eviljr
in
kavtolanon
Challenge Fic
Author: eviljr
Title: Shades of Life
Rating: PG13 (minor language)
Spoilers: Through SGA season two Critical Mass
Summary: Fourteen things anniversary challenge for kavtolanon I choose fourteen colors! :) *hugs* to karendreamer for beta’ing for me!
Yellow was the first color Calvin Kavanagh could remember with such crystal clarity it scared him. It was the color of the notebook paper his mother held when he came home from school the day his father left. Her face was red and splotchy. Tears streaked her face as she gripped the flimsy paper in her hand. Her body rigid as she sat at the kitchen table. The report card he gripped tight in his fist full of gold stars drifted to the floor in silence as his mother took him in her arms. Calvin was seven.
The flowers his mom planted in her small garden at the side of the house were a light pink. He remembered them often when he sat outside watching her weed the tiny buds humming a song. He knew she took solace in the quiet grace in the care of the rows of blossoms. In the years after his father had gone she spent more and more time drifting off while tending them. Calvin was eleven when she lost her mind completely.
Purple was color of his grandmother’s favorite sweater. It was so worn the cuffs were unraveling. The solid brass buttons tarnished. He spent his teens years living in her care. After his mother was admitted to the clinic. The state couldn’t find his father. Despite her years she was a feisty woman, but kind. Calvin was grateful for the balance in his life. He could remember the smile of pride on her face when he graduated from college. He was twenty-two when she died.
Calvin never forgot his first car. It’s dull grey color was it’s most endearing feature. Car was a loose term. Grey was also. Primer should of been a color itself. Calvin had bought the car with money he earned doing summer jobs. Studying and saving for that car were the only things he thought of when he was wading through his teen years. Calvin knew he was a geek and really didn’t know about cars. He used his talents exchanging homework assignments for car care from the school gear head. He was twenty when the transmission fell out. Calvin retired it.
Teal was the color of his date’s dress for a fall formal in college. Calvin never went to his proms in high school. He had never been more surprised in his life when Rachel Norris, economics major, asked him to the dance. He had never been so nervous his whole life. His shoulder length hair was tied neatly in a ponytail. Second hand suit from the thrift store had been cleaned and mended by his grandmother a few nights before. He couldn’t recall her smiling more then she did before that night. Dinner was at a mid class local restaurant. Calvin ordered a glass of wine for them both. While toasting he lost his nerve, the stemmed goblet slipping from his fingers. As the liquid splashed against the table washing across the surface it leaked onto the sparkley dress. Cheap burgundy colored wine did not go with the sequins. Rachel Norris never spoke to him again after that disaster. Calvin was just barely twenty one.
The ground was white the day he was asked to the SGC. It was December in his home town of Boston. A blizzard had bombarded the state with three feet of snow. Calvin was returning home from a day of research in the ongoing clinical study he was assisting in. Two men in blue suits sat in his living room. His face had been etched with shock and annoyance at the intrusion. What the men said next would change his life forever. An object that could transport matter to other galaxies? It was something he would have never believed. At first he wanted to throw the men from his apartment with shouts of anger and questions on who had paid them to run the scam. It was always obvious to Calvin he didn’t have any friends. The only person who mattered in his life was dead. It was not an easy task for the men to convince him to go to Colorado. Calvin was twenty-five when he boarded the flight that would change his life.
It was blackness. That’s the word he had used when he had stepped through the worm hole for the first time. Most of his time in the SGC was spent hibernating underground studying specimens and samples from the far reaches of the universe. The day he went through the event horizon for a much begrudged off world encounter was not something he had looked forward to. The feeling of walking through the shimmering pool felt like blackness. Like everything else had ceased to exist. That mission had been fraught with another thing Calvin had never expected to see. A man killed in front of his eyes. Jaffa had surprised the team killing a sgt who’s name Calvin never recalled hearing. The young soldier’s body had fallen before his eyes. Blood poured from the man’s mouth as he shook on the ground Screams had erupted around Calvin as he stood frozen watching the chaos around him. The red fluid had followed easily mixing with the brown dirt. Calvin thought it looked liked a strange version of a mud pie. The image of that horror woke him from sleep more nights then he could remember after that. He was twenty six. The young soldier was twenty three.
