[Stargate: Atlantis] Counterpoint
Title: Counterpoint
Pairing: McKay/Shepard, pre-slash
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: So very much not mine.
Summary: John steps through the mirror and back into a dusty chamber with walls covered in alien inscriptions and artful spatters of blood along one wall and part of the floor directly in front of the mirror where he had his unfortunate run-in with the local wildlife.
Notes: This started out as a ficlet for the Timestamp meme when thady asked for something in the near future from Flipside, only it turned into an actual fic somewhere along the way. Hope this is what you had in mind! (Also, um. I continue to fail at coming up with titles. *flees*)
John steps through the mirror and back into a dusty chamber with walls covered in alien inscriptions and artful spatters of blood along one wall and part of the floor directly in front of the mirror where he had his unfortunate run-in with the local wildlife.
He doesn't look back when the mirror shuts down behind him, scanning the room for signs of life and lowers his P-90 when he sees nothing but expedition gear spanning one side of the room.
He walks around, poking at things and peering at the laptop screens to try and make sense of what's been going during his...absence, but the only thing he comes up with is desperation. Everything he sees reeks of it, down to the printouts and empty coffee thermoses, and something inside of him clenches when he realizes how hard they were working to get him back.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
Whipping around, he brings his weapon up to see Lorne standing there with a couple of Marines looking pleasantly surprised to see him.
"Major." John says, hoping that he's actually in his reality. "Nice to see you."
Lorne smiles and lowers his weapon, his men doing the same. "The feeling's mutual, sir."
They stare at each other a moment longer and then John finally lowers his P-90. "So. Let's go home, huh?"
Lorne's smile widens and the Marines on either side of him peel off in different directions, one of them heading out of the temple altogether, snapping out orders over his radio and John stands there staring at Lorne while the Marines and a few scientists John doesn't recognize cart the expedition gear out to a waiting Puddlejumper.
Lorne fills him in on what's been going on since the original attack, and he's relieved that there were no serious injuries, but they were forced back through the 'gate to regroup before making a rescue attempt.
And apparently John had been presumed dead for a while there.
"Wait, what?"
Lorne makes an impatient sound halfway between a sigh and a groan and looks pointedly at the blood decorating the chamber they're in. "Considering the state the team was in after the attack, sir, it didn't seem likely that you would have survived an injury like that."
It takes John a moment before what Lorne's trying to say sinks in and then he just blinks. "That's not my blood." Only he isn't entirely sure that's completely true since he had gotten cut up a little in the fight. "I lost my knife."
The look on Lorne's face is priceless, in that 'My commanding officer is an idiot' sort of way. "I can see that, sir."
"It's stuck in the cat-dog-snake thing." John tells him, wondering just when his life became so bizarre. "That's now in another reality."
Lorne's mouth twitches and he nods again. "Happens all the time sir."
John can't tell if Lorne's serious or just humoring the crazy man, so he shuts up.
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The gateroom is dead quiet when they walk though, and then Elizabeth is there smiling at him in a remarkably brittle way, and John surprises himself by being the one to hug her, which wow...definitely a first for him. She looks just as stunned as he feels, and that actually makes him smile.
"It's a long story."
Her eyes widen a little at that, and he looks around, trying to tell himself there's a perfectly good reason why he doesn't see Rodney or the rest of his team, and dammit, Lorne had told him no one was seriously hurt...
"What, no welcome party?"
Elizabeth gives him a look for that and he can tell she knows what he's really asking about, but before she can say anything Radek comes running up to stare at him wide-eyed and exhausted.
"You are a stupid, stupid man." He tells him, voice suspiciously raw. "Rodney will have words for you. Many, many words."
John has no doubt of that. "Where is he, anyway? I brought presents."
Elizabeth and Radek glance at each other before turning back to look at him, and his eyes narrow at the looks on their faces.
"There's something you should know," Elizabeth begins, and John's feeling of relief at being home vanishes.
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Rodney, it turns out, had managed to get on the bad side of one of the predators before they'd managed to fall back through the Stargate. Nothing too serious, but definitely more than enough to land him an extended stay in the infirmary.
"Teyla and Carson tell me you're incredibly lucky not to dead," John notes, sitting down next to him. "I'd have to agree with them there."
He doesn't actually look all that bad despite the bandages and paleness, but then again it's probably all down to the irritated look on his face and murder in his eyes more than anything else.
"Oh, hey." John says, leaning forward. "I met an alternate reality you. He was kind of cool."
Rodney's eyes narrow.
"Plus. He had that whole crazy leader thing going on."
Rodney opens his mouth, no doubt to deliver a scathing retort, but John plows on undaunted. "He staged a mutiny and took control of Atlantis. Kind of awesome, really."
