Fic: Departing (R)
Title: Departing
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, Kavanaugh, Lorne
Relationships: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Beckett, reference to Lorne/Cadman/Parrish/Brown
Rating: R for this part, but the series as a whole is NC-17
Warnings: Angst, angst, angst, cliffhanger
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 55 of the Broken Series
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
It was late when he awoke-- after ten hundred. He stretched, feeling good, really good for the first time in weeks. New pink skin, still tender, crisscrossed his palms and arms. The wound on his chest was almost gone as well. At the very edges of his mind, he could still feel hints of foreign emotions, flitting and hard to capture, like something seen out of the corner of your eye.
Rodney's breath ghosted across him, one hand resting comfortably on his chest, the other tucked under Rodney's own head. Carefully, John extricated himself and padded into the bathroom to relieve himself, then paused to brush his teeth.
When he returned, Rodney had flipped onto his back, hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight. Most of the covers had slipped or been kicked off and John paused to admire his husband's body-- the broad plane of his chest, covered in a pleasant amount of curly hair; brown nipples, already erect; the small curve of his stomach which Rodney hated and John adored; the line of hair that descended into the lush patch surrounding Rodney's proud erection, standing at full mast this morning. John felt his own cock stirring back to interest.
Last night they'd been a little too buzzed and a lot too tired to do more than some serious petting. He glanced at the clock. Cadman's team left at eleven hundred. Enough time if they were quick.
He returned to the bed, straddling his husband and took his mouth in a kiss. Rodney's breath was truly appalling this morning, but John didn't care. He felt Rodney's smile against his lips.
"Good morning," he said.
Rodney spread his fingers and peeked out between them. "Time is it?"
"Time to get up. Oh, wait, you've already done that," he teased, wiggling his ass against Rodney's erection.
Rodney grabbed him, holding him still. "Stop. Very full bladder. Off. Off."
John mock pouted, but slid off and Rodney rolled out of the bed and dashed into the bathroom. John laid and listened to Rodney relieve himself-- God, his bladder had been full-- and then wash up, brush his teeth and gargle.
When Rodney returned, he was already half-hard again. John shimmied into the center of the bed, eyebrows arched in invitation.
Rodney slipped atop him, grinning down. "So, what did you have in mind?"
"Oh, just plain old boring vanilla sex," John answered.
Rodney kissed him, the cinnamon of his mouthwash filling John's mouth with heat. "Nothing wrong with vanilla," he answered, "and I don't think 'boring' applies."
***
Lorne smiled as he walked into the military commander's office. "It's good to see you up and working again, sir."
John smiled at his XO. "Thank you, Major. You seem to have kept everything pretty well under control while I was, ah, recuperating, though I admit your scheduling of the patrols last night was... interesting."
"Ah, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"No, no, I'm not saying it wasn't a good choice, though I might have been more hesitant of the whole kidnapping thing if I'd known who you had scheduled."
"I've been watching, sir. I don't think Dutcher and Santos are really... a part of the group in the same way as the others."
John nodded. "Not to mention I doubt they'd do anything untoward in such a situation. But it could have been awkward." The military man shifted uncomfortably. "Speaking of awkward... I've been looking over Kavanaugh's pictures of the wedding reception last night..." He tapped a couple of keys on his laptop and turned it so his subordinate could see the shot of Lieutenant Gilchrist and Doctor Heightmeyer dancing, laughing. He selected an area beyond them and magnified it. A grainy image of Lorne and Katie Brown emerged, lips pressed together.
Lorne coloured. "Oh... ah..."
"Not done yet, Major." John paged forward through a couple of pictures, pausing on one of Elizabeth and Ronon. In the background, Parrish could be seen leaning down to collect a kiss from Katie, Lorne smiling indulgently at the pair.
The Major opened his mouth, but John held up his hand and then flicked through pictures. In the background of several Lorne and Parrish could be seen walking off. He stopped and enlarged the part of the image featuring the two. Parrish's hand could be seen resting comfortably in the small of Lorne's back.
