"Saturday" - by Lapislaz
Title: Saturday
Author: lapislaz
Pairing/Fandom: mention of Carson & Radek/Stargate Atlantis
Rating: G
Summary: Carson gets a letter from his mum.
Prompt: “In youth and beauty, wisdom is rare.”
SPOILERS: second half of Season 3!
Carson stared solemnly at the note in his hand. It was from his Mum, and had come in on the Daedalus just a few hours ago. His Aunt Moira was dead.
Carson loved his mum dearly, but as one of seven children the amount of attention he could demand from her was limited by the demands of his six brothers and sisters. Almost from the start, Aunt Moira was his, and his alone. She hadn’t had any children, and seemed content about that. All Carson knew was that his Aunt always had time for him - time to talk, time to play, time to teach. She’d taught him his letters and numbers before he went to school. She’d taught him to ride a bicycle, and how to play card games. She’d helped him catch polliwogs and dig earthworms.
Best of all, she’d taken him fishing.
She’d said that someone had to, seeing as how his own Da, may his soul rest in peace, wouldn’t be able to. So off they’d trotted together to a spot that Moira knew about, and spent many a peaceful, lazy afternoon attempting to convince the local carp population to come home with them. Success meant fish for dinner - failure meant some lesser food would be on the table.
Fishing also meant talking - quietly, so as not to scare off the intended prey. While fishing, Carson told his Aunt Moira about his first girlfriend - and his first boyfriend. She took the news of both with equal gravity, and gave him advice about both situations with good will. Carson took his advice about the girlfriend, but not about the boyfriend. The resulting family scandal finally resulted in Carson staying with his aunt for a few months while things calmed down at home. She just shrugged and said, "In youth and beauty, wisdom is rare. You’re both young and beautiful, laddie - in time, the wisdom will come."
Eventually, Carson moved back home and worked things out with his mum. Then it was time to choose a school, because it was apparent that Carson was not going to work at the new Tesco when he finished sixth year. He was smart, genius level smart according to his teachers, and he ought to go to university. So Aunt Moira helped him wade through the research and paperwork, eventually sending him off to Edinburgh to study biology, then medicine, then genetics. She came to every one of his graduation ceremonies and sat right next to his mum, cheering him on.
When the time to get his first real job came, she’d stood back and made him do it on his own. So when he finally made the decision to go to work in America, she’d smiled and helped him pack while his mum wailed about never seeing her "wee bairn" again. Carson had hugged his mum and assured her that "those big airplanes go both ways", and kept packing. Moira had just rolled her eyes and led her sister away and fixed her a cup of tea.
One year, Carson came home for his usual Christmas visit with a virtual sleigh full of presents and an air of distraction. He wouldn’t talk about his work - only that he loved what he was doing and that he couldn’t say much about it. The next day, he went over to his aunt’s house and told her that he had an unusual job offer. He wasn’t sure what to do about it, though. He hadn’t been told much, just enough to make him intensely interested. He’d also been told the job would be hazardous, that there was a small but distinct chance that his life would be in danger. That the offer had come from his good friend Rodney McKay made it all the more tempting - Rodney always seemed to have funding, access, and all the best toys.
He said nothing of this to his aunt, only that he’d had an interesting job offer. Moira looked at him, squinted, then told him to sit down. She went into her parlor and came out with a bundle of green silk, which she unwrapped to reveal a deck of cards. She laid the silk out on the table in front of him, then set the cards down on the silk and told him to shuffle them.
He did so, and she proceeded to do something he’d never seen her do before - she read his Tarot cards. He smiled when he realized what she was doing, amused that his oh-so practical aunt would do something so silly. As she laid out the cards, a sharp admonition to pay attention wiped the smile from his face. Even if he didn’t put any stock in it, this was his Aunt Moira, and she had never failed him before.
She then proceeded to do a reading that scared him cold. She knew about Ian leaving him to move to California. She knew about Rodney pressing him to take the job. She knew about his genetics work.
She knew his life would be in danger if he took the job. That there was a possibility of a disaster, but if he followed the path of balance, if he did what his heart told him was right, he would be okay.
Then she told him that if he took it, he would be traveling - that Fate would take him places he never dreamed existed. He would find friends, good friends that would care for him, advise him, lead him, work with him. And one particular friend who would, in the end, love him.
And now, she would never know how right she had been.
Carson felt a splash of wetness on his hand, and realized that he was crying. He set the letter down on the table and wiped at his eyes. His aunt had been right about so many things - he was in Atlantis, of all places. He had found his friends - Elizabeth, Teyla, Rodney, Colonel Sheppard. He’d found Radek, who loved him, whom he loved in return.
Disaster had loomed like a foul shadow almost from the beginning, but so far he’d been safe. He knew that he hadn’t always done the right thing, and there was one thing in particular that he regretted bitterly - his failed experiments with Michael and the other Wraith haunted him daily. He hoped against hope that someday he would be able to somehow balance the wrong he had done them.
But so far, so good. They seemed finally to have gained a measure of breathing space, even though the threat was always there. They’d established routines; rest and recreation could finally be scheduled. In a grand gesture, Elizabeth had declared that come what may, tomorrow was "Sunday."
He went into the bathroom and washed his face, regaining a bit of composure as he did so. Picking up the letter, he re-read it and realized that his aunt’s funeral had been nearly three weeks ago. Not much he could do then, but he could send a message back to Earth in the weekly data burst to have some flowers delivered to her grave. It would mean a lot to mum, at least.
Folding the letter, he placed it in his desk drawer with his other important papers. Then he sat down in front of his laptop and emailed Rodney. Maybe they could go fishing tomorrow. That, he thought, would mean a lot to Aunt Moira.
