A/N: Many thanks to ladygris for her Beta of this chapter though she was beset by RL issues.

Merci,

Sandy

The Healing Touch

Chapter 3

A Touch of the Heart

A Few Weeks Later

Main Science Lab

"How could you possibly get that answer from the massive amounts of clues I gave you?" Rodney was shouting and waving his arms as he paced back and forth in front of the white board he preferred to use. Not for the first time and not for the last either. Only this was the first time he'd shouted at Charlie and she was not happy about it.

Instead of scurrying from the room as some would, Charlie stayed, hands on her hips, her head turning side to side to keep him in view. She let him rant a little longer and when he finally paused for breath, she shoved her response into the space. "Because, sugar, if you'll look right here…" one of her short manicured nails tapped the board, "…you'll see that you've written the wrong dad-gum formula to get the results you want." He just stared at the board, nostrils flaring and lips pressed together. "Oh, for the love of beans and rice. Gimme that." She snatched the marker from his hand, erased the appropriate equation and wrote a new one, similar yet subtly different than the previous one.

Rodney watched, dumfounded, as Charlie quickly replaced his erroneous formula with the correct one. "I, uh, wanted to see if you were, um, paying attention."

She turned around, her red hair swirling, eyes shooting daggers.

He tried to keep his features stern but the second she faced him again, he wasn't able to do it. His mouth turned up in a shy embarrassed grin making Charlie huff at him.

"Oh, well bless your heart." She muttered as she slammed shut her laptop, scooped it off the table and stalked out the door. Seconds later she was back. "We havin' dinner or not?"

"I thought you were mad at me."

"I am. And if I had my druthers I'd sooner eat with a starvin' grizzly. But there aren't any 'round here so you'll have to do." She tapped her foot impatiently. "You comin'?"

The smile turned into a silly grin. "I am." He'd nearly reached the door when she spoke from out in the hall.

"And bring your computer, sugar. We're not even close to bein' done tonight."

Rodney obediently returned to his desk, grabbed his computer and followed her out.

~~O~~

Hours after dinner was over, Charlie and Rodney were still sitting in the Mess Hall, their computers long ago gone into power saver mode and nearly forgotten as he told her about some of the more interesting events that had happened since they arrived in Pegasus.

At the moment she was laughing so hard she could barely stay in her chair. "No!"

"Yes. I saved her life and she changed her allegiance from John to me." Rodney tried and failed to keep the smugness out of his tone. Her laughter at this bit of information annoyed him a little. "That's funny?"

"Oh, hun. I'm not laughin' 'bout Colonel Sheppard."

"You're not?"

"No. I'm laughin' 'cause a teenaged queen wanted you to be her king." She giggled just a little longer.

"So you think a queen, a person of royal birth, can't fall in love with someone like me?" He crossed his arms and tried to glare at her, the laughing tapering off. "I'm not lovable?"

"I don't mean that at all, sugar." She stopped laughing, her gentle smile making his stomach flip. "I think you're very easy to fall in love with."

Clearing his throat bashfully, he looked at his watch just for something to do when what he was really searching for another story to tell her just so he could hear that laugh again. Her giggle was one of the sweetest sounds he'd ever heard even if she was laughing at him.

"Well, I've got a self-defense class in the mornin' with that nice Lieutenant Coughlin and need my beauty sleep." She picked up her computer.

Rodney stood as well. "I'll walk you."

Charlie smiled and Rodney nearly melted inside. "Didn't know men like you still existed."

He held the door for her and followed her out into the hall. "What do you mean, men like me?"

"Well, ever since the battle of the sexes ended in a draw, not as many fellas observe the little courtesies that were once automatically accorded to the fairer sex."

"Oh, well, you're welcome."

Hooking her free arm through his, she just smiled at him and he smiled back. He could feel the warmth of her through his jacket infusing him with the feeling that it would be easy to fall in love with her if he wasn't careful. After having his heart broken twice, he wasn't ready to go that route again just yet.

Leaving her at her quarters, Rodney stopped at his room long enough to drop his computer on the desk then went to the balcony to think.

~~O~~

Charlie waited two minutes then left her room. Peeking around the corner she saw Rodney headed for the same transporter he'd disappeared into almost every night this week. This time she would find out where he was spending his evenings. She knew he wasn't with a woman because he always returned looking the same as he'd gone. Not a hair out of place. And if I was the woman meetin' up with him, well, he'd look as if he'd been up to somethin'!

And that hair! Her fingers twitched when she thought about running her hands through it. One night they'd been working late together, sitting across from each other. She'd looked up and all that was visible was the top of his head. Her hand had reached out to touch his hair, knowing it would be soft, pulling back at the last second.

The doors of the transporter opened as she approached. Inside, she stared at the screen until she heard footsteps announcing the arrival of John.

"Something wrong, Doc?"

"Does this dad-gum thing have a redial?" He looked startled but at her or her question, she didn't know.

"Yeah. Why?"

Looking at him and away, she shifted her feet nervously. "I'm sorta tryin' to catch up to someone."

From the grin on his stubbled face, Charlie could tell John knew who she was after. He leaned past her, pointing without touching. "Tap there, there and there in that order."

"Thank you, Colonel. You know, you're nothin' like Rodney described."

"Oh? What's he been saying this time?"

With a sassy smile, she stepped into the transporter. "Now that would be tellin' tales outta school. Bye."

~~O~~

The motion-controlled lights had been shut off so the balcony was in darkness except for the small glow from the first moon just touching the spires across from him. Soon both moons would be high enough in the sky to light up the area well enough to read by. If Rodney had something to read and provided he wanted to read. But he didn't. This was his Thinking Place. He capitalized it in his mind as he reflected that the only thing he thought about here was his failures with Katie and Jennifer.

