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kathierif_ficcontinued from here
~*+*~
“It actually works!” John lifted his hand and stared at it in surprise. The force field sparkled slightly but he didn’t feel the tightness in his skin that he’d grown to associate with contact with sunlight.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Rodney scoffed. “I told you!”
“Yes, you did. Repeatedly,” John sighed good-naturedly.
Rodney grinned triumphantly before tilting his head to the side. “Vampires aren’t exactly supposed to sparkle like that,” he mused, “but it beats the alternative.”
“The Zubbi do not require this kind of protection,” Teyla pointed out.
“Yes, they do.” Rodney snapped his fingers. “The shield!” he said, his thoughts racing. “That’s what their shield is for! To protect them from the sun, not from the Wraith!”
“They rarely leave their home planet,” Ronon added. “Maybe you are right.”
It was, John thought with a small grin that revealed the sharp and pointy teeth, almost worth his situation, just to see Rodney snap for air like a fish on dry land.
~*+*~
“Colonel Sheppard. How nice to see you today.” Dr. Keller gave him a friendly smile.
John hopped up on the bed, like he’d done it in the past few weeks whenever he had needed fresh blood, and gave her a flirty smile.
“Do you need to draw more blood today?” he asked. “I’m sure you took enough to get by for a long time.”
Keller’s smile became vacant. “Yes,” she said dreamily. “I’m sure I took enough blood to get by for a long time.”
John frowned. “Dr. Keller?” he asked and waved his hand in front of her eyes. “Hello?”
She didn’t move.
“Huh,” John said. “I never saw that coming.” He wasn’t sure what exactly he’d done and how he had done it, but it was obvious that the effects were quite impressive.
Now he just needed to figure out how to snap her out of her trance.
Carefully, he poked her shoulder, but it didn’t have any effect on her. She just took a step back when he poked her harder, but remained frozen, her vacant eyes focused on him.
There was only one thing he could think of doing.
He contacted Rodney.
~*+*~
“This is typical,” Rodney growled bitterly, his mouth slanted downwards, until it was nothing more than a thin, disapproving line in his face. “You’re not only a vampire, no, you’re a sex vampire.”
John bared his fangs in a dark scowl. “McKay!”
Not even the expression on Rodney’s face when he saw the sharp, pointy teeth that John had tried to keep hidden and that he had cut his tongue on more often than he cared to think about since they had grown made him feel better about the entire situation.
“What?” Rodney snapped back.
“You are not helping,” John growled. “What am I supposed to do?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Rodney demanded to know. “I didn’t hypnotize her!”
“So? You always have an answer!”
Rodney looked pained. “Just tell her to wake up, maybe?” he suggested. “Did you try that?”
“No.” John scratched at the back of his skull. “Um…wake up?”
Keller blinked and shook her head. “Colonel? Rodney? What happened?”
“Colonel Kirk Dracula here hypnotized you,” Rodney explained darkly. “How are you feeling?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” John protested.
“Huh,” Keller said and lifted a hand to her forehead. Rodney was at her side immediately and wrapped his arm protectively around her. “Are you okay? Here, let’s get you checked out,” he murmured worriedly and guided her away, not turning around toward John anymore.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!” he called out after them, but neither Rodney nor Keller appeared to hear him.
John sighed. He needed to figure out how exactly he had managed to hypnotize Keller, and how he could control that ability.
~*+*~
“Oh. Hey.” Rodney frowned at John. “What are you doing?”
“Practicing,” John replied and squinted at Rodney. Smiling at his best friend that way was a weird experience, and he almost expected Rodney to make a scathing remark, but this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“Hey, Rodney,” he drawled. “Why don’t you get me some of that cake?”
Now he really expected Rodney to give him a piece of his mind, but he gave him his most winning smile anyways. Rodney’s face went blank, and he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hallway, in the direction of the transporter that would take him to the cafeteria.
“Huh,” John said. He hadn’t expected this to work.
“That was…impressive,” Teyla commented. She stepped up to him and sank onto the bench he was sitting on, her bare arm brushing against his sleeve.
“Thanks,” John replied. “I’m still practicing this whole thing.” He grimaced. “It’s making me a little uncomfortable when people around me turn into zombies…I don’t want it to happen in a conflict situation.”
“And yet, you had no problem with sending Rodney to get you a piece of cake you cannot digest?” Teyla asked with a raised eyebrow. Before John could reply and defend himself – he wasn’t harming Rodney, Keller had confirmed that the only after-effect of the hypnotizing was a splitting headache – Teyla continued. “When did you drink last?”
Jon shrugged, thankful for the change of topics. “A couple of days ago,” he admitted. “Before I accidentally zombified Dr. Keller.”
Teyla tilted her head to the side. “That was last week,” she pointed out. “John, you need to eat!”
“Yeah, I know.” John sighed and scooted over on the small bench, to make room for Ronon, who just sat down silently.
Teyla thought for a moment. “It is an honor to aid the Zubbi,” she said slowly. “And it is said to be a very sensual experience that usually leaves both partners extremely…satisfied.”
“Yeah,” Ronon agreed. “That.” He gave Teyla a vaguely amused glance over John’s head, a glance John didn’t even want to think about too closely.
John gave her a confused look. “What are you suggesting?” he asked, suddenly suspicious.
“I am merely saying that you require nourishment,” Teyla replied calmly. “And if you accept, I will offer you my blood.”
“Yeah,” Ronon added. “Me too.”
John opened his mouth to reply. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think about this offer, or about the whole situation in general. He was confused and tired and hungry, and the entire situation left him with a certain level of irritability that he’d been fighting the whole past week and that rivaled Rodney’s grumpiness in the morning, before he’d had his coffee.
Before he could reach a decision, Rodney returned, a plate with a piece of cake in his hands and an eager expression on his face.
“Thanks, buddy,” John said and took the plate before offering it to Ronon.
Teyla sighed. “John,” she said, the hint of a warning in her voice, and John sighed. “Wake up, Rodney,” he said quickly.
Rodney blinked and swayed slightly on his feet before catching himself. He needed a few seconds to orient himself. “Oh. Hey,” he then said.
“Rodney,” Teyla replied and bowed her head in greeting. “If you excuse us, Colonel Sheppard and I have an important task to take care of.” She gave John a look that gave no room for protest and rose. John hastily scrambled to his feet and followed her. A part of him was relieved that she’d taken control of the situation, that she cared for him enough to refuse to let him starve to death, but the rest of him was filled with trepidation. He didn’t want to risk her life and health in any way, and since Keller still had no clue why he was a vampire in the first place, there was the risk of infecting others.
Apparently Teyla had no such doubts.
Ronon grinned at Rodney. “Thanks for the cake,” he said.
A frown crossed Rodney’s face. “What cake?” he asked confusedly before sighing. “Oh, ha ha. Colonel Dracula played his mind games on me, didn’t he? What other embarrassing things did he make me do? Pretend to be a chicken in the middle of the lab?”
“No,” Ronon said and grinned up at him. “But you’re going to give him ideas.”
“Oh great.” Rodney turned on his heel. “We need to find a way to protect ourselves from that.”
“Hmm.” Ronon took the last bite of cake and closed his eyes in bliss as the chocolate melted on his tongue.
Rodney just rolled his eyes in disgust and stormed off.
