(no subject)
TITLE: Just Us Few - Part 2 of 2
AUTHOR: Leesa Perrie
RATING: PG13 (to be safe)
PAIRINGS: None.
CATEGORY: Gen, episode tag, humour
SPOILERS: The Return, Parts One and Two
WORD COUNT: 2672 (total of both parts)
SUMMARY: Set after The Return, Part Two. John puts his plan into motion...
Just Us Few continued...
“So,” John said nonchalantly. “You going to get some rest?”
“What? Hmm, oh, later. Do you realise just what we have now? I mean, Atlantis was amazing before this, but now? We have three ZPM’s. Three! And the Replicators fixed a lot of the damaged parts of the city, including some of the previously flooded areas. They even fixed the stardrive after Beckett blew it up, but we stopped them before they could use it. We could fly Atlantis!” McKay’s eyes were wide with enthusiasm, and his hands were gesturing wildly. “And you seriously expect me to rest? There’s too much to do, too much to find out about. I need to work out which areas have been fixed or not. Just think of all those new areas we can explore now, who knows what could be down there?”
“Yeah, black energy clouds, maybe another deadly nanovirus or three, or even some failed experiment just waiting for an unwary scientist to come along and get hurt by?”
“Fine. Be like that if you must. But in amongst all of that, there could be the answer to dealing with one of our many enemies in this galaxy and back home.”
John sighed. A manic McKay in the beginnings of sleep deprivation was not going to be easy to bring down. He wished Beckett was here to threaten to sedate Rodney. Perhaps he should have gone back instead? A pissed General or a manic physicist? Not much between them really.
So, Plan A, to talk the stubborn Canadian into going to bed, had failed just as he’d suspected it would. Time for Plan B.
Due to the lack of security, they had not only taken rooms close to the control room, but the food was now in the main rec room, as this was closer than the mess hall. Plan B depended on that.
“Okay, so not sleeping anytime soon,” Sheppard commented. “In which case, you need some coffee, and I’m betting some food wouldn’t go amiss now either?”
Rodney paused in his work momentarily.
“Bring me something,” it was part demand, part request.
“Nope.”
McKay glared at him, and Sheppard crossed his arms, leaning back against a nearby console.
“Look, you need a break. Ten minutes to eat, and you’ll feel much better, I’m sure. This can wait for ten minutes, surely?” he cajoled.
“Humph. I’ll get one of this lot,” he waved a hand at the Daedalus scientists close by, “to go and get me something.”
“They’ve got more important things to do, like ensure we don’t get invaded whilst the rest of us sl… take a few minutes out to rest.”
Rodney muttered something under his breath in annoyance.
“Come on, McKay,” John continued to cajole. “Food, Rodney. A choice of your favourite MREs. Not to mention blue Jell-O and chocolate. Chocolate, Rodney! And coffee, lots and lots of coffee…”
“Okay, okay, fine,” Rodney snapped. “I’ll take ten minutes to get some food if it’ll shut you up!”
“Good. You’d better hurry as well, I believe Ronon’s making quite a dent in the Jell-O…”
“He’d better leave me some,” Rodney said grumpily, getting to his feet. “You coming?”
“I’ll be along in a minute. Just want to have a quick word with Elizabeth.”
“Fine.”
Sheppard wandered over to where Elizabeth and O’Neill had been watching as McKay left for the rec room.
“Don’t tell me McKay’s stubbornness has you beat,” Jack said, expecting more from Sheppard than that.
“You wound me, sir,” John said, a sneaky look entering his eyes.
“Do I want to ask? Or am I better off not knowing what you’ve got up your sleeve?” Elizabeth queried, knowing her military commander too well. John gave a quick laugh and smiled.
“Nothing to worry about,” he reassured her. “Teyla, Ronon and myself will be bedding down in the main rec room, hope you don’t mind. The food and stuff can go next door.”
“And Rodney will be joining you?” Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes. He’s exhausted, even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge it. A nice comfy couch, some soft soothing music, some food and decaf coffee…he’ll be asleep before he knows it. Ronon’s got a mattress from one of the rooms and is going to sleep in front of the door, so if Rodney does wake up he’ll have to get past Ronon…and Rodney’s too smart to try and tiptoe past him, especially as he’ll have to actually step over him…”
“I take it Ronon is a light sleeper,” Jack stated.
