A/N: This story is mostly written down by now and so I will be updating it weekly, probably on Saturdays. Even thought I (as I already said) have it mostly written already, I would highly appreciate your reviews, suggestions and correction hints. I had one story published before (not on SGU) but deleted it due to abandonment. So please, let me know what you think so I don't feel that I've wasted my time writing this. Enjoy!

THE GRAND RETURN

It's been two weeks since they left Rush behind and everyone onboard Destiny agreed that it was very bad two weeks. The scientific team was now two members short – eighteen hours after they jumped into FTL Franklin died of intracranial bleeding caused by brain swelling. That in turn made Park extremely anxious and it was practically impossible to drag her anywhere near the chair room. The only one left to still work on it was Eli and only in his spare moments which he was currently seriously lacking.

No one actually realized how much Rush was keeping tabs on. As it seems, he was monitoring or manually running most of the working systems, which Eli found hard to believe was even possible by itself. He, Park and the rest of the science team were taking shifts for that and still they worked their asses off just with that. And it wasn't all. When going through computer data and notes that the Doc left behind on his console, they found gigabytes of information. Research on things they wouldn't think of checking, some notes (not much, they knew all too well Rush kept these in his 'mad scientist notebook' as Eli phrased it one day) and diagrams – most of which they were unable to decipher due to some sort of language code Doctor was using. It appeared to be normal English words, but nothing more – for the life of them they couldn't figure out connections between seemingly random words, not mentioning the Ancient and Gaelic ones.

To top it all off, there was an activity log of sorts that saved data about most operations Rush did since they came here and even Young, in his quiet way had to admit that he was impressed. There were malfunctions (lots of them), leaks, shutdowns they weren't even aware of, most of them fatal if not fixed in time. No one onboard recalled doing so, and their only explanation was Rush repairing, stabilizing and monitoring everything on his own.

Not surprisingly, without him more and more of these 'minor nuisances' – Rush, when asked why he was late for meetings, not sleeping or eating, tended to answer "I was working" or "I was taking care of some minor nuisances" – was coming into daylight (figuratively speaking). The scientists tried to monitor things and put together two small groups of emergency workers (in translation: a bunch of people that were doing their best to follow instructions on how to prevent instantaneous death of all the crew, having no idea what so ever about what they were doing) but at least two systems had to be shut down and a big section of corridor sealed of due to inability to fix things.

Two more men died, one a valuable scientist.

Eli was watching. So was TJ, and they both could see things were not going right. Morale, already low, dropped even more. Even though Young and Wray tried their best to work on it, making people go offworld – offship? – whenever it was possible, visit their families via the stones or even preparing events, 4th of July was spent mostly in silence and grim alienation, only a few of them gathering for a small celebration and poker night. Another evaluation revealed three crewmembers with suicidal thoughts.

Also Young seemed depressed. Both Eli and TJ were aware of the weight that was put upon his shoulders, of the knowledge he possessed that it was bad and with no perspectives of getting better. And yet, there was more to it. Sometimes Volker or Eli felt watched and found Young staring at them with unreadable expression. Eli was ordered to prepare an independent kino for 'captain's log', which Young gingerly took to his quarters. One evening TJ was walking by his room – at least that's what she told Eli, he rather thought she was going to meet him there – and heard him talking to the small camera.

"His voice was so unlike him," she told Eli afterwards. "All I heard was that he was beginning to doubt himself and if he did the right thing but… I don't know. The way he said it sent chills down my spine, you know what I mean? And what was it all about, really? Did he do something? God, I hope not, we don't need anymore trouble…"

Eli suspected what that could be but said nothing. This was no time for treason trial and besides, Young was the last thing that kept the crew from mutiny. That knowledge didn't stop him from being careful not to have Young behind his back.

***

Eli was alone in the control room, taking some readings, when two light started blinking on his console he never saw active before. Of course, he had no idea what they were blinking for so the first thing that came to his tired mind was to check that. Not more than a minute later, his radio came to life and Scott's voice was heard:

"Colonel, this is Scott speaking, you there?"

"Go on, lieutenant, I read you," was heard in return.

"Sir, I'm at the observation deck. There is a… really… big ship flying alongside us."

There was a moment of silence and then Young's voice again:

"Eli, did you hear that?"

Eli, who just figured what the lights are all about, grabbed the radio and almost dropped it in his haste. Ungracefully, he adjusted his hold on it and said:

"Yeah, I did. I was just going to tell you the sensors readings. It's not as big as Destiny but still pretty big. Uh…"

"What is it, Eli?"

"Sir, there's an incoming signal. I think they want to communicate with us"

"I'll be right there, wait for me"

A moment later the control room was full of people – Young came with Scott and TJ on his heels, Chloe right behind. Park already came to help Eli and soon after Wray showed up.

"Put it through, Eli. Park, you will translate for me if they speak Ancient," Young said and prepared himself.

There was a short burst of static coming from speakers located on the ceiling and then a raspy, quiet voice:

"Destiny, do you read me?"

They all fell silent. Whatever alien it was, it surely spoke a pretty decent English. It only took moment for them to understand. The voice itself was more rough, heavier and more raspy but…

"Oh, God…" TJ said "Is that Rush?"

