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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Completed:
2008-08-05
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58,937
Chapters:
24/24
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25
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Repellent

Summary:

It was Rodney's nature to be repellent; it was the Pegasus Galaxy's nature to take it to the next level. It takes volcanoes, Wraith, genetic experiments and Genii to show Rodney that not everyone thinks of him the same way.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Notes:

This is my first foray into the world of Atlantis.  Wish me luck!

Chapter Text

Warnings: If you squint, it could be considered pre-slash.Spoilers: “Irresistible”, and general spoilers up to the middle of Season 3.Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me; I'm just borrowing them from the likes of MGM and Sci-Fi.     


Three years.  Three years to the day since Dr. Elizabeth Weir had shown up on his doorstep to make him an offer he’d have to be brain-dead to refuse.  Three years of risking his life on an almost-daily basis, fending off life-sucking aliens in a distant galaxy.  Three years of playing with technology that challenged even his gargantuan intellect.

 

Three fabulous years.

 

Dr. Rodney McKay had made a point of sharing this news with pretty much anyone who would stay put long enough to hear him out, and even with some who wouldn’t.  But by the end of the day, the staggering lack of enthusiasm on the part of his colleagues and so-called friends had effectively taken the wind out of his sails, and now he sat alone at a table in the mess hall, surrounded by people who kept their distance out of habit.  The crew of Atlantis had learned early on in the expedition that it was unwise to approach McKay during his free-time—interruptions were likely to get you posted to waste management or something equally unappealing. 

 

As Rodney poked at his Salisbury steak with the prongs of his fork, feeling uncharacteristically disinterested in his food, he pondered his unusual social situation.  He was well aware of the fact that he was prickly, and he usually preferred eating alone anyway, but it still stung that people avoided him.  In a way, things hadn’t changed much for him since his high school days.  Even though he was now the head of the best team of scientists ever gathered in one place, he still sometimes felt like a gangly pre-teen sitting at the end table in the lunch room with the greasy-haired girl and the foreign exchange student with the eye-watering body odour.  The jocks and the cheerleaders hadn’t even considered him worthy of bullying—that’s how low-down on the food chain he’d been.

 

A burst of laughter erupted from a table behind him, and Rodney thought ‘…and cue the jocks’.  He recognised Sheppard’s barking-hyena laugh and the graceful tones of Teyla’s voice, although he couldn’t make out her words.  His paranoia automatically provided the dialogue, and in a matter of seconds he was convinced they were laughing at his expense and his shoulders instinctively hunched up.  He supposed it was possible that they hadn’t seen him when they came in—he did have his back to them, after all—but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were deliberately excluding him.

 

Rodney’s back stiffened when he heard the deep rumbling sound of Ronon’s voice, followed by more laughter.  Was it his imagination, or had the reject from “Quest for Fire” grunted out his name?

 

“That’s right, laugh it up, Fuzzball,” Rodney muttered under his breath, his mouth turned down in a decidedly mirthless grin.  “Let’s see what happens the next time your plumbing goes on the fritz.”

 

A few more laughs from his teammates’ table and he’d had enough.  Scooping up his dinner tray in one hand and his cooling mug of coffee in the other, Rodney noisily pushed his chair back and got to his feet.  No way they could pretend they hadn’t seen him now, he thought, and waited for one of them to acknowledge his presence.  When it didn’t happen, Rodney turned to face them and found Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon gathered close together over some kind of book.  It was obviously very amusing, but with Ronon blocking his view, Rodney couldn’t make out what it was. 

 

As curious as he was to find out what had the rest of his team in stitches, the very real possibility that they were laughing at him was incentive enough to turn back around and walk away.  As he dumped his tray of mostly-uneaten food into the receptacle, the nurses sitting at the nearest table gave him an odd look.  Rodney glowered back at them and their eyes quickly sought refuge elsewhere.  Honestly, you’d think they’d never seen him leave food on his plate before…and even as the thought crossed his mind, he had to admit to himself that it didn’t happen often.

