Word from the Author: SO! My very first Stargate Atlantis fic. Yay! Somehow it ended up being from Sam's PoV, and kinda angsty and and unrequinted and yeah. I think the idea just kind of ran away from me...

Disclaimer: Oh, man. I wish.

Duo

"So…" Jennifer said as the silence stretched between the three of them.

"So," Sam replied.

"So?" Rodney demanded.

Sam felt her lips twitch at that. It had actually been pretty fun, playing this game with Rodney. In fact, she had been somewhat surprised by the fact that each and every person, scratch that, each and every man, that she and Jennifer had suggested had been met not only with recognition on Rodney's behalf, but also with a fountain of information. It really was kind of amazing just how many interesting tidbits, scandalous anecdotes and quirky factoids Rodney had helpfully added to the conversation.

And though she would never admit it out loud, if only to avoid excessively inflating Rodney's already ready-to-pop ego, Rodney's mind really was something. She'd also never tell him that he was quite endearing when he wasn't being overly obnoxious, but only because she didn't think he would believe her anyway.

And so they sat knotting the rope. Or rather, she and Jennifer were knotting, while Rodney just kind of paced a bit, in comfortable silence for the moment.

It broke a few seconds later as Jennifer suddenly went, "Oooh! I got one!"

She paused, as if for dramatic effect before asking, "Dex or Sheppard?"

Sam blinked at that, opened her mouth to protest, but was beat to it by Rodney, who was slowly going red. Sam raised an eyebrow at the sight, even as Rodney started to splutter.

"What?!" His volume as loud as she'd ever heard it. "You can't be serious. We're meant to be talking about famous people here. Not… not people that we have to see in person, face to face, on a nearly daily basis!"

He was properly pacing now, his hands fluttering about as they did both in excitement and nerves. Sam assumed that this time it was the latter.

Apparently, Rodney wasn't done yet, as he continued, "It's completely inappropriate, especially for me to even try to substantiate such a choice, be it with reason or sheer insanity!"

"Rodney!" Sam exclaimed, breaking in as he took a breath to continue. The words I think he doth protest too much suddenly blazed a vivid trail across Sam's mind, and she felt her eyes widen in surprise at the sudden realization.

"You don't even like me!" She blurted, struck incredulous by her epiphany.

"What?" Rodney squeaked. "Of course I like you. What's there not to like?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, trying to regain some composure as memories of events, things said, things done, and the converse of both, as well as rumours and the like, slotted into place. She wondered how she'd never noticed before.

Then again, she thought to herself wryly, you've never seen anything before beyond his arrogance and indignation… or his crappy attempts to pick you up.

As a military tactician, she really should have seen all of it for what it was – a smokescreen.

"Oh, there's plenty to like," Sam, somehow calmer now, injected into the tense silence now heavy between them, watching out of the corner of her eye as Jennifer looked first at Rodney, then at her, then back at Rodney, appearing both bemused and intrigued, "but somehow I don't think I'm weighted quite right."

Sam noted with mild amusement that the intrigue was increasing exponentially – she could practically see the wheels in Jennifer's head turning as she too digested all the hints, the clues.

Rodney frowned at the comment, before saying, "Look, I already explained that what I said about you and the boxes was not intended in anyway to be a slight against your figure."

"I'm not exactly talking about body mass, per se," Sam continued.

"What on…" Rodney paused before obviously amending the thought to, "whatever planet this is, then, are you going on about?"

Sam glanced at Jennifer, who was currently sitting and staring at Rodney, wide-eyed. It looked as though she'd caught on. Jennifer, wrenching her glance away from Rodney, nodded minutely, before tilting her chin up stubbornly, as if to say, I've got your back – we need to do something.

Glad that she had Jennifer on board, Sam steamrolled on, "Just the fact that you're not even mildly interested in me, on a sexual level, for all that you make the biggest fuss about how much you'd like to get into my pants."

Jennifer was watching everything closely, even as she remained silent.

Letting her tone become slightly accusatory, Sam continued, "I bet, if I were to flash you my boobs right here and now, they wouldn't even get a twitch of interest from you."

Rodney blinked at the comment, before exclaiming, forcefully, "That's preposterous!"

"The phrase 'I think he doth protest too much' seems oddly appropriate in this instance," Jennifer murmured, in the voice she tended to use on patients.

Sam thought to herself, great minds think alike.

"I—But… W-what?" Rodney stammered, his brow furrowing in concentration. They both saw it when realization lit his eyes.

He paled before flushing bright at what both Sam and Jennifer had managed to imply. "You're insane! Both of you!" He choked.

"And yet somehow I think given the sort of things we deal with, insanity doesn't necessarily preclude correctness," Sam stated, leaning forward into Rodney's space, in turns amused and worried at the way that Rodney shuffled almost instinctively away from her. He had the proverbial deer in the headlights look on his face.

She was horrified to see his expression crumple entirely.