"That's not...! You can't...! The Protocols..."
"This doesn't prove anything, I know. The sensor logs showing that there were four people in Doctor Parrish's room all last night don't prove anything, either." John ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Dammit, Major, it's pretty obvious I think DADT is a load of crap, but you're a good officer. I don't want to see you throw your career away. And, frankly, a four-way relationship-- and that's what I'm guessing this is in some form or another-- that's still conduct unbecoming, and you goddamned well know that, you and Cadman both."
Lorne stood very still, his face white. "What are you going to do, sir?"
"I'm not going to do anything, Major. As you said, I haven't got any proof and, frankly, I don't want to. I'm just warning you now to be careful. Very careful."
"Understood, sir."
"Good. I trust I won't need to have this discussion with Lieutenant Cadman?"
"No, sir."
"Good. Dismissed."
Lorne snapped a salute and left. John sat staring at the image of the two men together and sighed. Sometimes he hated his job.
***
They stood in the gateroom, waiting as Lenoir finished compressing their reports. The gate would, of course, be open considerably longer than normal so Carson and Radek could step through, but they'd decided to stick to routine, just in case.
Carson was hugging Deyn. "We'll be back before you know it, lad. You take good care of your da while we're gone, all right?"
The boy nodded, dark blue eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
"Good, then. We'll be sure to bring your some good sweets from Earth and some good books and toys."
Rodney shook Radek's hand. "You've got the list, right?"
"Yes, Rodney," the Czech answered, shaking his head.
Suddenly, the lights on the gate started lighting up. Rodney looked up at Lenoir, but he was already hitting the klaxon and announcing an unscheduled off-world activation. Without waiting to find out what was going on, Kavanaugh swept Deyn into his arms and headed for the stairs.
Elizabeth was dashing out of her office as Cadman's voice sounded through the speakers, "This is Jumper 7. We are under fire and coming in hot. Delisa's been hit, we need a medical team. I repeat, we are under fire."
"Clear the gateroom!" Lenoir yelled.
The four dashed for the stairs, quickly followed by the gateroom guards. They'd made it all the way to the top when Vandergriff made a misstep, went down hard and tumbled down the stairs to land in a heap at the bottom.
"Vandergriff!" John yelled and headed down as the shield dropped. Several energy pulses shot through and Lenoir screamed, spinning away from his console.
Deyn was struggling in Kavanaugh's arms, hands outreached to the Canadian sergeant.
"Nonononono!" Kavanaugh gasped, trying to control the wriggling boy. "Deyn, stop! You can't."
John reached Vandergriff then just as the Marine was stirring. "Come on, sergeant! Can you walk?"
"My ankle..."
John slung the man's arm around his shoulder and ran as hard and as fast as he could up the stairs. Rodney ran down to meet them, grabbing the Marine.
The puddlejumper shot through at the same time as another volley. John was screaming, "Get the damn shiel--" when his words were cut off mid-sentence. There was no scream, just a sudden flash in Rodney's eyes and the smell of singed hair and burnt flesh and coppery blood, and then John was falling.
Deyn screamed and convulsed.
Rodney tried to surge forward, but was grabbed by the Marine. "It's not safe!" he screamed, hands digging in. "Sir, it's not safe!"
And then the shield went up. Briefly, Rodney saw Radek sag against the gate control console, before the Czech took in the scene on the stairs and moved toward them.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" Rodney screamed and tore from the Marine's grasp.
Vandergriff sank down onto the stairs, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg, and watched as the man he thought he despised knelt in the growing puddle of red on the gateroom floor and clasped the still form of Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard-McKay to him. "No, God, no... Please, God, no..." he was pleading as the clatter of the medical team sounded.
Vandergriff closed his eyes. He didn't want to see. He didn't want to know. "Please, God, no," he echoed. "I take it all back."
Author's Notes: No, I won't tell you, so don't ask. Next part, next part...
