[Stargate: Fiction] "Touching and Touched" [John/Rodney, G]
Title: Touching and Touched
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 6, 855
Prompt: romancingmcshep 2019, specifically this prompt
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis (Star Trek: The Next Generation AU)
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Summary: Half-Vulcan security officer John Sheppard joins the crew of the USS Atlantis on a mission to the Beta Quadrant and meets his match in human science officer Rodney McKay.
Touching and Touched
Connecticut, United States, Earth
Stardate 24369.86 - May, 2347, old Earth calendar
“Your mother would be so disappointed in you.”
John felt the words as though they’d been a slap, despite the number of times he had heard them, and struggled to keep the anger out of his voice.
“I find it curious that the things you suggest would have disappointed Mother are always the things that currently disappoint you.”
His father’s scowl indicated he hadn’t been that successful. “Our family has traditions, John,” he said, severely. “We may not be titans of industry the way we were in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but the Sheppards are still pillars of this community.”
“I fail to see how my education could endanger our position in the community,” said John.
“That is exactly my point,” Patrick told him. “You fail to see how your actions affect anyone but yourself. Vulcans are supposed to value logic, but you always rush in before thinking anything through.”
John took a deep breath. “I’m only half-Vulcan, Father. And it is logical for me to choose the life path that is best for myself.”
“Sheppard men have graduated from Harvard University for four hundred years,” said Patrick. “We are businessmen and diplomats and politicians. And you want to throw all that away to join Starfleet.”
“Yes,” said John. He curled his hands into fists at his side, but he knew he was losing his temper. “Yes, Father, I’m joining Starfleet.”
“This family-”
“You’ve made it very clear what a disappointment I am to this family,” John snapped. “I’ve never been what you wanted - I’m not human enough to really fit in here, and not Vulcan enough for you to distance yourself. So, I’m doing it for you.”
He started to leave his father’s study, but Patrick caught his arm. For a moment, John felt what his father felt - the surface anger and disappointment, he had been expecting, but underneath there was only more of both, along with a deep simmering resentment that must have been going on since John had been born.
John pulled away with a gasp. “Father-”
Patrick’s expression was cold. “If you leave, don’t bother coming back.”
John left.
Vancouver, Canada, Earth
Stardate 29669.39 - September, 2352, old Earth calendar
“God, Mer,” his sister snapped, “how can you be so heartless?”
“I’m not-” spluttered Rodney. “You’re being irrational!”
Jeannie scowled. “You’re one to talk.”
“I just don’t understand why you’re doing this. You’re a scientist! You’re - not as brilliant as I am, of course, but you could do so, so much with your ability.”
“You think that was a compliment, don’t you?”
“I’m starting to doubt that much,” said Rodney. “I thought it was bad enough you wanted to work in some dinky civilian lab instead of joining Starfleet, but now you want to give up science entirely and have a baby!”
“I want to have a family,” Jeannie said. “I found someone that I love and I want us to have a life together. I’m not giving up science entirely, but when we have children, I’ll want to make them my first priority.”
“Can’t what’s-his-name do that? He’s some sort of writer, he should have plenty of time for watching children.”
Jeannie scowled again. “Kaleb is a teacher, and this is what I want, Mer. What’s so hard to understand about that?”
“Everything,” he said, helplessly, and her expression softened.
“I hope you do understand, some day,” said Jeannie.
“I don’t need to,” Rodney told her. “I’m almost finished my PhD, then I’m getting assigned to a ship that’s actually going out there, discovering new things, new science. I still want you to come with me.”
Jeannie’s smile was a little sad. “I know you do, Mer,” she said, and when she hugged him goodbye, he could hardly feel it.
USS Atlantis
Stardate 42561.64 - July, 2365, old Earth calendar
“Lieutenant Commander Sheppard, reporting for duty.”
John paused in the doorway of the Ready Room, waiting until Captain Elizabeth Weir looked up. “Come in, commander,” she said, setting aside the PADD she had been reading and holding out her hand. “Welcome aboard.”
He walked inside, but stayed several feet back and tipped his head in greeting. “Thank you, ma’am. I prefer not to shake hands.”
She blinked, then nodded - it was the same reaction he always got when he said that, the assumptions humans made about Vulcan telepathy, especially coupled with the notes in his Starfleet file about his standoffishness.
“Of course, commander,” Weir said. “To business, then. As my new security chief, I’d like to talk to you about our mission.”
John nodded. “I read the briefing when I accepted this assignment. A long-range exploratory mission to the Beta Quadrant will have unique shipboard security issues - I’ve already begun working up some contingency plans.”
The captain smiled. “That’s good to hear, commander. In general, I’ll prefer to leave most security matters to you, but I will want to be kept apprised of any major issues.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
“There is also something I’d like to clear the air about,” said Weir. “Before I chose you for this expedition, I read your entire file.”
“I see,” said John, neutrally.
“And I want you to know that the incident aboard the Afghanistan was actually a point in your favor for your assignment here.”
He arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“I know there was an official reprimand, but I have to agree with the spirit of what you did. Once we leave the Alpha Quadrant, we’ll be all alone out there, and I want to have a security chief who isn’t afraid to use his own judgement - and especially one who isn’t afraid to challenge me. Within reason, of course.”
“Of course,” John repeated. “I shall keep that in mind.”
“Excellent. Then I’ll let you-”
Weir broke off as the door opened and another officer barreled in. He was wearing science blue and the rank pips of a lieutenant commander, already talking before he’d cleared the doorway, “Elizabeth, where did you even find these people?”
The captain smiled, but it was a dangerously cheerful expression. “Commander Sheppard, let me introduce you to Commander McKay, our Science Officer. Rodney, Commander Sheppard has just come aboard as our Chief of Security.”
McKay blinked. “I thought the new security guy was a Vulcan.”
“Half-Vulcan, actually,” said John.
“Oh, yeah, I can see the ears,” he said, then turned back to Weir. “Now, about these idiots you’ve assigned to me-”
“Your new science team are some of the best officers in Starfleet,” she interrupted. “And I have the utmost confidence that your leadership will make them into an effective team.”
“Well, I…” he began. “Of course my leadership is…”
“Wonderful,” said Weir, brightly. “Oh, and Rodney? Since you’re here, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind showing Commander Sheppard to his quarters?”
“What?” said McKay. “I can’t-”
“Thank you, Rodney,” she said. “Dismissed.”
“Fine,” the science officer huffed. “This way.”
“Captain,” John said, politely, and followed McKay out of her Ready Room. He fell into step beside the science officer, then said, “So, you’re familiar with Atlantis already?”
McKay immediately launched into an explanation of the ship’s systems, how he would have done them differently and better, and it took a significant amount of John’s Vulcan training not to smile at him.
*
“There it is,” said Weir, rising smoothly from her command chair. “Our ticket to the Beta Quadrant.”
It had only taken a day at warp to reach the wormhole, a bright spiral of energy rendered on the forward viewscreen. The Athosian wormhole was stable on both ends, but did not remain open. On the Alpha Quadrant side, it had a stable opening, manifesting as the swirl of color when approached by a solid object. But on the other end, it would only open once every year, remaining accessible for about a month, before closing again. Atlantis’s expedition wasn’t exactly one-way, but once they arrived in the Beta Quadrant, it would be almost a full Earth year before they would be able to contact the Federation again.
Rodney stared at it for a long moment, he shook himself out of it and looked down at his OPS display.
“The wormhole is still showing stable,” he said. “Our sensors don’t read much beyond a thousand kilometers inside.”
“The science team reported as much,” put in Sheppard, from the tactical station behind Weir. “Their probes couldn’t relay any telemetry until they were clear on the other side.”
“And we’re going into that?” muttered Carson Beckett. The doctor had been on the bridge when they left Earth, but had left to see to things in sickbay, returning just as they arrived at their destination.
Commander Teyla Emmagan smiled across the empty command chair at him. “It will be good to be home again.”
“Aye, you’re from the Beta Quadrant, aren’t you, lass?” he said, expression softening.
“My people live just inside the entrance to the Gate of the Ancestors - the wormhole. We had just begun sending up spacecraft when the first Federation probes came through to us. My mother, Tegan, was among those who negotiated our entrance to the Federation, and my acceptance to Starfleet.”
Rodney had read the file on the Athosians - well, no, he had read all of the scientific data on the Beta Quadrant, but he’d skimmed the other files, too. They were a near-human species, slightly stronger physically, distinguishable only by the subtle pattern of leopard-like markings on their shoulders and limbs. Their early craft finding the probes had made them an exception to the Prime Directive, but they had clung stubbornly to their traditions, keeping their society mostly agrarian, even as they accepted the Federation’s aid of medicine and technology.
But he hadn’t really thought of the planet described in the reports as Emmagan’s home, as someplace she might be eager to see again.
“It will be good to have friends on the other side,” said Weir. “Command Sheppard, put me on ship-wide.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Sheppard. “Go ahead.”
