Sorry for the wait, things got on top of me and my muse decided to pack its bags and stay in Venice. However, this chapter is a little longer than previous ones so hopefully that'll make up for it.

The world was spinning far too quickly; fast enough that he could actually feel it and wanted nothing more than to cling onto any available surface in order to remain centred. His head was pounding and his body couldn't decide if he was too hot or too cold. His return to consciousness was not turning out as well as he'd hoped. Everything ached, every muscle, bone and damn hair on his body was screaming for attention and he didn't have the strength to do anything more than groan.

"Rodney?" That voice was very familiar; if only he could see. Just a minute, why couldn't he see? Had he gone blind? He began to panic; he didn't even know where he was! He could be anywhere! Koyla might be here. Oh God, what if he was still in the facility?

With a great effort he forced his arms to move, tearing frantically at the leads he could feel on his chest. Strong hands were suddenly grasping his own, running footsteps could be heard before more pairs of hands were on him, holding him down. He wanted to scream, to cry for help but all that came out of his mouth was a pitiful mewl. He was panting, the small movement tiring him out far too quickly.

"For God's sake lad, calm down." There was that voice again. It filled hi with warmth but his terror was at such a level that this did nothing to stop him struggling.

"Lemme go!" He cried, his voice feeble even to his ears and his arms were growing exceptionally heavy. He couldn't keep up this fight for much longer. He had to escape, get some enzyme. Yes, that's what he needed. Where did Koyla keep it? Somewhere in the complex…but he didn't even know where he was so he'd never be able to find the stash now.

"Not likely. Just calm down, you've nearly ripped out your I.V." Rodney frowned in confusion (bloody hell even that hurt), Koyla's boys wouldn't want to look after him. In fact he wouldn't be in a bed if he was with the Genii.

"Who…you?" He asked, fighting the incredible weariness that was creeping into his very bones. He couldn't sleep. He had to escape. Find Sheppard. Get home.

"It's me, Rodney. Carson. Open your eyes, lad." Rodney made to interrupt but the voice continued, "Aye I know it's difficult. But you'll feel better. Come on, Rodney. There's a good lad." Normally he would have made some scathing remark about that patronising last sentence but all his energy was focused on lifting his eyelids. This would explain the blindness, why hadn't he realised that before?

After a small struggle he finally forced them open. He blinked rapidly against the bright light, screwing his face up in pain as it burnt his retinas. Once again he let out that pitiful mewling sound again. He vaguely heard Carson ordering someone to turn the lights down, and after a few seconds he was able to open his eyes without too much pain. His gaze fell first on Carson, how could he not have recognised his voice?

"Hello Rodney." There was that warm smile and Rodney felt safe for the first time in what felt like years. He was home, Carson wouldn't be here if he wasn't on Atlantis.

"'Bout time…" He started before his eyes drifted shut once again and he gave into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXX

Carson watched as Rodney's eyes fluttered closed, his breathing regulated and his heart rate slowed slightly. He would have preferred the scientist to be a bit more aware of his surroundings but there wasn't much more to be expected. Especially after the amount of enzyme Rodney had in his system. The blood work and analysis had come back in record time and they'd only confirmed his worst fears. There was a lot of the drug in Rodney's system and by the look of those track marks on his arms it had been going on ever since they'd lost him.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to remove the gritty feeling from his eyes. It was exhaustion, he knew the feeling so well it could almost be classed as an old friend. They'd been working nonstop for the past few hours; firstly swabbing all the wounds on Rodney's torso along with the track marks and then strapping up his rib. From what he could tell there were a couple of other bruised ribs but only one which had broken. They couldn't do a lot for that, as long as the scientist didn't put too much strain on it, it would hold and eventually heal.

It hadn't taken them long to realise he'd been stunned before he was brought here, although Carson wasn't sure if this had been down to one of the team or an outside party. The combination of the blast and Rodney's already elevated heart rate had worried him but so far the other man was holding strong. They'd given him painkillers to try and block the worst of the pain but there wasn't a lot else they could do at the moment.

He stared down at Rodney, concerned eyes taking in the sweat drenched forehead and the pale skin. He had hoped that they'd never have to go through this again. It had been awful last time, seeing Rodney writhing on the bed, so close to death and he hadn't been able to do anything about it. To hear his best friend accusing him of trying to kill him. He didn't think he could go through that again.

He sank down on one of the chairs next to the bed, a hand reaching out for one of Rodney's and he squeezed gently. He'd stay here all day and all night, he'd already made that decision the second he'd seen him in Ronon's arms. He had to monitor everything and if Rodney woke up again he'd prefer it if he was here to calm him down. Absentmindedly he began to stroke the back of his friend's hand, as his chin drooped to rest on his chest. A part of him wanted to cry; to just break down right now. He wanted to shout and scream at the world, to curse at every being in the two galaxies he called home for doing this. It just wasn't bloody fair!

"Carson?" His head snapped up and he blinked rapidly, suddenly acutely aware of how close he had actually come to allowing the tears to fall. He took a deep, steadying (slightly shaky) breath before he fully registered who was now in his sick bay. John, Ronon and Teyla were stood in the doorway, apparently waiting for permission to enter and he waved them forwards with his free hand. They hurried towards the bed and soon they were looking down at their teammate and Carson could see all his own emotions playing across their faces. All except Ronon, but then again that man had always been unreadable.

