[Stargate: Atlantis] Hic Sunt Dracones
Title: Hic Sunt Dracones
Genre: General
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through 'Grace Under Pressure'
Summary: "It seems silly, I know." Miko says, raising her head to look at him. "But there are stories circulating around the city of sightings that resemble the myths so closely. And..." She seems almost embarrassed to give voice to the thought they all share. "This is Atlantis."
Notes: For owleyes_arisen who requested Rodney and John and Oriental dragons.
John doesn't quite believe it when he sees it the first time, glittering blue scales slicing through the waves smoothly and cleanly, there and gone in the moment he looks away to glance at the readings on the panel Radek sent him to investigate.
"Colonel?" Radek's voice is tinny and the distance between them affects the reception. "Are the readings checking out all right?"
John has to tear his eyes away from the water to see, and nods distractedly before remembering to key his radio. "Yeah, they're fine."
Radek mutters something and pauses, hesitant. "Is something wrong?"
"Did the marine biologists report any sort of...large marine life?" John winces at his choice of words, knowing that there will be mockery in store for him in the future.
Radek's pause is slightly longer this time around. "You mean besides the large alien whales?"
John sighs, scanning the horizon for signs of blue scales. "Yes, Radek. Besides the large alien whales." He answers, thinking that they really need to come up with a decent name for the things.
"Not that I have heard, although I do not keep abreast of their findings as well as I should."
"Huh. You might want to tell them something else is swimming around out there. I'm pretty sure they'd be interested in that."
John is too, actually. It would be nice to have a good idea as to whether or not they're going to have to be on the watch for threats from the native animal life.
"Yes, I can see where discovering a new form of life would be most fascinating for them." Radek doesn't quite reach Rodney's level of sarcasm, but it's close. "In fact, I'm sure they would love to discuss the matter with you at great length when you return."
Sighing, John eyes the control panel accusingly, irrationally annoyed that it isn't about to cause parts of the city to go up in flames. "Yeah. Kinda thought so myself."
Radek chuckles and tells John he can come back whenever he's ready, clearly amused by the predicament he's managed to land himself in by asking a simple question. Somehow John thinks there should be an object lesson in there somewhere.
He hesitates a moment longer, going out to the edge of the pier hoping for one last glimpse of whatever it was he'd seen but finds nothing but endless water stretching out before him.
He doesn't leave until Rodney comes on the radio and demands that he get back to the labs to keep the damn marine biologists and their incessant questions out of his hair.
====
====
That night at dinner John finds himself sandwiched between Radek and Miko with Rodney across from him. All three of them are chattering away about something he's only half listening to when Miko turns to him and John realizes the other two have gone quiet, waiting and watching.
"Miko?" John asks, glancing at Rodney who shrugs, as clueless as John.
"There are stories..." Miko says quietly. "The marine biologists are talking about a creature you saw today." She smiles at him. "Would you tell me about it?"
John's eyebrows go up and he looks at Rodney and back to Miko when Rodney frowns at him. "I didn't see very much, just something swimming in the water off the pier Radek sent me out to this afternoon."
"What did it look like?"
"At least as big as the whales the marine biologists have been studying. Blue scales and really damn fast."
Miko's eyes widen and she smiles to herself, looking as thrilled and delighted as John's ever seen her.
"It's true, then." She murmurs quietly. "The stories are true."
"What stories?" Radek asks, sharing a look with Rodney.
Miko blushes, looking down. "Dragons."
Rodney's eyes narrow and Radek chokes on the water he's drinking, and John just stares at her.
"Dragons."
"It seems silly, I know." Miko says, raising her head to look at him. "But there are stories circulating around the city of sightings that resemble the myths so closely. And..." She seems almost embarrassed to give voice to the thought they all share. "This is Atlantis."
John sighs, realizing that that might just be the source of so many of their problems right there. They're living in a mythical city said to have existed alongside things like giants and monsters and just about everything else the human race ever dreamt up.
Looking over at Rodney he sees the pinched look on his face, and Radek laughs. "Space vampires." He reminds them, smirking unrepentantly at Rodney.
Scowling, Rodney goes back to eating. "Oh, yes. And let's just dwell on that happy little thought for the rest of the night, shall we? If we're going to be taking unsubstantiated rumors and tag them as creatures from mythology we might as well put up a map of the Pegasus Galaxy and emblazon 'Here be dragons' all over it while we're at it."
John raises an eyebrow at his outburst while Miko ducks her head.