“And hands, this is the captain. In a few moments, we will be going through the Athosian wormhole to the Beta Quadrant. You have all agreed to this assignment, this expedition. Our mission is unique in that we will be all on our own out there, with no contact back home. I know that I can count on each and every one of you to do your best and make our mission successful. Weir out.”
She half-turned to nod at Sheppard, who said, “Channel closed, ma’am.”
“Good,” she said, then took a deep breath. “Helm, take us in, full impulse.”
At the station beside Rodney’s, Lieutenant Evan Lorne nodded. “Full impulse, yes, ma’am.”
Atlantis slid forward smoothly, the wormhole growing larger on the viewscreen. Rodney didn’t look back up at it. He scrolled through the data, switching between the different state-of-the-art sensors their new ship carried. The sensor data from the other Starfleet ships to go through the wormhole had been included in the files he’d read before, but Atlantis’s systems were newer, more precise.
“Would you look at that,” murmured Carson.
Rodney still didn’t look up. The changing colors reflected on his console, dancing along the edges of his data. They flared brighter as the ship reached the other end of the wormhole - only a few minutes after they’d left - then vanished as they passed out of its range.
They were now thousands of lightyears from Federation space.
“Welcome to the Beta Quadrant,” said Emmagan.
Weir smiled. “Teyla, perhaps you would care to give the order?”
Her first officer smiled back. “Helm, set course for Athos.”
*
“The planet is class M,” said McKay. “The atmosphere reads as fairly Earth-standard, a little bit more oxygen, and there doesn’t immediately seem to be anything that will kill us.”
“That’s the spirit, McKay,” John said.
The planet on the viewscreen was the familiar blue-and-green marble of a habitable world, with thick swirls of white and gray clouds. There were no lights on the other side of the terminus, and no discernable man-made objects anywhere on the light side.
“Any life signs?” asked Weir.
John checked his console. “I am getting some readings,” he said. “From the strength and number, it appears to be animals.”
“Excellent. Begin a full sensor-”
A soft alarm beeped on the tactical readout. “Wait, ma’am,” said John. “There’s one life sign. The sensors aren’t getting a clear enough reading, but it does seem human. Or at least humanoid.”
“Just one?” asked McKay. “That’s impossible.”
“Well,” said Weir. “There’s one way to find out. Commander Emmagan, select an away team to investigate this life sign.”
The first officer nodded. “Commander Sheppard, Dr. McKay, you are both with me.”
“Wait, what?” said McKay. “I can’t go.”
“You’re our science officer,” said Weir. “And this is a scientific problem that, I’m sure, will need your expertise. Besides, Commander Sheppard will be along to look out for you.”
John nodded to the ensign who had come to relieve him at tactical, and stepped closer to the turbolift. “Of course, captain.”
McKay didn’t seem convinced, but he stood and let another ensign take his post.
Emmagan nodded her head to them both, and they followed her from the bridge. John had liked the first officer from the beginning - she hadn’t offered to shake his hand when they were introduced, just inclined her head in greeting. She had an almost Vulcan-like calm about her, especially when dealing with McKay’s ranting or Beckett’s worrying, and John appreciated her level-headedness.
It was warmer on the planet surface than on Atlantis, enough to be immediately noticeable when they beamed down. The part of the planet where they arrived was similar to the jungles of earth, full of large leafy plants between the trees.
McKay had his eyes on his tricorder, frowning at it. “The allegedly human life sign is somewhere within twenty meters of our current position.”
“Twenty meters?” repeated Emmagan. “That is a large distance.”
“It’s hard to get a clear reading. If it is a sentient being, they don’t have anything our sensors can readily pick-up. No artificial materials, no refined metals, not technology, no - Wait!”
John put a hand to his phaser. “What?”
“Technology,” said McKay. “I’m reading some. It’s-”
He broke off as a beam of energy came out of the trees, striking him in the chest with a crackle of blue energy. John fired at where he thought the blast had come from, but there were two more blasts and he was knocked out.
When he came to, he was sitting on a hard, rocky surface, arms pinned to his sides by the thick ropes that bound him to two other people - even through the fabric of their uniforms, he could just make out the surface emotions of McKay and Emmagan, both of them both still unconscious. They were in a shallow cave, only a few meters deep, with bright sunlight pouring in the large entrance.
And across the cave, a large man sat with his back to them.
John hadn’t moved, hadn’t made a sound, but the man said, “I know you’re awake.”
“You didn’t kill us,” said John.
The man turned. He looked human enough, tall and broad with patchwork leather clothes and his hair in dreadlocks. “You didn’t seem like a threat.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult.”
He shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“Maybe,” said John. “My name’s Sheppard. What should I call you?”
“Ronon.”
“And what do you plan on doing with us, Ronon?”
He shrugged again. “Nothing.”
“Then why did you shoot us?” John asked.
“To keep you out of the way. Don’t do anything stupid, and I’ll let you go.”
“Just like that?”
Ronon smiled, darkly. “By that time, I’ll be gone and the Wraith will be here. You should be more scared of them then of me.”
“The Wraith are a legend,” said Emmagan, and if not for John’s Vulcan discipline, he would have started - he had been so busy shielding himself from their thoughts that he hadn’t realized she was awake. “A tale to scare children.”
“They’re real,” Ronon said. “And worse than any children’s story. They-”
He broke off as McKay let out a long moan and sat up. “What the hell… Am I tied up? What happened? Where are we!?”
“Calm down,” said John. “We’re okay.”
“Okay?” the science officer repeated, incredulous. “We’ve been kidnapped, probably by some kind of crazed lunatic and-”
“He’s right here,” John told him. “Ronon, this is McKay. That’s Emmagan, by the way.”
“Don’t introduce us to the crazy kidnapper!” McKay snapped. “Do you even know why he shot us in the first place?”
“That’s a good point,” said John. “Why did you shoot us?”
Ronon shrugged. “I’m supposed to be the only person on this planet, except for the Wraith. Thought you were Wraith.”
“We are not,” said Emmagan, sharply.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“So why not let us go?” John asked.
He shrugged again. “Some people work for the Wraith. Better safe than sorry.”
“Fair enough,” said John.
“No, it’s not!” protested McKay. “We’ve never heard of the Wraith, how could we be working for them? We’re not even from this quadrant of the galaxy!”
Ronon paused. “You’re not?”
“No! We’re from the Alpha Quadrant. Earth, specifically. Well, I am. Sheppard is half-Vulcan and Teyla is from here, actually. Athos.”
“Athos,” Ronon repeated. “You came through the Gate of the Ancestors.”
“Yes, we did,” said John. “We call it the Athosian Wormhole. Listen, we aren’t here on our own. We have a ship, one that can help you get off this planet and-”
“Can’t leave,” Ronon grunted. “I’m a Runner.”
“Those are in the stories, as well,” Emmagan said, softly. “Those unlucky enough not to be fed upon by the Wraith were chased across the stars, tracked and hunted like animals.”
“Not being fed on was unlucky,” said McKay, but everyone ignored him.
“Tracked how?” John asked.
Ronon pulled aside the shoulder of his sleeveless leather tunic, to show a mess of scars on his left shoulder. “Tracker.”
“We have doctors, we could take it out.”
“It explodes if it hits the air.”
“That’s easy enough to fix,” said McKay, and John almost twisted to look at him.
“What do you mean?” asked Emmagan.
“I’d have to do some scans, but we can absolutely create a flexible force field and vacuum rig to get it out. I just need a scientific tricorder and a phaser. And maybe Carson.”
John blinked. “Okay,” he said. “Ronon, that sound okay to you?”
“Why would you help me?”
“Because you can help us,” John told him. “You’ve been around this part of the galaxy, right? You know other planets, other people?”
“Some,” Ronon said, warily.
“There you go. We get you free of your tracker, you give us some information about what we’ll be facing out here. And we’ll take you right home.”
He let out a long breath. “The Wraith destroyed my planet.”
“Then you can come with us,” Emmagan said, soft but firm. “Join our crew.”
“Your ship would be okay with that?” he asked.
“Those gold pins you took from us,” said John. “They’re our communications devices. You can ask her yourself.”
Still wary, Ronon took one of the combadges from the pile of their gear and held it out. “This?”
“Press it,” said John. He did and it beeped. “Sheppard to Atlantis.”
“Sheppard!” said Weir’s voice. “What’s going on down there?”
“Well, ma’am, we made a new friend. He needs our help with something, and then he’s going to show us around the Beta Quadrant.”
“I see.” She really did sound like she understood, and John’s estimation of his new captain went up a notch. “You and your team are all right?”
“McKay’s kind of cranky, but we’re all right.”
“We will need Dr. Beckett to beam down,” added Emmagan. “Afterwards, we would like to offer Ronon a place on Atlantis.”
“You think that’s a good idea, Teyla?”
