Challenge #62 fic: Desperation Time
Title: Desperation Time
Author: Cyanne (silver_cyanne)
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: PG
Word count: 861
Summary: John really should know better by now. Quiet, uninhabited planet, just him and Rodney, no dangerous plants or animals. It was never this easy.
John really should know better by now. Quiet, uninhabited planet, just him and Rodney, no dangerous plants or animals. It was never this easy.
Rodney had thrown him out of the Ancient lab an hour ago.
"Stop touching things."
"I’m just standing here," John protested. He really was innocent this time, aside from opening the door he hadn't touched a thing since they got there.
"I mean it, stop turning things on. I haven't even figured out what the first three panels are for and you've already activated three more." Rodney had that look of concentration that John always found cute when it wasn't associated with "we're gonna die."
"I can't help it," and maybe John could have helped the leer that accompanied the denial, but where would be the fun in that.
"Looking hot is not helping, Colonel. Save it for home. Out." Rodney turned back to his laptop and pointed to the door without a second glance. Knowing when he was beat, John went.
"Check in's due in two hours, McKay. That's half hour before dark, so we'll head back."
That got him a hand wave. Figuring it was good enough, John left him alone to commune with the Ancient tech.
There was only so far John could wander considering he was still playing babysit the scientist. The first twenty-two walks around the outpost were boring- same trees, mountains off in the distance to the east, gate to the south, bluish-green sky with a few clouds.
Rodney came flying out the door near the tail end of circuit twenty-three.
John hurried to catch up with him. "What happened?"
Rodney didn't even slow down. "Run!"
"Rodney, what the hell?"
"Doranda," Rodney screamed back at him. A chill running down his spine John ran.
Just as he caught up with Rodney, he heard the lab exploding behind them. John pushed Rodney to the ground and covered him with his body, bracing for shrapnel that never fell.
Rodney was trying to buck him off, so John rolled to his knees and looked behind them. No fire. No sign, really, that anything had ever happened. Apparently the explosion had been contained in the building. But they couldn't risk going back in to find out.
Rodney had rolled over on his back but was still breathing heavily and made no move to get up.
"You okay?" John asked.
Rodney nodded.
Seeing as they were in no immediate danger, John flopped down beside him, carefully setting his P90 well within reach. From his vantage point lying on his side next to Rodney, he couldn't see any wounds on his friend but he longed to check him over with his own hands. But Rodney was clearly walled off within himself.
Rodney remained quiet for a long five minutes. "You want to tell me what that was all about?" John finally asked as calmly as he could. He was still shaken by the fact that Rodney easily could have been inside the lab when it blew and John wouldn't have known anything was wrong until it was far too late.
He heard Rodney take a deep breath. He wouldn't turn to look at John, which scared him even more, but at least he started talking.
"There was no time. I had gotten a patch into the computer and was pulling data. That's all I was doing, I swear, just looking. I had a few ideas of how to cross link two of the panels, I think there's a combination shield generator and cloak in there that's different from the one on Atlantis. "
Rodney took in another breath, clearly steeling himself for what was next. But apparently it wasn't a weapon, unlike Arcturus. Even so, John wasn't sure he wanted to know what had Rodney so freaked out that he would voluntarily bring it up.
"There was this timer. Out of nowhere, another hidden panel opened, and it was flashing zero seconds. I panicked, there wasn't any time to do anything."
"And then all of a sudden the timer reset and I had 60 seconds. And I ran. I think it borrowed time. I don’t know if it was from another universe or the future or the past or maybe it created it out of nothing. But I had more time. And I wanted to stay. Figure it out. It might be the basis of the how the
ZPMs were built. It's killing me not to know."
"It would have killed you to stay," John said gently, as he carefully reached over to grasp Rodney's hand.
"I know. Like I said, I wanted to. But then all I could see was your face in the other lab. And I ran."
John squeezed Rodney's hand. "You did good, Rodney. Real good. And if anybody can figure out where that
extra time came from, it's you. Least now you know it's possible."
"Yeah, " Rodney said, sounding sad and resigned. "Can we stay here for a few minutes?"
"Long as you want," John assured him, content to hold Rodney's hand and lie in the sun. It was never easy but sometimes this was as good as it got.
