RATING: G - nothing bad
SEASON: Third Season - somewhere after McKay and Mrs. Miller
MAJOR CHARACTERS: Teyla and McKay
DISCLAIMERS: The characters, Atlantis, etc, all belong to Sony, MGM, Gecko, Showtime, the Sci-Fi Channel.  I own nothing that they'd want.  
SUMMARY:  Teyla is on the mainland, expecting Sheppard to pick her up.  Someone else comes instead
FEEDBACK: Yes please! comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
AWARDS:  2007 Skiffy - 2nd Place - Rodney McKay - Friendship -
DATE: November 13, 2006, updates made August 20, 2007

Weird Kid
By NotTasha... yes, seriously

PART 1: PREPARATION

“It is so good to have you here, Teyla,” Cahal said cheerfully as she crushed fresh herbs in her mortar.  “It seems that you rarely visit anymore.”  Her voice remained pleasant, but Teyla felt the prick of disappointment in her tone.

With a sigh, Teyla responded, “I wish I were able to do so more often.”  And she smiled, somewhat sadly.  “I have been rather busy as of late.”

Norene, working beside her sister, clucked her tongue and chided, “Cahal, dear, it is not as if our Teyla need only walk from one tent to another.  She lives in the home of the Ancestors and does great work.  She keeps us safe from the Wraith.”  And the elder sister turned toward their former leader, her eyes shiny with pride.  “It is an honor to have you here.”

Teyla’s smile remained, but it dipped a little, become sadder.  “I will visit more often, I promise.”

With a nod, Norene told her, “We understand.  We truly do.”  She wiped her hands on her apron, and then reached out to clasp Teyla’s hands.  “It makes us happy to have you among us once again.  It feels – like home – when you are here.”

“I feel it as well,” Teyla told them, squeezing Norene's hands. While Atlantis had become a new home to her, she felt a longing for the tents of the Athosians, away from all the technology and strange ways of the people from Earth.  She missed the simple things that had once been part of her life.

The space was filled with familiar smells, foods she’d grown up with.  She felt comfortable and peaceful here. She yearned for the ability to just sit in the quiet refuge of a tent, to prepare a simple meal over an earthen stove, to chatter with the women about the crops, the camp, and  -- men.

Cahal was still young enough to be in love with nearly every young man who crossed her path.  She’d prattle endlessly about one boy, and then another.   Norene, older and widowed, had a more sophisticated taste – she deliberated her men carefully before committing to anything regarding them.

“Do you think the colonel likes triune root?” Cahal asked, hopefully.

Teyla responded with, “I do not know if he’s ever tried it, but I am certain he will like it.”

“He has pretty eyes,” Cahal said dreamily, “And his hair…” She giggled into her hand.  “How I would love to touch it -- so thick, so pretty.  I just want to run my fingers through it, over and over again.”  She sighed luxuriously.

“Oh, Cahal,” Norene returned with a chuckle.  “I doubt he would sit still long enough for you to try it.  He is a man of action, a hero amongst heroes.”  Her breast swelled with admiration.  “I only hope our simple meal will please him.”

“He will enjoy it,” Teyla insisted.  “Very much, I assure you.”  Her smile increased, imagining how the women would fuss over her friend.  How would the colonel respond to both sisters fawning over him?  The women deserved a little joy in their lives, and maybe the colonel could use the attention.  It had been months since they’d come across a princess on their travels. Poor man.

Of course, the sisters could be a little ‘oppressive’ at times.  She’d tried to explain the facts to Sheppard ahead of time, so that he’d be prepared for their ministrations.  He seemed to understand.

Norene checked her bread as it baked.  The heady smell filled the tent as she opened the simple oven and pulled out the pan with a cloth.   “He will like my bread,” she said confidently, testing the doneness with her finger and putting it back.  “Any good man enjoys bread fresh from the oven.”

“Especially Norene’s,” Cahal said, in a mocking tone.  “Her bread was famous throughout all of Athos.  Many a young man fell victim to her baking skills, back when she was young – so long ago.”

“Quiet, Cahal,” Norene chastised playfully.  “I am not dead!”  She snapped the cloth at her sister.

Cahal gasped at the sudden attack.

From somewhere under the table, came a guttural, “Ngggah!” as a boy banged a block of wood against the floor.  “Gah!”

Biting her lip, Cahal leaned down to peer at the child.  “Nash?” she questioned.  “Are you all right?”

Teyla leaned beside her, looking in on the dark-haired child and his block of wood.  He sat beneath the table, his gangly legs bent so that his knees nearly came to his ears.  He sat in shadows where the big rectangular table met the wall.  About five years old, the boy was skinny, with almond-shaped eyes, and a moon-face -- features that the Atlantians might have referred to as ‘Asian’, but the Athosians knew as ‘Gallatin’.

He looked back at Teyla with eyes that seemed simple, yet too knowing.  Something had stopped in that child, stifling him, changing him.

“Hello, Nash,” Teyla said sweetly.  “Would you like to come out and assist your aunties?”  She’d only caught glimpses of the boy during her visit as the child stayed stashed in his hiding place.  He was a new arrival, having arrived less than moon-turn earlier and was still shy around nearly everyone except his adopted aunties.  “Would you like to come out, Nash?”

Nash narrowed his dark eyes at her and shook his head.  His shock of black hair slapped back and forth and he went back to pounding at the reed-covered earth with his block.  “Nah-uh!” he grunted.

“Maybe you should stop making that noise,” Cahal suggested.

The boy looked unsure, clenching the bit of wood tightly.  The mat beneath the table was getting pounded to a pulp.  The child settled the block gently on the surface among his other wood pieces.  He’d apparently built some sort of a structure out of them, but the pieces had fallen.  Whether it was due to his violent movements or the force of gravity, Teyla couldn’t tell.

“Good,” Cahal praised.  “Good boy, Nash.”

The boy went back to stacking the bits of wood.

Teyla squatted down, smiling sweetly as she retrieved something from her vest pocket.  Nash tensed, and at a crinkling sound, he lifted his head, his dark bangs falling into his eyes.  He watched her intently as she brought the chocolate bar from her pocket.

