For Now by slybraian (Amnesty 2007, Stuck On You)

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Title:
Author: slybrarian
Rating: PG-13 for language
Pairing: reference Lorne/Sheppard, McKay/Sheppard
Series: Dramatic Exit
Words: 565
Notes: Beta'd by archae_ology. Emphasis on the stuck part, and written during the challenge, more or less, but stalled by Evil Finals Week. Bleh.
Summary: John's stuck with the rules.


Four years, John thought, four years and not one incident like this. Not one blanket party, not one bashing, and only a few minor cases of harassment, all quickly dealt with. Not one official complaint, or even an unofficial one. Even Caldwell had turned a blind eye to anything odd he might have seen. But now, because Colonel Ellis of the Apollo didn't know when to keep his nose out of things, one of his men was being discharged despite everything he and Carter had tried to stop it.

"I'm sorry," he said, and Lieutenant Webster replied, "It's fine, sir. I should have been more careful."

John tried not to scowl as he asked, "You got any plans?

Webster grinned, and John was reminded of when the boy first arrived, all puppy-dog eagerness and awe. "Enrique actually proposed, sir. We're heading to Toledo to meet his family, and we'll see what happens from there."

John found himself grinning back and wondered if he'd ever been so optimistic. Probably around the time he was getting married himself. "Congratulations. Listen, there's actually something we need to-"

Before he could say more, Rodney burst into the room waving a tablet. "You! Sign this."

Webster gave John a bewildered look, and he shrugged and gave him a thumbs up back. It was probably mean of John, really, but in his own best interests.

"Congratulations, you're hired," Rodney said once it was done. "Tell Marquez that he gets six weeks off and not a day more."

With that, he stormed off, leaving a bemused John and a confused ex-lieutenant behind. Hesitantly, Webster asked, "Sir, what was that?"

"If you're lucky, you signed away your soul," John replied. "If not, Carter okayed him to hire on people with the ATA who didn't have doctorates, to help with routine maintenance."

"Oh." Webster seemed torn between being thrilled at staying in Atlantis and being frightened at the thought of having Rodney as a boss. John couldn't blame him.

"I know it's not how you probably imagined spending your life, but it's the best we could do," John said quietly. "And neither one of us will have problems if you want on a team again."

"No, sir, this is, this is great," Webster quickly protested. "You didn't have to do this -"

"Yes, I did," John tried to interject.

"And I'm really, really sorry for causing so much trouble."

John had to stop himself from reaching across the desk and shake the young man until he accepted it wasn't his fault. That wasn't the only thing John was wanting to do. He wanted to go to the control room, dial Earth, and explain to the brass exactly what he thought about applying this policy in Atlantis. He wanted to tell them that he'd had Rodney's cock in his mouth and Lorne's up his ass. He wanted to tell them that he'd been sleeping with Captain Holland in Afghanistan, and that he'd lost his virginity to the quarterback in high school. He also wanted to tell them that they could fuck off and leave his people alone, and that if they had a problem with that he had a few squid-shaped friends they could talk with.

He couldn't do any of that, though, so he was stuck with the stupid rules and would just have to live with their solution.

For now.

Comments

[tarlanx]

Glad they able to work around that stupid rule even if it's not the best solution.

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

It's Team Sheppard, of course they worked something out. It's just, you know...rather less violent than Plan B. Not that there's a Plan B, no sir.

[enviropony.livejournal.com]

I love fics where the folks who get discharged get offered positions on Atlantis. Glad to see Caldwell turning a blind eye, and I hope Ellis trips and falls on his face when he sees that Webster's still around! Cool stuff.

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

I like the idea to, which is why I wanted to play around with it and look at it from John's perspective. Ellis, for his part, probably won't have a chance to see any such thing, because his ship's probably not coming back anytime soon, not once Jack gets Sam's irate email.

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

I like that Sheppard and Carter both tried to stop it, and that Caldwell was equally willing to turn a blind eye, but that it was Ellis, the new guy, who ruined everything...

