Fic: The Isolated Mission (McKay/Sheppard)
Title: The Isolated Mission
Author: katie_kibble
Pairing: McShep
Rating: PG
Recipient: dkwilliams
Spoilers: None
Summary: The team go off on a mission to an out of the way planet, but so far from Atlantis, anything can happen.
Author's Note: Had I time, would have been a fic with more chapters, or a lot longer. However, as it is, it still can stand on its own.
~*~
John fumbled with the controls, trying to direct the ‘jumper, whilst trying to avoid the hurling rocks that littered the space before them.
“Dammit McKay! Couldn’t you have brought us to a planet without an asteroid belt surrounding it?” He swerved to avoid a rather large chunk of debris that whirled in front of the ‘jumper window.
“Well I’m sorry mister I-know-everything-about-a-planet-we’ve-never-been-to-before! It was mentioned in the Atlantis database under the heading of ‘Potential Energy Source’. Unfortunately, it seems the Ancients neglected to add the fact that it was enveloped by an enormous asteroid field and also never thought to build a stargate on this world, so we have to travel for 2 days in a cramped ‘jumper to get here. Now, will you please concentrate on flying this ship.”
John wondered why Rodney was in such a good mood. It didn’t take them 5 minutes on a half civilised world before he started to complain and shout his mouth off about how un-technically advanced its inhabitants were.
“Maybe he gets off on ‘potential energy sources’,” thought John.
He’d never seen someone get so excited about a battery, or the Pegasus galaxy’s equivalent. In fact, he’d never seen McKay get so excited about anything else before, except perhaps Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. From McKay’s eyes, there was definitely something between them, and he made no effort in trying to hide it. In the few times that they had been back and visited earth, McKay has molested Carter more times than John could count. He’d heard they had some history between them, something about the ‘gate malfunctioning and trapping a person inside.
However, Rodney’s mood now was different to that when he was around the Colonel. It wasn’t so much that he seemed excited, it was more that he didn’t seem grumpy or unhappy. They had just spent 2 days on a cramped ‘jumper, trying to reach a ‘gateless planet, that may, or may not, have a fully functioning ZPM and he was only being his usual arrogant self, nothing more.
Despite how much John wanted to know why McKay was acting so strangely, he couldn’t just ask him in front of Teyla and Ronon, plus he had the ‘jumper to concentrate on. As a substitute, he opted for a question concerning their current mission.
“So, got any energy readings yet, McKay?” he asked, still guiding the ‘jumper though the floating rocks.
“Of course not, I just brought us to a planet in the middle of bloody nowhere so that I could get bit of alone time with you! God, get a grip on yourself!”
John turned his head to look questioningly at the man sitting at the second set of controls next to him, but Rodney wasn’t looking. So instead he turned right round to look at Teyla sitting behind him; she merely shrugged.
“For your information,” Rodney continued, as though he had never stopped, “there is a rather high energy signature coming from somewhere down there, so I didn’t just drag us along here for a picnic. I mean, come on, this has been anything but a picnic!” Rodney sighed. “Two days stuck on a ‘jumper…at least it can’t get any worse.”
In the split second it took for John to turn back round to face the screen, and for Rodney to say the final words of his little speech, a giant rock hit the backside of the ‘jumper.
“Oh shit,” stated John.
Lights started flashing on the control panel, and in his mind, John felt the ‘jumper starting to resist his touch. There wasn’t much he could do to control the wild ‘jumper now, but ignoring the girlified screams of Rodney, the comforting sounds of Teyla and the rough grunts of Ronon, John tried his best to steady the rocking gate ship. Sadly, it was still not enough.
“Please stay calm.” John started - ironically, “We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode.” He dived to the left in his seat, trying to avoid an oncoming boulder, but neglected to move the ship with him.
“Explode?” said Ronon gruffly, “We’re gonna explode? But I don’t want to explode.”
No one replied as the ‘jumper suddenly lurched forward, getting caught in the planet’s gravitational field and plummeting towards it.
****
“Is everyone ok?” he groaned, as John picked himself up from off the floor.
He looked around the cockpit and saw the other 3 very much alive and lifting themselves off the floor. No one had sustained major injuries, and there were only a few minor cuts shared out between them. The ‘jumper itself seemed, surprisingly, not all that damaged, apart from the fact that the drive controls had stopped working, but John knew McKay would be able to fix it. If not, they would be stuck on the planet for rather a long time.
