Repost because I forgot to include the disclaimer the first time. Whoops.
I do not own Stargate Atlantis, I just wish I did.
As usual, un-betaed because I don't have one. Feel free to point out comma splices 'til your heart's content.
Takes place anytime during Season 2.
He really shouldn't find this funny. Really. But there's something about Rodney McKay being sick over the side of an Atlantean boat that is, well….funny. But he's not laughing. He's not even cracking a smile. Dr. Watson, on the other hand has been grinning like the cat that got the cream since McKay first declared that he wasn't feeling so well.
"You gonna be okay there, Doc?"
"I'm fine -blegh- Major. Just peachy. Just fu-oh god, not again -blegh-"
He turns away as Dr. McKay expels the last of his mid-morning powerbar into the ocean while Dr. Watson pats him on the back. It would have been kind of sweet if it weren't for the sadistic smile on her face.
"Rodney, if you knew you were going to get sea-sick, why did you come? It's not like you're really needed out here."
"Lost-heave- a bet."
This gets him a raised eyebrow, even if he can't see it. "Really." It's not a question. "And did you lose a bet too, Major?"
He gives her a smile worthy of John "Kirk" Sheppard himself. "No ma'am. I volunteered." Before he knew that McKay was going to be the obligatory man on the boat while they're diving, but he's not going to tell her that. Helping Dr. Kathrina Watson with her reef research is easily the best job he's ever had. No Wraith, no Genii, just the sun, the sea, and a PhD that looks really good in a wet suit. He's not going to tell her about that last part either; he wants his manhood to remain intact, thank you very much.
"Well, that's good to know." She turns back to McKay and grips his shoulder. "Hey, Rodney, just try not to be sick while we're diving, okay? Because that would be really nasty."
Rodney finally manages to pull away from the side to glare at her. "Watson, I have seen and smelled some of the things you people cut up in your labs, and this doesn't even come close."
"Yes, there really is nothing like the smell of formaldehyde and dead fish first thing in the morning, is there?" she supplies cheerfully.
Lorne hopes he didn't hear her right, but judging by the look on McKay's face before he leans over the side again, he did.
Well, at least there's still the wetsuit.
-----
It turns out to be a good day for them. He managed to take twenty pictures of animals they have never seen before and she collected nearly as many samples. She was stung by an octopus like creature and after a three-minute schpeel about cnidocytes, nematocysts, and cephalopods, he's deduced that she's in no danger of dropping dead. Something about venom toxicity being related to size, but he stopped following after "This is interesting…"
McKay stares balefully at the offending creature in the plastic container next to him. Dr. Watson names it Pinky.
-----
It isn't until after their fourth trip out that he realizes that she talks to herself while she works. Since then, he's made it a point to listen to what she's mumbling about, because more often that not, it's kind of funny and endearing. When she finds out he's listening to her, she gives him a dirty look and moves her things to the stern.
-----
Dr. Beckett is accompanying them this time. He's surprisingly comfortable out here, but he declines Dr. Watson's offer of piloting the vessel. It's very much like flying a jumper, but the physician doesn't think it's a very good idea. She's driving today, and Lorne is feeling a little proud that she caught on so fast. Convincing Colonel Sheppard that she was proficient enough was a little harder though, but after she out flew most of the expedition's pilots during her first jumper flight, he didn't need much more convincing.
The two scientists are talking amiably about the little creature known as Pinky. Beckett is excited about the chemical properties of the venom and how they change in relationship to the creature's environment.
This time Lorne follows along and when he asks a question about salinity levels she looks surprised, but not unhappy.
-----
Today they're retrieving sound recordings from various stations around the city. She's sitting on the bottom of the boat next to his feet trying to get the ship's speakers to work. Surprisingly, she knows almost as much about the boat's systems as Dr. Zelenka does. And apparently she's picked up some of his Czech too, because he's been hearing some words that he knows are obscene, even if he doesn't actually know exactly what they mean.
"Damn it! Stupid, piece of CRAP!"
If her mood was foul before they left, it's positively rotten now. "Still not working?"
"No." She stands up to stare at the quickly approaching city. "The recording device crapped out after two hours. It didn't get anything."
"There's always next time."
"That's just the problem. They want to see progress. If I don't find something to send back with the next data-burst to Earth, they're going to recall me. And with the storm season coming up….there really isn't much for me to do." She holds up the broken recorder. "I was really hoping for some alien whale sounds."
He's surprised when he realizes that he really doesn't want her to go back to Earth.
-----
He doesn't make the last trip of the season. His team is ambushed off-world and he spends three days unconscious in the infirmary. When his head finally begins to clear from the drug-induced haze, he's surprised to see Dr. Watson sound asleep on the next bed over. He doesn't get to see much more of her after Beckett sees that he's awake. The privacy curtains are drawn while his bandages are changed and tubes are removed. He's exhausted afterward and falls back asleep before they can speak. He dreams of the sea and her voice.
-----
When he wakes again she's sitting in a chair next to his bed reading over a report.
"Hey Doc," he manages to croak out.
Her head snaps up, her expression slightly embarrassed. "Ri." When he doesn't respond, she adds, "Call me Ri."
"Evan."
They grin stupidly at one another for a few more moments before she blushes and looks down at her lap and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Did you get anything on the last trip?" He wants her to stay. It's important that she stay here.
"I didn't go." She's still looking at her lap. "It just wouldn't have been right." They don't talk much for the remainder of her visit.
-----
He escapes from the infirmary with nothing more than his arm in a cast and a warning to take it easy. He's off duty for the next week and then it's administrative work until his arm heals fully. He has time. Lots and lots of time, and he knows exactly where he's going to spend it.
When he wanders into her lab, she looks surprised to see him there. He's never visited her before and he suddenly wonders what he's going to say. But when she smiles it all comes back to him.
"Mind if I hang out down here for awhile?"
"Not at all. Apparently Dr. Weir managed to convince the higher-ups back on Earth that my research on Pinky was 'groundbreaking.' I'm going to be here for a long time."
He didn't think it was possible for a person to smile quite so much.