Fic: It's Not Quite Right (Parts 7&8/8)
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 5 & 6
Part Seven
Prompt: 8/9 your choice
Word Count:
There is a time to strive for perfection and there is a time to hold back and let someone else lead. It is better to be perfect than to be liked so strive for the first before you settle for the second. Richard Woolsey couldn't remember which of his professors had first said that to him, or if it had even been one of the men and women he revered, but it had stuck in his head and been something he had used as his motto for many of those years. There must have been a moment in his own life when he had learned to let go of that perfection and settle for friendship.
It was something he wished he shared with the Woolsey of this universe because, as he surveyed this group of people that he called friends, he truly understood how bleak his life might have ended up. His year on Atlantis had been such a small amount of time yet it had changed his life. There were very few days when he ate alone in his office, pretending he liked his own company enough that he didn't mind it all the time. As he walked through the hallways of the city, there were many people who stopped to chat or passed him with a friendly hello.
After the few days he'd had here, he wanted very much to go back to his time and place. He knew Jennifer was also looking forward to being back in a place more familiar but he was worried about Amelia. The abrupt end of this Amelia's history had given her pause. When he'd tried to talk to her about it earlier, she had only shaken her head and turned away. He knew it was the height of discourtesy to push at her but he couldn't help but feel a bit of her pain as she tried to come to terms with everything that learned. The only difference between them at the moment was that she was liked in this city.
"Amelia, I think-"
She didn't give him time to tell her all the reasons why she should talk to him and how much good it would do her. Instead, she turned toward him and began talking as if she was afraid he would interrupt her and tell her to be quiet.
"This place. This place is full of people who genuinely miss me. Now that they've gotten used to me, they come up to me in droves and tell me about all the things they miss the most and I don't remember half of them. Hell, half these people don't even exist on our Atlantis or maybe they did at one point and they were killed but here it was me and I don't know I feel about that. That Amelia was a different person, I realize that. Did you know that she and Chuck were engaged? Can you believe that? Me? Engaged? My mom would be so happy to know that she was finally going to be able to plan that wedding she'd always hoped I have. But I can't really tell her, can I? Because then I would have to tell her that it really is possible to travel around in time and space and, oh yeah, I'm stationed in a different galaxy and wouldn't that just be a riot to try to explain."
When she'd run out of words, she crumpled back into the seat she'd vacated when he'd stepped forward. With her hair out of it's rigid working hair style, curling around her face, she looked more like a young woman who needed comforting than a young Marine under his command. That didn't mean he could forget who he was or who she was. When he might have followed her example and set back down, he put a hand on her shoulder to show her that he understood her dilemma and turned back to the assembled group.
"Dr. McKay, have you figured out a solution to our problem?" Everyone quieted and looked at the scientist who was looking quite smug. Woolsey was very glad that he had that smile of delight on his face and not the strained frown that either meant he'd hit a wall he had to scale before he could move forward or that he didn't see any way of completing his task.
"I have. I think I can get us back without any strain on the resources here. I've already talked it over with Grodin and I'm convinced he can do his part."
"Fine. And is this other Ronon doing well?"
"Well enough," Ronon answered in a gruff voice but with a smile that was out of place considering that Ronon normally disliked all other duplicates of himself.
"Looks like we've done what we can to help here. Can we be gone within the hour? If anyone of you have any goodbyes you'd like to make-"
Amelia's sob stopped him cold. He turned back to her, concerned that there was actually something wrong with her. Teyla moved to sit beside her when he couldn't make himself move forward.
"What is it? Are you well? Do we need to take you to the infirmary?"
"My life would have been really good here," Amelia wailed for the whole room to hear. She realized how loud she'd been and tried to calm herself down but that only made her sobs all the louder as she tried to explain herself. It was perhaps a more jumbled retelling of everything that had happened to her but everyone was able to get enough of the story that they looked sympathetic for her plight. "I just think," she concluded, "that maybe I should stay here."
Everyone was silent for a moment before everyone started talking at once. John was loathe to lose anyone from the city, even if it was because there might be a better life somewhere else. He was feeling a bit militant about it at the moment, after having lived through a rescue mission to bring this group closer to his normal. Rodney was concerned that leaving a person behind wouldn't mend the rift once they went through. Teyla was trying to remind the girl that happiness was subjective and she could be very happy with her life if she would only remember all that was good in her life. Ronon, for all that the man never talked when people wanted to talk, was bellowing something about not leaving anyone behind and of course her life was good and they didn't need an Amelia here because they'd already lost their first one.