They’d been given a week for this particular mission. The trip there and back took 4 days, give or take a few hours, which left them with 3 days to search the planet. Considering they had almost no information regarding the landscape, or what they would find, 3 days might have just been verging in the edge of not long enough to look for the ZPM. It would be 7 days minimum before Major Lorne and his team arrived to find out where they had gotten to.
That was presuming of course, that Rodney couldn’t fix the ‘jumper, which John knew he would be able to. The man had a knack at fixing things extra quickly when it came to spending a long time in a little space, or in near death situations.
“Oh, well, that’s just great!” Rodney began to whine. “Not only are we stuck on some out of the way, isolated planet, in the middle of nowhere, but you’ve gone and crashed the only way off this desolate rock!” He kicked his co-pilot’s chair and promptly hurt his foot. He swore. “I know of course, you’ll be expecting me to fix it, but even with my fantastically superior intelligence, I never will be able to.” He waved his hand towards the rear compartment of the ship in an attempt to prove his point, but was disappointed when everything seemed to be pretty much intact.
Teyla pointed out that through the main window, you could see that they had landed in some sort of marsh and that it must have been that that had cushioned their ‘landing’. Rodney moaned that this seemed all to like the first Star Wars movie - which incidentally, he had never enjoyed - whilst Ronon opened the rear hatch door to survey their crash site.
John went to stand next to his most manly friend and looked out to the surroundings. It appeared that Teyla was right, and the ’jumper was partially embedded in some sort of swampy marshy thing. It was only the front end that dipped into it though, so it wouldn’t be too hard to fly away once they got it working again. It also meant that they could explore the planet as, directly in front of John’s eyes, there was solid ground.
****
An hour after they had landed (in the loosest sense of the word) Rodney had finally stopped complaining and had begun to work on fixing the ‘jumper. Teyla and Ronon had gone off to see if they could find food or water or indeed, anything at all on the deserted planet they were on. John was left to ‘assist’ Rodney in the ‘jumper repairs, which involved him having to touch a certain panel or think a certain something, every time Rodney needed him to.
“But why can’t you do it?” John had complained.
“Because I can’t be in two places at once.” Rodney had replied. “I can’t be over there, fiddling with the controls, whilst trying to adjust the inner workings of the ship, over here at the back. Now will you please shut up and let me do my work, before we all die out here.”
That had been 30 minutes ago, and aside from the occasional “do this, do that”, neither of them had spoke since. John was wondering what the real reason for Rodney wanting him to stay was. He knew that Rodney didn’t really need him at the controls to fix the ‘jumper, or at least not at this stage in repairs, but he was tired from flying for two hours straight and hadn’t been in the mood for arguing.
He was bored now though, so decided to indulge in one of his favourite pastimes: annoying Rodney.
He got up out of his chair and stepped to the back of the ‘jumper towards Rodney. The scientist was so immersed in his work that he didn’t notice John coming up behind him. When John stood right behind him, leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “What ya doing?” Rodney’s reaction was to scream and drop his computer pad.
“Just what do you think you’re trying to do to me!” Rodney shouted at John, having turned around to face him. “I could have slipped; I could have made a fatal error and blown us both up!”
“You? Fatal error? Are you sure?” John teased. “Oh come on Rodney, lighten up! At least you’re having some sort fun with your electronics. I’m stuck there at the front with nothing to do. You don’t even need me here!”
It was only now that John noticed just how close he and Rodney were. Their bodies were centimetres from touching and his could just feel the ripple of Rodney’s breath on his chin. He never noticed how much shorted Rodney was than him, a good 3 inches he reckoned. Yet he’d also never noticed just how soft Rodney’s lips looked close up. Then again, he’d never been close enough to the man to even consider it.
Rodney licked his lips tenderly and parted them ever so slightly. John felt Rodney’s face get closer to his and his closer to Rodney’s. Both of their breaths quickened until they were mere millimetres apart, before a voice shattered their moment.
“John! Rodney!” The voice called. “Ronon and I have found something. We think you ought to take a look!”
The two heads stopped moving and only the sound of their breathing could be heard: sharp and fast. The first to step away was John, but it was only a small tentative step. He looked into Rodney’s eyes and saw an unfamiliar spark. He saw want, he saw desire, but above all, he saw love, shinning in those deep blue eyes.
He smiled, raising a finger to his mouth, signifying silence. He pushed the stunned Rodney out of the ‘jumper door onto the main earth of the planet, towards their mutual friends and the discovery they had made.
