Sometimes It's All You Need
Title: Sometimes It's All You Need (omg the lamest title ever! I'm open to suggestions lol)
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG-1
Characters: McKay, Carter
Notes: This is horrible really lol, but I wrote this just because I had to. Now granted, I feel two ways about this whole thing as in, I really feel like Sam would never talk about this or I like to think maybe she would for some reason. Does that make sense?
Big thanks to domtheknight for my beta as she is okay with spoilers, yay! And also to wolfsavard for, as usual, reading whatever I send her. :-)
Sam entered the vacant lab, setting a cup of coffee down next to the lone occupant pounding away at his laptop keyboard. He grabbed the drink without even looking at it and inhaled the liquid as fast as physically possible. "So, if you drink enough each day, does your tongue just become numb to the burning sensation?" she asked, taking a cautious sip from her own cup.
Rodney smirked. "Funny. Very funny." He looked past the computer screen as she sat across from him. "Did you need something...?"
"I brought you coffee," she replied. "No gratitude, McKay?"
"Oh. Oh, yes, well, thank you. I'm just... you know, I've been busy lately. Always busy actually."
She nodded and continued to watch him work. It'd been weeks since that preemptive strike against the Pegasus Galaxy Replicators, but Atlantis was still recovering, both physically and emotionally. The science team had been working furiously to repair what they could when Sam arrived, and she helped as much as possible. Of course, then there was the confusion she had to set straight about not trying to step on toes. Despite what anyone thought when they saw her around the city, she didn't want to be the head of the Science staff. The Pegasus Galaxy was his, just as the Milky Way was hers.
The tapping of keys stopped as Rodney shut the laptop and tilted his head to look at her. "What?"
"What what?"
"You're just staring at me," he said with a smirk.
"I am not."
"Oh, you so are."
"I don't know what you're talking about, McKay."
"Hmm, right. I realize things have been a bit strained around here with everything going on." He waved his hand around. "You don't argue with me over how wrong I am, you bring me coffee, and now you're just watching me. It's weird, okay?"
"You want me to fight with you?"
"Well, no, but I... am I dying? Is that why you're here? Oh God, I'm dying from something and no one wants to tell me, so they sent you to be nice to me until it happens and then when I'm gone you're going to be Chief Science Officer."
"Stop. Just stop." Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "McKay, you're fine. I just..." She took another sip of coffee. "Look, I don't know if you read the file last year about my work with Merlin's device." He nodded. "Well, there was an incident."
"The alternate reality? Yeah, I read all about it. Too bad you didn't get to meet yourself."
"I've done that already, more than once actually. But there were some things that weren't in the report."
"You lied?"
"I didn't lie. I left out some irrelevant information."
"And...?"
"When I was there, I met you. The you of that universe, I mean. And you...he helped me get back. So, inadvertently, thanks."
"Oh, I see. Did Sheppard put you up to this?" He pointed at her with a smile. "He still bothers me about my too-cool doppelganger."
Sam rolled her eyes. "No one put me up to anything. You know what, never mind, McKay." She stood and took a few steps towards the door before Rodney was suddenly in front of her, looking somewhat flustered.
"I-wait. What was I like?"
"Pretty similar, except you were a dot com millionaire and not working for the Stargate program. But then, that reality never found Atlantis, so there was one huge part of our world missing." She paused before adding, "You had glasses."
"Really?" Of course Rodney was far more amused by the fact that his double had glasses than by his career. He shuffled back to his work table. "I wasn't with the SGC, but you found me to help you."
"I figured since you had dealt with the Inter-Universal Bridge here, then he would know what to do there. It seemed logical."
"Oh, yes, of course. Logical. He must have been surprised to have an Air Force Colonel show up asking for help with Astrophysics."
