FANCY ALIEN ELEVATORS CAN BE DANGEROUS
Chapter 9: Reconciliation
The day went by like any other normal day in the city. John had some training to impart, and some meetings with Woolsey, Lorne, and the team leaders; and Jennifer continued her job in the laboratory.
They couldn't see each other at lunch because he was still in a meeting with the team leaders as Jennifer found out when the mess hall personnel took some sandwiches, drinks, and pudding to them. She was happy to share her lunch with Teyla talking about the Athosians, and to her relief with no Rodney in sight. Though, she felt guilty about it.
"I wish Rodney and John could make up," she told the Athosian woman. "Though, I admit I'm angry at Rodney. I don't think he meant the things he said the way they came out… so… I guess I could let it go, if he could accept John and me as a couple, you know?"
Teyla smiled at the babbling woman in front of her. "Rodney is slow to adapt to situations such as this one. I am sure once he does, everything will go back to normal."
"Thanks, I hope so," Jennifer answered thankful to receive some reassurance from her friend.
"If you wish, I could try to speak with both of them. I could persuade them to tell me exactly what happened between them in Rodney's lab, as we still don't know. You should not make judgment based on rumors, and what he told you may not have been what he told John," Teyla offered.
"I'm not sure if I want anyone interfering," Jennifer hesitated. "Although, I don't want Rodney destroying the city…"
"He will not destroy the city, of that I am sure," Teyla said with a soft laugh.
As Sheppard was in meetings still, Teyla decided to speak with Rodney about their argument. She knew Rodney well enough to understand he was confused and probably didn't know what he had done to anger his friend, or how to deal with the new situation without alienating people.
A few minutes into their conversation, she was proven right. "He told me, I said some things, he said some others, and then suddenly he's angry using his big-badass-Military-Commander voice, and storming out of here," the scientist complained. "Then Jennifer came too and she got angry at me too..."
"I know. Jennifer told me," Teyla replied. "Rodney, you do understand she can date whoever she wants, do you not?"
"Yes. Why would Sheppard date her, though? He could date anyone, he's Kirk, why my ex?"
"Rodney!" Teyla exclaimed. "Please, tell me you did not say that to John?"
Rodney's mouth opened and closed a few times dumbfounded.
"Rodney, John dislikes being called Kirk, or anything with similar meaning. He is not a womanizer - I have been told that is the correct word - even if he receives a lot of attention."
"What? But women throw themselves at him… you're telling me he doesn't sleep with them?" McKay asked confused.
"He does not," Teyla told him firmly.
"But, but…"
"Rodney!"
"Okay, okay, he doesn't sleep around. Got it," he relented in this aspect of the arguments. "Still he gets a lot of offers; he could date anyone he wanted…"
"No, he could not. He wants to date Jennifer, no one else," the Athosian was firm again. "It is not fair of you to decide they cannot date because it makes you uncomfortable. You will have to learn to live with it."
Teyla glared at the man for a full minute trying to get him to understand, and then gave up. She then followed a different route, "He is your friend; they both are. Find a way to accept it for the sake of those friendships."
She then left to allow the scientist to think about her words carefully.
Contrary to popular belief, Rodney knew everyone was angry at him because he was being unfair about Sheppard and Jennifer dating. He was being honest, though, he didn't understand why his friend had started dating his ex-girlfriend so unexpectedly. How could he like her so much, to the point of not wanting to date anyone else, so suddenly? Had he woke up one day thinking 'I'm crazy about Jennifer Keller'? Having drunken sex with her in the transporter after a party didn't sound like love to him, yet everyone was convinced otherwise.
After work, he went looking for Sheppard to talk with him about it. He found the Colonel in his quarters naked except for his boxers and with wet hair from the shower.
"McKay," he groaned obviously not in the mood to deal with his friend. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to talk to you, privately," he answered trying to look past him to see if Jennifer was in the room.
"She's not here," John said stepping aside for the physicist to come into the room. "I'm meeting her in the mess in fifteen minutes, though."
"No super romantic date today?" Rodney asked bitterly. Sheppard raised an eyebrow in question and warning. The scientist didn't know how he was doing it, but he backpedaled looking apologetically. "I heard you took her to the Mainland last night."
"I did. We never had a proper date, I owed her one," the military man said. He put on his pants and boots while he spoke.
"Yeah, yeah… She is special and you want to treat her right, like a gentleman or something…"
"McKay! Are you here to talk or to insult?" Sheppard said, fed up with his friend's ramblings.
"Talk. Sorry. Look, I know I'm being an ass…"
"Good."
"Jennifer should be able to date whoever she wants, including you," Rodney continued as if Sheppard had never spoken. "What I don't understand is how it happened? You woke up one day liking her, you two had sex in the transporter, drunken sex, I might add, and suddenly you're crazy about her and taking her on romantic dates…"
Sheppard took a deep breath to put his thoughts in order; he sat down on the bed, and put his t-shirt on. Deciding he had stalled enough, he spoke. "It wasn't sudden, Rodney. You broke up with her two months ago."
