fic: Shadows of the Man I Once Was
Title: Shadows of the Man I Once Was
Author/Artist: scarlet_Gryphon
Character/Pairing: Lorne/Parrish (Tesla)
Media/Word Count: 1,570
Rating: PG-13
Warning/Notes: Many thanks to gategurl for the beta. You rock my socks, woman. The numbers are in Serbian, if you're interested, and count down from five to one. Warnings for swearing in a foreign language and a bit of non-descriptive man-on-man sex, but that's about it. *grin*
Summary: Lorne/Parrish(who is also Sanctuary!Tesla) - Tesla has gone by countless aliases/fake personalities over the years, and he's become very good at maintaining the act. A four-and-one style 'fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just playing in the sandbox.
пет (Five)
The first time Nikola slipped out of the persona of David Parrish, it was by total accident. He'd accidentally corrected one of the electrical engineers on one of their equations while they'd been under fire off-world. Evan had noticed, but hadn't asked about it until they'd gotten back to Atlantis safe and sound. When asked, Nikola had said that it merely had looked wrong to him, explaining that he'd actually been quite interested in math and engineering when he was in high school, but had pursued botany in college instead. Evan had accepted this explanation, though it wasn't without doubt. Eventually it had blown over, but Nikola had been careful to stay in the realm of botany ever since, just to be safe. Though something told him that Evan hadn't quite forgotten; Nikola kept finding Sudoku books laying around his quarters when he knew he hadn't owned any before, with notes from Evan inside them saying, “Hope you enjoy these. -E”.
Четири (Four)
The second time happened when he accidentally slipped into Serbian in the middle of sex, unfortunately making Evan stop what he was doing and look down at him in amusement. Nikola looked up at him, a confused look on his face as he tried to figure out what was going on.
'Something wrong, Evan?' he asked, desperately wanting his lover to start moving again, his body thrumming with suppressed desire.
'I have no idea what you just said to me, David,' Evan replied, propping himself up on his elbows. 'When I went like this-' Evan moved his hips, eliciting a bit-off curse from Nikola. 'You did that. Do I even want to know what language that was?'
Nikola tried to gather his wits- though they were pretty much mush at this point -and attempted to formulate a coherent answer. 'It was Serbian,' he said finally, panting sharply. 'My grandparents on my mother's side were from Serbia. I learned it from my granddad.'
'Oh. I've never heard you speak it before,' Evan said.
'Well, you've never done that to me before,' Nikola pointed out, making Evan laugh. 'Now, if we could get back to- Sranje!'
три (Three)
Tesla briefly emerged (he was settling more and more into David now; it was almost as if his former self was someone he had once met a long time ago) once again when they were off-world at a festival on P4T-391, celebrating the harvest of the Phoselians' crop of near-wheat and almost-barley. There was alcohol, of course, most of it beer and ale, and David had so far enjoyed several mugs of it. He thought he'd made sure to keep his alcohol consumption down, given the fact that said intoxicant couldn't affect him, but apparently not. It was only after Coughlin had mentioned how strong the beer was that David had thought to act even halfway drunk. Luckily, it seemed that no one had really noticed, but David made sure to become “drunk” after a couple of beers ever since, just in case.
два (Two)
It had been a while since David had slipped up, but it was such a little thing- he'd read an article Helen had been quoted in in one of his biology magazines, and had commented on it to his teammates -that he didn't think anyone would notice. After all, biology and botany were sometimes related, and was surprised when Reed asked if David had ever met the famous Doctor Magnus.
'Once, a long time ago,' David replied. 'It was at a conference. She was a guest speaker on the subject of how exotic flora could be used in non-traditional medical applications. It was an interesting lecture, actually. How do you know her?'
Reed shrugged. 'She helped my sister out when she was a kid,' he said. 'She had some problems when she was young, but Magnus helped her with some therapy and medicines that did wonders for both her and our family. We owe a lot to Doc Magnus.'
'A lot of people do,' David said quietly, a small smile on his face. He knew he did.
