anyanka_eg (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anyanka_eg) wrote2007-03-24 11:15 pm
anyanka_eg) wrote2007-03-24 11:15 pm
Entry tags:
- angst,
- fic,
- hurt/comfort,
- mcshep,
- nc-17
Fix Me - Chapter 3/3
Title: Fix Me
Author: Anyanka_eg
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: McShep
Warnings: Only the usual warnings for hot man love
Pairing: McShep
Warnings: Only the usual warnings for hot man love
Summary: Sleep deprivation is a terrible thing.
Thanks: To Azrael for all her help and suggestions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The analysis went well?” said Elizabeth, taking the datapad from Rodney.
“Well, we activated it,” the scientist replied, slumping lower in his chair and looking less than pleased with the results. “Actually, John…you know…”
His swirled a hand in the air, in a complex sign language he always used for activating Ancient devices, and Elizabeth wondered if they would incorporate it into ASL when the world finally learned of Atlantis. Wouldn’t that be a coup for McKay? Although she doubted he would appreciate it, not unless there was a complimentary Nobel Prize.
“And?” she asked, nudging the scientist along. She often wished McKay’s writing style didn’t vary with his interest in a project, this report would undoubtedly be turgid in the extreme, and she really didn’t want to have to read it to get the information.
“It appears to be a digital camera, at least, the Ancient equivalent thereof,” Rodney said, disappointment in his voice.
“Oh!” Elizabeth could see why he was so frustrated. The device, and she could still hear General O’Neill saying ‘doohickey’ in her head, had looked so promising. “Was there any data stored on it?”
“Ancient holiday snaps?” Rodney face brightened at the idea. “No, I’m afraid not, although that would be interesting in itself. I wonder what they did on their vacations. Skiing on the glaciers of PX-354? Surfing on PX-9786?”
“I think Colonel Sheppard is rubbing off on you,” laughed Elizabeth.
“What? Sheppard? Why?” sputtered Rodney, a slight blush painting his cheeks.
Elizabeth stared as Rodney squirmed in his seat, mouth flapping and looking more like a foraging cod than an astrophysicist. Any comparison to the military, especially the Colonel, usually had Rodney foaming at the mouth and ranting a mile a minute. Embarrassment really wasn't the reaction she’d expected, it was almost like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and that...meant…John…rubbing? Oh good god!
“All I meant was, two years ago you would never have suggested skiing or surfing as holiday activities,” Elizabeth managed to reply, feeling her own face coloring slightly. “What did you think I meant?”
Atlantis’ leader winced and prayed that Rodney wouldn’t answer the question she just asked. She was a diplomat for god’s sake, she shouldn’t be making basic errors like asking, and she hoped Rodney would be smart enough to not tell. He opened his mouth to say something and then shut it again. He stared at Elizabeth for a few seconds, eyes hard, mouth firm and a small frown between his eyes.
“You know, don’t you?”
“I do now,” Elizabeth sighed, cursing his honesty. “I’ve just put some things together. A week ago, when you cried off work, John wasn't answering his radio so I used Atlantis to find him. There were two life signs in your quarters. I thought you two were talking…”
“We probably were,” interrupted the scientist, seemingly keen to deflect Elizabeth’s train of thought. “Or John was sleeping. He’s slept a lot in the past week.”
“Good, he needed to. Sleep that is, although the talking helps too.”
“He does them simultaneously sometimes,” Rodney said fondly, gaze drifting off into middle distance.
“Rodney! That’s something I don’t really need to know. And neither does anyone else,” Elizabeth pointed out. Really, she’d expected Rodney to be more careful with what he said.
“I know that, Elizabeth. It’s just nice to be able to talk to someone, someone I trust to not ruin John’s career,” Rodney said with a small, hopeful smile.
“His career is safe. But the team is another matter. Can you both work together? Can you make decisions that might endanger his life? Will he be able to do the same? And what happens if this all goes wrong?” questioned Elizabeth, more forcibly than she’d meant to. It was nice to know Rodney trusted her, but her mind was also presenting her with apocalyptic scenarios where their relationship doomed them, or Atlantis.
