Word Count: 984
Rating: PG.
Category: Humour.
Story Status: Complete
Summary: Set shortly after 'The Game'. Elizabeth wants to know just what John and Rodney are up to now…

Written for the SGA_flashfic Animal Challenge - sga_flashfic contains gen, ship and slash fics.

Beta: Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading.


The Animal Series
Part 2: The Doggedness of Elizabeth Weir
By Leesa Perrie

John and Rodney had disappeared off somewhere, apparently with Radek in tow, according to Miko, who Elizabeth had contacted to try and find her two missing Head of Departments.  They were late for a meeting, and okay, she had told them to take a few hours off from work, to get some rest after a few very hectic days, but she had expected them to turn up for the late afternoon meeting just the same, and she was sure she had told them so.

It didn’t help that she’d confiscated their radios to ensure they got some rest.

She decided to contact Radek, who presumably was wearing his radio, and was reportedly with them, wherever they had vanished to.

He responded, and then apologised that they had seemingly lost track of time, and that he would send them up to her ASAP. 

“Radek, what is that noise in the background?” she asked.  “It sounds like a dog barking…”

“Oh, um, that,” Radek said, sounding flustered.  “It is nothing.  Just a…DVD we are watching.”

Elizabeth sighed, but decided to let it go.  Radek was not much better at lying than Rodney, at least not to her.  She decided to ask her missing miscreants about it, after the meeting.

Ten minutes later, two rather shamefaced individuals appeared in the meeting room, apologising for being late.  Well, one was more shamefaced than the other, but then it wasn’t exactly a natural look for Rodney.  In fact, at no point did she remember him looking shamefaced even after blowing up most of a solar system, so she shouldn’t expect it of him now. 

 Elizabeth

She accepted their apologies and got on with the meeting.  Afterwards, she was briefly detained by a question from Carson, and they slipped quietly out.

Damn them.

----------------

In the end, she went looking for them, as they had disappeared again and Radek was less than forthcoming about where they were, saying he had not seen them since they had headed to her meeting, even though she was sure she heard Rodney’s raised voice in the background.  And more barking.

Eventually she tracked them down to a little used lab, and yes, that was definitely barking that she heard.  Had they managed to smuggle a dog in somehow?  Wait a minute…was that a cat?  She grimaced.  She really hoped that they hadn’t smuggled animals into Atlantis, as she really, really didn’t want the paperwork and hassle that would mean.  Not to mention having to discipline them, so as to dissuade others from following their example.  She wouldn’t put it past them, though.  Recent events with a certain game had made her think anything was possible with those two.

But the sight that met her when she entered the lab had her shocked for all of a few seconds, and then she laughed.  Three pairs of sheepish eyes turned to her.

“So this is what you’ve been up to in your spare time?” she asked lightly.

“Um…” Rodney, for once, seemed lost for words.

“They’re very cute,” she continued.

“Cute?” Rodney was horrified.  “They are not cute!  They are…”

“…a mix of complex computing and robotics,” Radek interjected, looking offended at the ‘cute’ label as well.

“Yes, yes, all that.  Not cute.”

“Well, you have to admit, they do have a certain cuteness about them,” Sheppard said with a grin, only to be nailed by two very annoyed scientists.

Elizabeth shook her head.

“Why did you decide to build them?”

“Ah, well, Sheppard saw the cat-bot that an unnamed person, an unnamed but probably blonde and obviously liking me person more than she wants to admit to, sent me...” Rodney started, a smitten look crossing his face briefly.

“The Colonel want dog-bot.  I was intrigued by idea,” Radek put in.

“And of course, anything Carter can do, McKay can do better...” John said with a sly grin, making Elizabeth have to smother a laugh at his blatant manipulation of Rodney’s ego to get what he wanted.

“So, do they have names?” she asked, once she knew she wouldn’t laugh.

“Of course not, they’re just bots…” Rodney started.

“The dog-bot’s called Rover, and the cat-bot’s called…” Sheppard started, but was interrupted by Rodney.

“Oh, how unimaginative!  Rover!  Really,” he said snidely.

“Better than Sam-Bot,” John replied with a grin. 

Rodney blushed furiously, and Elizabeth had to choke back a laugh, thinking of a certain whale and wondering to herself how many other creatures or bots were going to be named after a certain astrophysicist on Earth.  A chuckle at the thought of Carter’s face if she ever found out escaped, before she pulled herself together, ignoring Rodney’s glare.

“How dog and catlike are they?”

“Very.  Of course, the dog is better, as I programmed it myself,” Rodney said, his chest puffing up in pride.

“We programmed it,” Radek reminded him.

“Yes, yes, of course you helped as much as you could…”

Sheppard rolled his eyes, and Elizabeth smiled.

“Rodney,” she said sweetly.  “I think it’s wonderful of you to offer to build bots for anyone here who is missing their pet…”

“What?  I did no such thing…”

“And so good of Radek to volunteer to help you as well…”

Radek and Rodney shared a look of horror.

“Oh no, no, no, we’re too busy to build lots of bots for people…” Rodney protested.

“But you obviously enjoy the work, using Expedition supplies…”

“Um…well…” Rodney narrowed his eyes, but couldn’t deny that last part.

“And seeing as John seems so interested in this as well, I’m sure he’d be happy to help out too.”

Elizabeth smiled brightly, Rodney and John both groaned, and Radek grimaced.

 John and Rodney

“Or you could build me a dog-bot, and I’ll forget all about it.”

John laughed in relief.

“All you had to do was ask, Elizabeth,” he said.

“Oh but this way was far more fun.  You should have seen your faces,” she teased. 

The End


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