534 words. Sue me. Lol
Now it gets tricky. This is a sequel to theicemenace's Rodney and Significant Other FF Challenge, chapter 37 'Go Away Little Girl'. That in turn was a sequel to chapter 4 of my fic, Within Temptation. So the reading order goes, Ch 4 of my fic, Ch 37 of theicemenace's, and then this chapter (26). Confused yet?
Jennifer looked around the small room, and her voice personified disappointment as she turned to Rodney and said, "It's... just a closet."
Rodney folded his arms across his chest and gave Jennifer a wry smile. "And you were expecting what exactly?"
Jennifer threw her arms up in the air. "I don't know!" she exclaimed, exasperation filling her voice. She couldn't believe she'd gotten herself worked into such a tizzy over an empty closet. "I don't know," she repeated. "A birthday gift?"
Rodney's brow creased. "Your birthday is ten months away," he said slowly, as though he were afraid he'd somehow managed to screw that up.
Jennifer chewed on her bottom lip and glanced around the empty room again. Oblivious to Rodney's sigh of relief she said, "Halloween present?" When Rodney didn't answer she kept going. "Thanksgiving? Christmas? Valentine's Day?"
Rodney gave her that little smile he gave her whenever she'd done or said something that he'd found adorable. "It's all about you, isn't it?"
Jennifer had the good grace to give Rodney an embarrassed smile. "Well yeah."
Rodney nodded and then stepped forward and put his left arm around her shoulders. He drew her close to him and said, "You know I love you, right?" Jennifer nodded and Rodney smiled. "Then please don't hurt me when I say, are you crazy?" Rodney's free hand motioned around the closet. "This is the end of the line. There's nothing in here."
Jennifer's cheeks started to burn. He was right. "Then what was the big secret? What was John talking about?"
Rodney's snort of amusement echoed briefly in the tiny room. "With Sheppard who knows?"
Her curiosity appeased and feeling more than a little humiliated, she stepped out of Rodney's embrace and turned to go. As it so happened, stepping away from Rodney brought her closer to the inside wall where she heard a sound. It wasn't much, just barely enough to get her attention. Instead of moving towards the door she stepped closer to the wall and leaned so that her right ear was only inches from it.
"What was that?"
Rodney's eyes widened in alarm. "What was what? I didn't hear anything."
Jennifer's hands went up onto the wall to support her as she leaned even closer to it. "There's a noise behind this wall."
Rodney quickly stepped forward and took Jennifer's left arm in his hand. As he gently guided her away from the wall he said, "Probably some plumbing or something." He released her and walked to the door. When it opened he said as he turned back to Jennifer, "We should get going to the Mess. They're… serving… your… favorite…"
Jennifer stood where he'd left her, her arms folded across her chest, her left hip edged back and her right foot tapping the deck impatiently.
For the second time in ten minutes Rodney's shoulders slumped and Jennifer couldn't help but smirk.
It took another minute for Rodney to completely relent, but sure enough he moved to the wall. Jennifer followed his movement and edged forward when Rodney reached over to the far left hand corner and did… something.
Jennifer's mouth fell open and her eyes widened as the wall began to move…
A/N: I'd like to say that at this moment the theicemenace is calling me all sorts of names as only a Southern Belle can, but I can't because somehow we've found ourselves in this together!
"End of the Line" was written by the Traveling Wiburys and released on their 1988 album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1.