The sweet smell reached him, and one arm shot out, grasping for it.  “Want!” he cried.  “Want it!”  He scrambled toward Teyla.

Cahal shook her head, chiding, “Be nice, Nash.”

From her place near the simple stove, Norene saying, “That is not proper, young man.  How do we ask for something?”

Cahal put in quickly, “It is so close to suppertime, Norene.  No sweets before supper.”

Nash furrowed his brow, looking crushed, miserable, almost ready to cry as Teyla realized the wisdom of Cahal’s comment and began to put away the treat.  “After supper,” she told the boy.

Nash moaned as if in horrid pain and sat back on his rump, his face scrunched up in anguish as he keened.

“Oh, oh,” Cahal made placating motions toward the child.  “Shhh, shhhh.”

Norene, standing near the stove, folded her arms over her chest, watching as her sister tried to calm the boy.  Teyla turned, and said quietly to the older sister, “I am sorry.  I was not thinking and --”

With a no-nonsense tone, Norene stated, “If he shows that he can be a polite and proper boy, he may have a bite before supper.”

Hope soared in the boy and he quieted instantly.   He held out his hand again.  “Please,” he called.  “Please! Please! Please!”  His hand opened and closed quickly.

Teyla smiled, and unwrapped the Hershey bar, breaking off the first section.  Chocolate had been a strange and mysterious substance when she first met with the Atlantians – it had since become something she couldn’t bear to live without.  She hoarded it whenever she could, keeping it out of reach of certain other members of her team.

Ronon was the quickest among them to spring on unguarded Hershey Bar.

She held out the piece and it disappeared in a moment.  The boy held it, sniffed it, then it was quickly stuffed into his mouth where he masticated and sucked it into a chocolate lump.  He looked about as pleased as a boy could be.  He swallowed.  The expression was replaced with one of longing as he gazed greedily at the remainder in Teyla’s hand.

But he was a polite and proper boy and made no further demands.

With a smile, Teyla folded the wrapper and returned the chocolate to her pocket.  “You may have the rest after supper,” she promised.

Nash made a happy little grunt, nodding furiously as his adopted aunties returned to making the meal.

The boy was another of the refugees, collected on some Wraith-pocked planet and herded to the oasis that was the ‘mainland’.  There were several races here, making the settlement a mishmash of cultures and peoples, and one tiny group was easy to fold in.

The Gallatins had been living for months in detestable conditions, on a world forever ruined by the hands of the Wraith – those that weren’t culled, were left to starve on the stripped planet.   Nash’s parents, his entire family, had been taken, and a child that had once been sunny and quick-witted, became the strange being that now huddled under the table.

At times he acted as if he was barely past his first year.  Other times, he acted far too old.

His own people had difficulty with him.  Perhaps because his sullen disposition reminded them of what had befallen their people, of what they had lost.  So, when he arrived on the mainland, alone and strange and eyes full of dispair, the Athosian sisters had taken him in.

Cahal was happy for the addition, privately telling Teyla that it would give her older sister someone else to mother for a change, and Norene was glad of that responsibility.  Teyla had caught Norene looking at the troubled boy once with an expression of longing, of loss.  Nash wasn’t the only one who lost family in the cullings.

Teyla straightened and the boy scuttled into the deep recesses beneath the rectangular table.  Cahal and Norene continued their work over the supper.  So Teyla stood, watching them, unable to convince anyone that she should assist. 

“Sit,” Norene insisted.  “Relax.”

“Enjoy the quiet,” Cahal continued.  “Besides, there really isn’t room for another near the stove.”

Teyla tried to look pleased.  She was used to action, used to being in the thick of things.  With her team, she felt strong and vital.  In Atlantis, where she should have been a stranger, she felt as if she was an integral part of everything.  Of course, she reflected with a melancholy air, there had been a time when she had felt ‘different’… ‘alien’.  There had been a time when she’d felt apart from the others. 

No… she corrected herself…not entirely – never entirely.  Her team had always welcomed her, made her feel trusted, wanted.  They’d always accepted her, and the rest of Atlantis had, in time, accepted her as well.  She realized that her actions spoke volumes, but it was the trust of her team, more than anything, that had brought about the change throughout the rest of Atlantis.

And now she sat beside the table, watching the sisters toil.

She listened as they continued to gossip about their ‘special guest’ and what he might like and whose dish might gain the greatest favor.  Teyla did her best to keep from laughing at their girlish behavior.

Sheppard would love their attention, she promised herself.

“Teyla! Teyla!” a voice shouted from outside the tent.

She turned her head just in time to see Jinto and Wex burst through the flap.  “He’s coming!” Jinto cried, pointing to some location over his shoulder.  His eyes tracked toward the table, looking apprehensively at where the strange boy huddled.

Wex said nothing. He just grinned before turning sharply and running back the way they’d come.  Jinto was right behind him.

Teyla smiled warmly at her hosts, and promised, “I will return momentarily.”

“Don’t forget to bring that handsome young man with you,” Cahal commented.  She giggled, and her sister laughed with her.

“He is a good man and has given so much to us,” Norene declared, “He is always welcome in our house and we are deeply honored.  Be certain he knows that,” she insisted.

Teyla nodded, “I will be certain,” she told them.

“I am thinking Nash will like him,” Norene went on, her eyes fixing on the spot beneath the table where the boy was now huddled.  “Do you believe Colonel Sheppard will be quiet and easy with the boy?”

“No sudden movements?” Cahal went on.  “Nash doesn’t like loud voices.”

“I will be certain to let Colonel Sheppard know,” Teyla said confidently as she turned, pulling back the tent flap to follow the boys into the common area between the Athosian tents.

Villagers were busy with their late afternoon chores, preparing for supper.  Smiles were focused on her and she nodded to her people as she passed.

Their attention felt a little strange to her.  They looked on her as one might look on a visitor, someone who wasn’t normally seen in their village.  She had spoken with many of them when she’d first arrived, asking after their families, checking on their progress, asking if they’d needed anything, but there was this strange sense of disconnect with them.  She felt like a luminary among her own people.  She moved quickly through them.

