Disclaimer: -Is crying- I don't own it! Oh, why God, why?! -Pounds on glass seperating her from the SGA world- Let me in! Please! -Is given odd looks by Rodney and some other people-
A/N:
Well, firstly I'd like to say thank you for all the nice reviews! Glad to see the work is appreciated! -Glowing with the praise and flushed with happiness- And, since the majority of reviews wished for a continuance, here it is! And I have uped the rating to PG-13, just for later. -Winks roguishly- and for the language. That was requested as well.
Secondly, in case anyone was confused, this takes place after The Storm some time. Depending on how events develop when the show starts up again in January, I'll start writing chapters according to moments then as well(Or make it an AU if events don't fit in. Though The Eye looks to have some good bits to it I'd love to use!!). Lol But for now, it works since it's rather far in the future from that.
By the by, does anyone know the reason they removed my two personal favorite symbols and the ones that were used quite often in stories? If anyone does, I'd love to hear the explanation. But! On with the chapter! -Cloak swirls as she stalks off into... the med lab?- -Everyone is confused-
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Chapter 2- ... Oops.
He'd been breathing down his neck for the past half an hour. It was time to put a stop to it.
Rodney whirled to glare at John, who was standing so close he was practically on Rodney's back. "Do you mind? I'm trying to work here and that is significantly harder with you standing up my ass."
John glared back, looking offended, but backed off. "I'm the one in a bind here, McKay. Just fix the damn thing already, will you? Stop foxing around."
"Look, I'm trying the best I can, all right?" Rodney snapped. "This isn't as easy as I make it look, you know."
John rolled his eyes as Rodney turned back around to mess with the crystals and what-not in the control panel. He let out a small grunt after a minute, then leaned back.
"Well? Is it fixed?"
Rodney gave no answer, just pushed John into the other room, let the doors close, and pulled the lever. (A/N: That's just too much like him.)
"AUGH!" Rodney blinked at the horrified scream.
"Nope. Didn't work," Rodney muttered, and went back to work. "Maybe if I change this crystal..."
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(A/N: From now on I'm using that to seperate sections. -Sticks tongue out at So there.)
Liz walked down the corridor and around the corner, noticing that Rodney was alone and kneeling on the floor, still trying to mess with the panel and make it work.
"How's it coming?"
He jumped slightly, glancing at her, then calmed and went right back to working. "Not bad. Though now that I've worked with it a bit, I think the safer bet would have been to just leave it alone and pull the lever repeatedly until the Major went back to normal."
"WHAT?!?" John screamed, the door sliding open just as McKay pulled the lever again.
They didn't even have time to widen their eyes before the flash came and went, causing them all to blink.
"Oops."
Rodney looked down at his hands, noting his skin's change before seeing Elizabeth blinking in shock, her colors altered as well. He sighed, starting to look irritated as he glared at the guility-looking John.
"You had to open the door, didn't you? Didn't I specifically say to keep the door closed till I said that you could come out?"
"Well, you were the one who said it would have been better to leave the damn thing alone!"
"Look," Rodney said in an annoyed tone, standing. "I know what I'm doing and-"
"Hello!" Liz shouted, and they both looked at her. "I don't want to referee another of your fighting matches, all right? Rodney is right; you should have kept the door closed." Rodney looked smug. "But!" She said, cutting John off before he even got started. "I know it wasn't your fault." She sighed. "Let's just get this fixed, all right? Any ideas as to what it was used for Rodney?"
His face changed from to annoyance to his thoughtful one and John let out a small groan that was ignored. "Well, I've theorized that it's one of two things. Either the Ancients were attempting to create a machine that could alter their looks enough they could be disguised among the local people- rather than going as themselves and being worshipped- which you would automatically assume they would be smart enough to do, guess we can't all be perfect," that was said rather quickly, as was Rodney's wont, and the other two blinked, "Or they had some sort of kinky fetish for looking like a Picasso painting." His voice was sarcastic again. "Take your pick."
Liz smiled slightly. "I'll go with the first one, thanks all the same. I was never one for Picasso. Major," she abruptly changed subjects, ridiculously sky blue eyes shifting to him, "I want you to go back in that room and assist Rodney in finding the cure for this. I don't want to get stuck looking like an abstract for too long. Are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," John replied, albeit a little sullenly.
Liz put a hand to her forehead. "I'm going back to the control room; AT-2 is due back soon. Let me know if you get it fixed.
Rodney nodded, watching the violet-skinned woman with fire engine red hair walk off. He sighed and looked disgustedly at his own hot pink skin, not even wanting to know what his eyes and hair looked like.
"Go back in there, Major. I want to get rid of this color before anyone else sees me in it."
"Oh, but McKay, it looks so good on you...."
"Shut up and go back in," Rodney practically snarled, glaring at the now gold-skinned, red-eyed Major with vicious lime-green eyes.
"Okay, okay." John smirked and did as he was told- for once-, leaving Rodney to run his fingers through his orange hair in frustration.
"And I don't want to hear about this getting out to the general Atlantian public!"
