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John knew Rodney was in a bad mood, even before they left for NZ56-1757. But John only realized that Rodney was specifically angry with him when they were on the planet. It was rumored that they had a device left by the ancients, but before they could examine the device the team had to go through a welcome ceremony.
And it wasn't long before the unfounded accusations that John was trying to flirt with the locals started.
By now John was used to these comments by Rodney and was trying not to see much in it, because it led to certain hopes that he was trying very hard to keep it contained. But this time Rodney didn't just seem annoyed by the situation, he seemed to be hating him. And that wasn't usual at all.
In the middle of the ceremony he couldn't take it anymore and said:
"Are you going to tell me why you're acting like this?"
"Not here"
Then they went outside the temple where the ceremony was being held. All the way Rodney kept looking at him with that disconcerting expression of hatred.
"So. Say it” John said when they were finally far away enough not to be heard by the others.
"Are you having an affair with my sister?"
John knew it was going to be something ridiculous. Like all of Rodney's accusations of his relationships with women almost invariably were. But not ridiculous at this point.
"Jeannie?"
“No, some other sister I never mentioned before”
"I know you're being sarcastic but it really seems more likely than me having an affair with Jeannie, who is married, who lives on earth, whom I've met in person three times."
"But you talked to her more often, didn't you?"
Okay. Now things were making a little more sense. The emails.
“In her last email she asked me if I was getting along better with the new lab technicians. But I didn't talk to her about the problems I was having with them. Only with you” Rodney continued.
“Yes, sometimes we write to each other”
"Sometimes ? There were hundreds of emails ”
“So you hacked into my account. Cool McKay ”
“Fine that wasn't nice I guess. But you having a virtual affair with my sister is much worse. ”
"I'm not having a virtual affair with your sister!"
"If you're not having an affair what the hell do you two talk so much about?"
"You. Some other things sometimes too, but in general it's just you. She worries about you and she asked me to keep her updated. It should be obvious from the email content"”
“I didn't read the emails”
“Why not? You have already broken into the account. Obviously privacy or regulations were not impediments. ”
“Because believe it or not sexting between my sister and my best friend is not something I want in my head.”
“There was nothing sexual!”
Rodney seemed a bit unsure still but he said :
"Fine. I will believe you for now... so when did you two start communicating?"
"Remember when you two were kidnapped ?"
Of course he remembered, the memory still made him feel awkward. Not so much for the kidnapping as it was because of what happened next, about John going to a room and convincing a grieving father to kill himself so that Rodney wouldn't have to, so that Jeannie would be safe. John had that attitude of leaving no man behind but doing that went beyond that. On the one hand it had been so strange and almost sociopathic, but it had also been something he never imagined anyone else would do for him.
"Yes"
"So Jeannie somehow found out and unlike you she just didn't let me not talk about it."
“You could have just ignored her emails”
“I did it for a while and she got pretty annoyed. And apparently having McKays angry me is something that bothers me a lot. ”
“She's a Miller now”
“Not when it comes to that”
“Yes, we have a certain tenacity in common”
"That's a cute way to describe what you two have in common"
"And after you guys talk about that?"
“We kept talking, sometimes I talk a little bit about Atlantis, sometimes she talks a little bit about what's happening on Earth, or about movies. She likes Back to the future too. But in general like I said we talk about you. ”
“Back to the future? Really? I've never been so disappointed with her since her wedding. ”
"And five minutes ago when you thought she was having an affair with me?"
"Well if that were the case it would clearly be more your fault than her ... now at least the literature professor doesn't look so bad in comparison."
“So pilot is below literature professor in your rank?”
“It's not being a pilot. Is you. The idea of you and her together so bothered me ... we should go back to the ceremony. I don't want to offend our hosts ”
And there it was, as if Rodney had thrown gasoline in that little spark of hope, making it spread over.
“Offending our hosts was not something that was bothering you a few minutes ago ”
"It bothers me now"
"You're probably right ... but just to let you know if I was going to have an affair with someone with the surname McKay it wouldn't be your sister."
Rodney swallowed hard.
“She's a Miller now”
"That's not the point Rodney, and you know it"
They only came back to the ceremony an hour later when it was almost over, the hosts noticed the absence, they also noticed that they looked a lot happier and more relaxed than when they left so they didn't comment on it.
That night in Atlantis two emails were sent to Jeannie Miller on Earth from two different accounts. She would later write longer replies to those emails, but after reading them she felt compelled to send an immediate reply, and that reply contained only one word and it was:
Finally.