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sga_flashfic2005-03-05 10:12 pm
bluestarmuse.livejournal.com) wrote in sga_flashfic2005-03-05 10:12 pm
Entry tags:
Distraction by Kathryn Arwen
Title: Distraction
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathryn_arwen
Challenge: First Night Challenge
Rating: PG
Category: Gen, mostly...but as John says in this fic: 'if you tilt you head to a certain angle and maybe squint a bit' you might see some pre-slash creeping in. *g*
Disclaimer: Don't own them [damnit!], just borrowing.
Summary: John, trying not to be angsty and tired. Rodney, being longwinded and insightful. And a balcony.
Unbeta'd, unfortunately. This is my first fic in this fandom, so if someone would like to volunteer, I'd welcome you! ^_^ Also, any constructive criticism is welcomed as well.
This is quite a bit over 1000 words, but it just wouldn't stop. I tried, really I did. ^_^;;;
Balconies. Everywhere there are balconies. I've seen a couple dozen; at least, and that isn't counting ones in private quarters. Gate Room? Check. The Unofficial Mess Hall? Yep, there too. There is even one in the Jumper Bay! You'd think that the Ancients hated to be indoors with the way they built in so many of the damn things.
So you'd think with odds like those, I'd be able to find a secluded one unoccupied, right?
Wrong. Dead Wrong.
McKay. Doctor Rodney McKay, Head of Science and as far as first impressions go? An annoying, arrogant ass. But smart, so I can see why people put up with him.
He's crouched down against the railing with his arms across the top and his head is pointed upward, like he's looking at the stars. I'm guessing he's off on his own little world and hasn't even noticed the door open. Maybe if I back up really quietly I can find a balcony to call my own.
"You know, these stars are really alien."
Drat. You know I'm starting to think that by entering a new galaxy, it's completely screwed up my luck from bad to worse.
McKay is looking over his shoulder with a vaguely curious, if not tired, look on his face.
"Intellectually, of course, I knew that they would be different...but as they say there is a difference in seeing and knowing."
As McKay spoke he stood up and turned around, then leaned on the railing with both his arms and feet crossed. I sigh, irritated, and decide to join him, if only because it would look bad if the newly commanding officer and the head of science didn't at least try to be civil with one another. Since being civil in this case means that I actually have to talk, I reply as my usually witty self with,
"As they say."
Okay, witty? Not so much, but you try being on top of your game with less then four hours of sleep in 58 hours. See, I'm so tired that I'm arguing with...me? no, I...no, you...ah! Myself, I'm arguing with myself......my head hurts. Looking away from the sea and towards McKay, the look that he is giving me makes it appear as though he is trying to crawl into my brain. Does he have such a single-minded focus on everything he works on? If so, it's not really surprising that he's so good at what he does.
Not that I'd ever say that to him.
"So Major, what are doing up this late? Not lost, are you?"
Well, gee, it's good to know that regardless as to how tired he is, he's still sarcastic. Anyways, it's not like I'd tell him why I'm still awake although it's almost morning. But then, I wouldn't tell anyone.
"No, of course not. I just uh...decided to see the sunrise."
He snorted. Actually snorted at me, the smug bastard! Maybe I really am here to see the sunrise, how would he kn--
"Well Major, then maybe you should try the balcony that is next to the Gate Room, because this one is facing the wrong way."
Oh...well I guess that he would know. He's smirking...damnit.
"Well what about you? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
Deflection, it's a good thing.
"Me? Sleep? Ha! I'll be lucky if I get any sleep within the next 48 hours."
Huh? We've been here for almost two days as it is. Not to mention who knows how much sleep he got before we left Stargate Command. So....
"Why? Current Crisis Averted, down time is when you are suppose to sleep, McKay."
He's turned himself to face me and, like clockwork, here comes the gesturing. He does it so often that I wouldn't be surprised to see it in my sleep. Not that McKay would ever be in my dreams. At all.
"Why, Major? Oh I don't know, maybe it's because very few scientists have any concept of night or day when they are working. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you combine that with the fact that I am the Head of the Science Team, well whom do you think they come to when they find something they deem exciting? Or worse, when something is about to blow up?"
You know, I don't think I've met someone as...animated as McKay. At least, not in a long time. When he talks it's like his whole body just can't stop itself from moving. That and his face, he's always showing some type of emotion with his eyes or with his mouth. Unsurprisingly, before I can get a word in edgewise, he continues.
