Fic: Harmony Restored
TITLE: Harmony Restored
AUTHOR: tarlanx
PAIRING: McKay/Zelenka
RATING: PG Slash
DISCLAIMER: Not mine!
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Pinch hit for lilyayl, who wanted Rodney/Radek. Little moments, humor, G-R rating, happy endings (it will be Christmas time, happy is good), reconciliation, discovery, fairy tales and Atlantis (but not sentient!Atlantis)
I tried to fit in a few of these for you. I do hope you like this Rodney/Radek fic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HARMONY RESTORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You're making it up." Dexton exclaimed rather loudly.
"Not."
"Oh yes you are. There is no way that symbol is a bagel."
"Okay then, maybe it's a donut."
Rodney frowned because the Ancients were not exactly known for their cuisine. For all any of them knew, they ate multi-colored processed cubes for nutritional value only like in all of the worst science fiction films set in Earth's future. Certainly, he could not recall any of the soft sciences mentioning that they had gained any new insight in that respect. When the Ancients left Atlantis, they did not do so in a complete rush. They took their time and stripped Atlantis of most everything useful. Occasionally, someone would find something that might have been a cooking utensil of some description but, more often than not, the item in question could have served other purposes that had little or nothing to do with food.
"Let me see." Rodney McKay whipped Meisterson's laptop around so he could see the screen, only for Meisterson to yank it back. In disgust Rodney grabbed for it again only to turn accusing eyes on Meisterson when the screen went blank, a nasty smile hovering over the man's lips as his finger moved away from the power shutdown switch.
"What--?"
"I don't answer to you, McKay. Not anymore."
Rodney raised a finger to contradict him but had to bite his tongue on the response because Meisterson was right. He had forfeited his chief scientist position after the disaster on Arcturus. Radek was in charge now and some people had taken a lot of pleasure in reminding Rodney of his new position lower on the hierarchy.
"Fine."
He turned back to his own work, wishing he had an excuse to leave the lab but Radek had given him this work to complete and the least he could do as some measure of an apology for his harsh words during the spectacular failure of Arcturus was finish it. Behind him he could hear Meisterson and Dexton sniggering like small children, taking so much glee in his fall from grace. Admittedly, he had given both of them a hard time when he was in charge but only because they were both incompetent morons who would end up destroying half the city if left too long without supervision. Some people called that 'micro-managing' but Rodney had always thought of it as self-preservation. Atlantis was millions of years old and no one had been around to maintain the great city for ten thousand years. Parts had flooded when the shield collapsed soon after they arrived, and the city had sustained even more damage during the storm and then during the wraith attack.
The ZedPM brought by the Daedalus might have brought more systems online but it had also revealed how much more damage there was to certain unexplored areas. All of it could be fixed given enough time and resources but handling the crystals was delicate work requiring concentration and a certain amount of intuitive reasoning that so-called scientists like Dexton and Meisterson seemed to be lacking. In truth, Rodney trusted only a few of the scientists to work on the city unsupervised. Radek was the first among their number so he was glad that when Elizabeth decided to punish him, she had placed the city in Radek's capable hands. Not that Rodney would ever admit this to anyone.
Behind him, Dexton and Meisterson went back to arguing over whatever symbol they had found in the massive database. Rodney huffed in annoyance because he knew they were time-wasting but, more importantly, they were distracting him from his own work. He hit the save key and closed up his laptop, deciding he could work just as well in the commissary at this time of day.
He was used to no one acknowledging him as he walked through the city, preferring to walk past without attracting his attention in case he found work for them to do, so the deliberate turning away and the smirks barely registered at first. Now he was all too aware of the contempt surrounding him and he knew it had far less to do with his destroying most of a solar system and more to do with the death of Collins. Murmurs of Peter Grodin, Gaul and Abrams drifted along too, with the others more than willing to blame him for their deaths. In some ways they were right because all four might still be alive if Rodney had known more about the Wraith and about Ancient technology. No one seemed to realize or care that he was just as hampered as everyone else by a distressing lack of knowledge, except he had tried to do something about that and had become the foremost expert in Ancient technology possibly in two galaxies. Certainly, he didn't waste his time playing 'guess the symbol' when there was a perfectly adequate piece of Ancient text right next to it that could be translated within minutes.
