"Yes there's another story. This is one I've been working on for AGES! People will be different, but it's an alternate reality so you should kind of expect that. The first chapter kind of sets up everything for Rodney and Sam, after that we move forward to the beginning of the Atlantis expedition.

Another Life

This was not how Rodney expected his life to go.

Okay, maybe some of it was as expected. He'd grown up in a family of scientists, even if his parents didn't like him, they still expected him to excel and he did, he was brilliant in fact and he wasn't the only one who thought so. He'd skipped grade after grade at school, even the prestigious, private, boarding school he'd attended from prep to year 12. He'd finished his bachelors in record time then his doctorate and multiple PHD's shortly after.

He'd expected all of this.

He was a good-looking man all things considered. He had straight, dark hair, that spiked perfectly when styled right, fair skin, not a lot of body hair which he was grateful for -he didn't mind the right amount of body hair on other men but he didn't like it on himself, striking blue eyes, high cheek bones and a slim, toned figure. He wasn't a gym junkie by any stretch, but he knew being the youngest, smartest boy in school, the smallest kid in the family and gay -not that he was overly camp, but there were always people who assumed or found out somehow- that he'd be the target for many a bully throughout his lifetime, so he'd devoted a chunk of his time to learning martial arts, several in fact, and in keeping himself strong enough to defend himself and his friends - which when he was the only guy in a group of women, and one of them was his younger sister by 5 minutes, put a lot of pressure on him to keep them safe.

That was all relatively expected.

He had very few romantic relationships that lasted longer than one night -when you were younger than a lot of people around you by a decent margin finding love wasn't exactly easy, and unfortunately there were a lot of sexually repressed men in the world who couldn't admit that they were gay or even bisexual and would take him to bed at night but never stick around after it was over-. This left him starving for love and feeling inadequate and led him to relationships with people who weren't good for him.

The first had been doing a PHD with him and had tried to steal his research project, that had been devastating, the second … he tried not to think about him too much, it still hurt. They'd only broken up a few months ago and only when Chase had decided he was done. He'd been a friend of Rodney's sister and he'd never told Jeanie what had happened between them. It was sad, but he never thought she'd believe him, she adored Chase, and he hadn't wanted to ruin the only good family relationship he had in his life. Chase had destroyed him so badly, crushing his self-esteem, but he'd never let it show on the outside. After growing up in a family that hated him, he was well past used to hiding his feelings.

More expected parts of his life.

What he hadn't been expecting was for one of the projects he and Sam had been working on in their lab at work to draw the attention of the air force. When an air force Colonel had turned up one day in their lab, with a group of soldiers and a guy in a suit, and asked the two of them to come for a drive, they were both more than a little nervous.

Sam and Rodney had gone to the same school and been friends since prep. She, along with Jeanie, Jennifer and Janet, or triple J as Sam and Rodney liked to refer to them, had skipped through grades together and supported each other through how difficult that made life for them. They'd gone on to attend the same university where Janet had pursued medicine, Jeanie had gone into biotechnology, Jennifer had gone into mechanical Engineering and Rodney and Sam was gone into physics.

Rodney had always been closest to Sam, he loved the others of course, but She was the one he had the most in common with. Jeanie, Janet and Jennifer liked to drink and party, he and Sam weren't really into any of that. They'd gone along to a couple of parties during college with their friends, mostly to try and keep them safe, but then one day triple J had tricked them into drinking at one of those parties and the end result had been bad.

They'd never gone to another one.

He and Sam kept up a brave front as the black car drove them to a base in Cheyenne mountain, but he could tell she was as frightened as he was and they held on to each other tightly. When they got out of the car, they were led to a room with a large oval table in the middle and invited to take a seat. They sat down as close to each other as possible as the room started to fill up with people.

There was a General with a bald head, who looked relatively friendly as Generals go. The Colonel who had come to collect them was next, followed by a few more military personnel in dress uniforms and the guy in the suit. The last to enter the room was a man with thin, slightly crazy hair and small glasses, who reminded Rodney of one of their high school science teachers,

Once they were all settled the General turned to address Sam and Rodney. "Good morning Dr McKay, Dr Carter, I'm General George Hammond. This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell," he motioned to the man who had first come to see them. "This is Major Davis, Major Caldwell and Captain Leeman from the pentagon," the three dress uniformed officers gave them a slight wave. "Mr Woolsy from the IOA." he pointed to the suit. "And this is Dr Radek Zelenka, chief science officer here." He motioned to the man with the crazy hair and that got Rodney and Sam's attention more than anything else that was going on.

