SGA Story: Guardians of Pegasus part 4
TITLE: Guardians of Pegasus.
FANDOM: Stargate Atlantis
PAIRING: John Shepard/Rodney McKay
WORD COUNT: 2703
RATING: R
WARNINGS: Vampires. Work in progress. Possible spoilers for Rising pt 1.
Summary:
Our heroes finally step through the gate to Atlantis. John is helpful and Rodney gets a flying lesson.
Notes:
The girl who did the alpha read through of chapter 4 onwards prefers to remain anonymous, but thanks go out to my current beta Wanted_a_pony. I've added some new material towards the end, so as always, all remaining mistakes are my own fault.
Thank you to my betas who've helped make this a better story, my loyal cheerleaders and everyone who has commented on the story so far.
Part 4 Atlantis.
On the morning they were due to depart for Atlantis, Rodney was a mass of nerves. He'd spent hours in the gate room watching teams arrive and depart but this was the first time he'd step through the gate himself. He tried to cover up his nervousness by burying himself in work and driving his staff crazy, checking up on things that he'd signed off on days ago and harassing the scientists in charge of the ZPM. Eventually Col. Carter lost her cool and strongly suggested Rodney join the other scientists waiting in front of the Gate.
Rodney pushed to the front of the group just in time to hear Dr. Weir's speech. When Elizabeth offered everyone one final chance to change their minds Rodney didn't even think about it. There was nothing on Earth to tempt him to give up the potential scientific discoveries waiting for him on Atlantis. Finally Elizabeth gave the order to dial the gate. Rodney tried to stay calm but couldn’t help fidgeting as the gate technician dialed the address for Atlantis. His thoughts were a tangle of speculation on the things they would find in Atlantis and concerns about all the things that could possibly go wrong, but he let a small sigh of relief escape as the eighth chevron locked into place. The telemetry from the MALP indicated the atmosphere was suitable for humans.
O'Neill announced, “Dr. Weir, you have a go.”
Rodney watched as Sumner and Weir stepped through the rippled blue surface of the event horizon. Behind him he could feel the press of almost 200 people and the expedition's assorted baggage, ready to follow him through the gate.
“Nervous, Rodney?” asked Sheppard softly, standing beside him.
“Of course not,” Rodney claimed, chin raised defiantly.
“After you then?” Sheppard offered. Rodney huffed and stepped forward, shivering slightly as the cool wormhole washed over him. For a moment he was frozen in limbo as his molecules were transported across space to another galaxy. He stepped out into a dark, cavernous room and bumped into the MALP, stubbing his toe.
“Ow! Someone should move that out of the way!” Rodney complained loudly. He was startled to feel a soft vibration at the back of his skull as the city acknowledged his gene. A few lights nearby turned on, lighting his way. Rodney told himself that it was just an ATA interface responding to his unspoken request, not the city welcoming him.
Sheppard stepped through the gate and the lights became brighter.
“Oh that's just typical, the city loves you best,” Rodney complained. Sheppard just smirked.
Rodney turned away from Sheppard and glanced around. The room around the Stargate looked like an alien cathedral, with its high ceiling and richly colored walls. In front of Rodney a wide staircase lead to a balcony and a glass-enclosed room. Sheppard set off up the stairs, gun raised, barely noticing as each step lit up, and Rodney hurried to catch up with him. They discovered an open area and a number of consoles covered in dust jackets, as if the original inhabitants had planned to return. Rodney eagerly pulled the cover from the closest console, impatient to discover its purpose.
“I think this is a control room for the gate,” he announced, as he studied the ancient script on the dials and buttons. “There are consoles similar to this at the Antarctic outpost.”
Sheppard walked past a console and its screen lit up blue.
“Hey, I didn't touch anything this time,” he said, holding his hands up.
“Of course not, it's probably the city showing off for you,” Rodney snarked. “I'm surprised it didn't roll over or offer to fetch a ball.”
“Just so long as it doesn't try to play dead,” Sheppard joked nervously.
Rodney ignored him, wandering over to another console.
“Hey, this looks like it could be the DHD,” he said, looking down at the symbols on the controls that matched the ones on the Atlantis gate.
“Cool,” Sheppard said, coming over to look.
V ----- V
When everyone was safely through the gate, Rodney directed a team of scientists to the control room to investigate the consoles. He was vaguely aware that Col. Sumner had sent out search parties to explore the city, while Dr. Weir set up headquarters in the glass-walled room nearby. The consoles were similar to the ones in the Antarctic outpost so it didn't take long for Rodney and his team to interface their laptops, find the Ancient database and search for city schematics. He found a screen on the city's status and was surprised to discover that they were at the bottom of the sea floor, under several hundred meters of ocean.The sea water was being kept out of the city by a shield, at least for now.
