Work Text:
Genius Fathers and Sons
by Belladonna
"Dawn Atwood? No, I don't know any Dawn Atwood. Should I?" Rodney asked, only half paying attention to Woolsey as he worked on his laptop. Then his head came up. "There was a Dawn somebody in college. She needed to be tutored and offered..." Rodney stopped, cheeks pink. "Suffice it to say, she didn't go away without what she wanted."
John smirked. "Why, Rodney. You dog."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Ha ha. Barter has been a well respected tradition over the centuries."
This made Ronon snort knowingly and Teyla just shook her head.
Woolsey sighed. "Dr. McKay. Dawn Atwood had a son. His name is Ryan, he's 22 and he needs a bone marrow transplant and it's been ascertained that as his father, you are the best match."
Rodney's mouth opened, closed, opened. "Huh?"
"Congratulations, you're a daddy," John said semi-facetiously. He could see Rodney's shock, and hoped that the scientist wouldn't faint.
Leaning forward, Teyla rested a hand on top of Rodney's. "This is good news. I would like to meet a son of yours, Rodney."
Ronon grunted. "I wonder if he's as smart as McKay?"
"Of course he is," Rodney sputtered. "I mean, well, he has ~my~ genes after all. Dawn wasn't that smart, but they say a man's first born is the most like him. Right?"
"When do we go?" John asked Woolsey.
Woolsey looked at the team, and realized he was paying for the four of them to fly out to California because it was obvious they were not going to let Dr. McKay go alone. "Tomorrow morning at 0800. General Landry is making arrangements for a flight to California."
"Tell him I'll fly us if he gets us a plane," John replied, pushing himself up. "C'mon, everyone. We need to pack."
Rodney stared up at John. "What if he's a moron? Can I handle that?"
"Relax, McKay. He's not gonna be a moron." John patted Rodney's shoulder. "Let's go, buddy."
~*
Seth sat by Ryan's bed, chewing his thumbnail as his best friend and lover lay in a drugged sleep. Ryan was dying of lymphocytic leukemia, and there was nothing he could do and nowhere else to turn. He'd finally broke down and against Ryan's wishes, called Dawn, the drunken bitch. She'd actually done the right thing and had her bone marrow tested, then badgered Ryan's father to be tested, where it had been discovered that the man wasn't Ryan's father at all. Such a fucking mess, but Seth and his parent's protected Ryan from all of it. From the knowledge that they'd exhausted their last hope because Dawn wasn't sure ~who~ Ryan's father was.
A nurse came bustling in, checking Ryan over when someone in a military uniform stepped into the room. "Is this Ryan Atwood's room?"
Seth frowned and stood up. "Yeah, and who are you?"
"I'm going to have to ask everyone to leave," the man stated.
"Fuck you," Seth said, and heard his mother in the hallway. "Seth!"
"Mom," he said as she and his father came into the room. "Ryan's my partner. I'm not going anywhere."
Sandy Cohen turned to face the man in uniform. "Who are you and what ~do~ you want with Ryan?" he demanded, never having been a fan of the military mindset or their policies. The nurse apparently decided she didn't want to get in the middle and obediently left the room.
The man paused, "Just a moment, Mr. Cohen," he said beofre he pulled out a cell phone and stepped into the hallway. At the same moment they could hear an irritated voice coming down the hallway.
"Oh for the love of all that's holy. I can't introduce myself to my son and his family without the Pentagon poking their noses into my business?"
"Rodney," another voice said soothingly and Ryan stirred on the bed, his eyes fluttering open. Kristen put a cup of water with a straw up to his lips so he could swallow a bit to moisten his mouth.
"Seth?" he whispered.
"Yeah, I'm here, Ry," Seth said back, sinking into the seat beside the bed and gripping Ryan's hand tightly.
A knock at the doorway made them all glance up to see a man with bright blue eyes and thinning sandy brown hair standing uncertainly in the doorway. "Hi. Um, can we come in?"
Seth slowly stood. "Okay, who are you?"
"Dr. Rodney McKay. Not a physician, I'm a doctor of Physics and I work for the United States government even though I'm Canadian."
"Mom mentioned you," Ryan said softly. "She knew you in college."
The man threw a glance over his shoulder at someone in the hallway before turning back to look at Ryan. "Yeah, well. I tutored her in math and she, well..." he shrugged, embarassed. Kirsten coughed, her cheeks pink and she and Sandy exchanged a grin. They done the whole college thing and knew what the man didn't say.
"Wait," Seth said suddenly. "You're Ryan's biological father!"
"What?" Ryan asked, confusion obvious on his face. "Frank's my dad."
