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Elizabeth Weir looked out from her glass-walled aerie at the bustling office below. She felt smug with satisfaction knowing she’d built it all with her own grit and determination. Years of planning, years of backbreaking work had led to this. She had power now, the kind of power that shaped others. Elizabeth reveled in the knowledge that she held the futures of senators, business tycoons and even minor royalty in her dainty hands. They were hers to destroy should she find the need to do so. The fear of what she could do to their careers, their families, their reputations kept them in line. Satisfied with what she controlled, the fate of those men was safe for now. They paid her vast sums to keep them so.
Elizabeth had started her life in a far more tenuous place than she found herself now. Abandoned by her husband at a young age she found herself without education, job or prospects. She had been desperate when she’d stumbled upon another woman that had faced a circumstance similar to her own. What she had done to save herself at first appalled Elizabeth but gradually she’d come to see the wisdom of it. Her new friend had simply used what she had in abundance. She’d created a website offering herself as an escort. She had beauty, wit, charm and a strong stomach. She’d put those assets to work for her and made money. Elizabeth admired that, even as she found the ‘job’ distasteful.
Elizabeth too had beauty, charm and intelligence. She was also a born negotiator. She could bend others to see things her way. With the help of her new role model she soon found herself with her own website. She couldn’t help being a little surprised when the offers started rolling in.
Hiring others to do the actual “work” became Elizabeth’s next great idea. Independent contractors they were called but they weren’t really independent. Student loans had been arranged and financed. Legal troubles had disappeared with the liberal application of cash that Elizabeth forwarded. All of these helpful gestures placed their recipients in Elizabeth’s debt, debts she wasn’t willing to just write off. She helped them all…but she made sure contracts for repayment were signed. Elizabeth held those contracts in her feminine iron fist. Every penny made by the contractor was accounted for and a portion routed to Elizabeth.
She didn’t feel guilty for this. Elizabeth offered a service. A service that paid well. Her contractors earned excellent money. Every effort was made to ensure their physical safety and that they were paid every cent they were entitled to. Every client was screened and approved by Elizabeth. Security was in place to ensure the safety of her contractors but also to ensure those contractors toed the company line. She was fair. She made sure her people thrived just as she had done.
The money and the power that her intimate knowledge and connections provided continued to grow. Very soon she was wealthy beyond anything she’d ever imagined possible. She had fifty-seven contractors and hundreds of clients. She had every reason to feel smug.
Her musings were pushed aside when there was a knock on her office door. “Come,” she called.
“Dr. McKay wishes to speak with you, Ms. Weir. Would you like me to send him in to Laura?” Katie had been one of Elizabeth’s early hires. Too timid for the work she’d been contracted for, Elizabeth had placed her in the office as a stopgap while she considered what to do with her. Very quickly she had proved to be an organizational wunderkind and made a place for herself on Elizabeth’s staff. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Katie was an excellent private secretary.
“No, Katie. I’ll speak with the good Doctor myself.” She smiled at her secretary, enjoying the sweet blush that rose to the hairline. “I have some contracts to review later so be prepared to stay a little later this evening.” Katie’s blush heightened as she scurried away to usher in Dr. McKay.
“Good morning, Doctor McKay.” Elizabeth learned long ago not to be informal with McKay. He took himself and his titles very seriously. He’d been known to pull out of business deals because of professional slights, real or imagined. Defense contractors wanting a little of McKay’s magic had learned to their peril to address him with respect.
“I understand our latest attempt to pair you with an escort failed to meet your expectations.” The doctor had steamrolled through almost all of her available contractors that came even close to his requirements. She’d have to be more forceful today. She needed to pin down just what he was looking for that was missing in the five contractors she’d set him up with to “date”.
“He was young enough to be my son. Nephew. Whatever.” McKay seemed to have a lot of rules involving morality for a man buying time with an escort. “Don’t you have anyone closer to my age? Someone with, I don’t know, half a brain? Seriously, this last one thought that fractals were a breakfast cereal.”
“Aidan is a very intelligent man, Doctor. I’m sorry that the two of you didn’t hit it off.” Or Daniel, or Chuck, or Peter, or Marcus. Her hopes of continuing his contract were beginning to dim. He was just too hard to please. “As to his age, well…most of our contractors are using this agency as a sort of… springboard into other areas of life. We don’t usually have much call for one in their thirties.”
Dr. McKay’s sigh spoke volumes about his level of frustration. “I’m looking for a long-term contract here. I’m willing to spend what ever it takes to achieve that and it’s your job to see that I am happy doing so.” He drew in a deep breath before continuing. “I want someone at least reasonably close to my age. I want him to be intelligent and capable of carrying on a stimulating conversation. I want him to be pretty. I want him to be clean and willing to cater to my…needs.” Elizabeth was still trying to ferret out to what extent those “needs” went. “It’s simple really. You find the man and send him to me. Really, why am I paying you? Get it right this time, Elizabeth or someone else will.”
Elizabeth sighed. As much as she hated the idea of losing the McKay business…and money…she didn’t have anyone else to send. Just as she opened her mouth to tell him so Katie again popped in and requested that Elizabeth come take a call. As Elizabeth knew that was Katie’s signal that she had information important to the meeting she didn’t hesitate to excuse herself and step outside.
“What is it, Katie?”
Katie looked up at Elizabeth, obviously nervous to speak out but feeling she should. “There’s John, Ms. Weir. I know he’s not on the active list anymore but he still has contract time left. He’s the right age and God knows he’s pretty.” Katie blushed again and ducked her head, her hand nervously stroking the personnel file under it. “He had two years left on his contract when you allowed him to take leave from the agency.” Katie kept her eyes down on her desktop, clearly hopeful that she’d brought pleasing information to her boss. Her “crush” on Elizabeth was a well-known secret around the office.
Elizabeth smiled down at her secretary. “That’s a wonderful catch, Katie.” She reached out to pet the red curls covering Katie’s flushed cheeks. “Get him on the line, Katie,” she instructed, reaching for the file. “While I talk to John get some coffee and a nice pastry for Dr. McKay. No citrus. Tell him I’ll be a few minutes.” Katie hummed her happiness at her boss’s pleasure. “Very good, my sweet. I think you’re due for another raise, don’t you?” Katie would know just how to show her appreciation.
~ *~
“John, how are you?” As if Elizabeth didn’t know exactly how he was, she made it her business to know how everyone was. An early release from his Air Force commission due to injury had brought him back into her sphere of influence. It was a simple matter for her resident hacker to find out how bad his injury was and how well he’d recovered.
“What can I do for you, Elizabeth?” He knew he was telegraphing his frustration over the phone. She was too good at reading him to miss it. He was too predictable. To Elizabeth that ultimately made him controllable, and that put John in an awkward position.
“I have a problem that I find you are in the perfect position to solve for me.”
John had been expecting a call like since being “released” from his contract with Elizabeth Weir. He’d expected it through ten years in the Air Force. He’d expected it while he recovered from the injury that had ended that career. He’d known all along that his release would only last as long as she had no use for him. Now that she’d come up with something for him to do (more likely someone to do) the remaining amount due on his original contract would pull him back to her. He hoped the accumulated interest hadn’t added too much time to the remaining debt.
“What problem might that be?” John prayed she wouldn’t expect him to work at the mansion. He had never done “per night” work and didn’t want to start now.
“I have a client whose tastes require someone more…mature than anyone currently on the roster.” Now it was John’s turn to read the tension over the phone line. She expected him to refuse, to argue the point, but did she expect to win? “Someone in the position to enter into a two year contract.”
“Two…Elizabeth, I’m retired. We agreed that I’m retired.” He shoved his hand through his unruly hair. He didn’t care that she could hear the desperation in his voice. He was desperate. “I don’t want to be in any contract for two years.”
Elizabeth Weir had built her formidable empire by being more ruthless than her competitors, by never forgetting that she was running a business for profit not cultivating friendships. John knew that and knew that ultimately he’d do what she wanted. She had resources to enforce his remaining time and he didn’t. He’d been around the offices when Elizabeth’s “security” people had brought in a contractor for “failing to meet the terms” of his agreement with Weir Staffing. John winced at the memory. It hadn’t been pretty. At least the poor guy had healed without scarring, but the medical costs had just added time to his already bloated contract. John would have to tread lightly to avoid a similar fate should he decide not to return to Weir, Inc.
“You still owe me two years, John. I’ve carried that balance on my books for more than ten years. Stanford wasn’t inexpensive and my loans to you still need to be repaid.” He couldn’t stifle his groan. It had come to this, then. She was calling in his marker and he’d have to find a way to pay what he owed. “How do you plan on paying off those years if not in contract work with me? I know you’ve been struggling financially since leaving the military, although I suppose you could go to your family for money.” She delicately held that out there; she was well aware that John would starve before calling his father’s lawyers to ask for help.
“I’ve been more than generous until now, but it’s time to balance the books. Get cleaned up and report to my office tomorrow at noon. Make sure you’re pretty, John. Just meet the man and hear what he has to say.”
John swore viciously under his breath. Elizabeth had him by the balls and she knew it. She wouldn’t doubt for a minute that he’d be there. She knew he really didn’t have any choice.
It would be better in the long run to see what she’d set in place before digging in his heels.
~ * ~
Elizabeth straightened her features back into a more neutral appearance after her confrontation with John. She was unpleasantly surprised at how much it had saddened her to pull John back into her business. No matter. She had a business to run. Elizabeth hadn’t risen to the heights she enjoyed without the strength of will to enforce her way. She may hate using that strength against John; he’d been very young and naive when he’d come to her and she’d grown genuinely fond of him, but business was business.
She rounded her desk to resume her seat. She slid the folder with the professional headshots she insisted be kept up to date across the glossy surface to her scowling guest.
“I think you’ll like this one, Doctor.” She steepled her fingers under her chin, “As you’ll see in his biographical information, he’s nearing 35, he earned a Masters in mathematics and aeronautical engineering from Stanford, and he’s a former Air Force officer.” She waited while he opened the file and started flicking through the photos.
“Well, he’s pretty enough,” McKay admitted grudgingly. “And it seems he’s reasonably intelligent.” He looked up at her; busy hands suddenly still on the file. “If that’s so, why is he still working for you?”
“John was with us while he attended college. It was my pleasure to allow him time away while he served our country. Now that he’s retired from his military obligations he’s become available for social engagements again. We’re delighted to have him back.” She made a graceful gesture towards the glossy photo Rodney still held.
“He’s in a position to take on a longer contract, so if he appeals to you it should work well for everyone.”
Rodney turned his attention back to the file with more interest.
“I’ve spoken to John and have arranged for a meeting with him here in my office tomorrow at noon.” Elizabeth smiled, “I thought for today we’d go to my club for a late lunch. It will give you opportunity to examine his file more closely and ask any questions about him you may have before you meet him.”
For the first time in weeks, Rodney seemed pleased. Elizabeth found herself smiling. John had always been a moneymaker for her. “I suppose you haven’t told him anything about me?”
“I believe since you have all the details of both what you’re willing to do for him and what you’ll be expecting from him that you’d be in a better position to ease his mind on certain…details.” McKay’s derisive huff wasn’t very polite, but his money ought to buy him some leeway. She let it go.
~ * ~
Elizabeth was beginning to think she’d have to take Rodney out for lunch a second time by herself. John Sheppard was late. She’d been clear on the time of his arrival and it was now nearly an hour past. Evidently he’d come to believe that he could flout her wishes. She’d have to remind him who was in control. She stood from her desk to usher McKay out to her car when a familiar shape leaned against her doorway.
“Going somewhere without me?” came the easy drawl that drew patrons to him like bees to nectar. John Sheppard knew how to make an entrance, and he was making a memorable one now. Dark blue suit, blindingly white shirt with immaculate French cuffs, a dark silk tie, artfully tousled hair, shoes polished to a lustrous shine, the negligent lean against the doorframe. Perfection. Elizabeth decided to forgive his tardiness. The delay was worth it.
From the Doctor’s flushed face it appeared he wasn’t minding so much, either.
“John.” Elizabeth smiled and gestured him further into the room. “May I present Dr. Rodney McKay? Doctor, this is John Sheppard.” She felt a surge of satisfaction; her difficult client was clearly interested. Pulling John back in had been the perfect ‘hook’ to keep McKay with Weir Staffing, Inc. Already she was mentally searching for the loopholes that would keep John in service past the next two years. She made a mental note to put the legal team on it.
“Well, Mr. Sheppard.” Rodney stood up and held his hand out to John and waited patiently until he took it. “You’re every bit as pretty as advertised. I think you’ll do nicely.” Still holding John’s hand in his, he turned to Elizabeth, still poised behind her desk. “Mr. Sheppard and I will be going to lunch, now. We can meet back here around four to finish up the paperwork.”
Elizabeth stood dumbfounded. She had intended to go with the two of them. It was important to maintain her position as authority in the negotiations for John’s services. It wouldn’t do for Rodney to remove her from the equation and yet he’d done just that without any apparent struggle. “I think it best if I come along with you,” she began. “We have much to discuss before any papers can be signed this afternoon.”
“I’m sure that John…” he stopped here and turned to John and asked, “may I call you John?” at the affirmative nod he continued, “John and I will handle the details just fine, Elizabeth.” The voice was still friendly but it had gained some steel. Elizebeth found herself feeling marginalized for the first time in years. She didn’t enjoy the feeling.
“Not to worry, though,” Rodney continued. “Should John and I come to an agreement, all your fees will be paid in full this afternoon as well.” Rodney looked squarely into her eyes. “One way or the other we settle up this afternoon, Elizabeth. Let’s be very, very sure of that.” With that McKay turned and gestured for John to precede him out of her office.
~ * ~
John settled back into the deep leather upholstery of the hired limousine and let his mind drift. He had known the call was trouble as soon as he saw Elizabeth’s name on caller ID. She’d let him go readily enough when requests for him slowed. Those that had been interested in John had wanted him for his youthful face and slim build. By the time he’d reached twenty-five, time and effort had changed him enough not to be the boyish draw he’d once been. John was more than okay with that. He had been relieved to be free. He’d finished up his degree after signing with the Air Force, content with leaving that part of his life in the past. Sure, she’d said he’d have to fulfill his contract if the right situation presented itself but as the months passed into years John had allowed himself to believe that situation would never arrive before social security did. Who would want a sixty-year-old hooker? But he’d seen by her reaction to him in her office that she was now re-evaluating his moneymaking worthiness beyond her immediate plans for him. That troubled John more than a possible contract with Dr. McKay. Damn Elizabeth Weir and her all-mighty bottom line!
He hadn’t known the name of the client Elizabeth was pulling him back for but he’d recognized him the moment he stepped into the office. Meredith Rodney McKay. Astrophysicist, genius inventor, defense department darling, heretical professor of physics currently ensconced at MIT, scourge of stupid people everywhere; an interesting mixed bag. It was rumored that he’d once made forty million dollars during a ten-minute telephone consultation with Boeing. He didn’t know how true that was but he’d read enough articles about McKay’s brand of “genius” that John didn’t doubt it.
He wondered if his father had been one the drooling hordes that threw money at McKay for his expertise. He hoped not.
John was on friendly terms with most of the contract workers at Weir Staffing, Inc. and he’d heard all the stories, both good and bad. The tales about McKay were plentiful; he was something of a legend. He wanted what he wanted and expected that a large cash flow would provide it. He wasn’t far wrong. Still, some of what the man wanted left the workers like John pretty worried. He liked to leave marks. Oh, nothing permanent or particularly painful; he wasn’t a sadist, thank God, but a neck covered with another client’s hickeys pretty much meant you had no income until they faded away. McKay liked to bite. Again, not too hard, but the bites left marks that faded slower than the hickeys. Not that either of those posed a huge problem for John at this point but truth be told he wasn’t all that thrilled to be marked up at his age.
