Time to put this to use
Rating: PG-13, maybe R
Spoilers: Rising, but that was the series premiere so.... Kinda hard to write fic that doesn't spoil for it.
Tentatively Titled: Dark Mirror
---
Rodney McKay looked in the mirror and managed not to scream. He felt vagually proud that the slit-pupilled eyes and too many teeth his reflection had no longer horrified him so much. Teyla and Carson assured him they were just leftover hallucinations from the Wraith. It would wear off as soon as he recovered.
He could almost feel the dark suspicions and half-formed fears that lurked in his mind stir. They'd abandoned him to the Wraith. Why wouldn't they lie about this if it got him to go away?
He ran his tongue along his lower set of teeth. Nice and normal. Not the wickedly sharp ones he saw in the mirror. See, Carson wouldn't lie to him and neither would Teyla.
Teyla hadn't wanted to leave him behind. He clung to that thought as he picked up his toothbrush. Sheppard and Ford hadn't cared, had all but given him to the Wraith, but Teyla hadn't. She'd soothed him down from the gibbering wreck he'd been whenever the Wraith got tired of playing. She had cared what they did to him, and, better yet, she understood. He could trust her completely.
McKay wasn't too sure about Carson Beckett at times. He shakily squeezed toothpaste out of the tube. Sure, Carson could and would fix everything wrong with his body, but what if he wasn't telling the whole truth about-
Don't be idiotic, Rodney. Carson's a medical doctor, not a psychiatrist. When he says he can't do anything about the mental trauma, he's telling the truth.
Yeah, well, Sheppard keeps saying that he tried to go back, that he didn't want to leave McKay behind, and he's lying through his teeth. He just wants to keep Beth and Teyla in his bed.
Funny how Teyla keeps telling him that he can't let the Wraith-induced hallucinations affect him, that he has to learn to dismiss them, when her own delusions about Sheppard keep her with him. Damn, it's going to be fun to take the flyboy away from her and Beth, coax him into trusting the scientist again, and then torture him to a slow death.
McKay dropped the toothbrush in the sink and stared at his slit-eyed reflection. No! He wouldn't-! Sheppard left him behind! The bastard deserves it. But he wasn't not going to do that, because he was not a Wraith. Humans don't toy with each other that way. Not the decent ones. He was a decent guy, just a little impatient at times. He wouldn't do that to Sheppard.
He'd do something worse.
No, no, no, no!
McKay sank to his knees and rested his forehead against the Ancient device that was effectively a sink. He had to stop thinking like this. He had to let it go!
Let it go? When they left him behind? When they left him to the Wraith and their illusions and coercions and oh, God, he wouldn't start screaming again because this time it was over. His escape had been real this time. The Wraith wouldn't pull him out of a carefully-built illusion just when he started to feel safe again, because this time it was real.
It had to be.
---
Notes: This plays on the Wraith's illusion-generating abilities and general telempathy. Plus, I've been wanting to write McKay as a dark lord for a while now. Yeah, he's not a dark lord here, but he's on the descent. Assuming, I ever do anything much past the next few days of his life.
Keep in mind that this is told from the highly suspect point-of-view of Rodney McKay. I'm not sure whether to continue from his point-of-view or switch to the pov of the other characters and reveal more of what actually happened.
A few specific questions for commenters:
- Did you understand what was going on?
- Did I handle the subject well?
Spoilers: Rising, but that was the series premiere so.... Kinda hard to write fic that doesn't spoil for it.
Tentatively Titled: Dark Mirror
---
Rodney McKay looked in the mirror and managed not to scream. He felt vagually proud that the slit-pupilled eyes and too many teeth his reflection had no longer horrified him so much. Teyla and Carson assured him they were just leftover hallucinations from the Wraith. It would wear off as soon as he recovered.
He could almost feel the dark suspicions and half-formed fears that lurked in his mind stir. They'd abandoned him to the Wraith. Why wouldn't they lie about this if it got him to go away?
He ran his tongue along his lower set of teeth. Nice and normal. Not the wickedly sharp ones he saw in the mirror. See, Carson wouldn't lie to him and neither would Teyla.
Teyla hadn't wanted to leave him behind. He clung to that thought as he picked up his toothbrush. Sheppard and Ford hadn't cared, had all but given him to the Wraith, but Teyla hadn't. She'd soothed him down from the gibbering wreck he'd been whenever the Wraith got tired of playing. She had cared what they did to him, and, better yet, she understood. He could trust her completely.
McKay wasn't too sure about Carson Beckett at times. He shakily squeezed toothpaste out of the tube. Sure, Carson could and would fix everything wrong with his body, but what if he wasn't telling the whole truth about-
Don't be idiotic, Rodney. Carson's a medical doctor, not a psychiatrist. When he says he can't do anything about the mental trauma, he's telling the truth.
Yeah, well, Sheppard keeps saying that he tried to go back, that he didn't want to leave McKay behind, and he's lying through his teeth. He just wants to keep Beth and Teyla in his bed.
Funny how Teyla keeps telling him that he can't let the Wraith-induced hallucinations affect him, that he has to learn to dismiss them, when her own delusions about Sheppard keep her with him. Damn, it's going to be fun to take the flyboy away from her and Beth, coax him into trusting the scientist again, and then torture him to a slow death.
McKay dropped the toothbrush in the sink and stared at his slit-eyed reflection. No! He wouldn't-! Sheppard left him behind! The bastard deserves it. But he wasn't not going to do that, because he was not a Wraith. Humans don't toy with each other that way. Not the decent ones. He was a decent guy, just a little impatient at times. He wouldn't do that to Sheppard.
He'd do something worse.
No, no, no, no!
McKay sank to his knees and rested his forehead against the Ancient device that was effectively a sink. He had to stop thinking like this. He had to let it go!
Let it go? When they left him behind? When they left him to the Wraith and their illusions and coercions and oh, God, he wouldn't start screaming again because this time it was over. His escape had been real this time. The Wraith wouldn't pull him out of a carefully-built illusion just when he started to feel safe again, because this time it was real.
It had to be.
---
Notes: This plays on the Wraith's illusion-generating abilities and general telempathy. Plus, I've been wanting to write McKay as a dark lord for a while now. Yeah, he's not a dark lord here, but he's on the descent. Assuming, I ever do anything much past the next few days of his life.
Keep in mind that this is told from the highly suspect point-of-view of Rodney McKay. I'm not sure whether to continue from his point-of-view or switch to the pov of the other characters and reveal more of what actually happened.
A few specific questions for commenters:
- Did you understand what was going on?
- Did I handle the subject well?