He was twenty seven when the mission to Atlantis was set. Calvin had never been so anxious in his life. Another galaxy! Scientists were preening left and right. Jockeying to get a position to go. Calvin didn’t believe he would get picked. He was never the favored son of the SGC. He almost turned green when Rodney McKay appeared. He had remembered when the infamous scientist had been in the SGC the first time. Anubus had tried to blow up Earth. Calvin knew the Canadian was going to become the head of the science division for the expedition. It was the ache in his stomach that almost had Calvin retching. There was no way the arrogant man would approve it. Fate had been on his side when Dr. Romon had become seriously ill. The good Dr. Romon was first in line for the position of head chemist. McKay had little choice but to let Calvin in the ill doctor’s stead. Calvin had eagerly packed his bags to leave Earth. Atlantis was going to be run by a civilian! Finally a change for the better or so he thought.
The water was blue around the great city of the Ancients. Calvin spent most of his time in the labs. He saw little of the city and it’s splendor. The mission hadn’t been everything he had hoped. It was a cluster fuck waiting to happen at every turn. The civilian, Dr. Weir, wasn’t the great hope she had been made out to be. Some day’s he felt like he was back in school. Cliques formed all around him with Calvin watching from the outside. He didn’t let it change him. He was never much for social interaction anyway, or so he told himself. He changed his scenery by going back and forth on the Daedalus for a time. He and returned to Earth for a time. His mother was severely ill and he wanted to be with her in her last days. He was twenty eight when she died in her sleep in the small bed he had used as a child in his grandmother’s house.
He made he way back to the Pegasus Galaxy shortly after her funeral. It wasn’t long before he remembered why he had left. The day Dr. Weir had accused him of trying to blow up the city was the last straw. The sun lazily dipped below the skyline causing orange streaks to glisten the horizon. It was his last day he was leaving the city and its new inhabitants. A new chapter of life waited for him back on Earth and he hoped it held colors so bright and full of life that they would be etched in his memory forever.
Title: Shades of Life
Rating: PG13 (minor language)
Spoilers: Through SGA season two Critical Mass
Summary: Fourteen things anniversary challenge for kavtolanon I choose fourteen colors! :) *hugs* to karendreamer for beta’ing for me!
Yellow was the first color Calvin Kavanagh could remember with such crystal clarity it scared him. It was the color of the notebook paper his mother held when he came home from school the day his father left. Her face was red and splotchy. Tears streaked her face as she gripped the flimsy paper in her hand. Her body rigid as she sat at the kitchen table. The report card he gripped tight in his fist full of gold stars drifted to the floor in silence as his mother took him in her arms. Calvin was seven.
The flowers his mom planted in her small garden at the side of the house were a light pink. He remembered them often when he sat outside watching her weed the tiny buds humming a song. He knew she took solace in the quiet grace in the care of the rows of blossoms. In the years after his father had gone she spent more and more time drifting off while tending them. Calvin was eleven when she lost her mind completely.
Purple was color of his grandmother’s favorite sweater. It was so worn the cuffs were unraveling. The solid brass buttons tarnished. He spent his teens years living in her care. After his mother was admitted to the clinic. The state couldn’t find his father. Despite her years she was a feisty woman, but kind. Calvin was grateful for the balance in his life. He could remember the smile of pride on her face when he graduated from college. He was twenty-two when she died.
Calvin never forgot his first car. It’s dull grey color was it’s most endearing feature. Car was a loose term. Grey was also. Primer should of been a color itself. Calvin had bought the car with money he earned doing summer jobs. Studying and saving for that car were the only things he thought of when he was wading through his teen years. Calvin knew he was a geek and really didn’t know about cars. He used his talents exchanging homework assignments for car care from the school gear head. He was twenty when the transmission fell out. Calvin retired it.
