SGA Story: Guardians of Pegasus part 2
TITLE: Guardians of Pegasus.
FANDOM: Stargate Atlantis
PAIRING: John Shepard/Rodney McKay, Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson
WORD COUNT: 2636
RATING: R
WARNINGS: Vampires. Work in progress. Very loosly based on Rising pt 1
Summary:
Rodney and John meet for the second time, in Antarctica. Rodney is still angry about the way John treated him in Washington. Daniel fails to convince Jack to let him go to Altlantis, but learns something he didn't know about vampires.
Notes:
Thank you to the betas who've helped make this a better story, my loyal cheerleaders and everyone who commented on part 1 of this story.
Part 2 Antarctica
Rodney was in the middle of running power simulations when he recieved a call from Dr Radek Zelenka, asking him to come to the chair room. Wondering what needed fixing this time, he grabbed a tool box and headed toward the central room of the Ancient outpost. The air in the narrow corridor was chilly, and he pulled the zip on his orange fleece jacket as high as it would go.
When he arrived the Czech engineer was kneeling on the floor by the central dais fiddling with a bunch of cables that appeared to link to the ornately decorated control chair. Dr Carson Beckett was leaning against the arm of the chair, talking.
“So what did you break this time Zelenka?” Rodney interrupted, impatiently.
Radek made a final adjustment and looked up at Rodney.
“Ah, Dr McKay, please sit in the chair.” he asked politely.
“Isn’t that his job?” asked Rodney, waving his hand towards Carson. “I thought we’d established that my gene isn’t strong enough to activate it.”
“No Rodney, we’ve finished testing the chair for today,” explained Carson. “I just want to run some simulations with you, to monitor how you’re adjusting to the gene therapy.”
With a sigh, Rodney sat down on the edge of the chair so that Carson could attach electrode pads to his head, to monitor his brain activity.
After the incident in Washington, Carson and O’Neill came up with the gene therapy cover story to explain why Rodney could suddenly activate Ancient devices. Rodney was not sure why Carson was in O’Neill’s confidence, but he suspected that the Scottish doctor was at least half vampire. It would explain his naturally occurring ATA gene and his fondness for taking blood tests. There really was a gene therapy program, but so far non of the test subjects had as much control over the Ancient tech as Rodney did.
“So what exactly are we testing for. anyway,” he asked as Carson attached the pads.
“I’ve got a theory I want to test.” Carson explained. “Since you had the gene therapy, have you noticed any improvements in your ability to use the Ancient technology?”
“Maybe? It’s not really something that‘s easy to measure.” said Rodney, thoughtfully.
“Well that’s what these tests are for. We know that there's a mental component to the operation of the Ancient technology. I want to measure your brain activity while you’re using the chair, to see if there are any changes from your last tests.”
“Oh. You know, for voodoo that actually sounds quite scientific.” Rodney said, surprised.
“We could always do some blood tests instead, if you prefer.” Carson pointed out.
“No, this is fine.” Rodney told him, leaning back in the chair. He concentrated hard on thinking On. For a second there was a blue glow at the back of his head but then it faded.
Radek pulled up a chart of the power output from the chair and overlaid it with Carson’s test results. He waved Carson over to look at the data.
“Are we finished yet?” Rodney whined. Turning his head to see what the others were up to, he saw General O’Neill walk into the chair room, followed by a dark haired pilot wearing aviator sunglasses.
“Ah, McKay, just the person I was looking for.” the General drawled. “Elizabeth and Daniel want us to meet them in the conference chamber.”
“Thank god.” Rodney exclaimed in relief.
Behind the general, the pilot took off his glasses and glanced round the room. He seemed oddly familiar, but Rodney could not place him among the many Air Force officers that he had met over the years. Then suddenly the pilot was staring at him with gold flecked hazel eyes and he recognized Sheppard from the bar in Washington DC. At first Rodney was too stunned to even think, but then he felt the anger welling up inside him. He barely noticed Radek’s startled gasp, or the steadily increasing blue glow behind his head. Sheppard looked startled, like a deer caught in the headlights and even O’Neill was starting to look concerned. Without conscious thought Rodney reached out with his mind, connecting with the alien technology of the chair in a way he had never thought possible before. He could feel its power throbbing through him like a drug.
