“Newton, get down!” Rodney grumbled as he plucked his cat off his desk for the umpteenth time. Sighing, he put him in his lap instead, petting the cat while he continued to go through his mail. It had piled up during his time in Antarctica, and while he’d canceled any subscriptions and put a permanent redirect for everything else to the SGC on it effective today, he still wanted to make sure he hadn’t missed anything important.
Not to mention, this would be his last chance to catch up on the latest in the science community, and one of his favorite hobbies – if one could call it that – was to rip other people’s papers apart, pointing out every glaring mistake he could find. It had been years since he’d been able to put anything in print himself, and there were times when he regretted the sacrifice that working for the SGC brought with it. Not that he didn’t have several papers written and waiting to be released as soon as the program declassified. All the scientists in the program had them, and he’d read most of them. They had to be their own peer board, after all.
Scouring through the article in front of him, Rodney scoffed at the headline ‘Friends have more DNA in common than strangers’. Shaking his head, he automatically began to toss it on the discard pile. “Just what we need. More voodoo crap being pawned off as science,” he muttered to Newton, who meowed in response.
Rodney was already reading through another paper, this time about DNA sequencing in mice, and how they’d successfully introduced rat DNA, thereby creating a viable cross-breed. Rolling his eyes, he flung it aside, too. Newton jumped back on the table and pawed at the paper, meowing. Rodney chuckled softly, scratching Newton behind the ear. “What is it, boy?” Another meow was his answer and Rodney sighed. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. This seems like something up Caron’s alley. Mac’s, too. I’ll pass it along to them, how’s that?” A satisfied meow followed by a headbutt against Rodney’s chest was Newton’s reply.
Lifting the cat up, Rodney cradled him in his arms as he got to his feet. “I’m going to miss you, you little furball,” he said, pressing a kiss to Newton’s head. “You’ve been the best friend I’ve ever had, Newton. I wish you could come with me, but we’re not allowed pets.” Rodney walked over to the kitchen, his face twisting in displeasure at the sight of all Newton’s food ready and waiting to be delivered to his neighbor.
“Guess I can understand, though, even if I don’t like it. I mean, who knows where we’ll end up and how safe it’ll be. Better you’re here, where I know you’ll be taken care of.”
Newton gave what sounded like a sad mreow to Rodney, which just twisted the knot in his stomach even further. “I know, buddy. It’s not fair, is it? I’m sorry.” Sighing, Rodney hugged his cat to him tightly, then put him in his carrier. “It’s time, Newton. Gotta get you to 12B.”
Newton made his displeasure known by meowing and pawing at the small gate as Rodney gathered the boxed paraphernalia up and placed Newton’s carrier on top. Rodney was extremely glad that he only had to carry it one door over, because the load was heavy and more cumbersome than he had thought. “You’re one spoiled rotten cat, you know that, Newton?” Rodney said fondly before knocking on his neighbor’s door.
After a minute, the door opened to a scowling brunette, though the scowl quickly morphed to a genuine smile when she saw Newton. “Hey, kitty.” She gingerly touched the paw that stuck through the gate of the carrier, then turned her attention to Rodney, her expression instantly changing back to her scowl. Rodney was all too aware of her feelings toward him, and they weren’t charitable to say the least. But she loved cats, and had a special fondness for Newton who had visited her a few times in the past whenever he’d escaped his apartment. It was the only reason he had even considered asking her to take care of him.
“So you’re really leaving, then?” she asked curtly, disapproval and relief evident in her face.
Rodney nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately. May I?” he asked, indicating he would put everything inside for her.
Reluctantly, she let him in and watched as he kneeled down in front of the carrier to say his final goodbye to his faithful friend. “You behave, okay? I’m sure she’ll take great care of you and give you all the treats and scritches you deserve. I really am going to miss you, Newton.”
His face flushed slightly as he realized he’d shown more than he’d intended, but letting go of Newton was turning out to be much more difficult than he’d imagined. He couldn’t quite meet his neighbor’s eyes as he straightened up. “Err… well, that’s it, I guess. Thanks again for taking him in. It… it means a lot to me to know he’s in a good home.”
That earned him the first genuine smile from her that he’d ever received, small as it was. “You’re welcome. And… have a safe trip, McKay.”
He nodded. “Thanks.” With that, he left, and it wasn’t until he was packing his bag that it dawned on him that she’d known his name. And that he had no idea what hers was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kimberly looked up as someone knocked. “Oh good, would you mind terribly?” she asked the young lieutenant hovering by the door, pointing to a large crate. “I’m afraid they packed it a little too heavily for me to carry, and it needs to be on one of the first carts out.”
Grinning, Ioan walked over to her, holding out his hand. “Hi, don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m lieutenant Ioan Lorne.”
Shaking his hand, Kimberly gave him a bright smile. “Dr. Kimberly Smyth. Lorne? You related to major Evan Lorne, by chance?”
“Yep. He’s my big brother. You know him?”
