Weights and Measures

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Title: Weights and Measures
Author: vecturist
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Tag for Irresponsible, so any episodes up to this are fair game.
A/N: Thanks to liketheriverrun for a quick beta and some reassurances.

Summary: A single bullet. Somehow it almost didn't seem right.


The bullet tumbled lazily end over end as Sheppard watched it travel through its arc, catching it easily. He’d lost track of how many times he’s tossed it, rather than loading the cleaned gun, trying to divine some meaning from the object, now warm in his hand. He caught the bullet yet again, slightly startled by its lightness. It couldn’t be more than a few grams, he mused, an almost insubstantial weight.

All it took was a single bullet to kill Kolya. Somehow it almost didn’t seem right, seemed too easy, that this small mixture of metals, weighing no more than a few paperclips, ended the life of a man who’d inflicted so many scars.

He’s tried to put the what-ifs behind him. He ignores how McKay rubs at the scar on his arm when he’s especially worried, trying to steel himself for the worst to come.

He knows that not all scars are visible and tries to avoid Teyla’s eyes when planning a mission to meet old trading partners of hers, knowing that she fears a repeat of the Genii, that trust will again be misplaced. He’s seen the way Elizabeth and Carson look at each other as his team prepares to step through the gate, worried that Kolya is waiting and wants a repeat performance. And it takes willpower not to touch the small, slick patch of skin that remains blistered onto his chest as his own personal souvenir.

Most of all he tries to forget the haunting weight of all those who depended on him before the Wraith siege, lives needlessly lost if they’d only been able to secure that ZPM on Dagan. Grodin, Ford, and countless other names he’s committed to memory.

Somehow he doesn’t think he can balance these scales with just a single bullet.

Comments

[freetodream5.livejournal.com]

wow....this was a great coda to the ep. It did seem all too easy that Kolya went down as quickly as he did. I always wondered what John was thinking. Thank you for this little glimpse :)

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Thanks. They ended the episode all too quickly imho for the Sheppard-Kolya dynamic, either that or spliced in 5 minutes from an entirely different episode altogether.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

This was perfect, a much needed addition to the eppy. I thought of something like this when the challenge was issued.......now I don't have to.

Kolya's death was too easy, he deserved more as did our guys.

Very well done.

Kristen

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I guess great minds think alike! LOL. As much as I hate the episode, it at least provides some fodder for some good tags and missing scenes, maybe even an AU.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Very well done.

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Cool. Koyla's death should have been handled beter on the show, but I do like the little fics that have emerged from it, such as yours.

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Thank you. At least some good has come from this episode - all the tags and missing scenes. I really think the writers were sitting around, saying 'We have three minutes more. Let's have Sheppard shoot Koyla. The end'

[drufan.livejournal.com]

Very nice. Like the introspection and relation it has to the others. It's too bad they tried to do too much on the episode and came away with not enough. But this makes up for it!

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I really liked your piece from a little ways back, too. I'd like to think that Sheppard would take personally what Koyla's done to his team, especially since he had the opportunity to kill him before.

I think this episode was trying to put too many 'A' stories together, and it kind of felt like the addition of Kolya was a last minute thing. I really would have like to see more of a cat-and-mouse between Kolya (hey, he's a fun villan) and Sheppard's team. If they wanted a real twist/impact, have McKay shoot him.

[leesa_perrie]

Very nicely done - a nice little tag to this episode.