Triple Terror chp. 5

Chapter 5: A Good Day

Sheppard leaned over, his face scrunched up in scrutiny. “Is he dead?” the boy asked, poking something with Teyla‘s bantos rods.. Ronon’s face appeared next to his friends, “I don’t think so…” the Satedan grunted. Teyla’s popped in and completed the triangle, “Perhaps you hit him too hard Ronon.” The Satedan shrugged as the three of them looked down at McKay.

The man’s eyes were closed as he lay on the floor of the gym. They had been playing tackle tag and unfortunately, McKay took the brunt of the force when the Satedan seven year old crashed into him while trying to tackle Sheppard. McKay had wanted nothing to do with the game, but had become a casualty of play anyway.

The three children leaned in closer as McKay remained unmoving. Suddenly, a smile split across McKay’s face, as the man opened his eyes. The children ran away laughing and screaming as McKay sat up from his spot on the floor and went after them with outstretched hands.

Teyla and Ronon ran around to one corner of the gym, Teyla holding one of her bantos rods and looking excitedly at McKay as he came closer, moving in a stalking method. “Back Wraith! You are no match for me!”

“Ah!” McKay’s eyes went wide with pretend madness, “But I have heard the rumors of the great Teyla Emagan, Athosian warrior and Wraith sslayer.” His words held a hiss about them as he moved closer. “I have come here to challenge her and her partner, the unbeatable, Ronon Dex.”

Teyla giggled at this and put on a mock serious face, lowering her weapon a bit and furrowing her brow. Ronon stepped up beside her and puffed out his chest like a true Satedan soldier and smiled at McKay.

“We accept your challenge Wraith!” Teyla called, gripping her stick.

“Good, good,” McKay hissed, baring his teeth in a Wraith-like fashion.

“Oh, but you forgot me!” They all turned to see Sheppard standing on one of the benches in the gym, holding up the bantos rod in triumph. “The most bravest and heroic fighter of all! Colonel John Sheppard. You shall not have a chance to fight my friends, Wraith, for I will slay you were you stand!” With that, Sheppard leapt from the bench.

McKay had only seconds to react and bent his body a little to soften the blow as the child came crashing into his chest. With a small, “oof” the scientist was on his back and on the gym floor, once again. Sheppard was laughing like no tomorrow and immediately Teyla and Ronon leapt onto the defeated babysitter.

Not having any chance to escape, McKay quickly wiggled his fingers dangerously and began tickling Sheppard’s side. The boy laughed hysterically as McKay gave an evil smile. Teyla and Ronon came to their friend’s rescue and began to tickle McKay on his sides. Letting his hands fall to cover his stomach as he laughed, McKay soon found all three children’s hands tickling his sides.

McKay fell back onto the floor, not being able to control his laughter. Teyla giggled and flopped over his chest. Sheppard flopped next to her and Ronon sat with his hands supporting him. All three were laughing hard and enjoying the echoing of their voices off the gym wall.

It took several moments, but McKay finally was able to control himself with a loud sigh. Teyla allowed a few giggles to escape before she too fell silent. Ronon and Sheppard followed suit and the four were left flopped onto the floor, large smiles on their faces.

Sheppard looked over Teyla’s back at McKay, “Thanks… Uncle Rodney.”

McKay lifted his head up to see the boy, and gave him a soft smile as Ronon and Teyla chimed in. “Yeah thanks! It was fun.” “I really like playing with you.”

McKay sighed, “No problem guys.” He brought his hand up and ruffled Ronon’s hair, then allowed it flop over his chest beside the girl strapped across his stomach. Closing his eyes for a moment, McKay enjoyed the silence of the room for a few minutes, a little tired from being up all night at his friend’s bedsides in the infirmary. Now all this excitement seemed to have finally drained the man.

Then the door hissed open and McKay opened his eyes to see a grinning Major Lorne standing in the doorway. Behind him in the hall were several marines, whom peered over the major’s shoulder in curiosity. “Well, well, what do we have here? Having fun are we?” Lorne asked, a smug smile on his face.

