sga_flashfic | Wings to Fly by Abyssinia4077 (Amnesty 2006, School Challenge)

Entry tags:

Wings to Fly by Abyssinia4077 (Amnesty 2006, School Challenge)

Title: Wings to Fly
Author:

abyssinia4077
Character: John Sheppard, pre-Atlantis
Rating/Genre: G / Gen
Wordcount: 1281
Notes: I own nothing. This is all in fun. Thanks to

hiyacynth for the speedy beta. Mild spoilers for "Home."
Summary: John got the teacher nobody wanted – Ms. Watson. She was supposed to be mean and hard and locked the bad kids up in the locker behind her desk overnight where she only fed them broccoli.

When John finished sixth grade, his parents divorced. His mom picked him up from school and told him he'd be spending the summer with his grandparents, that when he got back his dad wouldn't be living with them any longer. John wasn't surprised. They'd spent the whole year working their way up to this.

Sixth grade was supposed to be the best year –the top of the school. John got the teacher nobody wanted – Ms. Watson. She was supposed to be mean and hard and locked the bad kids up in the locker behind her desk overnight where she only fed them broccoli. But John didn't care. He got to be a crossing guard and stand on the corner, helping the little kids cross the street on their way to school. He played basketball or football with the other boys, and that one girl with the long pigtails, each morning and during recess. And for those seven hours he got to not be home.

After school, if it wasn't raining, and sometimes if it was, he would go play in the creek behind his house. He climbed trees, swung on the old rope someone had hung from a limb, or dug foxholes and shot imaginary Germans, re-enacting the World War II movies his dad liked to watch on TV. When it was dark he'd return home, eat the food on his plate, and run upstairs to his room. He read comic books until the shouting got too loud and he put his pillow over his head until he fell asleep.

Everything went fine until the math test in October. The one that was handed back with "See me after school" written on it in big red pen. John watched the other kids file out the room, wondering if his parents would notice if he didn’t come home because he'd spent the night in Ms. Watson's locker eating broccoli.

"So," Ms. Watson said, looking at John through the glasses at the end of her nose. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

John poked his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and looked at the toes of his shoes. "What do you mean?"

"You started this year out well, but you haven't turned in a homework assignment in two weeks," she told him. "And now you're failing your math tests. John, I talked to some of your previous teachers. You've always scored top marks in math. Next year you'll be starting junior high, don't you want to do well?"

John shrugged his shoulders, scuffing the toe of his right shoe into the carpet.

"Are you bored? Is something going on at home?" she asked.

John shrugged again. He wasn't going to tell her that for the last two weeks his parents had fought nonstop. He wasn't going to tell her that he couldn't concentrate on his homework when they were like that. It was his family's problem, not his teacher's business.

Ms. Watson sighed. "John, look at me." He looked up into a piercing stare. "You're a bright boy. If you do well enough you could go to college, get out of this town, but you need to work. Now, if you don't start doing your homework I'm going to keep you after school and you can sit here, and do it before you go home."

John shrugged again and looked up at her questioningly. She nodded and he bolted out the door. That night he played at the creek long past nightfall, until he knew he'd get in trouble if he played any longer. When his parents started fighting he hid in his room, paging through the newest issue of Batman. He didn't do his homework. It might have been on purpose.

They developed a rhythm. John stayed at his desk, flying through math worksheets, coloring in maps for social studies and reading A Wrinkle in Time or, later, Tom Sawyer while Ms. Watson cleaned up the room, graded, or prepared the next day's lessons.

He learned early on that if he finished quickly, she'd show him a neat math trick. Ms. Watson had majored in mathematics at college and was eager to teach something beyond fractions and long division. John learned elements of geometry, algebra and later little bits of trigonometry and some basic group theory that year, eagerly absorbing anything she'd show him.

Sometimes she snuck in some science or history but it was a day in early February that changed John's life. They'd spent the week talking about flight – how planes worked and some of the math behind flying. On Thursday Ms. Watson sent John home with a permission slip for her to take him to the local county airport on Friday where her brother flew crop dusters. John's mother didn't even look at what she was signing.

The airport was a simple affair – a few hangers, a small control tower and a greasy diner where the pilots sat downing endless cups of coffee. It only took small planes – mostly crop dusters, but a few rich people had private plans they used to travel, and there were a few small businesses that took people up for glider rides. Ms. Watson led John into the large hanger used for repairs, and he couldn't tear his eyes from the planes.

