Title: Beauty and the Beast
Chapter Nine: Face Off!
Author: The Lady of Shadows
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Pairings: McShep
Rating: PG to Pg-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing! SGA and Disney's BatB belong to their respective owners!
Author's Notes: Thanks goes out to my wonderful beta, Alison, who is getting this back to me extremely fast recently. Yeah Alison! Also this chapter is officially the longest chapter I have ever written being just over three pages.
Beauty and the Beast
Chapter Nine: Face Off!
Two hours later, John opened the door of his room and looked down at the Candelabra that had been knocking at his door. "Mr. Sheppard, sir, I am Aiden Ford. I am here to show you to the dining room," he declared and bowed courteously.
John smirked down at him, "Lead the way."
Ford jumped, twirled in the air, and landed facing the direction of the stairway. He hopped forward, John following him. Ford chattered merrily away about the weather and the latest gossip occurring in McKay Castle. They arrived at the very grand dining room. A Clock looked up at them eagerly from where it had been pacing on the table. "Ahhhh, Mr. Sheppard, I am Eugene Bates. Welcome to McKay Castle, come your seat is over here." Bates gestured to a chair by the head of the table, "The Master should be down any minute."
John smiled and settled into the indicated chair. Bates and Ford started talking to John, keeping him entertained as they waited for Rodney. Twenty minutes passed and still no Rodney showing up for supper. Bates frowned and snapped his fingers. A Broom swept gracefully out of the wings. John looked at her; she didn't give off the impression that she was a maid. He looked at her handle closely and he saw that it had some carvings at the grips like the sticks used for Athosian stick fighting. The Broom swept up to Bates and arched a brow inquiringly. "Teyla, find out what is taking Master Rodney so long," Bates sighed. "He probably got immersed in his work and forgot about supper."
"You're probably correct, Bates." Teyla replied coolly, "I'll go get him."
Teyla swept off, Bates and Ford looked over at John apologetically. John just smirked at them. He lived with Radek; he knew how brilliant people got. Hell, give him a good set of equations to solve and he got lost for hours at a time too. He slouched down in his chair, he had a feeling Rodney wouldn't be joining him for supper.
A few minutes later Teyla swept back into the dining room and she was alone. Bates and Ford's faces fell in disappointment, Master Rodney had struck again. They were never going to break the curse! Teyla sighed and stated formally, "I am sorry, Master Rodney will not be joining you tonight Mr. Sheppard. He has become busy with other affairs. You are to enjoy supper by yourself." She turned and headed for the kitchen, "I must have a tray prepared for Master Rodney. He will be eating in his labs. Again!"
Bates and Ford sighed in unison as plates of food came bustling out of the kitchen. John ate his supper, entertained by Bates and Ford as they happily bated each other. After he was finished, he leaned back, sipping the tea that Holling had brought him. After John was done, Jinto looked up at him. "Do you want me to show you around the castle Mr. John?"
"No, Jinto. It is time for you to go to bed," Holling stated firmly.
Jinto pouted and sighed, "Alright father."
Holling turned to John, "Ford and Bates can show you the castle, sir. If you want to explore it, that is."
"Sure," drawled out John.
Bates and Ford happily moved ahead of John. Giving him the grand tour, they showed off a hallway with a set of armor, explaining that this set was used during the 6th Century by so and so who led his men in the defense of the castle from invaders. They explained the battle in loving detail. John enjoyed their story and figured out that despite their current forms, they were probably the heads of security for the castle. They passed a set of stairs heading to the west. "What's up there?" John curiously asked.
"Oh, nothing at all sir! It's really full of broken junk and dusty objects. Nothing of interest up that way," Bates and Ford chorused nervously. They remembered what happened last time someone went up the Masters lab and did not want a repeat occurrence.
Bates gestured toward where he had been leading. "Now over here sir, are a set of weapons used by . . ." Bates voice faded as he waddled down the corridor with Ford not noticing that John wasn't following.
John turned and headed up to the West Wing. Bates and Ford obviously did not want him to go up there, so that made him curious. John arched his brows in amusement. Dusty, huh? The place was actually pretty clean. He saw a light under a door and went in. Two things immediately caught his eye, a rose hanging in mid-air underneath a crystal dome and a chalk board filled with mathematical equations. The equations were more interesting.
He ambled toward the board, examining the equations minutely. His brow furled as he worked out the answers in his head. As he went over them he realized one of the answers was incorrect. He grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote down the correct answer underneath the wrong one. "What are you doing," Rodney bellowed out angrily behind him.
John whipped around and faced him. "Just putting the correct answer to this equation underneath the wrong one."
"Wrong one! What wrong one! I am never wrong. My equations are perfect." Rodney yelled, "How dare you come in here and mess with my work!"
"I didn't mess with it!" John yelled back, "Everything you had is still up on the board. I just wrote the correct answer underneath the wrong one." John stalked forward and whispered angrily into Rodney's face, "If you think it is wrong, erase it! I am not dealing with this kind of abuse. "I am leaving."
John whirled around, ran out the door, and raced out of the West Wing. He grabbed his cloak and headed out of the castle. Bates, Ford, and Holling begging him, desperately not to leave the castle. He didn't care. No one treated John Sheppard this way in the past and he wasn't about to let someone start now.
John grabbed Puddlejumper's reins, clambered onto his back and headed away from the castle towards home at a gallop. John heard howling in the distance. He ignored it and urged Puddlejumper on.
Meanwhile at the castle, Rodney studied the board and the equation that John had said he fixed. Rodney's blue eyes widened in disbelief. He had been wrong, John's answer was right! Rodney hurried out of his lab. He had to find John and actually apologize. He raced out of the castle door and paused. He frowned; he could hear the baying of the Wraith Wolves. John was in danger!
Rodney raced desperately toward the sound of howling. He burst into a clearing and saw John facing off against the Wraith Wolves. John was defending himself with a tree branch; John's steed it seemed had run off. He was doing a pretty good job too. Rodney leaped into the fray, using his blunted claws as effectively as he could against the wolves. Together, he and John drove off the beasts. John and Rodney looked at each other. "Thanks," murmured John.
"Umm, you're welcome," Rodney mumbled in reply. Rodney took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I jumped to conclusions. I thought you did the same thing your father did. You were also right about the equation and I was wrong. I'm sorry, please come back to the castle."
John smiled at Rodney. "Sure. Just don't do it again." Rodney nodded in agreement. John looked out into the woods, "Those wolves didn't behave like regular wolves. What were they?"
Rodney looked at him gravely, "Those were Wraith Wolves. They only show up in areas where a curse is in effect. They capture living creatures and drain the magical and life essences out of their bodies. That is why there are no other living creatures in this wood. The castle has wards that keep them out, so you are safe in the castle and its grounds."
"Oh," John responded.
John and Rodney headed back to the castle. When they arrived, they were ushered into the library. Holling brought them coffee instead of tea at Rodney's insistence. They sat by the fire, talking math and snarking at each other over their difference of opinions on certain mathematical principle. Ford, Bates, Teyla, and Holling exchanging smiles. There was hope yet.
TBC