Teyla’s gaze followed the boys as they ran through the little town, toward the clearing just outside.  They were growing tall, nearly men.  Soon they’d be sent on hunting parties and taking on the responsibilities of adults, but the arrival of the colonel always brought the ‘boy’ out in them.

She smiled at their spirited romp and lifted her gaze to see the puddlejumper, large in the sky.

“Colonel Sheppard,” she greeted, touching her radio.  “You are early.”

“Well, one tends to make their way to their destination a little faster when one doesn’t get constantly lost on the way,” was the smug response over the radio.

Teyla frowned, but replied with a bright, “Doctor McKay, it is a surprise to hear you.”

Ahead of her, the two boys had reached the clearing and were jumping about excitedly."

“The colonel was pulled into a meeting at the last moment,” Rodney explained.  “He figured I could perform this little errand since I didn’t appear to be doing anything at the moment.”  The comment came with an annoyed snap. “I mean, just because I didn’t LOOK busy doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a dozen pots on the stove ready to boil.”

Teyla smiled at the tone as she continued her walk toward the clearing.  The puddlejumper came to a halt in the air, and hovered before her.  “He asked you, and you thought you could use the extra flying time?” she tried.

“Yes, I… hang on…Could someone get those kids out of there?  I’m trying to land.”

Teyla called to the boy’s gesturing them back.  They looked puzzled, but moved.

The ship shuddered a moment, but came down gracefully enough.  “Okay, yeah, flight time, yes. The colonel said this wouldn’t take long.  Just pick you up and come back, right?”

Wex and Jinto crowded near the back of the ship as soon as it had landed and Teyla strode up beside them.  She waited as the rear hatch came down and the boys prepared to spring forward.  Their advance stopped immediately as soon as they saw who stood at the opening.  They drew back.

Rodney cringed backward as well, and then glared at the boys.  “Huh,” was his greeting.

Jinto’s look of dejection was hard to miss, but he was a well-mannered lad.  “Hello, Dr. McKay,” he said formally.  He gave Wex a jab.

“Uh, hello, Dr. McKay,” he said with the same reserve.

“Yeah, hi,” McKay responded.  He glanced to Teyla, his expression showing distrust and surprise, as if he didn’t know what else he could say or do.

“Return to your homes,” Teyla instructed to children.  “Certainly, your fathers are waiting.”

The boys nodded, grateful at the excuse.  They threw Teyla accusing looks before they moved quickly toward the settlement.

“Farewell committee, huh?” Rodney asked Teyla, then gestured to the interior of the ship as he turned sharply toward the interior.  “Well, come on.  Time is wasting.”

“Dr. McKay,” Teyla started, but Rodney was already moving back toward the pilot’s seat.

“Things to do…people to see…” McKay uttered.  He made it to the seat before turning toward her.  He looked perturbed when he noted that she hadn’t moved from her spot outside the ship.  “You are coming, aren’t you?  Because I’m sure someone will squawk if I came back without you.”

“Dr. McKay,” Teyla tried again.  “Norene and Cahal…”

“What? Noreen and what?”

“They are sisters, my friends…”

“Oh, great.  Yeah, fine.  Good to have friends.  Good for you.  You coming?”  He gestured impatiently at the copilot’s seat.  “Got to get back before dinner.  It’s pizza night.  I mean, it’s not like ‘real’ pizza.  Not as good as I could get back home.  There was this great little pizzeria not far from where I used to…”  He shook his head, as if realizing he was rambling.  “Anyway, it’s pizza.  We’ve got to get moving.”

“Rodney, we have been invited to supper at Norene and Cahal’s home.”

“Oh…” His face twisted in puzzlement.  “We?  What, are they -- psychic?  They knew I was coming?  That would be quite the trick, because I didn’t know I was coming before Sheppard came skipping through the lab looking for someone with the gene.  Well, not skipping really, but he looked pretty damn smug.  Told me he needed a favor because Weir was upset about something and he had this obligation to pick you up.  Look, I don’t even know them.”

“They have been preparing the meal all afternoon and it would be …”

“They thought Sheppard was coming.  They invited the colonel.”

Teyla smiled.  “They were expecting a pilot from Atlantis to retrieve me and invited…”

“Nah, not just any pilot.”  McKay shook his head as if scolding her.  “They wanted Sheppard – flyboy – Mr. Hair.  Well, he’s not here.  It’s just me.   My hair…” and he ran a hand through his ‘locks’, “…not so great.”  The attention left his hair standing on end at one side of his head.  “So let’s go, okay?”

Teyla sighed, feeling her annoyance rising.  “It would be rude,” she told him.

“It would be rude if anyone except Sheppard showed up,” McKay told her as he poked at the jumper’s controls.  “I’m sure they’re getting themselves all gussied up for his arrival.  And I… as you can plainly see… am not Sheppard.  My entrance would only disappoint and ruin their little party.”

“Doctor…”

“Let’s get cracking.  Come on.  Pizza night!”  He popped a hand against a closed fist, and then snapped his fingers.  “Pepperoni… sausage…no Canadian bacon though.”

“Please…”  Teyla said softly.

She expected some smart remark, but McKay quieted, his attention apparently on the control panel.   Continuing, she said, “They have worked all day to make something special.  They are my friends.  Please…”

With a groan, McKay punched a few controls and the soft whine of power quieted.  “Fine,” he muttered.  He stabbed at a few more buttons.  “It had better be good.”

“I promise it won’t be painful,” Teyla uttered quickly.

Rodney raised his head, meeting her gaze and saying, “I’ll keep you to that.”

PART 2: DINNER

McKay made a call to Atlantis as Teyla waited outside.  She only heard his half of the conversation as he explained his delay.  There’d been long pauses as he waited for someone – anyone – to tell him that he was urgently needed back.  He made insinuations that he was required for some important ventures – pots boiling and all that. He stopped making intimations and began to make threats.

