Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead by Speranza (NC-17)

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

Fandom: STARGATE ATLANTIS
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Length: 12,000 words
Author on LJ: cesperanza
Author Website: Speranza's Fiction

Why this must be read:

This story is, to me, the ultimate McShep comfort food story. The guys are on Earth, and all they have is each other; and eventually they figure this out.

But! They also have music and football, and Speranza's description of how each affects both is what makes the story for me.

Also, there is driving too fast; and Rodney's cat; and sex, but the rating probably gave that away.

A excerpt:

Rodney stops and knocks, and when Sheppard opens the door, he's wearing jeans and sneakers and has done his hair in that strange style that Rodney has come to understand is intentional. "Hey there," Sheppard says, and leans against the door, "how was the music?"

"It was...extraordinarily good," Rodney replies, and that's an understatement, but he's not sure how to tell Sheppard how close he came to weeping, or how it made him feel like a whole person for the first time in a long time. "I bought a ticket for tomorrow, too," Rodney says, hand moving instinctively toward his pocket, and the idea's out before he's thought it through, "and I was thinking, you know, that maybe you'd want to come, have dinner and—"

Sheppard's expression is shuttered, but he's already shaking his head. "Thanks, but—I think I'm going to hop over to L.A.," and oh, huh, Sheppard seems to have found something to do after all, and Rodney has a quick pop-pop vision of the beach and the clubs on the Strip—that part of L.A., in other words, that isn't his L.A., which is Pasadena and Cal Tech and the Pie 'n' Burger. But the vision winks out of existence when Sheppard scrubs tiredly at his face and mutters, "Ford's got a cousin who lives there, so I figure, I might as well go and see her. Tell her what I can tell her, which isn't much. Still," Sheppard adds with a shrug, "it's not like I'm doing anything."

This is an unexpected horror, and Rodney nods grimly; this isn't something he would wish on anyone. "When are you going?" Rodney asks, and Sheppard answers, "Tomorrow morning; it's a quick flight, one stop. I'll be back the next day," and Rodney nods and says, awkwardly, "Tell her, tell Ford's family that—you know. That we all—"

"Yeah," Sheppard says in a dark voice, and for a second it's as if they're not in the Broadmoor, not in Colorado, or on Earth, but they're back in the blue and silver halls of Atlantis. And their teammate is lost.

Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead
(Podfic version here.)