[Stargate: Drabble] "Traveling Companions" [PG]
Title: Traveling Companions
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: PG
Word Count: 500
Prompt: SyFy's Stargate marathon
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): um... alternate!Sam/Rodney, but really alternate!Sam/Jack, alternate!Rodney/John (with mention of regular'verse!Sam/Jack)
Setting: tag to "The Road Not Taken"
Summary: "Most of the time I think we got married so people would stop trying to set us up with other people."
Traveling Companions
This alternate reality wasn't anything like the others Sam had encountered before. There was just something about this one that bothered her, and it took her a little while to figure out why.
In every other reality, the alternate versions of the people she knew were essentially them. Different circumstances had led their lives in different directions but they had the same basic personalities and attitudes. Only here, they didn't. Sam simply couldn't imagine that the Landry from her reality, whatever his position, would institute martial law, or that her Mitchell would give up on flying without a fight.
Surprisingly, it was this McKay who was her biggest ally. She thought it must be strange for him, working so closely with someone who looked just like his ex-wife (who, by the way, she'd accidentally killed), but when she tried to tell him she was sorry, he just shook his head.
"We weren't..." he began. "My Sam... well, she wasn't really my Sam. Oh, I know she felt genuine affection for me, but I wasn't deluded enough to believe it was love."
"Rodney..." Sam said, although she had no idea how to apologize for some other her not loving him.
"No, it's okay," he told her. "To be perfectly honest, it was the same way for both of us. She did like me, in her own way, but her heart would always belong to O'Neill."
"O'Neill? You mean Jack O'Neill."
Rodney nodded. "They were together for years before... before she lost Jack in the same accident that killed John."
Sam blinked at him. "What accident? Who's John?"
"Oh," he said, softly. "Maybe you don't know him in your reality. John Sheppard, Air Force pilot, crazy hair, tends to slouch, strong ATA gene?"
"Yes, yes, I know him," she replied. "He's the military leader on Atlantis, leader of your off-world team."
"Really?" asked Rodney, brightening a little. "He'd have loved that. Are we, in your universe, him and me...?"
She blinked again. "Together? I wouldn't know. But then, you and Sam...?"
He shrugged. "She lost O'Neill and I lost John, both at the same time. It was an Ancient device, incapacitated everyone with the gene for three square miles. They were the only two with a strong enough gene for it to kill them. And afterward... I stopped working in science altogether, and Sam threw herself deeper in. Most of the time I think we got married so people would stop trying to set us up with other people."
"I'm sure she really did care about you, Rodney," said Sam, feeling as though maybe this reality wasn't as different as she thought.
Rodney managed a smile. "But you've still got your O'Neill, right? And the me from your reality is in Atlantis with his John?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. It's complicated, for me and Jack, at least, but..."
There was silence for a moment, then Rodney cleared his throat. "Well, let's get you back, then. And the next time you see your McKay..."
THE END
Current Mood:
pessimistic
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: PG
Word Count: 500
Prompt: SyFy's Stargate marathon
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): um... alternate!Sam/Rodney, but really alternate!Sam/Jack, alternate!Rodney/John (with mention of regular'verse!Sam/Jack)
Setting: tag to "The Road Not Taken"
Summary: "Most of the time I think we got married so people would stop trying to set us up with other people."
Traveling Companions
This alternate reality wasn't anything like the others Sam had encountered before. There was just something about this one that bothered her, and it took her a little while to figure out why.
In every other reality, the alternate versions of the people she knew were essentially them. Different circumstances had led their lives in different directions but they had the same basic personalities and attitudes. Only here, they didn't. Sam simply couldn't imagine that the Landry from her reality, whatever his position, would institute martial law, or that her Mitchell would give up on flying without a fight.
Surprisingly, it was this McKay who was her biggest ally. She thought it must be strange for him, working so closely with someone who looked just like his ex-wife (who, by the way, she'd accidentally killed), but when she tried to tell him she was sorry, he just shook his head.
"We weren't..." he began. "My Sam... well, she wasn't really my Sam. Oh, I know she felt genuine affection for me, but I wasn't deluded enough to believe it was love."
"Rodney..." Sam said, although she had no idea how to apologize for some other her not loving him.
"No, it's okay," he told her. "To be perfectly honest, it was the same way for both of us. She did like me, in her own way, but her heart would always belong to O'Neill."
"O'Neill? You mean Jack O'Neill."
Rodney nodded. "They were together for years before... before she lost Jack in the same accident that killed John."
Sam blinked at him. "What accident? Who's John?"
"Oh," he said, softly. "Maybe you don't know him in your reality. John Sheppard, Air Force pilot, crazy hair, tends to slouch, strong ATA gene?"
"Yes, yes, I know him," she replied. "He's the military leader on Atlantis, leader of your off-world team."
"Really?" asked Rodney, brightening a little. "He'd have loved that. Are we, in your universe, him and me...?"
She blinked again. "Together? I wouldn't know. But then, you and Sam...?"
He shrugged. "She lost O'Neill and I lost John, both at the same time. It was an Ancient device, incapacitated everyone with the gene for three square miles. They were the only two with a strong enough gene for it to kill them. And afterward... I stopped working in science altogether, and Sam threw herself deeper in. Most of the time I think we got married so people would stop trying to set us up with other people."
"I'm sure she really did care about you, Rodney," said Sam, feeling as though maybe this reality wasn't as different as she thought.
Rodney managed a smile. "But you've still got your O'Neill, right? And the me from your reality is in Atlantis with his John?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. It's complicated, for me and Jack, at least, but..."
There was silence for a moment, then Rodney cleared his throat. "Well, let's get you back, then. And the next time you see your McKay..."
THE END
Current Mood:
pessimistic