Gravitation by Nuhiep [Search & Seizure Challenge]

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Challenge: Search and Seizure

Title: Gravitation
Author: nuhiep
Characters: Heightmeyer with appearances from Weir, McKay, and Carson.
Summary: This is a story told from Heightmeyer’s point-of-view showing how she goes about dealing with the other characters that live and work on Atlantis.
Word Count: This story is an order of magnitude greater in length than typical flashfiction. (~10,700 words) I am so sorry. I won’t do it again. I promise.

Warnings: Some het. Implied slash.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through Season 2.
Notes: A million cookies and thanks unto covertpurin for beta on a deadline. Also, commendations for listening to the whining.

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor affiliated intellectual property of Stargate: Atlantis. No money is being made from this story.

“Doctor Heightmeyer, I don’t know what hack program you got your degree at, but this is not the way therapy works.”

“Just call me Kate. I did my residency at Johns-Hopkins. And how do you expect therapy to work?”

"Well, where are the tests?”

“What tests?”

“Word association, Rorschach – the tests!” Rodney waved his hands around, indicating the bare shelves and uncluttered tables.

Gravitation

The link will take you to my webpage, because the story was too long to be posted in one part to LJ. Sorry . . .

Comments

[affinity8.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this! And I'm not the hugest Kate fan. But a good story, and more importantly (to me), great writing! Well done. Than you for writing and sharing it.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you liked it.

[(Anonymous)]

I thought this was powerful. You did a lot with a character we've only seen in two episodes. (BTW, Heightmeyer looked a little more haggard in "Duet" than when we first saw her in "The Gift.")

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm happy you enjoyed it.

[lovessong.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this -- I like the way you get into Kate's head, it's a very insightful story.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm flattered. I wanted to offer a different view of Kate, of when she's not "on the job."

[lovelypoet.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this. I'd actually been thinking quite a bit about what it must be like for her to have to be there for everyone and have no one to go to. I like the way you handled her turn to the meds... there is a lot of "addiction" fic that rubs me the wrong way for reasons I can't always explain clearly. This was very much the oposite and felt very honest in her reasons and her reactions, especially that it took more than the initial two weeks for her to get back to functioning.

And I think you did nicely on developing something real between her an Carson.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm really glad the "addiction" angle came across sincerely. I agree with you that a lot of addiction is treated very flippantly and consequences are never really discussed.

[kyffin.livejournal.com]

This was really lovely.

Thanks

Kyf

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[scififreak.livejournal.com]

Wow. This is the most amazing Kate story I have ever read. I've always wanted to see more of her on the show because she's the only therapist they have and I wonder who listens to her problems, her fears, her dreams...Anyone? I can't imagine how lonely it must be to be Kate Heightmeyer. And that's an awkward sentence. Ugh. Anyway, I was so moved by this story. You perfectly captured her pain, desperation, lonliness, and healing.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm really happy you got so much out of it. Someone mentioned a while back that anyone on Atlantis could potentially be Carson's patient, and so he must have to keep people at an armslength. It struck me immediately that it must be the same for all the medical doctors, but Kate especially, because she's the only therapist.

[katt9966.livejournal.com]

A great look at all the characters but a really super look at Kate, and it's a good point -- who listens to her neurosis and fears.

Great work, thanks for sharing your talent :-)

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^_^

[ex-zombieham605.livejournal.com]

Ohh, this was *wonderful*! Kate is believeable, Rodney is in-character, and you just know that Elizabeth explodes in therapy just like that. You were true to the spirit of the show and maybe even more satisfying. I love the lower decks sort of feeling, seeing things through the eyes of someone not part of the main team. Your Atlantis is textured, rich and beautiful, please write more.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^_^ I had a difficult time making sure Rodney sounded like himself. He and Elizabeth both have a very specific way of talking and expressing themselves. My beta had to beat the Elizabeth scene with a stick to get it to work. I'm really happy you liked it so much. I had loads of fun writing it.

[dzurlady.livejournal.com]

I liked this.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

I'm glad. ^_^

[chibimonnie.livejournal.com]

Your Kate is excellent. There's so little of her to work with in canon, but you've made her very real and sympathetic. You give a very interesting perspective on her and her role as therapist. Who supports the support? I like how you brought her and Beckett together. Those were some very sweet scenes.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I originally imagined pairing Rodney and Kate, but covertpurin made me realize that it was disaster waiting to happen. So that's where Beckett appeared and in some ways, I'm writing Beckett the way I hoped to write Kate. Who are these people when they're not being professionals? I imagined that Beckett would gain a kind of courage and Kate would lose a bit of her control and somehow, they'd meet in the middle. ^_^

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Wow!!! I love this! I have been fascinated by Kate, and I think you really capture the difficulty of her situation. Plus, the writing is so lovely and lyrical. And even though in my own strange world I keep wanting to pair her with Zelenka, I think the Kate/Carson thing is wonderful the way you write it here. Just fantastic!!!