“No, no, no, this isn't good,” Rodney muttered as he studied the city's power consumption on his laptop.
“What isn't good?” asked Sheppard, leaning over Rodney's shoulder. Rodney flinched in surprise at Sheppard's voice.
“Hey, shouldn't you be out exploring the city with the other soldiers?” Rodney asked.
“Nah, thought I'd hang around here in case you needed me to turn things on,” Sheppard said, one eyebrow raised. Rodney ignored Sheppard's flirting, distracted by the figures on his laptop screen.
“Well, since you're here already, you can make yourself useful. Radio the Colonel and tell him everyone needs to stop turning things on and get back to the gate room. The city is underwater and we're running out of power for the shield.”
“You're kidding!” Sheppard exclaimed. To Rodney's surprise, Sheppard ignored the laptop and looked over at the display on the Ancient console.
“Wait, you can read Ancient?” he demanded.
John glanced around to check that no-one was nearby. “My father taught me when I was a kid,” he said quietly.
“You could have told me,” Rodney complained. “Is there anything else you've been hiding from me, like the location of a fully-charged ZPM?”
“Sorry buddy, I can't help you there. I might be able to help you find a way to raise the city though.” John concentrated for a few seconds and a new screen appeared on Rodney's laptop.
“How's that?” Sheppard asked, smirking.
V ----- V
In the end, raising the city was not quite as simple as Sheppard hoped. The city had been abandoned underwater for roughly ten thousand years so there was some serious wear and tear. Rodney's team spent a frantic hour shutting down systems they didn't need and rerouting power and managed to raise the city before the shield collapsed. Rodney was disappointed that he didn't get to see the city rise himself, but he had saved precious hours of ZPM power. Even without the shield it wasn't going to last long, so he set to work integrating the first of the naquada generators they brought with them.
Rodney was so busy that he did not notice that Sheppard had disappeared until he came back with a huge grin on his face.
“Rodney, we've got spaceships!” he announced. “Wanna try them out with me?” Sheppard's childlike grin was infectious and Rodney actually found himself considering the offer, but he didn't trust anyone else with the generator.
“Can't you see I'm busy right now?” Rodney asked in an exasperated tone of voice, waving to indicate the cables running between the generator and the Ancient console. Rodney regretted his reply when he saw a flicker of disappointment cross Sheppard's face, before the vampire schooled his features into a blank expression.
“How about we do it tomorrow, after I've finished up with the generators?” Rodney suggested. It was the right choice, as the smile returned to Sheppard's eyes.
“That's great. I'll get it cleared with the Colonel,” Sheppard said and turned to leave.
As Rodney watched Sheppard walk away, he tried to convince himself that he only said yes because the other man had figured out how to raise the city before the shields collapsed, not because he had started to consider the vampire a friend.
V ----- V
By the time Radek and his team of engineers had finished studying the controls of the ships, which Sheppard had already named “Puddlejumpers”, Rodney had finished his vital work on the naquada generators. Col. Sumner gave Sheppard the go-ahead to take Rodney with him on a test flight to the mainland and suggested they take Sgt. Markham as a backup pilot, since he had one of the strongest ATA genes after Sheppard and Beckett. Rodney didn't know the sergeant, but he was relieved another person would be with them. With three people on the expedition it couldn't be anything like a date.
It was the first time Rodney had seen one of the puddlejumpers close up. The ship was divided into two main sections, a cabin with seats for four passengers and a larger cargo area with benches along the sides. Sheppard and Markham quickly settled at the front of the jumper in the pilot and co-pilot seats. Rodney grabbed the seat behind Sheppard, next to the console that Radek's team had nicknamed the “science station” because it wasn't required to fly the jumper, but could be used for running diagnostics and planetary scans.
Sheppard sent a request to the control room to raise the ceiling hatch and placed his hands on the control panel, simultaneously sending a mental command to bring up the Heads Up Display. Even Rodney had to admit that the holographic display was really cool, especially when it started to translate all the information from Ancient to English. Sheppard grinned and lifted the little ship into the air.
Despite Rodney's worries the launch of the puddlejumper went without a hitch and they were soon hovering in clear blue skies above an ocean that stretched to the horizon. The inertial dampeners kept Rodney from feeling airsick, and the data scrolling across his laptop was fascinating.
