Summary: Lindsey Novak needed a date for her sister's wedding. She got more than she bargained for.

Author's Note: Okay, here's another non-traditional pairing. I hope you give it a chance.

Pairing: Sheppard/Novak

Rating: PG-13 for some language

Words: 4,500

Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis belongs to MGM and 20th Century Fox; this is an original story that does not intend to infringe on their copyright. Any and all critical feedback is appreciated.

Copyright: July 2010

oOo

The Ugly Duckling

By Syl Francis

Naturally, the Daedalus arrived long after it was all over. The ship had lost weapons and shields as a result of the initial battle against the super-Hive. After the Apollo and Sun Tzu were severely damaged when they too tried to stop the Hive in its relentless trek to the Milky Way and Earth, the Daedalus remained behind in the Pegasus Galaxy to render assistance.

So it was that thirty days after the super-Hive was destroyed and the Wraith invasion of Earth stopped, the Daedalus, towing the Apollo and Sun Tzu and what was left of their respective crews, limped back home. And why, thirty days after that, Dr. Lindsey Novak found herself sitting in a small coffee shop in Manassas, Virginia, wondering if the universe hated her.

Lindsey thought back on the weeks of nonstop work that had been needed to get everybody home. She slept wherever she collapsed from exhaustion, ate whenever someone shoved something in her hands and said, "Eat," washed when Caldwell threatened to have her keel hauled if she didn't bathe.

At last, through the combined efforts of Lindsey and the engineers from all three spaceships, they managed to cannibalize enough parts from the Sun Tzu and Apollo to cobble together a sufficiently stable hyper-drive engine. They installed it onboard the Daedalus, the least damaged of the three ships, and it miraculously towed the others home.

And somehow Lindsey still managed to arrive home early enough not to miss her sister's wedding, which was tomorrow. Of course, she would be a lot happier for her sister Leslie if it weren't for the fact that the wedding plans had turned her into a bridezilla-to-be, and she'd insisted that Lindsey had to be one of the bridesmaids. Not the maid of honor, of course…after all that was reserved for her best friend, Barbara, not her geeky older sister.

"…It's still an honor, Lindsey, and it'll make your sister so happy!" Lindsey's mother had gushed.

"Are you kidding?" Lindsey had protested. "Have you seen the bridesmaid dresses? They're a nauseating shade of purple! It makes me look like a giant eggplant." Knowing her sister, it was probably deliberate. Naturally, her bridal gown made Leslie look like a dream, but then she would look good in a burlap sack.

It was as their dad always used to say, "Leslie got the looks, and Lindsey got the brains."

"Well, dear…" her mom soothed. "It's not like anyone will be looking at you anyway." At Lindsey's distressed look of betrayal, her mother quickly added, "What I mean is—"

"I know what you mean, Mom." Lindsey sighed. I'm just the ugly duckling, and Leslie is the swan.

Adding insult to injury, she didn't have a date.

Not to worry, Barbara had gushed. Her dear ol' Cousin Billy would be proud to escort her. When Lindsey met Cousin Billy at a family dinner, she immediately got an attack of the hiccups. Cousin Billy weighed at least 350 pounds and looked as if he needed a heavy equipment crane to move him from point A to B.

Lindsey's agreeing to have him as her escort was as likely as her volunteering to being fed on by a Wraith or getting snaked by a Goa'uld.

She quickly excused herself, blaming a sudden headache, and locked herself in her room. Later, when confronted by her mother, Lindsey swallowed the hiccups that threatened and called forth the inner strength that helped her through the past two months while facing certain death in outer space. Straightening her shoulders, she stood up to her mother and declared, "I can find my own date, thank you."

Now, here she was, contemplating suicide by caffeine overdose.

