This is an experiment, I've never written slash, I've never written romance or angst, so this is entirely experimental, but I tried. I'm dedicating this to my friend Carolyn who moved to British Columbia almost a year ago, so Carolyn, I know you don't watch Stargate, but I hope you like it.

Note If there are enough reviews I will continue the story and maybe up the rating a bit, I'm not sure...

Again a warning, this is a slash fan fiction and I put it under Atlantis because it's all from McKay's POV, but really the events take place before he arrived on Atlantis

I knew from the moment I saw him that he'd break my heart. He was breath-takingly beautiful, he was young, innocent, and I guess lucky for me, lonely on a planet where the people resented him but not others like him. When the SGC called me in to help save the world from Anubis, that's where I first saw him…his light redish-brown hair standing up like he was a member of a boy band, his pure, innocent hazel eyes, and a beautifully proportioned body that had just the right amount of muscle where it was needed. I never liked men that were overly muscular, but I didn't like shrimps or really unfit people either, you see, Rodney McKay is just as particular about men as he is about his workspace and how he is treated by "lower life forms", namely everyone else.

I barely looked at him, how I wanted to just pull him in for a long kiss from those pinkish lips, but I had work to do, and Jonas Quinn, was a distraction.

I hate distractions, so I didn't make time for one, aren't I a Romeo? I ignored him; I talked to him briefly a few times in a quick lapse of judgment, but pretty much, he wasn't there. Just my luck this "distraction" went out and saved the world giving me (in my mind) a reason to get to know him better, a reason to talk to him, to sneak looks, a reason to remember his name.

That was my first mistake (or second if you count meeting him), learning and remembering his name. I have the uncanny ability to forget faces if I forget the names that go along with them, like that Czech guy, Zlinky…or something like that.

I remember like it was yesterday, I had just finished "flirting" with Major Carter, I guess she's Lt. Colonel Carter now, but I was on my way out, willing myself away from the green eyed stranger who'd I just met, but thoroughly intrigued me. I was so close; you could almost taste the fresh air, when fate struck…

"Dr. McKay you dropped this," he'd come running down the hall with something, I think it was my pen, but I don't really remember.

"Oh thanks," I'd replied rolling my eyes, I personally didn't care about my pen but accepted it anyway.

He had looked hurt by my sarcastic response, almost looked as though he was pouting.

"And who do I own the privilege of thanking for saving me and my pen from imminent doom?" I'd asked, I was very charming, wasn't I?

"Jonas Quinn," he said, "we met earlier…"

"Of course we had, how could I have forgotten?" I replied, and then looked at him, "how did you figure it out?"

Jonas tilted his head to the side and blinked like a confused child, "Figure out what?"

"How to build a better mouse trap," I sighed in frustration, he still didn't know what I was talking about, "it's called sarcasm, ever heard of it?"

He shook his head, "I'm new to Earth, I haven't learned much about customs here yet…"

I nodded, "Look kid, thanks and all but I have to go…" I turned to leave, but Jonas grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face him.

"Maybe you could teach me about sarcasm," he suggested, "and some other…Earth things."

"I barely know you," I blurted out, I wanted to get away from this guy; I didn't have time for a school girl crush.

"But everyone who does know about me won't tell or teach me anything about Earth," Jonas insisted, he was almost begging, "you're not military, so you won't be so strict, you're a scientist so you'll understand half the things I say, and you don't know about the circumstances that brought me here, please? You're perfect!"

I stared at him, looking at him from head to toe, was this man, kid, whatever, worth it? Was he worth the risk of messing up my perfectly organized life? Normally I would have said no, no one was worth it, but that shirt he was wearing was so goddamn tight on him that you could see the outline of his pecs and his perky nipples, it was too much to ignore…

"Fine, what do you want to know?" I asked, defeated by my own lust.

"Everything," he responded.

I rubbed my temples, this could take a while…

"Look, let's at least get something to eat," I grumbled backtracking to the mess hall closely followed by Jonas, I was glad he couldn't see my face, it was screwed up in concentration, trying to figure out how to get through this and not mess up.

I found myself at the mess hall in an instant, I couldn't think of a way to get out of this, nor was I sure I wanted to. I went and grabbed a sandwich while he grabbed a banana out of a bowl of fruit and sat down at a table waiting patiently for me. The other people at the table scooted away. I walked over, I knew I was disliked, but I hadn't even sat down yet…

"I'm sorry," Jonas sighed as he lazily peeled the yellow fruit, "that happens around me."

I licked my lips which seemed to have turned dry, I was curious, what could he have done that would drive all those people to another table, but I didn't press the issue, he seemed to be silently asking me not to.

Jonas took a bit of the banana and moved it around slowly in his mouth to…I'm not sure, maybe to savor the taste, but for whatever reason, it was a very…provocative action to say the least that started me thinking about what other things a "talented" mouth like his could do. I was jarred out of my flights of fantasy but Jonas's voice.

"So, tell me about Earth," Jonas pleaded while swallowing, "your life story, work, sarcasm, anything."