“I do. There will need to be a probationary period, to allow him to adjust to our ways, but I believe it will be beneficial for all.”
“I see,” Weir repeated. “Can I speak to this Ronon?”
“I’m Ronon,” he said. “If your people can get rid of this tracker, I’ll work for you.”
There was a pause. “Rodney?” the captain asked. “You’re being unusually quiet.”
“They’re both as insane as this guy!” McKay cried, then took a deep breath. “But Sheppard is right.”
“Gee, thanks,” John drawled.
“All right, then,” said Weir. “Dr. Beckett will beam down to your location in a few minutes. Atlantis out.”
The line went dead, and John looked up at Ronon. “How about you untie us now?”
It actually did seem as easy as McKay had claimed. Beckett’s perpetually-worried Scottish brogue seemed to reassure Ronon more than anything else. He looked at the tracker, safe in its little force field bubble, for a long moment before he nodded for McKay to detonate it.
“Do you have any gear or belongings?” John asked.
Ronon shrugged. “Nope.”
“Okay. Sheppard to Atlantis, four to beam up.”
*
Somehow, Rodney ended up a permanent member of Atlantis’s away team.
Equally baffling, he found himself becoming friends with Sheppard. Partly, he thought, it was because Teyla and Ronon had a connection, both natives of the Beta Quadrant, but mostly, Sheppard seemed to genuinely like him. It was hard to tell at first, under that damn Vulcan calm, but after a few weeks, he was almost sure that Sheppard was actively riling him up, just to enjoy hearing Rodney rant and splutter.
Sheppard definitely sought Rodney out on purpose, often showing up in the science lab after his duty shift, or finding Rodney in the mess hall for a game of chess. Halfway through the second month of their mission, he realized that he spent more time with Sheppard, on-duty and off, than he did with anyone else.
Which was why he actually noticed that the pretty, charming, young daughter of the magistrate on a planet that called itself Idalna was actively flirting with Sheppard. She was actually being fairly subtle, as near as he could tell, and he was actually surprised he’d been able to tell.
Later, Rodney would think that he probably should have been jealous. Women of any species tended to notice people like Sheppard and never seemed to notice people like Rodney, something he’d grown resigned to after a life of dating disappointments.
But he had become attuned enough to Sheppard’s non-expressions to realize that the security officer was actually very uncomfortable with her advances. The girl kept trying to get Sheppard alone, even after he had politely redirected her attention several times.
When she moved from flirtatious advances to actually putting herself inside Sheppard’s personal space, he tried to move away - when she touched his arm, he actually jumped.
Rodney should have been jealous of the attention she was showing Sheppard, but at the time, he was more concerned about his friend.
“I’d love to see your city’s water filtration system,” he said, elbowing between them like he was completely oblivious to what was going on. “Do you really use the planet’s geothermal energy to power it?”
“Well,” the girl floundered. “Allow me to show you, Dr. McKay.”
He was even more obnoxious after that, demanding her attention whenever she tried to direct hers to Sheppard, and by the end of their tour, she was definitely not pleased with him. But Sheppard never even tried to stop him, and once or twice he would have sworn that Sheppard had actually moved closer to him, on purpose.
Weir gave them an odd look when they rejoined her and the girl’s father, but as they took their leave and prepared to beam back to Atlantis, Sheppard knocked his shoulder against Rodney’s with a soft, “Thanks, McKay.”
Rodney had never been more pleased to have a girl hate him.
*
John hit the floor with a thump, and Teyla didn’t offer him a hand up.
She had invited him to call her by her first name at the same time she had begun teaching him the use of the Bantos Rods, an Athosian marital art that used two wooden sticks. It was similar to other types of fighting that John had learned at Starfleet Academy, but different enough that he was having trouble mastering it. Fortunately, Teyla was a patient teacher.
She was also perceptive and prone to being blunt. “You prefer not to be touched,” she said. “Not even to have anyone particularly near to you.”
“No, I don’t,” John agreed. He took another moment to catch his breath, then got back to his feet. “I didn’t think it was a problem.”
“It is not. But I have noticed that while you keep a distance between other members of the crew, you can often be found in close proximity to Dr. McKay.”
“I…” began John.
She smiled and held out the Bantos rods he’d dropped. “I am happy for you both.”
“It’s not like that,” he protested. “We’re not…”
“My apologies. I did not mean to embarrass you.”
John arched an eyebrow. “Vulcans do not feel embarrassed.”
“Of course,” said Teyla, in a tone that meant she clearly didn’t believe him. “Are you ready to begin again?”
He raised his rods and nodded. The first officer dropped into a ready stance for a moment, then began a simple practice pattern, attacking so that John could practice his defenses.
After a moment, she said, “I have known Rodney for many years. He can be…difficult, at times.”
“He’s an acquired taste,” John agreed. “But he’s a good guy.”
“Yes,” said Teyla. “He has a very caring heart, but he is not quick to open it. Even with those he has known for a long time, he can still be cautious. Yet I feel it would hurt him greatly if he were to lose your regard.”
John fumbled, barely ducking away from her swinging Bantos rod, and waved for a time-out.
“I like Rodney,” he said. “I value his friendship, and I would never want to hurt him.”
“That is good,” said Teyla.
“Good,” John repeated. He raised his rods again, then lowered them. “Wait, were you saying that you think Rodney likes me?”
Teyla smiled, and began another practice pattern
*
“Once again, this planet is empty.”
Rodney changed a few settings on his tricorder, but it didn’t register anything but vegetation for several kilometers. No large lifeforms, no detectable power sources, nothing of any interest in any way.
“Things are not always as they appear, Dr. McKay,” said Teyla, in that vague way that always sounded like she knew what she was talking about.
“Yeah,” added Sheppard. “Let’s have a look around. Ronon, what do you know about this place?”
The other man shrugged. “I’ve never been here. Satedan ships could only go what you call warp one, most of us didn’t travel much. We traded with these people for a few crops, for some refined metals we made.”
“I am reading traces of metals,” Rodney allowed. “But there doesn’t seem to be anyone alive anywhere on the planet.”
“We shall take a brief survey,” said Teyla. “To be sure. This way.”
She set off down a rocky path, and the rest of the away team followed her. It had clearly been a long time since anyone had lived there. Thick trees and other plant life were everywhere, leaving only the faintest traces of sentient life - an overrun roadway, a chunk of decaying wall, a few piece of broken pottery.
“Something is not right here,” said Teyla.
Sheppard seemed uncomfortable, too. “The people here died in fear and pain,” he said, voice oddly flat.
“Wraith,” said Ronon - and that was when a sudden high-pitched buzzing sounded overhead.
Rodney ducked, mostly instinct, catching sight of three needle-like ships that soared overhead. The shriek changed pitch as a bright light emitted from each ship.
“They use the beam to take people,” said Ronon, grabbing Rodney’s arm.
“Take them where?” Rodney asked, but he got no answer.
“Away team, this is Atlantis,” came Elizabeth’s voice, over his combadge. “We’re reading strange energy signatures in your area, but we’re having trouble getting a clear reading. What’s going on?”
“We’re under attack!” Rodney yelled. “Wraith!”
“We can’t get a transporter lock. Can you get back to your original beam-down site?”
“We will contact you when we are in positon,” said Teyla. “Emmagan out.”
Another Wraith ship shrieked overhead, it’s beam flicking out over the open ground.
“Into the trees,” said Sheppard. “We’ll be able to avoid those darts better.”
Rodney clutched his tricorder as they headed into the woods. The Wraith ships appeared on the sensor screen as blurs of motion, like ghosts that didn’t quite register. Then, suddenly, there were more substantial dots behind them in the woods, blinking red and advancing on the away team’s four blue dots.
“Teyla, Sheppard, they’re behind us!” he yelled.
Ronon raised his gun, the big one he’d brought with him as his only possession when they’d rescued him. “I got this.”
Teyla glared at him. “We must return to Atlantis.”
They stared at each other for a moment, then Ronon said, “Fine,” and marched on ahead.
Sheppard came up beside Rodney, “C’mon, McKay, double-time.”
“I’m hurrying, commander,” he snapped. “I have no desire to find out what happened to the people who used to live here.”
“Yeah,” Sheppard agreed.
The clearing where they had beamed down was up ahead. Rodney was breathing hard, but he kept going, until they had cleared the tree line.
“Emmagan to Atlantis,” called Teyla. “Energize!”
In the split-second before the transporter beam took hold, Rodney saw a humanoid figure emerge from the shadows. It was pale as death, and it raised one hand - not in greeting, but extending the wicked, mouth-like palm.
A moment later, they rematerialized in Atlantis’s transporter room.
“You saw it,” said Ronon.
Rodney shivered, and felt Sheppard standing close beside him.
“They really suck the life right out of people?” the security chief said.
Ronon gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah.”
*
Captain’s personal log, supplemental.