 

He wasn’t hungry.  So what?  It didn’t mean there was anything wrong with him.  And it certainly didn’t mean he was sulking.  Because he wasn’t.


  

 

Teyla was laughing—a much-needed release after their latest run-in with the Replicators—when she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye.  Colonel Sheppard had won a book of drawings by a man named Gary Larson in a poker game the previous evening and had insisted on educating both her and Ronon in the humorous art of cartooning.  She had been so engrossed in the book that she hadn’t noticed Dr. McKay until he was walking away, head down and a deeper than usual frown on his face.  It didn’t take a self-proclaimed genius to figure out that he’d been sitting nearby, witnessing their impromptu get-together, and Teyla had the good grace to feel ashamed for not noticing his presence sooner. 

 

“John, should we not have invited Rodney to join us?” she asked politely.

 

Colonel Sheppard blithely waved away her concern.  “He’s read these already.  Besides, he’s probably holed up in his lab going over the reports from all the new systems the Ancients started up while they were here.”

 

Teyla laid her hand on his arm to prevent him from flipping to the next page and succeeded in gaining his attention.  He looked up at her, confused.

 

“Rodney was here just now and saw us together,” she said, using her eyes to get across what she was really trying to say.

 

John’s brow furrowed as the implications of what she’d said sank in.  “Damn.  I guess I should go talk to him.”

 

He made it sound like a chore, but Teyla knew better than that.  Although she didn’t pretend to understand the complexity of the friendship the colonel and McKay shared, she knew that he valued it highly.  Despite their differences and the incessant bickering, they remained close—closer than brothers—and John would never put that in jeopardy.

 

“Perhaps that would be best,” she agreed.  She watched as Colonel Sheppard shoved himself up out of his chair and sauntered towards the doorway.  Across from her, Ronon leaned back in his seat and raised an eyebrow at her, a knowing smile on his face.  He was most likely picturing the angry tirade that Sheppard was about to suffer at the hands of Dr. McKay.  Teyla couldn’t help but smile as well.


 

 

John caught up with Rodney just as he was settling down at his lab station.  The elaborate eye-roll and sneer he received upon entering the lab told him that he wouldn’t be getting a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card this time.  He squared his shoulders and took the plunge.

 

“I know what you’re thinking, but I swear we didn’t know you were there, Rodney,” he began, wincing under the razor-sharp blue of Rodney’s glare.  “I was just showing them the Far Side book I won last night.”

 

“What’s wrong, Colonel?  Need help with the big words?”  McKay’s chin jutted out petulantly.

 

The acerbic tone Rodney had taken with him rubbed John the wrong way—didn’t the man get that he was trying to apologise?  He crossed his arms and matched the scientist’s glare with one of equal magnitude.

 

“I was going to ask if you wanted to join us,” John replied through gritted teeth.

 

“Oh, like I have nothing better to do than explain cow jokes to the Pegasus Galaxy’s version of Tarzan and Jane.”

 

“That’s nice, McKay,” he said.  “And you wonder why people don’t want to sit with you?”

 

A flash of hurt flickered across Rodney’s face, so brief that John wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t known the other man so well.  Damn him!  The man could spew venom and then make you feel guilty for it!  Well, not this time, John thought, as he geared up for round two. 

 

Round two was a no-go, however, as they were interrupted by Elizabeth Weir’s voice coming over his headset.

 

“Colonel Sheppard?”

 

John tapped his earpiece, more to let Rodney know he was receiving a message than for any practical purpose.  “Yeah, Elizabeth, I’m here.”

 

“I need to see you and your team in the control room,” she said mysteriously.

 

“Is there a problem?” he asked, holding a hand up to stall Rodney’s worried outburst.

 

“No problem,” she answered.  “Just something I thought you might like to see.”

 

“We’ll be right there,” he replied, and turned to McKay.  “C’mon, we gotta go.”  Knowing it would drive Rodney crazy not knowing what was going on, John high-tailed it through the lab doors and down the corridor, ignoring the sputtering invectives being thrown at him by the irate scientist at his heels.