I looked at him oddly as I picked up my sandwich and took a bite out of it. No one had ever asked me to just…talk before, normally they "asked" me to shut up, and needless to say I was flattered. I bragged about my work as only I can, he nodded, eagerly hanging off of my every word, making a comment every few minutes. He seemed to understand what I was saying, which was refreshing. But I was curious about him, more than I was interested in talking about myself, Jonas sometime would realize that, that didn't happen very often, even so, I talked for almost an hour.

"So, what's your story?" I asked finally finishing my sandwich that had been sitting on my plate for most of the conversation.

He told me about Kelowna and his old life there, he told me about his friendship with Teal'c, his past few months on Earth, how he felt rejected my Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, and explained why I hadn't seen Dr. Jackson around.

"So they blame you for it?" I asked.

Jonas just nodded weakly, "If I had just…"

I put my finger on Jonas's lips, a move that even I was amazed that I had been so bold, he immediately shut up and I moved my finger away, I could swear I would be turning red if I wasn't used to being embarrassed.

"They just need a scapegoat like your people did, they'll get over it in time," I said, it was weird; I barely gave out good advice.

"They need goats?" Jonas asked.

I tried to explain what a scapegoat was, but my cell phone rang. I pulled it out, talked for maybe a minute and then stuffed it back into my pocket.

"I have to go," I said, it was true, I was going to miss my plane if I didn't hurry.

Jonas nodded, but didn't look up at me, I guess he didn't have many friends, so me talking to him…meant a lot.

I sighed, I was getting soft, "Give me your napkin,' I said, he blinked a few times and handed it over.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm going to make a dove appear out of thin air," I grumbled as a patted my pockets searching for a pen.

Jonas's eyes went wide, "Really?" he then paused, "wait, sarcasm, right?"

"We'll have to work on the interpreting of sarcasm," I replied as I pulled out a pen and scribbled my cell phone number on it and handed it back, "give me a call, I'll help you with it, you'll need the help if you want to try and talk to Colonel O'Neill."

Jonas smiled, took the napkin out of my hand, folded it up and put it in his pocket, "I'd like that very much."

I didn't hear from him for almost a week, I'd thought he'd forgotten about me. He did call though, just as I was loosing hope, he explained that he'd been busy lately with his new assignment.

"What are you working on?" I asked, I'd just sat down in my quarters and kicked my shoes off.

"I got assigned to SG-1," he replied excitedly.

SG-1, the team that was cursed with bad luck but always came out on top, except Dr. Jackson…I was worried, but didn't show it, maybe I should have. That was most likely my second mistake, I never showed my true emotions unless I had to, that always cause complications, especially between Jenny and me.

Jonas talked on the phone for almost an hour about the mission he'd gone on, and how Colonel O'Neill might be starting to warm up to him. He talked about how he hated the mountain and how Janet was talking about taking him and Teal'c out for a picnic one day.

"So when are you coming back?" he asked, he sounded like he was teasing me.

I sighed into the phone, "Jonas I don't live in Colorado Springs, nor do I work there…" I began, but was cut off.

"Where are you from?" he asked curiously.

"Ontario," I explained, "but that's not my point…"

"Where's that?" Jonas asked, I could just imagine his face screwing up in concentration, "I've memorized the entire United States, and there's no place called Ontario."

"It's in Canada," I finished, "look, Jonas, unless the SGC calls me back, I don't have a real reason to get off work here and go to Colorado Springs,"

It broke my heart to tell him that, he really sounded as though he wanted to see me, which was hopeful, considering nobody ever wanted to see me outside of work.

"You don't like me?" Jonas asked, it sounded as though it had accidentally slipped out and that wasn't the way he meant to say it, because his pacing was fast and the question ended abruptly.

Awkward…

"No look, Jonas, I'd love to come visit you but really, I have work…"

We argued for 20 minutes, this was going to run up a LARGE phone bill, but I didn't care, I did want to see him, but really, my work came first, it always would, another short coming that even I hated.

"Then, I'll come and see you," Jonas said.

"You can't do that unless you have a reason, look, Jonas, my uncle just died, I didn't know him that well, but it's reason enough for me to get off work, he lives in Kelowna," I explained.

"He's an alien?" Jonas asked in shock.

"Yes, my family is really from a galaxy far far away," I replied, I mentally smacked myself, he didn't know about places in Canada, so why am I mad at him for it?

"Then why do you get to leave the mountain?" he pouted on the other end of the line.

"No, it's from a movie, never mind, we got to teach you about Canada, anyway, it has the same name as your planet, during your downtime, say you want to go there and, I don't know, see if maybe your people originated from there."

"Alright,"

We organized it, it seemed like a perfect plan, I'm not sure Jonas realized how odd it was that two men who had just met each other and all their conversations combined only equaled around 4 hours of talking were trying so hard to sneak away to see each other. He was going to have an escort, but that wouldn't spoil it. I was lust driven, and (as I would find out later) he just wanted company that he felt had nothing against him. He still knew Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill didn't genuinely like him, they were just happy because he'd saved their asses. It was the start of something, but Jonas was tired of waiting, he wanted a friend that was from Earth, and I was the closest thing he had.