stargateficrec | When you know you were born to fly by justbreathe80 (NC17)

Show: SGA

Rec Category: Alternate universe
Characters: Rodney McKay John Sheppard Ronon Dex Teyla Emmagan Carson Beckett Laura Cadman Chuck Campbell
Pairings: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Categories: Alternate Universe Romance Angst
Warnings: Adult Themes
Author on LJ:

justbreathe80
Author's Website: And sometimes I just want to go back
Link: when you know you were born to fly part 1 of 2 with links to part 2
Author's Website: justbreathe80 On AO3
Link: when you know you were born to fly On AO3

Why This Must Be Read: The summary says: "Ladies and gentleman, welcome aboard Atlantis Air flight number 1641. This is Captain Sheppard on the flight deck. I'll be flying you to San Francisco today, with First Officer Dex on my right. Approximate flight time this afternoon is six hours and thirty four minutes. The weather in the Bay Area is partly cloudy with some fog, and fifty four degrees. We're expecting a smooth flight, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight to San Francisco."

John Sheppard is a Captain for Atlantis Air his route is Boston to San Francisco and he flies back and forth twice a week. Rodney is a lecturing professor at MIT but flies to San Francisco to lecture at Berkley one a week so he is a regular passenger on the Atlantis Air route plane.

Then one day Rodney McKay walks or rather boards his plane and crashes into Captain John Sheppard’s life.

So there you go. I feel for John in this. All he has is flying, his few friends and co-workers and he is lonely, I can almost feel him crying out Mayday but he keeps himself closed off to everything and everyone all he has is the sky.

It was a clear day at that point, and John could see upstate New York, the wide open spread of the Lake Erie below them. They were headed due west and would start to turn just a little south pretty soon. John leaned back and let Ronon take over for a few minutes. Ronon didn't say anything when John handed over the controls, just grunted and kept his eyes out the front window of the cockpit. John closed his eyes for a moment, stretching his arms up over his head and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his too-stiff white shirt.
He was about to take over again when the phone from the passenger cabin started to ring. "Sheppard," John said after picking it up.

"Hello, John," Teyla's voice was even, although she didn't really sound her normal self. They'd been flying this route together since John was a made a captain five years ago, and she even lived two floors down from him in his apartment building. He wouldn't call them best friends, but he knew Teyla as well as he knew anyone.

"What's up, Teyla?"

"Well, I hate to bother you, but we have a very irritated first class passenger who may, if he continues as he is, cause Laura to punch him in the face."

"Okay..." John said, curious. Laura packed a mean right hook.

"Chuck is with her, and Carson's coming up as soon as he serves his last few drinks, but it does not look good."

"What's he so pissed off about?" John asked.

"The chicken piccata, apparently. He has accused us of trying to murder him, and he is making the other passengers nervous."

John sighed. He really hated getting involved in what happened with the passengers - half the time he tried not to think about the fact that he was responsible for over two hundred people for thirty-five hundred miles on a regular basis. It wasn't that he didn't take it seriously, but it was sometimes a burden that rested heavy across his shoulders.

"Okay, fine, fine. I'm coming back."

"Thank you," Teyla said crisply, and hung up the phone.

John hung up the phone and Ronon glanced over. "Problem in the cabin?"

"Disgruntled passenger - something about death by chicken piccata. You okay up here?" John quickly buttoned his shirt back up.

"Got it," Ronon said, waving him off.

John unlocked the cockpit door and walked out into the beverage service area before the first class section. He could see clear through to the coach seats, and just seeing all of those people packed tightly together like sardines made him feel claustrophobic and a little panicky.

At first, John wasn't sure how he'd know who Teyla was talking about, but then he caught sight of Laura's smooth, red hair, pulled back into a bun, and he could hear a man talking loudly, working up a real good head of steam. Chuck and Carson were standing in the aisle, looking at Laura's clenched fists in worry.
"Okay," John said, stepping in just to Laura's left and shooting what he hoped was a reassuring smile at the young woman sitting on the angry man's right. "What seems to be the trouble here?"