MF Luder (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mf_luder_xf) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2011-11-23 05:52 pm
mf_luder_xf) wrote in crack_van2011-11-23 05:52 pm
Entry tags:
suffer me not to be separated by Auburn (R)
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: John/Rodney
Length: ~21,000
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
auburnnothenna
Author Website: Allusions
At some point, I suspect every one of Auburn's stories will be recced here, but her stories are absolutely deserving. This is one of those stories that rips at you because Atlantis is gone, Earth is hostile, and people imagine they can't have what they want. It's a story of what would have happened had Merlin's device never been found, one where the Ori continue to plague the Milky Way and Earth changes from a people who explorer to people afraid of anything new and dedicated to a war.
What breaks me every time I read this is how Auburn is able to make everything so damn realistic and possible, from the SGC becoming more dangerous in the face of the Ori to John and Rodney's fubar relationship. It's the painful side of the story, one where they don't secede, and all the pain and longing that goes along with that. But despite all that, it's also about John and Rodney finding their way back to each other, accepting that it's okay to be together. It's a wonderful fic.
"They promoted you," he said.
Sheppard emptied the beer bottle with one long swallow. His throat worked. He even closed his eyes. The beer wasn't that good, but Rodney knew him well enough to recognize the difference between savoring and evading. "Yeah," he said afterward, turning and turning the empty bottle. "SG-2 CO. I've got two weeks' leave before I'm supposed to report for duty."
Rodney put his own bottle to his mouth so that he wouldn't say anything. It was surprisingly hard to swallow, and not because the beer had gone warm. Sheppard hadn't asked for him to join his team this time.
"Fighting the Ori."
Sheppard shrugged. "Looking for more ZPMs." Sheppard's shoulders always looked narrow in the black shirts he favored. It made Rodney want to span them with his hands—work out the tension he could see present in the way they were set.
"Hunh," Rodney remarked. Everything was about fighting the Ori War at the SGC now. Of course they wanted more ZPMs. And no one would be better at hunting them than Sheppard. Besides, what else could they do with him? It wasn't like they'd been recalled because of anything they had done in Pegasus. Sheppard hadn't fucked up—this time he'd obeyed orders: boarded the ship, blown the city, brought back the ZPM. A curl of anger threaded through Rodney. The brass probably thought Sheppard had finally learned his lesson. It pissed him off, again, thinking maybe Sheppard had. His hands twitched at his sides.
"Got any more of these?" Sheppard asked, holding up the empty bottle.
"In the fridge."
Sheppard brought back a full bottle for himself and another for Rodney. He flipped the cap onto a dusty pile of out-of-date physics journals on the TV, then picked up the remote, surfing through the channels until he found a football game. "Pre-season," he muttered. Sheppard's elbows rested on his knees, the thin cotton of his shirt stretching taut over the curve of his back. Rodney could count the knobs of his spine. His hands twitched again and he occupied them, picking at the label on the beer bottle, drawing off a strip of damp paper with his thumbnail.
"Is that like pre-school?" Rodney asked.
"Yeah, the coaches want to see if the new guys play well with others," Sheppard replied with a snort.
"Like you," Rodney said, bitterness leaching into his voice. He wondered what it would take to push John into a fight. He felt like finding out. He was sick of pretending everything wasn't fucked, sick of the professional politeness they'd practiced during the two weeks they'd been stuck aboard the Chiron, sick of acting—
"Not really. I'm just good at faking it."
"Right. Well. You know I'm not."
Sick of trying, most of all, he decided. Getting Sheppard angry wouldn't be worth the effort.
"You've gotten better at it."
"Yes, yes, I have," Rodney agreed sardonically.
suffer me not to be separated
Pairing: John/Rodney
Length: ~21,000
Author on LJ:
auburnnothenna Author Website: Allusions
At some point, I suspect every one of Auburn's stories will be recced here, but her stories are absolutely deserving. This is one of those stories that rips at you because Atlantis is gone, Earth is hostile, and people imagine they can't have what they want. It's a story of what would have happened had Merlin's device never been found, one where the Ori continue to plague the Milky Way and Earth changes from a people who explorer to people afraid of anything new and dedicated to a war.
What breaks me every time I read this is how Auburn is able to make everything so damn realistic and possible, from the SGC becoming more dangerous in the face of the Ori to John and Rodney's fubar relationship. It's the painful side of the story, one where they don't secede, and all the pain and longing that goes along with that. But despite all that, it's also about John and Rodney finding their way back to each other, accepting that it's okay to be together. It's a wonderful fic.
"They promoted you," he said.
Sheppard emptied the beer bottle with one long swallow. His throat worked. He even closed his eyes. The beer wasn't that good, but Rodney knew him well enough to recognize the difference between savoring and evading. "Yeah," he said afterward, turning and turning the empty bottle. "SG-2 CO. I've got two weeks' leave before I'm supposed to report for duty."
Rodney put his own bottle to his mouth so that he wouldn't say anything. It was surprisingly hard to swallow, and not because the beer had gone warm. Sheppard hadn't asked for him to join his team this time.
"Fighting the Ori."
Sheppard shrugged. "Looking for more ZPMs." Sheppard's shoulders always looked narrow in the black shirts he favored. It made Rodney want to span them with his hands—work out the tension he could see present in the way they were set.
"Hunh," Rodney remarked. Everything was about fighting the Ori War at the SGC now. Of course they wanted more ZPMs. And no one would be better at hunting them than Sheppard. Besides, what else could they do with him? It wasn't like they'd been recalled because of anything they had done in Pegasus. Sheppard hadn't fucked up—this time he'd obeyed orders: boarded the ship, blown the city, brought back the ZPM. A curl of anger threaded through Rodney. The brass probably thought Sheppard had finally learned his lesson. It pissed him off, again, thinking maybe Sheppard had. His hands twitched at his sides.
"Got any more of these?" Sheppard asked, holding up the empty bottle.
"In the fridge."
Sheppard brought back a full bottle for himself and another for Rodney. He flipped the cap onto a dusty pile of out-of-date physics journals on the TV, then picked up the remote, surfing through the channels until he found a football game. "Pre-season," he muttered. Sheppard's elbows rested on his knees, the thin cotton of his shirt stretching taut over the curve of his back. Rodney could count the knobs of his spine. His hands twitched again and he occupied them, picking at the label on the beer bottle, drawing off a strip of damp paper with his thumbnail.
"Is that like pre-school?" Rodney asked.
"Yeah, the coaches want to see if the new guys play well with others," Sheppard replied with a snort.
"Like you," Rodney said, bitterness leaching into his voice. He wondered what it would take to push John into a fight. He felt like finding out. He was sick of pretending everything wasn't fucked, sick of the professional politeness they'd practiced during the two weeks they'd been stuck aboard the Chiron, sick of acting—
"Not really. I'm just good at faking it."
"Right. Well. You know I'm not."
Sick of trying, most of all, he decided. Getting Sheppard angry wouldn't be worth the effort.
"You've gotten better at it."
"Yes, yes, I have," Rodney agreed sardonically.
suffer me not to be separated