Upon entering the commissary, Rodney grabbed a coffee and headed towards an empty table, carefully bypassing the one where Sheppard sat talking to his new pet Neanderthal. Sheppard noticed him but looked away without a word or gesture and Rodney could not help but feel a little hurt by the snub. How was he supposed to regain the man's trust if he wouldn't even acknowledge him?
Rodney sat facing away from everyone and opened his laptop, swiftly immersing himself in his work. A fresh mug of coffee appearing next to him brought his attention back and Rodney looked up in bewilderment as Radek slipped into the seat opposite.
"Svenson is adamant that his equations do not require checking. Please tell me I was right in asking you to look over them."
"The temperature equations are fine..." Rodney saw Radek's face express dismay, "...for someone who spent most of his life above the arctic circle and believes that minus ten Celsius is a warm summer's day."
Rodney flipped around the laptop, willing to share his humiliation of Svenson with someone who could still appreciate his mathematical abilities despite Arcturus.
Radek pushed up his glasses and smiled as Rodney pointed out the flaws. Before Rodney realized it, he and Radek were pushing ideas back and forth across the table as they took Svenson's raw equations and came up with a better model. Food magically appeared while they worked through the problems, just like before Arcturus, and they barely noticed as they ate the sandwiches. With the final set of equations corrected, Rodney sat back in his seat and grinned at Radek, seeing an answering smile in blue eyes magnified by the lenses of Radek's glasses.
"I have missed this, my friend," Radek stated, placing a hand over Rodney's and squeezing gently.
Flustered by the intimacy, Rodney stammered out what he hoped was the appropriate response. "Umm...me too."
The brilliant smile he received for his words dispelled some of the coldness filling him since Arcturus but he was still grateful when Radek removed his hand and started on an old debate over the purpose of the grounding stations.
~~~~~~~~~
Lorne's team had found Ancient ruins close to the Stargate on PX5 7FV and Radek had agreed to an away mission. For Rodney, it was his first time offworld since Arcturus and he could not believe how much he had missed stepping through the Stargate onto a new world. Even the half mile hike through tropical vegetation had done little to dampen his spirits, though he was very wary of being offworld without Sheppard and Teyla. He even missed the presence of Conan the Barbarian.
However, it was clear that this world had never supported a human population so there was no reason for the Wraith to come here. All that remained was the long abandoned ruins of an Ancient outpost. They found the remnants of a ZedPM lying on top of a pile of shattered orange crystal and Rodney had the remains picked up for transportation back to Atlantis. Of course, it irked that his request had to go through Radek. The worth of even a destroyed ZedPM was immense but only he and Radek could see that. At least no one had to feel guilty about breaking one open now, just so they could study the internal configuration in greater detail.
While he was organizing the collection of the broken ZedPM, Dexton continued to search the outpost and his exclamation drew Rodney's attention.
"What is it?" Rodney asked, snapping his fingers.
For once, Dexton was happy to show his discovery to Rodney, which could only mean that he thought it was something of great value and simply wanted to crow at Rodney's expense. He brought over an ancient artifact that he had found in a hidden compartment. It was one of three similar devices.
"Obviously a weapon of some sort. Probably a hand gun judging by its shape and the comfortable fit. I'm certain this could be of great value against the Wraith."
Rodney stared at the small object in Dexton's hand. "Not unless you plan to force feed them the Macarena on a continuous loop."
"Mac-"
"It's a music box." Rodney stated with obvious disdain for the idiot proposing it was something else entirely more destructive. "It stores and reproduces music... like an iPod."
"A couple of PhDs and a fake gene and you think you know everything," the scientist responded in disgust. "Not that it's of any relevance as none of these will work without an alternative power source. Any power has been depleted over 10,000 years."
"Hardly indicated by that machine," Rodney could feel the slight buzzing that indicated that it still retained some power. He reached for the small device but Dexton pulled it away, refusing to let go of his discovery. In mute annoyance, Rodney looked to Radek.
