John Sheppard's father successfully broke his will, talked him into going to college to get a business degree so he could join the family business. In the process, John became someone he didn't like, someone cold and remote who pushed people away because he knew that when college was over, so was a life of freedom and choices.
Rodney McKay was happy enough, scraping by and surrounded by a few friends that he could truly trust. Things were knocked off center, though, toppling dangerously, when he met John.
What if an unstoppable force met an immovable object?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Yes!!!!! I finally finished.
John seeks out a demon in order to trade his soul for the lives of his team — especially Rodney. McShep preslash but can be read as extremely deep friendship.
They had just lost Teyla when she had walked into a room and the door had slammed shut on her on account of Michael having wanted to separate her from the others, and even though Sheppard had managed to pry the door open using his trusty knife, they had been too late. McKay's Ancient device had told them that the two life signs were now moving away from them and had seemingly got a head start because the others had been fighting off one of the creatures that had attacked them from the cover of steam or vapour that Michael had released into the corridor. Just as soon as McKay had informed Sheppard of the life signs moving away from them, Sheppard had invited them all to join him in pursuit of them, and so we now find Ronon and Sheppard advancing quickly while McKay seems to be trailing somewhat behind them because he is trying to keep an eye on the readings on his device at the same time.
McKay: Wait! They disappeared.
Sheppard: What?
McKay: The life signs -- they just vanished. I was right. Part of this settlement must be shielded. Wait! No! We won't be able to track them.
McKay calls for the others to stop by telling them to wait because he had suddenly lost the life signs. Even though Sheppard is in a hurry, he does stop when requested by McKay -- and we had noted in Critical Mass (S02E12) that when McKay tells people to stop they stop to the point of freezing in place, knowing that sometimes what McKay had noticed or figured out might be a matter of life and death. McKay had not invited his companions to wait because they were walking into any explosion now, however, having merely wanted to inform Sheppard of the fact that the life signs had vanished suddenly and that he would not be able to give Sheppard real time information on the location of their enemy or Teyla anymore. McKay knows that Sheppard wants him to keep him apprised of things, even if most of the time it is more relevant for Sheppard to know what McKay does know than what he does not know.
McKay doubles down on his previous suggestion that a part of the compound might be shielded, and having seen the life signs suddenly vanish seems to support his hypothesis -- while he seemed to pick up the suggestion out of the ether previously with very little to back it up, it seems like evidence for this indeed being the case is now piling up. The alternatives for the life signs vanishing is that either it is the signal that is blocked or that the living things that the device has rendered as dots on his screen had suddenly blinked out of existence, and the former seems much more likely. But since this information does not get them any closer to finding Teyla or his marines, Sheppard decides to press on, thinking that following their previous trajectory is the safest bet here -- they know where the life signs had been previously, which is what McKay had been able to tell Sheppard in Submersion (S03E18).
They had likewise been looking for Teyla at the time, whose location along with Ronon they had lost with the wraith Queen having disabled their sensors. It seems like Sheppard might even remember McKay's advice from then, pressing on now before they lose the track even as McKay invites them to wait until he has time to explain to himself the implications of this, what it means for a part of the underground compound to be shielded with technology that rivals that of the Ancients. But he does not have time for puzzling it out now, not wanting to get left behind by Sheppard and Ronon, and so he has little choice but the follow them.
McKay: You need to aim for the stomach area. It seems to be more vulnerable -- it's the soft under-belly. You were able to kill it when you hit it there before.
Dex: Thanks.
As Ronon and McKay follow Sheppard, it seems like McKay has had a moment to process what had happened in the chaos when they had all unloaded their weapons on the creature. They had noted previously that it had a hardened outer shell, and McKay had asked the others if he had been the only one who had noticed this -- which of course he had not been. He shares his observation now that the creature seemed to conversely have a soft underbelly, that the side of his body opposite to this hard outer shell seemed vulnerable and that it was Ronon blasting it in the stomach that had been able to take it out, seeming proud of having made this observation.
