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It was his first day back at classes and Rodney was finishing up combing out Cadman after Equitation when he heard a voice behind him which made him cringe.
"Mer!" a woman shouted and he turned to see a woman with long wavy blond hair stalking toward him, waving an arm excitedly.
"Oh Havens," he groaned, thunking his head into Cadman's side. "Just what I needed."
What? Cadman asked, turning to look at him.
"Mer!" the woman shouted again as she came closer.
Who is she and why is she calling you Mer? Cadman asked.
My sister, Rodney thought back with disgust. And I've told her a thousand damned times to"Stop calling me that!" he finished aloud with a shout at Jeannie.
She rolled her eyes as she came up alongside him. "It's your name, Meredith."
Your name is Meredith? asked Cadman, amusement coloring her thought.
"I prefer to go by my middle name which for your information just happens to be Rodney!" he snarled at both of them. He then turned to his sister and pointed an accusing finger at her. "And what are you doing here? I thought you were busy wasting your intellect being the perfect homemaker for that useless Temple teacher."
Rodney, Cadman said warningly.
He ignored her as Jeannie scowled at him and said, "I came here because I wanted to congratulate you on not being as much of an ass as you used to be, but obviously I'd heard wrong!"
Rodney! She's your sister. Etiquette and Deportment class applies to her too, Cadman said, nudging him toward Jeannie. Apologize to her. She was excited that you have been Chosen.
Assaulted from both sides, Rodney blew up. "Oh my gods! I didn't WANT to be Chosen! If you think that this four-legged freak of nature has anything at all like good judgment as to who should be a Herald, you are sadly mistaken! And just what the hells were you expecting from me? A personality transplant?"
Jeannie raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms. "Well, you're right about her not having good judgment at least! You're certainly going to be complete crap at being a Herald!"
Cadman bared her teeth at Jeannie and then curled her neck protectively around Rodney. I take it back! Be as rude to her as you like. You're not going to be a terrible Herald, Rodney, honest!
"What's going on here?"
They both turned around and were confronted by John staring at all of them with narrowed eyes. Jeannie flailed out a hand and demanded, "What was she thinking when she decided to Chose him? He's a complete ass!"
John crossed his arms and rested his glare on her exclusively. "And you are?"
She blinked at the overt hostility coming from him. "I'm his sister." She held out a hand, "Jeannie Miller."
He didn't take her hand. Instead he looked over at Rodney. "You okay, buddy? You're kind of looking like you've forgotten how to breath, there."
Thrown by both Cadman's abrupt change of heart and the flat, angry looks that John was still giving his sister, Rodney stammered out, "I'm, I'm fine. Fine. Just telling my sister goodbye, here."
Jeannie slapped him on the arm. "Mer! I just got here!"
John cocked his eyebrows comically. "Mer?"
"It's a childish little nickname!" Rodney shot back defensively. He glared at his sister, feeling a vein pulse rapidly in his forehead, wishing with all his might that she would just go back to her stupid husband and sticky little girl, where ever they happened to be at the moment. He could even see them in his head, Kaleb with his head bent slightly over his little daughter Madison as she talked to him excitedly about something, both of them wreathed in those odd not-colors that seemed to surround everything that he looked at nowadays.
And then Jeannie disappeared.
Cadman flung her head back in surprise and John grabbed him urgently as Rodney stood staring blankly at the place where Jeannie had been standing, his head thumping in pain. "Rodney! Rodney, what did you do?"
"Uh..." Rodney replied, starting to shake. His head really hurt and it was hard to think.
"Rodney, focus!" John hissed, his fingers digging into Rodney's bicep.
The pain sharpened Rodney's foggy pain-filled thoughts enough for him to answer. "I, I didn't do anything! Did I? Oh. Oh no. I did. I did do something! Oh my gods, what did I do?" his voice ended in a hysterical quaver.
Cadman, who had been looking intently off into the distance, suddenly tumbled headlong into his mind. Rodney, she said urgently, close your eyes and use your Sight to look for Jeannie!
I, I don't know how yet, Rodney protested sluggishly. His head was really killing him now and his whole body trembled violently.
I'll help you, she countered, and Rodney felt her presence 'surround' his mind and guide it gently.
