Another chapter….maybe my muse has come home for a while. Thanks to DaniWilder for suggesting the topic of this chapter, namely a child going to one parent after the other has already said no.

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Rodney glared at the monitor on his desk with all his might. "Radek, how many times do I have to tell not to authorize stupid people to do stupid things after I've already told them it's stupid?"

Radek looked to the sky for some divine intervention, or at the very least for some patience, then walked from his workstation to Rodney's desk. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Rodney. Perhaps you would like to explain what the problem is."

Rodney rolled his eyes and pointed to the power usage formula submitted by one of the newer additions to his department. Tomlinson was a borderline moron, as far as he was concerned, and the sooner the twit got transferred back to Earth the better he'd feel.

Tomlinson had come to him three days earlier and asked if he could perform an experiment on one of the ZedPMs. At first he'd been receptive, his seven years with a wife and daughter having taught him that it was always best to at least listen for a minute before saying anything, but it didn't take long to see that the moron didn't have the first clue about ZedPMs.

"I told Tomlinson three days ago that this experiment on the ZedPM was dangerous and told him he couldn't do it." Rodney pointed to a particular line in one of the page long equations and said, "And I told him that this was stupid. He assumes that the power curve of a ZedPM is constant, which it isn't." He turned his head enough to look at Zelenka who had come to stand on his left. "Right?"

Radek leaned forward and studied the screen for a moment. "Of course it isn't constant."

"Then why did you tell this hack that he could run this experiment?" demanded Rodney.

Radek straightened up and gave Rodney a bemused look. "Because it could give us some insight into the compression of subspace used to power the ZPM."

Rodney folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes at the man he most trusted, besides himself of course, to look after Atlantis. "And how did you come to that interesting, yet totally wrong, conclusion?"

"If the power utilization…" started Radek, but his mouth slammed shut as Rodney interrupted.

"You know what it doesn't matter." Rodney stood up and paced around to the other side of his desk so he could face Radek. "The point is this is my department. He asked me if he could do it and then he tried to undercut me by going to you after I said no." He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "And I'm not even mad at you, at least not really. I'm pissed at him because he knew I didn't approve of it. His going to you makes me look bad, it undermines my authority and," he shrugged and lifted his head defiantly, "it makes me look bad."

Radek stood still for a moment and then nodded. "You're right." He hesitated for a second and added, "About it making you look bad, not about the experiment being dangerous."

Rodney cleared the surprise out of his throat with a cough and then eyed Radek. "You know, the sewer system at the bottom of the East Pier needs some maintenance work done on it."

"Having said that," Radek said as he adjusted his glasses, "it was wrong for him to come to me if you had already said that he couldn't do it." His eyebrows lifted questioningly. "What are we going to do about it?"

"You'll be more careful from now on," said Rodney as he walked back over to his chair and sat down. "And I guess we'll have to have a talk to them about respecting the chain of command or something."

"Very well," replied Radek as he made his way back to his own desk.

Rodney sat back down at his desk and opened up an email that had come through from Jeannie. He was just past the first sentence when a familiar voice saying hello to Radek caught his attention.

Rodney looked up and watched Jennifer as she walked towards him. She was wearing her workout clothes, the tight fitting, black workout suit that he always hated when she wore it in public. He always thought men ogled her when she wore it. Not that he could blame them really. He had a really hot wife.

His eyes finally reached her eyes just as she approached his desk and he immediately went on guard. To anyone else she looked like her usual self, but Rodney knew that was a fake smile on her face. Years and years of empirical study of Jennifer hadn't been a complete waste.

She was pissed, and by the way she was looking at him, she was pissed at him.

"Hello, Rodney," she said as she stopped in front of his desk. "Have you seen Teylanna by any chance?"

"I…well, she was in here an hour ago," he said warily. "Something wrong?"

Jennifer sat down on one of the mobile stools and placed her elbow on the table, then rested her chin in her hand. "Did you tell her she could have a sleepover with her friends tonight?"

Oh crap, he thought worriedly. "I…well, you see there was…"

"Yes or no, Rodney?" Jennifer said with her smile firmly in place.

Rodney evaluated the situation and decided that it was best to not fool around. He gulped down the sudden obstruction blocking his airway and meekly answered with, "Yes."

"I see," Jennifer said as she straightened up and clasped her hands together on her lap. "So, you told a seven year old that she could invite her friends over to stay the night," her head tilted ever so slightly to the left, "after I told her she couldn't?"

Rodney felt his stomach drop into his socks. "You…she didn't tell me that she'd asked you!"

"And you didn't ask her if she'd asked me," Jennifer pointed out calmly. "And you never even thought to check with me did you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Jennifer got up off the stool and turned towards the exit. As she walked towards the door she said over her shoulder, "I'll go get some snacks for you and the girls, then I have to get ready for my night shift."

Rodney was so enthralled with examining just how well her sensuous curves were being enhanced by her suit that all he could say was, "Okay."

It wasn't until she'd been gone for nearly a minute that he managed to shake himself out of his stupor and say, "What?!?!"

"I believe she said that she is working tonight and that you will have to supervise Teylanna's sleepover," Radek said with subdued glee.

It wasn't subdued enough however, and Rodney turned a spiteful glare upon his friend and said, "Now about that sewer maintenance that you're going to take care of…"