Apparently he was denied.  He asked to speak to Sheppard, who proved unavailable, no matter how urgent Rodney insisted his situation was becoming.  Before he signed off, he tried to get the gate technician to commit to saving him pizza for later.  He sneered at the response and ended by barking out a quick, “Fine!  McKay out.”

Unsuccessful, he grabbed his pack and joined Teyla outside the jumper.  Hoisting the heavy pack to his back, he grumbled, “Let’s get it over with then.”

Teyla smiled tightly, wondering why Rodney always traveled with so much equipment.  It wasn’t as if they were on a mission, but the scientist was rarely seen outside of Atlantis without his ‘toys’.  Perhaps he didn’t feel right without them?

She gestured toward the settlement.  McKay made a disgruntled sound, and they started in that direction.

“They haven’t found any… citrus on this planet, have they?” Rodney tried, walking hurriedly, as if trying to get this over with as soon as possible.  “Because if they have, I should probably just leave now.”

“There have been no such discoveries on this planet,” Teyla responded.

“Someone might have brought some in.  You know, we brought those people in from Gallifrey last month.  Who knows what they smuggled in their luggage.”

“Gallitan,” Teyla corrected.  “And they brought no food.  They were starving.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.”  He grimaced, keeping the pace quick.  “The food that these sisters slapping together in there… is it… edible?”

“Cahal and Norene are fine cooks and I believe you will enjoy the supper they have prepared.”  She gazed at him, her brown eyes meeting his stark blue ones.  “You do enjoy eating, do you not, Dr. McKay?”  There was a touch of humor in her gaze.

"Well, yes,” he replied philosophically.  “That is rather true.  Granted, the food has to be ‘good’.  It has to be ‘food’.

Teyla sighed at that, remembering how quickly Rodney would dive into just about anything presented to him.  “You will enjoy what they have prepared,” she promised and she gazed toward the sisters’ tent as they entered the settlement.  Her steps hesitated, realizing that the women were expecting someone different.

“Oh, and how are the sanitary conditions in the camp?  I mean, there's no running water, is there, so maybe it's not easy to wash up?"  McKay asked as they moved along, through the mix of societies scrambled in the settlement.

Trying not to color her tone, Teyla responded with, "There is a well of good water and they follow the sanitary procedures."

"Well, that's good."

Her gaze searched, looking for a distraction, and found Halling outside his tent with Jinto.  “Look,” she declared.  “There is Halling.”

McKay had slung the pack down to his arm.  “Yeah, great,” he muttered as he pawed through the contents, retrieving one of his handheld devices.  He flipped the pack back into position.

“It has been some time since you have seen him?” Teyla tried, and waved toward the man.

Halling looked toward her and smiled.

“Huh…” McKay voiced as he poked at the controls of the device.  “Yeah.”

“Perhaps you would like a moment to… ‘catch up’?”

“Hmmm, ah…” He looked up and then stated, “No… no need.  I can use this time to recalibrate this device."  He tapped the thing in his hands.  "I’m trying to fine-tune the Life Sign Detector a little.  I’ve been teaching it how to differentiate lifesigns. Takes a lot of time.”  His attention stayed on the device as they came alongside the others.

“Good evening, Teyla,” Halling greeted.  “Dr. McKay,” he added.

“Yeah,” McKay responded, too intent on the device’s display.

“Jinto told me that you had arrived,” Halling went on, indicating the boy who looked like he’d rather be elsewhere.

“Yeah, smart boy.”

Halling made a little smile, and then turned to Teyla, saying, “It was good that you came today.  We have seen too little of you lately.”

McKay, not paying much attention, replied for her, “Well, I’m a bit busy for playing chauffer most days.  It’s not as if I can just drop everything any moment of the day, you know?”

Halling looked puzzled, and started to respond, but Teyla just gave him a little shake of the head, and then said, “I am glad to see you as well, Halling.  I will come again… soon.  I am afraid that Cahal and Norene are waiting for us.”

“Ah yes,” Halling responded.  “I have been past their tent.”  He smiled, obviously having been privy to the fine aromas that circled the home.  “You must hurry along. Good evening to you.”

They leaned together, foreheads pressing.  Teyla wished them both well and then Halling slipped into his home with Jinto.

McKay and Teyla continued their journey toward the sisters’ tent.

McKay’s attention remained on the LSD, as he poked and punched.  It made quiet beeps, and he worked, seeing nothing around him. 

Teyla knew she should explain things to the sisters. There would only be moments.

She sprinted forward the last steps, reaching their destination and pulling back the tent flap.  The sisters within came to attention, both of them facing the opening with expectant and exuberant expressions.  Cahal’s cheeks had a touch of pink in them, as if she’d just squeezed them to add a bit of color to her face.  Norene had rid herself of her apron, and brushed the flour from her sleeves.

“Norene, Cahal,” Teyla started, wanting to get the news out in a rush, but McKay had apparently realized her desertion and came to stand beside her, huffing slightly.  The sisters’ expressions instantly fell at the sight of the out-of-breath scientist with the disarranged hair.

Teyla hoped that McKay hadn’t noticed their reaction, but he wasn’t intent on his display screen any longer.  He gazed into the tent, looking a little annoyed, perplexed and anxious.

Cahal said nothing.  She tried to look around McKay as if she still expected someone else.  A vexed expression crossed her face.

It was Norene that smiled warmly, opened her arms and said, “Welcome… welcome to our home.”

“Oh,” McKay said.  “Uh, yeah, hi.”

“Norene, Cahal,” Teyla introduced cordially, “This is Dr. Rodney McKay.  Rodney, I would like to introduce you to Norene and Cahal, daughters of Lobel.”

Norene brightened at the visitor’s name.  “Dr. McKay!  We have heard much about you.”

Rodney rolled his eyes, stating,  “Let me start by saying, you shouldn’t believe all that you hear.”  And he gave Teyla an unhappy look.  “Many stories regarding me have been blown out of proportion.”

Teyla made a sound like she wanted to respond, but Norene stepped in.

“I assure you,” Norene stated, taking Rodney by the arm.  “Everything I have heard is good.”

