A/N: I really have no excuse for not updating this sooner except that I'm trying to get over a bad case of writer's block. You know how it is...

"Yowch!" Rodney jerked his hand away from the crystal grid and sucked on his stinging fingers, "Zelenka! I told you to wait for my signal to start transferring power!"

"Rodney, I don't have the slightest idea what you are speaking about," Radek's frustrated voice came from outside the Jumper, "I haven't touched anything."

McKay blinked in surprise, then grabbed his laptop and squinted at the screen. "Oh, well that is just perfect isn't it," he angrily pushed a few buttons, "Why does nothing ever go the way I plan it?"

"Is something wrong?" Zelenka appeared in the hatch, his forehead scrunched in concern.

Rodney rolled his eyes, "Of course not Radek; I'm only pretending to be upset! In reality everything's peachy!"

Zelenka threw his hands up in the air, "Why must you always be such a necitlivý krétský?"

"Excuse me, what?" Rodney glared at the Czech scientist, his anger and frustration at the whole situation threatening to boil over.

"You are not the only one who gets stressed out or worried or put under pressure Rodney," Zelenka emphasized the 'you' and narrowed his eyes.

McKay snorted, "Oh please…"

"And you are not the only one who misses her," Zelenka interrupted, finishing his original thought.

Rodney's mouth popped open in preparation for a retort, but at his colleague's words it snapped shut again. He smiled ruefully at Radek, "That may be true, but I am the one who's going to have to tell Sheppard that it's going to take us longer than originally planned to modify these Jumper."

Zelenka winced, "Perhaps we could just tell Teyla, and she could pass on the news."

"Tell me what?" The topic of their conversation had suddenly appeared right behind them.

McKay let out a rather girlish shriek and clapped his hands over his heart, "Oh…I think I'm having palpitations," he glared at the petite Athosian, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Teyla cocked her head, "I approached you the same way I always do."

"Exactly," Rodney mumbled irritably.

She ignored him and calmly clasped her hands in front of her, "What is it you wished to tell me?"

Rodney and Zelenka exchanged a sheepish glance. "We have run into a bit of a snag regarding our Jumper modifications," Radek explained.

The pretty Athosian delicately pinched the bridge of her nose, a move she must have unconsciously picked up from the Milky Way natives, "And you would like me to inform Colonel Sheppard?"

McKay shrugged, "Well, he does tend to respond more kindly toward beautiful women."

Teyla gave the astrophysicist a look, "All right, I will let him know; but please hurry, for all our sakes. I know that you are doing the best you can, but the Colonel will not be so understanding…especially when it comes to Elizabeth's wellbeing."

Rodney winced slightly at her words, "Don't I know it."

She smiled sympathetically then turned back the way she'd come, leaving the two scientists to their work.

SGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGSGASGA

Glancing briefly at the man working alongside him, Ronon grabbed a handful of bandages and shoved them into a pack. Lorne's eagerness to get moving was palpable, rolling off of him in waves and filling the medical supply room with tension; it was starting to drive the Satedan mad. Ronon was seriously considering shooting the Major up with one of the drugs in the container marked "sedatives" when Teyla entered the room.

A smile automatically lit up his face, "How are things coming out there?"

Teyla's answering sigh was weary, "Drs. McKay and Zelenka have experienced a setback," her brow furrowed as she thought about the next part, "apparently there was a buildup of electricity in one of the Jumper's power coils and due to improper insulation, the electricity arced from the coil to one of the other systems, causing a malfunction."

Lorne whistled, "I'm not sure which is more amazing, the fact that McKay actually took time out to explain the situation to you, or the fact you remember what he said."

Teyla managed a tight grin, "Actually, it was Doctor Zelenka; he radioed me on my way to the infirmary because he believed it would be best for me to be able to relay the details of what had gone wrong."

Ronon nodded in sudden understanding, "So you told Sheppard," it wasn't a question, "How did he take it?"

She shrugged gracefully and started checking the modified first aid kit he'd put together, "He handled it better than I expected," she turned solemn eyes on the two men, "But I fear if something has happened to Dr. Weir he will never forgive himself."

Lorne unconsciously fiddled with a set of butterfly stitches, "It's ironic, you know? She's the only person who would be able to keep him levelheaded in a situation like this, and yet she's the only person who elicits this type of response from him."

Teyla nodded sadly and Ronon stared at his hands; neither of them said anything.

Lorne moved over to sit in between the two Pegasus natives, "So what do we do now?"

"We must wait," The frustration in Teyla's voice belied her almost serene pose.

Ronon grunted and fingered his gun, "I hate waiting."

SGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGA

After pounding his fist into the pillow for the tenth time John deduced that A) The pillow wasn't going to get any fluffier, and B) the only reason he kept hitting it was because beating the crap out of something brought him a measure of satisfaction. The fact the force behind his punches was weaker than usual might have concerned him if there had been room in his head for anything but thoughts of her. He rolled over, making his bed and his aching bones creak. John knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep, despite Keller's insistence that he rest. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Elizabeth, possibly hurt and definitely alone, and he wondered how he was supposed to sleep on a comfortable bed when all she had was a hard cot…if that.

Part of him wanted to be angry with her for taking the fall, for not letting him make the sacrifice. It wasn't that he wanted the honor or the glory or anything like that; it was because it was his job to protect her. He should have been the one to give up everything to save her, not the other way around.

The other part of him, which consisted of the majority of his conscious and unconscious thoughts, was furious with himself for failing to do that job…for failing her. And he was terrified that he wouldn't be able to rectify his mistake. Something tore loose inside of him at the thought and John quickly repressed it. She would be fine; she had to be; if only because he couldn't imagine a world, a galaxy or the universe without her in it.

Get some sleep? Yeah right…