"Oh, for..." Rodney stops and visibly reins himself in for Miko's sake. "Look. All I'm saying is that it would be a good idea to look into these so-called 'sightings' and sort fact from fiction before broadcasting the news all over the city."
"He's right." Radek adds, patting Miko on the shoulder. "If we do not, it could cause panic and other difficulties if people overreact."
"I understand." Miko says, smiling faintly.
Rodney gives her an unreadable look. "Well...good for you then."
John smirks and poaches the roll off of Rodney's plate before he can protest, Radek hiding his smile behind his glass of water while Miko laughs quietly.
====
====
The second time John sees it, he's out on a late night run, unable to sleep and trying to keep nightmares at bay. Memories of missions gone wrong, decisions made in haste and without sufficient intelligence and it's just all too much, impossible to keep inside.
He runs long and hard, and somewhere in there a whim takes hold and guides him out to the pier. He knows there's more than a little bit of stupidity and recklessness mixed in there somewhere too because all he has in the way of protection is his sidearm, but for some reason it never occurs to him to go reach for it.
He has a word for it now, thanks to Miko.
Looking closer he sees that it doesn't look so much like the dragons from stories he grew up listening to. It isn't one of the thick-bodied, broad-winged monsters that wrought destruction with fire and fury, and he understands why Miko's first thought was 'dragon' and not something else that could be easily explained.
Sleek and serpentine, it's basking in the moonlight, massive body coiled on the pier and head upturned. A pair of horns with a slight twist to them and something between a lion's mane and a lizard's frill, looking like every picture of an Oriental dragon John's ever seen.
He should probably question the unlikelihood of it, but it's Atlantis. For all they know the Ancients were responsible for the creation of the myths and legends surrounding dragons. John frowns as that thought registers, and squints at the dragon thoughtfully. Actually, for all they know the Ancients were the ones that created dragons in the first place.
Moving closer, he freezes when it lowers its head and looks directly at him, moonlight and shadows playing across its body as it stands, towering far, far above him. He can see the play of muscle beneath the blue-green scales as it moves, cat-light on its feet and so, so beautiful he doesn't think he has the words to describe it.
The dragon goes still, studying him for a long moment before exploding into a flurry of motion, diving over the side of the pier, water splashing everywhere leaving John alone and completely soaked to the bone.
He runs to the edge of the pier again, but all he finds is the ocean, vast and mocking.
The trip back takes longer and he's annoyed and tired and sore, miserable and aching, and the moment he hits his quarters he strips and heads for the shower, cranking the hot water as far as it will go before stepping inside.
His nightmares don't come back that night.
====
====
Breakfast the next morning is a curious affair. John finds himself sitting next to Rodney this time with Miko and Radek across from them, and no one is awake enough to start in on the techno babble. John feels oddly conflicted as he's gotten fairly good at measuring the overall mood of the science team listing to the three of them go over current projects and theories and without it he feels cut off.
"How's the search for your dragon going?" John asks Miko, chasing his almost-eggs around his plate with a piece of toast.
Radek looks up from his own plate with a frown, and John can't tell if it's due to the question or the fact that he's just now realizing John's eating his toast.
Miko looks a little sad when she hands Radek her toast. "There haven't been any more sightings. Perhaps Dr. McKay was right and they were merely fabrications made up by people that did not know what they were looking at."
John gives her a sympathetic look, but doesn't mention his own...sighting.
There's a large part of him that wants to keep it secret, safe, because he understands human nature a little better than most. He knows what happens when people discover something rare and precious, and he knows the lengths people will go to claim it for themselves, even if they don't have the right.
"It wouldn't be the first time." Rodney points out, cradling his coffee mug in his hands possessively. "People continue to, mistakenly, I should add, report weather balloons as UFOs on Earth all the time."
John and Radek share a look, twisting in their seats to stare at Rodney, who just glares at them.
"What?"
John shakes his head and smiles. "Nothing, Rodney. It's just unusual for you to do the sympathy thing."
"And so early in the morning." Radek chimes in, smirking. "You haven't even had your third cup of coffee yet. I am most impressed."
"Besides," John smiles at Rodney. "With everything the SGC is doing, some of those reports are probably true."
Rodney scowls at him and John shrugs. "I'm just saying, Rodney. All of those Goa'uld ships and those sweet little F-302s? Not to mention the big ships like the Prometheus and the Daedalus? Someone somewhere has to be seeing something."
