Ugh, she was only a few minutes late, dammit!

She had spoken to Rodney this morning, told him she had thought she had scheduled her appointment with Carson for her next day off but, she had probably misread the calendar, and she would be there as soon as she could. She so happened to be late and showed up just as the project that she had been working on, that someone else had opted to try and work on (which was NOT her fault!), had blown up in their face, a fact that was royally pissing her off since… well… that was HER baby, and it just blew up (It was a small pop at least and not, like… a nuclear bomb) because some underqualified twit had decided to take it upon themselves to work on her project. After yanking the project from the confused girl, she took it to her table and began to assess the damage… all the while feeling glaring eyes at the top of her head.

And so, here we are now.

Kait growled annoyed across the lab table at the infuriating male who was shooting her an equally venomous look.

"Look, McKay, I was 5 minutes late for my shift, and it was because I was getting my bandages removed. Don't give me crap because you didn't factor that in when I told you this morning I was going to be getting it done." She glared, as he crossed his arms.

"I'm just saying, if you can't be on time how can I trust you with bigger projects?!"

"I WAS FIVE MINUTES LATE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 MONTHS! SUE ME!"

"KEEP YELLING AND YOU'LL BE BACK ON EARTH SO FAST IT'LL MAKE YOUR HEAD SPIN, GIRLIE!"

"OBNOXIOUS MAN!"

"OH YEAH? BETTER THAN BEING AN ANNOYING WOMAN WITH A COTTON BALL FOR HAIR!"

She let out a frustrated, angry yell and turned on her heels, ignoring him telling her to get back there and stomped out the door, biting back tears of fury, and headed…

Well…

Anywhere but the damnable labs!

Rodney, his face red, went back to work muttering about hormonal women and their inability to act like decent human beings when they're mad, as Radek walked in the labs, a look of confusion on his face.

"What in the world was that all about?"

"Just Nichols and what MAY be her last day here…" Rodney grumbled, as Radek blinked.

"But… what were you two talking about? Kait didn't have a shift today. I did."

Rodney looked up, confused. "It's Tuesday."

"No, Rodney… that was yesterday. Today is her day off…"

"But, even SHE said she had a shift today!"

"She was mistaken, her shift, again, was yesterday." Radek shook his head. "I was about to apologize about being late, since I've been sick since yesterday…"

Rodney just stared. Damn. But he'd spoken to her this morning and she had said that she was pretty sure it was her day to work… Even though she thought she scheduled getting her bandages removed for a day where… she was off… damn. Double damn.

"Er…"

"You should apologize, you were a jerk for no reason." Radek said, giving him a look, as Rodney crossed his arms stubbornly. "Rodney…"

Triple damn it…

Ugh, now where had that girl gone off to? Atlantis was big but it wasn't that big… Rodney's hands went into his pockets as he began to hear… music? Loud music. Semi-Angry music… and it was coming from her quarters.

Great. Well, this would take more than just a few muttered 'sorry's and an offer to convince someone to bring some of that disgusting fish and rice garbage she enjoyed from the next Earth trip.

He sighed, and turned the corner, spotting the music's origin… that laptop of hers.

Apparently she was going swimming? Either way, he knew he needed to get out of there… because she wasn't exactly dressed. He hid around the corner as soon as she started to remove her undergarments and let them fall to the floor as she pulled on a bathing suit.

'Holy crap.' Was his main thought process.

'I need to leave.'

'I really need to leave.'

'I should at LEAST make my presence known…'

He cleared his throat, and poked his head around the corner just in time to see her look up, her eyes wide as she pulled the top into place, whipping her head around and glancing at the intruder, in a near state of panic for a moment.

"Rodney!" she squeaked, as she quickly got up and he wordlessly turned around and walked off. She started swearing and pulled her t-shirt on over the swimwear, and took off after him, as he swiftly walked off.

'Damn it all to hell…'

"Rodney! Wait!"

He turned around quickly, averting his eyes from her. "I shouldn't have intruded, the door was open…I was coming to speak to you and…"

She nodded, crossing her arms on her chest and shifting from one foot to the other. "Sorry about that… I was on my way to the ocean to clear my head, and the door unlocked while I was changing, and with the music…" she finished, hands on her arms as she glanced up. "I'll lock it next time. If there'll be a next time."

"Er, that's what I was coming to talk to you about… I may have been… incorrect… when it comes to if you were supposed to be in the labs today… it's Wednesday…You know, your day off." He said, as he looked at her, her face blank for a moment. "I'm, that is to say, I… I'm sorry ok? Radek was late and that machine popped in… uh… what's her name's face, and… well…"

She nodded, sighing. "I was wrong to yell."

