Disclaimer: Don't own Stargate Atlantis. Otherwise, slash would not be mere fandom and (blatant) innuendo.
Authors Note: This is kinda weird, and a bit - well, different. It's written more as 4 scenes in some vague, unknown background events than an actual fleshed out story - and I kinda liked it that way. Like, you know, 2-minute panels of an episode or tiny parts of a whole, on the outside looking in. Something formless and blurred together like that. I think the description makes more sense if you read it.
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An anomaly had stepped through the Gate, uncannily familiar in accordance to the two chief scientists who had undergone a recent dramatic fallout which didn't seem to have a solution in any near future.
She had Rodney's holier-than-thou slate blue eyes and general round facial structure, but Radek's nose, glasses, lips, and hair. She was taller, like the Canadian, but curvaceous as her gender dictated, in comparison to both scientists' stockiness.
Her style was that of some average teen: an accentuating tee, miniskirt, stockings, and accessories that were all color-coordinated. The difference, however, was the inept geekiness of her attire - the blue skirt held a white pi symbol, made in miniscule numbers that made up the digit; her skirt was a plain, lacy black; her stockings were the same shade of blue as the shirt, but had darker blue and white binary coding dripping down the sides; all of her rubber blue and white bracelets dangling from both wrists were held together with a pi symbol clasp of silver; her silver earrings were cascades of circles connected with chains, an imitation of her binary socks.
She began to talk in rapid-fire babbling of some foreign language that sounded recognizable, but no one was able to place it. Her hands and arms were flailing about in epic gestures, her earrings clinking together softly as she moved her head. Zelenka stared in awe, gaping like a fish out of water.
"Ano…" she prompted, hands on hips and foot tapping impatiently. "Should I try again in English?"
"Who are you?" McKay demanded heatedly. She blinked, offended by such a question as she mirrored his posture and crossed her arms defiantly.
"Who are you?" she retorted. He scoffed, hands on hips as he looked away from her unbelievingly.
"You obviously know who we are, so that's a stupid question not worth answering!"
"But you obviously don't know who I am, so how am I to trust you? You're obviously not my father."
Utter silence fell at the revelation. Everyone in the boardroom - Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, McKay, and Weir - were in shock. At this reception, she rolled her eyes and gave in.
"I'm Chesna."
"Chesna?" Zelenka repeated faintly, his mouth open slightly. He covered his mouth in surprise before pinching the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes, standing and turning to leave.
"Radek?" Elizabeth asked in concern. He muttered something in Czech, disappearing down the corridor as they stared off in worry.
"What was that?" McKay floundered, waving after his engineer. Chesna bit her lip fretfully.
"Damn."
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Rodney found Radek relentlessly tinkering away with the machine the science department had been playing with, the same device that had presumably opened the Stargate as a portal to a parallel universe. They had placed the bulky equipment in the medical labs for 'further examination and comparison' between similarities to the Ancient medical machines, shoving it off into a corner to collect dust.
"Who the heck is Chesna?" Rodney questioned in confusion. Radek sighed in frustration, facing Rodney and turning his full attention to the man before him.
"I had a wife once, Milena -"
"What? Since when?"
"Since we were children. It was expected of us to get married. We did, and five years later had a child. We named her Chesna." Silence fell as Radek returned to the computer data. Rodney waited expectantly, gazing at the back of his head.
"Well? What happened?"
"She died; Krabbe's disease. We divorced, and I went to Prague to teach at university." At the mention of disease, Carson glanced up. His expression was devastated, sympathy emanating from every fibre of his being.
"Krabbe's disease?" he asked gently. Radek gave a sharp, slight nod before heading back to the labs to further analyze the data he'd retrieved.
"What's that?" Rodney inquired hesitantly, unsure if he really wanted to know.
"It's - it's terrible," Carson said quietly. "The child is deaf and blind; they develop seizures that result in paralysis; they can't absorb nutrients and they waste away. There is no mental growth, and it's a miracle if the poor thing survives beyond two or three years. They end up starving to death, or dying because the convulsions get too violent."