"I would be worrying more about what sort of dire revenge Radek is plotting as payback for you stealing food from him rather than whether or not people are seeing actual UFOs on Earth if I were you, Colonel." Rodney says, watching Radek warily.
John turns to see Radek staring at him, head cocked to the side. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
Radek smiles, and John resolutely doesn't edge away from him.
"I am on the winning side of course, Colonel Sheppard." He says, as though it should have been perfectly clear from the start.
"And that is?"
"His." Miko and Rodney say at the same time, one with a smile and one with a scowl, and John can't help but laugh.
====
====
The third time John sees the dragon he isn't sure if he actually sees it or if he just hallucinated the whole thing thanks to a head wound and minor blood loss.
He's trapped in the lower levels of the city with Rodney and water rising fast from a section damaged in a recent series of storms that finally gave in to the stress being put on it. They manage to make it several rooms away, but with only a few questionably secure bulkheads and doors between them and the rest of the ocean it's only a matter of time before something else gives.
Rescue's over two hours away, even with the jumpers acting as underwater rescue vehicles, and Rodney's surprisingly quiet about their impending deaths.
John thinks that last bit might have more to do with the fact that they're standing in water up to their waist and rising at a steady rate, but he's not sure. It could also be the fact that the whole situation smacks a little too much of déjà vu for both of them.
"Hey," John tries not to be too worried about the way his words are slurring together. He can always blame the split lip he got when everything went to hell. "What do you think about Miko's dragon?"
"What?" Rodney sputters, eyes going wide as he stares incredulously at John. "We're trapped like rats and about to die horrible, horrible deaths and you're babbling about Miko's mythical dragon?"
John frowns at his tone. "You never said. Just kind of...mocked. Mercilessly."
Rodney sighs and moves closer to him, water dripping from his hair into his eyes. "Well, yes. That would be because it's an utterly preposterous idea. Everyone knows there are no such things as dragons."
"That's what they always said about Atlantis." John says with dogged determination. "And look where we are."
Rodney does just that, flinging an arm up to gesture at the debris strewn across the room, blocking off the exits and effectively trapping them. "Yes. Glorious, isn't it."
John flinches at the spray of water that hits him at Rodney's flailing, glaring at him. "Okay, so that was maybe a bad example. But come on, if Atlantis is real, who's to say Miko's dragon doesn't exist?"
Rodney opens his mouth to say something and goes completely still when the room shakes and pieces of the ceiling start to fall.
John has enough presence of mind to grab for Rodney before everything turns to screaming and yelling and shrieking metal. His fingers brush Rodney's jacket and he has a moment of fleeting terror when something tears him away, water rushing away as part of the wall gives and he's thrown up and down and around until he's so dizzy he doesn't know which way is up anymore.
He opens his eyes and sees a wall of blue-green scales and wickedly long and sharp teeth reaching for him right before he slams into something and everything goes black and blessedly quiet and still.
====
====
The first words out of his mouth when he wakes up has nothing to do with anything and makes absolutely no sense at all. The next ones are a little more coherent and have the added bonus where Carson isn't reaching for his penlight quite so fast to check for signs of brain damage or whatever it is he does with it.
"What happened?"
Carson breathes a sigh of relief even as he stabs John in the eye with the light fro his special little torture device. "You're an incredibly lucky bastard is what happened." He mutters, taking John's pulse. "The two of you have the most god awful luck I've ever seen."
John frowns when Carson moves on to checking his lungs and replays the last part of the conversation. "I thought you said - "
"I don't know how you do it, and I mean I really don't want to know, but the two of you manage to get yourselves in and out of the worst situations more often than anyone I've ever heard of." Carson says, glaring at John. "You really need to stop doing it."
John's eyes go wide and he automatically checks the bed next to his, throat going dry when he realizes it's empty. "Where's Rodney? He's okay, right?"
Carson sighs and rolls his eyes. "He's fine. Barely a scratch on him." He makes a gesture for John to open up and pops a thermometer in his mouth. "We had to keep him overnight to make sure he got some rest, and now he's back in the labs making everyone miserable just like old times."
John raises and eyebrow and Carson shrugs with an 'what can you do?' look and glances at his watch. "Now you...you were a mess. Tiny bit of a concussion, that nasty little head wound of yours and all sorts of lovely complications to top it all off."
John grimaces and hands Carson the thermometer when he gestures for it. "But...not dead. That's always a good thing, right?"
Carson stares at him.
"Right?"