један (One)
The one time David purposefully dropped his assumed identity entirely and fully became Nikola Tesla- and all that identity entailed - once more, was when his team had been captured off-world. David had only escaped capture because he'd been crouched behind a log, tying his shoe, but his teammates had been taken away by a band of natives who had heard of Atlantis’ wealth of Ancient technology and wanted it for themselves. It was almost funny that such a mundane thing like a loose shoelace had kept him free, but David didn't care. He had to rescue his team before anything bad happened to them.
With a deep breath, David closed his eyes and let himself go, the old familiar feeling of electricity racing through his veins coming to the fore as he transformed fully into his vampire form. He was glad that no one was around to see him like this; it was bad enough that he'd been lying to his team and his lover for over four years, but if they saw him like this, jet-eyed and sharp-toothed, they'd never trust him again, he was sure of it. He followed the kidnappers through the forest after dialing back to Atlantis and giving a brief status report, grateful that he could move almost silently over the rough terrain. Nikola's enhanced speed nearly proved a hindrance at times, as he couldn't move ahead of the bandits until the optimal time, but he kept them in sight all the same.
The moment came almost four hours after the initial capture. Nikola was just now starting to tire, but the bandits had come to rest in a clearing some twenty miles away from the Stargate, having pushed the local horse-equivalents that they were riding to near-exhaustion. Once it was dark and the bandits had finished setting up camp, Nikola made his move. He used his speed to overwhelm the guards watching over the tent where they were keeping his team, and then entered the tent from the back, making sure to change back to normal before facing his team. Coughlin and Reed were tied back-to-back, but Evan was bound all on his lonesome. All three men were dirt-streaked and worn-looking.
'What the- David?' Evan breathed, taking in Nikola's rumpled appearance. 'How the hell did you get here?'
'It's a long story,' Nikola replied, shaking his head as he untied his teammates. 'We don't have much time; we've got to go right away.'
'What do you mean?' Coughlin asked, but the sudden hubbub from outside the tent at the discovery of the unconscious guards answered his question for him. As soon as Reed was free, the four Lanteans slipped out the back and headed into the forest surrounding the camp. The shouts of the bandits following them spurred them on, Nikola keeping pace with the group and quietly falling back into the role of David Parrish, long-legged botanist and former long-distance runner.
They'd traveled some three miles before they heard the familiar low pitched hum of a Jumper flying overhead, but didn't stop to see what was going on.
'Doctor Parrish, is that you and your team?' David's radio activated, Colonel Sheppard's voice crackling slightly with static. David hit the reply button as he continued to run, making sure to sound exhausted as he did so, even though he was barely winded.
'Yes, Colonel, it is,' David replied. 'We need your help, and fast.'
'That's what we're here for,' Sheppard said. 'There's a clearing ahead; we'll meet you there.'
'Got it,' David said, signing off. He slowed down, stumbling slightly as he did so. Evan caught him, making sure David didn't fall. The shouts had faded some time ago; it seemed like the bandits had given up on chasing them. The jumper shimmered into view once they'd gotten to the clearing, the ramp lowering as soon as the team was close enough. Ronon was visible in the back, as was Teyla. Both had their weapons at the ready, just in case.
Once the team reached the safety of the jumper and the door was closed, the Colonel took off, lifting up above the forest canopy and heading back towards the stargate.
'So, how did you guys escape so quickly?' Sheppard asked as they neared the gate. 'It hasn't been that long since Doctor Parrish told us what was going on.'
The team exchanged looks, and then Evan replied with, 'There was some kind of riot going on, sir,' he said, lying through his teeth. 'Parrish got there just in time to sneak in and untie us.'
'That was lucky,' Ronon said, giving David a suspicious look. David gave him a disarming smile before slumping back in his seat, closing his eyes as he feigned exhaustion. He knew he'd have to answer questions from his teammates regarding this exact question, but for right now, David was content to stay in silence, leaning tiredly against Evan and rejoicing in the fact that everything would soon be going back to normal. Or at least, as normal as it ever got in the Pegasus Galaxy.