"Not that anything has blown up. Yet. Fortunately. I'm lucky to get a few minutes to myself right now, really. The only reason for that is because I told Grodin to only contact me if it's life or death. Which is why I have my radio on, still. Hopefully within a week or two there will be some type of routine and I'll be able to get my usual 5 hours of sleep at a time."
He stops! My, so this is what silence sounds like...well at least silence with the sounds of the ocean. But silence means thinking, something I'm just realizing that at the moment is a good thing to be distracted from. That being said...
"5 hours? How do you function with only 5 hours a day?"
Wow, is that...he's amused. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the first time I've seen amusement on McKay's face. He actually looks kind of....likeable. Yeah, likeable.
"Not everyone needs the 'recommended'," Heh, I can just hear the air quotes in his voice, "8 to 10 hours of sleep to be able to do their job well, Major. Besides there is a thing called coffee. Which really, if I believed in a god or gods, I'd nominate whoever found out that the java bean was a good thing for sainthood."
You know, if you tilt you head to a certain angle and maybe squint a bit, McKay doesn't seem like such a bad guy. Not that he's really bad, per say, just that he...has the possibility to being an okay guy. Maybe he's the type of guy that grows on you.
"So Major, you never did truly answer my question, now did you? I'm assuming you can't get to sleep, hmmm?"
Or maybe not. Damnit.
"I just...you know, adrenaline plus the excitement, it's just really hard to come down off of it."
Shit. He's not buying it. In fact I seem to be getting Mach 2 of the Intense-Focus McKay look. So I guess this means he's not only trying to crawl into my brain, but that he's also trying to read my soul? ...What? Sleep deprivation makes you wonky. Before I can even think of something to once again deflect the conversation back to a safe topic, McKay turns to face the ocean with a thoughtful look on his face. Should I be happy for the silence? ....I'm still going with a no here. I need something to talk about. Think, think, thi--
"You don't know this, but until now most of my work has been in labs. Not that I'm complaining or anything, I mean I did know, intellectually, most of what I was getting into when I signed up for this mission. We do have enemies in the Milky Way so the thought of having enemies here in the Pegasus Galaxy was something I knew to be possible."
Hmmm, what's this? He's facing the ocean with his hands gripping the railing, but his head is tilted towards me. I'm going to guess he's going somewhere with this and he is talking, meaning no silence sooo...
"But I digress. So yes, most of my work was in the safety that is a lab but there have been few times I've been called to help out at the SGC, to help then-Major Samantha Carter, who recently was promoted to Lt. Colonel. I'm not sure how far you got up to speed in SGC 101 before we left but there was this Goa'uld named Anubis, have you heard of him?"
"Uhhh...actually no, I think I was more interested in hearing about the X-302."
He snorted, again. What? I'm a flyboy, is he really surprised? Ah, I see amusement in his eyes again as he turns to look at me. Not surprised then.
"Anyways," he huffs, with a smirk and a slight shake of his head, "Anubis was a big bad of the Gou'alds and he found or built, I forgot which, this weapon and was using it on the Stargate. What he was trying to achieve was to blow up the Stargate and with it being on earth, basically blowing us all up to kingdom come. I had this idea that would disengage the weapon by using an EMP. I thought it would work and General Hammond gave us the okay. The thing is that it didn't work. Shocking, I know, but not only didn't it not work, Carter was injured because of it. She got shocked and was knocked unconscious. For a moment I remember thinking, is she dead? Which horrified me, because the idea of actually inadvertently killing one of the handful of people I respect was just...."
He pauses here and I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's caught up in memory. Time for a distraction, I suppose.
"So what happened then?"
He blinks, and then continues, "Neither Carter nor myself could figure out a way to disengage the 'Gate from the weapon, but this guy, Jonas, who was self-exiled from his homeworld, asked Carter how they got the 'Gate into the mountain. With him purposely asking her that she figured we could take the Stargate out of the SGC, and fly it into space using the X-302. Basically, O'Neill flew the gate away and it went boom millions of miles away from Earth and all of us survived to live another day. Also, at the time the Russians had a second Gate and we bought if from them, in case you were wondering how we got here."
He pauses again, this time to turn fully towards me and with his arms crossed in front of him. He has this look in his eyes, part thoughtful and part...understanding? What the?
"But that isn't really my point. Like I said, I was mostly a lab person. I worked with computer models and eraser boards and the only time someone was in danger of injury or death is if they were doing something really stupid. I'm good at putting out fires and making sure things don't blow up, so that never happened on my watch. All of that changed when I saw Carter unconscious on the floor and wondering if she was dead. All of the sudden I started thinking about how any one of my ideas or decisions could end with someone dying. Someone could die because I didn't think fast enough or because the information I gathered to form a decision was incomplete. Unforeseeable consequences, things that, because no one is precognitive, happen. People die, worlds blow up, and a whole race that call themselves the Wraith wake up."
