THE LONG NIGHT
Episode Tag to Lifeline

By Tipper

CHAPTER FOUR: COMING HOME

Something was beeping.

A low, soft, constant beeping.

He felt strangely fuzzy, like he was entombed in cotton balls.

Not that he knew what it would like to be entombed in cotton balls, but, if he did, he imagined in would feel like this.

What the hell was that beeping?

Oh.

Oh.

Heart monitor.

Rodney was going to kill him.

Radek grunted softly, feeling a subtle headache forming inside his head as if he'd been gritting his teeth too hard while sleeping. He frowned a little, feeling the muscles on his face press down, his forehead furrowing. He wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids were protesting the idea.

"Hey," a voice called on his right, but it didn't seem directed to him. "Hey...Hey, someone! You! Keller! I think he's waking up!"

Rodney was sitting with him? Radek actually had to smile at that.

It took a little doing, but, slowly he got his eyes open. Not that it did much—the world was fuzzy.

He saw the bulky figure of Rodney in his face for about a second, but he was quickly replaced by someone slimmer and, he guessed, prettier. She smiled.

"Hey, Radek." It was Keller. Radek squinted, and she nodded and reached over for something. The next thing he knew, she was gently slipping his glasses on. She smiled again, and he smiled dreamily back at her now clear face.

"Hi," he croaked, then tried to clear his throat. Keller quickly pressed an ice chip to his lips, and smiled again.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Strange," he admitted, enjoying the ice slipping down his throat. He wanted to say 'fuzzy', but he just couldn't think of the word in English. "What happened?"

"An infection in your leg," she said, smiling ruefully. "Colonel Sheppard brought you in here about eight hours ago with a pretty high fever and, unfortunately, your body wasn't well enough to fight it on its own since—"

"Like an idiot, you didn't rest it when you were told to," Rodney snapped from somewhere behind her. Keller arched an eyebrow, but gave a shrug, still smiling warmly.

"He's right."

Radek blinked some more, and frowned. Wasn't his fault. If certain other people had just gone to bed when they should have, he wouldn't have had to stay up and walk as far as he did. Keller, seeing his frown, patted his head, obviously taking it to mean that he was worried about his leg.

"You'll be alright," she said. "Antibiotics seem to be working. We knocked out the fever pretty quickly, and, mostly, you just need rest now. Which, I might add, you'll be doing here until I'm sure you won't kill yourself again." Her smile turned to iron. It dared him to say no, and then threatened restraints. It was not a pretty smile.

He gave a soft sigh. "Okay."

"Okay," she repeated, and the smile went back to being just a smile. "Good. Now, Rodney here is going to say a few more things," she turned and looked over her shoulder, "comforting things," she stressed, and then turned back to Radek, "and then he's going to leave, so you can sleep." She looked over her shoulder again, "And so can he." Again, iron. It was sort of impressive for someone as deceptively innocent as she was.

McKay snorted at the look she gave him, and Radek frowned again. Wait a minute—Rodney still hadn't slept?

Keller turned around and patted his shoulder, then backed away before Radek could say thank you. He attempted to reach for her, but, like an eclipse of the sun, Rodney was suddenly in his face.

"Hey." Rodney was all grins. He hated it when Rodney smiled like that, but he supposed it was probably genuine.

"Rodney," Radek greeted, frowning more now that he could see him clearly. It was pretty clear that, no, Rodney hadn't gone to sleep. He was deathly pale still, the cuts on his face still an angry red, and the circles under his eyes were so deep, it was amazing he was even still conscious.

"You sure you're okay? Keller said you would be, but," Rodney shrugged, "you really feeling all right?"

Radek sighed, and gave a headshake. "Have you spoken to Colonel Sheppard?"

"What?" Rodney blinked. "No. What has he got to do with you being in here?"

"No, no," Radek said, frowning again. "He has nothing to do with that. Has he talked to you?"

Rodney looked supremely puzzled. "No."

"You sure?"

Rodney snorted a laugh. "I think I'd know, Radek. I haven't even seen him since he brought you in here, and he brushed past me pretty quick when I showed up. He hasn't been by the lab, either." Rodney shrugged.

Radek sighed, swearing softly in Czech.

Rodney tilted his head, puzzled again. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing, I guess." Radek looked away from the man leaning over him. Rodney pressed a hand to his arm, and lowered his voice when he spoke again.

"Radek, what's wrong?" Rodney was in earnest—he was worried. "Is something the matter with Sheppard?"

Zelenka grimaced, and tilted his head back. His eyes narrowed, and he reached over to take hold of Rodney's right wrist. "McKay, have you slept?"

Rodney actually flinched, pulling his arm up and away, and he went from being worried to being totally confused. "What?"

"Have you slept?" Radek repeated, more forcefully this time.

Rodney gave a quick headshake, taking another step back. "Why are you asking about me? I'm not that one who ended up passing out on a pier because he was too stupid to go to sleep when told. You're lucky the antibiotic cocktail Keller cooked up is working—who knows what alien microbes this planet might have! What were you thinking?"

Radek gave a shrug. That was pretty stupid. "I don't know."

"Right. Because you're an idiot." Rodney crossed his arms.