Leaning her hip against her desk, she crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Hmm, yes. Well, sort of. I’ve helped his team out a few times in the field.” She paused, curiosity and amusement clear in her eyes as she continued, “Ioan, you said? So was there a particular reason your folks named both their sons ‘John’?”
Startled, Ioan laughed and scratched the back of his neck. “Actually, yeah. We’re both named after our grandfather. It’s a bit of a tradition in our family, but mom refused to have us both with the same name, so we each got a variant instead.”
Grinning, she nodded approval. “Interesting way of getting around that. I like it.”
“I’m rather surprised you knew that, to be honest. Not many people ever catch onto that,” Ioan admitted, giving the young doctor an appraising look.
She shrugged. “Names have always been a bit of a hobby of mine. Though mine doesn’t really mean anything. Something I still tease my mom about,” she added with a wink.
Ioan grinned, blushing faintly. “I kinda like it.” Clearing his throat, he indicated the crate. “So, where to?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Got a minute?” Daniel asked, sticking his head into Jack’s office.
Sighing, Jack nodded as he straightened in his seat. “The answer’s still ‘no’, Daniel,” he said tiredly. He really wished Daniel would stop asking about Atlantis. Jack hated seeing the look of hurt and disappointment on the man’s face. The thing was, there was just no way Jack would ever agree to Daniel joining the expedition. At least, not without another ZPM, and they were fresh out.
“But-,” Daniel started, walking over to the desk.
“Ah!” Jack interrupted, holding up his hand. “We’ve been over this, Daniel. I need you here, and that’s that.”
And there was that hurt look on Daniel’s face again. Dammit all. Pushing himself back from the desk, Jack got to his feet and closed both doors to his office and shut the blinds so no one could see inside. It wasn’t something he did often, mostly because he liked transparency in his command, and he figured he didn’t need to start the rumor mill if he could avoid it. This was one of the few times that called for an exception in his book, though.
“Daniel,” Jack said firmly, cradling the man’s jaw in both hands, his thumbs tucked in front of his ears. Taking a deep breath, Jack gazed into his friend’s eyes, wishing like hell he could give him everything he wanted. “Twice, you’ve gone where I couldn’t follow, Daniel. For all we know, Atlantis is a one-way deal. Please… don’t ask me to watch you go a third time. I just can’t do it, okay? I know that makes me a selfish jackass, and I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”
There were so many emotions running their course over Daniel’s face that Jack almost couldn’t take it anymore, so he crushed the younger man to his chest, holding on for dear life. The thought of losing what he held most precious in this world again was one Jack O’Neill simply wasn’t equipped to deal with.
Daniel clung to him just as fiercely, his hands gripping Jack’s uniform tightly as he tucked his face into Jack’s neck. His breath ghosted over Jack’s skin as he murmured, “Then what are we going to do, Jack?”
Jack shivered, hugging the man a little tighter still. “I don’t know,” he croaked, and he really didn’t. The only thing he was certain of was that he couldn’t keep pushing Daniel away anymore. At the same time, their jobs made it to where they weren’t allowed to be together. There were few times where Jack hated the military more than he did right in this moment.
“Jack,” Daniel breathed.
“I know, Daniel. I know. We’ll figure it out, okay? Together,” Jack said gruffly, pulling back to look into the man’s eyes. He had to be sure they were on the same page, and judging by the look of hope and determination he saw reflected back at him, he was confident they were.
“Together,” Daniel agreed, giving him a small smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth and Rodney sat across the desk from each other as they went over last minute details. They’d been at it for a couple of hours already, so when Elizabeth asked Rodney if he wanted coffee, Rodney was all too happy for the break. As she handed him his cup, he tried to make conversation. He’d readily admit that it wasn’t one of his better skills, but he figured he’d better try since they’d be living in each other’s pocket soon enough. “So I dropped Newton off at my neighbor’s yesterday.”
Raising a brow in question, Elizabeth took a sip.
“Newton. My cat?” Rodney explained.
“Ah. I see. How’d that go?” she asked, mild understanding on her face.
“About as well as you could expect it to go, considering she hates my guts. She loves Newton, though, so she’ll take good care of him for me.” Staring into his cup, he added, “I’m gonna miss that cat.”
Elizabeth reached across the desk to pat his hand. “I’m sorry, Rodney. I wish you could have brought him, but you understand why-?”
Waving her off, he nodded. “Yes, yes, I get it. It wouldn’t be safe for him. I’ll be fine.” Clearing his throat, he glanced over the rim of his cup and asked, “What about you? Did you get to say goodbye to your family and stuff?” before taking another drink.
To his amazement, Elizabeth ducked her head and her cheeks flushed. “Not really. I haven’t left the base. There’s just been too much to do,” she hedged.
It was obvious, even to Rodney, that she was hoping he’d drop it but something didn’t seem right so he pushed ahead. “What do you mean? Everyone got leave to take care of matters, Elizabeth. Everyone. You didn’t spend time with your family at all?”
Rodney was fervently pushing thoughts of his sister aside, knowing full well he hadn’t taken the opportunity to make amends with her before leaving, either. That they had not spoken for four years wasn’t just his fault, in his opinion. “Well?” he demanded.
