Drabbles
As offered all the way back in May. You do not know how grateful I am to have my inspiration back. Ten drabbles, five fandoms, one crossover.
Stargate: Atlantis
For djfanboy, John has a brief run-in with Woolsey after the Replicator Incident.
John stands on his favorite balcony, marveling at the control tower's swift restoration. Replicators aren't all bad - who knew?
His hands tremble slightly, adrenaline crash still better than coming down from meds post-mission in Afghanistan.
A pointed cough makes John turn, and there's Woolsey, more rumpled than technocrat.
"You're lucky," Woolsey states, all priss and sourness, "that General O'Neill has a history of venturing off against orders."
John's eyebrows defied gravity while reading SG-1 mission reports. Not that his future had even crossed his mind when planning this craziness.
"I know," John says.
Nothing mattered then except getting Atlantis back.
For thegrrrl2002, post-Tao of Rodney [double drabble, McKay/Sheppard]
The balcony was sheltered and cozy, perfect for breaks.
"We wouldn't have been good," Sheppard said out of the blue. "If you'd --" he ran a hand over his hair, arm brushing against Rodney's sleeve. "If you'd died. Or ascended."
Rodney blinked at Sheppard, startled.
"Either way," Sheppard continued, grim and determined, "we wouldn't have been good."
Rodney's mouth opened and closed while he tried to catch up with the conversation.
Finally -- "Like you're one to talk!" Sheppard was so far ahead in the "almost died" sweepstakes that Rodney was almost offended that he was bringing this up.
Rodney asked, "How many times have you --" and of course Sheppard had to interrupt.
"That's different," he said.
Their eyes met, and Rodney's pulse accelerated to zoom. Greatly daring, his fingers drifted to Sheppard's collarbone.
"No," Rodney said. "It's not."
Sheppard glanced down and away toward the floor of the balcony, and Rodney drank in the line of his profile, the curve of his eyelashes.
"It is," Sheppard said, looking back at Rodney, and then their lips met and the argument disappeared in a rush of heat and wonder and, "Oh my God, what were you waiting for?"
For tenshinya, Teyla and her father
"Now," Papa told her very seriously, "you must be sure to mind your manners with the Trehar."
Teyla nodded and held onto his hand a little tighter. It was her first trip through the Ring of the Ancestors and she wanted to make her papa proud.
He stopped before the plinth, and Teyla went up on her tip-toes to watch the sequence.
The Ring flared blue and magic, and she started to smile so hard her cheeks ached.
"The Ancestors gave us a great gift, eh my love?"
"Oh, yes," Teyla said, and they walked through the shimmering veil together.
For trobadora, Teyla and Bates
Teyla did not like the way Sergeant Bates watched her.
The expression on his face was always set and bitter, as if he wanted to toss her through the Ring of the Ancestors with her people.
Never mind that Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir were convinced of her value to the city.
Never mind that they would have starved were it not for her trading skills and her contacts.
Never mind that the Wraith plaguing their earlier missions had not been Teyla's doing.
Sergeant Bates continued to watch her.
Teyla's blood began to simmer.
He needed to learn better manners.
Jericho
For vanillafluffy, Heather is alive and resourceful
Her mouth tripped ahead of her brain, just like always. Heather didn't care.
New Bern had gone insane, and would take Jericho with it unless these G.I. Joe yahoos did something. She couldn't let them do nothing.
Too many people she cared about were in danger.
She'd left Jericho to gain much-needed distance, and it had taught her that distance was ridiculous in this Planet of the Apes knock-off world.
So what if Jake Green ignored her post-kiss? They'd still pulled their town's bacon out of the fire together more times than she could count. That was enough. For now.
For mswalter, Jake and his dad, sometime early on. Maybe them dancing around where he's been for five years?
Inventory of the pantry wasn't fun, but it was necessary.
"How's it going?"
The pen in Jake's hand paused, and he turned to face his father.
"Fine. We've got enough to keep us fed for a while."
His father nodded, a rumbling hum emerging from his throat.
"Will it be to your taste, though?"
Jake's eyebrows quirked. "What?"
"Well, what have you been eating? In your travels of the world?"
Jake tried to smile. "There's nothing like home cooking."
"I'll tell that to your mom. She'll be happy to hear it."
His dad left, and Jake reached for canned tomatoes.
Cupid
For serialkarma, Claire and/or Alex, politics or cookies
"Oh my God!" Claire couldn't believe her eyes. "Have you never heard of salmonella?"
Alex licked the spoon, tongue lingering over batter in a way that made Claire flush. Then he had to go and smile at her, saying, "Eating raw cookie dough is one of the greatest culinary pleasures in life."