"Please hand it to Dr. McKay," he stated in a tone that revealed the depths of his frustration. The object lit up like a neon Christmas decoration the moment it touched Rodney's skin, vibrating gently in the palm of his hand. Rodney smiled as his thoughts interfaced with the massive database within it, seeking out something loud and discordant deliberately, just to annoy Dexton.
Music bounced off the walls of the chamber, the deep bass throbbing beneath his feet to vibrate through his body. The others were stunned but Rodney simply closed his eyes and let the sound travel through him, internalizing the music when Lorne came rushing in and Dexton began to yell in anger.
As Rodney slipped away into the sound, Radek could only manage a bitter shake of his head, wishing he could follow.
There was a time back in Antarctica when he had coveted this position as chief scientist, believing it was his due as he knew he was far superior in intelligence and scientific ability to most everyone on the expedition, McKay excluded. However, he believed he excelled far beyond Rodney in the area of managing people. Radek had forgotten the number of times he had been forced to intercede on behalf of junior scientists or help nurse a bruised ego, battered and torn by the arrogant, irascible McKay. It had not mattered that Rodney was invariably right in his assessment of someone's stupidity but would it have taken much effort to leave his 'minions' with a shred of dignity? Kavanagh had once remarked that Rodney's sharp tongue and intellect could strip the flesh off a subordinate faster than a shoal of piranha and, until now, Radek had seen that in a detrimental light. Now, he wished he had his old job back as Rodney's deputy because, without someone snarling and spitting at them, his subordinates did little in the way of productive work - and Radek hated playing the bad guy.
Only today, Dr. Sanchez had broken two highly important and irreplaceable control crystals because she thought she could re-route a power conduit to a malfunctioning piece of medical equipment without bothering to test the impact on the new system. Two valuable crystals had cracked and Radek could only be grateful that no one had been using the scanner in the infirmary at the time. When he asked her why she thought it was safe to proceed without informing him first, Sanchez carefully explained that she was an expert in her field after all and did not need anyone holding her hand.
An expert.
Yes, they were all experts, he mused sarcastically as Dexton continued to rant. Without Rodney's heavy handed approach, wanting to know every minute detail of everyone's work on pain of a tongue lashing followed by a trip home on the Daedalus, they all believed that they understood enough to take risks that could affect every life in the city.
A twitch of Rodney's lips gave him away and Radek had to smirk too when Dexton turned on his heel and stomped off. Even without ranting at the others, Rodney could still manage to infuriate his intellectual subordinates.
"Rodney?"
Beautiful music flowed through the chamber once more, though at a fair more pleasant volume, and Radek leaned back to listen though his focus was on Rodney as much as on the music. Long eyelashes fluttered as Rodney's eyes closed and he raised his chin a fraction, taking on a blissed-out expression. The crooked tilt to his lips had straightened into a half smile, emphasizing the soft roundness of his cheeks. Long but sturdy fingers, so agile upon a keyboard, twitched with the rise and fall of the melody. When he opened his eyes, Radek felt his breath catch in his throat at the beauty of this man. Blue eyes shone in pleasure, open and unguarded as they seemed to look straight into Radek's soul.
Rodney offered the music player to Radek, a shy smile curving his lips but it faded into disappointment when the music stopped abruptly as it left his hand, breaking the spell wrapped around them. Radek turned the small machine over, once more wishing that the gene therapy had taken with him so he could have enjoyed even these small discoveries first hand.
"Guess it needs both the physical and the mental component to operate."
"Can I?" Lorne asked, and Radek startled, having forgotten the major's presence. He slid the device into Lorne's outstretched hand and within seconds a bouncier tune came from the device that better reflected Lorne's taste in music. The major chuckled and handed it back to Radek, only for the music to die once more. He seemed as disappointed as Rodney. "Sorry, doc."
They found nothing else of any use in the ruins so Lorne decided it was time to head back to Atlantis, though he did mark down the planet as a possible alpha site. If the Wraith ever figured out that Atlantis was still there then they might need a safe haven if they could not gate back to Earth.