The wedding was tomorrow, and she still didn't have a date. She had called, emailed, texted, and even tried bribing several of the engineers that she had worked with on the hyper-drive engines. Her lowest and most desperate moment came when she called Kavanaugh. She had put up with his insufferable air of superiority the entire time the Daedalus was dead in space, until finally fed up, she threatened to space him if he didn't stay the hell out of Engineering. She would have done it, too, if Major Marks—the traitor—hadn't intervened. Still, she figured that between Kavanaugh and Cousin Billy, the obnoxious scientist was the lesser of two evils. Though not by much.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your point of view—Kavanaugh was temporarily assigned to Atlantis where, he claimed, McKay had programmed the transporters to send him to the farthest reaches of the city. This had happened to him twice already, and each time, once he stepped out of the transporter, the doors would refuse to re-open for him.

He had been forced to walk back to the main part of the city and climb several stories worth of stairs, arriving barely in time for dinner. Naturally, the other scientists said he was crazy as none of them had experienced any problems with the transporters. He had already submitted a formal complaint to Woolsey who had promised to look into it right away.

"Oh, really?" Lindsey exclaimed. "Um, okay…well, good luck with that, Dr. Kavanaugh. I'll, um, leave you to your, um…you know. Bye." She hung up quickly. "Wow…what a strange guy." And that was saying something considering she had worked for almost three years with a naked alien. She dropped her chin into her hand and blew a stray lock of hair from her eyes. Well, it could've been worse. Kavanaugh could've said yes.

"Dr. Novak…? Fancy meeting you here!"

Startled, Lindsey whirled around and spotted the face behind the familiar voice—Lt. Col. John Sheppard. Her eyes widened, and she felt an attack of the hiccups suddenly threaten. Panicking, she held her breath until her face turned red, in a vain attempt to stem the tide.

"Hey, relax…" Sheppard said worriedly. He approached her table tentatively, his hands out as if she were a wild pony. "Mind if I join you?"

Letting her breath out in a sudden whoosh, Lindsey nodded, gesturing helplessly at the empty chair next to her.

Smiling, Sheppard set his coffee cup and pastry on the table and took the proffered seat. "Thanks." He saluted her casually with his coffee cup. "Cheers." Taking a careful sip, he turned his attention to her. "So…Doc. It's nice to see a friendly face around here." He waved his free arm, taking in the small community. "What brings you to our fair city?"

"I live here."

"You do? You, Dr. Lindsey Novak, engineer extraordinaire, live in Manassas, Virginia?"

She nodded. "Actually, not far from here—in Centreville."

"Now isn't that a coincidence," Sheppard said with a smile. "I actually grew up here in Manassas."

Discovering they had common roots, they passed the time sharing memories of growing up in rural Virginia in the shadow of Washington, D.C.

"Hey, Doc, I'm here for a few days…you know family time and some official stuff in D.C. that O'Neill and Woolsey say I can't put off. So…I was wondering, if you're not too busy…would you maybe consider spending some time with me?" At her startled look, he quickly put his hands up defensively. "Nothing bad, I promise. Despite McKay's negative opinion of me, I really am a gentleman."

"Colonel…I don't know what to say. I mean, it's really flattering, but, well…you're not exactly my type—"

His eyebrows went up at this, more amused than surprised.

Realizing what she'd just said to a man who had saved not only her life but also the lives of so many others on countless occasions, a man who was probably used to having women throw themselves bodily at him, Lindsey suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Well…not the response I was hoping for, but I understand," Sheppard said laughing.

"Colonel, forgive me. That didn't come out right!" Lindsey was mortified. "I meant that I'm not your type. I mean, I'm not—you know—sexy or beautiful or—" She felt an attack of hiccups building up. She covered her mouth again and once more held her breath.

"Hey, none of that, Doc. I don't know who told you you weren't beautiful, but they didn't know what they were talking about. As for sexy…I find brains a lot sexier than a woman's bust size."

Lindsey gave him a skeptical look. "You're just saying that."

