One Piece At A Time by argosy (PG)

[danceswithgary]

Show: SGA
Rec Category: Sheppard/McKay
Characters:: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Het/Slash/Gen: Slash
Warnings:
Author on LJ: argosy
Link: One Piece At A Time
Remix: One Peace At A Time (One Damn Thing After Another) by cupidsbow (PG)

Why This Must Be Read:

This is not just a story about building an airplane on Atlantis, it's also about John and Rodney building their relationship. The importance of both - in the original and the remix - is brought home when John doesn't return from a mission and then after he does.



Excerpt:

Sheppard should have been happy. He had his workshop, he had his mysterious project, and he had a mostly-over war when he felt like shooting things. So there was no reason for him to give Rodney the puppy-dog eyes over breakfast one morning and whine about how it had been three weeks and Rodney still hadn't been to his workshop. Rodney had rolled his eyes and taken the path of least resistance, and, after a long trek to the end of the pier which was not near any transporters (and during which walk Rodney had restrained himself from making any comments about how it was a shame the pier wasn't shorter, so that Sheppard could take a long walk off of it), here they were.

The building was an oddity for Atlantis: a one story stout square box, not beautiful in any way. The anthropologists had made some attempts to explain what the Ancients had used it for, but really who cared? It had been checked out and declared free of any surprises, nasty or helpful.

It had two huge doors, and was slightly bigger than a three-car garage on the inside, with a skylight and not much else. Except not any more. Now Sheppard had set up a workbench on one side of the room, which was covered in small tools. Rodney recognized fluting pliers, a vixen file, and a rivet gun amongst them.

"That's not good organization," he heard himself saying. All his attention was sucked elsewhere in the room, but his mouth seemed to go on autopilot. "You need a pegboard. With outlines."

He still couldn't quite catch his mouth up to his brain, and even his brain seemed frozen in place, unable to compute. Because Sheppard had set up some kind of rigging fixture, shoulder high and about thirty feet long with jigs mounted to each end. A long metal spar was braced between the jigs, and on the floor in front of that were other metal spars, and what were clearly ribs, with big round cutouts. Metal sheets lay ready on the other side of the room.

Rodney was not an expert, but he was an engineer, and it was so incredible he could barely get the words out. His voice cracked with the effort. "You're--building an airplane."

Sheppard's grin was so wide Rodney couldn't believe it still fit on his face. "Yup."

"But--" He had to sit. There. Sheppard had a chair over there. "But--" Deep breaths, try again. "But you have spaceships."

Sheppard surprised him yet again by managing to make his grin even wider. The corners of his mouth would meet in the back soon. "Yup."

He didn't seem to be getting it. "Why would you want an airplane when you have spaceships?"

Sheppard shrugged, still with that giddy look on his face. "Not the same thing."

Okay. He could understand that. Sort of. Okay, not at all, but he could see how Sheppard, the freak, could think that way. But--"Why build one? I understand they come ready-made."

Sheppard actually laughed. "I had enough trouble getting the cargo allotment for the kit pieces. This is just the wing. Besides." He was suddenly looming over Rodney and leaning in in conspiratorially which was ridiculous because they were the only two people there. "I always wanted to build a plane. Wanna help?"

For a moment it was tempting--the engineering!--but then sanity prevailed. "No. I'm much too busy with actual work--work that may save our lives--to play toy airplanes with you."

Sheppard's face fell, but the grin snuck back almost immediately. Rodney had the distinct feeling Sheppard had not taken his refusal seriously.

"Suit yourself. My door's always open if you change your mind." He turned to his rigging and began fiddling cheerfully with something Rodney couldn't see.

In fact the doors to Sheppard's workshop were made out of an Ancient alloy and were far too heavy to actually remain standing open, but Rodney took his point.

...

Comments

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

I'm consistently getting an Error 500 from the AO3 link to the remix. However, I did find it on LJ. This is the link: http://cupidsbow.livejournal.com/282801.html#cutid1

[danceswithgary]

That will teach me not to test all my links. I've corrected the AO3 link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/869

Thanks!