Dexton fumed all the way back to the Stargate but, despite having no luck with the device, Radek did not care about the disgruntled scientist. Instead, he focused on the memory of Rodney's enchanted expression, knowing how rare it was to see Rodney with his guard well and truly down. For too long now, Rodney had seemed haunted by events in the Pegasus galaxy, taking each death seriously no matter how inconsiderate or uncompassionate he might seem to others.
As they stepped through the Stargate back into Atlantis, Radek caught a fleeting glance of a familiar figure. Sheppard might not want to admit it publicly - or even privately to Rodney - but their friendship was not quite as broken as it might appear. No doubt he had lingered just to make certain Rodney came back in one shape. It gave Radek hope that all would return to what passed for normal soon. Though as he listened to Dexton whine about the music device and about Rodney's so-called interfernece, Radek doubted it could be soon enough as far as he was concerned.
~~~~~~~~~
Two days later, Radek was granted his wish when Elizabeth asked how he felt about standing down as chief scientist now that Rodney had found time to reflect upon his less desirable traits.
"Thank you!" He knew he was babbling in a mix of Czech and English but Radek could not believe his luck.
Elizabeth seemed surprised at his attitude, as if she had expected him to argue for staying in the position. "O...kay. Good. I'll let Rodney know that he's reinstated as chief scientist, effective immediately."
"Yes! Thank you."
Radek rushed off with far lighter footsteps, heading straight to his lab where several experiments remained incomplete due to the time he had wasted on pathetic staff issues. He heard Rodney stride into the lab a short time later, strangely pleased by Rodney's concerned expression.
"Umm...Elizabeth wants me to take over as--"
"Yes. And I am most grateful to no longer be responsible for idiots who wish to blow up the city. Happily, I hand position back to you."
"Really?"
Radek reached out and gripped both of Rodney's arms. "Yes. Really."
Rodney did not seem to notice that Radek had stepped right into his personal space. Instead, he looked at him thoughtfully for a second or two longer and then nodded, having convinced himself that Radek was being genuine. He gave a tentative smile and Radek had to use every ounce of control not to simply lean forward and kiss the soft lips though Radek was certain Rodney was disappointed when he let go and stepped back.
"So! " Rodney rubbed his hands together briskly. "Elizabeth mentioned a problem with the environment controls in the east wing. Apparently, someone was in the shower when the water turned icy." He raised both eyebrows.
"Would that person happen to have been Dr. Dexton?"
The twitch of those kissable lips gave Radek the desired answer. Within moments they were back down to business as if Arcturus had never happened but Radek caught a speculative glance aimed at him every once in a while and smiled gently to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rodney fidgeted on the threshold as the door chime announced his presence. He knew it was a little late in the evening to go calling but Radek was a night owl like him. The door slid open and Rodney rocked back as Radek appeared, noticing that his hair was a little wilder than usual, mussed from sleep, making Rodney feel a little bit guilty.
"I...have something for you."
"Oh? And this could this not wait until morning?"
"Umm...Well..."
Radek stepped back and gestured into his room, closing the door behind Rodney. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and dropped onto the edge of the rumpled bed. The silence stretched between them until Radek broke it.
"So?"
"Oh. Yes." Rodney reached into his pocket and withdrew one of the small musical devices, letting the soft strains of a romantic melody fill the room. "This is for you."
Radek smiled regretfully. "I cannot use--" His eyes widened when the music continued to play after Rodney let go, staring with awe at the small device nestled in the palm of his hand. Eventually, Radek looked up in stunned delight.
"I've been... working on it to make it accessible to...well...to anyone following initialization. I thought you might appreciate--"
Radek stood up slowly as Rodney stammered his explanation.
"You did this for me?"
"I...Yes."
This time, when Radek reached for him, Rodney followed an impulse and pressed his lips against Radek's in a soft yet firm kiss. After a stunned moment, Radek's lips parted beneath his, his arms enfolding Rodney. Radek held onto the Ancient device as they slowly made love, their movements mirrored by the music that reached a crescendo with their climax, softly falling into perfect peace as they wrapped their arms around each other and slept in perfect harmony.
