Chapter Two

Rodney stared at Elizabeth not able to believe she really stood in front of him. Memories and thoughts flooded his mind and the urge to embrace her came over him. The only thing preventing him from hurrying toward her was what she said.

"What?"

Elizabeth stepped toward him, her green eyes tearing at his heart. He couldn't breathe. Was this a nightmare or a dream come true?

"Dr. Rodney McKay died three years ago," she repeated, her eyes roaming over him. "He crashed into the ocean and we couldn't get to him in time. He drowned."

His mind raced through his recollections to the moment when he was stuck under the ocean in a puddle jumper. Cold, wet and hallucinating and trying to figure out a way to escape and survive. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"The whale," he said. "The sounds the whale made led you right to me."

Elizabeth shook her head, her eyes wet. "We realized that too late. When Sheppard and Zelenka were able to get the door open, the jumper was filled with water. They were barely able to make it back to their jumper when the water came crashing over them. Rodney…"

She turned from him and he wanted to reach out to her, but stopped. It wasn't like her to cry over someone. He knew she mourned each and every death, but he'd never seen her openly cry.

"We sent him back to his sister," Sheppard said, his voice subdued. "We attended the funeral and Radek took over as chief scientist. Elizabeth didn't want anyone else."

Rodney felt strange. He invaded this reality and brought back terrible memories. He cleared his throat, uneasiness washing over him. He turned and saw Jennifer staring at him. He offered her an awkward smile.

"You never got to meet him…me…him then."

Jennifer shook her head. "No. Dr. Weir showed me pictures of him…um…you when I arrived after Carson died. She talked very highly of Rodney…you..."

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked away sheepishly. It made her look adorable and his heart clenched. All kinds of uncomfortable poured over him.

"We did find a clone of Dr. Beckett," she continued, looking back at him. "He helps occasionally."

"Same here," he said, putting his hands behind his back. "Our Carson died, too, but we found a clone."

"You have a Dr. Keller?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes."

"We should let you get back to work," Sheppard said, grabbing Rodney's arm. "We need those results."

Rodney rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "I am who I say I am, damn it."

"We'll let the tests decide that. Right now, you're going to be placed in your very own quarters."

"Why do I bother?" Rodney asked, shrugging his arm out of the other man's grasp. He looked to Elizabeth for help, but she only stared at him as if seeing him for the first time in a long time. He understood, knowing he felt the same way about her.

I need to find a way to talk to her alone, he thought as Sheppard dragged him down the corridor.

"I always wondered what you'd be like if you'd lived," Sheppard said.

"Oh, so you believe me?"

"I didn't say that. I only said I've always wondered."

Rodney sighed and shook his head. What would it take to get these people to believe him? Course, he didn't blame them for not trusting him. He wouldn't trust himself either. How many duplicates of himself had he met and trusted?

Only one.

Course the only reason he didn't trust the first one was plain jealousy. This was completely different. He was dead and buried in this reality.

I really don't want to think about it.

"Here you are," Sheppard said and ran his hand over the door controls. The door slid open, revealing a Spartan room with only a bed up against the far wall under the window. He stared at the room then at Sheppard.

"You've got to be kidding me," he groused.

"Nope. You'll be staying here until we figure this out," Sheppard said and pushed him into the room.

"I need to talk to Elizabeth!" Rodney shouted as the door closed in his face.

He glared at the door, itching to open it and give the Colonel a piece of his mind. Instead, he grumbled and sat on the bed. He needed to play his cards right and not make a mess of things. They'd see soon enough he was who he said he was.

All I need is patience. A lot of it.

With nothing better to do and all his equipment in a lab he probably wasn't allowed to go into, he lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Elizabeth stood in the briefing room, her mind in a whirl. She hadn't believed her eyes when she saw Rodney McKay alive and well in the infirmary. It had to be a dream. She remembered seeing his body, remembered Carson trying his best to bring the scientist back to life to no avail. She remembered the funeral and how her world came crashing down around her. She missed him so much. A day didn't go by when she didn't think about him.

"Elizabeth?" Teyla asked, her soft voice piercing her thoughts. "Are you all right?"

Elizabeth blinked and cleared her throat. She sat at the table in the center of the room and tried to compose herself. She took a deep calming breath and blinked the stinging tears from her eyes.

"As you may have heard, we have a visitor," she said, hoping her voice didn't waver like the rest of her.

"John told me," Teyla said. "Are we still waiting on the tests?"

"Yes." Elizabeth dropped her gaze to her hands folded before her. "He looks and acts just like Rodney."

"We should send him back," Ronon said, his voice gruff. "We shouldn't trust anything he does or says. He could be a Replicator or worse."

"Jennifer scanned him, he doesn't have any nanites," John replied, leaning back in his chair. "The DNA will tell us if he's really Rodney McKay."

"What if he is?" Teyla asked, leaning forward. "What then?"

"We send him back," Ronon repeated. "The people in his reality are probably worried about him."

"What if we can't send him back?" Teyla put in, staring at Ronon.

Ronon looked back at Teyla, his expression showing he didn't believe that for a moment.

"We'll cross that bridge when come to it," Elizabeth said, getting to her feet. "Right now, we'll wait for the results."

"He's not going to stay in those quarters," John said. "If he is McKay, he's going to head down to his lab out of boredom."

She sighed, knowing John was right. She'd bet he was down there now scaring the staff half to death. A small smile crossed her lips at the thought. She pushed it away before the others saw it.

"I'll talk to him," she said.

