Three Days in the Life of Rodney McKay - Part 2: The Day McKay Learned Sheppard was Brave
Written for the SGA_Secret Santa Exchange
Title: Three Days in the Life of Rodney McKay
Author: tepring
Recipient: sa_si_le
Pairing: John/Rodney Friendship
Rating: pg 13
Word Count: ~5K
Warnings: none
Summary: Then he did the thing that convinced Rodney that Sheppard was either insane, or the bravest man he’d ever met.
Part 2: The Day McKay Learned Sheppard was Brave
Rodney kept an eye on the Major from then on. He was horribly torn when he learned that Sheppard had been invited to join the Atlantis expedition. On the one hand, even Rodney could admit they needed someone as adept with the Ancient gene as the Major seemed to be. On the other, the Major was a complete unknown variable. Elizabeth seemed to be fond of him. The other soldiers whispered behind his back.
On the day they made the connection to Atlantis and threw their collective butts into destiny, Rodney was watching Sheppard closely. The Major had never been to so much as another planet, much less another galaxy. Rodney had seen even seasoned travelers sharing nervous looks at the briefings. He found himself half wishing that Sheppard would step out of the line when Elizabeth offered her "last chance to turn back". (Or was he wishing that for himself?)
Instead, Sheppard approached the gate with Ford, ducked his chin and plunged into the event horizon like he was strolling into a spring shower. When it was Rodney's turn and the full impact of the one-way journey flushed his chest with terror, it was, outrageously, the image of Sheppard disappearing into complete uncertainty that moved Rodney's foot that last step. No ancient-gene wielding Air Force flyboy with a sketchy resume was going to stroll around Ancient mecca without Rodney to keep an eye on him.
Keep an eye on him he did. In their first hours on Atlantis (and wow! Atlantis!) Sheppard outsmarted a hive full of Wraith, outflew a dozen darts in an Ancient spaceship with that gene of his, and assumed command of the expedition’s soldier-types. Rodney took full credit for introducing the Major to the jumpers, but found it hard to claim more glory than that.
As their early days on Atlantis unfolded, evidence of Sheppard’s intelligence continued to surface, though he seemed uninterested in challenging Rodney in that space. By contrast, Rodney and that Czech physicist Zelenka had already gotten into several verbal sparring matches. Not only did Zelenka’s desperate attempts at debate prove quite enjoyable (Zelenka was really quite an accomplished scientist) but also proved that he cared what Rodney thought about him.
Sheppard’s response when Rodney did resort to his usual coping mechanism of belligerence and stubbornness in an attempt to assert his position as smartest guy in the room was baffling. Instead of anger or entertaining one-upmanship, Sheppard would stare, smirk, then deflect.
“Even with the six symbols Lieutenant Ford provided there are still hundreds of permutations.”
“Seven hundred and twenty.”
“Yes. I knew that of course. I'm just surprised you did.”
Stare. Smirk. “Take away the coordinates you can't get a lock on, and that's your one. When you find it, send a M.A.L.P.”
Rodney had learned in that encounter that Sheppard couldn’t be taken by surprise. He’d known the (rudimentary) math, he just hadn’t cared how hard the job was.
“I say we open up the tower on the North Pier and put the Athosians there. They’d have plenty of space. And the kids wouldn’t be underfoot. All. The. Time.”
“I won’t put anyone in a building we haven’t manually cleared, McKay.”
“I’ve told you, there’s nothing there but living spaces full of 10,000 year old couches and moldy mattresses.”
“Nothing that you can see on the sensors.”
“Exactly. We’ve scanned the whole city for every possible life sign, radiation and energy signature. Just what exactly do you think a couple of jarheads with flashlights and an exaggerated sense of importance are going to find that the most advanced technology known to mankind can’t?”
Stare. Smirk. “Hibernating Wraith.”
Sheppard had walked out before Rodney could muster a retort. And despite his (belated) deduction that it would be impossible for Wraith to survive in the city for 10,000 years, he didn’t argue with Sheppard any more about visual inspections of new buildings.
Elizabeth was gradually leaning on Sheppard more and more for counsel as the days went by. Even though they had their rocky moments, Rodney could see her growing to trust him in a way that superseded mere smarts. Rodney began to feel a twinge of jealousy he’d only felt before in the presence of Sam Carter.
Since Rodney had never mastered the social skill of mutual respect, he could only assume that her confidence in the Major stemmed from his abilities with the Ancient Gene. When Carson had mentioned that he wanted to test his ATA gene therapy, Rodney had volunteered immediately. Begged, actually. And so had followed the debacle of the Ancient personal shield. Glee at being invulnerable had evaporated into humiliation. Not only had Rodney been unable to turn it off, he’d fainted in front of his colleagues.
To add insult to injury, the damn thing had fallen off just as Sheppard - oh so casually - made the heroic offer to bait the trap that would re-capture the dark entity. “I’ll do it,” he’d said, like he was offering to pick up milk from the grocery. Rodney’s heart was pounding at the mere thought of standing across an Ancient mousetrap from the thing that had turned Ford crispy.
It was in that moment, in Elizabeth’s smirk as Rodney had bolted out of the room to find a sandwich, that he began to think that there was more to Sheppard than an ancient gene and a slightly higher than average (for a normal human) IQ. Perhaps, well, bravery had something to do with the man’s successes and Elizabeth’s admiration.