He's talking so fast that it takes me a few seconds to catch up with what he's saying. When I do, I involuntarily gasp, wondering how he figured me out. I don't know what to say, what can I say?
"McKay..."
"Major," he has an unsure look on his face, but plows ahead, "I'm not good with emotions, as I'm sure you can figure out. I just...it's like what I said to Elizabeth, going after our people and rescuing them, it was the right decision. I'm sure that you are probably feeling and thinking bad things, but know that," now he takes a step closer, looks off towards the ocean for a moment and then looks back into my eyes, "that by doing what you did, it means something, and that you did good, regardless of the unfortunate consequences."
He looks at me with an unreadable look on his face, then looks off towards the side and nods his head slightly, taking a couple of steps back. I just stand here, trying to figure out what to say back. It's weird, but I feel as a slight weight has lifted off my shoulders. Not all of it, of course, but enough that I'm actually feeling tired again. I'm about to say something when McKay jerks his head to the side and says...
"McKay here."
Hn. Talk about perfect timing. Thanks Grodin...not. McKay tilts his head and listens for a few moments and then rubs his hand tiredly across his face.
"Fine, fine, just...," he glances at me with an exasperated look on his face and rolls his eyes, "give me a few minutes and I'll be there. McKay out."
"Duty calls?" I ask.
"Unfortunately," he says, with a small smirk, "See? I'm telling you, don't be surprised if I don't sleep for another 48 hours. I should probably get going so...see you later, Major."
McKay turns and starts towards the door. I know I should let him go, but at the same time I feel like I should say something. Decisions, decisions....oh hell, he's nearly at the door already.
"McKay?" He turns around partly and raises an eyebrow inquiringly, "I just.....Thanks."
He looks at me for a moment, then a small smile appears on his face and he nods. Then he turns back around, activates the door, and walks through.
I lean against the railing and yawn. You know, occasionally, first impressions aren't everything. I have a feeling that McKay will be surprising me a lot more often in the future. Now it's time to go and get a few hours of sleep.
The End
Now I'm off to read everyone else's entries. Ta! ^_^
Author:
kathryn_arwenChallenge: First Night Challenge
Rating: PG
Category: Gen, mostly...but as John says in this fic: 'if you tilt you head to a certain angle and maybe squint a bit' you might see some pre-slash creeping in. *g*
Disclaimer: Don't own them [damnit!], just borrowing.
Summary: John, trying not to be angsty and tired. Rodney, being longwinded and insightful. And a balcony.
Unbeta'd, unfortunately. This is my first fic in this fandom, so if someone would like to volunteer, I'd welcome you! ^_^ Also, any constructive criticism is welcomed as well.
This is quite a bit over 1000 words, but it just wouldn't stop. I tried, really I did. ^_^;;;
Balconies. Everywhere there are balconies. I've seen a couple dozen; at least, and that isn't counting ones in private quarters. Gate Room? Check. The Unofficial Mess Hall? Yep, there too. There is even one in the Jumper Bay! You'd think that the Ancients hated to be indoors with the way they built in so many of the damn things.
So you'd think with odds like those, I'd be able to find a secluded one unoccupied, right?
Wrong. Dead Wrong.
McKay. Doctor Rodney McKay, Head of Science and as far as first impressions go? An annoying, arrogant ass. But smart, so I can see why people put up with him.
He's crouched down against the railing with his arms across the top and his head is pointed upward, like he's looking at the stars. I'm guessing he's off on his own little world and hasn't even noticed the door open. Maybe if I back up really quietly I can find a balcony to call my own.
"You know, these stars are really alien."
Drat. You know I'm starting to think that by entering a new galaxy, it's completely screwed up my luck from bad to worse.
McKay is looking over his shoulder with a vaguely curious, if not tired, look on his face.
"Intellectually, of course, I knew that they would be different...but as they say there is a difference in seeing and knowing."
As McKay spoke he stood up and turned around, then leaned on the railing with both his arms and feet crossed. I sigh, irritated, and decide to join him, if only because it would look bad if the newly commanding officer and the head of science didn't at least try to be civil with one another. Since being civil in this case means that I actually have to talk, I reply as my usually witty self with,
"As they say."