Then Charlie had come to Atlantis.

More and more the outspoken southern woman occupied his thoughts here and in that twilight time between wakefulness and sleep. That in turn led to her encroaching upon his actual dreams. In the beginning they'd been rehashes of the day's arguments, sometimes ending with them stalking off in opposite directions. Until last night. Last night he dreamt that they'd spent the night together. And they weren't arguing or working. It had embarrassed him to the point that he hadn't been able to look her in the eye for the better part of the morning. Rubbing those eyes with the heels of his hands, he contemplated going to his room.

A noise, just the barest hint of sound, reached him. Standing, he faced the small opening that led to the entrance. "Who's there?" No answer. "I'm armed."

A familiar giggle echoed in the hallway just before Charlie presented herself. "You're Canadian, sugar. You gonna take out your opponent with a hard glare?"

He shrugged and that shy grin came back again. "I could get off a few cutting remarks that would no doubt have them in therapy for years."

Leaning her right shoulder against the wall, she crossed her arms. "So this is where you been goin' every night. Just what is it you do here?'

"Just…sit. It's one of the few places I can go where no one bothers me when I need to be alone. Or at least it was." He finally caught onto what she was saying. "Have you been following me?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "First time I got this far though. I have this insatiable curiosity. I just have to know stuff."

"Curiosity?"

She grinned cheekily. "It's an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior in…"

"I know what it means so this must be the joking again."

"Of course. Ya mind if I sit with you? Just a little?"

Rodney gestured her over to the bench taking a seat at the far end. "Did you want to talk?"

"Nope. If you come here to be quiet, then I will be too."

"Okay."

Watching her out of the corner of his eye, she seemed so calm and relaxed. Not him. With her there he couldn't relax. And the things he wanted to do, well, he didn't relish getting his face slapped for suggesting them.

Charlie leaned back on her hands, eyes closed and face lifted into the moonlight as if basking in the sun. For a moment the scene in front of him blurred and changed. He saw her in an emerald green bikini stretched out on a blanket worshiping the sun on some tropical island, just the two of them side by side, no one else around. His hand smoothed over the exposed skin of her stomach, warm from the sun, stopping to dip his finger into her perfectly shaped navel. Her eyes opened, bright green with desire, as he leaned over to…

"Think I'll go in. Thanks for sharin' your personal space. Night." She took the long way out, walking in front of him and dragging her hand across his shoulders.

~~O~~

In just a few short days, Rodney and Charlie had gotten into a routine. They'd finish working around 1900, share a meal in the Mess Hall then head for the balcony. There they would just sit and be silent, no talking and definitely no arguing.

Today, however, he was here all by himself. Alone. Solo. Lonely.

Lonely? Because she's not here? How can I miss her after just a few days? I like being by myself…don't I? I do. Or did until she came along.

He looked at his watch, realized he'd done it for the third time in ten minutes and forced himself to stop, his hands resting on his thighs. When his fingers began drumming on his knees, he went to the railing but couldn't stand still.

Why did tonight have to be girls' poker night?

Slapping the railing, he entered Atlantis with quick annoyed footsteps that carried him to the lab where he stayed until after midnight.

It was the same the next night but this time she was in orientation for anyone wanting to travel offworld. The class was conducted by Chuck. He had to give credit to the Sergeant. His classes were not only informative but enjoyable, his quick wit and wry sense of humor making the dry recitation of facts fascinating.

But for the life of him Rodney couldn't understand why the newbies preferred Chuck's classes to his own on Ancient, Wraith and Genii technology. Some fell asleep. Others got up and left.

A Few Days Later

He'd been sipping a beer and watching the moons' trek across the sky for who knew how long when he heard soft footsteps enter from the hall. Charlie.

She didn't say anything, understanding his need for tranquility. Just sat on the opposite end of the bench less than two feet between them. When she caught him watching her, she pointed to the beer with an inquiring glance and he passed it to her. She took a long swallow then just held it in her hand for a while before passing it back. Rodney took another drink, and then offered her the last bit. With a smile, she accepted.

Setting the bottle on the floor, she closed her eyes and leaned back on her hands letting the cool night breeze ruffle her short hair.

Charlie was nothing like he'd thought she'd be. Actually, having her be a she when he'd expected a he had been annoying at first. He thought he'd made the same mistake as when he'd hired Graydon instead of Grayson. Especially when the guy had been killed by the Wraith queen at the underwater drilling platform. Another life on his conscious.

But there was something about Charlie, aside from her incredible intelligence and sense of humor, that just…he didn't know what it was. Or at least didn't have a name for it. She made him laugh like he hadn't in a very long time. Her smile was sweet and gentle, never moving over into a smirk when he told her some of his more embarrassing stories.

Somehow, with a small squeeze of his arm or laying her hand on his shoulder as she passed, she'd managed to show him the healing power of human touch. And though they'd just met, he'd be forever thankful to her for that. Especially now that he thought he was falling in love with her. At first the knowledge had startled him. He hadn't been ready for someone to become so important that he cared more about how she felt than if he was comfortable.

Rodney stood, Charlie doing likewise, they went back inside, Charlie automatically tucking her slender fingers into the crook of his arm. Again, he dropped her at her door, but tonight was different. Instead of a quick good night in that sweet accent, she just smiled at him and he'd leaned down to kiss her. She'd gone into her room immediately after, the door closing between them, the physical distance as great as ever, but the emotional distance narrowing considerably.

Continuing around the corner to his own room, he went to bed and shortly thereafter, was asleep. And tonight his dreams were very pleasant.

TBC