McShep Fic: Guilty Little Secret
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: John/Rodney
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1402 (not including headers)
Warnings: none
Genres: humor, pre-slash/first kiss
Summary: In which Rodney discovers that John has a guilty little secret:
Notes: A few of my flist have been posting lists of their WIP which inspired me to check and see what gems were lurking in forgotten corners of my hard drive. Much to my surprise I found a complete short story I had never posted. It turned out to need a bit of work to fix it up, but the basic story is still the same.
UPDATE
mackenziesmomma was kind enough to read through this and only made me change one thing - does the happy dance of victory! Any remaining mistakes are totally my own fault.
It was a relatively quiet day on Atlantis, so Rodney McKay had spent most of his morning studying some of the more unusual Ancient artifacts that had been discovered during the exploration of the city. Thanks to the gene therapy Dr Beckett had developed, Rodney was able to activate most of the artifacts himself, but one particular device was proving difficult. Rodney realized that he would have to ask Colonel Sheppard to come down to the labs, but for some reason the Colonel wasn't answering his radio. Rodney checked with Major Lorne, who informed him that the Colonel was in his office doing paperwork and didn't want to be disturbed. Rodney was intrigued by this information. Sheppard always seemed to palm off the majority of his paperwork on the Major, so what ever he was working on must be important.
Rodney set off to find Sheppard, taking it for granted that the Colonel's request not to be disturbed didn't apply to him. It only took a few minutes to get from the labs to Sheppard's office as it was conveniently located near one of the transporters. The doors opened immediately at Rodney's mental request, to reveal Sheppard sitting at his desk, with his laptop open in front of him.
“Ah Colonel, there you are,” Rodney said, walking into the room.
Sheppard turned away from his laptop to look up at Rodney. A guilty expression briefly crossed his face, before it was replaced by a false smile.
“This better be important, McKay,” Sheppard said. “I told Lorne I didn't want to be disturbed.”
“Of course it's important,” Rodney said, impatiently. “I need you down in the labs to turn something on for me.”
“Turn something on?” Sheppard said, his voice sounding strangled. The tips of his ears turned slightly pink. “Oh, you mean one of the ancient devices.”
“What else would I mean?” asked Rodney, completely oblivious to the Colonel's discomfort. “Well, come on, what are you waiting for?”
“McKay, in case you hadn't noticed, I happen to be working here,” Sheppard pointed out.
“What could you possibly be working on that's so important?” Rodney asked impatiently.
“Well, um.....” John hesitated. Rodney was puzzled for a moment, before realization dawned.
“Oh, have you got a new computer game?” Rodney asked, his eyes lighting up. He walked across the office to get a better look at Sheppard's laptop.
“Wait, if you've got a new game how come you didn’t tell me about it?” he said suspiciously.
“Rodney, I’m not playing computer games,” Sheppard told him, turning the laptop away from Rodney in a futile attempt to hide the screen.
“Really?” asked Rodney in disbelief. “So why don't you want me to see what you're working on?”
“That's none of your business,” Sheppard snapped, avoiding Rodney's gaze.
Rodney wondered for a moment what Sheppard could possibly be hiding on his laptop that he wouldn't want Rodney to see. Sheppard didn't seem to have any family back on Earth he stayed in contact with and Rodney would have known if there were any condolence letters to write, which left one other alternative that he could think of.
“Ohmygod, you’re reading porn, aren’t you?” he asked.
“It’s not porn, its fan fiction.” muttered John in a quiet voice.
“What, seriously!” exclaimed Rodney, trying hard not to laugh out loud. “You’re such a geek Sheppard. So what is it, Star Trek? I bet you love all the action stories with the space ships and the great big space guns!”
Rodney really should have known better, but he couldn't resist reaching across the desk to grab the laptop. Sheppard tried to stop him, but Rodney was too fast. He turned the laptop until he could see the screen and started to scroll down the page. As Rodney read the story, his eyes widened in surprise because it turned out his initial guess was correct after all. This really was porn and not just any porn either, but incredibly hot gay porn.
“Oh,” he said, his usual eloquence deserting him. “I guess I can see why maybe you wouldn't want anyone else to see this. I'm sorry. Here, this is yours.” Rodney pushed the laptop back towards Sheppard, carefully avoiding the other man's eyes.
“I think you better go.” Sheppard said. His voice was cold and unforgiving and Rodney felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice over his head. John Sheppard was one of the closest friends Rodney had ever had and now it looked like he might have messed that up with one moment of thoughtlessness.
“Right.” Rodney said. “I'm going now.”
As Rodney walked towards the door he turned and looked back. Sheppard was sitting up unnaturally straight, shoulders tense, watching Rodney with an unreadable expression on his face. Rodney hated knowing he had put that look on Sheppard's face.
“I won't tell anyone, I swear. I've been working on highly classified work for years, so I know how to keep a secret.” Rodney told him, hoping that it would put things right.
