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Show: SGA
Rec Category: John Sheppard
Characters:: John Sheppard, OMC
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Warnings:
Author on LJ:
liketheriverrun
Author's Website:
Link: Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
Why This Must Be Read:
This is wonderful outsider viewpoint of John Sheppard (and his bond with his team) by one of the latecomers to Atlantis. As a rescue mission unfolds, the presumed differences between the two team leaders are revealed to be anything but.
Excerpt:
The water is only about chest deep, but the hole we fell through is a hell of a lot deeper than that so that only a small amount of light can make it down through the opening a good fifteen feet above us. My P90 is still clipped to my vest and I turn on the flashlight to scan the space we’ve fallen into. It looks like it was a man made space, maybe an attempt by the original builders to go deeper but abandoned when they hit a cavern. I’m no geologist, but the water pouring in from above seems to be from the stream we had been following on the surface dropping underground and pooling in the chamber before flowing out more slowly.
"Colonel Sheppard?" I yell over the echoing sound of falling water.
"Here," he answers, gulping air as he clings to a large chunk of the floor that fell with us and is leaning against the back wall. "You okay?"
I slosh my way over to him. "My balls have taken up permanent residence in my chest, but otherwise I’m fine."
Sheppard gives a small snort as he continues to breathe heavily between coughs. "I know… the feeling."
I use the light to look him over. As banged up as he was before the fall, it’s kind of hard to tell if there are any new injuries. "How about you?
He waves off the question then leans against the stone mass and coughs a few more times. "Just last night I was telling McKay the first thing I wanted to do when we got back was take a nice long shower." He exhales in exhaustion. "For some reason, this isn’t what I had in mind."
"Major Slater?" Polson’s head appears in the opening as he shines his own light down on us. Another chunk about the size of my fist falls from above and splashes a few feet away.
"Stay back!" I order, but his head vanishes on its own.
His voice shouts from back away from the edge. "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah," I answer in my own yell. "Just stay away from the edge so you don’t join us for a swim."
"I contacted Major Lorne to let him know what happened," he reports. I realize I didn’t hear him on the radio and that it’s apparently been lost in the fall. "Is there another way out down there?"
I scan the cavern. "Negative. The water’s getting out somehow but nothing we could fit through if we could find it. You’re going to have to bring the rappelling gear from the Jumper when they clear the hallway."
"Maybe I should go help with the digging then," the young man suggests.
"Good idea," I nod in approval even though he can’t see it. "You’ll know where to find us when you’re done. And I’ve lost my radio."
"I’ll come back to check on you in a few minutes, then," he promises.
With Polson gone, I turn my attention back to Sheppard who is shivering where he stands. The water is no doubt chilly but nothing that’s going to cause someone to go hypothermic… that is no one healthy. After what he’s been through, the cold alone could do him in. "You should get up out of the water as much as you can."
"I’m fine," he argues.
I shake my head. "No offense, Colonel, but no you’re not. You’ve had a rough few days and if you sit up on the top there, you’ll get out of the cold hopefully before you go into shock."
"You don’t need to be in here anymore than I do," Sheppard points out.
I give my best nonchalant shrug. Sure I’m cold, but if I let him in on the fact that I think so, he’ll never climb up on the stone piece. "I grew up in Wisconsin. This would be nothing more than a leisurely dip in the lake for the polar bear club I was a member of as a kid. Hell, the lake was colder than this in the summer."
"Wisconsin, huh?" he stalls, teeth chattering but not moving to climb out of the water.
I don’t push it, simply tell him breezily, "I would have worn my Badger’s jersey but it just didn’t seem like a good idea to be caught wearing a red shirt on a hostile alien planet."
"That’s an awfully good point, Major."
When he still doesn’t move, and is visibly shivering harder, I try to coax him again. "Seriously, Sir, you really need to get out of the water."
He frowns as he looks me over, convinced I’m not going into hypothermia in the immediate future, and finally says, "Give me a boost."
I do as he asks and he grimaces as he climbs up and cradles his ribs as he coughs again. I don’t know if it’s a new injury from the fall or an old one from the beatings he’s obviously taken, but in the long run it really doesn’t matter. But it does make me wonder about the last time they fed him. Reaching into my vest pocket, I pull out a Milky Way bar. "Hungry?"
He eyes it, and I can see him considering it, like he doesn’t want to seem needy but definitely wanting to take it. "You sure?"
"Oh, absolutely," I insist. "I have a whole case of them back in my quarters."
"Thanks," he mumbles and tears into it immediately.
I don’t let on that I notice how his hands are shaking as he eats it because it might be considered a weakness and that’s not something Colonel Sheppard shows very often. Hell, I’m surprised he even asked for help climbing onto the stonework he’s now perched on. He’s a good CO that way, even if he’s Air Force. He doesn’t ask anyone under his command to do anything he wouldn’t do himself… well, except for KP duty or the like. But he’s not going to throw you to the lions unless he’s the one leading the way. Some of the guys think it’s grand standing, always seeking the limelight. But you can’t deny John Sheppard and his team has been through the shit more times than most of us can count. And if they consider themselves the fucking rock stars of Atlantis, then who am I to point it out that they aren’t as invincible as they like to appear?