On the far side of the chair room, a technician gasped and stepped back from the drone he was studying as it started to glow. The round, squid shaped device lifted off its stand and shot across the room, skidding to a halt on the floor just before it hit the wall. The yellow light at the heart of the drone quickly faded, as did the bright blue glow of the chair.
For a moment everyone in the room was frozen with shock. Jack finally broke the ice by commenting,
“Pleased to see you too, McKay.”
There was a smattering of nervous laughter and the watching scientists turned back to their tasks. Radek walked across the room to examine the drone, while Carson checked on Rodney, who was clearly just as stunned by what happened as everyone else. He reached out and gently removed the first of the electrode pads.
“That’s enough for today lad, ” he said softly.
V ----- V
As soon as John Sheppard walked into the chair room with O’Neill, he noticed a sweet spicy smell, familiar and yet subtly different from before. It reminded him of Rodney, the man he met in DC. John was still mad at himself for messing that up so badly. Someone like Rodney should have been more than a convenient one night stand, but John had only been listening to his instincts, common sense and years of training thrown out of the window without a second thought. John took off his Aviator glasses and glanced round the room, hoping for the sight of a familiar pair of blue eyes.
John spotted Rodney sitting in the Ancient control chair, with electrodes stuck to his head like something from a bad sci-fi movie. John was about to laugh, when he caught the look in Rodney’s eyes. Rodney was really angry and the chair appeared to be echoing his mood, glowing with a weird blue light. John was paralyzed like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. When Rodney activated the drone, it came so close to John that for a second he thought it was going to hit him, but it shot past and came to a halt by the wall. John recognized it as a warning shot, stay out of my face or else.
It took Carson longer than it should to remove all the electrodes from Rodney’s head. John suspected that the smaller man’s hands were still shaking from what just happened. Rodney was a bit unbalanced as he pushed up out of the chair and started to step down from the dais. He stumbled on the bottom step, and instinctively John reached forward to grab his arm, steadying the other man. Rodney pulled his arm away and hissed,“Leave me alone, haven’t you done enough already?”
He straightened himself and stormed out of the room, leaving John to stare wistfully after him.
“Rodney, what’s wrong, lad?” shouted Carson, chasing after his friend. O’Neill sighed in resignation as he watched them leave. He turned to John.
“Look, I’d better go too, can you wait here, stay out of trouble for a couple of hours?”
John wanted to tell the general that he wasn't a kid, but he suspected the older man would disagree, so he settled for a formal, “Yes Sir.”
“Just don‘t touch anything, OK?” O’Neill added with a wink before he headed off in the same direction as Rodney. John nodded briefly in understanding. Its show time.
He faked an exaggerated sigh of relief and went to sit down on the closest chair, which just happened to be the control chair Rodney had just vacated.
“Please, don’t sit down there.” Radek warned him. “We’ve had enough fireworks today.”
“Hey, I promise not to press any buttons, or anything.” John said, putting on his best “who me” expression.
“I’m sure,” Radek smiled slightly. “Does not matter if you did, the chair is activated by thoughts only.”
“Cool. Can anyone use it?” John asked, although he already knew the answer to that question
“No, according to the good Dr Beckett, you must have a certain gene. Is very rare,” Radek explained.
“Well, then I’m sure that it’s perfectly safe for me to……Oh!” John exclaimed as he sat down in the chair, because it was glowing with the same blue light as before. Radek said something in Czech that sounded like a swear word and shouted for someone to fetch Dr. Weir immediately.
.
V ----- V
Dr Elizabeth Weir was the first to reach the chair room, closely followed by Dr Daniel Jackson. O’Neill and Rodney caught up to find them staring at the sight of Sheppard lying back in the control chair. Behind Sheppard’s head the chair was still glowing bright blue.