Teal was the color of his date’s dress for a fall formal in college. Calvin never went to his proms in high school. He had never been more surprised in his life when Rachel Norris, economics major, asked him to the dance. He had never been so nervous his whole life. His shoulder length hair was tied neatly in a ponytail. Second hand suit from the thrift store had been cleaned and mended by his grandmother a few nights before. He couldn’t recall her smiling more then she did before that night. Dinner was at a mid class local restaurant. Calvin ordered a glass of wine for them both. While toasting he lost his nerve, the stemmed goblet slipping from his fingers. As the liquid splashed against the table washing across the surface it leaked onto the sparkley dress. Cheap burgundy colored wine did not go with the sequins. Rachel Norris never spoke to him again after that disaster. Calvin was just barely twenty one.
The ground was white the day he was asked to the SGC. It was December in his home town of Boston. A blizzard had bombarded the state with three feet of snow. Calvin was returning home from a day of research in the ongoing clinical study he was assisting in. Two men in blue suits sat in his living room. His face had been etched with shock and annoyance at the intrusion. What the men said next would change his life forever. An object that could transport matter to other galaxies? It was something he would have never believed. At first he wanted to throw the men from his apartment with shouts of anger and questions on who had paid them to run the scam. It was always obvious to Calvin he didn’t have any friends. The only person who mattered in his life was dead. It was not an easy task for the men to convince him to go to Colorado. Calvin was twenty-five when he boarded the flight that would change his life.
It was blackness. That’s the word he had used when he had stepped through the worm hole for the first time. Most of his time in the SGC was spent hibernating underground studying specimens and samples from the far reaches of the universe. The day he went through the event horizon for a much begrudged off world encounter was not something he had looked forward to. The feeling of walking through the shimmering pool felt like blackness. Like everything else had ceased to exist. That mission had been fraught with another thing Calvin had never expected to see. A man killed in front of his eyes. Jaffa had surprised the team killing a sgt who’s name Calvin never recalled hearing. The young soldier’s body had fallen before his eyes. Blood poured from the man’s mouth as he shook on the ground Screams had erupted around Calvin as he stood frozen watching the chaos around him. The red fluid had followed easily mixing with the brown dirt. Calvin thought it looked liked a strange version of a mud pie. The image of that horror woke him from sleep more nights then he could remember after that. He was twenty six. The young soldier was twenty three.
He was twenty seven when the mission to Atlantis was set. Calvin had never been so anxious in his life. Another galaxy! Scientists were preening left and right. Jockeying to get a position to go. Calvin didn’t believe he would get picked. He was never the favored son of the SGC. He almost turned green when Rodney McKay appeared. He had remembered when the infamous scientist had been in the SGC the first time. Anubus had tried to blow up Earth. Calvin knew the Canadian was going to become the head of the science division for the expedition. It was the ache in his stomach that almost had Calvin retching. There was no way the arrogant man would approve it. Fate had been on his side when Dr. Romon had become seriously ill. The good Dr. Romon was first in line for the position of head chemist. McKay had little choice but to let Calvin in the ill doctor’s stead. Calvin had eagerly packed his bags to leave Earth. Atlantis was going to be run by a civilian! Finally a change for the better or so he thought.
The water was blue around the great city of the Ancients. Calvin spent most of his time in the labs. He saw little of the city and it’s splendor. The mission hadn’t been everything he had hoped. It was a cluster fuck waiting to happen at every turn. The civilian, Dr. Weir, wasn’t the great hope she had been made out to be. Some day’s he felt like he was back in school. Cliques formed all around him with Calvin watching from the outside. He didn’t let it change him. He was never much for social interaction anyway, or so he told himself. He changed his scenery by going back and forth on the Daedalus for a time. He and returned to Earth for a time. His mother was severely ill and he wanted to be with her in her last days. He was twenty eight when she died in her sleep in the small bed he had used as a child in his grandmother’s house.
He made he way back to the Pegasus Galaxy shortly after her funeral. It wasn’t long before he remembered why he had left. The day Dr. Weir had accused him of trying to blow up the city was the last straw. The sun lazily dipped below the skyline causing orange streaks to glisten the horizon. It was his last day he was leaving the city and its new inhabitants. A new chapter of life waited for him back on Earth and he hoped it held colors so bright and full of life that they would be etched in his memory forever.