DISCLAIMER – Stargate: Atlantis is the intellectual property of MGM/UA and associates. I'm writing this story for fun, and I am not being compensated in any way for its creation.

Dr. Itzhak Perlman is my original character.

RATING – This story is rated K+

ARCHIVE – Feel free to archive this story if you'd like. All I ask is that you would tell me where it's being archived. Thanks!

A/N – Yay! I'm so thrilled with the responses to this story, I don't even have a word to describe my thrilled-ness! Thank you to everyone who's reading, and especially those of you who've replied. I love those replies and I appreciate you taking the time to leave them for me.

-grin- Looks like the toy 'jumpers were a hit, too. I'm glad you guys liked those. I can tell you with certainty that you haven't seen the last of them.

Well, here is Chapter 3 for you. As my brother says, it's a bit of a head trip. I hope it's not too confusing. Let me know, ok? Enjoy!

I have no beta. Any mistakes you might find are mine.

All Fun And Games

3. The Unreal McKay

"The Game," Rodney said aloud into the empty air. "What game?"

He received no answer, but then again, he hadn't really expected one. He stood up and turned in a slow circle. As he completed his rotation, he thought he saw a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. He kept turning until he was facing the direction from which he thought he'd seen the motion.

The wall flickered.

Rodney stared.

The flickering wall resolved into the image of a white door with a brass doorknob. It didn't look anything like the doors on Atlantis. Rodney thought it more closely resembled the front entrance of a house on Earth. Encouraged by the prospect of finally leaving the white room, Rodney started toward the door.

He didn't reach it before someone else opened it from the other side and stepped through. The person was a very small someone; a girl who couldn't have been any older than seven or eight years. She was wearing a red dress, white socks and shiny black shoes. Her dark brown hair framed her face in big, loose curls. Some people might've thought she was cute – adorable, even – but the sight of her filled Rodney with a nameless dread.

A kid, he thought. I'm trapped in this place, and the only other living person around here is a kid! The situation, in Rodney's considerable opinion, had just deteriorated from bad to worse. What was he supposed to do about the kid? He'd go absolutely crazy in no time flat if he had to deal with this ankle-biter on top of everything else.

The little girl marched right up to him. She tilted her chin and peered at him as if she were appraising him. Rodney noticed her eyes were green. She had a particularly penetrating gaze.

"Hello, Rodney," the little girl said.

"Uh…" said Rodney.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" said the girl. "You should say hello."

"Hello," Rodney said.

"That's better," said the girl.

"Excuse me for being rude, but who are you?"

The little girl put her hands on her hips. "Rodney McKay! Don't you recognize me?" she said.

"No."

"I'm Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth Weir?"

"Of course."

"You look…different."

"Oh, everyone looks a little different here," mini-Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, about that," said Rodney. "Where exactly is 'here'?"

"Here," said mini-Elizabeth. She touched a finger to her forehead. "You're creating this place."

"I'm creating it? How am I creating it?"

"The Game reads your thoughts. It uses them to provide the greatest challenge for you. That's what makes The Game fun."

Oh yes…fun. Being trapped in a room with a small girl who claimed to be Elizabeth Weir did not meet the criteria for fun in Rodney's quality world. Having someone read his mind and use his thoughts to create an environment for him didn't exactly amuse him, either. And the fact that mini-Elizabeth had said that 'here' was inside his brain was just…disturbing. He'd thought his mind would look a lot more interesting and complex than this.

"Let me get this straight," Rodney said. "Right now, you and I are in my head? I'm standing inside my own head?"

"Of course you're not standing inside your own head. Though your head is rather large, It would not accommodate you in that way."

"That's not what I m—" Rodney began. "Hey! Did you just insult me? You can't really be Elizabeth, because the real Elizabeth would never—"

"You forget I'm not the real Elizabeth," mini-Elizabeth said. She laughed. "We are only images. You are the player and I am the guide, and our images are standing inside the construct that the game device has created from your thoughts. Your physical body is in Atlantis, connected to the game device."

"It's safe, right? I mean, my physical body isn't going to…uh…you know, die out there, is it?"

"Of course not. Don't be silly," mini-Elizabeth said airily. She held out her hand to him. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to begin The Game, Rodney."

"What if I don't want to?"

"You wouldn't have activated the device if you didn't want to play. That would've been silly."

"I didn't mean to activate the device. It just sort of happened."

"Let's go," said mini-Elizabeth. She took his hand and tugged him toward the door. "I will show you where your Game begins."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John had never been any good at sitting still. Patience was not high on his list of virtues, either, so while he waited for help to arrive, he decided to explore the Ancient toy room a bit more. Some of the toys and games looked interesting, while others were downright weird. The 'jumpers and the model of Atlantis were still his favourites, though. In the corner opposite Rodney's machine, John discovered another machine exactly like it. He was extremely careful about not touching it.

John guessed about ten minutes had passed by the time he'd seen everything he wanted to see in the room. He circled back to the device that held Rodney in its grip. The physicist was still unconscious, slumped forward against the device. He was going to have a sore back when he woke up, John thought.

John spun around when he heard the soft hiss of the opening door. He had to resist the urge to give voice to his relief. Carson was here at last. He might not know how to get Rodney out of the clutches of the Ancient machine, but at least he'd know if the physicist was going to be okay until the proverbial cavalry arrived to free him.

