[Stargate: Fiction] "Little Hellions" [John/Rodney, G]
Title: Little Hellions
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,250
Prompt: mcsheplets challenge 104 ‘cute’
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Setting: part of my How About Forever verse
Summary: “Uncle Radek hasn’t fixed them yet?”
Little Hellions
“I take it back, Uncle Carson,” said sixteen-year-old Zoe. “They’re not cute. They’re hellions.”
The toddler she was holding by the strap of his overalls turned to her with wide blue eyes. “That’s a bad word!”
She snorted. “Well, you’re the one I learned it from, Dad.”
The three-year-old version of her father glared. “Nuh-huh.”
“Now, Rodney,” said Carson. He had three-year-old John on his hip. “You promised to behave during your exams, and that includes listening to Zoe.”
“Nuh-huh,” he said again, and John laughed.
“Uncle Carson…”
“You’re doing fine, lass,” he said. “We just need to draw a little blood and we’ll-”
“No!” yelled Rodney. He broke out of Zoe’s hold and raced across the infirmary, only to crash headlong into Charin Emmagan, who had just come in the door.
She scooped him up before he even realized what was happening. “I believe this is yours,” she said, joining them.
“Hellions,” Zoe repeated, then turned pleading eyes on her best friend. “Please, please tell me Uncle Radek found something?”
Charin shook her head. “Not yet. But he’s got Dr. Miko helping now, and he wouldn’t let a natural gene-carrier near it if he had no ideas, right?”
“It’s a start,” Zoe sighed. Then, she brightened. “Since you’re here, you can help me watch them.”
“They’re your parents,” Charin began, but Carson said, “Would you, love? That’d be a great help,” and tipped a wriggling John into Zoe’s arms.
John blinked up at her, then held both of his own arms open wide. “Hug?”
It was exactly the same gesture, exactly the same way he’d done it her entire life, and Zoe let out a noise that was part laugh and part sob, before pulling him close.
“Thanks, Mom.”
*
As a reward for letting Carson finish their exams, the doctor had sent an airman to the mess for two very large - “actually small, there’s a lad” -pieces of chocolate cake, which were delivered to their quarters a few minutes before eight-year-old Isaac got home from school.
“Uncle Radek hasn’t fixed them yet?” he asked.
“Nope,” said Zoe.
Her brother nodded, then looked over the where their three-year-old parents were giggling and feeding each other cake. “Should I be more worried that I saw them doing this exact same thing as adults last week?”
“Nah,” said Charin. “Although I imagine that their hand-eye coordination was a little bit better.”
Fortunately, by the time they’d finished their cake - and were sorely in need of baths - Teyla and Ronon had gotten back to the city.
“We got this,” said Ronon, scooping a chocolate-covered toddler onto each shoulder, to Rodney’s dismay and John’s delight.
“Thanks, Uncle Ronon,” said Zoe, gratefully.
When they had disappeared into the bathroom, Charin knocked her shoulder against her best friend’s. “How are you holding up?”
“I…” Zoe let out a long breath. “You know, last week I got into an argument with Mom, because I wanted to take a puddle jumper out by myself. Earth kids get to learn how to drive cars and I - well, anyway, I argued that I was basically an adult and they should let me do what I want.”
“And you have reevaluated that position,” said Charin.
“Oh, my god, yes,” laughed Zoe. “Being an adult is so, so much harder than Mom and Dad made it look. When they came home like this, I thought, I can watch them for a couple of days.”
“They are… spirited.”
“You’re telling me, Char.”
The other girl smiled and hugged her. “You’re doing just fine, Zoe. Dr. Radek and Dr. Miko are working to fix this, and in the meantime, you’ve got a lot of people to help.”
“So you’ll take them for a couple of hours tomorrow?”
Charin laughed and let go. “I’ll make up a schedule.”
“I love you,” Zoe said, with feeling.
*
“You look like Mom,” said John, softly.
It was well past his bedtime, but he’d been wide awake when Zoe went to check on them, so she’d helped him untangle himself from a still-snoring Rodney and set him at the kitchen table while she made hot chocolate from the secret Sheppard-McKay family recipe - straight from the Swiss Miss packet into hot milk.
“Yeah?” Zoe asked, sliding the small mug over to him. “Everybody always says I look like you.”
John shook his head. “No, not me. My mom.”
“Oh,” said Zoe.
It had been clear immediately, Teyla had reported, that John and Rodney had kept at least some of their regular adult memories when they’d been de-aged. They recognized Teyla and Ronon after they’d accidentally activated the hidden Ancient device, they’d recognized Lorne and Radek when they’d gotten back to Atlantis, and recognized Zoe and Charin when they’d been called from class to play babysitters. But most things had been sort of… fogged over, as Carson had put it, the memories and adult thought patterns still there, but harder for John and Rodney to access with their three-year-old brains.
