Title: Coping Mechanism
Author: Amireal
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: John/Rodney
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Graphic description of severe injury, medical situations, TV-level violence
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Action/Adventure, Romance, Angst, First time
Word Count: 23,120
Summary:
When Rodney sustains a severe injury, he confesses his feelings to John. John tries to help him while dealing with his own feelings for Rodney, which are overridden by his fear of losing both Rodney and Atlantis to DADT.
Why You Should Read This:
This story is about two men dealing with pain and fear. It is about Rodney dealing with the pain and probable permanent loss of function of his injury It is about John freaking out in a manly, strong-silent-type way, both about the injury to Rodney and the fear of losing everything he loves to the anti-gay regulations of the U.S. military.
The majority of the story is Rodney getting better and John getting less neurotic. As time goes on, they try to return to something like normal, or at least Atlantis normal, but the weight of their feelings for each other and John’s fear taint that normality. There are parts of the story that are quite funny and parts that are great action/adventure. There is–finally!–some nicely explicit sex, when John finally overcomes his fears.