THE END
AUTHOR: tarlanx
PAIRING: McKay/Zelenka
RATING: PG Slash
DISCLAIMER: Not mine!
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Pinch hit for lilyayl, who wanted Rodney/Radek. Little moments, humor, G-R rating, happy endings (it will be Christmas time, happy is good), reconciliation, discovery, fairy tales and Atlantis (but not sentient!Atlantis)
I tried to fit in a few of these for you. I do hope you like this Rodney/Radek fic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HARMONY RESTORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You're making it up." Dexton exclaimed rather loudly.
"Not."
"Oh yes you are. There is no way that symbol is a bagel."
"Okay then, maybe it's a donut."
Rodney frowned because the Ancients were not exactly known for their cuisine. For all any of them knew, they ate multi-colored processed cubes for nutritional value only like in all of the worst science fiction films set in Earth's future. Certainly, he could not recall any of the soft sciences mentioning that they had gained any new insight in that respect. When the Ancients left Atlantis, they did not do so in a complete rush. They took their time and stripped Atlantis of most everything useful. Occasionally, someone would find something that might have been a cooking utensil of some description but, more often than not, the item in question could have served other purposes that had little or nothing to do with food.
"Let me see." Rodney McKay whipped Meisterson's laptop around so he could see the screen, only for Meisterson to yank it back. In disgust Rodney grabbed for it again only to turn accusing eyes on Meisterson when the screen went blank, a nasty smile hovering over the man's lips as his finger moved away from the power shutdown switch.
"What--?"
"I don't answer to you, McKay. Not anymore."
Rodney raised a finger to contradict him but had to bite his tongue on the response because Meisterson was right. He had forfeited his chief scientist position after the disaster on Arcturus. Radek was in charge now and some people had taken a lot of pleasure in reminding Rodney of his new position lower on the hierarchy.
"Fine."
He turned back to his own work, wishing he had an excuse to leave the lab but Radek had given him this work to complete and the least he could do as some measure of an apology for his harsh words during the spectacular failure of Arcturus was finish it. Behind him he could hear Meisterson and Dexton sniggering like small children, taking so much glee in his fall from grace. Admittedly, he had given both of them a hard time when he was in charge but only because they were both incompetent morons who would end up destroying half the city if left too long without supervision. Some people called that 'micro-managing' but Rodney had always thought of it as self-preservation. Atlantis was millions of years old and no one had been around to maintain the great city for ten thousand years. Parts had flooded when the shield collapsed soon after they arrived, and the city had sustained even more damage during the storm and then during the wraith attack.
The ZedPM brought by the Daedalus might have brought more systems online but it had also revealed how much more damage there was to certain unexplored areas. All of it could be fixed given enough time and resources but handling the crystals was delicate work requiring concentration and a certain amount of intuitive reasoning that so-called scientists like Dexton and Meisterson seemed to be lacking. In truth, Rodney trusted only a few of the scientists to work on the city unsupervised. Radek was the first among their number so he was glad that when Elizabeth decided to punish him, she had placed the city in Radek's capable hands. Not that Rodney would ever admit this to anyone.
Behind him, Dexton and Meisterson went back to arguing over whatever symbol they had found in the massive database. Rodney huffed in annoyance because he knew they were time-wasting but, more importantly, they were distracting him from his own work. He hit the save key and closed up his laptop, deciding he could work just as well in the commissary at this time of day.
He was used to no one acknowledging him as he walked through the city, preferring to walk past without attracting his attention in case he found work for them to do, so the deliberate turning away and the smirks barely registered at first. Now he was all too aware of the contempt surrounding him and he knew it had far less to do with his destroying most of a solar system and more to do with the death of Collins. Murmurs of Peter Grodin, Gaul and Abrams drifted along too, with the others more than willing to blame him for their deaths. In some ways they were right because all four might still be alive if Rodney had known more about the Wraith and about Ancient technology. No one seemed to realize or care that he was just as hampered as everyone else by a distressing lack of knowledge, except he had tried to do something about that and had become the foremost expert in Ancient technology possibly in two galaxies. Certainly, he didn't waste his time playing 'guess the symbol' when there was a perfectly adequate piece of Ancient text right next to it that could be translated within minutes.