~*+*~
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Because I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t.” John shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
“Relax,” Teyla replied serenely. “It is instinctive, from what I gathered. You will figure this out, John.”
John sighed. “All right,” he said. “If you’re sure.”
He still wanted to call the entire thing off, but Teyla gave him a long look, and he took a deep breath.
“I am,” she confirmed.
John ran the tip of his tongue against the sharp points of his teeth. They were almost sharp enough that biting his tongue meant a serious injury. Thankfully, he was healing quickly after each of these little accidents that had left him with his mouth filled with his own blood.
Teyla looked at him, patient and trusting, and John reached out with trembling fingers to brush her hair out of the way, to expose the soft skin of her throat.
He swallowed, his gaze drawn to her neck. “If I hurt you…” he said hoarsely and licked suddenly dry lips.
“I will let you know,” Teyla promised quietly.
John nodded jerkily. Time seemed to slow down as he slowly bent down and rubbed his nose against the side of her neck.
“What is Kanan going to say?” he wondered aloud.
“I believe you should not worry about that,” Teyla pointed out gently.
“You did this before?” he asked and ran his fingertips down her arms, feeling the warmth and softness under his touch.
“Yes,” she replied simply.
“Let me know if I do this wrong,” John murmured, his lips already pressed against her throat.
Teyla exhaled softly. “I will,” she murmured.
She smelled good, John thought suddenly, like exotic herbs and spices, and the heady fragrance of her blood made his vampire teeth throb with sudden need. He carefully set them against her skin and let them sink through it.
Teyla gave a soft sigh, just as the taste of her blood exploded on John’s tongue, and he groaned deeply while blood filled his mouth and ran down his throat.
This, he thought dizzily, was so much better than the heated blood Keller had given him. Teyla’s blood was almost hot against his tongue and its flavor was rich and full, not as bland as the stuff he’d been drinking so far.
It was perfect.
His entire body tingled with intense sensations, like arousal, and yet, so much more. Teyla gave a little moan and clutched at him, her fingers strong on his shoulders, and instinctively, John knew it meant he had to stop.
Reluctantly he pulled back, and almost immediately, the flow of blood from her throat slowed. It didn’t stop, and John had a brief moment of cold panic while he tried to figure out how to staunch the flow, but then he remembered Keller speculating about his saliva and its various functions, and he decided to just try it. If vampire saliva didn’t heal the wounds in Teyla’s neck, he could still radio Dr. Keller.
Almost hesitantly, he leaned in again and touched his tongue to Teyla’s throat; over the two little puncture wounds.
Teyla sighed softly, and John remained frozen in place for a split second, enjoying the smell of her and willing his body to return to its usual state of easy relaxation, even with Teyla’s blood throbbing in him. He felt alive and aroused and satiated at the same time, and it left him slightly unsettled. As perfect as drinking from Teyla had been, something was missing, even if he didn’t know what it was.
He had a vague idea what it might be, but he shied away from that thought almost immediately and took a hasty step backwards while lifting a hand to his mouth and wiping blood and saliva away.
Teyla slowly opened her eyes. The color had risen high in her cheeks, giving her a flushed look, and her pupils were blown wide. A bruise was starting to form on her throat already, and John felt a little stab of guilt at the sight. However, she wasn’t bleeding anymore and she looked as aroused as he felt. It filled him with unease again – he and Teyla didn’t work that way, he knew, they didn’t feel that way for each other.
John swallowed thickly.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Teyla spoke.
“This was a most satisfying experience. You did a good job for a first time, John,” she said. She sounded breathless, her voice slightly scratchy.
John coughed. “Thank you,” he managed to say before turning on his heels and fleeing the room.
He needed some privacy now and he was almost sure that Teyla did, too.
~*+*~
“Nothing.”
It sounded like a death note, John thought while his body remained perfectly still. Nobody in the conference room had a clue about how much a part of him simply wanted to stomp his foot and scream about how he’d never asked for this, how he’d never agreed to get turned into a vampire. On the outside, he was perfectly calm and relaxed, sprawled in his chair.
“Are you sure?” Woolsey asked, and Keller nodded and bit her lip.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “There is no way to reverse the changing Colonel Sheppard underwent. None that I can see, at least.”
“Maybe the Zubbi know something we don’t,” Rodney said finally. He sounded as if he’d just bitten into a lemon when suggesting something he had been opposed to for so long. “We could ask them.”
Woolsey nodded slowly. “Major Lorne get your team ready,” he ordered. “Dr. Keller, you’re going with them. Try to find a cure and…” he gave Lorne a hard look. “…don’t get bitten.” As little as he liked the idea of risking another team, he was not willing to let one of his people remain a vampire, not if there was anything he could do. He trusted Dr. Keller fully, but now that she had admitted defeat, this was the only way he could see that had the possibility of changing Colonel Sheppard back.
“Yes, sir.” Lorne nodded and stood. He gave John one last look and then hurried off, Keller following him quickly.
“Let’s hope they have a cure,” Woolsey muttered and stood, a clear sign that this meeting was over.
“Teyla?” John asked as he came to his feet. He pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his pants and studied the tips of his boots while waiting for everyone else to leave.
Teyla gave him a smile. “Yes, John?”
“Um…” He fidgeted a little before finally looking up at her. “Are we cool?”
There was so much more he wanted to ask her, but all these questions were unimportant next to this one. He wasn’t entirely sure she understood what he wanted to say, and he wasn’t certain that this was the correct place or time for his question, but he needed to make sure she hadn’t suffered any consequences of him drinking her blood, and that she was still okay with it.
Teyla gave a nod. “Yes, we are,” she said simply, another smile crossing her face, together with a faint blush. “I have to admit, this experience was…rougher…than what I remembered, but it filled its purpose.”
John sagged a little in relief. “Okay, cool,” he said. His fingers closed around the shield generator he’d slipped into his pocket, and he pulled it out and placed it on his chest to activate it. The memory of drinking from Teyla was still vivid in his mind, and even if he wasn’t hungry right now, the thought of drinking from her sent a shiver of excitement down his back.
“Let me know when Lorne and his team are back,” he requested before stepping out of the conference room and slowly made his way to his office.
He might be a vampire, but he still was the military commander of Atlantis and he had a desk full of paperwork to deal with.
~*+*~
It was hours until Lorne’s team returned, and John didn’t have to wait for the mission debriefing to know they hadn’t brought back a cure. It was obvious in the way Keller didn’t look him in the eye as she walked past him, her shoulders slumped and a frown etched onto her face.
“The Zubbi are as confused as we are,” Lorne reported. “According to Rian, it’s been several thousand years since this happened.”
“There has to be a reason for this,” Keller murmured. “I mean…maybe Riena was infected with something when she drank from you, Colonel. I managed to take a blood sample from her, just to make sure…”
John raised his eyebrows. “In that case, everyone I drank from would be affected as well,” he said slowly. “And Teyla appears to be fine, after all.”
“Teyla?” Keller frowned. “She wasn’t bitten.”
John breathed in deeply. He’d forgotten that they hadn’t exactly told anyone what they had been doing. “She was,” he confessed. “By me. Two days ago. And she’s fine.”
“Or the symptoms develop slower,” Keller argued. “You didn’t change immediately, either. Let me make sure she won’t turn into a vampire, as well.”
She left, and Lorne turned his attention to John. His eyes twinkled, even as his face remained neutral. “Sir, the Zubbi express their sincerest apologies about what happened. They offered to trade with us, as a sign of their good-will…and they said their planet is a safe place for all of their kind, and that included you.”
John sighed. “Great,” he muttered. He was sure Lorne was laughing about him on the inside, but there was no way to prove it. To an outsider, his XO appeared as respectful as always.
“What do they want to trade? Coffins?” Rodney asked dismissively.
“No.” Lorne looked at him. “Shielding technology.” He shrugged. “With Colonel Sheppard being one of them, we apparently have proved to be trustworthy enough for that.”
~*+*~
“Hey.” Rodney caught up with John.
“Rodney,” John said with a raised eyebrow. “What’s up? Did you figure out the Zubbi shielding technology?”
“I’m working on it,” Rodney replied. “It’s basically Ancient with a few modifications. The energy source…it’s quite fascinating, actually.”
John shook his head in amusement. “Was there something you needed?” he asked. “Something…turned on?”
“No,” Rodney replied quickly. “Um.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Look,” he said, “Teyla said that she let you. You know. Drink her blood and Jennifer said it didn’t harm her and living, fresh blood is much healthier for you than bagged blood anyways and Ronon offered to help too, with the blood, and frankly, more than half of the base secretly dreams about you ravishing them and drinking their blood, which is a little disturbing, if you ask me…”
“Rodney,” John interrupted patiently and with the experience of years. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Rodney swallowed visibly. “If you think I’m one of them, you’re wrong,” he quickly said before closing his eyes momentarily. “However, you’re. I mean. If you. You know. Need help…”
“You’re willing to let me drink from you?” John asked, surprise and the warmth of friendship at Rodney’s offer, as much as he’d stumbled through it, rushing through him and filling his chest.
“Well, no,” Rodney hastily replied. “However, I’m willing to let Jennifer draw my blood and let you have it.” He lifted his chin challengingly. “I’m sure my blood is a lot more nutritious and tasteful than everything those Marines who like Ronon to use them as a punching bag have to offer!”
John had to bite back a smile. “I’m not so sure about that,” he quipped. “I’m sure they would let me drink from them without making such a fuss.”
Rodney snorted. “Which proves, again, my superior intelligence,” he pointed out. “We still don’t know how you got turned and why. I would prefer if this doesn’t happen to me. I’d rather not accept my Nobel with pointy teeth and dressed in a cape.” He shuddered at that thought. “Besides, it’s unhygienic, and you’re a sex vampire, and I’m sorry, I don’t…” he gesticulated before shaking his head.
John laughed. “You’re one of a kind, Rodney,” he said fondly.
“Well, yes, of course I am,” Rodney mumbled. He shrugged embarrassedly. “You want to do it now?”
“Sure, why not,” John agreed. There wasn’t anything he was doing right now anyways, and if he was honest, he was a little hungry. The Zubbi had assured Lorne that his need for blood would gradually sink as he became older, but as a newly transformed vampire, he required to drink regularly, at least once a week, and the more blood he drank in this phase of his development, the better it would be for him. They hadn’t said how long that phase was supposed to last.
“Okay. Great.” Rodney rubbed his hands nervously. “Let’s go. Do you have a goblet or something?”
John gave him a blank stare. “Coffee mug from your lab,” he replied, and Rodney grimaced.
“Barbarian,” he murmured. “Hey, you didn’t take my mug, did you?”
~*+*~
“Colonel,” Dr. Keller said with a smile and handed him a mug. “Your lunch. From Rodney.”
“Thanks,” he replied and took the mug between his hands. The blood in it wasn’t warm enough to burn his hands, but it definitely had a different temperature than the re-heated blood he’d drunk for most of his life as a vampire now.
It also had a distinctive aroma, he thought while lifting it to his lips; very different from Teyla’s blood. For a split second, he wondered if every member of the expedition tasted differently, and then, the first drop of Rodney’s blood touched his tongue, and every thought he’d had came to an abrupt, quick stop.
His awareness of everything around him disappeared almost instantly as the blood ran down his throat and filled him with heat.
He didn’t know how long he remained in that state of absolute euphoria, but when he slowly blinked his eyes open, he was on his back on one of the beds of the infirmary. He didn’t remember finishing the blood, and he didn’t remember how he’d ended up here. He also didn’t remember someone taking off his boots.
“Huh,” he said to nobody in particular. “Weird.”
“John?” Teyla asked and stepped into his line of vision. “Are you…back?”
John swallowed. “Yeah,” he said slowly. At least, he was pretty sure that he was back. “What just happened?”
“You were hallucinating or something,” Ronon said. “Keller said to just let you sleep your high off. She didn’t expect any repercussions. Said you can probably go when you’re up, but she wants to check up on you before you do.”
“Huh,” John said again. “Where’s Rodney?”
“He went to the lab, I believe,” Teyla offered. “He feels responsible for your current state.”
“Yeah,” Ronon agreed. “Said it’s not his fault you can’t handle his precious blood and stormed off.”
John sighed and sat up. “Yeah, sounds like McKay,” he grunted and reached for his boots.
Neither Ronon nor Teyla tried to stop him as he left the infirmary and went to track down Rodney, not waiting for Keller to clear him.
~*+*~
“Hey.” Ronon gave him a grin and looked curiously around John’s room. With Teyla’s help, he’d covered the windows with Athosian tapestries, even if he could just as well have ordered Atlantis to lower the blinds. “Thought I might find you here.”
“Yeah,” John replied. “Rodney took the shield – he said he needed to make some upgrades, and until he’s done with that, I’m stuck here.” He didn’t feel like lurking in the few shadows Atlantis had to offer. It felt too much like a cliché.
“Yeah,” Ronon said and stepped further into the room. “I know.” He waited a moment, to allow his eyes to get used to the low light. “So, you and McKay, you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” John said and ran both hands through his hair. “We’re good. I think.”
“Good,” Ronon simply said.
“So?” John finally wanted to know and sat down on the edge of his bed. “Why are you here?”
Ronon shrugged. “To let you drink.”
John stiffened. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he said carefully.
“Why not?”
John shrugged. “After what happened with McKay…” he tried to explain.
Ronon stared at him. “I’m not McKay,” he finally pointed out. “Keller said you were just drunk.”
“What if it happens again?” John pointed out.
Ronon gave him a small grin. “It won’t,” he promised. “I’ve done this before, remember? Besides, if you get drunk, we’ll just let you sleep it off. No big deal.”
John exhaled. “Yeah,” he murmured.
“It’s fine,” Ronon said and sat down on the edge of the bed, next to him. “You’re pretty hesitant for a sex vampire.”
John felt himself flush. “Okay,” he said sharply, “I’m not…”
“Yeah, you are,” Ronon calmly interrupted him and wrapped his arm around John, to haul him up and into his lap. “All Zubbi are. They say it heightens the experience of drinking.”
“Ronon…” John struggled a little bit, but Ronon held him tight with one arm wrapped around his waist and the other running up his back and clamping down on John’s shoulder.
“John,” he murmured, close to John’s mouth. “John. I give you consent.”
“That’s not the point,” John gritted out. “I can’t do this!”
Ronon’s hand was now resting against the back of John’s neck. “You can,” he insisted. “I’m not telling anyone.”
