Chapter Two – The Astrophysicist Who Made a Friend

When they arrived at the SGC, Daniel led McKay straight to the lab holding the Ancient artefact, leaving him to read up on the reports from Carter and the other scientists who had been working on it, along with the translation of the Ancient language from the surface of the artefact, that Daniel had translated for Sam before she'd started work. Not that the translation had shed much light on its workings.

Four hours later, Daniel came back to check on McKay, who had managed to run most of the other scientists out of the lab with his snapping over their incompetence and general lack of knowledge or brains. He smiled wryly, having heard several bitter complaints about the Canadian's arrogance and biting comments, and having had to try and placate certain people who felt McKay was doing more harm than good. He knew that Sam believed McKay was the man for the job and so was willing to try and smooth things over as best he could.

McKay was engrossed in his studying of the Ancient device as Jackson carefully entered the 'dragon's den', as several people had started to call the lab, and that was the polite version, bringing a peace offering with him; food and coffee.

The dragon looked up, ready to breathe fire over whoever was daring to interrupt him now, when he realised who it was who'd entered his den, and more importantly, what he was carrying.

"Food," his eyes lit up. "Ooh, and coffee."

Daniel smiled genuinely this time as he put them down on the table by McKay.

"I thought you might appreciate it," he said.

McKay took a big bite out of the sandwich and returned his attention to the computer screen in front of him.

"So, how's it going?" Daniel asked cautiously.

"It'd go a lot quicker if people stopped asking me that," McKay snapped.

Daniel merely raised an eyebrow at him, and McKay gave a long suffering sigh.

"Slow," he responded with a grimace. "But I am making progress, I just hope I find the answer in time."

"We all do."

"Yes, yes, no pressure here," he snorted, grabbing the coffee and taking a large gulp.

"Yeah, no pressure," Daniel agreed dryly. "Might help to take a short break."

"No time."

"It's not going to help any if you're too exhausted to think straight," he pressed.

"I'm fine. It's not the first time I've worked straight through the night, or even the next day and night too. I'm quite capable of functioning on little to no sleep, just so long as the coffee keeps flowing."

Daniel took the hint.

"I'll make sure the coffee keeps flowing then. I'm going to sit with Sam for a bit. If you need anything…"

"I know."

Daniel nodded and headed out, hoping McKay knew what he was doing.

Over the next eight hours, Daniel acted as a buffer between an increasingly frustrated and stressed out McKay and various worried and agitated individuals, not least of them Jack. Pointing out that a constant stream of people asking how it was going would only act as a distraction, he made sure that he was the only one to ask McKay that particular question. Something that McKay seemed to appreciate, and so didn't snap at him when he asked; well, not all the time anyway.

He also made sure that food and drink made its way to the Canadian at regular intervals, having to admire the way that McKay kept tirelessly working, pushing himself beyond exhaustion and yet still being able to function effectively. It was quite a talent, and not many scientists were able to achieve it; Sam and himself were amongst those few who had.

He knew that McKay was not going to give up, and that was comforting to know. They still had other scientists checking over the reports and working on their own theories, sharing them with McKay only when they felt there was a good chance that the theories might work. McKay shot all of them down within moments, having already thought of and discarded them, which just proved how amazing the Canadian's brain was; it was unfortunate that the man had such an ego to go with it.

But progress was being made, and there was still hope.

Nearly sixteen hours after arriving at the SGC, McKay finally believed he knew what the artefact was doing to Sam, and had a definite idea of how to stop it. However, he needed to check with Carter herself about exactly what buttons she pressed in which order so as to be certain. Her report was detailed, but a few of the 'buttons' didn't look like or act like buttons; they were more like glyphs that activated if you touched them. Carter might not have realised they were anything more than decoration. It had, after all, taken him several hours of work to find that out for himself and he couldn't expect her to have worked it out in the couple of hours she'd had before the energy beam had struck her.

So, it was time to go see her for himself, something he had been avoiding on the principle that the time he wasted on that could mean the difference between life or death for her. Of course, the fact that he hated people seeing him when he wasn't at his best and so presumably she wouldn't want people seeing her like that either, especially people who weren't friends, had nothing to do with it. Neither did the fact that he hated hospitals with a passion which came from long lonely nights feeling ill, in pain and bored out of his mind in a foreign country. Nor the fact that he had a high level of distrust of doctors and all things medical.