“Did you plan this?” Rodney whispered to O’Neill, because the old vampire must have known that Sheppard had the ATA gene.
O’Neill shushed him at the same time as Dr. Weir asked, “Who is this?”
The general walked up onto the dais and looked down at Sheppard, “I said don't touch anything.”
Rodney snorted in disbelief, sure that this was the general’s plan all along. Someone’s toe nudged his shin and he turned to see Jackson looking at him thoughtfully.
“I-I just sat down.” replied Sheppard, nervously. Jackson raised one eyebrow and Rodney had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself laughing. It would seem that he was not the only one who suspected there was more to this situation than there appeared to be.
O’Neill shot him a look that said play along if you know what’s good for you. Rodney considered for a second before deciding he did not want to cross the old vampire. He stepped forward and addressed Sheppard,
“Major, think about where we are in the solar system.”
A holographic three dimensional map of a star system appeared above Sheppard's head, causing Dr Weir to smile in delight. Sheppard looked up at the map, frowning.
“Did I do that?”
V ----- V
It was getting late when Daniel finally got a chance to speak to Jack in private.
“OK, so what’s the story with Sheppard and McKay, “ he asked, impatiently.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” Jack told him.
“Don’t give me that. Rodney’s been bothering me all day, asking me to convince Elizabeth not to take Sheppard with us. He seems to think I would understand why.”
“Oh, that.” Jack said. “And don’t think I didn’t notice the “us” in that sentence, buddy. You are not, and never will be, going to Atlantis.”
Daniel was both pleased and annoyed by his lover’s possessiveness.
“Don’t change the subject, Jack. We’re talking about Sheppard and McKay, remember.”
Jack paused, thinking about what to say. “Well, you remember that whole thing in DC I told you about?”
“Oh, no way, really?” asked Daniel, eyes wide in surprise. “That could be a problem.”
“McKay’s just going to have to suck it up.” Jack told him. “I need Sheppard on that expedition.”
“What’s the big deal, anyway?” Daniel asked. “We‘ve got Beckett and his gene therapy.”
“Yeah. About that.” Jack drawled. “Ever wondered why the Ancients created vampires?
“Well sure, but I figured it was some sort of aid to Ascension.”
“Jeez, Daniel, no self respecting vampire would be seen dead sitting on a cloud contemplating our navels. We were created as soldiers, to fight a deadly enemy.”
“And you think that enemy’s still there, waiting for us in Pegasus?”
“It’s a possibility we have to consider, even after all this time.” Jack explained. “If the enemy is still out there, sending a vampire with the expedition could improve thier chances of survival.”
“And that’s the only reason?” asked Daniel.
Jack paused for a second, contemplating how much he wanted to tell Daniel.
“No, it’s not.” he admited. “When the Ancients returned to earth through the Stargate, some of the vampires stayed behind. A lot of people want to know if they survived the war.”
Daniel had always known that Jack was a lot older than him, but the expression on Jack’s face made him wonder just how old. Could Jack’s family have left a grandparent behind in Pegasus? Maybe Jack had even left a parent, brother or sister behind. Daniel couldn’t imagine what it would be like not to see your family for 10,000 years, but it sounded pretty lonely.
He wanted to reach out and hug the older man, but he knew Jack would see that as pity, so he settled for saying “I guess that’s a lot more important than keeping McKay happy, but we’ve still got to sort it out somehow.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.” Jack said confidently. “I’m going to take Sheppard back with me to Cheyenne, get him some gate time. McKay will come round eventually, if he has enough time to cool off.”
“You think?” Daniel replied, doubtfully. “You know the scientists aren’t going to thank you for taking away their new toy.”
