Stuck on You – Chapter 8
From the moment Carson had released them, life had gotten hectic. Rodney and Elizabeth started to head back to the lab to get some answers, when Elizabeth realized she still didn't have her headset on. They detoured by her quarters, where she grabbed it and put it on, then headed on to the lab. However, before they could travel even half the distance, she was paged to come to the Control Room. They both stopped, indecisive. She didn't NEED to go with him but she'd become so accustomed to being with him, it felt wrong to think of him being somewhere else.
Rodney looked at her with a question in his eyes. She shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled at him. "Go, Rodney. It's obvious you want to know, and I SHOULD work in my office once this crisis is settled anyway. I'm afraid to even think what my desk looks like. Maybe….we can meet for dinner?" The last was said with a smile and a slightly hopeful sound to it.
He looked skeptical; as if he was afraid something bad may happen if he wasn't there to see. But the desire to begin his tests on the glue vs. orange juice contest was pulling at him strongly. Finally, he smiled and nodded. "Alright. Dinner sounds great. Just…call me if you need me." He leaned forward, as if to kiss her goodbye, and then hesitated. She started to do the same thing. They both fumbled awkwardly for a moment, before giving up and pulling back with a laugh. She leaned forward, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and stepped back. They both stood there, eyes locked, lost in thought for a moment until voices coming down the hallway shook them awake. Rodney smiled and turned decisively, walking quickly towards the lab. Elizabeth watched him go, and then headed to the Control Room to take care of whatever problem had required her personal attention.
Dinnertime came and went with neither meeting for food. Elizabeth had become buried in work the moment she'd entered the Control Room and hadn't seen daylight since. Rodney, obsessed with his lab tests didn't even notice the passing of time. When his stomach growled, he grabbed a PowerBar and ate it while looking through his microscope and making notes on his laptop.
When Elizabeth finally managed to leave her office, it was completely dark outside, night had long since fallen. As she walked towards her quarters, she realized she'd completely forgotten her dinner plans with Rodney and stopped dead. Oh no! He's going to think I just blew him off! She immediately began to formulate an apology as she walked towards his lab. I'm sure he'll understand. It's not like I could just ignore all those….wait a minute. He obviously forgot too or he'd have called me. She relaxed, realizing that real life had simply returned with force. Elizabeth switched headings and made her way to her quarters.
Once there, she took a quick shower and put on her tank and shorts to sleep in. She yawned and looked at her clock, surprised to see it was well after midnight. Rodney was surely in bed anyway. She'd make her apologies tomorrow.
Elizabeth turned the lights off, climbed into bed, and rolled to look out the window. About 30 minutes later, she rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling. After another 40 minutes, she rolled back to her side. 45 minutes later, she got up and opened the door, going out to stand on her small balcony. This is ridiculous! It's after 2am and I'm exhausted! What am I still doing up? She sighed tiredly, and leaned forward, resting her arms on the railing and breathing deeply of the ocean-scented air for long minutes.
It was no good. She wasn't tense, she wasn't stressed, she wasn't even thinking too hard. She was just… Lonely. I miss Rodney. I can't fall asleep because he's not here. The sound of him breathing, the feel of his chest under my cheek. How in the world could I become that addicted in only two nights? She stood there for several more minutes, then went inside and lay back down, determined to fall asleep. She curled her pillows up and rolled to her side, resting her cheek on her pillow in the best imitation of Rodney's chest she could make, but gave up less than 20 minutes later. It wasn't the same.
She sat up, throwing her pillow off the bed in frustration with a growl just as the door chime sounded. A glance at the clock showed it was rapidly closing in on 3am. She moved to the door, opening it silently to see Rodney standing there in a t-shirt and sweatpants. He looked as tired as she felt; hair disheveled as if he'd tossed and turned as much as she had. He gave her a sadly pathetic look, his question plain in his eyes.
Smiling slightly, she led him in and straight to the bed, answering his unvoiced question. He quickly lay down, holding the sheet up for her, smiling thankfully as she slid in next to him. Elizabeth rested her cheek on his chest, her hand sliding under the hem of his shirt to rest lightly on his stomach and sighed contentedly. This was what she missed.
Within a couple minutes, Rodney exhaled deeply, his breathing evening out as he fell into a deep asleep. Elizabeth lay quietly, letting the soothing sound of his heartbeat and his quiet snores lull her to sleep with a smile on her face.
The sun was already fairly high in the sky when Elizabeth stirred for the first time the next day. She turned her face to the window, basking in the sunlight and heard a small laugh, accompanied by a slight vibration under her cheek, and fingers threading through her hair softly. She smiled and tilted her face up, opening her eyes slowly. "Good morning."
Rodney smiled back at her, somewhat nervously. "Umm…hi. Look, I'm sorry about last night. I tried to fall asleep for hours. My mattress is too hard or something. I just couldn't get comfortable."
Elizabeth laughed lightly. "Strange. My mattress was uncomfortable too. But I slept fine after you got here." The last was said with a raised eyebrow, but Rodney caught the humor in her voice. "Must be that extra padding," she added with a pat to his stomach.
"Hey! There's not that much padding!" He gave her an indignant look, finally gave in and laughed with her, and then grew serious for a moment. "You don't mind, do you?" At the shake of her head, he smiled broadly, and then adopted a mock serious look. "You know…we may just have to continue this. I mean, it wouldn't be good for the chief scientist to show up for work exhausted every day. And what about the expedition leader? You have to be well rested to do your job properly." Here he adopted a self-sacrificing look. "Well, for the good of the mission, you understand, I'm willing to offer my services as pillow if it helps you rest." He was doing his best to appear put out, but Elizabeth could feel the tension in his fingers, which had slipped back to the back of her neck to massage gently.