“Hey, Dr. McKay, you've got to see this,” exclaimed Markham in wonder.
Rodney looked up from his laptop and gasped. He was familiar with the almost hexagonal plan of the city, was aware of its size and the height of its towers, but none of that prepared him for the view from above. The tall, elegant spires sparkled in the sunlight like enormous crystals, grown deep underground over thousands of years and finally brought to the surface.
“Pretty cool, huh?” asked Sheppard, his voice catching slightly with emotion.
“Yeah,” Rodney replied softly. “Just think, we're the first people to see this in ten thousand years.”
Needing something to break the mood, Sheppard pretended to ask the puddlejumper to produce a turkey sandwich, which had the desired result of making Rodney and Markham laugh.
Rodney turned back to his laptop and concentrated on his diagnostics as Sheppard flew the puddlejumper towards the mainland. At one point he glanced up and noticed that the sergeant was flying the jumper, something Rodney did not find reassuring. Sheppard was keeping an eye on him, though, much like a driving instructor.
The mainland turned out to be everything the botanists could hope for. There was plenty of vegetation, including jungle-like forests and grassy plains with grazing herds of some sort of herbivore. With a bit of luck the mainland would be able to supply some of their food and medicines so they wouldn't have to rely completely on trade. Rodney collected gigabytes of data for the geologists, who hoped their new planet had the raw materials needed for city repairs as well.
On the return journey Sheppard surprised Rodney by announcing, “Rodney, if you've finished up with those scans, then swap seats with Markham. It's your turn to fly.”
“That's a joke, right?” Rodney asked nervously. “Because I'm a scientist, not a pilot.”
“Hey, you'll be fine, the jumper practically flies itself,” Sheppard reassured him..
“In case you hadn't noticed, I don't have your unique affinity for Ancient technology,” Rodney pointed out.
“Nor does the sergeant, but he did just fine,” Sheppard said reassuringly. “Come on, Rodney, you might need to fly the jumper one day, especially since I was planning on asking you to join my gate team.”
“You were?” Rodney asked in surprise.
“Sure, why not?” Sheppard told him. “SG-1 has a couple of scientists on it, and you're the smartest scientist we've got. Makes sense to pick the best, don't you think?”
“Well, I am a genius,” Rodney preened, missing Markham's eyeroll and Sheppard's grin.
"Fine, I'll try to fly this thing, but don't say I didn't warn you when we crash." Rodney decided. He waited for Markham to vacate the copilot's seat before taking his place next to Sheppard.
"Okay, what do I do now?" Rodney asked nervously.
"Try turning on the HUD," Sheppard suggested. Rodney thought on, and to his surprise the holographic display appeared in front of him.
"Oh my god, it worked." Rodney exclaimed, grinning smugly.
"That's great Rodney," John praised him.
John quickly explained how to fly the jumper, before handing over control. Of course the little ship immediately plunged towards the ocean, as Rodney struggled to take control. Rodney could just make out Markham's muttered prayer as he struggled to gain contol. They were metres from kissing the waves when Rodney finally felt something click and the jumper responded to his command, rising back into the air. Sheppard whooped with excitement.
"You're crazy," Rodney told him, but he could feel the adrenaline buzz coursing though his veins, from knowing that he was able control an alien spaceship with his mind.
"Now take her back home," Sheppard ordered.
Rodney flew the jumper in a mostly straight line until he could see the towers of Atlantis up ahead, sparkling in the sunlight.
"I think that's enough for a first lesson," Sheppard told him. Rodney agreed, and he greatfully handed control back to the pilot. He relaxed and let his exhausted body collapse into the soft faux leather of the copilot's seat, enjoying the spectacular view of the alien city that was now his home. John carefully guided the jumper back to the city and steered it through the open hatch in the jumper bay roof with quiet confidence.
As Rodney walked away from the jumper, he noticed that Sheppard was surreptitiously watching him.
"What?" he snapped in annoyance.
"You had a good time today, admit it," Sheppard said, with a smug grin.
"The view of the city was impressive," Rodney admitted, "and I suppose flying the jumper was fun, in a scary way."
"And the company?" Sheppard asked.
"Is that what this is about?" Rodney asked, surprised. "I enjoyed spending time in your company, okay. Don't let it go to your head."
"So, you want to get something to eat?" John asked, hopefully.
