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thisfishfliesFandom: SGA/Numb3rs
Pairing: pre-John/Rodney
Rating: G
Spoilers: All seasons of SGA, small ones for Numb3rs
Word count: ~2000
Note: Second in my SGA/Numb3rs crossover 'verse I am calling "Connecting Dots & Straight Lines". A sequel to "Ancestry". This one is more from the Numb3rs viewpoint, but goes more into the Eppes/Sheppard relationship. It will get to the slash. You know, after the crime fighting.
Summary: John visits his cousins. They aren't expecting him and no one is prepared for Rodney.
Charlie walked into the house just as his father hung up the phone.
“Hey Charlie,” Alan called out. “You remember your cousin John? John Sheppard?”
“A bit, I guess. He used to play with Don, didn't he?” Charlie answered.
“Yeah. He just called. He said he's going to be in town for a while and he wants to say hi and visit. I gave him your address at the school. He said if he had time he'd come by some time this week. Oh, he also said he liked your book.” Charlie looked surprised, at that, like he always did when it was mentioned. “Tell Don he's in town. I'm sure he would love to meet up.” With one last smile, Alan turned back to his paper . Charlie then shuffled to the kitchen for food and wandered back to the garage.
Alan did not remember too much about John- or 'little Johnny', as Margaret used to call him. He used to visit with his mother, Margaret's sister Ann. John was Don's age, so it was natural that they played together. As Charlie started to show his brilliance more and more Ann visited a bit more often. She said it was because she missed her sister, but they all knew it was to help out. Dealing with a young genius was hard and frustrating. Ann came and watched Don while Alan and Margaret shuffled Charlie from specialist to specialist. That was not a pleasant year.
It did get better after that. They figured out how to best balance Charlie's needs with Don's more normal activities. It wasn't perfect, but things fell into place. Margaret and Ann drifted apart when Ann moved. Then she died. Alan only saw John twice after that. The first was when he was seventeen. John had a bout of rebellion and ran away. He was smart enough to realize that he could not do it on his own and went to his aunt and uncle's. It only took a day for Margaret to get Johnny's father's number out of him, and one more to convince him to let her call.
When his father showed up, it was a shock. Ann had never really discussed her husband and Margaret didn't ask. She and Alan had not been able to make it to the wedding, so they had not actually met the man. He never came with Ann on her visits. When he showed up on the Eppes' doorstep they were surprised to learn that he was the Patrick Sheppard. And that he had another son. Margaret was more practical than Alan. She knew that her sister kept some secrets from her. Alan took it a bit harder. He didn't like secrets much.
The last time he saw John was several years later. He stopped by long enough to say that he was in the Air Force now, and was shipping out. Alan had flashbacks to his college days and other wars. He was afraid for what this one would take. John just gave a lopsided smile.
“I didn't join up to fight,” John had said. “I'm flying.” His eyes were shinning in a way that made Alan's mouth go dry and his throat itch. Margaret just patted his hand.
Alan hadn't heard from him since. Every time he saw some news report about death tolls and fatality statistics he cringed a bit. It was one thing to be against war on principle, it was another to know someone who was there. Knowing that every plane shot down, caravan ambushed, or outpost bombed could be the nephew who once tried to fly with a red towel for a cape was a disturbing thought.
When Alan had first picked up the phone and heard who it was, he wanted to scold John for not telling him he was alive sooner. Then he sobered when John asked about Margaret. She had died not knowing if John was still alive, but Alan didn't mention that. Alan just quietly explained, as he had gotten used to over the years. John's answer was just a simple “I'm sorry,” followed but an uncomfortable silence.
Then, John explained that he was in the area. He really wanted to use some of his leave to 'reconnect'. (“That's the word my friend uses, but she's really new-agey,” he confides to Alan.) John's last leave was used to go to his father's funeral and he figured he'd follow that theme. “But, without the funeral, if you wouldn't mind,” Alan joked.
“I also saw Charlie's book when I stopped by a store a few days ago. It was really good. I was surprised.”
“That it was good?” Alan questioned.
“No, just that he was publishing book-type things. Most of the scientists I know only think about publishing in journals and highbrow academic tombs. Not colorful hardcovers,” John's voice was affectionate when he mentioned the scientists. “I knew it would be good before I read it. Charlie is a genius. The math was beautiful.”
Alan started at that. It was one thing to hear someone say the book was informative or interesting, or one of the many other words that boiled down to “smart and boring”. “Beautiful” was different. He had only heard Larry saying things like that, and Larry was something else.
“So, you, uh, got it?” Alan asked, truly curious.
“I like math,” was the reply. He could hear the shrug over the phone. It was an attitude he was familiar with with Don.
“Well, I'll be sure to tell Charlie that.” Teasing John had not changed over the years. Alan would bet the boy's ears were turning red. Margaret had always been the one to poke him, but Alan could too.
They chatted for a few more moments. Alan gave him Charlie's school address, saying it would be the best place to find Charlie during the day. “He works so much, he probably would never come home if he could fit a bed in his office,” Alan admitted. “You already know where the house is. It's the same as always, but in need of some roof repairs.”
“I'll stop by, Uncle Alan.” John finished, hanging up.
