Not Quite Batman by Lanna_kitty (Ancient History Challenge)
Title: Not Quite Batman
Author: Lanna_kitty
Category: Gen
Characters: Rodney McKay
Word Count: 1539
Summary: He hadn't thought of that day in decades, but now it was all he could think about.
Spoilers: Miller's crossing
Notes: No idea where this came from. Just a little view into the past of the McKay siblings.
When Rodney McKay was seven, his older cousin Devon introduced him to Batman.
Not the campy TV series, but the comic books which had taken on a darker, more gothic tone. Devon was eleven at the time which made him infinitely cool to his seven year old cousin. His word was gospel and if he said Batman was cool, well then, that was it.
Rodney read the comics voraciously; borrowing them from his cousin over the weekends and using his meager allowance to purchase the monthly issues from the corner grocer. Rodney soon came to enjoy the character as more than something "older" or "cool" simply because Devon liked it.
Bruce Wayne was smart.
Like Rodney, he was a bit of an outcast, but he was a dark avenger. He used his brain to outsmart and outwit his enemies. Sure, the billionaire part was cool too, but Batman thwarted as much crime as Superman, did it without super powers...and he looked cool doing it.
Rodney longed to swing effortlessly from building to building, to sail down from on high, cape billowing behind to slow his descent and scare the crap out of his foes. He wanted the cool gadgets and neat equipment. He wanted his own batmobile and batplane and everything.
When he was eleven, an idea formed in his mind. Making some of the gadgets couldn’t be that hard. Besides, Robin used them all the time. Surely someone as smart as Rodney could devise some of these same creations. He could even become a super hero!
He based his first contraption on the Da Vinci design Batman himself supposedly had been inspired by. He didn't have a lot of the materials that were described in the book, but he figured he could do better with modern things.
He had a blue tarp from the one and only family camping trip. Balsa wood was easy to come by, was cheap and hey, flying things were supposed to be light, weren't they? He stole away for a bit each day, first meticulously researching how things flew then making careful drawings on graph paper taken from his father's home office.
When he was satisfied with the design, he began to build, using hoarded allowance money. Soon he'd be sailing from building to building. If that worked he could try to recreate the batmobile. But first, he needed to fly on his own batwings.
"What are you doing?"
Rodney winced as the voice of his far too inquisitive sister interrupted his planning.
"I, uh, nothing. Go away and play dolls with your friends or something Jeannie."
"Meredith!" she set her hands on her hips and used his hated first name. She looked terrifyingly like a small version of their mother.
"Just go away. I'm doing an important experiment." He shooed her away but she didn't take the hint. Instead she crossed her arms and glared at him.
"You're doing something you're not supposed to be doing," she accused.
"I am not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not, are not!"
"Are too, are too!"
"Are not, are not, are n-"
"Are too times infinity!"
"You can't do that!"
"I just did."
"Go away Jeannie!" He tossed an mostly empty bottle of glue at her, scowling when she easily dodged. She gasped when she realized some of the glue had splashed onto her dress.
"I'm telling mom!"
"Go ahead!"
She glowered at him for a moment. "I'm telling dad," she threatened. As this was a more dire threat, Rodney relented.
"Okay, I'll tell you if you promise not to tell."
"You said you weren't doing anything bad," she reminded him, blue eyes narrowing.
Rodney rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm not, but I want it to be a surprise."
Jeannie eyed him then shrugged. "Okay."
Rodney smirked and dramatically whipped off the sheet which covered his genius creation. He expected "ohhs" and "aahs" from his little sister. She wasn't as smart as he was, but she wasn't dumb. She was related to him after all.
"What is it?" she asked.
Rodney deflated. "It's a glider."
"Why?"
"Because I want to glide, duh." Really, it was obvious.
"Why?" she asked again, suspicious of his purpose.
Rodney rolled his eyes and twitched the old sheet back over the glider. "If you're too stupid to figure it out, I'm not going to tell you," he informed her loftily.
Jeannie glared. "You're not going to try it, are you?"
