"You're doing it again." Rodney McKay looked up at Radek Zelenka's statement, an annoyed look on his face.

"Doing what?" McKay asked, irritation clear in his voice.

Radek crossed his arms over his chest and set his elbows on the table before them. "You're zoning out."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

Radek rolled his eyes at the other man's almost childlike defense. "What don't you want to tell me?" he questioned. "What's bothering you?" Rodney's lips were set in a thin, straight line. "Is it Sheppard? Someone else…" he trailed off, watching Rodney's previously averted eyes snap to his.

"Let's do what we're here to do and focus on the device, okay?" Rodney replied grumpily, motioning to the Ancient cube that lay on the table. Radek sighed and stared at it for a long moment. It was useless. Rodney picked up the clipboard nearby and began to translate the Ancient writing for himself, confident that the translator that had written the original translation was wrong. Zelenka turned his eyes back to the device. The cube was indestructible and apparently incoherent. Silence hovered over the two men for a long moment before Radek looked up at Rodney. The page before Rodney was blank, the other man's eyes staring just beyond Radek's head in a blank gaze. Radek sighed.

"It's indestructible," he announced slowly, bringing Rodney's eyes back in focus.

"Great conclusion, Captain Obvious," Rodney replied.

Already well adapted to Rodney's snide comments, Zelenka continued without stumbling over the reply. "It must be indestructible for a reason."

"All of the scans didn't reveal any hidden power source," Rodney replied.

"It's ten thousand years old. Maybe it died."

"No…" Rodney trailed off, kneeling so he was eye level with the device. Radek smiled at the look on Rodney's face. He was on to something. "It's ten thousand years old. The Ancients had all they needed by then. Why would they need to create anything else?" Rodney asked. He pushed away from the table, rifling through a nearby drawer. Rodney drew out a sledgehammer, left behind from when the others had tried to break open the device. "Pick it up," Rodney instructed Radek. Looking hesitant, Radek did so, holding it as far away as his hands would stretch. "Relax," Rodney said, rolling his eyes, "I'm not going to try and break it." As Radek relaxed, Rodney placed the head of the sledgehammer on the device. He lifted it a couple of inches and let it fall. It hit the cube with a hollow clank. Rodney grinned widely as he set the sledgehammer down. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes," Radek replied, unsure as to why the noise mattered.

"It's hollow," Rodney said excitedly.

"The inscription says there's something inside it, Rodney," Radek reminded him.

"Yes and the inscription also says that inside lies a source of great power. Now, the scans didn't reveal any energy coming from the device. A dead power source doesn't do much good for us. The hollow noise… That means that there's still room inside the cube for something else. The walls around the device have to be a least an inch thick. Whatever's inside is about one-fourth the size of your palm at the most. No power source is that big…"

"So there is no power source?" Radek asked.

"Where did they find this?" Rodney asked, picking up the cube. "They found it in the same room as the old Elizabeth was in, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"She couldn't bring a whole power source on her own; the Ancients would notice. She needed something that would fit with her in the chamber. Now, she knew that the failsafe would save us from the ocean, but she also knew that we would be facing an attack by the Wraith."

"She left us addresses with ZPM's for that so we could theoretically power the shields."

"What if she knew something else? Some other enemy we might encounter? What if this—" he held up the cube, "is the key to protecting ourselves against that enemy?"

"That's a little frightening," Radek replied.

"What is?" Rodney asked, his smile dissipating.

"That there is a new enemy out there that we haven't met yet," Radek replied.

"But if we get this open, we won't have to worry about it!" Rodney exclaimed.

"If we get this open," Radek repeated, bringing Rodney back to their first problem.

Rodney's grin turned into a scowl, and he grabbed his clipboard. "It must be something in the inscription," he mumbled. Radek sighed and watched the other man for a few long moments before speaking again.

"It's Dr. Weir, isn't it?" Zelenka questioned, repeating the question he had asked the other man nearly three weeks ago.

Rodney's head snapped up, his eyes boring into Radek's. "No, and my love life isn't any of your business anyway," he spat.

Radek smiled, "Who said I was talking about your love life?"

"I—well, you—just…" Rodney was clearly flustered.

"You can trust me, Rodney," Radek said forcefully and honestly.

Rodney shifted his weight from foot to foot before glancing at his watch. "I…I have to go turn in my mission report," he said. It was true that they were 'due' today – but Elizabeth never minded if mission reports were a few days later.

Radek knew an evasion statement when he heard one. He knew that if he pressured Rodney, Rodney would simply clam up and refuse to speak. Still… Three weeks was a long time for someone to be as contrary to their normal behavior as Rodney was. Didn't he want to get it off his chest somehow? Radek sighed. He couldn't force Rodney to say anything. All he could do was be there for the other man.

But when it came to Rodney…sometimes the two things were nearly the same.

Rodney stepped away from the table, scurrying out of the lab. Zelenka grabbed the other man's forearm before he could leave. The two stared at each other for a long, tense moment. "Promise me you'll tell me what's going on," Zelenka said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Rodney shifted his feet, looking longingly toward the door. He pulled his arm away from Radek, brushing his jacket sleeve as he mumbled, "Yeah, sure." Radek watched as Rodney walked out of the door. He knew that Rodney would stick to his word – albeit mumbled word. Both times that he had asked Rodney if his mood was about Elizabeth, Rodney had denied it. It was a good thing that Rodney was such a bad liar, Zelenka mused as he picked up the cube and tossed it between his hands.

Shrugging, Radek set the cube down on the table and walked toward the door. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get anywhere; it wouldn't hurt to take a food break. As he opened the door, Elizabeth Weir walked by on the way to the control room. Her steps were brisk, but it was not her walking speed that attracted Radek's confusion: Elizabeth looked like she had been crying.

Just what was going on around here, anyway?

Author's Note: Eee... I personally don't think this chapter is up to par, but let me tell you it is hard to write an angst-y story when you're extremely happy. :) Anyway... I know there are communties in for Atlantis fanfiction, but I dislike LJ, so I've created a community for fanfic at so if you're a greatestjournal user and want to join, search for the community sg (underscore) atlantisfic.

I hope you guys did enjoy this chapter anyway. I'm not sure when the next update will be, as I might be in Indiana for my brother's soccer tournament. If I'm not, there will probably be an update because I'm rotting at home lol. Thanks to aaobuttons, PurpleYin, szhismine, Margaret, Lucimon, Amaruk Wolfheart of the Wraith, fififolle, Shippie, Furlings Are Cats and Fanwoman for the reviews. I know this chapter was mostly about the device, but like I said, it will play an important part later:) Please review!

(Yay for more than 50 reviews!)