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Apr. 23rd, 2009 06:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beachlassSGA
Disclaimer: Not mine. Nothing in my hand. Nothing up my sleeve.
Warnings: mention of character death
Reason I'm not writing this: Character death. And all of the accompanying baggage of killing off female characters as a handy plot device.
Reason I did write it: I've had this scene in my head for months, and it gets in my way when I'm trying to write something else
The next of kin notification code is one Chuck more often sends out than receives. Rodney's under the console with Radek when it comes in, and he keys in a gateroom call to the other members of Sheppard's team before calling Rodney over to the console. Ronon is the first one there, and catches Rodney as he crumples.
Richard doesn't go back to Earth to negotiate. He doesn't need to, really... the team can handle the IOA, and the psychological edge of the expedition leader not coming back can only work in their favour. Instead he sends the standard packing list, amended for a orphaned girl and an unencrypted message of condolence and welcome to the Atlantis expedition. As if it's a done deal.
Madison is still clingy. Prefers to be in touching distance of her uncles, tolerates being left with Ronon or Teyla, but hasn't been out of sight of the team since they came Earthside. Since Madison was pulled out of Queen's Science Camp by the university chaplain. Since Vancouver's street racing scene took out it's latest victims.
They meet in a conference room at CFB Kingston, luggage already on the chopper that will be taking them to Trenton, with an RCAF pilot to take them on to Vancouver for the funeral. It gets off to a bad start when some officious IOA functionary tries to bar Madison from the meeting, but before that can get ugly, suddenly Jack O'Neil is in the room pulling rank. And he apparently now has clearance to bring whoever the hell he wants into briefings (and, knowing Jack, it's probably phrased that way), and so he brings Madison in and they settle into observers' chairs on the side wall.
Rodney is so paralysed by grief, it takes him 10 minutes to realize that they are trying to deny his request to take Madison back to Atlantis. After 7 straight minutes of red faced shouting (a vitriolic diatribe that makes Teyla wonder if Rodney is going to have any voice left), one of the the IOA has the nerve to ask if Rodney really intends to put his career on hold in order to raise a family. With a sneer. And Rodney stops, mid-breath, going white. John shifts, and shit, that's an expression that usually involves weapons offworld. Ronon finds his hand has strayed to one hidden knife hilt, and Teyla is poised to grab John before he kills someone.
Rodney is staring at the table, silent. And maybe only the team knows why that hits home so hard, knows the regretted years of silence when Rodney shunned Jeannie for her choice of Madison over career, but the IOA bastard senses an opportunity and presses, sneering. "Going to give up research, Dr. MacKay? Become a stay at home dad? You're under contract for another 2 years."
John's fingers almost twitch towards his holster, and then he slouches down in his chair before turning to Ronon. "How much do I need to buy out McKay'?"
Ronon blinks, and stares at the ceiling for a minute. "You'd have to liquefy those stupid racing car shares, but you could do it. " Gives a toothy smile to the other side of table and says "Richard's been teaching me contract law."
John hooks one arm over the back of his chair and stares at the Canadian Forces emblem on the wall. The team sits quietly until the IOA reps are shifting in their seats. Finally John flicks Rodney on the shoulder. "The head of the astrophysics department at the university, isn't irredeemably stupid here, is she?" Rodney looks up blankly. Suddenly John is leaning forward on the table. "See, here's the thing. Rodney may have a contract, but I'm free to take retirement anytime. And the RCAF would probably even let me fly panes, if I got bored. "
There's a quiet General O'Neil snort near the wall, and John turns on his You May Have Pointed Sticks, but I have C4 smile.
O Neil wins the Colorado betting pool (Sheppard's team, in under a half hour). The two weeks in Vancouver are awful, but what Madison remembers most is that first step through the wormhole, following her uncles home.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Nothing in my hand. Nothing up my sleeve.
Warnings: mention of character death
Reason I'm not writing this: Character death. And all of the accompanying baggage of killing off female characters as a handy plot device.
Reason I did write it: I've had this scene in my head for months, and it gets in my way when I'm trying to write something else
The next of kin notification code is one Chuck more often sends out than receives. Rodney's under the console with Radek when it comes in, and he keys in a gateroom call to the other members of Sheppard's team before calling Rodney over to the console. Ronon is the first one there, and catches Rodney as he crumples.
Richard doesn't go back to Earth to negotiate. He doesn't need to, really... the team can handle the IOA, and the psychological edge of the expedition leader not coming back can only work in their favour. Instead he sends the standard packing list, amended for a orphaned girl and an unencrypted message of condolence and welcome to the Atlantis expedition. As if it's a done deal.
Madison is still clingy. Prefers to be in touching distance of her uncles, tolerates being left with Ronon or Teyla, but hasn't been out of sight of the team since they came Earthside. Since Madison was pulled out of Queen's Science Camp by the university chaplain. Since Vancouver's street racing scene took out it's latest victims.
They meet in a conference room at CFB Kingston, luggage already on the chopper that will be taking them to Trenton, with an RCAF pilot to take them on to Vancouver for the funeral. It gets off to a bad start when some officious IOA functionary tries to bar Madison from the meeting, but before that can get ugly, suddenly Jack O'Neil is in the room pulling rank. And he apparently now has clearance to bring whoever the hell he wants into briefings (and, knowing Jack, it's probably phrased that way), and so he brings Madison in and they settle into observers' chairs on the side wall.
Rodney is so paralysed by grief, it takes him 10 minutes to realize that they are trying to deny his request to take Madison back to Atlantis. After 7 straight minutes of red faced shouting (a vitriolic diatribe that makes Teyla wonder if Rodney is going to have any voice left), one of the the IOA has the nerve to ask if Rodney really intends to put his career on hold in order to raise a family. With a sneer. And Rodney stops, mid-breath, going white. John shifts, and shit, that's an expression that usually involves weapons offworld. Ronon finds his hand has strayed to one hidden knife hilt, and Teyla is poised to grab John before he kills someone.
Rodney is staring at the table, silent. And maybe only the team knows why that hits home so hard, knows the regretted years of silence when Rodney shunned Jeannie for her choice of Madison over career, but the IOA bastard senses an opportunity and presses, sneering. "Going to give up research, Dr. MacKay? Become a stay at home dad? You're under contract for another 2 years."
John's fingers almost twitch towards his holster, and then he slouches down in his chair before turning to Ronon. "How much do I need to buy out McKay'?"
Ronon blinks, and stares at the ceiling for a minute. "You'd have to liquefy those stupid racing car shares, but you could do it. " Gives a toothy smile to the other side of table and says "Richard's been teaching me contract law."
John hooks one arm over the back of his chair and stares at the Canadian Forces emblem on the wall. The team sits quietly until the IOA reps are shifting in their seats. Finally John flicks Rodney on the shoulder. "The head of the astrophysics department at the university, isn't irredeemably stupid here, is she?" Rodney looks up blankly. Suddenly John is leaning forward on the table. "See, here's the thing. Rodney may have a contract, but I'm free to take retirement anytime. And the RCAF would probably even let me fly panes, if I got bored. "
There's a quiet General O'Neil snort near the wall, and John turns on his You May Have Pointed Sticks, but I have C4 smile.
O Neil wins the Colorado betting pool (Sheppard's team, in under a half hour). The two weeks in Vancouver are awful, but what Madison remembers most is that first step through the wormhole, following her uncles home.