"Please," Rodney whispered, one hand reaching out towards her, before the movement was abruptly aborted. "Please, you can't ever tell…"

It was amazingly painful to see Rodney without his armour of arrogance, his impenetrable defence of scorn. Sam never would've thought that someone could at once be so brusque and grating and at the same time so fragile.

"Why, Rodney?" Jennifer was asking, voice kind. "Why keep it a secret?"

"Please," Rodney growled, and Sam was relieved to see more of him back in his tone, in his posture. She paused a moment to wonder which was real, before deciding that whichever Rodney needed to cope, to survive, was most important. "I'm not—that's to say—I don't…"

Sam felt her eyes widen for the second time in as many minutes – this time at the fact that her assumption hadn't been completely right. She gasped, "Only Sheppard?"

Rodney moaned, short and pained, his expression tightening in a way she hadn't thought possible, one elegantly agile hand pressing hard against his eyes. "Yes," Rodney hissed after a pregnant pause, "only Sheppard."

"Wow," Jennifer breathed, looking awed at the thought. Apparently they'd both assumed more than they'd needed to, but still. "That's… wow."

Sam nodded, because that pretty much summed things up. She was pretty used to these sorts of things by now. After all, it had been pretty much the same for Jack and Daniel. Once, she might've stood a chance, but there was only so far that you could get between that kind of emotion. She knew she was stubborn, but likewise, you could only hold on to impossible dreams for so long, before they leave you with nothing to hold onto but shards of maybes and what ifs. She'd had bigger dreams to chase after. Like Atlantis.

"Yes, well," Rodney muttered darkly, still hunched, as if trying to take up as little space as possible. "I can honestly inform you that it's no where so wonderful from this side of the pitch."

The silence was slightly less comfortable this time, that and no one was knotting.

"Does," Sam began, hesitantly, "anyone else know?" She was fairly sure that Sheppard didn't. Though she couldn't imagine that he would react anymore adversely than anyone else being propositioned by Rodney.

She winced at how uncharitable that thought was, how unfair.

Rodney sighed, finally letting his hand fall to his side. He glanced up at them through lashes, and it was the first time she realized how incredibly blue Rodney's eyes were. "Teyla does," Rodney mumbled, before adding, "and I'm pretty sure Ronon, too."

"What makes you say that?" Jennifer enquired, steadily meeting Rodney's eyes, holding them, and telling him it was alright.

Rodney's expression relaxed a little at this nonverbal reassurance. For all that Rodney spoke with words, they never went without gestures.

"Ronon comes to check up on me," Rodney explained, "if… we fight."

There was no doubt to whom the 'we' referred. Rodney and... John. It was odd to think of him as anything other than Sheppard, but Sam suspected that that was probably how Rodney thought of him. Always. She'd heard him call Sheppard exactly that. On several occasions, both in excitement and in fear. Sam suspected that no matter what he called the Colonel from now on that she would hear in its place, 'John.' He would say it in that way of his, the one that only he could manage – filled to the brim with so many different emotions. Into just one word, Rodney could infuse the intricacies of the universe.

Hindsight was a quaint being, Sam realized. It was only now, thinking about it, that she could see clearly.

"And Teyla and I," Rodney ducked his head a bit at this, as if shy, "have talked about it."

Rodney smiled crookedly for a moment, and Sam was amazed to see so much tenderness in his expression as he did so.

"I think she knew before I did," Rodney huffed, not at all irritated as one might have expected him to be, with someone else knowing something of such obvious magnitude before he did. From what she could tell he looked… pleased.

Pleased that someone noticed… Sam realized, feeling her heart clench at the thought. Pleased that someone cared.

"But no one else can know," Rodney instructed them both, firmly. "No one else. Not ever."

"But—" Jennifer was protesting. Rodney silenced her with a look.

"We won't tell," Sam said, and held out her pinky to him. Words and gestures.

He looked surprised, and then amused, as he hooked his pinky around hers.

She'd never before realized how warm his voice was, or his touch, as they shook on the promise, and he smiled as he said, "If you lied, you'll be pierced by a thousand needles."

Sam arched an eyebrow, but didn't ask. It didn't matter the consequences, this was a confidence she would never break.

Jennifer eagerly held out her pinky for Rodney to take with his other hand. He laughed as he did so. Sam couldn't remember ever hearing him laugh. It was clear and melodious.

It was the sound of music… and art.

If ever there was an impossible duo, Rodney McKay and John Sheppard were probably it. But as it were, all of them had already achieved the impossible time and time again, and Rodney, most of all.

Sam found herself hoping that in spite of all the odds, that this delightfully complex man would get to have his impossible dream come true.

As if nothing had happened, no ground-shaking truths, no axis-titling admission had been made, they continued with their game.

On the surface that's what it seemed like, but down below, Sam knew things had changed, she had changed.

She'd drawn one step closer to genius.

Finis.

Just Another Word from the Author: Well, there you have it! Hope you guys enjoyed it. Drop a review, and it will be loved and cherished, lots and lots.