"You gave him a lemon?"
"Hmmm?" John looked up from the jumper parts he had strewn all
over the deck. "What?"
"Colonel Mitchell." Rodney paced, arms weaving wild patterns in
the air. "You gave Colonel Mitchell a lemon. To threaten
me with!"
"You saved the day again, right?"
"Well, yes."
"So it worked."
Rodney frowned. "Yes, but that's not the point. The point is, he
might have used it."
John blinked, said slowly, "Colonel Mitchell might have used
a lemon on you."
"Yes!" Rodney stopped. "Wait, that sounded wrong."
Snickering, John said, "Rodney, you're allergic if you eat
citrus, not if you wear it."
"So? I might have gotten some in my mouth! And then where would
you be? I'd have been killed by wraith, there'd have been no
dialing of the Orii supergate, I'd have been killed by
wraith..."
"Rodney," John interrupted the stream of words. "it worked. It's
done. Don't worry about it.
It was good to see Rodney acting like Rodney again, all bluster
and words, instead of the stuttering he'd managed around Lt.
Colonel Carter.
Rodney snorted, spun on his heel. "Don't worry about it, he
says," he muttered as he passed out of the shuttle.
John watched him stalk off from the hatch and grinned. That
was their Rodney McKay. The disparaging commentary trailed off
as Rodney moved out into the hall.
"That was a kind thing you did." Teyla's voice drifted out of
the hangar shadows, and John nearly jumped a foot.
"Damn it! Don't do things like that!"
She laughed at him and held out a pair of Athosian fighting
sticks. "Are you ready?"
John looked at the parts littering the deck. With his luck, the
wraith would attack while the jumper was still out of
commission. "I'll meet you."
Teyla smiled and tucked the staves away. She settled on the
floor next to the mess of parts. "Which one do you need?"
John pointed and they settled into their usual 'nothing's trying
to kill me right now' routine.