A/N: Thanks to JperW and Hal Cooper for their beta work. Their hard work is what took so long to keep the story going.

Thanks for your patience.

Rodney's shoulders and arms hurt just being wrapped around the pole, but once he began pushing on the column, the pain became almost unbearable. His back was going to be a serious mess for quite some time. After what seemed like an eternity of pushing, Jennifer said she needed to rest and slumped down on the floor leaning against the column breathing heavily. Rodney slid down next to her. The column was tilted and more importantly, the ceiling had not collapsed.

In the dim light from the flashlight, Jennifer looked exhausted. She slumped against Rodney with her eyes shut. Most of her hair had escaped from her pony tail framing her face, which was covered with sweat and dirt. As Rodney looked at the woman he loved, a wave of protectiveness washed over him.

"Jennifer?" Rodney said softly as he nudged her with his shoulder. "Jennifer?"

"Hmm." She sat up and looked into Rodney's face, which mirrored the exhaustion on her own. The doctor smiled and lifted her right hand to touch his cheek. The physicist leaned his head into her hand and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Jennifer…" Rodney began, but Jennifer leaned over and pressed her lips to his mouth. She could not believe he was not complaining because the pushing had to be hurting his back.

"Rodney, I'm so proud of you. You're the one who's doing most of the work and amazingly not complaining." She offered him a sly grin. "When we get back, I owe you the best massage you ever had."

"Really?" Rodney could not keep the surprise out of his voice. He now had even more to look forward to.

"You're really holding yourself together, too. I know you've had quite a few of these…um…bad…I mean…"Jennifer's smile faded and Rodney realized he put his foot in his mouth. Jennifer needed encouragement, not to be reminded of past weakness. "I mean to say..."

"Rodney, it's okay. I know I'm useless in these situations." She spoke with such certainty that it broke Rodney's heart. He wanted to pull her into his arms and vowed that he would never let her doubt her abilities again.

"Well, I don't! You've been great. You escaped from your cell, hot-wired the door, found a way into my cell, which you never explained, by the way and thought up this plan, which is working." Rodney spoke with great pride in his voice. Pride normally reserved only for his own achievements. Just to say it out loud made him realize even more how much she had done. He really loved this woman. The scientist nudged her with his shoulder because she had turned away from him and stared at the ground between her feet. "When we get out of this, I'm taking you on the best first date ever."

"Really? What do you have in mind?" Jennifer had a full smile on her face.

Suddenly, Rodney felt strong enough to tear the column down with his bare hands. He raised his eyebrows with a sneaky grin forming. "You'll just have to wait and see, but I'll be sure to work my massage into it somehow. Now, let's get out of here!"

Rodney slid himself back into a standing position, so he could leverage his legs to push at the column. Jennifer got up, gave him a quick kiss and put her shoulder into the column as well. "On three. One. Two. Three."

Rodney and Jennifer pushed with all their might and the column moved a little further.

"Rodney!" Jennifer yelled as she looked up to see the column losing contact with the ceiling. Rodney looked at her with the beginnings of a smile forming on his face, only to have it replaced by terror as the column toppled over pulling Rodney down with it.

"Ahhhh!" Rodney screamed as the column collapsed on his left arm. Jennifer fell on top of him because she was holding onto his vest to keep him upright.

"Oh no, your arm! I didn't think about what would happen when it got loose." By the grimace on his face, she feared his left arm had been crushed under the column, but to her amazement, Rodney did not utter any complaints. He moaned and clenched his eyes and mouth shut.

After a few minutes of excruciating pain, Rodney was finally freed and Jennifer helped him to slide his arms off the column. She rolled him onto his right side to check his arm.

"I know it hurts, but I have to see where it's broken." Jennifer tried to turn into 'the doctor', but was unable to detach herself for this was the man she loved. Tears stung her eyes as she saw where the metal cuffs cut into Rodney's wrists and blood was running onto his hands. She began to examine his arm.

Rodney wanted to scream when Jennifer gently touched his lower arm. The doctor thought the bones in his forearm were broken, but would not know without an X-ray. They needed to splint his arm and get the cuffs off. "Rodney, I need what medical supplies you have in your vest."

Jennifer helped Rodney into a sitting position. His face was pale and his mouth was clenched tight to hide the pain, which made her feel terrible as her idea caused this. She searched his vest for medical supplies. There should be a painkiller and a bandage to wrap around the bones. The doctor only found the painkiller. How could he not have everything he needed in his vest? She was angry with Sheppard and Lorne for not personally checking his gear and vowed to do it herself from now on.

"Here, take these." Jennifer took the tablets out, put them in his mouth and he swallowed them dry. "You have swelling in your arm and cuts around your wrist as well. I will not be able to determine if any bones are broken without an X-ray. Anything else hurts?"

Rodney looked at Jennifer's concerned face and shook his head because he was in too much pain to speak.

"Okay." Jennifer pushed herself up from kneeling next to Rodney and grabbed the flashlight. She gave him a quick kiss and walked to the door. "I'll just hot-wire this and get us out of here."

Rodney watched in awe as Jennifer got the panel open, removed a crystal and fumbled around inside with it opening the door. She rushed back to help him stand and move toward the door. The smartest man in two galaxies felt fairly useless. Instead of him getting her to safety, she was rescuing him.