"You like that one?" a man asked as John carefully rubbed his fingers along the smooth wing of a plane, ducking underneath to see where the engine was exposed, waiting for repair. John only nodded, not taking his eyes from the plane.

"John," Ms. Watson said, "I'd like you to meet my brother."

"Nice to meet you, son." Ms. Watson's brother had a deep voice. "I hear you're interested in planes?"

"Yes, sir," John said, trailing along to the back of the plane, feeling how the tail could flex under his fingers. "Do you think, maybe, I could hang around here sometimes? Learn about flying?"

The man chuckled and smiled at John, ruffling his hair. "Sure. We could always use help on the repairs – especially from a pair of small hands."

The next several years John's father picked him up on alternate weekends and sometimes he managed to duck out to the car before his parents could start fighting again. Any day he could he biked to the airport where he listened to stories and learned about planes. He liked it best when the older pilots told war stories – the bombing raids into Germany, dogfights over France. He spent hours in the repair shop, learning to diagnose engine problems, fix leaky hydraulics. Sometimes if someone had to go up – dust a field or make a quick delivery – and they had an extra seat, they'd invite John for the ride. He lived for the days they let him take the stick.

While his teammates on the football team got their driver's licenses, he earned his pilot's license – trading work for lessons. The other pilots taught him to treat his plane like a beautiful woman and his girlfriends like he would his favorite plane. When the Air Force Academy sent him an acceptance letter, he trekked back to his old elementary school. Ms. Watson was the first person he told, and her smile reached her eyes when she hugged him congratulations. At the airport her brother brought a case of beer and, for the first time, they let John get drunk with them.

Years later and a galaxy away John wasn't surprised when the energy creature of M5S-224 brought Ms. Watson to his imaginary bachelor pad. He only wished he could tell her the truth of how far he's come.

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This was great. I loved the detail of John being excited to be a crossing guard, because that's so junior high, the excitement of being a lunch monitor or an office aide!

Thanks :)
I know I was sure excited to be on safety patrol in 5th grade. And we know how much John tends to take care of people.

I bet every student wishes that they had a Ms. Watson.

this little story flowed very smoothly, I enjoyed it.

Students who get one sure are lucky. And young John certainly deserved her.

Thanks!

Oh, that last line kills me. I've always wondered about the people that John points out in his imaginary reality, and you've done so well to create a believable history with that. I really liked this. :)

Yeah, they explain Mitch and Dex but not most of the others and you know that teacher had to be special to appear at an awesome party like that :)

Thanks!

Lovely, I can see this as how John really got his interest in math & why of all the folks he had appear at his little party his 6th grade teacher was included.

Thanks! I figured John doesn't appear close to his family, but he's well-adjusted enough that someone must have taken interest in him growing up. She's about the only glimpse the show has given us about John's past.

ohhh, I really liked that! :D

John watched the other kids file out the room, wondering if his parents would notice if he didn’t come home because he'd spent the night in Ms. Watson's locker eating broccoli.

lol!

Thanks a lot :)

It was fun playing with all the stories/mythologies kids make up about their teachers.

Nicely done! I enjoyed it. Young John and his problems and dreams. I'm so very glad someone took an interest in him!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It drives me crazy how little the show tells us about John's past so I figured I'd just have to make it up.

OH!!! OH!!! MS. WATSON!! OH!!
YOU FREAKING ROCK!!! That was just AWESOME! I love the idea of John getting his love of flying from someone else than his parents.
PERFECT!!

Hee:) I'm really glad you liked this so much. I'm surprised I haven't run across more stories explaining why Ms. Watson showed up in John's imagination - she must have meant something to him. And you've got to figure whoever taught John to love flying has to be important in his book.

thanks!

Okay, I totally adored this, and how it gave a wonderful history for what was essentially a throwaway line in the episode. Fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing it!

I'm glad to hear you like it. It drives me crazy that show consistently refuses to tell us essentially anything about John's back story so all I have to work on are those little throwaway lines.

Thanks!

::adores::

the teacher nobody likes, who becomes John's favorite teacher...
happy sigh...

great fic, and fabulous use of an Incidental!cannon character!

