Who: John Sheppard & Rodney McKay What: John's arrival Where: one of the beaches When: Day 9, morning Warnings: nope Status: complete gdoc
John wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to standing on one of the balconies of Altantis and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge. There were some benefits to being on Earth, like pizza delivery and football games, both things he missed a lot when he was in the Pegasus galaxy. This morning, he’d enjoyed his coffee while watching the boats on the San Francisco bay. He had no idea how exactly the Department of Homeworld Security was spinning the restrictions for boating in the bay at the moment, but it was kind of fun watching people from his invisible city.
One of the downsides to being on Earth was the many, many meetings. With a sigh, he finished his coffee and walked back inside. Except when he walked through the door, he didn’t find himself in one of the many Atlantis corridors, he was on a beach. He reached for his radio and clicked it. “Sheppard to Atlantis gateroom.” Nothing. Not even static. Well, shit.
The sun was rising over the horizon and he decided that east was as good a direction to walk as any, so he started moving in that direction, hoping he would run into someone who could tell him what was happening. He didn’t have to go far before he spotted a familiar figure up ahead.
“McKay!” he called, jogging the rest of the way over to his teammate. “What the hell is this?”
*
McKay was trying to get readings, but despite some magical interventions to give the tablet juice, it was like this place had a lot of interference. He did not like that. He was muttering to himself about how to fix things as he played with the configuration of the tablet when he heard his name. He lifted his head. Had he really heard his name? And from a familiar voice too. For a split second he had hoped he had found his way back home, but no, the beach and the ocean were both signs he was still trapped. Turning, he saw Sheppard jogging toward him. John. McKay knew he had missed his friend, but he hadn’t been aware of how much until just now.
“Sheppard?” Even though McKay knew it was him.
He blinked, then smiled as he momentarily forgot where they were. “Sheppard!”
–
Why was McKay looking at him like that? He had a really bad feeling about whatever this was. “Yeah, Rodney. It’s me. Now it’s your turn. Where are we? How’d we get here?” Usually he couldn’t get McKay to shut up and now he was needed to pry information out of him. That couldn’t bode well.
He looked at their surroundings, none of which looked familiar, which didn’t mean much considering their jobs and how many different planets they explored.
*
“Oh, yes. Right.” It was as if Rodney suddenly remembered that they were both stuck here and that this was Sheppard’s first time. It didn’t really surprised him that Sheppard had missed the little note thing that showed up.
“Well. As far as anyone can tell, this is Scotland. Not from our Earth though considering there’s literal ghosts and merpeople and whoknowswhat else around here.” He held up his hand. “And before you ask if I’m serious - unfortunately the answer is yes.” Even though McKay hated the unexplainable and there was no scientific reason for magic or the supernatural to exist. “And no, I don’t know how we got here. And no, I have no idea how to get out yet because apart from various killer ocean life, there’s apparently a big vortex of water if you go far enough out.” McKay also sounded like he was annoyed by that too - because he was.
–
If anyone other than Rodney McKay was telling him this, John would assume it was some kind of elaborate practical joke. He knew that wasn’t Rodney’s style though which meant he was telling the truth and wow, now he had a headache.
“Okay, so Scotland. Ghosts. Killer ocean life.” John repeated what his friend shared and sighed. “And no way to contact the SGC, I’m assuming.” Because why should anything ever be easy “Is there somewhere to bunk? And how did you learn all of this already?”
*
His shoulders fell a little just because every time he had to talk about it, it made things more real. “I’ve been here for just over a week. Sam was here for a couple of days, but she left.” And he’d panicked a little, but tried not to make it too obvious. Rodney was definitely the sort of person who liked the familiar rather than the unknown. “I’ve been staying in this house. It’s - well, it needs work.” He wasn’t exactly the best handy man. “But it’s better than staying outside or in the lighthouse and there’s no ghosts in it as far as I can tell, so it’s safe.” But cold because of the drafts that needed to be fixed. “We’re basically on our own here. Like some messed up supernatural Survivor show.”
–
Sheppard frowned when Rodney mentioned Sam. “Wait, Carter was here and left without you?” That didn’t sound like the woman he knew. Sure, she and McKay might have a rocky history, but at the end of the day, she was an airman and followed the ‘no man left behind’ creed that extended to every member of the SGC, military or not.
Wherever Rodney was staying was where John intended to be. They were a team and if they were going to be stuck in some unknown situation with potential danger, then they were going to do it together. “Let’s see this house,” he said.
*
“It’s not like people particularly come and go of their own volition.” As much as he knew he could be annoying, he didn’t think Samantha Carter would have just left him here.
“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the whole work thing.” He gestured for him to follow him and then started that way. “I guess it’s my turn to ask some questions. Like what is it that you remember from home?” Rodney knew that sounded like a stupid question, but for this place it wasn’t. “And what do you have on you that could be useful?”
–
“Atlantis was in the San Francisco Bay,” John said. Since they’d dealt with time travel and alternate dimensions before, he didn’t find the question too odd. “And, uh…” He patted his pockets. “I have a P-90, a Wraith stunner, a handful of power bars, and a radio.” How useful any of those things were would remain to be seen.
As they walked along the beach, he heard a commotion in the distance and frowned. “What the hell is that?”
*
Okay, so Sheppard was around the same time as he was so that was at least a good thing because he didn’t have to worry about things like letting future information slip. “Okay… okay so you have some weapons. At least that’s good.” No help otherwise, but at least he hadn’t shown up in his underwear or something. Still, he really wished he had his laptop here. The tablet was good and everything, but it was limited to mostly Ancient stuff and this island, most definitely, wasn’t that around of ‘ancient’.
The sound made Rodney tense. He’d heard that sound before, but it’d been in a dream, hadn’t it? “There’s no way.” He breathed out, mostly to himself. Those things in his dream had been awful. Would this place really bring them alive?
“If that’s what I think it is… we’re in trouble. Everyone’s in trouble.” McKay looked very worried.
–
The expression on his face and the tone of McKay’s voice was all Sheppard needed to pull have his P-90 at the ready. “Is there a safe place we can go?” he asked. He’d do whatever he could to get them there and then he could have Rodney fill him in on the rest of the details about what they were dealing with.
*
"... Define safe." Rodney wasn't even trying to be funny. It felt like most of the island had it out to get the inhabitants.