Fic: It's Not Quite Right (Parts 5&6/8)
Title: It's Not Quite Right
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: John, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney, Jennifer, Amelia, Woolsey, AU!John, AU!Teyla ... (implied John/Ronon)
Rating: R for language in some sections
Prompts: written for the stargateland Bingo challenge
Summary: Set just after Enemy at the Gate ends... Beckett stretched his arms over his head. "I think I've had enough of this murky view of San Francisco. I do believe I'm going to head back in. See you at dinner." It would prove to be the best idea anyone had had all day long. Too bad no one else followed him inside. They would have saved themselves a lot of additional stress and turmoil.
Author's Note: This is a story split into eight sections so that I could work in all the prompts for the challenge. You might remember a post a few days back where I mentioned someone asking for a story that was about our beloved characters going to an Alternate Universe and seeing/not seeing people they know. This is what happens when one universe doesn't have a Ronon.
Go here for Parts 1 & 2
Prompts 3 & 4
Prompts 7 & 8
Part Five
Prompt: 6/9 sweet
Word Count: 987
"You think this can do the trick?"
Jennifer was feeling as obstinate as Rodney by this point. For two days, she'd stayed holed up here in the science lab, keeping all the distractions down to a minimum so that he could find a way home. That was all she really wanted, after all. Just to be home. She wasn't trying to remake this universe into her own but it was strange to not have a place on Atlantis at all. There was no trace of her anywhere. No one knew who she was. For all they knew, she and Ronon were both aliens. Except, the crux was that this John wanted to go find Ronon. If he was still out there, he was obviously meant to be found. Jennifer couldn't help but notice the desperation on the leader's face, as if he felt responsible for not having found Ronon at the same time that her timeline had found him, as if he was missing a part of his team... no, himself.
As far as she could tell from her little corner where she was planted and refusing to move except to get Rodney more coffee and to shoo away gawkers, this John had even less personal contact with people than their John did. Their Teyla was still on the mainland but she and John appeared to be good friends and partners. Lorne was John's right-hand man, obviously having thrown his hat into the ring years ago when it became clear that the IOA was not happy with the Atlantis expeditions decision to rule themselves in the way they saw fit. The more she saw, the more she wanted to take the first gate back to Earth and find herself in this dimension and demand an explanation as to why she wasn't part of this. These people were fighting for something important and her heart knew they were on the side of right here.
Which was why she'd done her part to push Rodney toward helping them with the Wraith-signs detector instead of on the problem of getting home safe and sound. So it took them a couple days longer to find their way back to their Atlantis. Somewhere, out in a galaxy still peppered with Wraith intent on harm, there was a Ronon who needed help. She wanted to help him.
When Rodney bristled with irritation at the impertinence of the question, she put her hand on his shoulder to calm him and, more importantly, to keep him from answering. "It will work," she asserted as if she was giving an iffy diagnosis, one that had just as much bad news in it as good news. "And he's pinpointed a couple planets to start with. The coordinates have been sent to the jumper."
"Thanks," both Johns said at the same time, using the same inflection and manner. It was still a shock to see the mirror images interact with each other, even more so to see them react the same way to other people. In fact, Jennifer didn't think she was ever going to get used to it.
"I modified it to cause interference with the device implanted in his back as soon as you hit that red button there. No, don't hit it yet. I don't know that it'll start working again once you push it. That way you don't have to perform surgery right there. Who knows where you'll find him and in what condition." Rodney slid a guilty look at their Ronon. "Sorry. That sounded wrong. Just realized it when it came out of my mouth."
The other John narrowed his eyes, trying to reconcile what he'd just heard. Jennifer had heard enough stories to know that their Rodney had still been full of ego and hot air when he'd finally left, having been unsuccessful in curing Elizabeth in this time line and angry at John and Lorne for holding him responsible for her death. If they'd only had me, she'd thought rather smugly to herself. The city really was one huge team, struggling to eek out an existence with the help of ever team member, and when one was missing, they all felt the void. There had always been a part of her that had thought that maybe she wasn't needed but this was a very good indication that she was.