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Sheppard and Carter are both good people, even if Carter's occasionally annoying. Caldwell, for his part, has better things to do with his time, like convince Novak to stop sobbing over Hermiod's untimely demise. *grin*

[trystings.livejournal.com]

Ah, Caldwell, I'm starting to like him more and more. And the whole Atlantis senior staff trying to find a solution (to something that shouldn't be a problem in the first place). Hmmm. Great take on the challenge.

_{Small typing error "He also wanted to tell them that that could fuck off"}

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Caldwell has grown on me as I've rewatched Season 3. He's really not that bad, after the first half of Season 2 when he stops trying to steal John's job.

Thanks for pointing out the typo.

Caldwell

[kiranovember.livejournal.com]

You know, Caldwell's not so bad since they took the snake out of his head. Ellis, though... he annoyed me. Someone pointed out that while Ellis was checking in with the SGC to report Atlantis missing and ask for orders, Caldwell would have already been looking for them. (But then, he knows that nothing ever goes according to plan on Atlantis.)

Re: Caldwell

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Once Caldwell was snake-less and didn't want John's job anymore (he's perfectly happy with his ship, thank you, and none of this alien ritual bullshit), he was usually pretty helpful, if constantly annoyed by Team Sheppard's random flailings. Ellis, on the other hand, showed up, stole Rodney, bulldozed over everyone's objections, and then tried to undermine Elizabeth. Caldwell at least seemed to get along with everyone and wouldn't have needed to run off and call home, then constantly complained about the solutions the geeks came up with.

[jennytork.livejournal.com]

I do not like Ellis.

I do like the way they handled this -- able to keep him around.

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone likes Ellis. He's even creepier than snake-Caldwell, and doesn't have that adorable put-upon air every time he's faced with the wacky plan of the week.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

...I thought signing on with Mckay's staff in a junior position was signing away your soul. These tow things are the same. And it's very interesting how many of the junior staff seem to go around armed and're on the 'short of marines, take one of the qualified civilians' list.

:ponders how Apollo will deal with the soldiers from countries who don't have DADT and quite actively recruit from the gay community:

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Well, it is. Webster should have known better than to get a civil engineering degree and stuck with something more harmless, like botany.

As for the international troops, when Ellis walked into movie night in the mess and saw Chuck and Parrish cuddling in the corner, he got a migraine. And people threw stuff at him. Serves him right, really.

[psyko-kittie.livejournal.com]

Lovely story. :) YAY for Lt. getting hired by Rodney, even if Rodney is a little scary at times. :p

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Luckily for (ex)-Lt. Webster, he's probably going to be working under Zelenka's supervision, with a nice layer of insulation between him and Rodney. Except when he gets called up to go out with Lorne's team and rescue Team Sheppard from Yet Another Embarrassing Alien Ritual, that is, when he gets to experience not just Rodney, but extra-bitchy Rodney. Such is the price of staying in Atlantis.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

I love this. Close-knit doesn't even begin to describe this Atlantis.

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

I'd be amazed if they weren't. Take a few hundred people and stick them in a galaxy full of space vampires and crazed natives, with resupply only every couple months, and of course they're going to be tight knit. Now, make those people ones with few or no ties to Earth, what with it still being quasi-one way, and it becomes even more so.

Not that Sheppard and McKay wouldn't come up with something like this back home, just for the pleasure of sticking it to the man. *g*

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Yay for Team Shep (although I do feel a little sorry for the guy being under Rodney now lol) boo for the assholes.

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Yay Shep indeed. As for Rodney, he can't be worse than space vampires, right?

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

hmmm....;)

[lilyoftheval5.livejournal.com]

Although this is not my OTP, this is certainly one interesting series. Outings were great, and this is one good, but temporary solution to the problem.
Too bad he couldn't convey that rant at the brass on Earth, would be unforgettable scene.
I do wish there was more inner thoughts of the characters, so I could get a clearer picture of them in this universe.
Thank you for sharing.

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading, and especially for commenting. It really helps to get some concrit from time to time.

[alesca-munroe.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Oh, this was good

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot!