Fic: No Time Like the Present, SGA, Keller/Vega
Title: No Time Like The Present
Author: Claire
Pairing: Jennifer Keller/Alicia Vega, OT4 and Lorne/Zelenka implied
Rating: PG
Summary: In which someone's leaving Jen anonymous gifts and Rodney's apparently getting a lot more sex than anyone imagined...
Author's notes: Originally written for ceitie as part of the 2009 sga_santa
The first time she found something on her desk, Jen didn't think anything of it. After all, it was Valentine's Day back on Earth and boxes of chocolates had been appearing all over Atlantis. Whoever had left them knew her taste, though. Soft salted caramels weren't normally the first thing that sprang to mind when people were buying chocolate, but Jen adored them. She had ever since her mother had introduced her to them back when she was a teenager. Picking up the box, she glanced at the note, but the printed out Be my valentine... was giving nothing away.
Opening the box, Jen picked out a chocolate, popped it in her mouth and bit down, moaning in delight as the caramel washed over her tongue.
"Do you always make sex noises when you're eating chocolate? Because if you do, I can see why the infirmary's so popular."
Jen spun around at the amused tone coming from behind her, half choking as she swallowed the chocolate and caramel.
"Careful there, Doc--" Alicia Vega grinned at her as she leaned against the door.
"'m fine," Jen squeaked, the words coming out as a cough.
Concern crossed Vega's face. "You okay?" she asked, stepping into the room as her hand reached out for Jen's arm. "You don't need the Heimlich, or anything?"
Jen waved the concern away as she grabbed the water bottle off her desk and took a drink. "Seriously, I'm fine," she said.
"If you're sure--" Vega sounded unconvinced.
Jen smiled at her. "Honestly. Now, what can I do for you, Captain?"
Vega paused, looking for an instant like she'd forgotten why she was standing in Jen's office. "Oh, yeah. It's Ali's birthday on Friday. We're throwing her a surprise party and I'm here to ask if you want to come. We were going to e-mail everyone but Ali commented a while ago that she's managed to hack the system to send a copy of every mail that has her name in it to her account." She shrugged. "We think she was kidding, but with Ali, you just can't be sure. So, how about it?"
"I love to," Jen answered. Between the Wraith and the Replicators and the what seemed like every second mission ending in injury, a night off was just what she needed.
Vega grinned. "Excellent. I'll see you on Friday." And then she was gone, leaving Jen alone with her chocolates.
~
The second time Jen received an anonymous gift, she was tired and cursing the citizens of the village near to the Gate on P3X-573 (Gadry, to its friends) for putting so many holes in Lieutenant Castor. Castor's team had meant to be going through on a simple recon mission, but a village of Wraith-worshippers had put paid to that idea and Jen had spent the last five hours in surgery making sure Colonel Sheppard didn't have to write a letter home to the Lieutenant's family. Which meant it took her a while to notice the package sitting on her desk.
When she did spot it, she was half tempted to ignore it. She'd been on her feet for nearly 24 hours and she could already hear her bed calling to her, so she was sure whatever it was could wait until the next day. The problem was, though, Jen was naturally curious and unable to let anything go by. It had been her main fault, according to Mrs Michaels, her kindergarten teacher. Jennifer is always trying to get into places she shouldn't... and Jennifer needs to learn to not be so curious... were pretty much the basis of every report card she'd taken home for two years. Luckily, Jen's mom was of a differing opinion to Mrs Michaels and had encouraged Jen to ask as many questions as she'd wanted to. The upshot being, when Jen was presented with a mystery, she couldn't keep her hands off it.
Tearing away the wrapping around the package, Jen couldn't stop the grin as she found herself holding four issues of JAMA. The grin segued into a confused frown as she noticed the dates on them.
"Keller to Woolsey." Jen spoke quietly, triggering a private channel.
"Woolsey here. What can I do for you, Dr Keller?"
