McKay's Day

I hope this works. I wanted to present McKay in a couple of different lights. First is his egocentric attitude, which I think is an integral part of the character. The second is a deeper, more thoughtful and caring McKay, which I have put forth in a couple of other stand alone stories. As a result you have some sections of this reading very rapidly in tone since I am capturing the frenetic, egocentric mind at work, and then you have sections where it is easy and thoughtful where he calms down and has some deep thoughts and issues. Hope you enjoy it. Chapter 2 should be posted in a couple of days.

Disclaimer: I don't own or have a share in the profits from these characters or the franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

0400 Hours, Quarters of Dr. Rodney McKay, City of Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy

Rodney McKay was bouncing off the walls. This was going to be an absolutely awesome day! First he was going to get to once again show that he was the most brilliant scientist of them all. Radek had once again screwed up, as Rodney had known he would, and had called in the go to man for the save. Then Sam had told him to report to her on his amazing new discovery of a method to produce ZPM's of their own right here on Atlantis. Now that was sure to cement his reputation! The rest of the morning was going to be spent with General Jack O'Neill fishing. Major score! The man actually liked him! Not that Rodney could imagine why he wouldn't, but for some reason O'Neill had always seemed a bit angry whenever Rodney would come to the SGC. Oh well, the man liked him now and was actually becoming a regular fishing partner. The rest of the day after that would take care of itself.

Now, though, he was hungry. Jennifer had stopped by the night before and muttered something about 'performance anxiety', then had proceeded to seduce him! Oh my God! That was awesome! She had even called him her little energizer bunny! Wait a minute. Was that an insult? Was she attacking 'The Rocket?' No! She couldn't be! If she was then why would she have come on to him like she did? Four times! But that much hot sex was draining! Had he ever been this hungry? He couldn't remember. Oh well, that wasn't important. What was was getting some food in his stomach. He rummaged around his massive footlocker which he kept his snacks in and pulled out a few energy bars and some fudge bars. That should tide him over until his pre-breakfast snack of three chocolate bars. Being a Love God was tough work! Maybe Jennifer would be interested in a little get together before lunch? They were serving meatloaf and he loved that. If he worked up enough hunger he could gorge for a while and have the perfect excuse to eat more than the usual allotment. That would work. He made a mental note to let Jennifer know that the energizer bunny was ready for action soon. Little, huh? Maybe he should suggest she get an eye exam. 'The Rocket' was definitely not little!

Let's see. Tablet? Check. Snack bag? Check and double check. Priorities had to be maintained, after all. Mouthwash and deodorant to prepare for rendezvous with Jennifer? Check. There was no way she could say no. Not with 'The Rocket' ready and waiting for her. She had her priorities straight, too, thank God! Three condoms since he had a good twenty minutes with her? Check. Hmm. Maybe he should add a fourth one. Twenty minutes sure was a long time, after all. Nah. He could stretch it out. He wasn't a wimp like Sheppard. The man has a gorgeous woman on the way for God knows what sinful delights and the man falls asleep! The last two days since that had happened had been a major source of payback for Rodney since he could finally give Sheppard shit and John couldn't do anything about it! Perhaps a sympathy card for his friend letting him know that there were always little blue pills to help deal with his problem? Definitely!

Okay, where were we? Oh yeah. The rest of his supplies. Clean t-shirt and underwear? Check. He needed to be fresh and clean for when Jennifer arrived. And last, but not least, his communications ear piece. Putting that firmly in place, he walked out the door. Life was great! This day was going to be great!

0745 Hours, Dr. Rodney McKay's Lab, City of Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy

Now this was not going as Rodney had planned. Radek, of course, had needed all the help he could get. That was no surprise. But then his meeting with Sam had been a disaster! She didn't want to bask in his brilliance at all. Instead she ripped him a new one! As if he would actually offer a lot of food to the General when they were fishing. He knew the man was on a diet. But a little snack surely couldn't hurt anyone, could it? Nah. But Sam was convinced he was going to kill the General anyway and had ripped him to shreds. Now this was a dilemma. The General was expecting some food and let it be known that these snacks were real lifesavers. How could Rodney argue with that? He was saving a life here, wasn't he? But Sam, on the other hand had warned him that he would be spending time in combat training with Ronon if he didn't shape up. Fuck! Either piss off the one person that should not be pissed off under any circumstances, or piss off Sam and spend time recovering from a serious set of ass kickings from Ronon. Sighing, he knew what he had to do and he packed his cooler with all sorts of goodies.

But that wasn't all. He'd called Jennifer and let her know that 'The Rocket' was interested in a little mid day frolic and she'd actually said she was too busy for anything like that. Maybe tonight? No. Girl's night had been planned and organized for her, Sam, Vala, and Teyla at her place. Well this just sucked! It seemed that he would have to take care of 'The Rocket' himself. God, how humiliating! O'Neill was old, so he had a good excuse for his lack of sex. Unlike him, Rodney was in his prime and a stud raring to go. He'd die if he didn't get some now that he had it on a fairly regular basis.

