AN: Thanks again for all the shiny reviews! Wow, we never expected such a great response :D Keeps the bunnies fed ;)

Special thanks to our lovely and talented beta Em, and her betta fish… who won't tell us his name so we'll just call him Steve.

(Don't worry folks, I have a feeling we'll be hearing from Simon, River, McKay and others soon. Apologies in advance for the title :P )

Firegate: The Big Damn Circle

By Hah and Mer

- 4. Who's Your Daeddy? -

"The engine room?" John was a bit confused. Well, she is a mechanic after all. I guess it's only natural she would want to see the engine. He flashed her one of his infamous flyboy smiles "Sure. We can see whatever you want. But there's something we've gotta do first." Seeing the mischievous glint in his eye, she knew this was gonna be shiny.

"Of course, my Colonel. Lead the way!"

They continued toward the East Pier, making a quick stop at one of the supply rooms. He explained his idea…

- - - - - - - - - - - -

When Kaylee emerged from the storage locker, she no longer looked like Serenity's tomboyish young mechanic. In her place was the cheerful Lt. Frye, ready to follow her CO's every command. Oh, would she ever…

"Lt. Kaylee Frye, reporting as ordered, sir." She stood up straight and stuck her chest out, which did not go unnoticed.

Shep admired his newest recruit. "You certainly are…um… reporting. You look very.. official." Official? Pull it together, man…

Kaylee started to pout.

"What I mean to say is… you look lovely." He smiled. Yep, if words fail, just flash that smile…

That smile…the one that made Kaylee weak at the knees. She stared into his gorgeous green eyes and saw that he was being truthsome.

"Aren't you sweet, John… you don't mind if I call you John, do you?… 'Cause we already got one Shepherd and I'm pretty sure a preacher would be callin' these thoughts I'm havin' awfully sinful…" Ai ya, she always started babbling like this… could they just get to the taking off of clothes already?

"Please do. Uh, call me John, that is. Here, come with me, let's see about getting you aboard the Daedalus."

They arrived at the East pier and saw the towering ship, its mass dwarfing the figures moving crates to and from the loading bays. Kaylee stood in awe.

"It's huge!"

"It gets the job done." Shep grinned.

"We'll see," she replied, and gave him a cheeky look while they continued walking towards the ship.

Shep's plan worked brilliantly. Now that the Daedalus traveled regularly between Atlantis and Earth, no one noticed a new face, or a lieutenant who was a little more cheerful than she ought to be.

"So what do you think so far?" Shep asked, after they'd walked through the corridors for a while.

"It looks very…um… functional. Could use some pretties, you know, to make it more personal-like…maybe some paint…"

Shep grinned while he imagined Caldwell's reaction to Kaylee's prettified version of the ship.

"Sounds good to me."

"So, the engine room…?"

"Right this way. I just have to make one quick stop first."

They came to the door of a storage room, and Shep asked Kaylee to wait for him while he went inside. He emerged a few minutes later with a small plastic container.

"What's that?"

"It's a surprise," said Shep, with that gleam in his eye.

"Shiny! I love surprises." Her mind wandered through all manner of possible contents of the box, each more naughty than the last.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"This is it," said Shep, and gestured at the large room with his arm.

It wasn't anything like the engine room Kaylee was used to. Where were the wires hanging out? The spare parts? In fact… where was the gorram engine? But still… even though it felt alien, it had the familiar hum of an engine that was well cared for. She was no Serenity, but she was a good ship.

"You see, uh, we have two different types of engines, the interstellar hyperdrive, for flying between stars, and the intergalactic hyperdrive, which we use…"

For once, the engine was only Kaylee's secondary interest. Ever since she'd met John she'd felt drawn to him, and not just for his obvious good looks. Oh, but they were good… She glanced at his muscular shoulders and chest, moved her eyes down his long, lean form, and lingered somewhere below his slanty belt. For a brief moment she thought about Simon, and wondered if she'd regret this. She looked back into his eyes and decided that no, John Sheppard was not a man one regretted being with.

Kaylee tried to listen to him babble on, but she was more captivated by the way his luscious lips formed each word. This led to imagining her own lips pressed against his, and when she couldn't take it any more she leaned in and kissed him 'til he stopped talking. She pulled away and noticed John looked a bit shocked.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…" Kaylee felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. "Did you.. not enjoy it? I..uh.."

