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John finished proofing the report, hit the 'send' key, and leaned back in his chair thrusting his arms over his head and arching his back in a long stretch. He'd finally caught up on his reports, thank God. Maybe now Elizabeth would get off his case for a while. Sheppard sighed. Here they were, millions of light years from the Pentagon, in another fucking galaxy even, and yet here he was, buried in paperwork. His usual excuse for not getting the reports done on time - the almost daily crises that kept him busy from dawn until long past dark – hadn't materialized for several days. It had been surprisingly calm for the new residents of Atlantis; a nice break that had everyone smiling while at the same time anxiously wondering when the next shoe would drop. No one had gotten killed (for which John was very grateful) or seriously injured, there had been little ammunition or ordnance used, and the Jumpers were all flight ready. And though John was grateful for all those things, he was less than happy when Elizabeth had cornered him this afternoon and insisted that this period of calm afforded him plenty of free time to finish his reports and have them to her by morning.

Finishing his stretch, he shut off the computer and stood up. Time for bed, he mused. It'd be nice to hit the sack relatively early for once. He hadn't taken more than a few steps away from his desk before his stomach loudly reminded him that he hadn't eaten since lunch many hours previously. Well, it's too late now, John thought, deciding to just go to bed hungry. His stomach, however, was having none of that and protested angrily. Heaving another sigh, John headed for the mess hall hoping that there would be something at least half-way edible left over.

When he entered the mess hall, he saw that it was deserted except for four marines sitting around one table and one other person sitting some distance from them. A heaping plate of neatly cut sandwiches sat beside a laptop that was open in front of the solitary diner. John watched as a hand reached out, grabbed a sandwich and bit, then replaced the sandwich on the plate and chewed enthusiastically while busily typing. As soon as the mouthful was swallowed, the hand reached out again and the whole process started over: grab, bite, chew chew chew, tapity tap tap, swallow; grab, bite, chew... John shook his head and went over to see what he could find to eat. The dried offerings in the warming pans did nothing to tempt his appetite and he looked back over at the solitary figure. Smiling a rather evil smile, he poured himself a glass of juice and walked over to the table. Sitting down, he said, "Hey, Rodney," and grabbed one of the sandwiches.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"You've got a whole plate of them," John protested around a mouthful of coarse Athosian bread and mystery meat.

"Yes, and I intended to eat all of them," Rodney scowled.

John just grinned, took a sip of his juice and grabbed another sandwich off the plate. Rodney scowled again, and grabbed a sandwich for himself. Taking a bite, he eyed the remainder of his sandwiches with a thoughtful look on his face.

"If you spit on them, I'll shoot you," John said pleasantly.

Rodney sniffed and gave Sheppard a haughty look. "As if I would do anything so puerile," he said loftily. Putting down his sandwich he returned to typing, ignoring John.

"What are you working on?"

"The same thing I'm always working on," Rodney snapped. "How to keep this city running on the power we've got, and how to configure a way to run the shields without a ZedPM."

"Any luck with that?" John asked innocently as he grabbed another sandwich.

Rodney rolled his eyes and remained silent, working busily away while increasing the speed with which he was consuming his sandwiches. John relaxed, enjoying teasing Rodney. The marines left, bidding him a polite good night, and John felt his tiredness return as his hunger eased. He was just on the verge of wishing Rodney goodnight when two more marines entered. It was the soft, giggling laugh that caught John's attention and he snapped his head around frowning. The female marine noticed his attention and guiltily stepped away from her male companion. They walked stiffly to the serving area. Getting their food, they took a seat at a table as far away from John as they could get. He shook his head and turned his attention back to Rodney.

"You have that problem too?" he asked.

Rodney's full attention was suddenly on John. "Problem? What problem? There's a problem and you're just now getting around to it? Why didn't you just wait until, oh, I don't know, say the Wraith-"

"Rodney!" John interrupted the tirade. "It's not a problem with the city. I meant that kind of problem." He tilted his head in the direction of the marines who were picking unenthusiastically at their meal.

Rodney looked where he indicated and frowned. "You mean the atrocious food late at night? Of course I have that problem too. Why do you think I made the sandwiches?"

"Not the food," John said in exasperation. "Jesus, Rodney, can't you get your mind off your stomach for a minute? I meant fraternization. Do you have a lot of trouble with, well, improper relationships among your personnel?"

"No," Rodney answered shortly, returning his attention to his computer.

"No? You mean no one in your department is getting together with anyone else?"

