Disclaimer: Still don't own anything -.-
A/N: Wow most of you liked the part with which I was really unsure...Thank you very much for your reviews, I love every single on of them! But for HyperMint's question: Well I don't want to spoiler you, but lets just say: I'm a sucker for Happy endings! *winkwink* And Jack_rocks: Don't worry; I plan many twists and turns for this trip. :)
Have fun with the third chapter, and please R&R.
3. Of Horny School Nurses and Inconvenient Surprises
John Sheppard wasn't in a good mood. He was grumpy and tired and to make things worse he couldn't even bring himself to enjoy the sparring with the new recruits, something that could lighten his mood everytime.
He was sure it wasn't Ronon's fault. Contrary, Ronon seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, his smile so wide that it seemed more like the bared teeth display of a kid burning some ants with his loupe.
'Maybe that's not too far from the truth.'
Sheppard lips twitched a little when he saw how the Satedan towered over a cringing Marine, but it didn't last long.
No, he was definitely not in a good mood. Far from it.
Teyla had sensed his uneasiness at once and shot him from time to time a sympathetic look, which only served to unnerv him even more. Sometimes he really couldn't stand how Teyla acted like she knew exactly how he felt. Probably because she really did.
He catched himself how he looked at his watch (again) and cursed inwardly. No need to show too clearly how badly he wanted this session to end so he could check on one annoying scientist.
Sheppards scrowl grew.
Only Rodney could make him this edgy.
'No' John thought furiously 'not just Rodney, but Rodney and flowers.'
He had spent the first half of the night trying to convince himself that he was just concerned as a team leader. That he couldn't let Rodney loose focus offworld because he was musing about an unknown admirer (even though he had to admit that Rodney hadn't seemed too impressed or concerned about it before Ronon had mentioned it).
When he had realised, with a frustrated sigh, that his position as the team leader of SGA-1 couldn't justify an interference in this rather personal matter, he had decided that he should see to this situation as a friend.
As a best friend, who wanted to save his friend from getting hurt or experience something embarrassing.
Sheppard had shuddered when he remembered his own "secret admirer" incident in high school, when the sweet little girl, who sended sweet little notes, had turned out to be the school nurse who had a thing for little boys. Of course she was fired almost immediately, but he'd never got rid of the immage of a womanizer who wouldn't even hold back on the school personnel.
He'd come to the conclusion that it was his obligation to prevent something like that from happening to his best friend, so he'd decided to search for Rodney after the sparring and to try and talk to him.
A little voice in the back of his mind told him that it wasn't his usual behaviour to dig into some other guys business and he knew that it was right, but not entirely.
'Rodney isn't just some guy. He's the best friend I have since years.'
But there was no reason to be so nervous about this oncoming conversation. Even though Rodney would never admit it, John knew that he listened to him more than to anyone else and that John's opinion actually mattered to him.
With no little pride Sheppard had noticed that he had even "surpassed" Carson , who after all knew Rodney longer that anyone else, when the Canadian had passed up an invitation for lunch from the good doctor, to be able to watch some DVD's with John.
John couldn't help the goofy grin that had been plastered on his face the entire evening but if Rodney noticed something he hadn't mentioned it.
So this conversation should be as easy as pie, shouldn't it? No reason to be nervous. He even suspected that Rodney would be secretly grateful for a good advice, considering his total lack of experience in this matter. And John just knew that Rodney hadn't much experience, judging by the way his face had gone bright red at lunch yesterday.
Absentmindedly, John thought that the color had looked good on the otherwise pale skin.
A tap on his shoulder jerked him from his train of thoughts and he realized that Teyla was standing right next to him, a concerned look on her face. He had to restrain a chuckle when he saw her various sparring partners sitting on the floor, tending their bruised and gaping at the Athosian who hadn't even broken a sweat.
"John is everything alright? I have called you for some time."
"Just peachy" John snapped, unable to contain his bad temper.
Teyla just blinked at him, unaffected by his little outburst. "You seem a little bit, how do you phrase it, put out."
A weary sigh escaped Sheppards lips. Teyla just blinked some more.
"He doesn't know how to speak with McKay."
Sheppard whirled around, just in time to see Ronon grabbing a towel and making his way towards the door. "Oh great! Now the big scary guy decides he wants to be the sensitive big scary guy." Sheppard muttered under his breath, hoping that Teyla would sense his discomfort and let it go.
"Why would you want to speak with Rodney?"
Well so much for that. But with Teyla it was better to come straight to the point.
Sometimes it was scary how fast she discovered a lie when you told her one.
"I thought I should talk with Rodney, well you know" he lowered his voice to a wisper "about this secret admirer thing." He didn't know what he expected but it sure wasn't her approval.
"I believe you are right to do so."
"Really?" John could have slapped himself. "I mean, sure it is! But I thought you, well..." he trailed of, self-consciously, but Teyla just raised an eyebrow, asking him to continue. "I had the impression that you were more excited than Rodney himself."
A light blush touched her cheeks but she retained her composure.
"It does not happen often that something like this happens around here." There she stopped, looking almost a little bit sheepish, "but I have thought about it during my meditation and I must say that I do not have a good feeling about this after all."
And hell, but didn't that just sum it up nicely?
"A bad feeling. Exactly."
They shared a short knowing look. It wasn't like they thought that Rodney was unable to attract attention and conquer some hearts, but you had to know him to realize that under all this sarcastic attitude there was hidden a loyal, funny and altogether very good friend.