She flushed slightly and looked down. "Erm, sort of." She glanced at him as he frowned in thought. She could practically see the wheels turning as he tried to figure out what she still wasn't telling him. This pensive McKay was the one she enjoyed working with; brilliant and not completely obnoxious. There was no doubt that he'd changed a lot since their first meeting back when Teal'c was trapped in the 'gate buffer. For a moment she heard the alternate Lorne's voice in her head. Sam always said there was a side of him that no one else saw.
"They, um, they'd been married."
Rodney's head snapped toward her. "What?" he squeaked.
"That was kind of my reaction. I mean, divorced, too." She shrugged. "My showing up was a little more than a surprise considering I wasn't her, and I had to tell him what happened to her. Seeing that look on his--your--face was sad." He nodded in understanding, but said nothing. "Aren't you going to say anything, McKay? Some sort of remark about how this means something?"
"What? No, no. I-I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"Why did we--they--split up?"
"They both worked too much and never saw each other since they weren't both at the SGC. He said it just got too strained."
"Makes sense. Hearing about these other lives that we all could have had is kind of depressing, don't you think?"
"Maybe. But you're getting on better with Jeannie now, right? Since that whole debacle anyway."
"Yeah, we talk now, and that's more than I could have said a year ago." He smirked. "I guess some things are fixable then."
"Exactly," she replied with a smile. "And you know, sometimes for the change to happen, you just need that different point of view to see just what it'd be like."
"So..."
"So?"
"So does this mean you'd want to go out sometime? I mean-" He stopped suddenly and began backtracking. "No, of course you're kidding. That'd be too easy. Things aren't easy in the Pegasus Galaxy. Everyone's trying to kill me or the city is under attack by something or other. Besides, how can you go out when there's so much to do, and there aren't exactly a lot of places out here."
"Rodney." Sam moved to face him, hand on his shoulder, and his rambling stopped. "You're right, everything out here is ridiculously complicated. For once just let something be simple, okay?"
"Oh, okay. Um, Sam, do you want to get dinner?"
"No." His face fell and Sam took his hand, pulling him out of the lab. "But considering you've been up all night working, breakfast would be good."
Rodney pointed with his free hand and smiled. "Right."
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG-1
Characters: McKay, Carter
Notes: This is horrible really lol, but I wrote this just because I had to. Now granted, I feel two ways about this whole thing as in, I really feel like Sam would never talk about this or I like to think maybe she would for some reason. Does that make sense?
Big thanks to domtheknight for my beta as she is okay with spoilers, yay! And also to wolfsavard for, as usual, reading whatever I send her. :-)
Sam entered the vacant lab, setting a cup of coffee down next to the lone occupant pounding away at his laptop keyboard. He grabbed the drink without even looking at it and inhaled the liquid as fast as physically possible. "So, if you drink enough each day, does your tongue just become numb to the burning sensation?" she asked, taking a cautious sip from her own cup.
Rodney smirked. "Funny. Very funny." He looked past the computer screen as she sat across from him. "Did you need something...?"
"I brought you coffee," she replied. "No gratitude, McKay?"
"Oh. Oh, yes, well, thank you. I'm just... you know, I've been busy lately. Always busy actually."
She nodded and continued to watch him work. It'd been weeks since that preemptive strike against the Pegasus Galaxy Replicators, but Atlantis was still recovering, both physically and emotionally. The science team had been working furiously to repair what they could when Sam arrived, and she helped as much as possible. Of course, then there was the confusion she had to set straight about not trying to step on toes. Despite what anyone thought when they saw her around the city, she didn't want to be the head of the Science staff. The Pegasus Galaxy was his, just as the Milky Way was hers.
The tapping of keys stopped as Rodney shut the laptop and tilted his head to look at her. "What?"
"What what?"
"You're just staring at me," he said with a smirk.
"I am not."
"Oh, you so are."
"I don't know what you're talking about, McKay."
"Hmm, right. I realize things have been a bit strained around here with everything going on." He waved his hand around. "You don't argue with me over how wrong I am, you bring me coffee, and now you're just watching me. It's weird, okay?"
