Title: Full Moon Rising
Disclaimer: Any characters, concepts and names you recognise don't belong to me. The plot line was thought up by someone long ago, I'm sure, but for the purposes of this fic, it's mine
Rating: T
Notes/warnings: Set during the first and early second seasons of SGA. Spoilers in this chapter for season one, and 'Seige Pt III'. This story is SLASH.
John isn't exactly human, and hiding it in the Pegasus galaxy isn't going to be the easiest thing in the world.
"Sit," Amanda Sheppard ordered imperiously. "Hannah, Connor, you too."
"Children, go and play," Connor said quietly. "Katie, make sure you all stay quiet, please."
"Yes, Dad," Katie murmured, and ushered her brothers from the room. John crossed to the kitchen table and sat next to Rodney; beneath the table, they linked hands.
"Introduce your friends, John," the matriarch demanded – because that was clearly what she was. "Hannah, put the kettle on."
"Yes, Mom," Hannah said quietly, and went to obey.
"This is Dr Rodney McKay," John said, oddly subdued. "We work together. And Dr Jackson, who's attached to the Air Force."
"It's lovely to meet you," Daniel ventured. Amanda gave him a sharp glance and he decided it might be best to remain quiet.
"And where exactly are you working these days?" the old woman asked her son.
"It's classified, Mom," John answered. "I'm sorry, but I can't say."
Amanda frowned. "As long as it's not Afghanistan or Iraq, I can't say that I muchly care." She sat at the head of the table. "Tea, Hannah," she told her daughter. "Not coffee."
"Of course," Hannah nodded, as if she'd expected it. She leaned against the kitchen counter, waiting for the kettle to boil the water.
"It's not Iraq," John answered his mother. "Not Afghanistan. Trust me, they won't send me there again." He risked a glance at Rodney; the scientist was watching Amanda with a strange expression. "It's not exactly safe," he continued then, "but it's worth doing."
Amanda hmphed. "So you say. You've always said it. You and your flying."
"Oh, here it goes," John muttered. He leaned back in his chair, a carefully calculated slouch that Rodney had seen before. He pulled his hand from Rodney's and folded his arms. "If you don't have anything new to say, Mom, can we just skip it and get to the important stuff?"
"Your father," Amanda began. John cut across her.
"Yes, my father hated me and didn't care about what I wanted, and thought that my wanting to fly was the worst thing in the world," John nodded. "He thought I should've stayed in the academic world and done math until I died. He hated that I wasn't like him, and he never got over me not being a girl. As far as he was concerned I was trying to take his place from the moment I could walk. I've heard it all before, Mom, and getting kicked out of the house by Dad pretty much tops anything you can do."
"Wait, this is because John joined the Air Force?" Rodney demanded. He had evidently decided that silence was no longer required from him. "Have you even seen him fly? He's a natural."
"Dr McKay, I appreciate that you care for your friend," Amanda said dryly. "But this is a family affair. Whether it was about John's decision to join the military or not, is not your concern."
"No," John said curtly. "Rodney's part of my family, more than any of you have been since I was twenty." He leaned forward, staring hard at his mother. "Apart from you, he's the only person who has ever seen me change," he said meaningfully. "He's got as much right to speak here as anybody."
Hannah, abandoning the kettle, approached the table and sank into a chair. "He's seen you?" she asked faintly. "Even I've never –"
"Listen, the reason we're here is to help you," Daniel interrupted smoothly. "Major Sheppard did his best to conceal the fact that he's a were, but due to the nature of his mission, it was unavoidable that he should be revealed."
"Now the US government's kicking up a stink," Rodney added. "Our leader, Dr Weir, has made a treaty, treating your people as a separate culture. John's signed, so he's safe."
"But none of you are," John said. "Under the terms of the treaty, they can't hunt out the weres, but we all know how good the US government is at following that promise. If you sign, they don't have any excuse."
Hannah closed her eyes for a moment. "So you've not only revealed your family…but everyone?"
"The wolves, the bears, the birds – everyone," John said grimly. "I didn't want to – but you've got no idea what we're up against. I needed them to trust me."