Most troubling, he liked bareback. He hadn’t had success with many of the day workers but he had with at least one of the long-term guys. John was determined that he wasn’t going to be the second. He had two years to go to pay off his debt and he intended to come out clean at the end of them.
On the plus side, all of the workers that had been with McKay…even those like Aidan who didn’t last much longer than a hand shake…came away with some nice gifts. He didn’t purposely cause pain and he was generous. All things considered, it could be worse. If John’s luck held, McKay would find him too tedious to bother with and John would be on his way home with a good lunch and a bunch of “Thank you for playing!” gifts. Perhaps he could find another source of funding to pay off Elizabeth. Not that John ever had much in the way of good luck, but there was no harm in hoping.
A tap on his knee brought John back to the present and his attention to McKay. “I’m sorry.” He smiled his best ‘I’m cute but not very bright’ smile; “I sort of drifted off there for a minute. What were you saying?” The scowl that comment received was golden. This might just work out fine.
“I’ve read your file, Sheppard.” The scowl deepened but there was a hint of humor in the eyes. “I know just how intelligent you actually are, and what you’re trying to pull off here.” Now the humor in the eyes moved to show itself on the mobile lips. “You’re not out anything by being entertaining at lunch, so let’s not pretend to be simple, hmm?”
John sighed and leaned back. If nothing else, John would enjoy the excess of luxury while it lasted. He pulled out another, more intelligent expression for his host as an apology. “Of course, Doctor. What were you saying?”
“I was saying that you are going to have to deal with Weir Staffing, Inc., and Elizabeth in particular, firmly if you don’t intend to get back into the business full-time after your contract with me expires. She noticed pretty quickly that you still have that…” Rodney snapped his fingers a few times while he marshaled his thoughts…“charisma. And charisma makes money. She’ll try to keep her hooks in you as long as she thinks you’ll bring in the cash. Rodney poured champagne into a fluted glass and offered it to John.
“I have no intentions of doing anything that I don’t wish to do, Doctor.” John sipped his champagne. Good stuff. “Need I remind you that I haven’t agreed to anything with you either?” He smiled and gave a slow sweep of eyelash to lessen the sting of rebuttal.
Rodney sighed and shook his head, as though dealing with an especially stubborn child.
“Are we back to playing dumb, Sheppard?” John’s eyebrow rose, more curious than annoyed. “You’re smart enough to know Elizabeth has the advantage here. Unless you have some alternative to contracting with me to cover what ever she has on you she’s going to have you working for her full time. Before today I’d say she believed you were too old to be any kind of earner for her.” The eyebrow lowered into a rather fierce scowl. “Now? She’s seen that her commodity…” here he made a sweeping gesture indicating John’s body, “still has considerable earning potential.” Rodney sat back in his seat, meeting John’s eyes.
“She’s not going to let you go, John. She has the will and the resources to find a way to keep you indebted to her.” He had John’s full attention now. He was well aware of her resources. “I can help you with that, if you’ll let me. I have a plan that will be mutually satisfying, providing we can come to an agreement.”
The big car eased up to the curb outside a trendy, upscale restaurant. John was unwillingly impressed, as he’d always wanted to eat there. Even the lunch menu was supposed to be great…and completely out of his price range.
John sighed. “Doctor.” He shifted in his seat, twitchy were he had been glacially calm. “I fail to see how a two year commitment with you is in my best interests. I haven’t even begun exploring my options with Elizabeth so I’m not ready to concede defeat just yet.
Rodney was clearly annoyed. Anything in the way of rebuttal was delayed when the glass partition lowered between the driver and passenger sections. The driver stepped out to decant his passengers onto the sidewalk and no conversation was possible during the transfer from car to table. Once seated, McKay speared John with a fierce scowl and took up the topic again.
“I fail to see why you cannot see the benefits…” Rodney trailed off, clearly at a loss for words. Not a normal state for him. John looked as though he was fighting the urge to smirk.
Rodney cleared his throat, took a moment to reconsider his words while the waiter laid out the menus and ran through the specials of the day. Once they were alone again he cleared his throat and tried again.
“Forgive me for not making my position clear, John. Allow me tell you my plan. If you agree, you’ll be free from Weir Staffing, Inc. forever should that be your wish.”
“And I have your word on that, right?” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Rodney.
“Not just my word, John.” Rodney leaned forward again, making sure that he held John’s attention. He didn’t want any misunderstanding here.
“You will have the full protection of the State of Massachusetts and the Canadian government.”
“What?”
John’s confusion was understandable…and adorable. Rodney wanted to kiss it off his face. Yes, this was going to be a most satisfactory arrangement.
“I’m saying that when we leave here today we’re going to be engaged to marry.” Rodney waited for the reaction that was sure to come.
“Say what now?” The still-baffled look on John’s face showed his struggle to follow the conversation.
“You. Engaged. To be married. To me.” Rodney smiled as the confusion deepened for his lunch companion.
“Elizabeth’s not going to go for that.” Rodney thought he caught just a hint of interest in John’s voice.
“Let me worry about Elizabeth. I can assure you she’ll have no lasting objections. Look. Other people may want a fairy tale happy ending but I’m looking at simple expediency.” He raised his hand as he ticked his reasons off. “I have recently accepted a prominent position at the university I am affiliated with. A position that has many perks but also brings some societal…scrutiny…that I require some assistance diverting.”
“I will also now have certain social and business obligations that require home entertaining. I need someone to help pull those functions off. I need someone to feed my cat when I have to be away.” He peered at John with the first hint of concern he’d shown. “You’re not allergic to cats?
At John’s bemused but negative indication he continued, “Good. So. Keeping you as simply hired companionship? No. It would be a disaster. Remember, societal scrutiny. Also, I have very nosy family and co-workers that feel I need to socialize with them. It would only be a matter of time before you came across their radar and they all started asking pesky questions.” Rodney smiled. His sister would never stop digging until she’d unearthed the truth, a truth that would hurt her. Rodney didn’t want that. All appearances aside, he loved his sister and wanted her good opinion of him. Given the reality of John, with a back-story carefully chosen and agreed upon, she’d accept him as the charming companion for her brother he was meant to be.
Rodney wasn’t interested in a “traditional” relationship. That sort of tradition had only brought misery to his own parents as Jeannie and he had been unhappy witness to. No. A relationship where Rodney held the cards…that was the way. Romance was all well and good; Rodney fully expected there to be romance. He expected to fall in love. But that was why this was going to work so perfectly. John was a professional. He’d do what was expected of him because he’d want to be paid and earn his freedom from Elizabeth. Rodney would get the companion he needed, Jeannie would see what she wanted to see. Everyone would get exactly what they wanted. Everything was going to work out perfectly.
“Without suitable distraction my associates are going to poke, poke, poke until they find out where you came from, where I met you. The very real truth of our ‘relationship’ is one I’d rather keep between us. So we’ll have to fabricate a reasonable background for our relationship that is close enough to the truth to keep them all from looking deeper.
And of course I can’t exactly tell my accountant to cut you a check every month as my escort, now can I? Awkward. But we can have a generous prenuptial agreement, one that spells out a nice cash settlement and that you keep all the gifts I’ll be giving you during our time together.” Rodney leaned a little closer to Sheppard, giving into the temptation to touch his hand. “And of course as my husband you will have carefully monitored credit cards, expense accounts and allowances available for you to happily burn through each month.”
“I am allergic to latex, citrus, bees and stupidity. Of those the one most bothersome for this conversation is latex.” John’s expression had shifted from confused but game to closed and unhappy. “I’ve tried the non-latex forms of prophylactics and had less than satisfactory results. I’ll be paying you an obscene amount of money to marry me for two years. I am clean and I will be absolutely certain that you are as well before our ‘wedding night’.” It was clear that John wanted very much to slap at Rodney’s expressive use of “air quotes”.
“I believe that after a thorough screening for both of us you’ll have very little to worry about, so stop scowling. It’ll give you wrinkles and you’re far too pretty for that.” He again patted the hand under his. “We don’t have enough time during this lunch to cover all your understandable questions, John. But before any commitments are made you’ll have them all cleared up, I promise.” He smiled. “What we need for now is a united front for Elizabeth. Let me handle her this afternoon and I can promise you a much happier life from today. Provided, of course, that you’re done being stubborn.” He sat back as the waiter returned to take their lunch order. Rodney hadn’t deigned to look at the menu…didn’t so much as glance at John.
“We’ll take the deviled eggs with smoked shrimp, the New York Strip medium rare with baked potatoes. Bring some of those hot potato chips and some coffee. He’ll have coke.” He shooed the waiter off before shifting to finger snapping to regain his attention.
“And champagne. The best you have.” The shooing motion returned and the waiter scurried away. “What?” he said, when he saw the frown on his lunch companions face. “That’s not what you were going to order?”
John’s expression cleared as he began to understand Rodney’s plan. He had to admit it seemed reasonable if they were going to mingle in with any of Rodney’s family, friends and business associates. What the heck? He didn’t have anything to lose and unless he could pull off a financial miracle he was going to have to work those two years…and any more Elizabeth could wrangle out of him…anyway. He might as well come out of them with some serious loot. As long as the screens all came back clean.
He would agree to the good Doctor’s plan for now. He could always back off before signing anything if anything hairy raised its head. He had to admit, the idea of sticking it to Elizabeth certainly had its appeal.
“So. Engaged then.” He sent Rodney his most insolent smirk. “Do I get a ring?” He lowered his eyes so he looked up at Rodney through the fan of his lashes. “And just what sort of gifts are we talking here?”
Rodney laughed. It had been awhile since he’d been genuinely amused. Sheppard amused the hell out of him. He’d been thinking of two years of good sex and a pretty companion for the tedious office parties he was forced to attend: a companion with charm and grace to woo his business contacts into funneling more money into his research. Now he was rethinking all of it. Sheppard was going to be good in bed…he was paid to be, after all. He was certainly attractive enough to cause fits of jealousy among Rodney’s contemporaries. As a former Air Force pilot John had a certain cache that Jeannie would go crazy over. But best of all, he was smart and so charming Rodney wanted to lean over the table and kiss him. Hard. Instead, he laughed again and tugged a small velvet box out of his jacket. He held it out towards John and opened it with a flourish.
John stared at the box, jaw open. It was Rodney’s turn to smirk. Apparently John had been kidding about the ring but Rodney had kept the phone lines busy all the previous night while he worked out every possible detail of his plan. The ring had only been one part of it.
“You certainly came prepared for success, Doctor.” John cast a thoughtful look at Rodney, telegraphing his unease.
“Titanium.” Rodney reached over the table and gently drew John’s left hand to him. “It seemed appropriate for a pilot.” He carefully pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto John’s third finger. He held his hand and waited until John finally looked up from his confused consideration of their joined hands.
“John, will you do me the honor of marrying me?” Rodney asked, half in jest and half serious. What he needed John to answer was; would he go along with the plan? Did he finally see it would be in his best interest?
After a painfully long pause John finally answered, “Yes.”
“Good.” Good. Rodney hadn’t really doubted he’d say yes. He didn’t really have any choice. Still, it had been a relief to hear the word. He gestured towards the waiter hovering nearby, indicating it was time for the champagne to be served. “Then I say it’s time for a toast to a mutually satisfactory relationship.”
~ * ~
Elizabeth paced back and forth in front of her desk, pausing at the door to glare out into the sitting room before resuming the circuit of her office. They’d been gone for hours and she was beginning to worry. Not that she believed Rodney would harm John, or that John wasn’t perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Still. She felt responsible for Sheppard. To a degree, she regretted forcing his hand like this. She knew that in all likelihood he’d be miserable for the next two years, for Rodney was one onerous bastard. He’d come out of it well provided for, though. Difficult the doctor was, but he was also generous. John’s financial woes would certainly be eased…if he could endure the two years of service. She sighed. The aid and comfort the doctor would shower on John would make him all the more difficult for Elizabeth to keep on her roster. She added that knowledge to the growing list of concerns she had with Rodney’s arrangements.
Elizabeth checked her watch for the tenth time that hour. They should have returned to the office by now.
She changed direction and began another circuit to the front of her desk.
~ * ~
Rodney topped off John’s glass from a fresh bottle of champagne. The twitch of John’s eyebrow spoke volumes.
“No, I’m not trying to get you drunk.” John’s startled laughter brought out a smile from Rodney. “We have a lot of details to work out, but I can give you peace of mind on one score at least. We won’t be sleeping together before the wedding.”
“How traditional of you.” John leaned back in his chair, relaxing somewhat from the tension he hadn’t even been aware of. “Should I wear white?”
“Don’t be disingenuous,” Rodney shot back. He reached into his pocket again, drawing out a cell phone.
“This is yours. Use it to reach me when you need to. The number’s the first one on speed dial.” John reached across the table to take the phone from Rodney, rolling his eyes at the need to be number one on the list.
“I don’t care if you use it as your personal phone but I expect to be able to reach you when I want to. I am going to have to insist that you cease any contact you may have with former…clients…as of now. The next two years belong completely to me.” He looked over at John, staring into his eyes to make sure he understood the importance of this. “Don’t disappoint me.”
“No problem.” John eyed the smart phone a little warily. “Got the instruction manual for this thing?” It was pretty complex. Rodney liked the best.
“I’ll email it to you. Also, you should start getting your things together so the movers can get them sorted out and packed up. I’ve got the itinerary here for you,” he reached again into that bottomless pocket and withdrew several stapled sheets of paper. “We’ll marry in Toronto, naturally, but home is in Massachusetts. Not far from the university.” At John’s look of confusion Rodney hurried on, “I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“Now I think we should get back to Elizabeth.” John nodded as he pocketed his new phone. No doubt she was wondering if John had blown her big payday. Rodney watched John shift in his seat for a moment then reached over to catch his hand again.
“You don’t have to worry anymore what Elizabeth may want from you. Your association with her is complete, if that’s what you wish.” John just stared. That didn’t seem possible. He owed her money and she’d already shown that friendship wasn’t going to get in the way of profit. “I mean it John.” He patted the hand under his; “Your term of service to her will be paid in full in less than an hour.”
~ * ~
Elizabeth looked up from her paperwork when Katie showed Rodney in. She’d been reviewing John’s contract. She was still considering how to keep him in service if McKay decided not to retain him for the full two years. The term would be paid no matter how long he kept Sheppard, that was true, but what was paid for and what was served could be made two very separate things. Elizabeth was very good at finding loopholes when it was in her best interests to do so. She set the folder aside and greeted her client with a smile.
“Where’s John?” she asked, gesturing for the Doctor to take a seat.
“I took the liberty of dropping him off at his apartment. What a dive! You’d think that someone who served his country so bravely and efficiently would be better paid.” Rodney sniffed in apparent irritation. “Well, he’ll be out of there soon enough.”
“I take it the lunch went well, then?” Elizabeth smiled. Finally the difficult Dr. McKay had found a satisfactory escort.
“More than satisfactory.” Rodney reached into his pocket and withdrew an envelope. He laid it with some ceremony on her polished desktop.
“What’s this?” She fingered the edge of the envelope, automatically cataloging the quality of the paper and the expense involved. As always, only the best for McKay.
“That? That is your payment for your services through the end of this month. Also inside you’ll find a certified check for the total sum still owing on John Sheppard’s student loans and interest for which you hold repayment contracts.” He smiled grimly at her surprise. “I have my sources, Elizabeth. You of all people should know that by now.”
Elizabeth looked down at the envelope again. “John’s term of service with me isn’t up for negotiation with you, Rodney.” She raised her eyes, showing her determination to finally gain control of the situation. “He works for me, not you. You negotiate for his services with Weir Staffing, Inc., not with John Sheppard.”
Rodney’s relaxed, friendly demeanor shifted to the tightly controlled, abrasive persona that had terrorized people across all social boundaries for years.