For a long moment, they stared at each other, their eyes burning with stubbornness, but suddenly, John’s stomach growled.
Ronon grinned and stroked his thumb gently against John’s neck. “Come on,” he said softly. “You need it.”
He could feel John tremble in his grip as the vampire struggled with himself, and the waited patiently for him to come to a decision.
John hissed softly, but after what felt like an eternity to Ronon, he slowly went pliant in Ronon’s grip.
“Yeah, like that,” Ronon murmured encouragingly and bared his throat. John made a small. Tortured sound at the back of his throat, but he finally pressed his mouth against Ronon’s neck and pierced the skin with his teeth.
It had been a long time since that one time, when he and his friends had stumbled through the Stargate, already drunk and laughing about something that was long forgotten now. He had been unsure back then, willing to let the Zubbi take the lead. He remembered only bits of pieces of their encounter, the teasing touch of fingers sliding up his bare arm for example, and the intense, almost delirious sensation of the Zubbi’s mouth on his neck and his hand in Ronon’s pants.
With John, it was different. John needed encouragement to even start drinking Ronon’s blood, and even after he’d bitten Ronon, he seemed to hesitate. Ronon kept running his thumb against the back of John’s neck. He didn’t feel the overwhelming arousal he had felt when he had the other vampire drink from him. Instead he felt something else, a fierce need to protect John that slowly engulfed him.
It was more than friendship; he knew exactly what that felt like and this wasn’t it. This was something he’d felt only once before, and his mind shied away from those memories, even after all these years.
Ronon’s grip on John’s hip eased, and John made another sound that sounded less like he was in pain than his earlier sound had, and then he was curling his tongue against Ronon’s neck and pulled back.
He wiped his hand over his mouth. “That…was different,” he said shakily.
Ronon chuckled softly. “You held back,” he guessed. “A lot. Even after I told you it’s okay.”
John squirmed slightly and only belatedly, he realized that he was still in Ronon’s lap. “Yeah,” he said, his voice subdued. “After what happened with Rodney’s blood…”
“Hey,” Ronon interrupted him and tugged him gently closer, to lean their foreheads together. “You’ve seen now that I’m fine. Next time will go better.”
John exhaled softly. “Yeah,” he murmured and stood. He hesitated briefly before sitting down next to Ronon. “This sucks.”
Ronon shrugged and nudged him slightly. “Want to spar?” he asked, trying to distract John from the gloomy mood he seemed to fall into.
“Can’t,” John replied and glanced at his watch. “Sun won’t go down for another hour.”
Ronon shrugged. “Want some company until then?”
~*+*~
“You wanted to see me?” John asked as he stepped into Rodney’s lab.
“Yeah,” Rodney said and frowned at something on his laptop. “Wait, I need to…”
He started to type, and John shrugged and curiously looked around.
“Ah, yes,” he finally heard from Rodney and took it as a sign that Rodney now had time for him.
“What do you need me for?” he asked, and Rodney gave him one of his smug smiles.
“You can thank me for spending precious time and brainpower on this,” he replied and handed John the, by now, familiar shape of the personal shield. “The Zubbi use solar energy to power their shields, which is brilliant – the stronger the sunlight, the stronger their shields. I incorporated some of their technology into the shield and added a back- up generator, but, you know, Rian said that with time, you’d get used to sunlight again, so you won’t need this thing for forever.” He shrugged. “They only use theirs because they keep the Wraith away, and because it’s more comfortable for them, if I understood them correctly.”
John stared at the small object in his hand. The design was still obviously Ancient, but someone – probably Rodney – had spray painted the familiar Batman-logo on it.
John pressed it against his chest and thought it on.
“Cool,” he said, and Rodney grinned as if John had just personally handed him a ZPM and a Nobel prize.
~*+*~
“We figured it out,” Keller said without preamble as she spotted John sitting at a table in the mess hall. He didn’t need to eat solid food, it made him sick, but he enjoyed the bustling atmosphere around him.
“Yeah?” he now asked and raised both eyebrows. “What did you figure out?”
“Yeah.” She looked at him with a slight blush. “Actually, it was Rodney who made me think of it. He said the Zubbi’s entire technology is Ancient-based.”
John nodded. So far, she didn’t tell him anything he didn’t know yet.
“Rian and all the other Zubbi – they have the ATA gene,” she explained. “Everyone who has the gene and gets bitten transforms into a vampire. That’s why you had such a strong reaction to Rodney’s blood.” She swallowed. “We should be thankful for his paranoia,” she added. “If he hadn’t insisted on not letting you drink from him, we would have two vampires on Atlantis now.”
A muscle in John’s jaw jumped, but he didn’t say anything, and Keller spread her fingers wide. “As long as you only drink from expedition members who don’t have the ATA gene, artificial or not, you should be fine.”
John nodded. “How about a cure?” he asked.
Keller sighed. “So far, nothing yet,” she admitted. “But we’ll keep looking.”
Again, John nodded, and she stood and squeezed his shoulder before leaving him to his thoughts.
John stared at his hands for a long moment and abruptly stood. The activity of the cafeteria around him was suddenly too much for him. He needed some peace and quiet to bring some order back to his thoughts.
Slowly, the sun was setting as he sat down at the end of one of the piers. The shield hummed quietly around him as he sat there and thought about what had happened.
So far, he’d managed to remain calm by telling himself that Keller and her team would find a cure for him and reverse the changes in his body, like the pointy teeth. But right now, it didn’t look anymore like that was even a remote possibility. He was a vampire, and he would stay one, probably for the rest of his life – or until the Wraith managed to kill him.
He was the only vampire on Atlantis, and he hoped that he would be allowed to remain here and even go on missions with his team again. Rodney’s shield should protect him well enough, and they needed him.
He sighed as the last rays of sunshine glittered on the surface of the ocean and deactivated the shield before slipping it into his pocket.
He couldn’t really go back to Earth, he realized, but then, there wasn’t much waiting for him there anyways.
Soft steps pulled him from his thoughts, but he didn’t turn around to check who had joined him. He also didn’t move when Rodney sat down next to him and offered him a mug with a queasy expression on his face.
“Radek,” he said by way of explanation. “It’s safe.”
“Thanks,” John murmured and turned the mug between his hands. He wasn’t hungry, but he appreciated the gesture.
Teyla joined them next, her smile serene and Torren sleeping peacefully in her arms.
“Are you okay?” she asked him gently, and John grimaced.
“This sucks,” he replied honestly, “but I’m okay.”
Rodney snorted – and startled when Ronon crouched down next to him. “You’re the expert on sucking,” he teased and nudged John. “We should get you a cape.”
“A black one,” Ronon added with a mischievous grin, and John couldn’t hold back the small chuckle. He lifted the mug to his face, to mask it, and took a sip of lukewarm blood.
His family, he thought quietly, was here, and they accepted him, even with pointy teeth and a bad sun allergy and a weird diet. It didn’t solve any of his current problems, but it gave him the confidence that he would be able to deal with everything Pegasus would throw at him.
He’d never thought he would end up being a vampire, but then, he’d also never expected that he would end up living in another galaxy, in the city of Atlantis, and all together, he thought with a smile while putting the mug down and leaning back onto his hands, to gaze up at the stars that were glittering down onto them, it had turned out to be pretty okay, all together.