Sighing, Carson shakes his head and turns away to write something down. "Yes, John. You not being dead is a good thing. Now get some rest. We're going to need to keep you here for a little bit longer."
John frowns, but he's not really feeling up to fighting Carson at the moment, and it's actually really kind of nice just being able to lie down and rest.
"Rodney's really okay? Nothing wrong?" He has to ask because the last thing he are remembers scales and fangs and eyes staring at him and Rodney nowhere to be seen, just the lightest brush of his jacket against his fingers before slipping away from him.
Carson smiles, and John suddenly realizes just how tired he looks, how so very weary he sounds when he answers. "Rodney's fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. I just wanted to make sure we weren't going to be caught unawares by unexpected complications. Like I said, you two have the most incredible luck I've ever seen."
John smiles at that, because they do. They all do, really, which is kind of a miracle in itself when he thinks about it. He's pretty damn sure they wouldn't have lasted as long as they have if they didn't.
"Now get some rest." Carson tells him, and John does because he can, because he's allowed to.
====
====
Carson releases him from the infirmary three days after the accident and something draws John out to the pier where he caught his first glimpse of the dragon.
He isn't surprised to find Rodney there, standing at the edge of the pier staring out at the ocean.
"Hey."
Rodney glances over at him and smiles. "Still not dead I see. Congratulations, maybe we'll throw you a party later."
John scowls and shoves his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. "Carson squealed."
"Like the proverbial pig." Rodney's smile widens. "Apparently you're comedy gold when you're pumped full of antibiotics and painkillers. It's a shame I missed it."
"Oh, yeah. A real shame." John mutters, turning to look out at the water. "About that, you remember what happened? I kind of blacked out when the second wall gave way."
Rodney doesn't answer, just watches the waves with a strange look on his face.
"If I were a religious sort I'd agree with Radek." Rodney says quietly, dropping his gaze to stare at the metal plating beneath their feet. "We have got to have the two most overworked guardian angels around."
John snorts, chancing a look at Rodney to see him looking right back, mouth pulled up in a rueful little smile. "I...yeah, I guess we do."
"Not that it's a bad thing, considering everything we've managed to run into in the short time we've been in Pegasus. Honestly, it's a bit reassuring."
John smiles and tips his head back to stare at the sky. "Here be dragons." He murmurs, slanting a look at Rodney who goes completely still. "Maybe putting that map up would be a good idea. It'd certainly be worth it just to see the looks on the faces of the new guys when they step off the Daedalus expecting Atlantis to be all about fun and exciting adventures."
"That's...amazingly juvenile of you, Colonel."
Grinning, John nods, accepting it as the compliment it wasn't meant to be. "Thank you, Rodney. I do try."
"Whatever." Rodney mutters. "Are you sure you should be out here so soon? I don't want Carson screaming for my blood because I let you run around and catch something ridiculous like a common cold."
"Hmmm. You know, you never really answered me before."
"About?"
"Miko's dragon." John answers, looking back out over the water. "I mean...there isn't any actual proof that it doesn't exist."
Rodney relaxes slightly, and John smiles a little at that.
"There's also no proof that it does exist either." He says with exaggerated care, as though John really has suffered some sort of brain damage that Carson somehow missed. "And also, I really can't believe I need to point this out to a supposedly rational adult, dragons aren't real."
John shakes his head, glancing at Rodney. "I stand by the fact that everyone said Atlantis wasn't real, and yet here she is."
Rodney rolls his eyes. "I suppose you've heard the bit about every great lie containing a grain of truth, Colonel?
John nods slowly, fairly certain he knows where Rodney's going with his line of thought.
"Well, myths and legends are really nothing more than that: great big lies with a small, infinitesimal grain of truth to them. That doesn't mean that they're all true. People have been trying to prove for years that so-called dragons were merely sightings of sea creatures that grew in the telling."
John nods, because he was expecting that. "Oarfish, right?"
Rodney blinks in surprise and looks over at John. "Exactly."
"Well...there you go."
"'There I go', where, exactly?" Rodney asks, frowning. "Your logic makes absolutely no sense."
"Neither do myths and legends, but people still believe in them." John says, pleased with himself at that bit of cleverness.
"Yes...because they're insane."
John gives Rodney a pointed look, eyes going to the towers around them and smirks when Rodney colors, eyes narrowing.
"All right, fine. I'll give you Atlantis, but dragons? Not a chance."
John laughs and shakes his head, thinking of blue scales under the moonlight and startlingly familiar eyes watching him from an unfamiliar face. "Whatever you say, Rodney. Whatever you say."
