They did WHAT?

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Anne Teldy, Carson Beckett, Radek Zelenka, Jennifer Keller
Rating: Explicit
Length: 18,013
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence. Jeannie, Rodney's sister, has died long before the story starts. Academic ethics are somewhat compromised!
Creator Links: Telesilla on AO3, helens78 on Audiofic Archive
Themes: Crack treated seriously, First time, Friends to lovers, Animal transformation, Werecreatures, Complete AU, Interspecies pairing, Research, Worldbuilding (I had difficulty finding actual tags to reflect some of these because while there's a minor character werewolf in this, most of the Weres aren't wolves.)

Summary: John Sheppard has had over twenty years to come to grips with the fact that every four or five weeks, he turns into a mountain lion. Like most Were, he accepts that that's just the way it is, and so he's not particularly interested when he learns that researchers at the local university are trying to to develop drugs that will help Were control their cycles. Then he meets Dr. Rodney McKay, a brilliant but irascible biochemist with reasons of his own for spearheading the university's Were research and John suddenly finds himself struggling with more than just his attraction to McKay.

Reccer's Notes: Werewolves, or in this case, Werecreatures in general, are a popular crack fantasy trope. This story's excellent as it turns the fantasy trope into a real minority of individuals having Were genes, forced to change cyclically to an animal form. In this story's interesting worldbuilding, Were are discriminated against and find it hard to get jobs and live as full members of society. John is a werecougar and he meets Rodney who's a scientist running a research trial to test a new drug intended to suppress mandatory cycling. The story is crack "taken seriously" as there's no fantasy element. This is a genetically-driven thing, with Were a slightly different species to humans. Their cycles vary according to gene expression, and aren't moon-driven. Plus, in this world, Telesilla shows the politics of discrimination against Were, with John initially resisting the research as he's angry that they're yet again being viewed as humans with a sickness that needs treatment. The story has lots of plot and drama, a great developing relationship with Rodney, and a satisfying conclusion. Very much recommended!

Fanwork Links: Where the Brave Dare Not Go, it's locked to AO3 so here's a Wayback link
Excellent podfic by helens78 here