Since our first sighting of the Wraith - a real alien species, and not the legends of Athosian mythology - I had been hoping for a chance to meet them, to open diplomatic talks and learn more about them. I had participated in several First Contact missions in the Alpha Quadrant, and I thought this would be a great opportunity, for the Federation and for myself.
I was wrong.
The Wraith don’t want to talk or negotiate. Their one source of food is, well, us.
Carson doesn’t entirely understand the process, but they take energy directly from a sentient being, aging that person until they are too old and weak to live.
Or, until they decide to sacrifice themselves for the good of the mission.
I will be putting in a posthumous commendation for Lieutenant Gall, and officially listing him as Killed in Action.
I should be ordering mandatory counselling for Rodney, but… he’s surprisingly handling this very well. A lot of that is due to his friendship with John Sheppard. I admit, I hadn’t seen that coming, but now that we’ve been in the Beta Quadrant for several months, it seems odder when I don’t see the two of them together.
But they’re good for each other. I’m beginning to realize how much I rely on the stability of their friendship. On one hand, they always seem to be trying to talk me into things more suited to a maverick captain like Kirk than a former-diplomat like me but on the other, when John and Rodney work together, I sometimes think there isn’t any problem they can’t get themselves out of.
But if they keep up that bickering, one of these days I’m going to let Teyla lock them in a turbolift until they figure themselves out.
*
“So, we finally found a planet you like,” said John. “No people, but lots of stuff to play around with.”
Rodney looked up from his tricorder to glare at him. “I thought your job was to provide security, not jokes,” he grumbled.
“Vulcans are great at multitasking. Find anything yet?”
The planet they were on had once been inhabited, but it looked to have been abandoned rather than attacked. A few buildings were still mostly-intact and the away team had split up to investigate them. Their combadges - and presumably, the transporters - were blocked by something in the building materials, and they had agreed to meet back at the beam-down site in an hour’s time.
John and Rodney had entered a large structure with its roof half fallen in, carefully avoiding broken furniture and holes in the floor. There was an energy signature coming from somewhere inside, and the science officer was determined to find it.
“It’s getting stronger,” Rodney said. “Just a little further. It’s probably-”
He had crossed through an open doorway and the entire room began to shake.
“What is that?” John demanded.
“I don’t know!” said Rodney. “The readings are off the chart. It was centralized before, but now it’s all around us.”
There was a grinding sound, coming from the walls around them. John drew his phaser, not sure what was about to happen - he did not expect the wall directly behind Rodney to open up, extending a metal arm that looped over the scientist’s shoulder, pinning him in place.
“Rodney!” John yelled, just as everything went silent.
“I’m okay,” Rodney said, sounding surprised. “I - it’s got me, but I’m not hurt.”
“Oh. That’s good,” said John, just as alarms started blaring around them.
“Now what?” moaned Rodney. “Where’s my tricorder?”
John retrieved it. “What is it?”
“We’ve triggered something, some kind of fail safe.”
“Can we turn it off?”
“If by ‘we’ you mean ‘me’,” Rodney snapped. “Um… probably?”
“Rodney…”
“This is literally an alien computer system, Sheppard. My tricorder isn’t enough, I need a direct interface to their system.”
“Okay,” said John. “Okay. One of these panels must be it.”
He moved around the room, using his uniform sleeve to wipe dirt from the displays until he found one that seemed to be powered on.
“Here, this one. What do I do?”
Rodney pulled against the metal restraint again, then sighed when it didn’t budge. “You need to-”
The alarms sped up and everything started shaking again. A flat panel along the wall lit up, unfamiliar symbols shifting in regular sequence - unmistakably a countdown.
“Whatever that is, it can’t be good,” said Rodney. “Sheppard, you have to get out of here.”
“No,” said John. “You said you could shut it down.”
“I can’t reach the console,” Rodney argued. “I’d need to navigate an alien computer, troubleshoot the problem… there’s no time.”
“Fine. Give me your hand.”
Rodney clutched both to his chest. “What? Why?”
“I can’t fix this, you can’t reach this, we need to work together. If you let me initiate a Mind Meld, I can use your knowledge to work the panel.”
“What?” Rodney repeated. “I can’t - You don’t-”
“I’m not leaving,” John said, stubbornly.
“Fine, fine, here.”
Rodney held out his arm, and John took his hand, placing his fingers carefully over the pulse points. It was supposed to work better touching the person’s face, but there was no other way.
“My mind to your mind,” said John. “My thoughts to your thoughts.”
From the moment they’d touched, he had been able to feel Rodney’s mind, like the sound of the ocean from close by. But actively initiating the Meld was like stepping into the surf, letting the roar of Rodney’s thoughts swirl around him.
John took a shaky breath, overwhelmed for a split second in the first Meld he’d done since he was young, but as they settled into it, he felt amazingly calm. Rodney’s mind was familiar, comforting even, and he was tempted to wade further into it.
The still-wailing alarms drew him back to reality and the problem at hand. “Right,” he said, with a steadier breath. “I’m going to work the console. Just think about the problem, think about sending that to me.”
“Right,” Rodney agreed.
John had kept his own mental barriers up, but he lowered them, letting Rodney see the information he was getting from the alien computer. It was a safeguard, all right, meant to keep the Wraith or any other attackers from getting into the planetary defense system. Most of the system itself was deactivated, but there was enough still functioning to blow up a good chunk of this planet - specifically, the chunk that they, along with Teyla and Ronon, were currently occupying.
As John looked through the computer’s display, Rodney passed him the information he needed to access deeper into the system. It was like their best days of working together, multiplied by a hundred - Rodney’s mind coming up with a solution almost before John’s mind had comprehended the problem, offering up ideas from both of their experiences, more in sync than they ever had been when mere words had been their only method of communication.
The alien symbols continued counting down, the first symbol then the second vanishing to leave a single changing number. The rumbling in the walls intensified, the alarms raised in pitch, getting faster, then -
Silence.
The computer console beeped, once, lighting up with a generic, if alien, user display. The metal restraint clicked faintly, then disappeared back into the wall and Rodney stumbled forward
John let go of Rodney’s hand to catch him, and the Meld was broken. “That was…” he began.
Rodney opened his mouth to answer, but just then, Teyla and Ronon burst into the room.
“We detected a disturbance,” the first mate said. “Are you both unhurt?”
John took a deep breath and let go of Rodney. “We’re not hurt,” he said. “We should go back to Atlantis.
Rodney didn’t say anything.
*
Carson ran every test in the Starfleet medical database, but declared that Rodney was completely fine, except for a slight bruising to his shoulder. Sheppard had escaped from sickbay long before, but Rodney knew where to find him.
The door to Sheppard’s quarters opened at Rodney’s first touch - the security officer had granted him access months ago, but he hadn’t realized what that meant, at the time.
He knew now.
John looked up from where he was sitting on the edge of his bed, polishing one of his golf clubs. “Oh, hey, Rodney,” he said. “Beckett cleared you?”
“Yes, yes, clean bill of health,” said Rodney. He took a deep breath, then said, “Look, I need to say some things, so I’m just going to say them, okay?”
“Okay,” said John, but his face had taken on that mask of Vulcan calm that meant he was actually very worried.
“You don’t like to be touched,” Rodney said, bluntly. “I have to assume that has something to do with Vulcans being touch-telepaths. Which means, really, that you don’t like hearing other people’s thoughts and emotions. But you Melded with me, because otherwise we were going to die. So, I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“That’s-“ John began, setting the golf club aside to stand up, but Rodney waved him quiet.
“I tried to keep my thoughts to myself,” he continued. “But I’ve never been much into that naval-gazing meditation nonsense. So if you felt… feelings, from me, that you’d prefer you didn’t know, we can just pretend that this didn’t happen and go back to being friends.”
“Feelings,”’ John repeated. “Friends.”
“Please say we can be friends again,” pleaded Rodney, suddenly worried.
John reached out and took both of the scientist’s hands in his own. “Rodney,” he said, eyes smiling. “I have never felt more comfortable than when I was touching your mind.”
“I - What?”
“I don’t like touching people,” said John. “For exactly the reasons you said. My mother died when I was young, and I never got the mental training I should have had to be able to block other minds. It was always easier to just avoid everyone. But you… when we ended the Meld, I felt like part of me was missing.”
Rodney blinked. “Me? You were missing me?”
John laughed, a horrible braying noise that Rodney instantly loved. “Yes, McKay, you.”
“But I’m right here,” Rodney said.
“Yes, you are,” agreed John, and when he leaned in to kiss him, Rodney could feel their thoughts blending together again, so that he couldn’t tell which of them was more content.
*
When their shift started the next day, Elizabeth watched John and Rodney exit the turbolift and step onto the bridge. They both looked entirely professional, uniforms neat and expressions even, but as they moved apart, she could see their hands catch for a moment as their fingers disentangled from each other.
She turned back to her command chair to hide her grin, and met Teyla’s equally knowing smirk. “About time,” Elizabeth muttered, and her first mate nodded.
