STATUS: TBC

RATING: K+

SUMMARY: AU and SLASH McKayxSheppard A Halloween fic! Rodney and his niece Madison buy a new (but old and frankly falling down) house in a small town (cliché enough yet?), which the locals believe to be haunted. Which it most definitely is. Inspired by Rose Red.

SPOILERS: Since it's AU, nothing.

WARNINGS: A bit of swearing. Our boys have quite the potty mouth sometimes.

DISCLAIMER: Everything Stargate Atlantis related is property of MGM. I own nothing.

x x x

"Hey! HEY! Careful with that! I'm not paying an outrageous amount for you to break things!"

The two men carrying Rodney's kitchen table rolled their eyes for the umpteenth time as they struggled in past the doorway.

Rodney scowled and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Not only were his possessions being mangled by the movers, but it had been over half an hour since he had left Madison with Detective Bed Head. Where on Earth were they?

As if on cue, the faint sound of sirens met the Canadian's ears.

Oh, for—liar!

He watched with narrowed eyes as Sheppard's patrol car rolled up next to the sidewalk and come to a stop.

John shut down the engine and killed the sirens before sliding out and facing Rodney with a grin.

"Sorry," he said before the scientist could chew him out. "Couldn't help it."

"Somehow I'm not surprised…" Rodney muttered, watching as Madison hopped out. The girl was clearly trying to hide a smile. "And I suppose you had fun in the loud and speeding car?"

She nodded, watching as the movers continued to haul their possessions into the house.

"It was fun. I've never been in a cop car before."

"Let's hope you never will again."

John chuckled and gave Rodney a light punch to his arm.

"Hey, maybe next time you can come along too. Everyone likes loud and flashing lights. Even you, McKay."

"Oh yes," started Rodney with an eye roll while rubbing his bruised limb. "The only loud and flashing lights I'd get to see if I got in a car with you would be the ambulance coming to take me away."

Before John could open his mouth, one of the movers headed over and stuck out the bill, practically thrusting it under Rodney's nose.

"We're done here, Mac. That'll be two hundred."

Muttering under his breath, Rodney scrawled out a cheque with pursed lips and handed it over.

"There. Don't spend it all in one place."

Ignoring the sarcasm, the mover raised an eyebrow and waited.

Rodney stared back, annoyance written all over his face.

"What?"

With a nudge to the man's side, John said in amusement, "I think he's waiting for his tip, McKay."

"Tip? After banging up my table and calling me 'Mac'? Oh, no. I don't think so, my friend. Be on your way." He wiggled his hands in the mover's direction before snorting and making the trek across the lawn to the front door.

John waited for the rather large movers to get in their truck and drive off before chuckling.

"Is he always like that?" he asked Madison.

She nodded, the corners of her lips twitching.

"All the time." Still hovering near Sheppard, Madison waved a hand at her Uncle and called, "Uncle Mer, wait! Mr. Sheppard was going to show us something, remember?"

Resisting the urge to smack his head against the doorframe, Rodney sighed and walked back down the stairs and across the lawn. He caught sight of Sheppard's grin and frowned. He didn't like the looks of that.

"What's the ridiculous smile for?"

"Why does she call you 'Mer'?" John asked with feigned innocence.

A bit of a pink tinge made its way across the Canadian's face.

"Pet name?"

"Nice try," John said promptly. "Madison?"

Maddie smiled and answered, "It's his name. Meredith. He doesn't like it though because it's a girl's name."

"Okay, that's enough of that," Rodney intervened hastily. He shot Sheppard a look. "You were going to show us something? And so help me, it better not have anything to do with ghosts. I don't need Madison staying up all night cowering in fear in my bed."

"I'm not scared of ghosts, Uncle Mer," defended Madison with a slightly offended look on her face.

"Well some of us are," Rodney muttered, zipping up his jacket moodily. "If they were real, that is. Which they're not."

Taking pity on the scientist, John waved a hand and started trekking across the lawn to the right side of the house.

"Nah, no ghosts. Just a cemetery."

"What?!"

"Well, sort of. You'll see."

"Oh, that's just great…"

With a reluctant sigh, Rodney followed Madison who followed John down the side of the house. Every few steps he was tripping over his own feet, the vines and thick branches tugging at his jacket.

"Okay, ow! What the hell are we doing?" he complained after a good two minutes, stopping to gently tug a leaf out of Madison's hair.

