Rodney McKay took a sip of coffee as he walked. There was the general morning bustle in the hallways, but it was calm and peaceful. He sighed, not knowing whether to be overjoyed or saddened. Elizabeth had told him her decision last night. On one hand, he was overjoyed that she chose him; that she loved him, but… What about John? Rodney winced, recalling the heated argument they'd had in the mess hall. He sighed again, taking a gulp of his coffee, debating what to do. Last night he and Elizabeth had stayed up talking on the balcony, like they often used to do, before retiring to their own quarters. Neither of them were ready to tell anyone about their feelings for each other (though Rodney had a nagging suspicion that some people knew of his fondness for Elizabeth), not to mention say anything about being a couple. 'Not that we are really a couple…' Rodney thought, frowning slightly. They hadn't discussed that yet, and to be honest, Rodney knew they wouldn't for a while. Both of them needed time to adjust. But for now, he was perfectly content with simply knowing that she loved him back.
Radek Zelenka yawned as he headed toward the lab for another day of work. Last night had been his most recent full night of sleep in…well, it was better not to think about it. He'd been working nonstop on the device, and found nothing. He reached up and moved his glasses with one hand, vaguely wondering if this prescription would last them until they were finally able to establish wormholes with Earth. Carson was a big help – but he was far from a professional eye doctor. Or, as Carson was fond of saying, 'I'm a bloody medical doctor, not an eye doctor.' Zelenka smiled. Carson tried his best regardless.
"I heard McKay is hitting on Chaya…" Zelenka's head whipped in the direction of the voice, frowning.
"Chaya? But Sheppard's only been back there once or twice!" Radek frowned, spotting a group of four or five people standing in a huddle on the side of a hallway. Rumors traveled fast in Atlantis. He eavesdropped on the conversation – not that they were bothering to lower their voices any – and slowed down to a stroll. Inwardly, he was coming up with very unpleasant names for Kavanagh, certain that he had told everyone of the spat between the major and Rodney last night. "I bet you it's about," the speaker made an act of lowering her voice slightly, "Teyla."
"Teyla?" someone else replied, shocked.
"She is hot," another voice shot in.
"What about Doctor Weir?"
"Oooh! Good point! Both of them are always following her."
"Yeah, like lost dogs," someone confirmed, and they laughed. Zelenka shook his head, glad that Rodney wasn't here to listen to this. Inwardly, he seethed.
"Hey, Zelenka!" one of the people stepped forward, grinning widely. "Have you heard about Rodney's little spat with Sheppard?" she laughed shrilly, "I mean, of course you have. What do you know about it? We wouldn't want to spread lies about it, you–"
Zelenka glared at her and replied with cool venom in his voice. "I know very well what the fight was about, but I'm not going to tell you. It's none of your business." He shot a look at the other four staring at him. "And you were chosen to come here for some specialty, not to stand around gossiping and acting like morons." With that he walked swiftly away from the group, shaking his head. They were like vultures on a carcass.
When he got close to the lab, he spotted Rodney coming from the opposite direction. They both smiled and nodded at each other, Zelenka studying Rodney carefully. He looked a lot happier today, but sadness still held in his eyes. Radek hadn't forgotten Rodney's promise that Rodney would tell him what was going on, but he decided not to push it. Rodney would tell him eventually, and that was good enough for him.
"So, what tests do you want," Rodney spoke as they walked into the lab, "to run on the-" he stopped in mid-sentence, his feet stopping in their place as well. Sitting on the lab table was the device – the open device. It'd been opened along a crease in the middle that no one had noticed earlier. Both Zelenka and McKay approached it cautiously. Rodney picked it up, looking at it. Certain symbols on the outside had been depressed. As they looked at the symbols, the two came to the same realization.
"The typos," Zelenka breathed.
"They weren't really typos after all," Rodney clarified, running his fingers over the indentations. "That's brilliant! The Ancients only wanted their descendants to be able to open it, so what better way than to use your own language? We should've known that the Ancients wouldn't have typos unless they were for a reason! All we had to do was just press on the typos, and it would've opened a long time ago."
