A/N: Thank you again to everyone reading, reviewing, and enjoying! It means a lot!


Chapter Four

[Assumes general series knowledge...spoilers for various episodes throughout]

Elizabeth found herself alone in a corridor on Atlantis. Taking a moment to get her bearings, she headed for the control room, hoping to find some answers.

Had Rodney received her message?, she wondered. It seemed almost too good to be true, but she couldn't see a reason for the other Replicators to recreate Atlantis just to trick her. If they were capable of revenge, she imagined it would be much more tortuous than this.

Elizabeth scanned the deserted hallways, looking for any sign of life. There didn't seem to be a single soul around.

Some welcome home, she mused sadly, climbing the last of the stairs to the control tower, and her office. Woolsey's office, she corrected.

Oddly enough, that last thought bothered her a lot less than it might have when the Replicators had first taken her, nearly two years ago. So much had happened since then. So much had changed.

She meandered back through the halls, checking the gym, the commissary, and the crew quarters.

All were empty.

"Rodney," she whispered. "Where have you brought me?"


"So who's gonna go in first?," Ronon asked, looking around the room.

"I will," Rodney said, beating Woolsey to the punch. He could just imagine the questions their new expedition leader might have for Elizabeth, and he figured he owed it to her to let her see a familiar face first.

Sheppard, for his part, had refused to come at all. Which left Rodney, Teyla and Ronon as the closest friends she had on Atlantis.

Keller stepped up to him, placing the electrodes around his head. "Whenever you're ready," she said, indicating the gurney they'd set up for visitors to lay on while in the virtual reality.

"Right," Rodney said, laying down. Closing his eyes, he could feel Keller activating the link, and then he was there, in the virtual Atlantis.

"Rodney!," Elizabeth exclaimed, startled.

"Uh, hi," he replied, nervous.

Elizabeth closed the distance between them, wrapping him in her arms. "You have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face," she explained, pulling away.

"I thought...I thought programming expedition members into the virtual reality would be an insult to your intelligence," he babbled. "So I left you with books, movies and music to keep you company."

"I noticed," she said, smiling. "A dog may have been nice as well."

"Oh."

"So this is a virtual reality?," she asked, pushing past the awkward.

"Yes. We needed a safe place to house your consciousness until a body could be made," he answered, still nervous.

"I understand."

"Look, Elizabeth. I never had the chance to say this, but I'm really, really sorry about everything that's happened..."

"I know you are, Rodney," she interrupted, placing a soothing hand on his arm. "And I don't blame you. You were only trying to help."

"It's my fault you were captured by the Replicators."

"And now you're helping me find a way to reclaim my life."

"I really...I really never meant for things to go the way they did."

"I know, Rodney. It's all right."

"It could take a very long time to finish what you asked of me in your message."

"I know."

"Were you serious about wanting a dog? I could program one in..."

"Rodney, sit down with me. Visit."

"I'm not very good at visiting."

"I've noticed," she said, smiling. "How is everyone else doing with all of this?"

"Cautiously optimistic might be the best description," Rodney confessed. "Dr. Keller managed to confirm that you are who you say you are, but it's a lot to take in. Sheppard...Sheppard isn't handling it well."

She nodded. "I wouldn't expect John to trust me yet, not after the role I played with the Replicators."

"Why did you do it?," Rodney asked, before he could stop himself.

"I truly believed they wouldn't pose a threat to Atlantis," Elizabeth answered, smiling wanly. "Their goal was Ascension. They needed your help. I never thought...I never thought they'd put the city in danger the way they did. And I can understand how John would mistake my motives for some sort of Replicator trick, given everything that happened. They weren't supposed to show up until after I'd managed to explain myself."

"Jennifer thinks he'll come around."

"Jennifer?"

"Dr. Keller," he clarified.

"I wasn't aware the two of you were on a first name basis," Elizabeth smiled.

"I...we...," Rodney stuttered.

"Are you an item?," Elizabeth pressed, good humour dancing in her eyes.

"No," he answered quickly. "Just...I don't know. Friends, maybe?"

"Friends, maybe?," Elizabeth parroted. "Rodney, if you like her, you should let her know."

"It's really not that simple."

"It really is," Elizabeth laughed.

"Look, maybe for men like Sheppard or Ronon, but guys like me...it's never that easy."

"Rodney. The only thing John and Ronon have when it comes to women that you don't is confidence."

"And good looks," Rodney corrected forlornly. "Even my own sister told me not to be too picky, because, in her words, I'm 'no John Sheppard.'"

Elizabeth bit back a smile. "Jeannie really said that?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Rodney confessed.

Elizabeth sighed fondly. "I think Dr. Keller would be lucky to have you."

"Yeah, phobias, pessimism, arrogance and workaholism all rolled into one. Who wouldn't want that?"

"You're a decent man, Rodney. Shortcomings and all."

"Well...thank you," he replied awkwardly.

"Are you working on anything interesting these days?," she asked.

"You mean aside from this? Nothing much," he answered with a shrug. "Something breaks, I fix it. The world needs saving, I save it. Same old."

"It's nice to see that nothing's really changed since I've been gone," she answered wryly.

"I wouldn't say 'nothing'," he countered. "I mean, Teyla's a whole new force to be reckoned with now that she's a mom. And Woolsey...Woolsey's not as bad from this side as he always seemed from Earth. Actually, even Sheppard has reformed somewhat. I haven't had cause to make fun of his chronic Kirk-isms in ages," Rodney babbled.

Elizabeth smiled.

"You missed Sam too. She was leader of Atlantis for about a year, before Woolsey came."

"Sam Carter?," Elizabeth guessed.

"Mmm. It's actually her fault I had the time to get to know Dr. Keller a bit better."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. See, we were on this planet, an old mining settlement, and I fell down a hole."

Elizabeth frowned.

"Sam and Jennifer were with me. Sam tried to help me out, but the ground collapsed beneath her, bringing both of them down into the mine as well."

"How long were you down there?," Elizabeth asked.

"Long enough," Rodney replied, mentally recoiling from their close call. "But we talked, while we were down there. And took turns saving each other's lives."

"It sounds like quite the experience."

"It was," Rodney replied. "And it was the first time I stopped seeing Sam as the woman of my dreams, and started to think maybe..."

"Maybe someone else would suit you better?," Elizabeth guessed when he didn't finish.

"Yeah."

"That's kind of how I felt the last time we were back on Earth," Elizabeth said candidly. "Simon had already moved on, but it was the first time I really took the time to evaluate my life without him."

"Oddly complete, even without the dream?," Rodney guessed.

"Exactly," Elizabeth replied, smiling.