Genre: General
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through 'Grace Under Pressure'
Summary: "It seems silly, I know." Miko says, raising her head to look at him. "But there are stories circulating around the city of sightings that resemble the myths so closely. And..." She seems almost embarrassed to give voice to the thought they all share. "This is Atlantis."
Notes: For owleyes_arisen who requested Rodney and John and Oriental dragons.
John doesn't quite believe it when he sees it the first time, glittering blue scales slicing through the waves smoothly and cleanly, there and gone in the moment he looks away to glance at the readings on the panel Radek sent him to investigate.
"Colonel?" Radek's voice is tinny and the distance between them affects the reception. "Are the readings checking out all right?"
John has to tear his eyes away from the water to see, and nods distractedly before remembering to key his radio. "Yeah, they're fine."
Radek mutters something and pauses, hesitant. "Is something wrong?"
"Did the marine biologists report any sort of...large marine life?" John winces at his choice of words, knowing that there will be mockery in store for him in the future.
Radek's pause is slightly longer this time around. "You mean besides the large alien whales?"
John sighs, scanning the horizon for signs of blue scales. "Yes, Radek. Besides the large alien whales." He answers, thinking that they really need to come up with a decent name for the things.
"Not that I have heard, although I do not keep abreast of their findings as well as I should."
"Huh. You might want to tell them something else is swimming around out there. I'm pretty sure they'd be interested in that."
John is too, actually. It would be nice to have a good idea as to whether or not they're going to have to be on the watch for threats from the native animal life.
"Yes, I can see where discovering a new form of life would be most fascinating for them." Radek doesn't quite reach Rodney's level of sarcasm, but it's close. "In fact, I'm sure they would love to discuss the matter with you at great length when you return."
Sighing, John eyes the control panel accusingly, irrationally annoyed that it isn't about to cause parts of the city to go up in flames. "Yeah. Kinda thought so myself."
Radek chuckles and tells John he can come back whenever he's ready, clearly amused by the predicament he's managed to land himself in by asking a simple question. Somehow John thinks there should be an object lesson in there somewhere.
He hesitates a moment longer, going out to the edge of the pier hoping for one last glimpse of whatever it was he'd seen but finds nothing but endless water stretching out before him.
He doesn't leave until Rodney comes on the radio and demands that he get back to the labs to keep the damn marine biologists and their incessant questions out of his hair.
====
====
That night at dinner John finds himself sandwiched between Radek and Miko with Rodney across from him. All three of them are chattering away about something he's only half listening to when Miko turns to him and John realizes the other two have gone quiet, waiting and watching.
"Miko?" John asks, glancing at Rodney who shrugs, as clueless as John.
"There are stories..." Miko says quietly. "The marine biologists are talking about a creature you saw today." She smiles at him. "Would you tell me about it?"
John's eyebrows go up and he looks at Rodney and back to Miko when Rodney frowns at him. "I didn't see very much, just something swimming in the water off the pier Radek sent me out to this afternoon."
"What did it look like?"
"At least as big as the whales the marine biologists have been studying. Blue scales and really damn fast."
Miko's eyes widen and she smiles to herself, looking as thrilled and delighted as John's ever seen her.
"It's true, then." She murmurs quietly. "The stories are true."
"What stories?" Radek asks, sharing a look with Rodney.
Miko blushes, looking down. "Dragons."
Rodney's eyes narrow and Radek chokes on the water he's drinking, and John just stares at her.
"Dragons."
"It seems silly, I know." Miko says, raising her head to look at him. "But there are stories circulating around the city of sightings that resemble the myths so closely. And..." She seems almost embarrassed to give voice to the thought they all share. "This is Atlantis."
John sighs, realizing that that might just be the source of so many of their problems right there. They're living in a mythical city said to have existed alongside things like giants and monsters and just about everything else the human race ever dreamt up.
Looking over at Rodney he sees the pinched look on his face, and Radek laughs. "Space vampires." He reminds them, smirking unrepentantly at Rodney.
Scowling, Rodney goes back to eating. "Oh, yes. And let's just dwell on that happy little thought for the rest of the night, shall we? If we're going to be taking unsubstantiated rumors and tag them as creatures from mythology we might as well put up a map of the Pegasus Galaxy and emblazon 'Here be dragons' all over it while we're at it."
John raises an eyebrow at his outburst while Miko ducks her head.
