Disclaimers: I do not own these characters; this is written for fun, I make no money etc.

Spoilers:The Gift, The Siege, The Intruder also 'Three,Two,One' by Fanwoman ;)

A/N: I started to write this for the McKay/Weir Ficathon 2006, response to a challenge (#42) from Kellyanne - Four specifications: a romantic dinner involving MREs, a rumour about McKay and Heightmeyer, an Athosian myth, and a puddle jumper with a door that won't open. But I never finished it, so I decided I would finish it off for the LiveJournal McKayWeir Love Fest 2007 :)

Chapter One

Elizabeth wandered into the jumper bay, feeling the warm breeze from the open roof. She approached the puddlejumper sitting in the middle of the space, and smiled as she heard a tune being hummed. Standing in the rear doorway, she called out.

"Rodney? Coffee."

Rodney McKay turned round quickly, a look of shock on his face, perhaps from being caught in the act.

"Oh. Thanks. You didn't have to."

She raised an eyebrow. "I know. I just... I needed a break, and I thought I'd see how you were doing." She stepped up into the body of the jumper.

He took the offered mug. "Oh, well, you know I had a few things to do to the jumper, after it's 30 hour flight." He glanced down, remembering the journey he had taken only days ago, the one where Peter Grodin had been lost.

"Yes. Couldn't Dr Zelenka do that?" she asked gently.

He shook his head, "No, no, I wanted to do it myself. Besides, Radek is busy replacing some power cables destroyed in the uh... siege. He's... well, I'd rather he did that." He sipped his coffee, closing his eyes gratefully.

She stood beside him, looking up into the open panel above their heads, wires dangling and crystals out of place. She lifted the mug to her lips, and watched her Chief of Science as he sat on the bench seat, tapping on his laptop. He looked a little paler than usual, but he was as neat as ever. It took a lot to reduce Rodney McKay to a state of dishevelment. Like the siege, for example.

"I'm not disturbing you am I?" she asked. Frankly, he should have gone to bed hours ago.

He shook his head, still working, head down, "No, no." A hand appeared and fingers waggled, "I needed to get this done before we went back to Earth."

"Dr Zelenka could have done it while we are away."

His head turned and his eyes flashed, "I wanted to do it myself!"

Shocked, Elizabeth said plainly, "Sorry, Rodney. I didn't mean to push."

He rolled his head down, gripping his nose with his thumb and finger. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I know what needs done, that's all." He stood up stiffly, and headed for the rear door, pointing, "There's an access panel out here, I'm just..." he disappeared, and Elizabeth settled herself on one of the rear benches.

At times like these, she knew Rodney liked to have her around, even if he did snap and grumble. He was working here, alone, because it took his mind off other things. She liked to just be with him at times like these. She sometimes wondered if it really kept him from breaking. Astrophysicists shouldn't have to deal with this level of stress for so long. Neither should diplomats.

Without warning, the rear door of the puddlejumper started to lift smoothly and quickly, and she stood up, just in time to see Rodney's worried face through the gap before she heard the clunk. Elizabeth found herself standing alone inside the jumper, quite perplexed.

Placing her mug on the bench, Elizabeth found the door release in the dim light from the front window, opened the cover, and pulled. There was an ineffectual thunk, and nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing.

Pursing her lips, she made her way forward and leaned over the flight console, at the same time as Rodney flew around the corner, scrambling up the sloping front of the jumper, and staring through the window.

She could see him mouthing words, face shocked and apologetic. She sighed, and looked down, her eyes scanning the buttons. Shrugging, she pressed one at random, and gave herself a mental pat on the back as Rodney's voice reached her.

"-abeth?! I'm really sorry. I'll get you out, I promise. I think..."

"Rodney," she drew out the word, "What have you done?"

"I think.. that is... I accidentally tripped an emergency protocol initiator. Sorry."

"So how long will you take to override it?" She folded her arms over her waist.

He shut his eyes briefly, and she sighed. "I'll need to work on that."

With eyebrows raised, she countered, "So. Work."

"Right." He began to make his way down, taking a couple of worried glances back up at her.

She puttered about inside the cabin, finding the blankets, and emergency supplies. She really hoped she wasn't going to need them. She really hoped no one else would find out about this. Opening the ration pack, she pulled the items out one by one. MRE's, chocolate, gum, coffee creamer, glow sticks, biscuits, camouflage make-up, matches, instant soup.

She felt the jumper move a little and turned to see Rodney reappearing at the window.

"Elizabeth?"

She wondered if he would wear out her name one day, and smiled. "Progress?"

"No. Yes. Ah... let's just say I have bad news."

She groaned, and sat down in the pilot's chair. "Go on."

"It's a toxic atmosphere emergency protocol. Apparently. The door is on a time lock. Twelve hours. Sorry." His face was desperately pained.

Twelve hours? Not good. Not good at all. "No way to open it sooner?"

"I think... I think it might take me that long to programme an override. I'm really sorry." His fingers slipped on the raised surface of the jumper, and he slid down, cursing as he thudded to the floor.

"Rodney!" she cried, leaning forward to see down. "Are you OK?"

He brushed his thighs down, "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'll just go and get something..." he wandered across the jumper bay, and she watched him go, shaking her head.

Waiting for Rodney to come back, Elizabeth decided there was no way she wanted anyone to find out about this. It was too humiliating, and besides, everyone was busy after the siege. She didn't want to distract them... or be some kind of freak show. So she would just be stuck here twelve hours - it wasn't much more than overnight - and then get out, and pack for Earth.

She couldn't help but smile as she watched Rodney wheeling a kind of platform from the other side of the jumper bay. It looked like it had been designed to fit snugly up against the front of a jumper, probably for maintenance of some sort. It looked like a Zelenka special.

As Rodney manoeuvred it into position and climbed the rungs to the working ledge that was at a convenient height to see through the front screen properly, Elizabeth touched her radio.

"Sergeant Dalhousie?"

"Dr Weir?"

"I'm going to my quarters. I seem to have developed a headache. Don't let anyone disturb me, please. Is everything all right with you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I understand. I've got it covered in the Control Room. I'll see you in the morning, ma'am."

"Thank you, Chuck. Goodnight."

"'Night, ma'am."

She grinned at Rodney. "I'd rather not let word get out about this, if that's all right."

"He's called Chuck?"

TBC