-1Title: Revelation
Author: YappiChick
Category: McWeir, Rodney/Teyla friendship
Spoilers: Lifeline
Author's note: Yeah, I know this is my second story concerning Elizabeth's absence. Guess with TMC on the way, it's been stuck in my brain.
Rodney walked through the mostly empty control room. The lights were dimmed, as they always were during the night shift. Normally, he would be munching on a midnight snack while caressing his tablet, but Elizabeth had requested him to come see her in her office.
He stopped at the doorway, waiting for her to look up from her laptop. After a couple of seconds without a response, he cleared his throat.
She looked at him with a smile. Suddenly, Rodney was happy he hadn't eaten; his stomach fluttered with excitement at her happiness. "Rodney, " she gestured for him to sit in the chair.
He gladly took a seat. "What's up?"
To his surprise, she didn't remain in her seat. Rather, she stepped on his side of the desk, sitting on the corner of it. "I was hoping that you could help me out. I've got a bit of a personal problem."
The room was suddenly hot. Who had been messing with the temperature controls, Rodney wondered. And why was Elizabeth looking at him like he was the last slice of chocolate cake?
"Um, ok, what's your problem?" he asked, trying not to sound like the awkward teenager of his youth.
She slid off the desk, bending down so her lips were inches from Rodney's ear. "You see, I've been having these…impulses that I find harder and harder to control," she whispered.
"I, um, don't see how I can help you with them," Rodney stammered.
She laughed softly. "You don't?" she asked, standing up again. She started walking behind him, her hand trailing across his shoulders, stopping on the back of his neck. "You are the reason why I'm this way."
Suddenly, her grip on his neck tightened.
"Elizabeth? What are you doing?" he squeaked out.
She tilted her head to the side. "You couldn't let me die, could you? You had to play God, didn't you? Look at what you have done. Look at me!"
She turned Rodney's head so he could see her out of his peripheral vision. Suddenly, she transformed to Oberoth. "And, now, you're going to die."
Rodney screamed, sitting up in his bed. Damn, he thought, another nightmare. It had been a week since they left Elizabeth on the Replicator planet and just as long since he had been able to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time.
He looked at the clock on his side table. 3:14 a.m.
With a sigh, he got out of bed. There would be no more sleep for him, he knew. Quickly, he got dressed and with his tablet, he left his quarters.
Briefly, he considered going to the infirmary to get something to help him sleep before changing his mind. Seeing Keller there instead of Carson would make his mood even worse; one more reminder of another person he cared about who ended up making the ultimate sacrifice.
Pushing down the line of thinking, he wandered the halls. His subconscious led him to the mess hall. His hunger loaded his tray with enough food to feed two people.
It was mostly empty; a couple of scientists sat at a table, a group of Marines were talking in the corner. He sat at the table furthest from them. Socializing was not high on his list of priorities.
He tried to keep himself busy, scrolling through reports on the progress of repairs going on throughout the city. Though the list was extensive, everyone on the expedition was doing more than their fair share of attempting to return their home back to normal.
After a few minutes, he stopped reading and turned off the tablet. He couldn't really concentrate on the words in front of him. Rather, the words Elizabeth spoke to him in his dream were repeating in his head. Was activating those nanites a mistake?
He blew out a long breath. Rodney wasn't use to second guessing himself. He knew what he wanted to do and did it. Often enough, the end results were worth whatever he had to sacrifice, whether it was friendship or sleep.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else enter the room. Unexpectedly, it was Teyla. He wondered why she was here at this hour.
Rodney considered hiding behind his tablet, knowing Teyla wouldn't intrude, but decided against it. Company, he thought, might be good for me.
He watched as she walked past most of the food, stopping only to pick up a red apple. As she turned away, she spotted him and smiled softly at him. Walking slowly, she approached his table. "Rodney, I am surprised to find you awake at this hour."
"Yeah, well, you know there is a lot of work that needs to be done," he said, sliding the blank tablet away from Teyla's line of vision. "Why are you up?"
"I have been having trouble sleeping since the Asurans attacked Atlantis," she admitted. "I am waiting for them to find us."
"Well statistically that is unlikely that is going to happen. Besides, they are too busy fighting the Wraith to care about us," Rodney said with false conviction.
Teyla nodded slightly. "I know, but still…" She shook her head, as if to clear her mind. "I do not believe we have seen the last of the Asurans."
That was a fear that bore itself the moment Elizabeth was lost. She knew everything about Atlantis. All of the crew. Their defenses. Their weaknesses. If the Asurans tapped into that knowledge, everyone on the expedition would be in dire trouble. The only good thing was that Elizabeth was unaware of where they had to land Atlantis.
"Do you think I made a mistake? You know, with reactivating the nanites?" he blurted out.
Teyla thought for a moment. "I believe it is not wise to reconsider an action that cannot be reversed."
"So you blame me for losing Elizabeth too?" he asked.
"No, I do not. Dr. Keller said if it was not for your intervention, Elizabeth would have died," Teyla said.
Inwardly, he shuttered. There was no way he could stand by and know he could do something to save Elizabeth and not do it, even at the cost of the city. "Yeah, that's true. But most of the people here don't understand why I would reactivate the nanites."
"Rodney," she said, taken aback, "your actions were not motivated by logic. It was your love for Elizabeth that caused you to make the decision that you did."
He froze. Love? Him?
Suddenly things began to make more sense. Why he was hurting so much. Why he couldn't stand to see John sitting in Elizabeth's chair. Why part of him died on the Asuran planet.
He loved her.
Despite the sorrow of losing their leader, she smiled at Rodney. "You seem surprised," she commented.
He stumbled on his words. "I just didn't think about it, you know? I mean, I just thought--" He cut himself off as a horrible thought crossed his mind. "I never told her."
Teyla put a reassuring arm on his shoulder. "Believe me, Rodney, she knew."
"How? I didn't say anything," he argued.
"She has known for a while. But, I would say saving her life at the risk of endangering everyone else on Atlantis was a fairly large clue," Teyla said.
He relaxed a little bit. At least he could be a peace with the knowledge that she understood the way he felt. "I guess that was a big giveaway, huh?"
She nodded, allowing him to come to terms with his feelings.
"Do you think Sheppard and Ronon know?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.
Her eyebrow rose, not expecting that question from him. "Those who understand the unspoken words behind actions of others know your true feelings for Dr. Weir," she answered evasively.
"So they don't have a clue."
"That would be correct," she said, nodding.
"Could you, um, not say anything?" he asked.
"I will not betray your confidence," she assured him.
"Do you think she's ever going to come back?" he asked, his vulnerability showing.
She was silent for a second before answering. "I believe if anyone can figure out how to save her, it will be you."
He grabbed his tablet like a security blanket. Determination replaced fear. He would save her again. He had to.
"Then I guess I have some work to do."