stargateficrec | Through the Night by the

Show: SGA
Rec Category: Sheppard/McKay
Characters:: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Het/Slash/Gen: Slash
Warnings: None
Author on LJ:

the_cephalopod
Author's Website:
Link: Through the Night

Why This Must Be Read:

To be honest, I have every McShep story written by

the_cephalopod tucked into my +++ folder on my hard drive, the folder I go to when I need something to read that I know will make me feel better. This season one story has John and Rodney dealing with the overwhelming problems they're facing in the Pegasus galaxy and learning how sharing them can help. It's a slow building relationship mixed in with lovely details and interesting solutions and I'm always smiling at the end.

Excerpt:

He closes down the program files he has open; he’s done enough on this project for one day. He feels tired and drained, but knows it is unlikely that he’ll get any real sleep tonight until he’d at least looked at his other major project – his other responsibility as chief scientific advisor. It’s his job to select and assign his scientists to accompany the military off-world teams and it’s one he absolutely hates, loathes and despises.

Of course he knows the numerous merits of having scientists go off-world, especially given their need to find a Zed-PM, and would argue with anyone – Hammond, O’Neill, Weir, Sumner, Sheppard – for their inclusion. However, it’s one thing to send scientists through the Stargate to explore with a fully armed military team and a properly equipped planet for them to return to. It’s quite another to send them out into a galaxy crawling with Wraith and God-knows-what-else when all they have to come home to is an under-staffed and under-powered outpost which is also likely to be attacked at any moment. If they come home at all that is. It’s quite possible that if the guilt from his failure to solve their power problems doesn’t kill him, seeing his people being culled will.

He finishes powering down his various computers, grabs his favourite laptop and heads for the commissary. He just can't face this task now – this is the kind of job which necessitates breaking into the good coffee supplies. The corridors are dim and deserted as he makes his way and his dark mood is temporarily replaced with the deep sense of awe he always feels when he stops working for long enough to appreciate just where he is – in another galaxy in the lost city of Atlantis.

Sneaking into the large kitchen at the rear of the commissary to raid the coffee supplies he notices that someone has recently brewed a fresh pot. He fills his favourite mug and then wanders out to one of the balconies to look out over the moon-lit ocean and up into an alien sky. He breathes in deeply as he takes in the inescapable beauty of the scene. It's ironic really...

"Hard to imagine when it's like this, isn't it? What's really up there, waiting for us."

The sound of the low voice behind him, echoing his thoughts so perfectly, surprises him at first. Taking a sip of his coffee, Rodney walks over to Sheppard and sits down beside him on the narrow bench at the balcony's edge. Sheppard looks over and smiles sadly at him, Rodney can see ripples of his own despair reflected in his gaze. It soothes him somewhat, to know that Major John Sheppard of all people – a man who always seems so confident and sure of himself – also has nights like these. In reply to what John leaves unsaid Rodney scoots across the bench until his shoulder is resting alongside Sheppard's. As the warmth and strength from Sheppard's body flows slowly into his he feels himself relaxing.

"It certainly looks peaceful," he replies.

"But it's not." Sheppard says. As he speaks he leans to the side slightly, shifting so more of his weight is pressing into Rodney.

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it for a while," Rodney says.

Sheppard hums in agreement and they sit together in silence, looking up into the stars.

...