So How Did I Meet Your Mom Again?12

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or any of its characters or story lines. No infringement is intended upon anyone or any subsidiary connected to Stargate: Atlantis or its parent series, Stargate: SG-1 or Stargate The Movie. I'm poor, you'll get nothing out of me!

Summary: When the team discovers McKay's future daughter living with their trading partners, the search is on for the mother because his daughter will have to be conceived in 16 months or cease to exist. No pressure, right?

Rating: PG for language.

Warnings: Possibly some adult situations or at least ideas.

Category: Friendship/Romance/Humor

Author note: Zelenka is Czech not Russian. My bad. Let's see how Rodney does asking Alex out on a date, shall we?

"Col.?" Rodney asked nervously. "Do you have a minute?"

John took one look at Rodney and knew it was about Alex or Lexi as McKay kept referring to her as. "Sure. Let's talk out on the balcony, alright?" He said casually while ambling off in that direction.

Once they had reached the relative privacy of the balcony, he turned to McKay and asked, "Okay, what kind of dating advice do you want?"

"What? Who said anything about dating advice?" He sputtered, obviously unprepared.

"McKay, we both know why you wanted to talk to me, so why don't you just ask whatever it is you want to ask?"

For a moment, John thought Rodney might just leave, but whatever it was he had wanted to ask was important enough to make him stay. He fidgeted for a moment then deflated. "If I ask her out, she's going to say no." He said defeated. "She likes me like a friend, nothing more."

John contemplated this for a moment. "You know, she probably does like you as more than a friend, she just hasn't realized it yet. Eating breakfast and going on missions are a good way to get to know each other, but if you want her feelings to change, you have to do something outside of work or just friendship." John rubbed his chin, thinking of what Rodney could do.

"Do little things that give her insights into you. Maybe invite her to spend some time with you and your friends or to come down to the lab after normal work hours to show her what it is exactly, that you do. Let her see your excitement about it. Show her things you enjoy and then back off and see if she'll reciprocate. You have to make the first move though. Let her know you're interested without being obvious about it. Say something to get her off balance, and then make a move. Retreat to something safe right after. You'll leave her thinking what was that? And the more she thinks about you when you're not around, the better your chances are."

Rodney looked like he was desperately trying to convert everything he had heard to memory, lest he forget the smallest detail.

John sighed. Baby steps. "Invite her to movie night tomorrow. There will be enough people that it isn't a real date, but escort her there and back so it's sort of like a date. Or maybe take her to your lab afterwards for a nice game of chess or something. She's smart you know. Let her show you that." Sheppard finished knowingly.

Okay, I can do this. Thought Rodney as he left Sheppard behind in search of Lexi.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Rodney found her with a group of soldiers in the cafeteria eating lunch. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, but from the way they were laughing, it was something both Neanderthal and raunchy. He almost lost his nerve right there, but Lexi spotted him and smiled, giving him courage. As he approached the table, it suddenly got quiet as the other soldiers noticed his presence.

"Uh, hi." He said weakly. "Uh, Lexi? Could I talk to you for a second?"

Now the soldiers were downright glaring at him. It was making him very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Lexi noticed.

"Oh give me a break guys! Do you honestly think he's going to throw me down and ravish me or something? C'mon! Rodney's a good guy."

McKay blushed fiercely and the soldiers chuckled, but also stopped glaring at him. He led her out of the cafeteria and stepped into a nearby lab, which he vacated by glaring at the other scientists and telling them to take a break.

"Woa! What's with all this new hostility towards the help?" She asked, while jumping up to sit on one of the tables.

"Just trying to remind them of who is in charge. Look, Lexi, I was wondering if you were going to the movie night tomorrow?" He asked blurted out nervously.

Just then, one of the soldiers that had been sitting by Alex stuck his head through the door and called, "Hey Alex! Want to go to movie night with me?" Rodney's heart plummeted.

"No can do!" She hollered back. "Already have a date!"

"Okay!" He said with a smile and a wave as he continued on.

"You," he said, clearing his throat, "you have a date?"

Lexi smiled like an imp. "Well, I mean, I assumed that that's what you were trying to ask me. Before we got interrupted?" She ended sounding unsure. He was going to ask me, wasn't he?

It took Rodney about half a minute to realize what she was saying. "Wait! So you're saying you'll go with me?"

"Hmmm." She said with her forefinger to her lips as if thinking very hard. "I'll go with you tomorrow night, if, you go with me tomorrow morning."

"What's tomorrow morning?" He asked dumbly. Did she just say yes?

Smiling wolfishly she answered, "Why, Dr. McKay, we're going running."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Rodney wasted no time on formalities as he grabbed John's arm and bodily hauled him into the first available room he could find, which turned out to be the Ancient's equivalent of a broom closet.

"She wants to go running tomorrow morning!" He hissed.

"So?" John asked. What's the big deal?

"She's going to see how out of shape I am and cancel our date, I know it!" He said pacing.

"She said 'yes'?" John asked incredulously. He had been hoping she would, but not really expecting her to.

"Oh don't make it sound so far fetched! What am I going to do?" He asked panicked.

"Rodney!" Sheppard yelled to get his attention. "She knows you're not the most fit man. Remember when she carried you through the Stargate?" He asked, reminding Rodney. Instead of the embarrassed look Rodney usually got at the memory, this time it only made him smile like it was one of his favorite memories or something. John snorted, disgusted at Rodney's expression. "Only you would think it was romantic to be carried through the gate by a girl."

Rodney glared at him. "If she knows I'm not fit, then why ask me to go running?"

"Maybe she wants you to be more fit. The better you can run, the better you can escape a grisly death off world. Maybe she's looking out for you." He said, mostly guessing.

"Oh, okay. Then me being out of breath and gasping for air is fine then."

Sheppard smacked him upside the head. "Of course not! Do your best to keep up with her, she'll probably take it slow tomorrow, and don't let her see how much it takes out of you. Just suck it up! You can whine and moan later, when she's not around. Who knows, maybe she'll turn it into an every morning kind of thing." He added speculatively.

Rodney just groaned.

Author's note: I know I've been really flying through writing this story (10 chapters in two days!), but it's because I need it finished before returning to school next week. Please keep up with all the great reviews! Oh, and I've had a couple of emails saying some of the chapters are being posted out of order cause I'm putting them up so fast, so try to make sure you're reading the right numbered chapter, or it won't make sense!