"Oh, for..." Rodney stops and visibly reins himself in for Miko's sake. "Look. All I'm saying is that it would be a good idea to look into these so-called 'sightings' and sort fact from fiction before broadcasting the news all over the city."
"He's right." Radek adds, patting Miko on the shoulder. "If we do not, it could cause panic and other difficulties if people overreact."
"I understand." Miko says, smiling faintly.
Rodney gives her an unreadable look. "Well...good for you then."
John smirks and poaches the roll off of Rodney's plate before he can protest, Radek hiding his smile behind his glass of water while Miko laughs quietly.
====
====
The second time John sees it, he's out on a late night run, unable to sleep and trying to keep nightmares at bay. Memories of missions gone wrong, decisions made in haste and without sufficient intelligence and it's just all too much, impossible to keep inside.
He runs long and hard, and somewhere in there a whim takes hold and guides him out to the pier. He knows there's more than a little bit of stupidity and recklessness mixed in there somewhere too because all he has in the way of protection is his sidearm, but for some reason it never occurs to him to go reach for it.
He has a word for it now, thanks to Miko.
Looking closer he sees that it doesn't look so much like the dragons from stories he grew up listening to. It isn't one of the thick-bodied, broad-winged monsters that wrought destruction with fire and fury, and he understands why Miko's first thought was 'dragon' and not something else that could be easily explained.
Sleek and serpentine, it's basking in the moonlight, massive body coiled on the pier and head upturned. A pair of horns with a slight twist to them and something between a lion's mane and a lizard's frill, looking like every picture of an Oriental dragon John's ever seen.
He should probably question the unlikelihood of it, but it's Atlantis. For all they know the Ancients were responsible for the creation of the myths and legends surrounding dragons. John frowns as that thought registers, and squints at the dragon thoughtfully. Actually, for all they know the Ancients were the ones that created dragons in the first place.
Moving closer, he freezes when it lowers its head and looks directly at him, moonlight and shadows playing across its body as it stands, towering far, far above him. He can see the play of muscle beneath the blue-green scales as it moves, cat-light on its feet and so, so beautiful he doesn't think he has the words to describe it.
The dragon goes still, studying him for a long moment before exploding into a flurry of motion, diving over the side of the pier, water splashing everywhere leaving John alone and completely soaked to the bone.
He runs to the edge of the pier again, but all he finds is the ocean, vast and mocking.
The trip back takes longer and he's annoyed and tired and sore, miserable and aching, and the moment he hits his quarters he strips and heads for the shower, cranking the hot water as far as it will go before stepping inside.
His nightmares don't come back that night.
====
====
Breakfast the next morning is a curious affair. John finds himself sitting next to Rodney this time with Miko and Radek across from them, and no one is awake enough to start in on the techno babble. John feels oddly conflicted as he's gotten fairly good at measuring the overall mood of the science team listing to the three of them go over current projects and theories and without it he feels cut off.
"How's the search for your dragon going?" John asks Miko, chasing his almost-eggs around his plate with a piece of toast.
Radek looks up from his own plate with a frown, and John can't tell if it's due to the question or the fact that he's just now realizing John's eating his toast.
Miko looks a little sad when she hands Radek her toast. "There haven't been any more sightings. Perhaps Dr. McKay was right and they were merely fabrications made up by people that did not know what they were looking at."
John gives her a sympathetic look, but doesn't mention his own...sighting.
There's a large part of him that wants to keep it secret, safe, because he understands human nature a little better than most. He knows what happens when people discover something rare and precious, and he knows the lengths people will go to claim it for themselves, even if they don't have the right.
"It wouldn't be the first time." Rodney points out, cradling his coffee mug in his hands possessively. "People continue to, mistakenly, I should add, report weather balloons as UFOs on Earth all the time."
John and Radek share a look, twisting in their seats to stare at Rodney, who just glares at them.
"What?"
John shakes his head and smiles. "Nothing, Rodney. It's just unusual for you to do the sympathy thing."
"And so early in the morning." Radek chimes in, smirking. "You haven't even had your third cup of coffee yet. I am most impressed."
"Besides," John smiles at Rodney. "With everything the SGC is doing, some of those reports are probably true."
Rodney scowls at him and John shrugs. "I'm just saying, Rodney. All of those Goa'uld ships and those sweet little F-302s? Not to mention the big ships like the Prometheus and the Daedalus? Someone somewhere has to be seeing something."
