new FIC: State of Affairs
Author: Morena Donn
Title: State of Affairs
Pairing: McKay/Ford
Summary: "Exhaustion's not the only thing that makes a person breathe hard."
First time, PG, Season One
As always, thanks to Brindel , beta extraordinaire
It was a sad commentary on the accepted state of affairs for the Pegasus Galaxy first contact team.
Not only was Rodney not at all surprised that yet another mission had ended with the team racing for the 'gate, chased by a crowd of angry natives, but he wasn't even particularly concerned at first. After all, what's a stone-throwing mob when you've faced the Wraith? Especially when the team seemed to be outdistancing the natives handily.
Rodney even considered slowing down a bit to ease his laboring lungs. His nonchalance vanished when the first arrow sliced through the air, just nicking Major Sheppard. It didn't penetrate his vest, but the impact spun him around and he stumbled, going down hard, leg twisted at an impossible angle.
"Crap, is it broken?" Rodney asked, knowing it was a rhetorical question even as he uttered it.
Sheppard was too busy trying not to scream to answer. Ford locked eyes with Teyla. "I need you to get him to the gate. McKay, you're with me. We'll draw off pursuit."
"Lieutenant, I'm sure it can't have escaped even your rudimentary observational skills that I'm not the world's most skilled woodsman." Rodney protested.
Ford just grinned at him. "Exactly. We're gonna want to make as much noise as possible."
The grin faded as another arrow sliced through the air. Teyla grasped Sheppard's shoulders, and began to pull him into the brush, and he bit his lip, clearly doing all he could not to scream. Rodney tried to help, the only way he could.
"Right, noise, I can handle that." he said, deliberately opening himself up for a sarcastic putdown from Sheppard. The injured man didn't take the bait, but he did smile weakly, and Teyla nodded her appreciation.
Ford sketched a quick salute. "Take care, Sir," he said, before turning to Rodney. "Any time now, McKay," and then he was gone, running through the brush, angling back *towards* the angry natives. Rodney sighed, cast Sheppard a look that said he'd better appreciate Rodney's sacrifice, then crashed after him.
They ran for what felt like miles, and Rodney was feeling rather pleased with his stamina, when Teyla radioed that she and the Major had reached the gate safely. "Good job," Ford said, and ordered her through, before turning to Rodney. "Right, stealth mode now, Doc." And damn but it took more effort to run silently. Rodney found himself struggling to keep up, and when Ford finally stopped, he doubled over, hands on knees, gasping.
"Breathe, Doc." Ford said, running a soothing hand up and down Rodney's back. It didn't take long for the hand to shift from soothing to something else. Rodney's breathing, which had begun to slow, hitched and sped up again.
"McKay? You okay?" Ford asked, sounding concerned and perhaps just a tad condescending - *he'd* barely even broken a sweat. Rodney's pride stung.
"Exhaustion's not the only thing that makes a person breathe hard." he snapped, regretting the words as soon as they'd left his mouth. Shit. He'd been so determined to save face that he'd slipped and revealed his ridiculous little crush on the other man. Had it been Sheppard, he could have shrugged the suggestive comment off as a joke, but now all he could do was hope the Lieutenant hadn't caught it.
Seconds ticked by, and Ford didn't lash out, either physically or verbally. Rodney had begun to think he'd gotten lucky, when the Lieutenant's hand slid down in his back again, this time in a deliberate caress.
Rodney shivered. Damn, that felt good. What the hell - cover's broken anyway. "Don't do that if you don't mean business." he warned.
"And if I do?"
Rodney opened his mouth, then closed it without saying anything. The whole point of having a ridiculous crush on an unobtainable man was just that - the fact that he *was* unobtainable. Unrequited love was so much less distracting than a relationship gone sour. Being liked back was a development he hadn't expected, and he didn't quite know how to react.
Ford was waiting for an answer, dark eyes unreadable. Rodney opened his mouth again, still unsure as to what he would say, when their radios crackled. Teyla had returned with a rescue team.
"Later." Ford promised. Rodney nodded, and they began making their careful way back to the 'gate.
