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"What's up?" John asked as he came into the lab.
Rodney jumped. He hadn't heard John arrive. Damn. He needed to set up some wards.
"Just... working on stuff," Rodney stuttered.
"Not doing anything shady are you?" John teased.
"No!" Rodney replied firmly. He looked down at the headache potion he had been working on. The ingredients were spread over the bench and he had a pot simmering on a burner.
"This isn't your usual thing," John mused. "What's going on?"
It was the gentleness that did him in. No one had ever been kind the way John was.
"Oh, fuck it," Rodney sighed. "I'm brewing a headache potion. I don't want to dig into Carson's stash of tylenol and I hoped that if I could make my own, it would... it would help everyone."
John frowned. "Potion? Like... magical potion?"
Rodney nodded. He knew John wasn't totally mundane but likely a squib who didn't have enough magic to be trained. But John's flying abilities were... more.
"I'm a wizard," Rodney said.
John laughed for a moment, then stopped. And stared. "Like... carrying a magic wand and having a black cat kind of wizard?"
"They wouldn't let me bring my cat," Rodney shrugged. "But I do have a wand." He brought the cedar wand out of hiding.
John's eyes went wide. "Like, what can you do?"
"Lots of things," Rodney admitted. He used the wand and said, "Accio beaker." The beaker flew across the room and flew into Rodney's hand.
John stilled.
Rodney tapped the beaker with his wand and it transformed into a black cat. It hissed at Rodney. Another tap and it was a beaker again. He set it on the bench.
"That's..." John stopped. He could see John really start to think about it. "Is there anyone else?"
Rodney shook his head. "Not that I know of," he admitted. "It's not like we have a secret handshake or anything to identify ourselves. And the Statute of Secrecy means we keep quiet."
"We?" John looked at him.
"Witches and Wizards," Rodney said. "There are fewer than you think. But a lot of people have a smidge of magic. Like... your ability to fly anything. You've always been able to do that, haven't you?
John nodded. Rodney could see him really think.
"What else are you working on?" John asked.
"I'm thinking there were magicals among the Ancients," Rodney said. "I have a theory that, if I find the right ritual or whatever, a ZedPM can be recharged with magic."
"That's amazing!" John breathed. He frowned. "On Olesia..."
"I was able to use a spell to confound the prisoners," Rodney admitted. "We might have died otherwise."
"What else can you do?" John asked.
"It's... not unlimited," Rodney admitted. "There are lots of things I never learned and things I can't do. But, well, if you know it'll be easier. I'm not ready to share with Ronon and Teyla yet. Soon. Maybe."
"Then I'm glad you shared with me," John looked pleased.
Rodney thought that was a good look. He'd try to put it there again.
Wait. What?