THE END
Current Mood:
busy
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 6, 855
Prompt: romancingmcshep 2019, specifically this prompt
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis (Star Trek: The Next Generation AU)
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Summary: Half-Vulcan security officer John Sheppard joins the crew of the USS Atlantis on a mission to the Beta Quadrant and meets his match in human science officer Rodney McKay.
Touching and Touched
Connecticut, United States, Earth
Stardate 24369.86 - May, 2347, old Earth calendar
“Your mother would be so disappointed in you.”
John felt the words as though they’d been a slap, despite the number of times he had heard them, and struggled to keep the anger out of his voice.
“I find it curious that the things you suggest would have disappointed Mother are always the things that currently disappoint you.”
His father’s scowl indicated he hadn’t been that successful. “Our family has traditions, John,” he said, severely. “We may not be titans of industry the way we were in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but the Sheppards are still pillars of this community.”
“I fail to see how my education could endanger our position in the community,” said John.
“That is exactly my point,” Patrick told him. “You fail to see how your actions affect anyone but yourself. Vulcans are supposed to value logic, but you always rush in before thinking anything through.”
John took a deep breath. “I’m only half-Vulcan, Father. And it is logical for me to choose the life path that is best for myself.”
“Sheppard men have graduated from Harvard University for four hundred years,” said Patrick. “We are businessmen and diplomats and politicians. And you want to throw all that away to join Starfleet.”
“Yes,” said John. He curled his hands into fists at his side, but he knew he was losing his temper. “Yes, Father, I’m joining Starfleet.”
“This family-”
“You’ve made it very clear what a disappointment I am to this family,” John snapped. “I’ve never been what you wanted - I’m not human enough to really fit in here, and not Vulcan enough for you to distance yourself. So, I’m doing it for you.”
He started to leave his father’s study, but Patrick caught his arm. For a moment, John felt what his father felt - the surface anger and disappointment, he had been expecting, but underneath there was only more of both, along with a deep simmering resentment that must have been going on since John had been born.
John pulled away with a gasp. “Father-”
Patrick’s expression was cold. “If you leave, don’t bother coming back.”
John left.
Vancouver, Canada, Earth
Stardate 29669.39 - September, 2352, old Earth calendar
“God, Mer,” his sister snapped, “how can you be so heartless?”
“I’m not-” spluttered Rodney. “You’re being irrational!”
Jeannie scowled. “You’re one to talk.”
“I just don’t understand why you’re doing this. You’re a scientist! You’re - not as brilliant as I am, of course, but you could do so, so much with your ability.”
“You think that was a compliment, don’t you?”
“I’m starting to doubt that much,” said Rodney. “I thought it was bad enough you wanted to work in some dinky civilian lab instead of joining Starfleet, but now you want to give up science entirely and have a baby!”
“I want to have a family,” Jeannie said. “I found someone that I love and I want us to have a life together. I’m not giving up science entirely, but when we have children, I’ll want to make them my first priority.”
“Can’t what’s-his-name do that? He’s some sort of writer, he should have plenty of time for watching children.”
Jeannie scowled again. “Kaleb is a teacher, and this is what I want, Mer. What’s so hard to understand about that?”
“Everything,” he said, helplessly, and her expression softened.
“I hope you do understand, some day,” said Jeannie.
“I don’t need to,” Rodney told her. “I’m almost finished my PhD, then I’m getting assigned to a ship that’s actually going out there, discovering new things, new science. I still want you to come with me.”
Jeannie’s smile was a little sad. “I know you do, Mer,” she said, and when she hugged him goodbye, he could hardly feel it.
USS Atlantis
Stardate 42561.64 - July, 2365, old Earth calendar
“Lieutenant Commander Sheppard, reporting for duty.”
John paused in the doorway of the Ready Room, waiting until Captain Elizabeth Weir looked up. “Come in, commander,” she said, setting aside the PADD she had been reading and holding out her hand. “Welcome aboard.”
He walked inside, but stayed several feet back and tipped his head in greeting. “Thank you, ma’am. I prefer not to shake hands.”
She blinked, then nodded - it was the same reaction he always got when he said that, the assumptions humans made about Vulcan telepathy, especially coupled with the notes in his Starfleet file about his standoffishness.
“Of course, commander,” Weir said. “To business, then. As my new security chief, I’d like to talk to you about our mission.”
John nodded. “I read the briefing when I accepted this assignment. A long-range exploratory mission to the Beta Quadrant will have unique shipboard security issues - I’ve already begun working up some contingency plans.”
The captain smiled. “That’s good to hear, commander. In general, I’ll prefer to leave most security matters to you, but I will want to be kept apprised of any major issues.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
“There is also something I’d like to clear the air about,” said Weir. “Before I chose you for this expedition, I read your entire file.”
“I see,” said John, neutrally.
“And I want you to know that the incident aboard the Afghanistan was actually a point in your favor for your assignment here.”
He arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“I know there was an official reprimand, but I have to agree with the spirit of what you did. Once we leave the Alpha Quadrant, we’ll be all alone out there, and I want to have a security chief who isn’t afraid to use his own judgement - and especially one who isn’t afraid to challenge me. Within reason, of course.”
“Of course,” John repeated. “I shall keep that in mind.”
“Excellent. Then I’ll let you-”
Weir broke off as the door opened and another officer barreled in. He was wearing science blue and the rank pips of a lieutenant commander, already talking before he’d cleared the doorway, “Elizabeth, where did you even find these people?”
The captain smiled, but it was a dangerously cheerful expression. “Commander Sheppard, let me introduce you to Commander McKay, our Science Officer. Rodney, Commander Sheppard has just come aboard as our Chief of Security.”
McKay blinked. “I thought the new security guy was a Vulcan.”
“Half-Vulcan, actually,” said John.
“Oh, yeah, I can see the ears,” he said, then turned back to Weir. “Now, about these idiots you’ve assigned to me-”
“Your new science team are some of the best officers in Starfleet,” she interrupted. “And I have the utmost confidence that your leadership will make them into an effective team.”
“Well, I…” he began. “Of course my leadership is…”
“Wonderful,” said Weir, brightly. “Oh, and Rodney? Since you’re here, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind showing Commander Sheppard to his quarters?”
“What?” said McKay. “I can’t-”
“Thank you, Rodney,” she said. “Dismissed.”
“Fine,” the science officer huffed. “This way.”
“Captain,” John said, politely, and followed McKay out of her Ready Room. He fell into step beside the science officer, then said, “So, you’re familiar with Atlantis already?”
McKay immediately launched into an explanation of the ship’s systems, how he would have done them differently and better, and it took a significant amount of John’s Vulcan training not to smile at him.
*
“There it is,” said Weir, rising smoothly from her command chair. “Our ticket to the Beta Quadrant.”
It had only taken a day at warp to reach the wormhole, a bright spiral of energy rendered on the forward viewscreen. The Athosian wormhole was stable on both ends, but did not remain open. On the Alpha Quadrant side, it had a stable opening, manifesting as the swirl of color when approached by a solid object. But on the other end, it would only open once every year, remaining accessible for about a month, before closing again. Atlantis’s expedition wasn’t exactly one-way, but once they arrived in the Beta Quadrant, it would be almost a full Earth year before they would be able to contact the Federation again.
Rodney stared at it for a long moment, he shook himself out of it and looked down at his OPS display.
“The wormhole is still showing stable,” he said. “Our sensors don’t read much beyond a thousand kilometers inside.”
“The science team reported as much,” put in Sheppard, from the tactical station behind Weir. “Their probes couldn’t relay any telemetry until they were clear on the other side.”
“And we’re going into that?” muttered Carson Beckett. The doctor had been on the bridge when they left Earth, but had left to see to things in sickbay, returning just as they arrived at their destination.
Commander Teyla Emmagan smiled across the empty command chair at him. “It will be good to be home again.”
“Aye, you’re from the Beta Quadrant, aren’t you, lass?” he said, expression softening.
“My people live just inside the entrance to the Gate of the Ancestors - the wormhole. We had just begun sending up spacecraft when the first Federation probes came through to us. My mother, Tegan, was among those who negotiated our entrance to the Federation, and my acceptance to Starfleet.”
Rodney had read the file on the Athosians - well, no, he had read all of the scientific data on the Beta Quadrant, but he’d skimmed the other files, too. They were a near-human species, slightly stronger physically, distinguishable only by the subtle pattern of leopard-like markings on their shoulders and limbs. Their early craft finding the probes had made them an exception to the Prime Directive, but they had clung stubbornly to their traditions, keeping their society mostly agrarian, even as they accepted the Federation’s aid of medicine and technology.
But he hadn’t really thought of the planet described in the reports as Emmagan’s home, as someplace she might be eager to see again.
“It will be good to have friends on the other side,” said Weir. “Command Sheppard, put me on ship-wide.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Sheppard. “Go ahead.”
