Title: Taking A Plunge
Author: Damion Starr
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Archive: Area 52, WWOMB, ,
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Category: Pre-Slash, H/C, Drama, Romance
Rating: R
Pairing: Sheppard/Ford
Summary: Sometimes, you just have to plug your nose and dive right in.
Warnings: none
Season/Episode: none
Spoilers: none
Beta: Teh loverly Judy. Thanx bunches!
Author's Notes: The result of cold weather, a marching band, a soaking wet band uniform, and a romantic slash authoress. Enjoy! (I didn't enjoy the inspiration...damn Minnesota weather and wool uniforms...)
Sinking. He was sinking, and he couldn't stop.
Aiden Ford watched with detached, hypothermia-numbed horror as above him, the small circle of light, the perfect metaphor for his hope, shrank. His water-logged boots, his soaked BDU's, his P90, everything seemed to be conspiring to kill him, dragging him to the bottom of the ice covered lake on PX3-982.
'No,' his mind whispered, but even that voice sounded weakened by fatigue. 'No, this can't be how it ends...not like this...'
In the past, he'd imagined his own end. Those few times he'd actually embraced the concept of his own morality, one of two cliches had occurred to him: he would either die in battle, or as an old man.
But this? This did not fit into either of those categories. This would be his death brought on by his own simple stupidity.
He'd been following orders, walking the perimeter around an abandoned city, on an icy planet that made Antarctica look tropical. When he'd fallen in, it'd happened so fast, he'd had no time to yell, splash, or anything. The only clue about his fate that Major Sheppard and the rest of his teammates would have would be the ragged hole in the ice.
'Sir..' Aiden's stomach flip-flopped at the thought of his charming and handsome commanding officer. It was stupid, really. Aiden had tried to chalk his infatuation up to hero worship, a stupid crush, lack of options, anything but what his current grim situation crystallized it as: love.
He was in love with John Sheppard. It was silly, it was childish, it was stupid, sure, but it was love. Well, wasn't this a great time to realize that?
'John, please help...' His lungs' desperate screams for air were quickly growing weaker. 'God, if I live through this, I promise I'll tell him. I promise.' That small circle of light, his hope, disappeared. 'Dammit.' He closed his eyes, and mentally let himself fall into the darkness, carrying the conviction that he would never return.
Once he realized what had happened to Aiden, John Sheppard removed his P90, jacket, and boots, and dove into the icy water without a second thought. He had no idea if the hole in the ice covering the lake had been formed by his second in command, but the standard issue boot tracks leading directly to the ragged opening told their own story.
John's heart skipped a beat when he hit the frigid depths. Squinting into the murky water, he forced his arms and legs to move through the pain from the sudden temperature change.
Below him, sinking slowly into the darkness, was Aiden. The younger man's hands trailed up above his head. No stream of bubbles came from his lips. 'No.' John began to swim faster, kicking with all of his strength, focusing on his goal. 'Oh god, please, not him. Anyone but him.'
As John grew closer, he could make out Aiden's relaxed features. His long eyelashes brushed the golden skin of his cheeks. His full peach-tinted lips had once carried the most beautiful smile in two galaxies, in John's opinion.
'If he lives through this, God, I promise I'll tell him.' John prayed silently as he reached out, straining, for one of Aiden's hands. 'I don't care if he hates me forever. If it means he'll live, I can deal with that. I really can.'
Their fingertips merely brushed the first time he grabbed for him, but on the second try John caught his hand. Sheppard used that to pull himself closer to Aiden. He quickly stripped the lieutenant of his gun and jacket, allowing them to fall to the lakebed. John held Aiden with one arm while he swam frantically toward the surface.
John immediately regretted leaving the water as soon as he broke the surface, but, unfortunately, humans couldn't breathe water yet. Still, the frigid air was welcome to his lungs even as it seared his skin.
The Major half threw his Marine onto the ice before the limp body could begin to weigh him down, then crawled out behind him. It wouldn't occur to him until later that he could've called Teyla and Rodney for help. At that point, as he began to pound on Aiden's chest, he was only worried about the one he couldn't help but love.
"Breathe," John whispered, even though his lips would barely move. "C'mon, Aiden, breathe!"
'Please, God. Please, please, please, not him. Not now.' John silently prayed as he breathed into Aiden's lungs. 'You can't. You just can't.' Could God hear him in another galaxy? Well, he was about to find out. "Dammit, Aiden, breathe!" John screamed tearfully, slamming his fist down onto Aiden's ribcage in one final desperate act.