Compelled to bring some sense of order to the proceedings, Woolsey did something he never did. He shouted, "Stop it, all of you." Everyone was as surprised as he was that such a loud sound could come from him that the room fell silent. When he could finally hear himself think again, he knelt down in front of Amelia.
"My dear, this is your choice. None of us can make it for you." He turned to glare at Rodney who was starting in on again about the stability of the rift minus a person. "If you want to stay, you can stay. I will tell you that you will be as missed back in our original time as if you had died there. Your parents will have to be told that you died as if you really had stopped existing. Your friends, many of them in this room right now, will be forced to mourn you. I know you think it's better but... but is it really?"
"He wanted to marry me. Her. Me." She was having trouble figuring out the correct word to use, her mind already giving in to the idea of being this Amelia Banks. "How can I go back knowing that?"
"Well, you'll just have to find someone there to marry you. Then there won't be any difference," he stated as if it was as simple as that. Teyla narrowed her eyes, taking exception to his nonchalant idea that marriage was that easy to come by, he was sure. Still, it was a viable option to make this situation better even if she thought it such a large leap. "But it's your choice, my dear. No one else can make it but you."
Part Eight
Prompt: 9/9 groovy
Word Count: 763
"I thought I'd come by and see if you had any questions." John was uncomfortable being here beside the man who hadn't said a single word since arriving on Atlantis. He'd watched everything and everyone with narrowed eyes, assessing the threat level as the city ebbed and flowed around him. Klineman had said his vitals were stable now that he'd been able to stick up the self-inflicted wound that had ripped apart his chest from the bottom of his throat to the top of his abdomen. He had most certainly wanted to die and had figured that being eaten by a wild animal on a beautiful planet was the way to go. While John could understand why he might think that, having heard some of the other Ronon's stories, he still had trouble understanding a mentality that would just give up.
At first, he thought he might just sit here, silent, for the fifteen minutes he had set aside for this conversation and then leave. He could tell himself that he'd tried and be done with it. All he could do was offer the man sanctuary. He couldn't force him to accept it.
"Why?" This Ronon's voice was as deep as the other but sounded as if he hadn't use it much. Neither of them seemed like they would talk much, a thankful respite after all the talking that John was forced to listen to on any given day.
"Why did we come find you? Because it was the right thing to do after we learned of your existence. Why did we bring you back here instead of leaving you to be feasted on by that monster you were staring down? Because this is our home and we would like it if you'd make it your home, too. Why do I think you might have questions? Because most people do after seeing their double. It's a normal sort of question."
"He said he was from an alternate reality. Didn't know those existed."
John shrugged, his hand coming up to massage his cheek where the sword had ripped through it. The motion was common enough when he was uncomfortable but it wasn't the man who was making him uncomfortable but the subject manner. "I haven't had too much to do with them. That group seems like they were comfortable enough with it. I'm not much of a time traveler."
"Me, either."
They set in silence for awhile longer, each of them trying to come up with something to say. So much had been said lately, even if they hadn't been the ones doing the talking. John had remembered why he'd been glad to see McKay leave the first time. That man could talk a dead man out of his grave.
"So, you and I are friends in that place?"
"Yeah. That Sheppard was telling me we're friends in a lot of different realities. Seems you were meant to be here. If you believe in that sort of thing, that is."
"And you're okay with it?"
Once again, that question was wide open to interpretation. "With us being friends? Sure. We seem to get along alright. Guess time will tell for sure. With you being here? It's as nice a place as any to call home. We do have the occasional scuffle with the Wraith but I don't think you'd be one of those that would be against us killing our share of them. You don't have to fight though. You can do any sort of work here you might like to do. There's plenty of it to be had." Suddenly, the room felt small and devoid of oxygen. Here he was all but telling the guy he should stick around and work and, oh yeah, who to be friends with even though he'd been without friends for at least the last eleven years. It felt a bit like martial law, something he was firmly against. Besides, the guy was still laid up and who knew what he would want to do once he saw the whole city. Everything was moving a bit fast and he was the one pushing them all ahead, expecting this to work out because it had worked out somewhere else. He wasn't that John Sheppard, damn it all.
"Groovy."
John coughed, surprise making him choke against his will. "What?"
"A word I heard that other guy use. It sounds... interesting."
John smiled. Any guy who could use the word groovy correctly on his first try had to be on the road to recovery. "Groovy. We'll just leave it that for now."
