A/N: Thanks to Voyfan7 for the idea for this story. Gracias!
Chuck's Hobby
It had been quiet in Atlantis for weeks and Amelia Banks was doing her best to look busy but it wasn't easy. Except for a sprained ankle the SGA teams had encountered no problems on their missions. No Genii, no Wraith, no Replicators, no unscheduled offworld activations, no weird tech recently discovered that had unknown properties and potential, no nothing. Boredom was climbing to monolithic proportions while morale was plummeting. At least hers was.
Off to her right sat her co-worker and friend Chuck. It was just the two of them on duty at this time of night, 2000. Somehow he seemed to have plenty to do. He was always typing on his laptop, his fingers almost as fast as Dr. McKay's as they flew over the keys. This flurry of typing was interspersed with periods of idleness, especially when they worked the evening shift. More than once it occurred to her that maybe he wasn't actually working. At least not all the time. She'd tried to see what he had on his monitor but he was too fast and toggled to another screen leaving her frustrated and burning with curiosity. She was startled out of her reverie when he locked down his computer and pushed back from the consol.
"Time for my break, Amelia. Back in thirty."
"Don't take the last slice of apple pie again!" She shouted at his retreating back.
He waved a hand in the air to show that he'd heard. "No promises!"
When he was gone she glanced around to make sure she was alone and rolled her chair over to his station. She'd been trying to hack his password for weeks now and had nothing to show for her efforts but a load of disappointment. Her strategy had been to get him talking when it was just the two of them in order to learn more about him. The more she knew the better chance she had of guessing his password. She had to be careful though. If the wrong password was entered three times in a row it locked up and had to be reset. Of course, she could get around that easily enough but didn't have time to make the necessary changes before he came back.
She heard someone coming and quickly returned to her post. Sometimes, just to look busy, she had a Word document open that she could just type randomly on and that's what she was doing when Mr. Woolsey strolled past on his way to his quarters. He wished her a good evening, barely looking up from the data pad in his hands. He was the third commander they'd had at Atlantis since the expedition had begun and he was the only one who actually seemed to enjoy the administrative aspects of the position. His "paperwork" was always done in a timely manner without the last minute rush to completion she'd noticed from Dr. Weir and Colonel Carter.
Many of the staff still resented Colonel Carter being replaced and still others missed Dr. Weir but she liked him. He always treated her with respect and kindness, never like a flunky. And for the most part, isn't that all anybody really needed or wanted from their boss?
She smiled at Woolsey's retreating back and resumed playing Solitaire, allowing her mind to wander to the date she had with Ronon for lunch tomorrow. The Satedan treated her as an equal at all times, but most especially when they sparred. For him to do otherwise would dishonor both of them and, if nothing else, he was a man of honor. The fact that he was drop-dead sexy, well, that was just a big fat bonus as far as she was concerned. She sighed and waited for Chuck to return so she could take her own break.
He returned a few minutes later. "Sorry. The pie was all gone. But there's plenty of that blue Jell-O Dr. McKay is so fond of."
"Ugh! You know I hate that stuff." She shivered in disgust as she locked down her station and pushed away from the console.
Chuck waited about five minutes just to be certain she was gone then reached under the unmanned console behind him to retrieve the food container he'd hidden there. Lifting the lid, he checked that the contents were intact, closed it again then placed it and a disposable fork on Amelia's workstation.
He was hard at work when she returned and saw the offering on her station. Inside was a near perfect slice of apple pie, her favorite. Oh, it was good to have friends! Over her shoulder she said, "Thanks, Chuck."
"You're welcome, Amelia." He responded with a grin.
*****
Amelia sighed. She was eating lunch alone instead of with Ronon because he'd had to go offworld with his team at the last minute. If all went as planned, they would meet on her break this evening. She was brought out of her musings when Joe Dryden and Paxton Thiruvengadathan, a civilian maintenance team, invited themselves to sit with her.
"Hey, Melia. What's shakin'?" She smiled. Joe spoke with a Texas drawl, used bizarre expressions and always called her "Melia".
"My lunch date bailed on me." She tried not to show her disappointment.
"That is unfortunate." Pax told her. She knew Amelia was fond of the Satedan. "Perhaps we can take your mind off of Ronon for a while."
Joe nodded. "Yup. We got us a caper planned and yer gonna help us." He pointed a finger at her.
"I am? What sort of 'caper'?"
Pax smiled at her partner. "Joe means that we have planned a little…adventure and would like for you to accompany us."
"That's what I jus' said!"
Amelia lost all interest in her uninspiring meal and pushed the tray to the side. "What's this all about?"
Pax smiled. She and Joe leaned close speaking conspiratorially, "We would like to know what Chuck has been doing with his free time lately. He has been absent from the weekly poker games, sits by himself with his data pad at meals and is spending too much time alone in his quarters."
Her excitement rose. It would be good to have help in her quest to find out what Chuck was up to. "You've got a deal. Let's go!"
*****
The Three Musketeers, as Joe had dubbed their little group, were trying to look casual, like they were just out for a stroll. They paused, glanced around then darted into the empty main science lab. "Here, this one." Joe seated himself at McKay's workstation and began to type. A few seconds later he had logged onto the system.
"Jo-oe, how did you do that?" Amelia exclaimed.
He crossed his arms and looked smug. "I ain't as dumb as I look, Melia. I figgered out McKay's password."
Joe aimed his attention back to the screen, wiggled his fingers and began to type. "Okay, let's get this party started. I'll just do this," tap, tap, tappity, tap, "and this," taptaptaptaptap, taptap, tappitty, taptap, "and there ya go."
