How Jennifer Made the First Move
A/N: Thanks to Ilerya82 for the idea for this one.
10 - An Impromptu Example Of Rebellion
Rodney had waited and waited for Jennifer to show in the mess hall. He'd finally gotten his nerve up to ask her for a date and she wasn't even there. But Ronon was. Every time he wanted to be alone with Jennifer somehow Ronon was always there. Rodney sighed.
Just then the object of his affection walked up to the table. "Hi, guys. Mind if I sit here?" She indicated the chair in front of Ronon and next to Rodney.
"Please do."
Sheppard arrived just then as well taking the seat across from Rodney. "This is the third time this week we've had mystery meat. You'd think they'd run out of it at some point."
"If you don't like the meatloaf you should have gotten the spaghetti." Rodney suggested.
"It was all gone. Besides, the garlic bread is hard as a hockey puck and I can't eat spaghetti without garlic bread."
The conversation shifted from subject to subject without design but Jennifer wasn't really listening. She'd decided to make a move on Rodney tonight. Toward that end, she lowered her right hand to her lap then reached over to give his thigh a light caress. He had just popped the top on his water bottle and she startled him causing him to squeeze involuntarily. Unfortunately, he was using the bottle to emphasize a point and the water hit Sheppard squarely in the face.
Jennifer and Ronon laughed but Rodney looked horrified. The look on Sheppard's face was enough to scare him out of at least six months growth. "Sorry. Sorry. It-it was an accident."
"Well, so is this." Sheppard scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes and flung it at his friend. Rodney ducked to the side and the wad smacked into the front of Jennifer's uniform. Without thinking, she threw her roll at him. He too ducked and the roll hit an enormous civilian maintenance man in the back of the head.
The man stood to his full height of 6'7" and Sheppard guessed his weight at way more than his own, most of it muscle. He thought a moment and recalled the man's name: Martin. The room got quiet when the big man moved to stand over the Colonel who had remained sitting. Chivalry was not dead in the Pegasus galaxy so he took the blame for Keller's mishap.
He came to his feet, his nose just reaching Martin's collar bone. "Sorry about that, Martin. It, uh, slipped."
"Oh, yeah? Well this slipped too." He picked up Sheppard's tray and pushed it against his chest. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas stuck to the front of Sheppard's shirt.
He stood there a few moments watching the food slide down his chest. "Was that really necessary?"
Martin just laughed. He looked over his shoulder at his buddies and when he turned back around Sheppard had a handful of the food in one hand.
Rodney knew what Sheppard was thinking and tried to intervene. "Uh, maybe you shouldn't…" But Sheppard was not listening. He took the glob and wiped it down Martin's chest.
Martin looked from the smear on his chest to Sheppard. At this point Ronon decided to get involved. He came to his feet. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, I'd advise against it."
"Oh? And what if I do it anyway?"
"Then you'll have to deal with me."
"Bring it on, Caveman!" He picked Sheppard up by his shirt front, turned and threw him onto the next table all in one fluid movement. Landing on the table might not have been so bad but it was occupied. His elbow landed in someone's spaghetti pushing it into the lap of an attractive brunette. She in turn dumped the spaghetti on Sheppard's head.
Martin wasn't done yet. He snatched up the first plate of food he could find, Rodney's unfinished meal, and aimed it in Ronon's general direction, missed and hit Amelia Banks. She stood, her face twisted in anger, and threw her dinner roll followed by the nearly full glass of iced tea. It was not aimed at anyone in particular, she hadn't seen who hit her, and it went in Chuck's face. Shocked, Chuck threw his own drink in Amelia's direction, dousing her and one of her dinner companions. Everyone at Amelia's table stood as did the others from Martin's table. Before they knew it, food, plates, silverware, glasses and cups were flying in all directions and it no longer mattered who'd started it.
The mess hall staff chose the better part of valor and retreated to the kitchen where one of the managers was calling for assistance. Before the security detail could arrive who should walk in but the expedition commander, Richard Woolsey.
"Colonel Sheppard!"
Sheppard had a slice of cream pie and was stalking Martin looking for an opening. Upon hearing his name he spun around hitting Woolsey in the chest with the dessert he'd meant for the maintenance man. "Oops!"
Woolsey watched the mess as the crust fell from the front of his formerly pristine uniform jacket. "Colonel, what is going o-" Ronon shouted a warning and Sheppard dodged to the side. A flying mass of spaghetti caught Woolsey squarely in the face covering his glasses and sticking to his bald spot.
Rodney and Jennifer had taken refuge under the table and both were relatively unscathed compared to the others. "I can't believe I started this." Rodney was saying. "It was just a little water. How could it have gotten out of hand so quickly?"
Jennifer shook her head. "You didn't start this. I did."