 

Along the way he called up Teyla and Ronon on their headsets and the four of them met up on the walkway leading to the control room.  Dr. Weir was waiting for them, an amused expression on her face.  John knew her amusement was mostly due to the near-rabid anxiety of one Dr. Rodney McKay.

 

“You did tell your team that this wasn’t an urgent matter?” she asked John pointedly.

 

“Guh!”  Rodney’s exasperation was hardly unexpected and was instantly disregarded by everyone in the control room.

 

“It may have slipped my mind,” John admitted with a sly grin.

 

Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled with shared mischievousness, but she hid it from Rodney and the others as only a true leader could.  “The MALP we sent to MSS 696 sent back some images that I really think you should see.”

 

As she stepped over to the view-screen, the technician on duty played back the video feed from the MALP.  The initial static cleared to show a lush, tropical rainforest, and as the camera turned a slow 360Ëš, it looked like there was nothing more to see than trees, flowers and a whole lot of flying insects.

 

“Very pretty,” Rodney snarked.  “You dragged us all the way down here to show us a jungle?”

 

“Wait for it…” Elizabeth said with a cryptic smile.

 

Rodney responded with an impatient grunt, but John noticed that he kept his eyes glued to the screen, just like everyone else in the room.

 

Just as the MALP’s camera had almost finished its full turn, a tall, thin structure came into view.  It looked derelict, mostly covered in a thick growth of moss, but the parts of the stone obelisk that were visible showed markings that were unlike anything John had seen before.

 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Rodney muttered and stepped closer to the screen to get a better look.  “Is that what I think it is?”

 

Elizabeth’s smile broadened and she crossed her arms in satisfaction.  “I don’t know,” she answered.  “That’s what I want you and your team to go and find out.”

 

“I don’t get it,” Ronon said, towering over their shoulders to see the screen.  “What is it I’m supposed to be looking at?”

 

“That’s a very good question,” John said, and he turned to address Dr. Weir.  “Care to explain to the rest of the class?”

 

Elizabeth was about to answer him, but Rodney beat her to it.  “It’s Asgard!  There was one just like it on Cimmeria.”

 

John had no idea what he was talking about, and it must have shown on his face, because Rodney gave him a disgusted look and shook his head.

 

“Seriously, don’t you people ever read the SGC mission reports?” Rodney ranted.  “Cimmeria was the first planet we encountered the Asgard.  That’s where SG-1 met the hologram version of Thor.  As in, ‘Thor’s Hammer’.  Any of this ringing a bell?”

 

John ignored the dig and asked what he figured everyone else wanted to know.  “So it’s Asgard.  What’s the big deal?”

 

Rodney threw his hands up in the air.  “I can’t believe this.  I’m surrounded by imbeciles!”

 

Elizabeth wisely stepped in at that point and answered John’s question, putting an end to Rodney’s mini-tirade.  “The Asgard were one of the four ancient races that formed an alliance thousands of years ago, along with the Nox, the Furlings, and the Ancients.  We had always assumed that the four races had come together in the Milky Way Galaxy, but if this stone pillar is Asgard…”

 

“Then maybe the Ancients and the Asgard go back even farther,” John finished.  He didn’t fully grasp how this information might be of use to them, but he could certainly see the historical significance of it.  “No offence, but isn’t this more of an archaeological thing?  Maybe we should send one of the anthro teams to check it out.”

 

“Elizabeth, please enlighten the ranking military officer of Atlantis on what a find like this means,” said Rodney, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

 

Elizabeth gave McKay a warning glance, but did as he’d asked anyways.  “We need to know what the Asgard were doing here.  We have never before encountered Asgard technology in the Pegasus Galaxy, and the Asgard have never mentioned anything about having been here, which leads me to believe that their presence here was either marginal…”

 

“Or they were up to something that they’d rather we didn’t know about,” John finished.  Great, John thought bitterly; just what they needed—another ally with secrets to hide.  “So…when do we go?”