Black Helicopters series by Whizzy (Teen to Explicit)

[mific]

Show: SGA and SG1
Rec Category: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Characters: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Radek Zelenka, Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, various other SG1 and SGA characters.
Categories: M/M (friendship, UST, then slash)
Warnings: Author chose not to warn - canon-typical violence and Goa'uld hi-jinks.
Author on DW: whizzy
Author's Website: whizzy on AO3, whizzy on LJ

Links:  Initial 6 parts of the series on AO3 (Black Helicopters at Dawn, Big Dish Guy, Wrong End of the Rescue, Tensile Strength, Black Mountainside, Blown Away)
Part 7: Blackout Conditions - on Wayback
Part 8: Black Hole Son - on Wayback
Part 9: Black Thursday - on Wayback (a WIP, only half completed)
There's also an article about the series on Fanlore, which has reviews, summaries for each part, and the links.
And there's a podfic of the first story Black Helicopters at Dawn, recorded by madnads.

Why This Must Be Read: From time to time, people ask on tumblr or LJ's sgastoryfinders how to locate the last three parts, and it was rec'd here more than 10 years ago but those old links no longer work - so I thought I'd do an up to date rec, with working links. This is a long, canon-adjacent Earth-based AU series where John works for the SGC and Rodney's initially an isolated scientist, living alone in BC with a huge radio telescope. They both get drawn into SGC dramas and across the series, events somewhat similar to those in SG1 canon unfold, up to the Battle of Antarctica.

Another story by whizzy is Fade to Black - mentioned here only to clarify that it's not part of the Black Helicopters series. It starts with a similar scenario - Rodney moving to live in northern BC by himself with the telescope and John on the radio, but it then develops into a horror story with major character deaths. Whizzy once called it an 'alpha version' as it was commenced before this series, but despite the similar setting at the beginning it's not a prequel to the Black Helicopter series as both John and Rodney are dead, by the end!

Anyway, back to Black Helicopters. Whizzy's writing and plot development are superb and the series is now as long as three novels, and a gripping read. The stories center around John and Rodney's deepening relationship and they finally resolve the UST in the 7th installment. The final part, Black Thursday, is a WIP, with only the initial half completed - it's still a great read, but it ends on a cliff-hanger. Whizzy has moved on to other fandoms, so who knows if it'll ever be completed. If you hate WIPs, the end of Blackout Conditions (Part 7) may be a good place to stop. Black Hole Son (Part 8) is a short character piece about Rodney and John, and leaves matters a little uncertain about their relationship. However, that relationship does continue, and strengthen, in Black Thursday (Part 9).

In summary, the series is a classic in Stargate fandom, and very much recommended.


"Hello? Uh, Shepherd? Hello?"

[You're supposed to say "do you copy".]

"You're still there."

[Yeah, I guess I am.] Shepherd cleared his throat. [What made you think I was dying?]

"That's always what happens in the movies." Rodney explained. "Two guys will be talking on the phone and one of them doesn't want his partner -- they're cops or something -- to know he's been fatally injured. But he's afraid to die alone, so he pretends he's okay. Instead of using the last of his strength to tell his partner where the bad guys hid the bomb, or apologize for taking the last chocolate donut that morning, or... or say goodbye, he wastes his breath on inconsequential crap while he slowly bleeds to death."

Somehow, Shepherd's silence managed to convey astonishment.

Way to go, Rodney. Tell a depressing story to a man who'd been stuck in the woods for a week. "I- Sorry. I'm a natural pessimist. I don't do reassurance well."

[I hadn't noticed. Look, I'm fine. I really am. I'm not just saying that to-]

"You're sure?"

[I'm not injured, I've got enough food and water to last me... a while, and my guys are out there right now looking for me.] That last bit was Shepherd trying to convince himself, Rodney was sure. [Rescue is just gonna take longer than expected, and I'm all settled in with nothing left to do.]

"Stir crazy," Rodney sympathized. "I'm not good at waiting either. Once, I missed a connecting flight and was stuck at the airport for five hours. It almost drove me nuts."

[Five whole hours. What a hardship,] Shepherd intoned.

"It was! Their wireless internet was down."

That earned a snort.

"We can't all have exciting stories about crash-landing in the wilderness."

Rodney knew that was a mistake as soon as it left his mouth. It had taken a lot of practice to get the tinfoil hat crowd to open up and talk to him, and Shepherd's secrets seemed to be just as jealously guarded. He needed to ease up to the information that had his curiosity salivating. Win a little trust here, give a little something back there. Not blunder in with a segue that had the grace and subtlety of a brick to the head.

[I'm going to sign off now,] Shepherd informed brusquely. [This is probably wasting more power than I can afford.]

"Wait! Can I talk to you again sometime?"

The request must have sounded awkward even to Shepherd, who took his time replying, [I'll think about it and let you know.]

"Don't you want to know my name before you go?" Rodney was grasping and knew it.

Shepherd's transmission ended with a hesitant, [Save a few surprises for next time.]
 

Comments

[popkin16]

You know, I've never read this? For a long time I had no idea whether John & Rodney actually got together, and unrelenting UST didn't appeal to me. And then I found out it did, and I put it on my "to read" list. Perhaps it's time :D

[mific]

I think you'd like it, as they're close even before the attraction starts, so it's very McSheppy throughout. :) The main impediment for them is DADT and John being cautious because of that, which isn't quite resolved in the final WIP part. But there's quite a bit of desperate self-sacrifice to save each other, showing how close their bond is.

[popkin16]

The gen fic I read has to focus on the boys too, so this really does sound like it's right up my alley!

[winter_elf]

I enjoyed the first few - then got pretty freaked out by 'fade to black' and could not read any more. I think it's been long enough that I've forgotten it mostly that I can enjoy the regular series.

[mific]

Yeah, Fade to Black is like a dark AU of the first story, and it has nothing to do with the main series. There's nothing dark like that in the rest, so you're safe.

[mistress_tien]

Thanks for putting this all in one place! I don't think I ever read past what was on AO3, so it's a treasure trove for me. I'm going to read through all of it!

[schneefink]

I should reread this series, I loved it years ago. Thanks for the reminder and the links :)