MGM owns all characters except OCs.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and Betherdy Babe for the beta. I discovered a big piece of the last chapter was missing, so you might want to reread it. The joys of word processors ;-)

Rodney stood staring at the door berating himself. A perfect woman… No, the perfect woman just asked you to make love to her and you said no. Idiot! His body was revolting and his hand was halfway to the sensor when he was interrupted by the evening stroll of one large Marine.

"Good evening, Doctor McKay," Gunnery Sergeant Dwayne Richards said as he paused and looked between the physicist and Jennifer's door. "Is there a problem?"

"Wh-why would you ask?" Rodney could keep neither the color from his face nor the stutter from his voice.

"Because it's 22:00 and you're standing outside Doctor Keller's door." Richards' grey eyes stared into Rodney's blue ones.

"I thought I forgot something," he said quickly. "But, hey, look, my laptop's right here." The genius pulled on the laptop under his arm, causing it to drop.

The lightning fast reflexes that kept him and Jennifer alive not too long ago came into play as Master Gunny snatched the laptop out of the air.

"Great catch."

"Naturally, Doctor McKay," Richards said without an ounce of arrogance in his voice.

"Well…" Rodney looked back at the door keeping the woman he loved from him. No way I can go back now without Richards killing me. "I'll be heading off to the lab. Got some… projects I gotta finish. Uh, have a nice… patrol?"

"Good evening, Doctor McKay." Richards almost appeared to be laughing.

But Rodney knew that was impossible. Yeah, as rare as a beautiful woman falling in love with you.

"Rodney, what are you doing here?" Radek's voice echoed through the room.

"What are you doing in my quarters?" Rodney mumbled as he lifted his head. He immediately realized he had been hunched over his desk with his head resting on his folded up jacket. Oh, that hurts. He stretched his aching back and shook his head to get the fog out of his brain so he could focus on his 2IC.

"Asleep in the lab again? I'm going to report you to Doctor Beckett," Radek said as he set a large cup of coffee in front of his boss.

"You're a savior," Rodney said, gulping his addiction down. Memories of last night came back to him as he welcomed the rush of caffeine through his body.

"I'm definitely calling the infirmary. You must have hit your head or something," Radek said with a suspicious look.

"Can't I say anything nice to you?" Rodney snapped. "I'll be sure not to let that happen again."

"You know, you have been more pleasant to be around lately. Perhaps you haven't fully recovered from the Kirsan Fever." Radek sat at his desk and started opening files.

"Hey, I was one of the last ones to lose my mind," he replied.

"Will you two please stop. You bicker like a married couple," Sheppard said as he strolled into the lab. Both scientists chose to ignore his feeble attempt at humor. "So, have either of you seen Teyla this morning?" he asked Rodney as he stopped next to his teammates' desk.

"Oh crap." Rodney jumped up and brushed past John toward the door. "Did they leave?"

"Did who leave?" Sheppard asked, throwing a glance at Radek who only shrugged.

"Teyla and Jennifer," he responded as he hurried toward the transport.

"Not yet, but I saw Teyla in the mess hall and she's looking better than usual. I think she's trying to impress someone," John speculated.

"Teyla?" Rodney slowed as he thought about his Athosian teammate. "I guess it's possible. We never visit her people with her so she might have someone there."

"Oh, a secret relationship? Could be pretty easy for her to do without too many prying eyes," John said.

Rodney stopped abruptly and turned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That Teyla has an easier time hiding her late night trysts than some." Sheppard's patented smirk crossed his face.

"Why are you following Ronon around?" Rodney turned quickly and headed toward the transport at a fast pace.

"Oh, Ronon doesn't hide his activities and neither do the women," John laughed.

"Some people don't need to air their conquests for the world to see." Rodney growled. Why is the transporter so damn far from my lab?

"So… you finally conquered the Ice Princess, way to go buddy," John said, patting Rodney on the shoulder as they stood before the transporter.

"What!" Rodney shouted as he backed away and glared at John. "How dare you talk about Jennifer like that? Just because she didn't fall for your Kirk routine doesn't mean she's uptight or frigid. Furthermore, what we have and haven't done in the privacy of our quarters is none of your damn business."

Sheppard took a step back at the ferocity of Rodney's voice and the clenched fists. Holding his hands up, he said, "I was just fishing to see if the two of you were still… close. Nice to see I'm right. Lorne's gotta pay up."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rodney still wanted to hit his team leader.

"We saw the two of you flirting and carrying on during the mission. It seemed to cool off since we got back so Lorne thought she got tired of you. I wasn't so sure. She seemed crazy about you for some odd reason." John shook his head.

Rodney was shocked that Sheppard, Lorne and probably everyone else thought about him and Jennifer. Crap, this isn't what Jennifer wanted. She'll be furious.

When Carter arrived Jennifer asked Rodney to keep their relationship even more of a secret than it already was. She said she was concerned because her position was junior to his and they did work together on some projects.

"Colonel Carter's in the military. It will be in her blood to view fraternization as wrong," Jennifer had said.

Rodney had been eager to let Carter know that he'd finally gotten over his crush on her and had already told his new boss he was seeing someone. Since he didn't say who, he was confident he hadn't violated Jennifer's trust.

"So you guys are sitting around betting on our relationship?" Rodney asked, trying to stay calm. I need to stop this rumor for Jennifer's sake.

"Not everyone," John said with a grin. "I don't think Teyla or Radek or Master Gunny and his boys have any part of it."

Rodney groaned and slumped against the wall. "What a mess?"