I figured she had to be important to show up at the party, and she looked like that sort of teacher - the one kids are scared of but is actually really good.

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks!

*content sigh* I always wondered why it was her. I loved that she took care of him, that she noticed something was up and was willing to help, I love that he got to earn his pilots licence while the others where getting drivers licences, and I particularly liked this line:The other pilots taught him to treat his plane like a beautiful woman and his girlfriends like he would his favorite plane.

Yeah. It's one of the few glimpses we get of John's past and I got enamored of the idea of little John hanging out at the local airport.

Thanks!

This was so perfect. It brought tears to my eyes because it's so easy to believe that this was John's life. I love Mrs. Watson and her brother. Good people. Great story.

Meant to add. I love how you tied Ms. Watson in from the show. ::Smacks self::

(no subject)

abyssinia4077.livejournal.com - 2006-12-28 15:23 (UTC) - Expand

Oh, I love this. I frequently found the teachers everyone wanted were just skating along and the ones kids didn't like because they were hard were the best ones by far. As a member of a teaching family, I always love to see the sort of impact a good teacher can have, even if it's for a beloved fictional character.

Yeah, I realized after writing this that in 5th grade I had the teacher who was supposed to be mean and no one wanted but ended up profoundly impacting my life. It's so true how much difference the right teacher can make.

thanks so much!

This is quite lovely. I like how you bring everything together. I especially like the use of Mrs. Wilson. Teachers are so often underappreciated.

It's true, teachers are underappreciated way too often. Which is why Ms. Watson got to visit John's awesome bachelor pad :)

Thanks!

Lovely. Just lovely.

And I had my own Mrs Watson. Frank Hiday, wherever you are, thanks.

I like to hope most people had a Ms. Watson - at least to some extent.

Thanks!

Oh, this was perfect. I could really visualize young John, staying after school because home was so bad, and his teacher getting it but never really saying anything.

Lovely.

Thanks.

It was a tight line - I wanted home for John to be bad, but not BAD and he needed someone to reach out a helping hand.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!

This is simply lovely. Thanks for sharing.

thank you!

Awww that was so sad and sweet. I loved that John went back to Mrs Watson when he got his acceptance and her reaction. Truely lovely. Thanks for sharing.

I'm glad to hear you liked it.
thanks!

You are brilliant to take that throw away bit and make a whole backstory about it. I always wondered why she was in John's imaginary apartment. So many fics have references to Mitch and Dex in them. I'm glad you wrote one about Miss Watson.

Dead people, his sixth grade teacher, and a blond woman who wouldn't date him. People with some significance to John. Wonder what's the story behind the date refusal...

In my other fandoms I've always been all about the backstory - I suppose now that I'm discovering SGA it shouldn't be any different.

They tell us more about Mitch and Dex so it's easier to write them than some of the others. You should write about the date refusal :)

Thanks!

Oh, I really liked that.

My favorite paragraphs were the second--Finally! A fanfic with a childhood I can identify with! (except for the last sentence)--and the last, which I didn't see coming, so that was sweet.

Forgot to add: It was sixth grade when I figured out that you *want* the teachers everyone says are mean. They're great! I made it a personal guideline and followed it right through university.

(no subject)

abyssinia4077.livejournal.com - 2006-12-31 23:06 (UTC) - Expand

The good teachers -- they expect a hundred and twenty percent of your best, and somehow you find it to render up to them.

(Granted, I once had the English teacher that some people said was a martinet and that I never once perceived as one...)

It's so very true.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww. *sniff*

I'm glad you liked it.

thanks!

That was totally awesome! The whole picture you painted was perfect. *g*

Thanks! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Oh, wonderful! Teachers can make such a huge difference in people's lives. I certainly hope I do!

I love your Ms. Watson. Thanks for writing this;)

Teachers definitely have the potential to make a huge difference. I think most do - maybe not for every student, but for some.

I kinda love Ms. Watson too :) I'm glad she was there when John needed her.

Thanks!

Excellent story. A lot of pre-series stories don't work for me, but this one rung true. Nice job.

Thanks!
I've always had a weakness for character backstory, but it's true that backstory can really be hit or miss.
Glad you liked it!

A good teacher makes all the difference in a person's life.

It's very true. Glad you enjoyed it.

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