"Okay…it's nice if a woman has both," he admitted with a sly smirk. He waggled his eyebrows at her, making him look so dorky that she burst out laughing. "But given the choice? I'll take intelligence over looks every time. Which is probably why I've been turned down by more women than I care to admit. I guess women like you are too smart to want to go out with a mere flyboy like me."

"Colonel, are you kidding? What woman in her right mind wouldn't go out with you? I mean…you're a hero."

He rolled his eyes at that.

"No, really," Lindsey insisted. And drop dead gorgeous, she added silently, which is why she thought she was out of his league. "Besides, I've heard McKay say that you're not a complete moron—" She squeezed her eyes shut at her latest faux pas, wishing the earth would swallow her.

"Doc, you're killing my self-esteem," Sheppard protested. Instead of appearing angry or upset over the unintentional insult, he was looking at her with warm tolerance.

"I meant…I mean, Dr. McKay meant…" Lindsey stuttered, and taking a deep breath, tried again. "I mean, that's just McKay's way of saying that you're really good at math and only pretend not to understand what he's talking about half the time."

Sheppard dropped his eyes to his coffee and grinned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"I've seen how when everyone else has run out of ideas, and we're all about to die," she added, "you always seem to come up with the solution that saves the day."

He shrugged. "I seem to recall that you, Dr. Novak, have managed to save my ass on more than one occasion. In fact, I remember one time in particular, I didn't expect to come back."

Lindsey caught his intense gaze, remembering the first time she'd ever laid eyes on him. She had locked on to his life sign and snatched him from the jaws of death seconds before the nuclear warhead detonated, taking with it a Wraith Hive. He'd barely had time to say thanks before he was sent back to Atlantis.

"Look, maybe I'm not your type, and maybe you're not mine," Sheppard said, "but at least we can agree that we're colleagues and…friends, right?"

Lindsey nodded. "Of course."

"Doc…I'm kinda in a bind. O'Neill and Woolsey expect me at the White House on Monday night for a stupid ceremony and dinner and…you know, meeting the President and First Lady. I could really use your help. I kinda/sorta need a date for the evening—black tie, formal…I know I hate that stuff, but, well, it is work-related in a way. My brother offered to set me up with some blonde from his steno pool, and while it won't kill me to accept…Seriously, Doc, I'd rather go with someone who doesn't have to sign an NDA just for a date. Besides, it's probably too late for a background check—"

As Sheppard spoke, he waved his arms and made his classic kicked puppy faces at the total unfairness of the universe that he should be saddled with a possibly beautiful, but empty-headed woman. Unable to help herself, Lindsey laughed so hard, she snorted her coffee through her nose. Embarrassed, she broke into helpless giggles and hiccups.

Smiling, Sheppard reached over and gently wiped at her face with his napkin.

Hiccupping, sniffling, and giggling, Lindsey managed to squeak out, "When is this dinner again?"

"Monday night. Evening dress. I'll pick you up at seven." Sheppard spoke quickly before she could change her mind.

"Whoa, there, Colonel," Lindsey said putting her hands up. "There are certain conditions."

"Okaaay…" Sheppard drawled. "I already said, I'll be a perfect gentleman."

"And I would expect no less from you," Lindsey agreed. "No…you have to do something for me in exchange."

"Name it."

Lindsey grinned. "You haven't heard the favor, yet, Colonel. Don't be so quick to volunteer." Sheppard waggled his head as if in deep thought and finally nodded for her to go ahead. "I need a date tomorrow night for my sister's wedding. In fair warning, I've been high jacked into being one of the bridesmaids, and I have to wear the most revolting dress ever designed with the ugliest shade of purple."

She gave him a look of challenge. "So…what do you say? Fair exchange? You be my wedding date and I'll be your White House date?"

"Doc, you drive a hard bargain. I accept." Grinning they shook on it. Sitting back, Sheppard looked thoughtful. "I'd like to add another condition to our agreement." At Lindsey's questioning look, he said, "How about you call me John, and I call you Lindsey?" Before Lindsey could reply, he added, "And just so we can practice calling each other by our given names, how about you and I have dinner tonight?"