"Oh god." Rodney looked away, horrified as he stumbled back to the labs to help fix the mess they had created.
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"You are Chesna McKay," Radek stated.
"Yes."
"You speak Czech," he rattled off.
"Yes."
"You are Rodney McKay's daughter," he listed.
"Yes."
"You have my glasses, and other - genetic similarities."
"Yes," the girl admitted, biting her lip. Radek closed his eyes meditatively before continuing.
"Why were you named Chesna?"
"In memory of a beautiful child, as if I were that baby girl given a second chance at life." Another pause ensued; his gaze settled on the scenes outside, watching the waves of the Atlantean ocean.
"Who is your other parent?"
"Radek Zelenka," she whispered, staring intently at her hands twined nearly in her lap.
"That is impossible," he noted.
"Carson Beckett found a way to split two male strands of DNA and - make it work. It's - complicated." Radek allowed himself a tiny wry smile.
"No doubt." He leaned against the wall of her room, pushing his glasses upwards. "In another universe."
"Parallel universe," she echoed, voice void of emotion.
"You're not my daughter."
"You're not my father," she agreed in a hollow tone.
They stayed there, minds wandering in wonder among all that was, all that could be, and that which was not, thinking of all the mistakes and missed opportunities, all the victories and shining possibilities, the luck of good things and the misfortune of bad. They watched the waves of the Atlantean ocean roll back and forth in an unending cycle as they splintered against the city's edge, everything so in sync and merged together inseparably as if crashed in a beautiful, broken symphony.
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They unlocked the Stargate, latching on to the wormhole between the two universes.
"We have a stable connection," Chuck assured them. Elizabeth nodded sagely at Sheppard, standing down below. He turned to McKay and Zelenka, who watched determinedly for their counterparts to arrive.
Seconds later, Rodney and Radek materialized, awed at their surroundings.
"Papa!" Chesna rejoiced, running toward them and flinging an arm around each.
"Thanks," Rodney told Sheppard sincerely.
"For watching over her," Radek clarified warmly. Sheppard nodded, his eyes studying every inch of the two mirror images. His gaze locked on to identical bands on their fingers - plain, thin silver rings. McKay and Zelenka also noticed.
"Years," Radek abstractedly explained quietly.
"Aren't you two -"
"Ne," Zelenka cut off, eyes wandering to stare intently at the ground.
"Oh," Rodney finished, disappointed. He looked at McKay for confirmation.
"Just - friends," McKay verified awkwardly, mouth set in a tight, defeated line.
"The connection is weakening," Chuck called out.
"Ah…best get going," Rodney replied sadly. "Um…good luck."
Chesna held her fathers' hands, smiling forlornly at McKay and Zelenka as Rodney vanished.
"Thank you." She turned back and headed through the portal. Radek was about to follow, but suddenly stopped, snapping his gaze on Zelenka.
"Move on and continue, for her sake." Zelenka drew in a sharp breath, eyes widening in shock as the epiphany hit him like a ton of bricks. Radek smiled encouragingly, dematerializing into the blue vortex. A few seconds later, the gate shut down, finished with its transfer.
"What did he say?" McKay questioned in curious confusion as the two headed back to the lab. Zelenka gave a small, content smile as he reached over and twined McKay's hand in his own.
"We'll carry on, milacku."
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The original Radek and Rodney are referred to by last name in every part except the second, so you can tell the difference between them and the parallel universe ones.
And so ends this nondescript and ambiguous drabble inspired by Schrödinger's Cat and The Black Parade. And the episode with other-universe Slacker!Rodney. Yup.
So tell me how this strange new style that pounced me worked out; I'm torn between it's just barely enough and it's too little to be effective. I may end up having to edit this and put in more back story so it makes more sense, but I'd like to know if that'd be best before I actually do it.
Reviews in exchange for cookies made by Ancients?