detour
title: Detour
with: Rodney/Teyla
rated: PG-13
disclaim: not mine in any universe
for: sticksandsnark and everloyal, who asked for “fic set on Earth where Rodney and Teyla get into some trouble/go on a road trip/have an adventure of some sort/etc without the rest of the team.”
“Sheppard,” Rodney snaps. “You have to come rescue us.”
Sheppard chuckles.
“Bastard.” Rodney’s shoulders are starting to ache with tension.
“Rodney, you’re stuck in an airport, not a Genii bunker.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Rodney presses his hand to his ear, trying to shut out the noise of the squalling baby five seats down.
“There’s nothing I can do,” Sheppard says. He sounds nasal over the tinny connection. Cell phones are nowhere as good as the coms on Atlantis.
“You can hijack a jet,” Rodney says.
“Even if I could hijack a jet, there’s a blizzard moving in.” Sheppard just sounds patronizing now, and Rodney scowls. “I wouldn’t be able to land or take off any more than the other planes.”
“A helicopter then.”
“Rodney.”
“Then get the Deadalus to transport us,” Rodney hisses.
“Rodney-”
“Fine, fine.” Rodney heaves a sigh. “Is Ronon having fun beating up Marines?”
“In fact, I believe he is.”
“Say hi to him for us.”
“I will. Put Teyla on for a minute?”
Rodney hands his cell to Teyla who has been sitting beside him, serenely watching Headline News like O’Hare airport isn’t sinking into the ninth circle of hell. Her lips curve up in a sly smile as she listens to whatever Sheppard is telling her. Rodney pinches the bridge of his nose. The plastic seats are hell on his back. Across the aisle from him, two teenagers are practically making out. Rodney rolls his eyes. They’ve been waiting for two hours already. He’s starting to get a headache.
Supposedly, there’s going to be a break in the weather before the blizzard moves in tonight. That’s why their connection to Toronto is delayed and not cancelled. Teyla had wanted to visit Jeannie, meet Caleb and Madison, and generally see more of Earth, so Rodney had invited her along.
Teyla hangs up the phone and hands it back to Rodney. “Colonel Sheppard wishes me to make sure you do not abuse too many service professionals.” Her eyebrow is arched, and he knows that she’s only teasing. Mostly.
“Ha ha,” he says.
“Rodney.” Teyla lays a hand on his arm. “I have been watching the television, and I do not think the weather is going to break. Perhaps we should go into the city and find a hotel.”
“Oh, God.” Rodney’s stomach drops at the thought of being stuck in O’Hare overnight. “You’re right. Absolutely. There is no way in hell.” He stands, fumbles with his coat, and slings his laptop case over his shoulder. “God, I hope we can get a cab.”
They do get a cab, but it’s a close thing. Snow is beginning to fall in thick white flakes instead of flurries mixed with freezing rain. Teyla makes small talk with the cab driver while Rodney calls around and finds them a hotel-the Marriott on Michigan Avenue. He stays at enough hellholes in the Pegasus Galaxy; he wants a nice room. Traffic is slow, and it takes them over an hour to make it to the Loop.
“I’m sorry,” the receptionist says at check in. “We only have four rooms left, each with a single king bed.”
“What?” Rodney hears his voice go up, and he kind of hates the way that happens. “The guy on the phone said we could have a room with two beds!”
The receptionist-a smug man with grey hair-glances at Teyla, then at Rodney, and raises his eyebrows. Yeah, yeah, Rodney thinks, I’d love to sleep in the same bed as Teyla, but I respect her. Also, she could kick my ass.
Teyla lays her hand on Rodney’s shoulder, and his throat goes dry. “One bed will be fine,” she tells the receptionist. “Right, Rodney?”
“Yes, fine.” Apparently it’s fine.
In the elevator, Teyla smiles at him. “After all, we have stayed in much worse places.”
“Yes, we have.”