********************
It was all Aiden Ford could do to keep from punching the air and shouting "Yes!" Dr. McKay liked him! He'd as much as admitted it. All that babble about hot blondes was just that...babble. Or maybe Rodney was bi. Aiden really didn't care. All that mattered was that it was *his* touch that had the doc breathing hard. He just wished there was someone he could share his triumph with.
He'd like to confide in Sheppard, was pretty sure the Major would offer a sympathetic ear and nothing more, but it wouldn't be fair: the man was having enough problems with by-the-book Sergeant Bates without adding a violation of DADT. Teyla would definitely be sympathetic, but he was afraid Earthly prejudices would offend her sense of justice and she'd inadvertently out him.
He'd tried taking advantage of doctor/patient confidentiality and talking to Dr. Beckett. It had gone well enough until Aiden had revealed *who* he was pining for, at which point Beckett had nearly fallen off his chair laughing, then asked if Aiden was sure he didn't need to see Heightmeyer. Aiden didn't know how to explain that the very characteristics that turned most people off Rodney McKay were what turned him on.
Aiden *liked* the sarcasm, and what others considered an annoying lack of tact, he saw as refreshing honesty. While Aiden had to admit that McKay's habit of referring to himself as the biggest genius in two galaxies was a bit exasperating, he figured it wasn't arrogance if it was true, and in his book, smart was *hot*. To top it all off, the man saw the trained and experienced soldier beneath his relative youth and baby face, and respected him. Well, to the extent he respected anybody.
Take the time they'd been stuck in the 'gate. Okay, yes, McKay had panicked, but he'd come through in the end, and he'd *listened* to Aiden, taken him seriously instead of treating him like some over-optimistic kid, unlike a number of his fellow marines, who persisted in treating him like a child, despite his superior rank.
He'd never expected to catch McKay's eye, though. In the first place, he hadn't been sure the man was gay. In the second, he figured he didn't have a chance with Sheppard around: no ordinary man could hope to compete against the Major's good looks and flirtatious charm. Regardless, Aiden himself had certainly noticed McKay - it was hard not to, what with the brains, and the hands, and the mouth. That beautifully loud and mobile, crooked mouth. The mouth that, if he played his cards right, would be his before the day was out. Aiden smiled to himself. Scientists weren't the only ones trained to observe. He was pretty sure McKay would try to avoid him - and equally certain he had a way to overcome that avoidance.
********************
Rodney was in the infirmary, getting a stitch - A stitch! In my *face*! - for a nasty cut on his cheek he hadn't even noticed - and you could be damn sure he was going to bring that up, the next time someone accused him of hypochondria - when Radek found him, and he just *had* to follow the other scientist to the lab. Where he stayed, working hard and most decidedly *not* avoiding Aiden Ford's "Later".
Which was a damn good thing, because Ford proved difficult to avoid, as Rodney learned when hunger finally drew him from the labs. The young soldier ambushed him on way to mess, sidetracking him with the promise of a hot meal, complete with real coffee and desert.
Ford ushered him into his quarters, where Rodney was surprised to see a small table and a pair of chairs. The initial prickle of curiosity and unease where did he find furniture, and why is he going to so much trouble, was soon overcome by a rush of hunger at the sight and smell of food.
The meal was as promised, a piping hot bowl of Rodney’s favorite comfort food, Mini Raviolis, with several slices of garlic bread to sop it up with. The coffee was not just coffee, but a fresh-brewed French Roast, and just to make it irresistible, Ford had somehow managed to round up a big gooey Bear Claw for dessert. For Rodney, it was a meal made in heaven, but Ford had to have been observing him closely for a while to know that.
Rodney didn't know whether to be flattered or frightened, especially given the fact that Ford had used his observations as bait, to lure Rodney back to his quarters, trapping him into the talk he'd been hoping to avoid.
They ate in silence, but Rodney was still tense - wondering what Ford was going to say, and how he should react. When it came, it was not at all what he'd been expecting. Rodney had just taken his last bite when, "So, how are those equations you and Zelenka are working on to stop the power fluctuations? I hear you've started in with Dr. Yanagisawa's Stress Equation, is that working at all..." He broke off, standing to go to Rodney's aid as he choked, but Rodney waved him off.