“That is where you are mistaken, Elizabeth.” Rodney’s clear blue eyes were like ice as he stared the executive down. “John Sheppard is now engaged to marry me.” He ignored her surprised huff of breath. “He will be moving to Massachusetts with me over the weekend. He will have no further dealings with Weir, Inc. up to and until he so desires to do so. Full stop.” He reached over and tapped the envelope.
“You’ll find that the payment is absolutely in order. There are no mistakes or loopholes to be taken advantage of.” Elizabeth had the grace to color slightly at his words. That she had been looking into finding those loopholes wasn’t a surprise to Rodney.
“Play nice here, Elizabeth. I’ve been a good client. At the end of these two years I very likely will be again. At the very least I’ll be sending others your way. Don’t screw up what’s been a good thing for both of us by trying my patience over John.”
Elizabeth drew the envelope to her and slid it into her desk drawer. She buzzed for her receptionist. “Would you like some coffee while Katie draws up the necessary papers?” She shifted her attention to her secretary as she peeked around the door.
“Katie, please prepare a receipt for Dr. McKay stating his paid in full status through the end of the month and then place his contract with us in the inactive file until further notice.” Rodney’s nod confirmed the arrangement was satisfactory. “Also, pull together all of John Sheppard’s papers. His term of service with us has been successfully completed. He’ll want copies of everything so make duplicates. And bring some coffee for the Doctor.” Katie nodded and scurried away.
Rodney stared at the retreating girl until the door closed behind her. “Where in the world did you find that little mouse?”
“Katie is a wonderful personal assistant.” She tapped her pen on the desktop. “So. Married?”
Rodney laughed, pleased that Elizabeth was willing to back down. He’d always enjoyed his interactions with her in the past. She was a shark, but he liked hard, intelligent women. He was pleased their business relationship would remain unchanged. “Play your cards right and you’ll get an invitation. I’ll expect a big present.”
From her amused smile Rodney assumed she would be pleased to attend.
~ * ~
John woke up with the sun still trying to clear the blighted apartment building next door. Normally he’d go for a run but today he just rolled over and mulled over the abrupt turn his life had taken.
Married. He was going to be married to Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay. Ringing even higher on his Bizarro-meter, he was moving across country with him after one dinner and a night spent “brainstorming” as Rodney had called it. After concluding his business with Elizabeth, Rodney had returned to John’s apartment and handed him his contract, Paid In Full emblazoned across the front. John felt relief so intense he thought for a moment he was going to faint. Rodney just smirked and shoved him into the couch. “Breathe.” He looked around, “What do you have in the way of snacks in this hell-hole, Sheppard?” Once it seemed his legs would once again support him, John had gratefully found him some Cheetos.
Now, facing the situation in the light of day, John wasn’t deluded into believing that either of them were finding the situation anything close to romantic but surprisingly he did find it vastly entertaining. He could just imagine his brother’s expression upon hearing the good news. Too bad his dad was gone. His explosion would have been priceless. That alone made the whole thing worthwhile. The fact that Rodney wanted to invite his family to the wedding made John smile. This could be end up being kind of fun.
John rolled out of bed with a grunt. Too much champagne always left him with a headache. Not exactly hung over but not clear headed either. He really should remember that the next time somebody kept filling his glass.
The movers that Rodney had arranged in two brief phone calls on the way back to John’s apartment would be showing up in a few hours. They would handle the packing of everything John wasn’t taking with him on the plane to his new home.
Not that there was much worth keeping.
With a sigh he headed into the kitchen to start coffee. He was going to need copious amounts of it to cope with this day. First a cup, then he’d get started sorting out his few possessions. He’d never found the time to accumulate many. He’d only been out of the Air Force for eight months…two of those spent in rehab for his injured knee.
Elizebeth hadn’t let any grass grow where he’d been concerned.
A knock on his door shook him out of his thoughts.
“Just a minute,” he called. Opening the door he was surprised to see Rodney scowling at back at him.
“Seriously, Sheppard. What took you so long? Standing outside in this neighborhood is just inviting a mugging.” Rodney shouldered past John on his way into the apartment. “You don’t seem to have made much headway since I left last night. I may as well help you get things organized.” He stopped his rant long enough to peer into John’s mug. “Is that coffee? I hope it’s decent. As you don’t seem to own much more than a toothbrush it shouldn’t take long to box everything up. Let’s get going. Chop, chop.”
“We have a plane taking us to Massachusetts leaving at five o’clock this evening. We’ll have time to do some shopping for you and have a nice lunch before we go see the doctor my internist recommended for your physical and blood work if you can move a little less glacially. Is there anyone you need to see before you leave?” Rodney finally stopped talking when he took his first sip of the coffee he’d helped himself to.
The sheer volume of words seemed to wilt what little resistance John had to Rodney’s plans for him. “No. I’m good.” He reached around Rodney to refill his own coffee while thinking of the packing job ahead. Most of his clothes were already tucked into his duffle. His guitar and laptop he’d take with him…the books and odds and ends could follow later. “I’m pretty much ready to go.” It sounded pretty sad to say that but Rodney wasn’t really attuned to that sort of thing so maybe he hadn’t noticed.
“Good,” was all he said. “Why don’t we go get some breakfast, then. I need something that qualifies as real coffee and I’m starving.” He held his hand out to John, clearly expecting him to take it.
John looked at Rodney’s extended hand for a heartbeat. Then another. Finally he reached out and slid his fingers into Rodney’s palm. Rodney closed his hand over John’s with a satisfied smile.
“You’ll get used to it, John.”
“What about you? Are you going to get used to it?”
“Me?” Rodney smiled and pulled John a little closer. “It’s going to be much easier for me.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss on John’s cheek.
“I’m going to fall in love with you, you see.” Rodney just smiled when John’s jaw dropped open. “It’s because of my sister. Look, I’ll explain it on the way. Seriously, I need to get something to eat. I have low blood sugar.”
~ * ~
John watched in horrified fascination while Rodney piled lox, cream cheese and cherry preserve onto a blueberry bagel.
“You know that’s going to taste revolting, right?”
“Maybe for you, but for me? This is a gourmands delight.” As if to prove his point he took an enormous bite.
John pulled his coffee a little closer to him as if he feared bagel contamination. “So you were saying you had to fall in love with me because of your sister?”
“Yes. Jeannie. She’s six years younger than I. Almost as smart.” Rodney looked at the coffee cup in front of John. “Is that all your having? Seriously, you’re thin enough. You shouldn’t feel the need to diet before the wedding.”
John scowled, “I’m not dieting. I don’t eat this early. And stop changing the subject.”
Rodney gave one more reproachful look at John’s thin frame and black coffee before continuing, “Jeannie is an idealist. The world is beautiful, people are lovely.” Rodney’s look of scorn was almost convincing. His love for his sister wasn’t as hidden as he seemed to think. “She would be hurt if she thought this was just a business transaction.”
“But it is a business transaction, Rodney. Sooner or later she’s going to find that out.” Not that John would be the one to tell her.
“No, she won’t.” Rodney put his bagel down and wiped his hands with an OCD like intensity. “She’s only going to see that I’m in love with you. I’m already working towards that. She’s going to be happy for me.” His sad smile made John feel like a monster. “I’ll be in love and that’s what she’ll see. Then she won’t feel the need to dig. She won’t get hurt.” Rodney sighed. “That’s important to me so I’d appreciate it if you’d play along when we’re with her.”
John felt a little sick. This was going to be even more of a disaster than he’d first thought.
Gently he asked, “and when the two years end, Rodney? What then?”
“Then?” Rodney looked down at the ruin of his breakfast. “Then she’ll grieve with me and we’ll all try to move on.”
~*~
John had found the whole day to be enjoyable, once they’d managed to get past the uncomfortable conversation at breakfast. Those revelations sat like a heavy ball in his stomach…waiting to be sorted and filed away for analysis later.
Love. He wasn’t ready to contemplate that. It left him feeling a little vulnerable as well. He hadn’t had many people in his life that could make good on the claim to love him. There had been a number who had said the words, certainly; had been attracted either to his looks or his father’s wealth. John had always shied away from those relationships. His life in the employ of Elizabeth Weir had taught him to be wary. Rodney was allowing himself to fall in love even though he knew he was going to get hurt. John thought he was crazy, and maybe just a little brave.
John shook his head. Either way? He was paying for the privilege. Again he relegated this to a later time for contemplation. He couldn’t make any sense of it anyway. Instead he considered the four suitcases stuffed with the purchases of the day. Fashionable clothes, some modest jewelry, watches…more things than John had owned since leaving his childhood home.
Rodney had seemed to enjoy watching John parade in front of the mirrors in outfit after outfit. The piles of rejected and selected articles grew around them into alarming hillocks. He’d kept up a running commentary on John’s “hotness” in certain items (those items always making the “to be purchased” pile) and how speaking to store clerks probably killed valuable brain cells. He never tried to influence John to alter a selection once he’d made it other than encouraging him to include more items than John would ever need. Buying John things to take with him to Massachusetts seemed to make Rodney genuinely happy. As a reward, John put the ultra low-rise jeans that Rodney had liked so much in the approved pile even though he’d never have considered them if he’d been shopping on his own.
Once Rodney was satisfied that they’d spent enough on clothes they’d rushed through lunch so they could make John’s appointment for blood work and physical. John had endured it with as much good-grace as he could manage. At least now Rodney wouldn’t believe he was starving himself. The blood work results would be waiting for them in Massachusetts. John wondered if Rodney’s stance on celibacy before the wedding would alter when they came back clean. He hoped not. He was beginning to like Rodney. Having him go back on his word would damage that fledgling affection perhaps beyond repair.
As the day began its wind down to afternoon a cab arrived at John’s apartment to take the two to the airport. Before locking the door John took a moment to look around at what had been his home since his separation from the Air Force; this would be his last look. No matter what happened with Rodney he had no intention of returning here, returning to Elizabeth. With one last grim assessment of his surroundings, John joined Rodney in the cab for the journey to his new life.
It had been a long couple of days, and John was hoping to catch some sleep on the flight.
~*~
John’s fatigue was forgotten as soon as he caught sight of the beautiful Gulf Stream waiting on the tarmac for them. He wondered if he could convince the pilot to let him sit in the co-pilots seat for a while during the flight. He missed flying.
Rodney smiled fondly at John’s excitement. Obviously, some of his enthusiasm for the plane was visible on his face. “What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s pretty cool. A lot more flash than I’m used to for sure, but sweet just the same.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Rodney waved a packet of papers he held. “It’s new. If you get your civilian license I’ll let you fly it.” He seemed almost shy as he waited for John’s reaction. “If you’d like.”
John gently took the sheaf of papers from Rodney’s hand and leaned over, nose-to-nose with his startled companion. “I’d like that very much, Rodney,” he whispered, bumping his forehead gently against Rodney’s. “And I’ve had my civilian license for years.”
With a wicked grin, John settled back into his seat to read through the planes specs, leaving Rodney gaping beside him.
~*~
John looked up from his examination of the manuals and schematics for the plane (making notes for further exploration at the earliest possible time) and noticed that the sky had darkened into full night. He looked over to say something to Rodney only to find him asleep, drooling into his shirtfront. The picture should have struck John as ridiculous but instead he found it oddly endearing. It was a surprising revelation…one more on top of the many he’d had that day.
The demanding client that was Dr. McKay of myth and legend had somehow morphed into an intelligent, witty companion who was surprisingly shy, even timid at times. Not at all what John had psyched himself up to endure. Which was the real Dr. McKay there was no way of knowing, but at least John had new hope that the next two years wouldn’t be an exercise in masochism on his part.
John stretched his long legs out, marveling at the room to do so. A private plane was something else he hadn’t expected, but on reflection maybe he should have. McKay liked his comforts. Purchasing a plane that John could fly was perhaps just an offshoot of that desire for comfort or perhaps it was part of the benefits Rodney had spoken of as part of his contract. If so, it was a nice one. John really missed flying and the opportunity to have the sky back made him happy. He reached over to pull the blanket up around Rodney’s shoulder before relaxing back into his own seat to rest.
There were things about this arrangement that he could definitely get used to.
~*~
John took a long, slow look around the open-concept apartment. It was good sized by anyone’s standards, and nice. Far nicer than anything John had ever lived in since leaving his father’s house. It was furnished in masculine neutrals…a little sterile perhaps, but living in it would soften the edges some. He liked it.
Rodney was a nervous reminder that he hadn’t spoken since entering the apartment twenty minutes previously. No doubt he was worried that John would disapprove of the arrangements he’d made on John’s behalf.
“I like it.” Rodney slumped in relief. “It’s nicer than anything I could get on my own.” He paused, deciding to test how far Rodney’s patience stretched. “Kind of a long way from a beach, though.” He’d miss the ocean even though one on the East Coast would be too cold to surf most of the year.
“I’ll get you a beach house in California later.” Rodney looked out the huge window that did in fact afford a pretty spectacular view of the city. The Atlantic in question sat in the distance like a shining carpet of gray. “So this is it. Small, I know, but with the work being done on the house this is going to be home for a while.” Rodney reached out to take John’s hand again. “Think you can be happy here until the wedding?”
John smiled, wondering if he was serious about the beach house. The wedding date, if set, hadn’t been shared with him but this would most definitely do for the foreseeable future. He slid his hand into Rodney’s as was expected, “Yeah, Rodney. This’ll do just fine.”
Rodney’s happy smile was a nice relief from the almost-guilt that John had carried since the breakfast confessions. “Do you want to see the house?” Rodney asked, looking hopeful, “Once we unpack and you have a chance to settle in?”
“Sure.”
“There will be some workers there, of course but the contractor tells me they’ll keep at it so it’ll be ready in plenty of time for Christmas.”
“Christmas?” John quirked an eyebrow at Rodney.
“The reason I’m doing this…as I’ve already said, Sheppard, keep up…is that while I’m making fantastic leaps in my field, my so-called peers and supervisors believe that I need social interaction. There are also important outside business deals that depend to a great degree on social networking. That need has grown to the point where I can no longer ignore it. Hence the need to entertain them all. Hence, you.” Seeing John’s horrified expression he hurried to explain.
“Not you, you, Sheppard. I won’t be sharing. Don’t worry about that. You’re going to be my perfect trophy husband and woo money for my research out of the tight-fisted masses at my soon-to-be annual Christmas party!”
“You are the charming half of our dynamic duo. You are responsible for the good impression I want them to have of me.”
“That’s kind of a tall order for just one man, don’t you think?” Sheppard’s smirk was almost as irritating as it was charming. Rodney wanted very much to kiss it off that pretty face. He realized with a stab to the chest that he’d been having that reaction to Sheppard pretty regularly. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told John he was already on the way to being in love.
“Well, you’re also the intrepid part of our dynamic duo. You’ll figure it out.” Rodney licked his lips.
“I’d like to kiss you now. Is that okay?”
~ * ~
John trailed along behind Rodney and the architect while the two bickered over the progress on the house. The ghost of the earlier kiss still tingled on his lips. He hadn’t expected to enjoy it. He’d expected a kiss of possession…of ownership. The kiss he’d received had been gentle, even tender; filled with a lonely sadness that served to amp up the feeling of guilt John was already carrying.
John shook himself. Time to concentrate on the here and now. He took time to look around carefully, comparing what he was seeing with the plans Rodney had shared with him earlier. He was no expert but it seemed the contractors were making good progress. There were some things he’d change, though...
“Hey, Rodney,” he called, pulling Rodney’s attention back to him. “Wouldn’t you rather have a wall oven here?” John put his hand on the wall where a bank of cabinets would be installed before continuing, “then you could open up that whole wall into the living area. You’re gonna be blocking your view the way it is now.”
Rodney whirled around to glare at the hapless architect. “Why didn’t you catch that? Make the changes. And don’t expect any additional time to get this done.” Rodney reached his hand out to John in that now familiar gesture. Once John had given him his hand Rodney tugged him towards the upper floor of the house. “Come on. You might as well see what else they’re doing wrong.”