But Rodney showed this side just a handful other people outside of the team. And it was quite clear to Sheppard that neither Elizabeth nor Cadman (who'd had an close encounter with Rodney of the extraordinary kind) would send him flowers. At least not for this purpose.
So it was understandably a little bit hard to believe that someone could be honestly attracted to someone quite this irritating, without actually knowing the real McKay.
Sheppard knew that he was a little bit too happy at the prospect of someone sharing the same worries with him, but it just felt good to know that he wasn't the only one feeling uneasy about this whole thing.
And that had nothing to do with the fact that it was Rodney who had gotten the flowers. Nothing at all.
"So you want to back me up?" he asked, convinced that their negotiator would find the right words.
"I fear that I will not be able to accompany you John,." He didn't buy the apologetical look for one second "I already have an appointment with Dr. Heightmeyer for lunch."
And with that she was gone, leaving behind a dumbstruck John.
He found Rodney in his lab where he was hunched over his laptop, typing furiously and muttering to himself. Sheppard mood lightened immediately at the sight and the opportunity to mock his friend a little.
A day without a cranky Rodney was a lost day in John's books.
"Wassup McKay?" Sheppards smirk got wider when Rodney's muttering just got a little bit louder in reply.
"'Wassup McKay?' Did you get stuck in your teenage years somewhere along the way, Colonel?" His eyes never left the screen.
"You sound like my grandfather."
That got Rodneys attention and he shot Sheppard a dirty look. "Oh please, could you have found a more immature reply than that?!"
"Actually, I'm pretty confident I could if you would give me some minutes."
Rodney rolled his eyes and redirected his attention back to his work. "Don't bother. I don't want you to think too hard. God knows what it would do to your brain."
Sheppard couldn't see his face but the grin in Rodneys voice had been unmistakable and he felt himself relax even more, despite the insult. When Rodney realized that there was no comeback he once again turned in his seat, managing to look both annoyed and curious.
"Is there something you need Colonel, except displaying your childish remarks, because some of us are trying to work here."
'Ok John, here goes nothing.'
"Actually yeah... I wanted to talk to you..." he trailed off, at a loss for words. Rodney huffed impatiently "Well you did." John tried to continue as if he'd never stopped "about what you told us yesterday."
"What do you mean?"
Oh darn it! Trust McKay to make things more awkward than they already are.
"You know about the flowers and..." he stopped when an odd look crossed Rodneys face and he began to pick nervously at his sleeve.
"Oh."
The following silence made Sheppard really uncomfortable and he wondered if he had done a mistake. But then Rodney exhaled loudly and he seemed to regain a bit of his old self confidence.
"Yeah about that, although I think it would be time that everyone realized what a good catch I am, I am quite certain that it was just a joke. You know, the flowers and the letter." At the last sentence he waved his hand like others would wave away some flies.
"Really?" With a funny feeling in his gut Sheppard realized that he was more relieved than he should be.
Then he realized something else. "Wait, there was a note?"
"Well, duh? How else do you think I knew what the flowers were all about?"
"Do you still have it?" On the outside he was as calm as ever but his inner voice screamed at him 'Dumbass', 'Idiot', 'Jerk' and much more unpleasant things.
Rodney leaned back and crossed his arms, clearly intrigued by the Colonels odd question. "Why?" he quirked an amused eyebrow "Need tips, Kirk?"
Oh thank god, banter! He could handle mindless banter.
"Oh you know Rodney, I just would like to know what would make you blush like a little girl."
"I don't blush!" Rodney spluttered while his cheeks turned pink.
'I was right' Sheppard thought 'It suits him.'
"I have a problem with my blood pressure, this has nothing to do with the letter!"
"Sure McKay" Sheppard drawled "So, you still have it."
"What?"
Sometimes John couldn't tell if the confused professor act was real or just a way to distract others from unpleasant topics. But he was pretty sure, this time, it was the latter.
"McKay..."
At the warning tone in Sheppards voice McKay surrendered and threw his arms in the air with an exaggerated sigh "Oh fine, Mr. Want-to-know-it-all, I threw it away!"
To this point in his life, John Sheppard never really knew how hard it could be to hide a smile. "You did?"
His friend seemed to mistake suppressed joy for suspicion because he squirmed a little in his chair and looked mighty uncomfortable. "It was quite," and here his face contorted into a grimace like he had bitten into something sour, "'direct' and disconcerting" There was the wave again. "Nothing I would like to take seriously, let alone show someone."
Sheppard frowned a bit. That didn't sound good. Maybe he hat been right after all to investigate a bit. "And you are sure that it was just a joke?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." he cast Sheppard a dubious look.
"Oh come on Colonel" Rodney drawled, while grabbing his jacket and making his way towards the door, an unspoken invitation for lunch "don't worry so much. This will have been the first and last thing we heard from this 'Scientist's Lover'."
And with that he opened the door and almost stumbled over a bunch of flowers lying right in front of it.
Rodney just stared at them but John couldn't shake off the feeling, that he stood in front of a time bomb and he felt his hands clench into fists at his side.
"What did you say, Rodney?"
A/N: Creepy~~~ and well, well, well Rodney; seems like your "plan" was a success after all, heh?! lol
I just love possesive/over-protective Sheppard, he's so fun to write! More of him tomorrow cause the next chapter is more like a direct continuation of this one and needs to be posted soon after to maintain the flow...or something like that! *grin*
See you tomorrow!^^