She smiled at him with a wink. "Oh…I'm sure we can work something out. I mean, we can't have our senior staff sub par. Speaking of which, just a second."
Elizabeth sat up on the side of the bed, grabbed her headset and called the Control Room, while warning Rodney to stay as quiet as he could. She explained to the technician in charge that she had several things to take care of, so she wouldn't be in for a while. As the tech asked her for her opinion on a few situations that had arisen, Rodney got bored. He began to trace random patterns on her back, and grinned as she jumped when he hit her sides. She turned to glare at him, and then stuck her tongue out at him before answering the tech.
Rodney was impressed. She didn't miss a beat, so he decided to intensify his efforts. He started by trailing his fingers down her back again, deliberately scraping his nails lightly as he reached her sides. She squirmed again, but didn't make a sound. Next, he dragged one fingernail from just under her arm down her side and up under the hem of her shirt to again scrape at her side. This time, Elizabeth stumbled over her words, and batted his hand away, trying to wrap up the conversation quickly.
He decided to go for broke and sat up. With no warning, he leaned forward and kissed the side of her neck. She gasped and grabbed the pillow next to her. She abruptly ended the conversation over her headset, and spun, knocking Rodney over with the pillow. He roared in indignation and immediately grabbed his own weapon.
For the next five minutes, anyone walking past Elizabeth's quarters would have heard squeals, thuds, groans and laughter. With one final swing, Elizabeth collapsed on her bed, breathing hard and still chuckling quietly. Rodney, seeing she'd surrendered, sat down next to her, grinning happily, also out of breath.
Elizabeth hadn't realized how much she needed that. While she slept well once Rodney had arrived, she'd been tense all afternoon yesterday, and even had some underlying tension since awaking. As nice as having someone to wake up with felt, she had worried if they would be able to talk and still relate to each other. While she didn't want him stuck to her forever, she had enjoyed their time together and didn't want the newfound closeness to end.
She sat up next to Rodney, and then leaned to rest her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh. She knew they had to get going, and that work wouldn't wait forever. As she opened her mouth to say as much, she felt Rodney's hand come up to massage her neck. She smiled and decided to stay quiet for a few minutes longer and enjoy things while she could. He seemed to need the connection as much as she did.
Rodney's fingers continued their massage for another minute, and then stopped abruptly as he realized something didn't feel right. "What the…?" He leaned back and pulled the hair on her neck aside. He stared closely at the handprint on her neck, rubbing his thumb across it gently, feeling the scar-like tissue. "Does it hurt?"
She smiled at his concern, and reached up to cover his hand with her own. "No, not at all. I can't even feel it. Carson said he's not sure what happened, only that it appears to be permanent. He said it may fade over time, but he can't say for sure."
Elizabeth didn't seem too upset about it, so he just smiled, tracing the mark again. He couldn't help but be pleased that she wasn't upset. He knew once people found out, it would be like he'd placed a "Property of Rodney McKay- Do Not Touch" sign on her. And HE certainly wasn't complaining.
He leaned forward and kissed the handprint softly, then stood and offered her a hand. "Come on. Food and work waits for no man…or his woman," he announced with a leering grin. She raised her eyebrow at him over that one and muttered, "Cheeky bugger," but otherwise stayed quiet. He waited while she cleaned up and dressed, and then they headed to his quarters where they reversed the roles.
Together, they headed to the Commissary for their breakfast. The room was packed as it was after 11 and right in the middle of the first lunch rush. They grabbed food and sat at a table. Minutes later, they were joined by Carson, Major Sheppard and Teyla. It didn't take long before the Major began to tease Elizabeth about her scarcity the last few days.
"Come on, Elizabeth. Surely you can't find Rodney that fascinating. You were stuck in a room with him for all that time? And WORKING, you say? I know you have to feel sorry for him with his little crush, but make him cut the apron strings and work by himself. He's a big boy."
Rodney scowled at the teasing, but was content to let it ride. Normally, he'd jump to his own defense, but he knew things that the Major didn't know, and he wasn't going to risk everyone finding out and embarrassing Elizabeth just to shut John up.
Elizabeth, however, didn't seem to mind the risk. Apparently she wasn't planning on keeping this…whatever they had…a secret, either. She reached over and linked her fingers together with Rodney's, placing their joined hands on the table in plain view. She smiled at John sweetly. "But what if I don't want him somewhere else? Maybe I like having him close. Besides…" Here, she couldn't resist a saucy wink and whispered conspiratorially, "…I LIKE having him stuck on me. It's amazing what hidden talents a genius has."
As John's jaw dropped, Elizabeth sat back with a satisfied grin, trying her best to look like the cat that ate the cream. Which really wasn't hard. She WAS quite happy to continue this relationship, wherever it may lead. Glancing at Rodney out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth had to bite the inside of her cheek to hold back the laugh threatening to erupt. At first he appeared as shell-shocked as John, but quickly snapped his mouth shut and then smiled the largest, toothiest, GOOFIEST grin she'd ever seen.
While trying to stifle her laughter, she leaned forward, accidentally dropping her napkin on the floor. She leaned forward to pick it up, her hair falling over her face and baring her neck. John looked at her neck, back to a still-smiling Rodney questioningly, then back at Elizabeth's neck. He sat there, mulling it over as she sat back up, before finally announcing quite loudly, and with a tinge of awe,
"Now THAT'S a hickey!"
The End!
Thanks to all who've completed the journey with me! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! These two just have to be let out to play more often!