Upon entering the commissary, Rodney grabbed a coffee and headed towards an empty table, carefully bypassing the one where Sheppard sat talking to his new pet Neanderthal. Sheppard noticed him but looked away without a word or gesture and Rodney could not help but feel a little hurt by the snub. How was he supposed to regain the man's trust if he wouldn't even acknowledge him?
Rodney sat facing away from everyone and opened his laptop, swiftly immersing himself in his work. A fresh mug of coffee appearing next to him brought his attention back and Rodney looked up in bewilderment as Radek slipped into the seat opposite.
"Svenson is adamant that his equations do not require checking. Please tell me I was right in asking you to look over them."
"The temperature equations are fine..." Rodney saw Radek's face express dismay, "...for someone who spent most of his life above the arctic circle and believes that minus ten Celsius is a warm summer's day."
Rodney flipped around the laptop, willing to share his humiliation of Svenson with someone who could still appreciate his mathematical abilities despite Arcturus.
Radek pushed up his glasses and smiled as Rodney pointed out the flaws. Before Rodney realized it, he and Radek were pushing ideas back and forth across the table as they took Svenson's raw equations and came up with a better model. Food magically appeared while they worked through the problems, just like before Arcturus, and they barely noticed as they ate the sandwiches. With the final set of equations corrected, Rodney sat back in his seat and grinned at Radek, seeing an answering smile in blue eyes magnified by the lenses of Radek's glasses.
"I have missed this, my friend," Radek stated, placing a hand over Rodney's and squeezing gently.
Flustered by the intimacy, Rodney stammered out what he hoped was the appropriate response. "Umm...me too."
The brilliant smile he received for his words dispelled some of the coldness filling him since Arcturus but he was still grateful when Radek removed his hand and started on an old debate over the purpose of the grounding stations.
~~~~~~~~~
Lorne's team had found Ancient ruins close to the Stargate on PX5 7FV and Radek had agreed to an away mission. For Rodney, it was his first time offworld since Arcturus and he could not believe how much he had missed stepping through the Stargate onto a new world. Even the half mile hike through tropical vegetation had done little to dampen his spirits, though he was very wary of being offworld without Sheppard and Teyla. He even missed the presence of Conan the Barbarian.
However, it was clear that this world had never supported a human population so there was no reason for the Wraith to come here. All that remained was the long abandoned ruins of an Ancient outpost. They found the remnants of a ZedPM lying on top of a pile of shattered orange crystal and Rodney had the remains picked up for transportation back to Atlantis. Of course, it irked that his request had to go through Radek. The worth of even a destroyed ZedPM was immense but only he and Radek could see that. At least no one had to feel guilty about breaking one open now, just so they could study the internal configuration in greater detail.
While he was organizing the collection of the broken ZedPM, Dexton continued to search the outpost and his exclamation drew Rodney's attention.
"What is it?" Rodney asked, snapping his fingers.
For once, Dexton was happy to show his discovery to Rodney, which could only mean that he thought it was something of great value and simply wanted to crow at Rodney's expense. He brought over an ancient artifact that he had found in a hidden compartment. It was one of three similar devices.
"Obviously a weapon of some sort. Probably a hand gun judging by its shape and the comfortable fit. I'm certain this could be of great value against the Wraith."
Rodney stared at the small object in Dexton's hand. "Not unless you plan to force feed them the Macarena on a continuous loop."
"Mac-"
"It's a music box." Rodney stated with obvious disdain for the idiot proposing it was something else entirely more destructive. "It stores and reproduces music... like an iPod."
"A couple of PhDs and a fake gene and you think you know everything," the scientist responded in disgust. "Not that it's of any relevance as none of these will work without an alternative power source. Any power has been depleted over 10,000 years."
"Hardly indicated by that machine," Rodney could feel the slight buzzing that indicated that it still retained some power. He reached for the small device but Dexton pulled it away, refusing to let go of his discovery. In mute annoyance, Rodney looked to Radek.