"Sure, why not?" Rodney agreed. As they made their way towards the canteen, Rodney finally admitted to himself that he was starting to think of John as a friend. This entry was originally posted at http://mckaysmonkey.dreamwidth.org/4356.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
FANDOM: Stargate Atlantis
PAIRING: John Shepard/Rodney McKay
WORD COUNT: 2703
RATING: R
WARNINGS: Vampires. Work in progress. Possible spoilers for Rising pt 1.
Summary:
Our heroes finally step through the gate to Atlantis. John is helpful and Rodney gets a flying lesson.
Notes:
The girl who did the alpha read through of chapter 4 onwards prefers to remain anonymous, but thanks go out to my current beta Wanted_a_pony. I've added some new material towards the end, so as always, all remaining mistakes are my own fault.
Thank you to my betas who've helped make this a better story, my loyal cheerleaders and everyone who has commented on the story so far.
Part 4 Atlantis.
On the morning they were due to depart for Atlantis, Rodney was a mass of nerves. He'd spent hours in the gate room watching teams arrive and depart but this was the first time he'd step through the gate himself. He tried to cover up his nervousness by burying himself in work and driving his staff crazy, checking up on things that he'd signed off on days ago and harassing the scientists in charge of the ZPM. Eventually Col. Carter lost her cool and strongly suggested Rodney join the other scientists waiting in front of the Gate.
Rodney pushed to the front of the group just in time to hear Dr. Weir's speech. When Elizabeth offered everyone one final chance to change their minds Rodney didn't even think about it. There was nothing on Earth to tempt him to give up the potential scientific discoveries waiting for him on Atlantis. Finally Elizabeth gave the order to dial the gate. Rodney tried to stay calm but couldn’t help fidgeting as the gate technician dialed the address for Atlantis. His thoughts were a tangle of speculation on the things they would find in Atlantis and concerns about all the things that could possibly go wrong, but he let a small sigh of relief escape as the eighth chevron locked into place. The telemetry from the MALP indicated the atmosphere was suitable for humans.
O'Neill announced, “Dr. Weir, you have a go.”
Rodney watched as Sumner and Weir stepped through the rippled blue surface of the event horizon. Behind him he could feel the press of almost 200 people and the expedition's assorted baggage, ready to follow him through the gate.
“Nervous, Rodney?” asked Sheppard softly, standing beside him.
“Of course not,” Rodney claimed, chin raised defiantly.
“After you then?” Sheppard offered. Rodney huffed and stepped forward, shivering slightly as the cool wormhole washed over him. For a moment he was frozen in limbo as his molecules were transported across space to another galaxy. He stepped out into a dark, cavernous room and bumped into the MALP, stubbing his toe.
“Ow! Someone should move that out of the way!” Rodney complained loudly. He was startled to feel a soft vibration at the back of his skull as the city acknowledged his gene. A few lights nearby turned on, lighting his way. Rodney told himself that it was just an ATA interface responding to his unspoken request, not the city welcoming him.
Sheppard stepped through the gate and the lights became brighter.
“Oh that's just typical, the city loves you best,” Rodney complained. Sheppard just smirked.
Rodney turned away from Sheppard and glanced around. The room around the Stargate looked like an alien cathedral, with its high ceiling and richly colored walls. In front of Rodney a wide staircase lead to a balcony and a glass-enclosed room. Sheppard set off up the stairs, gun raised, barely noticing as each step lit up, and Rodney hurried to catch up with him. They discovered an open area and a number of consoles covered in dust jackets, as if the original inhabitants had planned to return. Rodney eagerly pulled the cover from the closest console, impatient to discover its purpose.
“I think this is a control room for the gate,” he announced, as he studied the ancient script on the dials and buttons. “There are consoles similar to this at the Antarctic outpost.”
Sheppard walked past a console and its screen lit up blue.
“Hey, I didn't touch anything this time,” he said, holding his hands up.
“Of course not, it's probably the city showing off for you,” Rodney snarked. “I'm surprised it didn't roll over or offer to fetch a ball.”
“Just so long as it doesn't try to play dead,” Sheppard joked nervously.
Rodney ignored him, wandering over to another console.
“Hey, this looks like it could be the DHD,” he said, looking down at the symbols on the controls that matched the ones on the Atlantis gate.
“Cool,” Sheppard said, coming over to look.
V ----- V
When everyone was safely through the gate, Rodney directed a team of scientists to the control room to investigate the consoles. He was vaguely aware that Col. Sumner had sent out search parties to explore the city, while Dr. Weir set up headquarters in the glass-walled room nearby. The consoles were similar to the ones in the Antarctic outpost so it didn't take long for Rodney and his team to interface their laptops, find the Ancient database and search for city schematics. He found a screen on the city's status and was surprised to discover that they were at the bottom of the sea floor, under several hundred meters of ocean.The sea water was being kept out of the city by a shield, at least for now.