Okay, witty? Not so much, but you try being on top of your game with less then four hours of sleep in 58 hours. See, I'm so tired that I'm arguing with...me? no, I...no, you...ah! Myself, I'm arguing with myself......my head hurts. Looking away from the sea and towards McKay, the look that he is giving me makes it appear as though he is trying to crawl into my brain. Does he have such a single-minded focus on everything he works on? If so, it's not really surprising that he's so good at what he does.
Not that I'd ever say that to him.
"So Major, what are doing up this late? Not lost, are you?"
Well, gee, it's good to know that regardless as to how tired he is, he's still sarcastic. Anyways, it's not like I'd tell him why I'm still awake although it's almost morning. But then, I wouldn't tell anyone.
"No, of course not. I just uh...decided to see the sunrise."
He snorted. Actually snorted at me, the smug bastard! Maybe I really am here to see the sunrise, how would he kn--
"Well Major, then maybe you should try the balcony that is next to the Gate Room, because this one is facing the wrong way."
Oh...well I guess that he would know. He's smirking...damnit.
"Well what about you? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
Deflection, it's a good thing.
"Me? Sleep? Ha! I'll be lucky if I get any sleep within the next 48 hours."
Huh? We've been here for almost two days as it is. Not to mention who knows how much sleep he got before we left Stargate Command. So....
"Why? Current Crisis Averted, down time is when you are suppose to sleep, McKay."
He's turned himself to face me and, like clockwork, here comes the gesturing. He does it so often that I wouldn't be surprised to see it in my sleep. Not that McKay would ever be in my dreams. At all.
"Why, Major? Oh I don't know, maybe it's because very few scientists have any concept of night or day when they are working. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you combine that with the fact that I am the Head of the Science Team, well whom do you think they come to when they find something they deem exciting? Or worse, when something is about to blow up?"
You know, I don't think I've met someone as...animated as McKay. At least, not in a long time. When he talks it's like his whole body just can't stop itself from moving. That and his face, he's always showing some type of emotion with his eyes or with his mouth. Unsurprisingly, before I can get a word in edgewise, he continues.
"Not that anything has blown up. Yet. Fortunately. I'm lucky to get a few minutes to myself right now, really. The only reason for that is because I told Grodin to only contact me if it's life or death. Which is why I have my radio on, still. Hopefully within a week or two there will be some type of routine and I'll be able to get my usual 5 hours of sleep at a time."
He stops! My, so this is what silence sounds like...well at least silence with the sounds of the ocean. But silence means thinking, something I'm just realizing that at the moment is a good thing to be distracted from. That being said...
"5 hours? How do you function with only 5 hours a day?"
Wow, is that...he's amused. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the first time I've seen amusement on McKay's face. He actually looks kind of....likeable. Yeah, likeable.
"Not everyone needs the 'recommended'," Heh, I can just hear the air quotes in his voice, "8 to 10 hours of sleep to be able to do their job well, Major. Besides there is a thing called coffee. Which really, if I believed in a god or gods, I'd nominate whoever found out that the java bean was a good thing for sainthood."
You know, if you tilt you head to a certain angle and maybe squint a bit, McKay doesn't seem like such a bad guy. Not that he's really bad, per say, just that he...has the possibility to being an okay guy. Maybe he's the type of guy that grows on you.
"So Major, you never did truly answer my question, now did you? I'm assuming you can't get to sleep, hmmm?"
Or maybe not. Damnit.
"I just...you know, adrenaline plus the excitement, it's just really hard to come down off of it."
Shit. He's not buying it. In fact I seem to be getting Mach 2 of the Intense-Focus McKay look. So I guess this means he's not only trying to crawl into my brain, but that he's also trying to read my soul? ...What? Sleep deprivation makes you wonky. Before I can even think of something to once again deflect the conversation back to a safe topic, McKay turns to face the ocean with a thoughtful look on his face. Should I be happy for the silence? ....I'm still going with a no here. I need something to talk about. Think, think, thi--
"You don't know this, but until now most of my work has been in labs. Not that I'm complaining or anything, I mean I did know, intellectually, most of what I was getting into when I signed up for this mission. We do have enemies in the Milky Way so the thought of having enemies here in the Pegasus Galaxy was something I knew to be possible."
Hmmm, what's this? He's facing the ocean with his hands gripping the railing, but his head is tilted towards me. I'm going to guess he's going somewhere with this and he is talking, meaning no silence sooo...
"But I digress. So yes, most of my work was in the safety that is a lab but there have been few times I've been called to help out at the SGC, to help then-Major Samantha Carter, who recently was promoted to Lt. Colonel. I'm not sure how far you got up to speed in SGC 101 before we left but there was this Goa'uld named Anubis, have you heard of him?"
