Author:
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: none, Miko.
Rating: G.
Setting: Spoilers through "Duet."
Words: 388.
Summary: Miko was always blind; she just didn't necessarily realize it.
Miko's mother had always said she was blind. When Miko was four-years-old, they sat together in an optometrist's office as the doctor asked her if the glasses fit well. They did; until they fell down as she climbed across the monkey bars. The other kids teased her, so she spent her free time in the library. Her mother approved.
When she was 16, Miko had her first boyfriend, Mike. His father was an American chef training in Japan, and Mike read her Blake's poetry. She grinned at him and pushed her thickening glasses up on her nose. She'd found a boy who wasn't intimidated by her brains. When he tried to feel her up every time they were alone, she wasn't so sure. But her mother still allowed her to date him.
When she was in college, Miko's vision continued to worsen. Her optometrist told her to stop reading. She hid her giggles at his absurdity.
During her interview with the SGC, they asked Miko if she'd ever considered getting lasik surgery. She shook her head as they wrote, Quiet, but brilliant on her file. They considered sending her to Siberia, until Miko praised one of Carter's papers. They added another word, odd, and stamped it: Atlantis.
Miko had stopped crushing on boys who read poetry after Mike and had fallen for big brains as her mother joked. Dr. McKay was exceptionally brilliant. On top of that he was both brave and confident, traits that Miko wished she possessed. She didn't think that Bates' promise to teach her to shoot would improve that. Miko never understood why Kavanagh complained so much about McKay. Miko didn't mind grabbing an extra sandwich if she was going to the mess anyway.
"Dr. McKay, I was thinking that..." Miko paused. She'd heard that he'd asked out Dr. Brown, a botanist. But the rumor wasn't concrete on whether Brown had said yes or no.
McKay turned toward her, PowerBar in hand. "Yes." He waited for her to finish and when she didn't, he said, "Well, spit it out. I don't have all day."
Miko looked down at the floor. "Sorry to disturb you." She heard him turning around in his chair, back to his laptop. They both had work to do, and Miko moved back to her station. Her mother was right; Miko was blind.