“And hands, this is the captain. In a few moments, we will be going through the Athosian wormhole to the Beta Quadrant. You have all agreed to this assignment, this expedition. Our mission is unique in that we will be all on our own out there, with no contact back home. I know that I can count on each and every one of you to do your best and make our mission successful. Weir out.”
She half-turned to nod at Sheppard, who said, “Channel closed, ma’am.”
“Good,” she said, then took a deep breath. “Helm, take us in, full impulse.”
At the station beside Rodney’s, Lieutenant Evan Lorne nodded. “Full impulse, yes, ma’am.”
Atlantis slid forward smoothly, the wormhole growing larger on the viewscreen. Rodney didn’t look back up at it. He scrolled through the data, switching between the different state-of-the-art sensors their new ship carried. The sensor data from the other Starfleet ships to go through the wormhole had been included in the files he’d read before, but Atlantis’s systems were newer, more precise.
“Would you look at that,” murmured Carson.
Rodney still didn’t look up. The changing colors reflected on his console, dancing along the edges of his data. They flared brighter as the ship reached the other end of the wormhole - only a few minutes after they’d left - then vanished as they passed out of its range.
They were now thousands of lightyears from Federation space.
“Welcome to the Beta Quadrant,” said Emmagan.
Weir smiled. “Teyla, perhaps you would care to give the order?”
Her first officer smiled back. “Helm, set course for Athos.”
*
“The planet is class M,” said McKay. “The atmosphere reads as fairly Earth-standard, a little bit more oxygen, and there doesn’t immediately seem to be anything that will kill us.”
“That’s the spirit, McKay,” John said.
The planet on the viewscreen was the familiar blue-and-green marble of a habitable world, with thick swirls of white and gray clouds. There were no lights on the other side of the terminus, and no discernable man-made objects anywhere on the light side.
“Any life signs?” asked Weir.
John checked his console. “I am getting some readings,” he said. “From the strength and number, it appears to be animals.”
“Excellent. Begin a full sensor-”
A soft alarm beeped on the tactical readout. “Wait, ma’am,” said John. “There’s one life sign. The sensors aren’t getting a clear enough reading, but it does seem human. Or at least humanoid.”
“Just one?” asked McKay. “That’s impossible.”
“Well,” said Weir. “There’s one way to find out. Commander Emmagan, select an away team to investigate this life sign.”
The first officer nodded. “Commander Sheppard, Dr. McKay, you are both with me.”
“Wait, what?” said McKay. “I can’t go.”
“You’re our science officer,” said Weir. “And this is a scientific problem that, I’m sure, will need your expertise. Besides, Commander Sheppard will be along to look out for you.”
John nodded to the ensign who had come to relieve him at tactical, and stepped closer to the turbolift. “Of course, captain.”
McKay didn’t seem convinced, but he stood and let another ensign take his post.
Emmagan nodded her head to them both, and they followed her from the bridge. John had liked the first officer from the beginning - she hadn’t offered to shake his hand when they were introduced, just inclined her head in greeting. She had an almost Vulcan-like calm about her, especially when dealing with McKay’s ranting or Beckett’s worrying, and John appreciated her level-headedness.
It was warmer on the planet surface than on Atlantis, enough to be immediately noticeable when they beamed down. The part of the planet where they arrived was similar to the jungles of earth, full of large leafy plants between the trees.
McKay had his eyes on his tricorder, frowning at it. “The allegedly human life sign is somewhere within twenty meters of our current position.”
“Twenty meters?” repeated Emmagan. “That is a large distance.”
“It’s hard to get a clear reading. If it is a sentient being, they don’t have anything our sensors can readily pick-up. No artificial materials, no refined metals, not technology, no - Wait!”
John put a hand to his phaser. “What?”
“Technology,” said McKay. “I’m reading some. It’s-”
He broke off as a beam of energy came out of the trees, striking him in the chest with a crackle of blue energy. John fired at where he thought the blast had come from, but there were two more blasts and he was knocked out.
When he came to, he was sitting on a hard, rocky surface, arms pinned to his sides by the thick ropes that bound him to two other people - even through the fabric of their uniforms, he could just make out the surface emotions of McKay and Emmagan, both of them both still unconscious. They were in a shallow cave, only a few meters deep, with bright sunlight pouring in the large entrance.
And across the cave, a large man sat with his back to them.
John hadn’t moved, hadn’t made a sound, but the man said, “I know you’re awake.”
“You didn’t kill us,” said John.
The man turned. He looked human enough, tall and broad with patchwork leather clothes and his hair in dreadlocks. “You didn’t seem like a threat.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult.”
He shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“Maybe,” said John. “My name’s Sheppard. What should I call you?”
“Ronon.”
“And what do you plan on doing with us, Ronon?”
He shrugged again. “Nothing.”
“Then why did you shoot us?” John asked.
“To keep you out of the way. Don’t do anything stupid, and I’ll let you go.”
“Just like that?”
Ronon smiled, darkly. “By that time, I’ll be gone and the Wraith will be here. You should be more scared of them then of me.”
“The Wraith are a legend,” said Emmagan, and if not for John’s Vulcan discipline, he would have started - he had been so busy shielding himself from their thoughts that he hadn’t realized she was awake. “A tale to scare children.”
“They’re real,” Ronon said. “And worse than any children’s story. They-”
He broke off as McKay let out a long moan and sat up. “What the hell… Am I tied up? What happened? Where are we!?”
“Calm down,” said John. “We’re okay.”
“Okay?” the science officer repeated, incredulous. “We’ve been kidnapped, probably by some kind of crazed lunatic and-”
“He’s right here,” John told him. “Ronon, this is McKay. That’s Emmagan, by the way.”
“Don’t introduce us to the crazy kidnapper!” McKay snapped. “Do you even know why he shot us in the first place?”
“That’s a good point,” said John. “Why did you shoot us?”
Ronon shrugged. “I’m supposed to be the only person on this planet, except for the Wraith. Thought you were Wraith.”
“We are not,” said Emmagan, sharply.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“So why not let us go?” John asked.
He shrugged again. “Some people work for the Wraith. Better safe than sorry.”
“Fair enough,” said John.
“No, it’s not!” protested McKay. “We’ve never heard of the Wraith, how could we be working for them? We’re not even from this quadrant of the galaxy!”
Ronon paused. “You’re not?”
“No! We’re from the Alpha Quadrant. Earth, specifically. Well, I am. Sheppard is half-Vulcan and Teyla is from here, actually. Athos.”
“Athos,” Ronon repeated. “You came through the Gate of the Ancestors.”
“Yes, we did,” said John. “We call it the Athosian Wormhole. Listen, we aren’t here on our own. We have a ship, one that can help you get off this planet and-”
“Can’t leave,” Ronon grunted. “I’m a Runner.”
“Those are in the stories, as well,” Emmagan said, softly. “Those unlucky enough not to be fed upon by the Wraith were chased across the stars, tracked and hunted like animals.”
“Not being fed on was unlucky,” said McKay, but everyone ignored him.
“Tracked how?” John asked.
Ronon pulled aside the shoulder of his sleeveless leather tunic, to show a mess of scars on his left shoulder. “Tracker.”
“We have doctors, we could take it out.”
“It explodes if it hits the air.”
“That’s easy enough to fix,” said McKay, and John almost twisted to look at him.
“What do you mean?” asked Emmagan.
“I’d have to do some scans, but we can absolutely create a flexible force field and vacuum rig to get it out. I just need a scientific tricorder and a phaser. And maybe Carson.”
John blinked. “Okay,” he said. “Ronon, that sound okay to you?”
“Why would you help me?”
“Because you can help us,” John told him. “You’ve been around this part of the galaxy, right? You know other planets, other people?”
“Some,” Ronon said, warily.
“There you go. We get you free of your tracker, you give us some information about what we’ll be facing out here. And we’ll take you right home.”
He let out a long breath. “The Wraith destroyed my planet.”
“Then you can come with us,” Emmagan said, soft but firm. “Join our crew.”
“Your ship would be okay with that?” he asked.
“Those gold pins you took from us,” said John. “They’re our communications devices. You can ask her yourself.”
Still wary, Ronon took one of the combadges from the pile of their gear and held it out. “This?”
“Press it,” said John. He did and it beeped. “Sheppard to Atlantis.”
“Sheppard!” said Weir’s voice. “What’s going on down there?”
“Well, ma’am, we made a new friend. He needs our help with something, and then he’s going to show us around the Beta Quadrant.”
“I see.” She really did sound like she understood, and John’s estimation of his new captain went up a notch. “You and your team are all right?”
“McKay’s kind of cranky, but we’re all right.”
“We will need Dr. Beckett to beam down,” added Emmagan. “Afterwards, we would like to offer Ronon a place on Atlantis.”
“You think that’s a good idea, Teyla?”
“I do. There will need to be a probationary period, to allow him to adjust to our ways, but I believe it will be beneficial for all.”
