fic--Obverse
Title: Obverse
Author: Frostfire
Rating: R
Word count: 712
Notes: This is a Hot Zone tag. Uh-huh. Talk about your blasts from the past. It may be more...I don't know, effective? if you've seen the episode recently.
I wrote this awhile ago for a specific purpose, and then it didn't work out and I shoved it aside and forgot about it. Just found it again, made a couple of small changes, and here it is.

It was the same problem, John thought.

He’d known what he needed to do, it was obvious what needed to happen, and *insert commanding officer here* just couldn’t see it. At least with Elizabeth, he could maybe do it anyway and not be, say, court-martialed. Although she’d pretty much verbally flayed him in there, just now.

And okay, he understood chain of command and how her authority was to be respected and this was a civilian operation—but it was the right thing to do. And if she couldn’t see that, he needed to.

He’d stopped dozens of people from dying of brain hemorrhage. Could she not recognize that?

Rodney wasn’t in the labs. Actually, nobody was in the labs, which probably hadn’t happened since the entire city was evacuated for the storm. Quarters, then. He moved out.

He’d intended to knock, but the door slid open before he could, so…okay. He stepped inside.

Rodney was bent over something that looked like work, but he wasn’t typing or writing or even really thinking, John could see. No real brain activity here. He probably wouldn’t get bitched out for interrupting, then, good.

“If you’re hiding from Elizabeth, you can find somewhere else,” said Rodney without looking at him. “In fact, I may call her just to get rid of you.”

Okay, that hurt. “I didn’t think you were mad at me, too.”

“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the universe, and you just happen to be the piece of it closest to me at the moment. Lucky you.”

John stepped forward. “I could maybe help you with that.”

“Thank you, Major, I almost got my brain melted today, that was excitement enough. Go away.”

John sighed. “I saved a third of the city today, do I get a break?”

“All in a day’s work for SuperSheppard. Disobeying orders and saving the galaxy. Go away.”

“I—” He rubbed his forehead. Why couldn’t anybody see this? “It was the right thing to do, Rodney. It was the only thing to do.”

Rodney spun around in his chair. “Dumais was brilliant, you know that? Brilliant. She was just beginning to be confident enough to really accomplish things, putting out some work that was almost up there with Zelenka’s. And she was young, she just got her doctorate a couple years ago. And now she’s dead. So forgive me if I don’t care about your little command issues. Whether you feel whipped by Elizabeth or not is, believe it or not, subordinate to Dumais’ life, and, oh yeah, also Wagner, Johnson, Peterson, and Hayes.” Rodney’s voice had gotten a little higher. “Plus, I almost died, which you know I hate, and just—shut up, okay?”

Jesus. He’d almost forgotten, what with being furious at Elizabeth, and what kind of commander did that make him? “I’m sorry.” John stepped forward again, put his hands on Rodney’s shoulders. “I’m an asshole.”

“Yes, yes you are. Way too many people have yet to figure this out.” Rodney’s voice sounded almost broken, but he kept going. “Me, they peg instantly, but you, nope. The looks and the charm hide your true nature for awhile, until—”

John couldn’t listen anymore, couldn’t watch Rodney’s face breaking down, so he kissed him, hard, pushing him back in the chair. The monologue faded out, and he thrust his tongue into Rodney’s mouth and tried to drown out even the small, high, hurt noises.

Eventually he pulled Rodney out of the chair and started stripping him in between kisses, moved him over to the bed and stood over him while pulling off his clothes, and turned off the light so he wouldn’t have to see the glinting salty trails from the corner of Rodney’s eyes. The taste was in Rodney’s mouth, but he wouldn’t let John pull away, just put his hands behind John’s head and locked their mouths together, and eventually John figured out that this was Rodney’s way of not really crying, and just thrust against him until they both came.

Afterward, Rodney kept kissing him, slowly, tongue in John’s mouth for what felt like hours. John propped himself over him and kissed back, and when Rodney finally fell from kissing into sleep, the pillow was soaked at each temple.

end