Over the limit again. Sorry. Again.

"So what's the problem, Rodney?" asked Sam as she sat down in the chair in her quarters. She hadn't really been surprised when Rodney had called and asked if he could drop by and chat with her. She'd expected him to surreptitiously pick her brain about the wormhole drive or something work related. Since Atlantis' timely arrival and subsequent touch down in the Pacific just off San Francisco work had been pretty much all anyone had the time for.

Needless to say, she'd been shocked when Rodney had softly and somewhat nervously asked if they could talk in her quarters.

Rodney paced in front of her door, and for a split second she wondered as her eyes flitted about the room why she hadn't bothered to personalize the place a little more. She mentally shook the thought from her mind and concentrated on Rodney. "McKay, if you don't stop pacing you're going to make me dizzy."

"It's Jennifer," Rodney replied, though he continued to pace.

"What about her?" asked Sam as she leaned forward, her confusion only increasing by the second.

"She's changed."

"And?"

Rodney stopped and gave Sam a hearty glare.

"What, McKay?" answered Sam with a small smile. "We all change. God knows you've changed over the years." She could see the insult in his eyes long before he physically bristled. "And I meant changed for the better." She waited for him to relax and clarified. "You've become a better person, Rodney, because of Atlantis, the things you've done and the people you've met."

Rodney started pacing again and Sam sighed.

"Are you saying Jennifer has changed for the worse?" She didn't believe it for a microsecond, but by the way Rodney came to an abrupt halt and just stared ahead she knew that he did think it. "McKay," she said in a low voice that was meant to convey her extreme disapproval. His flinch told her he felt it.

"She used to be so sweet," said Rodney after a moment. "There was nothing that could get her upset or make her say anything mean to someone. But now she has no trouble telling someone off, if they deserve it. I mean she doesn't go around telling people off for no reason. And sarcastic! She can be so sarcastic sometimes it's... what's so funny?"

Sam tried to hide her smile, but failed with great distinction. "You're rubbing off on her."

Rodney's face paled with alarming swiftness and Sam knew she'd found the root of Rodney's anxiety.

"Rodney," she said softly, "people change. In Jennifer's case, maybe she's grown up a little." Rodney looked to her and she felt genuine pity for the man that, despite their acrimonious beginnings, had become her friend. "Jennifer was an innocent young woman when she went to Atlantis, at least according to the note left in her personnel file by Elizabeth. By the time I got there, some of that innocence had been already been lost. It's natural, Rodney." Sam thought for a second and asked, "Do you love her?"

"Of course I do!"

"Is anything going to change that?"

"No!"

Sam got up and walked over to Rodney. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile. "You taken what you've needed from each other- for you it was Jennifer's humility and, no offence, her humanity, and for Jennifer it was your confidence and bluntness- to become more complete people. It's natural. In fact, it's a big part of what love is all about."

Rodney relaxed and Sam gave his shoulder an affectionate rub. "Don't worry, Rodney, Jennifer is too smart a woman to let you ruin her."

"Hey!"

A/N: "Innocence" was released by the band Harlequin on their 1980 album Love Crimes.