"I would be worrying more about what sort of dire revenge Radek is plotting as payback for you stealing food from him rather than whether or not people are seeing actual UFOs on Earth if I were you, Colonel." Rodney says, watching Radek warily.
John turns to see Radek staring at him, head cocked to the side. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
Radek smiles, and John resolutely doesn't edge away from him.
"I am on the winning side of course, Colonel Sheppard." He says, as though it should have been perfectly clear from the start.
"And that is?"
"His." Miko and Rodney say at the same time, one with a smile and one with a scowl, and John can't help but laugh.
====
====
The third time John sees the dragon he isn't sure if he actually sees it or if he just hallucinated the whole thing thanks to a head wound and minor blood loss.
He's trapped in the lower levels of the city with Rodney and water rising fast from a section damaged in a recent series of storms that finally gave in to the stress being put on it. They manage to make it several rooms away, but with only a few questionably secure bulkheads and doors between them and the rest of the ocean it's only a matter of time before something else gives.
Rescue's over two hours away, even with the jumpers acting as underwater rescue vehicles, and Rodney's surprisingly quiet about their impending deaths.
John thinks that last bit might have more to do with the fact that they're standing in water up to their waist and rising at a steady rate, but he's not sure. It could also be the fact that the whole situation smacks a little too much of déjà vu for both of them.
"Hey," John tries not to be too worried about the way his words are slurring together. He can always blame the split lip he got when everything went to hell. "What do you think about Miko's dragon?"
"What?" Rodney sputters, eyes going wide as he stares incredulously at John. "We're trapped like rats and about to die horrible, horrible deaths and you're babbling about Miko's mythical dragon?"
John frowns at his tone. "You never said. Just kind of...mocked. Mercilessly."
Rodney sighs and moves closer to him, water dripping from his hair into his eyes. "Well, yes. That would be because it's an utterly preposterous idea. Everyone knows there are no such things as dragons."
"That's what they always said about Atlantis." John says with dogged determination. "And look where we are."
Rodney does just that, flinging an arm up to gesture at the debris strewn across the room, blocking off the exits and effectively trapping them. "Yes. Glorious, isn't it."
John flinches at the spray of water that hits him at Rodney's flailing, glaring at him. "Okay, so that was maybe a bad example. But come on, if Atlantis is real, who's to say Miko's dragon doesn't exist?"
Rodney opens his mouth to say something and goes completely still when the room shakes and pieces of the ceiling start to fall.
John has enough presence of mind to grab for Rodney before everything turns to screaming and yelling and shrieking metal. His fingers brush Rodney's jacket and he has a moment of fleeting terror when something tears him away, water rushing away as part of the wall gives and he's thrown up and down and around until he's so dizzy he doesn't know which way is up anymore.
He opens his eyes and sees a wall of blue-green scales and wickedly long and sharp teeth reaching for him right before he slams into something and everything goes black and blessedly quiet and still.
====
====
The first words out of his mouth when he wakes up has nothing to do with anything and makes absolutely no sense at all. The next ones are a little more coherent and have the added bonus where Carson isn't reaching for his penlight quite so fast to check for signs of brain damage or whatever it is he does with it.
"What happened?"
Carson breathes a sigh of relief even as he stabs John in the eye with the light fro his special little torture device. "You're an incredibly lucky bastard is what happened." He mutters, taking John's pulse. "The two of you have the most god awful luck I've ever seen."
John frowns when Carson moves on to checking his lungs and replays the last part of the conversation. "I thought you said - "
"I don't know how you do it, and I mean I really don't want to know, but the two of you manage to get yourselves in and out of the worst situations more often than anyone I've ever heard of." Carson says, glaring at John. "You really need to stop doing it."
John's eyes go wide and he automatically checks the bed next to his, throat going dry when he realizes it's empty. "Where's Rodney? He's okay, right?"
Carson sighs and rolls his eyes. "He's fine. Barely a scratch on him." He makes a gesture for John to open up and pops a thermometer in his mouth. "We had to keep him overnight to make sure he got some rest, and now he's back in the labs making everyone miserable just like old times."
John raises and eyebrow and Carson shrugs with an 'what can you do?' look and glances at his watch. "Now you...you were a mess. Tiny bit of a concussion, that nasty little head wound of yours and all sorts of lovely complications to top it all off."
John grimaces and hands Carson the thermometer when he gestures for it. "But...not dead. That's always a good thing, right?"
Carson stares at him.
"Right?"
Sighing, Carson shakes his head and turns away to write something down. "Yes, John. You not being dead is a good thing. Now get some rest. We're going to need to keep you here for a little bit longer."
