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Rodney circled his hands around each other, pulling the magic from the world surrounding him until it was a visible stream of golden light stretching between his finger tips. He opened his arms wider to gather the magic before closing his hands together, condensing the magic into a tight ball of energy held within the space between his palms. When he opened his hands the ball of magical energy sat on his cupped palms. Then, with a flick of his wrists he sent it towards the darkened DHD, smiling in satisfaction as the long dead console sparked back into life. The rest of the repair would be more intricate, weaving the tendrils of magic with the device to flow along the crystal wires but this wasn't the first time he had to repair one of these devices. The DHDs had been placed here by the Ancients many thousands of years ago, but for these last ten thousand years there had been no one with magical ability left to infuse them with magic and repair any damage. In this instance, the DHD had been damaged by the Genii when Kolya was forced to retreat.
Allina watched in awe because up until now they had avoided using magic. Instead Rodney, yes and even Sheppard, had used their immense brain power to determine where the very mortal Brotherhood had hidden the Potentia, or ZedPM as he liked to call it. He had not really registered the Brotherhood members surrounding them until Allina made a hand gesture that had them all taking several steps back, heads bowed in reverence. She stepped up to him and bowed her head as she handed over the ZedPM he had asked her to hold while he repaired the DHD.
"Please forgive me for doubting you," she said softly.
"Huh?" Rodney turned to John, noticing his eyes had narrowed.
She stepped back as John swiftly dialed Atlantis and sent through a tendril of magic to let Atlantis know it was him.
"As agreed," John stated, "We'll send the rest of the supplies you requested. With the DHD repaired you'll be able to travel again, make more alliances, but if you do need us. Call us."
Allina bowed her head again and John ushered Rodney through the Stargate quickly, not allowing Rodney time to do more than wave his fingers in a goodbye.
Back on Atlantis Rodney hugged the ZedPM tight, cradled like a babe in his arms; a beautiful baby glowing with magic infused energy. They had three or four empty crystal casings but had yet to figure out how to fill them with magic. This single ZedPM would give them the ability to raise the shield and either sink back into the ocean or even take flight if the Wraith discovered them. Their only true advantage over the Wraith was that the Wraith needed the magic within a sentient being - their life force or soul - in order to survive but although they could devour the magic they could not bend it to their will as Rodney had on Dagan.
"They weren't going to let us take it," he heard John say to Elizabeth, "Until Rodney had to use magic to repair the broken DHD."
"You used magic in front of them?"
"Really didn't have much of a choice."
Elizabeth nodded, tight lipped. Rodney understood why she wanted them to keep a low profile, wanting the city fully operational and for them to regain contact with Earth first, but rumors had already spread from one world to the next that Atlantis was now occupied again. It did not take much brain power to figure out why Allina might have wanted to keep the ZedPM from them. The Brotherhood had vowed to keep it safe until The Ancients returned. As they had not revealed their magic except in emergencies, races like the Genii believed they were merely interlopers squatting on Atlantis.
However, although Daniel Jackson believed the Tau'ri were the second iteration of this life form on Earth, some of the Tau'ri were descendants of the Ancients who had escaped Pegasus ten thousand years earlier. The magic ran strong through their family lines, reactivated in dormant cases by Carson's magic potion, against the wishes of some of the more powerful high, pure-blood families who did not want to see almost half of the Mundanes gain magic skills. Their excuse was that it would throw the magic of the world into disarray but more likely they simply did not want to relinquish the power they held over everyone. John came from one of those high, pure-blood families and was one of the most powerful wizards on Atlantis, but fortunately he didn't share his father's opinion.
Rodney had fallen foul of the McKay family curse where only the females were able to use magic so he was overjoyed when Carson's potion had worked on him. It was supposedly a curse meant to punish a powerful but wayward wizard ancestor, Janus.
The debriefing went quicker than Rodney expected, much to his relief as he had a ZedPM to inspect and bring online. Those thoughts were derailed when Elizabeth ordered both him and John off duty for the rest of the day. Disgruntled, he followed John to the mess hall first, eyes lighting up as he saw the mundane-turned-wizard cook using magic to draw together all the ingredients to create and then bake a large pseudo turkey and vegetable pie. The cook sliced it with a flick of his fingers and settled onto the serving platter ready to be dished up. Rodney grabbed a tray and hurried over before all the pie was taken, ignoring the way John rolled his eyes because he knew it was one of John's favorite dishes.
John was a little quieter than usual but Rodney was more than capable of holding up both sides of a conversation, knowing John would tell him what was bothering him once they were alone. Sure enough, once they reached their shared quarters, John pushed him against the closed door and kissed him soundly.
"As much as I appreciate being ravished because..." he waved a hand at John, "Hot boyfriend..."
"I didn't like the way she kept flirting with you."
"Huh? Who?"
"Allina."
"Allina?" Rodney asked, confused.
"The leader on Dagan."
"Yes, yes. I do actually remember some people's names but... She was flirting with me?"
John rolled his eyes and pressed in for another kiss, and Rodney was more than happy to oblige, pulling back after a moment, smiling brightly. He stabbed John with a finger in the chest.
"You were jealous."
"No."
"Yes, you were. You were jealous."
John bristled, looking a little petulant. "You're mine."
Rodney's smile softened and he murmured against John's lips before kissing him soundly. "Always."
END