"I—"

"Fine. Give me your address and phone number, and I'll pick you up at…" He looked at his watch. "Six-thirty. That's four hours from now and should give you plenty of time to get ready." Sheppard stood to go, but Lindsey stopped him.

"Colonel…I'm sorry, I can't. I mean, not tonight." Lindsey looked stricken. "Tonight's the rehearsal dinner. I have to be there."

Sheppard sat back down. "Oh, well…look why don't I—"

He was interrupted by an ear-piercing, hyena laugh.

"Lindsey, darling! There you are! I thought the ground swallowed you up." A tall, shapely red head waved at Lindsey from the door—Barbara. Spotting Sheppard sitting next to Lindsey, Barbara's expression became instantly predatory. She made her way toward their table and sidled up to Sheppard, placing her hand proprietarily on his shoulder. "Darling, who is this divine man?"

Lindsey noted Sheppard's immediate discomfort at being touched by a stranger. Feeling unexpectedly proprietary herself, she very deliberately reached across and removed the offending hand. Sheppard ducked his head, hiding a smile. Barbara's expression flashed her annoyance, there and gone.

"Barbara, this Col. John Sheppard." Lindsey then turned to Sheppard. "John, this is my sister Leslie's best friend and maid of honor, Barbara Taylor. John and I work together."

Sheppard stood and politely offered Barbara his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Taylor."

Lindsey rolled her eyes in disgust as Barbara, her eyes rapacious, took Sheppard's hand in hers and sized him up. Lindsey's thoughts turned dark as she watched Barbara look hungrily at John as if he were the main course for dinner. Lindsey sighed. It appeared that she would have to find another date.

Barbara took a purposeful step forward, crowding Sheppard's personal space. "I assure you, Colonel, the pleasure is all mine." She spoke breathily, giving him a calculating smile as she stressed the word, 'pleasure.'

"As I was telling Lindsey here," Sheppard said, discreetly removing his hand from Barbara's, "I'm looking forward to tonight and tomorrow night." He stepped away from her and stood next to Lindsey, placing his hand on her arm. "I'll be Lindsey's escort."

"But what about Cousin Billy?" Barbara asked. "You're not gonna stand him up, are you? It would break his heart."

"I'm sure Cousin Billy will understand," Lindsey said. "Please give him my deepest regrets." She checked her watch as if suddenly remembering an appointment. "Oh, John, I hate to impose, but would you mind dropping me off at home? I have a million things to do to get ready for tonight."

"Hey, no imposition. I just so happen to have a spare helmet."

"Spare helmet? What?"

Before Lindsey could change her mind, Sheppard grabbed her by the hand and led her outside to his motorcycle, leaving a trail of panicked hiccups behind her…

oOo

As it turned out, the wedding reception was not as tiresome as Lindsey thought it would be. Well, that was thanks to Sheppard. He was a vision in his dress blues, making her the envy of all the women present, including Barbara, who if she turned any greener would have given the Wicked Witch of the West a run for her money. Oh, wait! She already had. And Sheppard—no, John—proved to be a terrific dancer, an attentive escort, and a jealous date.

When Cousin Billy tried cutting in, Sheppard gave him the Death Glare. Lindsey had seen that look more than once, generally right before he led his team on yet another death-defying mission. It was the same look that caused Atlantis' enemies to quake in their boots and probably resulted in countless nightmares on their part.

Lindsey thought poor Cousin Billy was going to wet his pants, but before he did, Sheppard gave him a friendly wink and a smile and smoothly led her away on the dance floor. The entire evening, Sheppard's fond gaze never left her nor made her feel awkward because of her dreadful dress.

"You know…your dress brings out the blue in your eyes," he said softly in her ear. His arms tightened just so around her waist, making her feel beautiful even though she knew she really wasn't. And maybe she fell just a little bit in love with him at that moment.

