Disclaimer: I don't own 'em
Pairing: McWeir
Spoilers: None
Season: Eh…either one really
Archive: Of course
The Ring
Rodney felt a wave of relief wash over him as he found the small circle made of material similar to gold, and sighed. He quickly fished it out of the pocket of his trousers, carefully avoiding the stares of the soldier who was on laundry duty, and walked out of the room with his head held high. If Sheppard ever found out he had lost the thing… but that wasn't going to happen, because he had found it. And this time, he was going to make certain it was safe. He wasn't going to let it out of his sight.
As soon as the thought entered his mind, someone bumped into him from behind, causing the ring to slip from his fingers and roll down the hallway.
Letting out a sharp curse, and not bothering to see whom it was that had run into him, he took off after the golden glint, dodging people and nearly knocking several over in his haste.
Why did Sheppard have to go and propose to Teyla? More importantly, why did he have to go and make me his best man? Rodney thought, his chest beginning to ache from all the exertion. The ring had quit rolling, but as soon as he reached down to pick it up, someone would kick it a little farther away. This continued on for some time, and Rodney had a feeling the people were doing this on purpose, just to get a cheap laugh.
Finally, he stood up and shouted, "Nobody move!"
Everyone froze in their tracks, some with fearful expressions on their faces, as if they thought something terrible had happened. However, when Rodney picked the golden ring up and held it triumphantly for everyone to see, they all made disgusted noises and gave him dirty looks.
He didn't care. He had the ring, and he wasn't about to let anything bother him until he had it someplace safe, where he would keep it until the day of the wedding. Grinning, he pocketed the ring and sauntered to the transporter so as to make it to his quarters quicker.
When he reached his inner sanctum, he reached into his pocket to extract the ring, and found—to his dismay—nothing but a hole. "Oh come on!"
Sheppard was going to murder him.
With a groan, he left his quarters and traced his steps back to the transporter. No ring. There wasn't one in the transporter, or outside in the corridor he had taken earlier, either. It had disappeared completely.
Sheppard wasn't just going to murder him; he was going to torture him slowly before killing him.
Rodney fell back against the wall and put his head in his hands, wondering yet again why John had ever entrusted him with such a thing. Didn't he know scientists were terrible about organizing personal effects?
"I need some coffee," he muttered aloud, "maybe then I'll be able to think about this logically."
It wasn't much, as far as plans went, but it had the effect of getting his feet to move him towards the commissary, where he would drink as much coffee as it took for him to come up with something. Either he'd be able to figure out where the ring was, since it was physically impossible for it to actually disappear, or he'd come up with a good excuse for why he didn't have it any longer.
He hoped it was the former, because he had a feeling no excuse, no matter how good, was going to get him out of trouble for that one.
Two hours later, Rodney stood in front of the Stargate, waiting with the rest of the team and afraid for his life. Not because they were about to go to an unknown planet with unknown inhabitants—which was fear inducing in itself—but because he was going to have to tell the major he had lost the ring.
"Rodney?"
He turned at Elizabeth's questioning tone, and blinked as she gestured for him to join her away from the others. He supposed his worry was written on his face, and he'd have to tell her the whole story as well. Shame filled him at the prospect. Here he was, finally given something important, really important. And what did he do? He screwed up, that's what he did.
"I saw you drop this earlier, sorry I bumped into you. And then I found it in the hallway."
Rodney blinked as he stared at the small golden object she held up, "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you…you're a life saver!" As he finished speaking, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly on the lips.
It was a moment that seemed to last forever, and was interrupted only when a couple of the soldiers and Sheppard gave whistles and catcalls.
Stepping away from her, Rodney gave an embarrassed cough. "Uh, you'd probably better keep it until I get back."
And with that, he turned back towards the stargate, a huge smile on his face.
The End
Whooo…more fluffy nonsense. Well, hope you like it.