Fic: SGA drabblish things (pre-Season 2)
Since I don't think that second season is going to turn out to be the all McShep porn hour, I had to think really hard about what I'd like to see from TPTB. I'm not terribly picky--more McKay & Sheppard banter, and for everything else to not suck.
But, I did come up with a list of some things that would be nice. Drabble type things, if you will. All gen, no spoilers. (Let's keep it that way.)
In no particular order:
They materialize in the control room itself, thanks to Asgard technology, but for once Rodney isn't awed and itching to get his hands on the alien engineering. Elizabeth is perfect, of course, though he'd seen both anguish and relief on her face earlier. She's moving down the stairs, words of welcome pouring out as smoothly as if she'd rehearsed them. Rodney can't quite manage that; can't quite manage much of anything. The control room swims a little before his eyes, and he knows that's the effect of too many stimulants and too much adrenaline. He hangs onto the railing and waits for it to pass.
Then he hears John's voice, asking after him, and he's halfway down the stairs before he can even see clearly. He doesn't understand quite how, but he's got his arms around John, and he's not planning on letting go any time soon.
2) A wake
Teyla can drink like a Russian sailor.
Elizabeth thinks it's the earth maiden routine that misled her. Or Athosian maiden. Atlantean mother? Something like that. The label isn't the point. The point is that Teyla has managed to drink her under the table and back out again, and really, that's not a very leaderly position to be in. Except Teyla's a leader, too, and she clearly doesn't have a problem with being drunk. Then again, Teyla's people pretty much turned their backs on her, so maybe it doesn't matter to her anymore.
"Are you all right, Dr. Weir?"
Elizabeth frowns, trying to form the words to tell Teyla to call her by her given name, when she remembers exactly why they are doing this. Why she isn't okay. Before she can shove it down again, all the grief comes ripping outward, and she's bawling like a little girl.
Teyla simply pushes the bottle aside and gathers her into a hug.
3) Stick fighting
Teyla watches him closely, gaging his progress. Rodney McKay is still awkward compared to most she has trained, but he is improving. She is surprised by the amount of effort he has put in to learning, but then she supposes she shouldn't be. He has always shown great intent on every venture she has seen him attempt.
He steps forward, swing his right stick in a low arc. She is pleased at the smoothness of the curve, the lack of wobble in his motion. She steps out of the way and takes the blow with her left stick, feeling the strength of it in her shoulders. She nods, and his lips draw downward in his odd smile.
4) Ethical conflict
"Give me that," Rodney huffed, and grabbed the gun right out of his hand.
Carson watched as Rodney quickly and efficiently cleared the jam, checked the clip, double checked the safety, and handed it back to him. All steps that he had been taught, but they were beyond him at the moment. He wasn't even sure if he could feel the gun in his hand.
"I cannot do this," he whispered. His stomach was knotted and his skin was clammy-natural reactions to the situation, the sympathetic pathways taking control to ensure survival. "I can't do this. They're human."
Rodney's eyes were understanding but scarily hard. "You have to."
5) More female Wraith sexiness
John knew this feeling, and it ranked up there among his least favorite sensations. He'd been stunned again, and he had a sinking suspicion his team hadn't grabbed him this time. Something soft and warm slid across his cheek, and he managed to get his eyes open.
"So unusual," she purred, her voice reverberating against the walls, making his head hurt worse. She stroked his cheek again, and then his throat, and he would have shuddered away if he could have. "You smell of the old ones, and yet there is no fear."
That was dead wrong, because he was pretty sure he was going to piss himself any second. Especially if she kept pawing him that way. He swallowed and tried to think of Atlantis.
6) Radek! Any Radek!
"It is not so simple as you make it out to be," Radek interrupted, wanting Dr. Weir to have a clear understanding of what they were proposing.
Of course, Rodney simply waved him down. "Yes, yes, it never is. But we don't have the, I don't know, years necessary for me to get everyone up to speed. Elizabeth, it's worth the risk. Surely you can see that."
Her dark eyes weighed Rodney, and Radek could tell that she was unconvinced. She turned to him, her look just as penetrating, but despite his caution he agreed with Rodney in this.
"All right," she said, and it gave him a thrill to think that she had found his opinion as crucial as Rodney's, "but be careful. We can't afford to lose either of you."
7) Can you say crossover?
"This is amazing, just amazing."
Rodney bounced on his heels a little as Dr. Jackson stared upwards, apparently lost in contemplation of the Ancient architecture of the gate room. He felt illogically proud, like he'd built Atlantis himself. He supposed it wasn't all that illogical; he'd been responsible for keeping it together and running all this time, after all.
