A/N: There's still another chapter to go after this. It just got long so I split it up. The rest should be posted… erm… within a day?

In case anyone else besides Techie is wondering about the aviator sunglasses Lorne gave Charlotte in their last scene together: Charlotte told the airman at the firing range that Lorne had her sunglasses as an excuse to go into the firing range. Of course, he didn't really.

I left out…say as mystery or a 'missing scene' how Lorne found out about the imaginary sunglasses.

Hey, that sounds like a Challenge to me… anyone up for writing the missing scene?

Oh and the one where Charlie and Lorne kiss. So that's two Challenges.

Part 17-Soggy

"It wasn't on purpose."

"That smoking habit of yours was bound to cause problems, I just knew it!"

"Relax Lenny, it's water. It can't hurt you, unless you're part wicked witch."

"Funny, Charlie, really."

"You could use a shower, so call this a blessing."

"What is with you? Is this pick-on-Lenny day?"

"Didn't you get the memo?"

Madison still stood by the door, but now she had brought her Care Bear towel out of her pack and held it over her head in an attempt to block some of the water, "Could we find a way to turn the sprinklers off?"

"They're eleven feet over our heads, how do you propose we do that, huh?" Lennon snarked, holding her arms around herself. The water was really cold after all.

Madison shrugged, "You're the geek."

"You have some geek in you too. Your turn to come up with something for once."

After a few moments of the team standing in the 'rain' (for lack of a better term), Madison's face lit up, "We could make a human ladder."

Lennon sighed heavily, "Why don't we fly up there then?" No one could be oblivious to the sarcasm in her voice.

"We can't, we don't have any fairy dust." Madison stated matter-of-factly, ignoring said sarcasm.

Charlotte, who had taken the rainfall the best, standing like it wasn't raining at all, smiled and added, "Even if you did, fairy dust requires happy thoughts."

"What are you insinuating, exactly?"

"Nothing, Lenny. Absolutely nothing." Charlotte answered.

"I'll let you both know I have happy thoughts and I have trained in the kid fandoms like most Buster cadets. I had opportunity to snag some dust."

"You have some?" Madison asked.

"I never said that."

"But…"

Charlotte interjected frustrated, "Just figure something out before the base gets flooded."

"At this rate of water flow, it'd take days for that to happen."

"Not for some to leak down to the next level."

Lennon's face lost its snarkiness for about a nanosecond at what that would mean – investigation, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Find a shut-off valve or something! Now!"

"You don't have to be so bossy about it."

Charlotte stood with her hands on her hips, staring up at the sprinklers, "It's in the job description."

"I'd like to see that."

Madison commented, "Any Commanding Officer's job description is the same."

"When Lenny was transferred to the team, she came with special orders."

Lennon asked quickly, "What? What orders?"

"Well, they were more like warnings. I also had to sign a form asking "Are you sure you're willing to take Lennon Fisk as your responsibility?"

Lennon's feathers were riled up but she let it roll off, "Good to know my rep was established back then." She looked up and a drop of water fell directly in her eye, "Damn it!" She wiped her eye, "We're completely soaked because you couldn't wait until we left to smoke one of those disgusting cigars! You're blackening your lungs ya know!"

Charlotte still chewed on her now soggy and snuffed out cigar, "I don't smoke them that often."

"You chew on those things so much, just grab some gum and hard candy. Something else than those things."

"I'll pass on the sugar."

"Then get sugar-free gum."

Giggling pulled their attention from bickering and they both turned their heads towards Madison.

The younger Buster, who was feeling neglected in the last few lines, was jumping in the puddles like a five year old, giggling and laughing the whole time, the towel whipping around as it was clutched in her hand. Her brown hair was no longer the only thing that looked mousy, since now she was looking like a drowned rat. A cute drowned rat.

Lennon cocked her head, "That's… uh…"

Charlotte finished, "Very Madge-like behavior."

"What? I'm already soaked. Splashing around isn't going to hurt anything." She continued to jump in the puddles.

Charlotte felt like pounding her head on the wet wall, "There's a time and a place."