It was John's turn to get to hold the new device. "Sweet. Are my only instructions not to touch the button? Anything else I need to know?"
"Don't get it wet. Or muddy. Or covered in any mutant slime. It should be able to withstand everything else."
"Good job, Rodney." Teyla spoke up, smiling at him warmly. This, in turn, made Rodney blush. Everyone liked it when Teyla paid them a compliment, something she did just often enough to make the words worth something.
As they walked out of the room toward their new mission, Jennifer bent down and added her own compliment. "Very good, honey. See, I told you they'd appreciate the modifications."
"Yes, yes," was all he said but his ears were still burning red at her use of the endearment that was still odd in her mouth. All the more reason to use it, she decided.
"Time to get back to work on the rift problem. Do you want more coffee or food?"
"Are there any of those little croissant things left? Those were good."
When they got back to their reality, Jennifer was going to have to break him of this habit of thinking she would be at his beck and call. She was okay with it here and now because the situation warranted it but she didn't want him getting used to it so that he thought she would do it all the time. There would be time to recondition when they got back where they belonged. Now, for the time being, she would be more than happy to go find food.
Part Six
Prompt: 7/9 outdoors
Word Count: 680
Ronon didn't think he'd ever been to this planet before. It was covered with trees (a plus) and had the smell of freshness about it that meant there was running water somewhere near (another plus) but the trees grew close together so it was hard to get through them (a negative) and very little other vegetation (a negative unless you wanted to eat leaves and bark) and there was no discernible path. This meant it was doubtful there was a village nearby. This wasn't a place a person could use to replenish food stuffs.
"This is a good place to die," Ronon muttered under his breath. He'd thought about it often enough, in those days when he couldn't imagine what would happen if there ever came a time when he couldn't keep moving forward. If he ever had to end it all, he'd thought he would drag himself to a nice shady spot well hidden from civilization and just lay down, never to stand up again. As much trouble as he'd had with the other doppelgangers he'd come across, it was strange to have something in common with this one. They'd both had the same idea about death.
He'd forgotten Teyla's superb hearing so that when she pressed close to him, he wasn't ready for the frown she wore. "Do you think this Ronon has come here to die?"
"Probably. I would have. Means he's probably hurt."
Teyla looked at John who looked at the other John. "We better get moving."
Everyone picked up their speed, following closely after Lorne who had the devise, seeing as he was the only one who fully understood what the little dots and dashes meant on the screen. In no time at all, he was slowing his progress and pointing. "Should be right over this ridge."
"John, I think you and Ronon should stay here. If we need your help, we will call you." Without letting either man give an alternate reason why he should be allowed forward, Teyla followed after the other two men.
"God, she's pushy," John groused, kicking at a root with the toe of his boot. "Guess it would be kind of bad for the poor guy to see two of one guy when he's dealing with seeing himself. I know you hate that."
Ronon shrugged, glad that the pull from his injury was getting less and less noticeable. "Don't mind it so much when they aren't doing the same thing as me."
"Same thing?"
"You know. Protecting you and Teyla and Rodney. Hurts when it feels like he's doing a better job than me."
This made John chuckle. "Tell me about it. This guy is the leader of Atlantis. Doesn't that just make me feel like a failure."
"Bet he doesn't have time to get off world like you do. He let you fly the puddlejumper. When was the last time you let anyone drive instead of you?"
That earned him both a nod and a cheeky grin, the kind that made his insides get all wobbly. There wasn't time to do anything about it because the rest of the group was coming back at a run, none of them trying to keep quiet. The body flung over Sheppard's shoulder was most definitely of Ronon's same height, if not thinner. He'd put on weight while on Atlantis, adding to the bulky muscle that was needed for something other than survival.
He wasn't able to make much more than that simple comparison as Teyla shoved at him. "He wasn't alone. The creatures around here are big and they like the smell of blood."
