Aperture by Zoë Rayne
Title: Aperture
Author: Zoë Rayne (z_rayne)
Remix of: AS by frostfire_17
Pairing: multiple POVs, Sheppard/McKay
Rating: NC-17
Challenge: SGA Remix 2005

Summary: Snapshots of nine days in the lives of Major John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay.


Aperture
by Zoë Rayne

f/16
Mess Hall – Sgt. Adam Stackhouse (09.23.2004)

He only notices because it's so unusual. Normally when Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay are pissed at each other, they argue loud and long, and no one in Atlantis can miss it.

Today, though, it's freaky, because the major stands there with his tray full of food and just stares at McKay for a second, then takes off like a buck private who's seen a month of latrine duty in his immediate future. McKay does pretty much the same thing, but heading off the other way.

Adam watches for a second as they settle at separate tables on opposite sides of the mess and ignore each other with determination, then he shakes his head. Eggheads and zoomies, man. They're all bugfuck crazy.

f/11
Laboratory Five – Dr. Stephen Kavanagh (09.24.2004)

As usual, McKay is mismanaging the expedition's resources in a way that is, at the very least, careless, though in Stephen's opinion it verges on lunatic levels of recklessness. Why McKay hasn't been kicked off the project by now, he has no idea. Well, that isn't true; he actually has a very good idea. It's obviously blatant favoritism on the part of Dr. Weir, but there's nothing he can do about it so long as they're out of contact with Earth.

No, at the moment the most he can do is watch as the expedition's top-ranking military officer is used as a human on-off switch.

It doesn't look like Major Sheppard appreciates the waste of his time, either, because he glances quickly around the room as though looking for an excuse to return to his real duties. After a moment, he says, "Here for the thing."

McKay, arrogant bastard that he is, holds out some probably insignificant piece of Ancient technology. He doesn't even bother to look up, nor does he pay attention to what the device does when the major touches it.

Complete and total waste of manpower and resources. Stephen makes a note on his laptop.

f/5.8
Conference Room – Dr. Elizabeth Weir (09.25.2004)

There's something just a little off-kilter about the group gathered around the conference table today, and Elizabeth studies them each in turn—surreptitiously, of course, because observation always changes that which one is observing.

Rodney seems normal enough, a sandwich in one hand and the other gesturing as he speaks. His words are, unsurprisingly, both disparaging and food-related. "I mean," he says around a mouthful of half-chewed sandwich, "I like hospital food and airplane food and MREs, which have got to be the three most reviled cuisines ever. Do you know how bad food has to get before I think it's bad? We're talking epic badness here."

"Bad on an epic-curean scale?" Ford asks, his grin wide and pleased as Rodney snorts at the pun. Teyla smiles, too, but Elizabeth thinks it's more a look of indulgent affection than of true amusement.

Rodney shakes his head. "Sounds like someone's read one too many Callahan's books," he says. "I have news for you, Lieutenant. Any ape with a dictionary can make a bad pun; look at Robinson. True intelligence requires an understanding of the mathematical underpinnings of the universe."

"Hey!" Ford protests. "I thought Robinson was Canadian. Where's your sense of national pride?"

Setting the sandwich aside, Rodney says, "First, he's not Canadian, he's an American who just happens to live in Canada. I can't help it if—"

It's the abandonment of his sandwich that convinces Elizabeth it's time to interrupt. If Rodney gets on a roll, they'll be here all day. "John," she says, raising her voice a little to be heard over Rodney's tirade about Americans immigrating to Canada to escape their own corrupt government.

When John doesn't respond, she looks over at him and is surprised to find him watching Rodney with a bemused half-smile. She frowns. She's seen John pleased and disgusted and pensive and angry, but she's never seen this expression before. He almost looks as though he's daydreaming.

She opens her mouth, but before she can call John's name again, Rodney shifts in his chair. "So," he says, voice sharp with cheerful desperation, "where are we off to next?"

f/2.8
M7H-418 (Ceylim) – Lt. Aiden Ford (09.26.2004)

McKay and the major have been acting weird all day. Come to think of it, they've been acting weird for the last few days. Weird is usually what happens right before bad, so Aiden's already on the lookout for the bad when it happens.

He's too far away to get to McKay and Sheppard before they're knocked out and dragged away by the wild-eyed natives, but he and Teyla hightail it to the stargate and call for backup. By the time they get back to the native village with Stackhouse and a jumper, there's ropes and torches and even more bad than Aiden was prepared for.

The jumper seems to scare the natives and they scatter, which is probably a good thing. He'd rather not shoot them if he can avoid it, but if he can't? His team is a lot more important than a bunch of aliens with barbecue on their minds.

Teyla and Stackhouse cover him as he goes in, his P90 dangling loose as he pulls his knife on the run. He slices through the ropes that are holding Sheppard and McKay to the wooden pole, and McKay falls forward into him, then turns around to grin at Sheppard, who grins back.

He's got his back turned and has taken a couple of steps toward the jumper when the major says, "Did I hear you say something about sex, before?" It's almost enough to make him stumble, but he keeps going.

Don't ask, don't tell, Aiden thinks. Really, really don't wanna know.

f/4
Laboratory One – Dr. Radek Zelenka (09.28.2004)

It's not the easiest of jobs, working with Rodney McKay. It does, however, have its benefits, and Radek recognizes that fact, even at the worst of times.

Now is not quite the worst of times, but it is certainly not the best of times, either. Rodney has been alternately quiet and loud—though always irritable—for nearly a week, and Radek has grown tired of it. He suspects he knows the cause, but he cannot be certain without testing his hypothesis.

