Over.

by Gillian In Oz

sequel to Oops, Ow! & Uh Oh.

Rodney's suspicions were first aroused after he ate his sandwich. He happened to make a comment about the jelly being a bit stingy.

Teyla started to cry.

This seemed A Bit Suspicious to him, and he made a note of it on his datapad. Which was when his suspicions were again aroused, because as his (little) fingers struggled to type on the touchpad screen, Elizabeth went 'awwww' and squeezed Kate Heightmeyer's hand gleefully.

Rodney made another note.

"Sheppard?" he hissed, and the Colonel rushed to his side.

"Yes, Rodney?" Sheppard said.

"What's going on wif everybody?"

"Are they bothering you?" Sheppard asked urgently. "Listen up everybody," he hollered. "You're bothering Rodney! Everyone who isn't me or Carson needs to clear out!" He then proceeded to flap his arms and chase the protesting Atlanteans out as if they were chickens.

Rodney made another note.

"But I want to stay!" Teyla was insisting loudly. "He might need a motherly figure close by."

"One who can get a simple thing like jelly on a sandwich right you mean?" Sheppard said, and Teyla burst into tears and ran from the room.

"People are very sensitive today," Carson said, untucking Rodney's napkin (polka-dotted handkerchief) and patting at Rodney's chin. "You know, Rodney, I'm beginning to think the effect of your transformation might be more widespread than I first suspected."

"Just as well you're not effected, eh, Carson?" Rodney said, and obediently blew his nose into the hanky when it was proffered.

"Jolly well right," Carson agreed. "Now, how about those delicious biscuits?"

"Aren't we going to start figuring out how to turn me back?" Rodney demanded. Carson laid the plate of cookies on his lap and his attention was caught. "Oh, choc-chip! My favorite!"

Carson beamed as if he had baked them himself.

"How is he, doc?" Sheppard asked, coming back to Rodney's bedside and patting his blanket covered leg.

"I'm fine, fanks," Rodney said, and frowned. He hadn't had trouble with his dipthongs for years. This was getting serious. "Listen, Sheppard, what progress has Radek made wif da device?"

The Colonel was playing with Rodney's toes through the blanket which was 1. distracting, and 2. tickling.

"Stop it," Rodney squealed, wriggling and upsetting his cookies.

"Colonel, if you continue to disturb the lad I'll be forced to throw you out too," Carson said sternly.

Sheppard's eyes narrowed and his hand dropped to his gun. "I wouldn't try it, Carson," he warned.

Rodney stopped giggling and smoothed his curls back impatiently. This was all getting too serious. He might be trapped inside a child's body but he was still a genius, and it was becoming more and more obvious that if he wanted to change back he was going to have to do it himself.

Besides, he still hadn't had any cookies.

"Carson," he said. "After my last bad sandwich experience I need someone I can trust to make me anoder one. Can you do it, man?"

Carson's chest puffed with pride. "Aye, lad!"

"Fine, more jelly dis time, and on white bread, not wholemeal. Oh, and get more cookies, for later."

Sheppard's face had fallen and he was looking upset. "What about me?" he said as Carson rushed away.

Rodney kicked back the covers and held his arms out imperiously. "I have a different job for you. Now, upsy!"

888

Sheppard seemed to enjoy his task of sneaking Rodney back to his lab without being seen. It helped that he was military commander and ordered all his marines to the south wing, and informed the civilians that they needed to stay where they were and not venture out into the corridor.

"Tell dem dere's a monster," Rodney suggested, arms linked around Sheppard's neck. Honestly, this was much more comfortable than it looked, and the Colonel was nice and warm. "You smell good," Rodney observed, laying his head on one shoulder and snuggling into a bristly chin.

"So do you," Sheppard observed, rubbing his face in soft curls for a moment. Then he was distracted by a squawk in his ear. "Yes, you heard right, a monster!" he yelled.

"A furry one," Rodney expanded, making a face and claws with his hands. "Wif teef like dis. Grr."