McKay looked a bit unsettled as Norene tugged him into the tent.  But his expression changed as he got a good whiff of what was cooking.  “Oh!” he exclaimed.  “What's that?”

“It is murfree and triune root stew,” Norene told him.  “And bread, fresh from the oven.  And fresh vergne greens and there will be pegram cake.”

“Good, good,” McKay declared, looking rather content, considering he didn’t know what she was talking about.

Cahal stepped out of the way as Norene directed McKay to the table.  She still craned her neck around to see of there was anyone else coming.  “Colonel Sheppard?” she asked Teyla worriedly.  “Is he all right?”

“Fine,” McKay answered, his voice a little sharp.  “More than fine.  And he’s going to be in for it when I get back!  He made up that story about the ‘important’ meeting just to get out of…oof!”  He stopped talking when Teyla ran into him.  He glared, their eyes met, and then he said, “Yeah, he had a meeting to attend.  A very important meeting.” McKay gave Teyla a narrow look.  “He sends his apologies.”

Cahal didn’t hide her disappointment, but Norene went back to moving around the kitchen space, getting things ready.  “It is too bad that he could not be here,” Norene stated, “But we are glad to have you in his place, Dr. McKay.”  She poked at the pot on the stove.  “Supper will be ready in a few minutes, so please sit and be comfortable.”  She made a gesture at her sister and the woebegone Cahal moved from the tent’s opening, letting the flap drop as there was no chance of a late arriving Lt. Colonel John Sheppard.

Once he was seated, Norene asked, “Are you comfortable, Dr. McKay?”

McKay had returned to his Life Sign Detector.  “Hmm?  Oh yeah, fine.”  He waggled back and forth a little on the wooden bench.  “Great.”

“Do you need anything?” Cahal asked.

With a snort, McKay started to say something, but instead replied with, “No.  Nothing that you can get, in any case.”

“Sit, Teyla,” Norene insisted. “Please relax.  Our guests must be at ease.”

Feeling a tightness in her chest, Teyla did as she was asked, finding a place on another bench, next to Rodney’s.

“I understand that you are a very important person in Atlantis,” Norene said conversationally.

“What, me? Yeah, that’s right,” McKay replied.  “Probably one of the most important people there.”  He gave Teyla a self-congratulatory look, as if he wanted to point out that he’d indicated that he was only ‘one’ of the most important.

She raised an eyebrow in returned.

McKay poked at the Life Sign Detector once or twice, and then his eyes went wide as he counted the dots.  He gasped.

“Rodney?”  Teyla responded, alarmed by the reaction.

Rodney came to his feet so quickly that he knocked down the little bench with a racket.  “Get out! Get out!  Get out!” he cried, stumbling toward the tent flap and clawing for his sidearm.

Startled, Teyla stood, posed and ready for anything.  A pot clattered loudly.  Cahal let out a shout. 

“Rodney!” Teyla cried.  “What is it?”

“Out!” He sholdered open the tent flap and gestured wildly for the others as he tried to free his weapon.  “Something’s… someONE is under the table!”  He finally managed to open the 9mm’s holster.

Cahal and Norene looked terrified, not knowing how or where to move.

“Rodney!  NO!”  Teyla reached McKay in an instant, pressing her hand on top of Rodney’s arm as he tried to lift the Beretta.  “It is a child,” she told him firmly.  “A child.”

“Nash!” Norene got out.  “It’s just Nash!”

“Don’t hurt him!” Cahal demanded.  “It’s just a boy.”

“What?” McKay responded, his voice a little high as he let Teyla keep the weapon aimed at the floor.

Something under the table was making a frantic, “Ngah…  ngah… ngah.”

Rodney turned sharply.  “What the hell is that?” he shouted. “What’s making that racket?”

“Rodney, quiet,” Teyla insisted, pressing still on McKay’s arm.  “You’re upsetting him.”

“I’m upsetting HIM?” McKay griped incredulously, his voice still raised.

Cahal was beside the table, squatting down and talking in a soft cooing voice, “It is all right, Nash.  Everything is fine.  Shhhh, quiet now.”

Norene stood back, giving the boy room, and Rodney looked from her, to Teyla, to Cahal who crouched at the table.  “What the hell?” he asked, and squatted beside the younger sister.  He peered in, making out a dark shape crushed against the wall.  He couldn't make heads of tails of the shape.  It hardly looked human. Then two eyes glinted at him and he sat back.

“Hey!” he plainly stated.  “Why are you keeping a boy down there?”

“He has had a difficult time,” Norene explained.

“He doesn’t like loud noises,” Cahal declared quietly.

“Doesn’t mean you should go stashing kids under your tables,” McKay sniped, but his voice had become calmer.  "I mean, you don't do that to people."

Teyla explained in a low voice, “It is the boy’s choice.”

“What kind of choice is that?”  McKay narrowed his gaze as he looked at the boy who was crammed at the back of the table, pressed against the wall.  “Can’t hardly see him back there.  What are you doing back there?” he called out.

“Nash doesn’t speak unless he wants something,” Cahal told him, her voice sad.

“I am sorry, Norene,” Teyla stated.  “I neglected to tell Dr. McKay.  I…”

Norene smiled at her.  “It is all right, Teyla.  Cahal, Dr. McKay, perhaps you should just let him be now.  He doesn't like loud noise or movements."

"No movements?"  McKay had difficulty grasping that idea.

Norene continued, saying, "It is best if you ignore him.”

Cahal stood up slowly and moved away from the table, but McKay continued to look in at the child.  “He shouldn’t be down there like that.  I mean, I’m all for kids not being seen, but this is ridiculous.  This isn’t normal behavior.”

Norene explained, “I am told that Nash was a much happier child before the culling. He was… normal.”  Her pleasant face was lined with sorrow.  “The culling changed everything.  Since then, he has become quiet and withdrawn.  Sometimes I think he just wants to find some control in his life, something that he can 'do' where he won't feel out of control.  His world has come apart.”

