UPDATED BETA VERSION: No Plan A (1/1)
TITLE: There Was No Plan A
AUTHOR: Tali
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters, places, or anything at all you might recognize. I'm just playing with them.
RATING: PG-13 maybe.... Some language.
BETA: Thank you to Emma for the beta of this fic!
WARNINGS: Slash & Het
PAIRING: McShep; mention of Rodney/Katie Brown and Rodney/Carter
DEDICATION/BLAME: Oran for this one completely! She insisted on a sequel. Hope this is what she had in mind!!! LOL. All together now... "Thank you, Oran." ;o)
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It hadn't really started as a plan. One evening while eating dinner with Ronon and Teyla he had just started doodling. He was bored and that was what it truly stemmed from. Boredom was not something John knew how to cope with. He was usually a very active man. Running, surfing, flying, golfing, and shooting kept him plenty busy. When he didn't have those things to do there was always plenty of paper work as the Military Chief Officer and when that was just too mind numbing to do any more he'd had Rodney to distract him. Sam Carter had been on Atlantis for four months, in that time the paperwork had dried up to simple mission reports and Rodney had all but disappeared from his life when they weren't off world.
They'd been grounded for the last twelve days and John was bored. He didn't enjoy movies or the various box sets floating around Atlantis without Rodney there to tell him everything wrong with this show or that. He had finally gotten tired of running, golfing and surfing, shooting and even getting the crap kicked out of him by Ronon and Teyla was getting old. The worst was Carter's refusal to let him fly, evidently grounded meant grounded. So that night at dinner after the normal pleasantries and food, when Teyla and Ronon had decided to go watch a movie with Lorne's team John pulled out a napkin and started 'doodling'.
His doodles started to make sense; the complicated equations of a higher thinking being kind of sense, but John felt he was on to something. So he wandered down to a lab and started using a blessedly blank white board. The city was fast asleep when John finished, capping the dry erase marker, half high but very proud. Yes, they made good sense and tomorrow Radek or Miko would come in and destroy them with logic and other brilliant beyond him stuff but for now, they were good equations. Then John had gone to bed.
The voice over his radio has surprised him. "McKay to Shepard. Shepard? Colonel, are you still sleeping?" John thought he was dreaming, McKay hadn't used that annoyed yet delighted tone with him in far too long. Blinking he realized he was still hearing it only now citywide. "Shepard PLEASE put your radio on, McKay out." Sliding his radio into his ear he sighed. "Shepard to McKay, what do you want Rodney! It’s... ten in the morning?" He scowled at his watch then looked at his alarm clock. "Crap, what do you want?" He frowned rubbing his eyes wondering when he threw the alarm clock across the room. "Can I see you, in my lab please?"
John blinked and was suddenly wide-awake, as if he'd had four cups of Rodney's good coffee. Swallowing he told his friend he'd be there in ten. Jumping up John stared at his clothes. Chewing his lower lip he grabbed his blue grey pants, the ones he never wore because they were slung just a little too low on his hips, then slid on one of his older black t-shirts that hugged a little tighter to his body. His thigh holster went on and his boots as well. John checked his watch, four minutes, and then brushed his teeth, put on his deodorant and wet his hands pulling them through his hair. Seven minutes, he didn't have time for much else.
Nine and a half minutes later John ambled into the lab at his laziest. "What is it McKay?" He was probably going to get chewed out for invading the lab in the middle of the night and desecrating one of Rodney's beloved white boards. Then get a dissertation on everything that was wrong with his equations. Instead John was all but attacked by Rodney’ Radek, and Miko, as well as several other brilliant minds, all shooting questions at him all at once. He answered where he could and found himself in a heated battle with Rodney.
John found himself grinning widely when McKay declined to accompany Colonel Carter to lunch in favour of a sandwich in the lab as their discussion had escalated to the point he didn’t want to leave. That was when it started, that was where it started. You see it wasn't a plan per-say... but that one afternoon gave him an in.