"No, that's not what I mean," Rodney said, looking back up. "What I mean is, I don't have a lot of trouble with it because I don't care. As long as they do their work and don't have sex on the equipment and damage it, I couldn't care less what they do on their off hours, few as those are."

"Okay, yeah, I can see that point of view," John answered, twisting his glass between his hands. "But what if there's a bad breakup or jealousy or..." John waved his hand vaguely in the air. "I don't know, whatever? There aren't a lot of us here and something like that could cause a lot of trouble."

Rodney sighed. "That's true, Major, but what do you suggest we do? Put chastity belts on everyone? Face it, on the whole we are a young, healthy, relatively attractive - if you take Kavanagh out of the equation - group." John smiled at the barb.

"We're also pretty much stuck with each other when it comes to romantic or sexual partners." Rodney continued. "I think, Major, that you're going to have to turn a blind eye if your marines get a little too friendly with each other."

John scrunched up his forehead and absently took another sandwich. Rodney growled and snatched up the remaining half. John grinned and asked, "So, what about you?"

Rodney finished chewing his mouthful, swallowed and asked, "What about me?"

"Are you in a relationship with someone?"

Rodney rolled his eyes again. "Yes, of course, Major. In fact, I have a whole harem of lovers because I have so much time and energy to expend on sex."

John chuckled. "So I take it that's a 'no'."

"Yes, that's a 'no'," Rodney snarked. "Unlike you, Major, who I'm sure actually does have a harem stashed away somewhere, I have been celibate since coming to Atlantis."

John just shook his head. "Hate to disillusion you, but I haven't been with anyone since coming here either." He picked up his glass and tilted it back to finish the remainder of his juice.

Rodney had returned his attention to his work. "And that, Major, is why God gave Man hands," he said off-handedly.

John choked on his drink and said laughingly, "Jesus, Rodney!"

Rodney rolled his eyes again. "Oh, please, Major. As if you've never indulged in a little self love to tide you over during the dry spells."

"I'm admitting nothing," John grinned.

The two marines left the mess hall and John noted that they gave him and McKay curious glances. Dismissing them from his mind, he turned his attention back to McKay to ask him about his own private pastimes. He was already imagining the insults Rodney would throw at him in answer to his query. He really loved teasing Rodney. He was surprised when he saw that Rodney was saving his data and preparing to shut down his computer.

"You leaving?" he asked, feeling disappointed.

"The sandwiches are gone and you're not letting me get any work done here, so I'm going back to the lab." He picked up the empty plate and his glass and started walking to the kitchen. John followed with his own glass. He was right behind Rodney as the astrophysicist dumped his dirty dishes into the proper bin. Leaning over Rodney, he placed his glass in the bin, and his chest pressed against Rodney's back. He wasn't expecting the jolt that went through his body from the brief touch. He gasped slightly and he felt Rodney stiffen. He hastily stepped back, and Rodney turned around. They were still very close, though no longer touching, and John noticed that Rodney was breathing a little heavily too. John swallowed and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came into his head. It was probably because all the blood that would normally be feeding his brain had rushed to a destination farther south.

What the hell? John thought in panic. Why the hell was he getting turned on all of a sudden? Just because he and McKay had been joking around about jerking off? Jesus, he was in worse shape that he thought if that's all it took these days to make him horny. He noticed a panicked look in Rodney's eyes, and with heart pounding, he looked down.

Rodney had a very visible erection.

John swallowed again and looked up at his friend. "Uh..."

"Oh god, Major," Rodney said in obvious embarrassment. "I..."

"Looks like two men who haven't had any in a while shouldn't talk about sex, huh?" John said in what was supposed to be a joking voice, but it came out just sounding strained.

"Yeah," Rodney squeaked.

John knew he should move, step back, allow Rodney to leave, go to his room and take care of his problem. Instead he stayed where he was, looking at Rodney, and beginning to wonder what Rodney would feel like in his hand. It'd been a long, long time since he'd been with a man, and he'd sworn before he left Earth that it was going to stay that way, but it suddenly hit him that he'd been wanting Rodney for a long time now. It shocked him when he realized how many thoughts about Rodney passed through his mind each day.

"Major?"

"Rodney?"

"I..." Rodney nervously licked his lips and John's eyes latched onto the sight. "I think maybe you should let me pass."

John had every intention of doing just that regardless of the sudden lust he was feeling, but he looked back up into Rodney's eyes and heard himself say, "If I propositioned you, would you punch me?"

"What?" Rodney gasped.