They get settled, and Rodney hooks up to the internet. He tries very hard to ignore Teyla when she strips down to her underwear and does some yoga-like stretching, but really, it’s a lost cause. He stares blankly at Dr. Winick’s latest paper and admits to himself that Winick is going to have to wait another day to hear how absurd he is.
When she’s done, Teyla takes a long shower. Thankfully, she puts on her pajamas in the bathroom.
They order dinner from room service, and after they’ve eaten, Rodney goes back to his laptop. Teyla crawls into bed. “Will it bother you if I turn on the television?” she asks.
Rodney clears his throat. “No, of course not.”
Teyla keeps the volume low anyway. Eventually she turns it off and rolls over. Rodney stays at the desk until he finds himself starting to nod. As soon as he crawls in bed, he’s wide awake again, hyper-aware of Teyla breathing softly next to him. The bed is (thank God) huge, but Rodney carefully stays on his side, even when Teyla shifts in her sleep, pulling the blanket so that a pocket of cold air rushes between them. Rodney adjusts the covers and slowly, slowly relaxes.
When Rodney wakes, the first thing he notices is that he is warm. And comfortable. Cocooned in the blankets and-
-and spooned up against Teyla’s back, nose pressed against her neck, which smells warm and good-
Rodney stiffens and inches away from Teyla-
Who rolls over onto her back, stretches, and smiles. “Good morning, Rodney.”
“I’m sorry,” he blurts. “I was asleep, and I- I’m sorry.” He hopes she didn’t notice how, um, interesting his body found her.
Teyla laughs, and it’s such a good sound that Rodney suddenly finds himself grinning back. “There is no need to apologize,” she says.
“There isn’t?”
Teyla shakes her head. Her smile seems to be saying a lot of things, and-
Oh. Oh.
“Really?”
Teyla leans over and brushes her lips lightly against his.
“Wow,” Rodney sighs, then pulls back. “Hey, is this why you did the stretchy exercises in your underwear?”
Teyla laughs again, and when Rodney leans over to kiss her it tastes brilliant.
Later, while they’re waiting for room service to bring them breakfast, Rodney goes to the window and opens the curtains. The morning sun glares whitely, and cold air bleeds through the glass. They’re not on a very high floor, but when Rodney looks down all he can see is white.
Teyla comes over to stand beside him, looking out at the tall buildings. Her arm curves around his waist. He’s almost startled, and he wraps an arm around her shoulder in return.
“I went to grad school a little north of Chicago,” he says. “Northwestern University.”
Teyla hums, a question without words, and her thumb sneaks under the hem of his shirt.
“They have their own particle accelerator.” Rodney frowns. “But I didn’t get down to the city very much. It’s a shame really.”
“You had other concerns,” Teyla says.
“I really did.” Rodney closes his eyes against the white morning light and remembers. “For most of my second year I had a girlfriend. Carol. She used to drag me down here on the weekends. I wasn’t always cooperative. Mostly because she always wanted to go to the Art Institute and the Field Museum. It was like the price for getting laid.” It’s strangely easy to be honest in Teyla’s presence, not to lie even to himself. She’s seen him at his worst and at his best.
Rodney opens his eyes and finds Teyla looking at him.
“Why were you uninterested in the Art Institute and the Field Museum?”
“Humanities,” Rodney snorts. Then he stops to think. “Actually, you might like them if you’re interested in Earth culture. The Art Institute has a good collection, and the Field Museum is all natural history-Egyptian mummies and Native American costumes and stuff.” He waves his free hand. “I mean, I guess understand why someone from another planet who spends all their time around people from Earth might have legitimate grounds to be curious about these otherwise trivial things.” Rodney bites his tongue then, noticing Teyla’s raised eyebrow. He clears his throat, and his heart beats a little faster because he realizes he would absolutely go through both museums again if Teyla would enjoy it.
“How old were you when you went to school here?” Teyla asks.
“Oh, early twenties.”
Teyla’s eyes narrow, and he thinks that she’s trying to bite back a smile. “I have a difficult time picturing you as a youth. It is one of the many reasons I wish to visit your sister’s home.”