John sent a grin over his shoulder.

"Going to your backyard obviously."

"Oh, obviously," came the scathing reply. "Why didn't we just go through the house? We DO have backdoors, you know!"

"Dramatic effect?"

"Eugh…"

A few more moments of tugging—and in Rodney's case, mentally cursing—they finally made it into the back.

Rodney stared around at the large yard. The whole area was practically swamped with grass and vines. If there had been flowers, they would have been smothered. Only a single rose bush had managed to somehow survive in the jungle of a yard, red blossoms curving along the drowned trellis and—

"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

"That's another reason they call it Stone Manor," John said unnecessarily.

Too stunned to reply, Rodney just stared up at the large stone figure. Ivy and thorny rose vines curled around it, giving it a chilling macabre vibe. It's eyes were closed, hands folded in front of it.

"It's an angel," Madison murmured, her eyes fixed on the figure that was placed in the centre of the yard.

"A freakish one…"

John wandered over to the pair, hands draped in his pockets.

"Some people think it's actually Prudence, but no one knows for sure. Edward Stone had it made for her."

"After she died?" questioned Rodney, unable to take his eyes off the…thing.

"Nah, she was still alive."

"Again, freakish."

He would never admit it out loud, but Rodney was damned glad he hadn't opened those curtains the night before.

"I kind of like it."

Two pairs of eyes landed on Madison.

After a few awkward moments, Rodney said in what he hoped was a relaxed voice, "Yes, well you also like Hannah Montana, so let's not go there." Dropping his hands onto her shoulders, he tugged the six year old against his legs protectively…or perhaps as a shield. "Right, well that was all very…unique, but we have boxes to unpack furniture to arrange."

Sheppard took the not so subtle hint and nodded.

"You got it. I should get back to work anyways. Brunch was over a long time ago."

He gave Rodney a lazy grin and half-assed salute before patting Madison on the head and making his way back down the side lane. "See you two later."

"You could have—" Rodney sighed and rolled his eyes, giving up when the detective disappeared. "…gone through the house. Whatever…freak."

"I like him."

"Did we not just go over the whole 'Hannah Montana' thing?"

x x x

10am – that night

"How do you like your room?"

After unpacking most of their possessions and calling dibs on their desired bedrooms, it was around ten at night. Rodney had somehow managed to whip up a quick dinner, Madison heading for bed once she was finished eating.

"It's alright. Kind of…dusty," Madison answered with a shrug as her Uncle sat down on the edge of her bed, the mattress dipping under his weight.

Rodney huffed and nodded, gaze flickering around the room.

"You're definitely right about that. We'll get all the rooms cleaned up tomorrow. This is alright for now though, right?" He was almost hoping that she would say 'no' just so he didn't have to spend all night alone in his own room.

'Oh, for—you're a grown man AND a scientist. Get over yourself!'

"This is fine, Uncle Mer." Madison eyed her uncle. "Why? Are you scared?" She asked her question innocently, not a hint of teasing.

"What? No, of course not," Rodney scoffed, waving a hand. "I just thought you might be."

"I'm not. I'm fine."

"Alright then."

"Yup." She buried herself deeper under the heavy comforter, blonde hair poking out.

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"…sure sure?"

"Uncle Mer!"

"Alright, alright!" Sighing, he embarrassedly gave her a fond pat of the head and an extra tuck in the blankets before standing and clearing his throat. "Well, goodnight then, Maddie. Have, uhh…good dreams and all that."

Madison murmured back a 'goodnight' before sinking down almost completely under the blankets and shutting her eyes.

Hoping that the girl was just tired and that he wasn't being dismissed by a six year old, Rodney made his way over to the doorway and flicked off the lights. A small battery-powered night light glowed softly in the corner of the room. Still feeling slightly wary, he left the door open a crack before heading down the creaky stairs and into the kitchen.

"Alright, coffee and work."

Blatantly ignoring the curtains that hid the patio doors, he walked over to his prized coffee machine on the counter and started it up. Once the familiar sounds of dripping and bubbling filled the kitchen, Rodney let out a sigh and stretched.

"Now where did I put my laptop?"

It took him a few minutes to get settled but finally he was seated at the table and hooked up. Unfortunately, internet access was still in the works. But that didn't stop him from drafting a not-so-nice letter to Elizabeth Weir about his…living conditions.