“Well I built a nuclear bomb for him to ride into a Hive ship, although I didn’t mean for that to happen, and I modified a dart for him to fly into a Hive ship. But then Ford would have killed me if I hadn’t so…”
“You’ve been together that long?” gasped Elizabeth. Over a year and she’d never noticed? They fought, they snarked, they bitched and she would be hard pressed to even call them friends. But, with hindsight, there were moments when their feelings had bled through. The full meaning of the look of frozen horror on Rodney’s exhausted face, as he watched John disappear off the sensor screen, suddenly hit her like a freight train.
“What?...No…well, I knew I loved him...and apparently he knew he did, sort of…me that is, but neither of us…well…not until a week ago.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows nearly shot in to her hair in surprise at hearing Rodney say he loved John. It seemed so…un-McKay-like, although she admitted to herself she didn’t really know Rodney at all, not if she hadn’t noticed his feelings for his team leader. And the less said about how completely she’d misread John, the better.
“Just make sure it doesn’t interfere with either of your duties. That aside, I am happy for you both.”
“John said you’re signing him back on to active duty,” said Rodney changing the subject.
“Do you think I should?” asked Elizabeth.
Rodney tilted his head to one side for a few moments, considering his answer. She was surprised by that. She’d assumed he’d…no she didn’t know what he’d do. The Rodney she thought she knew would have snapped an answer about not risking his safety in the presence of an unstable soldier. No, that wasn't fair either. She’d seen him go to bat for John, and other people, before. But now he was hesitating.
“You won’t believe this, but I actually wondered if I was strong enough to beg you to keep him grounded if he wasn’t ready.”
“And are you?” asked Elizabeth
“I don’t know.” At Elizabeth’s raised eyebrow he continued. “He’s fine, well I think he is, I assume Kate says the same thing. And no, I don’t want to know what she said.”
“Good. I’ll be signing him back on duty as of Monday,” said Elizabeth. “And for the record I think you’re more than strong enough to do what’s right for him.”
Rodney looked at her blankly for scant moments and then grinned like an idiot. She couldn’t help but smile back. Rodney had only ever looked this ecstatic when presented with a fully charged ZPM and Elizabeth wondered what it felt like being the focus of the scientist’s intensity. From the little she’d seen of John over the past week she suspected he loved every minute of it. He seemed more relaxed and rested than he had in months, and the shit eating grin plastered all over his face now made sense. She really must be slipping if she hadn’t worked that out.
“As this is all going better than I’d hoped, not that I meant to tell you, but I assumed you’d work it out,” said Rodney, grabbing the datapad off Elizabeth’s desk. “I’d…err…where is it? Ah, here…I’d like to requisition this king size mattress be shipped on the next Daedalus run. I’ll get the Athosians to make the frame.”
“Rodney!” Elizabeth yelped.
“Nothing says this is our home quite like new furniture, right?” said Rodney, warming to his argument.
“I know. Which is why I think Colonel Sheppard might not appreciate you getting a bed and announcing to the world that you’ve set up house together,” pointed out Elizabeth. The man could be so obtuse. How could he not see that at the first whiff of gossip this would only confirm everybody’s suspicions?
“I’m not announcing anything to anyone, and by our home, I meant all of us. It’d be good for everyone to get one, well those of us who are permanently stationed here. It’s not like we can slip off base to a comfy bed at home in our down time, is it?”
“That’s actually a very good idea,” Elizabeth murmured, already planning the list of who should receive them, and which favors she’d have to call in to convince the SGC they needed them.
“I have been known to have a few in the past,” said Rodney, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Yes Rodney,” laughed Elizabeth. “But you don’t normally think of morale.”
“I do when it’s my own,” said Rodney with a lopsided smile. “Obviously we’ll have to ship them in. The Pegasus galaxy has so far been spared the horror that is Ikea on a Sunday.”