"Come to my quarters with me, Rodney," John said in a hurried whisper, desperate now with the need to make love to the other man and hoping that Rodney's erection meant he felt the same.

"Your quarters?" Rodney squeaked, eyes widening in shock.

Okay, this was not going well, John thought. Rodney was totally freaked out. He'd made a serious error is judgment, completely misread Rodney's reaction, and he could only hope that he hadn't ruined their friendship and working relationship. He stepped back.

"Sorry," he said, stepping back farther. "Sorry."

He turned to leave when he felt a hand on his arm stopping him.

"Wait," Rodney said. "Wait."

John turned back around. Rodney's expressive face was showing a myriad of emotions: surprise, fear, worry, indecision, and lastly, desire.

John felt himself harden again.

"Is this a joke, Major? Because if it is-"

"No joke," John said, and taking a chance, he placed his hand on the back of Rodney's head and pulled him in for a brief kiss. Pulling back but leaving his hand cupping the back of Rodney's head, he said to the obviously stunned McKay, "I want... I want you to come back to my quarters with me."

"Why?"

"I think that's pretty obvious," John said with a nervous smile.

"No. I mean, yes, that's obvious," Rodney stammered. "What I mean is, why me? You could have anyone."

"I don't want 'anyone'. I..." He swallowed and then leaned in give Rodney another nervous kiss. "I want you."

"Oh," Rodney said, still looking stunned.

John dropped his hand, stepped back, and waited for Rodney to answer. His heart was pounding and his hands had started to sweat. He realized suddenly that he was afraid Rodney would say 'no' and terrified that he would say 'yes'.

At last Rodney gave a small nod and said, "All right."

John swallowed, gave his own small nod and turned to lead the way out of the kitchen. He headed for the mess hall door but Rodney headed back to the table.

"Rodney?"

"I need to get my laptop," Rodney said. John waited until Rodney had rejoined him and led the way out of the mess hall. Rodney stopped once they were out in the hall and said in a rushed, nervous voice, "I want to drop this off at the laboratory. I'll meet you at your room, okay?"

John nodded and watched as Rodney hurried down the hall. Finally turning away, he headed for the transporter that would deliver him to his quarters. Once inside his room, he began to pace nervously. What if he'd just made a horrendous mistake? He and Rodney were friends and colleagues. What if this changed that? It was exactly the kind of thing he'd just been talking about earlier. Romantic entanglements could cause tremendous problems in a group, even among equals. He'd seen it himself any number of times throughout the course of his career. He didn't want to take the chance of losing Rodney's friendship regardless of how much he wanted him. And he did want him, he acknowledged, reaching down and adjusting himself.

As he worried over the repercussions of what he was about to do, he didn't notice at first that Rodney was taking an extremely long time getting to his room. When he at last noticed, almost half an hour had passed. Maybe Rodney had changed his mind, John thought, not sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. If Rodney didn't show up, they could just pretend it had been an elaborate joke, and even though both of them would know that that was a lie, they'd be able to go on pretty much as they had before John's proposition.

Or not.

John ran his hand through his hair, not knowing whether to just go ahead and get undressed for bed or to wait for a few more minutes or go out and hunt Rodney down. As he stood there in indecision, a soft knock sounded on his door. John jumped slightly at the sound and then said in a barely audible voice, "Come in."

The door slid open and Rodney stood there, looking just as nervous as John felt.

"Hi," he said stepping into the room.

"Hi. I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"Oh, well, Zelenka was in the laboratory and I had to fill him in."

John's eyes widened. "About this?"

"What? No," Rodney exclaimed. "About the equations for the power differential I was working on. That took some time. And then I had to think up an excuse about why I wasn't finishing them tonight."

"Oh."

"I don't think he bought the excuse though."

"Do you think he suspects, um, about us?"

Rodney looked at him a little incredulously. "No. Why would he? I didn't even suspect it."

They stood there nervously then, not talking for a few minutes and looking anywhere but at each other until Rodney said, "Look, Major, maybe this is a bad idea. I think I'm just going to..." He gestured toward the door and turned to leave.

"Wait, Rodney," John called after him, taking a step forward. "Don't go."

Rodney stopped and turned back. He studied John's face carefully and then asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

John nodded and licked his lips. Rodney looked at him as if trying to read his mind and then stepped up, grabbed John's head and crushed his month to John's.

John quickly brought his arms up and wrapped them around Rodney's back. He opened his mouth to Rodney's probing tongue and moaned as he tasted Rodney for the first time. Their tongues dueled for a while and then Rodney pulled back breathing rapidly and asked, "Can we get naked now?