Radek Zelenka was famous in the scientific community for having really out there ideas, but both Rodney and Sam had always found his publications fascinating. He'd stopped publishing a couple of years ago and now they knew why.

"You're Radek Zelenka?" Sam asked, sounding delighted despite how nervous they both were.

"Oh yes, yes I am," the man replied in a strong Czech accent. "Hello," he greeted them pleasantly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr, we've been reading your publications for years, they're always the most original and thought provoking," Rodney said with a bright smile, as delighted as Sam.

"Well, thank you, I have been watching both of your careers over the past several years also. You have fascinating way of looking at the topics you study, it has made me very curious to see what you will accomplish in the future." Zelenka replied and Sam and Rodney beamed at the compliment.

"That's why we've brought you here," Major Davis said. "Dr Zelenka feels you would both be excellent editions to his science team and that the research you are currently undertaking could very well help us solve a problem we are currently facing. It would mean being contracted to the American military and will require both of you to sign a confidentiality agreement. This means of course that you will not be able to publish anything about your work or your findings and I understand that this would mean taking your career in a very different direction. I know that this may not appeal to you as scientists, but I can promise you that you will be working with technology that most of the people on Earth are completely unaware of and helping to protect and save billions of lives."

Well, he didn't beat around the bush.

"We will give you time to think it over of course, the decision is yours, however, on a personal note, I would like to say I would be very excited to work with both of you," Zelenka added.

"How long do we have to think it over?" Rodney asked, wondering if they were in any danger.

"As long as you need," Hammond replied. "I know having the military come and collect you from your work place can seem daunting, but we could not have this kind of conversation over the phone, it had to be here. We would not do anything to force your hand, Dr McKay, we want your help, we're not demanding it. The only thing we ask is that you stay on the base until you have made your decision, in case you have further questions. We will assign you quarters and you will be free to move around the base, as much as is possible without compromising national security."

"We will be happy to answer any questions you have that do not require the confidentiality agreement signed first," Major Davis continued. "Is there anything you'd like to ask at the moment?"

"How long would we be contracted for?" Sam asked.

"That would be entirely up to you. If you were happy to remain with us for the remainder of your career, we would be happy to have you. If you only want to stay for one project then move on, that is also up to you," Major Caldwell replied.

"I know you can't tell us everything about what we'd be doing, but would you be asking us to help you build weapons?" Rodney asked. "Because we're not going to have the deaths of large numbers of people on our hands."

Major Davis seemed to be considering his question, "There may be instances where we would ask you to assist with weapon design, but not for use on the population," he explained. "Defensive purposes only and for use against … drones is probably the closest word I could use to describe what I'm talking about without the confidentiality agreement. Unmanned drones."

"Would we have to live on the base?" Sam asked.

"No, you will be free to come and go as you choose," Hammond replied.

Rodney shared a look with Sam, knowing her as well as he did after so many years of friendship, he knew she wanted to go somewhere and talk to him about it.

"I think we'd like some time to think about this now please," Rodney said to Hammond.

"Of course," the man agreed, moving to stand up from the table. He motioned two guards over from the back of the room. "This is Lieutenant Matheson and Lieutenant Holland, they will show you to your quarters and be outside if you need anything or to help you find your way around."

"Thank you for taking the time to see us today. If you have any further questions for me, I will be more than happy to answer them," Dr Zelenka replied, coming forward to shake both of their hands.

They both gave him a bright smile, excited to have met one of their heroes to so speak, and the soldiers led the way out of the room. They were led down a corridor and into a lift. One of the soldiers hit floor 25 and the lift began to descend. Rodney held tight to Sam's hand, knowing the idea of going further down into the base was as daunting to her as it was to him. The soldiers led them out of the lift and to a set of side by side rooms just down the corridor. They opened the door to the first one and Rodney was relieved to see what looked like a normal room with a bed and a desk, nothing that looked particularly cell like. He let them in, told them to let him know if they needed anything and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

They both listened closely for any sounds of the lock being turned, but after a few moments, when nothing happened, they relaxed slightly.

Rodney turned to Sam and ran his hands gently down her arms, "Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and leant into him, burying her face in his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. He held her back, running a soothing hand down her back. He had been far more worried about her in all of this than him. After a few minutes of just standing there holding each other, they moved over to sit on the bed, sliding up to the bed head and moving in close together. Making sure he was the closest to the door, he slipped an arm around her and held her close, for his own comfort as well as hers. If he was holding on to her, they'd have to get through him to get to her.

