There comes a point in every man’s life, John thinks, when he has to learn to say no. When he has to put his foot down, say clearly, definitively, absolutely *not*, Elizabeth, McKay and Zelenka are *not* going off world together for a scientific exploratory mission *ever* again, and that’s final.

And then when that fails (as it will), a man’s got to know when to volunteer his second in command for escort duty.

Next time, John thinks, he will know this. But next time is not this time, and right now, he is stuck halfway up a small mountain while McKay and Zelenka are having an argument about something physics related which passed John’s level of comprehension about three conversation points ago.

Also? They are halfway up a *mountain*, and that is the reason why John thinks that he’s entirely within his rights to growl, "McKay, Dr. Zelenka, come on. Let’s get a move on."

Apparently the other two members of this delegation don’t feel that he has the same rights, though, because although Zelenka has the courtesy to say, distractedly, "Yes, Colonel, of course. It will just be another minute, yes?" McKay just raises his hand and swipes it through the air, as if batting John’s complaint away.

Then, as John watches with growing horror, Zelenka pulls a *notebook* out of his pack, one of the small, spiral bound ones that you can buy for ten cents at the local drug store, and he begins *drawing.* He begins *illustrating his point.*  In that moment, it takes all of John’s willpower not to march over to them, snatch the notebook out of Zelenka’s hand, and hold it hostage until they reach the top of the mountain.

Instead, he looks around for a place to sit, turns in a circle, boots crunching over loose rocks and sand, and finally spots a conveniently located flat rock about ten feet further up the path.

He starts towards it, walking at a slow, steady pace, and the one time he looks over his shoulder to check on Rodney and Zelenka, they don’t even seem to notice that he’s left. He sits when he reaches the rock, puts his pack down by his feet, and then he leans his weight back on his hands, surveying the lay of the land.

From this distance, he can’t hear the specifics of what the two scientists are talking about. He just sees McKay staring at whatever it is that Zelenka’s doing, shoulders hunched forward in that way they get when he’s particularly intent on something, and then John watches as he pounces, grabbing the notebook for himself as Zelenka waves his hands in protest. After a moment, though, Zelenka settles and begins poking his finger at Rodney’s drawing, and really, John thinks, this was supposed to be a simple, quick trip.

"Deserted planet!" Rodney said. "Perfectly safe! Interesting energy readings!" and Elizabeth said, "John? Would you?" and they promised him that once they got to the source of the energy, he could relax, let Rodney and Zelenka tinker about and do their thing. "Think of it as a vacation," Rodney said, and somehow, John heard himself saying, "Okay, yeah, sure."

The problem is, though, that he can’t get his vacation-like day until he gets Rodney and Zelenka up to the top of the mountain, where the deserted building with the interesting energy readings is located.

If he was here by himself, he knows it would have taken him 20 minutes, max, to reach the summit, because really, it’s a very small mountain. With the two scientists along, he revised his estimate to half an hour, 40 minutes. But they’re at the half hour mark now, and McKay and Zelenka have been arguing—debating, Rodney would say, *intellectually*--for nearly the whole journey, no matter how many times John said, "Come on, guys. Less talk, more hike."

And now they’re stalled here. *Drawing*.

It’s almost more than one man can be expected to take.

John shifts backwards, leans up against the mountain wall, and stares up at the sky, bright blue and dotted with clouds. He blinks, blinks again, and the rock is sun-warm underneath him, and McKay and Zelenka’s intermingled voices are a faint sort of comforting buzz in his ear. He breathes in deeply, and even though he looks back down at where the two scientists are standing, he begins to space, just a little. Not enough so that his hand isn’t resting on the butt of the gun in his thigh holster, or that his eyes don’t follow McKay and Zelenka as they *finally* put away the notebook and begin climbing up towards him.

Still, though, he is almost surprised when they reach him, when McKay’s shadow falls across his legs, larger than life. When John looks up at them, shading his eyes with a cupped hand, he sees that McKay has his arms crossed over his chest, and a few feet behind him, Zelenka is mimicking the pose.

"Well, Sheppard?" McKay asks finally, impatiently, when John doesn’t immediately say anything—or, more likely, when he doesn’t immediately stand up and start herding them up the mountain again. "We can’t just sit here all day, you know. Things to see, interesting energy readings to explore. A Czech to prove *wrong*."

And at Zelekna’s squawk, John, who was opening his mouth to make some response to that, he wasn’t sure what, snaps it shut again and just shakes his head. He learned long ago, after all, that you could either be amused by McKay, or annoyed by him, and he infinitely prefers being amused.

So, he stands up from his rock, steps around the again-squabbling duo, says, "Come on, guys. Less talk, more hike," and starts up the mountain path. Before he gets too far ahead of them, though, he calls back, "Dr. Z? I just want you to know that I’m rooting for you," and *that* gets them moving, finally.

John hears a strangled "*What?*" coming from Rodney, and then frantic footsteps scrabbling up the pathway. An "*Excuse me, Sheppard?*"  as Zelenka says, "Yes, thank you, Colonel, because as I was telling Rodney—"

There comes a point in every man’s life, John thinks as he listens to the renewed, panted bickering behind him, when he has to learn to say no. When he has to put his foot down, say absolutely not.

But there also comes a time, he’s pretty sure, when a man’s got to realize that sometimes, it’s better just to suck it up and enjoy being along for the ride.

John is pretty sure that this is one of those times.