really weird SGA fic
25 minutes.
Sheppard knows, he knows, deep down, what the thumps mean. He’s not stupid. He’s had the briefings.
When he yelled “Shield up.” He knew it meant men dead.
And thump, thump thump. Gunfire, threat, gone. Safety, now, okay.
He takes a breath.
“Elizabeth?”
“Major Sheppard?”
He draws himself, up, standing and cocky. “Um, threat has been decimated.”
She replies in words that don’t make sense, words that talk about excusable threat and actual threat and he looks around at the city and sighs, with relief.
Because she, the city, is safe and if they couldn’t remember why he had, she does.
Because she remembers him, even if he can’t quite yet.
It’s not like the city talks to him. She’s not KITT, not some weird talking car, who has a red light that pulses unnervingly-like a cylon across the bumper.
He remembers. Atlantis sings to him.
Atlantis sings to him. And that takes a few seconds to appreciate.
He’d seen one of his classmates take a classic biff into the afterworld and been ready for the stick about five minutes later.
“Yeah, it does take a certain kind of courage.” He tells his phantom daughters, two of which will be upstanding members of society and the one which will be a total disappointment to herself, until she realizes that he meant that he loves her, wholeheartedly, completely, because she is his daughter, despite whatever happens.
So much changes, but mostly things stay the same.
Sheppard wraps his hands around the crystals and prepares to take the brunt of the fire.
It’s okay. Atlantis, loves him. She sings to him. She loves him.
He let goes with the nuke on the city, the mother he’d always hoped she would be.
And the shield comes up and he is falling, falling, into different places. One place where he’s ashes and smoke and Rodney goes off to Earth to be some kind of guru to the next generation.
And then he’s falling into the place where he’d succeeded, but Rodney is hurt and grumpy and only Sheppard can keep him peaceful. If then that peaceful equates frequent kisses and neck massages, then he’s the man with the plan.
Funny, how so much of life fits into if-then scenarios.
If he decides to take O’Neill’s plan then he’s signed on for the journey of a lifetime.
And the journey…
If he takes the chance.
Then he might actually take the jump he wanted, so long ago.
So if the ‘probe’, so ardently searching for them in order to destroy them then doesn’t. When O’Neill just stands up, like it’s another day at the office, Sheppard’s just draws another deep breath.
“An If-then scenario is really cool, sir.” He whispers into the cold air.
O’Neill looks at him for second. “Yeah, it totally is.” He replies, dry as dry can be. Then to the clamoring voices in his ear, he replies, “yeah, we’re okay and no, Danny, you still can’t go and of course, Sheppard will, because he plays at flying like you do linguistics..
No, I don’t care…”
Sheppard looks around at the endless horizon of white and grins, stupidly.
“Huh, I think I made it to the other side.” He whispers to no one.”
Somewhere, sometime, the city smiles, awaiting his arrival. And when he comes to her, it’s a relief, really.
For them all.
Sheppard knows, he knows, deep down, what the thumps mean. He’s not stupid. He’s had the briefings.
When he yelled “Shield up.” He knew it meant men dead.
And thump, thump thump. Gunfire, threat, gone. Safety, now, okay.
He takes a breath.
“Elizabeth?”
“Major Sheppard?”
He draws himself, up, standing and cocky. “Um, threat has been decimated.”
She replies in words that don’t make sense, words that talk about excusable threat and actual threat and he looks around at the city and sighs, with relief.
Because she, the city, is safe and if they couldn’t remember why he had, she does.
Because she remembers him, even if he can’t quite yet.
It’s not like the city talks to him. She’s not KITT, not some weird talking car, who has a red light that pulses unnervingly-like a cylon across the bumper.
He remembers. Atlantis sings to him.
Atlantis sings to him. And that takes a few seconds to appreciate.
He’d seen one of his classmates take a classic biff into the afterworld and been ready for the stick about five minutes later.
“Yeah, it does take a certain kind of courage.” He tells his phantom daughters, two of which will be upstanding members of society and the one which will be a total disappointment to herself, until she realizes that he meant that he loves her, wholeheartedly, completely, because she is his daughter, despite whatever happens.
So much changes, but mostly things stay the same.
Sheppard wraps his hands around the crystals and prepares to take the brunt of the fire.
It’s okay. Atlantis, loves him. She sings to him. She loves him.
He let goes with the nuke on the city, the mother he’d always hoped she would be.
And the shield comes up and he is falling, falling, into different places. One place where he’s ashes and smoke and Rodney goes off to Earth to be some kind of guru to the next generation.
And then he’s falling into the place where he’d succeeded, but Rodney is hurt and grumpy and only Sheppard can keep him peaceful. If then that peaceful equates frequent kisses and neck massages, then he’s the man with the plan.
Funny, how so much of life fits into if-then scenarios.
If he decides to take O’Neill’s plan then he’s signed on for the journey of a lifetime.
And the journey…
If he takes the chance.
Then he might actually take the jump he wanted, so long ago.
So if the ‘probe’, so ardently searching for them in order to destroy them then doesn’t. When O’Neill just stands up, like it’s another day at the office, Sheppard’s just draws another deep breath.
“An If-then scenario is really cool, sir.” He whispers into the cold air.
O’Neill looks at him for second. “Yeah, it totally is.” He replies, dry as dry can be. Then to the clamoring voices in his ear, he replies, “yeah, we’re okay and no, Danny, you still can’t go and of course, Sheppard will, because he plays at flying like you do linguistics..
No, I don’t care…”
Sheppard looks around at the endless horizon of white and grins, stupidly.
“Huh, I think I made it to the other side.” He whispers to no one.”
Somewhere, sometime, the city smiles, awaiting his arrival. And when he comes to her, it’s a relief, really.
For them all.