John took slow, careful steps, breathing deliberately between each footfall. He knew he was pushing it, so soon after Jennifer had let him out of her clutches, but Rodney's room wasn't that far from his. At least it didn't seem that far when he wasn't full of stitches. His side twinged and he felt sweat pop out on his forehead from the effort. A little flare of annoyance at his own weakness fluttered in his chest, but he easily squashed it. And today it was easy to squash. He was just looking forward to when he didn't have to.

Rodney's door loomed before him and he rang the chime. He knew Rodney was home, he'd pestered Zelenka to check for him before he set out. The door swished open and John grinned at Rodney's look of surprise.

"Oh, hi!" He quickly stepped aside and gestured John in, to John's great relief. He really wanted to sit down for a minute. "I didn't know you were out and about," Rodney added as John lowered himself into the nearest chair, which happened to be at Rodney's desk.

"This afternoon. Jennifer sentenced me to house arrest."

"So then...?" Rodney waved his arms at his own room.

"I escaped."

"Then I have something for you, but you're early. I'm not quite finished."

"Ok."

Rodney scuttled back to another, waist-high workbench that was covered with tools and brightly colored pieces of plastic. John couldn't see well enough to figure out what it was.

"So, I finally got the story on Strai and Kovich. Can't say I'm that heartbroken that the plant things both died getting them out. I'm sure Kovich was a nice guy before Curly got him, though. Is Strai still hanging in there?"

"Yeah," Rodney answered without turning back around. "Jennifer isn't sure how fully he's going to recover, but he hadn't been infested as long as Kovich so he hadn't been...eaten on as long." John shuddered

"Did you ever find out anything more about them? Where they came from? Why they were such assholes?"

"The one inside Strai -"

"Mo."

"Right. Wait really? You named the Curly and Mo? Anyway, the one inside Strai just said that "these manifestations of their consciousnesses were wiling to sacrifice themselves for the good of their kind." Kind of arrogant, that one."

"You have no idea."

"Although, we kill plants all the time without thinking about it."

"Oh, please..."

"No, really. Think about it: we do everything from eat them to harvest them for medicines and beauty products and never think about the face that we are destroying a living thing."

"They're plants Rodney."

"Curly and Mo thought of us as just animals."

"I'm done with this conversation." John didn't like hypothetical arguments expressing sympathy for the bad guy with someone who hadn't been shot by one. "What are you building."

"Wait for it."

John sighed, then fidgeted. His tender side was talking to him about the long walk, and even he could admit that his endurance was down a bit. But aches and pains aside, he felt better at that moment than he had in...weeks really. Rodney clattered at his table, then turned with a flourish, brandishing two large, brightly colored objects.

"Ta-daa!" he announced, and hurried over - once he realized John wasn't going to jump up and join him. They were cars. Toy cars?

"Remote control race cars!" Rodney said happily, holding out the yellow one. John reached out instead and grabbed the red one out of his other hand and began to turn it over.

"This is so cool!" John exclaimed, flipping the wheels and watching them spin. Rodney sighed and tucked his yellow one under his arm.

"I got them from Lt. Feder. He had them shipped in on the last Deadalus run to put in the PX, but I got them off him before they even went on sale. We can race!"

"You're on!" John exclaimed, even happier still. He pushed himself to his feet and wobbled a little - enough to have to grab for Rodney's arm. Rodney clucked at him.

"Not now...there's more." He crossed the room again and brought John a little case of tools. "I knew you'd be taking it easy for a few more days so here -" he shoved the tools at John who, juggling both car and case, was forced to sit down again, " - you can borrow these for your modifications."

John's eyebrows went up, his voice went sly, "Modifications?"

"Yes. You and me, two weeks, East Pier corridor. Anything goes."

"Anything?"

"Anything that won't blow the city up, that is."

