Warning this is slash. If you don't like it don't read it. Mckay/Sheppard.

Beauty and the Beast

Chapter Two-Radek's Newest Invention

John ran up the dirt lane that led to Radek's and John's quaint little cottage. Worry for his adoptive father racing through his mind. Radek Zelenka may have not been his birth father, nor was he even old enough to be his father, for that matter. But Radek had taken him in when his parents had died; no one else had cared enough to do so. Radek had been eighteen at the time, just starting the next step in his education at the capital's college. Somehow Radek managed to feed and cloth both of them at the same time paying for his secondary education. They struggled but they made it through the tough times together.

John remembered how hard it had been for Radek and for that John had given him his unconditional love. He smelled the smoke before he saw it billowing from the closed doors that led to the basement. He dropped his basket and ran for the door. He flung it open and cried, "Radek! Radek! Are you alright? Answer me Radek!"

A figure stumbled out of the smoke, coughing violently. "Now what . . . cough, cough . . . went wrong . . . cough, cough." Radek wondered out loud. "Ah John your back, yes? You got my parts, yes?" Radek stared up at John, his eyes enlarged behind his homemade magnifying glasses.

John sighed in relief and fondly brushed the soot off of Radek. "Yes, Radek, I have brought you your parts."

He turned and went to pick up his basket. He hoped he didn't break any of the eggs. He picked up his basket and sighed in relief. He got lucky, the eggs were fine he had really not wanted to go back to Genii and have another run in with Chaya. He walked back to Radek who had returned to the basement and his invention now that it had aired out. Radek grabbed his parts and began to install them in various places on his latest contraption.

John leaned against a workbench and idly flipped through his book as Radek worked. "So how is village?" enquired Radek.

"Same ole, same ole."

"And Chaya?"

"Still a Class A bitch."

Radek hummed in agreement, "John could you pass me the watcherma bobbit thingy?"

John handed over the strange tool and Radek hummed and ahhed until he was satisfied with the final product. He pushed himself from underneath his invention and smiled. He grabbed a handkerchief and started cleaning the grease off of his hands. John looked at Radek's handiwork and smirked at him and said, "Its things like this, that get you labeled as crazy, ya know!"

Radek shrugged, "I really don't care about what other people think about me or the appearance of my inventions. My only concern is that I get them working as I intend them to. Once that is done and it works correctly then it will offer proof of my sanity, yes."

"Yes." John affirmed.

"Well here goes nothing!" Radek stated and started up his contraption. Radek and John watched with bated breath as Radek's invention shook. Then the axe began to rapidly chop the wood in front of it. Thus Radek had created the first automatic wood chopper.

John and Radek grabbed each other and excitedly began to dance around the room shouting, 'Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!' at the top of their voices. This meant Radek now had a viable invention to show at the annual inventors fair being held in the town of Sateda. John and Rodney looked at each other and began to get the invention out of the basement and onto the cart.

Radek rode off on Puddlejumper, their Clydesdale, the cart with the invention hitched behind them. With John standing in the dusty dirt rode madly waving them off, as they rode into the sunset.