"Please hand it to Dr. McKay," he stated in a tone that revealed the depths of his frustration. The object lit up like a neon Christmas decoration the moment it touched Rodney's skin, vibrating gently in the palm of his hand. Rodney smiled as his thoughts interfaced with the massive database within it, seeking out something loud and discordant deliberately, just to annoy Dexton.
Music bounced off the walls of the chamber, the deep bass throbbing beneath his feet to vibrate through his body. The others were stunned but Rodney simply closed his eyes and let the sound travel through him, internalizing the music when Lorne came rushing in and Dexton began to yell in anger.
As Rodney slipped away into the sound, Radek could only manage a bitter shake of his head, wishing he could follow.
There was a time back in Antarctica when he had coveted this position as chief scientist, believing it was his due as he knew he was far superior in intelligence and scientific ability to most everyone on the expedition, McKay excluded. However, he believed he excelled far beyond Rodney in the area of managing people. Radek had forgotten the number of times he had been forced to intercede on behalf of junior scientists or help nurse a bruised ego, battered and torn by the arrogant, irascible McKay. It had not mattered that Rodney was invariably right in his assessment of someone's stupidity but would it have taken much effort to leave his 'minions' with a shred of dignity? Kavanagh had once remarked that Rodney's sharp tongue and intellect could strip the flesh off a subordinate faster than a shoal of piranha and, until now, Radek had seen that in a detrimental light. Now, he wished he had his old job back as Rodney's deputy because, without someone snarling and spitting at them, his subordinates did little in the way of productive work - and Radek hated playing the bad guy.
Only today, Dr. Sanchez had broken two highly important and irreplaceable control crystals because she thought she could re-route a power conduit to a malfunctioning piece of medical equipment without bothering to test the impact on the new system. Two valuable crystals had cracked and Radek could only be grateful that no one had been using the scanner in the infirmary at the time. When he asked her why she thought it was safe to proceed without informing him first, Sanchez carefully explained that she was an expert in her field after all and did not need anyone holding her hand.
An expert.
Yes, they were all experts, he mused sarcastically as Dexton continued to rant. Without Rodney's heavy handed approach, wanting to know every minute detail of everyone's work on pain of a tongue lashing followed by a trip home on the Daedalus, they all believed that they understood enough to take risks that could affect every life in the city.
A twitch of Rodney's lips gave him away and Radek had to smirk too when Dexton turned on his heel and stomped off. Even without ranting at the others, Rodney could still manage to infuriate his intellectual subordinates.
"Rodney?"
Beautiful music flowed through the chamber once more, though at a fair more pleasant volume, and Radek leaned back to listen though his focus was on Rodney as much as on the music. Long eyelashes fluttered as Rodney's eyes closed and he raised his chin a fraction, taking on a blissed-out expression. The crooked tilt to his lips had straightened into a half smile, emphasizing the soft roundness of his cheeks. Long but sturdy fingers, so agile upon a keyboard, twitched with the rise and fall of the melody. When he opened his eyes, Radek felt his breath catch in his throat at the beauty of this man. Blue eyes shone in pleasure, open and unguarded as they seemed to look straight into Radek's soul.
Rodney offered the music player to Radek, a shy smile curving his lips but it faded into disappointment when the music stopped abruptly as it left his hand, breaking the spell wrapped around them. Radek turned the small machine over, once more wishing that the gene therapy had taken with him so he could have enjoyed even these small discoveries first hand.
"Guess it needs both the physical and the mental component to operate."
"Can I?" Lorne asked, and Radek startled, having forgotten the major's presence. He slid the device into Lorne's outstretched hand and within seconds a bouncier tune came from the device that better reflected Lorne's taste in music. The major chuckled and handed it back to Radek, only for the music to die once more. He seemed as disappointed as Rodney. "Sorry, doc."
They found nothing else of any use in the ruins so Lorne decided it was time to head back to Atlantis, though he did mark down the planet as a possible alpha site. If the Wraith ever figured out that Atlantis was still there then they might need a safe haven if they could not gate back to Earth.
