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Spring Forward Fandom: Stargate Atlantis It's the last item on the senior staff meeting agenda. "We've been keeping 24-hour days since we got here, and the standard Lantean day is a little longer, so we're getting out of sync," Elizabeth says. "On Tuesday at one a.m. Atlantis time has to skip forward one hour." "Ah, actually, that would be a no," Rodney says. "Not all the computers are networked yet. We'll have to manually check all the critical systems after to make sure they're still synchronous. Oh, I'm sorry, did I say we'll have to? I meant I'll have to, because of course I'm the one who's going to end up doing all the work. And I have, oh, only several thousand other things to do." Elizabeth raises an eyebrow. "If we don't make the change, then in a couple of months we'll be having breakfast in the middle of the afternoon." "Fine by me," Rodney says. "I'm not a morning person anyway." But Elizabeth won't be swayed, and in the end Rodney admits defeat and spends Monday evening resetting the time on every computer and network in the city. He stays up after the changes have gone live to check that nothing has crashed, and doesn't even notice that he's the only person in the lab. Except he isn't. He almost jumps when Sheppard appears at his shoulder and says, "There's one clock you forgot to change." "There couldn't be," Rodney snaps, because he really has checked everything, and then panic seizes him. "Which one?" Sheppard smiles smugly. "Your watch." Rodney looks at his arm, where the time according to his wristwatch is 01.30, whereas Atlantis Standard Time is now 02.30. "Very funny," he says sourly. But Sheppard is apparently undeterred by his tone. He flops down into the chair next to Rodney and says, "You know, when I was a kid, I used to think spring forward was kind of cool. It's like time travel." Rodney regards him coolly. "You really are very easily impressed, aren't you?" Sheppard ignores him. "You know what else is cool?" He leans closer and taps Rodney's watch. "Your watch says it's 01.30, but it's not. It's not a real time. We made a whole hour disappear. So, right now, the way I figure it, normal rules don't apply." "They don't?" Rodney says, and if his heart is beating a little faster, it's only because Sheppard has leaned in very, very close to him. "Magic hour. All bets are off," Sheppard murmurs. He moves in to kiss Rodney, and the last thing Rodney thinks before their mouths meet is that right now is the best time of all. |