian's chin so close to his naked chest that he felt the brush of his stubble against his skin as he shook with barely suppressed laughter.

He could listen to that sound all day, the sound of Rodney laughing, he could listen to the snarky tilt that came into his voice when he was being sarcastic, the sound of his voice when he was excited, nervous, mad, annoyed, and overjoyed. He could listen to it all, because he finally had it back. He had Rodney back. No longer was Atlantis bereft of one of her most enigmatic children. No longer were the halls empty of his voice, or his presence. Rodney was home, back where he belonged, with them, with HIM.

However, that didn't mean that there wasn't other... more interesting uses for Rodney's mouth, he pondered with a smile. So, when Rodney looked up again, one of the man's hands running tentatively up his naked chest, making him shiver in pleasure as those large palms carded through his dark chest hair, he surged upwards, capturing the man's mouth in his own and kissing him senseless, neither really noticing as the medical alarm in sick bay began to blare all throughout Atlantis.

And if Carson all but skidded into the room not fifteen minutes later, his face as pale as one of his own morgue sheets and found them still sprawled on the floor half-naked and firmly in each others arms, bursting out into laughter at the Scottish doctors expression, well then things had certainly come full circle!

Epilogue

It is not right to say this story of life has come to a close, because for them it was not the end, but a whole new beginning. For him it was the same new beginning he had had in Antarctica when he had sat down on that Ancient chair and the universe had opened in his mind...where a man in orange fleece had stood out from among the rest, a snarky tilt to his lips and a hint of a scowl on his face as he looked thoughtfully down upon him.

And the years would indeed pass for them, with the universe counting time in its own unique way, celebrating the eras with the explosion of old stars and the birth of new ones. The Earth still turned, people still loved, bickered, lost, and discovered. Atlantis changed, with old friends coming and going, and the chance of making new ones always on the horizon. But to them, Atlantis still remained that bright sapphire jewel it had always been since that very first day, when they had stepped out of the wormhole and onto the ancient city. Together, and side by side, just as they would remain for however long the universe allowed.

A/N: Well this is it, the story is finally finished. I must say it went on for quite a bit longer then I had originally thought it would. However I do like the way it shaped out in the end. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for reading and reviewing. I appreciated each and every one of them! You guys were awesome!