Thanks for the reviews. Hopefully, I can keep this interesting for you all.

Radek cursed as he sat behind the driver. The SGC had spared no expense in his travel from the mountain to this middle of nowhere estate. A private jet had taken him to a small airport in Montana. From there, he rode in a very comfortable car driven by a US Air Force major. He waited for the gate to open at the entrance to the estate..

He understood the security concerns. Rodney had so much knowledge in his head that he was actually considered a valuable asset- or a dangerous time bomb- by almost all the countries involved in the Stargate Program. If they only could access that mind, they would learn things more advanced than they could even dream of. Still, he was irritated by the delay all that security caused.

He started reviewing the notes from when Rodney was affected by the Ascension machine, his medical records, his brain scans. He could not see a single thing that seemed wrong. Of course, he wasn't the one who'd nearly ascended, and he wasn't too proud to admit to the fact that Rodney often saw things he didn't.

As the driver pulled up to the house, he wasn't surprised to see several cars parked there already. He knew Samantha Carter was here, Carson Beckett and probably Doctor Lam from the SGC. He was surprised to see a large pickup truck. Ah, General O'Neil was here. He wasn't sure why, unless it was to ensure security. Or to make sure that his former team members didn't get into any trouble.

Radek barely made it to the porch when the door was flung open by a harried looking Samantha Carter. He nearly took a few steps back as she reached to shake his hand. "Dr. Zelenka! I'm so glad to see you again!"

"Yes, it is good to see you, as well."

"I'm sorry you won't have much time to settle in, but... We need all the help we can get. Daniel can't keep up with the translations, and I'm really not sure I understand any of the math McKay's writing. And now his brain is beginning to deteriorate. Very slowly, but we could see it on the scans." Colonel Carter's voice dropped. "Our time is shorter than we anticipated because of it. We figure he has about three months."

This was terrible news. Three months and any hope for his friend is gone. He liked to focus on his dislike for his position- all the responsibility and paperwork was a burden he hadn't ever wanted. Aside from that, Rodney was one of the few people who could make Radek believe the impossible. As long as there had been hope, as long as there was a possibility they would find something to help the Canadian, Radek could force himself to function as though he was merely a place-holder for Rodney. He was determined to do everything he could to put things the way they were supposed to be."

Carter took his arm and led him into the house. "We're so out of our depth here, it isn't even funny. We've never even seen some of the math he's using. Even the Asgard aren't sure what he's working on."

Radek took a moment to savor the obvious frustration the woman was feeling. It was small of him, perhaps, but he couldn't help but recall the times the SGC had made it clear that Atlantis was a secondary concern, not quite as important as the SGC. The times they had, unthinkingly, perhaps, waved off the accomplishments of the scientists on Atlantis. "Show me where he is and what he's done."

Daniel Jackson was the first person he encountered inside the building. He stood, coffee in hand, staring at the walls. Radek didn't blame him. He stared, too. They were covered with words in Ancient, lines of equations. He exchanged greetings with the distracted linguist. As he followed Colonel Carter into the kitchen, he was aware of the relieved looks cast his way. He'd learned to hate those looks, hate the very idea that everyone had expected him to do what Rodney did. To essentially replace him. He was not Rodney, he was Radek.

He nodded to Doctor Lam who was seated at the table in the kitchen going over files. She sent him a short nod and a small smile. He didn't know her well enough to go beyond that. His eyes sought Rodney.

He stopped short. The last time Radek had seen Rodney McKay, he'd been like a mannequin. He had not had a spark of autonomy. Now, the man was frantically writing on the counter tops. He vaguely wondered why there was no paper, then remembered that Rodney was most comfortable writing on white boards. And there was too much information here to be contained by white boards.

Carson spotted him and hurried over. "Oh thank god! I've been going out of ma bloody mind!" He went on to detail how much he blamed himself.

Radek listened with half an ear until he grew impatient. "Yes, yes. What exactly snapped him back to reality?"