John kissed him again quickly and gasped, "Oh, yeah." They separated just long enough to remove their clothes and then stumbled to John's bed. John whipped the covers down and they tumbled into the bed, hands sliding over warm skin, mouths meeting and, oh god, John thought, the feel of Rodney's hard cock pressed against his was almost enough to make him come right then. He slid his hand down Rodney's body until he reached the hard, warm length, then wrapped his hand around it, and closed his eyes when he heard Rodney's moan. God, this was so good.

He began to slowly pump, feeling the silky smooth skin glide beneath his hand and listened to Rodney's gasping breaths. He moved his head down, mouth sliding over neck and chest until he reached one hard, pert nipple. He flicked his tongue over the tip and was rewarded with another gasping moan. He smiled. Oh, yeah, Rodney's nipples were just as sensitive as John had suspected. Wrapping his lips around the tiny nub, he began to gently suck and lick. Rodney's fingers were threaded through John's hair and his hips were thrusting up into John's hand while tiny grunts and moans escaped his lips. John moved his head and took the other nipple in his mouth, and Rodney began to whimper. When he had brought that nipple to the edge of over-sensitivity, he moved his head down and kissed and licked his way down Rodney's stomach. He lifted his head and looked at the hard, red cock thrusting through the fingers of his hand.

John's previous experiences with men had for the most part consisted of mutual frantic hand jobs. Only once had his partner gone down on him, but he had never sucked off another man. He'd never had any desire to. Until now. Opening his mouth, he wrapped his lips around the tip of Rodney's cock and drew it into his mouth. He could hear Rodney's desperate pleas of "oh god" when he began to gently suck. He flicked his tongue over the slit and tasted the salty fluid beaded there. It was a surprisingly pleasant taste and he heard himself moan. Opening his mouth more, he slid down the thick shaft, taking as much of Rodney into his mouth as he could. He called upon his own knowledge of what he liked and began to suck and move his head, not quite taking Rodney all the way into his mouth. He continued pumping with his hand while he sucked and licked and lightly scraped at the sensitive skin with his teeth. His jaw began to hurt so he let Rodney's dick slide from his mouth and licked along the vein while he gently fondled Rodney's balls. Taking the tip into his mouth once again he began again to suck using gentle pressure. He had only a second to decide when Rodney let out a warning cry. Rodney's come jetted into John's mouth, and John started to swallow. It wasn't easy, and John had to fight down his gag reflex, but this was something he wanted to do for Rodney.

When Rodney at last was finished, he collapsed into a boneless mass. John gave one more gentle suck and then let Rodney's softening dick slip from his mouth. Moving back up, he lay along Rodney's side, wrapped his arm around Rodney's torso, and pressed his own aching erection into Rodney's hip. Rodney lay unmoving except for the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he gasped for breath. John was extraordinarily pleased with himself that he'd given Rodney so much pleasure that for once the man was speechless.

His own need, though, was going unaddressed, and John at last reached down to take matters into his own hand. He had just wrapped his hand around his cock and started to pump when Rodney moved, pushing John over onto his back and looming over him.

"Uh, uh," he murmured. "My turn." Reaching down, he pushed John's hand out of the way and John sighed and closed his eyes as those long, talented fingers began to slide along his dick, squeezing and stroking and gliding. John's hips moved automatically in response to the stimuli and then Rodney's clever mouth was ghosting down his body, stopping here to lick or there to nibble. And then that busy mouth was at John's dick and John heard himself whimper when Rodney took him in.

John's entire universe became centered around his dick and the warm, wet mouth that held it captive. Rodney was good at this. Very good. John found himself rapidly losing control, thrusting up his hips and pumping into that hot cavern. Rodney brought him close to climax and then cooled him off over and over again until all of John's higher brain functions shut down and all he was aware of was what Rodney was doing to him. His body was trembling so hard that if he could think, he would probably have wondered why the mattress wasn't shaking off the bed. But he couldn't think of that. He could only feel. He was whimpering and gasping; wanting, needing to climax, thrusting hard into Rodney's mouth and Rodney's hand, little needy noises escaping from his throat. The hand that wasn't occupied with stroking John slipped between John's legs and brushed against John's balls, cupping and squeezing and fondling, and then he began to lightly rub at the perineum with one long finger before slipping down to press against John's anus.

That last touch finally afforded John the release he needed and John lost it completely. With a cry and one last hard thrust he shot into Rodney's mouth. Any blood that had been left in his brain completely disappeared, and John's world went black.

