The Strange Encounters of Rodney McKay
by Soledad
Author's Note:
Some lines of dialogue at the beginning of his chapter are quoted from the episode "Duet" – with a few alterations.
Spoilers: Duet. Obviously.
Chapter 09 – Katie
"You have a date, Rodney? With a woman?"
For some reason, Beckett's question – and even more the barely concealed disbelief in the good doctor's voice – irritated him to no end. So did the nosiness of Lieutenant Cadman, for that part.
"It's simply two adults sharing some friendly…" he began, and then he glared at Carson. "Yes, with a woman! Whom should I have a date with, a Wraith?"
Carson and the pretty Marine giggled, which was ridiculous and annoying, and… yes, mostly annoying.
"Well, she's excited about it," Cadman grinned. "Not sure why, though."
Rodney wasn't sure either. The whole idea hadn't been his to begin with. He never wanted to go out with Katie. Sure, she was pretty, when one was into brunettes with wide, hazel eyes and a sensuous mouth, but she didn't like the dogged insistence she was pursuing him. It made him uncomfortable, cornered. The way she made doe-eyes at him and giggled in his presence, and…
"Wait a minute," he glared at Cadman. "How would you know?"
"Girls' poker night," Cadman told him. "I know a lot of things, McKay."
Oh, wonderful. Now they were discussing him behind his back. Meaning, they were discussing him, not only his tempers, his lack of table manners or whatever people liked to complain about him.
He just hoped Miko didn't play poker.
Nah, unlikely. And even if she did. She wouldn't tell the other girls anything. She was discretion personified. It was a Japanese thing – never bring the boss into an uncomfortable situation. He appreciated it. If only other people would share the sentiment.
"I'm sure it's none of your business," he told Cadman tersely. "This is an inappropriate field discussion."
Cadman rolled her pretty eyes. "What? I was just suggesting you might wanna pick some flowers…"
Before Rodney could get really irritated, their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a Wraith Dart, and the worst nightmare in Rodney McKay's life began.
When their ordeal was over and he safely separated from Cadman again, he was left with the unpleasant task to let Katie down gently. Most people would probably think he was an idiot not to accept Katie's advances, but most people had no idea. The truth was, he'd found the situation awkward from the beginning. Even if he didn't have Miko to consider, Katie wouldn't have been the woman he'd ever choose.
Firstly, Katie was the kind of woman who wanted the whole dinner-and-a-movie thing. That, and cuddling, and long, inane chats and the whole romantic folly Rodney really didn't have the time for. Or the interest.
Their first – and so far only – date had been disastrous enough, due to Cadman's interference, which had made it extremely hard for him to nip the whole thing in the bud. She'd managed to make Katie believe that Rodney was actually interested in her. Which he wasn't.
Not beyond the purely physical level, and that sort of thing didn't work in a closed community like Atlantis.
Besides, if he wanted female company – or sex – he could always seek out Miko. Theirs was a purely practical relationship, with no string attached on either side, and with a way out any given time for both parties involved. Plus, they could always talk about work, which was the only topic Rodney could bring up any true interest for.
In the lab, Rodney didn't treat Miko differently than he would any other subordinates. The only difference was that he didn't have to make scathing remarks about her work anymore. Miko had learned what he wanted and how he wanted, and she had discovered her own strength and ability to fulfil those demands. That gave her the necessary self-confidence, so she didn't burst out in tears whenever Rodney got into rant mode any longer.
When they were alone, they talked about work, mostly, save from the extremely rare occasions when they felt the need to discuss personal matters. That is, Rodney did most of the talking, with Miko interjecting small, intelligent remarks that proved stimulating for his overactive mind, and she never complained when he stormed out in the middle of a conversation to check something in the lab. Quietly but firmly, she'd established herself in his life, providing a solid background that he desperately needed to be able to function, always supportive, never asking anything for herself.
Katie would find such a relationship abusive. Actually, Rodney sometimes caught Radek watching them with a frown. After Peter Grodin's death, Radek was the only one who knew that they were more than colleagues, for the simple reason that Radek generally seemed to know everything that occurred in Atlantis. Rodney knew that the little Czech didn't completely approve. Radek was a romantic at heart – his early marriage with Marta proved that – and thought that Miko deserved better.
What Radek couldn't understand was the fact that Miko didn't want a cozy home like the one Marta had created. For all her submissive demeanour, Miko quite jealously guarded her independence. She was a brilliant scientist who took great pride in her work – and rightly so. Unrelated to this fact, she chose to support Rodney, mainly out of respect, and perhaps just a little out of attraction, too. At least Rodney hoped so.