“They’ll get over it. Now how about we do something more interesting.” Jack said, raising one eyebrow suggestively. “I’ve only got one night here, let’s not waste it.” This entry was originally posted at http://mckaysmonkey.dreamwidth.org/2954.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
FANDOM: Stargate Atlantis
PAIRING: John Shepard/Rodney McKay, Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson
WORD COUNT: 2636
RATING: R
WARNINGS: Vampires. Work in progress. Very loosly based on Rising pt 1
Summary:
Rodney and John meet for the second time, in Antarctica. Rodney is still angry about the way John treated him in Washington. Daniel fails to convince Jack to let him go to Altlantis, but learns something he didn't know about vampires.
Notes:
Thank you to the betas who've helped make this a better story, my loyal cheerleaders and everyone who commented on part 1 of this story.
Part 2 Antarctica
Rodney was in the middle of running power simulations when he recieved a call from Dr Radek Zelenka, asking him to come to the chair room. Wondering what needed fixing this time, he grabbed a tool box and headed toward the central room of the Ancient outpost. The air in the narrow corridor was chilly, and he pulled the zip on his orange fleece jacket as high as it would go.
When he arrived the Czech engineer was kneeling on the floor by the central dais fiddling with a bunch of cables that appeared to link to the ornately decorated control chair. Dr Carson Beckett was leaning against the arm of the chair, talking.
“So what did you break this time Zelenka?” Rodney interrupted, impatiently.
Radek made a final adjustment and looked up at Rodney.
“Ah, Dr McKay, please sit in the chair.” he asked politely.
“Isn’t that his job?” asked Rodney, waving his hand towards Carson. “I thought we’d established that my gene isn’t strong enough to activate it.”
“No Rodney, we’ve finished testing the chair for today,” explained Carson. “I just want to run some simulations with you, to monitor how you’re adjusting to the gene therapy.”
With a sigh, Rodney sat down on the edge of the chair so that Carson could attach electrode pads to his head, to monitor his brain activity.
After the incident in Washington, Carson and O’Neill came up with the gene therapy cover story to explain why Rodney could suddenly activate Ancient devices. Rodney was not sure why Carson was in O’Neill’s confidence, but he suspected that the Scottish doctor was at least half vampire. It would explain his naturally occurring ATA gene and his fondness for taking blood tests. There really was a gene therapy program, but so far non of the test subjects had as much control over the Ancient tech as Rodney did.
“So what exactly are we testing for. anyway,” he asked as Carson attached the pads.
“I’ve got a theory I want to test.” Carson explained. “Since you had the gene therapy, have you noticed any improvements in your ability to use the Ancient technology?”
“Maybe? It’s not really something that‘s easy to measure.” said Rodney, thoughtfully.
“Well that’s what these tests are for. We know that there's a mental component to the operation of the Ancient technology. I want to measure your brain activity while you’re using the chair, to see if there are any changes from your last tests.”
“Oh. You know, for voodoo that actually sounds quite scientific.” Rodney said, surprised.
“We could always do some blood tests instead, if you prefer.” Carson pointed out.
“No, this is fine.” Rodney told him, leaning back in the chair. He concentrated hard on thinking On. For a second there was a blue glow at the back of his head but then it faded.
Radek pulled up a chart of the power output from the chair and overlaid it with Carson’s test results. He waved Carson over to look at the data.
“Are we finished yet?” Rodney whined. Turning his head to see what the others were up to, he saw General O’Neill walk into the chair room, followed by a dark haired pilot wearing aviator sunglasses.
“Ah, McKay, just the person I was looking for.” the General drawled. “Elizabeth and Daniel want us to meet them in the conference chamber.”
“Thank god.” Rodney exclaimed in relief.
Behind the general, the pilot took off his glasses and glanced round the room. He seemed oddly familiar, but Rodney could not place him among the many Air Force officers that he had met over the years. Then suddenly the pilot was staring at him with gold flecked hazel eyes and he recognized Sheppard from the bar in Washington DC. At first Rodney was too stunned to even think, but then he felt the anger welling up inside him. He barely noticed Radek’s startled gasp, or the steadily increasing blue glow behind his head. Sheppard looked startled, like a deer caught in the headlights and even O’Neill was starting to look concerned. Without conscious thought Rodney reached out with his mind, connecting with the alien technology of the chair in a way he had never thought possible before. He could feel its power throbbing through him like a drug.