"What do you think about all of this?" he asked.

"Honestly, right now I don't know what to think," she replied, resting her head on his shoulder. "I mean having the air force come and get you at work is … pretty damn daunting, but I kind of understand what Hammond meant when he said they couldn't exactly have this conversation with us over the phone, or anywhere else for that matter. So, I get that and it makes it a little less nerve wracking. They've all been really pleasant and haven't tried to threaten us or anything of the sort, that's scoring them points. Putting all of that aside though … Rodney, it's Dr Zelenka!" she quietly gushed.

"I know right," he gushed right back. "If I weren't frightened that they plan to keep us locked up down here forever unless we agree to help them, this would be the greatest day of my life."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "But of course, there is still that."

"I will admit there is some appeal other than Dr Zelenka as well. I Imagine working on air force technology would be pretty fascinating, and if Dr Zelenka is here, they must be holding his interest somehow. I mean … that could all be a ruse, they could be keeping him prisoner and just telling him to fool us …"

"Yeah. It's hard to make a decision when there are so many what if's," Sam agreed. "I mean they did say we could agree to only be contracted to one project and then leave if we didn't want to stay but … would they really let us go afterwards? For all we know they could already be working on a cover story about why we disappeared and aren't coming back."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for the air force to come up with," Rodney agreed. "They wanted us to stay until we made our decision, do you really think that's just so we could ask questions, or do you think if we say no they'll … I don't know, drug us with something that makes us forget we were even here."

"I wouldn't say that's the most out there theory," Sam said thoughtfully. "We'd be harder to drug if we weren't here and there's always the risk of us telling someone else. Of course, they are the military, and even if they let us go I'm sure they'd be watching our every move. They're probably bugging our apartment right now."

"Probably."

They fell silent for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. How do you make a decision like this?

A quiet knock on the door disturbed their pondering and Rodney pulled Sam closer as they called for whoever it was to come in. Rodney was surprised when it wasn't a soldier whose face peered around the door, but an extremely beautiful woman, probably the only one he'd ever met, aside from Sam, who made him wish he were straight. She had flawless, latte coloured skin, deep brown eyes and full red lips that smiled warmly at them. She was dressed in a long, soft gown and simple brown sandals that Rodney would never have expected to see on someone in a military base.

"Good afternoon, Dr McKay, Dr Carter," she greeted in a beautiful accent, moving into the room and closing the door behind her. "My name is Sha're. I know this place can seem a little daunting when you first arrive, so far underground and surrounded by military personnel, so I wanted to come and introduce myself. I'm not military which is probably obvious, my husband and I are civilians who work with the military," she explained, moving to sit on the end of the bed. "How are you both feeling? Are you alright?"

"We're alright," Sam replied, "Just a little … wary."

"I understand that completely, Daniel and I were the same for the first little while. I can honestly tell you though, that the people here have been very welcoming and friendly to both of us. General Hammond is a very kind man and very understanding I'm told," she said with an amused smile. "Daniel's best friend, Jack, is a Major on the base and … he likes to get in trouble a lot," she explained. "But he is a very good man too, he has helped Daniel and I in so many ways, more than I could ever thank him for."

She studied them both for a moment. "Goodness you both look so nervous, it's hard to see you like that. What can I do to cheer you up? or at least help allay some of your fears?" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is getting close to lunch time, would you like me to show you the way to the cafeteria?" she offered. "Military food can be interesting at times, but today's selection is usually quite good. Perhaps if you see a little more of the base and some of the people in it, it won't seem so intimidating."

Rodney looked at Sam, "I am kind of hungry," she replied.

"Yeah, I suppose I am too," Rodney agreed, only noticing it himself when she said it. "We would be very grateful if you could show us to the cafeteria, Sha're, thank you," Rodney replied, moving off the bed and helping Sam get up as well.

Sha're smiled brightly and moved out of the room, waiting outside in the corridor for them to join her. She led the way to the lift and the guards followed behind Rodney and Sam. Sha're didn't seem at all bothered by their presence, she even spoke to them both on their way to the cafeteria level, asking about their day and how certain things were going for them. She obviously knew them well.

