I still don't own SGU; I still don't want to but hey, have you seen Dr Rush? He's just luffly.

Kino Vision Number 6
By EllieV

The kino was in the gateroom high above the action. There was a raucous game going on; they called it soccer, except for a couple of people who insisted on calling it football. Some of them got snappy when others touched the ball, saying it was against the rules. Being round itself, the kino decided to stay out of the way in case anyone got ideas. Sgt Greer was acting as the "goalkeeper," dancing around in front of the stargate. Not many goals were scored. The kino didn't know enough about the game to decide whether it was a lack of skill or because Greer threatened anyone who came near his position. Mostly, though, it was fun and happy with lots of laughter.

Dr Rush came into the gateroom. He skirted around the outside to avoid the game but as the ball came flying towards him he stopped, putting out a leg to prevent it from rolling away. Picking up the ball with his foot, he kicked it up slightly and with a slam, booted it towards the stargate. It curved over everyone's heads and sailed past Greer's open mouth through the gate. Rush kept going.

There was silence in the gateroom until Brody said, "I want him on my team."

Scott said, "Not unless I get him first."

When the game broke up, the kino followed some of them back to the mess hall. They sat after grabbing some water and their white gloop.

Camille Wray asked how their soccer game—as she called it—had gone and was promptly informed of Rush's prowess with the football. Brody argued that Rush had to be on his team because it was scientists vs military. Scott argued that he didn't care; he wanted Rush on his team and would draft him into the military if required. Eli suggested a thumb wrestling competition with Rush as the prize. Wray pointed out that perhaps they ought to let Rush decide if he wanted to play soccer at all. Chloe, bored with the football talk, asked they were going to have a "Christmas" party. It seemed to be a continuing conversation. Johansen suggested drawing names out of a hat for what she called a "Secret Santa." Inman wondered if she could work out a turkey flavor for the white gloop and went to talk to Becker about it. Chloe asked Eli if he could put music through the Destiny comms system. Eli said he didn't know but he'd ask Rush.

Greer said, "Rush's got an iPod dock; maybe we could use that."

"Really?" Eli said. "That's kind of weird."

"Why?" asked Johansen. "A couple of people have iPods."

"Yeah, but he's got an iPod dock," said Eli. "Look, we're at Icarus, right? The base gets attacked and we're told to evacuate. Total chaos, yeah? Would you take the time to pack your iPod dock?"

"Wouldn't be my first priority," Johansen admitted.

"Unless," Scott said slowly, "it was already packed."

Chloe said, "What are you saying?"

Everyone got what he was saying but it was Johansen who responded.

"He's saying that Rush knew the base was going to be attacked so he packed early," she said, shaking her head. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I don't know," Scott admitted.

There was an uncomfortable silence and people avoided each other's gaze.

"What are we going to do?" Eli asked, troubled at the turn the conversation had taken, sorry he'd brought it up. "Like, is anyone going to say something?" His voice had a little squeak in it.

"Well, I don't want to ask him," Johansen said flatly.

Scott lowered his voice. "What about Colonel Young?"

"You mean, tell him?" Johansen asked. She shook her head. "No, no way."

"Why not?" said Greer.

"What would be the point?" Johansen said. "And besides, we need Rush. We'd all be dead several times over if he wasn't here."

"Don't say anything," Wray said, finally joining in. "I'll ask him."

Eli made a face. "Good luck," he said.

The kino followed Wray. This was important. Those stranded on Destiny had wondered how whoever had attacked them knew the base was there. The kino liked Dr Rush. He didn't seem to have any allies and that worried the kino a lot; Rush was the most interesting person on Destiny and more importantly, he cared about the ship. The kino sped up and was hovering anxiously, waiting for Wray outside Rush's quarters.

Wray knocked on the door and called, "Dr Rush? It's Camille Wray. Dr Rush?"

She waited and was about to call again when the door slid open. The room's lights were dim and the kino couldn't make out Rush's face properly.

"Uh, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked him. The kino followed her gaze to the iPod dock. There was soft music playing, a woman singing. It was beautiful. Rush simply raised an eyebrow and nodded. She made a gesture at the room. "Can I come in?"

Rush seemed suspicious but let her in. The kino went in at Wray's feet, trying not to be noticed. Rush became even more wary when she shut the door. The kino lifted carefully and looked around the room. There wasn't much out of the ordinary. Rush's ever present notebook was on the bed. His broken glasses sat on top of a picture the kino had seen him look at before; it was face down. Rush glanced at it.

Wray's opening gambit was, "This is nice."

"Tosca," Rush said. "What do you want, Ms Wray?"

His voice was more curious than hostile but she flushed red anyway. She said, "We're just talking about having a Christmas party and I was wondering if we could borrow your iPod dock."

Rush seemed to relax. He glanced at the dock and gave a shrug that was indifferent to Christmas parties, though he said, "Okay."

"It's funny you brought it," she said.

Rush's face creased, slightly baffled. He said, "Is it?"

"When Icarus was attacked and we had to evacuate, you took the time to pack your iPod dock," she said.

Rush, the kino had observed on more than one occasion, had a very, very big brain and he got what she was suggesting right away.

"I see," he said, his voice instantly poisonous. "This is what's passing for conversation in the mess hall, is it? Were our attackers supposed to scoop me up to safety, iPod dock and all?"

She didn't answer but he read it in her face. He let out a soft, unfunny, short laugh and shook his head in denial, the light falling briefly on his face. Wray saw it at the same time the kino did. Rush's eyes were suspiciously red and there were smears across his face, as if he'd hurriedly wiped away tears before he opened the door. He noticed that she noticed.

"No," Wray said, diplomatically ignoring the signs of his distress. "I don't think you knew anything about our attackers but I do think your iPod dock was already in your bag."

"And why would that be?" he said. The kino searched for a hint of hurt in his voice but all it heard was anger.

"I think you were expecting to go back on the Hammond," she said. Surprise crossed his face. "If we hadn't been attacked, I would have found an email from you tendering your resignation from the Icarus Project. Or maybe you resigned because you thought you were going to get fired."

"What makes you think I care?" Rush said, not denying it.

"I think maybe you care about something," she said surprisingly gently.

His eyes lowered so she couldn't see them and folded his arms.

She nodded to herself. "You had a new iPod dock that you brought from Earth," she said. "You hadn't unpacked your bag yet because the test was run as soon as you arrived. It's obvious really, isn't it, when you think about it. You just hadn't unpacked."

Wray went to the door and left. Rush sat on the bed. He picked up his broken glasses and then the picture they were sitting on. He put the picture away carefully and curled up on the bed, shutting his eyes, his arms wrapped around himself.

The kino, stuck in the room until morning, didn't think Rush slept at all.

FINIS

This one's for Edwina who asked for an upset Rush looking at the photo kino vision. Enjoy.

Dr Park was originally in this but it turned out to be too long so I cut her bit out and will keep it for the next story, so apologies to those who were expecting her in this one. Plus, I should mention, the Park story does contain a little something that may be a spoiler for Rush's back story. It's from the bio that's on various websites/wikis/forums. It's a very tiny thing and I don't explain it at all in the Park story. I will put a warning on it when it's uploaded, just in case, but at this stage I don't know whether it is actually part of his back story or not. Could just be like the original bio that came out for Sheppard in SGA, which turned out to be wrong (father in the military).