Fic: Not Forgotten - Sheppard H/C Challenge

[neevebrody]

Title: Not Forgotten
Author: Neevebrody
Recipient: tielan - Sheppard H/C Holiday Fic Exchange
Word Count: ~8,500
Rating: PG (Gen-ish)
Warnings: Psychological whump; swearing
Beta: Thanks to melagan for being an awesome sounding board. Also a huge thank you to my beta/editor, mischief5. I called on her to perform over and above and she aced it, as usual

Comments

[sgamadison]

Eee! You mentioned this at Squee Weekend and I couldn't wait to see what you came up with! It will have to wait until I get home from work tonight though--but that will give me something to look forward to! :-)

[melagan]

I really like where you took this prompt. There's an insidious creepiness to Todd's mental attack - I can almost hear his dry chuckle.

Teyla is very much in character and now I just want to give the whole team a big hug.

[neevebrody]

I really like Todd and have always been curious whether or not some kind of bond was created by his restoring John's life. I think Todd has a very high regard for John Sheppard, in part because I believe that Todd was a witness to the life he took from John... if that makes sense. And here, Todd gets to see John's life before and what made John Sheppard who he was, a human with a fortitude that he wanted to emulate in order to gain respect.

I'm really glad you thought Teyla was in character. I wanted to show her strength as well. So glad you enjoyed the story and thank you again for listening to me wail and moan about it.

[sgamadison]

Ah, I ended up catching a break at lunch and being able to read this. I love the direction you went with this. Teyla was so fierce here that I just wanted to hug her and shout, "You go, girl!"

But this: Sheppard's fear, elbowed into a tiny corridor by his anger, begins to subside. If he has to lose, he'll do it honest, hand to hand, fangs out… not by being duped, and certainly not through any mistake on his part. And he's sure as hell not just going to lie here and take it. Fuck that. He feels the fight well up inside. Oddly, it's a relief that spreads like a tide, each wave dampening the anger by small degrees, changing it into something else, something he can use.

This was sheer perfection.

[neevebrody]

Thank you!! I really wanted to showcase Teyla and her intuition and strength, so for you to say she was fierce... that made my day. And when you think of how bad John Sheppard can beat himself up... no wonder Todd wanted to tap into that. Or, was he merely showing off? There really is a lot going on in this story - I'm just happy you enjoyed it.

[kristen999]

This was fabulous. I loved feeling lost inside John's mind, floating around with him. You did a good job of balancing his confusion and giving emotional weight of the memories that were being released. Todd is such a complex character. He has this reverence for John even while manipulating and nearly driving him mad to gain a tactical advance, all the while knowing that John could being pushed to his limits.

The interactions between Teyla and Todd was like a chess game and I enjoyed seeing her protectiveness and clapped when John went on the attack. You did a great job with the prompt hon.

[neevebrody]

Thank you! I really appreciate your comment as I was a bit unsure I had what it takes to stand among this very talented group of writers. I don't say I'm there, yet, but at least I have a great goal to shoot for.

I do love Todd as a character and have always thought that the act of first taking, then restoring Sheppard's life afforded Todd a very intimate view of John - even if he may not have fully understood it all. Teyla was the key element here, as Todd found out first hand that John's friends really were loyal and true. I thought of this story as sort of a "missing scene" in the canon timeline because it's a pretty good springboard for much of what came after in canon.

Thanks again, and thanks for running the exchange again. I enjoyed very much participating.

[roo1965]

THis was very dark and creepy, without overdoing it. An ineteresting way of looking at Todd's bond with John. John's so easy to torment! Well done on Teyla to the rescue (for now).

[neevebrody]

Thank you so much - I'm very pleased you enjoyed the story. I've always thought the bond between Todd and John was more than just a "gentlemen's code" kind of thing, although I do think there's a big element of that. And Teyla was really the key piece here in the way her own ties with Wraith played a part as well as her fierce devotion to John.