Sheppard is gonna love this one, Rodney thought. When this is over I am going to show Jennifer the best date ever. I'll start with a romantic dinner on one of the secluded balconies of the city. I need to find out her favorite food, so I can get the kitchen staff to make it. They would because everyone loved Jennifer. That was actually a bit troubling because he'd never been in love with a woman most men would kill for. I could ask Ronon or Teyla to give me some more hand-to-hand training. Well, probably not Ronon. I'll stick with Teyla or maybe ask Lorne. Evan is very protective of Jennifer and he would probably appreciate I want to be able to take care of her. Yes, I'm going to talk to Lorne when we get back.

Jennifer led them down the corridor to their left holding Rodney's uninjured arm. She had come from the right and there was nothing there but more cells.

"How are you feeling?" she asked after a while though she was sure nothing had changed.

"Been better." Rodney said through clenched teeth.

Jennifer was getting frustrated because there was nothing but more cells with darkened mechanisms on the door. Was this some ancient prison? How big was this place? She glanced at Rodney and saw the pain all over his face. They had to get the cuffs off and find something to splint his arm with. "Rodney, stay here while I run up ahead to see what's there. I won't be gone long."

"No!" Rodney growled. "We stay together. I can't lose you."

Jennifer looked up at him and tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry this happened, Rodney. This is not how our mission was supposed to go or how I wanted to tell you that I love you."

"Jen..." Rodney felt helpless; a feeling he hated. "It's not your fault and we will get out of here. Nobody's gotten the best of Doctor Rodney McKay in two galaxies yet and I don't plan on letting that change."

Jennifer slid her arms around his waist for a quick hug and Rodney pressed a kiss against her head. When they suddenly heard noises ahead of them, Jennifer pushed Rodney into a shadowed alcove. They both listened closely to make out what the sounds were. It was muffled, but seemed to be voices.

Jennifer held her breath once she recognized the sounds of voices. Perhaps they were getting closer to the surface? Once they get out, they only needed to find the others and go home. Jennifer thought for the first time about everyone else. Were they captured, too? Of course not, they were soldiers, but what about the two technicians, Tony Meeks and Douglas Bryce. If anything happened to them, she would never be able to forgive herself. She never should have wandered off with Laura, but then she never would have had the conversation with Rodney.

"Let's move!" Rodney's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He pushed her with his body to get her moving down the corridor, so they could follow the fading voices.

After a short distance, they noticed a larger gray door, which was different from all the others they had encountered. Jennifer carefully approached the door and it slid open. They listened for sounds coming from the room, but other than a low humming, there was nothing. Jennifer entered the room.

"Jennifer!" Rodney hissed. He tried to move his arms as if to grab her before he realized they were still tied behind his back. "Arh!"

"Rodney, what are you doing?" Jennifer turned, grabbed Rodney's arm and pulled him into the room. He was clenching his eyes and his jaw shut again. I've got to help him. She looked around the room and it appeared her luck had changed because this was a medical facility as several 'hospital' beds stood against the walls and in the center were the crates from Atlantis. There were doors on the left and a couple of large chambers at the back of the room.

Jennifer helped Rodney onto one of the beds and ran back to the door to remove the crystals, so no one could open it. She then turned her attention to the supplies, originally intended for the villagers. The Atlantis' CMO was upset these supplies were now in the hands of an enemy, when they could be used elsewhere. However, there was nothing she could do at the moment, so she tore through the boxes looking for a particular item.

"Yes!" Jennifer yelled when she pulled out a small gas cylinder.

Rodney looked a little uncertain as Jennifer approached him with the cylinder. "What's that?"

"This is going to get you out of those cuffs." At least I hope, but Jennifer did not say that aloud. "The canister contains liquid nitrogen for freezing samples. I'll freeze the cuffs and break them off."

"What about my hands?" Rodney was quite certain he liked this plan even less than pushing the column over. He had seen movies with people's hands breaking off when frozen with liquid nitrogen.

"Don't worry; I won't get it on your hands."

"I don't like this plan!"

"At least you sound better. You're not stuttering any more. The pain killer must be kicking in." Jennifer noticed some color in his face. Evan and Laura were right about one thing; it took fear of death or serious injury to give McKay strength. Jennifer could not help but smile.

"It's the concern that I'll have no hands that is overriding my pain. There has to be something else in here." Rodney dropped off the bed and groaned in pain because moving his arm hurt like hell.

"Rodney, get back in bed!" Jennifer used 'the doctor' voice and it worked. Rodney stopped and turned back to her. "You are my patient and I am calling the shots here. Now, get on the bed. I'll wrap some bandages around your hands to protect them. Then I'll dump some liquid nitrogen on the metal and crack it with the base of the cylinder."

Rodney stared for a moment and moved toward the bed. He could not remember the last time she yelled at him like this and decided to comply with her, again. His brain never seemed to come up with a better plan when she was around. "Okay. Let's see if your string of good luck holds out."

"Good luck?" Jennifer asked incredulously as she took some bandages to wrap around his hands.

"Yes, good luck. You were not tied up, you found my cell, the ceiling did not collapse, I could have worse injuries than a broken arm, and…" Rodney paused, turned his head to see her behind him and smiled a sly smirk, "I now know you love me."

TBC