Another Fairy Tale, part 1
Title: Another Fairy Tale
Author: Amycat8733
Rating: T
Pairing(s): John/Teyla
Characters: John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Rodney McKay, Carson Beckett, Evan Lorne
Genres: gen, romance, humor
Warnings: sentient Atlantis
Length:
Disclaimer: The characters and locales of SGA don't belong to me. For fun, not profit. I just swim in the pool. No borrowed OCs were harmed during these productions.
Summary: John runs afoul of another fairy tale made real. Takes place before the epilogue of Lightning Strikes. Whumping, Sheyla. Cover by Mysra.
Chapter 1
“Colonel Sheppard, please come to lab 3.”
John groaned at the voice in his ear. He was in the middle of preparing dinner for two. Torren was with Halling and he and Teyla planned to make the most of the time alone. “Sheppard here, what’s the emergency?”
“Sheppard, you need to come down here! Stackhouse brought back something interesting!”
John groaned again. Whenever Rodney got that excited, he usually ended up bleeding, shocked or recovering from a concussion. “Can’t it wait? I’m off-duty for the weekend, and that includes light switch duty.”
Rodney huffed. “It will only take a minute, so quit whining and get down here.”
John turned, glaring in Rodney’s direction even though the Canadian couldn’t see it and huffed. “Fine. I’ll be there shortly.” He leaned over and blew the candles he’d just lit out, placed the food in the warmer then strapped on his sidearm before leaving the suite.
It took ten minutes to get to Rodney’s lab. He counted because the astrophysicist was going to owe him for every one of them. Stepping through the doorway, he stopped, crossed his arms and glared at Rodney while blocking the cacophony emanating from the devices. “So what’s so important?”
Rodney waved him over without turning around. “This thing is amazing. It’s interactive.”
John didn’t budge. “Interactive? For what reason?”
“That’s why you’re here.” Rodney tapped on his laptop for a few minutes before realizing that John hadn’t moved. He looked up and turned to find his friend still in the doorway. Rodney smirked as he took in the sight of John Sheppard in something other than black BDU. He had on a pair of nice dark blue jeans and a green silk shirt. “Treaty negotiations with an alien princess?”
John shot the scientist a look. “Teyla likes it when I dress up and cook her dinner.” He narrowed his eyes. “You do remember Teyla - petite, kicks ass, my soon to be wife?”
Rodney waved a hand through the air. “Relax. It’s only a joke.” He turned and offered a smile. “Teyla will be very happy to see you.”
“Well, her meeting is due to be over in about forty-five minutes.”
Rodney left his workbench to fetch John, grasping his arm and tugging him into the lab. “I need you to check this device and tell me what it does.”
John jerked his arm free. “I can walk. I was trying to stay back because you have so much Ancient tech in here that I don’t want to set something off.”
Rodney gestured at the devices surrounding them. “Don’t worry about it. Most of this stuff is broken.”
“That’s when it’s most dangerous.” John frowned and shot Rodney a dubious glance. “Alright, but if I end up in the infirmary, you get to explain it to Teyla.”
Rodney paled at the thought of having to explain to the Athosian how her future husband ended up getting hurt. “Well then you’ll just have to be careful. I don’t want to explain if even one hair on your head gets singed.”
John frowned as he edged his way into the room. “Leave my hair alone. Teyla likes it just fine.”
Rodney laughed. “Just make sure you never get buried in a pile of Tribbles. If you do we’ll probably never find you because your hair will blend in.”
“McKay.”
John’s growl told Rodney he’d teased enough. Carefully working his way through the room, John stopped near the workbench. Scanning the area, John wondered which device he was supposed to check. One looked like an old lava lamp, the other bore a passing resemblance to a beauty salon hair dryer. “Which device is it?”
Rodney pointed and just as John shifted towards the indicated device, he was hit by a gold colored beam from the bell-shaped end. The beam started at his feet, quickly shifting up his body until it reached his head. There its focus narrowed, concentrating on his hair until every strand glowed with a golden fire before winking out. As the light vanished, John dropped to his knees, catching the edge of the table with one hand.
Rodney rushed over as John slumped lower, head bowed, over his knees. “Sheppard! Are you alright? Oh, god, what am I saying? Of course you’re not alright. That device probably just fried half your brain or … or … made your hair smarter than you are, or …”
“McKay.” John’s voice was soft and firm.