Ronon thanks him for this piece of advice sarcastically because he too had noticed this, and given how much more experienced Ronon is on the field and protecting himself against creatures that are hard to kill, it can feel insulting to him that McKay is trying to give him advice -- like McKay is being condescending here when for McKay, this had been a real discovery to him that he had wanted to share with the others in case it might come in useful later. McKay's intention here is not to "teach his grandmother to suck eggs" but make himself useful now that he had just lost the one thing that had made him useful on the field, which was operating the Ancient device. While Ronon's thanks are clearly facetious, it is unclear whether McKay recognizes them as such because he does not elaborate, and Ronon seems to have been in somewhat of a foul mood most of the time they have spent on the planet anyway.
What is interesting about McKay's observation here is that at the start of the episode when we had seen him sparring or training with Ronon, he had failed to protect his own soft underbelly -- and it seemed like teaching him to be on his guard and to protect his most vulnerable places was very much to be a part of Ronon's lesson. Of course humans do not have a hard outer shell to protect them and need to protect more than one part of their bodies, but Ronon seemed especially insistent that McKay should not take his eyes off of his enemy -- and it could be that the creature had failed to heed this lesson on account of there having been three enemies surrounding it, and it does not seem like it could guard against all three of them at the same time. McKay also seems to award the killing shot to Ronon, having been able to pinpoint which shot actually had any impact on the creature even under the chaotic circumstances.
Sheppard: Which way?
McKay: I don't know. It's not showing me anything. It's useless.
Dex: This way.
It seems like Sheppard had been able to take them as long as they had been heading in the same direction as where McKay had been guiding them previously but as soon as they reach a T-junction where the corridor splits into two directions, he does not know which way to go. He asks McKay to give him something that might help him decide but he is unable to do it to his chagrin, telling Sheppard that the device is useless but very much feeling like he is useless, and we have noted before how due to his childhood McKay seems to try buying affection from people by doing things for them, and when he is unable to do acts of service to someone he cares about that McKay feels like there is no point to him.
While Sheppard and McKay are dithering about which way to go, Ronon picks one of the two directions and tells the others to follow him by announcing "this way" -- and it is unclear whether he just picked this direction at random (they do seem to be going the right way) or whether as an expert tracker he actually had noticed something that suggested Teyla and who ever she was with had gone this way. We do not even know whether they had climbed up a level from when McKay had pointed out that Teyla and her captor were either one level up or in the air shafts, and while it is unlikely Michael had dragged her into his secret lair via the air shafts, it is left open whether Ronon had actually noticed something or there was anything even there for him to notice that might have pointed him in the right way, or whether in his desire to engage his enemy he had simply rushed in where fools fear tread -- going in blind and choosing at random. But because they have no other information to go on, Sheppard and McKay decide to follow him anyway.
Back in his lair MIchael has tied Teyla to a gurney of some kind, not unlike to what they had done to the wraith Queen in the previous episode. They have a conversation reminiscing about old times and Michael gets to do some monologuing, and they very much make it seem like there are some unresolved feelings between them, like Michael resents her especially for what had been done to him because she had pretended to be his friend -- and the thing is, Teyla had very much wanted to be his friend, she had held on to hope that the cure might work because somewhere in the back of her mind Teyla must fear that what ever had been done to the DNA of her ancestors made her tainted. But because Michael had always been a dark mirror for Sheppard as a bisexual man (who, we may note, cannot decide which way to go here), their conversation contains some interesting analogues:
Michael: Do you not recall our last encounter? How you left me to die on that desolate planet? The hive that finally rescued me -- they could tell something was different. They sensed the human in me. To them, I was unclean. I barely escaped that hive with my life. So now I find myself hunted by both humans and wraith. So you can understand my need to protect myself -- to survive.
Teyla: It did not have to be like this. You could have lived with us.
Michael: As a human? My consciousness erased by your retrovirus? No. I will live the rest of my life as I choose. But I can't do it alone.
I had discussed in connection with Michael (S02E18) the possibility that Sheppard had been forced to undergo conversion therapy in his youth on account of his father's concern for their social standing. For all it may have unfortunate connotations because the wraith are villains on the show, they have been used as analogues for gay people at least since Instinct (S02E07), and their attempts at curing the wraith echoes many proposed cures and therapies for homosexuality.
