A John Sheppard Christmas, Visiting Hours by lilysaid

[rachael-recs.livejournal.com]

My Sheppard/McKay rec50 table.

Claim: Stargate Atlantis: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Title: A John Sheppard Christmas
Author: coreopsis (coreopsis)
Characters: Sheppard/McKay
Prompt: 42 - Holiday
Rating: Mature
Length: Medium
Brief summary: It's Christmas in July! Well, February, anyway. While on leave, John decides to take one of the tags from an 'Angel Tree', and somehow, Rodney finds himself roped into the shopping expedition from...commercializationville or something. The dialog is great, and the stories does a wonderful job of showing how deep their relationship runs.



"I don't believe you," said Rodney as John threw another handful of change in yet another donation bucket. The bell ringer gave John a flirty smile and Rodney gave her a glare, but John seemed to notice neither. He just sailed on into Target with the same cheerful expression he'd worn all day, none of Rodney's bitching had the slightest effect on John's Christmas spirit and it was puzzling bordering on annoying. Rodney had never much cared for Christmas or the whole season surrounding it, and he'd just as soon be back on Atlantis where his real life was. This--shoppers rushing around, sticky children, noisy activity, endless holiday music piped over tinny PA systems--wasn't his life anymore. He missed his labs and his city and the John Sheppard he knew and loved--or not loved, but wasn't driven insane by, at any rate. Okay, maybe loved, sometimes, just a little bit.

As soon as they got inside the store, John grabbed a shopping cart and headed straight for the Angel Tree tucked into a corner near the service desk. "Wait, what now? We came for twinkly lights. You had to have twinkly lights for the absolutely unnecessary tree. Nobody said anything about buying a bunch of useless crap for underprivileged urchins. Isn't that what the hundred dollars' worth of change you've put in their buckets has been for?"

"You're a mean one, Mister Grinch," John said solemnly. Closing his eyes, he reached out and plucked a paper angel from the tree. "Oh, hey, we got a girl. She likes My Little Pony and something called Bratz and sweaters with kittens." He held up the angel in front of Rodney's face. "We have to find a kitten sweater in size 5. This is gonna be so cool."

John was practically vibrating with excitement and Rodney felt a tiny shiver of excitement himself. He didn't think it had anything to do with kitten sweaters. He knew for sure when John turned shining eyes to him and said, "Do you think we can find a My Little Pony skateboard?"

"Are these gifts anonymous? Because I do not look forward to the lawsuit we'll be slapped with when little Cindy Lou Who cracks her head open and her parents want ten million dollars for her pain and suffering."

"You said 'we'. You are totally in this with me." John beamed at Rodney as if he'd just won the lottery. Then he leaned closer and put his mouth right next to Rodney's ear. "And also, we'll be in another galaxy by then."

"You're evil. You hide it well under your little Santa-loving façade, but the truth always comes out."


Link to the story: A John Sheppard Christmas

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Claim: Stargate Atlantis: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Title: Visiting Hours
Author: lilysaid (lilysaid)
Characters: Sheppard/McKay
Prompt: 43 - Denial
Rating: Mature
Length: Long
Brief summary: I love how this story flows, with John and Rodney getting more enmeshed and entangled with each other, even though John is imprisoned and Rodney sees him only once a week. Rodney becomes John's only lifeline, and he is slowly disintegrating under the pressure of being alone, and neither of them can really admit what is happening. It is neat and painful, building up despair and emotional need over time, yet never goes over the top. It's an intense, powerful read, and I really enjoyed it.


Nobody says much on the way back to the stargate. Rodney frets over the puddlejumper controls and busies himself trying to anticipate everything that can go wrong. They’re due for some good luck, he thinks, aware of his bruised thighs and his blood-stiff collar. But if there’s any good luck to be had at all, Rodney sincerely hopes it’s taking place back on the planet, deep within the stone of a mountain, in the place where Lt. Colonel John Sheppard is being kept.

Every so often, Rodney can feel the passing of a wordless exchange between Ronon and Teyla. He doesn’t blame them. When they had first landed on the planet, Teyla had eyed the mountainous terrain and frowned. “This place is forbidden to my people,” she had warned. “They say no one who sets foot on this planet ever returns.” Ronon had confirmed its reputation, and even Rodney had remarked on the fact that a planet with such abundant resources would be completely uninhabited.

“I don’t like leaving him,” Ronon says, finally, after shifting restlessly for the better part of the journey. “He’ll try to escape, and they’ll kill him by the day’s end.”

“They promised they wouldn’t,” Rodney snaps. “They won’t do that.” The Selari had been bloodthirsty at the start, but they seemed to take their laws seriously and it had been agreed by the council that John would remain alive.

“We will find out in a week’s time,” Teyla says calmly, and gives Ronon a silencing stare.


Link to the story: Visiting Hours