With Cadman's help he quickly found Jeannie and his heart leaped in relief at what he Saw. She was with her husband and daughter, standing by one of the many fountains that dotted the city of Haven, obviously shaken, but okay. "Oh! She's okay! She's with that idiot husband of hers and her kid by a fountain that has a really ugly statue of a guy holding a ship," he said absently. A larger, sharper shaft of pain stabbed him between the eyes and he gave a broken whimper and started to collapse.
John grabbed him and controlled his fall, settling him to the ground. "Whoa! Your head hurts, right? Not a surprise, since you seemed to have just Fetched a person halfway across the city." He put one hand on Rodney's shoulder and patted Rodney on the chest awkwardly. "Hey, I've had Atlantis call for Carson. He'll be here in a bit, fix you right up."
Rodney closed his eyes and let Cadman's murmured reassurances roll over him while John's hand rested over Rodney's heart. There was the sound of pounding hoofs that came to an abrupt stop and then someone dismounting.
"Overdid it, has he?" Carson said as he thumped to his knees beside the Rodney. "John, lift him up so I can get him to drink this, will ye?"
Rodney felt himself levered up and a bottle held to his lips. He obediently drank from it, wanting nothing more than to be drugged into unconsciousness if necessary to get rid of his incredibly aching head. He finished all of it, heedless of the awful taste.
"What did he do to get this way?" Carson asked as he briskly assessed his patient.
"Fetched his sister to Shipwright Fountain," John replied from behind him, sounding suddenly tired. "Apparently his Sight also includes Farsight as well, unless that Gift just suddenly manifested. Looks like we're going to have to move up the scheduling of his Gifts classes."
"But that's halfway across Haven!" Carson protested. "Dear gods, Rodney, no wonder your head's killing ye and you're shaking like a leaf. Here, eat this." He pushed a slab of honeycake to Rodney's lips and Rodney obediently took a bite of it as he brought up his shaking hands to grasp it. Once he finally got his uncooperative hands around it, he wolfed it down like it was the first food he'd had in months.
Teyla came into his line of sight and Rodney belatedly realized that she'd been the one to bring Carson. She laid a cool hand on his brow and looked at him in concern. "Rodney? What happened?"
John tensed behind him and replied, "Rodney's sister came to visit and started an argument. I didn't catch all of it, but I did hear her tell him he was going to be a crappy Herald. And then she said to me that Cadman was basically out of her mind for Choosing Rodney."
Teyla frowned at that and looked up at John. "You said she was Fetched to Shipwright Fountain?"
"Yes," John replied tightly. "She's okay according to Rodney. Cadman helped him locate her."
Teyla nodded once and stood saying, "I shall go see to her then, while you take care of him."
Rodney found himself lifted up and slung onto Cadman's back. After being taken back to his quarters, fed, tucked into his bed and ordered to stay there until Carson came to check on him again the next morning, he found himself once again under John's care. "This is getting old," he complained. His head still ached but the fogginess and trembling had cleared after he'd eaten.
"Not arguing with you on that," John commented, laying a cool washcloth on Rodney's forehead. It felt good and Rodney sighed and let his eyelids sag shut.
He must have dozed off, because the next time he opened his eyes, it was much later in the day according to the light coming through his window and there was a rather heated discussion going on outside his door.
"...got to be kidding me, Teyla!" he heard John say. "What if she starts in on him again?"
"I have impressed upon her that she is not to upset him or tear him down in any way," Teyla said firmly. "They are family, John."
"Yeah, well, family doesn't necessarily count for much," John said, bitterness dripping from his words.
Teyla's response was too quiet for Rodney to catch, as was John's reply afterward, but soon after that his door opened and John walked in, looking grim.
"Hey buddy, feeling a little better now?" he asked, coming up beside Rodney's bed and sitting on the nearby chair.
Rodney licked his dry lips and nodded as he sat up in the bed. "Kinda," he croaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I could use more of that headache stuff, but it's better than it was."
John leaned over and picked up a mug that was setting on a nearby table. "I thought you would. Here," he replied and gave Rodney the mug.
Rodney drank it off quickly and made a face. "Blech. That stuff tastes disgusting."
The corner of John's mouth quirked up and he handed Rodney a small piece of honeycake. "Eat up, then."
Rodney took it from him and took a big bite while John looked on. Then John rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and said, "Your sister would like to talk to you again, if you want."
