The Strange Encounters of Rodney McKay
by Soledad
Author's Note:
To answer a recently asked question: no, this story doesn't have a plotline in the classic sense of the word. It's just a string of vignettes that show Rodney in various interpersonal situations. They do have an inner coherence, however, and in the end, they'll come to full circle… in a way.
Spoilers: Redemption, Parts 1 and 2
Chapter 04 – Carter
His reassignment from Russia to Area 21 had been a surprise. They didn't tell him anything about the reason, just to pack his duffel and catch the first plane heading the States. He hadn't been at home for six months by then, and even that only for a week. All of a sudden, helping the Russians didn't seem so important, though, and he was getting curious why.
Well, at least he could leave the naquadah generator project in the capable hands of the little Czech guy with the weird hair and the even weirder name. Zalinka, Zerimba, or whatever the right pronunciation might be, had shown a fast understanding for naquadah technology and could have easily replaced him months ago. At least where the practical side of their work was concerned. The man had magical hands, and all machines seemed to like him.
Rodney had made a mental note to draft the little Czech for Area 51 or for SGC, eventually – assuming he could get the security clearance for someone from a Middle-European state. It would have been a criminal waste of talent had they let the man in Russian hands.
Barely had he disembarked his plane when a Marine stepped up to him. He remembered having seen the man at SGC, but not his name. The sergeant told him he had to change planes and continue for Colorado Springs immediately.
By then, Rodney knew that something had gone terribly wrong. Nothing but the potential destruction of the entire planet would have inspired the Pentagon to put him into the same room with Sam Carter again. Not after their first, near-disastrous encounter.
On the plane the sergeant, whose name was apparently Stackhouse (which Rodney promptly forgot again, less than ten minutes later) summarized the problem for him with the sometimes endearing simplicity of a military mind. Basically, someone had dialled Earth from an off-world gate and kept the wormhole open, without sending through anything. Anything but energy, and even that in such small amount that the sensors hadn't even recorded it at first.
That had happened approximately seventy hours ago.
Which meant the Gate, that was supposed to be open for thirty-eight minutes, tops, had been building up energy for sixty-nine hours, give or take twenty-two minutes.
Which was really, really bad.
Rodney tried to calculate in his head how long it would take for the Gate to exceed its capacity to absorb the transmitted energy, before the naquadah, of which it had been made, became charged and would explode with a blast of two or three megatons.
He came up with a few days, under ideal circumstances. With a few more hours, should thing getting worse.
He also tried to come up with a method to shut down the Gate that shouldn't have even been open for the last three days.
He could think of nothing. Not yet, anyway.
Now he understood why he had been called back so urgently. He just wondered what Carter would say to his presence.
As expected, Carter was not exactly happy to see him. She was concerned and worn out, and the last thing she wanted was to deal with an unwanted suitor – which Rodney had to admit that deep in his heart he was. Not that he'd show any of it, of course. Well, not at first, that is. At first, they had clashed as it was their wont; he making lecherous remarks and flippant comments, and she questioning his every idea and refusing everything he proposed.
It was quite the surprise that – after the fiasco with the X-302, for which Rodney intended to chew out the planet's most inflexible scientist (also known as Dr. Larry Murphy) as soon as he got back to Area 51 – General Hammond was actually willing to listen to him, for a change- Not only that, the general even ordered Carter to help him modify the EM pulse generator. And she did help him, even though she never believed that it would work.
And it didn't work. Just as she'd foretold. Not only did it not work, the opening of the iris also cut the time left to the detonation almost in half. And Carter got electrocuted in the effort to close the iris again.
That was when Rodney lost it. He never wanted anyone to get hurt – especially not Carter. So he lost it – and opened his heart, exposing his hidden feelings. It was awkward and humiliating, and he regretted it almost instantly. He knew she wouldn't turn it against him like the others had done, back when he had tried to get close to people before. But it was still hard, very hard.
He hadn't spoken about his family, about his failed career as a pianist, to anyone for many, many years. Not even in hints. He still couldn't understand what had made him bring up the whole sorry tale. Pity had never been what he wanted from other people.
Carter was surprisingly… nice about it. Showing as much interest and understanding as she could bring up for someone whom she didn't even like. Who had just nearly killed her by accident.
She was an artist indeed. The best the art of science could offer. He knew the rules and whatever could go wrong in any given situation. She rose above those facts and solved hopeless cases with intuition and pure genius. And she was a generous winner, too.
Yes, he was jealous. But he was also charmed and fascinated and totally conquered by her. Even if she was insane, trying things that shouldn't mustn't have been tried. And he realized with a bone-deep sadness that no matter what, there would never be anything between them.
Because, in the end, he really didn't have anything…
Against all hope, they managed to solve the problem, and he even got the chance to work with her on the solution, to help her save the world. Which was a first for him, so it should have been exciting. Only it wasn't, for some reason.
He left SGC with the certainty of a work well done. People were surprisingly friendly to him, and he even found a kindred spirit – well, sort of – in the alien boy with the wacky naquadah.
But when Carter kissed him on the cheek, all this seemed like nothing. Because he knew that this is all he would ever get from her.
TBC