The Water Grinds the Stone by Auburn (mature)

[patk.livejournal.com]

Show: SGA
Rec Category: Team
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Jennifer Keller, Carson Beckett, Evan Lorne, Radek Zelenka, Chuck, Jeannie Miller, Vala Mal Doran, Samantha Carter, Cameron Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Jack O'Neill, Clone Jack O'Neill
Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Rodney McKay/Jennifer Keller, John Sheppard/OFC, Ronon Dex/OFC
Categories: Slash, Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, Crossover with SG-1, Alternate Universe
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Major Character Death
Author on LJ: auburnnothenna
Author on DW: auburn
Author's Website: Allusions: Fiction by Auburn
Link: The Water Grinds the Stone

Why This Must Be Read:

It's the third story of a series called "Salt on a Wound", it could completely be read as a standalone though the author considers "Apples" and "Sacrificial Drift" as the past happenings (back in Season 1) for this story.

How to describe this piece - best to use just one word: "epic"

According to the time stamp in the story it begins "11 October 2009, Pegasus, M4T-455 Elbix". The plot diverges from canon and weaves Atlantis and Earth (read: SGA an SG-1) together into a truly huge, epic, adventurous plotline in which, just like in real life, the lines between who are the good guys and who are the bad ones get blurry and depend heavily on the angle from which you watch the situation. There's no black or white in this regard but it's a thousand shades of grey because you can truly understand motivations, ideals and why people act like they do.

For the longest time I didn't dare to read that story because - Auburn. She has no fear of the dark and she's so good that her stories really hurt me when she decides to go darkside or even just ambigous with the plot and the end. I just don't like my heroes dead or portrayed as old geezers. ;-)

So, for the faint of heart (like me): our SGA-team is alive and well in the end though they have to undergo pretty hard times that test their loyalties, break them up temporarily and place them temporarily on opposite sides of the fence.

Though this one actually has a happy end (for our SGA core team though SG-1 doesn't get away so lucky) and throughout it all, you still feel the underlying feelings of being loyal to each other, of not considering the other one(s) as the enemy (on the contrary) - it goes so far that even John secretly ... well, I won't give away too much but Teyla then has to ... *zips mouth shut*

It's a long read, sometimes bittersweet if you think what could have been accomplished years earlier had it not been for the deeds and actions of the one or other person or a situation turning out just *so*. It's pretty much like real life but since our heroes are exactly that - heroes - it's all a size bigger: the love, the loss, the hurt, the happy and it ends in a big relived sigh of "Thank God, it worked out" by the reader.

Make sure to read the coda "The Weight of Water" as well - the story just doesn't feel complete without that one: http://archiveofourown.org/works/152837

It's a rollercoaster ride - brace yourself and: go!


"Missed you so much," John murmured against Rodney's navel.

"I want to do it," Rodney said. "I want to give something back to the Concord." Without the Concord, without Teyla's threat of the Iirijjinii ships, Earth would have kept John. "I don't trust Earth."

"We have family there."

"We have family here too."

Family that had fought for them, Rodney didn't say.

"Yeah," John said after a minute. "Yeah. Here. Let's do it."

Comments

[popkin16]

For the longest time I didn't dare to read that story because - Auburn. She has no fear of the dark and she's so good that her stories really hurt me when she decides to go darkside or even just ambigous with the plot and the end. I just don't like my heroes dead or portrayed as old geezers. ;-)

This is why I don't often read Auburn's work. She writes amazingly well, but often the subject matter is difficult for me to read. (Plus, this has John and Rodney separated for years I think, and they date other people, and it all sounds like too much angst and non-McShep for me.)

But I may give it a try because of this rec :D You haven't steered me wrong before...

[patk.livejournal.com]

Six years, if I remember correctly, but they *do* get together again and not just to sit together on a bench in the sun and wait to die of old age. Oh no, at the end of the coda they look at the distinct possibility that they will have to fight in another war again.

This story really goes beyond the "Atlantis is just an expedition from Earth" and develops it into the future. It's truly a *big*, epic story and not only because of the word count. That's why I chose it for the team category, plotwise it goes way beyond McShep but also, the plot couldn't develop like it does *without* the McShep - and without the team having been a team for years.

I wouldn't recommend it if you're in the mood for a fluffy feel-good story because this story really is a rollercoaster ride. I was frightened through reading and shouted (mentally) "Whoooo, what a ride" when I reached the end safely. I felt a little regret for the years the guys had to spend apart but without that time the freeing, (and yes, well, *epic* - in case I haven't yet mentioned that word) end wouldn't have been possible.

The relationship of the team changes through this story but in the end, what they have, is something else, the end of the story is also a new beginning, they're not only friends anymore but now have also a goal in common for which they will most likely still have to fight and the McShep in this story doesn't end with two old guys, leaning on each other to keep their arthritic bones up while shuffling into the sunset together because their work is done. ;-)

I needed time for this story, it's not something to read beween breakfast and lunch (or even dinner) and it fired up a lot of emotions in me - but I found it really worth it.