"Why? You scored the hottest woman to walk through that gate from Earth," John said, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Hey, knock off the locker room talk," Rodney said angrily. "Jennifer's not a score. I love her." Once the words left his mouth he knew there'd be no going back. John's eyebrows disappeared under his unruly hair and a look of utter shock crossed his face.

"I… Uh… It…" Rodney stood with his mouth open but no more words came out. Finally closing his eyes and his mouth, he said, "I… I don't think she feels the same though."

"Why would you say that?" John asked, lowering his voice and stepping closer to his best friend.

"Because she wants us to be a secret. She'll be so upset to find out everyone knows," Rodney confided.

"Really? She's not doing a good job of hiding how she feels about you," John said. "She can't keep her eyes off you and has a silly little grin that tells me you guys are up to no good when no one's around." A smile spread over John's face. "I'm really happy for you."

"You really think she's crazy about me? Because when Carter got here she said we needed to make sure no one found out about us. No fraternization and all that," Rodney said, waving his hands. John's a ladies' man, if he thinks Jen likes me she must.

"But you guys are civilians. Jennifer's got military in her family so she knows it doesn't apply to you guys. And you're not in the same department so it's even easier."

"Then why… I mean she was pretty serious and looked kinda scared." Rodney remembered Jennifer's reaction after he said Carter was taking over.

"Carter? Rodney, the entire SGC knows you had a crush on her. Jennifer was probably scared she was going to lose you," John said, shaking his head.

"Well…" Rodney realized John was right. "Okay, but why the secrecy? Wouldn't she want Carter to know I was with her?"

"It's a test," John explained. "She said: Keep quiet about us. If you went along, she'd think you weren't that serious. If you said: no way. I want the world to know we're together, you would have passed."

"Jennifer's not manipulative like that. She always speaks her mind," Rodney shot back.

"Jealousy can make women do strange things. Nancy used to do stuff like that all the time," John said.

"From what you've said about your ex-wife that's not sound evidence." Rodney turned back and hit the door sensor on the transporter. John joined him and they headed off to the Gateroom.

Jennifer set down a large duffel bag full of candy, spare clothing and supplies to run a small clinic for the kids on New Athos before tomorrow evening when the celebration started. She was already wearing her smaller backpack, so she hitched her thumbs around the straps to adjust them. Her real reason was that she was nervous and had to do something with her hands. Since Rodney left last night she had heard nothing from him and it terrified her. I pushed him too far and I still have to tell him the truth tomorrow. Even if it's the final straw I owe the man I love the truth.

The physician didn't think it would be possible for her to cry any more than she did all night, but the familiar pinpricks of pain denoting the arrival of fresh tears in her tear ducts told her otherwise. The full reality of her secret came crashing down when Rodney admitted he wanted to take things slowly. Her genius mind, which didn't have a lot of experience with relationships, poured over all the conversations she'd heard from her much wilder college roommates and concluded that he wasn't sure about them and didn't want to commit. Once the violation of trust is revealed, it'll be over.

"Doctor Keller, you do not look well?" Teyla's voice drew her out of her inner turmoil.

Turning to the Athosian she smiled. "My last trip off world was pretty memorable." The physician shifted her shoulders, which would bear the scars for the rest of her life. "Nervous because of that most likely. I'll be fine, I just didn't sleep very well."

"You will have plenty of time to rest," Teyla said with a warm smile.

"I doubt I'll do much of that. I love to learn about…" Jennifer stopped speaking as she saw John and Rodney walk into the Gateroom.

The physicist had a big grin on his face as he came toward her and Teyla. It was impossible not to match it with one of her own. "Good morning, McKay." It was how she always referred to him in front of an audience.

Rodney didn't respond with the usual Keller or say anything else as he walked up to the pair. He stopped extremely close to her. She tried to take a step back because she was aware of Lorne's gate team preparing to go after she and Teyla departed, Colonel Carter standing at the top of the stairs with Radek and Sheppard loitering behind Rodney, but her boyfriend's hands grabbed her elbows and pulled her to him.

"Rod…" she started, but was not able to finish.

In front of at least thirty people in the Gateroom and the control room above, the Head of Science and Research kissed her. It wasn't a simple peck on the cheek. Oh no, Rodney never did anything halfway. As soon as his lips encountered hers his arms moved, one around her waist and the other around her neck. Her body reacted as it was conditioned to when the physicist kissed her: arms sliding around his neck, body pressing into his and her lips returning the kiss with equal enthusiasm.

Jennifer felt her world spinning or at least tipping. Yes, I'm definitely falling. It took a second to realize Rodney had dipped her back. Before she could finally think to tear her mouth away, he righted her, held on for a few second to finish the kiss properly and ensure she was steady on her feet and then backed up.

Rodney's arrogant smirk was permanently fixed on his face as he turned toward his teammate, "Teyla, after her last trip off world you might want to bring a gun with you."

"I do not believe we are in danger with my people," the Athosian said with a smile.

Jennifer, who was still too dazed to comprehend anything except the pounding of her heart and subsequent rush of blood past her ears couldn't respond as laughter filled the area near the gate.

The kawoosh sounded behind her and Rodney said softly, "I'll see you tomorrow night." Still smiling, he turned toward the stairs up to the control room as Jennifer blindly grabbed her duffel and followed Teyla through the gate.

TBC

A/N: Warning, typical DaniWilder fluff and such is on hiatus for quite some time to come in this story. I hope I don't lose anyone, but will understand if I do.

And thanks to Koinekid for his excellent Aftermath story, which made me think of doing a Missing sequel to Welcome to Pegasus. Be sure to check it out.