"Rodney I swear to god if you bitch about how hungry you are one more time –"
"I have a condition –"
"You have eaten three quarters of our rations!"
"It's not like I knew the puddlejumper would break down –"
"Please just stop talking, please." She hissed.
She was sweaty, hungry, thirsty, and ready to leave Rodney to the wolves, or whatever it was that was tracking them. When she looked at Rodney's face she didn't see the arrogance he usually wore instead she saw exhaustion and fear. He truly didn't mean her harm and his point was fair. She took a slow deep breath and tried again.
"I apologize Rodney. You're right, you had no way to know."
He blinked in surprise and started to speak then paused and frowned.
She started walking again.
The puddlejumper had suffered a massive and apparently semi-permanent power failure almost a hundred miles from the gate. The simple recon mission had morphed into a miserable slog for help. Their survey was supposed to take four days. If they waited that long for help they would be out of food and water and likely being digested by the local wildlife.
Rodney managed to curb his complaints for almost an hour. She struggled to focus on their immediate area, picking the best paths and avoiding hazards of the terrain. He followed her well enough but seemed to lack all awareness beyond the reach of his voice. She had given up chiding him for it. Rodney was Rodney and what he lacked in wildcraft and combat skills he more than made up for in the genius-in-the-nick-of-time category.
As darkness started to crawl against the sky she tried to find a good shelter. The closes she could find was a hollowed out tree that would just barely fit them.
"Are you serious?" Rodney whined immediately.
"Tell you what Rodney, you can camp out here and when something shows up to drag you away and eat you I'll do my best to get to you in time. Or y'know you can make friends with the idea of spending a single uncomfortable night in a tree." She sighed.
He scowled at her then shifted into an expression of nervous speculation.
Two days, for two days they had slogged through this miserable pseudo jungle, for two days she had dealt with his rudeness and whining and he still looked at her like she might eat him. She closed her eyes took a deep breath then opened them and started making the interior of the tree less horrible by digging out loose soil.
After a few minutes of sweaty progress Rodney joined her, she paused in her work and glanced at him, he was red faced but labored on in earnest. She didn't make the mistake of interrupting him, simply returned to her own work and in less than twenty minutes they were done.
"I'll take first watch." She said.
"Ah you know, why, why don't I? Do that?"
She considered. He had far more experience in Pegasus than she did. She shrugged one shoulder and nodded.
"Okay, thank you." She said. They curled up facing each other. Rodney held his assault weapon on his knees while she propped hers upright against the interior trunk then leaned against it and closed her eyes. In moments she was deeply asleep.
Rodney spent the next four hours wide awake and jumping at every new noise. When he finally woke Max she stirred and woke in moments.
"Uh nothing really going on just…noises." He reported.
She yawned and nodded then extricated herself from the tree and retrieved her weapon. She kept watch until dawn giving him a chance to actually fall asleep. She was beginning to understand how insecure he was, his obnoxious behavior was far more defensive than malicious.
By what passed for noon the next day they were within sight of the gate.
"Oh thank god." Rodney wheezed and armed at the sheet of sweat on his forehead.
"We should be careful –"
"Yes of course." He agreed. She was surprised that his tone was agreeable and not sarcastic but chose not to comment on it. Instead she lead them forward.
She kept an alert watch while Rodney dialed the address for Atlantis. She let out a long held breath of relief as the gate locked and the event horizon solidified.
"You first Rodney!" She said over the noise of the gate.
He didn't hesitate though he did keep his weapon ready as he raced to the gate. She allowed him time to arrive in the Atlantis main tower then followed. The difference in humidity and heat hit her like a physical blow. Suddenly exhausted, starving, and shaky she sank to her knees and looked around the arrival area.
Rodney was already being examined by a medical team and Carter and Sheppard were hurrying down to meet them.
"What happened?" Sam asked as John hauled Max to her feet.
"The 'jumper…something…" She faded out.