Disclaimer: Veralee, java juice, and 'The Wishing Stone II' belong to Debbie418uk2. I don't own anything, and Stargate Atlantis belongs to whomever has the millions to buy it.

Note : As stated in the disclaimer, this chapter is a tag to Debbie418uk2's Rodney's Really Bad Days, chapter 48, 'The Wishing Stone II'. (Sorry for posting it so late :P)

Legend :

"talking"

Thoughts

"Rodney's typed messages"

"Computer speaking"

Shadows-of-Realm - Thank you. I have about a dozen left, I think. My muse for SGA is all but gone (Twilight stole it), but I still have a few chapters to go. LOL, No, but it's a funny dream. LOL.

Debbie418uk2 - Nope. It was all because Rodney's yelling startled and upset them. Oh yeah, if I got crapped on the head (it happened to my mom once), I'd have been yelling, too. LOL. This one is a really old tag to one of your chapters.

Puddle-Jumper38 - Nope, just a little bit different, hm? I was trying to go for random and out of the ordinary (or what passes for ordinary, when dealing with SGA)

Jasminesmommy - LOL. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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(John's POV)

Ok, so right about now I was feeling like an ass. Sure, I got the one thing people often wished for; silence from McKay, but I'd never actually intended to mute him. When Veralee pointed out what I'd done, I felt horrible. When she pointed out the stone was a gift from her fourth husband, out of eleven, I felt worse.

I had to admit, it was nice to be able to think on my own, without constant interruptions from Rodney, but the quiet was really disconcerting, and I found myself often checking to see if he was still there.

"I'm here." He typed, after about the fourth time of checking. "You don't need to keep looking, where else would I be? Having a nice chat with Elizabeth? Oh, wait, that would require the use of my voice!"

"Ok, ok, I get it!" Sighing, I looked back to my java juice, and frowned. "So the wishing stone grants wishes permanently, it's rare to come by, and the only way to reverse the wish…" I paused for dramatic effect, and bit back the grin when Rodney smacked my arm. Hard. "Hey! I was just kidding!" I turned to look at the dull red stone I'd accidentally used to mute Rodney.

And all because he interrupted me from hitting on Veralee.

"We ARE going to get one!" He typed, glaring at me with a look that actually scared me a little.

"I know! Trust me, buddy, we'll get one." Gathering up the map Veralee had given us, I got a couple water canteens, just as backup, and we made our way to the jumper.

Of course, Veralee had followed us the whole way, smiling at me with such an…adoring look. I was actually starting to curse my luck. Pretty girl who's an ancient, pretty girl who's a space pirate of sorts, pretty girl who ascends shortly after getting together with me. Now a pretty girl with eleven husbands, seemingly looking for number twelve.

Notice a pattern?

As we boarded the jumper, Rodney went ahead and took the co-pilot seat, and I stopped to look and offer a weak smile to Veralee, who was smiling at me with a confident look. Finally, as I closed the jumper hatch and joined Rodney in the cockpit, I glared at him as he gestured to her and grinned. "You don't have to rub it in, Rodney. I'm sorry. Let's go and fix this."

(In the Jumper)

I figured the drive wouldn't take long. I sort of was and was not right about that. It took about half an hour to really figure out the alien map, without Veralee pointing everything out, and then I had to set the coordinates.

It didn't help that Rodney was fiddling away with his computer. I figured he was doing one of his usual experiments or something useful. So imagine my surprise when his computer starts to speak!

You know, like those weird computers people use to speak for them? Only this was a regular computer tablet that Rodney must have modified to have the same function.

Something told me this ride would be annoying as hell.

"So, John…"

Jumping a little, I turned and narrowed my eyes as Rodney, having a feeling I wasn't going to like this. "Yes?"

"…Are we there yet?"

Rodney began to grin, even as my own eyes narrowed. Trust Rodney to figure out how to be annoying without having to speak a word. "No, Rodney, it'll be a little while."

He nodded, the grin never once fading from his face as he turned the computer towards him and typed a bit before looking out the window. The jumper was nice and quiet for a few moments and I figured that he might have reconsidered whatever it was he was planning on doing.

"…Are we there yet?"