Scowling slightly, Elizabeth sighed and sat back in her chair. “I sent a video to Simon.”
Rodney sputtered. “A video? Are you kidding?” Rodney vaguely remembered the name Simon Wallace from somewhere concerning the SGC, and thought it was the name of her fiancé.
“No, I’m not. I explained about the expedition, leaving for Atlantis, everything.” At Rodney’s look of incredulity, she added, “The President granted him the clearance.”
Rodney stared at her, utterly flummoxed. “So you decided the best way to read him in on the whole thing was by video with an ‘oh hey, by the way, I’m leaving for another galaxy’?”
He had always considered Elizabeth to be one of the strongest women he knew, and that she had a good moral compass… for someone as practiced in politics as she was, at any rate. He would have never believed her capable of something like this, however, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it.
Elizabeth sunk a little lower in her seat. “I know. I know. I just… I couldn’t do it. I was all set to go see him the other day, but when it came down to it, I just couldn’t face him. I’ve been wanting him to join the program for years, but the regulations never allowed him to be read in because I was part of the SGC already. With me leading the expedition, the President conceded that there was enough leeway in the regs for Simon to have a chance here. I wanted him to hear it from me, but… I knew if I saw him, he’d try to talk me out of it, and I just didn’t want to risk it.” With a quiet voice, she added, “None of this is fair.”
They sat in silence for a while. Rodney because he had absolutely no idea what to say to that or even how to process what he’d just learned about the woman who was to lead them. And from the look of her, Elizabeth was just happy to drop the subject.
After a few minutes, Rodney snapped his fingers a couple of times and said, “Right, so, botany,” getting them back to business.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Right in here, sir,” Walter said, indicating the office Elizabeth and Rodney occupied.
They both looked up and Elizabeth got to her feet. “Major, glad you could make it,” she said, stepping around her desk with outstretched hand.
Shaking her hand, John gave her his easy smile. “Thank you, ma’am. It was my understanding that you’re the leader of the expedition, so I wanted to check in with you first before reporting to Colonel Sumner.”
John was well aware he should have done that first, but he had his own way of doing things and he figured that the whole reason for him going on this joyride in the first place was to play lightswitch. It had been made clear to him he was outside the chain of command, so checking in with Dr. Weir first seemed the logical thing to do.
Glancing at Dr. McKay, John’s smile turned to a grin when he saw the look of wry amusement on the man’s face. John had to admit that one of the factors playing into his agreeing to go on this adventure was the fact that the good doctor was going. He hadn’t been able to put the man out of his mind since that fated day John had ended up in that chair. There was just something about him that spoke to John, though he couldn’t put his finger on it – aside from the man’s brusque, no-nonsense manner, which John found particularly refreshing.
“Thank you, Major, but all things considered, you might want to hop to and get it over with,” she said dryly. “Wouldn’t want to make a bad first impression, would you?”
John scoffed. “I seriously doubt there’s anything I can do to avoid that, ma’am. My jacket tends to go ahead of me in that regard.” He was well aware that she knew all about the details surrounding his black mark, and he was grateful that she didn’t seem to hold it against him like so many others had in the past. Which was partially why he had come to her first rather than heading directly to Sumner.
“Right,” she said, a look of understanding on her face. “All the same, report to Sumner. If he doesn’t have any need for you, come find me.”
John gave her a crisp salute – something he only ever really did for people he respected – and with a nod to Rodney, he was off to find his latest superior officer. John got lost in the maze that was the SGC and ended up having to ask help from a rather exotic looking doctor, who escorted him to the office Sumner had been allocated.
“Reporting as ordered, sir,” John shot off, executing another, less crisp salute. He stood to attention while he waited for the colonel to acknowledge him. Something the other man took his time with.
In his periphery, John could see the man grab a file, open it, and leaf through it before closing it with a thump. It took everything John had in him not to roll his eyes at the expected huff of disapproval that followed.
“Major.” The silence stretched on for several seconds before Sumner continued. “I hand picked every military asset on this expedition. They are the best and bravest this country has to offer, no matter the branch they are from.”
John remained quiet, not having been given permission to speak. It was painfully clear to him that Sumner had made up his mind already on the matter of one John Sheppard, and it wasn’t in his favor. Not that he’d expected it from a man like Colonel Sumner. Badass Marine poured off of him in waves.
“You are neither the best nor the bravest, Major, and I do not trust you. However, it has been impressed upon me that you are mission essential, so I am saddled with you whether I like it or not.” Sumner got to his feet to stand in John’s personal space, putting him nearly nose-to-nose with the man. “While you are under my command, you will follow orders. To. The. Letter. Major. Do I make myself clear?”
Suppressing a sigh, John dutifully uttered the expected, “Sir, yes, sir.” He really hoped that the colonel would be able to look past the black mark in John’s jacket sooner rather than later, or else this would end up the station from hell. Not a pleasant prospect, considering.
“Report to the infirmary for a complete physical,” Sumner ordered. “Dismissed.”
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