"How's he doing?" Sheppard asked, his eyes never leaving the scientist's face. Carson sighed following the Colonel's gaze, his hand squeezing Rodney's once again. He just didn't want to let go. It was as though he was scared that if he did he'd lose an anchor to sanity.

"Not good. He regained consciousness not long ago but was extremely disorientated. He slipped under again and we'll keep him under sedation for a while longer but sooner or later he's going to have to wake up." He knew there were certain procedures where you could place the patient in a medically induced coma and wait for the withdrawal to pass but this enzyme was far too dangerous for that. He didn't want Rodney to be under anaesthetic for too long. They'd managed to inject the scientist once he'd calmed down slightly but it had only been a small dose. God, they couldn't even knock him out properly to help him with the pain.

"It's going to bad." Carson was slightly surprised to hear Ronon's voice, it was quieter than usual but that was most definitely a statement. Ah yes, Ronon and Teyla had gone through a similar withdrawal on that hive ship hadn't they. So they knew all about this, except as far as he was aware they hadn't had as big a dose as Rodney had when he'd made it through the 'gate.

"Aye. He's only just entering acute withdrawal. Last time it was…difficult and this time he's been on the enzyme for a much longer period of time." He watched the three members of the Atlantis flagship team. He could practically feel the anxiety flooding off all of them. John was stood closest to Rodney, his hands by his side but his fingers occasionally twitching as though he wanted to just touch his friend, to reassure him that he was there. Teyla was next to him and he noticed that she too had taken Rodney's hand, fingertips brushing lightly against the pale skin. Ronon was stood at the foot of the bed, arms folded across his chest and to anyone who didn't know him they would have thought he couldn't care less about being here. It had taken Carson a long time to begin to understand the Satedan but eventually he'd come to notice little signs that gave away his emotions, the straightened back, the tighter posture.

"But he'll be okay, right?" John asked, although Carson wasn't under the delusion that the Colonel was naïve enough to believe that. It was just one of those questions that you felt you had to ask when standing next to the bed of a loved one.

"I don't know, Colonel. Last time was bad enough, we came so damn close to losing him then and this time his body's become more reliant on it. Going through withdrawal for the second time is often more dangerous, especially because his body will have welcomed the drug far easier this time around. It's not going to be pleasant and dangerous. I can't give you guarantees, all I can say is I'll do my best." It was the most assurance he could give, he'd do everything in his power to try and keep Rodney alive but most of it was down to the man now lying unconscious before them.

"Thank-you Carson." Teyla gave him a weak smile as she sank down onto the edge of Rodney's bed. The other two took that as a cue to grab two of the horrible hospital chairs and drag them next to the bed and sit down as well. Carson shot them a half-smile before he let go of his friend's hand at last, stood up, took another check of his vitals before he headed off to his office to give the team some privacy. He would have liked to stay there for longer but he knew that they would want to be alone for a while. They'd watch over him for now and he wouldn't be far away.

Once he reached his office he practically fell into his chair and buried his head in his hands. It took him a few minutes to compose himself and a few more calming breaths before he could bring himself to pull some of the paperwork that littered his desk towards him. It would take his mind off things for the time being.

A cough from the doorway made him jump and he turned wide eyes onto the woman stood there. He placed a hand over his heart, feeling the rapid beat begin to slow down now he could see who it was.

"Blimey Elizabeth, you nearly gave me a heart attack." He said, a weary smile forming on his lips as the adrenaline began to recede. The head of Atlantis shot him an apologetic look before taking a step inside his office.

"Sorry, I just wanted to check up on Rodney. How's he doing?" She asked, turning round slightly in the direction of Rodney's bed.

"I won't lie tae you, Elizabeth. It's worse than last time," She sucked in a breath as she turned back to face him, "He's going tae have to cope with most of the same symptoms as last time, but there's a chance they'll be more pronounced and more common. His body's more used to the enzyme now; it'd be like Ford coming off the bloody stuff." She nodded, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Carson gave a bitter chuckle and her eyes widened in surprise.

"There was a small vile of enzyme in Rodney's jacket, I guess he was keeping it safe tae take whenever he needed it but it's not enough to wean him off it completely. At most it would last a day and after that he'd have to go cold turkey. Every option is as bloody bad as the other." He hadn't been able to vent his frustration before, but with Elizabeth he felt safer doing it. She wasn't going to judge him for not being the poster boy for professionalism all the time.

"What about sending a team to harvest more of the enzyme? I mean if we have a bit of it this time then there's more time for a team to get some more." Carson shook his head sadly. If they had more of the stuff then he might have thought about it but another team would just be putting themselves in harm's way with no guarantee that they'd even manage to get it back in time.

"There'd be no guarantee that they'd find any, let alone get it back for when we need it. If we finished the enzyme and there wasn't any more to use then he'd be in full blown withdrawal within a few hours. We've only got a while before the symptoms start to increase in severity now." He glanced out of the window, down towards Rodney's bed and the three people still sat round it. They weren't talking; they were simply sat there staring at their friend.

"But if we got it back in time then you could wean him off it?"

"Possibly. It should be similar to other opiate addictions but we've never tried it before. It's all bloody dangerous. Who did this tae him?" His voice shook with anger as he thought over all the injuries that his friend had sustained.

"John said something about Koyla." Carson felt his blood boil at the mere mention of that man's name. He should have known that bastard wasn't going to just disappear after everything he'd done against the expedition so far. If he ever got his hands on that evil, pathetic excuse for a man then he'd kill him with his bare hands.