Fic: Ashes to Ashes
Jul. 14th, 2006 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libra_travellerTitle: Ashes to Ashes
Author: libra_traveller
Rating: R
Summary: John tags along as Rodney goes to Earth to visit his sister. Someone gets to her first.
Author’s Note: Betaed by Kirsteen
The plane ride was grueling after weeks in the Daedalus. Sitting still had never been John or Rodney’s forte. Not to mention, the space ship now seemed luxurious compared to this airliner. There had been beds and comfortable chairs; here the seats were incredibly small. At least he was not alone, which still surprised him. He had yet to figure out why John Sheppard had decided to come with him. Though John had assured Rodney that he just needed some relaxation after their last battle with the Wraith, Rodney had the feeling that he was watching over him by coming on this trip. Either way, it was nice to have company on this trip to Toronto to visit his sister Jeannie, even if John was being overprotective.
Though Rodney had thought a little bit about his upcoming reunion with his sister while on Atlantis, it was not until he was actually on his way that he began to agonize over what he would say to her. Since he had not seen her in five years, and they had parted on less than pleasant terms, he was afraid his presence would be unwelcome. Still he knew that reconnecting with her was the only way that he could feel complete again. When they were younger they had been very close. Since coming to Atlantis and being reminded what a true family meant, he found that he truly missed Jeannie, and without her he had been miserable. Granted this took a lot for him to come to admit, but nearly dying several times made him revaluate his life.
So for the several weeks in the Daedalus, Rodney had fretted off an on about how to approach his sister. There were the simple things, such as would she allow him to hug her or would she be standoffish. She did in fact have every right to treat him that way. For years since their parents died, they had fought. It started with him wanting to selfishly get as much money off of their parents’ possessions while she wanted to keep all of it. Of course Rodney needed the money to fund his research but thinking back he could sort of understand her sentimental need to keep all the stuff he considered junk. After that they seemed to nitpick each other’s decisions. Whenever he had a girlfriend Jeannie hated them, saying they were snobbish, or making some remark about their intellect and him needing to be the smart one in the relationship. Of course he in kind would go out of his way to be mean to any guy she got involved with. When he let the military have involvement in his research she thought he was selling out. They had a huge argument over this, and he may have argued more vehemently because he thought the same thing.
Over the years they kept in contact mostly through letters and the rare phone call. The problem was that most of those letters from both of them were more about what they were up to and never about how they were actually feeling. Back when they were seven and had a better idea of what feelings really were, they always shared, from their secret crushes to anger at their parents. When their Mom and Dad died, nine months apart, their Mom from cancer, and their Dad from his a car crashing into a tree after drinking too much, Rodney and Jeannie stopped expressing how they felt. They grieved and it could have been the chance to become even closer but instead they both held it in and tried to move on with life. For his part, Rodney subconsciously pulled apart from her because the pain of losing his parents hurt so much that he did not want to risk that anguish in the future if he ever lost Jeannie.
In Atlantis he had grown to admire many of the scientists that worked with him. The loss of many of them affected his outlook on life, making him realize that if he ever did lose his sister no matter how far apart they had grown it would still devastate him. So in his mind it would be better that he showed how much he cared before that could ever happen. Plus in all probability he would be the one to die, and he wanted her to know he loved her before that happened. This is why he was on a plane so that he could see his baby sister again.
All good notions aside, he was going stir crazy with nothing to do. It had been even worse on the Daedalus. Mostly during the trip he typed in his laptop about various theories and equations, not quite able to let go of his work even though this was supposed to be his vacation. John made sure to keep him from drowning in the problems, dragging him through corridors on walks, eating together, playing cards, and watching movies. Sometimes they simply stayed up chatting about random things, occasionally they ventured to talk about their pasts. John coming with him actually gave them an opportunity to become closer friends. Rodney talked for the first time about the stupid children’s games he had played with his sister. John mentioned similar games he had played with his cousins, as he had no siblings of his own. Still, often times they were simply bored out of their minds, the inaction hard to accept after a year of impending crisis.