"O'Neill to McKay," came General O'Neill's voice after his ear piece clicked.

"McKay here," he answered with a definite mope in his voice.

"Hurry up and get down here," O'Neill ordered. "You're missing out on all the good fishing."

"I'll be right there," Rodney said instantly, then clicked off the comm. He hurried into his fishing outfit and grabbed his pole. Then he put the cooler on a cart and wheeled it ahead of him as he went to the Fishing Balcony. This should help. He could spend time with a friend. Yep. That would make the day go by faster. A morning chilling with General Jack O'Neill and snacking to their hearts content. He just hoped Sam didn't catch them with the goodies he was bringing along. That would not improve his day. It would destroy it.

0930 Hours, Fishing Balcony, City of Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy

Rodney was sitting on the balcony with a sandwich in his hand and his pole in the other. Like it always was when he went fishing with the General it was quiet. He had been amazed that the General enjoyed the peace and quiet that Rodney himself liked when fishing. Of course he knew it had to be for different reasons, but still, it was one more reason he and the General were such good friends now. Rodney used this time fishing to think about Carson and how he had died. Rodney felt bad about not having wanted to go fishing with Carson that day, and the fact that he enjoyed the activity now made him feel even more guilty. He'd never felt like this before in his life, but for the last year he had felt nothing but.

"How do you do it?" he asked General O'Neill. His voice was a bit tight and didn't have any of the frenetic quality it usually had.

Jack turned his head and looked at the other man. Part of the reason he was enjoying fishing with McKay was because the man really got it. The quiet and peace was perfect to deal with the demons that were always there. Whether you caught something or not didn't matter.

"How do I do what?" he asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. McKay had been a good guy on these outings, so he was willing to grant him a little leeway.

"Get past losing good people," McKay clarified. He hoped the General didn't get upset or offended.

Jack sat in his wheel chair in shock. That was the last question he would have expected. But he also knew what may be prompting it. He'd read the reports from various sources about McKay's reaction to the tragic loss of Dr. Beckett the year before. This was not a subject he ever really felt comfortable with, and he especially didn't want to be talking about grief with this ego-maniac, regardless of how much Jack owed the man after what he did in saving Sam from in that mine a few months back. McKay deserved an answer, though. The question was an honest one.

"I don't know if I ever really have, McKay," he replied after what he thought was a reasonable amount of time thinking of how best to reply. "I guess part of how I deal with it is the fact that I know that when it comes to the kind of work I do, good people die at times. It's inevitable. The question for me is, did they die with honor."

"Carson did," McKay offered.

"Yes, he did," Jack agreed. Damn. This was definitely messing up his fishing this morning, but McKay obviously wanted someone to talk to about this.

"I miss him," Rodney admitted. He'd almost never in his life admitted to needing anyone, but he needed his friend who was no longer around. It was like an open wound and his guilt was preventing it from healing at all. He had Sheppard, Ronon, and Teyla of course, but it wasn't the same. They were teammates and family. Carson had been a real buddy. That was different somehow, at least to Rodney.

"The good ones are always missed," Jack replied, thinking of Kowalski and a number of others he had commanded over the years who had been friends and had died in the line of duty. He was also thinking of Charlie and how the pain of his son's loss had dulled, but never healed. He looked over at McKay and chuckled. "I think you're doing pretty good as it is, McKay," he told the younger man who he still couldn't stand for any serious length of time.

"Really?" Rodney asked, surprised at the comment. He thought he was being some kind of wimp or something.

"Better than I've ever done," Jack told him. "You're at least willing to talk about it. I rarely am."

"I..." Rodney started, then stopped. He decided to forge ahead, though. For some reason the General's simple comments which ran the space of a couple of minutes had actually helped. "I'd be willing to listen," he offered.

Jack looked at McKay in wonder. The ego-maniac was really surprising him this morning. He thought about the offer and looked carefully for any signs of bullshit on McKay's part and found none. Then Jack put down his fishing pole. "Hand me a sandwich and a beer, McKay," he ordered in a halfway pleasant tone. "And if you let on to anyone what I'm about to say, I'll rip your nuts off and make you a permanent eunuch."

Rodney gulped as he took out the asked for items and handed them over. He was definitely going to keep his mouth shut! There was no way he was going to let any harm come to 'The Rocket' and 'The Boys.' He was also smart enough to know that the General had paid him a huge compliment by deciding to talk with him about some of his demons. Rodney was beginning to think that these mornings when he left his ego at the door were very worthwhile. Maybe he could convince Sam to let him have more than two mornings a week off? He was after all a genius. Half a day of his brilliance equaled two or three days from the mental midgets he was surrounded by. Now if only he could convince Jennifer to pay a visit to 'The Rocket' before the Girls Night began. He'd have to think about how best to approach her. For now, though, he sat back, grabbed his pole, and listened to Jack as the older man began talking about his son.