When Rodney regained his composure, Ford was looking at him disdainfully. "What, I'm not allowed to be smart?" he demanded. "I've got news, doc. Stupid soldiers don't get picked for the SGC, and if they do, they don't survive long."
He stiffened then, taking on a cold, distant look that Rodney recognized all to well. Seeing it on Sheppard was bad enough, but Rodney knew perfectly well that while the Major was a good man, the surface charm was just that: surface. Aiden Ford, on the other hand, had a genuine cheerful innocence that had miraculously survived military training. Seeing that look on his face went beyond bad, into just plain wrong.
Rodney acted instinctively, reaching across the small table to take the younger man's hand and give a reassuring squeeze. Ford looked at him then, dark eyes locking on blue, and stood, coming around the table and pulling Rodney to his feet. His free hand drifted up, finger ghosting around the edges of the cut on Rodney's cheek. It had been far too long since anyone besides Carson had touched him that gently, and Carson's touch hardly counted, as it was always in a purely professional capacity. Rodney couldn't help but moan and lean into the caress.
The gentle hand cupped Rodney’s cheek briefly, before trailing slowly down his neck, coming to rest on his chest, fingers idly stroking a rapidly peaking nipple through his shirt. Rodney moaned, and Ford stepped backwards, still holding Rodney's hand, leading him towards the bed.
"So what do you say I get you breathing hard again?" he asked with a smile that was almost a smirk. Smug and self-satisfied was another look better suited to Sheppard than Ford, Rodney decided. Fortunately for him, there was a very pleasant way of remedying the situation. Feeling a bit smug himself, he leaned in to kiss the smirk off of Ford's willing mouth.
Rodney could hardly believe his luck. He was *in bed* with Aiden Ford, well on it, to be more precise, but this wasn't a time to dwell on semantics, not with Aiden's mouth pressed, hot and wet against his own, and Aiden's warm, clever hand slipping under his shirt. *This* was a state of affairs he'd be happy to get used to.
Title: State of Affairs
Pairing: McKay/Ford
Summary: "Exhaustion's not the only thing that makes a person breathe hard."
First time, PG, Season One
As always, thanks to Brindel , beta extraordinaire
It was a sad commentary on the accepted state of affairs for the Pegasus Galaxy first contact team.
Not only was Rodney not at all surprised that yet another mission had ended with the team racing for the 'gate, chased by a crowd of angry natives, but he wasn't even particularly concerned at first. After all, what's a stone-throwing mob when you've faced the Wraith? Especially when the team seemed to be outdistancing the natives handily.
Rodney even considered slowing down a bit to ease his laboring lungs. His nonchalance vanished when the first arrow sliced through the air, just nicking Major Sheppard. It didn't penetrate his vest, but the impact spun him around and he stumbled, going down hard, leg twisted at an impossible angle.
"Crap, is it broken?" Rodney asked, knowing it was a rhetorical question even as he uttered it.
Sheppard was too busy trying not to scream to answer. Ford locked eyes with Teyla. "I need you to get him to the gate. McKay, you're with me. We'll draw off pursuit."
"Lieutenant, I'm sure it can't have escaped even your rudimentary observational skills that I'm not the world's most skilled woodsman." Rodney protested.
Ford just grinned at him. "Exactly. We're gonna want to make as much noise as possible."
The grin faded as another arrow sliced through the air. Teyla grasped Sheppard's shoulders, and began to pull him into the brush, and he bit his lip, clearly doing all he could not to scream. Rodney tried to help, the only way he could.
"Right, noise, I can handle that." he said, deliberately opening himself up for a sarcastic putdown from Sheppard. The injured man didn't take the bait, but he did smile weakly, and Teyla nodded her appreciation.
Ford sketched a quick salute. "Take care, Sir," he said, before turning to Rodney. "Any time now, McKay," and then he was gone, running through the brush, angling back *towards* the angry natives. Rodney sighed, cast Sheppard a look that said he'd better appreciate Rodney's sacrifice, then crashed after him.