On the far side of the chair room, a technician gasped and stepped back from the drone he was studying as it started to glow. The round, squid shaped device lifted off its stand and shot across the room, skidding to a halt on the floor just before it hit the wall. The yellow light at the heart of the drone quickly faded, as did the bright blue glow of the chair.
For a moment everyone in the room was frozen with shock. Jack finally broke the ice by commenting,
“Pleased to see you too, McKay.”
There was a smattering of nervous laughter and the watching scientists turned back to their tasks. Radek walked across the room to examine the drone, while Carson checked on Rodney, who was clearly just as stunned by what happened as everyone else. He reached out and gently removed the first of the electrode pads.
“That’s enough for today lad, ” he said softly.
V ----- V
As soon as John Sheppard walked into the chair room with O’Neill, he noticed a sweet spicy smell, familiar and yet subtly different from before. It reminded him of Rodney, the man he met in DC. John was still mad at himself for messing that up so badly. Someone like Rodney should have been more than a convenient one night stand, but John had only been listening to his instincts, common sense and years of training thrown out of the window without a second thought. John took off his Aviator glasses and glanced round the room, hoping for the sight of a familiar pair of blue eyes.
John spotted Rodney sitting in the Ancient control chair, with electrodes stuck to his head like something from a bad sci-fi movie. John was about to laugh, when he caught the look in Rodney’s eyes. Rodney was really angry and the chair appeared to be echoing his mood, glowing with a weird blue light. John was paralyzed like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. When Rodney activated the drone, it came so close to John that for a second he thought it was going to hit him, but it shot past and came to a halt by the wall. John recognized it as a warning shot, stay out of my face or else.
It took Carson longer than it should to remove all the electrodes from Rodney’s head. John suspected that the smaller man’s hands were still shaking from what just happened. Rodney was a bit unbalanced as he pushed up out of the chair and started to step down from the dais. He stumbled on the bottom step, and instinctively John reached forward to grab his arm, steadying the other man. Rodney pulled his arm away and hissed,“Leave me alone, haven’t you done enough already?”
He straightened himself and stormed out of the room, leaving John to stare wistfully after him.
“Rodney, what’s wrong, lad?” shouted Carson, chasing after his friend. O’Neill sighed in resignation as he watched them leave. He turned to John.
“Look, I’d better go too, can you wait here, stay out of trouble for a couple of hours?”
John wanted to tell the general that he wasn't a kid, but he suspected the older man would disagree, so he settled for a formal, “Yes Sir.”
“Just don‘t touch anything, OK?” O’Neill added with a wink before he headed off in the same direction as Rodney. John nodded briefly in understanding. Its show time.
He faked an exaggerated sigh of relief and went to sit down on the closest chair, which just happened to be the control chair Rodney had just vacated.
“Please, don’t sit down there.” Radek warned him. “We’ve had enough fireworks today.”
“Hey, I promise not to press any buttons, or anything.” John said, putting on his best “who me” expression.
“I’m sure,” Radek smiled slightly. “Does not matter if you did, the chair is activated by thoughts only.”
“Cool. Can anyone use it?” John asked, although he already knew the answer to that question
“No, according to the good Dr Beckett, you must have a certain gene. Is very rare,” Radek explained.
“Well, then I’m sure that it’s perfectly safe for me to……Oh!” John exclaimed as he sat down in the chair, because it was glowing with the same blue light as before. Radek said something in Czech that sounded like a swear word and shouted for someone to fetch Dr. Weir immediately.
.
V ----- V
Dr Elizabeth Weir was the first to reach the chair room, closely followed by Dr Daniel Jackson. O’Neill and Rodney caught up to find them staring at the sight of Sheppard lying back in the control chair. Behind Sheppard’s head the chair was still glowing bright blue.
