Crushed by life

[jo-lee.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for stories where McKay has had most of the snark beaten out of him by life and then meets (preferably) Sheppard and gradually opens up. It can be totally AU or just a bit. Examples I've already read (and recommend) are:
A Regency SGA Tale by GraceAndFire
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall by Tarlan
And Hope by Silhaya

Also, are there any stories where Rodney is rude/insulting/dismissive of someone important? I've just re-read the fantastic What Might Have Been series by Keira Marcos and I love the part where he insults the Canadian Prime Minister.

Comments

[eccentricweft.livejournal.com]

All These Places We Have Met (http://community.livejournal.com/sga_flashfic/565739.html) by toft_froggy, maybe? It has John encountering Rodney in multiple alternate universes, trying to rescue the Rodney from his own universe. Some of the alternates have been pretty beaten down.

There's another I'm trying to think of, will add if I can pin it down...

[eccentricweft.livejournal.com]

Okay, here we go:

[shift]Reality (http://community.livejournal.com/gblvr_lite/12990.html) by gblvr_lite. AU, set in an accounting firm. Rodney's not being abused or anything, but he's pretty much given up on his life having any joy or excitement, or his work being challenging or satisfying.

Whipping Boy (http://www.caffiends.net/viewstory.php?sid=456) by Kat Reitz and Perryvic. AU. Rodney is pretty much brainwashed into enduring abuse from his Patron, Acastus Kolya.

The Bribe (http://fenchurch1.livejournal.com/9282.html) by fenchurch. AU, slavefic. Rodney is given to John as an inducement to go to Atlantis.

And there's yet one more I have in mind, but I'll have to go to sgastoryfinders for it. Stay tuned!

[jo-lee.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *hugs the shiny fic*

[eccentricweft.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks to the brilliant minds on sgastoryfinders:

Alternative Medicine (http://www.stargateslash.com/asm/madison/alternat.php) by Madison. Rodney is trapped in a virtual environment which makes him believe he is a terminally ill composer trying to finish his last piece of music before he dies. He's struggling through chemo with very little support until John breaks into the virtual reality.

These fics come to mind.

[echotango-me.livejournal.com]

Rodney is an IRS auditor who doesn’t seem to see how unhappy he is until he meets John Sheppard.
Taxed Return by runaroundkid
http://sgabigbang.talkoncorners.net/?view=fic&id=73
“Do you have something to hide, Mr. Sheppard?” McKay asked gravely, eyes drifting to look down the hallway at the closed doors. He was probably imagining bright, flashing neon signs proclaiming John’s status as a tax evader; long manifestos tacked to the walls outlining the downfall of the IRS and modern society, and fat stacks of cash spilling from overstuffed mattresses.

Rodney is in a composer who is in a self-imposed exile.
Solitary Man by Bluespirit
http://sgabigbang.talkoncorners.net/?view=fic&id=73
John Sheppard was used to being on his own. He'd been booted out of the Air Force, was estranged from his family and was haunted by the guilt of everyone he'd ever let down. Then a wrong turn on a snowy night changed his life forever.

John makes an offer that Rodney can’t quite believe is sincere.
To Drive Away the Winter Cold by tira nog
http://tiranog.southroad.com/SGA/To_Drive_Away_the_Winter_Cold.htm
Nearly every day he was here in Atlantis, John Sheppard discovered some new issue he hadn't considered before stepping through the Stargate. Like everyone else, he'd thought about the 'what do you do when you're cut off from Earth in another galaxy and you run out of (insert necessity of the moment)' kind of question. Unlike everyone else, the 'what if I never see (insert person of choice) again' question hadn't been relevant. The words 'terminally unattached' could have been invented for him.

Rodney makes a decision that ends up changing his life far greater than he had anticipated.

An Affair to Remember-McShep Style by Tira Nog
http://tiranog.southroad.com/SGA/Affair.htm
Rodney McKay snapped his suitcase shut. His gaze wandered around the bedroom, looking for forgotten items.
There was a time when the king-sized bed, the posh furniture, and Fifth Avenue penthouse view out his window had completely awed him. Considering the utter poverty of his childhood, when he'd arrived in Manhattan, hot water had impressed him. But those days were long gone now, along with his innocence and hope.

Re: These fics come to mind.

[indigocat.livejournal.com]

You gave the URL for Solitary Man for Taxed Return.

Re: These fics come to mind.

[jo-lee.livejournal.com]

Thank you :o) I've read most of these but they are all worth re-reading and Taxed Return is new to me.

[kirinin.livejournal.com]

There is the excellent Second Fiddle (http://www.area52hkh.net/asm/madison/secondfi.php), where Rodney is a second-rate scientist still working (poorly) at a university, and is saved from a mugging by John. He slowly learns about his AU-self, and inexorably moves closer to being the same man, but he definitely has some self-confidence issues at first, and is pretty beaten-down by the time John arrives.

More as I think of it; I know I've got a few of these.

-K

[jo-lee.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I've read this but I'd completely forgotten it :o)

[echotango-me.livejournal.com]

Sorry made an oops above. Taxed Return is at
http://runaroundkid.livejournal.com/10931.html