“Oh,” McKay comprehended.  “Got it.  So he's hiding under the table until then. Kids… who can understand them anyway.”  He poked at his Life Sign Detector.  It made little bleeps.  As he worked, he sent surreptitious glances to the space where the child hid.

Norene and Cahal went back to fussing around the kitchen.  Teyla watched them, yearning to join in, but helpless in her role.  And for a while it was quiet, except for the noises of the electronic gadget, and an occasional grunt from the child.

Rodney continued his work, trying not to be distracted by what might be lurking just beyond his feet.  From time to time he caught glimpses of the child, interested eyes peeking out at him from under the edge of the table, a black mop of hair appearing and then going away.  Unconsciously, McKay rubbed a hand over his own hair, hoping it looked okay.

McKay prodded at the softly-chiming device, and the dark eyes peeped out again.  Rodney glared at the boy a moment, not liking being observed – especially by children who were under tables, but he realized it was better to know where the kid was.  After all, the ankle biter might have gone after his feet at any time.

They watched each other in wary silence for a moment. Then Nash reached out one hand, clutching at the air and crying, “Want!”

Rodney scowled.  “We all want something don’t we?” he sniped.  “The difference between ‘wanting’ and ‘getting’ is vast.”

“Want!” Nash declared again, more urgently.

“Hush, Nash,” Cahal insisted.  The boy cringed back unhappily. “Be a good boy or there will be no more choc-o-late.” She sounded the word out slowly.

“Someone has chocolate?” McKay asked brightly, looking in surprise at the sisters, and then to Teyla, where his expectant expression fell.  “Oh,” he said, downcast as he realized who held the prize and knowing his odds of extracting the goods from that source.  He went back to poking at the Life Sign Detector, with Nash watching intently, clutching his hands together.

McKay’s eyes kept lifting and he’d frown at the boy’s obvious greed.  Going back to his work, he grumbled, “It’s not a toy."

“Toy?” the child voiced, his hands holding tight to one another.

“NOT a toy.”

Teyla watched the interplay of the two.  McKay seemed to be getting more irritated by the moment, and the boy was actually smiling a little as the scientist’s frown increased, as if the boy couldn’t quite believe the man’s irritation.

It was the mistake that children made with Rodney, Teyla surmised.  Perhaps the prickly scientist reminded them of some grouchy but lovable grandfather, an eccentric but mild-mannered uncle, a hard-driving but softhearted teacher.  Children seemed to be drawn to the physicist, ignoring all warning signs.

Rodney worked at the device, his grimace almost comical as he kept up his determined work while his observer kept close.  The device made its quiet little sounds.

“Geet!” the child voiced suddenly, and “Geet!” again when McKay pushed another button.

McKay met the boy’s gaze.  “Beep,” he corrected crossly.

“Beep!” the boy repeated, all grins with only brought a deeper frown from McKay.  “Beep!  Beep! Beep!”

Cahal and Norene chuckled quietly at Nash’s interaction, but McKay just looked perturbed.

“That’s enough!” he grumbled.

“Beep!” Nash said again.

“Great,” McKay snapped.  “A monster.  I would say, ‘I created a monster,’ but honestly, I had nothing to do with this.”  Another face, and he corrected himself with, "Okay, I did tell him the correct onomatopoeia, but don't you prefer 'geet' over beep'?"

“Beep!” Nash said again playfully.  He had made his way further out from under the table, yearning toward the beeping device, but keeping his hands far from it.  His face was a mass of interest as he watched McKay’s movements.  The boy squatted and leaned toward him.

Norene and Cahal watched in fascination.  The child, usually the first to draw away from anything strange, seemed spellbound by the man with his beeping device and his abrupt nature.

The boy leaned closer and, unable to stand it any longer, McKay thumped down the device on the table.  He pointed at the boy, as if to keep him in place, and rooted through his bag again.  He came up with another, similar, device.  He punched a button and the little device played a happy melody.

Nash’s eyes lit up.  He came fully out from under the table and plunked himself down on the bench beside Rodney, desperate to see what had made the pretty sound.

“This,” Rodney said instructionally as he pointed to the handheld device,  “is a Gameboy.  It is a toy and it’s better suited for children than important Ancient devices.”  He flipped the device about as if examining it, ensuring that all was right.  “It’s old so it won’t suck if you break it.”  He centered a steely gaze on the boy’s head. “Don’t break it.”

The kid didn’t seem to hear him.  He pressed himself closer to the scientist, his gaze on the little device.

“It’s one of the first generation Gameboys,” McKay explained.  “Had to have it.  Saved for months.”  He punched a few more buttons.  “Lost it years ago.  My sister Jeannie ended up with it somehow.  She sent it.”

“You have a sister?” Cahal asked, the fact seem to brighten something in her, as if having a sister made someone a better human being.  “You must love spending time with her.”

McKay didn't seem to hear.  “She must have found it in an old box or something and figured she’d get it out of her way and ship it to me.  You know, one less piece of junk in the house.”  He shrugged.

He went on, apologizing with, “The only game I have is Tetris.  I used to have a ton of games, but I lost the rest of them when...”  He paused and went back to poking.

Nash watched his every move.

"Used to play it all the time, every spare moment I had."  He chuckled softly, making a little huff.  "Used to stay up all night, playing.  Sometimes I just kept going until it was time for school in the morning.  My parents didn't care, so what the heck, right?"  He looked up at the others momentarily, and seeing the strange looks he was getting, amended with, "I was a weird kid."

Nash looked at him excitedly, hands clenching and unclenching.

“Ah, you probably shouldn’t do that,” he told the boy.  "You know, the 'stay up all night' thing.  It's not good for kids. Screws them up."

Nash looked back at him with his brown eyes wide.  The boy nodded.

“He’s not going to smash it or anything, is he?” McKay asked the sisters.  “He doesn’t like to smash things?”

“Well…” Cahal started.

Norene moved closer to the table, leaning toward the boy and said, “He will be careful, won’t you, Nash?”

The boy nodded again, his eyes on the toy.