John considered that maybe 7 days stuck on a remote planet wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Author: katie_kibble
Pairing: McShep
Rating: PG
Recipient: dkwilliams
Spoilers: None
Summary: The team go off on a mission to an out of the way planet, but so far from Atlantis, anything can happen.
Author's Note: Had I time, would have been a fic with more chapters, or a lot longer. However, as it is, it still can stand on its own.
~*~
John fumbled with the controls, trying to direct the ‘jumper, whilst trying to avoid the hurling rocks that littered the space before them.
“Dammit McKay! Couldn’t you have brought us to a planet without an asteroid belt surrounding it?” He swerved to avoid a rather large chunk of debris that whirled in front of the ‘jumper window.
“Well I’m sorry mister I-know-everything-about-a-planet-we’ve-never-been-to-before! It was mentioned in the Atlantis database under the heading of ‘Potential Energy Source’. Unfortunately, it seems the Ancients neglected to add the fact that it was enveloped by an enormous asteroid field and also never thought to build a stargate on this world, so we have to travel for 2 days in a cramped ‘jumper to get here. Now, will you please concentrate on flying this ship.”
John wondered why Rodney was in such a good mood. It didn’t take them 5 minutes on a half civilised world before he started to complain and shout his mouth off about how un-technically advanced its inhabitants were.
“Maybe he gets off on ‘potential energy sources’,” thought John.
He’d never seen someone get so excited about a battery, or the Pegasus galaxy’s equivalent. In fact, he’d never seen McKay get so excited about anything else before, except perhaps Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. From McKay’s eyes, there was definitely something between them, and he made no effort in trying to hide it. In the few times that they had been back and visited earth, McKay has molested Carter more times than John could count. He’d heard they had some history between them, something about the ‘gate malfunctioning and trapping a person inside.
However, Rodney’s mood now was different to that when he was around the Colonel. It wasn’t so much that he seemed excited, it was more that he didn’t seem grumpy or unhappy. They had just spent 2 days on a cramped ‘jumper, trying to reach a ‘gateless planet, that may, or may not, have a fully functioning ZPM and he was only being his usual arrogant self, nothing more.
Despite how much John wanted to know why McKay was acting so strangely, he couldn’t just ask him in front of Teyla and Ronon, plus he had the ‘jumper to concentrate on. As a substitute, he opted for a question concerning their current mission.
“So, got any energy readings yet, McKay?” he asked, still guiding the ‘jumper though the floating rocks.
“Of course not, I just brought us to a planet in the middle of bloody nowhere so that I could get bit of alone time with you! God, get a grip on yourself!”
John turned his head to look questioningly at the man sitting at the second set of controls next to him, but Rodney wasn’t looking. So instead he turned right round to look at Teyla sitting behind him; she merely shrugged.
“For your information,” Rodney continued, as though he had never stopped, “there is a rather high energy signature coming from somewhere down there, so I didn’t just drag us along here for a picnic. I mean, come on, this has been anything but a picnic!” Rodney sighed. “Two days stuck on a ‘jumper…at least it can’t get any worse.”
In the split second it took for John to turn back round to face the screen, and for Rodney to say the final words of his little speech, a giant rock hit the backside of the ‘jumper.
“Oh shit,” stated John.
Lights started flashing on the control panel, and in his mind, John felt the ‘jumper starting to resist his touch. There wasn’t much he could do to control the wild ‘jumper now, but ignoring the girlified screams of Rodney, the comforting sounds of Teyla and the rough grunts of Ronon, John tried his best to steady the rocking gate ship. Sadly, it was still not enough.
“Please stay calm.” John started - ironically, “We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode.” He dived to the left in his seat, trying to avoid an oncoming boulder, but neglected to move the ship with him.
“Explode?” said Ronon gruffly, “We’re gonna explode? But I don’t want to explode.”
No one replied as the ‘jumper suddenly lurched forward, getting caught in the planet’s gravitational field and plummeting towards it.
****
“Is everyone ok?” he groaned, as John picked himself up from off the floor.
He looked around the cockpit and saw the other 3 very much alive and lifting themselves off the floor. No one had sustained major injuries, and there were only a few minor cuts shared out between them. The ‘jumper itself seemed, surprisingly, not all that damaged, apart from the fact that the drive controls had stopped working, but John knew McKay would be able to fix it. If not, they would be stuck on the planet for rather a long time.