~end.
~*+*~
“It actually works!” John lifted his hand and stared at it in surprise. The force field sparkled slightly but he didn’t feel the tightness in his skin that he’d grown to associate with contact with sunlight.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Rodney scoffed. “I told you!”
“Yes, you did. Repeatedly,” John sighed good-naturedly.
Rodney grinned triumphantly before tilting his head to the side. “Vampires aren’t exactly supposed to sparkle like that,” he mused, “but it beats the alternative.”
“The Zubbi do not require this kind of protection,” Teyla pointed out.
“Yes, they do.” Rodney snapped his fingers. “The shield!” he said, his thoughts racing. “That’s what their shield is for! To protect them from the sun, not from the Wraith!”
“They rarely leave their home planet,” Ronon added. “Maybe you are right.”
It was, John thought with a small grin that revealed the sharp and pointy teeth, almost worth his situation, just to see Rodney snap for air like a fish on dry land.
~*+*~
“Colonel Sheppard. How nice to see you today.” Dr. Keller gave him a friendly smile.
John hopped up on the bed, like he’d done it in the past few weeks whenever he had needed fresh blood, and gave her a flirty smile.
“Do you need to draw more blood today?” he asked. “I’m sure you took enough to get by for a long time.”
Keller’s smile became vacant. “Yes,” she said dreamily. “I’m sure I took enough blood to get by for a long time.”
John frowned. “Dr. Keller?” he asked and waved his hand in front of her eyes. “Hello?”
She didn’t move.
“Huh,” John said. “I never saw that coming.” He wasn’t sure what exactly he’d done and how he had done it, but it was obvious that the effects were quite impressive.
Now he just needed to figure out how to snap her out of her trance.
Carefully, he poked her shoulder, but it didn’t have any effect on her. She just took a step back when he poked her harder, but remained frozen, her vacant eyes focused on him.
There was only one thing he could think of doing.
He contacted Rodney.
~*+*~
“This is typical,” Rodney growled bitterly, his mouth slanted downwards, until it was nothing more than a thin, disapproving line in his face. “You’re not only a vampire, no, you’re a sex vampire.”
John bared his fangs in a dark scowl. “McKay!”
Not even the expression on Rodney’s face when he saw the sharp, pointy teeth that John had tried to keep hidden and that he had cut his tongue on more often than he cared to think about since they had grown made him feel better about the entire situation.
“What?” Rodney snapped back.
“You are not helping,” John growled. “What am I supposed to do?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Rodney demanded to know. “I didn’t hypnotize her!”
“So? You always have an answer!”
Rodney looked pained. “Just tell her to wake up, maybe?” he suggested. “Did you try that?”
“No.” John scratched at the back of his skull. “Um…wake up?”
Keller blinked and shook her head. “Colonel? Rodney? What happened?”
“Colonel Kirk Dracula here hypnotized you,” Rodney explained darkly. “How are you feeling?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” John protested.
“Huh,” Keller said and lifted a hand to her forehead. Rodney was at her side immediately and wrapped his arm protectively around her. “Are you okay? Here, let’s get you checked out,” he murmured worriedly and guided her away, not turning around toward John anymore.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!” he called out after them, but neither Rodney nor Keller appeared to hear him.
John sighed. He needed to figure out how exactly he had managed to hypnotize Keller, and how he could control that ability.
~*+*~
“Oh. Hey.” Rodney frowned at John. “What are you doing?”
“Practicing,” John replied and squinted at Rodney. Smiling at his best friend that way was a weird experience, and he almost expected Rodney to make a scathing remark, but this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“Hey, Rodney,” he drawled. “Why don’t you get me some of that cake?”
Now he really expected Rodney to give him a piece of his mind, but he gave him his most winning smile anyways. Rodney’s face went blank, and he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hallway, in the direction of the transporter that would take him to the cafeteria.
“Huh,” John said. He hadn’t expected this to work.
“That was…impressive,” Teyla commented. She stepped up to him and sank onto the bench he was sitting on, her bare arm brushing against his sleeve.
“Thanks,” John replied. “I’m still practicing this whole thing.” He grimaced. “It’s making me a little uncomfortable when people around me turn into zombies…I don’t want it to happen in a conflict situation.”
“And yet, you had no problem with sending Rodney to get you a piece of cake you cannot digest?” Teyla asked with a raised eyebrow. Before John could reply and defend himself – he wasn’t harming Rodney, Keller had confirmed that the only after-effect of the hypnotizing was a splitting headache – Teyla continued. “When did you drink last?”
Jon shrugged, thankful for the change of topics. “A couple of days ago,” he admitted. “Before I accidentally zombified Dr. Keller.”
Teyla tilted her head to the side. “That was last week,” she pointed out. “John, you need to eat!”
“Yeah, I know.” John sighed and scooted over on the small bench, to make room for Ronon, who just sat down silently.
Teyla thought for a moment. “It is an honor to aid the Zubbi,” she said slowly. “And it is said to be a very sensual experience that usually leaves both partners extremely…satisfied.”
“Yeah,” Ronon agreed. “That.” He gave Teyla a vaguely amused glance over John’s head, a glance John didn’t even want to think about too closely.
John gave her a confused look. “What are you suggesting?” he asked, suddenly suspicious.
“I am merely saying that you require nourishment,” Teyla replied calmly. “And if you accept, I will offer you my blood.”
“Yeah,” Ronon added. “Me too.”
John opened his mouth to reply. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think about this offer, or about the whole situation in general. He was confused and tired and hungry, and the entire situation left him with a certain level of irritability that he’d been fighting the whole past week and that rivaled Rodney’s grumpiness in the morning, before he’d had his coffee.
Before he could reach a decision, Rodney returned, a plate with a piece of cake in his hands and an eager expression on his face.
“Thanks, buddy,” John said and took the plate before offering it to Ronon.
Teyla sighed. “John,” she said, the hint of a warning in her voice, and John sighed. “Wake up, Rodney,” he said quickly.
Rodney blinked and swayed slightly on his feet before catching himself. He needed a few seconds to orient himself. “Oh. Hey,” he then said.
“Rodney,” Teyla replied and bowed her head in greeting. “If you excuse us, Colonel Sheppard and I have an important task to take care of.” She gave John a look that gave no room for protest and rose. John hastily scrambled to his feet and followed her. A part of him was relieved that she’d taken control of the situation, that she cared for him enough to refuse to let him starve to death, but the rest of him was filled with trepidation. He didn’t want to risk her life and health in any way, and since Keller still had no clue why he was a vampire in the first place, there was the risk of infecting others.
Apparently Teyla had no such doubts.
Ronon grinned at Rodney. “Thanks for the cake,” he said.
A frown crossed Rodney’s face. “What cake?” he asked confusedly before sighing. “Oh, ha ha. Colonel Dracula played his mind games on me, didn’t he? What other embarrassing things did he make me do? Pretend to be a chicken in the middle of the lab?”
“No,” Ronon said and grinned up at him. “But you’re going to give him ideas.”
“Oh great.” Rodney turned on his heel. “We need to find a way to protect ourselves from that.”
“Hmm.” Ronon took the last bite of cake and closed his eyes in bliss as the chocolate melted on his tongue.
Rodney just rolled his eyes in disgust and stormed off.
