stargateficrec | Vujà Dé by quasar (E)

Show: SGA

Rec Category: Time Travel
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Dave Sheppard, Patrick Sheppard, Carson Beckett, Radek Zelenka
Pairings: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Categories: slash
Warnings: Underage but both John and Rodney are teenagers, so no power imbalance, and only the adult John/Rodney relationship is explicit.
Author on LJ:

quasar
Author's Website: see the AO3
Link: Vujà Dé on AO3

Why This Must Be Read: This has one or two similarities to Teenage Kicks but the premise is different - Teenaged John back in the past is badly affected by a (you guessed it) ancient device his adult self uses in the future. This time it's Rodney to the rescue, to set right what's gone wrong in the past. An engaging story and an interesting portrayal of the dysfunctional Sheppard family, as adolescent John struggles to make sense of what's happening to him. As with all "they meet as teens well before canon" stories the ending's a little sad, but we can console ourselves with our knowledge of what lies ahead.

Author's summary: It's bad enough being a teenager and probably gay, but going crazy makes it all worse.

"Are you feeling troubled lately, John? Problems at home, maybe?"

He knew the answer to that one. "No, sir."

"How are your classes going?"

"Fine. I mean, I made a mistake on the big chemistry experiment last quarter, but I think I can still pull an A. All the other classes are good."

"How do you like English class?"

John shrugged. "It's okay." Not as much fun as math class, but it was easy. He could relax for an hour.

"Do you like Mr. Randolph?"

"He's okay." Mr. Randolph was the one who'd broken up the fight earlier. John frowned, as he started to see a trend to the questions. "Did I do something wrong in English class?"

"Mr. Randolph mentioned you had a test on Monday."

"Yeah, on War and Peace. I think I did okay."

Mr. Davis was quiet for too long, a faint frown between his eyebrows. "Do you like War and Peace?" he asked at last.

"It's all right. Pretty dense. I'm only --" Up to page 121, he almost said. But he had finished the book the day before the test.

No, he'd finished A Farewell to Arms. The test was on Ernest Hemingway. He'd never read War and Peace, not even partway.

"Um," said John.

"Mr. Randolph said you answered all the questions as if you were referring to a different book."

"Uh." John didn't actually remember the test in any detail, because he'd had one of his visions right before class -- not zombies, but robots that looked just like people. So he'd been sort of distracted, but awake, or at least he thought so. "I guess I got mixed up."

Mr. Davis looked very grave. "John, I'm sorry to have to ask you this. Have you been taking drugs?"