They ran for what felt like miles, and Rodney was feeling rather pleased with his stamina, when Teyla radioed that she and the Major had reached the gate safely. "Good job," Ford said, and ordered her through, before turning to Rodney. "Right, stealth mode now, Doc." And damn but it took more effort to run silently. Rodney found himself struggling to keep up, and when Ford finally stopped, he doubled over, hands on knees, gasping.
"Breathe, Doc." Ford said, running a soothing hand up and down Rodney's back. It didn't take long for the hand to shift from soothing to something else. Rodney's breathing, which had begun to slow, hitched and sped up again.
"McKay? You okay?" Ford asked, sounding concerned and perhaps just a tad condescending - *he'd* barely even broken a sweat. Rodney's pride stung.
"Exhaustion's not the only thing that makes a person breathe hard." he snapped, regretting the words as soon as they'd left his mouth. Shit. He'd been so determined to save face that he'd slipped and revealed his ridiculous little crush on the other man. Had it been Sheppard, he could have shrugged the suggestive comment off as a joke, but now all he could do was hope the Lieutenant hadn't caught it.
Seconds ticked by, and Ford didn't lash out, either physically or verbally. Rodney had begun to think he'd gotten lucky, when the Lieutenant's hand slid down in his back again, this time in a deliberate caress.
Rodney shivered. Damn, that felt good. What the hell - cover's broken anyway. "Don't do that if you don't mean business." he warned.
"And if I do?"
Rodney opened his mouth, then closed it without saying anything. The whole point of having a ridiculous crush on an unobtainable man was just that - the fact that he *was* unobtainable. Unrequited love was so much less distracting than a relationship gone sour. Being liked back was a development he hadn't expected, and he didn't quite know how to react.
Ford was waiting for an answer, dark eyes unreadable. Rodney opened his mouth again, still unsure as to what he would say, when their radios crackled. Teyla had returned with a rescue team.
"Later." Ford promised. Rodney nodded, and they began making their careful way back to the 'gate.
********************
It was all Aiden Ford could do to keep from punching the air and shouting "Yes!" Dr. McKay liked him! He'd as much as admitted it. All that babble about hot blondes was just that...babble. Or maybe Rodney was bi. Aiden really didn't care. All that mattered was that it was *his* touch that had the doc breathing hard. He just wished there was someone he could share his triumph with.
He'd like to confide in Sheppard, was pretty sure the Major would offer a sympathetic ear and nothing more, but it wouldn't be fair: the man was having enough problems with by-the-book Sergeant Bates without adding a violation of DADT. Teyla would definitely be sympathetic, but he was afraid Earthly prejudices would offend her sense of justice and she'd inadvertently out him.
He'd tried taking advantage of doctor/patient confidentiality and talking to Dr. Beckett. It had gone well enough until Aiden had revealed *who* he was pining for, at which point Beckett had nearly fallen off his chair laughing, then asked if Aiden was sure he didn't need to see Heightmeyer. Aiden didn't know how to explain that the very characteristics that turned most people off Rodney McKay were what turned him on.
Aiden *liked* the sarcasm, and what others considered an annoying lack of tact, he saw as refreshing honesty. While Aiden had to admit that McKay's habit of referring to himself as the biggest genius in two galaxies was a bit exasperating, he figured it wasn't arrogance if it was true, and in his book, smart was *hot*. To top it all off, the man saw the trained and experienced soldier beneath his relative youth and baby face, and respected him. Well, to the extent he respected anybody.
Take the time they'd been stuck in the 'gate. Okay, yes, McKay had panicked, but he'd come through in the end, and he'd *listened* to Aiden, taken him seriously instead of treating him like some over-optimistic kid, unlike a number of his fellow marines, who persisted in treating him like a child, despite his superior rank.
He'd never expected to catch McKay's eye, though. In the first place, he hadn't been sure the man was gay. In the second, he figured he didn't have a chance with Sheppard around: no ordinary man could hope to compete against the Major's good looks and flirtatious charm. Regardless, Aiden himself had certainly noticed McKay - it was hard not to, what with the brains, and the hands, and the mouth. That beautifully loud and mobile, crooked mouth. The mouth that, if he played his cards right, would be his before the day was out. Aiden smiled to himself. Scientists weren't the only ones trained to observe. He was pretty sure McKay would try to avoid him - and equally certain he had a way to overcome that avoidance.
