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Elizabeth and John entered the lab to find Zelenka shamelessly hitting on Kusenagi, while she could only giggle helplessly. The pair jumped guiltily at Elizabeth's entrance, so she hid her grin and took a look around the room for Rodney. When she didn't immediately see him, she asked Zelenka where he was.

"He is not with you? But I sent him to get you half hour ago, to tell you we have finished program simulations, and have found inverse frequency."

Elizabeth's heart leapt into her throat at the thought that they would soon have the snarky but lovable astrophysicist back to being solid again. "So soon?" she asked.

Zelenka grinned cheekily. "Well, I had excellent help." At his side, Miko struggled to hide another giggle.

Excited by the news but disturbed by McKay's apparent MIA status, Elizabeth decided to set out in search of him. She figured he had probably expected to find her resting in her quarters, and when he hadn't, he began searching the city for her. She checked his usual haunts, but coming up empty, had taken to roaming the halls of the city. She was just beginning to get worried when she had a hunch of where he might be, and headed to the far grounding station.

She paused as she reached the doorway, taking in the view. The sky was clear and the seas were calm, contrasting sharply with her memories of the place. She spied Rodney sitting on the steps, and walked over to sit silently beside him.

"I was wondering when you'd find me," he said, not at all surprised by her presence.

Elizabeth watched him very carefully, but he steadfastly refused to look at her. "Rodney, is everything alright?"

He ignored her question, instead asking one of his own. "Do you remember the last time we were here?" Elizabeth shuddered. How could she forget? "I was so scared. I…I felt like I couldn't move, I couldn't think…anything." She blinked, surprised at his candor. She was willing to bet that she was witnessing a side of Rodney that only a handful of people in the universe had ever seen. He looked at her. "But not you. You were so strong, so together about the whole thing. You knew what needed to be done, and you did it."

"Rodney, that doesn't mean that I—"

He held up one finger. "Wait. Just…just let me finish." He let out a breath slowly through his nostrils. "You were the only thing that kept me hanging on. You kept me from falling apart." He looked her squarely in the eye as he spoke, and Elizabeth felt the weight of meaning in his words. Their gaze lingered a moment longer, before Rodney looked away. "But I guess I never considered what it was like for you, out here, afraid, with no one to lean on for support. You had to be strong enough for the both of us that day. And it wasn't the first time."

She felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. "You heard us." It wasn't a question.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Well, not intentionally. Anyway, that isn't the point. The point is, although I'm loathe to admit it, Sheppard's right. You don't have to be everyone's strength all the time, and from now on, I'm not expecting you to be mine. I can handle it on my own from here." Elizabeth opened her mouth to object, but at his look her words died in her throat. "This is non-negotiable, Lizabeth." She looked at him a long time before finally closing her eyes and nodding, giving in. "Right," Rodney nodded, his voice thick. "There's just one other thing then, before we head back." He put his hands behind his back and cleared his throat, making him look like he was about to give a lecture during a briefing. "Sheppard was right about something else; you do deserve a vacation. Although, a vacation doesn't have to be a place, necessarily…It can be a person." Rodney's voice threatened to lose the professional quality it had suddenly adopted at those words. Recovering himself, he continued. "You deserve somebody who can help you relax. Someone who can make you laugh, and who appreciates your teasing. You need somebody who lets you be Elizabeth Weir, the person, instead of just seeing you as Dr. Weir, the leader of Atlantis." At this, he gave her a look that betrayed his business-like manner, and threatened to burn into her soul. "I hope you find that," he croaked. With an apparently satisfied nod, he turned and headed back inside, presumably towards his lab.

Elizabeth took a moment to wonder why it felt like the world was pressing all the air out of her lungs, before following him inside.

She continued to walk with him in stony silence, until they entered McKay's lab, where everyone was waiting. "Ah, Dr. Weir!" Zelenka called in greeting. "McKay is with you, I assume?" She nodded. "Good! Then let's get started, shall we?" Radek picked up the ball and handed it to Elizabeth. "Don't worry, it won't activate until McKay touches it. However, I should warn you—"

"Let's just get this over with," Rodney snapped, before slamming his palm down onto the device in Elizabeth's hands. There was a bright flash, and Elizabeth was again sent flying through the air. Luckily, this time she didn't run into anything, unless you wanted to count Major Sheppard's shoes. When she came to seconds later, she was met with John's concerned brown eyes.

She suddenly sat straight up, groaning as it made her head spin. "Rodney! Where's Rodney?" she asked.

John and Zelenka shared a look. "Um…we were kind of hoping you could tell us." Elizabeth looked at him with wide eyes as he helped her to her feet. She scanned the room quickly, finding no sign of Rodney, aside from that damned Ancient device laying placidly in the middle of the floor. She felt an overwhelming desire to punt it into the nearest wall.

'Okay, don't panic,' she told herself calmly. 'No need to jump to conclusions. That thing obviously did something to him, and we don't know what it is, but I doubt it would have killed him twice, unless it blinked him into oblivion, and then he'd be lost forever, and pissed, oh god, please, I can't lose him…'

"Dr. Weir!" Carson's voice buzzed in her head, and she had to remind herself that she was wearing a radio.

She tapped it. "Weir."

"You need to come down to the infirmary. It's Rodney."

Elizabeth took off like a shot, running the entire way to the infirmary, the rest following after her. Carson looked up when she entered. "Bloody hell, that was fast!"

"How is he? Is he here?" she asked, breathless.

Carson smiled. "Have a look for yourself." He motioned to the bed where Rodney's body had lain before, cold, gray, and lifeless. Now, however, he was very much alive, animated, and being harassed by the nurses.

"Do you mind? I might have to use that arm later!" he yelled at the nurse taking his blood pressure, then swatted away the pen light. "What are you trying to do, blind me?"

Elizabeth's face nearly cracked, her grin was so wide. Just as he opened her mouth to call out to him, Sheppard burst through the door, his arms open almost as wide as his smile. "Rodney! You're alive!"

"Well, I'm glad somebody in here besides me has a brain! Major, would you kindly enlighten everyone else about your little revelation? They don't seem to get it!" He had been repeatedly pushing away the thermometer that the nurse was trying to shove in his ever flapping mouth, and he finally seemed to reach the brink of his patience. "Would you stop!" he yelled.

"Alright, ladies, I think the check up can wait for later," Carson ushered the nurses out of the room, adding, "Preferably after I've administered a sedative."

"I heard that!" Rodney yelled at Carson's retreating form. "And for the last time, Carson, where are my pants! I don't even want to think about why you undressed my dead body!" Without missing a beat, he turned to Sheppard and asked, "Did you bring food?"

If Elizabeth had thought John's grin couldn't get any wider, she was wrong. Slapping Rodney soundly on the back, he said, "It's good to have you back, McKay."

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