Thank you Angela, for making this fic so much more.

Notes: I'll apologise in advance for the delay between thisposting the next, finals next week! Should post the rest before the end of the month. As always, thank you for your kind comments :) Hopefully the confusion will clear up soon :)

Patterns

'Ho-I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts. There they are, standing in a rrrrrow. Big ones, small ones, some as big yer head. Give 'em a –'

"Ok , it works it works! What was that?" Rodney deposits the device on the table and looks at John curiously.

"What?"

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts?"

"I had to concentrate on something."

"Fine, but you know that even in your head you're tuneless, right? How is that even possible?"

"Not everyone is preoccupied with keeping in tune, in their heads, Doctor I-must-excel-at-everything-I-do!"

"Yes well, I am extremely gifted. Next time, try to do better. Also, the pseudo accent was pitiful, at best."

Brushing off the insult to his musical abilities or lack thereof, John leans forward grinning, an excited twinkle in his eyes. "So it works?"

Rodney rolls his eyes, but he answers with a smile. "Of course it works! I just told you what you were singing in your head, didn't I?"

"I could've been humming!"

The device is back in Rodney's hand, glowing under his intrusive gaze. "Were you?"

"I don't know, was I?"

"What do you mean you don't know? Don't you have any control? You should know if you're humming or not!"

"Try it again!" He concentrates on a different piece of his repertoire and waits for Rodney's face to take a slightly slack look. Ah, there it is. 'Sooooooy uuuun perdedor. I'm a loser babyyy, so why don't you kill meee. Sooooooy uuuun perdedor. I'm a loser ba –'

"Not humming. Definitely not humming. Your mind is a scary place."

"How do you figure that?"

"You're a loser but you've got a lovely bunch of coconuts?"

"I'm diversified!" John raises his hands in protest.

"Uh huh." Rodney is not impressed. John shrugs, it isn't the first time.

John eyes the device. He does not want to see in Rodney's mind, but he is curious to see what it feels like, how it works. His eyes travel up to meet Rodney's and finds uncertainty. He shakes his head. "Alright…so it works! We should try it on that scientist guy! I'll distract him when he comes and you do your thing!"

"I'm going to say this once, it's going to kill me and you will not hold it over me forever or you will forego your sanity because I'm going to go to work on you and make you wish you were never born. Yougeneisstrongeryoushoulddoit.

"Excuse me? Can you add some elocution to your speech, because I thought you said my gene is superior and I should use the device because it will work so much better for me than for you?"

"That's not what I said!"

"It's close!"

"No it's not! I didn't say it was superior! I said it was stronger! Strength does not equate superiority I'll have you know!"

"It doesn't? Jeeeez Rodney, are you sure? I could've sworn humanity made progress because big men beat the snot out of the little smart ones!"

"That might be, the genius of this world spent much of its time theorizing to forego the 'fun with bullies' time, and that is not the point. The point is your gene is not superior, it's stronger and will you please just take the damn thing and try it before the crazy guy in a lab coat comes back?"

"Ok, but clear your head first, I don't want to stumble on any disturbing bits."

"I don't have disturbing bits in my head! It's all very precise and orderly and normal!"

"Ummm, precise, ok. Orderly, ok. Normal? No way in Hell. Hell, now that, I would believe." He shivers theatrically.

"Oh haha. Get to work, funny man."

John hears mumbling that sounds suspiciously like 'Hell is other people'. He waits for a few minutes. It seems painful for Rodney to clear his mind and watching his clenched eyes and scrunched up nose, John let out a small laugh. Eyes unclench and the face goes from effort-filled scrunching to annoyed frowning.

"What!"

"Having trouble?"

"No! Now shut up, I have to concentrate!"

"No you don't, that's the whole point!"

"Excuse me if my extremely advanced mind has a problem with emptying! I think; that's what I do!"

"I know…just think of something that I won't be afraid of, ok? So, some theory…a simple one, I don't want to get a headache with your unreasonable leaps of logic."

"My leaps of logic are always reasonable! I am very good at it! I can leap all over your basic logic! My logic could kick your logic's ass!"

"Are we on the strength superiority thing again? Let it go Rodney. I was kidding."

"What?"

"Clear your head already!"

"Stop distracting me!"

"Sorry. Proceed." John grabs the device and concentrates on Rodney's presence, his energy and then…

'Don't think about that! Just don't think, don't think, don't think, don't think. This is me not thinking, not thinking, not thinking. What if they send me…no, don't think, don't think, don't think.'

John puts the device on the table and eyes Rodney strangely. "So…it works…but I think you're mind is broken."

"It's not broken! I didn't want you in it! I have very sensitive things in there that no one should be made aware of, under any circumstances! I've been involved in top-secret projects most of my adult life you know!"

"Yeah, well, my security clearance is pretty high."

"Not enough for most of the stuff in there." He taps his temple. "It works then?"

"Yup, works pretty good."

Rodney's smile lights up his face. "We can test it! You should…ummm…put it in your pocket, I'll stall lab coat and you can see what, if anything, is on his mind!"

"You'll stall?" John looks dubious.

"What's wrong with me stalling?"

