The Return of Katie Brown

Part II - Rescue

John Sheppard and Ronon Dex were passing the mess hall on their way to the workout area when John did a double take upon spotting a potentially volatile situation. He pointed to where Rodney sat with Katie, Sam and Jennifer. "What the hell is going on?"

"What's the problem?"

"McKay's ex, Katie Brown, Colonel Carter and Keller. Rodney looks like he's gonna hurl. A rescue may be in order." He pulled Ronon around the corner where they couldn't be seen and touched his earpiece. "Sheppard to McKay. Report to the Gate Room immediately!"

*****

McKay excused himself and left the women alone. As he exited the Mess Hall he heard a hissing sound. He turned to see Sheppard beckoning him over.

"What--"

"You looked like you needed rescuing."

"Rescuing?"

"From any man's worst nightmare. You know the ex, the mistress and the misses all together in the same place at the same time." Sheppard looked very pleased with himself.

"That wasn't funny the first time you said it and it's even less funny now." Instead of being grateful, Rodney was quite annoyed. "And as much as I appreciate the thought I wanted to postpone as long as possible the time when the three of them would be alone together to…compare notes."

The smile left Sheppard's face. "I was only trying to help. It's not like it wouldn't have happened eventually."

Rodney turned back to his friend looking contrite. "Sorry. You're right. You're right. It's just that, seeing Katie again after all this time, well, I don't have to tell you and now Sam is here too and Jennifer and I are, uh, and I-I-I wanted them n-not to and they did but then…"

"Rodney! Calm down. Take a deep breath. Better? Good. Come with me." Sheppard lead Rodney away, Ronon following in their wake. He wasn't exactly sure what the difficulty was but it promised laughs at McKay's expense. And that was always a good thing as far as he was concerned.

"Listen, you need to at least appear to be composed and in control. Remember, women can smell fear." Sheppard informed him.

Ronon laughed derisively.

McKay turned to him, arms crossed. "What is so funny, Conan? You've never been in this situation?"

"No."

The three men entered a transport and came out near Ronon's quarters. "What are we doing here?" Rodney wanted to know.

"Right now, this is the last place anyone would think to look for you. Turn off your radio and lay low for a little while."

*****

Rodney, now back in his own quarters, couldn't put off going to the science lab any longer. He had work to do and didn't have his laptop. He would just have to risk running into one or more of the women.

His good fortune held out for most of the day. Sam was in meetings with Woolsey the entire day and Jennifer had to make a trip to the Athosian village on the mainland to give the children wellness check-ups. He hadn't seen Katie either which meant she was probably involved in her research project, maybe even off world.

As he made his way to the mess hall later that day his luck ran out and he ran into the woman he'd once considered marrying.

"Rodney."

"Katie."

"Do you have a few minutes?"

"Um, sure." He motioned her to a padded bench and sat at the opposite end. "What can I do for you?"

"I've been thinking about our little misunderstanding."

His eyes widened. "Misunderstanding? After the lockdown ended you refused to talk to me, transferred back to Earth and wouldn't return any of my calls or emails. I haven't heard one word from you in over a year. How could I possibly misunderstand that?"

She looked into his eyes. The smoldering anger she saw there caused her to turn away. "Yes, well, I admit that I may have handled the situation poorly."

"May have? Uh, duh!"

She faced him again. "I see you haven't changed as much as Dr. Keller said. You're still a sarcastic ass."

"Yeah, well, it's what works for me."

She dismissed his remark with a shake of her head. "The reason I wanted to talk to you is, well, I would like for us to…not start over but maybe pick up where we left off before the lockdown."

Rodney didn't know what he expected but that was not it. For some time he'd wanted to hear those words from her. But that was before he realized his feelings for Jennifer went beyond the platonic. He still regretted that it took the Second Childhood to make him tell her how he felt but they were together now and he was happier than he'd been in a very long time. The feelings he had for Jennifer were stronger than anything he'd ever felt before.

"I'm sorry. But I've…moved on."

Katie was sure he was just saying that because he was still hurt and gave him an indulgent smile. "You don't mean that." She scooted over next to him, grabbed his jacket lapels and pulled him into a kiss. She was stronger than she looked. He put his hands on her shoulders to push her away.

"Katie, please. Stop!" He stood and looked down at her with regret. Her eyes burned with frustration. "I'm sorry but I'm in love with…Jennifer!"

"Hey, Rodney." The smile she was wearing just for him faded when she saw Katie and felt the tension between the two. "What's going on? Am I…interrupting something?"

"No, of course not. Katie and I were just…catching up." He took Jennifer by the hand and led her away without looking back. "I was just about to come looking for you. You know, you stood me up for our lunch date."

"Yeah, sorry about that but it took longer than expected to do the physicals."

Their voices faded as they moved beyond Katie's hearing. She was seething. After taking the three week trip from Earth and risking everything he just tossed her aside as if she'd never mattered to him. Getting to her feet she stalked angrily in the opposite direction.

TBC