Fic: Dispute
Title: Dispute
Author: angelqueen04
Rating: PG
Pairings: Sam/Rodney
Warnings: Spoilers for casting info of Season 4.
Recipient: rolleson
Prompt: Rodney being cocky about saving the city and arguing about how saving the world is better than saving the city.
Author’s Notes: Many thanks to havocthecat for the quick beta she gave this on supremely short notice. I, being a moron, forgot this was due today and hadn't had it betaed. Sorry for the delay. :)
The city of Atlantis was gorgeous, Sam would never dispute that. Her previous visit to the city during the war against the Ori had not left her time to really appreciate the city’s appearance, or its innovative technology. Of course, now that it seemed that she was here for the foreseeable future, Sam had time to take it all in.
Still, there were some drawbacks. Past encounters had proven that Sam being in the same area as Rodney McKay for extended periods of time was generally a bad idea. Two geniuses placed into the same sandbox tended to create more conflict than it resolved, and in their case, it often led to many full-blown fights.
Like now, for instance. Sam’s time was often taken up by the administrative duties of running the expedition, so she had little time to work in the labs. It made her wonder how Doctor Weir ever had time to leave her office. Dealing with squabbling scientists was something she was used to, as was paperwork. Since being made leader of the Atlantis expedition, though, all of that had tripled, and it made her wish that dealing with Bill Lee and his obsession for insane card games was her biggest problem. It beat out listening to people like Malcolm Kavanagh bitch about the lack of appreciation he received. The man was no more popular here than he had been at the SGC. He had clocked more time on the Daedalus than anyone except for the ship’s crew, passing back and forth between Earth and Atlantis.
So when she had time to make a trip to the labs and actually do some of the work she had been trained to do by over a decade of experience, Sam jumped at the chance. It got her out of the control room and away from the office everyone in the city still thought of as Doctor Weir’s. With Rodney in the lab, though, things were never quiet. Within minutes of her arrival, the man just couldn’t resist shooting his mouth off.
“I’m just saying,” he told her for the tenth time, “that if it wasn’t for me and my exceptional brilliance, there wouldn’t be a city or an expedition for you to run.”
Sam sighed and fought the impulse to roll her eyes at him. Rodney, however, took no notice of her impatience and continued his ranting. “People seem to forget that if it had not been a select few, me being chief among them, then Atlantis would either be in the hands of either the Wraith or the Asurans. Or even worse, it would be scrap metal at the bottom of the ocean,” he groused as he stabbed away at the keyboard of his laptop. “I just wish that the IOA would be a little more grateful, instead of constantly demanding more and more technology and oh-so-brilliant plans to destroy whichever villain happens to be terrorizing them that particular week.” He shot a glance at her. “Or sending you down here to harass me about new food growing technology.”
All right, so she didn’t completely disagree with him. The IOA was more of a hindrance than a help. The only time they really seemed to pull their weight was when they assigned monetary support for the various programs like the SGC, Atlantis, or Area 51, and it was that vital function that forced everyone to endure them and their demands for technology in exchange for that monetary support in a long-suffering silence.
Still, Sam was fast reaching her highest tolerance level for Rodney’s ego. She was now intimately familiar with the many instances in which he had rescued the city from utter peril, knowing far more of what he had done then than she had ever wanted to know.
Pursing her lips, Sam asked him, “Really, McKay, is saving the city that huge a deal?”
He whirled his head, staring at her in shock. While he sputtered, Sam continued before he could form any coherent words, grinning inwardly. This could be fun, she thought. “Have you ever helped to maneuver a Goa’uld mothership to crash into another one so that an explosion on one ship will take out both of them? Have you ever sabotaged an Asgard ship to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere? Or how about helping send an asteroid into hyperspace to keep it from completely obliterating the planet?”
“Well, I-”
“All those instances meant saving the world, McKay,” she told him bluntly. “That’s a bit bigger than saving a single Manhattan-sized city, no matter how advanced it is.”
“It’s the same thing,” Rodney insisted.
Sam smirked and shook her head. “Nope, saving the world is much better than saving the city. Bigger square footage, bigger population.”
“They’re still-” he started heatedly. He looked ready to explode into yet another rant when he paused, taking in her amused face, and then stopped. “Ah, you’re mocking me again, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “You left yourself wide open to it.” Sam grinned at him, continuing, “Look, McKay, I still have you beat on the whole saving people thing. That comes with having years of a head start on you. If you want someone to compete with, start by tallying all the times you and Colonel Sheppard have saved the day. See who has done it more.”
Rodney glared at her, but she knew she had won this particular argument. So did he. “Well,” he said finally, “you may have that, but I’ve still done more with Ancient technology than you have. I was here first.”
Sam was willing to concede that. She knew how to pick her battles when it came to arguing with Rodney McKay. Besides, she grinned inwardly, it was so easy to wind him up, he was sure to catch on eventually if she pushed his buttons too often.
“So,” she asked, “what have you found in that new lab on the west pier? Anything newsworthy for the folks back home?”
Rodney was peering at his laptop screen. “The records say something about accelerated food production.” He paused and glanced at her, asking, “Think this stuff might save the world?”
Sam grinned. “Maybe not the way we’re used to, but who knows? If this stuff can be applied to the conditions on Earth, we might be able to use it to help obtain food for regions that need it.” She shrugged. “Not as flashy as a shield around a city or anything, but just as important.” Sam smiled faintly. “Good find, McKay.”
“Thanks, I suppose.” He shrugged and leaned over the table, engrossing himself in the contraption.
Sam leaned in too, settling in to get some work done. Besides, McKay wasn’t that terrible a person to work with. He’d improved since she’d first met him, that was for sure.
