Author’s notes:  It bothered me how Rodney handled the whole Katie/proposal thing in “Quarantine” and his explanation to Carter and Keller in “Trio”. So this is my attempt to make him seem like he was more bothered with the ending of that relationship than they played it out on the show.

Rodney spun the ring between his thumb and index finger. Each time it made a full circle, the diamonds caused the light of his lab to shine in his eye. Another painful reminder of how he ruined what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of his life.

As he heard footsteps approaching, he quickly replaced the ring back in its box and snapped it shut. To his surprise, Teyla was walking inside. Despite his preoccupation with himself, he couldn’t help but to marvel at her ever-growing stomach, a strong testimony of the life growing inside of her. For some reason, it made him feel worse.

“Sheppard’s not here,” he said, hoping she would leave him alone.

Her eyebrows rose at his comment, but continued inside the room. “I did not expect to see you in here. I thought you would be with Katie during this time of celebration,” she responded.

“There’s going to be no celebration,” he muttered, clinching the small box in his hand.

“She did not accept your proposal?” asked Teyla, taken aback.

“Not exactly. I sort of realized with the whole lock-down that I’m not quite ready for marriage,” he answered uncomfortably. “I thought I had changed, but this afternoon showed me that I’ve got a long way to go.”

“Rodney, do not be unfair to yourself,” she said, taking a step closer to him. “You have changed, for the better, in many ways since I have first met you.”

He scoffed. “Forgive me for my disbelief.”

“When my people,” she paused for a moment as a wave of sadness passed over her before continuing, “first came to Atlantis, you were abrasive, dismissive and rude. Now, you think of others before yourself and that is a huge accomplishment.”

They stood together silently as he processed her words. It was true, he found himself doing things for others before himself, but that was usually because he enjoyed the praise he was given. But, did that mean he had really changed? Even it helped others, wasn't it still selfish because he got something out of it too?

“Katie doesn’t deserve a person like me,” he finally spoke.

“That is not for you to decide,” she replied. “Katie sees you in a way no other can, as a woman who loves you. She wants to be with you. Surely she would not have invested so much time in a relationship if she did not feel it was important.”

He sighed. “I just need some time to myself, to think things over.  I just can't deal with Katie right now.”

Teyla frowned. “Then perhaps, you have not changed as much as I had thought.” With that, she turned around and left the room.

“No,” he said sadly, “I haven’t."