Oh. That's what the argument behind his door had been about. Rodney finished the honeycake before answering. "Is she mad at me? I really don't think my head is up to her yelling at me. She hits me a lot when she's angry."
If she says nasty things to you again, I'm going to bite her, Cadman commented hotly. You will be a very good Herald.
Rodney blinked. "Um, and Cadman is threatening to bite her if she's mean," he added, feeling a little flummoxed at her possessive defense of him.
John snorted at that, smiled and replied. "I'd let her," which added to Rodney's confusion. John then leaned back and stared at off into the distance. "According to Teyla, she's not mad at you for Fetching her, if that's what you're worried about. And Teyla...talked to her. She's promised that she's going to be on her best behavior." John's face twisted uncomfortably.
Rodney considered it. "Will you and Teyla be here too?" he asked. He'd really prefer neutral parties to be involved if at all possible. His track record of dealing with Jeannie was pretty poor and he didn't want to wind up Fetching her into the river or something if she got on his nerves again. Especially since he wasn't sure how he'd Fetched her the first time.
John shrugged. "If that's what you want."
Rodney felt a little relieved. "Okay then, sure, I'll see her."
John got back up and left his room, returning shortly with Teyla, Jeannie and Madison in tow. The little girl immediately ran up to Rodney's bed, scrambled onto it and wrapped her arms around him while squealing, "Uncle Mer, Uncle Mer! Can I ride your Companion, can I, please?"
"Uh..." Rodney said uncertainly, as he reluctantly patted her on the back.
"Madison! What did I tell you about begging?" Jeannie remonstrated. She sounded like a typical mom, but Rodney noted that she looked pale and a little freaked out as she peeled the little girl off of him and sat in the chair, holding Madison in her lap.
"But, Mommy," Madison began, and Jeannie cut her off firmly with, "Miss Teyla already let you ride her Companion. That's quite enough for one day." Madison put up a big pout, but didn't protest any further.
Jeannie then turned her attention to Rodney. "So," she said rather awkwardly, "Seems that I was mistaken."
"You were?" Rodney replied, honestly confused.
"About you not being a good Herald," she continued, shooting her eyes briefly at Teyla, looking serene, and John, looking decidedly constipated.
"Oh. Well," Rodney fumbled, "I mean, I'm still in classes. And, and some of them are maybe a little outside of my area of expertise..."
"But you've got really strong Heraldic Gifts," Jeannie went on. "You Fetching me to Kaleb and Maddy was pretty, um, pretty impressive."
"Mommy popped out of nowhere!" Madison added eagerly. "Daddy jumped and said a swear and I screamed cuz I was surprised!"
Jeannie ran a slightly shaking hand over Madison's hair. "Yes you did. It was very surprising to everyone."
"I uh, I didn't mean to do that," Rodney said apologetically, twiddling his fingers nervously.
Jeannie nodded in acknowledgment. "So Teyla told me."
"Will you make me pop out of nowhere so I can scare Mommy and Daddy too?" Madison asked artlessly.
John knelt down so he was at eye level with her and said seriously, "'Fraid not, Madison. As a Herald he's only supposed to only use his Gifts to help people. Your Uncle Mer did that by accident and he's going to take classes very soon now to show him how not to do that." Maddy sighed in disappointment and he added, "Besides, it's much more fun to ride a Companion. Scaring people on purpose is mean and I don't think his Companion would like to let anyone mean ride her."
Maddy got a thoughtful look on her face as John slanted a significant look at him and Rodney resigned himself to giving the little rugrat a ride on Cadman. Jeannie then held out a hand and said, "So, Mer...truce? I don't say bad things about you and you don't say bad things about what I've chosen to do with my life?"
Rodney gave a brief huff of a laugh. "But what would we have to talk about, then?"
Her mouth curled up in a smile. "We're smart people. I'm sure we'll find something else to argue about."
Rodney snorted in acknowledgment, reached out and shook her hand. "Deal."
Teyla's face wreathed itself in a satisfied smile and the tension in John's body eased just a tad as he stood back up.
"You realize that this means I expect you home to celebrate Winter Solstice with us, don't you?" Jeannie said smugly. "Kaleb fixes a really good bean paste 'fowl'."
Rodney moaned and dropped his head back on his pillow. That damned Temple teacher that she'd married was a vegetarian.