Notes: Many thanks to my FABULANTASTIC BETA Brainy (AO3 I can hear her in the distance complaining about me calling her that, hihihi) for her work on this... thing. :D

Characters:

Nicholas Rush; Amanda Perry; Eli Wallace; Ginn; Everett Young; Tamara Johansen; Varro; The Destiny

Tags and pairings:

Amanda Perry/Nicholas Rush; Nicholas Rush/Everett Young; Eli Wallace/Ginn; Tamara Johansen/Varro
Humor; Light Angst; Kissing; Holding Hands; Awkwardness; Hinted relationship between Varro and Ginn though not really a pairing in this fic; Destiny feeling bored and doing evil deeds... or what her crew think is evil but that she finds extremely funny; I am playing the role of the Destiny because it's me who thinks it's funny; More humor; Maybe more awkwardness

Chapters: 1 of 2

Chapter 1: Odd things

When he woke up he saw a very exhausted Eli, smiling viciously, looking at him from the other side of the glass. The door slid up and he could get out to find himself being stretched between the arms of the very exhausted Eli, still smiling viciously. It was at least awkward, so he didn't move a centimetre, just in case, feeling all his body tensing up. He was feeling tired too. In fact, he was feeling even more tired than how he felt before going into stasis.

"I did it! I'm alive! It's so great to be alive!"

For some reason, this made him relax into the embrace and smile. "Yes, you did it Mr. Wallace."

"Aw! C'mon Rush! Don't talk to me like that! I mean, it's an honour to be called like that by you but I think I prefer if you keep calling me by my given name instead."

"Yes, yes..." Rush said, not holding a small laugh. "Now, I think you can let me go."

"Ah! Yes, I can." After Eli released him, he ran towards Col. Young's stasis pod and opened it, grinning the same way he did when he was waiting for Rush to open his eyes. When the door slid up, he assaulted Young as well and repeated the same words. Young laughed happily and hugged back, patting him on the shoulder twice or so.

"Good work, Eli. You did a good job."

By the time Young noticed Rush, he was already on the computer, running an analysis on the state of the ship, their current position regarding the star they would be using to re-fuel and looking for the best candidates to wake up first. Of course, those were already selected, but still he checked out and looked for possible causalities. None thus far.

Rush looked up from the screen when he sensed Young staring at him. He thought he saw something whiting Young's eyes, something familiar. But that feeling disappeared as fast as it appeared. That something... retreating into the depths of the man's eyes. Rush frowned, but only looked down again.

"Hey, TJ, good to see you!" Eli said, greeting one by one those who were waking up.

"So, did we make it?"

Rush didn't stop reading the screen or pushing buttons, but he answered, "More or less. We are six months and three weeks into the third year. Maybe they won't expect us to make contact now, but it would be advisable to give it a try after we have recharged. Also, it will take at least another week to reach the star, so it would be better if we don't wake up more people, to keep the waste of energy it at a minimum."

"Yes," Young nodded. "We still have all that dried food and the water tank should have enough water for us. We need to make shifts for the bridge. I could do with an actual sleep."

Rush only nodded.

"TJ? Are you okay?"

They both looked at TJ and Eli. The young man had TJ's hands on his, and she looked pale for a moment.

"Yes. Don't worry." She freed her hands and turned around, giving Young a small glance. If Rush hadn't been looking he would have missed it. There was something going on, something different than the usual almost discrete stares shared between the Colonel and his Lieutenant, as if there was another secret.

Suspicion grew in Rush. There was something going on and it had little to do with the past of those two. The same familiar expression on Young appeared and disappeared as soon as he and TJ's eyes connected. "Suspicious," he mumbled to himself and went back to work. He could worry about it later. Maybe it had to do with the pods, but he shouldn't pry into it, not yet.

"Well, I think we all should go to have a check up," said Camile, rubbing her eyes. "I also need to know when we will be contacting Earth, so I can prepare something to give to them."

