Very Similar, Are Love and Hate
A/N: Special thanks to PurpleYin, whose own Kav/Simpson fics inspired me to write this.
Basically what the summary says, a Kav/Simpson AU-ish tag for the Siege.
Disclaimer: If I did own Atlantis, then Kav and Simpson would get more screen time that doesn't portray him as an idiot. He did save the day at the end of 38 Minutes.
Scowling deeply, Doctor Holly Simpson reloaded her 9mm, shooting a glare at her fellow scientist who was standing at her shoulder. She had been deeply surprised when Kavanagh had deigned to return to Atlantis after Everett had requested civilians for damage control. His negative comments during Doctor Weir's briefing earlier that week came back to her and her glare deepened.
"Your mother ever tell you it's rude to stare, Simpson?" Kavanagh drawled, deftly reloading his own weapon, ponytail flying around behind his shoulder.
"Don't flatter yourself, Kavanagh!" Holly snarled back, feeling the gaze of the two marines in their group boring a hole into her back. "Knock it off, you two!" ordered one of them before turning to the other and muttering "Scientists".
"Doctor Simpson, Doctor Kavanagh, get down to generator three! Seems the Wraith in the city have damaged it and we need all the power we can get!" Doctor Weir's voice sounded out from Holly's headset, interrupting any further arguments.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied, whacking Kavanagh on the arm as he opened his mouth to protest. "You returned to Atlantis to help, didn't you?" she asked, pounding up the stairs with Kavanagh hot on her heals.
"Yeah, in the control room near the Stargate," he snapped back prompting the remark of 'Coward' from one of the marines in front of them. Holly rolled her eyes, which resulted in Kavanagh listing off the numerous reasons of why this was a bad idea and the speed of which they were going to die. Gritting her teeth, Simpson darted up the second flight of stairs, locking Kavanagh's voice out of her head. Ever since their arguments during the time Major Sheppard's Jumper had been the stuck in the gate, their spats happened more and more frequently. Though, Holly had to admit that she enjoyed the opportunity to test her wit against his.
"Look, just shut up! We're here, we're gonna fix this and if you keep yapping, your gonna bring every Wraith in city to us!" Holly snapped, whirling around, coming face to face with Kavanagh, She opened her mouth to continue snarling, but paused…this was the closest she had even been to one William Kavanagh. They stood mere inches apart with Holly blushing ever-so-slightly and Kavanagh raising an eyebrow smugly, opening his mouth to say something…but he never got the chance.
"Look out!" one of the marines shouted, drawing Kavanagh and Simpson's attention. He drew his gun and started firing and the sound of the gunfire echoed painfully in Holly's ears. She and Kavanagh backed up against the wall, shoulder to shoulder, watching the soldiers taking down the three Wraith that had tried to creep up behind them.
As the last one hit the ground, riddled with bullets, Holly let out a shaky breath she hadn't realised she had been holding and her shaking legs gave way as she slowly sank down the wall in shock, fear and relief, her breathes coming out in gasps. Beside her, Kavanagh was an identical image of herself, his face pastier than usual, hands shaking slightly. "Told you so! This was a very, bad idea!" Kavanagh said, turning his face to look at Holly, however, his tone lacked his usual arrogance.
"Shut up. Besides, it was an order, not an idea!" Simpson snapped back, the venom in her voice missing also. Shaking his head, Kavanagh rose shakily to his feet, ignoring the impatient glares of the marines and headed towards the generator. Groaning, Holly scrambled up and joined him, trying desperately to ignore the sound of weapons fire in and outside the city and the feelings of dread that it awakened in her. Bending over the device, Holly and Kavanagh traded insults and snide remarks. Marvelling at how similar this was to more 'normal' times in Atlantis, she allowed herself to begin to relax.
The sudden sound of Wraith weapons, as well as the distinctive thumps of bodies hitting the ground, caused Holly to snap out of her complacency. Both scientists whirled around, freezing in fear at the sight that greeted their eyes: a lone Wraith standing mere metres away from them. Gasping, Kavanagh stumbled backwards, but Holly stood rooted to the ground. As the Wraith stepped forward, she made her choice. A sudden spurt of bravery drove her forward and before she knew what was happening her 9mm was in her hand and her finger was pumping the trigger.
Holly emptied her gun of bullets and her eyes widened as she realised the Wraith was still coming. She tried desperately to reload but it was too late. With an unearthly shriek the Wraith grabbed her around her neck, hoisting her off the ground before hurling her into the wall. Groaning, she tumbled to the ground, head pounding with pain and a terrifying thought: the Wraith was…toying with her?
And suddenly, there it was again, looming over her. Holly let out a scream and tried desperately to scramble backwards, but her back was against the wall. The Wraith was stretching out a hand…it was going to feed! No! She didn't want to die here, not like this. Not hunched up in fear and pain, silent tears of panic and fear dripping down her cheeks.
The sound of gunfire broke through her cloud of dread and the Wraith fell to the ground, almost on top of her, its back riddled with gun fire. Chest heaving, Holly sat up, looking around as Kavanagh knelt next to her, gun in hand, reloading it. He had saved her…
"You alright?" he asked. Kavanagh's words were his usual casual ones, but the arrogant tone was gone.
"Y-yes," she gasped out, her whole body shaking. Holly struggled to stand, wanting to be off the ground, away from her vulnerable position, but as soon as she was on her feet, the world began to swim and she would have collapsed again had not Kavanagh wrapped a hand around her waist, keeping her from falling.
"You may want to be careful, you probably have a concussion." Kavanagh drawled, guiding her to the generator.
"What, you a doctor now?" Holly snarled back, but the venom was absent from her voice as it was from his. She was also now distressingly discovering that he had not let go of her waist and she was…glad. Musing on the idea that fear brings people together, she allowed herself to be eased to the ground.
After apprising Doctor Weir of their situation, and to shut up the annoying sergeant in the control room who was forever yapping in their ears, as well as demanding more soldiers and a medical team (which surprised Holly, she hadn't thought he would bother) and being told both would be a long wait, Kavanagh bent over the generator, connecting wires and bypassing systems, aided by advice and insults from Simpson.
Watching him work on the generator, Holly found her mind working as well. He had saved her life…William Kavanagh had saved her life! She owed her life to a man she hated…but…hate was a rather strong word wasn't it? After all, it sort of guaranteed that your feelings for the person who saves your life are somewhat positive, aren't they? Others may always feel nothing more than contempt for him, but Holly Simpson would now always search below the surface, past those cold eyes to find the man whom had saved her during that dark night…and had awakened feelings of pleasure when he had carefully helped her to her feet, his arm around her waist, her arm around his neck and taken her to the infirmary…that man made her heart miss a beat when she saw him in the corridors of the city.
Finis