Heaven help me, I'm writing SGA fic!!!
Well, it finally happened. I've started a SGA fic. It should be short. It's a tag/epsiode addition to SGA 2x18: Michael. So, beware of spoilers if you haven't seen it. It's a work in progress and my first SGA fic, so be nice...
-dee
TITLE: Heaven Help Us
AUTHOR: SGC Gategirl
STATUS: WIP
RATING: Ages 15+
CATEGORY: Drama
SUMMARY: Why wasn't Rodney McKay involved with the experiment?
SPOILERS: 2x18: Michael
WARNINGS: Nothing yet
AUTHORS' NOTE: Well, after I watched Michael, I knew I had to write something to explain McKay's lack of screen time. This is the bunny that popped into the fron. It's my first SGA fic, so please be nice. Un-betaed.
ARCHIVE: Do not archive without the author's express permission.
DISCLAIMER: The Stargate, SGA, the Wraith, and all characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE ATLANTS, together with the names, titles, and back story, are the sole copyright property of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., the SciFi Channel, and Acme Shark. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea, and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
***
Heaven Help Us
By SGC Gategirl
"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
—Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism
***
"I can't believe you are actually considering going along with this!" Doctor Rodney McKay exclaimed as he strode into Elizabeth Weir's office off the side of the command room in Atlantis. The door closed silently behind him as Weir maneuvered her way behind her desk, her eyes flashing with anger toward the scientist.
"Rodney, we've been through this already—"
"Yes, but you weren't listening then either," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest, his chin jutting out as his lips formed a thin line. Everything about his body language proclaimed his outrage and frustration at the situation. It was one of the reasons she'd asked him to step into her office after the weekly senior staff meeting.
During Doctor Carson Beckett's explanation of the experiment he wanted to perform, Rodney's face has undergone a series of shifts—from interest to confusion to the ah-ha moment of what Beckett was proposing. And then it had gone quickly downhill from there.
And Rodney was not one to hold back from expressing his opinion.
"No," Elizabeth said, cutting off the scientist before he could continue. All she wanted was his cooperation, and if she couldn't have that, then his silence on the matter would be sufficient. The last thing they needed was for the expedition personnel to see a serious disagreement in the senior staff. They had the right to their opinions, but they needed to have a united front and support the decisions agreed upon by the majority.
And this was one such decision.
There was no room for doubt once they moved forward. This was not something that they could take back, that they could change once they started down this path. Experimentation on any living being—even a Wraith—was something she was not comfortable with, but Carson had been adamant, fully convinced that this was right, that this might make the difference they needed to defeat the Wraith.
It had taken weeks for Carson to explain all the pros and cons of the experiment, extrapolating the benefits and the drawbacks to Atlantis and eventually Earth. He'd been brutally honest. There were risks—great risks. But were they worth it was the real question.
This was not one decision she took lightly.
Everyone had the chance to ask questions, any questions. All the department heads were involved. Rodney had asked several at the beginning, the answers causing his mouth to take a distinctly downward turn. He'd been quiet the last two weeks, just listening for most of the meetings, his arms crossed over his chest, disapproval radiating from him like the heat from a small sun. It was only a matter of time before this sun supernovaed.
And it hadn't been pretty. Colonel John Sheppard's eyes had widened when Rodney took the floor, his condescending lecture-mode laying waste to all of the work Carson had done, to the positive comments the majority of the senior staff had shared. He hadn't held back—not that she ever thought he did—but this time was different.
Elizabeth didn't remember a time when Rodney had been so vehemently opposed to any kind of plan against the Wraith, against something scientific—even though he often referred to it as voodoo and magic. She knew the man had a healthy respect for the medical sciences and for Carson. It's hard not to when he found himself in the infirmary as often as he did.
He, of all people, knew exactly what they were up against, the kind of enemy they were fighting. It was war, pure and simple and they were fighting for their survival.