"Well… I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing…"

"You DID do the same thing, Rodney."

"Oh… right. Well you see."

She sighed and shifted slightly. "Well, since it's my day off, I'm going swimming with my cotton ball hair." She said, as he looked at her.

"I said that huh… I didn't mean it like that, it's a very attractive head of cotton ball hair… that's not to say it looks like a cotton ball…"

"Rodney. Just stop. Apology accepted." She chuckled.

She motioned for him to follow her, and they headed to her quarters, as he peeked his head in. "It's tidier than I would have thought." He said, as she made a face at him and turned off her music. "I suppose you were pretty angry, huh? The music seemed angry, that is to say."

She chuckled. "Actually it's just my playlist, haven't you ever listened to Joan Jett?" As he shook his head, she blinked at him surprised. "Seriously?"

"What?" he shrugged. "I wasn't big on 80s hair bands or whatever that sounded like."

She laughed. "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts was a band led by Joan Jett. She had some classics that most would consider to be great songs."

"That's a matter of opinion." He said, but his tone had relaxed. Suddenly, her head whipped around.

"Wait a minute… what all did you see?"

He blushed slightly, and refused to look her in the face. "Well...er… it WAS an accident, in my defense… but uh… You had clothes at least?" he said, as she turned a shade of crimson and nodded.

"Well… It's not much different than a bathing suit I suppose." She said, as she gathered her things to go swim. He watched her intently before speaking.

"So, um… swimming huh? I mean, you do know we don't have a full idea of what's in the ocean yet, aside from the Ancient databases, right?"

She grinned. "Of course. But, if I can swim in our oceans, then I'm sure this won't be much different."

"How do you figure that? There's creatures here that can eat you in one snuffle." He stated, as she nodded.

"Well, I mean, the Orca can do some pretty bad damage too, so can a Great White Shark, Giant Squid, or even the small dangers of the Irukandji Jellyfish. I still swim in the ocean back home. Everything has it's dangers, Rodney." She stated, grabbing a towel and her computer, and heading out the door. She looked at him. "You wanna come with me?"

"You wanna come with me."

That small question was a loaded one for him. Did he want to go blow his day, a day that he could be using to finish his mind link up project, on some time at the pier? For that matter, did he just want to sit there while she went for a swim while he looked like a bump on a log? He thought long and hard…

"For a bit, maybe… sure. Why not?" he said, getting a smile in return.

The two of them headed down the halls, to the piers, chit chatting. Arriving at the edge of the ocean, he sat as she pulled off the t-shirt and stretched her muscles a bit, setting her laptop on the shirt, and grinning as she took a step backwards.

"Wa-" he started, as she fell backwards into the waters, as he moved to the edge and watched for her, eyes wide. Man, that was a bigger drop than it looked…

She popped her head out of the water and grinned up at him.

"Have you lost your mind?!" he called to her. She snickered.

"That's nothing, you should have seen the dismount I did at my high school swim meet ages ago. That was a beauty. I actually slipped and cracked my head open on the diving board, but I patched it up and was able to compete!"

Well, that was a bit impressive, McKay had to admit. He watched as she floated on her back for a moment, and then with a sigh he called down to her.

"Can I borrow your laptop?"

She looked up and cocked her head to the side. "Sure, but there's nothing important on there, just music, some movies…" she shrugged, as he moved to grab the computer and prop himself up where he could see her but also could do something a little more up his alley.

About an hour later, she hoisted herself out of the water via the ladder to the side of the drop, to see him watching a movie on her laptop. She shook her head, and started drying off, as he looked up. "About time, I was wondering if you were eaten or something."

Shaking her head, she simply got the water from her hair with the towel and kept drying off.

"Oh, we have a mission, by the way."

Her ears perked at that. "We?"

"There's a planet asking for our assistance with a huge Ancient lab they found. Dr. Weir wants all of the Science and Research department personnel who is even remotely capable of working with Ancient technology to go. Obviously, that includes you."

She nodded, as he handed back the laptop. He stood, wincing as a pain shot through his back, and turned. "I'm heading back to work on something for this mission, and then I'm getting some rest, I suggest you do the same. We're going to have some … off-world company on this trip. Dealing with him always exhausts me." McKay said, as he gave a short wave and headed down the hall.

She grinned, a small smirk on her face.

Her first off-world mission!

**Author's Note!- Hey! Obviously, just a filler chapter, but the first off world mission for Kait begins next chapter! What wonders await in this Ancient lab? And isn't it nice to see certain scientists loosening up ever so slightly? I know I like it!

Thanks for the review eljama2014, I'm so glad you like it so far!

Reviews are always appreciated! Thanks!**