They reached the cafeteria a few minutes later and Sha're offered them their choice of where they wanted to sit. Sam chose a table that wasn't too open but wasn't up against a wall either, and Rodney agreed with her choice. The guards held the table while they went to get some food and when they returned to the table the two men went and got food of their own. They didn't sit back down at the table with Sha're, Sam and Rodney though, they moved over to a nearby table, giving the three of them privacy, well, at least Rodney assumed that's what they were doing.

Sha're engaged them both in conversation during lunch, asking them questions about themselves that were polite, not prying. She seemed to be genuinely trying to make them feel at ease which was nice. She was a lovely person and obviously well known by the other staff on the base. Many stopped on their way through the mess hall to say hello and she greeted each one brightly, never viewing an interruption in their conversation as a chore.

"You seem to know everyone," Sam mentioned, mirroring Rodney' thoughts which wasn't uncommon.

"I spend a lot of time here," Sha're explained. "But my job is … very specific, so when I'm not needed for that, it can get a little boring. I talk to people a lot."

"I'm assuming you can't tell us what you do here?" Rodney asked.

"Unfortunately not," Sha're replied. "Hopefully you'll be able to find out soon. It would be nice to have a few more non-military staff around. Don't get me wrong, they're all lovely, but they all call me ma'am, which is charmingly polite but too … stiff for my liking. I tell them to call me Sha're, but it always falls on deaf ears.

"Sha're!" Rodney and Sam were surprised to hear her name being called after what she'd just said, but when they saw her face light up as she turned to greet the new arrival in the cafeteria, they immediately understood why. The man who approached had short, dark hair and bright blue eyes that were adorned by large round glasses. Rodney definitely recognised a fellow nerd. He approached the table with a brilliant smile of his own and greeted Sha're with a soft kiss and a tight hug.

"Daniel, it is good to see you back safely," Sha're said, her voice soft and loving.

"It is amazing to see you, always," he replied, his love for her just as obvious in his tone. They shared an adoring smile before Sha're seemed to remember that Rodney and Sam were there and pulled away, looking apologetic.

"I am sorry, Dr McKay, Dr Carter, I get a little side tracked when Daniel is around," she said, giving her husband another warm smile before turning to introduce them both to him. "Dr Daniel Jackson, my beloved husband, this is Dr Rodney McKay and Dr Samantha Carter."

"Oh yes, of course, the two physicists Radek has been so eager to have as part of his team. It's a pleasure to meet you both," Daniel said, shaking both of their hands and looking fairly surprised. "Forgive me but I didn't realise you were both so young," he said, taking a seat at the table across from them. "I forgot that Radek had said you were both like me, got though school and university very quickly."

"So, you understand that feeling well then," Sam said sympathetically.

"Too well," Daniel replied. "People used to tell me how lucky I am to be gifted, they don't realise how lonely it is sometimes. Until I came here I had very few friends, it was … not great. It didn't help that I had some very out there ideas either. Of course I turned out to be right, but unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to tell anybody about it in my life time. Still, I wouldn't want to be working anywhere else." he said, smiling at Sha're as she slipped a tray of food in front of him and sat back down.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Daniel said with a grateful smile.

"I don't mind," Sha're replied, smiling at him adoringly. "I've been talking their ears off for the last half an hour or so, I'm sure they are happy to have some new company. Besides, you'll be more likely to convince them to stay than me, and they're nice, so I want them to stay," she said, with a warm smile at Sam and Rodney.

"So does Radek," Daniel said with a grin. "He was so excited when he finally convinced Hammond to bring you both in," he told Sam and Rodney. "Like a kid in a candy store."

"It was adorable,' Sha're agreed.

Well, that was flattering.

"So, what do you do, Daniel? Or aren't you allowed to tell us?" Rodney asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm an archaeologist," Daniel replied and the surprise on Rodney and Sam's faces must have been obvious because he laughed, "And that's about the reaction I usually get when I tell people I'm an archaeologist that works for the air force. I can't tell you a lot about that part of my job, but I'm also a linguist, which makes a lot more sense to people. I do use both though, my job is quite … diverse."

Rodney had to fight not to be a jerk, as he had his entire life, thanks to his upbringing. His father's voice echoed through his head "Archaeology isn't worthy of a doctorate, it's not a science and completely useless to the world." He looked down at his coffee so no one would see his internal struggle and he felt Sam's hand squeeze his thigh gently in a supportive way. She'd spent a lot of their friendship helping him manage the anger, frustration, self-hatred and prejudice his childhood had instilled in him. The ugly, dark sides of himself that he hated but feared he'd never be rid of.