There was a trail of blood that stretched out into the trees where they'd broken through, drawing whatever it was that was following them in this direction. Now was not the time to assess the damage and fight. Without knowing what it was that had Teyla looking frightened, or if there was something he should do to try to slow it down, Ronon swung around and ran back to their means of escape with the rest of the team.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: John, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney, Jennifer, Amelia, Woolsey, AU!John, AU!Teyla ... (implied John/Ronon)
Rating: R for language in some sections
Prompts: written for the stargateland Bingo challenge
Summary: Set just after Enemy at the Gate ends... Beckett stretched his arms over his head. "I think I've had enough of this murky view of San Francisco. I do believe I'm going to head back in. See you at dinner." It would prove to be the best idea anyone had had all day long. Too bad no one else followed him inside. They would have saved themselves a lot of additional stress and turmoil.
Author's Note: This is a story split into eight sections so that I could work in all the prompts for the challenge. You might remember a post a few days back where I mentioned someone asking for a story that was about our beloved characters going to an Alternate Universe and seeing/not seeing people they know. This is what happens when one universe doesn't have a Ronon.
Go here for Parts 1 & 2
Prompts 3 & 4
Prompts 7 & 8
Part Five
Prompt: 6/9 sweet
Word Count: 987
"You think this can do the trick?"
Jennifer was feeling as obstinate as Rodney by this point. For two days, she'd stayed holed up here in the science lab, keeping all the distractions down to a minimum so that he could find a way home. That was all she really wanted, after all. Just to be home. She wasn't trying to remake this universe into her own but it was strange to not have a place on Atlantis at all. There was no trace of her anywhere. No one knew who she was. For all they knew, she and Ronon were both aliens. Except, the crux was that this John wanted to go find Ronon. If he was still out there, he was obviously meant to be found. Jennifer couldn't help but notice the desperation on the leader's face, as if he felt responsible for not having found Ronon at the same time that her timeline had found him, as if he was missing a part of his team... no, himself.
As far as she could tell from her little corner where she was planted and refusing to move except to get Rodney more coffee and to shoo away gawkers, this John had even less personal contact with people than their John did. Their Teyla was still on the mainland but she and John appeared to be good friends and partners. Lorne was John's right-hand man, obviously having thrown his hat into the ring years ago when it became clear that the IOA was not happy with the Atlantis expeditions decision to rule themselves in the way they saw fit. The more she saw, the more she wanted to take the first gate back to Earth and find herself in this dimension and demand an explanation as to why she wasn't part of this. These people were fighting for something important and her heart knew they were on the side of right here.
Which was why she'd done her part to push Rodney toward helping them with the Wraith-signs detector instead of on the problem of getting home safe and sound. So it took them a couple days longer to find their way back to their Atlantis. Somewhere, out in a galaxy still peppered with Wraith intent on harm, there was a Ronon who needed help. She wanted to help him.
When Rodney bristled with irritation at the impertinence of the question, she put her hand on his shoulder to calm him and, more importantly, to keep him from answering. "It will work," she asserted as if she was giving an iffy diagnosis, one that had just as much bad news in it as good news. "And he's pinpointed a couple planets to start with. The coordinates have been sent to the jumper."
"Thanks," both Johns said at the same time, using the same inflection and manner. It was still a shock to see the mirror images interact with each other, even more so to see them react the same way to other people. In fact, Jennifer didn't think she was ever going to get used to it.
"I modified it to cause interference with the device implanted in his back as soon as you hit that red button there. No, don't hit it yet. I don't know that it'll start working again once you push it. That way you don't have to perform surgery right there. Who knows where you'll find him and in what condition." Rodney slid a guilty look at their Ronon. "Sorry. That sounded wrong. Just realized it when it came out of my mouth."
The other John narrowed his eyes, trying to reconcile what he'd just heard. Jennifer had heard enough stories to know that their Rodney had still been full of ego and hot air when he'd finally left, having been unsuccessful in curing Elizabeth in this time line and angry at John and Lorne for holding him responsible for her death. If they'd only had me, she'd thought rather smugly to herself. The city really was one huge team, struggling to eek out an existence with the help of ever team member, and when one was missing, they all felt the void. There had always been a part of her that had thought that maybe she wasn't needed but this was a very good indication that she was.
It was John's turn to get to hold the new device. "Sweet. Are my only instructions not to touch the button? Anything else I need to know?"