Rodney rolls his eyes and leans tragically against the window. “Baby pictures.”
Teyla giggles.
“I’ve changed a lot.”
“I know.” Teyla’s hand is warm on the small of his back. “That’s one of the reasons it’s so hard to picture you.” Her eyes are steady and fond in a way he can’t quite read but makes him blush and turn away.
“I haven’t changed that much.”
The news says it snowed twenty-eight inches overnight. Rodney and Teyla crawl back into bed to eat breakfast, and when they’re done, Teyla goes to take a shower. Rodney’s feeling both gleeful and sentimental, so he puts on Schumann’s piano concerto. The sound quality on the laptop’s speakers is mediocre at best, but the notes sing in his blood, making him close his eyes just to listen. He doesn’t immediately notice when the shower shuts off and Teyla comes out of the bathroom in only a towel. He doesn’t know how long she stands there, just listening; he only knows that when he looks up she is content, lost in the music.
Rodney reaches for her hand and pulls her to the bed. She leans against him, her hair dampening his t-shirt.
“I have heard music from Earth before, but not like this,” she says. Her voice is dreamy, and he threads their fingers together.
Idiots, he thinks for a moment, annoyed that no one thought to give Teyla a proper education in Earth music, but then he has to class himself in that group.
“There’s a lot to hear,” Rodney finally says.
They spend hours that day listening to music. Eventually, Rodney connects to iTunes and starts buying Teyla music in genres he’s less fond of. As soon as the snow melts, he’s going to find somewhere to buy her an iPod.
It’s an education for himself, as well, to hear mississippi blues through Teyla’s ears.
They order room service for lunch, and again for dinner. They watch overpriced pay-per-view, and Teyla laughs at Will Ferrell. Teyla’s laugh is beautiful, and it hits Rodney like a punch in the gut.
“Your laugh is beautiful,” he says quietly before he’s even processed the thought. “you should laugh more often.”
Teyla curls up against his side. “And you should smile more often,” she says and kisses the back of his jaw. “When you smile, really smile, it is beautiful.”
“We really needed a vacation, didn’t we?” he asks, and Teyla kisses him again in answer.
The next day is more of the same, and Rodney tries very hard not to wonder when his good luck is going to run out. Everything since they checked in to the hotel has felt like a dream, and nothing more so than the joyous, slightly mischievous, slightly dirty smiles Teyla gives him.
On the third day, the city starts to come alive again. Rodney spends an hour on hold with the airline and a solid twenty minutes abusing their customer service, who tell him it will be two more days before he and Teyla can get seats on a flight to Toronto.
Rodney calls John and demands a military escort to Toronto. John continues to be a bastard.
After that, Rodney calls his sister to explain that, sadly, he cannot yet control the weather or the airline companies, and he’s not trying to get out of the visit and its associated tofu dinners because he’s really done all he could to get a flight but John refuses to hijack a jet for them.
Jeannie doesn’t give him crap for it… which Rodney wasn’t expecting.
When he hangs up the phone, Teyla is sitting on the bed and simply watching him with one of those smiles on her face.
“What?” he asks, grinning back.
“I am sorry our visit with your sister will be cut short,” she says. “But I am selfishly glad we will have more time to ourselves.”
Rodney feels his face heat. “So this is really a thing, you and me.”
Teyla tilts her head. “If you wish.”
“Of course I wish.” Rodney shakes his head. “I’m just having a hard time getting my head around it.”
“As you are fond of reminding people, you are very smart,” Teyla says. “You have your faults, but that is true of everyone. Nevertheless, you are brave and loyal to your friends, and you are capable of great honesty.” This last is said with a smile.
Rodney is silent for a moment. The moment drags on, and Teyla clears her throat.
“Perhaps this delay will give us the opportunity to visit the museums you mentioned?”
Rodney grimaces, knowing that in the end he’ll say yes to anything Teyla asks of him because she’ll only ask him things that are in his power to give.