“Yes, Sheppard?”
“Shut up and help me up.” John reached out with a shaking hand.
Even as he helped John from the floor, Rodney was checking him over. John was pale and squinting in the room’s moderate light. “You need to go to the infirmary.”
John started to nod, but decided against it. His head hurt too much and it would only take one ill-advised movement to kick it into high gear. “Yeah, I do.”
Tugging one of John’s arms over his shoulder, Rodney looked at one of his minions. “Simmons, check the database and find out what that is supposed to do. Grab Davies and Jensen to help you.”
Carson took one look at the pair as Rodney helped John into his domain. “Ach, lad, what’s happened now? Yer supposed to have the evening off!”
Helping John onto a bed, Rodney snapped back an answer. “He was helping me with an item that Stackhouse’s team brought back. We were in lab 3 when …”
Carson cut him off. “Lab 3? Isn’t that the one ya use as a vault for the tech you haven’t identified yet?”
John let out a groan as Carson checked his pupils. “Dammit, I knew there was a reason I don’t go in that lab.”
“As I was saying, one of the devices we’d thought was damaged lit up, scanned Sheppard from toe to head. Once it got to his hair, its focus narrowed until every hair on his head glowed. It stayed that way for almost a minute then winked out.”
After checking the rest of his vitals, Carson examined him with the big Ancient scanner. “Well, I can nae find anythin’ wrong with ya, lad.” He peered down at his friend. “One a scale of one to ten, how bad’s the headache?”
John closed his eyes for a moment. “Six. Lights are bothering me, and loud noises, but I’m not nauseous and the room’s not spinning. “
Carson went to his medicine cabinet, coming back with a syringe and a paper packet. He held up the syringe. “This is for now. It will take the edge off without making you sleepy.” After injecting the medication into John’s arm, he gave him the packet. “These are for later. Take them before you go to bed an’ the headache will be gone by morning.”
Scooting off the bed, John pocketed the pills. “Thanks, Doc. Teyla and I certainly appreciate it.”
Carson smiled and made a shooing motion. “Off with ya, now. Fortunately, yer dinner’s not ruined.”
John gave Carson a cheeky grin. “Nope, dinner’s gonna be just fine.” With a jaunty wave, he disappeared out the door.
After John had gone, Rodney let out a sigh. “I forgot about his plans. He even reminded me, but I was so caught up.”
Carson patted the astrophysicist’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Rodney. He forgives you, an’ there’s no harm done.” He headed to his office, Rodney tagging along. “I am glad that the lad’s started taking time off. He operates under so much stress, but having Lorne and Teldy here has helped.”
“It doesn’t hurt that the Wraith threat has diminished and that the city is fully powered.” Rodney added.
“Aye, there is that.” Carson pulled out his bottle of Glenfiddich and poured them both a shot. “Here’s to stress relief.”
Back in their quarters, John stepped into the bathroom to check his hair. It was one of his few vanities, not that he’d ever outright admit it. Examining his unruly locks in the bathroom’s bright lights, he couldn’t tell that the device had done anything. The color appeared a little lighter, but that could be a trick of the lights or due to amount of time he’d spent off-world lately. The front of his hair needed a trim, and after running his fingers through it, he decided the back did too. He’d go see the barber tomorrow.
He almost had dinner done when Teyla came in. “Hi, sweetie. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Teyla looked up at John as he entered the room, bending to kiss her. He was smiling, a merry twinkle dancing in his eyes. He was wearing the green silk shirt she loved on him with a pair of nice jeans. She shamelessly admired the view of her husband moving around in the kitchen, every glimpse of his snugly clad butt making her pulse jump a little. She felt very lucky to have a man such as John. From conversations that she had heard, men that would cook and clean were very rare on Earth. That did not even count how much rarer it was for a man to accept the child of another as his own.
A shadow broke her from her thoughts. “Dinner’s ready.” John put out his hands to help her from the chair. Once she was settled at the table, he put the food on. She watched as he moved through the room with a warrior’s grace. A frown crossed her face as she observed him. There was something different about him. He wasn’t limping, there were no hidden bandages although he did wince occasionally at a bright light or sudden movement, but that wasn’t the difference. It was his hair. It was longer than she remembered it being last night. Shaking herself lightly, she shook it off. His hair was dark enough that the ends often blended into his clothing or into a shadow. Turning her attention to her husband and the meal, she put it from her mind.