Author: angelqueen04
Rating: PG
Pairings: Sam/Rodney
Warnings: Spoilers for casting info of Season 4.
Recipient: rolleson
Prompt: Rodney being cocky about saving the city and arguing about how saving the world is better than saving the city.
Author’s Notes: Many thanks to havocthecat for the quick beta she gave this on supremely short notice. I, being a moron, forgot this was due today and hadn't had it betaed. Sorry for the delay. :)
The city of Atlantis was gorgeous, Sam would never dispute that. Her previous visit to the city during the war against the Ori had not left her time to really appreciate the city’s appearance, or its innovative technology. Of course, now that it seemed that she was here for the foreseeable future, Sam had time to take it all in.
Still, there were some drawbacks. Past encounters had proven that Sam being in the same area as Rodney McKay for extended periods of time was generally a bad idea. Two geniuses placed into the same sandbox tended to create more conflict than it resolved, and in their case, it often led to many full-blown fights.
Like now, for instance. Sam’s time was often taken up by the administrative duties of running the expedition, so she had little time to work in the labs. It made her wonder how Doctor Weir ever had time to leave her office. Dealing with squabbling scientists was something she was used to, as was paperwork. Since being made leader of the Atlantis expedition, though, all of that had tripled, and it made her wish that dealing with Bill Lee and his obsession for insane card games was her biggest problem. It beat out listening to people like Malcolm Kavanagh bitch about the lack of appreciation he received. The man was no more popular here than he had been at the SGC. He had clocked more time on the Daedalus than anyone except for the ship’s crew, passing back and forth between Earth and Atlantis.
So when she had time to make a trip to the labs and actually do some of the work she had been trained to do by over a decade of experience, Sam jumped at the chance. It got her out of the control room and away from the office everyone in the city still thought of as Doctor Weir’s. With Rodney in the lab, though, things were never quiet. Within minutes of her arrival, the man just couldn’t resist shooting his mouth off.
“I’m just saying,” he told her for the tenth time, “that if it wasn’t for me and my exceptional brilliance, there wouldn’t be a city or an expedition for you to run.”
Sam sighed and fought the impulse to roll her eyes at him. Rodney, however, took no notice of her impatience and continued his ranting. “People seem to forget that if it had not been a select few, me being chief among them, then Atlantis would either be in the hands of either the Wraith or the Asurans. Or even worse, it would be scrap metal at the bottom of the ocean,” he groused as he stabbed away at the keyboard of his laptop. “I just wish that the IOA would be a little more grateful, instead of constantly demanding more and more technology and oh-so-brilliant plans to destroy whichever villain happens to be terrorizing them that particular week.” He shot a glance at her. “Or sending you down here to harass me about new food growing technology.”
All right, so she didn’t completely disagree with him. The IOA was more of a hindrance than a help. The only time they really seemed to pull their weight was when they assigned monetary support for the various programs like the SGC, Atlantis, or Area 51, and it was that vital function that forced everyone to endure them and their demands for technology in exchange for that monetary support in a long-suffering silence.
Still, Sam was fast reaching her highest tolerance level for Rodney’s ego. She was now intimately familiar with the many instances in which he had rescued the city from utter peril, knowing far more of what he had done then than she had ever wanted to know.
Pursing her lips, Sam asked him, “Really, McKay, is saving the city that huge a deal?”
He whirled his head, staring at her in shock. While he sputtered, Sam continued before he could form any coherent words, grinning inwardly. This could be fun, she thought. “Have you ever helped to maneuver a Goa’uld mothership to crash into another one so that an explosion on one ship will take out both of them? Have you ever sabotaged an Asgard ship to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere? Or how about helping send an asteroid into hyperspace to keep it from completely obliterating the planet?”
“Well, I-”
“All those instances meant saving the world, McKay,” she told him bluntly. “That’s a bit bigger than saving a single Manhattan-sized city, no matter how advanced it is.”
“It’s the same thing,” Rodney insisted.
Sam smirked and shook her head. “Nope, saving the world is much better than saving the city. Bigger square footage, bigger population.”
“They’re still-” he started heatedly. He looked ready to explode into yet another rant when he paused, taking in her amused face, and then stopped. “Ah, you’re mocking me again, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “You left yourself wide open to it.” Sam grinned at him, continuing, “Look, McKay, I still have you beat on the whole saving people thing. That comes with having years of a head start on you. If you want someone to compete with, start by tallying all the times you and Colonel Sheppard have saved the day. See who has done it more.”
Rodney glared at her, but she knew she had won this particular argument. So did he. “Well,” he said finally, “you may have that, but I’ve still done more with Ancient technology than you have. I was here first.”
Sam was willing to concede that. She knew how to pick her battles when it came to arguing with Rodney McKay. Besides, she grinned inwardly, it was so easy to wind him up, he was sure to catch on eventually if she pushed his buttons too often.
“So,” she asked, “what have you found in that new lab on the west pier? Anything newsworthy for the folks back home?”
Rodney was peering at his laptop screen. “The records say something about accelerated food production.” He paused and glanced at her, asking, “Think this stuff might save the world?”
Sam grinned. “Maybe not the way we’re used to, but who knows? If this stuff can be applied to the conditions on Earth, we might be able to use it to help obtain food for regions that need it.” She shrugged. “Not as flashy as a shield around a city or anything, but just as important.” Sam smiled faintly. “Good find, McKay.”
“Thanks, I suppose.” He shrugged and leaned over the table, engrossing himself in the contraption.
Sam leaned in too, settling in to get some work done. Besides, McKay wasn’t that terrible a person to work with. He’d improved since she’d first met him, that was for sure.