Title: Aquarius
Author: Gumnut
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Summary: New with a past.
Part 1/?
Word count: 1,029
Spoilers & warnings: Whole series, but nothing in particular.
Disclaimer: Mine? You gotta be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.
Author's note: Okay, I haven't written anything in about six years, so my writing muscles are extremely rusty and this is really just an exercise to loosen them up a little. No purpose, no aim, I just grabbed the fandom I happened to be reading a lot of at the moment and went for it. Of course, my brain wasn't happy to just write a drabble, no it decided on saga, so please read below something that may get larger. Un-beta-ed, not really worth it.
The railing was cold under his fingertips, but the breeze rifling through his hair was only cool, carrying that ever-present scent of ocean and sealife. He couldn't see the mainland from here, but then they never landed Atlantis close to the coast – except for that unplanned splashdown in San Francisco Bay, and he couldn't really blame Carson for that one.
This planet was new. Well, new to them. He'd chosen the centre of a southern ocean. It appeared to be calm enough in the sub-tropics for the moment, no hurricanes (or cyclones, as McKay pointed out, since they were south of the equator). But should one arise they had a satellite in orbit to give them warning and they could simply move out of its path.
It was so useful to have access to enough ZPMs to bring the city up to its full strength, to enable it to do what it was meant to do.
"Well, the stargate has been realigned."
John almost jumped…almost. It was a sign of how tired he was that McKay could surprise him at all. Perhaps that and the expectation that he had more time for this quiet moment. He turned his back to the ocean. "Do we know if there is a network out there?" The information in the Ancient database about the Aquarius Galaxy was minimal. The Lanteans had been here, that much was clear, but whether they had planted a Stargate network, that was yet to be discovered.
McKay sighed. He was doing that a lot these days. "As I said earlier, our gate is a Pegasus Gate. If there is a network in this galaxy, our gate will not automatically talk to it. I have the bridgework prepared, but first we need to find a gate in this galaxy so I can align and interface the program." McKay reached out and took his shoulder. "Look, John, you are no good to anyone at the moment. Sleep. Go to bed before I have to explain this to you for a third time."
God, McKay was being nice, he must look bad.
The hand on his shoulder squeezed and let go. Rodney reached for his comm, "Carson, can I see you in the control room? Yes. Elizabeth's Balcony."
"Rodney!"
"What? Are you going to tell me you can sleep? Because don't bother, I'm not going to believe you."
John glared at his friend and made a show of not limping as he pushed past, but failed miserably as he came down hard on his right foot and the injured sole screamed in protest. He stumbled and McKay grabbed him before he could collide with the wall. "Are you trying to prove my point or are you brain injured as well?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead securing his hold on John and manhandling him through the door to the nearest seat. "What are you doing up here anyway? Don't you trust me?"
"Rodne-"
"No, no, I can take a hint. Your confidence in my skills has taken a battering. I need to earn your trust again." The scientist backed off a little.
Damn it! John grabbed for McKay. "Damn it, McKay, we've gone through this, it wasn't your fault. You can't predict everything. We survived. We escaped. We're safe. Done deal, what happened has happened and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it other than move forward, and forward we are going. Can we dial Earth?"
McKay looked away for a moment. "Theoretically."
"Then let's make theory a reality." He stood up, gathering his balance and forcing a confident but limping stride out into the gate room.
He almost collided with Beckett. "Colonel?"
"Sorry, not now, Doc." He pushed past, heading for gate control. "Chuck, dial her up."
"Yes, sir." The familiar chime of the gate locking chevrons was calming, and for a moment everything slipped back to normal. He was tempted to close his eyes and soak it in and imagine they were in Pegasus and it was their regular report.
The clunk of non-connection disabused all normality. "No connection, sir." Damn.
McKay scuttled past, obviously wanting to check the readings himself. A moment of eyes darting over the readouts and the man's expression fell. "One planet, one stargate, and now apparently one galaxy, one intergalactic stargate."
"Try it again."
The gate spun again and again the clunk and whine of non-connection.
"Okay. We need to find this galaxy's intergalactic gate."
"Do we even know there is one?" McKay. "Colonel, without the gate, we would have to move the city to even reach the next star system." Zelenka? He hadn't even noticed the man was in the room. Tired, so damn tired.
"Have we checked this planet for a stargate?"
The silence in the room was a little ominous. "There is no gate on this planet. That is why we chose it." McKay was looking at him meaningfully a moment before his gaze flicked to Beckett and back.
John ignored it. "What about the rest of this solar system? We can reach that by jumper at least."
McKay blinked. "Uh, maybe." He glared at Zelenka and they both turned to the consoles and began madly muttering at each other.
His team was as tired as he was.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to find Carson at his elbow. Quietly, "Colonel, I recommended rest. Do I need to make it an order?"
His sight blurred at the edges for a moment. "Doc-"
"These people are relying on you, Colonel."
"I know that, Carson!" His hushed whisper wasn't as hushed as it could be and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chuck flinch. John raised a hand to his head. So tired.
"What would Elizabeth say?
"Okay, okay, I get it! I'll go to my quarters. Will that make you happy?"
"And sleep, Colonel."
He threw up his hands and managed not to fall over. "Fine! Get Lorne up here."
Something flickered in Beckett's eyes, but then it was gone and the man was leading him out. "What?"
"Time to sleep, John." It was another whisper, one he barely heard.
-o-o-o-
TBC?
