SGA Ficlet: That Thing on the East Pier
I was doing a bit of a file tidy-up this evening and I found a ficlet that I'd meant to post several months ago. In my story "Affiliations," which was about the fallout from Sheppard's time with the Sekkari in "Remnants,", there was a reference to a 'thing' on the east pier that had occurred earlier in the week - before Sheppard realized he wasn't coping as well as he thought he was. ithilgalad75 asked me to fill in the details. I did that as a reply to the comment. Then I tidied it up to post it as a ficlet - and forgot all about it - for seven months. Reading "Affiliations," will give a bit more context to this ficlet but I don't think it is absolutely necessary.
Title: That Thing on the East Pier
Author: tridget
Genre: Gen, Angst, Friendship, A touch of dark humor
Rating: G
Word Count: ~400
Spoilers: Spoilers for "Remnants."
Summary: John's first clue that he's not coping with the events of "Remnants" as well as he thinks he is.
That Thing on the East Pier
As for 'that thing on the east pier,’ John doesn't remember every detail and those he does, he wishes he didn't. What he does remember is that he'd been growing restless because of the ‘light duty’ that had been imposed on him. He had felt the need for some sort of excitement. He might also have needed a distraction from thinking about his time with the Sekkari, but he wouldn’t admit that even to himself.
A little bit of Athosian Ruus wine, drank on a distant pier, got the ball rolling. It was chilly that evening, so a bonfire seemed to be the perfect complement to the wine. At some point, John procured one of the Genii uniforms from storage. It had been acquired in case they ever needed to mingle covertly among the Genii - not that John planned on any mingling that evening; he’d even forgotten to invite his team to the festivities. If asked, John would probably have said he needed the jacket because he was cold. But that wouldn't quite have explained why his own jacket wouldn't do and it certainly wouldn't have explained why the Genii jacket ended up in the fire in a sort of Guy Fawkes-like effigy.
The uniform turned out to be a bit more flammable than Atlantean uniforms. The Ruus wine that had been spilled on it probably didn't help matters. The stuff packed one hell of a kick even in the flames. Then the wind picked up.
Damage was minimized when Lorne appeared with a fire extinguisher.
Later, John thought it was an odd coincidence that Lorne had been strolling down there with an extinguisher just as the campfire was nudging into the 'out of control' phase. Yes, odd, unless of course Lorne had been keeping an eye out for his CO all along that evening. That could also explain why no one else ventured onto the pier for the event. Lorne might also have had a hand in making sure there were no spectators. Well, no one except Ronon who appeared on the scene while Lorne was battling with the flames. Maybe that explained who Lorne had been talking to when he tapped his earpiece.
In any case, Ronon managed to drag John away from the smoke because John was rather disinclined to leave on his own. And it was Ronon who talked John out of a swim to cool down after the blaze.
In retrospect, John wonders what his first clue might have been that he wasn't coping as well as he'd thought he was.
~~~~oooo~~~~
The End