He came to again to the sound of Rodney's worried voice calling, "Major? Major?" and the feel of light slaps against his face. His eyes fluttered opened and he saw Rodney's face, eyes slightly wild, looming over him. He wanted to say something snarky about really not wanting to count Rodney's nose hairs, but all that came out was a slightly slurred, "Hey."

"Are you all right?" Rodney asked in a frightened voice. "I thought you had a stroke."

John was still flying from the best climax he'd ever had and he knew the smile on his face was goofy and loopy looking, but his synapses still weren't firing all the way and he didn't have the strength to school his features, so he just smiled and said in a gaspy little voice, "Jesus, Rodney. You made me pass out."

Rodney looked surprised and then a crooked smile ghosted across his face. "I did, didn't I?"

John laughed softly and closed his eyes, relaxing in the afterglow. From that first passionate kiss, John had known that having sex with Rodney would be good; he hadn't expected anything like this though.

He knew Rodney was still watching him and he tried to gather the strength to pull Rodney down to him so they could cuddle. He hoped Rodney was a cuddler. He normally wasn't, but then he didn't normally pass out from great sex either. Besides, those others he hadn't wanted to cuddle with hadn't been Rodney McKay. His voluntary muscle control still hadn't quite returned yet, and so before he could get his limbs working again, he felt the bed shift and the sheet get thrown over him. He opened his eyes a slit to see Rodney head for the bathroom. He watched, admiring the view of Rodney's naked backside until the door closed, and then he closed his eyes again and waited for Rodney to return to bed. He must have dozed off because the next thing he was aware of was the sound of clothes rustling. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. He frowned when he saw Rodney dressed in his boxers and holding out his trousers in preparation of stepping into them.

"What are you doing?"

"I think that's pretty obvious, Major," Rodney answered not looking at John. He slipped one leg into his trousers. "I'm getting dressed."

John levered himself up on one arm. "Why?"

Rodney pulled his pants up and began fastening them. He still didn't look at John as he said, "I can't very well leave here naked, now can I?"

"You're leaving?" John asked which he realized was a stupid question considering the fact that Rodney was in the process of dressing. If he were coming back to bed, he wouldn't be putting his pants back on.

Rodney finally looked at John, a hint of confusion on his face. "Yes, of course."

"Oh," John said. He was surprised by just how disappointed he was that Rodney could hardly wait to get away from him. Well, he shouldn't have expected anything else, he guessed. After all, this hadn't been Rodney's idea in the first place. He lay back on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Okay. Thanks for..." He made a vague gesture with his hand, and then let it flop back down limply onto his stomach.

There was quiet for a few seconds and then Rodney said hesitantly, "You want me to leave, don't you?"

John turned his head back to look at Rodney and levered himself up on his elbows, a frown creasing his forehead. "Honestly? No, I don't. But I'm not going to try to force you to stay if you don't want to."

Rodney took a small step toward him. "You want me to stay?"

And suddenly John understood. Whatever lovers Rodney had had in the past had apparently made it plain that once the sex was over Rodney was free to go, the sooner the better. It both amazed and infuriated John that anyone would do that to this man. Flipping the sheet back, John got out of bed and walked over to Rodney on legs that were still a little wobbly. Taking Rodney's head in his hands, he leaned down and kissed him gently, warmly. When he pulled back from the kiss he said, "I want you to stay."

Rodney pulled away from John searching his face as if to discern the truth, and then with slightly trembling hands began to undo the fastenings of his pants again. John batted Rodney's hands away and undid them himself. Slipping his hands inside the waistband, he slowly lowered them, kneeling down as he did. Rodney placed a hand lightly on John's shoulder for balance as he lifted first one foot and then the other and allowed John to draw the trousers off him. John repeated the process with Rodney's boxers, and then he held onto Rodney's hips as he lowered his head to kiss Rodney's stomach and then lower to take Rodney into his mouth again, sucking gently at the soft cock. It began to harden slightly and John heard Rodney gasp out his name.

He stood up again and pressed his mouth to Rodney's. Rodney wrapped his arms around John and kissed him back with a mixture of heat and desperation and...something else – a brighter emotion than just desire. Of course John realized that he could just be projecting his own feelings onto Rodney. They pulled apart and smiled at each other, and then John took Rodney's hand and led him back to the bed.

They snuggled together, kissing a bit more until sleepiness took over. As John drifted off he told himself that sometimes fraternization with a colleague was a very good thing indeed.


The End