"Good idea, Camile. Though the last thing I want to do when we go to Earth is being debriefed or debriefing."

Young and Camile left, discussing about the report they should write and other stuff related to the IOA and the SGC. TJ, on the other hand, stood where she was, looking cryptically between Rush and Eli.

"Are you sure you are okay, Lieutenant?" Rush dared to ask. He approached her and for a brief moment he had the same feeling of before. Definitely something is off, he thought.

"Yes?"

"Lieutenant?"

"TJ?"

"Yes? What?"

Eli and Rush exchanged looks. They both were thinking the same. Eli mouthed it and Rush gave a short nod,

"I'm just a bit tired."

Rush nodded. "Yes. These are not like going to sleep. We are kept exactly as we were when we went in, so if you were tired before, you'll be now."

"Em... Maybe we should take this opportunity to try and rest?"

Rush shook his head. "No, Eli. Too much to do, too little personnel," he said, and then motioned for the young mathematician to follow him. "We need to know more about the status of the ship. It seems it recharged already in a white dwarf to be able to wake us up, but the levels of energy are still too low."

"So, to make a plan on how to save energy. No showers, then?"

"No, no showers. And maybe we shouldn't use the lights either. Some flashlights will suffice."

"Okay, I'll go and look for Camile and the Colonel to tell them."

"So, I suppose we can't use the infirmary," TJ said.

"Not yet, Lieutenant. At least, we can't use any of its equipment, but if it is necessary, the beds and the medicines are there, and we need you to be prepared in case something happens." Rush was looking down at the screen again. "Before we went into stasis I took some flashlights to this room. The batteries are in my pockets. I thought that maybe it wouldn't work with them, but it's worth the try."

"What? Doc! What if they got broken?"

"Don't worry Mr. Wallace." Eli grimaced and Rush smirked. "I didn't take all the batteries, just some for the lights. Here, try it out. They should be fully charged." Eli nodded and took them. "They should be behind those pods," Rush added, and Eli went to retrieve the lanterns.

"That was quite intelligent," TJ said, and Rush looked at her with a frown. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No..., no. It's just... Nothing. I must be tired." Yes he had to be, because the way Lieutenant Johansen said that statement was quite differently of how she usually spoke. Something amiss again. He looked back again to the woman's eyes and saw it again. "Who are you?" he asked in a quiet voice.

TJ opened her mouth, expression bewildered, ready to answer or maybe just because she was surprised. Her face told him enough. How did you know? Was the question in her eyes.

"Hey, guys! I found them and they work! Doc, that was amazing! I wouldn't have thought of that! Woah! Well, maybe I would, if I hadn't been so full of work and worries about fixing the pod and wondering if I would survive long enough or if I should-.." Eli cut himself when he caught the worried expression on TJ's face. "What?"

"Fixing a stasis pod? Survival?" She looked over at Rush, then back to Eli. "What's going on?"

Rush let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. That was Tamara Johansen. "There was a little problem with one of the last three pods, but it's all right now. Eli will fill all of us in later. We have other worries now." He took one of the flashlights from Eli's hands and handed it to TJ. "First, we need to find where the Colonel and Camile went, so we can turn off whatever lights they might have turned on and give them these. Then, we have to go to the Apple Core to run another diagnosis."

"Yes, yes. To make a list of what kind of things we can use and what we can't. Uh... Doc... Did you just say "Apple Core" or did I hallucinate?"

Rush smirked, turned around and went out, being followed by the other two, without answering.

"Is it the wrong name?" TJ asked as they walked out. "I mean, we all use that as the name. Apple Core," she clarified.

"No, well. It is and it's not. It's the Control Interface Room, but that's just a nick-name and-"

"Mr. Brody seems to not be so fond of that nick-name," Rush said, cutting Eli mid sentence.

"Uh? You do that to annoy him?" Eli asked and TJ started to laugh.

Rush gave a half shrug. "It's a catchy name, I use it from time to time."