"I'm glad you approve," Elizabeth said, laughter buried under her diplomat's voice. "If you could come this way, we can get started on your tour."
Dr. Jackson looked surprised for a moment as he blinked back at her, and then he broke into a wide grin.
8) Bates & Teyla fireworks
"What are you doing here?"
Teyla turned, arresting the urge to go for her knife at the tone in his voice. There were still bruises on his face, and the small, dirty part of her was angry that she had not put them there herself.
"I am enjoying the silence," she told him as calmly as she could. "Or at least I was."
He stared at her for a long moment. She could tell that he was searching for any reason to impinge on her freedom, but the restrictions had been lifted with the siege. He knew that, and it did not set well with him. She smiled. He clenched his jaw.
"I am finished here now," she said, and waited for the triumph to grow on his face before she added, "I think I will go talk to Dr. Weir in the gate room."
She could not contain the extra sway of victory in her gait as she stalked away.
9) Lightsabers! (What? I'm getting desperate.)
"Oh. My. God."
John grinned and swished it again. The zwwooom was the best part, though he suspected the Ancients had some very sound and utterly boring reason it did that.
"I can't believe you. Where did you-are you crazy? You could cut somebody's head off with that thing."
John extinguished the blade with a quick thought, flipped the handle in his hand, and held it out toward Rodney. "Wanna try?"
Rodney snatched it out of his hand so fast he thought he should probably count his fingers. "Are you kidding? Is there anything around here-"
John pointed to the pile of scrap metal, and smiled as Rodney went to town.
10) More about John's Ancient jeans genes
"Wait. So is that why..." John trailed off, not sure he wanted to say it. Ever since he'd sat in that damn chair in Antarctica, there had been times he'd felt like the universe was having a big joke on him. To think that his genes were controlling him, programming to react in certain ways, went beyond funny-bizarre into funny-where's-my-ticket-to-the-loony-bin.
"Yes, yes, that's probably why you acted like an idiot with Chaya, but you're missing the larger picture," Rodney said with one of his big waves.
John frowned at him, but he was distracted by Carson's fretting look. "What?"
"It's all conjecture, you understand," Carson hedged. John shot him a dark look. Carson sat up straighter, leaning forward a little with his hands folded in front of him. "I don't think you were descended from an Ancient. I think you may be an Ancient, Descended."
But, I did come up with a list of some things that would be nice. Drabble type things, if you will. All gen, no spoilers. (Let's keep it that way.)
In no particular order:
They materialize in the control room itself, thanks to Asgard technology, but for once Rodney isn't awed and itching to get his hands on the alien engineering. Elizabeth is perfect, of course, though he'd seen both anguish and relief on her face earlier. She's moving down the stairs, words of welcome pouring out as smoothly as if she'd rehearsed them. Rodney can't quite manage that; can't quite manage much of anything. The control room swims a little before his eyes, and he knows that's the effect of too many stimulants and too much adrenaline. He hangs onto the railing and waits for it to pass.
Then he hears John's voice, asking after him, and he's halfway down the stairs before he can even see clearly. He doesn't understand quite how, but he's got his arms around John, and he's not planning on letting go any time soon.
2) A wake
Teyla can drink like a Russian sailor.
Elizabeth thinks it's the earth maiden routine that misled her. Or Athosian maiden. Atlantean mother? Something like that. The label isn't the point. The point is that Teyla has managed to drink her under the table and back out again, and really, that's not a very leaderly position to be in. Except Teyla's a leader, too, and she clearly doesn't have a problem with being drunk. Then again, Teyla's people pretty much turned their backs on her, so maybe it doesn't matter to her anymore.
"Are you all right, Dr. Weir?"
Elizabeth frowns, trying to form the words to tell Teyla to call her by her given name, when she remembers exactly why they are doing this. Why she isn't okay. Before she can shove it down again, all the grief comes ripping outward, and she's bawling like a little girl.
Teyla simply pushes the bottle aside and gathers her into a hug.
3) Stick fighting
Teyla watches him closely, gaging his progress. Rodney McKay is still awkward compared to most she has trained, but he is improving. She is surprised by the amount of effort he has put in to learning, but then she supposes she shouldn't be. He has always shown great intent on every venture she has seen him attempt.
He steps forward, swing his right stick in a low arc. She is pleased at the smoothness of the curve, the lack of wobble in his motion. She steps out of the way and takes the blow with her left stick, feeling the strength of it in her shoulders. She nods, and his lips draw downward in his odd smile.