Then again, maybe not. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "No, Rodney."

About five minutes later. "…Are we there yet?"

"Rodney…" Sliding my eyes over to him, I let the warning look cross my face. "No, not yet." I wondered if I could get away with tossing his computer tablet out of the jumper. Probably not.

Another five minutes later. "…Are we there yet?"

Spinning to glare at him, I let out a growl that surprised even me. "Rodney!"

I watched as he laughed silently in his seat, before waving his hand in a manner that indicated he'd stop. Typing on his computer, he turned to me and showed me the screen that showed he'd deleted the program. Then he typed some more. "Wasn't really me, anyways."

"No. No, it wasn't." I admitted softly, smiling a little. Checking the monitors, I nodded to myself before looking over. "Now we're here." I stated with a fully blown grin as Rodney chuckled silently again.

(The Pyramid)

You know, when you hear about a pyramid, you automatically think stone blocks, right? Massive, made of stone and the entrance probably covered with hieroglyphics. At least, that's with I thought. This was nothing like that. Well, Rodney seemed sure it was made out of stone, but not the yellowed kind. This stuff was kind of glassy and really shone in the sun.

I used the podium, which activated with my gene, and got us in the pyramid. Walking down a long hallway of stone that shimmered with a golden light, we soon entered a large square room with a single machine in the center. Rodney took a look at it before shrugging as he turned to me and mouthing 'I don't know'.

Looking at it a moment, I sighed and shook my head before walking up to it. "Well, we don't really have much of a choice." Placing my hand firmly on the machine, I watched as with a flash of golden light, everything faded away and Rodney and I stood in the center of a large area.

What the hell?! Our weapons were gone! Instead, I held a shield on one arm and a short sword in the other hand. Looking to Rodney I saw that he held a short spear in one hand and a similar shield in the other. He must have sensed my look, because he looked back at me, clearly afraid. "This doesn't look good."

Suddenly, two gladiators appeared across from us, each carrying similar weapons to us, except that one held a trident instead of a short spear. They slowly stalked forward, towards us, separating as they chose which of us to take on. The man with the sword came in my direction, as the one with the trident went in Rodney's direction. Damn!

This really wasn't good. I could take on one of these guys, but my attention was split between my attacker, and Rodney's fight. I knew he wasn't the best with a gun, but a spear was a whole other type of weapon all together, and required your enemy be up close and personal. To say I was worried about him was an understatement.

Seeing the sword coming my way, out of the corner of my eye, I turned and raised the shield quickly, almost stumbling as the weight came bearing down. As it was, my arm shook, and I took a step back instinctively. Crap! Stronger than he looks. The battle went on fruitlessly for a while. Neither Rodney nor myself were able to gain ground against our attackers.

I then heard the sound of clattering, and turned to find Rodney's spear going flying. Rodney was pushed back blow after blow, and I spun quickly, being reminded of my own opponent. Pushing him back with my own attack, I spun once again to find Rodney on the ground and his opponent raising his trident and preparing for the fatal blow.

I didn't even think about myself, or the opponent doubtlessly coming after me again. All I could think of was to help Rodney. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd rushed over and stuck my sword through the gladiator's back, watching as he stiffened up before falling over.

Rodney stared at the fallen body in horrified shock, unblinking. Then, he turned to me, and his eyes widened even more. His mouth opened to say something, but that's when I felt a blinding agony and a pressure sliding though my abdomen, moving upward through my chest.

I couldn't even scream, as I felt my body thrust forward with the jolt, and remain unmoving. It was agonizing, a sense of burning fire rushing through every part of my body. I felt the sense of something sliding as my legs gave out, and my mind blurrily put things together. The other opponent. The sword.

Everything was fuzzy. My mouth was open, and I was gasping for breath.

It wasn't working.

I fell over, and watched fuzzily as a spear flew through the air. It didn't even really register. The only thing on my mind was that I couldn't breathe. I kept trying. I could feel the air flowing into my body, but it wasn't making it through. Things hurt worse and worse, and got darker all the time. Something was running down my face.

Rodney was there. He was kneeling over me, his mouth working helplessly. I think I was able to make out my name on his lips, but that's about it. His hands moved, but they didn't touch me. I saw them hovering over me as he stared at me in terror.