They found Young and Camile in the mess hall talking over cups of what passed as coffee. On the way there, they had turned off the non-essential lights.

"Took you long enough," Young said, smiling. "What are the lanterns for?"

"Saving power," Eli said, giving each one. "Doc thinks that-"

"Mr. Wallace, why do you keep calling me "Doc"?" Rush cut with an affronted look. The other four laughed.

"It's catchy," Eli said, smiling a bit devilish.

"Ron's names are catchy," TJ said at the same time.

Young and Camile laughed a bit and Rush frowned deeply. "Yes, well. We have to keep the use of power to a minimum, so we won't be using the lights on the corridors, that's why the flashlights. Also, we won't be showering until we recharge and we should keep the doors either opened or closed, as they waste energy too."

"It's just a tiny bit of power! Why can't we close our doors?" Eli protested.

"Eli, if we don't save as much energy as we can, we might not make it in one week. Do you know what it means?" Eli nodded. "Good. We better leave the doors to our quarters open and don't touch any other door unless it's a necessity. Of course, the door to the infirmary will be kept open."

"Okay, something else?" Young asked, nodding at Rush's demanding.

"Yes, we won't be using any other computer than the one in the Control Interface Room. If we need to know something that will be the one we will go to. Only one computer. We could have two functioning, but better safe than sorry."

"Seems legit. Well, take a refreshment and go to rest, we can start working after we have rested for a while."

"What?"

"Nicholas, he is right. We are all worn out, we better take some rest before we start working, or we won't be able to do anything. I really could use a nap. Half an hour would be bliss, though I feel like I could sleep for years," Camile said, looking at Rush, the last bit more to herself than to the man.

Rush looked at Camile for a long moment of silence, then nodded. "Okay, if it's short, I think we can do it."

"Also, after we have rested, I want to check you all up, so I expect the four of you in the infirmary within the hour."

"Okay. Then I'll go to edit my documentary-"

"No, Eli, Rush said we need to save power," Young said while standing up.

"What? No, why? Colonel!"

Camile and TJ laughed a bit. "He is right Eli," Camile said, smiling fondly at the young man. "C'mon, let's get some sleep."

They all went to their own quarters.

Rush opened the door to his and fringed at the thought of not being able to close it. Well, it wasn't as if there were going to be people entering in without asking for his permission. He stripped from his vest and green T-Shirt, unbuckled his belt and unlaced his shoes, sitting on the mattress with a tired sigh. This week was going to be hell. He hoped there wouldn't be any complications, like a valve exploding or a shower of meteors straining the shield.

With his face hidden in his hands, elbows resting on the knees, he tried to think of a working line for the following days. He had his phone on the counter, but he doubted the battery still worked, so no alarms to set. What if he overslept? He couldn't go to sleep now with the risk of not waking up, he knew himself well enough to know he was tired enough to fall asleep soundly and not waking up for hours. The echo of steps made him look up. The sound was definitely of military boots, but the steps were too soft.

He saw the Colonel on his door, looking inside with an unsure look. The dim light of the FTL didn't help to make out what kind of expression Young was making, his face in shadows.

"Colonel Young?"

The man didn't answer, but kept staring at him. His shoulders were relaxed, and the way he moved when he stepped in—one, two steps—, was not how the man usually moved around.

"Who are you?" Rush stood up. There was something wrong, so wrong with this. It couldn't be someone from Earth, they agreed in not use the stones until they were fully recharged and all the crew was out of the pods. The lights of the FTL lightened up Young's face. Again, that look in his eyes. Familiar. He looked a bit sad and anxious, very anxious. He looked down and held his hand up in a gesture way too familiar and no, it was not possible. This wasn't happening at all. It was not... "Mandy?"

Notes: Talking with Fragged (AO3) this crazy idea came, so here it is. About Rush calling the Control Interface Room "Apple Core"... EuticphicL (Deviantart) has a fanart that inspired me to write it. Go check it, it's funny. :)