They’d been given a week for this particular mission. The trip there and back took 4 days, give or take a few hours, which left them with 3 days to search the planet. Considering they had almost no information regarding the landscape, or what they would find, 3 days might have just been verging in the edge of not long enough to look for the ZPM. It would be 7 days minimum before Major Lorne and his team arrived to find out where they had gotten to.
That was presuming of course, that Rodney couldn’t fix the ‘jumper, which John knew he would be able to. The man had a knack at fixing things extra quickly when it came to spending a long time in a little space, or in near death situations.
“Oh, well, that’s just great!” Rodney began to whine. “Not only are we stuck on some out of the way, isolated planet, in the middle of nowhere, but you’ve gone and crashed the only way off this desolate rock!” He kicked his co-pilot’s chair and promptly hurt his foot. He swore. “I know of course, you’ll be expecting me to fix it, but even with my fantastically superior intelligence, I never will be able to.” He waved his hand towards the rear compartment of the ship in an attempt to prove his point, but was disappointed when everything seemed to be pretty much intact.
Teyla pointed out that through the main window, you could see that they had landed in some sort of marsh and that it must have been that that had cushioned their ‘landing’. Rodney moaned that this seemed all to like the first Star Wars movie - which incidentally, he had never enjoyed - whilst Ronon opened the rear hatch door to survey their crash site.
John went to stand next to his most manly friend and looked out to the surroundings. It appeared that Teyla was right, and the ’jumper was partially embedded in some sort of swampy marshy thing. It was only the front end that dipped into it though, so it wouldn’t be too hard to fly away once they got it working again. It also meant that they could explore the planet as, directly in front of John’s eyes, there was solid ground.
****
An hour after they had landed (in the loosest sense of the word) Rodney had finally stopped complaining and had begun to work on fixing the ‘jumper. Teyla and Ronon had gone off to see if they could find food or water or indeed, anything at all on the deserted planet they were on. John was left to ‘assist’ Rodney in the ‘jumper repairs, which involved him having to touch a certain panel or think a certain something, every time Rodney needed him to.
“But why can’t you do it?” John had complained.
“Because I can’t be in two places at once.” Rodney had replied. “I can’t be over there, fiddling with the controls, whilst trying to adjust the inner workings of the ship, over here at the back. Now will you please shut up and let me do my work, before we all die out here.”
That had been 30 minutes ago, and aside from the occasional “do this, do that”, neither of them had spoke since. John was wondering what the real reason for Rodney wanting him to stay was. He knew that Rodney didn’t really need him at the controls to fix the ‘jumper, or at least not at this stage in repairs, but he was tired from flying for two hours straight and hadn’t been in the mood for arguing.
He was bored now though, so decided to indulge in one of his favourite pastimes: annoying Rodney.
He got up out of his chair and stepped to the back of the ‘jumper towards Rodney. The scientist was so immersed in his work that he didn’t notice John coming up behind him. When John stood right behind him, leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “What ya doing?” Rodney’s reaction was to scream and drop his computer pad.
“Just what do you think you’re trying to do to me!” Rodney shouted at John, having turned around to face him. “I could have slipped; I could have made a fatal error and blown us both up!”
“You? Fatal error? Are you sure?” John teased. “Oh come on Rodney, lighten up! At least you’re having some sort fun with your electronics. I’m stuck there at the front with nothing to do. You don’t even need me here!”
It was only now that John noticed just how close he and Rodney were. Their bodies were centimetres from touching and his could just feel the ripple of Rodney’s breath on his chin. He never noticed how much shorted Rodney was than him, a good 3 inches he reckoned. Yet he’d also never noticed just how soft Rodney’s lips looked close up. Then again, he’d never been close enough to the man to even consider it.
Rodney licked his lips tenderly and parted them ever so slightly. John felt Rodney’s face get closer to his and his closer to Rodney’s. Both of their breaths quickened until they were mere millimetres apart, before a voice shattered their moment.
“John! Rodney!” The voice called. “Ronon and I have found something. We think you ought to take a look!”
The two heads stopped moving and only the sound of their breathing could be heard: sharp and fast. The first to step away was John, but it was only a small tentative step. He looked into Rodney’s eyes and saw an unfamiliar spark. He saw want, he saw desire, but above all, he saw love, shinning in those deep blue eyes.
He smiled, raising a finger to his mouth, signifying silence. He pushed the stunned Rodney out of the ‘jumper door onto the main earth of the planet, towards their mutual friends and the discovery they had made.
John considered that maybe 7 days stuck on a remote planet wouldn’t be so bad after all.