"Mr Woolsey, I thought you said that the Daedalus couldn't bring the medical journals this time." Because they brought the journals from Earth every couple of months, but an explosion in one of the labs on the east pier recently had meant that McKay's request for replacement equipment had taken priority.
"They didn't, Dr Keller. Although, barring any other issues, they should be able to bring them on the next supply run."
"Okay, thanks. Keller out." Which still didn't explain why Jen was holding the latest issues of the journal, including one dated only five days ago. Saying that, along with telling Jen that she should always feel free to ask the questions she wanted to, her mother had also said that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth. (This had then led to Jen spending the entire age of six believing that horses were somehow magical creatures that gave you presents if you were nice to them. She still hadn't told her mom that was the reason she wanted a pony for Christmas that year.)
The problem was, the only person Jen could think of who'd been back to Earth recently was Rodney. Which meant that Rodney must have left the journals. What Jen couldn't work out was why he'd left the journals. And if he had left the journals, did that mean he'd also left her the chocolate on Valentine's Day? Thinking back on it, he had been awfully nice to her recently. It was actually kind of reminiscent of the time she'd Bobby Connors had been trying to ask her out on a date--
Jen paused.
Oh god, she was being courted by Rodney McKay.
She was being courted by Rodney McKay.
Courted.
By Rodney McKay.
Jen, rather reservedly, she thought, didn't whimper.
It wasn't that she didn't like Rodney, she just couldn't see herself in a relationship with someone that, well whiny. And arrogant. That was his problem. He was whiny and arrogant. And sarcastic. Whiny and arrogant and sarcastic. And every time Jen saw him he was with his team. It would be like dating four people instead of one. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, as her mind went to the time she'd walked in on Ronon in the gym, bare chested and kind of sweaty and helping Colonel Sheppard up off the mat as he apologised for being a bit too rough. The Colonel's eyes had flicked to where Jen was standing as he'd flushed bright red. Not that Sheppard had had anything to be embarrassed about; Jen was pretty sure that Ronon managed to beat people at hand-to-hand all the time.
But thinking of Ronon beating down on various people didn't get her away from the fact that Rodney was apparently after her body.
"Doctor Keller?" There was a pause, and then-- "Jen?"
Looking back on it, Jen's sure there are other words she could have said. "Captain Vega, what can I do for you?" or "Do you know if Major Teldy still wants to go over the report for last week's mission to P6S-271?" She could even have said, "Why yes, I have heard the rumours about me and the three male strippers from last shore leave and they're entirely untrue. Well, most of them, anyway..." Instead what came out was, "I think Rodney McKay wants to have sex with me!"
Alicia looked at her, face a mixture of confusion, amusement and more confusion.
"Okay--" Vega strung the word out over far more syllables than Jen felt it really needed. "Although I think McKay's got his hands pretty full already, what with him being kinda close to his team. To his entire team, if you get my drift. And I don't think any of them would be too happy if that's true."
Wait-- what? was Jen's only thought as Vega's words actually penetrated her brain. Rodney was sleeping with Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla? Jen wasn't sure whether to be impressed or jealous. Although it did explain why he'd been looking so smug recently.
Of course, Jen figured she'd be smug as well, if she was having what she could only imagine were wild four-way orgies every night with three of the most attractive people on Atlantis. Which Rodney McKay apparently was. And damn, she hadn't felt this depressed about her own lack of love life since she'd overheard some of the nurses gossiping about how Lorne and Zelenka had been found making out in Lab 3.
"But he's been leaving me gifts!" Jen's mind was still stuck on Rodney McKay and his desire to add her to his apparently impressive harem. "Chocolates and journals and--"
Jen's words broke off as Alicia stepped further into her office, the door sliding closed behind her. "Ah," Vega said, "that wasn't him."
Jen wasn't sure if it was the sheepish tone to Alicia's voice or the way the other woman was looking like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole, but whatever it was, Jen's brain finally got with the programme. "You left them."