"You want me to fight with you?"
"Well, no, but I... am I dying? Is that why you're here? Oh God, I'm dying from something and no one wants to tell me, so they sent you to be nice to me until it happens and then when I'm gone you're going to be Chief Science Officer."
"Stop. Just stop." Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "McKay, you're fine. I just..." She took another sip of coffee. "Look, I don't know if you read the file last year about my work with Merlin's device." He nodded. "Well, there was an incident."
"The alternate reality? Yeah, I read all about it. Too bad you didn't get to meet yourself."
"I've done that already, more than once actually. But there were some things that weren't in the report."
"You lied?"
"I didn't lie. I left out some irrelevant information."
"And...?"
"When I was there, I met you. The you of that universe, I mean. And you...he helped me get back. So, inadvertently, thanks."
"Oh, I see. Did Sheppard put you up to this?" He pointed at her with a smile. "He still bothers me about my too-cool doppelganger."
Sam rolled her eyes. "No one put me up to anything. You know what, never mind, McKay." She stood and took a few steps towards the door before Rodney was suddenly in front of her, looking somewhat flustered.
"I-wait. What was I like?"
"Pretty similar, except you were a dot com millionaire and not working for the Stargate program. But then, that reality never found Atlantis, so there was one huge part of our world missing." She paused before adding, "You had glasses."
"Really?" Of course Rodney was far more amused by the fact that his double had glasses than by his career. He shuffled back to his work table. "I wasn't with the SGC, but you found me to help you."
"I figured since you had dealt with the Inter-Universal Bridge here, then he would know what to do there. It seemed logical."
"Oh, yes, of course. Logical. He must have been surprised to have an Air Force Colonel show up asking for help with Astrophysics."
She flushed slightly and looked down. "Erm, sort of." She glanced at him as he frowned in thought. She could practically see the wheels turning as he tried to figure out what she still wasn't telling him. This pensive McKay was the one she enjoyed working with; brilliant and not completely obnoxious. There was no doubt that he'd changed a lot since their first meeting back when Teal'c was trapped in the 'gate buffer. For a moment she heard the alternate Lorne's voice in her head. Sam always said there was a side of him that no one else saw.
"They, um, they'd been married."
Rodney's head snapped toward her. "What?" he squeaked.
"That was kind of my reaction. I mean, divorced, too." She shrugged. "My showing up was a little more than a surprise considering I wasn't her, and I had to tell him what happened to her. Seeing that look on his--your--face was sad." He nodded in understanding, but said nothing. "Aren't you going to say anything, McKay? Some sort of remark about how this means something?"
"What? No, no. I-I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"Why did we--they--split up?"
"They both worked too much and never saw each other since they weren't both at the SGC. He said it just got too strained."
"Makes sense. Hearing about these other lives that we all could have had is kind of depressing, don't you think?"
"Maybe. But you're getting on better with Jeannie now, right? Since that whole debacle anyway."
"Yeah, we talk now, and that's more than I could have said a year ago." He smirked. "I guess some things are fixable then."
"Exactly," she replied with a smile. "And you know, sometimes for the change to happen, you just need that different point of view to see just what it'd be like."
"So..."
"So?"
"So does this mean you'd want to go out sometime? I mean-" He stopped suddenly and began backtracking. "No, of course you're kidding. That'd be too easy. Things aren't easy in the Pegasus Galaxy. Everyone's trying to kill me or the city is under attack by something or other. Besides, how can you go out when there's so much to do, and there aren't exactly a lot of places out here."
"Rodney." Sam moved to face him, hand on his shoulder, and his rambling stopped. "You're right, everything out here is ridiculously complicated. For once just let something be simple, okay?"
"Oh, okay. Um, Sam, do you want to get dinner?"
"No." His face fell and Sam took his hand, pulling him out of the lab. "But considering you've been up all night working, breakfast would be good."
Rodney pointed with his free hand and smiled. "Right."