********************
Rodney was in the infirmary, getting a stitch - A stitch! In my *face*! - for a nasty cut on his cheek he hadn't even noticed - and you could be damn sure he was going to bring that up, the next time someone accused him of hypochondria - when Radek found him, and he just *had* to follow the other scientist to the lab. Where he stayed, working hard and most decidedly *not* avoiding Aiden Ford's "Later".
Which was a damn good thing, because Ford proved difficult to avoid, as Rodney learned when hunger finally drew him from the labs. The young soldier ambushed him on way to mess, sidetracking him with the promise of a hot meal, complete with real coffee and desert.
Ford ushered him into his quarters, where Rodney was surprised to see a small table and a pair of chairs. The initial prickle of curiosity and unease where did he find furniture, and why is he going to so much trouble, was soon overcome by a rush of hunger at the sight and smell of food.
The meal was as promised, a piping hot bowl of Rodney’s favorite comfort food, Mini Raviolis, with several slices of garlic bread to sop it up with. The coffee was not just coffee, but a fresh-brewed French Roast, and just to make it irresistible, Ford had somehow managed to round up a big gooey Bear Claw for dessert. For Rodney, it was a meal made in heaven, but Ford had to have been observing him closely for a while to know that.
Rodney didn't know whether to be flattered or frightened, especially given the fact that Ford had used his observations as bait, to lure Rodney back to his quarters, trapping him into the talk he'd been hoping to avoid.
They ate in silence, but Rodney was still tense - wondering what Ford was going to say, and how he should react. When it came, it was not at all what he'd been expecting. Rodney had just taken his last bite when, "So, how are those equations you and Zelenka are working on to stop the power fluctuations? I hear you've started in with Dr. Yanagisawa's Stress Equation, is that working at all..." He broke off, standing to go to Rodney's aid as he choked, but Rodney waved him off.
When Rodney regained his composure, Ford was looking at him disdainfully. "What, I'm not allowed to be smart?" he demanded. "I've got news, doc. Stupid soldiers don't get picked for the SGC, and if they do, they don't survive long."
He stiffened then, taking on a cold, distant look that Rodney recognized all to well. Seeing it on Sheppard was bad enough, but Rodney knew perfectly well that while the Major was a good man, the surface charm was just that: surface. Aiden Ford, on the other hand, had a genuine cheerful innocence that had miraculously survived military training. Seeing that look on his face went beyond bad, into just plain wrong.
Rodney acted instinctively, reaching across the small table to take the younger man's hand and give a reassuring squeeze. Ford looked at him then, dark eyes locking on blue, and stood, coming around the table and pulling Rodney to his feet. His free hand drifted up, finger ghosting around the edges of the cut on Rodney's cheek. It had been far too long since anyone besides Carson had touched him that gently, and Carson's touch hardly counted, as it was always in a purely professional capacity. Rodney couldn't help but moan and lean into the caress.
The gentle hand cupped Rodney’s cheek briefly, before trailing slowly down his neck, coming to rest on his chest, fingers idly stroking a rapidly peaking nipple through his shirt. Rodney moaned, and Ford stepped backwards, still holding Rodney's hand, leading him towards the bed.
"So what do you say I get you breathing hard again?" he asked with a smile that was almost a smirk. Smug and self-satisfied was another look better suited to Sheppard than Ford, Rodney decided. Fortunately for him, there was a very pleasant way of remedying the situation. Feeling a bit smug himself, he leaned in to kiss the smirk off of Ford's willing mouth.
Rodney could hardly believe his luck. He was *in bed* with Aiden Ford, well on it, to be more precise, but this wasn't a time to dwell on semantics, not with Aiden's mouth pressed, hot and wet against his own, and Aiden's warm, clever hand slipping under his shirt. *This* was a state of affairs he'd be happy to get used to.