...
Rec Category: John Sheppard
Characters:: John Sheppard, OMC
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Warnings:
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author's Website:
Link: Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
Why This Must Be Read:
This is wonderful outsider viewpoint of John Sheppard (and his bond with his team) by one of the latecomers to Atlantis. As a rescue mission unfolds, the presumed differences between the two team leaders are revealed to be anything but.
Excerpt:
The water is only about chest deep, but the hole we fell through is a hell of a lot deeper than that so that only a small amount of light can make it down through the opening a good fifteen feet above us. My P90 is still clipped to my vest and I turn on the flashlight to scan the space we’ve fallen into. It looks like it was a man made space, maybe an attempt by the original builders to go deeper but abandoned when they hit a cavern. I’m no geologist, but the water pouring in from above seems to be from the stream we had been following on the surface dropping underground and pooling in the chamber before flowing out more slowly.
"Colonel Sheppard?" I yell over the echoing sound of falling water.
"Here," he answers, gulping air as he clings to a large chunk of the floor that fell with us and is leaning against the back wall. "You okay?"
I slosh my way over to him. "My balls have taken up permanent residence in my chest, but otherwise I’m fine."
Sheppard gives a small snort as he continues to breathe heavily between coughs. "I know… the feeling."
I use the light to look him over. As banged up as he was before the fall, it’s kind of hard to tell if there are any new injuries. "How about you?
He waves off the question then leans against the stone mass and coughs a few more times. "Just last night I was telling McKay the first thing I wanted to do when we got back was take a nice long shower." He exhales in exhaustion. "For some reason, this isn’t what I had in mind."
"Major Slater?" Polson’s head appears in the opening as he shines his own light down on us. Another chunk about the size of my fist falls from above and splashes a few feet away.
"Stay back!" I order, but his head vanishes on its own.
His voice shouts from back away from the edge. "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah," I answer in my own yell. "Just stay away from the edge so you don’t join us for a swim."
"I contacted Major Lorne to let him know what happened," he reports. I realize I didn’t hear him on the radio and that it’s apparently been lost in the fall. "Is there another way out down there?"
I scan the cavern. "Negative. The water’s getting out somehow but nothing we could fit through if we could find it. You’re going to have to bring the rappelling gear from the Jumper when they clear the hallway."
"Maybe I should go help with the digging then," the young man suggests.
"Good idea," I nod in approval even though he can’t see it. "You’ll know where to find us when you’re done. And I’ve lost my radio."
"I’ll come back to check on you in a few minutes, then," he promises.
With Polson gone, I turn my attention back to Sheppard who is shivering where he stands. The water is no doubt chilly but nothing that’s going to cause someone to go hypothermic… that is no one healthy. After what he’s been through, the cold alone could do him in. "You should get up out of the water as much as you can."
"I’m fine," he argues.
I shake my head. "No offense, Colonel, but no you’re not. You’ve had a rough few days and if you sit up on the top there, you’ll get out of the cold hopefully before you go into shock."
"You don’t need to be in here anymore than I do," Sheppard points out.
I give my best nonchalant shrug. Sure I’m cold, but if I let him in on the fact that I think so, he’ll never climb up on the stone piece. "I grew up in Wisconsin. This would be nothing more than a leisurely dip in the lake for the polar bear club I was a member of as a kid. Hell, the lake was colder than this in the summer."
"Wisconsin, huh?" he stalls, teeth chattering but not moving to climb out of the water.
I don’t push it, simply tell him breezily, "I would have worn my Badger’s jersey but it just didn’t seem like a good idea to be caught wearing a red shirt on a hostile alien planet."
"That’s an awfully good point, Major."
When he still doesn’t move, and is visibly shivering harder, I try to coax him again. "Seriously, Sir, you really need to get out of the water."
He frowns as he looks me over, convinced I’m not going into hypothermia in the immediate future, and finally says, "Give me a boost."
I do as he asks and he grimaces as he climbs up and cradles his ribs as he coughs again. I don’t know if it’s a new injury from the fall or an old one from the beatings he’s obviously taken, but in the long run it really doesn’t matter. But it does make me wonder about the last time they fed him. Reaching into my vest pocket, I pull out a Milky Way bar. "Hungry?"
He eyes it, and I can see him considering it, like he doesn’t want to seem needy but definitely wanting to take it. "You sure?"
"Oh, absolutely," I insist. "I have a whole case of them back in my quarters."
"Thanks," he mumbles and tears into it immediately.
I don’t let on that I notice how his hands are shaking as he eats it because it might be considered a weakness and that’s not something Colonel Sheppard shows very often. Hell, I’m surprised he even asked for help climbing onto the stonework he’s now perched on. He’s a good CO that way, even if he’s Air Force. He doesn’t ask anyone under his command to do anything he wouldn’t do himself… well, except for KP duty or the like. But he’s not going to throw you to the lions unless he’s the one leading the way. Some of the guys think it’s grand standing, always seeking the limelight. But you can’t deny John Sheppard and his team has been through the shit more times than most of us can count. And if they consider themselves the fucking rock stars of Atlantis, then who am I to point it out that they aren’t as invincible as they like to appear?
...