“Of course.”
with: Rodney/Teyla
rated: PG-13
disclaim: not mine in any universe
for: sticksandsnark and everloyal, who asked for “fic set on Earth where Rodney and Teyla get into some trouble/go on a road trip/have an adventure of some sort/etc without the rest of the team.”
“Sheppard,” Rodney snaps. “You have to come rescue us.”
Sheppard chuckles.
“Bastard.” Rodney’s shoulders are starting to ache with tension.
“Rodney, you’re stuck in an airport, not a Genii bunker.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Rodney presses his hand to his ear, trying to shut out the noise of the squalling baby five seats down.
“There’s nothing I can do,” Sheppard says. He sounds nasal over the tinny connection. Cell phones are nowhere as good as the coms on Atlantis.
“You can hijack a jet,” Rodney says.
“Even if I could hijack a jet, there’s a blizzard moving in.” Sheppard just sounds patronizing now, and Rodney scowls. “I wouldn’t be able to land or take off any more than the other planes.”
“A helicopter then.”
“Rodney.”
“Then get the Deadalus to transport us,” Rodney hisses.
“Rodney-”
“Fine, fine.” Rodney heaves a sigh. “Is Ronon having fun beating up Marines?”
“In fact, I believe he is.”
“Say hi to him for us.”
“I will. Put Teyla on for a minute?”
Rodney hands his cell to Teyla who has been sitting beside him, serenely watching Headline News like O’Hare airport isn’t sinking into the ninth circle of hell. Her lips curve up in a sly smile as she listens to whatever Sheppard is telling her. Rodney pinches the bridge of his nose. The plastic seats are hell on his back. Across the aisle from him, two teenagers are practically making out. Rodney rolls his eyes. They’ve been waiting for two hours already. He’s starting to get a headache.
Supposedly, there’s going to be a break in the weather before the blizzard moves in tonight. That’s why their connection to Toronto is delayed and not cancelled. Teyla had wanted to visit Jeannie, meet Caleb and Madison, and generally see more of Earth, so Rodney had invited her along.
Teyla hangs up the phone and hands it back to Rodney. “Colonel Sheppard wishes me to make sure you do not abuse too many service professionals.” Her eyebrow is arched, and he knows that she’s only teasing. Mostly.
“Ha ha,” he says.
“Rodney.” Teyla lays a hand on his arm. “I have been watching the television, and I do not think the weather is going to break. Perhaps we should go into the city and find a hotel.”
“Oh, God.” Rodney’s stomach drops at the thought of being stuck in O’Hare overnight. “You’re right. Absolutely. There is no way in hell.” He stands, fumbles with his coat, and slings his laptop case over his shoulder. “God, I hope we can get a cab.”
They do get a cab, but it’s a close thing. Snow is beginning to fall in thick white flakes instead of flurries mixed with freezing rain. Teyla makes small talk with the cab driver while Rodney calls around and finds them a hotel-the Marriott on Michigan Avenue. He stays at enough hellholes in the Pegasus Galaxy; he wants a nice room. Traffic is slow, and it takes them over an hour to make it to the Loop.
“I’m sorry,” the receptionist says at check in. “We only have four rooms left, each with a single king bed.”
“What?” Rodney hears his voice go up, and he kind of hates the way that happens. “The guy on the phone said we could have a room with two beds!”
The receptionist-a smug man with grey hair-glances at Teyla, then at Rodney, and raises his eyebrows. Yeah, yeah, Rodney thinks, I’d love to sleep in the same bed as Teyla, but I respect her. Also, she could kick my ass.
Teyla lays her hand on Rodney’s shoulder, and his throat goes dry. “One bed will be fine,” she tells the receptionist. “Right, Rodney?”
“Yes, fine.” Apparently it’s fine.
In the elevator, Teyla smiles at him. “After all, we have stayed in much worse places.”
“Yes, we have.”