"Is there anything inside?" Zelenka asked, and Rodney lowered his hands so they could both peer at the inside. It was made of the same solid alloy as the outside. There was a rectangle cut into the inside that would provide for a small piece of paper to be placed inside.
"I was right," Rodney whispered, "About a paper. It probably had a 'gate address on it…"
"Where is it?" Zelenka questioned, and Rodney's mouth went dry. No technician would dare enter Rodney McKay's lab while he wasn't here. So who else knew Ancient? Who else enjoyed puzzles?
"He wouldn't have…" Rodney muttered aloud, looking down at the empty slot where the paper should have been. No, John wouldn't have been that stupid. He would've brought back-up…right? Like a lead weight hitting his stomach, he recalled their fight and the news Elizabeth had given him. "Zelenka," he turned and addressed a confused-looking Radek, "Get Grodin and Elizabeth."
"What? What's going on? Who solved this? Who opened the puzzle?"
"Radek!" Rodney exclaimed, "Please," he added. "I'll explain it to you later." Zelenka hesitated, but eventually nodded and raced off to get Elizabeth and Peter. Rodney set the cube on the lab desk and hurried in the opposite direction – to the armory.
"McKay? Why are you all geared up?" Peter Grodin questioned as he walked into the control room. Rodney shook his head, waving his question by. Guilt and worry were clear emotions in his eyes.
"Get onto the mainframe and check what wormholes have been established from Atlantis in the last twelve hours," Rodney ordered, looking around for Zelenka or Elizabeth. He fidgeted, looking at his watch anxiously. Every second counted. His fingers curled around the handle of the P90, glancing at the 'gate.
Peter pointed to a list of addresses as they showed up on the screen. "There they are."
"All right…This one," Rodney pointed to the very top one. Do you remember this address?" he grilled Peter.
"N-No, but I don't remember every bloody address, you know…"
"Neither do I," Rodney assessed. "How long ago was it?"
"Five hours," Peter informed him, and frowned. "I was sleeping then."
"So was Elizabeth," Rodney muttered, receiving an odd look from Peter. "What?" he asked, and then shook his head. "Forget it, Grodin, it's not what you're thinking." He pointed at the gate address again, "Dial that address."
"What?"
"Just do it," Rodney ordered again as Radek and Elizabeth walked into the room. Elizabeth glanced at the dialing 'gate and back to Rodney.
"Rodney…what's going on?" she questioned, frowning slightly. "Radek told me you found the device open in the lab. Who –"
"Sheppard opened it," Rodney said bluntly, "He found a paper inside with a 'gate address and went to the planet."
"What?" Elizabeth and Radek exclaimed at the same time. "Why?" Elizabeth echoed. Rodney met her eyes, and Elizabeth's shoulders drooped. She knew far too well why.
"I'm going after him," Rodney informed her, and the worry in Elizabeth's eyes increased. She reached for the comms button.
"I'll have Teyla and Ford geared up in ten –"
"No." Rodney's hand shot forward, grabbing her hand to keep her from hitting the communication button that would allow her to speak city-wide. "I have to do this alone." Zelenka and Grodin shared a look as more unspoken words passed between Elizabeth and Rodney. Rodney's hurried answer had provided some answers, but there were clearly some things that they were not privy to.
Elizabeth finally nodded, stepping back. "If you're not back in…four hours we'll open a wormhole and radio you. If you don't radio back I'm sending a few teams through." Rodney nodded and turned, jogging toward the stairs that led to the 'gate.
"Hey!" Peter exclaimed, "Wait a minute! What the bloody hell is going on here?" Rodney ignored him as the wormhole connected. He went down the stairs quickly, not sparing a look back at Elizabeth's terrified face as he took a small breath and stepped through the 'gate.
Elizabeth closed her eyes as the event horizon disappeared. "What have I done?" she whispered softly.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed! Just to let you know, this won't be updated until after I get back from New York (camping with my dad's side of the family, I'm so excited!). I get back the 16th (and leave for another trip the 23rd) so some time between those dates there should be an update. I hope you guys enjoyed, and thanks so much for the 100 (100 plus, really) reviews!