She crinkled her nose in response.
He dipped the spoon into the mixing bowl, making sure to get plenty of chocolate chips. "Live dangerously," Alex dared.
She couldn't resist him. She'd never been able to resist him. She guided his hand closer to her mouth and tasted bliss.
Cupid/Atlantis crossover
For emrinalexander, Alex from Cupid trying to pick up an apparently oblivious Rodney after a press conference (Rodney and Radek announce something vastly important)
Gibberish flowed over Alex without pause - the press release would have the details he'd need. An air of exultation surrounded Drs. McKay and Zelenka as they babbled behind the podium.
This wasn't his usual beat, but his editor at the Times had told Alex science would shudder on its foundations after this announcement.
The microphones went silent, and the scrum around the luminaries of the hour was thick. Alex waited his turn.
McKay was kind of hot. Huh.
Be charming. And respectful.
He smiled extra-bright approaching McKay. "Can I ask you a few questions?"
McKay blinked, and Alex said, "Please?"
Heroes
For aurora_84, Sylar/Mohinder-ish? In the 'String Theory'-verse
In the end, Mohinder wasn't surprised. Not really. Not like he'd tried to tell himself - that the President trusted his opinion, valued his advice.
That the way the President's eyes lingered on Mohinder's skin wasn't anything like Zane's (Sylar's) gaze.
That the hands on Mohinder's shoulders guiding him out of the Oval Office felt nothing like the fingers that had stroked down his flanks in hotel rooms across America, the palms that had brought such ecstasy.
That the plans to eradicate those with mutated DNA weren't the words of a serial killer, a madman.
But Mohinder had always known, somehow.
Stargate: SG-1
For Carolyn_claire, Daniel and Vala's charmingly complex relationship
"Stop that."
Daniel said those words to her far too often, Vala thought. She'd have to do something about that.
She kept kicking her heels against his desk. She liked sitting atop it, amidst the papers and artifacts.
One day, she might find treasure that Daniel had overlooked.
"Stop that," he said again, like it would make a difference, and flipped a page of his book.
She smiled at him, wide-eyed and innocent. "But, Daniel, I'm bored."
He snorted.
"Aren't you bored?" she asked.
He ignored her.
She kicked her heels that little bit harder.
Maybe she'd demand dinner. Outside.
Stargate: Atlantis
For djfanboy, John has a brief run-in with Woolsey after the Replicator Incident.
John stands on his favorite balcony, marveling at the control tower's swift restoration. Replicators aren't all bad - who knew?
His hands tremble slightly, adrenaline crash still better than coming down from meds post-mission in Afghanistan.
A pointed cough makes John turn, and there's Woolsey, more rumpled than technocrat.
"You're lucky," Woolsey states, all priss and sourness, "that General O'Neill has a history of venturing off against orders."
John's eyebrows defied gravity while reading SG-1 mission reports. Not that his future had even crossed his mind when planning this craziness.
"I know," John says.
Nothing mattered then except getting Atlantis back.
For thegrrrl2002, post-Tao of Rodney [double drabble, McKay/Sheppard]
The balcony was sheltered and cozy, perfect for breaks.
"We wouldn't have been good," Sheppard said out of the blue. "If you'd --" he ran a hand over his hair, arm brushing against Rodney's sleeve. "If you'd died. Or ascended."
Rodney blinked at Sheppard, startled.
"Either way," Sheppard continued, grim and determined, "we wouldn't have been good."
Rodney's mouth opened and closed while he tried to catch up with the conversation.
Finally -- "Like you're one to talk!" Sheppard was so far ahead in the "almost died" sweepstakes that Rodney was almost offended that he was bringing this up.
Rodney asked, "How many times have you --" and of course Sheppard had to interrupt.
"That's different," he said.
Their eyes met, and Rodney's pulse accelerated to zoom. Greatly daring, his fingers drifted to Sheppard's collarbone.
"No," Rodney said. "It's not."
Sheppard glanced down and away toward the floor of the balcony, and Rodney drank in the line of his profile, the curve of his eyelashes.
"It is," Sheppard said, looking back at Rodney, and then their lips met and the argument disappeared in a rush of heat and wonder and, "Oh my God, what were you waiting for?"
For tenshinya, Teyla and her father
"Now," Papa told her very seriously, "you must be sure to mind your manners with the Trehar."
Teyla nodded and held onto his hand a little tighter. It was her first trip through the Ring of the Ancestors and she wanted to make her papa proud.