The next day he took her horseback riding at his family's ranch. And really, who knew that Sheppard came from such a wealthy background? Apparently, his older brother Dave was CEO and President of Sheppard Industries. And while John was happy in the Air Force and Atlantis, Dave said that there would always be a place at SI for his younger brother.

They had a picnic in an open meadow under a giant live oak. While there, John showed her the initials he had carved almost twenty-five years ago: JPS—14 yrs old. It was the summer he decided he was going to fly no matter what.

"J.P.S.?" She traced each letter carefully.

"John Patrick Sheppard. After my mother's brother John—also a flyboy—" He said with a grin. "—and my dad."

"And your brother? Is he named after someone?"

"Patrick David Sheppard, Jr. David after our great-uncle David, granddad's brother. Patrick, also for our dad and granddad." At her raised eyebrow, he grinned and explained. "Dad was named for his father and uncle—Patrick David. He just wanted to keep the name in the family."

John placed his hand over hers, covering the carved letters. "I've never brought anyone out here before, not even Nancy." He looked down, his expression pensive. "I loved her, but…" He shook his head, not ready to talk about something that still ached. He smiled, embarrassed.

Lindsey clasped both her hands around his. "Thank you, John. For last night and for today." She held his eyes, hoping that he understood what she was trying to say. That she was grateful he had shown her a piece of his heart, carved in a childish hand on a giant oak tree.

As Sheppard studied her face, his expression slowly changed from wry affection to somewhat surprised. He gently pushed back a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. Before Lindsey knew what was happening, his lips were tentatively seeking hers, and she was just as hesitantly being drawn to his.

Their first kiss was lovely and tender, leaving her weak-kneed.

Afterward, they rode their horses back at a slow walk, riding side-by-side and hand-in-hand, basking in each other's company, enjoying the beautiful ranch grounds and the sunset that reminded her of a painter's palette.

The following evening, Lindsey was afraid that she would embarrass John in front of the President, especially after John finally explained who the dinner was for over the phone.

"I guess, the President sort of, you know…" John's voice sounded painful as he struggled over what he was trying to say.

"John, whatever it is, just say it," Lindsey encouraged.

He sighed. "The dinner is my honor. The President is pinning some kind of medal on me and promoting me, I think. He'll probably make a speech or something. Then we'll have dinner and maybe dancing afterwards. I hope it's not as boring I know it sounds. I'm sorry…I should've said something sooner. Do you still want to go?"

"Of course. I'm honored you asked me to be your date. I only hope I don't embarrass you when I meet the President and First Lady."

"You'll be great," John said, and Lindsey felt she knew him well enough to know that he meant it. It gave her butterflies in her stomach.

When John came to pick her up, Lindsey took a moment to take in his appearance. He was wearing his formal mess uniform and looked handsome as always. However, it was his expression when he first laid eyes on her that took her breath away. It showed her everything she could have hoped for. She was wearing a beaded black shift that came to just below her knees. The dress subtly caught the light, giving it a shimmering look when she moved.

She had spent at least two hours in the beauty parlor, getting her hair done, plus a facial. Her hair was pinned in a simple upsweep and kept in place with her mother's sapphire comb. She wore matching sapphire earrings and pendant. Overall, dressed to kill if she said so herself.

"Lindsey…wow." Sheppard was overcome, his eyes wide. "I'm gonna have to fight 'em off even more than I did at your sister's wedding. And these guys won't scare off as easy as Cousin Billy."

A wide smile suddenly lit her face. "I'll hold you to that, Colonel."

And strangely enough, the evening was a success. Gen. O'Neill personally pinned John's new silver eagles on his shoulder, and President Hayes pinned the Distinguished Service Cross on his chest. John shot her a wry look, his eyes saying, "Oh, goody, another pretty ribbon…!"

The President and First Lady were impressed by her work on the Daedalus and her extensive knowledge of hyper-drive technology. John caught her eye at one point and smiled as if to say, "See…I told you so."

