stargateficrec | Disbelief by Meg-TDJ (PG-13)

Rec Category: Rodney/Elizabeth

Category: het, drama, character study
Pairing: Rodney/Elizabeth
Warning: the author warns about slight John/Elizabeth bashing, but it's more an explaination why R/E works better than J/E, so it's only a warning for those who are extra senstive about their Sparky :)
Author on LJ:

meg_tdj
Author's Website: Gateview

Link: Disbelief

Why this must be read:

One hint of an ulterior motive in the guy, and he'd be eating through his nose. He was somewhat disappointed when he saw that the look on Rodney's face was full of awe and respect rather than anything... well, less honourable. He'd sort of been looking forward to beating the crap out of him.

Although this is a story about John discovering who Elizabeth is seeing after she turns him down, what makes it such a great piece is the way Meg describes the relationship between Rodney and Elizabeth. It isn't a relationship between two people who simply find each other attractive, but one between people who are genuinely friends. Although at first John doesn't quiet understand why Elizabeth would go for someone like Rodney, as he watches them interact he gradually comes to appreciate their relationship, which is well reflected in the pace of the story. Although it's not a very long story, it isn't rushed at all and John's thought process is very realistic. All that being said, there are also some more light hearted and humorous moments too

The longer he sat there watching them eating and chatting comfortably together, the clearer it became to him - they were friends. That wasn't all it was, of course, but it was painfully obvious to him that the core of their relationship was that they genuinely liked each other. That was something that he and Elizabeth had never really managed to attain. Sure, they did like each other, but for some reason they always seemed to be on opposite ends of any argument that cropped up. She and Rodney had some kind of deeper understanding that he would never be able to achieve with her.

He'd known it deep down ever since he'd first met them in Antarctica, but he'd been trying not to admit it to himself ever since. Elizabeth found Rodney's sarcasm and arrogance amusing... he respected her leadership in a way that he never did anyone else's... she trusted his judgment and his opinions on what should be done in any given circumstance... she was the only one who had the ability to calm him down and listen to reason whenever he went off on one of his wild tangents... whenever one was speaking, the other was listening with rapt attention... they were forever quoting each other...