Rodney still seemed lost, so Sheppard continued talking. "Why is no one surprised? Have you thought of that?"
"I don't know."
"Think about it, Rodney. Ronon, Teyla, and Carson knew immediately, Radek and Lorne guessed pretty soon too…"
"Are you saying you were dating before the party?"
"No. We were friends before that, but after you two broke up, we talked more often, and things changed… we became closer," Sheppard said uncomfortable, not entirely sure of how to explain it.
"You were close friends, then slept together, and then decided you wanted to date?"
"No, Rodney, it doesn't really work like that for me. We liked each other. Then we slept together the day of the party, we talked about it, and decided to date," John tried again.
"That's what I said," Rodney argued confused.
"No, it's not," Sheppard denied it. "We were close friends, yes, but we were…"
"Attracted. You were attracted to her? Like sexually attracted to her or something…" Rodney guessed finishing the other man's sentence when he couldn't find the right words.
"Yeah, we were attracted to each other. Romantically," Sheppard conceded partially to his friend's statement.
"Then you had sex," McKay stated. "At the party. In the transporter. Drunk."
"I left the party, got into the transporter, and… Next thing I know: we were both trapped in there, drinking Tequila. So, yes, we had sex in the transporter. Yes, we were drunk. No, it wasn't because we were drunk and horny." He was explaining the best he could, and he was trying to be patient with his friend, but the scientist was attacking his nerves.
"Really?" Rodney asked his disbelieve clear in just one word.
"Yes, Rodney, we were drunk and horny. No, we did not have sex because of it. We had sex because we were and are attracted to each other romantically," John said firmly putting as much emphasis in the last word as he could to drive the point across. He was reaching the end of his patience about this particular topic.
"Wait! You're saying that you wouldn't have slept with her if you didn't like her? In a romantic, not sexual, way?" McKay asked puzzled. He had always believed Sheppard to be Kirk, a womanizer, who slept with every woman who threw herself at him; facing the truth was quite different was hard.
"Yes," John stated firmly, leaving no room for an argument.
"Oh," Rodney showed his surprise by turning speechless.
Sheppard studied his friend to see if he actually understood him, and he could start moving on from his anger and indignation. The sooner the scientist left those emotions behind, the sooner they could put the argument behind, and recover their closeness.
"Okay," McKay uttered after a few minutes of absolute silence. "I understand. I can deal with it. I just need time to get used to it, so I may be a little more annoying than usual… a tiny bit… for a while… you know, until I get used to it…"
"Good," Sheppard answered cutting Rodney's rambling short. "Good enough for me," he said with a smirk, happy to have his friend back. Standing up he added, "I'm hungry. You coming?"
"No, no, I had something already. Breakfast tomorrow?" The physicist asked as the two men left the room.
"Yep."
After dinner, Atlantis' newest couple took the long way to the personnel quarters' area, talking about McKay and the talk John had with him before dinner. When they, finally, reached the doctor's room, she invited him in for the night.
"Wanna come in?"
"Yes. I'm beat… too many meetings. I'm gonna fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow," he warned, unsure of what she was offering.
"Okay. You can sleep in my room. My offer doesn't come with any obligations," Jennifer reassured him. She smiled sweetly at him to drive the point across further. "You're always welcome to stay here."
John smiled honestly at her, and followed her into the room. He threw himself on top of the bed with a tired sigh.
Jennifer laughed watching him, "you really are exhausted." His only answer was an intelligible mumbling.
She went into the bathroom for a moment and came out in boxers and a tank top, ready for bed. Her boyfriend was almost asleep with most of his body on top of the covers, his legs hanging from the bed, and his feet, still inside his military boots, on the floor. If it wasn't for the fact that he was occupying the entire bed, leaving little to no room for her, she would have thought it was cute.
"John," she called him a few times before he actually came around. "Take off your clothes, and get into bed properly," she ordered.
He mumbled some more, but did as he was told, and threw his clothes to the floor. In no time, he was clad only in his boxers under the covers. Jennifer joined him – now she did have room enough – and in a couple of minutes they were settled against each other, half asleep.
"Goodnight, John."
"Goodnight," he replied sleepy, and kissed the top of her head softly.
John Sheppard, the tough as nails Military Commander of Atlantis, was a sweet, cute softy, Jennifer thought. She smiled pleased to see this side of him than no one really saw, and fell asleep feeling safe and warm in his arms; sure their relationship was going to be a happy one.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.
This is the first time I write and post this kind of story, so please let me know if you liked it.
Like said in the A/N at the beginning of the story, this story was inspired by "Tequila and Cheetos" by MissJeeve (AO3). I encourage you to read it, even if Jennifer/Sheppard is not your preferred pairing, you won't regret it. It's a lot of fun. I wasn't into these 2 until I read it.
Link: archiveofourown works / 155347