John tried to apologize to the stunned workers milling around the now sweating architect. He wasn’t sure how successful he was but at least they didn’t seem to want blood. It was as good as it was going to get.
~*~
September and October had come and gone and November blew in with biting cold and a promise of icy mornings. John had quickly learned the best routes for his early morning runs…different paths for the time he had available to indulge himself in the solitude of his thoughts.
Rodney was a constant puzzle for John to decipher. His classes at the university occupied much of his time naturally, with another chunk spent each day on his own research and outside projects. With Rodney so consumed John had expected to be on his own for most of the time yet that hadn’t been the case. Rodney carved out time each day to spend with John, doing activities he felt John would enjoy. He’d surprised John early on with his love of remote controlled cars (a love John shared whole-heartedly) and they’d spent some highly entertaining hours fiddling with a set, trying to increase speed and maneuverability to one-up the other.
Rodney was, to John’s mild astonishment, every bit the over-grown child that he was. Saturdays became ‘their’ day to hang out. They watched movies (with Rodney supplying biting commentary, “The flux capacitor, Sheppard? Did you learn your science on the back of a cereal box?”), old Dr. Who episodes (with Rodney supplying adoring commentary, “It’s the fourth Doctor, Sheppard. Try to keep up.), and played video games (with John supplying the biting commentary, “I don’t understand why you feel the need to play first person shooters with me, Rodney. You can’t hit the broad side of a barn!”) Saturdays were John’s favorite day of the week.
They’d attended parties hosted by Rodney’s co-workers; a lavish dinner hosted by the university, and small gatherings of those few people Rodney considered his friends. John’s confidence that they could convince the outside world that they were indeed a couple had grown with each event. He’d stopped sweating somewhere along the line and begun having fun. Rodney’s distain for the intellect of everyone not him was amusing…their hapless acceptance of his abuse hilarious.
Outside of Rodney’s oddly distracting presence John tried to keep busy by organizing the apartment to suit the two of them, checking in with the construction foreman for the house remodel and bugging Rodney to hire a caterer and event coordinator for his Christmas party, now just over six weeks away. He managed to keep himself occupied but unsurprisingly, he was not satisfied. He recognized his good luck…he could be living in a nightmare…but he was bored.
Rodney must have picked up on that because when the long Thanksgiving weekend arrived he swept John up and drove him to a secluded cabin surrounded by deep woods. The fall leaves still clung in stubborn clumps to the trees surrounding the drive. John stood for a long moment letting the peace and beauty of the scene settle into his bones.
“This new, too?” he asked, grinning over to catch Rodney’s expected glare.
“This is the one thing I inherited from my grandmother. With back-taxes and roof repairs needed.” Rodney sniffed. “I never got around to selling it and Jeannie likes to come with her family from time to time. So,” he trailed off.
“So show me what you’ve got, McKay.” John laughed at Rodney’s surprised squawk.
The long weekend ended up being less than relaxing for John’s nerves. Rodney liked to kiss. He liked it a lot. They’d spent hours wrapped up in blankets, rocking in the old swing on the front porch, cuddled together, and making out. It was clear that Rodney was getting more and more aroused by such close contact. John decided that they’d have to talk about it soon. The problem was John was being paid to let Rodney get aroused, no matter how risky that might be to the plan of celibacy before marriage. John wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
~*~
The first days of December brought with them the first snow flurries and the promise of a white Christmas had the neighbors buzzing. It was a pleasant background noise that brightened the otherwise gloomy Monday morning. It was not the sort of day that John wanted to be out and about in, but he had an appointment this morning that he couldn’t skip. He figured he had time for one more cup of coffee before getting cleaned up. He was going to need the caffeine.
The weeks leading into the holiday season were usually some of the worst times of the year for John. Being alone, usually posted in some inhospitable place, the times when tradition said you should be with family were painful.
This year was proving to be welcome change of pace. Rodney had been traveling a lot for his various projects, leaving John in charge of checking on the progress of the remodeling work and the details needing attention for both the Christmas party and the smaller, but more stressful, upcoming wedding.
John had badgered Rodney about his failure to hire the much-needed help for the upcoming party. He’d pointed out…repeatedly…that now that December was upon them there would be no decent event planner or caterer available with time on their calendars. At least he wasn’t expecting John to cook and plan the affairs. That idea had disaster written all over it. Rodney must have seen that John was beginning to get a little annoyed by his procrastination because he promised that he’d have both a caterer and a party planner within the day. John doubted that but he was perfectly willing to let Rodney try.
John didn’t have a lot of party-planning experience. He did, however, have a great deal of personal charm. He had a feeling he was going to be calling on his charm a lot over the next few weeks while Rodney bludgeoned people into cooperation with his brain and bank account
To appease John, Rodney had spent several hours on the phone, asking questions of those that would know, tracking down the perfect event planner for their ‘debut’ into social life. He’d been nearly insufferable when he’d managed to secure the services of the city’s best. Next on his agenda had been finding the perfect caterer. His success in finding a party planner didn’t necessarily translate into finding an available caterer but John had wisely kept his skepticism to himself and was then spared embarrassment when Rodney smugly informed him that he’d set up an appointment with the caterer he’d wanted and that the contract was ready to sign. As Rodney was once again going to be out of town, it was up to John to do the signing.
“All you need to do is sign off on what I’ve already set up with the event coordinator and the caterer, John. They’ll both be there so you won’t waste time running around the city. You’ll be in and out in ten minutes.” Rodney had said.
John still had his doubts, but he was running 0-2 in doubting Rodney so he was willing to get dressed and drive into the city center for his meeting. Maybe he’d get some Christmas shopping done while he was out.
Richard Woolsey of Events to Remember had a reputation as a perfectionist. The sort of party planner that spent months making sure each and every detail was perfect. Teyla Emmagen of Pegasus Catering was the caterer in demand. Their calendars were filled fully a year in advance. Yet, they both stood to meet John when he came into Woolsey’s office, right on time for his ten o’clock appointment. He shook his head. He shouldn’t underestimate Rodney. He’d have to remember that for the future.
“Mr. Sheppard.” Richard extended his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” John shook the offered hand with a smile.
“The pleasure is mine, Mr. Woolsey. We appreciate you fitting our party in to your no-doubt busy holiday schedule.” The smile he gifted the man would have melted the coldest of hearts.
Woolsey didn’t stand a chance.
John turned to Ms. Emmagen and offered her his hand in turn. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Emmagen. I’ve heard nothing but praises about your food.”
“Please, call me Teyla. It is my pleasure to be part of your first Christmas here in Massachusetts.”
“Let’s sit, shall we?” Woolsey gestured towards a comfortable seating area, “we can review what Dr. McKay has requested and make any changes you deem necessary.”
John smiled again. He could check the party planning off his to-do lists. Richard and Teyla were going to take care of things just fine. Rodney would be pleased. The realization of how much that mattered to him was something of a surprise for John. He shoved that emotion aside for examination at a later date and returned his attention to Mr. Woolsey.
He was getting good at storing emotions away to deal with later.
~*~
John pounded down the last hill that would take him back past the campus. This was the longest, most challenging of the paths he’d mapped out. He needed the intense work out to clear his head. The weeks since his arrival in Massachusetts had been a study in contrasts for John. He’d learned a great deal about the public persona of Dr. M.R. McKay. He clearly was every bit the genius he claimed to be. He was sought after on the lecture circuit and in the R&D community. He was famous in his relatively small world of science. A rock star. John was unwillingly impressed.
He was also learning a lot about Rodney, the private man. Rodney was unaccountably shy about his worthiness outside of science. He tried to hide that behind bombast and sarcasm but weeks of exposure had made John pretty good at reading him. He found Rodney’s awkwardness oddly endearing.
Rodney had been away for work more than he’d been in town. Truthfully John hadn’t minded that. McKay was a distracting presence when he was home…and a demanding one. With the wedding set (January 1st. Rodney humor. “Now I’ll have a tax deduction!”), John was disturbed by the growing intensity of Rodney’s kisses; the hot press of his arousal before releasing John from his embrace. If he was planning on continuing the plan of celibacy before marriage he was going to need to back off some. It didn’t seem like a conversational subject John could easily broach. But he’d put it off for weeks…he was going to have to address it soon.
Rodney had been away from the apartment for a week. He was due back in town tonight. John found himself a little nervous. Anxious. The party Rodney was banking on to impress any donors among his contemporaries was just days away. John was beginning to feel the strain of Rodney’s expectations. What if he couldn’t pull this off? Added to that was the drama bound to occur because they’d decided to move John into Rodney’s room temporarily while Rodney’s sister and brother-in-law were in town for the party.
Sharing an apartment with a horny, sexually frustrated Astrophysicist was complicated enough. Sharing a bed? John shuddered. This was going to get ugly.
It was time to talk to Rodney about giving up on the idea of total celibacy for some sort of non-penetrative sex just to ease the tension.
As soon as John let himself into the apartment he was reminded that while Rodney could be sweet and shy, he could also be a colossal dick. That part of Rodney’s personality didn’t endear itself to John at all.
“I told you not to keep me waiting.” Rodney snarled, in lieu of greeting. “That’s why I gave you the cell phone. I expect you to take my calls when I call you.” Rodney continued to shout at him as John closed the door behind him. “I left two messages, Sheppard. Two. And you didn’t call me back.”
“I was running.” John reached past Rodney to pick up his cell from the kitchen counter where he’d left it purposely when he left the apartment that morning. Carrying it while running was a pain in the ass. “I left it here by mistake, so I never got your calls. I didn’t know you were back in town. I wasn’t expecting you to be until later tonight or early tomorrow.” He opened his phone and slid through his messages. “I’ll call you now, if you like.”
“Don’t be a jackass, Sheppard. You’d have known I was back if you’d had your phone. I expect you to keep the phone with you. Always.” John took in Rodney’s hunched shoulders; his tightly crossed arms and read the distress they telegraphed. His anger bled out, leaving guilt behind.
“I’m sorry I forgot. I’ll be more mindful of it in the future.” He reached over to squeeze Rodney’s wrist and decided to answer the fear rather than the outburst. “I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Yes, well.” Rodney shifted until he’d captured John’s hand. “Don’t do it again.” He tugged John to him for a kiss. “Gah.” He shoved John back a little. “You reek.”
John laughed as he headed towards the shower, pulling his tee shirt off along the way. “Told you. Running.”
“John?”
John stopped at the door, soaked tee shirt in hand. “What?”
Rodney closed the space between them and cupped John’s face with his hands. He leaned in to capture his mouth in a kiss. The kiss went from gentle to passionate in moments. Rodney bit down on John’s full lower lip, then lapped his tongue over the ache to soothe. John’s mouth opened to welcome Rodney’s tongue and the kisses grew more frenzied.
Finally the two had to pull apart to catch their breath.
“I want you.” Rodney blurted. “I missed you so much and I want you and I don’t know how I’m going to wait and now you’re going to be in my room while Jeannie is here and in my bed and I will surely explode from sexual frustration!”
“It’s not fair! I wasn’t prepared for this! You weren’t supposed to be so…so…you!”
John smiled. This? He was prepared to handle. “Breathe, buddy.” He took Rodney’s hand and tugged him towards the master bath. “Come on.” He smirked at Rodney’s panicked expression. “Come on, trust me.” He got Rodney moving. “I’m going to introduce you to the joys of showering together.”
“How is that supposed to help?” Rodney squeaked. “You naked is a hundred times harder to resist than you sweaty.”
“Only a hundred?” John laughed. “Ah, Rodney. You say the nicest things. Look, I know you said we’d wait for sex. I appreciate the thought, I do. But I have to say I don’t think you’re going to survive until January at this rate. You’re gonna stroke out on me and I’m not eager for the paperwork that comes with that. So what do you say we just avoid penetrative sex. There’s no harm in a little recreational hand job, right?”
Rodney looked conflicted. He’d promised celibacy but clearly the idea of shower sex was compelling. John decided to take pity on him. Besides, he was getting kind of tired of just his own right hand.
“Hand jobs, frottage…good things, Rodney. Good, good things that don’t involve latex. We can wait for the stuff that does.”
“Oh, you are a genius.” Rodney grabbed at John, practically shoving him towards the bathroom. “A genius that needs to get naked right now!”
John’s laughter followed them all the way into the shower.
~*~
“I have beard-burn. Also my dick is broken. You gave me beard-burn and you broke my dick. Also? You’re ridiculously beautiful. Here you are, naked in my bed and I want to bite you on the neck.” Rodney stuttered to a stop with a blush.
“Are you blushing?” John reached over to stroke his fingers down Rodney’s cheeks. “You are! That’s so sweet. I didn’t know you did sweet, Dr. McKay.”
“Asshole.” Rodney bent over John and nuzzled his throat. John shifted a little reluctantly to give him better access. He wasn’t eager to let Rodney start with the biting. He’d heard from some of the other contract workers at Weir, Inc. that Rodney was pretty into it.
One firm bite over his jugular and John revised his opinion. Biting was a fantastic idea.
“I’m going to keep you in bed all day.” Rodney murmured as he mapped John’s throat and chin with his lips. “I’m going to suck on every inch of your body until you beg me to let you come.”
That sounded pretty reasonable to John. “No marks where they show, Rodney.”
“What? Why?” Rodney sounded genuinely put out.
“Party on Saturday? The one with all your colleagues? Jeannie, your sister?” John shifted to look Rodney in the eye. “I’m pretty sure they won’t want to see a dozen hickies on my neck while extolling the joys of the season.”
Rodney made a dismissive sound while leaning back to resume his explorations. “Their loss.” He bit down firmly just above John’s nipple. “But after they leave? We’re spending another day in bed…this time with no areas off limits.”
That sounded pretty reasonable to John, too.
~*~
Rodney finally allowed John out of bed around eleven. (“Coffee. Also lunch. Also coffee. And you broke my dick.”) He wandered into the bathroom to assess the damage.
“I said no hickies where they show, Rodney!” he yelled down the hall. “This one totally shows.” It was pretty spectacular, as hickies went. John sighed. At least it was just the one. He craned his neck and angled to try to get a look at the ones on his ass.
“Jesus, Sheppard. You look like you lost a bar fight with a vampire.” Rodney observed with a pleased smirk. “You want me to hold the hand mirror so you can see?” Rodney reached under the sink to pull out a large mirror. He handed it to John and turned him so his ass faced the one over the sink. “See okay?”
Yeah, he could see just fine.
“Hey, look at that. You blush, too. How sweet!”
Rodney retreated back to the kitchen to start lunch, laughing at John’s irate cursing.
~*~
With Christmas fast approaching John decided he wasn’t brave enough to face last-minute bargain hunters at the mall yet again. He’d managed to get gift certificates for his brother, a few toys for his nieces and some perfume for his sister-in-law after meeting with the event staff. Rodney had made noises about inviting them to the wedding but John was hoping that was just Rodney humor.
John ran his hands over his face in weary frustration.
He needed to decide what to do about Rodney’s Christmas presents. There was no way he was using Rodney’s credit cards or his “expense account” to buy gifts for him. The idea of that made John feel vaguely ill. He’d been away from the business for too long to feel anything good about what he was being paid for. It was a surprise to realize that somewhere along the line he’d stopped thinking like an escort. It was more effort than he’d bargained on to regain that mindset.
So, push that away. Keep pushing it away. Denial was the new Sheppard mantra. Lately it had been getting quite a work out as John kept thrusting aside the tangled mess of emotions washing over him to be dealt with another day.
Rodney’s gift would require more thought than the impersonal gift choices he’d made for his family. John knew he had no hopes of equaling Rodney’s buying power so he figured he should try to level that particular playing field. Rodney was in a meeting but had said he’d be available by instant message all morning. Time to see how agreeable he’d be to setting some spending limits. John pulled over his laptop.
