a farm in iowa by cate; 12.000 words
Stargate Atlantis: Sheppard/McKay.
Some fandoms lend themselves better to AUs than others. For me, SGA is one of those fandoms in which I cannot read enough AUs. This story is AU to a point: John is still in the Air Force, at least at the beginning of the story, and Rodney is still a physicist, but they never go to Atlantis. Instead, John finishes out his tour in Antarctica and goes to Iowa to live on the farm his grandfather left him when he died. And Rodney meets him there after his tire blows out near John’s farm. What I like most about this are the details and the slow build of their friendship. Good characterization and solid pacing.