Alicia nodded.
"Because it's not Rodney that wants to have sex with me."
Alicia's cheeks turned an interesting shade of red. "I was thinking we'd start off a little slower than that," she commented. "Maybe dinner, you know. See how it goes from there."
"I don't put out on the first date." And, hey, Jen really had to learn to control that brain-to-mouth thing she had going on.
Alicia grinned. "Never assumed you did, Doc. But I figure you're worth the effort." She paused for a moment. "You really thought it was McKay?"
Jen nodded, almost embarrassed to admit it.
"Wow," Alicia said, rubbing a hand over the back of her neck. "I'm not sure how I feel about being mistaken for Rodney McKay. Although I think horrified might come close."
Jen couldn't help laughing at the forlorn look on Vega's face. "If it makes you feel any better," she said carefully, "I'm pleased it's you instead of him."
Alicia looked at her, head tilted slightly as she studied the blush slowly making its way up Jen's face. "Pleased enough to have dinner with me tonight?" she asked, tone almost hesitant.
To Jen's surprise she didn't need to think about her answer. "Yeah, sounds good."
"Great." The grin on Alicia's face was blinding. "I'll swing by your quarters at 2000? That should give the mess time to empty out a little."
It also gave Jen time to grab a shower and some clean clothes, and possibly a few hours sleep to make sure she didn't pitch over face first in the dessert. "It's a date."
Alicia's grin widened. "Yeah; yeah, it is." She turned back towards the door, noise from the infirmary spilling into Jen's office as it opened. "I'll see you tonight, then?"
"Alicia," Jen said, waiting until the other woman was facing her, body in the doorway and only half standing in the office. "You know how I said I don't put out on the first date?"
"Yes?"
Jen met Alicia's wary tone with a grin of her own. "Well, bear in mind, I never said anything about the second date."
The door closed on Alicia's laugh and Jen smiled, glancing down at the stack of reports still on her desk and figuring they could wait. After all, she had a date to prepare for.
End.
Author: Claire
Pairing: Jennifer Keller/Alicia Vega, OT4 and Lorne/Zelenka implied
Rating: PG
Summary: In which someone's leaving Jen anonymous gifts and Rodney's apparently getting a lot more sex than anyone imagined...
Author's notes: Originally written for ceitie as part of the 2009 sga_santa
The first time she found something on her desk, Jen didn't think anything of it. After all, it was Valentine's Day back on Earth and boxes of chocolates had been appearing all over Atlantis. Whoever had left them knew her taste, though. Soft salted caramels weren't normally the first thing that sprang to mind when people were buying chocolate, but Jen adored them. She had ever since her mother had introduced her to them back when she was a teenager. Picking up the box, she glanced at the note, but the printed out Be my valentine... was giving nothing away.
Opening the box, Jen picked out a chocolate, popped it in her mouth and bit down, moaning in delight as the caramel washed over her tongue.
"Do you always make sex noises when you're eating chocolate? Because if you do, I can see why the infirmary's so popular."
Jen spun around at the amused tone coming from behind her, half choking as she swallowed the chocolate and caramel.
"Careful there, Doc--" Alicia Vega grinned at her as she leaned against the door.
"'m fine," Jen squeaked, the words coming out as a cough.
Concern crossed Vega's face. "You okay?" she asked, stepping into the room as her hand reached out for Jen's arm. "You don't need the Heimlich, or anything?"
Jen waved the concern away as she grabbed the water bottle off her desk and took a drink. "Seriously, I'm fine," she said.
"If you're sure--" Vega sounded unconvinced.
Jen smiled at her. "Honestly. Now, what can I do for you, Captain?"
Vega paused, looking for an instant like she'd forgotten why she was standing in Jen's office. "Oh, yeah. It's Ali's birthday on Friday. We're throwing her a surprise party and I'm here to ask if you want to come. We were going to e-mail everyone but Ali commented a while ago that she's managed to hack the system to send a copy of every mail that has her name in it to her account." She shrugged. "We think she was kidding, but with Ali, you just can't be sure. So, how about it?"