"Pain. The first time, he'd been splashed with hot soup. The second time was when I accidentally missed his vein taking a blood sample and poked a wee hole in his elbow." He motioned towards the newly awakened scientist. "Now he inflicts pain whenever he feels like he's leaving. You can see the various bandages and bruises."

"So he has to feel pain to be aware of everything? That sounds... remarkable! Yes, that would be the one stimulus that we didn't attempt! We should have thought of that." Radek was regretful over his oversight, but at that moment, his former boss noticed him.

"Radek! It's about time! I need to make you understand." His hands waved wildly, and he said a few sentences in Ancient (since when did Rodney speak Ancient?) and shook his head. "It was wrong, well, incomplete. I didn't, Carson didn't. Now we have to go back. Start over. I have to finish. I need to tell you. See? Here? Read this."

The Czech felt his eyebrows climb. He pushed his glasses up and rested his finger on his lips. He had to think over what Rodney said. "Are you saying that there was something else we were supposed to do?"

"Yes, yeah, uh. Bunch of morons. Even Carter doesn't understand. And I need you. And Carson. And, and we have to go back to Atlantis. Yes, Atlantis can fix me. I need to go. There. Where's my laptop?" Then his eyes grew wide. He started yelling something at Radek in Ancient, and pointing. He saw General O'Neill and Daniel Jackson rush into the room.

Daniel frowned, and O'Neill just cocked his head and looked at Daniel. After a minute, Daniel carefully responded, and Rodney calmed. He looked at the others. "McKay says all this work needs to go with him to Atlantis. He needs the chair."

"Aw, you know he can't go back there." Jack was shaking his head.

"Jack." Daniel stared at him steadily.

"And neither are you."

"But this could be the only way of helping him, and-"

"Daniel, no."

"Uh, sir?" Colonel Carter stepped between them. "I actually think Daniel's right. Now that Radek is here, we can- maybe- determine the sequence of the math and figure out what he thinks we have to do."

Rodney snorted. "I have to do it. In Atlantis. Idiots. But need you to help. Yes, that's what I'm saying. Won't hear that again. Uh, Radek. Carson. We need to go. To Atlantis." He shuddered. "No, no, not yet." Radek watched with horrified eyes as Rodney clawed the length of his forearm with his other hand. He felt his face blanch at the rivulets of blood seeping from his friends arm. The man was insane.

Carson made a noise. "Stop doing that. I told ye I could do something safer- certainly more sanitary- than this sort o' thing." He started cleaning the gouges.

"No, too fast now. I don't have time. We need the machine. The chair. We need Atlantis." Rodney grimaced as Carson poured an antiseptic over his arm. He started panting.

"You need to let me bandage this!" Carson kept a firm grip on Rodney's arm.

"Radek, the chair, and um, the machine. Yes, that's it. Oh, I know how to charge ZedPM's, yes." The Canadian was trembling.

"Rodney, we don't know what you need. Answer yes or no." Radek stood eye to eye with him. "Do you know how to fix your mind?"

"Yes, yes."

"Do you have to go to Atlantis?"

"I said that didn't I? Pay attention."

"What you've written, this is what we must do?" Radek hoped so. This was even crazier than vampires in Pegasus.

"It's not enough! It's too fast! No, no, no, no..." And his face blanked.

Radek was disturbed by the sudden lack of Rodney. "Explain, please."

Colonel Carter drew a shaky breath. "Apparently, Rodney's mind didn't fully integrate into his body when you tried to save him from dying. He, well, I guess the easiest way to explain it would be to compare it with astral projection."

"So he has been aware all this time?" Radek pondered this. "He has told you this?"

Daniel nodded. "I think it's almost like being part ascended, but not."

Jack raised his eyebrows. Carson rolled his eyes. "When his body is in pain, he is jerked back. But then he gets pulled back to... where he is now. And it's not lasting as long, probably because of the small lesions on his brain we've begun to see."

"Can he see and hear us? Perhaps we could-" Radek stopped, trying to think of words.

"No. I don't think he can see or hear us. At least not physically. He might be able to, but he obviously can't interact." Carter's mouth turned down. "I think that's why he has such an air of desperation. And he's not always coherent. Imagine of being isolated from human contact for two years."

