Stargate:Atlantis AU
Jun. 26th, 2008 04:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eliyesThis is just a little ficlet set in an AU I've been toying with for a bit.
"Why are you working on that thing again?" John asked, peering over McKay's shoulder at the partially dismantled life-signs detector that still had a singed mark on the (now removed) casing. He stepped back just before he would have been elbowed for invading the scientist's space. "I thought you had that working already?"
"It's functional, yes," McKay said with an impatient sigh, "but since we look to be depending on these, it's vital that we understand how they work in case they need to be repaired. Also, I had an idea for how to improve the range..." McKay trailed off, already distracted again by the delicate crystal innards of the device.
He couldn't resist a teasing jab. "Always working to improve on what the Ancients did. Careful, McKay; people might think you've got something to prove."
McKay's spine straightened, and John found himself the sole focus of those fabulously blue eyes.
"'I have had something to prove as long as I've had something that needs improvement'," McKay said, and John could tell immediately that it was a quote, but nothing he recognized.
"What's that, some kind of engineer's creed?" As soon as he said it, he knew he'd guessed wrong. Zelenka's head came up, and he heard Coleman snicker behind him -- but even if they hadn't tipped him off, he would have known simply from the way McKay's eyes narrowed, by the sudden, subtle twist of that already crooked mouth into a stranger shape.
"No, Major, it is not. It's from a song called 'Hour Follows Hour'. Perhaps you should ask Dr. Weir about it, since it's one of her favourites." McKay nodded towards the doorway, and John half-turned to look.
"What is?" Elizabeth Weir asked as she walked in, hands clasped behind her back. He'd always suspected she did that in an effort not to reach out and touch any of the interesting little widgets the scientists had spread out through their workspace. You never knew what one might be.
"'We make our own gravity to give weight to things'," Coleman said. "'Then things fall and they break and gravity sings'."
Weir smiled, eyes twinkling as McKay said loftily, "I should have known you'd like that part."
"This seems like an interesting song," Zelenka said. "I have never heard it."
"Me neither," John said, resisting the temptation to lean against McKay's worktable again, since getting smacked (as he would) in front of his boss was -- well, actually not a huge deal, Weir was okay, but there were plenty of other scientists in other parts of this lab. The military personnel would never forgive him if he let the scientists see the head scientist smacking him around.
"It has some very relevant sentiments for this expedition," Weir said, pausing for a moment before quoting, "'First you decide what you've gotta do, then you go out and do it; and maybe the most that we can do is just to see each other through it. Hour follows hour like water in a river, and from one to the next, we don't know what each hour will deliver. We just call it like we see it -- call it out loud as we can -- and then afterwards we call it all water over the dam'."
John was nodding before she was done.
"Too bad it turns into a love song at the end," McKay said acerbically, and Weir laughed.
"Come on, Ronnie, you can't say you were surprised."
McKay tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and set down the partially reconstructed life-signs detector.
"No, I suppose not. So. Lunch?" She clapped her hands together.
Weir gestured towards the door.
"So they tell me. Major, would you care to join us?"
John would have sworn he saw McKay's shoulders stiffen momentarily, and he smiled his most charming smile.
"Thank you, Doctor. I think I would," he drawled, and he could tell by the look Weir gave him that she knew perfectly well that he was mostly saying yes so he'd get to keep teasing McKay.
Yep, it's a partial genderswap. Everyone at the SGC is the same, but Atlantis has Dr. Meredith Rhonda "Ronnie" McKay and (eventually, possibly) Major Evangelina Lorne.
eta: I should have mentioned before! The song is by Ani diFranco. :3
"Why are you working on that thing again?" John asked, peering over McKay's shoulder at the partially dismantled life-signs detector that still had a singed mark on the (now removed) casing. He stepped back just before he would have been elbowed for invading the scientist's space. "I thought you had that working already?"
"It's functional, yes," McKay said with an impatient sigh, "but since we look to be depending on these, it's vital that we understand how they work in case they need to be repaired. Also, I had an idea for how to improve the range..." McKay trailed off, already distracted again by the delicate crystal innards of the device.
He couldn't resist a teasing jab. "Always working to improve on what the Ancients did. Careful, McKay; people might think you've got something to prove."
McKay's spine straightened, and John found himself the sole focus of those fabulously blue eyes.
