"Rodney, go to a private channel for a minute," Elizabeth said as she switched over.
He switched, and then asked, "Elizabeth, we only have 19 minutes left. What's up?"
"Rodney...is this going to work?"
"It might, if people stop bugging me and let me work."
Elizabeth smiled in spite of herself. "I know, Rodney. I just wanted to say…"
After a long pause, Rodney replied impatiently, "What, Elizabeth?"
"Just…come back to me. And that's an order." She tried to sound stern, but she knew the fear for his safety sounded clear in her voice, and that he'd picked up on it.
Rodney paused in his work for a precious few seconds and smiled slightly. "An order, huh? Well, guess I had better figure this out quickly then. Can't go disobeying a direct order now, can I?"
"Good. Carry on then." Elizabeth closed the channel with a small smile. If Rodney, who panicked at the THOUGHT of danger, was able to joke, then he was pretty sure he could fix this. And if he could be strong, so could she. For him.