Both of them shuddered at their own private moments of past terror, trying to buy furniture in overcrowded home stores. Elizabeth’s mind jumped to a table she’d loved and had never managed to purchase, despite long hours of prowling the shop, having strollers rammed into her ankles by distracted parents.
“Actually, that could be the ultimate weapon against the Wraith. We could persuade Ikea to make a new line in gooey organic furniture, produce the catalogue and then not have the items in stock. Ever. We could occupy entire Hives searching for the exact TV cabinet they want,” mused the scientist.
“John really is rubbing off on you,” laughed Elizabeth.
Rodney gave her a look, not quite the death glare, but close, and she realized her mistake again. She could feel herself blush and Rodney gave her an evil grin before speaking.
“Only some of the time. Sometimes he…”
“Rodney! For the love of god, no!” yelled Elizabeth, unaccountably flustered by the turn of the conversation. “I’m sorry. I’ll never say the word rubbing again. Now go, I’ll look into the bed situation. John’s back on duty on Monday, so I suggest you take the next three days off too, and enjoy him…them…I mean them. Enjoy them, with him.”
“I prefer the first suggestion,” laughed Rodney, standing to leave. “Could you not let John know that you know, until I tell him?”
“Of course,” agreed Elizabeth, sobering suddenly. “And I meant it, this won’t affect John’s career. But be discrete.”
“We will. And thank you,” Rodney said quietly, and with that he turned and left.
Elizabeth sat and stared at the door for long minutes after he’d left. Dr. Rodney McKay and Colonel John Sheppard, together. Wow! She would never have believed it if Rodney hadn’t confirmed it himself, and for that Elizabeth was grateful. No one would be starting idle rumors about the voluble, military hating physicist and the man who seemed to have been giving James T. Kirk a run for his money.
She decided that she really had to pay more attention to the personal relationships of the people under her command. She was also going to have to give careful thought to how to handle any discovery of their, or anyone else’s ‘inappropriate’ relationships. Oh, and there was the start of a headache. Well thank you, Dr McKay.
She decided it was time for drastic measures. She stood, heading for the mess and an urgently needed cup of tea. When she got back she’d crack open the Advil and her secret stash of Hershey bars and just maybe it would all seem like a normal day in the Pegasus Galaxy.
Thanks: To Azrael for all her help and suggestions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The analysis went well?” said Elizabeth, taking the datapad from Rodney.
“Well, we activated it,” the scientist replied, slumping lower in his chair and looking less than pleased with the results. “Actually, John…you know…”
His swirled a hand in the air, in a complex sign language he always used for activating Ancient devices, and Elizabeth wondered if they would incorporate it into ASL when the world finally learned of Atlantis. Wouldn’t that be a coup for McKay? Although she doubted he would appreciate it, not unless there was a complimentary Nobel Prize.
“And?” she asked, nudging the scientist along. She often wished McKay’s writing style didn’t vary with his interest in a project, this report would undoubtedly be turgid in the extreme, and she really didn’t want to have to read it to get the information.
“It appears to be a digital camera, at least, the Ancient equivalent thereof,” Rodney said, disappointment in his voice.
“Oh!” Elizabeth could see why he was so frustrated. The device, and she could still hear General O’Neill saying ‘doohickey’ in her head, had looked so promising. “Was there any data stored on it?”
“Ancient holiday snaps?” Rodney face brightened at the idea. “No, I’m afraid not, although that would be interesting in itself. I wonder what they did on their vacations. Skiing on the glaciers of PX-354? Surfing on PX-9786?”
“I think Colonel Sheppard is rubbing off on you,” laughed Elizabeth.
“What? Sheppard? Why?” sputtered Rodney, a slight blush painting his cheeks.
Elizabeth stared as Rodney squirmed in his seat, mouth flapping and looking more like a foraging cod than an astrophysicist. Any comparison to the military, especially the Colonel, usually had Rodney foaming at the mouth and ranting a mile a minute. Embarrassment really wasn't the reaction she’d expected, it was almost like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and that...meant…John…rubbing? Oh good god!