They get settled, and Rodney hooks up to the internet. He tries very hard to ignore Teyla when she strips down to her underwear and does some yoga-like stretching, but really, it’s a lost cause. He stares blankly at Dr. Winick’s latest paper and admits to himself that Winick is going to have to wait another day to hear how absurd he is.
When she’s done, Teyla takes a long shower. Thankfully, she puts on her pajamas in the bathroom.
They order dinner from room service, and after they’ve eaten, Rodney goes back to his laptop. Teyla crawls into bed. “Will it bother you if I turn on the television?” she asks.
Rodney clears his throat. “No, of course not.”
Teyla keeps the volume low anyway. Eventually she turns it off and rolls over. Rodney stays at the desk until he finds himself starting to nod. As soon as he crawls in bed, he’s wide awake again, hyper-aware of Teyla breathing softly next to him. The bed is (thank God) huge, but Rodney carefully stays on his side, even when Teyla shifts in her sleep, pulling the blanket so that a pocket of cold air rushes between them. Rodney adjusts the covers and slowly, slowly relaxes.
When Rodney wakes, the first thing he notices is that he is warm. And comfortable. Cocooned in the blankets and-
-and spooned up against Teyla’s back, nose pressed against her neck, which smells warm and good-
Rodney stiffens and inches away from Teyla-
Who rolls over onto her back, stretches, and smiles. “Good morning, Rodney.”
“I’m sorry,” he blurts. “I was asleep, and I- I’m sorry.” He hopes she didn’t notice how, um, interesting his body found her.
Teyla laughs, and it’s such a good sound that Rodney suddenly finds himself grinning back. “There is no need to apologize,” she says.
“There isn’t?”
Teyla shakes her head. Her smile seems to be saying a lot of things, and-
Oh. Oh.
“Really?”
Teyla leans over and brushes her lips lightly against his.
“Wow,” Rodney sighs, then pulls back. “Hey, is this why you did the stretchy exercises in your underwear?”
Teyla laughs again, and when Rodney leans over to kiss her it tastes brilliant.
Later, while they’re waiting for room service to bring them breakfast, Rodney goes to the window and opens the curtains. The morning sun glares whitely, and cold air bleeds through the glass. They’re not on a very high floor, but when Rodney looks down all he can see is white.
Teyla comes over to stand beside him, looking out at the tall buildings. Her arm curves around his waist. He’s almost startled, and he wraps an arm around her shoulder in return.
“I went to grad school a little north of Chicago,” he says. “Northwestern University.”
Teyla hums, a question without words, and her thumb sneaks under the hem of his shirt.
“They have their own particle accelerator.” Rodney frowns. “But I didn’t get down to the city very much. It’s a shame really.”
“You had other concerns,” Teyla says.
“I really did.” Rodney closes his eyes against the white morning light and remembers. “For most of my second year I had a girlfriend. Carol. She used to drag me down here on the weekends. I wasn’t always cooperative. Mostly because she always wanted to go to the Art Institute and the Field Museum. It was like the price for getting laid.” It’s strangely easy to be honest in Teyla’s presence, not to lie even to himself. She’s seen him at his worst and at his best.
Rodney opens his eyes and finds Teyla looking at him.
“Why were you uninterested in the Art Institute and the Field Museum?”
“Humanities,” Rodney snorts. Then he stops to think. “Actually, you might like them if you’re interested in Earth culture. The Art Institute has a good collection, and the Field Museum is all natural history-Egyptian mummies and Native American costumes and stuff.” He waves his free hand. “I mean, I guess understand why someone from another planet who spends all their time around people from Earth might have legitimate grounds to be curious about these otherwise trivial things.” Rodney bites his tongue then, noticing Teyla’s raised eyebrow. He clears his throat, and his heart beats a little faster because he realizes he would absolutely go through both museums again if Teyla would enjoy it.
“How old were you when you went to school here?” Teyla asks.
“Oh, early twenties.”
Teyla’s eyes narrow, and he thinks that she’s trying to bite back a smile. “I have a difficult time picturing you as a youth. It is one of the many reasons I wish to visit your sister’s home.”
