[fic] Guardian Angel - SGA:McShep
Title: Guardian Angel
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay, Sheppard/OFC, McKay/OFC
Summary: They find her and fall in love, but with who is the question.
Note: A story full of random and defies all laws of matter, physics, and Ancients. Written while I was watching Season Three or so. General spoilers. Mild Het. No beta, so all mistakes are mine. Thank you to rissabby for looking this over and sending me edits *mwah*
They find her on a rural planet, living amongst commoners with technology belonging to primitive cavemen; these are Rodney's words, of course. Teyla considers them peaceful and Ronon chimes in with 'no backbone'. John thinks that they're just unfortunate not to know the freedom of the sky.
They decide to keep her after she saves them twice from rogue Genii that were set on capturing Rodney (again). When they take her back to Atlantis, she joins the science crew and John thinks that they only let her hang around because she's pretty.
Turns out that she's more than a quick study and easily keeps up with the rest of the science team after only a few months around advanced technology. Suspicion is easy with all of them, but Rodney defends her with such venom that John starts to wonder if she's really a brunette.
She's a constant after a year, in Rodney's lab and at Rodney's side, continuously arguing over calculations that John can somewhat understand, but flies just a bit over his head. He's out of practice when it comes to mathematics, even though numbers still compute easily in his head, but what they talk about is sheer physics and he's certain it's important and that he really shouldn't feel left out.
She's an add-on to his team after two years, and even then it's limited because Rodney thinks she shouldn't do field work and John thinks that having two smart people on his team is a waste of talent. She's friendly and Telya becomes her best friend. Ronon only likes her because she can hold her own in a fight. It's a given that Rodney is fascinated by her and John, well John thinks that his opinions don't matter.
"Colonel Sheppard." She has a light voice and an easy smile and John really does think she's a nice girl but there's just something about her that makes John think 'wrong'. "Is there something wrong?"
He shakes his head, mostly because saying that something is wrong would be rude and just a little because he doesn't know exactly what it is that's wrong. It just is. Trust is not an issue, because John trusts her with his life and did so many times. It just feels as if she's...different.
It hits him a few days later, exactly what's wrong. But it's nothing wrong with her and everything wrong with him.
It's the way she's always at Rodney's side, bringing a comfortable smile onto Rodney's usually worried face. It's how they work so well together and understand each other in ways that John would never understand either.
John is jealous. But denial makes him go for the one that's safe. She smiles and blushes and plays along, agreeing to dates and accepting gifts of flowers and fruits. John still thinks that there's something wrong, but this is a familiar game and fun, so John doesn't stop.
It's when Rodney gets involved that the game becomes more like a war. Rodney likes her and tells John in many more words than necessary. John thinks that maybe Rodney had a sonnet going there, but the poetry was lost in the flood of scientific terms.
So dates become threesomes more often than not, because Rodney will walk in and sit down, invite himself into the conversation and take her attention away.
John gets angry a few times, because Rodney is being rude, though he realizes that he is doing the same thing every time he walks into the lab and the two are eating lunch together.
It takes another half a year for John to realize that his jealousy was being directed onto the wrong person. He isn't jealous of Rodney, he's jealous of her.
The revelation isn't easy to come by and wouldn't have at all if it weren't for the girl herself. "You know, you talk an awful lot about Doctor McKay." She smiles knowingly at John's confused frown just as Rodney interrupts their date for the third time that week.
John spends the rest of their lunch break quiet and watching until he is certain about what she meant.
He likes Rodney.
It is surprising and would have sent him into a fit if she hadn't shown up at his room just before bedtime with a cup of coffee and herbal tea for herself.
They talk the night away, which is more John talking and her listening. They discuss many things, at the foremost Rodney and the scientist's ability to get on everyone's nerves and still continue to be likable.
The next day, Rodney shows up in his room and concedes defeat and John can't say anything because Rodney looks like he's about to cry. John finds out later that Rodney saw them that morning, when she had left and John had given her a friendly peck on the cheek for being such a wonderful girl.
Rodney clearly has the wrong idea, but when John tries to explain it, Rodney doesn't want to hear.
They don't speak for weeks and the girl seems torn because they won't talk to her and they won't talk to each other.
It's only after a mission to some random planet in the database that they finally talk to each other again and only then because the girl touches an artifact and both of them start glowing. Teyla frowns, Ronon gets his gun ready, Rodney panics and John...well, John tries to calm Rodney down before the other kills himself.