John was clearly trying now.
“My mom,” he repeated, softly, small hands wrapped around his mug. “She had dark hair, like me. Like you. Sticky-uppy. ‘Cept yours is longer.”
“Hers stuck up, too?” Zoe asked. She kept hers long enough that it mostly behaved itself, but first thing in the morning, it could be a problem.
John nodded. “She brushed it lots. ‘Till it fell out.”
“Oh,” said Zoe, quietly. “How old were you?”
“Fifteen,” said John, which sounded weird, now that he was three. “And I-”
He broke off, hazel eyes filling with tears, and Zoe hurried around the table to crouch beside his chair.
“Hey,” she said, soothingly. “We don’t have to talk about this now, okay? And if you don’t want to talk about it when you’re big again, I’ll just annoy you into telling me, like Dad does.”
“Rodney’s the best at being annoying,” said John, with a watery smile.
“Yeah, he is,” Zoe agreed. “Now, c’mon, drink your hot chocolate and let’s get you back to bed…”
*
“Aw, I’m going to miss tiny Mom and Dad,” said Zoe.
Isaac snorted. “You’re only saying that because Uncle Radek figured out how to send them back.”
“Maybe,” she allowed, just as Radek and Miko came out into the infirmary waiting room.
“Your parents are fine,” said Radek. “Uncle Carson is making sure, but they seem-”
“Do I look like I’m still three years old!” yelled grown-up Rodney’s voice, from somewhere in the infirmary, and Zoe grinned.
“It was much cuter when he was tiny,” Radek said.
Zoe and Isaac both laughed, and headed inside.
Their parents were sitting on a gurney, dressed in infirmary scrubs, Rodney looking irritated and John looking amused - their default expressions when together.
“Hey,” said John, spotting them.
“Back to full height again?” joked Zoe, trying to hide the intense wave of relief she felt.
John must have seen some of it anyway, because he held out his arms. “Hug?”
She fell gratefully against him. “You were so much work as a toddler,” she mumbled into his shoulder.
“Yeah, but you did a pretty good job taking care of us,” John said.
“Does that mean we can talk about me taking a jumper up alone?” asked Zoe.
Her mother laughed. “Absolutely not. But we might talk about actual jumper lessons?”
Zoe pulled away to look at him. “Really?”
“Well,” said Rodney. “I guess you’re pretty grown up now.”
“Nah,” Zoe said. “But soon.”
John hugged her again. “Yeah.”
THE END
Current Mood:
mellow
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,250
Prompt: mcsheplets challenge 104 ‘cute’
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Setting: part of my How About Forever verse
Summary: “Uncle Radek hasn’t fixed them yet?”
Little Hellions
“I take it back, Uncle Carson,” said sixteen-year-old Zoe. “They’re not cute. They’re hellions.”
The toddler she was holding by the strap of his overalls turned to her with wide blue eyes. “That’s a bad word!”
She snorted. “Well, you’re the one I learned it from, Dad.”
The three-year-old version of her father glared. “Nuh-huh.”
“Now, Rodney,” said Carson. He had three-year-old John on his hip. “You promised to behave during your exams, and that includes listening to Zoe.”
“Nuh-huh,” he said again, and John laughed.
“Uncle Carson…”
“You’re doing fine, lass,” he said. “We just need to draw a little blood and we’ll-”
“No!” yelled Rodney. He broke out of Zoe’s hold and raced across the infirmary, only to crash headlong into Charin Emmagan, who had just come in the door.
She scooped him up before he even realized what was happening. “I believe this is yours,” she said, joining them.
“Hellions,” Zoe repeated, then turned pleading eyes on her best friend. “Please, please tell me Uncle Radek found something?”
Charin shook her head. “Not yet. But he’s got Dr. Miko helping now, and he wouldn’t let a natural gene-carrier near it if he had no ideas, right?”
“It’s a start,” Zoe sighed. Then, she brightened. “Since you’re here, you can help me watch them.”
“They’re your parents,” Charin began, but Carson said, “Would you, love? That’d be a great help,” and tipped a wriggling John into Zoe’s arms.
John blinked up at her, then held both of his own arms open wide. “Hug?”
It was exactly the same gesture, exactly the same way he’d done it her entire life, and Zoe let out a noise that was part laugh and part sob, before pulling him close.
“Thanks, Mom.”
*
As a reward for letting Carson finish their exams, the doctor had sent an airman to the mess for two very large - “actually small, there’s a lad” -pieces of chocolate cake, which were delivered to their quarters a few minutes before eight-year-old Isaac got home from school.
“Uncle Radek hasn’t fixed them yet?” he asked.
“Nope,” said Zoe.
Her brother nodded, then looked over the where their three-year-old parents were giggling and feeding each other cake. “Should I be more worried that I saw them doing this exact same thing as adults last week?”