Katie Brown would never understand, either. She could never follow him to the ultimate, abstract and logical beauty of numbers; never accept to be second to his work. She would demand attention when his attention was needed elsewhere, and she would demand things he simply couldn't give. The whole flowers and chocolate and poems and candlelight things.
Rodney was not the right man for those things. And any chocolate he could lay hands on wandered into his stomach within seconds. But how was he supposed to make Katie understand that?
"You need to be honest to her," Miko said quietly. She had finished work for the day – the official part of work, that is – and was shutting down her laptop.
"I'm always honest," Rodney snapped indignantly. "Strangely enough, people don't seem to appreciate my honesty."
Miko gave him a serene smile. "Oh, they do appreciate what you say. They just don't appreciate how you say it."
Rodney glared daggers at her. "Was that a not-so-subtle hint that I'm rude?"
"Of course not," Miko said tolerantly. "We're all used to your manners by now. Dr. Brown, however, is not. Be nice."
"Why should I?" Rodney asked in honest surprise. "I don't want her to become even more obsessed with me."
"Because it's not her fault that she's interested but you are not," Miko replied and left the lab, without asking him if he'll spend the night in her quarters or in his own.
She never asked, and Rodney was grateful for that.
His second – and definitely last – dinner with Katie was even more uncomfortable than the first one. She'd gone great lengths to make it a memorable event, preparing fresh, home-made food again, which was a waste, frankly, because Rodney couldn't appreciate it. As he'd repeatedly t old various people, he liked MREs and hospital food and any sort of junk, and couldn't tell the difference between them and a gourmet menu for the life of his. For him, quantity and availability had always been the deciding factor when it came to food, and the only important thing was the absence of citrus.
He tried to be nice, he really did. Firstly, because he had to keep working with Katie in the future. He couldn't avoid her for the rest of their lives; Atlantis wasn't big enough for that. And secondly, because Miko had been right. It wasn't Katie's fault that her crush on him remained unrequited. So he did his best to make this as painless as possible.
It didn't work, of course. Women could be spectacularly unreasonable when it came to emotional issues. It would have been an unpleasant situation, even without Cadman's interference back when she'd shared Rodney's body. Thank to that interference, the scene turned out very ugly, with tears and accusations and every other theatrical side effect of a so-called broken heart.
He didn't understand it, honestly. Speaking about a broken heart was a vast exaggeration in their case – they hadn't even been dating, for Pete's sake! Rodney didn't do the dating thing, not even back on Earth, and even less here, where he wouldn't have the time for such mundane things, even if he wanted.
Which he did not. He was perfectly happy with the arrangement he had with Miko and with the friendships with Radek and Carson. Everything else would have only distracted him from his work, and given their precarious situation, he couldn't afford to be distracted. Atlantis couldn't afford it.
It was a mystery for him how Katie had managed to build up her expectations without any encouragement from his side. She had been the one to ask him out repeatedly, despite the fact that he'd cancelled their dinner several times. Could she not see his reluctance, did she not understand that work would always come first for him?
And if she understood that, why kept she pursuing him? She wasn't the kind of woman who'd be willing to retreat into the background most of the time. Why did women always blame the men when those couldn't fulfil their ridiculous expectations?
Yes, he was selfish and arrogant, but hell, everyone ought to know that by now, right? People only told him that, oh, about several hundred times a day or so. It wasn't exactly a secret. So, if Katie knew that, like everyone else, why did she expect him to be different with her? Out of love? Everyone knew that he didn't do love – or all that sentimental romance stuff.
He shook his head in defeat as he opened the door to Miko's quarters with a mental order. She could have locked him out – his artificial ATA gene was no match for her natural one – but she didn't. She never did.
He entered the living area, grateful that they'd found these more spacious suites and didn't have to live in the cramped little quarters anymore, and looked around for her. She was working, her small fingers dancing on the keyboard like those of a concert pianist. She was a true artist when it came to computers… and just as bad a workaholic as he was.
She sensed his presence, as always, and looked up in askance. "How did it go?"
"Ugly," he replied with a tired sigh. "It was ugly. But at least it's over now."
She nodded in understanding, not digging any deeper. She'd doubtlessly learn the details from the other women tomorrow.
"Do you want to go to bed?" she asked.
He knew if he said no, she would just nod and keep working. It was a comforting knowledge after Katie's hysterics. As he was prone to hysterics himself, the balance Miko provided was invaluable.
"Yes," he said tiredly, "let's go to bed."
Miko nodded, saved her work and logged out. Ten minutes later, showered and changed, they were in bed, Rodney curling himself around her small body and holding her like a lifeline. With her soothing presence next to him, he might be able to sleep four or five hours. Enough to function another day long.
TBC