"'I have had something to prove as long as I've had something that needs improvement'," McKay said, and John could tell immediately that it was a quote, but nothing he recognized.
"What's that, some kind of engineer's creed?" As soon as he said it, he knew he'd guessed wrong. Zelenka's head came up, and he heard Coleman snicker behind him -- but even if they hadn't tipped him off, he would have known simply from the way McKay's eyes narrowed, by the sudden, subtle twist of that already crooked mouth into a stranger shape.
"No, Major, it is not. It's from a song called 'Hour Follows Hour'. Perhaps you should ask Dr. Weir about it, since it's one of her favourites." McKay nodded towards the doorway, and John half-turned to look.
"What is?" Elizabeth Weir asked as she walked in, hands clasped behind her back. He'd always suspected she did that in an effort not to reach out and touch any of the interesting little widgets the scientists had spread out through their workspace. You never knew what one might be.
"'We make our own gravity to give weight to things'," Coleman said. "'Then things fall and they break and gravity sings'."
Weir smiled, eyes twinkling as McKay said loftily, "I should have known you'd like that part."
"This seems like an interesting song," Zelenka said. "I have never heard it."
"Me neither," John said, resisting the temptation to lean against McKay's worktable again, since getting smacked (as he would) in front of his boss was -- well, actually not a huge deal, Weir was okay, but there were plenty of other scientists in other parts of this lab. The military personnel would never forgive him if he let the scientists see the head scientist smacking him around.
"It has some very relevant sentiments for this expedition," Weir said, pausing for a moment before quoting, "'First you decide what you've gotta do, then you go out and do it; and maybe the most that we can do is just to see each other through it. Hour follows hour like water in a river, and from one to the next, we don't know what each hour will deliver. We just call it like we see it -- call it out loud as we can -- and then afterwards we call it all water over the dam'."
John was nodding before she was done.
"Too bad it turns into a love song at the end," McKay said acerbically, and Weir laughed.
"Come on, Ronnie, you can't say you were surprised."
McKay tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and set down the partially reconstructed life-signs detector.
"No, I suppose not. So. Lunch?" She clapped her hands together.
Weir gestured towards the door.
"So they tell me. Major, would you care to join us?"
John would have sworn he saw McKay's shoulders stiffen momentarily, and he smiled his most charming smile.
"Thank you, Doctor. I think I would," he drawled, and he could tell by the look Weir gave him that she knew perfectly well that he was mostly saying yes so he'd get to keep teasing McKay.
Yep, it's a partial genderswap. Everyone at the SGC is the same, but Atlantis has Dr. Meredith Rhonda "Ronnie" McKay and (eventually, possibly) Major Evangelina Lorne.
eta: I should have mentioned before! The song is by Ani diFranco. :3
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Re: ramblee, ramble-oh!
Date: 2008-12-09 10:44 am (UTC)I seem to have that effect on people -- some of the time. Occasionally I am mistaken for someone much younger than I actually am.
My mom was a lot less concerned about what I was reading; maybe she figured if I was interested it was 'suitable'. (But, in general, her parenting style was pretty 'hands off'.) OTOH, my selections were Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobsey Twins (yikes!), The Black Stallion series, the Jim Kjelgaard books, and any animal story I could get. When I was ten, I ventured up to the adult section but, even then, I read mysteries and science fiction almost exclusively for the next dozen years.
When I started complaining two chapters into a Nancy Drew or the like that I could tell how the story would end, that was when I branched out. Although I'd still read the older ones, just because they were usually interesting from a cultural point of view. My mom gave me romance novels; and most they usually involved some kissing. (The first one memorably had two kisses, they were going to get married the day after the book ended, and also had a boa constrictor joining the female lead in the shower (screaming ensued) and a very affectionate cheetah.) I'm pretty sure this was what my teacher was complaining about... I was also reading Star Trek novels by grade four, which is a gateway drug, and I still read a lot of science fiction and fantasy.
Mom doesn't care for sci-fi -- she's convinced it's still all "bug-eyed monsters".
I was raised by Trekkies. *thumbs up*
True... but Daniel is an archaeologist / anthropologist and a linguist -- IE, the 'soft' sciences. I'm sure Sam, Ronnie, and Jeannie would consider that those don't really 'count'.
Possibly not -- but as I am an anthropologist, I feel I should have thought of it. X3