“Did you plan this?” Rodney whispered to O’Neill, because the old vampire must have known that Sheppard had the ATA gene.
O’Neill shushed him at the same time as Dr. Weir asked, “Who is this?”
The general walked up onto the dais and looked down at Sheppard, “I said don't touch anything.”
Rodney snorted in disbelief, sure that this was the general’s plan all along. Someone’s toe nudged his shin and he turned to see Jackson looking at him thoughtfully.
“I-I just sat down.” replied Sheppard, nervously. Jackson raised one eyebrow and Rodney had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself laughing. It would seem that he was not the only one who suspected there was more to this situation than there appeared to be.
O’Neill shot him a look that said play along if you know what’s good for you. Rodney considered for a second before deciding he did not want to cross the old vampire. He stepped forward and addressed Sheppard,
“Major, think about where we are in the solar system.”
A holographic three dimensional map of a star system appeared above Sheppard's head, causing Dr Weir to smile in delight. Sheppard looked up at the map, frowning.
“Did I do that?”
V ----- V
It was getting late when Daniel finally got a chance to speak to Jack in private.
“OK, so what’s the story with Sheppard and McKay, “ he asked, impatiently.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” Jack told him.
“Don’t give me that. Rodney’s been bothering me all day, asking me to convince Elizabeth not to take Sheppard with us. He seems to think I would understand why.”
“Oh, that.” Jack said. “And don’t think I didn’t notice the “us” in that sentence, buddy. You are not, and never will be, going to Atlantis.”
Daniel was both pleased and annoyed by his lover’s possessiveness.
“Don’t change the subject, Jack. We’re talking about Sheppard and McKay, remember.”
Jack paused, thinking about what to say. “Well, you remember that whole thing in DC I told you about?”
“Oh, no way, really?” asked Daniel, eyes wide in surprise. “That could be a problem.”
“McKay’s just going to have to suck it up.” Jack told him. “I need Sheppard on that expedition.”
“What’s the big deal, anyway?” Daniel asked. “We‘ve got Beckett and his gene therapy.”
“Yeah. About that.” Jack drawled. “Ever wondered why the Ancients created vampires?
“Well sure, but I figured it was some sort of aid to Ascension.”
“Jeez, Daniel, no self respecting vampire would be seen dead sitting on a cloud contemplating our navels. We were created as soldiers, to fight a deadly enemy.”
“And you think that enemy’s still there, waiting for us in Pegasus?”
“It’s a possibility we have to consider, even after all this time.” Jack explained. “If the enemy is still out there, sending a vampire with the expedition could improve thier chances of survival.”
“And that’s the only reason?” asked Daniel.
Jack paused for a second, contemplating how much he wanted to tell Daniel.
“No, it’s not.” he admited. “When the Ancients returned to earth through the Stargate, some of the vampires stayed behind. A lot of people want to know if they survived the war.”
Daniel had always known that Jack was a lot older than him, but the expression on Jack’s face made him wonder just how old. Could Jack’s family have left a grandparent behind in Pegasus? Maybe Jack had even left a parent, brother or sister behind. Daniel couldn’t imagine what it would be like not to see your family for 10,000 years, but it sounded pretty lonely.
He wanted to reach out and hug the older man, but he knew Jack would see that as pity, so he settled for saying “I guess that’s a lot more important than keeping McKay happy, but we’ve still got to sort it out somehow.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.” Jack said confidently. “I’m going to take Sheppard back with me to Cheyenne, get him some gate time. McKay will come round eventually, if he has enough time to cool off.”
“You think?” Daniel replied, doubtfully. “You know the scientists aren’t going to thank you for taking away their new toy.”
“They’ll get over it. Now how about we do something more interesting.” Jack said, raising one eyebrow suggestively. “I’ve only got one night here, let’s not waste it.” This entry was originally posted at http://mckaysmonkey.dreamwidth.org/2954.html. Please comment there using OpenID.