“No, no, no, this isn't good,” Rodney muttered as he studied the city's power consumption on his laptop.
“What isn't good?” asked Sheppard, leaning over Rodney's shoulder. Rodney flinched in surprise at Sheppard's voice.
“Hey, shouldn't you be out exploring the city with the other soldiers?” Rodney asked.
“Nah, thought I'd hang around here in case you needed me to turn things on,” Sheppard said, one eyebrow raised. Rodney ignored Sheppard's flirting, distracted by the figures on his laptop screen.
“Well, since you're here already, you can make yourself useful. Radio the Colonel and tell him everyone needs to stop turning things on and get back to the gate room. The city is underwater and we're running out of power for the shield.”
“You're kidding!” Sheppard exclaimed. To Rodney's surprise, Sheppard ignored the laptop and looked over at the display on the Ancient console.
“Wait, you can read Ancient?” he demanded.
John glanced around to check that no-one was nearby. “My father taught me when I was a kid,” he said quietly.
“You could have told me,” Rodney complained. “Is there anything else you've been hiding from me, like the location of a fully-charged ZPM?”
“Sorry buddy, I can't help you there. I might be able to help you find a way to raise the city though.” John concentrated for a few seconds and a new screen appeared on Rodney's laptop.
“How's that?” Sheppard asked, smirking.
V ----- V
In the end, raising the city was not quite as simple as Sheppard hoped. The city had been abandoned underwater for roughly ten thousand years so there was some serious wear and tear. Rodney's team spent a frantic hour shutting down systems they didn't need and rerouting power and managed to raise the city before the shield collapsed. Rodney was disappointed that he didn't get to see the city rise himself, but he had saved precious hours of ZPM power. Even without the shield it wasn't going to last long, so he set to work integrating the first of the naquada generators they brought with them.
Rodney was so busy that he did not notice that Sheppard had disappeared until he came back with a huge grin on his face.
“Rodney, we've got spaceships!” he announced. “Wanna try them out with me?” Sheppard's childlike grin was infectious and Rodney actually found himself considering the offer, but he didn't trust anyone else with the generator.
“Can't you see I'm busy right now?” Rodney asked in an exasperated tone of voice, waving to indicate the cables running between the generator and the Ancient console. Rodney regretted his reply when he saw a flicker of disappointment cross Sheppard's face, before the vampire schooled his features into a blank expression.
“How about we do it tomorrow, after I've finished up with the generators?” Rodney suggested. It was the right choice, as the smile returned to Sheppard's eyes.
“That's great. I'll get it cleared with the Colonel,” Sheppard said and turned to leave.
As Rodney watched Sheppard walk away, he tried to convince himself that he only said yes because the other man had figured out how to raise the city before the shields collapsed, not because he had started to consider the vampire a friend.
V ----- V
By the time Radek and his team of engineers had finished studying the controls of the ships, which Sheppard had already named “Puddlejumpers”, Rodney had finished his vital work on the naquada generators. Col. Sumner gave Sheppard the go-ahead to take Rodney with him on a test flight to the mainland and suggested they take Sgt. Markham as a backup pilot, since he had one of the strongest ATA genes after Sheppard and Beckett. Rodney didn't know the sergeant, but he was relieved another person would be with them. With three people on the expedition it couldn't be anything like a date.
It was the first time Rodney had seen one of the puddlejumpers close up. The ship was divided into two main sections, a cabin with seats for four passengers and a larger cargo area with benches along the sides. Sheppard and Markham quickly settled at the front of the jumper in the pilot and co-pilot seats. Rodney grabbed the seat behind Sheppard, next to the console that Radek's team had nicknamed the “science station” because it wasn't required to fly the jumper, but could be used for running diagnostics and planetary scans.
Sheppard sent a request to the control room to raise the ceiling hatch and placed his hands on the control panel, simultaneously sending a mental command to bring up the Heads Up Display. Even Rodney had to admit that the holographic display was really cool, especially when it started to translate all the information from Ancient to English. Sheppard grinned and lifted the little ship into the air.
Despite Rodney's worries the launch of the puddlejumper went without a hitch and they were soon hovering in clear blue skies above an ocean that stretched to the horizon. The inertial dampeners kept Rodney from feeling airsick, and the data scrolling across his laptop was fascinating.
“Hey, Dr. McKay, you've got to see this,” exclaimed Markham in wonder.