"With claws and teeth," the Colonel confirmed. "Now stop bothering me, out!"

Rodney yawned and snuggled down again. "Where are we going?" he asked sleepily.

Sheppard stopped. "You said your lab, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Rodney recalled. "Hey, where's Radek anyway?"

"No idea. The cowardly Czech couldn't seem to keep up. He ran away."

Rodney frowned, processing this. He couldn't help be a little hurt by that. Here everybody else was fussing around him and his co-worker and sort of almost friend had run off and left him.

"He's a poo poo head," Rodney decided. "You can be my friend now."

888

As it turned out Radek was lurking in the lab, but when he saw them he screamed and turned to run. Sadly he missed the door and knocked himself out on the frame.

"Dumb poo poo head," Rodney said contemptuously. "Put me on da bench."

Sheppard sat him on the bench and straightened his t-shirt for him while Rodney examined the device.

"Huh, it's already set to reverse da effects," he noted, casting a glance at the unconscious scientist on the floor. "Maybe he can still be my friend," he allowed, rather graciously he thought.

"Rodney?" Sheppard said uncertainly. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you don't have to, you know? I'll take care of you, and Teyla will help out a very small bit." The Colonel patted his shoulder awkwardly.

Rodney gazed up at him thoughtfully. It was kind of tempting, in a way. People seemed to really like him like this, and probably Sheppard would carry him a lot, and there were those cookies to consider. And it would be fun to play for a while and not have to worry about stuff all the time.

On the other hand he was already starting to forget things, even his memory seemed to be slipping away. There was no point being everybody's friend, if you weren't smarter than them.

"I'd better do it," he decided, but it was a bit worrying, so he held his arms up first. "Hug," he demanded, and Sheppard wrapped his arms around him and hugged him gently. Then before he could change his mind Rodney pulled back and activated the device.

888

Probably he should have put his pants on first.

888

Back in the infirmary some people looked embarrassed and Radek groaned and held an ice pack to his head.

"No long term effects that I can detect," Carson said, cheeks flushed unbecomingly red. His polka-dot handkerchief was nowhere to be seen, neither, Rodney noted sadly, were the choc-chip cookies.

"Thank goodness you kept your head, Rodney," Elizabeth exclaimed.

"What do you remember?" Rodney asked curiously, and Elizabeth and Kate and Teyla and Sheppard exchanged discomfited glances and quickly looked away.

"It's all a bit of a blank," Teyla said with a desperate smile.

"Yeah, I can barely remember a thing," Sheppard insisted, rubbing the back of his neck. There was a damp spot on his shoulder.

"But the effects are quite gone," Elizabeth chimed in.

Ronon rushed into the infirmary brandishing his stunner, then skidded to a stop and knocked over a tray of instruments when he saw Rodney propped up in bed.

"You're big again," he said blankly.

"Well spotted," Rodney said.

Ronon looked crestfallen. "But I wanted to save the day."

Sheppard patted him on the shoulder. "Next time, buddy, okay?"

Ronon's shoulders slumped. "Okay," he said disconsolately.

"Now now," Carson said briskly. "My patients have had enough excitement for one day. Let's leave them to rest, shall we?"

Everyone looked really glad to leave and Rodney tried not to take it personally. After all, he had a few embarrassing memories of the day himself, not the least of which was calling Sheppard 'daddy' and nuzzling his neck.

888

Later Sheppard snuck back in with cookies, and they joked and slapped each other's shoulders and did that manly thing where they agree (without ever saying a word) never to mention the hugs and the nuzzling again.

"I'd better go," Sheppard said.

"Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem. Oh, you have a..." he pointed to the side of his own mouth, then pulled a tissue out of his pocket. Rodney presented his cheek and sat still while Sheppard scrubbed at the chocolate smear. Then the Colonel stuffed the tissue back in his pocket, kissed Rodney on the forehead and tip-toed back out of the infirmary.

Yeah, Rodney thought, snuggling down. It was good to be back to normal.

The End! (Really)