Well, no. Not really. But Rodney doesn't need to know that, and probably wouldn't grasp the subtleties involved with pretty much everyone he knows being dead in an alternate reality while doped to the gills on painkillers, but hey. It's the thought that counts.
With that in mind John sits back in his chair and allows himself to relax for the first time since he stepped - stumbled - into an alternate reality.
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The debriefing is relatively painless, although that might have more to do with John not actually looking anyone in the eye when he tells them about his first real adventure in alternate realities.
Elizabeth takes the news of her death relatively well, all things considered. Rodney's strangely quiet throughout and Carson just sits there looking numb. John's starting to feel honestly concerned about that when Radek leans forward, pinning in place with a look and asks the question John was dreading.
"And you? What happened to you? The way you talk about this other reality, it does not sound - "
John shrugs as though his own death isn't that big a deal, even though it apparently was, as he tells them he was killed during the siege. He doesn't offer any details, letting them draw their own conclusions the way he knows they will.
Rodney lifts his head from his silent scrutiny of the CD-ROM John had handed over, eyes narrowed, but doesn't say anything.
There's a long moment of silence as they digest what he's told them, and he's perfectly fine with that.
"Rodney was in charge?" Carson blurts out incredulously, sharing a horrified look with Radek.
John smiles and nods, because yeah. The mere thought of any Rodney McKay in charge of Atlantis is indeed a terrifying thought.
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A few days later and things are pretty much back to what passes for normal, and John's not quite hovering, but he does spend more time down in the labs than he usually does. Rodney puts up with it for only so long as John had known he would.
"You staged a mutiny, Rodney." John says again, and doesn't let the fact that he has no idea why he's still harping on that deter him from making his point. Even though he's not really sure what that point is, truth be told.
Rodney just stares at him, and then sighs. "You do know that they weren't us, right? I mean, aside from the obvious, they really weren't."
"That's - "
"Look. If it makes you feel any better I do so solemnly swear that the science department - including myself, just to be clear - will not mutiny. Happy?"
John just stares at him.
"Unless there's no other choice or your stupid military does something to seriously annoy us, at which point all bets are off."
"Rodney - "
"What are the two of you arguing about?"
John turns to see Radek looking at them oddly, and somehow he managed to find himself in the science labs on a slow day, because he looks like he's settling in for the long haul.
It's a little frightening really, and John has to wonder how much of what goes on in the labs is actually good old-fashioned water cooler gossip.
"Sheppard seems to think we're going to mutiny and that I'm going to go insane if he dies." Rodney rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he goes back to studying the contents of the CD-ROM John brought back.
Radek makes a noncommittal noise and looks back down at his own laptop.
"Oh, and just what is that supposed to mean?"
"In this mutiny of yours," Zelenka murmurs, frowning as though he's choosing his words carefully, "do you somehow kill the Colonel?"
"I...actually, you know he never said."
Zelenka smiles faintly. "Perhaps this is why he thinks you will go insane."
"Because I kill him while trying wrest command of Atlantis from his grubby little hands?"
Zelenka rolls his eyes. "No. Because you mutiny and gain command."
John clears his throat uncomfortably. "You know, he is still in the room."
Rodney and Radek completely ignore him while they get into a serious debate over the whys and wherefores of Rodney completely losing his shit over John's death, which weirds him out enough to drive him from the labs. It doesn't occur to him until later that that was their intention all along.
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Rodney finds him later, tired and annoyed as he glares at him in the hallway outside his quarters. "You didn't tell us how you died."
John rolls his eyes and steps back to let Rodney inside. "I told you - "
"No, all you said was that you died during the siege, but you didn't say how."
John turns to face him, fully prepared to dodge and evade and whatever else it will take to avoid talking about what happened in that other reality, but the look on Rodney's face stops him cold. Makes him wonder just how much Rodney's guessed, pieced together, from what he hasn't said as much as what he has.
"Tell me." Rodney demands, asks, and all of a sudden it's like John's back in that other reality, facing a version of Rodney that was alien and strange but still Rodney underneath it all.
"What do you want me to say, Rodney?" He starts to pace, and stops himself, forces himself to turn around and meet Rodney's eyes. "The Wraith attacked the city and I died in the attack, it's not like - "
John cuts himself off and stares at the wall behind Rodney, jaw clenched.
"What? It's not like what, Sheppard?"
It's not like he should be any more important than all the others that have died since they set foot in Pegasus. It's not like his life should have any more meaning than all those put together. It's not like his death should be the one that matters, that makes the difference.
Rodney snorts and claims the seat at John's desk and leans back, arms crossed. "If you think you're going to get out of this by hoping to outwait me you are sadly, pathetically mistaken Sheppard."
John gives Rodney a look for that, moves to sit on his bed and stares down at the floor, not sure where to begin. Not sure if he should, really.
"Sheppard - "
John sighs and looks up to see Rodney watching him steadily, and starts talking.