Madison stopped and pouted, "You're no fun. I'll get back to work."

"Good."

Lennon shook her head and followed the pipes with her eyes, but now she kept a hand shielding her eyes, "What I wouldn't give for a ladder."

Charlotte asked, knowing the answer, "Even your LP collection?"

"Maybe not everything." Lennon followed the central pipe to the far wall, "Ahh there it is!"

Charlotte and Madison looked on amusedly as Lennon flattened herself against the wall and tried to reach the valve that was well above her head.

It lasted exactly 3.2 seconds until Lennon snapped, "A little help would be good!"

"I'll give you a boost." Charlotte headed over to the wall, locked her fingers together to form a sort of cradle and held them out by Lennon's right side with her knees slightly bent.

Lennon stepped on Charlotte's hands with her right foot and used a hand to brace herself on Charlotte's shoulder.

"On three… three."

In one motion, Charlotte hoisted Lennon up a couple of feet.

Lennon's left leg was hanging free, and with her free hand reached up towards the valve, "Higher!"

"I can't go any higher!"

"Try!"

"You're too heavy, you're going to have to sit on my shoulders."

"I am not going to do that!"

Charlotte let her down, half-dropping her really.

"Hey!"

"The only way to do this is to have you sit on my shoulders."

"Let Madge do it, she's the rookie."

"I am not a rookie."

"She was on this team before you got reassigned to scifi/fantasy two years back. Now climb."

"Oh come on… that's gonna be more than a little awkward. Think of the possible obscene jokes!"

"What jokes?" Madison asked innocently, only to go unanswered.

"Don't be so childish." Charlotte knelt on one knee facing the wall, the water on the ground not making a bit of difference since she was already sopping wet, "Climb."

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Lennon pointed up and huffed, "She's evil."

"What was that?" Charlotte asked, not hearing the last comment.

"Nevermind."

Lennon reluctantly pulled herself up, so her legs were around Charlotte's neck.

(Nenya wondered if she should say it…

Hell, we're all adults here.

Right?

If not, skip the next line.)

So as Charlotte's head was in between-

"Oh, I get it." Madison interjected.

Charlotte held on to Lennon's legs to stabilize her and stood all the up. Since Charlotte was fairly tall, it gave Lennon the extra height to reach the shut-off valve.

Finally, the sprinklers stopped, going from spray to dribble to drips to nothing at all.

Refusing to sit on Charlotte's shoulders any longer, Lennon hopped to the floor and right into a puddle.

Not that it mattered since they were all drenched already.

Charlotte wiped her brow with the back of her hand, "We can't walk around dripping wet."

"Who's fault is that?"

"We could change." Madison suggested.

"Into what? We don't have extra SGC uniforms with us and we can't walk around in normal clothes."

Charlotte observed, "There are new uniforms up in storage."

Madison kicked Lennon's shoe.

"Why'd you…" Realization hit Lennon that Madison was trying to give her an opportunity … "I'll go get them."

Charlotte hadn't seen the exchange between the geek and the geek-goon hybrid since she was busy wiping water from her eyes that had dripped down from her hair, "Dry off a little first. You don't want to be leaving a water trail."

"Always with the bossing. Between the two of you I get physically and verbally abused on an hourly basis."

"I've never even given you a bruise."

"It's the principal of the thing."

Charlotte noticed Lennon wasn't moving to do anything to dry herself off, "I know you have to have a towel. It's on the required mission items list."

"I don't need to use it, it wouldn't help much." That and she really didn't want Charlotte to see it, Madison was one thing, Charlotte was another. She was tougher. A flower-printed, baby blue, pink, and white towel would harm the rep she had strived to establish with her CO.

"Fine. Madge, you go get them. Make sure you get some boots if you can find them."

Madison was about to answer when Lennon cut her off.

"I'm perfectly capable of going to get them." She sighed, swung her pack off one shoulder, and tugged out the towel from the top.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "I never thought you'd go for a flower print."

"It's the only clean one I had." She dried off her face and hair, and skillfully took off the long sleeve blue overshirt while holding on to her pack. The long sleeve shirt looked bad wet, at least the black t-shirt didn't look wet, just a little clingy. "There. Happy?"

