Title: Jealousy Becomes Her (Part 1?)
Prompt: Rodney meets a girl off world and Elizabeth gets jealous - issued by WeirFan (Deb) for the McWeir 2006 Ficathon
Rating: PG-13 (for future chapters)
Pairing: Nothing but hints at this point
A/N: This is so late! Real life strikes again. Mea culpa.

I liked to always be present when any team returned from an off-world mission. It was silly, really, but I liked to see with my own eyes that they were all more or less in one piece. Perhaps it was like saying a number of 'Hail Marys' or 'Our Fathers' after a sin has been committed; it was my way of purging my sins - sending these men and women to an unknown fate day in and day out. I knew guilt was a wasted emotion but that didn't stop me from feeling it.

It was probably nice for the teams to see me with a smile of relief on my face as they stepped through the event horizon. Right up until the moment that they were chastised for being late, losing a puddle jumper, killing a sacred animal, eating forbidden food, or a number of often heard, well rehearsed rants. Such was the price of being the leader of Atlantis.

But when my flagship team emerged from the Stargate, I had no rehearsed reprimands running through my head. Just relief and joy at seeing them whole and returned home safely with a potential ally well in hand.

"How did it go?" I asked.

Colonel Sheppard jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the chief scientist. "Rodney got himself a girlfriend."

I raised my eyebrows. Those were certainly not words that I expected to hear.

Rodney harrumphed loudly in the background. "She's not my girlfriend."

The team all turned identically incredulous gazes on him.

"Are you or are you not going back there for a date this weekend?" John asked.

"Well, sort of. Not exactly." Rodney whirled around to me. "It all has to go through Elizabeth first."

"Your date has to be approved by me?"

Teyla suddenly seemed to find something remarkably interesting on the ceiling, and Ronon's smirk slid perilously close to an honestly amused smile.

Rodney's hand fumbled for his pockets. His body language spoke of nervousness, but I couldn't believe that he would be nervous to tell me that he had a date.

"Yes," he replied then rethought it. "No. Um, in a way."

"Either you do or you don't," John snapped. There were a lot of things John could put up with, but Rodney's sporadic indecisiveness was not one of them.

I frowned. "Go get your checks in the infirmary. We'll debrief in an hour. Rodney, you can explain this all to me then."

Rodney was back in my office in just over fifteen minutes.

I glanced up when he bustled into the office then back at the electronic memo I was reading.

"Where's Carson?" he demanded.

"Passed out in his quarters, I would assume," I replied, rereading the second paragraph for what felt like the tenth time. I couldn't make heads or tails of what the chemists were trying to tell me.

"Slacking on his duties again?"

It wasn't much of a question but more of a disgruntled accusation.

"Actually, he has the flu. You may request that he do your exam, if you would like, but I wouldn't advise it."

Rodney narrowed his eyes and took a step back as though I too might be sick on him at any moment. "Is he contagious?"

I sighed. "I wouldn't know that, but I imagine so."

"Fine, but if I show up at the debriefing missing organs, I expect you to avenge me. Dr. Moreau is on the hunt for victims again," Rodney called over his shoulder as he left.

I had no idea who he was calling Dr. Moreau this time. There were at least five possibilities - doctors who Rodney couldn't stand to be examined by. To be fair, those same doctors hated treating Rodney.

I smiled. Apparently Rodney's new 'girlfriend' (if she was that) hadn't changed his attitude. I wondered if she minded his caustic way with people. We were used to it here on Atlantis - it was endearing and reassuring in its own strange way, but it took some getting used to. It was like stepping into ice cold water; it was painful at first, but you became numb to it in time.

The more I thought about it, the more it began to worry me, though - him becoming involved with a woman off-world. Would he continuously ask for time off to visit her? Eventually want to move off-world? Would she want to come to Atlantis? We couldn't afford to have Rodney distracted. As much as I hated to inflate his ego, he was indispensable to our mission.

I sighed, feeling oddly empty. I wondered when my concern for my people had turned from professional to personal.

"So the leader of the Elorsens insisted that an entourage accompany our scientists, myself included, to the ruins. Nia requested to be among them," Rodney said, gesturing to the vid screen where there was a rough layout of the abandoned city. "It's not really a date. It's just...what it is."

Across the table John rolled his eyes.

I almost said 'Sounds promising' before I realized how that would come across. I certainly didn't want to encourage him. "And you are convinced that these ruins are promising?"

"Well, you know us," John piped up. "Ruins are our specialty."

"They certainly warrant a closer look," Radek added. "There's some indication that the Ancients might have had a post there during the height of their war with the Wraith."

I nodded my consent. "All right. You have twenty-four hours, and I expect regular radio contact."

Around the room there were responding nods, the scrape of table and chairs, and an increase in chatter as everyone filed out.

"Teyla," I called, hoping to talk to her alone.

She was just walking out with John, but glanced back. She gently touched John's arm and murmured something to him. He nodded and exited while Teyla came back and took a seat on one of the tables.

"Can I ask you a question? In confidence?" I asked.

"Of course, Dr. Weir."

"What do you think of this woman Rodney's seeing?"

"I know little about her," Teyla replied. "I was only with her on the planet for a short while but she seemed quite personable, intelligent, and a competent soldier."

This development I hadn't been expecting. "She's a soldier?"

Teyla raised one shoulder in a graceful shrug. "We were as surprised as you."

"I'm sure John and Ronon were in hysterics over that one."

"To say the least." Teyla smiled softly, then said in a hesitant voice, "I don't mean to pry, Elizabeth, but is this entirely about the security of Atlantis?"

I sighed. "I'm just concerned."

"About Atlantis or Rodney?"

"Both."

"My people have dealt with the Elorsens for generations. They, like many others, have their own interests at heart, but they are an honorable people. As for Rodney, I would not worry."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering briefly if she had some information that I was not privy to. "Why?"

"It is only the beginning of what may or may not turn out to be a relationship. This may be only an infatuation that goes no further than this weekend."

I nodded in understanding. "I'm getting a little ahead of myself, aren't I?"

"Just a little." Teyla slipped off the table with a polite tip of her head. She walked toward the door but turned before she was quite out. "It is understandable, though."

"It is?"

She smiled - a mischievous smile that I didn't often see. "Yes. I too get jealous when other women show an interest in John," she said and slipped out before I could get in another word.