DISCLAIMER: I don't own SGA. I'm just having fun. Don't Shoot!

Rodney eyed Jennifer warily from the infirmary bed.

"You know, when I first got here I remember actually being happy to see you." He said.

Jennifer smiled and held up her hands.

"No more tests. Promise. Just coming over to see how you're doing."

"Well, you're the doctor. Shouldn't you be telling me? I mean, I know all of you generally expect me to know everything about everything but I draw the line at medical." Rodney said.

Jennifer checked Rodney's monitor and reached out to touch his forehead. She didn't really need to take his temperature and, if she did, a thermometer would have worked much better. But Jennifer found herself taking every little opportunity she was given to touch him and make sure he was really there. Even two weeks later, she could hardly believe it.

Jennifer almost shuddered as she remembered Rodney's miraculous return. She had heard the unscheduled off world activation call and then, shortly after, the call for a medical team to the gate room. There had been no explanation and when she arrived it was to see Rodney stumbling through on hands and knees. He was wearing an odd looking pale brown and deep red costume. As she had approached she had recognized that particular shade of red.

Rodney had been gasping for breath, clearly in a great deal of pain but smiling all the same. There had been tears in his eyes as he stared at her. She had checked his pulse and asked questions but he only smiled slightly and then became completely unresponsive.

It had taken Jennifer hours to repair the damage to Rodney's chest. He had coded twice during the procedure and then again when she had moved to working on his leg. In recovery, he had coded one more time and she really thought it would be the last one, that she wouldn't get him back. It had taken everything in her arsenal to get his heart beating again, but she had done it. Here he was.

"Hey," Rodney said, breaking into her reverie, "Where'd you go?"

He was looking at her now and all pretext of petulance and annoyance dropped.

"You okay?" He asked with concern.

"Yeah, Rodney. I'm fine." She laughed and felt tears come to her eyes that she quickly blinked away. "I'm just fine and dandy. What about you?"

Rodney smiled sadly. "I still feel, I don't know. Ionaa, she was a good person, you know? She didn't deserve..."

"It wasn't your fault Rodney." Jennifer squeezed his arm reassuringly. She coudln't imagine how he felt. She couldn't imagine the determination it had taken for him to pull her body through considering the injuries he had suffered. He had asked about the woman repeatedly and finally, Jennifer had had to tell him that she was dead. That she had been killed almost instantly by a bullet wound to the chest.

"But you were so brave, Rodney." She had said to the still weak and barely conscious man.

"Not enough." He had whispered in reply.

Looking at him now, Jennifer could see he was still hurting but this was a wound she couldn't figure out how to heal.

John walked into Woolsey's office. He had a pretty good idea what this discussion was going to be about. He smiled, ready for whatever Woolsey wanted to dish out.

"Colonel. Thank you for being so prompt." Woolsey said, in his quiet way. "Won't you sit down?"

"I think I will." John smiled.

"Yes, I think you probably have your suspicions about what I wish to discuss with you."

Woolsey paused as though waiting for a response but John said nothing. Woolsey cleared his throat.

"Yes, well. I think it would be better to state in the report that we were in agreement about the decision to lower the shield." He said simply.

"What?" John asked surprised. He had thought Woolsey was going to rake him over the coals.

"I think it would be better if the report indicates that you and I agreed that lowering the shield was the best course of action." Woolsey repeated and his tone of voice indicated that he actually might suspect that John didn't hear his previous statement.

"I think it is important to not leave any room for second guessing in the future, should that decision come under review." Woolsey continued.

John absently noticed that the little politician sure said the words "I think" a lot before asking incredulously, "You want to share blame?"

Woolsey sighed. "Lowering the shield was the correct decision. It is the decision I would have made given the time and opportunity to assess the situation. If that decision is called into question later and both you and I are equally responsible…well, the chances of any action being taken against both the highest ranking civilian and the highest ranking military officer is extremely unlikely."

John studied the man for a moment. "You're a good man, Woolsey." He said at last.

Woolsey blinked.

"I do actually try, Colonel." Woolsey said at last. "How is Dr. McKay? I haven't been down to the infirmary in a few days."

John smiled. "Doc says he's recovering nicely. It's nice to have him out of the touch and go zone. He's even started complaining again."