But needs must and all that nonsense.

He picked up the laptop that had a 3D virtual model of the Ancient device on it and went down to the infirmary, having to explain to Dr Fraiser rather impatiently why it was vital he talked to Carter. The doctor reluctantly let him in to see her, explaining that Carter was very weak now, and that they would need to place her on life support soon.

Entering the room, he noted Sam was asleep and was shocked by just how ill she looked. He hid his reaction quickly when he saw O'Neill sitting by her bedside, not looking at all pleased to see him.

"What are you doing here?" the Colonel growled.

"I need to talk to Carter about the device," he responded caustically. "There's a few points that I need to go over with her."

"McKay, as you might be aware, she is not well."

"Right, and as you may be aware, time is running out. Now, if you want me to have a chance of getting this right the first time, rather than second, third or…oops, out of time, you might want to shut up and let me talk to Sam," he replied hotly, not caring the slightest if he upset the Colonel or not.

O'Neill looked ready to explode at him, but a soft sigh from Sam drew their attention.

"Sir, it's okay," she said, opening her eyes and blinking sleepily. "McKay and I obviously have some work to do."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Jack nodded and stood, scowling at McKay.

"If you upset her…" he started to warn before being interrupted.

"Yes, yes, I know. Threats of physical violence taken as read."

He moved past O'Neill and sat down in the seat the Colonel had just vacated, pushing the laptop onto the table that was set up over her bed, so that Sam could see it easily, and ignoring O'Neill as he left, still scowling.

Within moments they were deep in discussion with McKay getting the confirmation that he needed before sleep claimed Sam again.

Another three hours passed after McKay left the infirmary before he returned with the Ancient artefact to find O'Neill and Jackson both by Carter's bed, and Dr Fraiser close by. His entrance drew everyone's attention as he placed the device onto a nearby bed.

"You've got something?" Daniel asked, hope in his eyes.

"Yes. I'm taking it that Carter's condition has stabilised during the last two hours?"

The question was aimed at Janet.

"Yes, there's even been a slight improvement," she confirmed.

"Good, then the connection was broken."

"What do you mean by that?" Jack demanded, adding quickly before McKay could go into a scientific description, "In layman terms."

"Huh, right." Rodney rolled his eyes in disgust. "The artefact is designed to draw energy from a person into itself. Carter accidentally activated it, causing a connection between her and the device. That's why she's been growing weaker."

"And you've only just figured that out?" Jack asked.

"No, I figured that out within a few hours of being here. Really, it was quite simple, though it seemed to pass the other so-called scientists here by."

"You could have told someone," Jack said in exasperation.

"I was busy," McKay said, dismissing O'Neill's complaint as unimportant. "Anyway, I was able to cut the connection a couple of hours ago, hence her improved state."

"And again, you didn't think to tell anyone?" The Colonel's irritation was reaching breaking point, though McKay seemed unaware of that.

"I was busy," Rodney reiterated. "You know, trying to save Carter's life and all that. Really, if I stopped and explained everything as I went along I wouldn't be able to do half the work I do…"

"McKay," a soft voice came from the bed, and everyone turned to look at Sam. "Why have you brought the device here?"

"Oh, right, that. As I was saying, it draws energy from someone and then stores it. This energy can then be used to heal someone else, or the in this case, the same person the energy was drawn from. Seeing as medicine is a squishy science at best, all guess work and mumbo-jumbo," he ignored the sour look thrown his way by Janet, "I thought it would be better to heal you with this rather than wait for you to, hopefully, recover on your own."

"You know how to reverse it, then?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, of course, why else would I bring it down here?" McKay ground out, getting annoyed by all the questions and interruptions.

"Well, then," O'Neill drawled, "Why don't you get on with it?"

"Yes, why don't I?" Rodney gave a huff. "I'm assuming everyone has finished asking stupid questions."

Jack raise his eyebrows at that as he and Daniel moved out of the way, allowing Rodney access to Carter. Janet went to the monitors to keep on eye on Sam's vitals.

