Walk This Way, Part 1
Jan. 7th, 2010 12:03 am![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slybrarianTitle: Walk This Way, Segment One
Author:slybrarian
Pairings: Gen
Rating: All Ages
Words: 545
Series: AU - Strange Aeon
Notes: My first fic of the year is, appropriately enough, part one of what will be a series of 'in between' moments for this series. They will take place between the bigger fics and focus more on the minor characters.
Summary: Adam Stackhouse isn't going to let one bad day get him down.
Adam Stackhouse is a Marine.
He joined the Corps straight out of high school, but at heart he was a Marine long before that, following his father from one posting to another for his entire life. He quickly rose through the ranks, hitting each promotion the instant he was eligible and earning other commendations along the way. At twenty-five, he was inducted into Delta Green and started fighting things more dangerous than mere humans; at twenty-eight he joined Stargate Command and took that fight to the stars. Two months ago, he volunteered for the Atlantis Expedition on a one-way trip to another galaxy. He did it for the challenge, the adventure, and the chance to be part of something that just might save the world.
For his trouble, a shoggoth ate his left foot.
This isn't the first time he's been injured. He's suffered through broken bones, minor shrapnel wounds, and a bullet through his arm. He took a staff blast to the gut once and only lived to tell about it because Apocatequil had thought he might be a useful source of information and dumped him in a sarcophagus. Adam came through that experience more or less intact, with nothing to show for it but the occasional nightmare and a membership card to one of the SGC's more exclusive unofficial clubs. If he could deal with that, he can deal with his current situation.
He's out of his infirmary bed as soon as he can convince Doctor Lam to let him up. He's lucky compared to most amputees; other than the obvious there's no injuries to slow him down. As it turns out, all that means is that he gets to fall on his face a few weeks earlier than he might have otherwise, when he decides he needs to take a piss and tries to walk to the restroom without any help.
"Okay, maybe I still need the crutches," he says to Lam, Mitchell, and Markham, who are all looking down at him with varying degrees of concern, amusement, and annoyance.
Intellectually Adam had known that a prosthetic wouldn't be the same as his real foot, but that's a different thing than actually walking on it. His balance is shot to hell, his stump gets sore after only a few minutes, and there's times he would swear that he can still feel his foot. For the first few days he's only allowed to put weight on his foot for short periods, and when he does he stumbles frequently. It's only because Markham is his constant shadow that he doesn't land on his ass a half-dozen times just walking around the mess. There's a few times when he thinks that he's never going to be able to do more than limp around the city and that he'll be a burden on the unit. But slowly he starts to get the hang of it, and Colonel Mitchell says that he'll be kicking ass again in no time. Adam thinks he's right. After all, if a flyboy like Mitchell can recover from near-crippling injuries, surely he can do the same.
Adam Stackhouse is a Marine, and he is not going to let something so minor as a missing foot slow him down.
Author:
slybrarianPairings: Gen
Rating: All Ages
Words: 545
Series: AU - Strange Aeon
Notes: My first fic of the year is, appropriately enough, part one of what will be a series of 'in between' moments for this series. They will take place between the bigger fics and focus more on the minor characters.
Summary: Adam Stackhouse isn't going to let one bad day get him down.
Adam Stackhouse is a Marine.
He joined the Corps straight out of high school, but at heart he was a Marine long before that, following his father from one posting to another for his entire life. He quickly rose through the ranks, hitting each promotion the instant he was eligible and earning other commendations along the way. At twenty-five, he was inducted into Delta Green and started fighting things more dangerous than mere humans; at twenty-eight he joined Stargate Command and took that fight to the stars. Two months ago, he volunteered for the Atlantis Expedition on a one-way trip to another galaxy. He did it for the challenge, the adventure, and the chance to be part of something that just might save the world.
For his trouble, a shoggoth ate his left foot.
This isn't the first time he's been injured. He's suffered through broken bones, minor shrapnel wounds, and a bullet through his arm. He took a staff blast to the gut once and only lived to tell about it because Apocatequil had thought he might be a useful source of information and dumped him in a sarcophagus. Adam came through that experience more or less intact, with nothing to show for it but the occasional nightmare and a membership card to one of the SGC's more exclusive unofficial clubs. If he could deal with that, he can deal with his current situation.
He's out of his infirmary bed as soon as he can convince Doctor Lam to let him up. He's lucky compared to most amputees; other than the obvious there's no injuries to slow him down. As it turns out, all that means is that he gets to fall on his face a few weeks earlier than he might have otherwise, when he decides he needs to take a piss and tries to walk to the restroom without any help.
"Okay, maybe I still need the crutches," he says to Lam, Mitchell, and Markham, who are all looking down at him with varying degrees of concern, amusement, and annoyance.
Intellectually Adam had known that a prosthetic wouldn't be the same as his real foot, but that's a different thing than actually walking on it. His balance is shot to hell, his stump gets sore after only a few minutes, and there's times he would swear that he can still feel his foot. For the first few days he's only allowed to put weight on his foot for short periods, and when he does he stumbles frequently. It's only because Markham is his constant shadow that he doesn't land on his ass a half-dozen times just walking around the mess. There's a few times when he thinks that he's never going to be able to do more than limp around the city and that he'll be a burden on the unit. But slowly he starts to get the hang of it, and Colonel Mitchell says that he'll be kicking ass again in no time. Adam thinks he's right. After all, if a flyboy like Mitchell can recover from near-crippling injuries, surely he can do the same.
Adam Stackhouse is a Marine, and he is not going to let something so minor as a missing foot slow him down.
Also, yay Strange Aeon!
Also also, hee! At the little dig at Cam. Oh, Stacks.
Cam is an airman. Stacks can't help but make fun of him, it's part of being a marine.
[I'm sorry to punish you, it was killing me ;)]