“Yeah. Of course, Rodney’s somehow got the impression that waking a sleeping Ronon is a good way to find a knife at your throat. Can’t imagine where he got that idea from, the guy’s too sharp to wake up like that,” John shrugged his shoulders, the innocent expression on his face not fooling anyone for a moment.
“So I take it Teyla and you will be on the other two couches?” Elizabeth asked.
“Of course. Back up, just in case McKay gets brave.”
“Seems like you’ve got everything in hand then,” she said with a grin and a shake of her head.
“Yeah, we’ve got McKay. I hope you’re going to get some rest as well. Or do I tell Beckett when he gets back that you haven’t slept…”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his threat.
“Yes, I’m going. I just wanted to check everything was fine, which it is.”
“Same here,” Jack said.
They headed down the corridor together, Sheppard saying goodnight before ducking into the main rec room, where they could hear the sound of soft conversation.
Jack said goodnight to Elizabeth, and went into his own room next door.
He still thought they were all crazy, but he had to grudgingly admire their determination to save Atlantis, as well as Woolsey and himself. It took guts to do what they did, and not just this recent adventure either.
It was easy to forget that just being here, in the Pegasus galaxy, was a thing of bravery in itself. Easy also to forget that a certain mild-mannered doctor had been off world several times, which took guts; that a cranky, pain in the ass astrophysicist had risked his life to save Atlantis and his friends, more than once, even risking his sanity by taking a large does of Wraith enzyme; that an easy-going, laid-back pilot had taken control of a city, had protected it at all costs, and had even worked out how to handle said cranky, pain in the ass astrophysicist; that a tough diplomat had made hard decisions, had gone off world despite the fact that all worlds could contain danger, no matter how friendly the locals might seem, and had earned the respect of her command staff; something he suspected was not easily done, especially with Sheppard and McKay.
A little bit of craziness wasn’t such a bad thing. Sometimes the potential gains far outweighed the risks involved, something he knew from his time with SG1.
He smiled to himself. He knew that Atlantis was in more than capable hands.
But he still couldn’t stand McKay.
The End
AUTHOR: Leesa Perrie
RATING: PG13 (to be safe)
PAIRINGS: None.
CATEGORY: Gen, episode tag, humour
SPOILERS: The Return, Parts One and Two
WORD COUNT: 2672 (total of both parts)
SUMMARY: Set after The Return, Part Two. John puts his plan into motion...
Just Us Few continued...
“So,” John said nonchalantly. “You going to get some rest?”
“What? Hmm, oh, later. Do you realise just what we have now? I mean, Atlantis was amazing before this, but now? We have three ZPM’s. Three! And the Replicators fixed a lot of the damaged parts of the city, including some of the previously flooded areas. They even fixed the stardrive after Beckett blew it up, but we stopped them before they could use it. We could fly Atlantis!” McKay’s eyes were wide with enthusiasm, and his hands were gesturing wildly. “And you seriously expect me to rest? There’s too much to do, too much to find out about. I need to work out which areas have been fixed or not. Just think of all those new areas we can explore now, who knows what could be down there?”
“Yeah, black energy clouds, maybe another deadly nanovirus or three, or even some failed experiment just waiting for an unwary scientist to come along and get hurt by?”
“Fine. Be like that if you must. But in amongst all of that, there could be the answer to dealing with one of our many enemies in this galaxy and back home.”
John sighed. A manic McKay in the beginnings of sleep deprivation was not going to be easy to bring down. He wished Beckett was here to threaten to sedate Rodney. Perhaps he should have gone back instead? A pissed General or a manic physicist? Not much between them really.
So, Plan A, to talk the stubborn Canadian into going to bed, had failed just as he’d suspected it would. Time for Plan B.
Due to the lack of security, they had not only taken rooms close to the control room, but the food was now in the main rec room, as this was closer than the mess hall. Plan B depended on that.
“Okay, so not sleeping anytime soon,” Sheppard commented. “In which case, you need some coffee, and I’m betting some food wouldn’t go amiss now either?”
Rodney paused in his work momentarily.
“Bring me something,” it was part demand, part request.
“Nope.”