"I love to," Jen answered. Between the Wraith and the Replicators and the what seemed like every second mission ending in injury, a night off was just what she needed.
Vega grinned. "Excellent. I'll see you on Friday." And then she was gone, leaving Jen alone with her chocolates.
~
The second time Jen received an anonymous gift, she was tired and cursing the citizens of the village near to the Gate on P3X-573 (Gadry, to its friends) for putting so many holes in Lieutenant Castor. Castor's team had meant to be going through on a simple recon mission, but a village of Wraith-worshippers had put paid to that idea and Jen had spent the last five hours in surgery making sure Colonel Sheppard didn't have to write a letter home to the Lieutenant's family. Which meant it took her a while to notice the package sitting on her desk.
When she did spot it, she was half tempted to ignore it. She'd been on her feet for nearly 24 hours and she could already hear her bed calling to her, so she was sure whatever it was could wait until the next day. The problem was, though, Jen was naturally curious and unable to let anything go by. It had been her main fault, according to Mrs Michaels, her kindergarten teacher. Jennifer is always trying to get into places she shouldn't... and Jennifer needs to learn to not be so curious... were pretty much the basis of every report card she'd taken home for two years. Luckily, Jen's mom was of a differing opinion to Mrs Michaels and had encouraged Jen to ask as many questions as she'd wanted to. The upshot being, when Jen was presented with a mystery, she couldn't keep her hands off it.
Tearing away the wrapping around the package, Jen couldn't stop the grin as she found herself holding four issues of JAMA. The grin segued into a confused frown as she noticed the dates on them.
"Keller to Woolsey." Jen spoke quietly, triggering a private channel.
"Woolsey here. What can I do for you, Dr Keller?"
"Mr Woolsey, I thought you said that the Daedalus couldn't bring the medical journals this time." Because they brought the journals from Earth every couple of months, but an explosion in one of the labs on the east pier recently had meant that McKay's request for replacement equipment had taken priority.
"They didn't, Dr Keller. Although, barring any other issues, they should be able to bring them on the next supply run."
"Okay, thanks. Keller out." Which still didn't explain why Jen was holding the latest issues of the journal, including one dated only five days ago. Saying that, along with telling Jen that she should always feel free to ask the questions she wanted to, her mother had also said that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth. (This had then led to Jen spending the entire age of six believing that horses were somehow magical creatures that gave you presents if you were nice to them. She still hadn't told her mom that was the reason she wanted a pony for Christmas that year.)
The problem was, the only person Jen could think of who'd been back to Earth recently was Rodney. Which meant that Rodney must have left the journals. What Jen couldn't work out was why he'd left the journals. And if he had left the journals, did that mean he'd also left her the chocolate on Valentine's Day? Thinking back on it, he had been awfully nice to her recently. It was actually kind of reminiscent of the time she'd Bobby Connors had been trying to ask her out on a date--
Jen paused.
Oh god, she was being courted by Rodney McKay.
She was being courted by Rodney McKay.
Courted.
By Rodney McKay.
Jen, rather reservedly, she thought, didn't whimper.
It wasn't that she didn't like Rodney, she just couldn't see herself in a relationship with someone that, well whiny. And arrogant. That was his problem. He was whiny and arrogant. And sarcastic. Whiny and arrogant and sarcastic. And every time Jen saw him he was with his team. It would be like dating four people instead of one. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, as her mind went to the time she'd walked in on Ronon in the gym, bare chested and kind of sweaty and helping Colonel Sheppard up off the mat as he apologised for being a bit too rough. The Colonel's eyes had flicked to where Jen was standing as he'd flushed bright red. Not that Sheppard had had anything to be embarrassed about; Jen was pretty sure that Ronon managed to beat people at hand-to-hand all the time.