Dexton fumed all the way back to the Stargate but, despite having no luck with the device, Radek did not care about the disgruntled scientist. Instead, he focused on the memory of Rodney's enchanted expression, knowing how rare it was to see Rodney with his guard well and truly down. For too long now, Rodney had seemed haunted by events in the Pegasus galaxy, taking each death seriously no matter how inconsiderate or uncompassionate he might seem to others.
As they stepped through the Stargate back into Atlantis, Radek caught a fleeting glance of a familiar figure. Sheppard might not want to admit it publicly - or even privately to Rodney - but their friendship was not quite as broken as it might appear. No doubt he had lingered just to make certain Rodney came back in one shape. It gave Radek hope that all would return to what passed for normal soon. Though as he listened to Dexton whine about the music device and about Rodney's so-called interfernece, Radek doubted it could be soon enough as far as he was concerned.
~~~~~~~~~
Two days later, Radek was granted his wish when Elizabeth asked how he felt about standing down as chief scientist now that Rodney had found time to reflect upon his less desirable traits.
"Thank you!" He knew he was babbling in a mix of Czech and English but Radek could not believe his luck.
Elizabeth seemed surprised at his attitude, as if she had expected him to argue for staying in the position. "O...kay. Good. I'll let Rodney know that he's reinstated as chief scientist, effective immediately."
"Yes! Thank you."
Radek rushed off with far lighter footsteps, heading straight to his lab where several experiments remained incomplete due to the time he had wasted on pathetic staff issues. He heard Rodney stride into the lab a short time later, strangely pleased by Rodney's concerned expression.
"Umm...Elizabeth wants me to take over as--"
"Yes. And I am most grateful to no longer be responsible for idiots who wish to blow up the city. Happily, I hand position back to you."
"Really?"
Radek reached out and gripped both of Rodney's arms. "Yes. Really."
Rodney did not seem to notice that Radek had stepped right into his personal space. Instead, he looked at him thoughtfully for a second or two longer and then nodded, having convinced himself that Radek was being genuine. He gave a tentative smile and Radek had to use every ounce of control not to simply lean forward and kiss the soft lips though Radek was certain Rodney was disappointed when he let go and stepped back.
"So! " Rodney rubbed his hands together briskly. "Elizabeth mentioned a problem with the environment controls in the east wing. Apparently, someone was in the shower when the water turned icy." He raised both eyebrows.
"Would that person happen to have been Dr. Dexton?"
The twitch of those kissable lips gave Radek the desired answer. Within moments they were back down to business as if Arcturus had never happened but Radek caught a speculative glance aimed at him every once in a while and smiled gently to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rodney fidgeted on the threshold as the door chime announced his presence. He knew it was a little late in the evening to go calling but Radek was a night owl like him. The door slid open and Rodney rocked back as Radek appeared, noticing that his hair was a little wilder than usual, mussed from sleep, making Rodney feel a little bit guilty.
"I...have something for you."
"Oh? And this could this not wait until morning?"
"Umm...Well..."
Radek stepped back and gestured into his room, closing the door behind Rodney. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and dropped onto the edge of the rumpled bed. The silence stretched between them until Radek broke it.
"So?"
"Oh. Yes." Rodney reached into his pocket and withdrew one of the small musical devices, letting the soft strains of a romantic melody fill the room. "This is for you."
Radek smiled regretfully. "I cannot use--" His eyes widened when the music continued to play after Rodney let go, staring with awe at the small device nestled in the palm of his hand. Eventually, Radek looked up in stunned delight.
"I've been... working on it to make it accessible to...well...to anyone following initialization. I thought you might appreciate--"
Radek stood up slowly as Rodney stammered his explanation.
"You did this for me?"
"I...Yes."
This time, when Radek reached for him, Rodney followed an impulse and pressed his lips against Radek's in a soft yet firm kiss. After a stunned moment, Radek's lips parted beneath his, his arms enfolding Rodney. Radek held onto the Ancient device as they slowly made love, their movements mirrored by the music that reached a crescendo with their climax, softly falling into perfect peace as they wrapped their arms around each other and slept in perfect harmony.
THE END