John's argument had been very brief, but very pointed, his voice very quiet after Rodney's tirade had concluded. If they didn't do something they would end up losing. They were vastly outgunned and our numbered. How could they fight beings that sucked the life from you with their hand and then kept on coming—boasting multiple bullet wounds that closed as quickly as you could make them? It was time to take up the offensive.
When there were no more comments, Elizabeth's decision came very quickly. If the Genii knew they survived, who else did? It was only a matter of time before the Wraith discovered that Atlantis was still alive and well.
And she was tired of running from them.
Clichéd or not, desperate times called for desperate measures and this had to be one of the most desperate measures she'd ever agreed with.
And that brought her back to the present and why she was staring down the head of the science department.
"No, Rodney, you are the one who has seemingly lost the ability to hear." She dropped her PDA on her desk, her eyes never leaving the man's face, her hand raised to cut of the scientist when he opened his mouth to speak. "No, I don't want to hear it. I heard enough in there—most of which was uncalled for I might add."
She paused, taking a deep breath to try and settle her frazzled nerves and to get her temper under control. Rodney, surprisingly, remained silent, his eyes narrowing, his face beginning to change, losing the hardness his arrogance usually gave it.
"While I don't expect everyone to agree with the decision, a decision has been made and I expect everyone to abide by it. That includes you."
"Elizabeth," Rodney began, his words not as heated as they had been earlier. "I'm not sure you understand what kind of risk this whole experiment brings to Atlantis. We're not talking about changing a minor character trait. We're talking about re-engineering an entire race. We don't have the right to play God."
Weir tried to hold back a laugh of surprise, a bark of sound escaping. "And this coming from the man who destroyed a solar system."
"Five-sixths if you must be precise," he shot back, anger and hurt mixing on his face and in his voice. "But we're talking about two very different things. I had no intention on doing any harm to anything or anyone. Carson on the other hand is trying to change the genetic makeup of an alien species and he has no idea what the outcome will be."
"That's the point of experiments."
"Experimentation is to prove the truth of a hypothesis, not to wait and see what happens," he said, drawing a hand wearily across his face. "It's reckless and you know it."
"Carson knows what he's doing. Look at the success he's had with the ATA gene. And how can you stand there and talk about experimenting with genetic manipulation while you were the first one on the exam table to be treated?"
"That's different. He wasn't re-writing my entire genetic code, merely adding and activating dormant genes. He was working with something already present."
"And that's what he's doing with the Wraith."
"No, it's not. I, at least, had the benefit of informed consent. I don't think you have any intention of asking the Wraith permission to experiment on them. It's a totally different situation."
"You keep telling me that, but you're not making a very good case for it. We know it's a risk, Rodney, but it's one that I'm willing to take." She paused, pursing her lips as his frown deepened. "We're doing this, with or without your approval."
An emotion crossed his face before she could identify it, but he quickly locked it down, his expression hardening into a mask of indifference. "Fine. Don't expect my cooperation with his foolhardy scheme because you're not going to get it."
He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him before he reached the door. "You have every right to your opinion, Rodney, but in this instance I fully expect you to keep it to yourself. Am I understood?"
McKay's back muscles tightened under his shirt and he refused to turn to her. His voice was tight as if the words were pushed out through gritted teeth. "Understood Doctor Weir. If you don't mind, I have work to do."
And without looking back he marched out of her office, his steps never hesitating as he strode through the control room and down the stairs out of her sight.
Sitting down, she sighed, her head in her hands. She's been hopeful that he'd change his mind, but from his tirade earlier and this conversation, Weir knew that hell would freeze over before Rodney admitted that this idea was viable, that it might work. Was it because of his ego that he couldn't cope when someone else came up with a way to fight he Wraith? She knew how he was, how he considered himself to be the one with all the answers. But working with him over the past year and a half, it was hard to believe that he'd resort to something so petty.
Honestly, she thought that the experimentation had a greater chance of succeeding with his cooperation. She could order him to help, but that wouldn't help matters. It would only prove that she had the power to order him around. They'd just have to proceed without his assistance.
He'd given his word and she knew that he'd abide by her decision. That was one constant: Rodney was a man of his word.
***
TBC