"Of course I am," Rodney huffed.
Her eyes grew wide. "You could kill yourself!" she squealed.
"Keep it down! I will not." Rodney told her, not feeling as confident as he had moments before. Still, a stupid comic book kid could do it, he could damn well build a glider. His design was based on Leonardo Da Vinci! He couldn't go wrong.
Jean had her hands on her hips again. The glare was back also. "At least try it out."
"What for? I've done a dozen calculations. My math is perfect," Rodney insisted.
"Dad says real scientists do test runs first, idiot."
"I am not an idiot!"
"You are if you think that thing is going to hold you, Mer!" she prodded his slightly soft middle for emphasis. Rodney batted her hand away and glowered at her.
"If you're such a genius, what should I do then, huh?"
"Test it."
"And how do I do that?" he retorted.
Jeannie pursed her lips as she thought. "How much do you weigh?"
"Why do you care? Besides I figured that in already, if you must know."
She rolled her eyes. "Tie that much weight to it. Test it that way."
It was, he had to admit, a good idea. "Where am I gonna get that much weight?" He thought for a moment then snapped his fingers.
"Mom's got a new ten kilo bag of flour!"
"You weight more than ten kilos, Mer."
"Oh ha ha. Look, I can test it with ten and you can admit you're wrong and then I can test it."
"I guess," Jeannie said, though Rodney could tell she wasn't convinced.
"Come on,"
She'd followed him into the kitchen and even acted as lookout while he hauled the bag up to his glider. Rodney fastened the bag securely to his machine and carefully set the whole thing in the wheelbarrow.
He carefully wheeled out to the edge of a small cliff by the creek. The drop was about thirty feet. Rodney had calculated it would be enough to get him gliding. Soon he'd be winging his way through town, the city's very own dark avenger. He tied a string to the glider so after the silly test was done he could get it back again. He envisioned pulling his glider out of the sky like a kite.
"Ready?" he asked. She shrugged.
Rodney shoved the glider off the edge with a grunt of effort.
The glider didn't sail on the wind, easily lifting into space. In fact it didn't glide at all.
Rodney watched in horror as his carefully constructed project slid over the edge and plunged straight down. The wood shattered on the rocks below with a loud crash. The flour bag burst open, spilling its contents over the rocks below.
There was a moment of utter silence as the flour and blue tarp settled.
"I- I could have been killed!"
"Toldja," Jeannie said. She looked over the edge carefully for a few second more then skipped back down the path to the house. She stopped turned and called back to him, "You owe mom a new bag!" Jeanne waved and continued home.
Rodney carefully climbed down and surveyed his wreckage. The flour was everywhere. How easily that could have been his blood. Or his guts. Or his brain! The wooden rods had snapped. Those could have been his bones!
Rodney sat down on a rock and hyperventilated just a little. He could have killed himself!
The grave reality of the situation finally hit home and a few tears formed in his eyes. Alone, Rodney sobbed for awhile, grateful to be alive. In his mind several scenarios played out, each increasingly worse. His imagination supplied the details for what might have been, making him feel sick.
He returned home, dragging the wheelbarrow listlessly, subdued. He pretended he had no idea where his mother's four had gotten to. Jeannie remained quiet…
"Rodney, you ready to go?"
Rodney McKay roused himself from his memories. He hadn't thought about that day in decades. Ever since Sam had told him about Jeannie being kidnapped, it was all he'd been able to think about.
He could have killed himself, or permanently injured himself or a hundred other horrible fates. As he grew older, he realized his mistakes and the very near miss he'd almost had. If Jeannie hadn't shown up and insisted he try an unmanned test flight…
"Yeah. Yeah let's go." Rodney said, blindly following John and Ronon down the hall toward the elevators.
"You okay?" Ronon asked.
"Yeah. Just," Rodney waved vaguely in the air, "just something that keeps replaying in my mind."
Ronon and John shared a confused took. Rodney waved their concern aside.
