Redemption by esteefee

[em_kellesvig]

Show: Stargate Atlantis
Rec Category: Crossover: Fusion
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Het/Slash/Gen: Slash
Warning: None
Author on LJ: esteefee
Author's Website: esteefee
Link: Redemption

Why this must be read: As a crossover with SG1 and a fusion with The Sentinel, "Redemption" covers this category twice over. esteefee creates a world where Sentinels are second-class citizens, Guides can be anyone, and the bond can be broken, if necessary.

With these factors in play, "Redemption" takes a thoughtful look at John Sheppard as a Sentinel without a Guide who hides his true nature and ends up undone by his instincts. Rodney McKay, who isn't a Guide and doesn't know if he wants to become one, gets pulled along as John tries to adapt to life as a known Sentinel – and life at the bizarre world of the SGC. Exciting, funny, sexy, and a little heartbreaking, this story does what fusions do best: it highlights the hidden depths in familiar characters and lets them shine.



Carson held up something tiny and cylindrical in his gloved hand. "It's a combined locator and SID chip. We put it in the thigh muscle."

Fuck. John had managed to forget—again—about the chip. And Kawalsky had said something about a locator. He stood up and unbuttoned his ABU pants, letting them drop down to his ankles, and then hopped back up on the gurney, boots and all, feeling like a sullen kid.

He distanced himself from the sting of the local, from the sound of his own flesh parting under the scalpel, and from Carson's droning voice as he explained what he was doing as he cut into John's leg and implanted the chip and locator; all John could think was he'd successfully evaded this for thirty-five years, only to get trapped by his own stupidity. And now he was caught for life. Marked. He'd have to change his identity, dig this thing out of himself if he ever wanted to be free again—

He cut off the thought and found himself listening for McKay.

"See? Right there—you owe me a Twinkie, Radek. The power supply isn't stable enough to interrupt the frequency—"

"Okay. We re-run the simulation with new power source, maybe trillium based—"

"No, don't be ridiculous, a naquadah-ion—

"There. All done." Carson patted his leg, and John's deadened nerves twitched painfully to life, a sizzle shooting up his leg. "Now, just remain still for a moment." Carson held up a small unit and thumbed a control, then nodded when it beeped. The sound gave John a chill that lifted the hair on his neck.

Carson gave him a sympathetic smile. "All right, Major. Be sure to let me know if you feel any unusual reaction to the local or to the materials we use. We'll remove your stitches in a week. Now off you go to the next round of tests."

John hopped off the gurney, ignoring the throbbing in his leg, and yanked his pants back up. "Will do."

The walls felt heavier around him now, narrowed corridors of cement and metal, and helpless rage burned in his chest as he strode off.