As if on cue, the voice spoke again:

"Destiny, do you read me? This is doctor Nicholas Rush speaking, please respond!" Eli couldn't miss Young's jaw clenching but when the colonel urged him to open the channel, he did just that.

"Rush, this is Young, we copy you," there was a moment of silence on the other side but after a moment the doctor spoke again:

"I am onboard a friendly vessel, please prepare for a pod docking. I am coming through."

"Rush," Young said, before the communication light could go out. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Don't be daft, Colonel," Rush responded with a note of anger in his voice. "They are perfectly safe, also I went through a decontamination procedure. And with what I now know you need me, that much I can tell you."

That obviously struck a chord. Wray glared at Young along with others in the room. They all knew perfectly well what that meant – Rush got information from the aliens and in great possibility they could be home by the end of next week. Young's jaw clenched again but he said:

"We'll meet you at the docking bay," and then: "TJ, Scott, Eli, you coming with me. Scott, inform Greer and tell him to grab a gun on his way."

"Yes sir," and they were off to the only vacant docking bay they had access to. Just as they approached the thick steel door, they could see a shuttle preparing for landing, seemingly unaffected by speed and forces that made landing of their own pod almost impossible some time ago. It was bigger than theirs and shaped differently. It was made of shiny black metal which, in the light of their shield was casting red reflexes. As it landed, the haul split and a narrow sleeve connected the pod with docking bay. They all waited for the door to open but nothing happened. After a minute or so, a muffled voice came from the other side of it:

"Eli, you're supposed to open the bulkhead!"

"Oh, right… yeah," Eli muttered, embarrassed and started fumbling with his console. When the door opened, the whole gathering held their breath. On the other side stood Rush and three aliens. The Doctor was even thinner than what they remembered, his face pale, now covered with sparse beard instead of his usual bristle. Eyes dull and tired, unlike the expressive ones they were used to see. Everything they saw in him gave the impression of a man half starved, bone tired and unnaturally calm. Maybe that is what worried them most, his tensed frame, as if he was ready to run at any sign of trouble. And from the look of his 'companions' he had every right to.

The aliens were small but wide. Their heads were hidden between their arms that looked like blocks of bricks. Hands, which were more of paws actually, were reaching the ground, stabilizing their frames. Legs also thick, covered with something that looked like patches of mold. And faces with tiny, black eyes and huge structures that had to be their noses – they looked somewhat like cow's muzzles, except they had three breathing holes. They were sniffing the air, making strange, hissing noises. Hearing that, Rush flinched visibly and hurriedly moved on their side of the door. He made a complicated gesture with his hands (all of them could see how they shook, as well as all of his limbs), put them together and bowed deeply, not uttering one word. One of the creatures moved its head in what could have been a nod and they went back to their shuttle. Rush, not straightening from his bow muttered: "Eli, close the bulkhead."

The boy did as he was instructed and the pod on the other side left. Only then did they all look at Rush who was in the process of straightening himself with help of his hands pressed against the wall. Whatever it is that he wanted to do – turn around or just stand straight, did not succeed, as he slid down the wall into a half sitting position.

"Water" he rasped, stopping TJ from examining him with his hand. In a matter of seconds she had a canteen of the liquid in her hand, helping him drink, murmuring to take slow sips.

"Rush, what…" Young started but was cut off by the paramedic, who said in a stern voice "Not now, colonel. He is dehydrated and exhausted. I need to examine him and make him rest. Greer, Scott, move him to a separated part of infirmary. He said something about decontamination but let's not take chances"

***

The next two days were a blur to Eli. The excitement of having their only hope of returning back was coursing through everybody onboard, gossips and speculations the only thing they got as Rush was in no condition to give any information. As soon as they moved him to the infirmary, he started muttering something incoherent, his thick accent taking any meaning out of his words. He tried to resist the treatment and in the end TJ had to sedate him. An IV with fluids was set to water his dehydrated body, also some antibiotics and antiseptics were used – the doctor had some flesh wounds, which weren't deep but got infected, also he was running a fever.

He slept most of the time and for the firs time they saw him downing the nasty food they were feeding him as if his life depended on it. Maybe it did.

TJ didn't allow anyone – especially Young – to bother him. Eli was anxious to see him, so were the other scientists. Most of the others were just curious but stayed far, keeping in mind temper of the patient. The medic tried to find out, what happened that put him in the state he was in now but, as usual, he wasn't one to talk much. What she did get to know, she shared on a meeting.

"He said that the planet had no drinkable water on the surface and no life or flora of any kind. When he was 'taken in' as he put it, by the S'hottoss – the aliens that brought him here, they were… how did he phrased it? 'Unable to provide him with what he needed'. From what I've gathered they don't feed the way we do so they don't store food or water. I also think they weren't the best hosts"

"And yet, they brought him to us," Wray pointed out

"Maybe they were so sick of him they had no other choice?" Greer suggested and some of them smirked.

"We will just have to wait for him to share the story," she answered, not too pleased with the comment. "He seems eager to get back to work"

"Yeah, like that's a big surprise," Young muttered but he seemed troubled. "Did he… say anything else?"

"No sir. Not very talkative. He only asked questions about Destiny."

"All right then. Let me know when I can talk to him."