“Great,” McKay responded, not very enthusiastically.  He spent a few moments showing the boy how to play the game, describing how to use the buttons, how to manipulate the falling pieces on the display, explaining how to get them to land in a favorable position. 

Nash’s gaze flicked excitedly across the display as the animated bricks fell.

Rodney seemed rather glad that the child asked no questions, simply drinking in the information, the sights, the sounds.  As lines of boxes disappeared, Nash jumped in his seat, delighted.

“The newer game-systems are better,” Rodney said halfheartedly.  “This is really a piece of junk.  It’s all beat up and the crystal is just about done.  You can barely read what’s on the keypad anymore.  Worn down.  I used to play it a lot – when I was a kid.”  He was quiet for a moment, fingering the worn keys.  “Sorry about that.  You can figure it out though, right?”

The boy raised his gaze long enough to meet McKay’s eyes.  He nodded resolutely.

“So, if I let you play with this, you’ll sit there quietly and behave?” McKay asked sternly.

The boy nodded again, then quickly reached out a hand.  “Please?” he asked hopefully.

Another grimace and McKay slapped the device into the boy’s hands.  Instantly Nash started pushing buttons, grunting unhappily, then making happy little crows as the device sang and geeted in his hands. His bare feet twisted as he mauled the toy.   McKay went back to poking at the LSD.

Nash scooted closer, pressing himself against the scientist.

Teyla smiled at the pair, finding them in almost the same posture as they toiled over their devices, both with the same air of importance. 

As Norene and Cahal put the finishing touches on the supper, chatting with Teyla.  They’d look toward Nash and McKay, and smile sweetly, unnoticed by either of the gentlemen.

Once or twice, McKay leaned over the boy, ignoring the flinch.  He'd detail some strategy or to tell the boy he was doing something ‘wrong, wrong, wrong’.  He’d take possession of the device for a moment, fritter around with the keys while letting the boy observe, say, “See?” and shove it back at the child.

The boy stopped flinching by the third time McKay did this. He watched Rodney’s every move, would nod thoughtfully and then go back to playing.  McKay would grumble and groan and say, “That's not right,” and “No, the UP button,” and “Yeah, you got it.”

And after a while – “Smart kid.”

When supper was ready, all electronic devices were turned off and put aside.  Norene and Cahal brought out dishes of steaming, fragrant food, looking proud enough to burst their buttons.

Dr. McKay hesitated over the dishes, poking halfheartedly with his eating utensils, taking the first bit with a tentative grimace.  The uncertainty disappeared as he chewed, and he smiled – a little.  “This is good,” he said.  His face brightened.  “Yeah, this is good.”

The women almost glowed with satisfaction.  And McKay supped deeply.

During the meal, the group talked pleasantly enough.  Teyla held up much of the conversation since McKay seemed more interested in consuming the food in front of him.  Norene asked him to recount some of their adventures, which he did in a clinical tone, mentioning only the basic information.  He was generous when speaking of his teammates though, gaining some satisfaction by making Teyla blush.

Both of the sisters kept up their end of the conversation, eventually drawing less terse responses from the physicist, especially when topics turned toward the things he loved, like science, discovery and food.

Nash stayed beside McKay, pressed tight against him.  Throughout the meal, McKay reacted to the boy’s proximity by groaning loudly and making a show of having to work around the protuberance on his side. “Elbows weren’t meant to bend this way,” he grumbled at one point as he tried to reach around the child.

It made Nash smile.

McKay complained about sticky fingers touching him even though the fingers weren’t near him.  The fingers were closer after that.

In all, Teyla was surprised.  Rodney, in spite of himself, was fairly well behaved.  His utter annihilation of everything placed before him was a compliment in itself, but his repetition of, “This is good… this is really good,” brought glowing smiles from the sisters.

And too soon, the meal was over.

PART 3: DESSERT

It didn't take long, and the meal was over, pots were empty.  McKay had suffered through seconds and thirds, and was taking an extra piece of pegram cake home with him.  Even so, he looked a little disappointed when it came to an end.  There was nothing left to eat.

McKay packed his Life Sign Detector, along with the cake.  “I suppose we should be going,” he stated.

“You are welcome to stay longer,” Norene invited warmly.  “We would be happy if you remained.”

“It has been good to talk with you,” Cahal went on.  She reached out a hand as if she wanted to grasp McKay’s but he was busy shouldering his pack.

“Yeah, well, it’s been nice,” McKay told her.  “But… you know… We’d ah… just get in the way if we stayed much longer.”  And his gaze narrowed on the dirty dishes as if he was afraid he’d be roped into cleaning.  He stood warily. "And we have to get back."

Teyla smiled first at Rodney, then at the sisters.  “It is true,” she reiterated as she got to her feet.  “We do need to go.  We are needed at home.”

She saw the slight change in the sisters’ expressions, and she realized what she had said.  It was the truth, though.  As much as she liked to believe that the Athosian colony was ‘home’, Atlantis was what called to her now.  “It is best that we return,” she concluded.

“Yeah,” McKay confirmed, “As lovely as this all has been, I have work to do.” And he nodded toward the tent flap.  “Gotta go.  Chop chop.”

“Chop chop!” Nash echoed cunningly.

Teyla smiled at Norene and Cahal, thanking them dearly.  McKay watched the boy with an unsure expression.  The physicist edged toward the door.

“Dr. McKay?” Teyla stated, turning toward her companion.

“Huh?  What?” McKay responded, and noted the little head bob that Teyla made toward the daughters of Lobel.  “Oh yeah, thanks,” McKay added, pushing back the tent flap. “It was great.  I mean, really tasty.”  He frowned, finding fingerprints on his sleeve.  With a grimace he rubbed at them.

Nash made a gleeful little sound.

“You are welcome back any time,” Norene told him.

“Sure,” McKay responded looking a little uncomfortable at the attention as he regarded the outdoors.  He pursed his lips in annoyance, finding that night had fallen while he’d been occupied.  “Gotta go.  Yeah, thanks.  Sorry.  Things to do and all.  But yeah, it was great.  Thanks, okay?”  And he made a little wave.