Hey, Rodney. What do you say to setting a $$ cap on Christmas gifts between us this year? We could talk it over when you get home to decide on what’s reasonable. What do you think? JS
As promised, Rodney’s reply was nearly instantaneous. If you need more cash, Sheppard, all you have to do is ask. MRM
With a scowl John slammed his laptop closed. So much for reasonable. Damn the man. Well, since he couldn’t compete monetarily he’d have to score with perfection. Time to get on the internet and see what the well-heeled geek wanted these days.
~*~
John dropped down on the couch with a sigh. He’d moved all of his stuff from the guest room into the master, and to make room he’d had to reorganize Rodney’s stuff. He’d dusted the furniture and vacuumed the carpet of the room he’d been using. He’d cleaned his bathroom…then he’d cleaned Rodney’s. He’d redressed his bed in clean linen. Since he was going to be washing sheets anyway he pulled the ones off Rodney’s bed to add to the load. He’d been running non-stop for hours and he was exhausted.
Rodney looked up from the laptop he’d been buried in the entire time John had been working.
“Want to make out?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows in what he must have assumed was a sexy manner.
“No. What I want to do is take another shower and then a nap. Not necessarily in that order.” At Rodney’s disgruntled look he added, “What happened to your broken dick?”
“Oh, it’s all better…” he broke off when the doorbell sounded. He reluctantly got up to answer when it became obvious John wasn’t going to.
“Saved by the bell?”
“Smart ass.”
“Are you going to let me in, Mer? Or are we going to stare at each other all afternoon?” Rodney shot a look back at John before stepping clear of the door to let his sister in. “Finally. I was beginning to think you’d reverted to your former personality; the one that never gave parties or invited me to visit.”
“You’re two days early, Jeannie. Why are you two days early?”
Jeannie dropped her suitcase at Rodney’s feet and shouldered past him. She strode over to John as he struggled out of the confines of the couch with a broad smile. “You must be John. I’m delighted to meet you. I’m not sure if I should welcome you to the family or help you run away before it’s too late.” She thrust out her hand and waited with raised brows for John to take it.
“I’m glad to meet you as well,” he said, finally gaining his feet and equilibrium. Jeannie was as much a force of nature as her brother. The two of them together was going to be a challenge. He gamely took her hand in his and brushed a kiss over her knuckles.
“All right, all right,” Rodney chuckled. “Break it up. You’ve got your own, Jeannie. Keep your sticky fingers off mine.” Rodney stopped. “Speaking of, where is Kaleb? I thought he was coming with you?”
Jeannie hesitated just slightly. Just enough to raise John’s hackles. “Not this time, Mer. I wanted to meet the newest member of the family and get to know him one-on-one. Kaleb will meet him at the wedding.” Her gaze never left John’s face.
~*~
“She’s suspicious,” John whispered. Jeannie was unpacking in the guest room and Rodney was supposed to be making dinner. Mostly he was moving stuff around waiting for John to lose patience and take over the preparations himself.
“Suspicious of what? She just got here.” Rodney smirked when John sighed and started chopping the onions and celery on the counter. “She’s just jealous that you’re hot enough to combust and she married an English professor.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what it is.” John sighed again and pushed Rodney away from the stove. “You’re gonna burn that.”
“That’s one of the reasons you’re here.” Rodney pulled John to him for a quick grope. “You’ve got skills that I wish to employ, and not all of them involve dinner.”
“And what skills would those be?” The two jumped apart at Jeannie’s words behind them.
“Jesus, Jeannie!” Rodney clutched his chest. “You scared the crap out of me. A little warning.”
Jeannie just smiled her evil sibling smile and transferred her gaze back to John. “Does he pay well?” She continued after scrutinizing John’s startled look, “I mean for your skills that he’s employing.”
~*~
Dinner had been uncomfortable. Jeannie kept casting disapproving looks John’s way. John was pretty sure Rodney hadn’t noticed the tension. He was very good a selective awareness, a trait John wished he shared at the moment. Jeannie waited until Rodney excused himself to make a ‘brief’ stop at the university to get some papers that needed grading before turning on John with cold eyes.
“I did some checking on you after Mer called.” John nodded. There wasn’t much to find. He’d made sure of that a long time ago.
“You’re not worried about what I found?”
“I can’t think of anything in my life you’d be all that interested in.” At least the parts of his life that the public could find.
“Would it surprise you to know that Kaleb’s uncle is in CSIS? That’s Canada’s version of the CIA. Did Mer tell you about him?” John could feel himself pale. Jeannie didn’t miss the reaction and leaned in to hiss, “I learned a lot about you through his contacts. He was very helpful. I know about Weir Staffing, Inc. I know about Mer’s contract with them.” She pulled back, the look of revulsion on her attractive face caused John’s stomach to clench.
“I know what that makes you.”
John looked at Jeannie’s pinched, angry face and swallowed back a curse.
“I’m going to talk to Rodney, John.” He flinched back at the fury in her voice. “I’m going to tell him that I know exactly what you are.”
John rubbed his chest to soothe the ache in his heart. He’d known this was going to be a cluster-fuck, dammit! Why hadn’t Rodney listened to him?
“Good.” It was Jeannie’s turn to flinch.
“You should do that. You should talk to Rodney.” John looked over at the tuxedo Rodney had purchased to wear to the wedding hanging on the door to the coat closet. “Don’t put it off.” He looked back at her, schooling his features into a disinterested mask.
“But he won’t care, will he?” She stepped towards John, pointing at him. “You’ve convinced him some how that this is different with him. That this is true love, haven’t you? He probably thinks he’s ‘saving’ you. That’s why he’s marrying you. And you! You’d go along with it all…promise him anything. Anything for his money.” She jabbed her finger into his still aching chest. “You bastard!” She turned on her heel and left him standing alone.
~*~
The first thing Rodney noticed when he entered the apartment that evening was the silence. He’d worried about leaving Jeannie and John together without him to mediate, but he had tests to grade and minions to chastise. He couldn’t spend every waking moment making sure Jeannie didn’t badger John into giving away too much information. This is why nosey sisters should arrive when they were scheduled to arrive and not before.
“John?” Rodney dropped his keys on the table by the door. “Jeannie? Where is everyone?” He rounded the corner and saw Jeannie sitting in the unlit living room. The evening shadows made it hard to tell but it looked as though she had been crying.
“Jeannie? What’s wrong? Where’s John?” Rodney felt the first fingers of panic curling up his spine. “Why are you sitting in the dark?” He stepped into the room, stopping a few feet from his sister.
“Where’s John?”
“He’s gone. I don’t know where and I don’t care.” Jeannie raised her head, fixing Rodney in place with a watery glare. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” Rodney flinched back, as if Jeannie had struck him. “Did you think when you suddenly found this perfect, handsome man who fell magically in love with you I wouldn’t be surprised? I wouldn’t be curious? Did you believe I’d buy into the fantasy that someone that perfect would choose you? Did you?”
“What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“Is that all you care about? Your investment ran off?” Jeannie rose from the chair, shaking with anger. “How could you do this, Mer? How could you demean yourself like this?” She ran a weary hand across her face. “How could you do this to me, to our family?”
Rodney slumped down onto the couch. The panic bled away, leaving exhaustion and sadness in its wake. “Family,” he huffed. “What family? The only family that mattered to me was you. And clearly you mattered more to me than I did to you.” He leaned forward, trapping his hands in his lap, “I didn’t want you to know,” he said. “I was tired of explaining myself to you every time I visited. Tired of you looking at me like I was missing out. That I was damaged because I didn’t want a wife and children and the house with the picket fence. That’s your idea of normal…of happiness, Jean, not mine. You keep trying to get me to change into Prince Charming and win the love of Sleeping Beauty,” he sighed, wishing he could make her understand. “I’m not Prince Charming and I don’t want Sleeping Beauty! I know I’m not your kind of normal, Jeannie. I get that. I just wanted company. Company that was entertaining and pretty was just added bonus points. Why is that too much for you to understand? I came up with the story about how we met because I didn’t want you to pry. I didn’t want you to worry. I wanted you to think I was settled and happy.” He straightened, turning his attention to her, “But clearly that’s not what you wanted for me.”
“What?” Jeannie stared in astonishment. “Don’t try to convince me that you did this for me, Meredith. You lied to me. You tried to pass off a hooker as your fiancé! That’s disgusting. I wish you’d never invited me to meet him.”
“You know what? The hell with you!” Jeannie reared back from he brother’s wrath. Meredith had never spoken to her in that tone, or in so much anger. “John Sheppard is a decorated war hero. An officer and yes, a gentleman. He’s not some…some…scummy piece of trash that you can sneer at! I won’t let you.” Rodney stood and crossed the room to loom over Jeannie. “He’s got a past, yes. Well, wake up, sister dear, so do I. You think John is the first guy I hired from Weir, Inc.? Guess again.”
“John thought he was retired, that he’d left all this crap behind. He’d made a life for himself that anyone could be proud of. He didn’t want this job, and he doesn’t deserve to have you spitting on him.” Jeannie shrank back into the cushions in shock. “He’s funny, Jeannie. He makes me laugh. He makes me happy to come home at night. He’s smart, and beautiful and lonely and sad and perfect and I love him! I’m going to marry him, Jeannie. I’m in love with him and I’m going to marry him and spend the next two years with him and you know what? I’m going to cherish every minute of that time. I’m going to hope against hope that I can convince him to stay with me forever by the time the two years end. And you can accept that and move forward with us or you can go home. It’s up to you. Because if I have to choose between the two of you? I choose John.”
Rodney stood back from his sister, all the fight gone. “I’m in love with him,” he whispered. “I love him.”
“Tell me where he went.” Rodney straightened, pulling himself together with an effort. “I need to find him.”
Jeannie stared at her brother for long seconds. Finally she seemed to come to a conclusion and stood to face Rodney. “He didn’t say where he was going but he took his car. Don’t you have it LoJacked?”
“Genius. You’re a genius.” He grabbed her into a quick hug, relief making the anger wash away for the moment. Rodney sprinted down the hall to grab his computer. “Please, please, please,” he begged to any deity listening that John would be with the car when he found it. He had to be. He had to find John and bring him home. If Jeannie wanted to go back to Canada, well, she could do that. John was coming home.
~*~
The house was cold and dark when Rodney pushed open the door. The Christmas decorations sparkled to life when he hit the light switch and he took a moment to admire the display they made. Woolsey had done a beautiful job. The party was indeed going to be the talk of his social set. Hopefully. If he could keep John by his side.
“John?”
The house remained silent. Rodney started working his way through the rooms that had been decorated and furnished for the two of them, now all gaily overlaid with Christmas glitter. The plan had been to move in after the party to cut back on the inevitable clutter that such a move brings. Rodney was willing to do most anything to ensure they still made that move together.
“John,” Rodney called as he mounted the steps for the second floor, “are you going to make me search the whole house or are you going to take pity on me and give me a clue where you’re at?”
After a few seconds John’s defeated sounding voice trailed down the stairs. “I’m in the bedroom.”
Rodney paused at the door, looking in at the dejected figure on the floor, wedged into the far corner. “What are you doing down there?” He crossed the room and crouched down in front of John. “You’re going to kill your back, sitting like that.” He held out his hand and waited.
John looked at Rodney’s offered hand, then into his eyes. Seeing no censure there he reached out and slid his hand into Rodney’s. “Did Jeannie leave?” he asked.
“No. At least not yet. I’m sure she’s going to want to ‘talk’ some more before she does, though. Just fair warning.”
John grimaced. He’d never been one to talk about much of anything. Rodney had been a surprise for him on that front. Rodney talked about everything. Constantly. So easily did words come to Rodney that John found he could add a few of his own to conversations without it feeling as though he needed run, without thinking his throat was closing up, cutting off his air supply. Soon there wasn’t too much of John’s life that Rodney hadn’t heard at least something about. Things no one else would ever know. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to give of himself on that level.
But he was very sure he didn’t want that same freedom of speech happening with Jeannie.
“Don’t think so hard.” Rodney reached over and ran his fingers gently over the furrow in John’s brow. “You’re giving yourself wrinkles.” John snorted a half laugh half sob.
“Is this where you tell me you told me so? Because clearly you were right about her suspicious nature. You’re obviously a much better judge of character than I am.” Rodney gently tugged John to his feet. “Come on. It’s freezing in here and you’re going to catch a cold. Let’s go home where we will no doubt suffer in uncomfortable silence but we will at least be warm.” He squeezed John’s fingers gently, drawing him towards the stairs.
“Rodney.”
“No. No, just don’t worry so much, Sheppard. I love you. Well, I love Jeannie too, obviously, but I’m going to marry you no matter what she decides. We’ve talked it out. No, that’s a lie. She’s never going to tire of talking about it, but I have told her my decision to marry you stands.” John started to tug away from Rodney. “No, no. Don’t fight me on this, John. We have guests coming tomorrow night for a party and then next week we’re getting married. Period. And don’t forget I promised you a beach house. How about Santa Barbara? Would you like that? They surf there, right?”
This time when Rodney tugged John towards the stairs he didn’t fight. As Rodney reached for the front door, John tugged his hand free and stepped back.
“What?” Rodney asked, reaching again for John. “Please, don’t back out. I mean, I’ll let you if that’s what you need to do but I’m asking you not to.” John didn’t take his hand so Rodney reached out and gathered him into his arms. “I’m begging you to let me have my two years, John. And twenty-two more after them, if I can.” He kissed John’s lips gently, his temple, his forehead. “Please.”
“I’m not…” John blew out a sigh, struggling for calm. “I’m not backing out. I’m not.” He could feel the tension ease out of Rodney’s body. “I’m just asking for some distance. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me and Jeannie to be in the same apartment right now.” He pulled back a little to see how Rodney responded.
“If I promise to turn on the heat can I just stay here?”
Rodney sighed. This wasn’t the way he’d planned things to go. But, he was a genius. He’d adapt. “Sure.” John settled his head against Rodney’s shoulder with relief. “We’ll both stay here.”
~*~
Jeannie sat on the coffee table in front of John, cutting off any avenue of escape. She had bullied her way into the house at the time she knew Meredith would be at the airport collecting the elder Sheppard brother. He’d been giddy at his success in keeping their arrival a surprise for John. Jeannie figured she had about an hour before Mer could drop the family off at the hotel and make it back to the house. She intended to use that time to question John about his motives without her brother on hand to coddle him and run interference.
“So. We need to talk.”
“Again?”
“Still.” Jeannie leaned in towards John, pinning him in place with practiced ease. “Why is he doing this?”
John shifted uncomfortably and looked away from Jeannie. “Like I said, you’ll have to talk to him.” He wished Rodney would walk in. He should be here to fend his sister off…it was the least he could do. John slumped down into the couch, dejected. He’d hoped to avoid any more conversation with Jeannie.
“I’ve talked…” she sighed. “Why are you doing this?”
John fidgeted some more, opening and shutting his mouth as words failed him. He knew that nothing short of the absolute truth would convince Jeannie that he wasn’t out to steal Rodney’s money and slit his throat in the night. Bracing himself with a big breath he finally began. “There was this kid.”
Jeannie held her breath, hoping he’d actually continue, and continue he did, words coming faster and faster, as if by speed alone John could purge them from his memory.
“His home life wasn’t great and he figured he’d be better off on his own. Not that he really had it all that bad; he just didn’t know that then. See, his mom died. He was really close to her…and not so much his dad. He had an older brother, too. Dad and the brother? They understood each other. They wanted the same things…at least the kid thought they did. The kid? He didn’t understand them at all, and they didn’t understand him. This kid? He wanted the sky. He wanted…” John trailed off, clearly struggling to formulate the words to convey his thoughts. “He wanted freedom. That wasn’t something his dad understood. See, the dad wanted the kid to go to this big, prestigious school like his big brother, and then come work for him when he got out. Live just like he did, do what he did, like the things that he did. To the kid that sounded a lot like prison, so he said no.”