~*+*~
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Because I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t.” John shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
“Relax,” Teyla replied serenely. “It is instinctive, from what I gathered. You will figure this out, John.”
John sighed. “All right,” he said. “If you’re sure.”
He still wanted to call the entire thing off, but Teyla gave him a long look, and he took a deep breath.
“I am,” she confirmed.
John ran the tip of his tongue against the sharp points of his teeth. They were almost sharp enough that biting his tongue meant a serious injury. Thankfully, he was healing quickly after each of these little accidents that had left him with his mouth filled with his own blood.
Teyla looked at him, patient and trusting, and John reached out with trembling fingers to brush her hair out of the way, to expose the soft skin of her throat.
He swallowed, his gaze drawn to her neck. “If I hurt you…” he said hoarsely and licked suddenly dry lips.
“I will let you know,” Teyla promised quietly.
John nodded jerkily. Time seemed to slow down as he slowly bent down and rubbed his nose against the side of her neck.
“What is Kanan going to say?” he wondered aloud.
“I believe you should not worry about that,” Teyla pointed out gently.
“You did this before?” he asked and ran his fingertips down her arms, feeling the warmth and softness under his touch.
“Yes,” she replied simply.
“Let me know if I do this wrong,” John murmured, his lips already pressed against her throat.
Teyla exhaled softly. “I will,” she murmured.
She smelled good, John thought suddenly, like exotic herbs and spices, and the heady fragrance of her blood made his vampire teeth throb with sudden need. He carefully set them against her skin and let them sink through it.
Teyla gave a soft sigh, just as the taste of her blood exploded on John’s tongue, and he groaned deeply while blood filled his mouth and ran down his throat.
This, he thought dizzily, was so much better than the heated blood Keller had given him. Teyla’s blood was almost hot against his tongue and its flavor was rich and full, not as bland as the stuff he’d been drinking so far.
It was perfect.
His entire body tingled with intense sensations, like arousal, and yet, so much more. Teyla gave a little moan and clutched at him, her fingers strong on his shoulders, and instinctively, John knew it meant he had to stop.
Reluctantly he pulled back, and almost immediately, the flow of blood from her throat slowed. It didn’t stop, and John had a brief moment of cold panic while he tried to figure out how to staunch the flow, but then he remembered Keller speculating about his saliva and its various functions, and he decided to just try it. If vampire saliva didn’t heal the wounds in Teyla’s neck, he could still radio Dr. Keller.
Almost hesitantly, he leaned in again and touched his tongue to Teyla’s throat; over the two little puncture wounds.
Teyla sighed softly, and John remained frozen in place for a split second, enjoying the smell of her and willing his body to return to its usual state of easy relaxation, even with Teyla’s blood throbbing in him. He felt alive and aroused and satiated at the same time, and it left him slightly unsettled. As perfect as drinking from Teyla had been, something was missing, even if he didn’t know what it was.
He had a vague idea what it might be, but he shied away from that thought almost immediately and took a hasty step backwards while lifting a hand to his mouth and wiping blood and saliva away.
Teyla slowly opened her eyes. The color had risen high in her cheeks, giving her a flushed look, and her pupils were blown wide. A bruise was starting to form on her throat already, and John felt a little stab of guilt at the sight. However, she wasn’t bleeding anymore and she looked as aroused as he felt. It filled him with unease again – he and Teyla didn’t work that way, he knew, they didn’t feel that way for each other.
John swallowed thickly.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Teyla spoke.
“This was a most satisfying experience. You did a good job for a first time, John,” she said. She sounded breathless, her voice slightly scratchy.
John coughed. “Thank you,” he managed to say before turning on his heels and fleeing the room.
He needed some privacy now and he was almost sure that Teyla did, too.
~*+*~
“Nothing.”
It sounded like a death note, John thought while his body remained perfectly still. Nobody in the conference room had a clue about how much a part of him simply wanted to stomp his foot and scream about how he’d never asked for this, how he’d never agreed to get turned into a vampire. On the outside, he was perfectly calm and relaxed, sprawled in his chair.
“Are you sure?” Woolsey asked, and Keller nodded and bit her lip.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “There is no way to reverse the changing Colonel Sheppard underwent. None that I can see, at least.”
“Maybe the Zubbi know something we don’t,” Rodney said finally. He sounded as if he’d just bitten into a lemon when suggesting something he had been opposed to for so long. “We could ask them.”
Woolsey nodded slowly. “Major Lorne get your team ready,” he ordered. “Dr. Keller, you’re going with them. Try to find a cure and…” he gave Lorne a hard look. “…don’t get bitten.” As little as he liked the idea of risking another team, he was not willing to let one of his people remain a vampire, not if there was anything he could do. He trusted Dr. Keller fully, but now that she had admitted defeat, this was the only way he could see that had the possibility of changing Colonel Sheppard back.
“Yes, sir.” Lorne nodded and stood. He gave John one last look and then hurried off, Keller following him quickly.
“Let’s hope they have a cure,” Woolsey muttered and stood, a clear sign that this meeting was over.
“Teyla?” John asked as he came to his feet. He pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his pants and studied the tips of his boots while waiting for everyone else to leave.
Teyla gave him a smile. “Yes, John?”
“Um…” He fidgeted a little before finally looking up at her. “Are we cool?”
There was so much more he wanted to ask her, but all these questions were unimportant next to this one. He wasn’t entirely sure she understood what he wanted to say, and he wasn’t certain that this was the correct place or time for his question, but he needed to make sure she hadn’t suffered any consequences of him drinking her blood, and that she was still okay with it.
Teyla gave a nod. “Yes, we are,” she said simply, another smile crossing her face, together with a faint blush. “I have to admit, this experience was…rougher…than what I remembered, but it filled its purpose.”
John sagged a little in relief. “Okay, cool,” he said. His fingers closed around the shield generator he’d slipped into his pocket, and he pulled it out and placed it on his chest to activate it. The memory of drinking from Teyla was still vivid in his mind, and even if he wasn’t hungry right now, the thought of drinking from her sent a shiver of excitement down his back.
“Let me know when Lorne and his team are back,” he requested before stepping out of the conference room and slowly made his way to his office.
He might be a vampire, but he still was the military commander of Atlantis and he had a desk full of paperwork to deal with.
~*+*~
It was hours until Lorne’s team returned, and John didn’t have to wait for the mission debriefing to know they hadn’t brought back a cure. It was obvious in the way Keller didn’t look him in the eye as she walked past him, her shoulders slumped and a frown etched onto her face.
“The Zubbi are as confused as we are,” Lorne reported. “According to Rian, it’s been several thousand years since this happened.”
“There has to be a reason for this,” Keller murmured. “I mean…maybe Riena was infected with something when she drank from you, Colonel. I managed to take a blood sample from her, just to make sure…”
John raised his eyebrows. “In that case, everyone I drank from would be affected as well,” he said slowly. “And Teyla appears to be fine, after all.”
“Teyla?” Keller frowned. “She wasn’t bitten.”
John breathed in deeply. He’d forgotten that they hadn’t exactly told anyone what they had been doing. “She was,” he confessed. “By me. Two days ago. And she’s fine.”
“Or the symptoms develop slower,” Keller argued. “You didn’t change immediately, either. Let me make sure she won’t turn into a vampire, as well.”