"Maybe," Radek shrugged, "but I'm not the only one. I repeat," he lifted his eyebrows, "have you slept yet?"

Rodney's eyes narrowed. "You're nuts. No. To answer you question, I haven't. I told you I had to finish that program. Now, why do you keep asking if—"

"Wait." Radek lifted his eyebrows. "You finished the program?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Then why aren't you asleep?"

"Okay, you're starting to freak me out. Why do you keep asking—"

"Hey, Zelenka."

Radek's eyes widened slightly, and he looked to the other side of the bed. Colonel Sheppard walked into the room, looking slightly sheepish. And, annoyingly, just as pale and sleep deprived as Rodney. When he came up alongside the infirmary bed, the Colonel didn't look at Rodney opposite him, but Rodney was clearly frowning at him.

Radek frowned. "Colonel Sheppard?"

"Oh," Sheppard gave him a wry look. "That was a question. Yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't here before." He reached down with a fist and tapped the mattress by Radek's hand. "But I'm here now. So, how you feeling?"

"I—"

"He's being weird," Rodney said quickly.

Sheppard finally looked across at McKay at that, his eyebrows lifted. "Weird?"

Rodney nodded. "He's not asking about himself."

Sheppard smiled crookedly. "That doesn't make him weird, McKay. It just doesn't make him you."

"Oh, ha, ha," Rodney mocked, crossing his arms again. "Well, I think it's weird."

The Colonel smiled coolly, and turned back to Radek. "Seriously, Radek, how are you feeling?"

Radek just frowned again, and made a decision. "Rodney has been working on a program to get Doctor Weir's nanites to repair her organic cells and then shut off when finished."

For a moment, no one moved. Rodney looked like he'd been pole-axed, while Sheppard just froze in place. Finally, after what felt like years, Sheppard blinked slowly and looked across the bed at Rodney.

"Is that true?"

Rodney met his gaze nervously, swallowing hard. He looked at Radek, frowning briefly at the betrayal, then steeled his chin and lifted it as he looked back at Sheppard. He crossed his arms even more tightly.

"Yes."

At that answer, the Colonel's face instantly softened, making him appear almost fragile. Rodney uncrossed his arms, as surprised as Radek was at that reaction. Sheppard cleared his throat.

"Will it work?" he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, and so thick with hope, it was almost painful.

Rodney's brow furrowed slightly, then cleared, the expression almost mirroring the Colonel's now. He gave a single nod. "Yes," he said. "If she wants it to." He gave a small shrug, looking slightly away from Sheppard. "When I reprogrammed the nanites, I made certain that the Replicators couldn't attack her or connect to her through them, but," he shook his head, "I didn't program them to prevent Elizabeth herself from controlling them. Which you know, after the whole kill switch failure thing." He looked down then, plucking at Radek's blanket with his right hand. "Meaning, it would only work..." his right hand gripped into a fist, "if she allows us to do it."

Sheppard nodded in understanding. "But if she did...?"

"Then, yes. It would work." He looked up again, meeting the Colonel's gaze evenly. "It will work." He said it like a promise.

And Sheppard smiled back at him—a completely genuine and warm smile.

"Cool," he said, and his smile deepened as he looked down. "That's good. You did good." He looked up again, and nodded. "Thanks, Rodney."

Rodney blinked quickly, then he quickly ducked his head to hide the smile on his face. "Yeah, well..." He didn't finish the sentence, just shrugged and pretended to find Radek's blanket fascinating. Sheppard's smile grew amused.

Radek sighed softly. That wasn't the thank you he'd counseled the Colonel to give, but, if he was being honest with himself, it was probably the thank you that Rodney and Sheppard most needed.

As if on cue, Rodney suddenly yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.

"You should go to sleep, Rodney," Radek suggested quietly.

"Yes, I probably should," Rodney replied, stretching his arms up over his head. "Especially since I don't have the luxury of medically recommended bed rest for the next few days. Some of us actually have to work tomorrow. Or, I guess, today." He yawned again when he finished, covering his mouth once more.

"Today?" Radek asked.

"Yeah," Rodney looked towards a window, where bright sunshine was streaming into the room. "Sun came up." Radek turned to the window, and couldn't stop from smiling. The sun was up.

"I'm going to hit the hay as well," the Colonel said, smiling down at Radek and drawing the Czech's eyes back. Reaching down, he patted Zelenka's shoulder. "Get well soon, Radek. Rodney needs you."

"Oh, please," Rodney muttered, rolling his eyes. "I do not." He'd already stepped away from the bed. "Honestly, that's like saying Ronon needs a personal trainer. Still," he started walking away, not even saying goodbye, "I'll admit that he has his uses. He's entertaining, for one."

Sheppard grinned at Radek one more time, then, with a wave goodbye, he turned and jogged after Rodney. "Entertaining?" he asked. "How?"

Rodney put his hands behind his back as he walked, "Did I ever tell you about the crush he had on Dr. Shea?"

Radek's eyes widened. No, he wouldn't! He couldn't! That had been in confidence!

"Rodney!" he shouted, coughing a little because his throat was still sore.

The evil grin Rodney threw him as he and the Colonel left the infirmary made Radek certain of only one thing:

Rodney McKay was going to pay.

The End

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