Radek swallowed. He remembered seeing men come back from being questioned by government officials, barely able to function. They'd been broken shells, scared to be around people, cringing from sound. They'd been kept away from all interaction with their fellow human beings. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to spend nearly two years trapped in dark stillness. "So, he may be psychotic if we get him back?"

Daniel lifted his fingers in front of his face. "No. At least I don't think so. If he's partly Ascended, then he probably, maybe won't actually have that problem. He might be existing on another plane. It's also possible that he can communicate in some small way with other Ascended beings."

Carson stepped in. "We aren't sure, of course, but it seems that his very brief returns to reality, along with the nightmares-"

"Nightmares?" Carter and Radek said together. Daniel leaned forward in interest. Jack just lifted an eyebrow.

"Ah, yes? It's one of the reasons we keep him out so far. He spends most of his nights screaming." He looked at them. "Ah, I'm such a bloody idiot!"

"What?" Lam grabbed a paper and pen. "Tell me all about these nightmares."

"Well, they're not pleasant. He screams until his throat is raw. We can't ever wake him from them. Once or twice we tried giving him something to knock him out, and his heart stopped. We don't know why."

"Wait! Wait!" Daniel began to pace. "If he screams at night, what's the connection to this-" he waved an arm around- "awakening during the day? Is he doing something in his sleep to try and wake himself up?"

"That would mean he's managed to connect to his physical body all this time... No, it shouldn't be possible." Doctor Lam shook her head. "If he's disconnected- or partly ascended- there wouldn't be a way for him to send information to his body."

"Well, that may be so for normal humans..." Carson trailed off.

"I hate to admit it, but Rodney's brilliant, and stubborn. Plus, we know his brain has been subtly altered. It isn't functioning as a normal human brain. His scans clearly show that. It might be possible." Carter looked to Radek to see what he thought.

"Yes." He said slowly, his mind turning over the information. "And the science he's doing here, well, it leads to the conclusion that he knows a great deal more than he did before. And all is more advanced than anything we can understand. So it is possible."

"So why the pain thing? And nightmares." Jack unfurled from the wall he'd been holding up. "I mean, this is McKay. He hates pain. Why not, oh, the smell of coffee?"

"That's it! He responds to pain because it's one of the most basic sensations we can feel." Doctor Lam looked surprised by her own revelation. "It's one of the first stimuli an infant responds to."

"He's using the reptilian part of the brain to tap into the rest!" Daniel muttered.

Jack snickered. "Reptile brain?"

"It's the most primitive part of the brain, believed to control the need to defend or attack, to make displays of dominance and so forth. When he feels pain, that part of his brain would react as though there is a threat, and he must have figured a way to use the chemical changes in the brain as a kind of doorway."

"What about the nightmares?" Radek wondered if that was something different.

"It's possible that he can't make a complete connection without physical pain." Carter looked to Doctor Lam, who nodded. "We know the subconscious directs dreams. He's probably aware of everything happening through his subconscious mind. His conscious mind is the one that detached. So..."

"OK. Start from the beginning for those of us who aren't super smart." Jack frowned.

"Rodney is only connected to his body by his subconscious mind. He can't overcome that aspect of his mind, though, so he essentially becomes trapped in his dreams as his subconscious processes everything.. And that connection is the only thing that allows him to gain control of his body." Caroline shrugged. "It's all he has left."

"Think of it like this: When you're sleeping, and your body senses danger, you wake up. If you smell smoke, or hear a loud noise, your brain makes sure you can react." Carter rubbed her eyes. "It's one way the reptilian brain ensures survival."

"So his physical survival has to be threatened for his conscious mind to be able to come through to the forefront." Carson finished, looking glum.

"Meaning?" Jack asked.

"Meaning, we have to find a way to convince his reptilian brain that he is in immanent physical danger almost constantly." Carson sighed. "And here we have the conflict. Doing so will wake Rodney up, but the body can only take that sort of stress for so long."

Radek thought about it. "I think if he were able to, he'd tell us to do it."