Michael is a villain, and he is furthermore a villain of their own creation, but he is still made sympathetic through what he had been subjected to. Being a dark mirror for Sheppard, Michael has experienced being ostracized by two communities for being different from them, for being unclean, and it seems like he had decided that his only option now was to go it on his own -- and we may note that Sheppard too seems to have chosen celibacy at least for the time being to complete his transformation into the "man in black" whose sole purpose is to protect others -- but Michael confesses to Teyla that he does not feel like he can go it alone. It is not unironic that he would now fashion himself Dr. Frankenstein creating his own monsters when he had been subjected to Beckett's experiments, visiting the trauma he had suffered on others, the cycle of violence and abuse continuing unabated.
McKay: Must be some kind of security lockdown. Whoever took Teyla no doubt triggered it.
Sheppard: Figure how to open this up.
Dex: Stand back.
Taking the direction Ronon had picked out for them, Sheppard reaches a door that seems to be locked. McKay's quick analysis suggests that there is a security lockdown in place since the door does not appear to have any kind of an opening mechanism. Sheppard invites McKay to "figure how" to open it, and while he is telling McKay to do this because they obviously need to get to the other side to see whether they can find Teyla there, this is not exactly an order. This is Sheppard telling McKay do to it because he expects that McKay would be able to do it, not because he is being the boss of him.
We may recall that Sheppard had told Ford in The Lost Boys (S02E10) that he had chosen McKay for his team to "hack computers and open doors," and even though we have seen him do both of these things, it had never been Sheppard's reason for having McKay on -- and certainly not his only reason. While thinking that McKay might be useful to have around might have been one of the things that had initially motivated him to take McKay on, by the time he had told this to Ford he had been lying -- McKay was by then the most important person in his life and Sheppard simply could not do any of this without him. And yet he trusts that McKay would be able to open the door for them because he has yet to see a door that McKay had not been able to crack unless they have specifically been locked up in a prison cell, and even the it might only have been a matter of time.
McKay never gets to try opening this one as Ronon seems to decide that he adheres to the philosophy of Zeus from Die Hard... with a Vengeance (1995) that it "takes too fucking long," deciding to just try blasting his way through the door instead. Ronon unloads his weapon on the door without warning, seeming to scare the living daylights out of Sheppard especially -- and I have pointed out that, whether it is because he had a little sister or he has worked with explosives, McKay seems not to be as skittish when it comes to loud sudden noises, cowering and turning his face away from the explosion but not as frightened as Sheppard is. And true to form, Sheppard's fear comes out as anger, as he quickly projects his internal feeling into something that Ronon had made him feel -- and not entirely without cause in this case. As mentioned, it seems to be easier for Sheppard to deal with anger while he is out on the field, and so all of his feelings tend to be expressed as anger.
Sheppard: Jeez! You mind giving us a little more heads-up before you start blasting everything?
Dex: You got any more C4?
Whether or not Ronon understands this about Sheppard, he does not seem overly concerned when Sheppard snaps at him -- and we should note that this is the second time in the episode that Sheppard expresses his frustration at Ronon not following orders or following safety protocols, and it seems like these are very important to Sheppard. Sheppard takes safety and security -- especially of his own team, particularly that of McKay -- very seriously, and so he does not like it when a member of his own team does not adhere to his protocols for safety.
For some reason, Ronon seems to resist Sheppard's leadership in this episode, and whether it has anything to do with Sheppard having made the decision to end his relationship with McKay is unknown to us. Ronon seems to be acting out but on some level, and Sheppard has only himself to blame for Ronon not doing things the way he wants things done because Sheppard seems to have real trouble wielding authority and issuing orders, which is the actual job of a commander. We have seen indications of it before that Ronon, who had been a part of a military outfit on his planet before he had been made into a Runner by the wraith, might actually need Sheppard to give him clear orders, to give him guidelines for how to act since he has been asked to operate in a completely alien framework to him. Sheppard seems to prefer it if people just know what he wants without him having to tell them but when he is dealing with warriors who do not even share his cultural framework, this is asking for trouble.