I was cold. I couldn't breathe. I hurt.

Finally, I felt a touch to the back of my head. Funny how even the slight lifting hurt like hell. I wanted to scream, but didn't have the strength to do much but groan in agony, as I gasped again. Seeing Rodney closed his eyes, his face screwed up with grief, I tried to smile. "Well, buddy…" Choking a little, I had the distinct taste of blood in my mouth. My lungs screamed for the air they weren't getting. "I'm sorry. ….We had some good….times, though."

He kept muttering to himself, and I began to think it was starting to get really annoying that I couldn't talk to him. I wanted to hear what he was saying. I could make out 'no' over and over, and something about this not happening. Frowning, I wanted to say something, but instead, another gasp and choke escaped me.

(Normal POV)

John's eyes were glazed, as he struggled to stay focused and stare at Rodney. He knew that look. He knew Rodney was blaming himself. As he opened his mouth, another choke escaped and more blood trickled down his chin. His skin was ghastly pale, and the puddle of blood underneath him was growing steadily.

Rodney's eyes were filled with tears and it was almost impossible to see through them. He saw John gasping futilely, his eyes glazing over more, but he was struggling to stay conscious. Suddenly, he looked up as a golden light appeared. A single man with fair hair and golden tanned skin appeared, towering over them. He wore a loose toga with a large golden clasp at the shoulder.

"You may state your wish now. What is your desire?"

Rodney struggled to speak, wanting John to be healed. He wanted so badly to scream when no sound came out, and a single tear borne of frustration and grief soared through him when nothing echoed forth. Wiping it away furiously, he stared at John, trying to communicate his desires through his eyes. Come on, John. Ask for a stone for yourself. Come on.

John wasn't looking at him, though. "A wishing…stone." He gasped weakly, his chest not moving as much as it did before. Even the bleeding had slowed. "I want a….wishing stone for my….friend." His eyes closed almost completely and his chest nearly stopped rising. He was still bleeding, but it was so very little.

Shaking his head, Rodney carefully grabbed John's face and leaned forward. "No!" He silently screamed at John, getting desperate when his eyes didn't open. "No! Help yourself…!" He felt the warmth of a gaze on him, and looked up to find the man staring at him strangely compassionately.

"You passed the trial. Because you did not ask for yourself, but for your friend, you may indeed have a wishing stone…and healing, too." The man flashed brightly and disappeared, and Rodney stared down at John as the injured area also glowed with a golden light. As the light faded, it showed that where the injury had been, was fully healed.

If it wasn't for the ruined shirt and pool of blood, it looked like John was never injured at all. Not even a scar!

He had to remember to close his mouth as John's eyes snapped open and he slowly sat up, gingerly touching the area where the wound had been. Raising his left hand, he opened it to find a small black stone in his palm. His eyes widened a moment and he reached out, grabbing Rodney's collar. "Before I mess this up…" Despite still feeling somewhat weak, he focused on the rock. "I wish for your voice to be restored to normal, Rodney." The stone glowed briefly before turning a dull red, and he dropped it on the ground.

Once he let go of Rodney's shirt, the said scientist sat back and breathed the biggest sigh of relief he'd ever breathed. "Oh my god!" That was so close, too close! I can't believe… Not daring to finish that thought, he again looked at John's ripped shirt, realizing just what lengths they'd gone to, just to get his voice back. The arena faded, and the regular room replaced it. Looking to John, he sat back. "What just happened?"

"I'm not sure." Dusting off his shirt, John took a deep breath and visibly relaxed as he looked around. Checking out his ruined shirt, he winced. "Let's go home, huh?"

Grinning a little, Rodney stood up. "You don't want to go back and see Veralee?" Now that the horrible part was over, he felt strangely giddy. It was probably just his nerves.

Standing up, John finished dusting himself off before looking over at the grinning Rodney. "You know, I really don't want to be number twelve."

As they made their way to the exit, the scientist raised an eyebrow and regarded his friend. "So you've learned your lesson?"

"For now."

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A lot of the quotes are also property of Debbie418uk2.

Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi