Another successful visit to a new planet--one where the Wraith didn't decide to appear and suck the life out of the natives as soon as his team stepped through the Gate. John Sheppard figured they were long overdue for that kind of break.The discovery that there was a disease that was slowly killing every child under ten on the planet wasn't what they had expected, though. It was rough, watching kids--innocent children--waste away under the effects of illness. One of his cousins had died of cancer as a child, and he never forgot the slow progression from healthy playmate to invalid, where all he could do was read to her until she was too sick for him to even visit her. He'd hated hospitals ever since, but hated seeing sick kids more.
Weir hadn't quite understood John's fierce determination in getting medical help from Atlantis to the Xanitians. John knew she had been worried they might be stepping into another situation like Hoff. But this wasn't the same--they weren't trying to stop the Wraith from killing people, but some bacteriological agent from killing children. Teyla and Aiden had supported John's position that this wasn't another Hoff, and even Rodney, whom John normally suspected of arguing with him just for the sake of arguing, had backed the decision to offer medical assistance.
Carson hadn't needed persuasion to come along. Unlike his last trip with John's team, Carson had practically dialed the gate himself. Then again, John supposed that healing people was Carson's calling in life, no matter what world those people lived on.
Between Carson's personnel and the Xanitian healers, they'd found a treatment for the disease. All but the most advanced cases were now well on the road to recovery. The Xanitians had insisted on celebrating their new alliance with the Atlantis humans with a party that put John's college fraternity to shame.
From where he sat with the First Minister, John could easily see all the members of his team, except Rodney. The Canadian was off to one side of John, and was loudly talking to a group of female Xanitian scientists. John tried not to snort his drink though his nose when Rodney started going on about their home planet in the "Monkey Way galaxy." The man simply could not hold his liquor.
Teyla was with the Minister for Commerce, dancing very gracefully to the music. Aiden was with the First Minister's eldest daughter, looking very earnest as he tried not to step on her toes. The medical team was spread out among the Xanitians, dancing and talking and--whoa, Carson was going to have to make sure Tina was thoroughly checked for alien germs when they got back to Atlantis. The way things were going, the young doctor might end up bearing the first child born on Atlantis in millennia.
Excusing himself from the First Minister, John made his way over to Tina and her...friend. She blushed when she saw him, even though he had merely given her his best "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were busy" look. He just wanted to remind her that even though--as he'd heard one female sergeant on a base put it--"her ovaries had stood up and saluted" at the sight of this Xanitian, they weren't here to sleep with them. Just trade.
Tina looking suitably chastised, John continued around the room until he was standing next to Carson. Atlantis' chief doctor was leaning against the back wall, a nearly empty glass in his left hand. He made no move to have the glass refilled, apparently preferring to hold onto it and sip from it every once in a while.
John settled next to Carson, his back to the wall and left arm just brushing Carson's right. He could almost feel the warmth of the other man seeping though the sleeves of their jackets and shirts. The man's skin would be scorching on John's own flesh, heat on heat. All he would have to do was reach out and touch Carson's hand.
His hand stayed at his side.
John took a sip from his own nearly empty glass and watched Teyla, Aiden, and Rodney get dragged into what looked like a Xanitian square dance. Beside him, Carson snorted as Rodney tripped over Aiden's feet. John turned his head and gave Carson a quick smile. Just a smile between friends.
Carson turned his head, gave a quick smile back, before looking away and sipping at his glass again. John turned back to the crowd, reassured that Carson wasn't brooding over those he couldn't save--both here and on Hoff. Especially Perna.
The fact that Carson had fallen for Perna didn't bother John. Heck, if Carson had married Perna John would have happily danced at the man's wedding. They were stuck in the Pegasus Galaxy for the foreseeable future, and maybe beyond that. The Pentagon might not have considered the need to establish future generations of humans on Atlantis, but John had given it more than a few passing thoughts. He'd bet Weir had as well.
No, what had bothered John was that he couldn't help Carson work through his grief. He knew the doctor had lost patients before, but not one he'd been so close to. Carson had retreated into himself, and was barely seen outside his infirmary. John couldn't be mad at him for it, even when it meant Carson didn't come to his quarters, and wasn't waking up next to John in the early morning hours.
God, he missed his lover, even though he saw the man almost every day.
Another snort from Carson brought John back to the room, where Rodney was practically draped over Aiden, having tripped yet again. John made a mental note to never, ever, allow Rodney to drink on a mission again, no matter how offended their hosts might be.
Something brushed against his hand, startling him. Searing warmth surrounded his hand with a gentle squeeze, then moved away with a lingering caress of fingertips. John looked over and saw Carson's shy smile, the apologetic look in his eyes. John smiled back, knowing his own eyes conveyed his forgiveness for whatever Carson was apologizing for.
Carson shifted so he was leaning against John. John leaned back. They would talk later, he knew, back at Atlantis base. For now, knowing that his Carson was healing was enough.