McKay glared at him, and Sheppard crossed his arms, leaning back against a nearby console.
“Look, you need a break. Ten minutes to eat, and you’ll feel much better, I’m sure. This can wait for ten minutes, surely?” he cajoled.
“Humph. I’ll get one of this lot,” he waved a hand at the Daedalus scientists close by, “to go and get me something.”
“They’ve got more important things to do, like ensure we don’t get invaded whilst the rest of us sl… take a few minutes out to rest.”
Rodney muttered something under his breath in annoyance.
“Come on, McKay,” John continued to cajole. “Food, Rodney. A choice of your favourite MREs. Not to mention blue Jell-O and chocolate. Chocolate, Rodney! And coffee, lots and lots of coffee…”
“Okay, okay, fine,” Rodney snapped. “I’ll take ten minutes to get some food if it’ll shut you up!”
“Good. You’d better hurry as well, I believe Ronon’s making quite a dent in the Jell-O…”
“He’d better leave me some,” Rodney said grumpily, getting to his feet. “You coming?”
“I’ll be along in a minute. Just want to have a quick word with Elizabeth.”
“Fine.”
Sheppard wandered over to where Elizabeth and O’Neill had been watching as McKay left for the rec room.
“Don’t tell me McKay’s stubbornness has you beat,” Jack said, expecting more from Sheppard than that.
“You wound me, sir,” John said, a sneaky look entering his eyes.
“Do I want to ask? Or am I better off not knowing what you’ve got up your sleeve?” Elizabeth queried, knowing her military commander too well. John gave a quick laugh and smiled.
“Nothing to worry about,” he reassured her. “Teyla, Ronon and myself will be bedding down in the main rec room, hope you don’t mind. The food and stuff can go next door.”
“And Rodney will be joining you?” Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes. He’s exhausted, even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge it. A nice comfy couch, some soft soothing music, some food and decaf coffee…he’ll be asleep before he knows it. Ronon’s got a mattress from one of the rooms and is going to sleep in front of the door, so if Rodney does wake up he’ll have to get past Ronon…and Rodney’s too smart to try and tiptoe past him, especially as he’ll have to actually step over him…”
“I take it Ronon is a light sleeper,” Jack stated.
“Yeah. Of course, Rodney’s somehow got the impression that waking a sleeping Ronon is a good way to find a knife at your throat. Can’t imagine where he got that idea from, the guy’s too sharp to wake up like that,” John shrugged his shoulders, the innocent expression on his face not fooling anyone for a moment.
“So I take it Teyla and you will be on the other two couches?” Elizabeth asked.
“Of course. Back up, just in case McKay gets brave.”
“Seems like you’ve got everything in hand then,” she said with a grin and a shake of her head.
“Yeah, we’ve got McKay. I hope you’re going to get some rest as well. Or do I tell Beckett when he gets back that you haven’t slept…”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his threat.
“Yes, I’m going. I just wanted to check everything was fine, which it is.”
“Same here,” Jack said.
They headed down the corridor together, Sheppard saying goodnight before ducking into the main rec room, where they could hear the sound of soft conversation.
Jack said goodnight to Elizabeth, and went into his own room next door.
He still thought they were all crazy, but he had to grudgingly admire their determination to save Atlantis, as well as Woolsey and himself. It took guts to do what they did, and not just this recent adventure either.
It was easy to forget that just being here, in the Pegasus galaxy, was a thing of bravery in itself. Easy also to forget that a certain mild-mannered doctor had been off world several times, which took guts; that a cranky, pain in the ass astrophysicist had risked his life to save Atlantis and his friends, more than once, even risking his sanity by taking a large does of Wraith enzyme; that an easy-going, laid-back pilot had taken control of a city, had protected it at all costs, and had even worked out how to handle said cranky, pain in the ass astrophysicist; that a tough diplomat had made hard decisions, had gone off world despite the fact that all worlds could contain danger, no matter how friendly the locals might seem, and had earned the respect of her command staff; something he suspected was not easily done, especially with Sheppard and McKay.
A little bit of craziness wasn’t such a bad thing. Sometimes the potential gains far outweighed the risks involved, something he knew from his time with SG1.
He smiled to himself. He knew that Atlantis was in more than capable hands.
But he still couldn’t stand McKay.
The End