"Breathe, Rodney." Rodney breathes and calms down enough to realize that there's nothing really worth panicking about. The girl is looking at the pair of them with eyes that remind John of Teyla; that weird 'you're an idiot, but I'm going to seem like it doesn't matter' look.
The sky turns dark and John is a bit worried but the girl seems to know what she's doing. Fiddling with knobs and pressing weird symbols, out pops a roll of parchment. Then she turns to them and tells them that she's really very sick of listening to them whine about energy problems and that she'd rather be punished than have to live with it any more. There's a moment when she looks like she's about to be dissolved away, but retains her figure by pure force of will.
"If I'm going to live in exile, I need something in return." Her voice is demanding. "A kiss."
Rodney's the first to break the stunned silence when he commands John to kiss her. John frowns and tells Rodney that he should kiss her and then a few seconds later, they start fighting about who should kiss her until she tells them to shut up and kiss each other because even she would get old waiting for them to finally get together.
It's Rodney that curses and grabs John, swinging the Colonel into a fierce kiss that turns into something like a makeout session until Ronon clears his throat and John can hear the girl and Teyla twittering quietly to the side.
John isn't surprised when the girl turns into a glowing ball that looks strangely like a squid.
The parchment has instructions and the team is quick to follow them. They return home with five new ZPMs, a manual, and an aurora-class ship for their fight against the Wraith. Three ZPMs end up getting transported back to Earth for the fight there and Atlantis only gets two and a copy of the manual. Which is totally unfair, but IOA still thinks that they're a waste of money.
Unsurprisingly, the girl left an array of gifts on Rodney's harddrive, some being useless, like the memo about that room to the far north of the city that seemed to shrink things at random (it was a garbage disposal), to things that were groundbreaking, like finishing up equations to Rodney's biggest problems and opening a new part of the Ancient database.
Rodney and John don't talk about the kiss after they get home. Even months after, they're still tippy toeing around each other and when John is required to go to the lab for something or other, John swears that he hears a 'For crying out loud!' right before the door to the lab slams shut and refuses to open again.
It's clear to everyone that thirteen hours locked in a lab together makes a difference because John and Rodney exit with shy smiles and lighted faces. When they retire for the night in the same bedroom, they aren't disturbed. Rodney thinks it's because everyone knows better, but John believes it's because they got themselves one hell of a guardian angel.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay, Sheppard/OFC, McKay/OFC
Summary: They find her and fall in love, but with who is the question.
Note: A story full of random and defies all laws of matter, physics, and Ancients. Written while I was watching Season Three or so. General spoilers. Mild Het. No beta, so all mistakes are mine. Thank you to rissabby for looking this over and sending me edits *mwah*
They find her on a rural planet, living amongst commoners with technology belonging to primitive cavemen; these are Rodney's words, of course. Teyla considers them peaceful and Ronon chimes in with 'no backbone'. John thinks that they're just unfortunate not to know the freedom of the sky.
They decide to keep her after she saves them twice from rogue Genii that were set on capturing Rodney (again). When they take her back to Atlantis, she joins the science crew and John thinks that they only let her hang around because she's pretty.
Turns out that she's more than a quick study and easily keeps up with the rest of the science team after only a few months around advanced technology. Suspicion is easy with all of them, but Rodney defends her with such venom that John starts to wonder if she's really a brunette.
She's a constant after a year, in Rodney's lab and at Rodney's side, continuously arguing over calculations that John can somewhat understand, but flies just a bit over his head. He's out of practice when it comes to mathematics, even though numbers still compute easily in his head, but what they talk about is sheer physics and he's certain it's important and that he really shouldn't feel left out.
She's an add-on to his team after two years, and even then it's limited because Rodney thinks she shouldn't do field work and John thinks that having two smart people on his team is a waste of talent. She's friendly and Telya becomes her best friend. Ronon only likes her because she can hold her own in a fight. It's a given that Rodney is fascinated by her and John, well John thinks that his opinions don't matter.
"Colonel Sheppard." She has a light voice and an easy smile and John really does think she's a nice girl but there's just something about her that makes John think 'wrong'. "Is there something wrong?"
He shakes his head, mostly because saying that something is wrong would be rude and just a little because he doesn't know exactly what it is that's wrong. It just is. Trust is not an issue, because John trusts her with his life and did so many times. It just feels as if she's...different.
It hits him a few days later, exactly what's wrong. But it's nothing wrong with her and everything wrong with him.
It's the way she's always at Rodney's side, bringing a comfortable smile onto Rodney's usually worried face. It's how they work so well together and understand each other in ways that John would never understand either.