Pairing: McKay/Shepard, pre-slash
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: So very much not mine.
Summary: John steps through the mirror and back into a dusty chamber with walls covered in alien inscriptions and artful spatters of blood along one wall and part of the floor directly in front of the mirror where he had his unfortunate run-in with the local wildlife.
Notes: This started out as a ficlet for the Timestamp meme when thady asked for something in the near future from Flipside, only it turned into an actual fic somewhere along the way. Hope this is what you had in mind! (Also, um. I continue to fail at coming up with titles. *flees*)
John steps through the mirror and back into a dusty chamber with walls covered in alien inscriptions and artful spatters of blood along one wall and part of the floor directly in front of the mirror where he had his unfortunate run-in with the local wildlife.
He doesn't look back when the mirror shuts down behind him, scanning the room for signs of life and lowers his P-90 when he sees nothing but expedition gear spanning one side of the room.
He walks around, poking at things and peering at the laptop screens to try and make sense of what's been going during his...absence, but the only thing he comes up with is desperation. Everything he sees reeks of it, down to the printouts and empty coffee thermoses, and something inside of him clenches when he realizes how hard they were working to get him back.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
Whipping around, he brings his weapon up to see Lorne standing there with a couple of Marines looking pleasantly surprised to see him.
"Major." John says, hoping that he's actually in his reality. "Nice to see you."
Lorne smiles and lowers his weapon, his men doing the same. "The feeling's mutual, sir."
They stare at each other a moment longer and then John finally lowers his P-90. "So. Let's go home, huh?"
Lorne's smile widens and the Marines on either side of him peel off in different directions, one of them heading out of the temple altogether, snapping out orders over his radio and John stands there staring at Lorne while the Marines and a few scientists John doesn't recognize cart the expedition gear out to a waiting Puddlejumper.
Lorne fills him in on what's been going on since the original attack, and he's relieved that there were no serious injuries, but they were forced back through the 'gate to regroup before making a rescue attempt.
And apparently John had been presumed dead for a while there.
"Wait, what?"
Lorne makes an impatient sound halfway between a sigh and a groan and looks pointedly at the blood decorating the chamber they're in. "Considering the state the team was in after the attack, sir, it didn't seem likely that you would have survived an injury like that."
It takes John a moment before what Lorne's trying to say sinks in and then he just blinks. "That's not my blood." Only he isn't entirely sure that's completely true since he had gotten cut up a little in the fight. "I lost my knife."
The look on Lorne's face is priceless, in that 'My commanding officer is an idiot' sort of way. "I can see that, sir."
"It's stuck in the cat-dog-snake thing." John tells him, wondering just when his life became so bizarre. "That's now in another reality."
Lorne's mouth twitches and he nods again. "Happens all the time sir."
John can't tell if Lorne's serious or just humoring the crazy man, so he shuts up.
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The gateroom is dead quiet when they walk though, and then Elizabeth is there smiling at him in a remarkably brittle way, and John surprises himself by being the one to hug her, which wow...definitely a first for him. She looks just as stunned as he feels, and that actually makes him smile.
"It's a long story."
Her eyes widen a little at that, and he looks around, trying to tell himself there's a perfectly good reason why he doesn't see Rodney or the rest of his team, and dammit, Lorne had told him no one was seriously hurt...
"What, no welcome party?"
Elizabeth gives him a look for that and he can tell she knows what he's really asking about, but before she can say anything Radek comes running up to stare at him wide-eyed and exhausted.
"You are a stupid, stupid man." He tells him, voice suspiciously raw. "Rodney will have words for you. Many, many words."
John has no doubt of that. "Where is he, anyway? I brought presents."
Elizabeth and Radek glance at each other before turning back to look at him, and his eyes narrow at the looks on their faces.
"There's something you should know," Elizabeth begins, and John's feeling of relief at being home vanishes.
=========
=========
Rodney, it turns out, had managed to get on the bad side of one of the predators before they'd managed to fall back through the Stargate. Nothing too serious, but definitely more than enough to land him an extended stay in the infirmary.
"Teyla and Carson tell me you're incredibly lucky not to dead," John notes, sitting down next to him. "I'd have to agree with them there."
He doesn't actually look all that bad despite the bandages and paleness, but then again it's probably all down to the irritated look on his face and murder in his eyes more than anything else.
"Oh, hey." John says, leaning forward. "I met an alternate reality you. He was kind of cool."
Rodney's eyes narrow.
"Plus. He had that whole crazy leader thing going on."
Rodney opens his mouth, no doubt to deliver a scathing retort, but John plows on undaunted. "He staged a mutiny and took control of Atlantis. Kind of awesome, really."
Well, no. Not really. But Rodney doesn't need to know that, and probably wouldn't grasp the subtleties involved with pretty much everyone he knows being dead in an alternate reality while doped to the gills on painkillers, but hey. It's the thought that counts.