"Has he said anything about the evidence Dr. Keller found that he'd been tortured?"

The smile slipped from John's face quickly. "No. He hasn't mentioned it."

John frowned as he remembered an exhausted Jennifer apprising them of Rodney's status after the long surgery.

"He's still in critical condition. He's lost a lot of blood and suffered a great deal of trauma. We've had to resuscitate him several times already. I've managed to repair all of the damage and, if he can get through the next 48 hours, I'm optimistic that he'll make a full recovery."

John released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His legs actually felt a little unstable underneath him but that could have been because he'd been pacing outside the infirmary for the nine hours Keller had been operating.

"There is something else." Jennifer said then and she hesitated.

"There are scars…signs…What I mean is, we have found evidence that at some point in his incarceration, Rodney was tortured."

John clenched his fists and teeth as he listened to Jennifer describe the various wounds on Rodney's body. The most disturbing for John was when she speculated that at one point they had bound Rodney's hands to his feet and drug his, most likely naked, body across a rough surface, then doused the resulting deep abrasions in a caustic material.

Woolsey questioned if Rodney was Rodney or a clone.

"No, I sent off tests to identify any genetic duplication. The results came back while I was still in surgery. This is definitely our Rodney." She smiled.

Woolsey frowned. "I don't understand. If that's Dr. McKay, who did we cremate and throw from the Jumper."

John jumped in then, "I'm guessing a clone of some kind."

"One would think that, yes, but wouldn't that have been apparent in the autopsy? Dr. Keller, did you not test for that possibility?"

Jennifer flushed and bowed her head. She answered quietly, "I didn't perform Rodney's autopsy."

"What?" Woolsey said, surprised.

"I didn't…I was very…I couldn't bring myself to perform the autopsy. I discussed it with the SGC and since Rodney had requested cremation, they indicated that the autopsy could be performed by a Navy ME back on Earth. The ME wouldn't have known how to identify a clone. He wouldn't have even known how to check." Jennifer's voice was rough and emotional.

John saw she was on the verge of tears. She was mentally and physically exhausted from the surgery and didn't need Woolsey poking at her.

"I think maybe you should get some rest, Doc." John said, reaching out to grip her elbow reassuringly. "You just did a really great job saving our boy's life in there." He smiled at her. He could see it there in her eyes, the nagging voice of guilt in her head screaming that if she'd done the autopsy they'd have known it wasn't the real Rodney. They'd have been able to go after him.

"It's not your fault, Jennifer." He said softly, willing her to listen. "Whatever happened, whatever any of us did or didn't do doesn't matter. Rodney's here. You're making him better. He's going to be better."

Tears dropped silently from Jennifer's eyes. Her lips tightened and she nodded briskly.

"Thank you." She said at last and with a quick, tired smile, walked away.

John walked into the infirmary still thinking about that tense time, was it only two weeks ago? As he approached he saw Jennifer reach out and brush Rodney's fringe from his eyes. It was weird seeing McKay with longer hair, but hair does grow a significant amount in three months time.

"Hey, Buddy." John said brightly as he approached the bed. "She given you walking papers yet?"

Rodney looked hopefully at Jennifer.

"No." Jennifer said firmly. "If it were just the leg or just the chest I'd be tempted to say yes but getting around on that break would put too much strain on your torso right now. You need to stay where you can get assistance with the basics until I'm satisfied that you won't aggravate the chest injuries." She sighed. "If we were on Earth I could discharge you to a SNF unit or maybe even arrange for home health."

Rodney opened his mouth then but Jennifer forestalled whatever suggestion or protest he had been about to make.

"But we're not on Earth and we don't have the resources. You'll just have to stay here where I can keep an eye on you. However, I'll make a deal with you."

Rodney looked hopeful again.

"If you promise to be a good boy and do what I tell you," Jennifer said indulgently, "I'll let Radek visit AND I'll let you have a laptop."

Rodney turned to John and said with mock gravity. "I love this woman."

John laughed. Yeah, it was good to have the old Rodney back.

A/N: Only one more chapter left. To wrap up loose ends (Teyla, Ronon & Jeannie). Hope you've all enjoyed and thanks so much for reading!