John is jealous. But denial makes him go for the one that's safe. She smiles and blushes and plays along, agreeing to dates and accepting gifts of flowers and fruits. John still thinks that there's something wrong, but this is a familiar game and fun, so John doesn't stop.
It's when Rodney gets involved that the game becomes more like a war. Rodney likes her and tells John in many more words than necessary. John thinks that maybe Rodney had a sonnet going there, but the poetry was lost in the flood of scientific terms.
So dates become threesomes more often than not, because Rodney will walk in and sit down, invite himself into the conversation and take her attention away.
John gets angry a few times, because Rodney is being rude, though he realizes that he is doing the same thing every time he walks into the lab and the two are eating lunch together.
It takes another half a year for John to realize that his jealousy was being directed onto the wrong person. He isn't jealous of Rodney, he's jealous of her.
The revelation isn't easy to come by and wouldn't have at all if it weren't for the girl herself. "You know, you talk an awful lot about Doctor McKay." She smiles knowingly at John's confused frown just as Rodney interrupts their date for the third time that week.
John spends the rest of their lunch break quiet and watching until he is certain about what she meant.
He likes Rodney.
It is surprising and would have sent him into a fit if she hadn't shown up at his room just before bedtime with a cup of coffee and herbal tea for herself.
They talk the night away, which is more John talking and her listening. They discuss many things, at the foremost Rodney and the scientist's ability to get on everyone's nerves and still continue to be likable.
The next day, Rodney shows up in his room and concedes defeat and John can't say anything because Rodney looks like he's about to cry. John finds out later that Rodney saw them that morning, when she had left and John had given her a friendly peck on the cheek for being such a wonderful girl.
Rodney clearly has the wrong idea, but when John tries to explain it, Rodney doesn't want to hear.
They don't speak for weeks and the girl seems torn because they won't talk to her and they won't talk to each other.
It's only after a mission to some random planet in the database that they finally talk to each other again and only then because the girl touches an artifact and both of them start glowing. Teyla frowns, Ronon gets his gun ready, Rodney panics and John...well, John tries to calm Rodney down before the other kills himself.
"Breathe, Rodney." Rodney breathes and calms down enough to realize that there's nothing really worth panicking about. The girl is looking at the pair of them with eyes that remind John of Teyla; that weird 'you're an idiot, but I'm going to seem like it doesn't matter' look.
The sky turns dark and John is a bit worried but the girl seems to know what she's doing. Fiddling with knobs and pressing weird symbols, out pops a roll of parchment. Then she turns to them and tells them that she's really very sick of listening to them whine about energy problems and that she'd rather be punished than have to live with it any more. There's a moment when she looks like she's about to be dissolved away, but retains her figure by pure force of will.
"If I'm going to live in exile, I need something in return." Her voice is demanding. "A kiss."
Rodney's the first to break the stunned silence when he commands John to kiss her. John frowns and tells Rodney that he should kiss her and then a few seconds later, they start fighting about who should kiss her until she tells them to shut up and kiss each other because even she would get old waiting for them to finally get together.
It's Rodney that curses and grabs John, swinging the Colonel into a fierce kiss that turns into something like a makeout session until Ronon clears his throat and John can hear the girl and Teyla twittering quietly to the side.
John isn't surprised when the girl turns into a glowing ball that looks strangely like a squid.
The parchment has instructions and the team is quick to follow them. They return home with five new ZPMs, a manual, and an aurora-class ship for their fight against the Wraith. Three ZPMs end up getting transported back to Earth for the fight there and Atlantis only gets two and a copy of the manual. Which is totally unfair, but IOA still thinks that they're a waste of money.
Unsurprisingly, the girl left an array of gifts on Rodney's harddrive, some being useless, like the memo about that room to the far north of the city that seemed to shrink things at random (it was a garbage disposal), to things that were groundbreaking, like finishing up equations to Rodney's biggest problems and opening a new part of the Ancient database.
Rodney and John don't talk about the kiss after they get home. Even months after, they're still tippy toeing around each other and when John is required to go to the lab for something or other, John swears that he hears a 'For crying out loud!' right before the door to the lab slams shut and refuses to open again.
It's clear to everyone that thirteen hours locked in a lab together makes a difference because John and Rodney exit with shy smiles and lighted faces. When they retire for the night in the same bedroom, they aren't disturbed. Rodney thinks it's because everyone knows better, but John believes it's because they got themselves one hell of a guardian angel.