Either prayer or CPR, or the combination of both must have worked, because Aiden's eyes flew open, and he coughed explosively.
Sheppard jumped at the sudden noise, then quickly rolled his lieutenant over onto his side as Aiden coughed up lake water. "It's okay. It's okay, Aiden," he reassured him in a soft voice, unable to stop smiling. "You're okay,"
"Sir," Aiden wheezed.
"Shh. Don't talk," John grabbed his dry jacket off the ice and pulled it around Aiden's dripping wet shoulders. "Let's get you back. Can you walk?" Sheppard hooked his P90 back around his neck and pulled Aiden to his feet.
"Yeah," Ford sagged pathetically in John's grip.
"C'mon, buddy. It's not too far," John slung Aiden's arm around his neck and wrapped his own arm around the smaller man's waist.
It began to snow as the two soaked soldiers started back toward the forgotten settlement where their other teammates were waiting. By the time they got back, they were barely able to move. Their wet bodies had been frozen by the howling wind and blinding snow.
"Teyla!" John barked as he and Aiden half-fell into the main entrance to the ice city.
"Major?" The Athosian woman materialised at his side almost immediately. "What happened?"
"The lieutenant here decided to go for a swim," John pulled Aiden into his arms in an attempt to keep him warm. "Where's McKay?" Like he had to ask.
"Still examining the control room,"
John rolled his eyes. "Of course," He looked down at the unconscious young man in his lap. "Do we have anything we can make a fire with around here? It looks like we're gonna be stuck here for the night,"
"I'll see what I can find," Teyla jumped to her feet and ran soundlessly from the cavernous hall.
"Come on, Aiden," John murmured. "Let's get you warm," He had to drag Aiden over to their packs. Luckily, Elizabeth Weir had made them bring enough supplies for a few days' stay, just in case. "Precognizance is a beautiful thing," John muttered through his chattering teeth as he pulled out his and Aiden's sleeping bags. He finally managed to zip them together, after some fumbling of with numb fingers.
He turned to the semi-conscious Ford. "Sorry about this, buddy, but you'll thank me later," and with that, John began to undress his second in command. Aiden moaned in confusion and tried, feebly, to fend him off, but Sheppard restrained him with disheartening ease. "Aiden. Aiden, it's just me," John murmured gently to him as Aiden subsided.
"Look, you're frozen. I need to get you warm. Are you okay with that?" Aiden didn't move. "Aiden?" It was then that John noticed Aiden was no longer shivering. "Shit!"
John scrambled to yank the rest of Aiden's wet clothes off and maneuver the limp smaller man into the dry sleeping bags. He was halfway through getting his own clothes off when he realized exactly what he was doing. He was going to be lying naked in a sleeping bag with Aiden Ford. 'Hey, he's dying, dumbass. Get in there.' he chided himself.
John stripped the rest of the way and slid into the warm cocoon behind Aiden. The younger man's mocha skin burned soothingly on his. Aiden's slim, muscular body fit snugly against John's, with the Marine's tight ass resting squarely on his hips. John gnawed his lower lip as he felt his cock twitch. 'He's unconscious, you pervert, not now!' The major mentally berated himself. 'Just get him through the night.'
John set a hand on Aiden's bicep and gently nudged the back of his friend's neck with his nose. "Aiden?" There was no reaction. "Aiden," John propped himself up with one elbow so he could see the other man's face, but slid an arm around his torso to keep him close and, therefore, warm. "Aiden, wake up," There was a weak grunt in response. John softly touched his chin and was glad to see his dark brow knit together briefly before his eyes fluttered open. John smiled. "Hey."
Aiden's intense, but unfocused eyes rested on his commanding officer's face. "Sir?"
"How're you doing?" John's smile faded to concern.
"I can't feel my arms," Aiden whispered, his voice weakened by fatigue. John took Aiden's closest hand into his own and blew on it.
"We have to keep your extemities warm," John explained, pressing Aiden's cold-as-death hand to his own warm cheek. "When your legs or arms are cold, they divert heat from your stomach and chest," He honestly didn't know why he was telling him this, but there it was. "Gimme your other hand."
Aiden hesitated for just a second before shifting onto his other side so he was curled up and facing in toward John. The pilot laid back and cupped both of his 21C's hands in his.
"Sir?" Aiden finally asked after a moment.
"Yeah?" John answered, keeping his eyes on their hands as he rubbed the younger man's between his own.
"We're not wearing any clothes, sir," Aiden observed with the briefest of smiles.
"Yes, Lieutenant, you have a problem with that?" John couldn't help but return his grin.