Author/Artist: scarlet_Gryphon
Character/Pairing: Lorne/Parrish (Tesla)
Media/Word Count: 1,570
Rating: PG-13
Warning/Notes: Many thanks to gategurl for the beta. You rock my socks, woman. The numbers are in Serbian, if you're interested, and count down from five to one. Warnings for swearing in a foreign language and a bit of non-descriptive man-on-man sex, but that's about it. *grin*
Summary: Lorne/Parrish(who is also Sanctuary!Tesla) - Tesla has gone by countless aliases/fake personalities over the years, and he's become very good at maintaining the act. A four-and-one style 'fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just playing in the sandbox.
пет (Five)
The first time Nikola slipped out of the persona of David Parrish, it was by total accident. He'd accidentally corrected one of the electrical engineers on one of their equations while they'd been under fire off-world. Evan had noticed, but hadn't asked about it until they'd gotten back to Atlantis safe and sound. When asked, Nikola had said that it merely had looked wrong to him, explaining that he'd actually been quite interested in math and engineering when he was in high school, but had pursued botany in college instead. Evan had accepted this explanation, though it wasn't without doubt. Eventually it had blown over, but Nikola had been careful to stay in the realm of botany ever since, just to be safe. Though something told him that Evan hadn't quite forgotten; Nikola kept finding Sudoku books laying around his quarters when he knew he hadn't owned any before, with notes from Evan inside them saying, “Hope you enjoy these. -E”.
Четири (Four)
The second time happened when he accidentally slipped into Serbian in the middle of sex, unfortunately making Evan stop what he was doing and look down at him in amusement. Nikola looked up at him, a confused look on his face as he tried to figure out what was going on.
'Something wrong, Evan?' he asked, desperately wanting his lover to start moving again, his body thrumming with suppressed desire.
'I have no idea what you just said to me, David,' Evan replied, propping himself up on his elbows. 'When I went like this-' Evan moved his hips, eliciting a bit-off curse from Nikola. 'You did that. Do I even want to know what language that was?'
Nikola tried to gather his wits- though they were pretty much mush at this point -and attempted to formulate a coherent answer. 'It was Serbian,' he said finally, panting sharply. 'My grandparents on my mother's side were from Serbia. I learned it from my granddad.'
'Oh. I've never heard you speak it before,' Evan said.
'Well, you've never done that to me before,' Nikola pointed out, making Evan laugh. 'Now, if we could get back to- Sranje!'
три (Three)
Tesla briefly emerged (he was settling more and more into David now; it was almost as if his former self was someone he had once met a long time ago) once again when they were off-world at a festival on P4T-391, celebrating the harvest of the Phoselians' crop of near-wheat and almost-barley. There was alcohol, of course, most of it beer and ale, and David had so far enjoyed several mugs of it. He thought he'd made sure to keep his alcohol consumption down, given the fact that said intoxicant couldn't affect him, but apparently not. It was only after Coughlin had mentioned how strong the beer was that David had thought to act even halfway drunk. Luckily, it seemed that no one had really noticed, but David made sure to become “drunk” after a couple of beers ever since, just in case.
два (Two)
It had been a while since David had slipped up, but it was such a little thing- he'd read an article Helen had been quoted in in one of his biology magazines, and had commented on it to his teammates -that he didn't think anyone would notice. After all, biology and botany were sometimes related, and was surprised when Reed asked if David had ever met the famous Doctor Magnus.
'Once, a long time ago,' David replied. 'It was at a conference. She was a guest speaker on the subject of how exotic flora could be used in non-traditional medical applications. It was an interesting lecture, actually. How do you know her?'
Reed shrugged. 'She helped my sister out when she was a kid,' he said. 'She had some problems when she was young, but Magnus helped her with some therapy and medicines that did wonders for both her and our family. We owe a lot to Doc Magnus.'
'A lot of people do,' David said quietly, a small smile on his face. He knew he did.
