Happy Birthday Bluespirit!!
I hope you have a wonderful day! Here's a little something which I hope will make you smile...
*hands you a gaily wrapped ficlet*
I hope you enjoy! *hugs*
Title: It's the Love
Author: the_cephalopod
Word count: ~ 950 words
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Summary/spoilers: A post-series ficlet; he knows where home is.
Author's Note: For bluespirit_star; have a *wonderful* birthday sweetheart! ♥ The title is taken from Blake Shelton's song, 'That's What I Call Home'.
It's the Love
for Bluespirit
The sound of the music echoes across the room, warming the space as it fills it. A fresh mug of coffee is cradled in his cupped hands - the sensation of the rounded, heated ceramic adding to his sense of well-being. The couch is soft and lovingly worn and the gently vibrating cat is a comforting presence at his side. He feels cocooned in sound, warmth and contentment. It's a heady sensation and one he knows that he will never take for granted.
It's been a long time coming, but he's finally at peace.
And yet, as he takes another mouthful of coffee, he can't help feeling that there's something missing. The room is familiar, the sensations pleasing, but there's a gap nevertheless. Part of him wonders if it's the sound of gently lapping ocean waves, or perhaps the underlying hum of alien technology. He knows it's not the constant fear of death, nor the continual pressure of his role, but maybe it's the sense of being needed? Of being a part of something larger than himself - something that had made up such an important part of his life for so many years.
It had been a bittersweet parting - his feelings of happiness and excitement about the future tinged with a small drop of sadness as he'd said farewell to the place that had been his home for almost two decades. He'd poured so much of himself into Atlantis - lavished her systems with infinite care and attention, spilt his blood countless times in her name and faced and fought numerous battles to ensure that she would survive.
And it wasn’t just the city, but the people too. They had changed, of course, over the years. At first, the absences had been painful reminders of just how much they were up against - the chasms left by Carson and Elizabeth, in particular, aching still. But, as time had passed, the gaps becoming just another sign that life was moving on and, with it, so too were people. With the threat of the Wraith extinguished, Pegasus was once more as safe as any galaxy could be for settlement. Of his close group of friends, Teyla had been the first to go - she, Kanaan and the no longer quite so little Torren moving over to New Athos, which had become the first real safe and permanent home the Athosians had ever known. Ronon had followed her lead not long afterwards, he and Jennifer moving with their twin girls to a nearby planet where Jennifer had set up a medical school and Ronon, much to the surprise of almost everyone save SGA-1, had become a poet. Lorne and Radek had been amongst those who had returned to the Milky Way - Lorne moving up towards the higher echelons of power in the Pentagon and Radek taking up a professorship at Harvard. If he was honest with himself, he still experienced a brief flash of jealousy whenever he read Radek’s latest paper - but then he recalled all the admin and paperwork that came with tenure and it melted away.
Given how he felt about the place and the people, it was unsurprising that he had been one of the very last of the original group to leave the city. Even for the brief time that she had spent sitting in the San Francisco Bay, he hadn’t wanted leave her and move ashore. Rather, he and quite a few others had chosen to remain in their quarters - to remain in their home. When it had become clear that Atlantis needed to return to Pegasus if there was to be any chance of them defeating the Wraith, it hadn’t even crossed his mind not to return with her. He knew that everything - and everyone - that was important to him would be going as well, so there really was no choice whatsoever.
And he had never regretted his decision. Not when the Wraith attacked en masse, not when it looked like survival was impossible, not even when John, Ronon and Teyla had gone MIA for over five months… It had all been worth it in the end and he wouldn’t have chosen to be anywhere else.
Life afterwards had become considerably easier - fewer deaths and more time for the things that really mattered. He’d started to take his leave in Pegasus - exploring and relaxing in the most stunning of locations. He'd finally had the time to dedicate himself fully to his research of Ancient technology, eventually giving up the role and responsibilities of CSO in favour of setting up his own research lab - one that took up the entire western spire of the city and for which he recruited only the best and the brightest.
But even given the relative peace and quiet of those last few years, it hadn’t been that much of wrench to leave. After all, they’d achieved what they had set out to do and considerably more besides. With the Wraith defeated, alliances formed between many of the galaxy’s civilisations, and a large proportion of the Ancient database explored, with the lab he’d started well on the way to investigating the rest, he had known that the time had come to leave.
Because, after all, it isn’t Atlantis that he is missing now…
But what he is missing, he is not without for long. Within a matter of minutes, there’s a presence at his side, an arm around his shoulders and the soft press of lips to his hair.
“Hey,” a voice says softly.
“Hey, yourself,” he replies, turning his head so that their lips can meet and the kiss deepens.
Despite decades and light-years, they’re still together.