"Don't get it wet. Or muddy. Or covered in any mutant slime. It should be able to withstand everything else."
"Good job, Rodney." Teyla spoke up, smiling at him warmly. This, in turn, made Rodney blush. Everyone liked it when Teyla paid them a compliment, something she did just often enough to make the words worth something.
As they walked out of the room toward their new mission, Jennifer bent down and added her own compliment. "Very good, honey. See, I told you they'd appreciate the modifications."
"Yes, yes," was all he said but his ears were still burning red at her use of the endearment that was still odd in her mouth. All the more reason to use it, she decided.
"Time to get back to work on the rift problem. Do you want more coffee or food?"
"Are there any of those little croissant things left? Those were good."
When they got back to their reality, Jennifer was going to have to break him of this habit of thinking she would be at his beck and call. She was okay with it here and now because the situation warranted it but she didn't want him getting used to it so that he thought she would do it all the time. There would be time to recondition when they got back where they belonged. Now, for the time being, she would be more than happy to go find food.
Part Six
Prompt: 7/9 outdoors
Word Count: 680
Ronon didn't think he'd ever been to this planet before. It was covered with trees (a plus) and had the smell of freshness about it that meant there was running water somewhere near (another plus) but the trees grew close together so it was hard to get through them (a negative) and very little other vegetation (a negative unless you wanted to eat leaves and bark) and there was no discernible path. This meant it was doubtful there was a village nearby. This wasn't a place a person could use to replenish food stuffs.
"This is a good place to die," Ronon muttered under his breath. He'd thought about it often enough, in those days when he couldn't imagine what would happen if there ever came a time when he couldn't keep moving forward. If he ever had to end it all, he'd thought he would drag himself to a nice shady spot well hidden from civilization and just lay down, never to stand up again. As much trouble as he'd had with the other doppelgangers he'd come across, it was strange to have something in common with this one. They'd both had the same idea about death.
He'd forgotten Teyla's superb hearing so that when she pressed close to him, he wasn't ready for the frown she wore. "Do you think this Ronon has come here to die?"
"Probably. I would have. Means he's probably hurt."
Teyla looked at John who looked at the other John. "We better get moving."
Everyone picked up their speed, following closely after Lorne who had the devise, seeing as he was the only one who fully understood what the little dots and dashes meant on the screen. In no time at all, he was slowing his progress and pointing. "Should be right over this ridge."
"John, I think you and Ronon should stay here. If we need your help, we will call you." Without letting either man give an alternate reason why he should be allowed forward, Teyla followed after the other two men.
"God, she's pushy," John groused, kicking at a root with the toe of his boot. "Guess it would be kind of bad for the poor guy to see two of one guy when he's dealing with seeing himself. I know you hate that."
Ronon shrugged, glad that the pull from his injury was getting less and less noticeable. "Don't mind it so much when they aren't doing the same thing as me."
"Same thing?"
"You know. Protecting you and Teyla and Rodney. Hurts when it feels like he's doing a better job than me."
This made John chuckle. "Tell me about it. This guy is the leader of Atlantis. Doesn't that just make me feel like a failure."
"Bet he doesn't have time to get off world like you do. He let you fly the puddlejumper. When was the last time you let anyone drive instead of you?"
That earned him both a nod and a cheeky grin, the kind that made his insides get all wobbly. There wasn't time to do anything about it because the rest of the group was coming back at a run, none of them trying to keep quiet. The body flung over Sheppard's shoulder was most definitely of Ronon's same height, if not thinner. He'd put on weight while on Atlantis, adding to the bulky muscle that was needed for something other than survival.
He wasn't able to make much more than that simple comparison as Teyla shoved at him. "He wasn't alone. The creatures around here are big and they like the smell of blood."
There was a trail of blood that stretched out into the trees where they'd broken through, drawing whatever it was that was following them in this direction. Now was not the time to assess the damage and fight. Without knowing what it was that had Teyla looking frightened, or if there was something he should do to try to slow it down, Ronon swung around and ran back to their means of escape with the rest of the team.