“All I meant was, two years ago you would never have suggested skiing or surfing as holiday activities,” Elizabeth managed to reply, feeling her own face coloring slightly. “What did you think I meant?”
Atlantis’ leader winced and prayed that Rodney wouldn’t answer the question she just asked. She was a diplomat for god’s sake, she shouldn’t be making basic errors like asking, and she hoped Rodney would be smart enough to not tell. He opened his mouth to say something and then shut it again. He stared at Elizabeth for a few seconds, eyes hard, mouth firm and a small frown between his eyes.
“You know, don’t you?”
“I do now,” Elizabeth sighed, cursing his honesty. “I’ve just put some things together. A week ago, when you cried off work, John wasn't answering his radio so I used Atlantis to find him. There were two life signs in your quarters. I thought you two were talking…”
“We probably were,” interrupted the scientist, seemingly keen to deflect Elizabeth’s train of thought. “Or John was sleeping. He’s slept a lot in the past week.”
“Good, he needed to. Sleep that is, although the talking helps too.”
“He does them simultaneously sometimes,” Rodney said fondly, gaze drifting off into middle distance.
“Rodney! That’s something I don’t really need to know. And neither does anyone else,” Elizabeth pointed out. Really, she’d expected Rodney to be more careful with what he said.
“I know that, Elizabeth. It’s just nice to be able to talk to someone, someone I trust to not ruin John’s career,” Rodney said with a small, hopeful smile.
“His career is safe. But the team is another matter. Can you both work together? Can you make decisions that might endanger his life? Will he be able to do the same? And what happens if this all goes wrong?” questioned Elizabeth, more forcibly than she’d meant to. It was nice to know Rodney trusted her, but her mind was also presenting her with apocalyptic scenarios where their relationship doomed them, or Atlantis.
“Well I built a nuclear bomb for him to ride into a Hive ship, although I didn’t mean for that to happen, and I modified a dart for him to fly into a Hive ship. But then Ford would have killed me if I hadn’t so…”
“You’ve been together that long?” gasped Elizabeth. Over a year and she’d never noticed? They fought, they snarked, they bitched and she would be hard pressed to even call them friends. But, with hindsight, there were moments when their feelings had bled through. The full meaning of the look of frozen horror on Rodney’s exhausted face, as he watched John disappear off the sensor screen, suddenly hit her like a freight train.
“What?...No…well, I knew I loved him...and apparently he knew he did, sort of…me that is, but neither of us…well…not until a week ago.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows nearly shot in to her hair in surprise at hearing Rodney say he loved John. It seemed so…un-McKay-like, although she admitted to herself she didn’t really know Rodney at all, not if she hadn’t noticed his feelings for his team leader. And the less said about how completely she’d misread John, the better.
“Just make sure it doesn’t interfere with either of your duties. That aside, I am happy for you both.”
“John said you’re signing him back on to active duty,” said Rodney changing the subject.
“Do you think I should?” asked Elizabeth.
Rodney tilted his head to one side for a few moments, considering his answer. She was surprised by that. She’d assumed he’d…no she didn’t know what he’d do. The Rodney she thought she knew would have snapped an answer about not risking his safety in the presence of an unstable soldier. No, that wasn't fair either. She’d seen him go to bat for John, and other people, before. But now he was hesitating.
“You won’t believe this, but I actually wondered if I was strong enough to beg you to keep him grounded if he wasn’t ready.”
“And are you?” asked Elizabeth
“I don’t know.” At Elizabeth’s raised eyebrow he continued. “He’s fine, well I think he is, I assume Kate says the same thing. And no, I don’t want to know what she said.”
“Good. I’ll be signing him back on duty as of Monday,” said Elizabeth. “And for the record I think you’re more than strong enough to do what’s right for him.”