This concept was foremost on his mind when he decided to walk into the darkness that was engulfing the gateroom as it fed on a stalled naquada generator. Rodney managed to throw the generator through the wormhole and save the city. The accolades he received from Elizabeth and even Sheppard himself seemed to validate his working hypothesis: Bravery was a required quality for admiration. Rodney wasn’t brave by inclination, but he’d spent his entire life studying human behavior from the outside. He could learn.
Rodney spent the next several days observing Sheppard for signs of bravery. In particular, he was determined to understand what exactly it implied and inferred. If he, Rodney, was to be perceived as brave, how much danger - exactly - did that mean he would have to undertake. Or offer to undertake at least.
Once interest in the darkness entity faded, city gossip turned to who Sheppard would choose for gate teams. Rumors seemed to indicate that he was planning to form several teams and lead one himself. The most vigorous speculation centered around who Sheppard would choose for his own team. According to the talk, Ford was a given and depending on who was talking, he’d either already accepted or had already turned down the offer.
Although he was above gossip and rumor-mongering, Rodney felt it his duty to stay abreast of the topic. As Sheppard’s peer in leadership - well, leader of the civilian scientists anyway…the non-biological scientists - Rodney considered himself invested in the man’s decisions about who would represent Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy and who would be running around making friends or enemies.
He didn’t know many of the soldiers personally, but there were rumors that indicated Sheppard intended to include scientists on some of the gate teams. That made sense to Rodney. They were tasked with finding ZPMs after all. So, when Sheppard sent him an email requesting a meeting, Rodney had already prepared a list of the scientists in his department that Rodney considered knowledgeable (and expendable) enough to troop around the galaxy looking for them.
He entered Sheppard’s makeshift office, on time of course, to find the man hunched behind the desk, fiddling with something in his lap. Sheppard nodded a cursory acknowledgement, and continued to fiddle. Rodney waited. Then coughed politely. Then chuffed.
“I’ve got a few Nobel prizes to win and 10 new labs to open today, so if you really need to see me now, you could at least do me the courtesy of telling me what it is you..are..doing…” He’d meant to say “what you want” but Sheppard’s sudden, vigorous motion behind his desk had distracted him. Rodney chuffed again and stepped around to see what Sheppard found so interesting.
“You’re polishing a wraith gun?” Rodney chided.
“Not polishing. Making sure it’s only got the one setting.”
“One setting?”
“Stun. Those zat things they showed me on Earth could kill you. Just making sure.”
“The Wraith need humans for food to survive. It would be illogical for them to develop weapons that would kill their prey before feeding.”
“My uncle raised cattle and he carried a gun in case one of them charged when he was walking the pastures. Even food can be dangerous, McKay,” Sheppard retorted mildly.
Rodney opened his mouth to argue, but Sheppard smacked the stunner down on his desktop and continued before Rodney could finish a deep enough breath.
“I want to talk you about being on a gate team.”
Eager to prove that he was on top of the situation, Rodney flipped open the tablet he was carrying. “I’ve been anticipating this.”
“You have?” Sheppard sounded skeptical.
“Of course. I’ve prepared several recommendations for you. Zelenka is an excellent candidate, but unfortunately he appears to be a fairly accomplished full stack programmer and physicist and I need to keep him available here. Top of my list is Peterson. He’s not only very adept at Ancient tech, he’s had some offworld experience back at the SGC. You can also have Kavanagh. He’s only a mediocre technician but I don’t like him, so you can take him offworld as much as you want.”
Sheppard’s initial expression of surprise was sliding into amusement. “That’s really generous of you.”
“You’re welcome. If you are looking more for the soft sciences - medicine and biology, that sort of thing - I recommend you talk to Carson.”
“That’s a good idea.” Sheppard’s tone was rapidly approaching sarcasm.
“Of course it’s a good idea. So. How many teams are you forming and how many names do you need? I took the liberty of preparing recommendations for six potential gate team members. If you need more, I’ll need another day or two.”
Rodney looked at Sheppard, waiting for his answer, but Sheppard was just staring at him and chewing his lip. He tapped the stunner idly as he stared, as if trying to decide what to say.
“I could get it done tomorrow at the earliest,” Rodney stammered when the silence grew awkward.
Sheppard rolled his eyes, then inexplicably chuckled. He blew out a fast breath, sat up straight in his chair, and spoke slowly like he was addressing a small child. “McKay. I want to talk to youabout being on a gate team.”
Rodney froze. The shock must have been plastered all over his face because Sheppard’s smirk grew wider. He leaned back in his chair, holding the stunner in both hands. In that moment, all Rodney could think about was the formula for bravery he’d only begun to develop and how joining a gate team was so far off the scale that he hadn’t even considered the possibility.
Sheppard just smirked, stared, and waited for Rodney to say something.
“I… ahem. I don’t know what to say. I hadn’t really thought…about…” he stammered.
“Then think about it. But be quick. Elizabeth wants us to recon the planet with the hive ship as soon as possible.” Sheppard shoved himself out of the chair and slapped Rodney on the back.
Then he did the thing that convinced him that Sheppard was either insane, or the bravest man he’d ever met: He handed the stunner to Rodney and said, “I want you on my team.”
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