At least on the Daedalus they had been able to get up and walk around, just sitting on this plane was affecting Rodney physically and mentally. The flight attendant played various silly movies that were implausible and simplistic in their plot. It could have been fun to complain about the movies to John, but of course he decided now was a good time to sleep. Rodney could not sleep though because he kept wondering what his sister looked like. The last time he saw her she had let her brown hair grow long and was wearing a sleek black dress at a function where Rodney had been honored for one of his theories. She had brought her husband Mac who liked to antagonize Rodney no end. After the ceremony at a restaurant they had argued, publicly to the point where Jeannie had to drag them apart. She and Mac left after that. She never did forgive him as she refused to answer any of his phone calls. That had been the last straw in a mountain full of fights between Jeannie and Rodney. Hopefully when they met up today they could finally move past that and eventually be as inseparable as they used to be.
John woke up an hour before they were supposed to land, wiping his crust-filled eyelids. “We almost there?” he croaked. He coughed to clear his throat. “Is she supposed to meet us?” He stretched his arms and looked at Rodney.
“Yeah, I called ahead and she said she’ll be waiting for us. If she isn’t in the departure lounge she said to look in the café.” Rodney tucked his scientific journal into his hand luggage; he had been reading it when his eyes started to blur from watching the tiny television, but now that Sheppard was awake it was no longer necessary. “We’ll be there in forty minutes, at least that’s what the flight attendant said before you woke up.” Rodney looked around John and out the window at the thin white clouds. They had fought for the window seat, but since John loved being up in the air and dearly wanted to see an Earth sky from up above again, he had won. Though why he wanted it and then instantly fell asleep, Rodney could not fathom.
John glanced out the window then looked to his right at Rodney. “Would you mind if I just go to the restroom?” He glanced down at Rodney’s cramped legs that were blocking the way.
“Not a problem.” Rodney stood to let him out, glad for any excuse to stretch his legs. When John returned, Rodney was sitting in the window seat. Rodney smiled smugly, and John sighed, but did not make a scene.
“You never did explain where we would be staying. Does your sister have an extra room or are we staying at a motel?” John hailed down a flight attendant and asked for some water.
“Oh I’m sure she has room for us, but she said, ‘I lived with you for twenty years of my life, that’s quite enough’. So we’re staying at a hotel, since we can afford it.” Rodney had retrieved his laptop while John had been away. He originally had not wanted to get it out as it would remind him of the one he had to leave at the SGC because of the classified information, and therefore could not do any work on it. Still at this point, he had to do something so he tried writing out what he would say to her.
“Right.” John sipped from the water bottle he was handed. “You guys aren’t going to get into a fight as soon as we land are you? Because I remember enough of sibling squabbles from my cousins, and they were quite unpleasant to watch.”
“We’re not going to fight. At least not in front of people. If anything we’ll save it until we’re behind closed doors. The one to worry about is that idiotic man she married. He likes to rile me up. I have no idea why.” Rodney looked thoughtfully at the screen.
“Probably because you call him idiotic, to his face I imagine.” John fiddled with the label on his water.
“Maybe. I may also have made some less than stellar remarks at their wedding reception. People aren’t supposed to get along with their in-laws anyways.” They sat comfortably for thirty minutes as the plane began to descend.
After the plane landed at Pearson International Airport, they grabbed their carry-ons and walked out of the plane. John elbowed Rodney as they were leaving. “So what’s Jeannie’s middle name?”
Rodney rubbed his side. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I figure if I tell her you told me her middle name, she’ll retaliate by telling me your middle name.” John smirked.
“No way.“ Rodney started looking around for his sister.
John stood next to him. “Maybe she’s late?”
“She has never been late for anything in her life, she was even born on time.” Rodney began moving towards the café while John went and got their luggage. There was only a couple people at the café sitting down drinking. Most of the tables were empty. There was a blue coat on one of the chairs but no one sat there. Rodney walked towards it automatically. On the table was an envelope that in big block letters said ‘To Doctor Rodney McKay’. He blinked, wondering if it could be from his sister, but it did not seem her style to not show up and leave something in her place, unless she was that mad at him. Rodney carefully picked it up.
John came up to him with the luggage, staring down at Rodney’s hands holding the envelope. “Let’s not open it here. I have a bad feeling about this.” Rodney nodded, his chest tight. He grabbed his luggage and they walked out of the airport. John hailed down a taxi cab and they put their stuff in it.
“Where you headed?” The cab driver glanced back at them.