“Thanks, Rodney. I appreciate that,” John said, relaxing just a little.
“So, are we still good?” Rodney asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
“I don't know.” John admitted. “It doesn't bother you, that I like guys?”
“No, it's fine,” Rodney tried to reassured his friend. He watch with relief as the tension finally drained out of Sheppard's body. “I may have, you know, experimented a little myself, back in college.”
“Experimented?” John asked, one eyebrow raised in surprise.
“Well, I'm a curious sort of guy,” Rodney said with a wry smile. “I need to know things.”
“So, was that all it was, an experiment?” John inquired, trying to sound casual.
“Yes, no, maybe?” Rodney tried to explain. “Look, I like guys, but I like girls too and in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not too good with people. I figured at least if I ask a girl out and she isn't interested, I won't end up getting punched in the face.”
“Oh. I'm sorry, I guess,” John said, looking sympathetic. “Look, I think I need a few minutes to get my head together. Why don't I meet you down in the lab after lunch?”
“Okay, thanks,” Rodney agreed. He turned to leave again, but then he was struck by the thought that there was something he was missing. It wasn't something Sheppard had said, it was something in the story. Rodney wasn't familiar with the show, but he had noticed in passing that one of the characters was a Colonel in some branch of the military and the other was a scientist. They were on the bridge of some sort of alien spaceship and the scientist had been leaning over a console, while the Colonel stared at his ass. Something about the scenario seemed strangely familiar.
Rodney remembered Sheppard's earlier comment, when he had asked him to come to the lab and turn things on and the way Sheppard had blushed. Suddenly everything fell into place, like the solution to a puzzle.
“You know, I think there's something I need to do first.” Rodney said with a smirk. He walked forward until he was right up in Sheppard's personal space. He reached out to place his hand on Sheppard, no John's shoulder and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on John's soft full kissable lips. He started to pull away but John reached out and grabbed his bicep.
“Hey, not so fast.” John said in a husky voice. “Just to make things perfectly clear, I'm not going to be your experiment, okay?”
“Oh I don't know,” Rodney said with a smirk. “I think I that would be an excellent plan. You would be my most important project, of course. I would need to schedule lots of time and resources, for all the simulations I would need to run. I'd need to collect a lot of data before I could come to any conclusions. Why, this project could run for years.”
“Really, years?” John said, shyly.
“Definitely,” Rodney agreed. This time it was John who reeled Rodney in for a passionate kiss.
Pairing: John/Rodney
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1402 (not including headers)
Warnings: none
Genres: humor, pre-slash/first kiss
Summary: In which Rodney discovers that John has a guilty little secret:
Notes: A few of my flist have been posting lists of their WIP which inspired me to check and see what gems were lurking in forgotten corners of my hard drive. Much to my surprise I found a complete short story I had never posted. It turned out to need a bit of work to fix it up, but the basic story is still the same.
UPDATE
mackenziesmomma was kind enough to read through this and only made me change one thing - does the happy dance of victory! Any remaining mistakes are totally my own fault.
It was a relatively quiet day on Atlantis, so Rodney McKay had spent most of his morning studying some of the more unusual Ancient artifacts that had been discovered during the exploration of the city. Thanks to the gene therapy Dr Beckett had developed, Rodney was able to activate most of the artifacts himself, but one particular device was proving difficult. Rodney realized that he would have to ask Colonel Sheppard to come down to the labs, but for some reason the Colonel wasn't answering his radio. Rodney checked with Major Lorne, who informed him that the Colonel was in his office doing paperwork and didn't want to be disturbed. Rodney was intrigued by this information. Sheppard always seemed to palm off the majority of his paperwork on the Major, so what ever he was working on must be important.
Rodney set off to find Sheppard, taking it for granted that the Colonel's request not to be disturbed didn't apply to him. It only took a few minutes to get from the labs to Sheppard's office as it was conveniently located near one of the transporters. The doors opened immediately at Rodney's mental request, to reveal Sheppard sitting at his desk, with his laptop open in front of him.
“Ah Colonel, there you are,” Rodney said, walking into the room.
Sheppard turned away from his laptop to look up at Rodney. A guilty expression briefly crossed his face, before it was replaced by a false smile.
“This better be important, McKay,” Sheppard said. “I told Lorne I didn't want to be disturbed.”
“Of course it's important,” Rodney said, impatiently. “I need you down in the labs to turn something on for me.”
“Turn something on?” Sheppard said, his voice sounding strangled. The tips of his ears turned slightly pink. “Oh, you mean one of the ancient devices.”
“What else would I mean?” asked Rodney, completely oblivious to the Colonel's discomfort. “Well, come on, what are you waiting for?”
“McKay, in case you hadn't noticed, I happen to be working here,” Sheppard pointed out.
“What could you possibly be working on that's so important?” Rodney asked impatiently.