"Nothing really. You've just, never been good at it, have you?"

"Well, no…but…oh, look! I'll just explain what we've done today and it'll give you plenty of time! Just concentrate! You won't need an hour will you? It'll work fast! You just have to concentrate and not let your little childish mind wander when time counts!"

John snaps his fingers an inch from Rodney's nose to regain the man's attention before he collapses in a fit of overstressed babbling. "It'll be fine. I'm not a complete imbecile. Just because you believe it, doesn't make it true."

"Yeah ok…I suppose it's fine."

"Be still my heart! Doctor McKay, was that a…a…compliment!"

"No!"

"I do believe it was!"

"No it wasn't! Just because I have no one else to work with, doesn't kick you up to my level!"

"I'm all over you level and you know it."

The click of a key in the lock makes the two men forget their silly bickering and stand up. Rodney gives John a meaningful look and he nods in response, rolling his eyes to benefit Rodney's assumption that he cannot be trusted to carry a simple operation with Ancient technology.

"Good afternoon Doctor McKay, Colonel Sheppard, I trust you've done well today?" The lab coat man comes at the end of every workday to verify their work. John thinks he looks a bit like a young Jack Lemmon, which is a funny coincidence considering how badly Rodney reacts to him.

"As well as could be expected." Rodney's eyes stay fixed on the bane of his present existence, hoping to draw his attention away from John. Of course, the fact that it is what he must do only causes his nervousness to grow. "You'll want to take a look at this, it's interesting. I'm sure it can help your people make great progress towards a better understanding of science."

"We know enough Doctor McKay and you would do good to remember that! You are not needed here, we can do without you!"

"Yes, of course. Of course you can, I didn't mean anything by it. It's an interesting discovery."

"It is our discovery."

"Yes, obviously."

This is not working. John is concentrating, he can feel the device working, but there is nothing, he cannot hear anything but Rodney's nervous chatter. He concentrates on the scientist and suddenly, he hears Rodney's voice speaking to the man and the voice in his head that is decidedly afraid. So, the device works, as proven by his drop into Rodney's mind. He goes back to the other man, unwilling to spy on his friend. It's his mind, he has no wish to be in it without permission and does not need the input; he can see Rodney's fear through the magic of physiognomy.

"How much have you done today?"

Rodney moves to the table where they have set the devices according to three categories. "These are in working order and have been catalogued; these are working but we are unable to ascertain their purpose, and these don't work at all."

"Nine. You have only nine working devices once more?"

"Yes."

"You were asked for ten."

"It took some time to activate some of these."

"You were asked for ten."

The conversation continues for some time and ends with the daily threat of room seventeen, though this time it is said that Rodney will visit it tomorrow night. Rodney pretends it does not affect him, but he fears it, the unknown, the possibilities. When finally they are allowed to leave for the day, they make it home in no time, Rodney's excitement palpable, all fear of tomorrow forgotten.

John follows him at his usual pace and reaches the door only to be pulled in and have it slam shut directly behind him. "In a hurry much?"

"So?" Rodney's all eagerness and ebullient enthusiasm.

"It didn't work."

"What?"

"I didn't get anything."

Rodney throws his hands in the air and huff in frustration. "I knew it! I knew you couldn't do it!"

"It wasn't me! The device was working! It just didn't work on that guy!"

"How can you know it was working if it didn't work?"

John squares his shoulder, ready to admit his indiscretion. "I tried it on you…"

"Oh…"Rodney is unsure of what his reaction should be. He starts wringing his hands and moves from one foot to the other. He supposes John had a good reason, but he still invaded his mind and that's a place that has been invaded quite enough in the past year, between Cadman and Heightmeyer.

"Hey," John reaches out and takes a hold of Rodney's bicep to still his nervous shuffle. "There wasn't anything I couldn't see. I mean…you were scared, I know you, I could see that."

"So it makes it alright! You could see it already, it doesn't matter that you invaded my privacy?"

"No. It matters and I'm sorry. I just meant, you didn't give away any of your deep dark secrets."

"Did it?" John's sorry, he'll accept it. It's not as if he has any other friends from who to receive apologies right now.

"Not on that guy, just on you."

"That's…strange…"

"Yeah…"

Rodney holds out his hand. "Give it here, I'll try it on the neighbours."

"You can't do that!"

"And why not?"

"That's…eavesdropping…"

One big hand snatches the device and Rodney walks to the door. "So? I don't know these people, they're not my friends." He exits the room.

John watches him go, grinning. Trust Rodney to be angry over something one minute and do that exact thing the next. He walks out and stands on the threshold watching Rodney creep through the corridor to the next door and coming to a stop before it. His face takes on that slack expression and John waits. The frown and angry huff that results from Rodney's little experiment gives him all the answers he needs. No longer in 'stealth mode', Rodney stomps back to their room.

"It doesn't work!"

"That's what I said."

"But…why! Why doesn't it work! It works on the both of us!"

"Don't know. One thing I do know is, I'm tired." John stands and moves to his cot.

"It just doesn't make sense! I'm going to figure this one out! I'm not letting it go!"

A soft chuckle comes from the darkest corner of the room. "I didn't think you would."