It wasn't that Charlie had not been listening to his father- he had heard him. He just had not been paying too much attention. He was in the middle of some calculations for Don and the thought of a visit from some cousin he hardly remembered was not as important. He also might have forgotten to tell Don of the coming visit. So when he heard his name almost yelled outside of his office, he did not expect that the person to enter would be his cousin. He also did not expect the storm of the other man with him.
The loud voice outside the door is quickly followed by the speaker pushing through the door. He seems to be insulting someone until he is halfway into the room. Then he stopped and glances at everyone. Charlie had been explaining his new algorithm to Don and his team, but he had stopped at the first interruption. Now they all stared at the intruder.
It is clear who he was talking to at first when another man walks in behind him and closes the door. He leans against it with a smile and seems content to watch what is happening.
The first man points right at Charlie. “You!” He shouts. “You should work with your cousin.”
He turns to the other man, “Col-Sheppard, let us take him with us!”
The other man- his cousin John- laughs. “McKay, don't you think introductions come before the kidnapping?”
“Colonel, you and I both know that is not how kidnappings work! But, fine, if you want to do it that way,” the man sighs, rolling his eyes. “I'm Dr. Rodney McKay. He's Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. You're his cousin Charles Eppes. I don't know who the rest of you are. Or,” He stops and squints at Don. “You must be the other cousin. With that hair...”
“Jeeze, Rodney. Calm down. Let people speak for themselves.” John moves into the room. “Hey Charlie, Donny. I told your dad I was coming in. He gave me the address.”
Don, who had been silent up till then, smiled. “He seemed to forget to mention it to us.” He noticed Charlie's guilty squirm. “Or, no one mentioned it to me. But it is great to see you again. It's been way too long.” Don did the half-hug back-slap that only 'manly' men could pull off. Charlie sighed and noticed Rodney McKay doing the same thing. That name was familiar, but he could not remember from where. Charlie frowned.
“Yes, yes. Reunions and familial love and all that fun stuff. Can we now talk about something important?” Rodney whined.
John glared at him. “Rodney,” he admonished. “There are other people in the room. If you can't say anything nice go look at the squiggly numbers.” John waved vaguely at one of Charlie's chalkboards. Charlie was a bit put-off by his work being called “squiggly numbers” but it was not something he was not used to with both his brother and Colby.
Rodney gave a muttered “fine” and did turn to the chalkboard, examining it with obvious curiosity. John just turned back to the FBI agents and Charlie.
“Well, you all know who I am now. Sorry for interrupting you. Hope it wasn't too important.” John smiled his most innocent smile, but Don was not fooled. He still remembered being eight and following that smile right off of a high swing and the park and to the hospital with a badly sprained ankle.
“Oh, nothing too big. Just national security, life or death stuff.” Don grinned when John almost blanched. “This is Agent David Sinclair and Agent Colby Granger. FBI.”
“You're an FBI agent? Like Mulder and Scully?” John asked the men.
They looked at each other. David raised an eyebrow and Colby looked amused. Don felt like he had heard that joke a bit too much. “Yeah, and Charlie is using his math to solve the mysteries of the crop circles in downtown LA.”
“Bank robbers.” Charlie explained. “Well, counterfeiting, ID stealing bank robbers. A bit harder to catch than your average criminal.”
“You'll catch them soon enough, if I'm reading this right,” Rodney called from where he was rifling through some papers.
“Should he be doing that?” Colby nodded at him.
“No,” replied David, just when Don said “Hey.”
“That's classified,” Don added when Rodney looked up.
“Oh, please. I've had higher clearance than you since I was six. And I'm Canadian. If I helped we could finish this off today and then you could go play with John or whatever. Then I'll try to convince the smart brother that he could be spending his time on more important things than this.” Rodney slapped at the files while also gesturing at the boards. It was slightly impressive, in the way that patting your head and rubbing your tummy was impressive.
Charlie finally realized where he remembered his name from. “Are you Rodney McKay the astrophysicist? I loved your earlier work. My friend Larry is a big fan.” That stopped Rodney in his tracks. It also gave John time to butt in.
“He's probably right, about the clearance thing. The helping bit, too. He's good at problem solving.” That was horrible in the way of excusing rudeness, but everyone could sorta tell that Rodney was not one for apologies. Or tact.
“Yes, yes. I'm smart, he's smart,” Rodney shoots out, pointing at Charlie once again. “You guys are stoic g-men with shiny guns. Let's catch the bad guys and save the country then go eat. I haven't had pizza in forever.”
Don sighed. He thought his brother could be a handful sometimes, but this was a whole new level. He didn't think his cousin could do worse than convince him to jump off of tall heights but it looked like he was wrong. This day was going to be a long one.
Many hours later he was only realizing how long. If the last few hours had not happened to him he would have never believed it. He was having trouble any way. One thing was clear: his security clearance was miles too low to even be related John Sheppard.
So, there's the next bit. Hope people like it. The next installment might take a bit longer but it will probably be from the SGA POV again. I need to re-watch some Numb3rs to get the voices right. I also need a SGA/Numb3rs icon. Feedback is welcome. I have no beta, so there are probably way too many mistakes to think of.
