Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Length: medium: about 2600 words
Author on LJ: shrift
Author Website: Shrift's fanfiction
Why this must be read:
I wanted to rec something lighthearted after my last one, and give you a shorter story since the last few recs have been long, and so is the next one.

Awkward and hilarious, this Post-ep tag for episode 4x13, "Quarantine," feels like classic John and Rodney, like everything in the story could have happened in the show, behind the scenes or between missions.

I also like that they are both terrible at interpersonal stuff in this piece, which so very canon.

Best Somethings

Fandom: HEROES
Pairing: Luke, Sylar (gen)
Length: 7,027
Author on LJ: roo2
Author Website: roo2's fic tag

Why This Must Be Read: Because it's one of the most original premises for a fic that I've ever read. In this fic, Luke is on the run after being left behind by Sylar. Exhausted and feverish, he ends up squatting in an old, abandoned hospital. Except that he quickly learns he isn't as alone as he first thought. Who are the mysterious people who seem to live inside the decaying building and what do they want from him?

This fic is funny and creepy, and will keep you guessing until the end: a really enjoyable read!

( Excerpt )

Ghosts

Another story about Kyle Reese and John Connor meeting each other after Doomsday. Only in this story John finds Kyle when Kyle is only ten years old. So it's also about growing up in that terrible, machine-ravaged world.


Fandom: MICHAEL BIEHN CHARACTERS - Kyle Reese from Terminator
Pairing: none
Length: rather long: 13 chapters, although each chapter is not too long
Author on LJ: uscathena
Author's website: Atty's grotto

Why this must be read:
One of the things that, too me, made The Terminator the heartbreaking story it is underneat the action, are Reese's memories/dreams and the few mentions he makes about his life before he crossed through time. What a harsh, hard life it has been... and he escaped it only so briefly. That's what Atty's story is about, about growing up in a devastated and destroyed world, where you are constantly hunted as a human. And at the same time it's also about John Connor and the enormous responsibility he is shouldering every day.

Atty describes the hard, day to day life of Kyle as an orphaned child, together with the other orphans, but she isn't sentimental about it, just like these resilient children aren't, who are too busy with survival. The true horror of it is there in the story, but more in the hints and the details. She draws on the movie Kyle and the teen John Connor in Terminator 2 for the characterisation of Kyle and John in her story and in my opinion she has them spot on. One of the many things I like in her description of their relationship is how John has known the world 'before', while Kyle only knows the world they now live in.

I love this story and can only say: go read! It's poignant and at times heartbreaking, but also about hope, friendship, love and not giving up.


( A glimpse at life after Doomsday )



Childhood
 
If that link gives problems, it's the first story on this page

Fandom: HEROES
Pairing: Peter/Claire, Claire ('Sandra')/Andy
Length: 3,800
Author on LJ: andbless_mybaby
Author Website: Fic Masterlist

Why This Must Be Read: Because it's a really unique 5 Years Gone fic. Instead of focusing on Sylar!Nathan and the greater politics of 5YG, this fic takes a closer look at Claire's life as a waitress in the Burnt Toast Diner. The small town world created here is palpable, and Claire's yearning for her former life feels very real, making her continued affair with Peter all the more believable.

andbless_mybaby has done a superb job taking Andy, someone we don't learn much about in Five Years Gone and turning him into a fully fleshed out character. By the end of the fic, you'll be astounded at how much you feel for him; the tragedy of this fic is as much Andy's as it is Claire's.

( Excerpt )

a little bit of your song

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Characters: Methos, Duncan, Amanda, Joe
Length: Short Story
Author on LJ:grachonok
Author Website: None in English
Why this must be read:This is an interesting cultural exploration. A gentle and thoughtful short look at one of Methos wives.

The other reasons

Fandom: TIN MAN
Pairing: Az/Cain
Length: ~5500 words
Warnings: none
Author on LJ: andrealyn
Author Website:
Why this must be read: Because it takes a cliche (needing an escort to a ball) and makes it so much more than that: a story about two people who have been prisoners, who understand each other and maybe even need each other, and their journeys toward freedom.

( excerpt )

petal by petal (you open always)