The ocean was fairly calm – although as high up as he was there was definitely a breeze. The ornamental edging that ran vertically from ceiling to deck every thirty feet or so managed to block a fair amount of it and the light jacket he was wearing kept him from feeling the rest, so he wasn't bothered by the breeze – and the ocean was something men and women had been contemplating for centuries when they needed time to think. It was a perfect setting, really, and he wouldn't have moved just then for anything.

"You're going to catch a cold out here…"

The voice was fairly soft, but it still startled him. He turned and gave Colonel Mitchell a slight smile.

"It's sunny."

"According to Peter, it's supposed to be raining soon."

She walked up beside him and gestured to the far off clouds he'd been watching. Clouds that were definitely dark, but far enough away that they weren't anything more than just something to add to the scenery.

"I'll go in before that happens."

She nodded, and leaned against the railing, her body turned slightly towards him instead of the railing. A listening position, he knew – although the one psychology class he'd taken had been a fiasco and he hadn't been able to take it too seriously.

"How are you feeling?"

The question was more than a simple how's your head, but the way she'd phrased it made it possible for him to take it that way if he was disinclined to enter into a deeper discussion. That courtesy made him feel pretty good. Almost as good as the invitation to join her and Sheppard the night before.

He shrugged, trying to do justice to the question but still a little uncertain exactly how he was feeling. It wasn't every day someone got into your head, found that which you wanted most and then tried to seduce you away from your home with the perfect bait.

"I'm not sure," he answered honestly. "Sometimes I'm relieved, sometimes I'm sorry I left…"

"Which are you more?"

He smiled.

"Relieved."

"Good." She hunched her shoulders a little against a particularly stiff gust of cold wind. "Otherwise I'd feel guilty…"

"For what? Telling Johvon where to go?" He shook his head, his smile a little less sad, now. "I saw the whole thing, you know. You were magnificent."

"I was angry."

"Which was even more impressive," he replied. "I've never seen you like that."

Now she shrugged.

"It's not that big of a deal."

"It was to me."

There was a moment of silence, then, and she looked away. He wondered if he'd embarrassed her. Before he could say anything, though, or apologize if he'd been out of line, she spoke again – although she was still looking out over the water.

"I don't know if I ever said this, Rodney…" she said, seriously. "But I do consider you my friend."

He blushed, and was glad she wasn't looking at him to see it.

"I… um, that is to say, I…" he fell silent, feeling awkward and dumb, and was amused by the feeling rather than annoyed as he normally would have been. He had a large vocabulary and he was normally more than capable of utilizing it. Before he could stammer out anything that even sounded somewhat coherent, she continued.

"I'd hate to be the one that kept you from what you wanted, though…" she told him, turning to him, now, with her gray eyes serious. "And I wouldn't be much of a friend if I ruined your dreams just because my own prejudices got in the way."

Rodney shook his head.

"What Johvon did wasn't right. You saw that a lot quicker than I did and you acted on it – a lot quicker than I ever could have."

"I wasn't the one he was trying to manipulate," she reminded him. "And I'm not the one he threw the hot woman at…"

"That's because he knew you wouldn't have fallen for it."

Now McKay sounded bitter, but it was aimed purely at himself. Melony shook her head.

"Don't do that to yourself, Rodney," she told him. "You fell for a dream that anyone would want. There's nothing to be ashamed of, and the only one you should be mad at is Johvon…"

"He didn't get to you."

She snorted.

"Of course he did."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"He just made a mistake and sent me a dream that ripped me apart – something he didn't intend to do, I'm sure."

"About Brad Anderson?" he asked.

She hesitated, but nodded. It was a fair question and deserved and honest answer. She knew that more than a few people had heard about Brad – the military was as full of gossips as anyone, really, and the death of her old team wasn't classified or even a secret. Many things had been a secret – or more just private, really – but she was surrounded by geniuses. It hardly took a rocket scientist to figure some things out, after all.

"Yeah."

The two of them fell silent again, and she noticed that the dark clouds that had been on the horizon were getting closer – and the wind was definitely picking up. McKay hadn't noticed.

"You know…" he said, hesitantly. "If you want to talk about it…"

She smiled.

"I already did. And then I got drunk with a couple of good friends."

That made him smile. Right there was worth the hangover, he decided. A sharp gust of wind struck them both, making Mitchell shiver and ruffling through McKay's hair.

"We should go inside," he said, noticing that she looked cold.

She nodded.

"We could go find some of the others and see what they're doing. Sheppard mentioned teaching Ronon and Teyla poker…"

"I'm not good at poker…"

"Even better."

He chuckled and started to raise his hand, then hesitated but only for a moment. He touched her shoulder, his eyes serious but no longer bleak.

"Thanks for the talk…"

She nodded, giving him a smile that lit up her gray eyes even in the gathering darkness of the approaching clouds.

"That's what friends are for."