Author: Cyanne (silver_cyanne)
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: PG
Word count: 861
Summary: John really should know better by now. Quiet, uninhabited planet, just him and Rodney, no dangerous plants or animals. It was never this easy.
John really should know better by now. Quiet, uninhabited planet, just him and Rodney, no dangerous plants or animals. It was never this easy.
Rodney had thrown him out of the Ancient lab an hour ago.
"Stop touching things."
"I’m just standing here," John protested. He really was innocent this time, aside from opening the door he hadn't touched a thing since they got there.
"I mean it, stop turning things on. I haven't even figured out what the first three panels are for and you've already activated three more." Rodney had that look of concentration that John always found cute when it wasn't associated with "we're gonna die."
"I can't help it," and maybe John could have helped the leer that accompanied the denial, but where would be the fun in that.
"Looking hot is not helping, Colonel. Save it for home. Out." Rodney turned back to his laptop and pointed to the door without a second glance. Knowing when he was beat, John went.
"Check in's due in two hours, McKay. That's half hour before dark, so we'll head back."
That got him a hand wave. Figuring it was good enough, John left him alone to commune with the Ancient tech.
There was only so far John could wander considering he was still playing babysit the scientist. The first twenty-two walks around the outpost were boring- same trees, mountains off in the distance to the east, gate to the south, bluish-green sky with a few clouds.
Rodney came flying out the door near the tail end of circuit twenty-three.
John hurried to catch up with him. "What happened?"
Rodney didn't even slow down. "Run!"
"Rodney, what the hell?"
"Doranda," Rodney screamed back at him. A chill running down his spine John ran.
Just as he caught up with Rodney, he heard the lab exploding behind them. John pushed Rodney to the ground and covered him with his body, bracing for shrapnel that never fell.
Rodney was trying to buck him off, so John rolled to his knees and looked behind them. No fire. No sign, really, that anything had ever happened. Apparently the explosion had been contained in the building. But they couldn't risk going back in to find out.
Rodney had rolled over on his back but was still breathing heavily and made no move to get up.
"You okay?" John asked.
Rodney nodded.
Seeing as they were in no immediate danger, John flopped down beside him, carefully setting his P90 well within reach. From his vantage point lying on his side next to Rodney, he couldn't see any wounds on his friend but he longed to check him over with his own hands. But Rodney was clearly walled off within himself.
Rodney remained quiet for a long five minutes. "You want to tell me what that was all about?" John finally asked as calmly as he could. He was still shaken by the fact that Rodney easily could have been inside the lab when it blew and John wouldn't have known anything was wrong until it was far too late.
He heard Rodney take a deep breath. He wouldn't turn to look at John, which scared him even more, but at least he started talking.
"There was no time. I had gotten a patch into the computer and was pulling data. That's all I was doing, I swear, just looking. I had a few ideas of how to cross link two of the panels, I think there's a combination shield generator and cloak in there that's different from the one on Atlantis. "
Rodney took in another breath, clearly steeling himself for what was next. But apparently it wasn't a weapon, unlike Arcturus. Even so, John wasn't sure he wanted to know what had Rodney so freaked out that he would voluntarily bring it up.
"There was this timer. Out of nowhere, another hidden panel opened, and it was flashing zero seconds. I panicked, there wasn't any time to do anything."
"And then all of a sudden the timer reset and I had 60 seconds. And I ran. I think it borrowed time. I don’t know if it was from another universe or the future or the past or maybe it created it out of nothing. But I had more time. And I wanted to stay. Figure it out. It might be the basis of the how the
ZPMs were built. It's killing me not to know."
"It would have killed you to stay," John said gently, as he carefully reached over to grasp Rodney's hand.
"I know. Like I said, I wanted to. But then all I could see was your face in the other lab. And I ran."
John squeezed Rodney's hand. "You did good, Rodney. Real good. And if anybody can figure out where that
extra time came from, it's you. Least now you know it's possible."
"Yeah, " Rodney said, sounding sad and resigned. "Can we stay here for a few minutes?"
"Long as you want," John assured him, content to hold Rodney's hand and lie in the sun. It was never easy but sometimes this was as good as it got.