“Nah,” said Charin. “Although I imagine that their hand-eye coordination was a little bit better.”
Fortunately, by the time they’d finished their cake - and were sorely in need of baths - Teyla and Ronon had gotten back to the city.
“We got this,” said Ronon, scooping a chocolate-covered toddler onto each shoulder, to Rodney’s dismay and John’s delight.
“Thanks, Uncle Ronon,” said Zoe, gratefully.
When they had disappeared into the bathroom, Charin knocked her shoulder against her best friend’s. “How are you holding up?”
“I…” Zoe let out a long breath. “You know, last week I got into an argument with Mom, because I wanted to take a puddle jumper out by myself. Earth kids get to learn how to drive cars and I - well, anyway, I argued that I was basically an adult and they should let me do what I want.”
“And you have reevaluated that position,” said Charin.
“Oh, my god, yes,” laughed Zoe. “Being an adult is so, so much harder than Mom and Dad made it look. When they came home like this, I thought, I can watch them for a couple of days.”
“They are… spirited.”
“You’re telling me, Char.”
The other girl smiled and hugged her. “You’re doing just fine, Zoe. Dr. Radek and Dr. Miko are working to fix this, and in the meantime, you’ve got a lot of people to help.”
“So you’ll take them for a couple of hours tomorrow?”
Charin laughed and let go. “I’ll make up a schedule.”
“I love you,” Zoe said, with feeling.
*
“You look like Mom,” said John, softly.
It was well past his bedtime, but he’d been wide awake when Zoe went to check on them, so she’d helped him untangle himself from a still-snoring Rodney and set him at the kitchen table while she made hot chocolate from the secret Sheppard-McKay family recipe - straight from the Swiss Miss packet into hot milk.
“Yeah?” Zoe asked, sliding the small mug over to him. “Everybody always says I look like you.”
John shook his head. “No, not me. My mom.”
“Oh,” said Zoe.
It had been clear immediately, Teyla had reported, that John and Rodney had kept at least some of their regular adult memories when they’d been de-aged. They recognized Teyla and Ronon after they’d accidentally activated the hidden Ancient device, they’d recognized Lorne and Radek when they’d gotten back to Atlantis, and recognized Zoe and Charin when they’d been called from class to play babysitters. But most things had been sort of… fogged over, as Carson had put it, the memories and adult thought patterns still there, but harder for John and Rodney to access with their three-year-old brains.
John was clearly trying now.
“My mom,” he repeated, softly, small hands wrapped around his mug. “She had dark hair, like me. Like you. Sticky-uppy. ‘Cept yours is longer.”
“Hers stuck up, too?” Zoe asked. She kept hers long enough that it mostly behaved itself, but first thing in the morning, it could be a problem.
John nodded. “She brushed it lots. ‘Till it fell out.”
“Oh,” said Zoe, quietly. “How old were you?”
“Fifteen,” said John, which sounded weird, now that he was three. “And I-”
He broke off, hazel eyes filling with tears, and Zoe hurried around the table to crouch beside his chair.
“Hey,” she said, soothingly. “We don’t have to talk about this now, okay? And if you don’t want to talk about it when you’re big again, I’ll just annoy you into telling me, like Dad does.”
“Rodney’s the best at being annoying,” said John, with a watery smile.
“Yeah, he is,” Zoe agreed. “Now, c’mon, drink your hot chocolate and let’s get you back to bed…”
*
“Aw, I’m going to miss tiny Mom and Dad,” said Zoe.
Isaac snorted. “You’re only saying that because Uncle Radek figured out how to send them back.”
“Maybe,” she allowed, just as Radek and Miko came out into the infirmary waiting room.
“Your parents are fine,” said Radek. “Uncle Carson is making sure, but they seem-”
“Do I look like I’m still three years old!” yelled grown-up Rodney’s voice, from somewhere in the infirmary, and Zoe grinned.
“It was much cuter when he was tiny,” Radek said.
Zoe and Isaac both laughed, and headed inside.
Their parents were sitting on a gurney, dressed in infirmary scrubs, Rodney looking irritated and John looking amused - their default expressions when together.
“Hey,” said John, spotting them.
“Back to full height again?” joked Zoe, trying to hide the intense wave of relief she felt.
John must have seen some of it anyway, because he held out his arms. “Hug?”
She fell gratefully against him. “You were so much work as a toddler,” she mumbled into his shoulder.
“Yeah, but you did a pretty good job taking care of us,” John said.
“Does that mean we can talk about me taking a jumper up alone?” asked Zoe.
Her mother laughed. “Absolutely not. But we might talk about actual jumper lessons?”
Zoe pulled away to look at him. “Really?”
“Well,” said Rodney. “I guess you’re pretty grown up now.”
“Nah,” Zoe said. “But soon.”
John hugged her again. “Yeah.”
THE END
Current Mood:
mellow