A/N: This is my first fanfic so it would be nice to hear some feedback.
It takes place after "The Long Goodbye" only because it was inspired by a discussion at the beginning of the episode. This is a John/Rodney FRIENDSHIP fic. A plot bunny attacked me when I was reading the transcript of "The Long Goodbye" and I had to write it…even though I have three other story ideas that I have yet to put into words…I will get to those as soon as I can lay them out clearly in my mind.
I hope you all enjoy this little one shot. On with the story…
"I knew I had seen you before" John Sheppard said as he ran to catch up with Rodney McKay who was walking quickly down the halls of Atlantis on the way to his lab.
"What are you talking about?" Rodney replied, obviously annoyed with the Colonel for interrupting him in his thoughts. He could have been thinking through some crucial information regarding the safety of everyone living in the floating city. As it turns out, he was thinking about what he was going to have for lunch and desert, but it was still important.
"When I first saw you in Antarctica, I knew you looked very familiar. But I couldn't quite think of why" John explained. "I finally realized that I had definitely seen you before."
"Well you've obviously seen my name and pictures many times in the newspapers when looking for the sports section. I have been in numerous articles regarding scientific breakthroughs I have made." Rodney stated this proudly glad that his work had been recognized and noticed.
"Nope," John replied grinning. "I don't think I've ever seen you in the news. This is even better," he said excitedly as he held up a tape. "Come on, I'll show you what I mean."
"Look, I have much better things to be doing with my time than watching old tapes," McKay said quickly. However, he was curious to know what could possibly be on the tape in Sheppard's hand. He wracked his brain trying to figure out when he had been on television.
John ignored him and grabbed the protesting scientist's arm, effectively pulling him towards the rec room.
"I do have very important experiments to get back to you know," Rodney protested pulling his arm away.
"Zelenka can handle things in the lab, I want to show you this video. It took me a while to find it in my stuff I have stored back on Earth. So you're going to watch it whether you like it or not," the Colonel explained grabbing the doctor's arm once again and once again dragging him off to the nearest VCR on Atlantis.
It had taken him a while to find that tape. He knew what he was looking for, but he had so many episodes of the show on tape that he had to watch the beginnings of all of them to find the right one. It was just his luck that the one he was looking for was the last one in the box.
"What is so important about this video that you have to sacrifice everyone's safety so I can watch it, hmm?" McKay crossed his arms and refused to budge until he got an explanation.
"Right, the decision of whether to have the red or blue jello for desert after lunch is so important to the safety of everybody living here. And don't try and say that that's not what you were thinking about," John said as Rodney started to open his mouth again. "Fine, I guess I owe you an explanation. Remember when we were telling Teyla and Ronon about the joys of television?" Sheppard asked. McKay nodded so Sheppard continued. "Well after you mentioned Jeopardy it hit me like a stunner shot to the head. That's where I had seen you before! I have a lot of the episodes on tape and I found the one you were on."
Rodney just stared at John in complete surprise. This could have been due to the fact that John would remember him being on an episode of Jeopardy when it was over fifteen years ago, or the fact that John actually watched the show and taped episodes of it. When he finally realized what was on the tape he got excited.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go watch the show," Rodney said eagerly, grabbing the Colonel's arm and dragging him into the rec room. He grabbed the tape from his team leader's hands and shoved it into the VCR. They both sat down as Rodney hit the play button on the remote. He remembered being on the show and he remembered his opponent beating him by answering a math related question faster than Rodney could figure it out and hit the buzzer. He wanted to see it again so he could figure out where he went wrong.
The opening music played and Alex Trebek made his entrance. The camera panned over the contestants and he saw himself standing on the left looking proud to be on the show. McKay's jaw dropped when the camera panned over the contestant on the far right, the one who had beaten him so long ago. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. He looked at Sheppard who was looking at him and grinning manically.
"I told you I had seen you before," John said, continuing to grin like a Cheshire cat.
Rodney looked back at the screen, a look of horror on his face. There was no mistaking the hair, dark and messy, as if a rat was using it for a nest.
Alex Trebek's voice seemed to echo in the room as he introduced the contestants from left to right.
"Rodney McKay, Kaylee Lupin, and our Champion John Sheppard"
That's the time Rodney McKay, Chief Scientist on Atlantis, "passed out" from shock.