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ^_^ I'm happy you can accept the Kate/Carson, despite your leanings. That's a real compliment. I understand the compulsion of trying to pair Zelenka with someone.

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Oh, Kate/Radek totally started out as a cracked-out joke, but then after "Duet" it seemed less of a joke because they actually shared screen time and all. But they're hardly my OTP. I'm much more likely to pair Zelenka with McKay, actually. So Kate/Carson--why not! ;)

[fatuorum.livejournal.com]

Your Kate/Carson makes my heart feels like it's bursting and got me smiling, even though I usually slash, not 'ship. I've always wondered how someone like Kate would cope given the very stressful situations they're in, and 'healer, heal thyself' sometimes isn't enough. Glad that you gave her Carson! I especially enjoyed how you got the story unfolding, and everything felt like they eased into place nicely. The details about Elizabeth and Rodney were fabulous, but I had to admit that the Caldwell/Weir suggestion felt a little off for me. Also, implied slash? So I really wasn't seeing things, was I? *g*

Much much love for this, and I've absolutely no problems with the length :)

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Aww. Thanks a lot. It's great to know someone thinks Kate and Carson are as cute together as I do. They make me smile too, especially thinking about what would happen when Kate meets Carson's mother. ^_^ Was the Caldwell/Weir really strange? It seems like the most natural thing in the world to me, but I should remember it's not a given for everyone else. And, no, you weren't seeing things at all. ^_^

[fatuorum.livejournal.com]

what would happen when Kate meets Carson's mother

I'm sure it would be fun, or at least interesting *GGG*

I'm okay with the Caldwell/Weir, but what felt off was that it was Kate who suggested it, especially as a psychiatrist. Not that I know much about how they should work, but it feels like if Elizabeth's attraction to Caldwell was in Kate's mind, she might have been a bit more subtle about it. Does that make any sense?

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Ah. Sorry, I didn't see this comment until late last night, but I do see what you mean now. I could say that it's part of Kate's disintegrating professionalism as a result of stress and the desire to reach out and connect to others, but that would be a total lie. ^_^ I actually didn't spend as much time on that scene as I could have, and I'm glad you pointed that out. The way I set the scene up, there was no way to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion without having Kate step out of bounds. If I edit this in the future, I will go back and reconsider the structure of this scene. Thanks! You're a very close reader.

[the-green-sheep.livejournal.com]

Let Rodney have his earlier than Zelenka. He’s heavier.

This made me tear up. Just like that. Human beings as both an instrument to what must be done, and the people you're trying to save. Man.

The story is amazing. It takes off after the midpoint and gets better and better, and the metaphor in the title is wonderful both in the things it says and in those it doesn't. (Oh, the way you say things without saying them. I love it.) Your characters are spot-on, especially Rodney, and you made me a fan of a pairing I'd never really given a thought to before.

Lovely, lovely work.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Aww. Thanks so much! I'm so happy you got so much from it - in the sense that it impacted you emotionally. It really makes my day hearing that the story conveyed the themes/emotions effectively.

And you like my title! I'm so full of joy. My writing group almost unanimously hated my titles, but the credit for the title "Gravitation" has to go to my beta. :)

And, again, thank you for your thoughts on characterization and writing. It totally makes my day. I've had a lot of trouble in the past of telling too much, and this was my project to work on that.

[the-green-sheep.livejournal.com]

I like titles that are part of the story, rather than just a label; if a title helps me understand a story, or gives it another layer, or a totally different meaning than it would have on its own, I love it. I think yours was one like those.

As for your project... I'd say you more than succeeded. I love understatement in a story.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

This was very good. Intense, dark and desperate. I liked how you wove the relationships into the drama.

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[canadian-snoopy.livejournal.com]

Oh wow... this is unbelievable, intense and something that I can believe happened given the insanity of the siege. Thank you for writing this -- as much as I love Sheppard and McKay, reading about the secondary players of Atlantis is just as cool and you do an awesome job with Kate and Carson.

*sighs happily and goes to reread*

[nuhiep.livejournal.com]

Cool. Thank you. I really appreciate your comment. I feel like it's the most sincere and honest thing I've written thus far and I'm really happy that intensity came across.