"I just realized I never thanked my sister for something, okay? Let's go get her back."
~fin
Author: Lanna_kitty
Category: Gen
Characters: Rodney McKay
Word Count: 1539
Summary: He hadn't thought of that day in decades, but now it was all he could think about.
Spoilers: Miller's crossing
Notes: No idea where this came from. Just a little view into the past of the McKay siblings.
When Rodney McKay was seven, his older cousin Devon introduced him to Batman.
Not the campy TV series, but the comic books which had taken on a darker, more gothic tone. Devon was eleven at the time which made him infinitely cool to his seven year old cousin. His word was gospel and if he said Batman was cool, well then, that was it.
Rodney read the comics voraciously; borrowing them from his cousin over the weekends and using his meager allowance to purchase the monthly issues from the corner grocer. Rodney soon came to enjoy the character as more than something "older" or "cool" simply because Devon liked it.
Bruce Wayne was smart.
Like Rodney, he was a bit of an outcast, but he was a dark avenger. He used his brain to outsmart and outwit his enemies. Sure, the billionaire part was cool too, but Batman thwarted as much crime as Superman, did it without super powers...and he looked cool doing it.
Rodney longed to swing effortlessly from building to building, to sail down from on high, cape billowing behind to slow his descent and scare the crap out of his foes. He wanted the cool gadgets and neat equipment. He wanted his own batmobile and batplane and everything.
When he was eleven, an idea formed in his mind. Making some of the gadgets couldn’t be that hard. Besides, Robin used them all the time. Surely someone as smart as Rodney could devise some of these same creations. He could even become a super hero!
He based his first contraption on the Da Vinci design Batman himself supposedly had been inspired by. He didn't have a lot of the materials that were described in the book, but he figured he could do better with modern things.
He had a blue tarp from the one and only family camping trip. Balsa wood was easy to come by, was cheap and hey, flying things were supposed to be light, weren't they? He stole away for a bit each day, first meticulously researching how things flew then making careful drawings on graph paper taken from his father's home office.
When he was satisfied with the design, he began to build, using hoarded allowance money. Soon he'd be sailing from building to building. If that worked he could try to recreate the batmobile. But first, he needed to fly on his own batwings.
"What are you doing?"
Rodney winced as the voice of his far too inquisitive sister interrupted his planning.
"I, uh, nothing. Go away and play dolls with your friends or something Jeannie."
"Meredith!" she set her hands on her hips and used his hated first name. She looked terrifyingly like a small version of their mother.
"Just go away. I'm doing an important experiment." He shooed her away but she didn't take the hint. Instead she crossed her arms and glared at him.
"You're doing something you're not supposed to be doing," she accused.
"I am not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not, are not!"
"Are too, are too!"
"Are not, are not, are n-"
"Are too times infinity!"
"You can't do that!"
"I just did."
"Go away Jeannie!" He tossed an mostly empty bottle of glue at her, scowling when she easily dodged. She gasped when she realized some of the glue had splashed onto her dress.
"I'm telling mom!"
"Go ahead!"
She glowered at him for a moment. "I'm telling dad," she threatened. As this was a more dire threat, Rodney relented.
"Okay, I'll tell you if you promise not to tell."
"You said you weren't doing anything bad," she reminded him, blue eyes narrowing.
Rodney rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm not, but I want it to be a surprise."
Jeannie eyed him then shrugged. "Okay."
Rodney smirked and dramatically whipped off the sheet which covered his genius creation. He expected "ohhs" and "aahs" from his little sister. She wasn't as smart as he was, but she wasn't dumb. She was related to him after all.
"What is it?" she asked.
Rodney deflated. "It's a glider."
"Why?"
"Because I want to glide, duh." Really, it was obvious.
"Why?" she asked again, suspicious of his purpose.
Rodney rolled his eyes and twitched the old sheet back over the glider. "If you're too stupid to figure it out, I'm not going to tell you," he informed her loftily.
Jeannie glared. "You're not going to try it, are you?"
"Of course I am," Rodney huffed.