Rodney looked at her blankly for scant moments and then grinned like an idiot. She couldn’t help but smile back. Rodney had only ever looked this ecstatic when presented with a fully charged ZPM and Elizabeth wondered what it felt like being the focus of the scientist’s intensity. From the little she’d seen of John over the past week she suspected he loved every minute of it. He seemed more relaxed and rested than he had in months, and the shit eating grin plastered all over his face now made sense. She really must be slipping if she hadn’t worked that out.
“As this is all going better than I’d hoped, not that I meant to tell you, but I assumed you’d work it out,” said Rodney, grabbing the datapad off Elizabeth’s desk. “I’d…err…where is it? Ah, here…I’d like to requisition this king size mattress be shipped on the next Daedalus run. I’ll get the Athosians to make the frame.”
“Rodney!” Elizabeth yelped.
“Nothing says this is our home quite like new furniture, right?” said Rodney, warming to his argument.
“I know. Which is why I think Colonel Sheppard might not appreciate you getting a bed and announcing to the world that you’ve set up house together,” pointed out Elizabeth. The man could be so obtuse. How could he not see that at the first whiff of gossip this would only confirm everybody’s suspicions?
“I’m not announcing anything to anyone, and by our home, I meant all of us. It’d be good for everyone to get one, well those of us who are permanently stationed here. It’s not like we can slip off base to a comfy bed at home in our down time, is it?”
“That’s actually a very good idea,” Elizabeth murmured, already planning the list of who should receive them, and which favors she’d have to call in to convince the SGC they needed them.
“I have been known to have a few in the past,” said Rodney, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Yes Rodney,” laughed Elizabeth. “But you don’t normally think of morale.”
“I do when it’s my own,” said Rodney with a lopsided smile. “Obviously we’ll have to ship them in. The Pegasus galaxy has so far been spared the horror that is Ikea on a Sunday.”
Both of them shuddered at their own private moments of past terror, trying to buy furniture in overcrowded home stores. Elizabeth’s mind jumped to a table she’d loved and had never managed to purchase, despite long hours of prowling the shop, having strollers rammed into her ankles by distracted parents.
“Actually, that could be the ultimate weapon against the Wraith. We could persuade Ikea to make a new line in gooey organic furniture, produce the catalogue and then not have the items in stock. Ever. We could occupy entire Hives searching for the exact TV cabinet they want,” mused the scientist.
“John really is rubbing off on you,” laughed Elizabeth.
Rodney gave her a look, not quite the death glare, but close, and she realized her mistake again. She could feel herself blush and Rodney gave her an evil grin before speaking.
“Only some of the time. Sometimes he…”
“Rodney! For the love of god, no!” yelled Elizabeth, unaccountably flustered by the turn of the conversation. “I’m sorry. I’ll never say the word rubbing again. Now go, I’ll look into the bed situation. John’s back on duty on Monday, so I suggest you take the next three days off too, and enjoy him…them…I mean them. Enjoy them, with him.”
“I prefer the first suggestion,” laughed Rodney, standing to leave. “Could you not let John know that you know, until I tell him?”
“Of course,” agreed Elizabeth, sobering suddenly. “And I meant it, this won’t affect John’s career. But be discrete.”
“We will. And thank you,” Rodney said quietly, and with that he turned and left.
Elizabeth sat and stared at the door for long minutes after he’d left. Dr. Rodney McKay and Colonel John Sheppard, together. Wow! She would never have believed it if Rodney hadn’t confirmed it himself, and for that Elizabeth was grateful. No one would be starting idle rumors about the voluble, military hating physicist and the man who seemed to have been giving James T. Kirk a run for his money.
She decided that she really had to pay more attention to the personal relationships of the people under her command. She was also going to have to give careful thought to how to handle any discovery of their, or anyone else’s ‘inappropriate’ relationships. Oh, and there was the start of a headache. Well thank you, Dr McKay.
She decided it was time for drastic measures. She stood, heading for the mess and an urgently needed cup of tea. When she got back she’d crack open the Advil and her secret stash of Hershey bars and just maybe it would all seem like a normal day in the Pegasus Galaxy.