Seth sighed, letting go of Ryan's hand for a moment and pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. He sucked in a breath before sinking into the chair and taking Ryan's hand again, looking him in the eye. "I was desperate and called your mom. And yeah, I know you said no but I ~love~ you and was willing to face your extreme displeasure as long as you didn't withhold sex. So your mom got tested and so did Frank, and it came out that Frank isn't your father."
"But I am," Rodney McKay said. "and I'm a perfect match."
Sandy glanced at his wife. "Hi, I'm Sandy Cohen and this is my wife, Kirsten."
Rodney nodded. "You're Ryan's parents in everything but blood. I know who you are and I appreciate everything that you've done for him. I mean, I'd have done it if I was here, and had maybe known that he ~was~ my son for more than two days."
Ryan snickered from his bed and Seth titled his head. "What are you laughing about?"
"He sounds like you," Ryan said with a loving smile.
"Hey," Seth and Rodney said in unison, which made Ryan laugh so hard he started to cough and set off alarms.
tbc-
John gently brushed Rodney's hair back off of his forehead when he heard a noise. He glanced up to see Seth Cohen standing in the doorway. Rodney had just been returned to his room after his bone marrow donation and was still sleeping off the anesthetic and was dead to the world. "Hey."
"Hey," Seth said, hands in his pockets. John could see where the grief for his partner had effected him, in his weight loss, the bony ridges of his shoulders noticeable as well as the dark shadows beneath his eyes. "How is Dr. McKay?"
John gave Rodney a fond smile. "They said he'd be up and terrorizing everybody in a couple of hours."
"So," Seth began, stepping into the room after a glance down the hall. "Sure alot of military types around."
"Well, Rodney is one of the most valuable members of my team and our government takes his security very seriously."
Seth's eyes sharpened. "Is Ryan in any danger?"
"No," John said firmly, shaking his head. "But then, we take care of our own. Besides, Ryan is an architect."
"Mechanical engineer and architect," Seth corrected softly. "A genius, except he deliberately fucked the test. We got a copy and played with it and he tested off of the charts."
"Jesus," John said, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Don't let anybody know. Understand?" His mind raced with all sorts of unpleasant possibilities.
"Having read comic books my entire life, especially X-men, I understand all too well." Seth's face was drawn and serious.
~*
Three Months Later~
Rodney watched as his son, his lover, John, Ronon, Teyla and Sandy frolicked in the huge pool, the California sunshine and salt air actually refreshing, though he had his requisite layer of sunscreen on and was seated underneath an umbrella.
"Iced tea, no lemon."
Rodney looked up with a crooked smile. "Thank you, Kirsten." He took a deep drink and sighed as his parched throat enjoyed the icy freshness.
Kirsten smiled back and sat down beside Ryan's father. She'd come to admire the often cranky but always entertaining man (she adored his sarcasm). He was proving himself to be a good father, and that went a long way in both her and Sandy's book. "He's looking so much better."
"Yeah," Rodney said softly. He couldn't believe that the brilliant young architect with more creative talent in his little finger than Rodney had in his whole body was his ~son~. The bone marrow donation, along with some judicious SGC help had restored Ryan to his healthy and hearty self, and the change in him and Seth in the three months since they'd seen them was astonishing. "He's amazing. ~They're~ amazing."
Kirsten laughed softly, putting her sunglasses on. "Yes, they are. By the way, Sandy loved having John, Ronon and Teyla come out surfing with him this morning."
Rodney snorted. "Believe me, it was their pleasure." And his, because John had crawled into bed with him, still wet from the ocean and had given him the blowjob from heaven.
A beachball bounced out of the water and landed wetly in Rodney's lap, making him yelp in surprise. "H-ey!"
"Come and play, Rod-ney!" John wheedled from where he was propped up on the side of the pool. A moment later Ryan joined him, his hair slicked back like a wet seal, and then Seth, both young men tanned and happy.
"C'mon, McKay before I come out and get you," Ronon threatened and Rodney threw up his hands.
"Fine! But if I get sunburned I'm blaming you."
"Don't worry, Dad. We've got aloe vera," Ryan said happily, and everyone went quiet. It was the first time Ryan had said the word Dad, and it was obvious that he'd planned it because his eyes were steady even if his cheeks were pink.
Rodney smiled back. "Good, good," he said, and threw the ball straight into John's face, making him squawk and fall flailing back into the water. "Ready, Ry?"
Ryan and Seth exchange evil smiles. "Ready!"
Rodney cannonballed into the pool and they immediately ganged up on a hysterically laughing John.
the end...