Fortunately, he has the means to perform such a test.

"Here, look at this." He waves the vaguely gun-shaped object under Rodney's nose. "Major Sheppard would like to see it, hm? And maybe he can turn it on, too, and save us the trouble of dissecting it."

Without looking up, Rodney shakes his head. "Absolutely not," he says. "What I'm doing is more important."

This is the point at which he feels he could reasonably consider his hypothesis proven, but he is a thorough man and so he continues, "More important than a possible weapon against the Wraith?"

"This is a possible not dying against the Wraith, which is more important," Rodney snaps, but Radek notices that he blushes as he says it.

Yes, the hypothesis has very clearly been proven: Rodney's ill temper and changing moods can be traced back to Major Sheppard. Now all Radek must do is to determine exactly what the problem is and repair the situation. He resists the urge to laugh. He might as well find the ultimate weapon against the Wraith and solve all of their power problems, as long as he plans to be performing miracles.

Still, he must make the attempt, if only so that the benefits of working with Rodney once again outweigh the drawbacks, and so he moves closer to Rodney and sits, the better to resist the urge to retreat. "All right," he says firmly. "What is going on between you and Major Sheppard? Was there a fight?"

It may take time and patience, but Radek will persevere.

f/2.8
Corridor – Teyla Emmagan (09.29.2004)

Teyla is on her way to the workout room to spar with some of the Earth soldiers when she hears the voices of Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay coming from the corridor ahead. They have both been behaving strangely of late, though neither one seems willing to speak with her regarding the problem. She pauses to listen to their conversation; perhaps she can determine what is bothering them, and effect a solution.

Dr. McKay is speaking quickly, obscuring his discomfort with a stream of words. "—who needs Wraith when you have idiot scientists, especially when they're working with stuff like—"

"Rodney." The major interrupts calmly, but she knows him well enough to hear his own nervousness, and she wonders if perhaps they will work out their differences without her aid.

"Yeah?" Dr. McKay's reply is reluctant, as though he wishes to avoid discussing anything of import.

The silence stretches, but Teyla is nothing if not patient.

"Elizabeth wants to see you about disciplining Neilson," Major Sheppard tells him, and while she knows this to be true, she also knows that Dr. Weir did not ask the major to locate Dr. McKay for her. Not precisely an untruth, then, but certainly a way to avoid some subject that neither of them seems to wish to discuss.

"Well. Good. I'll just…go," Dr. McKay says, but there is no sound of retreating footsteps and a moment later, he speaks again. "Sorry, I'm distracted. It's been going on for the past week or so."

"I…a week," the major repeats, slowly. "Distracted, in a—"

"Ah, Rodney, there you are." Dr. Weir's voice interrupts whatever Major Sheppard was going to say.

Teyla is certain that neither the major nor Dr. McKay will say anything else of import now that Dr. Weir is present, and so she continues on toward her original destination, thinking about what she has overheard.

f/1.8
Major Sheppard's Quarters – Major John Sheppard (10.01.2004)

The last thing John expects, given the past week or so, is McKay showing up at his door in the middle of the night. Well, actually, that isn't true. The last thing John expects is McKay showing up at his door in the middle of the night, pushing his way inside, and sticking his tongue down John's throat.

Not that John actually minds, but it's really, really unexpected.

It takes calling his name to get McKay's attention, and even then McKay doesn't stop kissing him, so finally John just forces the words out between the kisses. "I didn't think…you wanted…to do this again."

That stops McKay for a second, but John keeps going because he figures a minor distraction like playing tonsil hockey isn't going to keep McKay from speaking his mind.

"I didn't think you wanted to do it again…"

…John trails kisses along his jaw…

"…so we should be grateful that I'm an insensitive asshole…"

…licks at the salty warmth of his neck…

"…and showed up anyway…"

…and sinks his teeth not-quite-gently into the join of McKay's neck and shoulder…

"…oh, God, do that again."

Then suddenly John is flat on his back on the bed and McKay is heavy and solid between his thighs, thrusting against him, and the world narrows down to the hard length of McKay's dick. He remembers vividly what it felt like to have that in his mouth, and fuck, he wants it again, now.

Not going to happen, though, because he's coming and McKay's right there with him.

He doesn't even have a chance to catch his breath before McKay's pushed himself up enough to where John can see his face, and he's saying, "You didn't think I wanted to do it again?" like John's some kind of moron, and, "It's all I've been thinking about for the past week!"

Well, duh. "Yeah, I figured that out. I just didn't know if it was…in a good way." It's not like McKay's awkward because it was bad and I don't want to think about it really looks that different from McKay's awkward because it was good and it's all I can think about, after all.

"Oh." McKay seems to be considering. "Maybe we should communicate more?"

Which reminds John way too much of every girlfriend he's ever had, and he says, "Now you sound like a woman."

McKay frowns, then says, "Yeah, I kind of do. Also? I think I'm working on a recovery here. You know, I've been thinking about your mouth a lot—"

And John doesn't even let him finish the sentence before arching up and flipping them so McKay's on the bottom. "Oh, Jesus, yes," he says, and then he shuts up, because who needs to talk when McKay can read his mind?

fait accompli

A/N: I stole Stackhouse's first name from alfirin_kirinki, because I was too lazy to give him one myself. Thanks to casspeach for the beta.

Disclaimer: Not mine. If they were…well, let's just say they wouldn't have much time for missions.