When the doors parted, the person who entered the room was not Carson Beckett. The man who hurried through the doorway, medical supplies in hand, was a wiry individual with out-of-control black hair and a faintly bemused expression on his tanned face.

"Dr. Perlman," John said.

"In the flesh," said the Israeli doctor. "Dr. Weir said you and Dr. McKay needed a little help down here."

"I'm fine. Rodney's the one who needs help," John said, and waved an arm in the physicist's direction. "Look, Doc, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I was kind of expecting Carson."

Itzhak Perlman grinned at him. "No offense taken, Colonel. I get that reaction a lot," he said. "The last I heard, Dr. Beckett was on his way back from the mainland."

John exhaled noisily. "Is everybody on the mainland today, or what?"

"As far as I know, only Dr. Beckett, Teyla and Radek went to the mainland today. They might've had some passengers. I think Halling was here."

"Right," John said. "Let's hope they get back, soon. Can you do something for Rodney?"

Itzhak was already moving across the room. He stared at the contraption in which Rodney was caught. "Colonel, what in God's name is this?"

"We think it might be a game."

"Dangerous game," Itzhak said. "Can you get him out of there?"

"I've tried. Rodney and I both tried, actually," John said. He took a step toward Itzhak. "Doc, I wouldn't touch it, if I were you."

Itzhak had been about to reach for the device, but he pulled his hand back. 'Why? What's the matter?"

"It gave me a pretty good jolt when I touched it."

"A jolt? Of electricity?"

"That's what it felt like. I think Rodney got an even bigger shock when he grabbed those handle things on the side of the machine. Enough of a jolt to knock him out."

"I'm glad you told me that. Is there any way to turn the machine off?"

"There's no plug to pull, if that's what you're asking," John said. "Maybe we could pull the crystals out, or something, but since I don't know what I'm doing in the crystal department, I'd rather not. Elizabeth's supposed to be getting in contact with Dr. Zelenka. I'm hoping he can figure it out when he gets here."

I'm sure he can," said Itzhak. "Radek is good with Ancient puzzles like this."

"Is there anything you can do for Rodney while we're waiting?"

"I can keep monitoring his vital signs," Itzhak said, "but there isn't much more I can do for him until we get him out of this machine."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Look," mini-Elizabeth said.

Mini-Elizabeth opened the white door and gestured for Rodney to look into the doorway. Through the opening, Rodney saw green grass, trees, and sunshine, swings and slides and a jungle gym. At least a dozen kids were playing in the little park. Some of them were swinging or climbing. A few of them appeared to be playing tag. Rodney peered at the scene suspiciously.

"Am I creating this?"

"Yes," said mini-Elizabeth.

"This park was across the street from my elementary school."

"Yes."

"I don't have to go in there, do I?"

"You can't go in there. You have to pass the first level of The Game, first. Once you pass, then you can go through the door."

"Look, Elizabeth, is there any way to get out of here?"

"Going through the door is the way to leave this room."

"That's not what I mean," Rodney said impatiently. "I'm talking about The Game. Is there any way for me to leave The Game?"

"Why would you want to leave The Game? You haven't even played the first level, yet. Wait here. I will see you at the beginning of the next level, Rodney McKay."

"Wait—"

Mini-Elizabeth stepped through the door, into the playground on the other side. Rodney watched her trot across the grass to where another girl and a boy were sitting under a tree. The boy looked to be about the same age as mini-Elizabeth. The other girl was no more than a toddler. She was leaning against the boy, but her attention wasn't on him. She appeared to be concentrating on the toy 'jumper that zoomed expertly around the lower branches of the tree.

The boy and mini-Elizabeth conducted a short conversation which Rodney couldn't hear. When they were done, mini-Elizabeth skipped off toward the nearest slide. The boy got to his feet, lifted the toddler in his arms, and started toward the door.

The boy was thin to the point of being scrawny, and his shaggy golden-brown hair was in desperate need of trimming. Behind his glasses, the boy's eyes sparkled with untold mischief.

Once they'd passed through the portal into the white room, the boy set the toddler down. Like the boy's hair, the little girl's hair was also light brown, though hers fell in ringlets nearly to her waist. She looked like a living china doll in her ruffled green dress and matching hair ribbons. The only thing that marred the china doll image was the toy 'jumper that cruised along beside her.

"Hello, Rodney," the boy said. He had a peculiar accent.

Rodney felt like pinching himself, but he realized it'd be no use. He already knew he was dreaming. This was a veritable nightmare from which he couldn't seem to be able to wake.

He said, "Radek?"

The boy smiled, and pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. "I'm glad you recognize me," he said.

Rodney let his gaze move away from mini-Radek and back to the little girl, who calmly sucked her thumb while the tiny 'jumper flew in lazy circles around her head. She stared at Rodney with curious, innocent eyes.

"Oh no," Rodney said. The little girl's identity had come to him with jarring clarity. "No, no, no, no…. If he's Radek, then you've got to be—"

"She is with me. That is all you need to know," said mini-Radek. He waved his hand and the air in front of Rodney's face shimmered. "The first level is puzzle. I know you are very good at puzzles. This shouldn't be difficult for you at all."

Famous last words, thought Rodney, as mini-Radek's puzzle began to coalesce before his eyes.

TBC
--------------------

A/N #2 – For anyone who's interested, I'll most likely update my other work-in-progress this weekend, probably by Sunday. I promise I won't keep you hanging for too long with this one, though. Take care, all! -hugs-