With that in mind John sits back in his chair and allows himself to relax for the first time since he stepped - stumbled - into an alternate reality.
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The debriefing is relatively painless, although that might have more to do with John not actually looking anyone in the eye when he tells them about his first real adventure in alternate realities.
Elizabeth takes the news of her death relatively well, all things considered. Rodney's strangely quiet throughout and Carson just sits there looking numb. John's starting to feel honestly concerned about that when Radek leans forward, pinning in place with a look and asks the question John was dreading.
"And you? What happened to you? The way you talk about this other reality, it does not sound - "
John shrugs as though his own death isn't that big a deal, even though it apparently was, as he tells them he was killed during the siege. He doesn't offer any details, letting them draw their own conclusions the way he knows they will.
Rodney lifts his head from his silent scrutiny of the CD-ROM John had handed over, eyes narrowed, but doesn't say anything.
There's a long moment of silence as they digest what he's told them, and he's perfectly fine with that.
"Rodney was in charge?" Carson blurts out incredulously, sharing a horrified look with Radek.
John smiles and nods, because yeah. The mere thought of any Rodney McKay in charge of Atlantis is indeed a terrifying thought.
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A few days later and things are pretty much back to what passes for normal, and John's not quite hovering, but he does spend more time down in the labs than he usually does. Rodney puts up with it for only so long as John had known he would.
"You staged a mutiny, Rodney." John says again, and doesn't let the fact that he has no idea why he's still harping on that deter him from making his point. Even though he's not really sure what that point is, truth be told.
Rodney just stares at him, and then sighs. "You do know that they weren't us, right? I mean, aside from the obvious, they really weren't."
"That's - "
"Look. If it makes you feel any better I do so solemnly swear that the science department - including myself, just to be clear - will not mutiny. Happy?"
John just stares at him.
"Unless there's no other choice or your stupid military does something to seriously annoy us, at which point all bets are off."
"Rodney - "
"What are the two of you arguing about?"
John turns to see Radek looking at them oddly, and somehow he managed to find himself in the science labs on a slow day, because he looks like he's settling in for the long haul.
It's a little frightening really, and John has to wonder how much of what goes on in the labs is actually good old-fashioned water cooler gossip.
"Sheppard seems to think we're going to mutiny and that I'm going to go insane if he dies." Rodney rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he goes back to studying the contents of the CD-ROM John brought back.
Radek makes a noncommittal noise and looks back down at his own laptop.
"Oh, and just what is that supposed to mean?"
"In this mutiny of yours," Zelenka murmurs, frowning as though he's choosing his words carefully, "do you somehow kill the Colonel?"
"I...actually, you know he never said."
Zelenka smiles faintly. "Perhaps this is why he thinks you will go insane."
"Because I kill him while trying wrest command of Atlantis from his grubby little hands?"
Zelenka rolls his eyes. "No. Because you mutiny and gain command."
John clears his throat uncomfortably. "You know, he is still in the room."
Rodney and Radek completely ignore him while they get into a serious debate over the whys and wherefores of Rodney completely losing his shit over John's death, which weirds him out enough to drive him from the labs. It doesn't occur to him until later that that was their intention all along.
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Rodney finds him later, tired and annoyed as he glares at him in the hallway outside his quarters. "You didn't tell us how you died."
John rolls his eyes and steps back to let Rodney inside. "I told you - "
"No, all you said was that you died during the siege, but you didn't say how."
John turns to face him, fully prepared to dodge and evade and whatever else it will take to avoid talking about what happened in that other reality, but the look on Rodney's face stops him cold. Makes him wonder just how much Rodney's guessed, pieced together, from what he hasn't said as much as what he has.
"Tell me." Rodney demands, asks, and all of a sudden it's like John's back in that other reality, facing a version of Rodney that was alien and strange but still Rodney underneath it all.
"What do you want me to say, Rodney?" He starts to pace, and stops himself, forces himself to turn around and meet Rodney's eyes. "The Wraith attacked the city and I died in the attack, it's not like - "
John cuts himself off and stares at the wall behind Rodney, jaw clenched.
"What? It's not like what, Sheppard?"
It's not like he should be any more important than all the others that have died since they set foot in Pegasus. It's not like his life should have any more meaning than all those put together. It's not like his death should be the one that matters, that makes the difference.
Rodney snorts and claims the seat at John's desk and leans back, arms crossed. "If you think you're going to get out of this by hoping to outwait me you are sadly, pathetically mistaken Sheppard."
John gives Rodney a look for that, moves to sit on his bed and stares down at the floor, not sure where to begin. Not sure if he should, really.
"Sheppard - "
John sighs and looks up to see Rodney watching him steadily, and starts talking.