Rodney looked from John to the cab driver. “Eglinton Ave.” Rodney looked to John. “Jeannie lives in an apartment on that street.”
John looked him in the eye, “I’m sure we’ll find out that she was busy and forgot to get here on time.”
“And the envelope?” Rodney held it in his hands.
“Go ahead and open it now that no one’s around to see its contents.” John rested his hand on Rodney’s arm that was shaking.
Rodney quickly tore it open. Inside were pictures of Jeannie at a grocery store, walking to a car, holding a man’s hand in a park. There was also a paper that said, ‘We have her. The Trust’. “Oh my God.”
John grabbed the paper from Rodney. There was nothing on the back. He looked in the envelope, past the pictures, and found a gray plastic bag with the words ‘Top Secret’ on it. He tore it open at the crease. Inside was information and schematics of the Daedalus. Also inside was information about the Atlantis Mission. There was a red paper that said ‘We need the coordinates to the Pegasus Galaxy and the City of Atlantis. You can find our contact in the Fairhaven Park’ And it gave a warning not to involve the SGC or Jeannie Herndon would be harmed.
“I can’t believe this. How the hell did they get the information on the Daedalus?” John said darkly. “This must mean they’ve built their own ship.” He glanced at the cab driver who was pretending not to be listening.
John sat back, wondering how The Trust had managed to get that information. Hell, their organization was supposed to be destroyed. What worried him the most was what they planned to do if they ever made it to Atlantis. They obviously wanted weapons; maybe they expected to be able to get the drones they found and a ZPM and take over the Antarctica outpost. Who knows what they would do from there.
Rodney sat there in shock. His sister had been taken. What were they doing to her? Were all his hopes of reconnecting pointless now, was she dead? The Trust could do anything to her. She was in so much danger and he could hardly breathe thinking of it. Now they were going to go tell her husband that Rodney’s work had gotten his wife kidnapped.
John looked over at Rodney who appeared to be turning blue. John grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “Breathe Rodney, deep breaths.” Rodney looked at him. “We’re going to get her back. We will.”
tbc
Author: libra_traveller
Rating: R
Summary: John tags along as Rodney goes to Earth to visit his sister. Someone gets to her first.
Author’s Note: Betaed by Kirsteen
The plane ride was grueling after weeks in the Daedalus. Sitting still had never been John or Rodney’s forte. Not to mention, the space ship now seemed luxurious compared to this airliner. There had been beds and comfortable chairs; here the seats were incredibly small. At least he was not alone, which still surprised him. He had yet to figure out why John Sheppard had decided to come with him. Though John had assured Rodney that he just needed some relaxation after their last battle with the Wraith, Rodney had the feeling that he was watching over him by coming on this trip. Either way, it was nice to have company on this trip to Toronto to visit his sister Jeannie, even if John was being overprotective.
Though Rodney had thought a little bit about his upcoming reunion with his sister while on Atlantis, it was not until he was actually on his way that he began to agonize over what he would say to her. Since he had not seen her in five years, and they had parted on less than pleasant terms, he was afraid his presence would be unwelcome. Still he knew that reconnecting with her was the only way that he could feel complete again. When they were younger they had been very close. Since coming to Atlantis and being reminded what a true family meant, he found that he truly missed Jeannie, and without her he had been miserable. Granted this took a lot for him to come to admit, but nearly dying several times made him revaluate his life.
So for the several weeks in the Daedalus, Rodney had fretted off an on about how to approach his sister. There were the simple things, such as would she allow him to hug her or would she be standoffish. She did in fact have every right to treat him that way. For years since their parents died, they had fought. It started with him wanting to selfishly get as much money off of their parents’ possessions while she wanted to keep all of it. Of course Rodney needed the money to fund his research but thinking back he could sort of understand her sentimental need to keep all the stuff he considered junk. After that they seemed to nitpick each other’s decisions. Whenever he had a girlfriend Jeannie hated them, saying they were snobbish, or making some remark about their intellect and him needing to be the smart one in the relationship. Of course he in kind would go out of his way to be mean to any guy she got involved with. When he let the military have involvement in his research she thought he was selling out. They had a huge argument over this, and he may have argued more vehemently because he thought the same thing.