McKay narrowed his eyes dangerously at Lorne; Teyla, Sheppard, and Ronon copied the man and they too stared at Lorne, menacing smiles spreading across their faces. For a moment, Lorne furrowed his brow and looked down at his friends.

“You know major,” McKay began, his words spoken matter-of-factly, “It’s bad luck to interrupt someone’s tickle battle. Especially since it can escalate into a full scale war!” At his cue, the three children leapt from the ground and attacked the major.

::-:SGA:-::

McKay moved down the hallway, Teyla happily striding next to him with her hand secured in his. Ronon and Sheppard walked ahead of the two, chasing after each other in a game of tag. “No running!” His voice fell on deaf ears as they moved down the hall. Shaking his head, McKay realized he’d have to scold them later. However, for now, he’d allow them to have their fun.

It was near getting time for them to return to the infirmary, and McKay almost felt sad at the thought that the day was ending. It had started out chaotic, but as he watched the sky start to turn orange through the various windows, McKay realized that everything had turned out okay. At least, it was for the moment.

“Where are we going?” Teyla asked, her voice quiet and curious.

McKay smiled down on her, “To see the sunset. I thought you’d guys would like to calm down.” Teyla smiled up at him, knowing what the man really meant. He wanted to end the day on a peaceful note, and it wasn’t hard for them to see that McKay was tired. After all, they had basically kept him on full alert all day.

“That sounds nice,” Teyla sighed, looking forward as Ronon and Sheppard disappeared around a corner.

“Yes, yes it does.”

::-:SGA:-::

Weir and Carson moved through the halls, both of them looked a bit anxious and their strides were quick as they came near one of the piers. McKay was almost an hour late in bringing John, Teyla, and Ronon back to the infirmary so that they could get some rest. Carson had begun to pace at 19:30, and by 19:40 he was calling Weir on his radio.

Zelenka had easily pinpointed them with the LSD and the pair had quickly transported as close as they could get to the Northern pier. Weir was very agitated, seeing as she had specifically told McKay not to allow them out onto one of the piers, incase one of them fell into the water. Carson was even more upset, hoping that the man had not overexerted the children, knowing how fragile the first twenty-four hours were.

“Maybe they over powered ‘im?” Beckett suggested as they stepped before the door leading to the pier.

Elizabeth seemed to consider this before swiping her hand over the panel to open the door, “I doubt it Carson. In fact, after hearing what happened earlier today, I think McKay has almost complete control of them.”

“Aye,” Carson said, stepping behind Elizabeth onto the pier, “but they are rather cute little buggers.”

Weir gave Beckett a curious look, the Scot simply held up his hands in a “Just sayin” matter. Weir rolled her eyes and turned to look out at the pier. The sun was setting, and the stars were beginning to show. Everything was now a golden blue mixture of night and day, the water reflecting on the buildings around the pier. It was very pretty.

Sitting in the middle of the pier were the four missing culprits. McKay sat with his legs outstretched, watching the sunset. Sheppard sat to his right, his hands gripping his crossed feet as he stared up into the sky. Ronon was laying on his back and let out a content sigh. Teyla appeared, apparently sitting out of sight on McKay’s lap. She looked down at Ronon for a moment, then disappeared once again as she settled back into the man’s lap.

“Well,” Weir whispered, not really wanting to disturb the four at the moment, “It seems Rodney’s settled right into this.”

Carson was silent as he stared on at his friends and nodded his head. “It appears that way. Go easy on ‘im won’t ya?” Beckett looked over to Weir, lifting his eyebrows. The woman glanced back at him, before returning he eyes to the team.

“No promises, but I’ll see what I can do.” Elizabeth smiled, and Carson smiled back. They stood there for a moment, invisible to those on the pier, and watched the sunset. It was a comfortable evening.

There was a slight breeze coming over the ocean, but it wasn’t quite cool enough to disturb them. The ocean was brilliantly orange and pink before the last of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and the waters turned black, reflecting each and every star perfectly.

::-:TBC:-::