"You're on. Thanks, Rodney. This is...great. Really great." He didn't know what else to say. It was a perfect get-well gift: something to keep him busy, to look forward to, and to play with all at the same time. He dug in his shirt and pulled out the item he'd brought.

"Here, I have something for you, too." He pulled out a carefully smooth, plastic covered booklet and handed it over.

"Spiderman!" Rodney exclaimed, his eyes shining with avarice. He tugged it out of the cover and John forced himself not to wince as Rodney looked on the verge of bending the pages open right on the spot. But before he could so much as ruin a single page, he began stuffing it back into the plastic and shoved it back at John.

"No. No, you keep it."

"Excuse me?" John said, puzzled. He'd been wondering for days why Rodney hadn't been badgering him about it.

"It's just that... I really think... I didn't really want..."

Rodney was sputtering and turning eight shades of red. John just left him hanging, trying really hard suppress the smirk that was about to escape. With a final, violent thrust, Rodney shoved the comic book into John's chest (forcing him to snatch it before it got crumpled) and blurted out in a breathless rush.

"You keep it because it was a stupid contest and your guys did really well and you shouldn't have bet something that means so much to you that it would only make me feel guilty for taking it and I cheated." Rodney crossed his arms and thrust his chin in the air, as if daring John to react.

"You cheated?!" John exclaimed, getting to the heart of the matter.

"Yeah!" Rodney blew out a deep sigh. He sat on his bed with a plop. "I programmed the automated pathogen and intruder sensors to record transponder signatures and then kept a log for a week before the race. Corrigan was bragging about finding the cache at lunch the day before so I checked the logs and kindof...sortof...followed his signature to the cache. It was obvious when he went out to the flooded sections of the South Pier."

"So you already knew where the cache was before we even started?" John let a little bite slip into his tone. Rodney just looked miserable.

"I didn't look closely enough to find out what room Corrigan had gone to. I still had to do detailed scans to find the exact coordinates, and I still had to use the calcium carbonate to isolate the exact spot. But I sort of, kind of had a really good place to start."

John glared for a long moment, letting Rodney stew. When he seemed repentant enough, John cocked an eyebrow. "I know."

Rodney jerked his head up. "What?"

"I knew you cheated. That you had a head start."

"You knew? Before the race? And you did it anyway?"

John shrugged. "I still thought we could win."

"Really?"

"And we almost did, too. I was pissed at first, but...my guys really needed to get that technique down. If we did lose, it would motivate them to practice. If we won, I was going to tell them you cheated and let them gloat." He looked at his hands, remembering the smashed shell. "I was pissed we lost not because you cheated, but because I didn't think I'd pushed them hard enough, or that the plan was good enough."

"It's a good plan, John," Rodney said softly. "You were right, too. Without sensors, it did the job I couldn't. Your guys found that nest of a hidey hole in record time. You should have seen them chew through that building."

"Yeah." John appreciated the praise on his guys' behalf. "Lorne's been bragging on them for a week. They deserve it. And I hear that cheat of yours helped out a little too. So...all's well that ends well." He held up the comic, laid it carefully down on Rodney's desk.

"You keep it. I'm beat. Bring the car by later, will you? Balance is still shaky and as stupid as it seems, I'm not up to carrying it back tonight."

John rose and Rodney hovered as he walked slowly to the door. He'd make it home, but would probably pay in fatigue and aches for the stubbornness. Rodney stood in his door, hands in his pockets, watching as John worked his way back down the hall. He had almost made it to the first bend when Rodney jerked off the door frame and suddenly yelled after him.

"Hey! Wait a minute. How did you find out I cheated?"

John just kept walking.

"No, seriously. Did you figure it out or did someone squeal?"

He was almost around the corner.

"John!"

"Goodnight, Rodney!" he bellowed back, and walked out of sight.

A/N: Thanks to the whumpers for the prompt, and to everyone else who went along for the ride. I apparently whumped about everyone in chapter 7, so those of you who did make it this far, Thanks!