Many thanks to angela for betaing.
Rodney was expecting to hear the stones moving again.
"Rodney..."
"Shh."
"Very clever."
"Let me listen!"
"To what? Nothing's happening!"
A loud noise contradicted the Colonel.
"See? I mean, hear that?"
A few seconds later a bright light blinded them and they, along with all the water in the rooms, were thrown out.
"See, Rodney? We got out of there! Rodney?"
Rodney was lying on the floor, with his back to Sheppard.
"Come on, you can't be upset with me for this one!"
He went to Rodney's side and found him softly moaning.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"Oooww"
"Let me see your head, come on, Rodney, I just want to see... Oh, Rodney!"
Rodney had a trace of blood running down from his forehead down to his chin. It looked pretty bad and it must have felt worse.
"What am I going to do now?"
"Mghf" Rodney mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Something's different."
"Yeah... you have one more hole in your head."
"Very funny. I should just get up and see where we -" Rodney tried to get up, but all he could do was shift his position a bit.
"This isn't good." Sheppard observed
"Yeah."
" At least you're conscious." Sheppard added, trying to reassure Rodney.
"A true bliss." His head was throbbing and Sheppard's every step sounded like a drum banging on his head.
"Something must happen."
"Colonel, I would have expected you to stop wishing for something to happen."
"Yeah... It's more interesting to die of... hunger than to find a way out."
"Look where your lever got us!" Rodney cried.
"At least we got out of that room!"
"And found ourselves in another room! I almost didn't find myself!"
"What?"
"Oh, shut up."
Rodney was falling asleep. It wasn't actually sleep, it was a submission to the exhaustion he felt.
"I'll just sleep for a while and..."
"You can't Rodney!"
"Don't worry, I'll wake up, sooner or -"
The walls started moving again.
"What's going on?" Sheppard was scared. He really didn't know what to make of everything that happened. And he was afraid of what might happen to Rodney.
"They're moving again... obviously..."
They said nothing, while the walls kept moving. It wasn't a fast pace, but if nothing happened soon, Rodney had calculated that they would be crushed in less than an hour.
"There's no way out, damn it!" Sheppard raged.
"You know, I always was claustrophobic. I was afraid of enclosed spaces. Until now. I'm pretty okay with this room."
"You banged your head, Rodney. That's the only reason. I'm afraid of this damned room!"
"What could it do?"
"Crush us!"
"No, it'll stop before that."
"Really? And how did you reach this conclusion?"
"I listened. There's a small tick. There's something slowly blocking one of the wheels. It's all mechanical, remember?"
"So?"
"It will stop before it reaches the point it's supposed to reach."
"That's not good. Anything could happen."
"Yeah. When we were in Antarctica, I got trapped in a lab. Just me and the ice. And I promised myself it wouldn't happen again."
"Apparently, you didn't keep that promise."
"Yes, I did."
"How?" John sat beside Rodney, in the center of the room.
"I promised myself I'll never be alone and afraid like that again."
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Not so much. You see, of all the people in Atlantis, I'd rather it be me here than anyone else. I suppose it's selfish, but that's how I feel."
"Rodney, we'll get out of here."
"Through the roof."
"What?"
"The roof. When the walls close in enough, we'll be able to reach the roof and open it."
"Open it... is it a hatch or something like that?"
"Yes... see the way the bricks are laid? It's a different structure. And the light in here is from outside. That must be the exit."
"I knew you'll figure this out, Rodney."
"Well... I'm flattered."
"Now what?"
"Now we wait. Sit down and rest, you've been buzzing around here long enough."
Rodney was sorry he lied to John, but it was the only way. The "click" he mentioned wasn't going to stop the walls, it was a timer of some sort. And the time between clicks was smaller and smaller. John was, of course, too worried about getting out to notice that.
When the room was as small as the hatch, John sat in position to support Rodney.
"What are you doing, Colonel?"
"You go up first!"
"No, I don't. You're fitter than I am. You go up there and then I'll come."
"But -"
"No arguing about it! You're the one who can open the hatch! Now go!"
Rodney leaned on the wall and supported Sheppard.
"If I can go just a bit higher..."
"You're not that thin, you know. Just a bit more..."
"That's it!"
A few seconds later the hatch was open and Sheppard got out.
"Now, Rodney, I'm gonna... What's going on? Why's it going faster?"
"You opened the hatch!"
"Yes, I know I did, but... you knew it would happen."
"I told you, I'd rather be the one to... Goodbye."
The hatch closed and Sheppard didn't have the power to open it. His hands were shaking too bad.
"Damn you, Rodney!"
He expected to hear something, to know that he was still there, but all he could hear was the stone moving.