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, Kavanaugh, Lorne
Relationships: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Beckett, reference to Lorne/Cadman/Parrish/Brown
Rating: R for this part, but the series as a whole is NC-17
Warnings: Angst, angst, angst, cliffhanger
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 55 of the Broken Series
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
It was late when he awoke-- after ten hundred. He stretched, feeling good, really good for the first time in weeks. New pink skin, still tender, crisscrossed his palms and arms. The wound on his chest was almost gone as well. At the very edges of his mind, he could still feel hints of foreign emotions, flitting and hard to capture, like something seen out of the corner of your eye.
Rodney's breath ghosted across him, one hand resting comfortably on his chest, the other tucked under Rodney's own head. Carefully, John extricated himself and padded into the bathroom to relieve himself, then paused to brush his teeth.
When he returned, Rodney had flipped onto his back, hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight. Most of the covers had slipped or been kicked off and John paused to admire his husband's body-- the broad plane of his chest, covered in a pleasant amount of curly hair; brown nipples, already erect; the small curve of his stomach which Rodney hated and John adored; the line of hair that descended into the lush patch surrounding Rodney's proud erection, standing at full mast this morning. John felt his own cock stirring back to interest.
Last night they'd been a little too buzzed and a lot too tired to do more than some serious petting. He glanced at the clock. Cadman's team left at eleven hundred. Enough time if they were quick.
He returned to the bed, straddling his husband and took his mouth in a kiss. Rodney's breath was truly appalling this morning, but John didn't care. He felt Rodney's smile against his lips.
"Good morning," he said.
Rodney spread his fingers and peeked out between them. "Time is it?"
"Time to get up. Oh, wait, you've already done that," he teased, wiggling his ass against Rodney's erection.
Rodney grabbed him, holding him still. "Stop. Very full bladder. Off. Off."
John mock pouted, but slid off and Rodney rolled out of the bed and dashed into the bathroom. John laid and listened to Rodney relieve himself-- God, his bladder had been full-- and then wash up, brush his teeth and gargle.
When Rodney returned, he was already half-hard again. John shimmied into the center of the bed, eyebrows arched in invitation.
Rodney slipped atop him, grinning down. "So, what did you have in mind?"
"Oh, just plain old boring vanilla sex," John answered.
Rodney kissed him, the cinnamon of his mouthwash filling John's mouth with heat. "Nothing wrong with vanilla," he answered, "and I don't think 'boring' applies."
***
Lorne smiled as he walked into the military commander's office. "It's good to see you up and working again, sir."
John smiled at his XO. "Thank you, Major. You seem to have kept everything pretty well under control while I was, ah, recuperating, though I admit your scheduling of the patrols last night was... interesting."
"Ah, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"No, no, I'm not saying it wasn't a good choice, though I might have been more hesitant of the whole kidnapping thing if I'd known who you had scheduled."
"I've been watching, sir. I don't think Dutcher and Santos are really... a part of the group in the same way as the others."
John nodded. "Not to mention I doubt they'd do anything untoward in such a situation. But it could have been awkward." The military man shifted uncomfortably. "Speaking of awkward... I've been looking over Kavanaugh's pictures of the wedding reception last night..." He tapped a couple of keys on his laptop and turned it so his subordinate could see the shot of Lieutenant Gilchrist and Doctor Heightmeyer dancing, laughing. He selected an area beyond them and magnified it. A grainy image of Lorne and Katie Brown emerged, lips pressed together.
Lorne coloured. "Oh... ah..."
"Not done yet, Major." John paged forward through a couple of pictures, pausing on one of Elizabeth and Ronon. In the background, Parrish could be seen leaning down to collect a kiss from Katie, Lorne smiling indulgently at the pair.
The Major opened his mouth, but John held up his hand and then flicked through pictures. In the background of several Lorne and Parrish could be seen walking off. He stopped and enlarged the part of the image featuring the two. Parrish's hand could be seen resting comfortably in the small of Lorne's back.
