The Long Way Home

Chapter Thirty Six: Duty Bound

My hands
They only agree to hold
Your hands
And they don't wanna be without
Your hands
And they will not let me go

Leona Lewis – My Hands

Thirty nine hours and counting until the Wraith descended upon Atlantis and already a plan was in place. Albeit from the pinched expression on Carson's face it wasn't a foolproof one, whatever it was it made him unhappy. Cass understood his dislike of putting his fate in other people's hands. As doctors they were the ones used to being in control yet with a situation like this they were helpless. They simply didn't have the expertises to work with the technology or to create plans that could save the city. Yet knowing that there was a plan, no matter how unlikely it was, was reassuring. It meant there was a chance.

An Alpha Site had been selected and investigated by Sergeant Stackhouse. Over the past few days John had been spending his time in the conference room searching for their safe haven. His team had investigated the short list of suitable planets and determined all but one unsafe.

One planet had even been the real life equivalent to The Lost World. John and his team had nearly been made a meal out of by a T-Rex that had attacked them off world.

Cass would have liked to visit that planet if the possibility wasn't so reckless and dangerous. She had harboured a love of dinosaurs since she'd been a small girl and Jurassic Park was one of her favourite movies. To see a real dinosaur would have been amazing. It was thinking like this that distracting her from the overwhelming big picture. Their chances of surviving were rapidly decreasing.

To make matters worse Teyla and Sergent Bates had gotten into a scuffle with each other over Teyla's alleged 'gift'. Ever since it had been revealed that Teyla could connect to the Wraith through the experimentation upon her ancestors Bates had been gunning for her. Cass could see his point of view, he was the Head of Security, it was his duty to protect the expedition but Teyla had been in full control over herself since the experiment they had preformed back in the Infirmary.

At the current moment Cass was in her own room rechecking her medical kit for the third time since she had restocked a few hours before. She was antsy, she was meant to be on downtime, resting and catching up on her sleep until she was needed but with timer counting down so vividly in her mind, she was finding it hard to relax.

John was sitting on the bed watching his wife intently as she adjusted the strap once more upon the familiar green canvass bag. His fingers were curled into fists which in turn were resting upon his knees. His body was taunt with tension as he straightened his spine and fixed his gaze upon Cass wearily.

He didn't want to have this fight but he could feel it mounting in the air around them. His duty was taking over, not his duty to the job but his duty to her. Marriage shifted things he was finding. She was his priority for now. It hadn't been the same for Nancy, he walked out in the middle of the night at the drop of a phone call without waking his ex wife. Yet for Cass he was different, she made him a better person. He woke her with a kiss when he had to leave her in the night whilst she left a note upon his pillow.

"I need you to evacuate to the Alpha Site." John said quietly.

Cass stopped what she was doing, her shoulders hunched. John could see her drawing the breath in as she steeled herself. They had fought before, Cass rushing back too quickly after the stabbing, the decisions they had made regarding the Planet Hoff situation but this was different. When it came to personal safety they were both careful but Cass always took into consideration John's risky streak. He was never one to leave a man behind. It was a noble quality and Cass admired and accepted that about her husband. The problem was John struggled when it came to dealing with emotions. He wasn't used to loving someone so selflessly.

"You need me to?" Cass repeated his words as she turned to face him, her hand on her hip. "As the Major or my husband?"

Wasn't that the question? As the Major he could simply order her to do his bidding but the relationship was never about that. The moment he allowed the Major to cross over into his personal life was the moment his marriage would crumble and he could never do that to them, no matter how tempted he might be.

"Cassie..." he drawled charmingly.

"Doesn't work on me John." Cass responded firmly.

She had seen that tactic work on other women when he was forced to play the flirtatious rogue in a bid to aid their means. Just hearing that engaging tone turned lesser women into putty in his hands but never Cass. It had been his wit and humour that had enticed her, his boyish good looks had played second fiddle to everything else.

"I should have known that you were too smart for that." John muttered as Cass came to stand between his parted legs.

Her palms came to rest upon his shoulders, her fingertips massaging the ridge of his shoulders trying to sooth out the tension. John's hands rubbed up and down the backs of Cass's thighs as he tilted his head up to look at her.

"Isn't the reason you married me because I'm too savvy to fall for just your pretty face?" Cass asked him as John pulled her into his lap so that she was straddling his hips.

"Promise me you'll evacuate to the Alpha Site?" John asked her, using his fingertips to brush her loose hair back behind her ear.

"And leave you here to set the self destruct button when the Wraith finally do invade ?" Cass snorted. "Not a chance."

"Cassie, come on." John said sternly. "All I have to do is type in my code and follow you through the gate. It will make me feel a hell of a lot better knowing that your waiting for me on the other side."

"No can do John." Cass told him wearily. "Elizabeth and I decided it was better for me to be one of the last ones out of the city in case anything goes wrong. Carson can head up the Medical Team off world if something happens to us."

"And this is the first time I'm hearing about it?" John snapped, his eyebrows furrowing in agitation.

"That's because it's only just been decided." Cass told him, in attempt to pacify her husband. "You were going to find out at tomorrow's contingency meeting."

A low growl emitted from low in John's throat as he expressed his displeasure at the situation. He didn't like being put on the spot like this but he understood the reasoning behind Cass's placement. He was a strategist himself and if it wasn't his wife on the line then the likelihood was he wouldn't have disagreed. The point was Elizabeth still held the highest ranking position in Atlantis, her ideas were sound and she listened to his opinion when they consulted together. If he went to her with this not only was he undermining Cass on a professional level, he would also be challenging Elizabeth's authority and not for any good reason but his own emotional insecurity.

Cass let out a sigh as her forefinger traced along the line of his collarbone through his T-shirt.

"I get it you know?" Cass murmured, her thumb grazing across his clean shaven jaw. "Your not used to the shoe being on the other foot."

John's hand came to cover hers, guiding the pulse point of her wrist towards his lips and caressing the soft flesh. Cass knew he wasn't mad at her, frustrated at the bigger picture definitely but never angry with her. This was a part of her job too and he was walking a very thin line if he chose to interfere.

"I don't like you being in danger." John grumbled stubbornly.

"Usually it's the other way around. I'm the one concerned about you." Cass reminded him gently. "You don't like being on the other side."

"What I don't like is the thought of having you taken away again." John snarked, his arms looping around her waist and pulling her even closer against his inviting body.

"That's not going to happen." Cass asserted, her lips against his ear.

"I won't let it happen." John muttered into her silky, dark hair as his fingers combed through it.

Cass leaned in, kissing his lips tenderly before replying.

"No you won't."