Author: lapislaz
Pairing/Fandom: mention of Carson & Radek/Stargate Atlantis
Rating: G
Summary: Carson gets a letter from his mum.
Prompt: “In youth and beauty, wisdom is rare.”
SPOILERS: second half of Season 3!
Carson stared solemnly at the note in his hand. It was from his Mum, and had come in on the Daedalus just a few hours ago. His Aunt Moira was dead.
Carson loved his mum dearly, but as one of seven children the amount of attention he could demand from her was limited by the demands of his six brothers and sisters. Almost from the start, Aunt Moira was his, and his alone. She hadn’t had any children, and seemed content about that. All Carson knew was that his Aunt always had time for him - time to talk, time to play, time to teach. She’d taught him his letters and numbers before he went to school. She’d taught him to ride a bicycle, and how to play card games. She’d helped him catch polliwogs and dig earthworms.
Best of all, she’d taken him fishing.
She’d said that someone had to, seeing as how his own Da, may his soul rest in peace, wouldn’t be able to. So off they’d trotted together to a spot that Moira knew about, and spent many a peaceful, lazy afternoon attempting to convince the local carp population to come home with them. Success meant fish for dinner - failure meant some lesser food would be on the table.
Fishing also meant talking - quietly, so as not to scare off the intended prey. While fishing, Carson told his Aunt Moira about his first girlfriend - and his first boyfriend. She took the news of both with equal gravity, and gave him advice about both situations with good will. Carson took his advice about the girlfriend, but not about the boyfriend. The resulting family scandal finally resulted in Carson staying with his aunt for a few months while things calmed down at home. She just shrugged and said, "In youth and beauty, wisdom is rare. You’re both young and beautiful, laddie - in time, the wisdom will come."
Eventually, Carson moved back home and worked things out with his mum. Then it was time to choose a school, because it was apparent that Carson was not going to work at the new Tesco when he finished sixth year. He was smart, genius level smart according to his teachers, and he ought to go to university. So Aunt Moira helped him wade through the research and paperwork, eventually sending him off to Edinburgh to study biology, then medicine, then genetics. She came to every one of his graduation ceremonies and sat right next to his mum, cheering him on.
When the time to get his first real job came, she’d stood back and made him do it on his own. So when he finally made the decision to go to work in America, she’d smiled and helped him pack while his mum wailed about never seeing her "wee bairn" again. Carson had hugged his mum and assured her that "those big airplanes go both ways", and kept packing. Moira had just rolled her eyes and led her sister away and fixed her a cup of tea.
One year, Carson came home for his usual Christmas visit with a virtual sleigh full of presents and an air of distraction. He wouldn’t talk about his work - only that he loved what he was doing and that he couldn’t say much about it. The next day, he went over to his aunt’s house and told her that he had an unusual job offer. He wasn’t sure what to do about it, though. He hadn’t been told much, just enough to make him intensely interested. He’d also been told the job would be hazardous, that there was a small but distinct chance that his life would be in danger. That the offer had come from his good friend Rodney McKay made it all the more tempting - Rodney always seemed to have funding, access, and all the best toys.
He said nothing of this to his aunt, only that he’d had an interesting job offer. Moira looked at him, squinted, then told him to sit down. She went into her parlor and came out with a bundle of green silk, which she unwrapped to reveal a deck of cards. She laid the silk out on the table in front of him, then set the cards down on the silk and told him to shuffle them.
He did so, and she proceeded to do something he’d never seen her do before - she read his Tarot cards. He smiled when he realized what she was doing, amused that his oh-so practical aunt would do something so silly. As she laid out the cards, a sharp admonition to pay attention wiped the smile from his face. Even if he didn’t put any stock in it, this was his Aunt Moira, and she had never failed him before.
She then proceeded to do a reading that scared him cold. She knew about Ian leaving him to move to California. She knew about Rodney pressing him to take the job. She knew about his genetics work.
She knew his life would be in danger if he took the job. That there was a possibility of a disaster, but if he followed the path of balance, if he did what his heart told him was right, he would be okay.
Then she told him that if he took it, he would be traveling - that Fate would take him places he never dreamed existed. He would find friends, good friends that would care for him, advise him, lead him, work with him. And one particular friend who would, in the end, love him.
And now, she would never know how right she had been.
Carson felt a splash of wetness on his hand, and realized that he was crying. He set the letter down on the table and wiped at his eyes. His aunt had been right about so many things - he was in Atlantis, of all places. He had found his friends - Elizabeth, Teyla, Rodney, Colonel Sheppard. He’d found Radek, who loved him, whom he loved in return.
Disaster had loomed like a foul shadow almost from the beginning, but so far he’d been safe. He knew that he hadn’t always done the right thing, and there was one thing in particular that he regretted bitterly - his failed experiments with Michael and the other Wraith haunted him daily. He hoped against hope that someday he would be able to somehow balance the wrong he had done them.
But so far, so good. They seemed finally to have gained a measure of breathing space, even though the threat was always there. They’d established routines; rest and recreation could finally be scheduled. In a grand gesture, Elizabeth had declared that come what may, tomorrow was "Sunday."
He went into the bathroom and washed his face, regaining a bit of composure as he did so. Picking up the letter, he re-read it and realized that his aunt’s funeral had been nearly three weeks ago. Not much he could do then, but he could send a message back to Earth in the weekly data burst to have some flowers delivered to her grave. It would mean a lot to mum, at least.
Folding the letter, he placed it in his desk drawer with his other important papers. Then he sat down in front of his laptop and emailed Rodney. Maybe they could go fishing tomorrow. That, he thought, would mean a lot to Aunt Moira.