Title: Publication
Author: CptnSuz
Chapter Rating: K
Chapter Summary: Short fic: If all of Rodney's work is classified, how happy would he be to finally have an article published again? Read and find out! No spoilers really. Mild Lorne/Novak.
Disclaimer: I make no claims of ownership on Stargate Atlantis or its characters. No infringements intended.
Seeing Dr. Novak's brown ponytail turning the corner below him, Major Lorne took the final flight of stairs three at a time to catch up.
"Hey!" he called cheerfully after Lindsey.
She turned and graced him with the same shy smile that came up any time she was with him.
"I went looking for you on the Daedalus but you weren't there…"
"Yeah, I wanted to drop this off to McKay before we met for dinner." Lindsey waved some stapled papers in the air.
"A magazine?"
"Scientific journal. Apparently he's been dying to get his hands on a hard copy…"
"And you're thinking you can notch up a favor for down-the-road?" Evan grinned.
"Yes," Lindsey grinned back.
"You are too clever," he replied, swinging his arm around her shoulder. "Shall we go pay a visit to the mad scientist?
"Doctor McKay?" Lindsey shouted above the din of the laboratory.
"What the heck are they doing?" Lorne asked quietly. Sparks were flying, people were cursing and carrying large chucks of metal about the room, some of it looked Lantean, some of it looked Wraith. "It looks like my high school shop class."
Lindsey reached out and snagged Dr. Zelenka by the arm as he rushed past. Evan wouldn't have recognized him at all in all the welding attire. "Where's Dr. McKay?" she shouted. Zelenka gestured, cursing away in Czech and stalked off.
Timidly they approached the blue-shirted scientist hunched over his work bench.
"Doctor McKay?"
"What now?!" Rodney swung around wildly with soldering iron in hand. Evan barely managed to grab Lindsey and physically yank her back a few feet before the blistering hot metal made contact. Seemingly unphased, she held up the journal in both hands.
"I heard perhaps you wanted to see this…"
Instantly Rodney threw off his goggles and face mask. The soldering iron flew off as well, making Evan involuntarily flinch. The scientist grabbed the papers and stared at them with his goggle-induced raccoon-eyes. Then he laughed and looked up with a huge grin on his face.
Before either anyone could react, Rodney had caught Lindsey up in a giant bear hug which she quickly extricated herself from. He hopped up and down like an excited schoolboy. "They printed it! They printed it! My name is first and not Carter's!" he chanted cheerfully.
"You're welcome!" Evan shouted on Lindsey's behalf as the delighted scientist pranced away to show off his latest publication.
Once again strolling through the corridors to the mess, Evan asked, "So how big a favor was that worth?"
"Oh, it depends on how long it has been since he last had an article printed."
"Lindsey, I do believe you are being coy!"
"They are my brownie points, Evan."
"I'm just curious! So how long has it been?"
"Judging from the hug? I would say a very, very, very long time."