“I see,” Weir repeated. “Can I speak to this Ronon?”
“I’m Ronon,” he said. “If your people can get rid of this tracker, I’ll work for you.”
There was a pause. “Rodney?” the captain asked. “You’re being unusually quiet.”
“They’re both as insane as this guy!” McKay cried, then took a deep breath. “But Sheppard is right.”
“Gee, thanks,” John drawled.
“All right, then,” said Weir. “Dr. Beckett will beam down to your location in a few minutes. Atlantis out.”
The line went dead, and John looked up at Ronon. “How about you untie us now?”
It actually did seem as easy as McKay had claimed. Beckett’s perpetually-worried Scottish brogue seemed to reassure Ronon more than anything else. He looked at the tracker, safe in its little force field bubble, for a long moment before he nodded for McKay to detonate it.
“Do you have any gear or belongings?” John asked.
Ronon shrugged. “Nope.”
“Okay. Sheppard to Atlantis, four to beam up.”
*
Somehow, Rodney ended up a permanent member of Atlantis’s away team.
Equally baffling, he found himself becoming friends with Sheppard. Partly, he thought, it was because Teyla and Ronon had a connection, both natives of the Beta Quadrant, but mostly, Sheppard seemed to genuinely like him. It was hard to tell at first, under that damn Vulcan calm, but after a few weeks, he was almost sure that Sheppard was actively riling him up, just to enjoy hearing Rodney rant and splutter.
Sheppard definitely sought Rodney out on purpose, often showing up in the science lab after his duty shift, or finding Rodney in the mess hall for a game of chess. Halfway through the second month of their mission, he realized that he spent more time with Sheppard, on-duty and off, than he did with anyone else.
Which was why he actually noticed that the pretty, charming, young daughter of the magistrate on a planet that called itself Idalna was actively flirting with Sheppard. She was actually being fairly subtle, as near as he could tell, and he was actually surprised he’d been able to tell.
Later, Rodney would think that he probably should have been jealous. Women of any species tended to notice people like Sheppard and never seemed to notice people like Rodney, something he’d grown resigned to after a life of dating disappointments.
But he had become attuned enough to Sheppard’s non-expressions to realize that the security officer was actually very uncomfortable with her advances. The girl kept trying to get Sheppard alone, even after he had politely redirected her attention several times.
When she moved from flirtatious advances to actually putting herself inside Sheppard’s personal space, he tried to move away - when she touched his arm, he actually jumped.
Rodney should have been jealous of the attention she was showing Sheppard, but at the time, he was more concerned about his friend.
“I’d love to see your city’s water filtration system,” he said, elbowing between them like he was completely oblivious to what was going on. “Do you really use the planet’s geothermal energy to power it?”
“Well,” the girl floundered. “Allow me to show you, Dr. McKay.”
He was even more obnoxious after that, demanding her attention whenever she tried to direct hers to Sheppard, and by the end of their tour, she was definitely not pleased with him. But Sheppard never even tried to stop him, and once or twice he would have sworn that Sheppard had actually moved closer to him, on purpose.
Weir gave them an odd look when they rejoined her and the girl’s father, but as they took their leave and prepared to beam back to Atlantis, Sheppard knocked his shoulder against Rodney’s with a soft, “Thanks, McKay.”
Rodney had never been more pleased to have a girl hate him.
*
John hit the floor with a thump, and Teyla didn’t offer him a hand up.
She had invited him to call her by her first name at the same time she had begun teaching him the use of the Bantos Rods, an Athosian marital art that used two wooden sticks. It was similar to other types of fighting that John had learned at Starfleet Academy, but different enough that he was having trouble mastering it. Fortunately, Teyla was a patient teacher.
She was also perceptive and prone to being blunt. “You prefer not to be touched,” she said. “Not even to have anyone particularly near to you.”
“No, I don’t,” John agreed. He took another moment to catch his breath, then got back to his feet. “I didn’t think it was a problem.”
“It is not. But I have noticed that while you keep a distance between other members of the crew, you can often be found in close proximity to Dr. McKay.”
“I…” began John.
She smiled and held out the Bantos rods he’d dropped. “I am happy for you both.”
“It’s not like that,” he protested. “We’re not…”
“My apologies. I did not mean to embarrass you.”
John arched an eyebrow. “Vulcans do not feel embarrassed.”
“Of course,” said Teyla, in a tone that meant she clearly didn’t believe him. “Are you ready to begin again?”
He raised his rods and nodded. The first officer dropped into a ready stance for a moment, then began a simple practice pattern, attacking so that John could practice his defenses.
After a moment, she said, “I have known Rodney for many years. He can be…difficult, at times.”
“He’s an acquired taste,” John agreed. “But he’s a good guy.”
“Yes,” said Teyla. “He has a very caring heart, but he is not quick to open it. Even with those he has known for a long time, he can still be cautious. Yet I feel it would hurt him greatly if he were to lose your regard.”
John fumbled, barely ducking away from her swinging Bantos rod, and waved for a time-out.
“I like Rodney,” he said. “I value his friendship, and I would never want to hurt him.”
“That is good,” said Teyla.
“Good,” John repeated. He raised his rods again, then lowered them. “Wait, were you saying that you think Rodney likes me?”
Teyla smiled, and began another practice pattern
*
“Once again, this planet is empty.”
Rodney changed a few settings on his tricorder, but it didn’t register anything but vegetation for several kilometers. No large lifeforms, no detectable power sources, nothing of any interest in any way.
“Things are not always as they appear, Dr. McKay,” said Teyla, in that vague way that always sounded like she knew what she was talking about.
“Yeah,” added Sheppard. “Let’s have a look around. Ronon, what do you know about this place?”
The other man shrugged. “I’ve never been here. Satedan ships could only go what you call warp one, most of us didn’t travel much. We traded with these people for a few crops, for some refined metals we made.”
“I am reading traces of metals,” Rodney allowed. “But there doesn’t seem to be anyone alive anywhere on the planet.”
“We shall take a brief survey,” said Teyla. “To be sure. This way.”
She set off down a rocky path, and the rest of the away team followed her. It had clearly been a long time since anyone had lived there. Thick trees and other plant life were everywhere, leaving only the faintest traces of sentient life - an overrun roadway, a chunk of decaying wall, a few piece of broken pottery.
“Something is not right here,” said Teyla.
Sheppard seemed uncomfortable, too. “The people here died in fear and pain,” he said, voice oddly flat.
“Wraith,” said Ronon - and that was when a sudden high-pitched buzzing sounded overhead.
Rodney ducked, mostly instinct, catching sight of three needle-like ships that soared overhead. The shriek changed pitch as a bright light emitted from each ship.
“They use the beam to take people,” said Ronon, grabbing Rodney’s arm.
“Take them where?” Rodney asked, but he got no answer.
“Away team, this is Atlantis,” came Elizabeth’s voice, over his combadge. “We’re reading strange energy signatures in your area, but we’re having trouble getting a clear reading. What’s going on?”
“We’re under attack!” Rodney yelled. “Wraith!”
“We can’t get a transporter lock. Can you get back to your original beam-down site?”
“We will contact you when we are in positon,” said Teyla. “Emmagan out.”
Another Wraith ship shrieked overhead, it’s beam flicking out over the open ground.
“Into the trees,” said Sheppard. “We’ll be able to avoid those darts better.”
Rodney clutched his tricorder as they headed into the woods. The Wraith ships appeared on the sensor screen as blurs of motion, like ghosts that didn’t quite register. Then, suddenly, there were more substantial dots behind them in the woods, blinking red and advancing on the away team’s four blue dots.
“Teyla, Sheppard, they’re behind us!” he yelled.
Ronon raised his gun, the big one he’d brought with him as his only possession when they’d rescued him. “I got this.”
Teyla glared at him. “We must return to Atlantis.”
They stared at each other for a moment, then Ronon said, “Fine,” and marched on ahead.
Sheppard came up beside Rodney, “C’mon, McKay, double-time.”
“I’m hurrying, commander,” he snapped. “I have no desire to find out what happened to the people who used to live here.”
“Yeah,” Sheppard agreed.
The clearing where they had beamed down was up ahead. Rodney was breathing hard, but he kept going, until they had cleared the tree line.
“Emmagan to Atlantis,” called Teyla. “Energize!”
In the split-second before the transporter beam took hold, Rodney saw a humanoid figure emerge from the shadows. It was pale as death, and it raised one hand - not in greeting, but extending the wicked, mouth-like palm.
A moment later, they rematerialized in Atlantis’s transporter room.
“You saw it,” said Ronon.
Rodney shivered, and felt Sheppard standing close beside him.
“They really suck the life right out of people?” the security chief said.
Ronon gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah.”
*
Captain’s personal log, supplemental.