She left, and Lorne turned his attention to John. His eyes twinkled, even as his face remained neutral. “Sir, the Zubbi express their sincerest apologies about what happened. They offered to trade with us, as a sign of their good-will…and they said their planet is a safe place for all of their kind, and that included you.”
John sighed. “Great,” he muttered. He was sure Lorne was laughing about him on the inside, but there was no way to prove it. To an outsider, his XO appeared as respectful as always.
“What do they want to trade? Coffins?” Rodney asked dismissively.
“No.” Lorne looked at him. “Shielding technology.” He shrugged. “With Colonel Sheppard being one of them, we apparently have proved to be trustworthy enough for that.”
~*+*~
“Hey.” Rodney caught up with John.
“Rodney,” John said with a raised eyebrow. “What’s up? Did you figure out the Zubbi shielding technology?”
“I’m working on it,” Rodney replied. “It’s basically Ancient with a few modifications. The energy source…it’s quite fascinating, actually.”
John shook his head in amusement. “Was there something you needed?” he asked. “Something…turned on?”
“No,” Rodney replied quickly. “Um.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Look,” he said, “Teyla said that she let you. You know. Drink her blood and Jennifer said it didn’t harm her and living, fresh blood is much healthier for you than bagged blood anyways and Ronon offered to help too, with the blood, and frankly, more than half of the base secretly dreams about you ravishing them and drinking their blood, which is a little disturbing, if you ask me…”
“Rodney,” John interrupted patiently and with the experience of years. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Rodney swallowed visibly. “If you think I’m one of them, you’re wrong,” he quickly said before closing his eyes momentarily. “However, you’re. I mean. If you. You know. Need help…”
“You’re willing to let me drink from you?” John asked, surprise and the warmth of friendship at Rodney’s offer, as much as he’d stumbled through it, rushing through him and filling his chest.
“Well, no,” Rodney hastily replied. “However, I’m willing to let Jennifer draw my blood and let you have it.” He lifted his chin challengingly. “I’m sure my blood is a lot more nutritious and tasteful than everything those Marines who like Ronon to use them as a punching bag have to offer!”
John had to bite back a smile. “I’m not so sure about that,” he quipped. “I’m sure they would let me drink from them without making such a fuss.”
Rodney snorted. “Which proves, again, my superior intelligence,” he pointed out. “We still don’t know how you got turned and why. I would prefer if this doesn’t happen to me. I’d rather not accept my Nobel with pointy teeth and dressed in a cape.” He shuddered at that thought. “Besides, it’s unhygienic, and you’re a sex vampire, and I’m sorry, I don’t…” he gesticulated before shaking his head.
John laughed. “You’re one of a kind, Rodney,” he said fondly.
“Well, yes, of course I am,” Rodney mumbled. He shrugged embarrassedly. “You want to do it now?”
“Sure, why not,” John agreed. There wasn’t anything he was doing right now anyways, and if he was honest, he was a little hungry. The Zubbi had assured Lorne that his need for blood would gradually sink as he became older, but as a newly transformed vampire, he required to drink regularly, at least once a week, and the more blood he drank in this phase of his development, the better it would be for him. They hadn’t said how long that phase was supposed to last.
“Okay. Great.” Rodney rubbed his hands nervously. “Let’s go. Do you have a goblet or something?”
John gave him a blank stare. “Coffee mug from your lab,” he replied, and Rodney grimaced.
“Barbarian,” he murmured. “Hey, you didn’t take my mug, did you?”
~*+*~
“Colonel,” Dr. Keller said with a smile and handed him a mug. “Your lunch. From Rodney.”
“Thanks,” he replied and took the mug between his hands. The blood in it wasn’t warm enough to burn his hands, but it definitely had a different temperature than the re-heated blood he’d drunk for most of his life as a vampire now.
It also had a distinctive aroma, he thought while lifting it to his lips; very different from Teyla’s blood. For a split second, he wondered if every member of the expedition tasted differently, and then, the first drop of Rodney’s blood touched his tongue, and every thought he’d had came to an abrupt, quick stop.
His awareness of everything around him disappeared almost instantly as the blood ran down his throat and filled him with heat.
He didn’t know how long he remained in that state of absolute euphoria, but when he slowly blinked his eyes open, he was on his back on one of the beds of the infirmary. He didn’t remember finishing the blood, and he didn’t remember how he’d ended up here. He also didn’t remember someone taking off his boots.
“Huh,” he said to nobody in particular. “Weird.”
“John?” Teyla asked and stepped into his line of vision. “Are you…back?”
John swallowed. “Yeah,” he said slowly. At least, he was pretty sure that he was back. “What just happened?”
“You were hallucinating or something,” Ronon said. “Keller said to just let you sleep your high off. She didn’t expect any repercussions. Said you can probably go when you’re up, but she wants to check up on you before you do.”
“Huh,” John said again. “Where’s Rodney?”
“He went to the lab, I believe,” Teyla offered. “He feels responsible for your current state.”
“Yeah,” Ronon agreed. “Said it’s not his fault you can’t handle his precious blood and stormed off.”
John sighed and sat up. “Yeah, sounds like McKay,” he grunted and reached for his boots.
Neither Ronon nor Teyla tried to stop him as he left the infirmary and went to track down Rodney, not waiting for Keller to clear him.
~*+*~
“Hey.” Ronon gave him a grin and looked curiously around John’s room. With Teyla’s help, he’d covered the windows with Athosian tapestries, even if he could just as well have ordered Atlantis to lower the blinds. “Thought I might find you here.”
“Yeah,” John replied. “Rodney took the shield – he said he needed to make some upgrades, and until he’s done with that, I’m stuck here.” He didn’t feel like lurking in the few shadows Atlantis had to offer. It felt too much like a cliché.
“Yeah,” Ronon said and stepped further into the room. “I know.” He waited a moment, to allow his eyes to get used to the low light. “So, you and McKay, you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” John said and ran both hands through his hair. “We’re good. I think.”
“Good,” Ronon simply said.
“So?” John finally wanted to know and sat down on the edge of his bed. “Why are you here?”
Ronon shrugged. “To let you drink.”
John stiffened. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he said carefully.
“Why not?”
John shrugged. “After what happened with McKay…” he tried to explain.
Ronon stared at him. “I’m not McKay,” he finally pointed out. “Keller said you were just drunk.”
“What if it happens again?” John pointed out.
Ronon gave him a small grin. “It won’t,” he promised. “I’ve done this before, remember? Besides, if you get drunk, we’ll just let you sleep it off. No big deal.”
John exhaled. “Yeah,” he murmured.
“It’s fine,” Ronon said and sat down on the edge of the bed, next to him. “You’re pretty hesitant for a sex vampire.”
John felt himself flush. “Okay,” he said sharply, “I’m not…”
“Yeah, you are,” Ronon calmly interrupted him and wrapped his arm around John, to haul him up and into his lap. “All Zubbi are. They say it heightens the experience of drinking.”
“Ronon…” John struggled a little bit, but Ronon held him tight with one arm wrapped around his waist and the other running up his back and clamping down on John’s shoulder.
“John,” he murmured, close to John’s mouth. “John. I give you consent.”
“That’s not the point,” John gritted out. “I can’t do this!”
Ronon’s hand was now resting against the back of John’s neck. “You can,” he insisted. “I’m not telling anyone.”
