The next day, Jem, Torren and Rodney were back at Stargate Command. Rodney sniffed, trying not to think of the circumstances under which he was last there. In his mind, he was already refreshing himself on the technology on Atlantis, planning ways to fix things, though he knew he couldn't actually do anything until he got back there – not something he was particularly looking forward to.

"Dialing Atlantis," someone called. There was some chaotic noise, but neither Jem nor Rodney were listening. They were both preparing themselves for the quick journey back. Within moments the wormhole was open and Torren was taking hold of Jem's hand, a fact which was not lost on her father, and pulling her toward the gate.

"Dad," she called, worried for a moment that he'd changed his mind.

"Yeah, uh, coming," he replied, following the two of them. He cleared his throat and gave Torren a dirty look, causing him to drop Jem's hand.

"Dad," Jem rolled her eyes. "He's just trying to help me. I have a hard time going through the gate."

"No problem," he replied. "I'll help you." He smiled, taking his daughter's hand.

Jem shot a look at Torren, who chucked in return. They walked through the gate one by one and arrived on Atlantis shortly after.

Rodney looked around the gate room, forcing a smile to his face. He couldn't show anyone just how bad the knots in his stomach were becoming. "Looks just the same," he choked out. Jem put her hand on her dad's arm.

Grace came down the stairs to greet them. She smiled at Rodney.

"Welcome back to Atlantis, Doctor McKay," she said, extending her hand.

"Yes, um, thank you," he said, shaking her hand. "Well, um, let's see the damage." He wanted to distract himself as quickly as possible.

Grace and Torren led Rodney back to the weapons base, while Jem went back to work in the infirmary. He felt oddly comfortable being back in the city, despite how long he'd been gone. Everything looked just the same and it seemed like just yesterday that he was an Atlantis inhabitant himself. This also meant, however, that the numb feeling he'd often attained on Earth, far away from any trace of his wife, would no longer be suppressing the heartache he still felt so deeply. He blinked back tears as he headed to the site. He was thankful when they got there because it provided him something new to focus on. Anything would be a welcome change.

"Well," Grace said, "this is all we have left.". He surveyed the damage. "Do you think there's anything you can do?" she asked. "Our scientists said that repairs would be impossible, but we're hoping for a miracle here."

He was silent for a moment. "Well," he said at last, "I've seen worse."

Torren and Grace both stared at him in disbelief.

"Worse than this?" Torren asked.

"Yep. Much worse in fact. Jeez, what do you guys do around here nowadays that an attack from two hive ships was allowed to do this much damage?" he asked

Grace and Torren exchanged looks.

"So you think you can do something about this?" Grace asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it won't be easy or anything, actually, it'll be rather difficult, but I should be able to do something for it, at least get most of these operational. Honestly, from how you made it sound I was expecting it to be way worse!" It brought him a little joy to know he was still the best – not that he had really ever doubted that.

"Well, great," Grace smiled. "So, we will leave you to work."

"Great," Rodney said, already engrossed in his plans. Grace and Torren walked away without a word, undoubtedly impressed by the genius of Rodney McKay.

Okay, just stop and think about it, Rodney told himself. You're smarter than anyone here and it's not like you have Zelenka slowing you down anymore. Just think about this all of this for a moment and be rational. Jem needs you.

As he stared at the Ancient technology he'd once worked with on a daily basis, ideas began to come to him. He got into his groove working, snapping his fingers as he began to order people around. He was amazed by how efficient these people were, despite the fact that he was sure the level of their intelligence was highly debatable. It wasn't that had once he realized what to do. He flashed back to his old motto, a smile upon his face, "I'm Doctor Rodney McKay," he'd once told someone. "Difficult takes a few seconds, impossible takes a few minutes."