Since our first sighting of the Wraith - a real alien species, and not the legends of Athosian mythology - I had been hoping for a chance to meet them, to open diplomatic talks and learn more about them. I had participated in several First Contact missions in the Alpha Quadrant, and I thought this would be a great opportunity, for the Federation and for myself.
I was wrong.
The Wraith don’t want to talk or negotiate. Their one source of food is, well, us.
Carson doesn’t entirely understand the process, but they take energy directly from a sentient being, aging that person until they are too old and weak to live.
Or, until they decide to sacrifice themselves for the good of the mission.
I will be putting in a posthumous commendation for Lieutenant Gall, and officially listing him as Killed in Action.
I should be ordering mandatory counselling for Rodney, but… he’s surprisingly handling this very well. A lot of that is due to his friendship with John Sheppard. I admit, I hadn’t seen that coming, but now that we’ve been in the Beta Quadrant for several months, it seems odder when I don’t see the two of them together.
But they’re good for each other. I’m beginning to realize how much I rely on the stability of their friendship. On one hand, they always seem to be trying to talk me into things more suited to a maverick captain like Kirk than a former-diplomat like me but on the other, when John and Rodney work together, I sometimes think there isn’t any problem they can’t get themselves out of.
But if they keep up that bickering, one of these days I’m going to let Teyla lock them in a turbolift until they figure themselves out.
*
“So, we finally found a planet you like,” said John. “No people, but lots of stuff to play around with.”
Rodney looked up from his tricorder to glare at him. “I thought your job was to provide security, not jokes,” he grumbled.
“Vulcans are great at multitasking. Find anything yet?”
The planet they were on had once been inhabited, but it looked to have been abandoned rather than attacked. A few buildings were still mostly-intact and the away team had split up to investigate them. Their combadges - and presumably, the transporters - were blocked by something in the building materials, and they had agreed to meet back at the beam-down site in an hour’s time.
John and Rodney had entered a large structure with its roof half fallen in, carefully avoiding broken furniture and holes in the floor. There was an energy signature coming from somewhere inside, and the science officer was determined to find it.
“It’s getting stronger,” Rodney said. “Just a little further. It’s probably-”
He had crossed through an open doorway and the entire room began to shake.
“What is that?” John demanded.
“I don’t know!” said Rodney. “The readings are off the chart. It was centralized before, but now it’s all around us.”
There was a grinding sound, coming from the walls around them. John drew his phaser, not sure what was about to happen - he did not expect the wall directly behind Rodney to open up, extending a metal arm that looped over the scientist’s shoulder, pinning him in place.
“Rodney!” John yelled, just as everything went silent.
“I’m okay,” Rodney said, sounding surprised. “I - it’s got me, but I’m not hurt.”
“Oh. That’s good,” said John, just as alarms started blaring around them.
“Now what?” moaned Rodney. “Where’s my tricorder?”
John retrieved it. “What is it?”
“We’ve triggered something, some kind of fail safe.”
“Can we turn it off?”
“If by ‘we’ you mean ‘me’,” Rodney snapped. “Um… probably?”
“Rodney…”
“This is literally an alien computer system, Sheppard. My tricorder isn’t enough, I need a direct interface to their system.”
“Okay,” said John. “Okay. One of these panels must be it.”
He moved around the room, using his uniform sleeve to wipe dirt from the displays until he found one that seemed to be powered on.
“Here, this one. What do I do?”
Rodney pulled against the metal restraint again, then sighed when it didn’t budge. “You need to-”
The alarms sped up and everything started shaking again. A flat panel along the wall lit up, unfamiliar symbols shifting in regular sequence - unmistakably a countdown.
“Whatever that is, it can’t be good,” said Rodney. “Sheppard, you have to get out of here.”
“No,” said John. “You said you could shut it down.”
“I can’t reach the console,” Rodney argued. “I’d need to navigate an alien computer, troubleshoot the problem… there’s no time.”
“Fine. Give me your hand.”
Rodney clutched both to his chest. “What? Why?”
“I can’t fix this, you can’t reach this, we need to work together. If you let me initiate a Mind Meld, I can use your knowledge to work the panel.”
“What?” Rodney repeated. “I can’t - You don’t-”
“I’m not leaving,” John said, stubbornly.
“Fine, fine, here.”
Rodney held out his arm, and John took his hand, placing his fingers carefully over the pulse points. It was supposed to work better touching the person’s face, but there was no other way.
“My mind to your mind,” said John. “My thoughts to your thoughts.”
From the moment they’d touched, he had been able to feel Rodney’s mind, like the sound of the ocean from close by. But actively initiating the Meld was like stepping into the surf, letting the roar of Rodney’s thoughts swirl around him.
John took a shaky breath, overwhelmed for a split second in the first Meld he’d done since he was young, but as they settled into it, he felt amazingly calm. Rodney’s mind was familiar, comforting even, and he was tempted to wade further into it.
The still-wailing alarms drew him back to reality and the problem at hand. “Right,” he said, with a steadier breath. “I’m going to work the console. Just think about the problem, think about sending that to me.”
“Right,” Rodney agreed.
John had kept his own mental barriers up, but he lowered them, letting Rodney see the information he was getting from the alien computer. It was a safeguard, all right, meant to keep the Wraith or any other attackers from getting into the planetary defense system. Most of the system itself was deactivated, but there was enough still functioning to blow up a good chunk of this planet - specifically, the chunk that they, along with Teyla and Ronon, were currently occupying.
As John looked through the computer’s display, Rodney passed him the information he needed to access deeper into the system. It was like their best days of working together, multiplied by a hundred - Rodney’s mind coming up with a solution almost before John’s mind had comprehended the problem, offering up ideas from both of their experiences, more in sync than they ever had been when mere words had been their only method of communication.
The alien symbols continued counting down, the first symbol then the second vanishing to leave a single changing number. The rumbling in the walls intensified, the alarms raised in pitch, getting faster, then -
Silence.
The computer console beeped, once, lighting up with a generic, if alien, user display. The metal restraint clicked faintly, then disappeared back into the wall and Rodney stumbled forward
John let go of Rodney’s hand to catch him, and the Meld was broken. “That was…” he began.
Rodney opened his mouth to answer, but just then, Teyla and Ronon burst into the room.
“We detected a disturbance,” the first mate said. “Are you both unhurt?”
John took a deep breath and let go of Rodney. “We’re not hurt,” he said. “We should go back to Atlantis.
Rodney didn’t say anything.
*
Carson ran every test in the Starfleet medical database, but declared that Rodney was completely fine, except for a slight bruising to his shoulder. Sheppard had escaped from sickbay long before, but Rodney knew where to find him.
The door to Sheppard’s quarters opened at Rodney’s first touch - the security officer had granted him access months ago, but he hadn’t realized what that meant, at the time.
He knew now.
John looked up from where he was sitting on the edge of his bed, polishing one of his golf clubs. “Oh, hey, Rodney,” he said. “Beckett cleared you?”
“Yes, yes, clean bill of health,” said Rodney. He took a deep breath, then said, “Look, I need to say some things, so I’m just going to say them, okay?”
“Okay,” said John, but his face had taken on that mask of Vulcan calm that meant he was actually very worried.
“You don’t like to be touched,” Rodney said, bluntly. “I have to assume that has something to do with Vulcans being touch-telepaths. Which means, really, that you don’t like hearing other people’s thoughts and emotions. But you Melded with me, because otherwise we were going to die. So, I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“That’s-“ John began, setting the golf club aside to stand up, but Rodney waved him quiet.
“I tried to keep my thoughts to myself,” he continued. “But I’ve never been much into that naval-gazing meditation nonsense. So if you felt… feelings, from me, that you’d prefer you didn’t know, we can just pretend that this didn’t happen and go back to being friends.”
“Feelings,”’ John repeated. “Friends.”
“Please say we can be friends again,” pleaded Rodney, suddenly worried.
John reached out and took both of the scientist’s hands in his own. “Rodney,” he said, eyes smiling. “I have never felt more comfortable than when I was touching your mind.”
“I - What?”
“I don’t like touching people,” said John. “For exactly the reasons you said. My mother died when I was young, and I never got the mental training I should have had to be able to block other minds. It was always easier to just avoid everyone. But you… when we ended the Meld, I felt like part of me was missing.”
Rodney blinked. “Me? You were missing me?”
John laughed, a horrible braying noise that Rodney instantly loved. “Yes, McKay, you.”
“But I’m right here,” Rodney said.
“Yes, you are,” agreed John, and when he leaned in to kiss him, Rodney could feel their thoughts blending together again, so that he couldn’t tell which of them was more content.
*
When their shift started the next day, Elizabeth watched John and Rodney exit the turbolift and step onto the bridge. They both looked entirely professional, uniforms neat and expressions even, but as they moved apart, she could see their hands catch for a moment as their fingers disentangled from each other.
She turned back to her command chair to hide her grin, and met Teyla’s equally knowing smirk. “About time,” Elizabeth muttered, and her first mate nodded.
THE END
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