Author: Porthos
Author's notes: Okay, I think I kind of know where this is headed now. Of course, since I'm writing this without a pre-determined outline, that all may change by the time I get done with this chapter.
oOo
"First thing's first," Sam said. "I need you to head out towards the east pier. I'll meet you there."
"What, in front of everybody? Won't they see you?"
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Rodney, we don't have a lot of time. Will you just stop arguing with me and do as I say, please?"
"Fine, fine." Rodney headed towards the exit, but stopped as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, how will I know—" he turned and realized he was talking to an empty room. "—where you are," he finished feebly.
Resolving himself to the fact that she would reveal everything when she was ready, he started heading out towards the east pier. He was soon caught up in the flow of people rushing towards the sight, and he felt a light grasp on his arm just as he reached the pier. "Rodney!" Elizabeth smiled at him brightly in greeting.
Rodney examined her suspiciously while listening to the "oohs" and "ahs" of the whale watchers behind him. "Elizabeth, what are you doing here?" he asked skeptically. He still hadn't quite recovered from seeing Sam change into Elizabeth and back right before his eyes. He couldn't be sure if this was Sam messing with his head again, or if it was the real Elizabeth. He was beginning to feel like he couldn't tell what was real or not, and was halfway expecting Sam to show up in skin tight black leather and shades and tell him to "follow the white rabbit." Hmm, come to think of it, that wouldn't be so bad…the leather part, anyway. Not the losing his mind part.
"I just heard about the whales," Elizabeth answered, nodding in the direction of the pier, "and I thought I'd come check it out. Although I must admit that I'm surprised to see you here. I didn't think you went in for this sort of nature-loving thing."
McKay agreed nervously. "Yes, well, it's not like I run around Atlantis in my Greenpeace t-shirt and Birkenstocks, peddling hemp jewelry to tourists, but Sheppard seemed to think it was important, so…"
"Yes, Sheppard was the one who invited me out here, as well." She took Rodney's arm lightly and began leading them out towards the nearest balcony, almost at the water's edge. "Although," she added quizzically, "he seemed to think I should have already known about it, for some reason."
Despite Rodney's best efforts, his chuckle sounded edgy and forced. "Huh, that's odd," he said, hoping she couldn't hear his heart dancing a frantic samba against his ribcage. He guessed this was probably the real Elizabeth, given that she hadn't tried to needle him…yet. As soon as they reached the water's edge, however, Rodney's anxiety was immediately forgotten as one of the whales broke the surface not fifteen feet from where he was standing. He added his own stifled sound of amazement to those of the audience.
Standing next to him, Elizabeth couldn't hide her own shock. "That was incredible, Rodney! I think there's a few more heading this way, over there. Look!" Rodney followed her gaze, and soon found the ripples she was pointing out. He barely had time to register the massive size of the ripples before he was narrowly avoiding the splash as not one, but three, whales broke the surface just in front of where he and Elizabeth were standing.
As soon as he had recovered himself, he began to take in the sight before him, and immediately realized something was wrong. The middle whale was huge, and almost an ashen grey in color, as opposed to the vivid turquoise blue of the outside whales. He noticed the other two whales were supporting the middle whale, which seemed mildly lethargic and unable to stay afloat by itself. As if confirming his suspicions, the whale gave a low, sad moan that seemed to reverberate inside McKay's own chest.
"Oh, that poor thing," Elizabeth whispered, as if to herself. The whales seemed to sense her pain, and began making soft notes and clicks of their own, but they never moved from their place right in front of Rodney and Elizabeth. "That's remarkable. It almost sounds like…language…" she trailed off, but gently touched Rodney's shoulder to get his attention. "Do you think…" she whispered, then paused as if she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "You don't suppose they're asking us to help?"
Rodney didn't answer, he just turned back to stare at the sight before him, wide eyed. They were beginning to attract some attention and a small crowd was gathering, so when Rodney felt a tug on his shirt, he ignored it at first. Then it came again, this time more insistent, along with a timid "Dr. McKay?"
He turned to find Dr. Miko Kusenagi staring back at him with large, doe eyes and pink ribbons tied around her pigtails. He blinked at the odd spectacle before realizing she wanted an answer. "What?" he snapped impatiently.