And Rodney knows that with John, wherever they might be, is home.
~fin~
*hands you a gaily wrapped ficlet*
I hope you enjoy! *hugs*
Title: It's the Love
Author: the_cephalopod
Word count: ~ 950 words
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Summary/spoilers: A post-series ficlet; he knows where home is.
Author's Note: For bluespirit_star; have a *wonderful* birthday sweetheart! ♥ The title is taken from Blake Shelton's song, 'That's What I Call Home'.
It's the Love
for Bluespirit
The sound of the music echoes across the room, warming the space as it fills it. A fresh mug of coffee is cradled in his cupped hands - the sensation of the rounded, heated ceramic adding to his sense of well-being. The couch is soft and lovingly worn and the gently vibrating cat is a comforting presence at his side. He feels cocooned in sound, warmth and contentment. It's a heady sensation and one he knows that he will never take for granted.
It's been a long time coming, but he's finally at peace.
And yet, as he takes another mouthful of coffee, he can't help feeling that there's something missing. The room is familiar, the sensations pleasing, but there's a gap nevertheless. Part of him wonders if it's the sound of gently lapping ocean waves, or perhaps the underlying hum of alien technology. He knows it's not the constant fear of death, nor the continual pressure of his role, but maybe it's the sense of being needed? Of being a part of something larger than himself - something that had made up such an important part of his life for so many years.
It had been a bittersweet parting - his feelings of happiness and excitement about the future tinged with a small drop of sadness as he'd said farewell to the place that had been his home for almost two decades. He'd poured so much of himself into Atlantis - lavished her systems with infinite care and attention, spilt his blood countless times in her name and faced and fought numerous battles to ensure that she would survive.
And it wasn’t just the city, but the people too. They had changed, of course, over the years. At first, the absences had been painful reminders of just how much they were up against - the chasms left by Carson and Elizabeth, in particular, aching still. But, as time had passed, the gaps becoming just another sign that life was moving on and, with it, so too were people. With the threat of the Wraith extinguished, Pegasus was once more as safe as any galaxy could be for settlement. Of his close group of friends, Teyla had been the first to go - she, Kanaan and the no longer quite so little Torren moving over to New Athos, which had become the first real safe and permanent home the Athosians had ever known. Ronon had followed her lead not long afterwards, he and Jennifer moving with their twin girls to a nearby planet where Jennifer had set up a medical school and Ronon, much to the surprise of almost everyone save SGA-1, had become a poet. Lorne and Radek had been amongst those who had returned to the Milky Way - Lorne moving up towards the higher echelons of power in the Pentagon and Radek taking up a professorship at Harvard. If he was honest with himself, he still experienced a brief flash of jealousy whenever he read Radek’s latest paper - but then he recalled all the admin and paperwork that came with tenure and it melted away.
Given how he felt about the place and the people, it was unsurprising that he had been one of the very last of the original group to leave the city. Even for the brief time that she had spent sitting in the San Francisco Bay, he hadn’t wanted leave her and move ashore. Rather, he and quite a few others had chosen to remain in their quarters - to remain in their home. When it had become clear that Atlantis needed to return to Pegasus if there was to be any chance of them defeating the Wraith, it hadn’t even crossed his mind not to return with her. He knew that everything - and everyone - that was important to him would be going as well, so there really was no choice whatsoever.
And he had never regretted his decision. Not when the Wraith attacked en masse, not when it looked like survival was impossible, not even when John, Ronon and Teyla had gone MIA for over five months… It had all been worth it in the end and he wouldn’t have chosen to be anywhere else.
Life afterwards had become considerably easier - fewer deaths and more time for the things that really mattered. He’d started to take his leave in Pegasus - exploring and relaxing in the most stunning of locations. He'd finally had the time to dedicate himself fully to his research of Ancient technology, eventually giving up the role and responsibilities of CSO in favour of setting up his own research lab - one that took up the entire western spire of the city and for which he recruited only the best and the brightest.
But even given the relative peace and quiet of those last few years, it hadn’t been that much of wrench to leave. After all, they’d achieved what they had set out to do and considerably more besides. With the Wraith defeated, alliances formed between many of the galaxy’s civilisations, and a large proportion of the Ancient database explored, with the lab he’d started well on the way to investigating the rest, he had known that the time had come to leave.
Because, after all, it isn’t Atlantis that he is missing now…
But what he is missing, he is not without for long. Within a matter of minutes, there’s a presence at his side, an arm around his shoulders and the soft press of lips to his hair.
“Hey,” a voice says softly.
“Hey, yourself,” he replies, turning his head so that their lips can meet and the kiss deepens.
Despite decades and light-years, they’re still together.
And Rodney knows that with John, wherever they might be, is home.
~fin~