Rodney looked up from his laptop and gasped. He was familiar with the almost hexagonal plan of the city, was aware of its size and the height of its towers, but none of that prepared him for the view from above. The tall, elegant spires sparkled in the sunlight like enormous crystals, grown deep underground over thousands of years and finally brought to the surface.
“Pretty cool, huh?” asked Sheppard, his voice catching slightly with emotion.
“Yeah,” Rodney replied softly. “Just think, we're the first people to see this in ten thousand years.”
Needing something to break the mood, Sheppard pretended to ask the puddlejumper to produce a turkey sandwich, which had the desired result of making Rodney and Markham laugh.
Rodney turned back to his laptop and concentrated on his diagnostics as Sheppard flew the puddlejumper towards the mainland. At one point he glanced up and noticed that the sergeant was flying the jumper, something Rodney did not find reassuring. Sheppard was keeping an eye on him, though, much like a driving instructor.
The mainland turned out to be everything the botanists could hope for. There was plenty of vegetation, including jungle-like forests and grassy plains with grazing herds of some sort of herbivore. With a bit of luck the mainland would be able to supply some of their food and medicines so they wouldn't have to rely completely on trade. Rodney collected gigabytes of data for the geologists, who hoped their new planet had the raw materials needed for city repairs as well.
On the return journey Sheppard surprised Rodney by announcing, “Rodney, if you've finished up with those scans, then swap seats with Markham. It's your turn to fly.”
“That's a joke, right?” Rodney asked nervously. “Because I'm a scientist, not a pilot.”
“Hey, you'll be fine, the jumper practically flies itself,” Sheppard reassured him..
“In case you hadn't noticed, I don't have your unique affinity for Ancient technology,” Rodney pointed out.
“Nor does the sergeant, but he did just fine,” Sheppard said reassuringly. “Come on, Rodney, you might need to fly the jumper one day, especially since I was planning on asking you to join my gate team.”
“You were?” Rodney asked in surprise.
“Sure, why not?” Sheppard told him. “SG-1 has a couple of scientists on it, and you're the smartest scientist we've got. Makes sense to pick the best, don't you think?”
“Well, I am a genius,” Rodney preened, missing Markham's eyeroll and Sheppard's grin.
"Fine, I'll try to fly this thing, but don't say I didn't warn you when we crash." Rodney decided. He waited for Markham to vacate the copilot's seat before taking his place next to Sheppard.
"Okay, what do I do now?" Rodney asked nervously.
"Try turning on the HUD," Sheppard suggested. Rodney thought on, and to his surprise the holographic display appeared in front of him.
"Oh my god, it worked." Rodney exclaimed, grinning smugly.
"That's great Rodney," John praised him.
John quickly explained how to fly the jumper, before handing over control. Of course the little ship immediately plunged towards the ocean, as Rodney struggled to take control. Rodney could just make out Markham's muttered prayer as he struggled to gain contol. They were metres from kissing the waves when Rodney finally felt something click and the jumper responded to his command, rising back into the air. Sheppard whooped with excitement.
"You're crazy," Rodney told him, but he could feel the adrenaline buzz coursing though his veins, from knowing that he was able control an alien spaceship with his mind.
"Now take her back home," Sheppard ordered.
Rodney flew the jumper in a mostly straight line until he could see the towers of Atlantis up ahead, sparkling in the sunlight.
"I think that's enough for a first lesson," Sheppard told him. Rodney agreed, and he greatfully handed control back to the pilot. He relaxed and let his exhausted body collapse into the soft faux leather of the copilot's seat, enjoying the spectacular view of the alien city that was now his home. John carefully guided the jumper back to the city and steered it through the open hatch in the jumper bay roof with quiet confidence.
As Rodney walked away from the jumper, he noticed that Sheppard was surreptitiously watching him.
"What?" he snapped in annoyance.
"You had a good time today, admit it," Sheppard said, with a smug grin.
"The view of the city was impressive," Rodney admitted, "and I suppose flying the jumper was fun, in a scary way."
"And the company?" Sheppard asked.
"Is that what this is about?" Rodney asked, surprised. "I enjoyed spending time in your company, okay. Don't let it go to your head."
"So, you want to get something to eat?" John asked, hopefully.
"Sure, why not?" Rodney agreed. As they made their way towards the canteen, Rodney finally admitted to himself that he was starting to think of John as a friend. This entry was originally posted at http://mckaysmonkey.dreamwidth.org/4356.html. Please comment there using OpenID.