With his team now in rotation with others they weren't out as frequently. Carter thought the missions needed to be equally amongst the other teams, that Atlantis needed more then one first contact team. So when his paperwork was done and he'd shot his gun and he'd had his run John would shower, change into something comfortable and amble into the labs. He'd always start at Radek's workspace. It appeared Dr. Zelenka was not only onto his plan but frequently helped him out when John got lost.
John would start at Radek's desk and help out with whatever math the Czech had been holding onto for him to do. Then he'd move over to whisper with Miko who genuinely seemed to like John and would include him in her latest projects, frequently having him play light switch so she could figure out something she was working on. Eventually John would make his way to Rodney. John would search and search for a single flaw in Rodney's math, Looing for the smallest flaw in order to get the genius going. That would be all it took to get Rodney started, soon they would be tossing insults back and forth some times even yelling at one another.
By the end of the day John would be grinning and excited about the next day. For weeks he continued this way, his invasions of McKay's lab were only interrupted by the odd mission here or there, where they were back to behaving as if nothing had changed. Finally John made his move. "My place? I've got Season two of Dr. Who on DVD." It was his trump card; McKay had an unhealthy lust for the show. Suddenly John was graced with the brightest sweetest smile he'd ever received, and he didn't breathe until Rodney had left after agreeing, saying he would provide the drinks, but insisting John had to come up with snacks.
He spent the whole afternoon cleaning his room, making his bed, and setting up the popcorn, chips, chocolate and sandwiches. When Rodney showed up with no one but TWO six packs of coke John knew his friend would be staying for a while. They settled on the bed, pillows piled behind them lap top settled half on John's lap, half on Rodney's, each with a bowl in their laps. Two and a half episodes in John stopped watching the show and started watching Rodney.
"I've gotta... I'll be right back." He excused himself to the bathroom and fought the urge to bang his head into the mirror. When he came out Rodney was looking at him worriedly.
"Everything ok?" The perfect crooked mouth thinned nervously. "John?" That was the last of his resolve and John knew it. Rodney never called him John, always Colonel or Sheppard or Colonel Sheppard. Never John, walking over John leaned down and kissed Rodney. It wasn't a soft kiss, it was a deep demanding, I've been in love with you for three damn years and you broke my fucking heart and I hate Samantha Carter and I just need you to love me back, kiss.
"Oh." The startling blue eyes blinked at him as it all clicked. "That's... that's why you pulled away from me?" Rodney whispered looking hurt and a little angry. "THAT is why you've been sulking and wallowing in your own self pity? You are SO stupid." Pulling John down Rodney kissed John this time.
"I gave up on you a year into this damn place." Rodney panted a little swallowing and pushing the computer to the floor; John didn’t protest, Rodney could fix it later if he broke it. The popcorn and its bowl rolled across the floor and the chips went upside down as the two men rolled across John's bed making out like horny teenagers.
"Carter." John muttered between kisses.
"Yeah great sex... nice tits... almost smart as me... but she thinks she's fooling me... she's not." Rodney answered between giving John kisses. They both groaned when Rodney broke away to explain quickly, clearly hopeful it would stop the kissing interruptions. "Using sex to keep me in line while she takes over out here. Smart move too... almost." Rodney snuck in a kiss before finishing his explanation. "Thought you'd shoot her before she got much further." Rodney admitted kissing down John's neck.
Hours later John panted. "Wow."
"Yeah, I'm a sex god." Rodney smirked hands behind his head, a relaxed brilliantly happy smile written across his face. "You're not bad yourself."
John just snorted and looked up at Rodney from where he was using the other man's stomach as a pillow. "I just fucked my CO's boyfriend..." He whispered, worried suddenly.
"Nah, Carter won't care. She lost O'Neill to Jackson forever ago. At least I had sex with her... besides she's had her eye on Ronon." Rodney caressed John's hair commenting on how soft it was before going back to the subject at hand. "She won't be happy when I break things off with her, but I think she's seen this one coming since that first afternoon... when you came in all indecently dressed and I couldn't get up to join her for lunch cause of my hard on." Rodney winked as he leaned down to kiss John again. Chuckling, John realised, at the shocked look on his face. "And they say I'm oblivious."