Over the years they kept in contact mostly through letters and the rare phone call. The problem was that most of those letters from both of them were more about what they were up to and never about how they were actually feeling. Back when they were seven and had a better idea of what feelings really were, they always shared, from their secret crushes to anger at their parents. When their Mom and Dad died, nine months apart, their Mom from cancer, and their Dad from his a car crashing into a tree after drinking too much, Rodney and Jeannie stopped expressing how they felt. They grieved and it could have been the chance to become even closer but instead they both held it in and tried to move on with life. For his part, Rodney subconsciously pulled apart from her because the pain of losing his parents hurt so much that he did not want to risk that anguish in the future if he ever lost Jeannie.
In Atlantis he had grown to admire many of the scientists that worked with him. The loss of many of them affected his outlook on life, making him realize that if he ever did lose his sister no matter how far apart they had grown it would still devastate him. So in his mind it would be better that he showed how much he cared before that could ever happen. Plus in all probability he would be the one to die, and he wanted her to know he loved her before that happened. This is why he was on a plane so that he could see his baby sister again.
All good notions aside, he was going stir crazy with nothing to do. It had been even worse on the Daedalus. Mostly during the trip he typed in his laptop about various theories and equations, not quite able to let go of his work even though this was supposed to be his vacation. John made sure to keep him from drowning in the problems, dragging him through corridors on walks, eating together, playing cards, and watching movies. Sometimes they simply stayed up chatting about random things, occasionally they ventured to talk about their pasts. John coming with him actually gave them an opportunity to become closer friends. Rodney talked for the first time about the stupid children’s games he had played with his sister. John mentioned similar games he had played with his cousins, as he had no siblings of his own. Still, often times they were simply bored out of their minds, the inaction hard to accept after a year of impending crisis.
At least on the Daedalus they had been able to get up and walk around, just sitting on this plane was affecting Rodney physically and mentally. The flight attendant played various silly movies that were implausible and simplistic in their plot. It could have been fun to complain about the movies to John, but of course he decided now was a good time to sleep. Rodney could not sleep though because he kept wondering what his sister looked like. The last time he saw her she had let her brown hair grow long and was wearing a sleek black dress at a function where Rodney had been honored for one of his theories. She had brought her husband Mac who liked to antagonize Rodney no end. After the ceremony at a restaurant they had argued, publicly to the point where Jeannie had to drag them apart. She and Mac left after that. She never did forgive him as she refused to answer any of his phone calls. That had been the last straw in a mountain full of fights between Jeannie and Rodney. Hopefully when they met up today they could finally move past that and eventually be as inseparable as they used to be.
John woke up an hour before they were supposed to land, wiping his crust-filled eyelids. “We almost there?” he croaked. He coughed to clear his throat. “Is she supposed to meet us?” He stretched his arms and looked at Rodney.
“Yeah, I called ahead and she said she’ll be waiting for us. If she isn’t in the departure lounge she said to look in the café.” Rodney tucked his scientific journal into his hand luggage; he had been reading it when his eyes started to blur from watching the tiny television, but now that Sheppard was awake it was no longer necessary. “We’ll be there in forty minutes, at least that’s what the flight attendant said before you woke up.” Rodney looked around John and out the window at the thin white clouds. They had fought for the window seat, but since John loved being up in the air and dearly wanted to see an Earth sky from up above again, he had won. Though why he wanted it and then instantly fell asleep, Rodney could not fathom.
John glanced out the window then looked to his right at Rodney. “Would you mind if I just go to the restroom?” He glanced down at Rodney’s cramped legs that were blocking the way.
“Not a problem.” Rodney stood to let him out, glad for any excuse to stretch his legs. When John returned, Rodney was sitting in the window seat. Rodney smiled smugly, and John sighed, but did not make a scene.
“You never did explain where we would be staying. Does your sister have an extra room or are we staying at a motel?” John hailed down a flight attendant and asked for some water.
“Oh I’m sure she has room for us, but she said, ‘I lived with you for twenty years of my life, that’s quite enough’. So we’re staying at a hotel, since we can afford it.” Rodney had retrieved his laptop while John had been away. He originally had not wanted to get it out as it would remind him of the one he had to leave at the SGC because of the classified information, and therefore could not do any work on it. Still at this point, he had to do something so he tried writing out what he would say to her.