Rodney rolls his eyes and leans tragically against the window. “Baby pictures.”
Teyla giggles.
“I’ve changed a lot.”
“I know.” Teyla’s hand is warm on the small of his back. “That’s one of the reasons it’s so hard to picture you.” Her eyes are steady and fond in a way he can’t quite read but makes him blush and turn away.
“I haven’t changed that much.”
The news says it snowed twenty-eight inches overnight. Rodney and Teyla crawl back into bed to eat breakfast, and when they’re done, Teyla goes to take a shower. Rodney’s feeling both gleeful and sentimental, so he puts on Schumann’s piano concerto. The sound quality on the laptop’s speakers is mediocre at best, but the notes sing in his blood, making him close his eyes just to listen. He doesn’t immediately notice when the shower shuts off and Teyla comes out of the bathroom in only a towel. He doesn’t know how long she stands there, just listening; he only knows that when he looks up she is content, lost in the music.
Rodney reaches for her hand and pulls her to the bed. She leans against him, her hair dampening his t-shirt.
“I have heard music from Earth before, but not like this,” she says. Her voice is dreamy, and he threads their fingers together.
Idiots, he thinks for a moment, annoyed that no one thought to give Teyla a proper education in Earth music, but then he has to class himself in that group.
“There’s a lot to hear,” Rodney finally says.
They spend hours that day listening to music. Eventually, Rodney connects to iTunes and starts buying Teyla music in genres he’s less fond of. As soon as the snow melts, he’s going to find somewhere to buy her an iPod.
It’s an education for himself, as well, to hear mississippi blues through Teyla’s ears.
They order room service for lunch, and again for dinner. They watch overpriced pay-per-view, and Teyla laughs at Will Ferrell. Teyla’s laugh is beautiful, and it hits Rodney like a punch in the gut.
“Your laugh is beautiful,” he says quietly before he’s even processed the thought. “you should laugh more often.”
Teyla curls up against his side. “And you should smile more often,” she says and kisses the back of his jaw. “When you smile, really smile, it is beautiful.”
“We really needed a vacation, didn’t we?” he asks, and Teyla kisses him again in answer.
The next day is more of the same, and Rodney tries very hard not to wonder when his good luck is going to run out. Everything since they checked in to the hotel has felt like a dream, and nothing more so than the joyous, slightly mischievous, slightly dirty smiles Teyla gives him.
On the third day, the city starts to come alive again. Rodney spends an hour on hold with the airline and a solid twenty minutes abusing their customer service, who tell him it will be two more days before he and Teyla can get seats on a flight to Toronto.
Rodney calls John and demands a military escort to Toronto. John continues to be a bastard.
After that, Rodney calls his sister to explain that, sadly, he cannot yet control the weather or the airline companies, and he’s not trying to get out of the visit and its associated tofu dinners because he’s really done all he could to get a flight but John refuses to hijack a jet for them.
Jeannie doesn’t give him crap for it… which Rodney wasn’t expecting.
When he hangs up the phone, Teyla is sitting on the bed and simply watching him with one of those smiles on her face.
“What?” he asks, grinning back.
“I am sorry our visit with your sister will be cut short,” she says. “But I am selfishly glad we will have more time to ourselves.”
Rodney feels his face heat. “So this is really a thing, you and me.”
Teyla tilts her head. “If you wish.”
“Of course I wish.” Rodney shakes his head. “I’m just having a hard time getting my head around it.”
“As you are fond of reminding people, you are very smart,” Teyla says. “You have your faults, but that is true of everyone. Nevertheless, you are brave and loyal to your friends, and you are capable of great honesty.” This last is said with a smile.
Rodney is silent for a moment. The moment drags on, and Teyla clears her throat.
“Perhaps this delay will give us the opportunity to visit the museums you mentioned?”
Rodney grimaces, knowing that in the end he’ll say yes to anything Teyla asks of him because she’ll only ask him things that are in his power to give.
“Of course.”