"Dr. McKay, you are needed back in your lab." She bowed her head humbly.
"I don't hear any sirens or see any flashing lights, so what could you possibly need me for? The entire science staff is out here or in the mess hall, so just grab one of them to deal with it. I'm busy." With that, he turned his back on her, once again facing the sick whale before him.
Rodney didn't see the very un-Miko-like glare she cast at his back. The next thing he knew, he was drenched head to foot in icy sea water, and there was a whale in front of him, glowering at him crossly from the one eye it had out of the water and facing his direction. It gave another abrupt snort from its blow hole, as if warning him that there was more where that came from.
Rodney wiped his hand over his wet face in a futile attempt to get rid of some of the freezing water. Still dripping, he turned to endure Elizabeth's stifled giggles. "Apparently, I'm needed in my lab," he told her with as much dignity as he could muster. He brushed past Miko, who was bowing low and smiling brightly, casting out the occasional "Domo arigoto, Dr. McKay."
"Miko" followed McKay halfway down the hall, and all the while he steadfastly ignored her giggling. When he finally stepped into the transporter and the doors closed, he was greeted with Sam's laughter instead. "Was that really necessary?" he snapped, running his hand through his sopping wet hair. He glared at her, noticing that she was now wearing an Atlantis uniform, although instead of the usual red, black, or blue color-coding system, she was wearing pink.
"Well, if you hadn't been too busy making goo-goo eyes at Dr. Weir, I might have been able to pull you away easier." She raised one eyebrow in challenge.
"How was I supposed to know that was you?" he shouted as he angrily punched in his destination. "And I was not making goo-goo eyes at Elizabeth!"
"Where are we going?" Sam curiously looked at the glowing destination on the transporter wall.
"To throw myself in front of the next incoming wormhole," came the sarcastic reply. "Where do you think? I'm going to change my shirt!" Rodney answered hotly as he stomped out of the transporter, his shoes making furious squishing noises with each step. He chanced a look backwards to see the transporter doors close on her impish grin.
McKay turned down the next hall and stepped into his quarters, ignoring the soggy puddles his shoes left on the threshold. He kicked them off and started to strip without bothering to turn on the lights, then let out an indignant squawk when he realized he was not alone. Holding his shirt up over his bare chest in a rather demure manner, he blustered, "What are you doing here?"
A corner of Sam's mouth turned upwards in a smirk. "Enjoying the view," she answered.
McKay snorted in annoyance. "Do you mind?" he huffed as he gestured towards the door. "I'm trying to change, here!"
"Oh, don't mind me," Sam settled herself in with a wicked grin. "Just act like I'm not even here."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "That's what I've been trying to do ever since you showed up!" He used the hand that wasn't holding up his shirt to grab Sam's arm and haul her up and towards the door. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to have some privacy!"
Sam dug in her heels near the open doorway just as he was about to throw her out. "Alright! Alright! You win!" Rodney stopped to frown at her skeptically, his chin jutting outward in defiance. "I'll go. Just don't take too long. We have a lot we need to talk about." With that, she dissolved into nothing, and Rodney was left holding air.
In mild shock, he examined the room, not completely believing he had won that easily. He looked in the closet and even under the bed. Presumably satisfied with his impromptu scrutiny of his living quarters, he grabbed a set of dry clothes and began to change. His thumbs were on the edge of his waistband before he paused. That nagging suspicion in the back of his mind just wouldn't go away. Taking one last look around, he grabbed his clothes and retreated to the privacy of his tiny bathroom. Outside his door, he could have sworn he heard a female voice softly mutter, "Shucks."
oOo
Author's notes 2: Sorry it was so short. I'm working on the next part right now, I'll post it as soon as it gets done. I really don't know if I want to make this into more of a McWeir piece, but I just sort of couldn't resist putting her in here, since she would be the person most likely to be awed by the whales and pick up on their communication skills. Let me know if you want to see more of Rodney and Elizabeth together in the coming chapters. Like I said, I really only have a vague idea where this is going, and an even vaguer idea of how I'm going to get there. I do know what's making the whales sick, and that will either be revealed in the next chapter or the one after that.