While Sheppard had given them appropriate forewarning with his "fire in the hole" earlier when he had used C4 to destroy the nest of creatures, McKay's "You think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?" seemed like a similar reaction borne out of McKay's need to deal with his emotions, having gotten a fright in the situation even knowing that there would be an explosion. But while he had made a quip using an actual quotation, seeming to refer to a film that he and Sheppard would both be familiar with, he had not snapped at Sheppard the way Sheppard snaps at Ronon here. And often Sheppard giving Ronon some kind of criticism has been followed by a facial expression that has indicated that Sheppard does not really mean it or that he has wanted to communicate how he does not really care so much, he is not as bothered as his words might make him seem and like he has wanted to soften the blow of his words, he does seem bothered here.
The difference may be that this time McKay was in the blast zone, and we may note that Sheppard says "give us" more warning. He seems very aware of having been in this situation together with McKay, and McKay's safety is no joke to him. It is the most important thing in the world for Sheppard to make sure McKay is safe, and so exposing him to a loose gun is not something he is comfortable with. But for all Sheppard does sound honestly incensed by Ronon's rash action, Ronon is unconcerned since he likely thought he had everything under control, and so he merely turns to Sheppard and asks him if he has more C4 left, giving the scene a comedic beat. In fact, it could be Sheppard's reference to "blasting everything," which is what he had done earlier, that had given Ronon an idea.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Carson Beckett, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex
Additional Tags: Allergic reaction, allergy dismissiveness, some light Rodney McKay Whump, John Sheppard Angst, First Kiss, allergy trauma, Misunderstanding, talking things out, Hurt/Comfort, McShep - Freeform
Summary:
Rodney eats a power bar that unknowingly contained lemon juice and suddenly feels his throat itching. John does everything he can to get Rodney back to Atlantis before things get seriously out of control. Rodney takes things surprisingly well and John is suspicious.
... because I can and I've been spending some quality time with merman!John. Not that he's playing nice. No. He keeps adding his two cents to my plot and it's as frustrating as it is helpful. One can't have the Sheppard without his need for action and speed, can they? lol
(drops of teaser of the mentioned action)
Except… the wind is picking up and the but flimsy rope bridge is taking its brunt. Dammit. Now too it's started to rain again. Go figure! John rolls his eyes at the clouds before pushing on. One step at the time. Care needed to place his feet right. Elegance wins the race… not speed, not even while his clothes are getting soaked and his unseen fins are itching for a swim. No, he's on his legs here. Muscles aching. Feet now slipping too every now and then. Dammit!
(puts foot down)
No, you fool. I don't need you to delay the inevitable. McKay is coming to save your scaled ass in this chapter (fingers crossed), so there... behave, you silly Mer, so I can finish part one and tell his science heroics side of the story. Pls?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Jennifer Keller
Additional Tags: tag for Travelers, John Sheppard Whump, getting their feelings out there, sexual assault trauma, confessions during shock, Hurt/Comfort, rodney McKay angst, Positivity turned into dismissiveness, regrets of avoidance, coercion confusion, the comfort we didn't get at the end of this episode
Summary:
Tag for Travelers
Everything worked out in the end. Larrin had let him go and she was hot. She’d even kissed him and then promptly stunned him. So Rodney was jealous he’d been kidnapped by a hot girl. So what?
Maybe he was lucky it had been her instead of the wraith. Maybe. For some reason this feeling of shame hung over him and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Couldn’t shake it. Probably meant nothing.
“The shield modifications must be set to a certain frequency to absorb the blasters, otherwise they will weaken as soon as we are within range. My rival has five Hive ships according to my intel and I cannot update the systems unless you give me Admin permissions throughout the Daedalus.”
Todd explained to Hermiod in an exasperated tone for the fifth or sixth time in the past hour. Hermiod simply glowered at him as he continued to press buttons in contempt.
Ronon had his hand on his gun, ready for any escalation. Novak hiccuped. Caldwell crossed his arms. Teyla smirked, her plans proceeding well.
“Oh yes, let me just do that,” Hermiod remarked, sarcastically, “I will give you the ‘easily overpower us’ permissions of our technology any brilliant Asgard would hand over to the enemy. Do you think I am an idiot?
“You simply tell me what you wish to input and I will carefully add your desired modifications with my genius oversight. Safety first, as Dr. McKay would say.”
Todd nearly lost it with this stubborn Assgard but that last remark had him smiling again. Aha! A weakness.
“If you wish to see Dr. McKay again, you will give me those permissions.” Todd gave the faintest glimmer of a smile.