"It'll do."

Lennon walked over to the bay doors and hit the button to open them.

Charlotte called after her, "Try not to squish too much!"

---Exactly 12.2 minutes later ---

The corridor was active since it was approaching mid day, and every person that passed Lennon either gave her a weary or confused look due to her squeaking down the hall and her wet clothes.

At least now she had changed, but stubbornly kept her converse chucks on because no one could ever make her change those. They were a character defining item.

Besides, they were clean now.

And less squeaky compared to when she left the maintenance bay.

She inched up to the door so as to limit the still there squeakiness and with no one in the hall, put her ear up to the door.

It was hard to hear, but there was the tell-tale sound of the shower running.

"Ha, found you," she whispered triumphantly. The feeling lasted two nanoseconds.

The door was locked.

"You paranoid little man…"

She lowered her pack and out of one of the small side pockets, pulled out the most useful tool she had.

A bobby pin.

Within moments, she had the door opened and slipped in, closing the door noiselessly behind her.

The shower was still running so she decided to make herself at home by setting her worn pack on the table and sitting backwards on the chair, facing the door to the bathroom.

Clothes were laid out neatly on the bed- an equally horrid shirt as before, but this one had small vertical zig-zaggy stripes against a grey-beige background, a dirt brown collar, and was fully button-up. There was another pair of brown slacks, and another item that had Lennon holding back laughter.

Count Chocula was staring up from the pair of boxers.

She expected some other sort of print. (Not that she had thought about what type of underwear he wore or anything.) Something related to science. Like Einstein, Heisenburg, Schrodinger… maybe a periodic table.

But a cereal mascot?

That was just weird.

The shower shut off and whistling leaked out from the bathroom door.

It took her a few seconds to recognize the song as "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails," sung by Fred Astaire.

She wondered if there was a musical bunny they didn't catch.

There was no way to stifle her laughter anymore at the little insights she was getting into the strange psyche of an astrophysicist.

At that moment, Rodney walked out in nothing but a towel to find Lennon in his room dying of laughter.

His eyes widened and he started panicking.

"I'm a dead man… that's it. The world is saved but I'm still going to die, that's just so typical of my life. One good thing happens then everything goes to hell."

Lennon was still laughing so didn't notice his movement to the door until he was almost at it.

She launched out the chair and caught his arm, "For the last time Rodney, I'm not going to kill you."

"Not even after the whole faked-brainwashing thing?"

"No."

"That's good."

She still was holding on to his arm so she let go and stepped back, fully aware he had only a towel around his waist.

He suddenly remembered too, "Get out! I'm naked here. Wait, how'd you get in? I locked the door. And why is your hair wet? And why are you here?"

"One question at a time."

"I'm going to get dressed then." He jabbed his thumb over at his clothes.

"No you're not."

"I'm not?..."

"No."

"But- uh, do you mean what I think you mean? Cuz I would have liked to have some warning to prepare and uh, things." He stammered out nervously.

"I highly doubt you're thinking what I'm thinking."

"Oh. That's disappointing… Why not? We were well on our way to it before your CO radioed you."

"We were not."

"Yes we were."

"No, we weren't."

"I don't know about you, but I could've used a cold shower after that."

"Rodney, just shut up." Lennon rubbed her face and went on tersely, "I'm not here to do anything with you. Not that it hasn't crossed my mind, it's not a good idea and I don't have the time."

"Then why are you here?"

"To say goodbye."

The smugness disappeared from his face and he bit out, "Then goodbye Lenny." He opened the door, "Now get out."

She slammed it closed, "I have to do something first."

"I don't care. Get out."

She'd never admit it, but that hurt. "Rodney…I'll explain everything. Not that you'll believe me." Or that he'd remember anyway.

"Try me." He crossed his arms, the smugness returning.

But then the towel started to slip and he barely got a hold of it before it fell off.

A/N: I'm going to try not to get distracted and continue to write tonight, but … no guarantees. The internet is evil. Even more evil than bunny Nenya.