John frowns, but he's not really feeling up to fighting Carson at the moment, and it's actually really kind of nice just being able to lie down and rest.
"Rodney's really okay? Nothing wrong?" He has to ask because the last thing he are remembers scales and fangs and eyes staring at him and Rodney nowhere to be seen, just the lightest brush of his jacket against his fingers before slipping away from him.
Carson smiles, and John suddenly realizes just how tired he looks, how so very weary he sounds when he answers. "Rodney's fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. I just wanted to make sure we weren't going to be caught unawares by unexpected complications. Like I said, you two have the most incredible luck I've ever seen."
John smiles at that, because they do. They all do, really, which is kind of a miracle in itself when he thinks about it. He's pretty damn sure they wouldn't have lasted as long as they have if they didn't.
"Now get some rest." Carson tells him, and John does because he can, because he's allowed to.
====
====
Carson releases him from the infirmary three days after the accident and something draws John out to the pier where he caught his first glimpse of the dragon.
He isn't surprised to find Rodney there, standing at the edge of the pier staring out at the ocean.
"Hey."
Rodney glances over at him and smiles. "Still not dead I see. Congratulations, maybe we'll throw you a party later."
John scowls and shoves his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. "Carson squealed."
"Like the proverbial pig." Rodney's smile widens. "Apparently you're comedy gold when you're pumped full of antibiotics and painkillers. It's a shame I missed it."
"Oh, yeah. A real shame." John mutters, turning to look out at the water. "About that, you remember what happened? I kind of blacked out when the second wall gave way."
Rodney doesn't answer, just watches the waves with a strange look on his face.
"If I were a religious sort I'd agree with Radek." Rodney says quietly, dropping his gaze to stare at the metal plating beneath their feet. "We have got to have the two most overworked guardian angels around."
John snorts, chancing a look at Rodney to see him looking right back, mouth pulled up in a rueful little smile. "I...yeah, I guess we do."
"Not that it's a bad thing, considering everything we've managed to run into in the short time we've been in Pegasus. Honestly, it's a bit reassuring."
John smiles and tips his head back to stare at the sky. "Here be dragons." He murmurs, slanting a look at Rodney who goes completely still. "Maybe putting that map up would be a good idea. It'd certainly be worth it just to see the looks on the faces of the new guys when they step off the Daedalus expecting Atlantis to be all about fun and exciting adventures."
"That's...amazingly juvenile of you, Colonel."
Grinning, John nods, accepting it as the compliment it wasn't meant to be. "Thank you, Rodney. I do try."
"Whatever." Rodney mutters. "Are you sure you should be out here so soon? I don't want Carson screaming for my blood because I let you run around and catch something ridiculous like a common cold."
"Hmmm. You know, you never really answered me before."
"About?"
"Miko's dragon." John answers, looking back out over the water. "I mean...there isn't any actual proof that it doesn't exist."
Rodney relaxes slightly, and John smiles a little at that.
"There's also no proof that it does exist either." He says with exaggerated care, as though John really has suffered some sort of brain damage that Carson somehow missed. "And also, I really can't believe I need to point this out to a supposedly rational adult, dragons aren't real."
John shakes his head, glancing at Rodney. "I stand by the fact that everyone said Atlantis wasn't real, and yet here she is."
Rodney rolls his eyes. "I suppose you've heard the bit about every great lie containing a grain of truth, Colonel?
John nods slowly, fairly certain he knows where Rodney's going with his line of thought.
"Well, myths and legends are really nothing more than that: great big lies with a small, infinitesimal grain of truth to them. That doesn't mean that they're all true. People have been trying to prove for years that so-called dragons were merely sightings of sea creatures that grew in the telling."
John nods, because he was expecting that. "Oarfish, right?"
Rodney blinks in surprise and looks over at John. "Exactly."
"Well...there you go."
"'There I go', where, exactly?" Rodney asks, frowning. "Your logic makes absolutely no sense."
"Neither do myths and legends, but people still believe in them." John says, pleased with himself at that bit of cleverness.
"Yes...because they're insane."
John gives Rodney a pointed look, eyes going to the towers around them and smirks when Rodney colors, eyes narrowing.
"All right, fine. I'll give you Atlantis, but dragons? Not a chance."
John laughs and shakes his head, thinking of blue scales under the moonlight and startlingly familiar eyes watching him from an unfamiliar face. "Whatever you say, Rodney. Whatever you say."