“Well, um.....” John hesitated. Rodney was puzzled for a moment, before realization dawned.
“Oh, have you got a new computer game?” Rodney asked, his eyes lighting up. He walked across the office to get a better look at Sheppard's laptop.
“Wait, if you've got a new game how come you didn’t tell me about it?” he said suspiciously.
“Rodney, I’m not playing computer games,” Sheppard told him, turning the laptop away from Rodney in a futile attempt to hide the screen.
“Really?” asked Rodney in disbelief. “So why don't you want me to see what you're working on?”
“That's none of your business,” Sheppard snapped, avoiding Rodney's gaze.
Rodney wondered for a moment what Sheppard could possibly be hiding on his laptop that he wouldn't want Rodney to see. Sheppard didn't seem to have any family back on Earth he stayed in contact with and Rodney would have known if there were any condolence letters to write, which left one other alternative that he could think of.
“Ohmygod, you’re reading porn, aren’t you?” he asked.
“It’s not porn, its fan fiction.” muttered John in a quiet voice.
“What, seriously!” exclaimed Rodney, trying hard not to laugh out loud. “You’re such a geek Sheppard. So what is it, Star Trek? I bet you love all the action stories with the space ships and the great big space guns!”
Rodney really should have known better, but he couldn't resist reaching across the desk to grab the laptop. Sheppard tried to stop him, but Rodney was too fast. He turned the laptop until he could see the screen and started to scroll down the page. As Rodney read the story, his eyes widened in surprise because it turned out his initial guess was correct after all. This really was porn and not just any porn either, but incredibly hot gay porn.
“Oh,” he said, his usual eloquence deserting him. “I guess I can see why maybe you wouldn't want anyone else to see this. I'm sorry. Here, this is yours.” Rodney pushed the laptop back towards Sheppard, carefully avoiding the other man's eyes.
“I think you better go.” Sheppard said. His voice was cold and unforgiving and Rodney felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice over his head. John Sheppard was one of the closest friends Rodney had ever had and now it looked like he might have messed that up with one moment of thoughtlessness.
“Right.” Rodney said. “I'm going now.”
As Rodney walked towards the door he turned and looked back. Sheppard was sitting up unnaturally straight, shoulders tense, watching Rodney with an unreadable expression on his face. Rodney hated knowing he had put that look on Sheppard's face.
“I won't tell anyone, I swear. I've been working on highly classified work for years, so I know how to keep a secret.” Rodney told him, hoping that it would put things right.
“Thanks, Rodney. I appreciate that,” John said, relaxing just a little.
“So, are we still good?” Rodney asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
“I don't know.” John admitted. “It doesn't bother you, that I like guys?”
“No, it's fine,” Rodney tried to reassured his friend. He watch with relief as the tension finally drained out of Sheppard's body. “I may have, you know, experimented a little myself, back in college.”
“Experimented?” John asked, one eyebrow raised in surprise.
“Well, I'm a curious sort of guy,” Rodney said with a wry smile. “I need to know things.”
“So, was that all it was, an experiment?” John inquired, trying to sound casual.
“Yes, no, maybe?” Rodney tried to explain. “Look, I like guys, but I like girls too and in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not too good with people. I figured at least if I ask a girl out and she isn't interested, I won't end up getting punched in the face.”
“Oh. I'm sorry, I guess,” John said, looking sympathetic. “Look, I think I need a few minutes to get my head together. Why don't I meet you down in the lab after lunch?”
“Okay, thanks,” Rodney agreed. He turned to leave again, but then he was struck by the thought that there was something he was missing. It wasn't something Sheppard had said, it was something in the story. Rodney wasn't familiar with the show, but he had noticed in passing that one of the characters was a Colonel in some branch of the military and the other was a scientist. They were on the bridge of some sort of alien spaceship and the scientist had been leaning over a console, while the Colonel stared at his ass. Something about the scenario seemed strangely familiar.
Rodney remembered Sheppard's earlier comment, when he had asked him to come to the lab and turn things on and the way Sheppard had blushed. Suddenly everything fell into place, like the solution to a puzzle.
“You know, I think there's something I need to do first.” Rodney said with a smirk. He walked forward until he was right up in Sheppard's personal space. He reached out to place his hand on Sheppard, no John's shoulder and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on John's soft full kissable lips. He started to pull away but John reached out and grabbed his bicep.
“Hey, not so fast.” John said in a husky voice. “Just to make things perfectly clear, I'm not going to be your experiment, okay?”
“Oh I don't know,” Rodney said with a smirk. “I think I that would be an excellent plan. You would be my most important project, of course. I would need to schedule lots of time and resources, for all the simulations I would need to run. I'd need to collect a lot of data before I could come to any conclusions. Why, this project could run for years.”
“Really, years?” John said, shyly.
“Definitely,” Rodney agreed. This time it was John who reeled Rodney in for a passionate kiss.