If apologizing were an art form, Rodney McKay had just managed to elevate himself to the level of master. All during the cab ride back to the restaurant he apologized at least a hundred times, if not more. Between gripes about the service at the hospital and the restaurant, he repeatedly informed Sam that this was not the way he had planned for things to go.
She only barely kept herself from thanking him for playing Captain Obvious with such dedication to the role.
When the cab arrived back at the Chez Paul, they found an anxious and mildly distraught Matré De who was, if at all possible, even more apologetic that Rodney himself had been. The simpering man had sworn up and down that the waiter who was responsible for the mix-up (or as McKay had taken to calling it on the cab ride back 'The attempt on my life') had been fired and that should Doctor McKay and his lovely dinner companion choose to ever return to the Chez Paul his meal would not only be the finest, but it would also be on the house, complete with wine, desert and whatever else he desired.
McKay, of course, accepted the offer, but not until after much melodrama, threatening of law suits and swearing to do the Matré De personal injury if ever such a thing happened again.
Once the Matré De was finished apologizing, Sam insisted that she be the one to drive McKay home, since after such a harrowing ordeal, he really wasn't in any shape to drive himself.
This, of course, lead to McKay asking just how she was going to get home, to which she replied that she would just take his car and then return it to him tomorrow, since it was really too late to call a cab.
Sam couldn't help but notice the little shine in his eyes when he asked how she planned to get home, as though he would ask her to stay the night on his couch or something.
To his credit, he didn't ask, but she could tell it was taking every bit of self control he had left to keep from propositioning her in such a way.
The sun was just peeping up over the horizon as McKay's car pulled up in front of his apartment building.
"Sam," McKay began in that contrite tone that she'd been hearing nonstop for the past hour or so, "I want to-"
"Rodney, it's late...well, early, actually." She distracted waved a hand in the direction of the windshield at the rapidly rising sun, "I'm tired, you must be exhausted, let's just forget it, alright?"
Sam watched with interest as McKay's eyes flashed angrily for a moment, "I can't forget it. I wanted everything to be perfect tonight and it's turned into one huge mess."
"Rodney..."
"No, look," he turned to stare right at her, "This is the one chance I figured I'd get to show you...well, to show you…well, you know."
She sighed and tightened her grip on the steering wheel in front of her as he continued, "Rodney I-"
"I mean, how many other chances will I ever get to take you out to dinner?"
He looked at her earnestly, "This was the one date I'd ever get with you, Sam."
She opened her mouth but he cut her off before she could formulate any sounds, "And don't try telling me otherwise. You wouldn't be out with me if Jack O'Neill hadn't forced you into participating in the auction, I accept that. I know I'm not your favorite person in the world, and I figured this would be my one chance to try and show you that I'm...I'm different than when you first knew me."
Sam looked at him, astonished. That's an understatement.
He turned away from her and stared out the windshield, looking at some far off point that only he could see, "I know that there'll never be any...uh...any 'us', per se, but I thought that maybe for tonight we could just be a couple of people out to dinner...you know...friends."
Sam blinked a couple of times and quiet reigned in the small car as she tried to figure out what to say. How could she possibly reply? Everything he had just revealed was so far away from what she expected that there was no reaction that she could possibly give that could express her surprise.
The silence stretched out to an uncomfortable length before Rodney cleared his throat and opened the passenger side door.
"We are," she said quietly as he put one foot out on the pavement.
He pivoted and looked at her, brow furrowed.
"We are friends, Rodney," she said, the corners of her lips turning upwards slightly.
If it were possible for a man to actually light up, Rodney did so just then, a genuine smile spreading across his face that reached his eyes, "Really? You're not just saying that?"
She looked at him severely, "Are you accusing me of lying?"
His face went deathly ashen as he scrambled for an explanation of some sort, "No, no, no, no, I didn't mean-"
Sam laughed, leaned across the car and pecked him on the cheek, "Go to bed, Rodney."
His upper lip curled up into the signature Rodney McKay smirk, "Are you coming with me?"
She pulled back to glare at him. How like him to ruin such a sweet moment with a proposition.
"No? Oh well." He got out of the car and leaned over, one arm on the hood of the car and the other holding the door open, "This was still the best twelve thousand dollars I ever spent."
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A/N:Dammit. How did this turn into borderline romantic angsting from Rodney? HOW? Gah! -stabs plot bunnies with spork- This was so not the direction I wanted to take this thing. I hope it was in character...it's late and I can't be certain at this point if it was or not.
I think I've got one more chapter for this in me. Possibly two. I can either do the next day (when Sam returns Rodney's car to him) or just skip ahead to Monday morning at the SGC and the O'Neill aftermath. -snicker-…I can't decide. What do you guys think?
