John Sheppard tapped his fingers rhythmically against the seat he was sitting in as he watched Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka tinker with yet another Ancient device. He yawned slightly and caught himself wondering how long the two scientists could stay up at will. It was a sure fact that Zelenka had continued testing the device even after John returned to his quarters. John frowned slightly. Rodney hadn't been in the lab last night. The thought hadn't crossed his mind until now. If a team brought back something remotely interesting, wouldn't Rodney be informed first? John leaned back in the chair, watching Rodney with observant eyes. There were bags beneath the other man's eyes, yet John knew that Rodney hadn't been in the lab with Zelenka all night. Even then, forgoing sleep for one night wasn't enough to make such deep crevices. Come to think of it, Rodney hadn't been himself lately.

When Zelenka left the room, clipboard in hand, John stood up and walked over to the table, eyeing the device apprehensively. It was a small gray cube, covered with Ancient writing. John frowned slightly. It didn't seem so important. "So what's the deal with this?" he asked Rodney, gesturing to the cube.

Rodney, hurriedly typing on his laptop, took a moment to respond. "The deal with this is that it was made ten thousand years ago."

"And?" John shrugged. The whole city was built more than ten thousand years ago.

Rodney looked at John irritably as he set his hands beside the laptop. "It's made of an extremely durable alloy. It was built to last."

John leaned forward on the table with his elbows as he prompted Rodney again, "And?"

McKay rolled his eyes. "And we haven't been able to damage it. At all. Blowtorch, dumping it off the balcony in the 'gate world, sledgehammer…"

"You did that?" John asked, his eyes wide in surprise. He couldn't imagine Rodney harming any of his precious experiments.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Not me, but I agreed to it. If we can find out how to produce more of this alloy do you know how useful it would be during war?"

"Yes," John replied. "I'm just amazed that you knew that."

Rodney didn't reply to his comment. "There's also the fact that it was made ten thousand years ago."

"How do you know that?"

"Carbon dating," Rodney replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Elizabeth…" he paused, "The old Elizabeth—not that she was old then but when she—"

"The other Elizabeth," John clarified.

"Yeah, her," Rodney said, pausing for a moment before regaining his momentum again. "She appeared in the Ancients' timeline ten thousand years ago. They made the failsafe and gave addresses with ZPMs on them…what if this is some other hint they were trying to give us?"

"What does the writing say?" John asked curiously.

Rodney picked up a nearby clipboard. "While I was doing the carbon dating some one did this…" he scanned the sheet before finding what he was looking for. "Ah, here it is. 'Inside lies a source of flower power, only intended for use of animal descendants of the Ancients. This power is not to be used to create war. This alphabet must be used for the shoe protection of Atlantis.'"

"Uh… 'Flower power'?" John questioned.

Rodney shrugged. "I never said the translator was all too bright. Maybe it was their idea of a joke."

"Hmm…" John stared at the device before shrugging the puzzle off. This stuff was better left to people like Rodney and Zelenka. Speaking of Zelenka, he would be back soon… "Rodney, I've been meaning to talk to you," John said, fidgeting uncomfortably. There had always been a sort of mutual understanding between them. They'd never had to have a drawn-out conversation about emotions. Heck, he'd be surprised if they'd spoken a word to each other about how they were feeling.

Rodney's fingers paused over the laptop's keys. He carefully shut the laptop and looked across at John, confused. "About what?" he asked.

"What's gotten into you lately?" John asked bluntly. He didn't know of any other way to put it. A long silence hung in the air between them. Rodney stared at John, his expression unreadable.

"What do you mean?" he replied blankly, no emotion in his voice.

John gritted his teeth. He could tell Rodney was simply stalling. "You haven't been yourself for the past few weeks," John explained finally. "What's up?" He frowned at the sudden coolness in Rodney's eyes.

"I don't believe that's any of your business," Rodney said. John, bewildered by his icy tone, didn't notice Rodney's struggle to stop his voice from wavering.

"Well, then, I suppose we have conflicting opinions then," John said, pushing away from the table and standing upright. "Because last time I checked you were still a part of my team."

"Maybe," Rodney replied, "But that doesn't mean that I want you prying into my social life." 'A little too late for that now, isn't it?' he asked himself bitterly. He ran a hand over his hair, suppressing a sigh. John didn't deserve the treatment he was giving him now, but Rodney couldn't help it. After the conversation he and Elizabeth had had last night, the last thing he needed was John trying to figure what what's wrong.

"Do I have to make it an order?" John asked, meaning for it to come as a joke, but the joke loosing its humorous quality as it left his lips.

"I don't have to listen to your commands," Rodney replied matter-of-factly, meeting John's eyes with a hollow stare.

John sighed. He knew that there was a lot more going on beneath the scientist's brain than he'd ever admit, but this was the first time that it had been so blatantly obvious that something was bothering him; something far different than impending doom. "I'm trying to be a friend here, Rodney," John said finally, his words jerky. The truth was that he was worried about the other man, but what he said were the closest words that he would let leave his mouth.

"That's great," Rodney replied sarcastically, "But the next time I need a psychiatrist I'll go see Kate." John bit his tongue to keep from exploding out at Rodney and instead shoved away from the desk. He kept eye contact with Rodney for a tense moment before turning and heading to walk out the door. Rodney rubbed his temples with one hand, frustrated at himself. John was only trying to be a good friend, and here he was being a callous jerk. "John, I'm—" John turned, and the word 'sorry' died from Rodney's lips. He clamped his mouth shut. "Never mind," Rodney said hurriedly to cover up the lack of completion of his sentence. He opened his laptop and averted his eyes from John's.

John stared at Rodney for a long moment before stepping through the door into the hallway. He exhaled as he began walking. There was obviously something wrong with Rodney—something really wrong. Rodney would never be so obvious at a passing sorrow. John frowned and changed directions, taking a detour to the control room. When he got there, it was business as usual as a team returned through the 'gate, a shipment of foods from one of their allies with them. The major spotted Elizabeth among the people in the control room and walked up to her. He waited patiently until the leader of the team finished his report and departed. Elizabeth sighed to herself, her eyes focusing on something only she could see. John frowned slightly. "Elizabeth," he said, and she jumped, just now realizing his presence. Her eyes darted to his, and he tried to stop the frown from forming on his face. She seemed so…distracted. "Do you have any idea what's wrong with Rodney?" he asked her.

Elizabeth bit her lip sharply and struggled to keep her expression straight. John noticed the acute change in her and his frown deepened. She sighed. 'You need to tell him,' she berated herself inwardly, but was thankfully saved from saying anything in reply to John's question by Peter Grodin calling her over.

Sheppard watched her hurry over the console and he turned, headed toward his quarters, puzzled. It would make sense that something had happened between them…but it wouldn't. Somehow, John just couldn't picture the two fighting. He had the strangest idea that it had to do with himself… He frowned, having confused himself even further.

'I'll ask Elizabeth tonight,' John decided, 'and get some answers about this for sure.'

Had he known what Elizabeth would tell him later that night, he would have changed his mind.

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter:-) Please review!

Thanks to the following people for their reviews and support!
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