“Right.” John sipped from the water bottle he was handed. “You guys aren’t going to get into a fight as soon as we land are you? Because I remember enough of sibling squabbles from my cousins, and they were quite unpleasant to watch.”
“We’re not going to fight. At least not in front of people. If anything we’ll save it until we’re behind closed doors. The one to worry about is that idiotic man she married. He likes to rile me up. I have no idea why.” Rodney looked thoughtfully at the screen.
“Probably because you call him idiotic, to his face I imagine.” John fiddled with the label on his water.
“Maybe. I may also have made some less than stellar remarks at their wedding reception. People aren’t supposed to get along with their in-laws anyways.” They sat comfortably for thirty minutes as the plane began to descend.
After the plane landed at Pearson International Airport, they grabbed their carry-ons and walked out of the plane. John elbowed Rodney as they were leaving. “So what’s Jeannie’s middle name?”
Rodney rubbed his side. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I figure if I tell her you told me her middle name, she’ll retaliate by telling me your middle name.” John smirked.
“No way.“ Rodney started looking around for his sister.
John stood next to him. “Maybe she’s late?”
“She has never been late for anything in her life, she was even born on time.” Rodney began moving towards the café while John went and got their luggage. There was only a couple people at the café sitting down drinking. Most of the tables were empty. There was a blue coat on one of the chairs but no one sat there. Rodney walked towards it automatically. On the table was an envelope that in big block letters said ‘To Doctor Rodney McKay’. He blinked, wondering if it could be from his sister, but it did not seem her style to not show up and leave something in her place, unless she was that mad at him. Rodney carefully picked it up.
John came up to him with the luggage, staring down at Rodney’s hands holding the envelope. “Let’s not open it here. I have a bad feeling about this.” Rodney nodded, his chest tight. He grabbed his luggage and they walked out of the airport. John hailed down a taxi cab and they put their stuff in it.
“Where you headed?” The cab driver glanced back at them.
Rodney looked from John to the cab driver. “Eglinton Ave.” Rodney looked to John. “Jeannie lives in an apartment on that street.”
John looked him in the eye, “I’m sure we’ll find out that she was busy and forgot to get here on time.”
“And the envelope?” Rodney held it in his hands.
“Go ahead and open it now that no one’s around to see its contents.” John rested his hand on Rodney’s arm that was shaking.
Rodney quickly tore it open. Inside were pictures of Jeannie at a grocery store, walking to a car, holding a man’s hand in a park. There was also a paper that said, ‘We have her. The Trust’. “Oh my God.”
John grabbed the paper from Rodney. There was nothing on the back. He looked in the envelope, past the pictures, and found a gray plastic bag with the words ‘Top Secret’ on it. He tore it open at the crease. Inside was information and schematics of the Daedalus. Also inside was information about the Atlantis Mission. There was a red paper that said ‘We need the coordinates to the Pegasus Galaxy and the City of Atlantis. You can find our contact in the Fairhaven Park’ And it gave a warning not to involve the SGC or Jeannie Herndon would be harmed.
“I can’t believe this. How the hell did they get the information on the Daedalus?” John said darkly. “This must mean they’ve built their own ship.” He glanced at the cab driver who was pretending not to be listening.
John sat back, wondering how The Trust had managed to get that information. Hell, their organization was supposed to be destroyed. What worried him the most was what they planned to do if they ever made it to Atlantis. They obviously wanted weapons; maybe they expected to be able to get the drones they found and a ZPM and take over the Antarctica outpost. Who knows what they would do from there.
Rodney sat there in shock. His sister had been taken. What were they doing to her? Were all his hopes of reconnecting pointless now, was she dead? The Trust could do anything to her. She was in so much danger and he could hardly breathe thinking of it. Now they were going to go tell her husband that Rodney’s work had gotten his wife kidnapped.
John looked over at Rodney who appeared to be turning blue. John grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “Breathe Rodney, deep breaths.” Rodney looked at him. “We’re going to get her back. We will.”
tbc
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no subject
on 2006-07-18 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-07-18 02:48 am (UTC)I don't like what I originally wrote for the second half so I have to start over from scratch, but hopefully it'll be better. I'll try to write fast.