Her eyes grew wide. "You could kill yourself!" she squealed.
"Keep it down! I will not." Rodney told her, not feeling as confident as he had moments before. Still, a stupid comic book kid could do it, he could damn well build a glider. His design was based on Leonardo Da Vinci! He couldn't go wrong.
Jean had her hands on her hips again. The glare was back also. "At least try it out."
"What for? I've done a dozen calculations. My math is perfect," Rodney insisted.
"Dad says real scientists do test runs first, idiot."
"I am not an idiot!"
"You are if you think that thing is going to hold you, Mer!" she prodded his slightly soft middle for emphasis. Rodney batted her hand away and glowered at her.
"If you're such a genius, what should I do then, huh?"
"Test it."
"And how do I do that?" he retorted.
Jeannie pursed her lips as she thought. "How much do you weigh?"
"Why do you care? Besides I figured that in already, if you must know."
She rolled her eyes. "Tie that much weight to it. Test it that way."
It was, he had to admit, a good idea. "Where am I gonna get that much weight?" He thought for a moment then snapped his fingers.
"Mom's got a new ten kilo bag of flour!"
"You weight more than ten kilos, Mer."
"Oh ha ha. Look, I can test it with ten and you can admit you're wrong and then I can test it."
"I guess," Jeannie said, though Rodney could tell she wasn't convinced.
"Come on,"
She'd followed him into the kitchen and even acted as lookout while he hauled the bag up to his glider. Rodney fastened the bag securely to his machine and carefully set the whole thing in the wheelbarrow.
He carefully wheeled out to the edge of a small cliff by the creek. The drop was about thirty feet. Rodney had calculated it would be enough to get him gliding. Soon he'd be winging his way through town, the city's very own dark avenger. He tied a string to the glider so after the silly test was done he could get it back again. He envisioned pulling his glider out of the sky like a kite.
"Ready?" he asked. She shrugged.
Rodney shoved the glider off the edge with a grunt of effort.
The glider didn't sail on the wind, easily lifting into space. In fact it didn't glide at all.
Rodney watched in horror as his carefully constructed project slid over the edge and plunged straight down. The wood shattered on the rocks below with a loud crash. The flour bag burst open, spilling its contents over the rocks below.
There was a moment of utter silence as the flour and blue tarp settled.
"I- I could have been killed!"
"Toldja," Jeannie said. She looked over the edge carefully for a few second more then skipped back down the path to the house. She stopped turned and called back to him, "You owe mom a new bag!" Jeanne waved and continued home.
Rodney carefully climbed down and surveyed his wreckage. The flour was everywhere. How easily that could have been his blood. Or his guts. Or his brain! The wooden rods had snapped. Those could have been his bones!
Rodney sat down on a rock and hyperventilated just a little. He could have killed himself!
The grave reality of the situation finally hit home and a few tears formed in his eyes. Alone, Rodney sobbed for awhile, grateful to be alive. In his mind several scenarios played out, each increasingly worse. His imagination supplied the details for what might have been, making him feel sick.
He returned home, dragging the wheelbarrow listlessly, subdued. He pretended he had no idea where his mother's four had gotten to. Jeannie remained quiet…
"Rodney, you ready to go?"
Rodney McKay roused himself from his memories. He hadn't thought about that day in decades. Ever since Sam had told him about Jeannie being kidnapped, it was all he'd been able to think about.
He could have killed himself, or permanently injured himself or a hundred other horrible fates. As he grew older, he realized his mistakes and the very near miss he'd almost had. If Jeannie hadn't shown up and insisted he try an unmanned test flight…
"Yeah. Yeah let's go." Rodney said, blindly following John and Ronon down the hall toward the elevators.
"You okay?" Ronon asked.
"Yeah. Just," Rodney waved vaguely in the air, "just something that keeps replaying in my mind."
Ronon and John shared a confused took. Rodney waved their concern aside.
"I just realized I never thanked my sister for something, okay? Let's go get her back."
~fin