McKay pressed a series of buttons and a white beam left the artefact and enveloped Carter for several seconds before dissipating. The transformation was astounding; from pale and weak to hale and hearty within seconds, Sam was healed, fully.

"Thank you, McKay," she said, with a genuine smile of gratitude.

"Um, well, just, you know, doing my job…" he stuttered out, unused to thanks.

And then Jack and Daniel descended on her, while Janet informed General Hammond and Teal'c of Sam's recovery. McKay picked up the device and slipped out, heading back to the lab with it. Normally he'd stay around to accept the accolades due to him, but somehow he didn't feel comfortable this time; he put it down to the fact that he didn't like hospitals much.

Daniel found him an hour or so later, writing up his report on the Ancient artefact.

"Hey."

"Um, oh, hey. How's Carter?"

"She's fine, though Janet wants to keep her in for a few hours yet, for observation."

"Typical doctor," Rodney huffed out.

"Just being careful," Daniel said in Janet's defence. "Anyway, there's a room set up for you so you can get some rest. When did you last sleep?"

Rodney shrugged.

"Several hours before being dragged out here." McKay looked at his report a moment before sighing and standing up. "Okay, show me where to go. I think I've earned the right to crash."

The following day, Sam was released from the infirmary and tracked McKay down to her lab. He was busy finishing his report on the Ancient artefact.

"Finally been released I see," he said as she entered the room.

"Finally. But considering I almost died, I think I can let Janet off for being somewhat… thorough."

"Humph. Damn doctors; when they're not ignoring you, they're overreacting."

"You really don't like them, do you?" Carter asked.

"Haven't had much reason to," he said with a shrug.

"Oh. Well, I didn't come down here to talk about your mistrust of doctors. I wanted to thank you, again, for working out how to save me."

"Oh, well, no need," he said awkwardly. "You'd do the same for me. Well, I think you would," he added anxiously. "You would have, wouldn't you?"

"Of course," she replied truthfully. "So, what's next for you, then? You signed on as a consultant, but I know for a fact the Air Force are willing to make that into a full job contract if you want, with the added proviso that you aren't sent abroad without your consent. Or you could remain as a consultant…or resign again."

"You know, I've missed this," McKay said thoughtfully. "Well, not this, as in the stress and the time constraint, but this as in…" He waved his hand towards the lab.

"Playing with the funky alien tech, as Jack might say."

Rodney grimaced, but nodded.

"Something like that," he admitted. "I don't want to go back to Area 51, at least not yet. I don't suppose you could find me a position here? I'll promise not to get in your hair or interfere with your own projects and research, if that'll help," he said with a grin, before adding ruefully. "Well, I'll promise to try not to, at least."

Sam shook her head, a smile tugging at her mouth.

"I suppose… that we could give it a trial run," she said equally as ruefully.

"We could?" he said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Yes, we could. But you start giving me trouble and I'll kick you back to Area 51 so fast…"

"Yes, yes, I get it," he said, smiling broadly. "You're just jealous, and secretly attracted to me, of course." The smile turned smug.

She groaned. Just what on earth was she letting herself in for? Still, it was good to see him regaining his confidence, even if that damned ego and crush on her were coming along for the ride as well.

"You can start by showing me what you have on the device," she said, purposely changing the subject. "You have any thoughts on why the Ancients would make something like this?"

"It could be a form of capital punishment," McKay suggested. "I suppose if you're going to kill someone then taking their energy and using it to heal others is more… practical than just, I don't know, a lethal injection or the electric chair. It makes sense, in a sort of slightly creepy alien way."

"Sounds… practical like you said. And very creepy."

"It might not be that, though. I mean, someone with a terminal illness could be healed by his friends and relatives. Each person would only have to connect to the device for a short period of time so that it only took a small amount of energy. That way they wouldn't become ill, and once it had enough power…"

"Yes, I could see that working," Sam agreed. "I'd do it, to save someone I cared about."

"Exactly. A couple of hours or so would leave a person feeling more tired than usual but nothing else, and that would be a small price to pay."

"I think I prefer the second idea to the first, but I guess we'll never know for certain. Still, it's good to know we could use it…"

"Ah, no, unfortunately not. The power crystals in the storage section burnt out. I don't know whether there was a flaw in the crystal, or whether it was limited on how many times it could be used."