Thoughts of those darker sides brought up memories of Chase and he immediately pushed them back down; he didn't need that stress right now.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam opening her mouth to reply when a voice called out to Daniel from the door and a man with dark brown hair strode into the room. Behind him was a tall, black man with a bald head and a large, gold … tattoo? in the middle of his forehead.

"Hey, Jack, hey, Teal'c," Daniel greeted them both. "Get some food and come join us."

"Exactly my plan," Jack replied, moving over to the food line. They moved quickly through their food selections and came back over to sit down. Sha're moved over to sit beside Sam, which Rodney thought was probably to help her feel safer, which he appreciated and he was sure Sam did too. Daniel moved down to sit opposite her which put the brunette man across from Sam and the tall, black man across from Rodney. "Well, hello, who do we have here?" The brunette man asked as his eyes fell on Sam.

"This is Dr Samantha Carter and Dr Rodney McKay," Daniel introduced them.

"Ah, yes, the two new scientists Radek has been banging on about. Major Jack O'Neill, nice to meet you," Jack said, holding his hand out to Rodney first. Rodney shook his hand, which was large and calloused.

"Nice to meet you too," Rodney replied politely.

He moved on to Sam then and Rodney didn't miss the way the Major looked at her as he reached out to shake her hand. Sam was an exceptionally beautiful woman and she attracted a lot of attention, whether she wanted it or not. It wasn't at all uncommon for Sam to slip a hand over his, or make mention of them being a couple to keep those men from trying to pursue her, not that it always worked. Rodney glanced over at her, waiting to see how she would react, and was surprised to see her actually smiling warmly at the Major as she accepted his hand and shook it.

Well, well, wasn't that interesting? Sam had barely shown interest in anyone since they'd been friends. Her relationship history was only slightly longer than his so this was a big deal.

"It's nice to meet you, Major," Sam replied brightly.

"Call me, Jack, Dr," the man offered.

"All right, Jack, then it's Sam," Sam agreed easily.

"It's nice to meet you, Sam."

Rodney glanced over at Daniel who was looking at Jack with the same expression Rodney imagined he was looking at Sam with. He glanced over at Rodney then and gave him a conspiratorial smile which Rodney couldn't help returning. "And this is Teal'c," Daniel said, motioning to the large black man now sitting opposite Rodney.

Teal'c didn't shake hands, he inclined his head in their direction and Rodney nodded back politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you both," Teal'c greeted them.

"You too," Rodney and Sam replied together, the man's deep voice snapping Sam out of her little moment with Jack.

"So, are you folks thinking of coming to join us?" Jack asked.

"We're thinking about it," Sam replied. "It's a little hard to decide when we're not sure whether they'll actually let us go if we say no."

"I know the military can seem pretty scary from the outside, and with good reason, but the personnel here are all really good, decent people," Daniel said reassuringly. "They've helped Sha're and I so much, more than we could ever explain to you right now, and we're not here helping them because they're making us, we're doing it because we want to. General Hammond is a really good guy, and a patient one," Daniel added, with a pointed look at Jack, which Jack returned with one of mock hurt.

"Geez, Daniel, you make it sound like I don't follow orders," he said sarcastically.

"You don't, when they don't suit you," Daniel replied dryly.

"Well … sometimes they're just plain stupid. And besides, if I'd followed orders, you'd be dead," Jack reminded him.

"I haven't forgotten," Daniel replied mildly.

"Well, some gratitude would be nice."

"You're absolutely right, thank you for not blowing us up. I'm sure not setting off that bomb was very difficult for you," Daniel replied insolently.

"Well thank you so much for that very sincere gratitude," Jack replied sarcastically. Picking up his cup to take a drink he added, "Four eyes." and Daniel glared at him

Teal'c and Sha're's amusement made it pretty clear that these two sniped at each other regularly and that it was a source of amusement for everyone present. Despite their back and forth there was very obvious affection between them and Rodney found himself grinning along with them. If nothing else, working here looked like it would be fun, if they stayed.

And he was pretty sure they were going to stay.

XX

"So what did we think of the beginning. If the story seems slow to start with I promise it'll get better, I just wanted to set up Rodney and Sam's friendship a bit. And I have always thought Radek seems a bit older than Rodney so the idea of him being really well known in the scientific world and Sam and Rodney sort of fangirling over him made me grin. /p