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 5 & 6
Part Seven
Prompt: 8/9 your choice
Word Count:
There is a time to strive for perfection and there is a time to hold back and let someone else lead. It is better to be perfect than to be liked so strive for the first before you settle for the second. Richard Woolsey couldn't remember which of his professors had first said that to him, or if it had even been one of the men and women he revered, but it had stuck in his head and been something he had used as his motto for many of those years. There must have been a moment in his own life when he had learned to let go of that perfection and settle for friendship.
It was something he wished he shared with the Woolsey of this universe because, as he surveyed this group of people that he called friends, he truly understood how bleak his life might have ended up. His year on Atlantis had been such a small amount of time yet it had changed his life. There were very few days when he ate alone in his office, pretending he liked his own company enough that he didn't mind it all the time. As he walked through the hallways of the city, there were many people who stopped to chat or passed him with a friendly hello.
After the few days he'd had here, he wanted very much to go back to his time and place. He knew Jennifer was also looking forward to being back in a place more familiar but he was worried about Amelia. The abrupt end of this Amelia's history had given her pause. When he'd tried to talk to her about it earlier, she had only shaken her head and turned away. He knew it was the height of discourtesy to push at her but he couldn't help but feel a bit of her pain as she tried to come to terms with everything that learned. The only difference between them at the moment was that she was liked in this city.
"Amelia, I think-"
She didn't give him time to tell her all the reasons why she should talk to him and how much good it would do her. Instead, she turned toward him and began talking as if she was afraid he would interrupt her and tell her to be quiet.
"This place. This place is full of people who genuinely miss me. Now that they've gotten used to me, they come up to me in droves and tell me about all the things they miss the most and I don't remember half of them. Hell, half these people don't even exist on our Atlantis or maybe they did at one point and they were killed but here it was me and I don't know I feel about that. That Amelia was a different person, I realize that. Did you know that she and Chuck were engaged? Can you believe that? Me? Engaged? My mom would be so happy to know that she was finally going to be able to plan that wedding she'd always hoped I have. But I can't really tell her, can I? Because then I would have to tell her that it really is possible to travel around in time and space and, oh yeah, I'm stationed in a different galaxy and wouldn't that just be a riot to try to explain."
When she'd run out of words, she crumpled back into the seat she'd vacated when he'd stepped forward. With her hair out of it's rigid working hair style, curling around her face, she looked more like a young woman who needed comforting than a young Marine under his command. That didn't mean he could forget who he was or who she was. When he might have followed her example and set back down, he put a hand on her shoulder to show her that he understood her dilemma and turned back to the assembled group.
"Dr. McKay, have you figured out a solution to our problem?" Everyone quieted and looked at the scientist who was looking quite smug. Woolsey was very glad that he had that smile of delight on his face and not the strained frown that either meant he'd hit a wall he had to scale before he could move forward or that he didn't see any way of completing his task.
"I have. I think I can get us back without any strain on the resources here. I've already talked it over with Grodin and I'm convinced he can do his part."
"Fine. And is this other Ronon doing well?"
"Well enough," Ronon answered in a gruff voice but with a smile that was out of place considering that Ronon normally disliked all other duplicates of himself.
"Looks like we've done what we can to help here. Can we be gone within the hour? If anyone of you have any goodbyes you'd like to make-"
Amelia's sob stopped him cold. He turned back to her, concerned that there was actually something wrong with her. Teyla moved to sit beside her when he couldn't make himself move forward.
"What is it? Are you well? Do we need to take you to the infirmary?"
"My life would have been really good here," Amelia wailed for the whole room to hear. She realized how loud she'd been and tried to calm herself down but that only made her sobs all the louder as she tried to explain herself. It was perhaps a more jumbled retelling of everything that had happened to her but everyone was able to get enough of the story that they looked sympathetic for her plight. "I just think," she concluded, "that maybe I should stay here."
Everyone was silent for a moment before everyone started talking at once. John was loathe to lose anyone from the city, even if it was because there might be a better life somewhere else. He was feeling a bit militant about it at the moment, after having lived through a rescue mission to bring this group closer to his normal. Rodney was concerned that leaving a person behind wouldn't mend the rift once they went through. Teyla was trying to remind the girl that happiness was subjective and she could be very happy with her life if she would only remember all that was good in her life. Ronon, for all that the man never talked when people wanted to talk, was bellowing something about not leaving anyone behind and of course her life was good and they didn't need an Amelia here because they'd already lost their first one.