Later, while the other women looked on enviously as he led her expertly around the dance floor, ignoring all attempts by the other men to cut in, John had eyes only for her. Maybe just for tonight, Lindsey could pretend she was a swan…

oOo

Sitting at her engineering console back on the Daedalus, Lindsey felt more like Cinderella after the ball when the coach turned back into a pumpkin. Her evil stepmother and stepsister in the form of Col. Caldwell and Rodney McKay were yelling conflicting orders over the radio at her. One was demanding to know how much longer before the final repairs would be complete; the other was haranguing her on her incompetence and impatiently telling her not to touch anything.

Lindsey felt a slow burn building up inside. Dammit! These were her engines, her responsibility. "Enough is enough," she muttered and tapped her earpiece, interrupting them in mid-tirade.

"This is Novak. Colonel Caldwell, Dr. McKay this is my engineering department and—"

"Yes, yes, Novak…" McKay interrupted. "We all know that, but we need to get these repairs done before the next century and—"

"I understand that, Dr. McKay, so if you would just—"

"Doctors, please…" Caldwell spoke up. "I need a projected timeline—"

"A what?" McKay protested. "Look, I'm trying to undo everything that these morons—"

"McKay!" Sheppard broke in, using his command voice. Everyone, including Caldwell, was startled into silence. "I'm sure that Dr. Novak has everything under control—"

"Sheppard, you have no idea—"

"—and while she appreciates your offers of help," Sheppard continued smoothly, ignoring McKay, "she is more than capable of meeting her required time tables. Right, Dr. Novak?"

Lindsey smiled, feeling those crazy, funny butterflies flapping in her stomach again. "Yes, Colonel Sheppard. We have everything in hand here."

"That's what I thought. Colonel Caldwell, McKay is needed back in Atlantis—immediately."

"What? Sheppard, what are you—?"

"Rodney…I'm sure you don't want Dr. Kavanaugh to be left unsupervised any longer than necessary, right?"

"Kavanaugh? Is he still on Atlantis? Look, Novak, I've gotta go. Sheppard…I thought Kavanaugh had been sent back to whatever black hole he was dug out from earlier…"

Lindsey grinned, a feeling of warmth spreading through her, knowing what John was doing and why. A pair of strong arms unexpectedly encircled her, making her jump just a little, exciting her butterflies even more.

"So…are we still on for tonight?" Sheppard's hot breath tickled her ear. Lindsey nodded, melting into him and raising her chin, so he could kiss her neck just below and behind her ear. The rough feel of his five o'clock shadow against her delicate skin caused her to suddenly shiver. "Good. I can hardly wait for dessert later tonight." His raspy whisper shot a bolt of electricity through her in anticipation.

They heard McKay's ranting grow increasingly louder as he approached Engineering. Reluctantly letting her go, Sheppard stepped away from her and walked around the main console just as McKay stepped inside.

If he didn't notice the elevated temperature in Engineering or the distracted responses from Sheppard when McKay complained about Kavanaugh's credentials and parentage or Lindsey's failure to beam them to Atlantis as soon as he and Sheppard were in place, well McKay couldn't be blamed. After all, his specialty was the hard sciences, not the touchy feely social sciences of personal relationships.

However, when later that evening, Lindsey beamed into the Gate Room, and she looked, okay, hot!—who knew those Daedalus uniforms hid a pair of legs like those?—and she ignored his friendly wave and "Hello" from up in the control room, having eyes only for Sheppard who finally stopped pacing nervously when she materialized, well, even McKay started getting an inkling that just maybe there was something more going on here.

Of course, the fact that John couldn't take his eyes off Lindsey as she walked toward him, and that in a moment Atlantis personnel would probably talk about for years to come, he disregarded his usual hands-off policy with the female personnel and no public displays of affection, Sheppard took her in his arms and kissed her right there in the Gate room in front of McKay, the Ancestors, and everyone else—which sort of clinched it.

"Huh," McKay said. "Didn't see that one coming."

The End