"Oh. Yeah. Right. Um, why did you, uh…"
She huffed in frustration. "I've waited and waited for you to make the first move, Rodney. I was tired of waiting and wanted to show you…I love you too. I didn't know it would cause…this!"
Rodney latched onto the one thing that meant anything in her explanation. "You…love me?"
"Yes, I do." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. They both instinctively ducked when someone landed on the table above them making it groan.
"Come on." They carefully crawled from under the table and made for the exit. When there was room to stand they climbed to their feet, Rodney taking Jennifer's hand and watching the fray over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here before Woo-ah-ah!" They'd reached the exit and were drawn up short when Woolsey appeared in front of them cutting off their retreat. They took in the bits of pie, pasta and sauce that would probably stain his uniform and the scowl on his face.
"Going somewhere Doctors?"
"Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh indeed." The physician and the physicist, embarrassed at getting caught, could only look at the devastation that was once the mess hall. People were still flinging what was left of the food from the line at each other and Ronon was dragging one of the maintenance men through the mess on top of a table that was a mixture of…everything. They could even see bits of Rodney's favorite blue Jell-O.
A security detail arrived at that moment and Woolsey gave orders in a clipped angry voice while they tried not to laugh at the sight of their commander covered in food.
*****
"It has taken a while but I have managed to narrow down the possible instigators of this little fiasco to the four of you." Woolsey paced back and forth in front of John, Ronon, Rodney and Jennifer. They wisely stood in a manner of respect, heads up and hands clasped behind their backs. Except for Ronon who crossed his arms and just looked bored. He might have looked dangerous as usual but the food in his dreadlocks and on his face and clothing rendered him comical.
"So, does anyone want to confess?" They said nothing, just looked off into the distance.
Woolsey stopped in front of Sheppard. "Colonel Sheppard, do you know who started it?"
His eyes flicked to the side then down at his formerly spit-shined boots. "Uh, no, sir, I don't."
"Hmm. Okay." Woolsey paced some more. He stopped in front of Ronon. "Ronon, you started it didn't you?"
"No."
"That's it? Just…no?"
"Yeah."
More pacing. He knew some people were uncomfortable with silence so he kept quiet for a while finally coming to a halt in front of Jennifer. He was sure that she would tell the truth. And if not, all he had to do was appear to be attacking her then the culprit would come clean in a fit of chivalry. "Dr. Keller, do you know who started the food fight?"
Jennifer took a deep breath, cast her eyes downward and nodded. She couldn't let her friends pay for her mistake and she opened her mouth to confess but, as one, the three men said, "It was me."
"Oh, so now we have not one ringleader but three. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll step outside for a few minutes. You talk amongst yourselves and decide which of you is going to be disciplined."
The leader of Atlantis exited his office and shut the door. He took a quick turn about the general area and returned. He could hear voices inside but couldn't discern words. When the voices stopped he knocked then entered.
Without preamble, Ronon stepped forward. "I will take the reprimand." The others looked none too happy but said nothing.
"Okay. I will decide on an appropriate form of punishment and inform you in the morning. Dismissed."
*****
Outside Woolsey's office Sheppard and Ronon said nothing, just went their separate ways and Rodney walked Jennifer to her quarters.
He still couldn't believe that she loved him and was reluctant to let her go in case it was all a dream. From the smell of his clothes it was more like a nightmare. He wondered what he could do or say to get her to say "I love you" again. Instead he said, "I'd put my arms around you but we're both still covered in food and it might feel…disgusting."
Jennifer smiled up at him. "That's easy enough to fix…with a shower."
"True." She gave him a significant look, one eyebrow elevated. "Oh. Right! You'll probably need someone to, uh, wash your back and I'm sure mine is none too clean either."
Jennifer took him by the hand and pulled him into her room. They pulled off their uniform jackets and tossed them to the floor as they made their way toward the bathroom. Rodney stopped Jennifer by pulling her to him and kissing her breathless. She urged him backwards as she pulled his shirt from the waistband of his pants and he did the same to her. Moments later, the bathroom door closed behind them and the shower came on.
*****
The next morning dawned bright and cloudless but Rodney and Jennifer only had eyes for each other. That is until they got to the mess hall. It had been thoroughly cleaned and there was nothing left to show what had taken place the night before.
As Jennifer and Rodney passed through the line gathering their breakfast items they were flabbergasted to hear a familiar deep voice coming from behind the line. They looked up to see Ronon wearing a white apron and a cap covering his long hair. "Oatmeal!" He plopped a large spoonful of hot cereal on both their plates and turned to the next person in line. "Oatmeal!" Plop!
A/N II: Okay, so this one is more about the food fight than Rodney and Jennifer but I couldn't resist!