један (One)
The one time David purposefully dropped his assumed identity entirely and fully became Nikola Tesla- and all that identity entailed - once more, was when his team had been captured off-world. David had only escaped capture because he'd been crouched behind a log, tying his shoe, but his teammates had been taken away by a band of natives who had heard of Atlantis’ wealth of Ancient technology and wanted it for themselves. It was almost funny that such a mundane thing like a loose shoelace had kept him free, but David didn't care. He had to rescue his team before anything bad happened to them.
With a deep breath, David closed his eyes and let himself go, the old familiar feeling of electricity racing through his veins coming to the fore as he transformed fully into his vampire form. He was glad that no one was around to see him like this; it was bad enough that he'd been lying to his team and his lover for over four years, but if they saw him like this, jet-eyed and sharp-toothed, they'd never trust him again, he was sure of it. He followed the kidnappers through the forest after dialing back to Atlantis and giving a brief status report, grateful that he could move almost silently over the rough terrain. Nikola's enhanced speed nearly proved a hindrance at times, as he couldn't move ahead of the bandits until the optimal time, but he kept them in sight all the same.
The moment came almost four hours after the initial capture. Nikola was just now starting to tire, but the bandits had come to rest in a clearing some twenty miles away from the Stargate, having pushed the local horse-equivalents that they were riding to near-exhaustion. Once it was dark and the bandits had finished setting up camp, Nikola made his move. He used his speed to overwhelm the guards watching over the tent where they were keeping his team, and then entered the tent from the back, making sure to change back to normal before facing his team. Coughlin and Reed were tied back-to-back, but Evan was bound all on his lonesome. All three men were dirt-streaked and worn-looking.
'What the- David?' Evan breathed, taking in Nikola's rumpled appearance. 'How the hell did you get here?'
'It's a long story,' Nikola replied, shaking his head as he untied his teammates. 'We don't have much time; we've got to go right away.'
'What do you mean?' Coughlin asked, but the sudden hubbub from outside the tent at the discovery of the unconscious guards answered his question for him. As soon as Reed was free, the four Lanteans slipped out the back and headed into the forest surrounding the camp. The shouts of the bandits following them spurred them on, Nikola keeping pace with the group and quietly falling back into the role of David Parrish, long-legged botanist and former long-distance runner.
They'd traveled some three miles before they heard the familiar low pitched hum of a Jumper flying overhead, but didn't stop to see what was going on.
'Doctor Parrish, is that you and your team?' David's radio activated, Colonel Sheppard's voice crackling slightly with static. David hit the reply button as he continued to run, making sure to sound exhausted as he did so, even though he was barely winded.
'Yes, Colonel, it is,' David replied. 'We need your help, and fast.'
'That's what we're here for,' Sheppard said. 'There's a clearing ahead; we'll meet you there.'
'Got it,' David said, signing off. He slowed down, stumbling slightly as he did so. Evan caught him, making sure David didn't fall. The shouts had faded some time ago; it seemed like the bandits had given up on chasing them. The jumper shimmered into view once they'd gotten to the clearing, the ramp lowering as soon as the team was close enough. Ronon was visible in the back, as was Teyla. Both had their weapons at the ready, just in case.
Once the team reached the safety of the jumper and the door was closed, the Colonel took off, lifting up above the forest canopy and heading back towards the stargate.
'So, how did you guys escape so quickly?' Sheppard asked as they neared the gate. 'It hasn't been that long since Doctor Parrish told us what was going on.'
The team exchanged looks, and then Evan replied with, 'There was some kind of riot going on, sir,' he said, lying through his teeth. 'Parrish got there just in time to sneak in and untie us.'
'That was lucky,' Ronon said, giving David a suspicious look. David gave him a disarming smile before slumping back in his seat, closing his eyes as he feigned exhaustion. He knew he'd have to answer questions from his teammates regarding this exact question, but for right now, David was content to stay in silence, leaning tiredly against Evan and rejoicing in the fact that everything would soon be going back to normal. Or at least, as normal as it ever got in the Pegasus Galaxy.