"So it's useless?" Sam asked, disappointed.

"Unless it can be reverse engineered, and I doubt that to be honest, then yes. Still, at least we know now that they exist and if someone comes across another one off world…"

"Then we'll know what it is, and more importantly, won't activate it by accident and possibly end up wasting it, like we have this time."

"Well, it's not a complete waste, and accidents do happen…" he trailed off.

"Like in Russia?"

"Yes, yes, fine. Like in Russia. Happy now?" he snapped defensively.

"Ecstatic. Now, show me how it worked."

Later, much later…

Carter had been surprised when they received a databurst from Atlantis. Not so much that McKay had come up with the idea or that he had improved on the high compression ratios, but being contacted by the Expedition after all this time had been unexpected.

Of course, the contents of the databurst had caused the Air Force to start looking into ways of getting to and defending Atlantis from the Wraith; an enemy that made the Goa'uld look full of warm fuzzies by the sounds of things. There had also been a lot of scientific reports, and the database the city held looked to be everything they had hoped for and more.

A certain video message that apparently Lieutenant Ford had decided not to cut as requested - and just what had McKay done to upset his team-mate, and, come to think of it, just what was he doing on a team in the first place? - had told her that she was still in the thoughts of one pain in the ass Canadian astrophysicist, and if she ever got to meet him again he was going to be in so much pain as a result of his revelation.

It had been strange how things had worked out between them when he'd been working at the SGC. He had tried to keep away from her projects as much as possible, which was helped by his own projects keeping him busy, but there had been the occasional run-in. Threats of kicking him back to Area 51 usually got him to back off, and they had built, if not exactly a friendship, at least a mutual respect for each other. Though he still believed himself to be her intellectual superior. She snorted at the thought. He might be a genius, but he didn't have her experience or her intuition, and that counted for far more in her books.

Surprisingly, Daniel had managed to form a sort of friendship with McKay, despite the Canadian's belief that archaeology was a soft science, in fact wasn't even a 'science', and his many disparaging remarks along those lines. But then Daniel had more tact, diplomacy and downright patience than most people who dealt with McKay, and just let the comments flow over him.

Even more surprisingly, McKay seemed to find some sort of grudging respect for Daniel, even if he was a soft 'scientist'.

It was a few months later that they discovered the outpost in Antarctica, and McKay was the obvious choice to go there. He'd grumbled about it being colder than Russia, but she knew he was secretly pleased to be in charge of such an important research project. That Elizabeth recruited him as Chief Science Officer to the Atlantis Expedition had, of course, been expected. That he had actually agreed to go to another galaxy without knowing if he would ever be able to return, well, he'd surprised her by going.

He was a lot braver than he seemed. Something borne out by the reports from Major Sheppard regarding his team.

The report she had in front of her was about the Ancient device that had almost killed her and had necessitated bringing McKay back into the fold after Russia and his resignation. Apparently they had stumbled across a reference to it in the database, and the original use was to take the energy from a Wraith and use it to heal those who had survived a Wraith feeding. One Wraith could heal three or four humans, depending on how far gone the humans in question were.

So far they hadn't encountered any more of these devices in either galaxy, but it was good to know what they had been used for. Of course, the secondary use had been discovered quickly, and friends and relatives of terminally ill patients were able to store their energy into one of the devices and use it to heal their loved one.

It had never been used as a form of capital punishment, which was more of a relief than she had realised. The idea of it somehow didn't feel right to her, and she was glad the Ancients hadn't used it for that purpose.

Sighing, she turned to the next report. There was an awful lot of information to wade through, and anything could turn out to be the salvation of Atlantis, or even this galaxy with the new threat from the Ori.

She hoped she did get to see McKay again. She was curious to see how he had changed. A McKay with off world experience, a team, and friends (family according to his tape) would be interesting to see.

And, of course, not to forget the revenge she owed him.

She grinned evilly at the thought…

The End

A/N - The cat sending the email was based on a true story, though when my friend's cat jumped on the keyboard, it sent a partially completed feedback comment for an Ebay customer, not a personal unfinished 'to-be-deleted' email as in this story! Also, the alien device in this story is based on a device in Bablyon 5, which was used for corporal punishment by an alien race.