For a long moment, they stared at each other, their eyes burning with stubbornness, but suddenly, John’s stomach growled.
Ronon grinned and stroked his thumb gently against John’s neck. “Come on,” he said softly. “You need it.”
He could feel John tremble in his grip as the vampire struggled with himself, and the waited patiently for him to come to a decision.
John hissed softly, but after what felt like an eternity to Ronon, he slowly went pliant in Ronon’s grip.
“Yeah, like that,” Ronon murmured encouragingly and bared his throat. John made a small. Tortured sound at the back of his throat, but he finally pressed his mouth against Ronon’s neck and pierced the skin with his teeth.
It had been a long time since that one time, when he and his friends had stumbled through the Stargate, already drunk and laughing about something that was long forgotten now. He had been unsure back then, willing to let the Zubbi take the lead. He remembered only bits of pieces of their encounter, the teasing touch of fingers sliding up his bare arm for example, and the intense, almost delirious sensation of the Zubbi’s mouth on his neck and his hand in Ronon’s pants.
With John, it was different. John needed encouragement to even start drinking Ronon’s blood, and even after he’d bitten Ronon, he seemed to hesitate. Ronon kept running his thumb against the back of John’s neck. He didn’t feel the overwhelming arousal he had felt when he had the other vampire drink from him. Instead he felt something else, a fierce need to protect John that slowly engulfed him.
It was more than friendship; he knew exactly what that felt like and this wasn’t it. This was something he’d felt only once before, and his mind shied away from those memories, even after all these years.
Ronon’s grip on John’s hip eased, and John made another sound that sounded less like he was in pain than his earlier sound had, and then he was curling his tongue against Ronon’s neck and pulled back.
He wiped his hand over his mouth. “That…was different,” he said shakily.
Ronon chuckled softly. “You held back,” he guessed. “A lot. Even after I told you it’s okay.”
John squirmed slightly and only belatedly, he realized that he was still in Ronon’s lap. “Yeah,” he said, his voice subdued. “After what happened with Rodney’s blood…”
“Hey,” Ronon interrupted him and tugged him gently closer, to lean their foreheads together. “You’ve seen now that I’m fine. Next time will go better.”
John exhaled softly. “Yeah,” he murmured and stood. He hesitated briefly before sitting down next to Ronon. “This sucks.”
Ronon shrugged and nudged him slightly. “Want to spar?” he asked, trying to distract John from the gloomy mood he seemed to fall into.
“Can’t,” John replied and glanced at his watch. “Sun won’t go down for another hour.”
Ronon shrugged. “Want some company until then?”
~*+*~
“You wanted to see me?” John asked as he stepped into Rodney’s lab.
“Yeah,” Rodney said and frowned at something on his laptop. “Wait, I need to…”
He started to type, and John shrugged and curiously looked around.
“Ah, yes,” he finally heard from Rodney and took it as a sign that Rodney now had time for him.
“What do you need me for?” he asked, and Rodney gave him one of his smug smiles.
“You can thank me for spending precious time and brainpower on this,” he replied and handed John the, by now, familiar shape of the personal shield. “The Zubbi use solar energy to power their shields, which is brilliant – the stronger the sunlight, the stronger their shields. I incorporated some of their technology into the shield and added a back- up generator, but, you know, Rian said that with time, you’d get used to sunlight again, so you won’t need this thing for forever.” He shrugged. “They only use theirs because they keep the Wraith away, and because it’s more comfortable for them, if I understood them correctly.”
John stared at the small object in his hand. The design was still obviously Ancient, but someone – probably Rodney – had spray painted the familiar Batman-logo on it.
John pressed it against his chest and thought it on.
“Cool,” he said, and Rodney grinned as if John had just personally handed him a ZPM and a Nobel prize.
~*+*~
“We figured it out,” Keller said without preamble as she spotted John sitting at a table in the mess hall. He didn’t need to eat solid food, it made him sick, but he enjoyed the bustling atmosphere around him.
“Yeah?” he now asked and raised both eyebrows. “What did you figure out?”
“Yeah.” She looked at him with a slight blush. “Actually, it was Rodney who made me think of it. He said the Zubbi’s entire technology is Ancient-based.”
John nodded. So far, she didn’t tell him anything he didn’t know yet.
“Rian and all the other Zubbi – they have the ATA gene,” she explained. “Everyone who has the gene and gets bitten transforms into a vampire. That’s why you had such a strong reaction to Rodney’s blood.” She swallowed. “We should be thankful for his paranoia,” she added. “If he hadn’t insisted on not letting you drink from him, we would have two vampires on Atlantis now.”
A muscle in John’s jaw jumped, but he didn’t say anything, and Keller spread her fingers wide. “As long as you only drink from expedition members who don’t have the ATA gene, artificial or not, you should be fine.”
John nodded. “How about a cure?” he asked.
Keller sighed. “So far, nothing yet,” she admitted. “But we’ll keep looking.”
Again, John nodded, and she stood and squeezed his shoulder before leaving him to his thoughts.
John stared at his hands for a long moment and abruptly stood. The activity of the cafeteria around him was suddenly too much for him. He needed some peace and quiet to bring some order back to his thoughts.
Slowly, the sun was setting as he sat down at the end of one of the piers. The shield hummed quietly around him as he sat there and thought about what had happened.
So far, he’d managed to remain calm by telling himself that Keller and her team would find a cure for him and reverse the changes in his body, like the pointy teeth. But right now, it didn’t look anymore like that was even a remote possibility. He was a vampire, and he would stay one, probably for the rest of his life – or until the Wraith managed to kill him.
He was the only vampire on Atlantis, and he hoped that he would be allowed to remain here and even go on missions with his team again. Rodney’s shield should protect him well enough, and they needed him.
He sighed as the last rays of sunshine glittered on the surface of the ocean and deactivated the shield before slipping it into his pocket.
He couldn’t really go back to Earth, he realized, but then, there wasn’t much waiting for him there anyways.
Soft steps pulled him from his thoughts, but he didn’t turn around to check who had joined him. He also didn’t move when Rodney sat down next to him and offered him a mug with a queasy expression on his face.
“Radek,” he said by way of explanation. “It’s safe.”
“Thanks,” John murmured and turned the mug between his hands. He wasn’t hungry, but he appreciated the gesture.
Teyla joined them next, her smile serene and Torren sleeping peacefully in her arms.
“Are you okay?” she asked him gently, and John grimaced.
“This sucks,” he replied honestly, “but I’m okay.”
Rodney snorted – and startled when Ronon crouched down next to him. “You’re the expert on sucking,” he teased and nudged John. “We should get you a cape.”
“A black one,” Ronon added with a mischievous grin, and John couldn’t hold back the small chuckle. He lifted the mug to his face, to mask it, and took a sip of lukewarm blood.
His family, he thought quietly, was here, and they accepted him, even with pointy teeth and a bad sun allergy and a weird diet. It didn’t solve any of his current problems, but it gave him the confidence that he would be able to deal with everything Pegasus would throw at him.
He’d never thought he would end up being a vampire, but then, he’d also never expected that he would end up living in another galaxy, in the city of Atlantis, and all together, he thought with a smile while putting the mug down and leaning back onto his hands, to gaze up at the stars that were glittering down onto them, it had turned out to be pretty okay, all together.
~end.
