Letters from Milky Way by fydyan (PG)

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

Show: Stargate Atlantis
Rec Category: Rodney McKay
Characters: Rodney McKay
Pairing: McKay/Dex
Het/Slash/Gen: Slash
Warning/Spoilers: None | "The Return (part 1)"; "McKay & Mrs. Miller"
Author on LJ: fydyan
Author's Website: None found.
Link: Letters from Milky Way

Why this must be read:
Summary: Rodney writes. Rodney tries to write. (581 words)

"The Return" was a rich inspiration for fic writers — the expedition was abruptly evicted from Pegasus, severed from their friends and allies ... and then almost seven months passed before the second part aired! "Letters" is a brief, sharp exploration of Rodney's mental state during this exile, framed as an attempt to communicate with a lost love. (I don't personally subscribe to the author's theory explaining the final word, but a good case is made for it in the comments and it does suit the story.) Rodney's disorientation and alienation come through clearly, amid his struggle to find the right words, in a style that just works for the subject.

Excerpt:
What's the point of concealed weapons if everyone knows you're carrying them? As if I have to tell you. They say we're safe. They say "secure base". In soft voices, from a distance. Idiots. And they don't believe. There hasn't been a war. The whole concept of. The whole reality of. A siege is fantasy. They haven't found all my knives yet.