stargateficrec | Bullets by the Door by Nifra Idril

Rec Category: John Sheppard
Pairing: Sheppard/OC
Category: Atlantis
Warning: gen relationship mentioned
Author on LJ:

nifra_idril
Author's Website: Neon Nights
Link: Bullets by the Door

Why This Must Be Read:

A beatiful, stark look at John before Atlantis. It centers on his time in Afghanistan and the writing is quite franking astounding. The author does a wonderful job of painting a picture of how John is both incredibly different from his military counterparts and yet how he is the same. I can see the John portrayed here as the John that first stepped through that wormhole to Atlantis. Amazing work.

Excerpt:
The officer's tent is the smallest, dankest place in the whole world, and John hates it almost as much as he hates the maps that cover every surface of the place, almost as much as he hates the ass jockeys shouting over one another, each with a plan fucking stupider than the last one. The Colonel's a nice enough guy, but he listens to them too much, argues back, and they don't know what the hell they're talking about. If John said something, he'd probably listen to that, too, but it's not worth it. It's not worth a damned thing to say shit in this tent, because even if the bastards do stop talking long enough to listen, they don't *hear*, they're too busy smiling at their own strategies, too busy being pleased with themselves and thinking about how fast they can climb up the ranks. The officer's tent is a ladder, and John is just not interested in climbing.

He wants to be back outside, in his helicopter, in the card game, walking through the village, whatever. He wants to be back with the men, who are actual people, instead of these strategies shaped like people.