Title: Brothers
Author: mmorgan317 (LJ) or pisces317 (ff)
Rating: PG
Summary: The term brother doesn't always apply to the person to whom you're related
Spoilers: Slight spoilers for Outcast but not really
Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.
Author's Notes: In response to the Whump Challenge on GW
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard pulled up to the stone house, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest. He wasn't sure how this meeting would go and though he would never admit it, he was nervous.
The military issued vehicle rolled heavily to a stop in the long driveway, the tires crunching hard on the rocked road underneath. He shut the engine off and sat contemplatively in the car, trying to slow his breathing and calm his heart rate.
Pain spiked sharp and hot when he drew in a deep breath. For a second he'd forgotten about the broken ribs he'd sustained while fighting the Replicator. Opening the door, he eased his aching body out of the car and hiding a wince when his back squawked its displeasure at the quick movement.
Hesitantly, he knocked on the door and released a breath of relief and a small smile when Dave moved aside, allowing him entrance into a place that was once his home.
John walked into the living room and stood in the middle, not fully comfortable with just sitting down and making himself comfortable.
Dave walked in, standing almost as stiffly as his brother. Uncomfortable silence filled the void between the two brothers, suffocating them. He was glad that John had come back but he was also still angry at his brother for walking out during their father's funeral.
"Look, I'm sorry about leaving-" John began roughly, drawing out the word 'Look'
"Yeah, I know," Dave replied, sharper than he'd meant.
John stiffened, wincing when his back and side screamed at him. "No, you don't," he replied, his voice practically a growl through no choice of his own. The Replicator had choked him into near unconsciousness, slightly damaging his vocal chords, earning a bruised larynx and a bruise-shaped handprint on the skin covering his neck.
Dave noticed the roughness in his brother's voice and studied the man before him who was more a stranger than his brother. While the military training in John usually made him able to stand stiffly in anyone's presence, the stance wasn't usually this stiff. The wince his brother made when he'd straightened more at the jab Dave had made came to his mind and his keen blue eyes focused sharply on the bruised skin that lay just below the collar of his white button down shirt. "What happened to your neck?"
"Work," John dismissed, slightly shocked at the concerned tone in his brother's voice.
"It looks like someone strangled you."
"They tried. I'm fine."
"John, this job is going to kill you." Dave lectured, "Why not just come back. There's an open spot on the Board waiting for you."
John grew antsy and annoyed, "Dave, I love what I'm doing-"
"Even that it's going to kill you?" Dave argued angrily.
"Well, no not that part but it's part of the job. Why would I leave a job I love for a job I would hate?"
"You have family here," Dave implored.
"I have family there." John countered.
"You mean like the civilian contractor?"
"Yes, exactly. Look, I'm sorry Dave but he and my team are my family. You haven't been for awhile." John paused, his heart beating wildly and breaking at the hurt in his brother's eyes. "This was a mistake." He thought out loud with a heavy sigh. He walked stiffly passed his brother, gave him a hard but apologetic stare and placed a hand on the older man's shoulder. "I'm sorry." He said before walking out the door for the last time.
John walked into the SGC, a hardness in his eyes that hadn't been there when he'd left. His chest felt tight, too tight to breathe comfortably – like a weight had been placed on his chest and a corset tightened around his rib cage. Tears stung at his eyes but he refused to allow them to fall.
God it had hurt to shut his brother out of his life like that but it needed to be done. They would never reach common ground, never had been able to.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Ronon greeted gruffly. The smile in his eyes faded at the look on his friend's face.
"Fine." John replied trying, and completely failing, to sound his normal light self.
"Uh-huh," Ronon replied doubtfully. He knew something had happened to upset his friend but he wasn't about to push the subject. "You ready?"
John looked behind his shoulder, staring at something that wasn't there, before he turned back to face the observation control window and gave them a nod of acknowledgement. "Yeah, I am."
~fin~