They looked raptly at the monitor while Joe clicked from screen to screen.
"Oh, my goodness!" Amelia figured it out at the same time as the others but she was the one to voice their amazement. "Look," she pointed to where it showed the history of programs he'd accessed, "He's been watching a lot of live video feeds and creating a ton of Word documents. Oh, that man needs a hobby. Well, aside from being a peeping Tom."
Joe laughed. "In Texas we call it jus' bein' neighborly." He laughed. "That boy's sneakier than a snake."
"Oh, man! And he is so much more clever than I gave him credit for." Amelia announced.
Joe noticed something flashing on the monitor. "We gotta go. McKay's comin'!"
They logged off the workstation and exited, quickly ducking around a pillar just as McKay approached the science lab. They watched as he entered, logged on and began to work, all without suspecting they'd been there. Joe tapped the women on the shoulders and motioned for them to follow him. They headed for the nearest transport.
"Where're we going?" Amelia asked.
"We are gettin' in on Chuck's little start-up side business, that's where we're goin'."
"And if he does not agree?" Pax wanted to know.
"We show him this." Joe held up a flash drive. "On this here little doodad is all the blackmail info we need and, slicker'n snot, we are in." He touched the screen and they were gone.
*****
Chuck sat alone in the Mess Hall. Most of his attention was on the data pad under his right hand. The rest was reserved for the sandwich in his left. His field of vision darkened and he raised his eyes to see Amelia, Pax and Joe standing in front of him. They all had expressions of smugness and self-satisfaction.
"Hi, guys." Chuck said. "What's…up?"
Joe shifted his feet. "Me 'n' my fellow Musketeers wanna have a few words with ya."
Amelia came right to the point. "We know what you're up to, Chuck." They each rested a hand on the table and leaned close so he could see they were serious. "And we want in on it."
*****
"In on what?" The four friends retreated to Chuck's quarters for privacy. Amelia and Joe had taken the two chairs. Pax was perched on the side of his bed leaning back on her hands.
"Chuck." Pax said in a disapproving tone.
"We know ev'rythin'." Joe put in showing him the flash drive. "It's all on this here little thing."
"Um, everything?"
"Yes. And we want to…help." Amelia added her voice to that of her co-conspirators.
"Help?" He was annoyed that they had been checking up on him. "Why would you think I'd need help with my…project?"
He looked from one to the other. Each met his eyes without flinching. That was not a good sign so he gave in gracefully. "Okay. Okay. We'll do it together." He stuck a hand out palm down. One by one they all placed their hands over his. "The Four Musketeers? One for all…"
"…and all for one!" They all chorused together.
Five Months Later
Sheppard was eating alone in the Mess Hall watching Chuck, Amelia, Joe and Pax sitting together. They were pouring over a data pad and talking intently with only the occasional mild disagreement. Thinking back over the last few months he recalled that they had been doing just that nearly every time he'd seen them off duty. He shrugged. It wasn't any of his business what they did when they weren't working as long as it didn't jeopardized the expedition, the city, Earth or the universe in general. He went back to his meal and forgot all about it.
One Month after That
Chuck finished downloading the data burst from Earth and quickly scanned it for his name. Ah, there it was! He forwarded it to his personal data pad but didn't open it. The four of them should read it together. It was only fair. He glanced over at Amelia. When she looked up he gave her an imperceptible nod and she smiled.
*****
"It's from George."
"Well, what does it say?" Amelia entreated Chuck. They were once again in his quarters where this all started six months ago. The data pad passed from Chuck to Pax to Joe to Amelia.
"Wow! That's…wow!" Amelia was so stunned she could barely speak. The others didn't even try.
"I know. I know. You know what this means?"
"Whoo-HOO!" Shouted Joe, "We're gonna be famous!" The four friends hugged each other laughing and dancing around the room.
Six More Months Later
"This is a surprise."
Sheppard, kicked back in a comfortable chair in the Rec Room reading a book, looked up at his friend and teammate Rodney McKay. He'd gotten the book as a birthday gift and was just now getting around to reading it.
"What? That I read Science Fiction?"
"No. That you can read."
"Funny." His voice dripped sarcasm. "Actually, it's very good. Well, so far. It's the adventures of a multinational paramilitary organization that discovers an ancient city on a distant planet. They take up residence in the city in order to study the civilization that used to live there and discover a portal that takes them to other planets where they meet and interact with new and interesting species. Some are friendly and some aren't."
He flipped the hardback closed so McKay could see the cover. It depicted a beautiful city floating above a verdant planet. Overlaid on that was a group of four people, two men and two women, dressed all in black and holding weapons that vaguely resembled the P-90s currently in use on Atlantis. They were looking up into the sky in wonder and determination. One, a female and obviously a scientist, held a piece of equipment the size and shape of a life signs detector but green instead of white. The title was in the Haettenschweiler font: Starport: Elysia - Between the Stars and Home. The author's name was Charles "A.J." Paxton. A banner across one corner announced that the novel had been nominated for a Nebula Award.
"Hmm. Could I read it when you're done?"
"Sure. Right after Beckett, Lorne, Woolsey and Keller. Maybe you and Keller can read it to each other at bedtime. Might be a nice change from the usual slap and tickle." Sheppard gave him an exaggerated wink.
"Ha ha." McKay barely noticed the four people entering the Rec Room as he left.
Chuck saw what Sheppard was reading and pointed it out to his friends. They exchanged a group fist bump and the four individuals now known to the sci-fi literary world as Charles "A.J." Paxton made themselves comfortable in the third row center and waited for the movie to start.
The End