He let the flap fall behind him as Teyla said her formal goodbyes within, damning himself for always being so uncomfortable in these situations.  Alone, he pulled a flashlight from his pack before he settled the bag on his back again.  Remembering something, he turned with an “Oh!”, to find Nash standing beside him, the Gameboy in his hand.

Nash offered it up, his faced filled with a gratitude that McKay couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Yeah, right,” McKay made a move to take it from the Nash just as Teyla came through the flap.

Rodney let his arm fall to his side.  “Might as well keep it,” he told the boy.  “I mean, it’s really pretty dated and everything and it's probably all sticky now.  It’s not like I don’t have better games on my laptop, you know?  Not like I have time to play any of them anyway.  Keep it.”

The boy instantly clutched the game to his chest, looking as if he might levitate off the ground with glee.  "Thank you," he whispered.

"No problem," McKay returned in a disinterested tone.

Almost as an afterthought Nash turned toward Teyla and held out one hand, graspingly, as he called, “Please?  Please?”  The other hand had a death grip on the game.

Teyla smiled at him and pulled the chocolate bar from her pocket. Depositing it in the boy’s hand.  “A promise is a promise,” she said softly and smiled at his beaming face. 

Nash quickly squirreled the candy into his pocket.  He did not release his hold on the game.

Beside her, McKay looked a little upset to see the candy disappear so quickly.  Finally, he broke off his stare of incredulity and stated, “Well, see ya.  Bye, kid.” He turned, leaving the boy behind as he stalked toward the jumper, shining the light before him.

Teyla quickly came alongside him.  “That was very kind of you,” she told him.  “To give him the toy.”

“Like I said, I don’t have time to play it and he’s probably ruined it, so it’s no big deal.”

She cocked her head slightly and asked, “Then why were you carrying it in your pack?  It seems that it would only add weight to an already heavy bag.”

“Well,” McKay said and scowled.  “How the hell should I know?  I received the box from my sister and had nowhere else to put it.  Just needed to offload it somewhere.  It's better that someone gets some enjoyment from it.  The chocolate was a bigger loss.”

Teyla didn’t respond as she sunk her hands into her pockets and kept pace beside her companion.  After all, she knew where she could find a few more bars of chocolate.  She doubted that a similar toy existed in this galaxy.

"Carson's seen that kid, hasn't he?" Rodney asked after a moment.  "I mean, is there something... wrong with him?"

Teyla nodded, stating, "He has been seen.  Dr. Heightmeyer visits regularly.  They are keeping a watch on him."

"Ah good... good.  Someone should, you know."

They made their way quickly to the jumper and Rodney opened the hatch.  He turned around once, and peered into the darkness behind them, before he harrumphed and entered the ship.

They quickly settled into their seats, and Rodney closed the rear hatch, and started poking at the controls.  Teyla watched him, smiling.     Suddenly his head pivoted and caught her.  “What?”

“Thank you,” she said genuinely.

 McKay looked flummoxed.  “What for?” he asked.  “If it’s for coming here to pick you up, that was Sheppard’s deal.  He bamboozled me into doing it.”  He brought the jumper online.

“Thank you for coming to dinner.  It meant a lot to Cahal and Norene, and to Nash as well.”

With a jerk of a shoulder, McKay continued at his work.  “I had to eat somewhere,” he grumbled.

She continued to smile, watching his focused work as he fiddled with the controls.  “It was as I promised,” she stated emphatically.

“What?”  McKay’s head shot up.

“I promised you that the evening would be enjoyable, that the food would be good.”

With an annoyed expression, McKay corrected her, “You promised me that it would not be ‘painful’… your word.”  As Teyla pondered, trying to remember exactly what she’d said, McKay went on, “And it was pretty damn painful for me.  I had to sit on a hard wooden bench, I have kid prints all over my sleeve and I know I’m going to have issues with this shoulder because I had to work with it in an odd position all evening.”  He rotated the shoulder in question to illustrate his point.  “Kids should sit in their own seats.  I'm just sayin'.  And I think he may have bit me on the foot at some point before he got out from under that table.  And kids are just snot bags, carriers of disease.  I’m probably coming away with some exotic variant of the common cold.”  He snorted, as if he meant to sneeze, but couldn’t call one up.

He went on.  “And knowing my luck in making snap decisions regarding people.  He’s just going to break that Gameboy or toss it in the corner and forget about it.”

Teyla had no response to that.  She could only shake her head in wonder.  As she turned her head, she caught sight of the boy in question, coming into view in front of the ship.

McKay had spotted him too.  "What’s he doing here alone?” he asked.  “Seems pretty darn reckless.”

She explained, “This is his home.  The community is nearby and surely his Aunts are watching.”

McKay responded with a quiet “Hmmm”, and finished the start up phase.  “Does someone need to tell him to stand back?”

“He is safe where he is standing.”

“But what if he moves?  I mean he might come charging right in and…”

“He will not move.”

“Well then, we might as well get going before he does something.”  McKay's gaze remaining on the child as one hand lowered to the controls.  He waved, making the gesture look like a demand to ‘back up’. The boy waved back with one hand, the other kept the Gameboy safe at his chest.

McKay brought the jumper to hover over the ground, putting several feet beneath them.

Nash jumped up and down excitedly.

“Weird kid,” McKay said, gesturing again and uttered a quiet, “Bye,” before he adjusted the controls and the jumper shot forward, into the night sky. 

The boy kept jumping even as they shot out of sight.

“Really, really weird kid.”

Teyla had to agree.  There was something a little strange about a child that took such a liking to Dr. Rodney McKay.

“They should keep an eye on him because he’s just the type to do something you don’t expect.  Could be anything.”

“This is true,” Teyla stated.  “One has difficulty understanding such a person.”

“Yeah, well… I’ll have to bring him some batteries next time I’m out here,”  McKay said offhand.  “That Gameboy eats right through them.  Maybe I can rig up some sort of a rechargeable unit… something solar powered.  Yeah.  That’d do.”

And Teyla smiled, understanding a little.

THE END
yeah, I know. It's just a weird little story.  Hope you liked it

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