But thinking of Ronon beating down on various people didn't get her away from the fact that Rodney was apparently after her body.
"Doctor Keller?" There was a pause, and then-- "Jen?"
Looking back on it, Jen's sure there are other words she could have said. "Captain Vega, what can I do for you?" or "Do you know if Major Teldy still wants to go over the report for last week's mission to P6S-271?" She could even have said, "Why yes, I have heard the rumours about me and the three male strippers from last shore leave and they're entirely untrue. Well, most of them, anyway..." Instead what came out was, "I think Rodney McKay wants to have sex with me!"
Alicia looked at her, face a mixture of confusion, amusement and more confusion.
"Okay--" Vega strung the word out over far more syllables than Jen felt it really needed. "Although I think McKay's got his hands pretty full already, what with him being kinda close to his team. To his entire team, if you get my drift. And I don't think any of them would be too happy if that's true."
Wait-- what? was Jen's only thought as Vega's words actually penetrated her brain. Rodney was sleeping with Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla? Jen wasn't sure whether to be impressed or jealous. Although it did explain why he'd been looking so smug recently.
Of course, Jen figured she'd be smug as well, if she was having what she could only imagine were wild four-way orgies every night with three of the most attractive people on Atlantis. Which Rodney McKay apparently was. And damn, she hadn't felt this depressed about her own lack of love life since she'd overheard some of the nurses gossiping about how Lorne and Zelenka had been found making out in Lab 3.
"But he's been leaving me gifts!" Jen's mind was still stuck on Rodney McKay and his desire to add her to his apparently impressive harem. "Chocolates and journals and--"
Jen's words broke off as Alicia stepped further into her office, the door sliding closed behind her. "Ah," Vega said, "that wasn't him."
Jen wasn't sure if it was the sheepish tone to Alicia's voice or the way the other woman was looking like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole, but whatever it was, Jen's brain finally got with the programme. "You left them."
Alicia nodded.
"Because it's not Rodney that wants to have sex with me."
Alicia's cheeks turned an interesting shade of red. "I was thinking we'd start off a little slower than that," she commented. "Maybe dinner, you know. See how it goes from there."
"I don't put out on the first date." And, hey, Jen really had to learn to control that brain-to-mouth thing she had going on.
Alicia grinned. "Never assumed you did, Doc. But I figure you're worth the effort." She paused for a moment. "You really thought it was McKay?"
Jen nodded, almost embarrassed to admit it.
"Wow," Alicia said, rubbing a hand over the back of her neck. "I'm not sure how I feel about being mistaken for Rodney McKay. Although I think horrified might come close."
Jen couldn't help laughing at the forlorn look on Vega's face. "If it makes you feel any better," she said carefully, "I'm pleased it's you instead of him."
Alicia looked at her, head tilted slightly as she studied the blush slowly making its way up Jen's face. "Pleased enough to have dinner with me tonight?" she asked, tone almost hesitant.
To Jen's surprise she didn't need to think about her answer. "Yeah, sounds good."
"Great." The grin on Alicia's face was blinding. "I'll swing by your quarters at 2000? That should give the mess time to empty out a little."
It also gave Jen time to grab a shower and some clean clothes, and possibly a few hours sleep to make sure she didn't pitch over face first in the dessert. "It's a date."
Alicia's grin widened. "Yeah; yeah, it is." She turned back towards the door, noise from the infirmary spilling into Jen's office as it opened. "I'll see you tonight, then?"
"Alicia," Jen said, waiting until the other woman was facing her, body in the doorway and only half standing in the office. "You know how I said I don't put out on the first date?"
"Yes?"
Jen met Alicia's wary tone with a grin of her own. "Well, bear in mind, I never said anything about the second date."
The door closed on Alicia's laugh and Jen smiled, glancing down at the stack of reports still on her desk and figuring they could wait. After all, she had a date to prepare for.
End.