"…poor Maddie's terrified…wants to sleep in my room…" A little guilt wouldn't hurt. "…your company better be worth it…and furthermore—"

Scratch.

His fingers slipped across the keys as he straightened up hastily to look over his shoulder. When only the sounds of the coffee maker continued, he huffed out and went back to his email. "…and furthermoreansnddf…" Backspacing with a disgruntled mutter, he started up his virtual tirade once again.

Scratch.

Scratch, scratch.

A bit of a squeak escaped the scientist, his head turning slowly to the side.

"M-Maddie?" He cleared his throat and tried again. "Madison?"

Rodney waited a few moments, hardly breathing. The house remained quiet, save for the soft sounds of his coffee maker. Just as he started to reluctantly turn back to his laptop, the scratching noise kicked up again.

Caught somewhere between insane fear and curiosity, Rodney slid out of his seat to slowly stand in the middle of the kitchen. He wondered just what the hell he was doing as he hesitantly followed the sound.

"Just my luck…" he muttered when he neared the curtains. His heart thudded in his chest, practically making its way up his throat. 'Okay…just pull them back. It's probably just the wind.' He nodded to himself and raised a shaky hand. Fingers curled around the thick material. 'Do it already, McKay! You're a scientist! There's nothing out there! Well, at least nothing supernatural…a axe murderer or some—damn it! No! No more thinking!'

Blood rushed to his ears, a slight nauseous feeling curling in his stomach as he took a breath, the scratching unrelenting. Before he could change his mind, he whipped back the curtain and jumped back to see—

Nothing.

It was so dark that he couldn't even see that…thing. He refused to call it an angel. He didn't exactly believe in them, but that just wasn't what he pictured when he thought them.

A branch grinding across the dirty glass jolted him out of his thoughts.

"God, that's the oldest trick in the book," he muttered, pretty much disgusted with himself. "I can't believe I fel—"

SMASH.

Yelping, McKay jumped backwards and slammed into the patio doors with a thud just in time to see a small animal skitter down the hallway and into an unused room. Seconds later, he realized that his back was to the pitch dark backyard, and, despite the glass between him and the outdoors, he yelped again and bolted over to the table.

Breathing heavily, he kept his gaze on the door, unblinking. After a good five minutes of nothing happening, he edged over just until he was in arms reach of the curtains and yanked them back across.

Finally able to relax, however slightly, the Canadian looked over to the counter, only now remembering the animal he had seen. A squirrel? Racoon? Whatever it was had broken his mug, presumably knocking it off the counter and onto the floor.

"…time for bed!"

He hastily shut down his laptop and abandoned the fresh pot of coffee to turn off the kitchen lights and hastily walk out.

"Though if there is an animal in here…"

Against his better judgement, Rodney stuck his head into the room the creature had disappeared into. It didn't take him all that long to find a chewed out hole that led outside.

"Oh, lovely," he snarled. There was only so much the poor man could take. "I'm going to have a heart attack one of these days. I just know it…"

Grumbling under his breath, he slowly started to push a desk that the movers had haphazardly put in the empty room. Once the back had covered the hole, he straightened up and brushed down his shirt.

"Right. Bed."

Rubbing his forehead, McKay walked out down the hall and started up the staircase. After a few moments, he could hear the soft padding of feet coming down the hall.

"Uncle Mer? Are you alright?"

Madison stuck her head up over the railing, peering down the stairs at him. She looked to be still half asleep, blonde hair everywhere.

Rodney sighed and nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. She may have been a couple minutes late, but she did get up to check on him. It was the thought that counted.

"I'm fine, Maddie. Let's get you back into bed."

Reaching the top of the stairs, he hauled the dozing girl up into his arms and made his way down to her room.

"We heard you yell," Madison mumbled, eyes shut as she sunk down under her comforter. "Wha' happened?"

Rodney tucked the blankets in around her, a slightly embarrassed expression appearing on his face.

"Uh…I dropped my mug. It was my favourite."

Madison nodded solemnly before drifting off, clutching her stuffed animal.

It was only when Rodney climbed into his own bed and lay back when Madison's words finally registered.

'We?'

Another sleepless night awaited the scientist.

x x x

A/N: Okay, so not 'ghost' creepy yet…or is it? Hmm…

EDIT: I added two links on my profile page: One for the house and one for the angel.