A.N.D.
by darkhavens
Pairing/Characters: McKay/Sheppard, reference to long past McKay/OFC
Rating: PG
Words: 654
Summary: John discovers Rodney's charitable side and learns a little bit about his past
Notes: The Canadian charity A.N.D. exists and can be found here - http://www.and.ca/
As Rodney sat at the desk, John leaned casually over his shoulder to see what was stealing his attention. His interest was piqued when he saw dollar signs.
"Who are the A.N.D. and why are you giving them money? How much are you… Jesus, Rodney! A thousand dollars a month? I know it's Canadian but still, what are they doing, raising your secret love child? It's…"
Rolling his eyes, Rodney turned so they were nose to nose.
"American dollars, actually, and no, I would have told you. Do you honestly think I could keep a secret like that for this long? You know the name of every single cat I've ever owned, and the colour of my first ever car, God rust it's soul. If my genetic material had been let loose back on Earth I would never have hitched a ride to this floating death trap and you know it."
John leaned in and kissed the crooked corner of Rodney's mouth, licking away a tiny smear of chocolate.
"Hey, you've been keeping government secrets now for years. I know that most of the covert stuff you worked on is still classified. I bet if you'd been cloned you wouldn't tell me."
Rodney pushed away from the desk and turned in his chair to gaze at John in horrified disbelief.
"Cloned? Me? What are you, crazy? I would never let a copy of this brain fall into strangers' hands. Not, of course, that cloning in that sense is even possible, and… Yes, yes, I can see you're laughing at me. Next you'll be asking me to explain warp drive technology again. As if I don’t have anything more important to do with my time."
He had swivelled halfway around to face his desk when John's hand on his shoulder pulled him back again.
"A.N.D., Rodney? What's the skinny?"
"I'll tell you if you promise to never use that phrase again."
The smirk on John's face let him know that he'd been had.
"Yes, very clever. What are you, twelve? The A.N.D. is the Association for the Neurologically Disabled. It's a Canadian charity that helped take care of someone I used to date once." He shrugged, ignoring the gentle squeeze of John's hand. "I was very impressed with what they did and I started to donate. As my income increased so did my contributions."
Ignoring Rodney's frantically batting hands, John slid his ass onto the desk, nudging aside the paperwork and laptops scattered there.
"So, what happened to your… boyfriend?"
"A girlfriend actually - my first. I was supposed to be in the car with her that night. But even at nineteen I was too focussed on my work, and the first I knew about the accident was when I got back to the dorm and found the note her roommate had pushed under my door. 'Anna's been run off the road, she's unconscious and in County. Maybe you could go see her when you get the time.' God."
John hooked his bare, narrow feet under the edge of the chair and slowly reeled Rodney in. He didn't stop until the edge of the desk was pressed against Rodney's belly, and then he draped his arms over Rodney's broad shoulders and lowered his head until their foreheads bumped gently together. Rodney rested his hands on John's thighs and closed his eyes.
"Her name was Anna Paskoff. She went from being the smartest girl in class to being this drooling thing that couldn't even dress without help. She lay in that car, unconscious - or, God, I hope she was - for over six hours before a passing driver found her. I always wondered, maybe, if I'd been there…"
John cut off the maudlin maybes with a kiss before he was forced to contemplate what his life might be like without one Rodney McKay in it. He had enough nightmares of his own already, thank you.
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