This story isn't leading where I expected it to. Sorry.

As Sheppard and McKay walked through the corridors of Atlantis towards the briefing room, Rodney brought John up to speed on the, well the, realities of this reality.

"So, Dr Elizabeth Weir is in command here too?"

"Yes. Elizabeth was in charge of SGC on Earth for a short while, and when this opportunity came up, she was the obvious choice for team leader."

John smiled to himself; you can't keep a good woman down, even in another universe.

"But Beckett isn't Scottish?"

"No, it's an odd one, that." Rodney frowned slightly as he tried to remember the details. "He was born in Scotland, I'm sure, but his family moved south when he was still young. He grew up in...Warwickshire, I think he said. Some small village near Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare, you know?...You do know Shakespeare?"

Sheppard smiled, "Yes, Shakespeare we have. Ours was an Elizabethan playwright."

"Yep, that's the one."

Sheppard found this Rodney incredibly easy to talk to. An air of relaxation seemed to radiate from him as they discussed the differences and similarities between their two worlds.

"One thing missing from your Atlantis is Teyla." The implied question hung in the air.

"Huh, yes, you mentioned him before, but I'm afraid the name..."

"Her."

Rodney barked out a laugh. "Not Teyla Emmagan, the leader of the Athosians? You were rather smitten with her for quite a while, as I recall. Sorry," Rodney put his hand to his chest and bowed slightly to John, a glint in his eye, "I mean our John Sheppard of course. So, you managed to pry her away from her people and bring her back to Atlantis then? Well done." McKay gave Sheppard a genial slap on the back and a sly grin.

"It wasn't quite like that." Sheppard filed that away for further investigation later. Just what had happened between his other self and Teyla was intriguing. "All of the Athosians came to Atlantis when the Wraith attacked Athos. They're mostly on the mainland now, but Teyla stayed with us."

"But why did they leave Athos? The Wraith are few and far between. They don't usually hit the same world twice for years, and, from what we've been told, they're not expected to wake from their hibernation period for decades. Your encounter earlier today was the first we have had for several months. In fact, Dr Zelenka is confident that, by the time they wake fully, we will have found a way to power the shield and be fairly well protected."

"Zelenka?"

"Czech guy, wears glasses, about so tall." Rodney held out his hand at the appropriate height. "Dr Zelenka is the head of the scientific contingent here on Atlantis." Rodney saw the surprise on Sheppard's face. "I take it that that isn't the case with you? Who's your chief scientist?"

"You are." Sheppard stepped forward another two paces before noticing that Rodney had stopped dead. He couldn't imagine what he had said to cause this.

"Oh no, I don't think that would be a good idea." Rodney's voice became distant. And a slightly glazed look came to his eyes. "I'm not too good with responsibility."

"Hah! McKay seems to thrive on the stress; I must admit that he is a great deal more...manic than you, but he's a damn good..." Sheppard trailed off at the look on McKay's face. He knew that one well, it said 'something dreadful is happening to someone, and there is nothing I can do about it'. "McKay? Rodney? What's the matter?" Sheppard took the man gently by the shoulders and looked into his eyes, but there was no-one looking back.

"Not good, not good at all." McKay was obviously talking purely to himself now. His blue eyes suddenly stared straight at Sheppard. "How does he relax?" The non-sequitur took Sheppard aback but the urgency of the question demanded an answer.

"He doesn't; not so you'd notice. I think I saw him sleep once..." Sheppard tried to joke his way through to the man, but his eyes were drawn to McKay's left hand which had started to twitch, as if rubbing an invisible coin.

Sheppard turned around, looking for help and took the last few steps toward the door to the briefing room, which opened automatically before him. Drs Weir, Zelenka and Beckett were seated around the conference table, along with Ford, Markham and Bates. All eyes turned to the two men outside the door and conversation stopped. Almost immediately Dr Beckett leapt to his feet, stepping briskly to Rodney's side and steering him gently into the room.

"Sit, Rodney!" It was a definite order which McKay obeyed, sitting straight-backed on the nearest chair. Beckett reached into McKay's shirt pocket, taking out a strip of tablets and popping one free. Zelenka passed over a glass of water and Sheppard watched as McKay took the glass and pill in shaking hands.

Minutes passed in silence, until McKay managed a wan smile and a weak "Sorry."

"Colonel Sheppard, a moment please!" Beckett pointed towards the still open door, flashing Sheppard a look of intense anger. A thoroughly confused Sheppard glanced back at McKay before following the physician from the room.

"It's 'Major' Sheppard, doctor; and, before you say anything, I'd like to apologise for my behaviour in the infirmary earlier. I wasn't myself. Well, I was, but you weren't. OK, maybe you were too, but you weren't the you I was expecting..."

During this speech Dr Beckett's anger ebbed from his face as he realised that this man was totally unaware of the consequences of his actions.

"Major, there's no need to apologise to me. I'm sure that your reaction was quite understandable under the circumstances. But I must ask you what you have said to upset Dr McKay so."

Sheppard was finding it bizarre to hear an English voice coming from the Scottish Doctor, but answered. "We were discussing my world's Rodney. I told McKay that he was Chief Scientific Officer and he just lit out. He seemed to think that it was a 'bad idea'"

"OK." Beckett reached a decision. "It will be necessary to tell you a little of Rodney's medical history. None of this is confidential as the whole base is aware of it and acts accordingly, I would ask you to do the same."

He paused, collecting his thoughts. This man only needed to know the bare minimum to understand the situation. If Rodney wanted to tell him the rest, that was his decision. "I will explain in layman's terms if I may." He continued in his precise, English voice.

"His first heart attack occurred when he was 27. It was his body's way of telling him to take it easy. Being Rodney, he ignored it. His second attack and breakdown three years later forced the issue. He still isn't over it, but now he has learned to relax and, with medication, is an important member of the scientific community here. His flashes of pure genius persuaded Dr Zelenka to take the risk and bring him along, but, as you have observed, stress or even the prospect of stress can bring on an episode. Given an intellectual problem, he is the best we have and probably your only chance of getting home."

Sheppard attempted to take this in.

"To be honest with you," Beckett carried on, "I'm surprised that today's events did not precipitate an attack earlier. However, Rodney assured me that he was handling things well. But, in truth, he is not always the best judge of that."

Silence.