It was John's turn to interrupt. He took her head in both hands and kissed her passionately, and she wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself in close to his warm body. She noticed he was definitely enjoying himself this time.

John tossed his jacket aside as they made their way to a more private spot behind a console. He spotted the container he'd set down on the console earlier.

"Oh, I nearly forgot!" John grabbed the container as Kaylee pulled him to the floor, and opened it to reveal red, juicy…

"Strawberries!" Kaylee was in Heaven. Well, a better neighborhood in Heaven.

"My favorite." John grinned. "Had them brought back from Earth…" He'd pulled a few strings and gotten them put in Asgard stasis to last the long trip back to Atlantis. He was planning on saving them for a special occasion, and figured seducing a pretty girl from 500 years in the future definitely qualified. If only he'd thought to request whipped cream as well…

John teased Kaylee's lips with a strawberry before letting her bite into the sweet berry and kissed her as the juice trickled down her chin. This nearly sent her over the edge, and heck, they weren't even naked yet… something she hoped to resolve shortly. John helped her wiggle out of the borrowed flight suit and she peeled off his black t-shirt, running her hands up his slim waist and over his soft chest hair. She unclipped his gun belt and holster and wasted no time unzipping his pants. Ok, John Sheppard, show me what you've got…

- - - - - - - - - - - -

In the Daedalus control room, Lindsey Novak twirled her pencil in a deep state of boredom. Most of the crew was taking time off in Atlantis or helping unload the cargo, but she was stuck here running engine diagnostics with her Asgard pal Hermiod, who was not exactly what you call a conversationalist.

A computer screen blipped. "I'm getting some anomalous readings coming from the engine room," announced Hermiod.

"Hm?"

"I'm detecting an increase in temperature and some unusual vibrations in the engine room." Hermy narrowed his eyes.

"What's the source?"

"Unknown. I am also detecting two lifesigns."

"Can you show me the security camera?" The image popped up on Novak's screen. "I don't see anything unusual…"

"I can give you audio."

Ohhh, John…ohh…ohhhhh…

Novak's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

Hermy cocked his head to the side. "That woman appears to be in distress. Should I lock onto her signal and beam her here?"

"Uhh..that, uh, might not be such a good idea," Novak stammered. "I'll go check it out myself."

"serutaerc namuh egnarts," Hermy mumbled, and radioed Col. Caldwell.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Novak approached the engine room and entered cautiously, while clearing her throat loudly. She heard a quiet "Oh, crap" and some shuffling of bodies and clothing coming from behind one of the consoles. Was that Col. Sheppard's voice? Oooh, boy. Her mind was conflicted between extreme embarrassment and an overwhelming desire to take a peek.

"I just thought you'd like to know that Col. Caldwell is on his way down here and you might, uh, want to, uhh… you know… I'm gonna go now." She blushed and made a hasty retreat.

The interrupted couple scrambled to get dressed, trying not to get each other's articles of clothing mixed up. Kaylee tried to brush her tousled hair into place. Shep's hair… well, it always looked like he'd just had a roll in the hay. They were still tangled in clothes, and each other, when the door opened again.

"Who's in here?" Caldwell demanded.

Shep, still shirtless, peered over the top of the console. This was not gonna be pleasant…

"Sir, uh, we were just inspecting this console here…" He ducked back down to slip on his shirt and jacket, and the partners in crime both stood up.

Caldwell glared. "Col. Sheppard, who is this woman?"

"She's an engineer, sir. I was just giving her a tour of the engine room…"

"I'm not even going to ask what you were doing. What in the hell makes you think you can bring unauthorized personnel into restricted areas of my ship?"

"Sorry sir, won't happen again."

"It better not. Now both of you, get the hell off my ship!"

As Shep and Kaylee skulked towards the exit, they passed Dr. Novak. Shep leaned in and whispered "Thanks for being so –ahem- discreet, back there."

Novak grinned. "No problem. She's not the only one who likes engines."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Caldwell frowned and walked into the engine room to see what mischief that unruly Colonel and his bimbo "engineer" had been causing. He walked over to the console and picked up a small container from the floor behind it. When he saw the strawberries inside a mischievous grin spread across his face. He tapped on his radio.

"Dr. Weir? Col. Caldwell on the Daedalus. There's something in the engine room you might want to see."

- - - - - - - - - - - -