"That's not...! You can't...! The Protocols..."
"This doesn't prove anything, I know. The sensor logs showing that there were four people in Doctor Parrish's room all last night don't prove anything, either." John ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Dammit, Major, it's pretty obvious I think DADT is a load of crap, but you're a good officer. I don't want to see you throw your career away. And, frankly, a four-way relationship-- and that's what I'm guessing this is in some form or another-- that's still conduct unbecoming, and you goddamned well know that, you and Cadman both."
Lorne stood very still, his face white. "What are you going to do, sir?"
"I'm not going to do anything, Major. As you said, I haven't got any proof and, frankly, I don't want to. I'm just warning you now to be careful. Very careful."
"Understood, sir."
"Good. I trust I won't need to have this discussion with Lieutenant Cadman?"
"No, sir."
"Good. Dismissed."
Lorne snapped a salute and left. John sat staring at the image of the two men together and sighed. Sometimes he hated his job.
***
They stood in the gateroom, waiting as Lenoir finished compressing their reports. The gate would, of course, be open considerably longer than normal so Carson and Radek could step through, but they'd decided to stick to routine, just in case.
Carson was hugging Deyn. "We'll be back before you know it, lad. You take good care of your da while we're gone, all right?"
The boy nodded, dark blue eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
"Good, then. We'll be sure to bring your some good sweets from Earth and some good books and toys."
Rodney shook Radek's hand. "You've got the list, right?"
"Yes, Rodney," the Czech answered, shaking his head.
Suddenly, the lights on the gate started lighting up. Rodney looked up at Lenoir, but he was already hitting the klaxon and announcing an unscheduled off-world activation. Without waiting to find out what was going on, Kavanaugh swept Deyn into his arms and headed for the stairs.
Elizabeth was dashing out of her office as Cadman's voice sounded through the speakers, "This is Jumper 7. We are under fire and coming in hot. Delisa's been hit, we need a medical team. I repeat, we are under fire."
"Clear the gateroom!" Lenoir yelled.
The four dashed for the stairs, quickly followed by the gateroom guards. They'd made it all the way to the top when Vandergriff made a misstep, went down hard and tumbled down the stairs to land in a heap at the bottom.
"Vandergriff!" John yelled and headed down as the shield dropped. Several energy pulses shot through and Lenoir screamed, spinning away from his console.
Deyn was struggling in Kavanaugh's arms, hands outreached to the Canadian sergeant.
"Nonononono!" Kavanaugh gasped, trying to control the wriggling boy. "Deyn, stop! You can't."
John reached Vandergriff then just as the Marine was stirring. "Come on, sergeant! Can you walk?"
"My ankle..."
John slung the man's arm around his shoulder and ran as hard and as fast as he could up the stairs. Rodney ran down to meet them, grabbing the Marine.
The puddlejumper shot through at the same time as another volley. John was screaming, "Get the damn shiel--" when his words were cut off mid-sentence. There was no scream, just a sudden flash in Rodney's eyes and the smell of singed hair and burnt flesh and coppery blood, and then John was falling.
Deyn screamed and convulsed.
Rodney tried to surge forward, but was grabbed by the Marine. "It's not safe!" he screamed, hands digging in. "Sir, it's not safe!"
And then the shield went up. Briefly, Rodney saw Radek sag against the gate control console, before the Czech took in the scene on the stairs and moved toward them.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" Rodney screamed and tore from the Marine's grasp.
Vandergriff sank down onto the stairs, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg, and watched as the man he thought he despised knelt in the growing puddle of red on the gateroom floor and clasped the still form of Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard-McKay to him. "No, God, no... Please, God, no..." he was pleading as the clatter of the medical team sounded.
Vandergriff closed his eyes. He didn't want to see. He didn't want to know. "Please, God, no," he echoed. "I take it all back."
Author's Notes: No, I won't tell you, so don't ask. Next part, next part...