"Uhhh...actually no, I think I was more interested in hearing about the X-302."
He snorted, again. What? I'm a flyboy, is he really surprised? Ah, I see amusement in his eyes again as he turns to look at me. Not surprised then.
"Anyways," he huffs, with a smirk and a slight shake of his head, "Anubis was a big bad of the Gou'alds and he found or built, I forgot which, this weapon and was using it on the Stargate. What he was trying to achieve was to blow up the Stargate and with it being on earth, basically blowing us all up to kingdom come. I had this idea that would disengage the weapon by using an EMP. I thought it would work and General Hammond gave us the okay. The thing is that it didn't work. Shocking, I know, but not only didn't it not work, Carter was injured because of it. She got shocked and was knocked unconscious. For a moment I remember thinking, is she dead? Which horrified me, because the idea of actually inadvertently killing one of the handful of people I respect was just...."
He pauses here and I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's caught up in memory. Time for a distraction, I suppose.
"So what happened then?"
He blinks, and then continues, "Neither Carter nor myself could figure out a way to disengage the 'Gate from the weapon, but this guy, Jonas, who was self-exiled from his homeworld, asked Carter how they got the 'Gate into the mountain. With him purposely asking her that she figured we could take the Stargate out of the SGC, and fly it into space using the X-302. Basically, O'Neill flew the gate away and it went boom millions of miles away from Earth and all of us survived to live another day. Also, at the time the Russians had a second Gate and we bought if from them, in case you were wondering how we got here."
He pauses again, this time to turn fully towards me and with his arms crossed in front of him. He has this look in his eyes, part thoughtful and part...understanding? What the?
"But that isn't really my point. Like I said, I was mostly a lab person. I worked with computer models and eraser boards and the only time someone was in danger of injury or death is if they were doing something really stupid. I'm good at putting out fires and making sure things don't blow up, so that never happened on my watch. All of that changed when I saw Carter unconscious on the floor and wondering if she was dead. All of the sudden I started thinking about how any one of my ideas or decisions could end with someone dying. Someone could die because I didn't think fast enough or because the information I gathered to form a decision was incomplete. Unforeseeable consequences, things that, because no one is precognitive, happen. People die, worlds blow up, and a whole race that call themselves the Wraith wake up."
He's talking so fast that it takes me a few seconds to catch up with what he's saying. When I do, I involuntarily gasp, wondering how he figured me out. I don't know what to say, what can I say?
"McKay..."
"Major," he has an unsure look on his face, but plows ahead, "I'm not good with emotions, as I'm sure you can figure out. I just...it's like what I said to Elizabeth, going after our people and rescuing them, it was the right decision. I'm sure that you are probably feeling and thinking bad things, but know that," now he takes a step closer, looks off towards the ocean for a moment and then looks back into my eyes, "that by doing what you did, it means something, and that you did good, regardless of the unfortunate consequences."
He looks at me with an unreadable look on his face, then looks off towards the side and nods his head slightly, taking a couple of steps back. I just stand here, trying to figure out what to say back. It's weird, but I feel as a slight weight has lifted off my shoulders. Not all of it, of course, but enough that I'm actually feeling tired again. I'm about to say something when McKay jerks his head to the side and says...
"McKay here."
Hn. Talk about perfect timing. Thanks Grodin...not. McKay tilts his head and listens for a few moments and then rubs his hand tiredly across his face.
"Fine, fine, just...," he glances at me with an exasperated look on his face and rolls his eyes, "give me a few minutes and I'll be there. McKay out."
"Duty calls?" I ask.
"Unfortunately," he says, with a small smirk, "See? I'm telling you, don't be surprised if I don't sleep for another 48 hours. I should probably get going so...see you later, Major."
McKay turns and starts towards the door. I know I should let him go, but at the same time I feel like I should say something. Decisions, decisions....oh hell, he's nearly at the door already.
"McKay?" He turns around partly and raises an eyebrow inquiringly, "I just.....Thanks."
He looks at me for a moment, then a small smile appears on his face and he nods. Then he turns back around, activates the door, and walks through.
I lean against the railing and yawn. You know, occasionally, first impressions aren't everything. I have a feeling that McKay will be surprising me a lot more often in the future. Now it's time to go and get a few hours of sleep.
The End
Now I'm off to read everyone else's entries. Ta! ^_^
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Truer words were never spoken. Very cool!
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Yeah it is a good starting point, isn't it? Most likely something happened between the ending of Rising and Hide & Seek for Rodney to automatically go to John to help him test out the shield. I guess this is my offering for what could have been.
^_^