When the silent pause stretched uncomfortably long Jeannie finally broke it by asking, “What did the father do then?”
John darted a quick look at Jeannie, like he’d forgotten she was there. “He yelled. A lot. He lost it a couple of times and smacked the kid around some. The whole thing just got more and more toxic until the dad told the kid he could do what he said; go to the school the dad picked and work in the financial department at the family firm or he could get out. Make his own way; cut off from the family money.” Another uncomfortable pause stretched while John struggled to find words to make Jeannie understand. “Now after all these years, the kid can see what the dad was trying to do. That he wanted the kid to understand what it would be like on his own, paying his own way. He just sucked at explaining it. Really sucked. But he figured that once the kid saw how hard it was going to be he’d back down, toe the line…only the kid didn’t react the way he expected.” He took a sip of water, “he found a way to pay for school.”
“It was like a prank, see? He could get back at his dad, go to the school he picked for himself, and find the sky and the freedom like he wanted. No harm done.”
John’s shoulders slumped. “No harm done. You have to understand, this kid? He was really naive. Really, really naive. He didn’t know that once he started this…thing…this way of paying for what he figured he wanted, there wasn’t going to be any way out of it. He was just going to keep on paying.”
John ran his hands through his already mussed hair. Jeannie noticed then that there were dark circles under his eyes. This wasn’t easy for John and somehow knowing that made it a little easier for Jeannie. She wondered what that said about her. “After some years go by this kid wasn’t so young and cute any more and he stopped making the kind of money these people wanted from him. So these people? The ones he owed money to? They let him go. But he didn’t go free, see. He still owed, and all this time, all these years that passed? The interest kept piling up, adding to the bottom line.”
“So more years go by; years and years where this kid, now not a kid anymore sort of forgets that he still owes these people. But they didn’t forget. They don’t ever forget. So when these people have a…situation…that this guy that used to be a kid can help with they call in all the markers he still owes, add up all the interest and lay it all out for him and all he can do is pay up.”
“Oh, my God…John!” Jeannie’s horrified whisper snapped John’s attention back to her.
“No, see, it’s okay! It really is, because now?” Jeannie’s heart clenched a little at the very Meredith-like way that John waved his hands around to make his point. “The debt is really paid off. He doesn’t owe anybody once this particular…situation…is resolved. It’s good. And the situation? It’s not so bad. It’s really kind of good, maybe more than good. Maybe really, really good. Much better than the kid-that’s-not-a-kid could have ever hoped for. So. Don’t get all weepy about it, okay?”
“Did this…kid…ever reconnect with his father?”
Another shift, another shrug. “Kind of. Unfortunately, the dad died about a year ago so they never got to work things out completely. But. There’s the brother. They’re trying to reconnect. It’s a process.” Another shrug and a rueful smile. “And really, this is like the most I’ve ever talked about anything in one setting in my entire life and I’d really like to stop now.”
Jeannie sniffed and huffed a hitching breath. “Okay. Okay.” She sat for a moment while they both regrouped. Reaching for a safe topic of conversation she asked, “what did you get Mer for Christmas?”
John smiled, recognizing the gesture for what it was. She was offering a truce while both sides reorganized their arguments. He gladly accepted the temporary cessation of hostilities and stood up. He held out his hand to help Jeannie to her feet, “Come see.”
Jeannie looked from John’s face to his outstretched hand and back. Nodding her head as her internal debate concluded, she reached out and grasped John’s fingers in her own.
John smiled and pulled her upright, careful to release her as soon as possible. He gestured for her to follow him towards a closet in the kitchen. “This is actually what we had our first fight about. Though it wasn’t much of a fight, I’ll admit.” He rubbed the back of his head, “I wanted to set a price cap for gifts. I mean, I’ve got back combat pay and stuff but I can’t compete with Rodney, you know? I mean, who could, right? So.” Another shrug that Jeannie now recognized as John’s signal that he was deeply uncomfortable. “He didn’t go for it.” He quirked a half smile, eyes wide, “Big surprise.”
“Yes, Mer does like to throw his money around. It makes him feel safe and in control.” She watched as John reached up to bring down his purchases. “You hid his presents in the closet? Unwrapped?”
“It’s the broom closet, Jeannie,” he raised an eyebrow at her, “in a house we’re not living in yet.” She had to admit, the likelihood of Mer looking for a broom would be pretty small no matter what. She shrugged.
“This is a satellite phone. He can use it anywhere in the world. Plus? It’s a mobile hot spot…though it’s pretty slow. Still, it’s something. He went crazy while we where at the cabin over Thanksgiving. No internet, no cell service. I thought he’d crack and demand we head back early but he toughed it out. I’m not willing to risk it if we end up somewhere cut off from civilization for the honeymoon.” As soon as the word left his mouth John cringed. Risking a look at Jeannie to see how she would respond to the wedding reference he was relieved to see her concentrating on the phone in her hands.
“It’s nice. Very practical. But what happens when he runs out of battery time?” She smiled as she handed the phone back to John.
“Ah, but I have that covered, too.” He reached back onto the high shelf he’d been storing his gift on and brought down a flat package. “It’s a solar recharging station. And it has a hand-crank in case the day is overcast.” He shot her a smug smile.
Jeannie laughed. “You seem to have thought of everything, I’ll give you that.” She handed the charger back, “Anything else?”
“Yeah.” John laughed as he handed her an envelope.
“Bacon-of-the-month club?”
“It’s second only to coffee in Rodney’s codex of love, I swear to you.” They both laughed at that.
“You know? I may copy the idea for the solar power station for Kaleb’s birthday, if you don’t mind. It’s kind of ingenious and he likes to be as green as possible.”
“Hey, feel free.” John stowed the envelope back on the shelf with the other gifts. It was timely that they were stored away as just then they could hear Rodney’s keys in the lock.
“What are the two of you up to?” he asked warily.
“Nothing,” was the innocent reply.
“Where were you, anyway?”
“No where,” was the less-than innocent answer.
~*~
“You weren’t giving John a hard time when I came in, where you?” Rodney crossed his arms over his chest, “because you’ve already chewed him out enough for one visit, don’t you think?”
Jeannie was surprised to see how much Meredith cared about her answer. That he cared about her reaction to John. Surprised and touched. It seemed her brother was indeed in love with John Sheppard. For better or worse. “No. We were talking about what he bought you for Christmas.” She shook a finger at him, “Don’t even ask. I’m not telling.”
Rodney sighed in defeat. “I haven’t even shopped for him yet. I was hoping to do that today but I’m terrified to leave you two alone any more than necessary.”
“What?” Jeannie looked scandalized. “Your big Christmas party is tonight; Christmas is just three days away. When did you plan on getting him something?”
“Honestly. You’re hopeless. Go! Shop.” Jeannie laughed. “We’re not going to come to blows, Mer. We’ve come to an understanding of sorts. I still think this is a mistake of colossal proportions, but I do see that you’re serious about him. I understand that you’re an adult and therefore free to make your own choices, no matter how misguided they may be.”
“I’m sorry I came off as insensitive about your feelings…I guess I just never thought you had any.” At Rodney’s scowl she backtracked, “No, that’s not how I meant that. I never thought you cared how other people saw you. It was stupid of me, and I’ve hurt you. I really am sorry.”
“As for John, I’ve accepted that you’re going to marry him. I don’t approve, but you already know that. I’m not sure how I feel about him being around Madison. But, I’m surprised to find that I like him, against my better judgment. I didn’t expect to, but I do. He’s very charming. I can see why it was so easy for you to develop feelings for him.”
Jeannie struggled for a moment, searching for a lighter subject to keep them from cycling back through the same arguments. “John told me that you wouldn’t go along with his idea of a price cap on Christmas gifts between the two of you. Why didn’t you?”
“Why would I? I can buy him anything he wants…anything! Isn’t that a good thing?”
Jeannie sighed. Sometimes, for all his brilliance, Meredith could be incredibly dumb. “Mer. He bought you a gift with his own money. What do you think that means?”
The confusion on his face was answer enough. “I told him if he needed more money all he had to do was ask.”
“Oh, Mer.” Jeannie sighed. “You didn’t.”
“What? What’s wrong with that?”
“He bought you a present with his own money.” She emphasized the last words, hoping he’d get it.
“You said that already. Just spit it out, Jeannie. Clearly I’m missing something you think is important.”
“It is important, Meredith. He didn’t spend any of the money you gave him for your present. None of it.” His continued clueless response caused her to snort in exasperation.
“It means, brother dearest, that he bought you a gift, not because it was expected of him, not because it was what you wanted him to do or paid him to do, but because he wanted to. He wanted you to have a gift that he thought of and shopped for and paid for all on his own.” She smiled at his growing comprehension. There was hope for him, after all.
“It means, Mer, that he likes you, too.” She patted her brother’s shoulder while he processed that information.
“What do I do now?”
“Now? You do some thinking about what he’d like and get him something before Christmas comes and goes. I’m not even going to get into price matching with you at this point. Buy something. You’re running out of time.”
“That’s it? That’s all the help I’m getting? Buy something? What kind of sister are you?”
Jeannie grinned, “I’m the kind of sister that’s going to pretend she doesn’t know where you met your fiancé. The kind that is going to make sure that she never thinks too hard about any of the men her brother has introduced her to over the last ten years. The kind that is going to make every effort to forget her brother would think of going to a place like Weir, Inc.” Rodney began looking for an exit so Jeannie tightened her grip on his shoulder.
“The kind that loves you in spite of those things. The kind that’s sorry she inferred that you weren’t good enough to garner the attention of an attractive man.” Jeannie put her warm hand on Rodney’s cheek. “The kind that’s not going to share what she’s learned about John with anyone else, not even Kaleb. The kind that’s going to try to accept his presence in your life and move forward with you from this day without thinking about the past. And if in two years he moves on, or you come to your senses, the kind that promises to try very hard not to say I told you so.”
She grinned then, wicked and evil like only sisters can be.
“The kind that’s going to take your boytoy out to lunch while you go shopping. I’ve got shopping to do and as long as we have this truce thing working we might as well spend some of your money. Besides, I want to get a better feel of what he’s like…get to know him a little better. And we have trash to talk. I’ve got literally dozens of stories that he needs to hear and this is the perfect time to tell them.”
The realization that Jeannie was giving Rodney her tacit permission to go ahead with the wedding, that he wouldn’t, in fact, lose her – need to choose between the two - was such a relief that for a moment he thought he was going to faint. He’d work on her acceptance of John as a person and not an object later. At least there would be a later.
“Yes, well. Remember, there are quite a few stories that I’ve held off telling Kaleb, too.
~*~
The first of the party guests arrived right on time, bringing John welcome relief from Rodney’s obsessive fussing over details.
Pegasus Catering had outdone themselves. The buffet table groaned under the weight of the beautiful food spread across the pristine cloth. Events to Remember, not to be out classed, had been by earlier to set out more candles and to make sure the light displays were functioning perfectly.
The house looked and smelled like every child’s fantasy Christmas.
“Elizabeth!” Rodney took hold of her hand and drew her into the house. “Welcome. Merry Christmas!” John had to smile. Jeannie had been coaching Rodney for two days on proper host etiquette. It seems the lessons had paid off. He stepped forward to join Rodney at the door.
“John.” Elizabeth handed off the gaily wrapped package she carried to Rodney and reached out to draw John into a hug. “You look wonderful. How are the wedding plans coming?”
“Elizabeth.” He stepped out of her embrace as soon as was politically correct and turned to aim her towards the open rooms beyond. Gracing her with his most beguiling smile he said, “we’ve done as much as we can for now. The caterer and event coordinator Jeannie hired in Canada have lists for us to tackle after tonight, though.” Elizabeth laughed at Rodney’s groan of dismay. John sent her off towards the buffet.
John tugged on Rodney’s sleeve to halt his forward progress when he started to follow Elizabeth. “What’s she doing here?” he hissed.
“What? Elizabeth?” Rodney looked around in a way that screamed guilt. “I invited her to the wedding but it isn’t possible for her to attend. So, when the subject of the party came up I invited her. I didn’t think you’d mind.” Rodney frowned, “do you? Mind, I mean?”
Any answer John could have formulated outside of “hell, yes!” was cut off by the soft dinging of the doorbell. “We’re not done talking about this, Rodney.” John said, yanking open the door to greet the latest arrivals.
“Dave?”
~*~
“I talk all day long, did you know that?”
John looked over at his brother, still marveling that he was there to be looked at. “Huh?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.” Seeing the confusion spread across John’s face Dave laughed and tried to explain. “I’m known for my eloquence, for my flair with words. But less than an hour in your company and I’m just as tongue-tied as you normally are.” He reached over and flipped John’s hair affectionately. “It seems you’re contagious.”
The brothers shared a chuckle.
Dave shifted in his seat, looking John in the eye before speaking. “I’m sorry things got so far out of hand with Dad,” Dave began. “He regretted it, too. I know he was thrilled when the cards and notes started coming in from you. He was hoping to get together with you when…”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not going to lose you, too, John. I’m just letting you know that now. You’re going to have to get used to me being around. The girls deserve to know their uncle and you need to know them, too. I love you. You’re my baby brother and I’ve missed out on too much of your life as it is.” He paused, clearly uncomfortable with what he was going to say next.
“Plus, there’s this.” He drew an envelope out of his jacket pocket and placed it in John’s lap. “It sort of guarantees we’ll be seeing a lot of you.”
John turned the envelope in his hands. Heavy, fine paper. Official looking. It couldn’t bode anything good. With the excess caution one would display when handling explosives John peeled open the flap to read the document within.
“Shit.”
“Okay, here’s what we’ll do.” Dave pressed the papers into John’s shaking hands even as John tried to pass them back to Dave. “We’re going to sit here, now that most of your guests have gone, and go over Dad’s will. We’ve put it off for too long.
“We have talked about this, Dave.” John tried to push the document back into Dave’s lap. “We talked and you agreed that you would do all the business shit for the company. We both agreed.”
“Yes, we did. I did. But that was when you were on active duty in the Air Force.” He held up a hand to stop the argument John wanted to start, “Now that you’re separated from the service you need something to do. You can’t pretend you’re not bored.” John had the grace to look chagrined at Dave’s knowing look. He had been bored. “You don’t have it in you to play trophy wife full time. So, you’re going to hear what Dad wanted for you and you’re going to go along with it. I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll do all the talking, and you do all the listening. We’ll do it like bullet points. Nod if you can work with that.”
John’s nod was a little shaky but Dave was okay with that.
“Here’s the gist of what this says,” he said, tapping the papers. “You are a full heir with me in the company Dad left. No, no,” he admonished as John started to protest. “I’m the talking brother, you’re the listening brother.” John shuddered but subsided into silence once again.
“I don’t know how much you remember or have looked into since you left home but I’m going to assume you pretended Dad and his company didn’t exist anymore.” When John opened his mouth to protest Dave held up his finger in warning. “Ah, ah. Who’s the talking brother? Yeah, that would be me.” He gestured towards the documents in John’s lap. “We publicly trade fifteen percent of the stock in the umbrella company, Sheppard Industries. I have thirty percent of the remainder and you have thirty percent with the rest divided between relatives and the some members of the Board of Trustees. We have the controlling shares so basically what we say goes.” That part clearly pleased Dave.
“Plus, Dad left me the Sheppard Biofuels Division and set aside Sheppard Aeronautics for you. On paper it’s a fairly even split, and Dad thought you’d be happier in aeronautics.” He gave John a moment to digest that. “You are expected to sit on the board and to actually run your division personally. You can, however, move the office for your division here to be closer to Rodney’s work if that’s what you want. Your call.” He looked closely at his younger brother’s face before adding, “You’re not going to hurl, are you?”
~*~
Elizabeth watched the Sheppard brothers talk quietly, heads nearly touching over the creamy paper in their hands. Legal documents, her experienced eye told her. That John was overwhelmed to reconnect with his brother was obvious. His instant love for the small girls that had come with the elder Sheppard was touching to see.