"No, sir,"
Sheppard finally looked up into Ford's warm mahogany eyes. "Our clothes were soaked," he explained. "I was cold, but you were frozen solid. This is the best way I know of to fight off hypothermia and pneumonia," John blew onto Aiden's slender hands. "How's that? Better?"
Aiden's lips pursed thoughtfully. "A little,"
John drew Aiden's hands to his chest, keeping them covered with his own. "Let's see if this helps," Their gazes broke apart when they felt their faces grow hot.
Aiden cleared his throat. "Um, so, where's Teyla and McKay?" he asked.
"McKay's still hard at work, probably completely oblivious to what's going on, and Teyla's looking for something to make a fire with," Aiden nodded, his eyelids drooping dangerously. "Go to sleep," John whispered softly, moving closer. Their knees came together, and neither moved away.
"When are we leaving?"
"Not for a while. Snow's cut us off from..."
Aiden had fallen asleep in the middle of his commander's sentence. John watched the peaceful face for a while before he followed his lieutenant into slumber.
At one point during the night, John awoke to a decent-sized campfire nearby. He smiled and made a mental note to thank Teyla.
"Mmm,"
John looked down and blinked. Aiden was curled up against him with one hand curled into a fist and thrust against his mouth, and the other resting on the inside of John's thigh, dangerously close to the major's dick. Aiden's head was nestled under John's chin, and their legs were entwined. One of John's arms was pinned under Aiden's head and wrapped around the younger man's shoulders, while his other arm rested on his waist.
John felt his face go hot when he realized his hand was on Aiden's ass, with his fingers curled inward between the Marine's cheeks. Sheppard didn't dare move, for fear of awakening the sleeping man, and a part of him didn't want to. John liked holding his subordinate in his arms. It was the only way he could make absolutely certain that Aiden was safe.
John's expression softened into a fond smile, and he carefully placed a kiss on the bed of tight, dark curls. "I'll tell you later," John murmured before he closed his eyes. "I promised God I would."
"Okay, you're free to go, Major," Dr. Beckett said cheerily. John hopped off the hospital bed and shrugged on his jacket.
"How's he doing?" John asked quietly, nodding toward the bed in the far back corner, where a curtain surrounded a bed holding the slowly healing Aiden.
"He's going to be fine. I just want to keep him under observation for a few more days, " Carson looked down at the clipboard in his hand as a secretive smile spread over his face. "Why don't you go talk to him? He's been asking for you,"
"Wha -?" But the Scottish doctor walked off before John could finish his question.
The Major stared after him a moment, then slowly made his way over to Aiden's secluded bed. John parted the curtain and stepped inside. "Hey," he greeted when he saw Aiden was awake.
"Hi, sir," Aiden rasped, then licked his lips and cleared his throat.
John, not seeing a chair nearby, sat on the edge of his 21C's bed. Aiden rolled onto his side and curled in toward his commanding officer.
"How ya doin'?" John asked with a warm smile.
"Good," Aiden smiled as well.
"Staying warm?" Aiden's smile widened and he nodded. "That's good," An awkward silence settled between them. They knew what they needed to say, but they had absolutely no idea how to say it. Finally, John just reached out and gripped Aiden's shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay," He said softly.
"Well, it's all thanks to you, sir. You saved me,"
John exhaled, halfway to a laugh. "Yeah, I guess I did." He examined his lieutenant for a moment, then stood. "You should get some sleep,"
"Yes, sir," Aiden rolled over onto his other side. "Goodnight, sir,"
"Goodnight," John replied and turned off the light over the bed, but he didn't walk away. Instead, he toed off his shoes, peeled off his jacket, and crawled under the many blankets with his subordinate.
Aiden jumped a little when John pulled the slim man to him, draping an arm protectively around his waist. "Sir?" There was simple surprise in his voice. Not horror, nor offense, just surprise. John could even detect a hint of eagerness in his tone.
"I'll help you stay warm," John explained.
Aiden relaxed. "Thanks,"
Silence, companionable this time, then: "Aiden?"
"Yeah?" he asked breathlessly
"...I'm glad you're okay,"
Aiden laughed a little. "You already said that,"
John's arm tightened in a brief squeeze of his waist. "No, I mean, I'm really glad you're okay." He whispered, hoping his tone of voice said something more.
Aiden chewed his bottom lip, appearing pensive. Finally, he slid his hand down the arm around his waist, and intertwined his fingers with John's own. "I'm glad you're okay, too, John." He whispered back.
They didn't say 'I love you' to each other that night. Not with their voices, anyway. They weren't ready to take that plunge just yet.
The End...?