"Are you sure?" John asked, getting to his feet. "I know how much he meant to you."

She looked away, clearing her throat. It took all she had not to run. Even if he wasn't Rodney, she wanted him to stay. It was selfish, but how many people got a second chance?

"I'm all right," she said, looking at John. "Just another day in the Pegasus galaxy."

"You can say that again."

Elizabeth nodded and left the briefing room. She headed toward their visitor's quarters, her mind a flurry of what she wanted to say to him. She didn't know where to start. What did someone say in situations like this?

"Dr. Weir."

She turned to see Lorne heading toward her. She allowed him to catch up to her before continuing on her way.

"What is it?"

"I heard about our visitor," he said, walking in step with her. "I think we need to watch him. We don't know…"

"We're running DNA tests on him," she said. "He hasn't caused trouble so far. He's just as confused as we are."

"Maybe he's buying his time. Let me watch him."

"I appreciate your concern, but I don't think he's going to be a problem."

"You're too close to this," Lorne said, stepping in front of her. "You're not going to see who he really is. You're only going to see who you want to see."

Elizabeth stared at him and raised a hand to stop his words. "We're going to wait on the tests. If it turns out he is Rodney McKay…"

"You're not going to pick up where you left off," Lorne said, surprising her.

"Excuse me?"

"You don't know anything about this person," he said. "What if he's in a relationship with someone else in his reality? What if he's married?"

"I just want to talk to him," she said, her pulse racing. Did everyone know about her relationship with Rodney? No wonder they treated her as if she would break after the funeral. "You're welcome to come with me if you suspect him to attack me."

Lorne smiled. "I suspect you'll attack him."

She looked at him askance. "Talk. That's all."

"Right."

She shook her head and led the way to the room their visitor stayed. She wanted to call him Rodney, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself. She'd wait for the results. Her eyes and heart, though already knew he was Rodney.

She stood in front of the door, staring at it. She closed her eyes, blood rushing through her veins.

"You want me to open it?" Lorne asked, concern in his voice.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. Just bracing myself."

"I'm right here."

She smiled and glanced at his P-90. "I don't think you'll need that."

He stared at his gun then smiled at her. "Can never be too careful."

She ran her hand over the controls and the door slid open. She stepped into the room and came to a sudden stop. Her heart leaped into her throat at the sight before her.

He lay on his back, one arm draped over his stomach, the other above his head. He looked still as death. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move.

"Ma'am? Are you all right?"

Lorne moved around her and strode toward the form on the bed. He knelt down and checked for a pulse. An instant later, Rodney almost leapt from the bed.

"My God, those hands are cold!"

Getting to his feet, Rodney glared at Lorne, who aimed a gun at him. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. One minute he was sound asleep and the next a rude and freezing awakening. What happened to knocking?

"Put the gun down, Major," Elizabeth's voice caught his attention.

He looked at Elizabeth and his heart stopped. She stood before him, dressed in a red shirt and black slacks; she looked just as he remembered her. An ache formed, threatening to strangle him.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said, closing the gap between them. The heat from her body wrapped around him, warming him. He stared into her green eyes, all other thoughts leaving him.

"I'll wait outside." He barely heard Lorne. "Yell if he tries anything."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Elizabeth said, the door closing.

He wanted nothing more than to stare and bask in her nearness. He missed her so much, it hurt. To have her stand before him was a gift he didn't want to squander.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Rodney asked, sitting on the bed.

She stepped away and memories of the hundreds of conversations they had formed in his mind. He'd give anything to have those conversations again.

"You know this is a shock to everyone," she said, turning to face him.

"I know, believe me," he said, getting to his feet. He didn't want to have this conversation sitting down. It put him off guard. "We've been in a similar situation in my reality with our Carson. Not to mention clones of ourselves."

She smiled and his heart soared. How he missed her smile.

"We haven't met our clones, but I understand what you're saying," she said.

"I know you have to treat this with the highest security. I'm willing to cooperate until I run out of patience."

"Which won't be too much longer," she said, laughing.

A shiver of awareness went through him at the sound of her laugh. He never really got over her death and seeing her before him brought it all back. He didn't doubt she felt the same about seeing him.

"Right," he said, clearing his throat. "When will I be able to leave this spacious room?"

A spark flared in her eyes and an answering shock ignited his insides. She smiled and stepped closer to him.

"If it was up to me, I wouldn't even wait for the results," she said, her eyes roaming over his face. "As far as I'm concerned you're Dr. Rodney McKay."

Rodney smirked and folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to keep from grabbing her. "And how did you come to this conclusion?"

"I know him," she said, her eyes wet with unshed tears. "If there's a degree in Rodney McKay, I have it. Your behavior, your words, everything about you tells me you're him. I don't need tests to convince me."

Something in the way she spoke told him she was telling the truth. She believed him. The misgivings and tension that had been building finally faded away. He relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you believe me, that's all that really matters," he said, plopping back on the bed. "I suppose I have to wait for the results before I can have anything to eat."

"No," Elizabeth said. "I'll bring you something to eat."

"Wouldn't wait to give anyone a heart attack," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll make an announcement over the intercom later," she said, opening the door. "Until then you have to be patient."

He stared up at her through his lashes. "When have I ever been patient?"

"Good point. I'll get you a tray. Are you allergic to citrus?"

He scoffed. "Of course."

She smiled and left the room. The urge to follow her rose inside him, but he pushed it back down. He could wait, bide his time until the results came through.

The big question in the back of his mind, threatening to make itself known was should he find a way back or stay here?