Here's a little McKeller fluff. Why? Why not!

MGM owns Stargate Atlantis and all its character as far as I know. And good on them.

No spoilers and assumes a relationship between Rodney and Jennifer.

Not run through a beta so I'm responsible for any mistakes.

Thanks for reading.

-0-0-

"How is he, Doctor?" asked a voice from behind her.

Jennifer hadn't even heard or seen Woolsey enter the room, which was odd considering that even in the midst of a crisis she was able to keep a mental running record of who was in her Infirmary. If the worst ever happened and they were forced to abandon Atlantis in a hurry, she wanted to be sure that no one was left behind because of her not knowing who was there and who wasn't.

"He'll be just fine," she answered tightly and without looking up from the readouts she had been examining. She kept her eyes on the white words and numbers as she continued on. "Because the village had been deemed friendly and it was a diplomatic function as such, he wasn't wearing a tac vest and the bullet entered through the front of his left shoulder." She took in a deep breath in an attempt to quell the feelings of anger at whoever did this to him and then went on as though she were dictating a report. "Due to the primitive nature of the weapon involved, the bullet didn't travel very far into his shoulder and was retrieved with relatively little trauma. He was very lucky."

Woolsey nodded in agreement at the last part of her statement and looked over her shoulder at the stats on the tablet's screen. "How are his vitals?"

"They're fine," she replied. "Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation…they're all in good shape considering he's been shot."

"Very good," Woolsey said as he stepped around to face her. He put his hand on the top edge of the tablet she'd been so intently focused on and nudged it downward, forcing Jennifer to look at him instead of the data screen.

She didn't particularly like Richard Woolsey. While it wasn't fair to the man, she just couldn't help comparing him to the other two heads of Atlantis that she'd had the privilege of working with. Elizabeth Weir was ever the diplomat and it showed. She took the time and the effort to forge a relationship with everyone she met, and her kindheartedness and intelligence made it easy for people to open up to her and trust her. Sam Carter was the same, but different in certain ways. She was more like one of the girls than Elizabeth had been, and Sam's down to Earth attitude endeared her to pretty much everyone. Yet like Elizabeth, she was compassionate, intelligent and easy to talk to.

What those two women had going for them was that they were used to effectively dealing with people. They both knew how to talk to people, when they needed to encourage someone or threaten them to get the most that they could out of them, and they both knew the value of friendships.

From what she'd seen do far, there was a lot Woolsey could learn from the both of them. He was used to dealing with numbers, bureaucrats and politicians, and because of his previous work he was forced, so it seemed, to maintain a detachment with and some distrust of those he worked with and met.

"I would like to once again make clear my- unease- with your insistence on treating him," said Woolsey carefully. "It's common knowledge that you two are in a relationship, and a serious one if I were to believe the rumor mill." He hesitated and took his hand off the tablet and folded his arms across his chest. "It could be construed by some as being a conflict of interest when you treat him. It may be possible that you…"

"Would do things for him that I wouldn't do for someone else," she finished for him. "Or I might ignore others that may be in greater need of my attention to help him and so on and so forth."

"I wouldn't have put it quite that way," said Woolsey with a frown, "but yes. Those are some of the possible concerns."

Despite the swell of anger that bubbled up in her chest at Woolsey's implication that perhaps she would disregard or otherwise ignore the oath she took to do her best to help others, she knew he was right to bring it up. Besides, it wasn't anything that she hadn't thought of herself.

She sighed and looked over to the bed where he was resting comfortably. "I've thought about this a lot, Mr. Woolsey," she said quietly. She looked to Woolsey and for a moment she thought she caught a glimpse of something in his eyes that looked like sympathy. "You're right when you say that our relationship is a serious one." She looked past Woolsey's shoulder to the man resting on the bed as she said, "I think I'm in love with him." It was the first time she'd uttered those words out loud to anyone, and even though hearing her own voice say that particular phrase sounded as corny as hell, it was the truth. She turned back to Woolsey and fixed him with a determined stare. "I can't speak for him, Mr. Woolsey, but for myself I can say that I know there are things out there bigger than me and us. I know that there may very well come a time when I will have to make a difficult and perhaps heartbreaking decision, and I accept that." Jennifer closed her eyes for a second, then opened them and with unwavering sincerity added, "And I promise that I will make the best decision I can under the circumstances I find myself in." She stopped and wished she could get a drink of water to wet her suddenly parched throat. "Under ordinary circumstances, I would most likely recuse myself from his care. However, I am the Chief Medical Officer of Atlantis and circumstances are very rarely normal around here." She shook her head slightly and looked down to the tablet in her hands. "I know that isn't very reassuring." She looked back up to him and said, "All I can do is give you my word that I will do the same thing I have done since coming to Atlantis, and that is treat each and every member of this expedition with professionalism and to the best of my ability."

"You're professionalism has never been in question, Doctor," Woolsey stated calmly. "In fact, I have the highest regard for your work ethic and abilities." It was Woolsey's turn to sigh. "I simply wanted to voice my concerns, but you appear have a firm grasp of them already, and the fact that you have obviously considered all of this on your own is reassuring in itself."

"Okay," said Jennifer uncertainly.

Woolsey gave Jennifer a half smile and knowing look. "Not as bad as you thought it was going to be, was it?"

Jennifer gave the man a genuine smile. "No," she replied honestly. "It wasn't."

Woolsey nodded and glanced to her patient. "I'll let you get back to work then." He moved to leave but stopped and said, "Colonel Sheppard's report states that he," he motioned to the man with a nod of his head, "jumped in front of a villager and took the bullet for her. I must confess I was a little surprised that he would do something like that."

Jennifer smiled. "Many people would be."

Woolsey nodded as he walked past her towards the exit.

Jennifer carefully placed the tablet on a nearby trolley and waked over to the bed where he was sleeping. As she looked down upon his calm and peaceful face, she admitted to herself that she would do anything for him, and though he never said it to her with words, his actions told her he thought the same way about her. It was all about actions with Rodney.

She reached over and lovingly caressed Rodney's cheek. He had done something that many people would balk at. He had done something that a scientist of his intelligence should never have to do. He saved the life of a stranger by standing in front of a lunatic with a gun. There was no doubt that many people who knew him would find what he did surprising.

"But not me," she whispered.

She had managed to see sides of Rodney that not many people had been permitted to see.

And because of that she was not surprised. Not at all.