Memories

"Put your right foot forward.

Hop, hop, hop.

Do the bunny hop.

Hop, hop, hop.

Wiggle your nose.

And your toes.

Do the bunny hop.

Hop, hop, hop.

Hop, hop, hop!"

Dr. McKay continued to sing as he cleared off his work area. He'd come to work early this morning and finished off his assignments, now he had the rest of the afternoon to work on personal projects. He was in a really good mood.

Unfortunately Dr. McKay didn't realize that the door to the science lab stood open and that his lunch companions were watching him. McKay looked at his watch and turned to leave, only to find Major Sheppard and Lt. Ford silently laughing at him. Now that the gig was up, they roared. McKay sighed. Why me? "Come on, I'm hungry."


"What is it most that you miss from Earth?"

"I don't think there's any one thing more or less, but rather the feeling of being home."

"What if you were never able to go home? Could you be happy here?"

John pulled Teyla close, "I am happy now."

She smiled. "And if you could go home?"

He gazed into her eyes, "Would you come with me?"

"I…I could not abandon my people in their time of need."

"And if the Wraith were gone?"

She searched his eyes, "Yes."

He kissed deeply, for the first time letting her feel the extent of his need. John eased between her thighs and lay fully upon Teyla, hiding nothing. He slipped his hands under her blouse and gently squeezed her breast. She moaned.

"John?"

"John?"

"John!"

Sheppard snapped back to the present, "What?"

He found McKay, Ford and Beckett staring at him.

"I've been calling you for the last thirty seconds. Where were you?"

Sheppard cleared this throat, "Nowhere." He tried to hide his blush, "Now, what were you saying?"

"Are you blushing?"

He sighed. Count on Rodney to comment on things better left unsaid. Sheppard glared, "No."

"Yes you were. There! You're doing it again. What's the matter? I'm not interrupting a wet dream am I?"

Ford and Beckett groaned.

McKay half rose out of his seat, "He's doing it again. He's blushing!"

"Shut up, Rodney!"

"Yeah right, after the way you laughed at me earlier? I have no sympathy for you. So, do we know her?"

Sheppard could feel his ears growing warm.

Beckett and Ford's looks of disgust were changing to looks of interest.

Dr. Beckett asked, "Where you daydreaming of someone we know, Major?"

Sheppard turned to Beckett, "Not you too?"

Beckett shrugged.

"Now, that I think about it," McKay added, "this isn't the first time this week that you've been caught daydreaming."

Dammit Rodney! He had the memory of an elephant.

Sheppard leaned across the table and glared menacingly, "Listen bunny boy, if I hear one more word out of you, I'm going to snap your furry little neck."

"Gentlemen."

Dr. Weir stood at the end of the table. Sheppard sat back and crossed his arms; his eyes never left McKay's. Rodney, realizing that he had nearly crossed some invisible line, for once decided to stay quiet. Beckett and Ford glanced back and forth between the two.

Sensing the tension at the table Dr. Weir asked, "Is everything alright?" She looked around the table.

Dr. Beckett responded, "Yes ma'am."

Lt. Ford looked at her and smiled.

"Rodney?" she inquired.

"Tell Dr. Weir that everything is fine, Rodney." Sheppard demanded.

McKay smiled briefly at Dr. Weir, "We're fine."

"Major?"

"Doctor?"

She got the hint, "I'll leave you to it then." Dr. Weir walked away from the table shaking her head. She wondered why she even bothered trying.

"So, are you gonna kill him or not?"

"Beckett!" McKay yelled, "Don't encourage him."

"I'd just like to know whether or not I need to set aside an extra bed for later today?"

Sheppard smirked, "No."

Beckett sighed, "Oh well, I've got to go anyway. See you guys later."


"Have you ever been married?"

"No, why?"

"But you have courted many women? That is your way on Earth, is it not?

"Who in the world have you been talking to?"

Teyla laughed, "No one in particular, but I do hear things from other people. Have I misunderstood your ways?"

"Uh…no, but just because I've dated a few women in the past doesn't mean that I take our relationship lightly."

"That is good to know."

John wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. They stood on the balcony watching the sun set. He rested his chin on top of her head and sighed.

"John?" Teyla turned to look at his face.

"Yes?"

"How many is a few?"

Dammit! She was like a dog on a bone.

"Teyla," he looked out at the horizon, "On Earth things are less formal. Well, at least on the part of Earth that I'm from. Men and women meet on the street, in the store, at work, everywhere. And if one person likes another they make a date to spend time together, so that they can get to know each other better. Sometimes it lasts one night and sometimes it lasts a lifetime." John met her eyes, "I've known you for nearly two years now. I would say that we are beyond the stage of dating and are more into the committed stage."

Teyla tilted her head to the side and smiled at John through her lashes, "How many?"

John smirked, "Truthfully?"

"Truthfully."

"I don't remember."

"Guess?"

John thought for a moment.

"Major Sheppard?"

He kissed her, "John."

"Major Sheppard?"

He looked up to find Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay, Lt. Ford, and Sgt Litchfield, starring at him expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Did you want to add anything?"

"No?"

Dr. Weir smirked, "Then you're all dismissed. Good luck on your mission tomorrow."


Elizabeth told herself that she was over reacting. No one had been starring at her. Well maybe Sheppard, but from the blank look on his face she had a feeling that his mind had been elsewhere. She couldn't believe what she'd done; falling asleep on McKay's sofa. He'd given her a grilled cheese sandwich and a piece of fruit for dinner and then had her lay on the sofa so he could give her a massage. She'd been listening to his report on some new memory device when she dosed off. Elizabeth woke up the next afternoon to find she was alone. When she saw the note on the table explaining that McKay would have Dr. Beckett excuse her for the first half of the day for a tension headache, she could have kissed him. Elizabeth had been feeling pretty good. Though she knew she owed Rodney dinner and an apology, her headache was gone and she felt refreshed after the long sleep. It wasn't until she was leaving his room and nearly ran over Lt. Ford and Major Sheppard, that she became conscious of her rumpled state.

Sheppard had raised a brow. "Good afternoon, Doctor."

"Major, Lieutenant." She'd continued down the corridor as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

That was nearly a week ago. She still hadn't had the chance to make things up to McKay, and she still felt a bit self conscious around Sheppard and Ford. She knew that they wouldn't mention it, but it was the knowing that bothered her. Somehow, in her mind, she'd begun to think of her meeting with McKay as something intimate, that should have stayed just between the two of them.


The Next Evening……..

Sheppard was tired, dog tired. Even though the village that they visited was fairly close to the Stargate, surveying the surrounding areas and visiting other villages on the hot and sandy planet had taken its toll. Even Ford agreed that for future visits a Puddle Jumper would be needed, if for nothing else than to shut up McKay's whining.

Sheppard dragged wearily into his room. He dropped his P-90 and flak vest into the nearest chair and continued to the shower. Ten minutes later he climbed into bed. The warm soft body that waited for him was a welcomed relief. Sheppard pulled her close and kissed her. With a long sigh he rested his head in the cradle of her neck and shoulder.

She ran her fingers through his damp hair and whispered, "Welcome home."