The beginnings of a plan began falling into place for her. Vulnerabilities could always be worked to her advantage and this was an area were the stoic John Sheppard was clearly vulnerable. While she wasn’t entirely unmoved by the prospect of hurting him, she knew she’d do what was necessary for the bottom line. Business was business. It wasn’t personal.
~*~
Once the last of the guests had been escorted to the door Rodney allowed himself exactly twenty-seven minutes to gloat over the perfection the evening had been. He’d originally penciled in thirty but at the twenty-seven minute mark he became aware that John was sitting, staring at the Christmas tree and hadn’t blinked in a while.
“John?” Rodney slid over towards the silent man on the other end of the couch. “Are you okay? Are you sick? Did you eat too many of those tart things? They were delicious, to be sure, but…” he trailed off with a squeak when John leaned into him.
“My brother came,” was mumbled into Rodney’s shoulder. “He came and there’s nieces and stuff.” Rodney felt the shudders running through John’s back as he slid his arms around him. “He…I…Dad…”
“Yes, yes. Very clear. You’re so suave and eloquent, it’s a miracle you haven’t been tapped for public speaking before now.” Rodney patted John’s back, stroked his dark head. He was really not good at this sort of thing. He wished whole-heartedly that Jeannie hadn’t returned to the apartment for the night, leaving Rodney alone to deal with John’s breakdown. What did he know about fixing people? He wondered if he should call Jeannie. True, she wasn’t really past the distrusting-slash-horrified stage with John yet, and yes, she’d said she was going to have a soak and she’d better not be disturbed unless loss of limbs was involved but surely this was as close to that sort of emergency as was likely to happen. Wasn’t it?
“You’re not going to cry, are you? I mean if you need to I’ll be supportive and strong for you…I can do that, I think…but I may spontaneously combust from the tension so I’d rather you didn’t. Preferably. At all.” He shifted a little closer to John, “Seriously, I can feel my internal organs liquefying just thinking about you crying so just…don’t. Okay?”
“I don’t suppose you’ve lost any fingers or toes over the last twenty-nine minutes?” Rodney asked, wistful. He could only hope.
John lifted his head enough to make eye contact with Rodney. “Did you eat too many of those pastry things, Rodney?”
Rodney opened his mouth to defend his eating habits but decided if it got Sheppard talking and not crying he’d manfully take the blows. “That’s probably what’s wrong with both of us.” He tugged and prodded until John was more firmly wedged against him. “I’m glad your dad was trying to make things right with you. And I’m glad your brother and his family are here. You deserve a chance to patch up your relationship with him.” Rodney pressed a kiss against John’s temple, his brow. He pulled his hand firmly into his own and squeezed his fingers in what he hoped was a reassuring way before raising it to his lips and placing a kiss on the palm.
“What is it with you and hand-holding?” John waved off Rodney’s attempt to explain. “Never mind. Take me to bed.”
That, at least, Rodney felt perfectly qualified to do.
~*~
Rodney turned towards John in the uneven light of the coming dawn. “Did you sleep at all?” he asked.
John reached over and wrapped his fingers loosely around Rodney’s. “Not really.” He shifted a little closer. “I’m still trying to digest that my father left me part of his company in his will. You read through the papers Dave brought from the lawyers?” At Rodney’s nod he continued, “The thirty percent of Sheppard Industries that goes to me is a pretty big deal. I had no idea, but it seems the old man built quite the empire. And now some of it’s mine. I guess he really did want to reconcile in the end.” Another shift brought him close enough to slide his head over onto Rodney’s pillow. “It’s kind of a lot to take in. All my life I’ve wanted to that guy, the one that railed against the Man, you know? My dad always was the embodiment of “The Man” to me. Now I’m the Man. It’s pretty confusing.” He grinned at Rodney, sharing his secret amusement.
“Plus? I’m totally loaded now. I’m considering contacting Elizabeth’s biggest rival to find me a nice looking young guy to take to all those business functions I’m going to have to attend. What do you think?”
Rodney snorted. “I think I know the perfect one for you.”
“Really? Do tell.”
“Tall, well, tallish, handsome, extremely intelligent. Witty, too.” Rodney waggled his eyebrows in what he must have thought was a sexy way. “And hung like a donkey! You’ll like him.”
John’s delighted laughter was sweet music to Rodney’s ears. He tugged him into his arms and pressed kisses into the curve of his throat. “I love you, you know that, right?” John nodded his head, twisting a little to give Rodney better access to the spot he most loved to mark. “I love you and I’d never want to hurt you.” He shifted away, pulling back so John would look at him.
“You could afford to repay me for your loans, now, if you wanted. You don’t need to work for me now and I won’t hold you to your contract with me if you want to go.” Rodney felt like he was drowning. “I want you to stay forever but I won’t insist if you want to go.”
“I’m saying I’ll let you go without a fight if that’s what you really want.”
John was silent for a long while. He’d thought of his financial status during the seemingly endless night and had wondered at the time if Rodney would as well. The realization that he could have just written a check and sent it to Elizabeth to get her out of his life months ago was a bitter pill for John to swallow.
John propped himself up on his elbow, watching the strengthening dawn color Rodney’s face in yellow and red. Suddenly the answer that had seemed so right during the night felt inadequate now. He sighed deeply. “I need some time to think about it,” was all he said.
~*~
Running was the one thing John could count on to clear his head. As he ran, the random flotsam that crowded out his thoughts would drift away, leaving only the important things behind. Plans could be made, details hammered out in that Zen-like time he could never fully replicate any other way.
What had become clear to John during this mornings run was that he was happy with the life he was building with Rodney. He wanted to keep building on it, to make something lasting out of what they’d started now that it could truly be an equal partnership. He wasn’t sure when his grudging acceptance of Rodney had turned into affection, or when that affection had started becoming something more…but those new feelings were there, diamond bright. Not since his mother’s death had he felt so at peace with another person. Self-reflection was never his strong suit so yet again he decided to table his feelings for examination another time and concentrate on other things.
Happily, he’d discovered that the idea of becoming a ‘suit’ like Dave didn’t freak him out nearly as much as he thought it would. He was actually excited about the challenges that he would be facing by becoming head of Sheppard Aeronautics. He had the educational background to make it work, the first hand knowledge of the aircraft involved that made him worth listening to, helping make the transition easy enough…at least on paper. Having the freedom to move the company offices closer to his new home if that’s what he decided to do was icing on the cake. For the first time since his separation from the Air Force he was satisfied with his place in life.
But the contract that Rodney still held was an issue that had to be addressed. It was a painful intrusion from his old life into the new. He’d probably freak his new accountant out (and how weird was that?) by requesting such a large check as his first acknowledgement of his inheritance but it had to be done. He’d pay Rodney back and they could start out married life as equals.
It made John want to shout, to laugh out loud and shake the hand of the first stranger that walked by. Shaking his hear to clear the giddy thoughts, John turned down the path that would lead him home.
~*~
Elizabeth sat, prim and contained, on the stone wall that flanked the path John took home on Sundays. She hadn’t been waiting long when she noticed John’s slender form turning the last corner before his route veered out of the park and back to the apartment he’d been sharing with Rodney for the past four months. She gathered her purse and the package of papers up and stood to wait for him to draw closer.
John was almost even with her when he noticed her standing by the path, her business suit and cashmere coat at odds with the others dressed in workout clothes.
“John.” She took in his startled, wary look; the sweat-stained shirt that ensured he wouldn’t want to stand around for long. “We need to talk.”
John stepped off the path, right up to Elizabeth and leaned in a little aggressively. “See, when people say that? It never means anything good.” He straightened and wrapped his arms around himself, clearly starting to feel the cold. “We? Don’t have anything to talk about. Ever.” He turned back towards the path, “our business was concluded, Elizabeth. Good bye.” He pivoted away from her only to be startled anew by her hand on his arm.
“It was so touching to see the lovely reunion you had with your brother, John.” She could feel him stiffen under her gloved hand. “Such a lovely family, isn’t it? Such sweet, sweet girls. You seemed quite taken with them.” She found it easier to push aside the vague guilt she’d felt earlier while formulating her plans. She had always liked John. She’d see that he continued to prosper under her leadership. That too was good business.
“I had a lovely conversation with David and Alexandria. Such a delightful couple. It would be such a tragedy if your budding relationship with them were to be shattered, don’t you think.”
John wrenched his arm away from her touch. “What are you talking about?” he spat. “You stay away from them!”
“Or what?” Elizabeth asked, her calm, reasonable manner adding fuel to John’s rage. “You really aren’t in a position to threaten me, John. You mustn’t take this personally. Its just business. Surely you understand that. I have a proposition for you; one you can ponder over the holiday.” She held out the thick envelope she carried. “I want you to sign a new contract with me.”
“No.” John backed up, “just, hell no.”
“I know you probably planned on going through with the wedding, even though you now have enough money to pay back the costs associated with your contract to Dr. McKay. You were always so loyal, John. So very honorable. But you see that’s one of the reasons why you are so controllable. And I do have the control here John, and I find I have other plans for you that have considerable monetary value to me.”
“What? You’re going to sign me up on the off chance that another rich guy’s gonna show up wanting an middle-aged hooker? That’s a laugh. You want my share of Sheppard Industries. Sorry, lady. Those are wrapped up tight with a dozen lawyers. You’ll never see a dime of that money, so leave me the hell alone.”
“It’s always a challenge, you know.” Elizabeth continued as though John hadn’t spoken. “Finding ways to make the money my little empire generates appear legitimate to the government. I’m always happy to find alternate sources of income to exploit. Tainted money goes in and clean, recycled money comes out. And with an international company such as Sheppard Industries? The money flows even farther…with so many areas to wash away the soil.” She forged ahead, steeling herself against John’s horrified expression, reaching out again to place her hand on his arm.
“You see, John, I don’t need your shares. Dear, sweet, naive John. That’s why I’ll have you! You can co-operate and the board knows nothing of your past…your lovely little family knows nothing of what you truly are…or you don’t and then you’re of no worth to me at all. If that is the case then I’ll have no reason to keep your secrets safe.” Elizabeth ran her fingers over John’s bicep, watching with unfeigned amusement as the goose bumps rose in their wake. “It will be the perfect arrangement, you see; security for you, and a new source of financial management for Weir Staffing. It’s good business, you see. It’s not personal.”
“Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to break it off with Dr. McKay. Today. He’ll be upset, of course, but he’ll survive. No doubt in time he’ll be back in my office, searching out the next perfect companion, having forgotten all about you. I will of course provide all the monies required to reimburse the good doctor. I can’t expect you to cover expenses for a Weir Staffing business decision. Once that’s done? You’ll be free to work for me again. To put the interests of Weir Staffing, and of course myself, forward as necessary. You’ll find that I can be a very generous employer John, much more so than was possible in our old relationship.” She stroked her hand over his arm in a suggestive way. “It needn’t be an adversarial relationship. In fact, we could find it to be mutually…satisfying.” She stroked her fingers down his arm, lingering over his wrist. John jerked back in revulsion.
“Keep the hell away from me and keep away from my family!” This time he started walking back towards the apartment complex, picking up speed as he moved away from her.
“I’ll give you until Wednesday, John,” she called. “Enjoy your Christmas. If I don’t hear from you I’ll have to assume you are being stubborn and be forced into making some rather uncomfortable visits.”
“Think about it carefully,” was the last John heard before breaking into a run.
~*~
Rodney was getting tired of coming into cold, dark rooms. “You know,” he called out, “one of the reasons I decided to get married is so I wouldn’t be coming home to a dark house.”
John shifted off the couch and stood in the gloom, waiting for Rodney to reach him. “Running again, I see…or should I say smell…” Rodney broke off when John stepped up to him and all-but collapsed into his arms. “Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?”
John straightened and stepped away from Rodney. “I want to pay you back for my contract, Rodney. I want out of it.”
Rodney’s heart stopped. “You said you weren’t backing out.” He forced himself to breathe in, breathe out until his heartbeat returned to normal. “That first night in the new house. You said you weren’t backing out. What changed your mind? Have I done something wrong?”
“What? No.” John took a step back. “I’m saying this wrong.” He gestured to the couch, clearly trying to reorganize his thoughts, “Please, sit down. Hear me out, okay?” John turned on the table lamp. He sat down and patted the seat next to him.
Rodney sat. Now that he could see John clearly he was startled at how pale and gaunt he looked. “John?”
John reached for Rodney’s hand, wrapping their fingers together.
“I have to tell you something, something bad. I need you to listen to all of it…even if it takes me some time to get it right. Promise?”
“I’m listening, John.” Reaching over with his free hand he patted the hand clasped in his and ran a finger over the furrow between John’s brows. “Relax. You’re giving yourself wrinkles.”
John smiled at the now familiar complaint and sucked in some needed air, “Elizabeth stopped me as I was coming back from my run today. She wants me to break up with you.” Rodney clamped his lips together to keep from interrupting. John squeezed his fingers in acknowledgement and appreciation. “I’m not going to…not unless you decide that’s in your best interests. But I am going to pay you for my contract. If we go forward from today we go forward on an even footing. No contracts…nothing owed.”
Rodney let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Okay, good. Sure. We can do that.” He pulled John’s hand into his lap and held it there. “We’re still getting married, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, we are. If you want. But you’d better hear what Elizabeth has planned before you decide.”
“Elizabeth had a contract with her she wanted me to sign…
~*~
Rodney sat in stunned silence when John had finished his report. That bitch, he thought. He’d invited that woman into his home, trusted her with his secrets. He was a fool, and John was the one paying for that foolishness.
“How do you want to handle this? I’m angry enough to burn that damn building of hers down but I’ll do whatever you think is best for you.”
John leaned his shoulder against Rodney’s. “Thanks. I appreciate that, I really do. Before we finalize any plans between the two of us I have to talk to Dave. He needs to know what she’s got up her sleeve. I’m going to go to the hotel and get it over with. Will you wait for me?”
Rodney leaned close and pressed a kiss to corner of John’s mouth. “Do you want me to come with you? No? Well, no worries. I’ll be here. I’ll always be here, till death do us part.” John smiled, the relief making his muscles unclench for the first time in hours. He rose to get the next part of the ordeal over with. “But John?” He turned back, eyebrow quirked. “Take a shower first?”
~*~
“Hello?”
“Dave?”
“John? What’s wrong? You sound wrecked.”
“We need to talk.”
“Okay. Wow. That sounded painful. Where are you?”
“You have no idea how painful.” Dave could hear John shifting, trying to settle himself. “I’m down stairs.”
“Well, come up. We can talk, no worries. Look, John, what ever it is, we’ll work it out.”
John’s strained laugh ratcheted up Dave’s worry. “No, I think we need to do this away from Alex and the girls. I’ll get a room and text you with the number, okay? Just.” More fidgeting, more breathing, “Just promise you’ll hear me out, okay?”
Dave stared at the phone in his hand long after the dial tone sounded showed that John had hung up.
Alex Sheppard touched her husband’s arm tentatively. “John?” At his nod she continued, “Do you think he’s finally ready to come clean?”
“I hope so, babe.” He put his hand over hers and squeezed gently. “I hope so. What ever it is, he’s pretty freaked out. It’s possible that things could get a little hairy if his past comes out. Nothing permanently damaging, I don’t think, but it could get ugly. You ready for that?”
Alex smiled and nodded. “He’s family, David. We stand together.”
~*~
John paced up and down the narrow strip between the bed and dresser in the small room he’d rented. Dave was on his way. He rubbed the aching spot on his chest. He may very well lose his budding relationship with his brother over this but Elizabeth wasn’t going to benefit by it, she wasn’t going to win.
The light tap on the door stopped John’s circuit of the room. “Just a minute.”
Pulling open the door, John shook Dave’s hand. “Thanks for coming down, I didn’t think the kids should hear this.”
