Author's Note: Written for the "TV Tropes" challenge at LJ's stargateland in January. My trope was 'Duels Decide Everything'.
Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money with this piece. I just do it for fun.

Stepping away from the console, Rush slowly walks out of the room, leaving the other crew members and their heated discussion behind. He's already working on his battle plan when he reaches the bridge, calculating, changing ideas, solving equations, trying his best to find the one piece of the puzzle that will give them the advantage over their enemy.

"We will have to link with Destiny if we want to make this work." Her voice is quiet but strong, a far cry from the anxious Senator's daughter he met at the beginning of their journey. He looks up from his notepad and finds Chloe standing in the doorway, studying him with dark eyes. Her words only confirm what his mind already knew but didn't want to acknowledge.

"We probably won't make it out alive." Leaning back in the chair, he lets the notepad drop to the ground and runs his hand through his hair. "But it's our-"

"-only chance. I know. It wil be a duel of minds." The smile she gives him is bittersweet. It tugs at the block of ice that once had been his heart, small pieces breaking away, and he wonders – not for the first time - what this young woman has that makes him want to feel again.

Chloe holds out her hand to him and there is no hesitation from his side as he stands up, closing the distance between them. He links their fingers, his thumb rubbing over hers in an almost reverent gesture, and neither of them has felt closer to another human being than they do in this moment.

"Let's go meet our destiny."

- END -