After The Fall by lavvyan (Earthside challenge)
Title: After The Fall
Author: lavvyan
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes, "Home" is a person.
Notes: McShep pre-slash. And my first flashfic that's actually a flashfic. Like, it could have well fit into the 38 minutes challenge with room to spare. *grins*
~~~
After the Atlantis expedition had been recalled to Earth, John had quickly lost contact with his few remaining friends. Teyla and Ronon had stayed behind, Elizabeth had gone back through the Gate on some diplomatic mission, Carson Beckett had moved back to Scotland to be with his mother, and Rodney... Rodney had disappeared to God knew where faster than you could say, "so long, and take care."
He didn't know why he had expected something different. They shouldn't have gotten along like they had in the first place.
John himself was once again the military's black sheep, the nightmare of his various COs' as he kept being transferred from one post to the next. He was tired, and stressed, and actually a little lonely, something he had to get used to. But John gritted his teeth and kept going: if they wanted him gone, they would have to kick him out - John Sheppard wasn't a quitter. Maybe a little less co-operative than he could have been, but always on the right side of insubordination. Always an almost good little soldier.
So when his new assignment took him to Nevada, hot, dusty, boring, Nevada, he told himself that at least he'd be back on US territory, packed his duffel, and left without bothering to say goodbye to anyone. It wasn't as though anybody even knew him, so he didn't quite see the point.
His assignment in Nevada turned out to be as safety detail at the infamous Area 51. Protecting the scientists, and didn't that one sound awfully familiar. He told himself that he didn't miss anything, and told himself more firmly when he was assigned to guard a physicist who was supposed to have "a tongue like a razorblade". Still, he was surrounded by alien technology, some of it even Ancient, and it was a lot more interesting than supply runs in the middle of nowhere.
He should have known. And in hindsight, he didn't quite understand how he hadn't made the connection, why it had taken him hearing "... the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. I mean, really, I'm curious: did you win your PhD. in the lottery or was it a present?" to make him realise why he was here.
"McKay. Play nice," he drawled, hiding his sudden excitement behind a raised eyebrow. And when Rodney actually shut up with a grin, the resulting murmur and curious glances from the other scientists made John almost smirk. Almost.
"Colonel. How nice of you to join us. Come over here and make yourself useful, would you?"
"What's that?" Nodding at the Ancient device Rodney was pointing at, and not moving an inch. Because their relationship had a rhythm, and stalling was as much part of it as ribbing each other.
"Well, I can't be sure until somebody actually turns it on, but it might be the key to an Ancient armoury."
Impatient snap of fingers, expectant gaze, and still that delighted grin - like a little boy who had gotten exactly what he wanted. Whose eyes were lighting up now?
John smiled.
"Cool."
~~~
Author: lavvyan
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes, "Home" is a person.
Notes: McShep pre-slash. And my first flashfic that's actually a flashfic. Like, it could have well fit into the 38 minutes challenge with room to spare. *grins*
~~~
After the Atlantis expedition had been recalled to Earth, John had quickly lost contact with his few remaining friends. Teyla and Ronon had stayed behind, Elizabeth had gone back through the Gate on some diplomatic mission, Carson Beckett had moved back to Scotland to be with his mother, and Rodney... Rodney had disappeared to God knew where faster than you could say, "so long, and take care."
He didn't know why he had expected something different. They shouldn't have gotten along like they had in the first place.
John himself was once again the military's black sheep, the nightmare of his various COs' as he kept being transferred from one post to the next. He was tired, and stressed, and actually a little lonely, something he had to get used to. But John gritted his teeth and kept going: if they wanted him gone, they would have to kick him out - John Sheppard wasn't a quitter. Maybe a little less co-operative than he could have been, but always on the right side of insubordination. Always an almost good little soldier.
So when his new assignment took him to Nevada, hot, dusty, boring, Nevada, he told himself that at least he'd be back on US territory, packed his duffel, and left without bothering to say goodbye to anyone. It wasn't as though anybody even knew him, so he didn't quite see the point.
His assignment in Nevada turned out to be as safety detail at the infamous Area 51. Protecting the scientists, and didn't that one sound awfully familiar. He told himself that he didn't miss anything, and told himself more firmly when he was assigned to guard a physicist who was supposed to have "a tongue like a razorblade". Still, he was surrounded by alien technology, some of it even Ancient, and it was a lot more interesting than supply runs in the middle of nowhere.
He should have known. And in hindsight, he didn't quite understand how he hadn't made the connection, why it had taken him hearing "... the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. I mean, really, I'm curious: did you win your PhD. in the lottery or was it a present?" to make him realise why he was here.
"McKay. Play nice," he drawled, hiding his sudden excitement behind a raised eyebrow. And when Rodney actually shut up with a grin, the resulting murmur and curious glances from the other scientists made John almost smirk. Almost.
"Colonel. How nice of you to join us. Come over here and make yourself useful, would you?"
"What's that?" Nodding at the Ancient device Rodney was pointing at, and not moving an inch. Because their relationship had a rhythm, and stalling was as much part of it as ribbing each other.
"Well, I can't be sure until somebody actually turns it on, but it might be the key to an Ancient armoury."
Impatient snap of fingers, expectant gaze, and still that delighted grin - like a little boy who had gotten exactly what he wanted. Whose eyes were lighting up now?
John smiled.
"Cool."
~~~