"We'll have to call a family meeting," Amanda said, sounding old for the first time in the conversation. "Somehow contact the other clans…"
"I know non-weres in most of the wolf packs," Connor volunteered. "I'll call them, start spreading the word…we could probably let everyone know within a few weeks."
"All we need is for representatives from each clan to sign the treaty," Daniel said urgently. "This won't affect citizenship, or individual rights, or anything like that. They don't need to reveal the identities of everyone, most people will remain anonymous."
"But not everyone," Amanda sighed. "And not us." She looked at her son; he looked back, expression carefully neutral. "John…"
"Call the family, Mom," he said gently. "Full moon's in two days, they can get here by then, right? We'll sort it out then."
Amanda raised her eyebrows. "You mean to take your place, then?" she demanded. "Even if you're not staying?"
"His place?" Rodney queried. "What does that mean?"
"John is the alpha of our family," Hannah said quietly, looking at her brother. "The leader. But he didn't come back after Dad died…"
"Dad threw me out," John interjected, getting angry now. "You said – both of you," he corrected, looking at Amanda, "you said I shouldn't come back, so I didn't!"
"What does being the alpha entail?" Daniel asked quickly, hoping to give John time to cool down. "I would imagine the alpha is the leader, but Major Sheppard indicated that your families interact differently when you're in animal form." Amanda nodded and was about to speak, but Hannah was quicker.
"Major Sheppard should have kept his big mouth shut," she said spitefully. "Dammit, John, why couldn't you do math like Dad wanted? You could have been brilliant, you could have changed the world!"
"He is changing the world," Rodney said, in his best 'you're such a moron' voice. It was the kind of voice that made his scientists burst into tears and run from the room, and John couldn't help a smile; he loved watching Rodney when he got like this. "Yeah, maybe he should have done math – he's not exactly stupid, and coming from me that's practically a compliment, considering I'm a genius, but he's doing important things. He's saved my life more times than I can count – saved the entire expedition. He's been willing to die for us. How is anything more important? Why can't you just be proud of him? That's all he wants."
"Rodney," John said softly.
"No, John, they need to hear this!" Rodney said sharply. "Okay, granted, I'm not exactly in the best position to talk about family, but I know you pretty well by now and I'm not about to let you go on being this unhappy when they could do something about it." He gestured at John's family – Amanda watching the scientist with a strange look, Connor almost smiling at Rodney's enthusiasm, and Hannah glaring at them all. "Jackson, you're not military, so don't say anything," he directed, just before he leaned towards John and kissed him.
John closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax for the first time since getting here.
"Thanks, Rodney," he murmured.
"Oh, you know, whenever," Rodney said, shrugging. He pulled back and settled back into his chair. "So, what now?"
"Now," John said with a smile, "I'm going to buy you the biggest ice cream sundae you've ever had."
"Me too, me too!"
The adults turned; the four children were crowded into the kitchen doorway. It was obviously Katie who had spoken, because she was bouncing up and down.
"No," Hannah said at once.
"Hannah," Connor said softly, "what harm is it going to do? Let John get to know them. You should go too. I can stay here and talk to Dr Jackson."
"No," Amanda said. "I need Hannah to help me. The boys can take the children out." A lift of her eyebrow was all it took for Hannah to keep quiet, but it didn't work on Rodney.
"Kids? With us? You want us to take the children out for ice cream?" Rodney practically shrieked. "Oh, no, I don't do kids, John, tell them!"
John widened his eyes slightly and just looked at Rodney. And looked. Then he looked some more.
"Oh, fine," Rodney collapsed. "But I want extra chocolate flakes," he added. "And –"
"I'll get you anything you want," John rashly promised. "I'll drive. Hannah, car seats?"
"I'll get them," Connor offered. "Kids, you're going out with Uncle John."
"Can I have a soda?" Adam asked, grabbing John's hand and practically pulling him from the kitchen. "And an ice cream sandwich?"
"Ice cream!" the twins screeched happily.
"I want chocolate chip," Katie declared.
"Seriously, the Wraith aren't as bad," Rodney muttered, trailing John and the kids. "Chocolate. And coffee. John, you owe me coffee!"