He stopped before the plinth, and Teyla went up on her tip-toes to watch the sequence.
The Ring flared blue and magic, and she started to smile so hard her cheeks ached.
"The Ancestors gave us a great gift, eh my love?"
"Oh, yes," Teyla said, and they walked through the shimmering veil together.
For trobadora, Teyla and Bates
Teyla did not like the way Sergeant Bates watched her.
The expression on his face was always set and bitter, as if he wanted to toss her through the Ring of the Ancestors with her people.
Never mind that Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir were convinced of her value to the city.
Never mind that they would have starved were it not for her trading skills and her contacts.
Never mind that the Wraith plaguing their earlier missions had not been Teyla's doing.
Sergeant Bates continued to watch her.
Teyla's blood began to simmer.
He needed to learn better manners.
Jericho
For vanillafluffy, Heather is alive and resourceful
Her mouth tripped ahead of her brain, just like always. Heather didn't care.
New Bern had gone insane, and would take Jericho with it unless these G.I. Joe yahoos did something. She couldn't let them do nothing.
Too many people she cared about were in danger.
She'd left Jericho to gain much-needed distance, and it had taught her that distance was ridiculous in this Planet of the Apes knock-off world.
So what if Jake Green ignored her post-kiss? They'd still pulled their town's bacon out of the fire together more times than she could count. That was enough. For now.
For mswalter, Jake and his dad, sometime early on. Maybe them dancing around where he's been for five years?
Inventory of the pantry wasn't fun, but it was necessary.
"How's it going?"
The pen in Jake's hand paused, and he turned to face his father.
"Fine. We've got enough to keep us fed for a while."
His father nodded, a rumbling hum emerging from his throat.
"Will it be to your taste, though?"
Jake's eyebrows quirked. "What?"
"Well, what have you been eating? In your travels of the world?"
Jake tried to smile. "There's nothing like home cooking."
"I'll tell that to your mom. She'll be happy to hear it."
His dad left, and Jake reached for canned tomatoes.
Cupid
For serialkarma, Claire and/or Alex, politics or cookies
"Oh my God!" Claire couldn't believe her eyes. "Have you never heard of salmonella?"
Alex licked the spoon, tongue lingering over batter in a way that made Claire flush. Then he had to go and smile at her, saying, "Eating raw cookie dough is one of the greatest culinary pleasures in life."
She crinkled her nose in response.
He dipped the spoon into the mixing bowl, making sure to get plenty of chocolate chips. "Live dangerously," Alex dared.
She couldn't resist him. She'd never been able to resist him. She guided his hand closer to her mouth and tasted bliss.
Cupid/Atlantis crossover
For emrinalexander, Alex from Cupid trying to pick up an apparently oblivious Rodney after a press conference (Rodney and Radek announce something vastly important)
Gibberish flowed over Alex without pause - the press release would have the details he'd need. An air of exultation surrounded Drs. McKay and Zelenka as they babbled behind the podium.
This wasn't his usual beat, but his editor at the Times had told Alex science would shudder on its foundations after this announcement.
The microphones went silent, and the scrum around the luminaries of the hour was thick. Alex waited his turn.
McKay was kind of hot. Huh.
Be charming. And respectful.
He smiled extra-bright approaching McKay. "Can I ask you a few questions?"
McKay blinked, and Alex said, "Please?"
Heroes
For aurora_84, Sylar/Mohinder-ish? In the 'String Theory'-verse
In the end, Mohinder wasn't surprised. Not really. Not like he'd tried to tell himself - that the President trusted his opinion, valued his advice.
That the way the President's eyes lingered on Mohinder's skin wasn't anything like Zane's (Sylar's) gaze.
That the hands on Mohinder's shoulders guiding him out of the Oval Office felt nothing like the fingers that had stroked down his flanks in hotel rooms across America, the palms that had brought such ecstasy.
That the plans to eradicate those with mutated DNA weren't the words of a serial killer, a madman.
But Mohinder had always known, somehow.
Stargate: SG-1
For Carolyn_claire, Daniel and Vala's charmingly complex relationship
"Stop that."
Daniel said those words to her far too often, Vala thought. She'd have to do something about that.
She kept kicking her heels against his desk. She liked sitting atop it, amidst the papers and artifacts.
One day, she might find treasure that Daniel had overlooked.
"Stop that," he said again, like it would make a difference, and flipped a page of his book.
She smiled at him, wide-eyed and innocent. "But, Daniel, I'm bored."
He snorted.
"Aren't you bored?" she asked.
He ignored her.
She kicked her heels that little bit harder.
Maybe she'd demand dinner. Outside.