A muffled reply returned his shout, one he didn't think he would have liked had he been able to hear it clearly- it didn't sound like agreement-, and he huffed before kneeling and reaching into the panel.
"Once again...."
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"Anything at all?" Liz asked Rodney, practically begging as she stopped next to him.
Rodney sighed and shook his head. "Nothing." Seeing her downtrodden look, he continued. "Look, I know how you feel- look at me, I'm pink,for God's sake- but I can't make it work for me."
Liz smirked. "You do look pretty funny."
"Oh thank you, I'll be sure to note that in my journal. Can we get back on topic please?" He asked, though his voice contained only half the acidic quality it normally had- it normally was softer for her, except when he was really in a panic. But he was obviously not in a joking mood.
"Right, sorry."
"Anyway, like I was saying, it seems like all the crystal combinations are incorrect. The closest we've gotten is normal colors- blue eyes, blonde hair, and white skin- but even that was off from his normal coloring."
"Any chance this will wear off on it's own?"
Rodney shook his head. "Not likely. And there's something even worse."
"What?" Liz inquired, wondering what possibly could be worse than their current situation.
"I'm hungry."
She stared, then grinned to herself. Of course. "Fine; take a break and go get something to eat. You too, Major," she called, raising her voice so he could hear her through the door. "Go get some food and take a break from this."
The door opened and John cautiously peeked out, then stepped into the hallway, satisfied there would be no random lever pulling. His colors had again altered in the time since Liz had been there last, and he sighed. "Thanks, Dr. Weir."
She nodded. "Go on. We can't have either of you keeling over. If you'd like, I can take over for you, John."
He smiled at the offer. "If you could, that would be great. I could really use a hot shower and nap...."
Rodney snorted and left, going for food. So long as he had someone to work with on this, it didn't matter whether it was Liz or John. The two watched after him with mixed expressions of amusement and annoyance before Liz shook her head.
"Go on. I'm going to go see if Carson has figured out what that plant AT-4 brought back really does."
John nodded his good-byes and left as Liz paused, looking at the door comtemplatively, then sighed and went off to the Infirmary to continue on with her duties.
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"Rodney, it's fine! It isn't dangerous!" Liz exclaimed.
She'd been trying to convince him for the last five minutes that if John hadn't gotten hurt, she wouldn't either.
"I would just prefer that it not be you in there if I put in a bad crystal configuration or something," he argued. For someone who hadn't cared when he was hungry, he was sure putting up a fight now.
She gave him a skeptical look. "And how likely is it that it would be something deadly if- if!- it was a wrong pattern."
"Uh... somewhere in the trillionths but that's not the point," he said, waving his hands around as Liz smirked at the infinitesimal number.
"But it's my point. I'll be fine, Rodney. Now let me in the room so we can get this thing fixed!"
He stubbornly stood before the door and she sighed exasperatedly, putting her hands on her hips as she took in his arms-crossed stance. "It'll get you out of the pink skin before anyone really sees you. I'm sure you took particular care not to get caught earlier."
She saw him look uncomfortable at the truth of that statement, but he didn't budge. "Oh, come on, Rodney! As your leader I... I order you to move so that I can help."
His eyes narrowed skeptically at her. "What if I refuse? Going to get someone else to do this? I'm sure that Czech guy would do a better job than I could." His voice was sarcastic.
She sized him up again, realized he wasn't going to move, huffed, and came to a sudden decision.
"Rodney, I'm only going to warn you once. Move. Please."
"No."
Well, she had given him a chance. Leaning up on her toes, she pressed a short, hard kiss to his lips, then slid around him while he was still standing in shock.
"Now work." She ordered, just before letting the door close behind her as he turned to gape at her, not unlike a fish would.
Liz shook her head, crossing her arms as she waited, a moment later hearing a muffled curse from him and then the sound of him tinkering around again. It wasn't like she was cheating on Simon, she told herself. She had just done it so that he would move. It didn't mean anything.
Then why did it feel so good?
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And this is what comes of typing up the chapter on a Sunday night just before going to sleep for school so that your fans can have their new chapter soon. Lol Though it did turn into inspiration as it moved along. Well, there are Rodney's theories for the lever- we'll never really know since we don't have any text to go on(At the moment)- and that seems the most likely. If you have any ideas for the true meaning of the lever, please feel free to e-mail me on my e-mail, or contact me via the address I have in the McWeir group I belong to. I could use the help and all suggestions will be taken into consideration, as well as credit given if someone comes up with a good idea I eventually use!
Now review!
For those wondering, AT stands for Atlantis Team. It's just what I've taken to calling the teams. I mean, SG-1 was Stargate 1 so it should probably be Atlantis Gate 1... but that just strikes too close to home. Plus I just see it as being Atlantis "Team" 1. Lol Hope I cleared that up for anyone wondering. Also, I'm already working on Chapter 3, have no fear! Lol That should be up soon too if I can decide where to take this.
-As there are no flames to roast the Genii(Giant grin and happily glowing skin at that) she just lights her own fire in the middle of the Gate room, ignoring Liz's shouts for her to put it out as she turns Kolya and the other Genii over the bonfire, singing- Kolya roasting on an open fire....
- V.