Compelled to bring some sense of order to the proceedings, Woolsey did something he never did. He shouted, "Stop it, all of you." Everyone was as surprised as he was that such a loud sound could come from him that the room fell silent. When he could finally hear himself think again, he knelt down in front of Amelia.
"My dear, this is your choice. None of us can make it for you." He turned to glare at Rodney who was starting in on again about the stability of the rift minus a person. "If you want to stay, you can stay. I will tell you that you will be as missed back in our original time as if you had died there. Your parents will have to be told that you died as if you really had stopped existing. Your friends, many of them in this room right now, will be forced to mourn you. I know you think it's better but... but is it really?"
"He wanted to marry me. Her. Me." She was having trouble figuring out the correct word to use, her mind already giving in to the idea of being this Amelia Banks. "How can I go back knowing that?"
"Well, you'll just have to find someone there to marry you. Then there won't be any difference," he stated as if it was as simple as that. Teyla narrowed her eyes, taking exception to his nonchalant idea that marriage was that easy to come by, he was sure. Still, it was a viable option to make this situation better even if she thought it such a large leap. "But it's your choice, my dear. No one else can make it but you."
Part Eight
Prompt: 9/9 groovy
Word Count: 763
"I thought I'd come by and see if you had any questions." John was uncomfortable being here beside the man who hadn't said a single word since arriving on Atlantis. He'd watched everything and everyone with narrowed eyes, assessing the threat level as the city ebbed and flowed around him. Klineman had said his vitals were stable now that he'd been able to stick up the self-inflicted wound that had ripped apart his chest from the bottom of his throat to the top of his abdomen. He had most certainly wanted to die and had figured that being eaten by a wild animal on a beautiful planet was the way to go. While John could understand why he might think that, having heard some of the other Ronon's stories, he still had trouble understanding a mentality that would just give up.
At first, he thought he might just sit here, silent, for the fifteen minutes he had set aside for this conversation and then leave. He could tell himself that he'd tried and be done with it. All he could do was offer the man sanctuary. He couldn't force him to accept it.
"Why?" This Ronon's voice was as deep as the other but sounded as if he hadn't use it much. Neither of them seemed like they would talk much, a thankful respite after all the talking that John was forced to listen to on any given day.
"Why did we come find you? Because it was the right thing to do after we learned of your existence. Why did we bring you back here instead of leaving you to be feasted on by that monster you were staring down? Because this is our home and we would like it if you'd make it your home, too. Why do I think you might have questions? Because most people do after seeing their double. It's a normal sort of question."
"He said he was from an alternate reality. Didn't know those existed."
John shrugged, his hand coming up to massage his cheek where the sword had ripped through it. The motion was common enough when he was uncomfortable but it wasn't the man who was making him uncomfortable but the subject manner. "I haven't had too much to do with them. That group seems like they were comfortable enough with it. I'm not much of a time traveler."
"Me, either."
They set in silence for awhile longer, each of them trying to come up with something to say. So much had been said lately, even if they hadn't been the ones doing the talking. John had remembered why he'd been glad to see McKay leave the first time. That man could talk a dead man out of his grave.
"So, you and I are friends in that place?"
"Yeah. That Sheppard was telling me we're friends in a lot of different realities. Seems you were meant to be here. If you believe in that sort of thing, that is."
"And you're okay with it?"
Once again, that question was wide open to interpretation. "With us being friends? Sure. We seem to get along alright. Guess time will tell for sure. With you being here? It's as nice a place as any to call home. We do have the occasional scuffle with the Wraith but I don't think you'd be one of those that would be against us killing our share of them. You don't have to fight though. You can do any sort of work here you might like to do. There's plenty of it to be had." Suddenly, the room felt small and devoid of oxygen. Here he was all but telling the guy he should stick around and work and, oh yeah, who to be friends with even though he'd been without friends for at least the last eleven years. It felt a bit like martial law, something he was firmly against. Besides, the guy was still laid up and who knew what he would want to do once he saw the whole city. Everything was moving a bit fast and he was the one pushing them all ahead, expecting this to work out because it had worked out somewhere else. He wasn't that John Sheppard, damn it all.
"Groovy."
John coughed, surprise making him choke against his will. "What?"
"A word I heard that other guy use. It sounds... interesting."
John smiled. Any guy who could use the word groovy correctly on his first try had to be on the road to recovery. "Groovy. We'll just leave it that for now."