4) Ethical conflict
"Give me that," Rodney huffed, and grabbed the gun right out of his hand.
Carson watched as Rodney quickly and efficiently cleared the jam, checked the clip, double checked the safety, and handed it back to him. All steps that he had been taught, but they were beyond him at the moment. He wasn't even sure if he could feel the gun in his hand.
"I cannot do this," he whispered. His stomach was knotted and his skin was clammy-natural reactions to the situation, the sympathetic pathways taking control to ensure survival. "I can't do this. They're human."
Rodney's eyes were understanding but scarily hard. "You have to."
5) More female Wraith sexiness
John knew this feeling, and it ranked up there among his least favorite sensations. He'd been stunned again, and he had a sinking suspicion his team hadn't grabbed him this time. Something soft and warm slid across his cheek, and he managed to get his eyes open.
"So unusual," she purred, her voice reverberating against the walls, making his head hurt worse. She stroked his cheek again, and then his throat, and he would have shuddered away if he could have. "You smell of the old ones, and yet there is no fear."
That was dead wrong, because he was pretty sure he was going to piss himself any second. Especially if she kept pawing him that way. He swallowed and tried to think of Atlantis.
6) Radek! Any Radek!
"It is not so simple as you make it out to be," Radek interrupted, wanting Dr. Weir to have a clear understanding of what they were proposing.
Of course, Rodney simply waved him down. "Yes, yes, it never is. But we don't have the, I don't know, years necessary for me to get everyone up to speed. Elizabeth, it's worth the risk. Surely you can see that."
Her dark eyes weighed Rodney, and Radek could tell that she was unconvinced. She turned to him, her look just as penetrating, but despite his caution he agreed with Rodney in this.
"All right," she said, and it gave him a thrill to think that she had found his opinion as crucial as Rodney's, "but be careful. We can't afford to lose either of you."
7) Can you say crossover?
"This is amazing, just amazing."
Rodney bounced on his heels a little as Dr. Jackson stared upwards, apparently lost in contemplation of the Ancient architecture of the gate room. He felt illogically proud, like he'd built Atlantis himself. He supposed it wasn't all that illogical; he'd been responsible for keeping it together and running all this time, after all.
"I'm glad you approve," Elizabeth said, laughter buried under her diplomat's voice. "If you could come this way, we can get started on your tour."
Dr. Jackson looked surprised for a moment as he blinked back at her, and then he broke into a wide grin.
8) Bates & Teyla fireworks
"What are you doing here?"
Teyla turned, arresting the urge to go for her knife at the tone in his voice. There were still bruises on his face, and the small, dirty part of her was angry that she had not put them there herself.
"I am enjoying the silence," she told him as calmly as she could. "Or at least I was."
He stared at her for a long moment. She could tell that he was searching for any reason to impinge on her freedom, but the restrictions had been lifted with the siege. He knew that, and it did not set well with him. She smiled. He clenched his jaw.
"I am finished here now," she said, and waited for the triumph to grow on his face before she added, "I think I will go talk to Dr. Weir in the gate room."
She could not contain the extra sway of victory in her gait as she stalked away.
9) Lightsabers! (What? I'm getting desperate.)
"Oh. My. God."
John grinned and swished it again. The zwwooom was the best part, though he suspected the Ancients had some very sound and utterly boring reason it did that.
"I can't believe you. Where did you-are you crazy? You could cut somebody's head off with that thing."
John extinguished the blade with a quick thought, flipped the handle in his hand, and held it out toward Rodney. "Wanna try?"
Rodney snatched it out of his hand so fast he thought he should probably count his fingers. "Are you kidding? Is there anything around here-"
John pointed to the pile of scrap metal, and smiled as Rodney went to town.
10) More about John's Ancient jeans genes
"Wait. So is that why..." John trailed off, not sure he wanted to say it. Ever since he'd sat in that damn chair in Antarctica, there had been times he'd felt like the universe was having a big joke on him. To think that his genes were controlling him, programming to react in certain ways, went beyond funny-bizarre into funny-where's-my-ticket-to-the-loony-bin.
"Yes, yes, that's probably why you acted like an idiot with Chaya, but you're missing the larger picture," Rodney said with one of his big waves.
John frowned at him, but he was distracted by Carson's fretting look. "What?"
"It's all conjecture, you understand," Carson hedged. John shot him a dark look. Carson sat up straighter, leaning forward a little with his hands folded in front of him. "I don't think you were descended from an Ancient. I think you may be an Ancient, Descended."