“No problem. Look, just sit down and spill. You look like you’re going to faint.” Dave slid his hand under his brother’s elbow and steered him towards the chair. “Please, just tell me. Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”
“I wish.” John sat, perched uncomfortably on the edge, ready to jump up again at a moments notice. “I have something to tell you. Something that will probably change your mind about having me sit with you on the board.” John shoved his hands through his hair, leaving it more of a wreck than normal. “I’ll sell you Aeronautics and my part of SI for a dollar. I won’t cause you any trouble.”
“John. Slow down.” Dave squatted down in front of him. “What kind of ‘something’ are we talking here?
John rocked forward, pressing his hands into his belly. “The kind that could have seen me arrested when I left home…the kind that will probably mean you won’t want the girls to be around me in the future.” John’s misery rolled off him in waves.
“The kind where you were able to come up with enough money to pay for Stanford even after you’d been cut off by Dad?” John’s head shot up, the pain in his brother’s voice hit like a blow. “The kind where Dad and I spent years worrying about AIDS and STD’s?” He reached over, wrapping his hands around John’s wrists to keep him still. “Dad knew something was going on, he just couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that was. He hired a couple of private detectives over the years to find out but you were pretty slick about keeping everything quiet. As I got older he stopped hiding it from me so I could help with the searching.”
John slumped back into the cushioned chair. “Dad knew?” he whispered, shocked.
“Well, it was more like he suspected. There was never any real proof. We weren’t actually sure until you’d already gotten yourself out. You were entering the service, closing up your apartment, when one of the detectives Dad hired saw you out with some guy. He over heard you telling him that you wouldn’t be available for future calls. We put two and two together...” Dave sat down on the floor with a thud,
“Wait. Rodney? Tell me this isn’t for money. John! Tell me you didn’t go back.”
John twisted out of his brother’s grip and stood. “I didn’t want to. I thought I’d put it behind me. It just didn’t work that way.”
“I’m going to kill him!”
“What? No! Not Rodney. I mean, he knows…and yeah, that’s how I met him but…no. He loves me. And I…I…shit…I’m pretty sure I love him, too. Rodney’s a good guy, Dave. He really is, probably better than I deserve.”
“Who, then. Who pulled you back and how do we get you out?” Dave’s easy inclusion of himself into John’s troubles gave him new hope that he wouldn’t lose his family after all.
“Her name is Elizabeth Weir. You met her. At the party.” John shuddered. “I hate that she’s doing this. That she won’t let go.”
“Look, you need to know, she said she wanted me to re-sign with her so she could use SI to launder her dirty money; hide it from the IRS. She’d end up destroying you and everything Dad worked for and just shrug it off as a ‘business necessity’. Hell, no. I’d rather walk away from you and SI and even Rodney before I’d let her profit a penny from any of you.”
Drained and exhausted, John fell back into the chair. “I’m sorry, Davey. I’m so, so sorry.” He dropped his head into his hands, finished.
“John.” Dave put his hands on John’s shoulders. “JonJon, look at me.”
John raised his head at the use of his childhood nickname, anguish written across his features.
“She can’t hurt us, John. She can threaten, she can talk,” he squeezed John’s shoulders, silencing his argument. “She can certainly embarrass us some, but she cannot truly hurt us. Remember when I told you we have controlling interest? The board cannot take any action against either one of us, even if they chose to, which I doubt they would.”
John shook his head, not believing it was that simple. Businesses could be destroyed with gossip, he knew that much.
“John. Stop.” Dave gave him a gentle shake before pulling him into a hug, pressing a kiss against his temple, reminding John again of the childhood they’d spent together; of times when they were the only comfort they each had. “Two reasons not to over think this. One, Sheppard Industries offers products and services around the world that simply aren’t available from anyone else. We won’t lose customers long term because they need us. There just isn’t anyone else out there that does what we do. Two, and most importantly, she won’t allow herself to go that far, because it will draw the wrong kind of attention to her. She has to know that I’d sic every asset I have at destroying her if she tried. She’s trying to intimidate us, and she probably is pretty successful at that most of the time. Hell, normal, sane people are probably willing to pay anything to shut her up. She’s just not used to dealing with someone like me.”
“She’s manipulative and cruel, John, but she is not stupid. A little sabre rattling and this will be over. I promise you. This is my area of expertise, you know. I’m actually pretty good at it.” He drew back, looking into John’s eyes. “Trust me?”
~*~
Rodney struggled to get the paper and tape to adequately cover John’s gifts. He’d seen the pretty packages under the tree that John had wrapped. How did he manage not to tear the paper? Clearly it was the stuff of lesser minds…Rodney’s superior intellect was too vast for such mundane pursuits. Still, he needed to at least disguise the packages he’d managed to pick out for John before he returned from dropping Dave and his family off at the airport.
Rodney had been reluctant for Dave to return to Virginia. It felt safer for John, somehow, when Dave was close by. Rodney couldn’t be with him twenty-four-seven and having the elder Sheppard near had been a comfort.
John had argued…and won, like always, the bastard…that Elizabeth wouldn’t make a move on him with them both hovering. They needed to stick to the plans that had been made before she’d made her “offer”. So the Sheppard’s were off to spend their Christmas at home and would meet the two of them in Toronto on the thirty-first.
Rodney pressed on the last of the bows and surveyed his handiwork. With a sigh he had to admit that the best that could be said about the lumpy bundles was that at least the labels weren’t visible through the wrapping. He carried them over and stowed them under the tree along side those from John, Jeannie and Dave.
Even with the added stress of Elizabeth’s power play, Rodney was excited to spend Christmas with John. He couldn’t remember a holiday that he looked forward to more. The thought of years of this sort of pleasurable anticipation filled his chest with an unusual sensation.
He thought about it for a long moment and decided that this was what contentment must feel like.
~*~
The smell of freshly brewed coffee woke Rodney before the sun was fully up. He opened one eye, just enough to glare at John. “It’s not even six, Sheppard. I don’t suppose I could convince you to go back to sleep, could I?”
“Nope.” John stood, setting the mug of coffee on the bedside table. He tugged the comforter out of Rodney’s hands and pulled it off the bed. “Up and at ’em, tiger. It’s Christmas. Jeannie’s on the phone. She wants to open presents with you.” He paused, squinting at Rodney in the dim morning light.
“You did send her presents, right?”
“No. I made her take them back with her on the plane.” At John’s outraged squawk he continued, “What? She had room in her bag. If I’d mailed them they’d be late.”
John shook his head. He decided that getting Rodney to the phone was more important than pointing out that he’d had a whole year to shop, wrap and mail gifts so claiming time as the deciding factor didn’t help his cause. “Come on. She’s on speaker, so watch what you say from here on.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
~*~
John sat in the midst of the accumulated detritus from breakfast, snacks, torn wrapping paper and the weird stick-on bows Rodney had put on every reasonably flat surface of his gifts. Rodney sat, slumped against him, playing with his charging station.
“This is so cool,” he sighed. “I was thinking I’d have to be manfully stoic about cell service every time you wanted to be a cave man but now I can still reach civilization no matter where we are!” He leaned closer and kissed John. “Pretty and clever. Clearly I chose superior husband material.”
“Mmm,” was the best John could manage. He was trying to fit his cell phone into the armband Rodney had given him (“No excuses now. You’d better answer the damn thing.”) and it wasn’t as simple as the instructions implied. “Ah ha! Success.” he crowed, strapping the assembled band around his arm. “Not bad…doesn’t seem to impede movement at all. Cool.”
Rodney was rightfully pleased with John’s reactions to his gifts. An electronic Sudoko game (“10,000 different games, Sheppard. No repeats.”), a runner’s watch (“It’s got GPS. Even you can’t get lost, now!”), and the piece de resistance? A tiny, perfectly detailed remote controlled Huey that John had clapped and squealed over like a preteen girl.
It was the best Christmas either of them could remember in the history of Christmas.
John turned to face Rodney. “Thanks. Just…” he blushed and shifted, “thanks for everything.” Rodney beamed and leaned in for another kiss, pulling John’s hands into his.
“Okay, seriously. What is it with you and hand holding?”
“Let’s go back to bed and I’ll explain it to you.”
John was good with that.
~*~
Dave Sheppard had earned a reputation as someone who never fell for bullshit. He’d come by it justifiably. The woman standing in front of his desk fairly reeked of it.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me this morning, Mr. Sheppard. I’m afraid I’ve come on an unpleasant duty. I have news that you may find…disheartening.”
“What did you say your name was, again?”
“I didn’t.” David watched as Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. It seemed she’d discovered that Dave wasn’t going to be nearly as easy to manipulate as his younger brother. He gave her points for hiding her efforts to control the conversation but it wasn’t going to help her in the end. She showed him a demure smile, one that fairly screamed, ‘you can trust me’.
“I’m afraid it involves your brother, John.”
“Does it. Perhaps you should tell me what this ‘news’ is, then, Ms. Weir.” Dave had to fight back his smirk of amusement at her shocked expression. “Oh, yes. I know exactly who…and what…you are. Since we’re speaking of disheartening topics, Ms. Weir, perhaps I should tell you that as we speak I have more than a dozen lawyers working to learn as much about you as is possible to know. I have another four members of my advertising department working on a suitable publicity campaign about you and your business dealings should it become in my best interests to launch it.”
Elizabeth paled. Dave waited out her silence, watching as she pressed her hands together to keep them from shaking. “John owes me a great deal of money, Mr. Sheppard. It pains me to take these drastic steps to collect, but business is business as I’m sure you can appreciate.” Elizabeth Weir’s cool façade began showing cracks as she realized she was up against someone who didn’t seem to fear her or what she could do.
“I am in a position to cause you and your lovely family a great deal of embarrassment, Mr. Sheppard. Surely it only makes good business sense to co-operate with me.”
“Really? That’s an interesting viewpoint, but not how I see our situation at all. No doubt you thought you could bully your way in here and I’d fall all over myself to keep you from damaging my precious corporate image. Surprise, Ms. Weir, because nothing could be farther from the truth.”
“I don’t have a lot of time to waste with you so let me be blunt. I don’t give a good Goddamn about what you think you might be owed or what you think you can do. I wouldn’t co-operate with you if you held the last dollar on the Earth. You may get away with this crap with people who are trying to hide their little trysts from their wives or mothers, but you’ve got nothing to hold over my head.
“Our family has talked about this extensively, Ms. Weir, and this is what it comes down to. You’ve taken as much from my brother as you’re going to. Dr. McKay has forwarded a copy of his contracts both with you and with my brother for my lawyers to examine. He additionally supplied the addendum signed by you stating that John’s contract with your company was paid in full. He also helpfully provided the addendum to his own contract with John, showing that John had successfully repaid his outstanding balance. You will be hard pressed to convince a judge that you are owed a cent, Ms. Weir, even assuming you’d choose to take things that far. I’ve been assured by my staff that you won’t fair well in open court. Extortion, racketeering, prostitution? No. You won’t fair well at all, and you’re too savvy to risk it.”
“Now, it so happens that I’m prepared to endure a great deal of embarrassment on John’s behalf. Dr. McKay and I are united on that front. You don’t want to test us in this regard. Because you may be able to cause us some measure of embarrassment, Ms. Weir, but together we can bury you, and I’m sure you know that to be true.”
Dave stood, indicating that her appointment was over. “Walk away from us, Ms. Weir. Walk away and we do nothing to you. Stick around and try to stir up more trouble? I’ll set my lawyers loose.” He leaned down, nose to nose with the woman, “it’s just good business, you see. It’s not personal.” As Dave watched the pale, shaken and angry woman walk out of his office he prayed that he wouldn’t have to actually do any of the things he said he’d done. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t be necessary, but if push came to shove he’d do everything in his power to shut her down for good.
~*~
Rodney watched as John’s long fingers untangled and smoothed his mangled bow tie into two perfect wings. Frustrated from his own efforts he glared at their joint reflection in the mirror. “Where did you learn to do that?” It was another fragment of John’s life experience that didn’t fit into the box that Rodney expected.
“In the Air Force.” John finished fussing with Rodney’s tie and left his hands resting on his chest while he leaned back for a better look at the overall result. Satisfied, he patted Rodney once and stepped back. “Along with SERE training and films from the 60’s stressing the importance of condoms, dry feet and good oral hygiene.”
“Well, at least the lessons in oral hygiene lesson will still benefit you.”
“Would you go back into the Air Force, if you could?” Rodney twitched, waiting for the reply. That would be something he couldn’t give John, no matter how much money he threw at it.
John heaved a sigh. “I don’t know. I miss flying.” He raised a placating hand at Rodney’s immediate outcry, “I know, I know. I can fly your plane any time I want. It’s not the same, though. I miss copters. I miss jets. I miss the camaraderie of being in a unit.” He started to run a hand through his hair, stopping just in time to avoid mussing it. It had been Jeannie’s shining victory to tame his cowlicks. He wasn’t willing to risk her wrath by ruining her efforts. “I guess, all things being equal, I miss parts of being in the Air Force but not necessarily the whole.” He scrunched his nose and squinted…John-speak for confusion. “I think getting involved in Sheppard Aeronautics will fill in a lot of what I’ve been missing. They’re doing some cutting-edge stuff with copters that make my mouth water. Now that I’m The Man? I can bully my way behind the stick any time I want, which is made of win! Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, yeah it does. I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy, Rodney.” John frowned. “I keep telling you that. You need to listen.”
“Yeah. We can work on that.” Rodney reached out and rubbed the frown lines on John’s forehead. “You’re giving yourself wrinkles.” He took John’s hand in his, bringing a smile to them both.
“We have guests waiting. Let’s get this started.”
~*~
Rodney reached out to again take John’s hand. It was such a familiar gesture now that it calmed John’s nerves. He smiled, granting that same gift back as the Justice of the Peace addressed Rodney.
“Do you, Meredith Rodney McKay, take John Patrick Sheppard as your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward? And do you promise to be faithful to him, to honor him in all things and to make his happiness your goal for the rest of your life?”
Rodney’s hands shook as he clutched John’s fingers tightly but his voice was clear and strong as he said, “I do.”
“Then place your ring on John’s finger and repeat after me; with this ring, I thee wed.”
Rodney looked into John’s ever-changing hazel eyes and spoke from his heart, “With this ring, I thee wed.”
The Justice turned to John with a gentle smile. “Now, it’s your turn.” The gathered family and friends shared a quiet laugh.
“Do you, John Patrick Sheppard, take Meredith Rodney McKay as your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward? And do you promise to be faithful to him, to honor him in all things and to make his happiness your goal for the rest of your life?”
“I do.”
“Then place your ring on Rodney’s finger and repeat after me; with this ring, I thee wed.”
John turned to claim the band of titanium his brother held for him before turning back to Rodney. He held Rodney’s left hand in his right and slid the ring onto his finger.
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
Rodney leaned near and whispered, “Breathe, John.” The words were carried by the microphones and eased the audience into laughter once again.
The Justice cleared his throat, drawing their attention back to him. He raised his voice, addressing all in attendance.
“Now, by the power vested in me by the great Province of Ontario, I declare that as John and Rodney have given and been given vows of love and fidelity, I declare them to be married. You may share a kiss.”
John cupped Rodney’s cheeks with his hands, tenderly tracing his lips with his thumbs. “I love you, you know,” he whispered.
Rodney blinked out the moisture from his eyes. Clearly the perfume from the flowers was making his allergies act up, that’s all it could be. “I love you, too. So much.”
As the two shared their first kiss as a married couple, the audience of family and friends clapped in happiness. Rodney reached down to take John’s hand in his, running his thumb over the titanium bands there. “Let’s go home.”
John smiled. He still found it hard to believe that his life had come to this moment. To have his brother returned to him, to find someone to love and grow old with. He pulled their joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to Rodney’s knuckles.
“Yeah. Home. That sounds good.”