oOo

Three days later, Elizabeth and John were ready to step through the gate to Earth for their rescheduled meeting with the president, and Rodney was there to see them off. Rodney had barely spoken to Elizabeth since Rodney's miraculous 'resurrection,' and never one-on-one. When they had spoken, their conversations were never strained, but Elizabeth couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about him, and his refusal to go to this meeting wasn't helping to ease her mind. "Are you sure you don't want to go with us? It is the president."

Rodney waved her off casually. "Oh, you can't fool me. It's just a bunch of bureaucrats shuffling papers. My highly valuable skills are better suited elsewhere."

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Yeah, have fun tinkering with your gadgets, McKay."

Rodney scoffed. "I don't tinker! I perform highly technical analyses of complicated alien devices."

"Exactly. You tinker with gadgets."

Elizabeth grinned, despite the sudden redness in McKay's face. It really was good to have him back. "Gentlemen," she interjected, "whenever you're ready." She headed off towards the gate.

McKay grabbed Johns' arm to stop him. "He'll be there in a minute, Elizabeth." When she was out of earshot, he said, "Take care of her."

John glanced between Elizabeth and Rodney as if the scientist had finally lost his tenuous grip on reality. "It's Earth," he said, as if talking to a small and particularly slow child.

McKay didn't bother to hide his annoyance. "Yes, yes, I'm well aware of that particular insight, Major. What I mean is…I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Oh," Sheppard said, clearly not getting it. Then his eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" He looked back at Elizabeth, then asked in a whisper, "You think she…?" He left the thought hanging.

"Major," Rodney warned in a tense voice.

John immediately looked contrite. "Right. Sorry." Both men stood there uncomfortably for several seconds, John shuffling his feet slightly. "So," he asked slowly, "we gonna be okay?"

Rodney looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, eventually."

"I'll take good care of her, Rodney," he said earnestly. McKay nodded, then watched Sheppard practically bounce to his side by Elizabeth. The two shared a smile before Elizabeth told the crew to dial up the gate.

With one last look over her shoulder at Rodney, Elizabeth stepped through the gate to be greeted by General Landry. "Dr. Weir, Major Sheppard, welcome back."

Elizabeth smiled in greeting. "Thank you, General."

"However, I'm afraid I have some bad news. We just received word that the president's been detained by his negotiations in the Middle East. He won't be able to be here until tomorrow."

"But we'll still get to meet him, right?" John interrupted. "Sir," he added, realizing his disrespect. He missed the sideways glance Elizabeth cast his way. 'Sure,' she thought, 'not excited at all.'

"Of course," the General answered. "Can't start the meeting without him. In the meantime, we've set up some temporary accommodations in the VIP quarters. Walter!" The general turned to yell for the Sergeant, only to find himself staring right at his face. "Oh, Walter, there you are. Would you mind—"

"Certainly," Harriman nodded. "If you'll just come with me, I can show you to your quarters."

Elizabeth followed the Sergeant through the corridors of the SGC, allowing the nostalgia and familiarity of the place wash over her. Walter stopped at the first set of quarters. "Dr. Weir, this is your room. I've taken the liberty of providing some entertainment. There is a small collection of movies and popcorn in your room, and a poker set in Major Sheppard's."

John raised both eyebrows. "Really? Cool."

"Thank you, Sergeant," she smiled. "This was very thoughtful of you."

Walter ducked his head, blushing slightly. "Yes, well…um, Major Sheppard, why don't I show you to your quarters."

The two men headed off down the hall while Elizabeth glanced around her sparse quarters. When her gaze landed on the short stack of four movies next to the television, she picked them up and started perusing the titles. Casablanca, Star Wars, Die Hard, and…she had to stifle a laugh at the final movie: The Sixth Sense.

There was a sharp rap on her open door, and she glanced up briefly from the movie she held to see John leaning in the doorway. "Well, since it looks like we're going to be here for a while, what do you say to some real Earth food? Walter said there's a great place just down the street, O'Malley's." John furrowed his brow in thought. "You know, he's really pretty good at anticipating what we need."

Elizabeth didn't look up from the movie in her hands. If anything, she was looking at it more closely. "Yes, he is," she agreed. What did she need? John had told her she needed a vacation. Rodney had told her she needed a man…Well, he'd put it more delicately than that, but that was the jest of it. He said she needed somebody who she could just relax and be herself around, not have to worry about—

"Elizabeth?" John's voice cut into her thoughts. "What do you say?"

"Hmm?" She realized she hadn't been paying attention to his question.

John's face turned a slight shade pinker. "I said, do you want to have dinner with me?"

Wait, was John asking her on a…date? How did she feel about that? She glanced down at the movie again, as if it held all the answers. In a blinding flash of clarity, she knew exactly what she needed, and where she needed to be. In a voice that shocked even herself, she whispered, "I can't."

John's face fell. "Oh, okay…"

"John, I have to go."

"What…now?"

"Yes. Will you give my apologies to the president?"

"We just got here!" John's voice became more incredulous with each word.

"I know, but I need to get back to Atlantis!" Elizabeth felt herself shaking.

"Why!" John demanded. She didn't answer, she just stared at him, hoping he would come to his own conclusion. After several moments of confusion, John's expression slowly softened to one of understanding. Stepping out of her way, he told her, "Go."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then rushed past him. When she was halfway down the corridor, John called out after her. "Elizabeth!" She turned, and John fixed her with a knowing gaze. "Tell McKay hi for me." Elizabeth nodded, then took off down the hallway, to Atlantis.

oOo

Rodney sat alone in the briefing room, in the dark, but he was not sulking. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. Sulking implied he was wallowing in self-pity, and that wasn't going to do him any good. Besides, he knew that Elizabeth's happiness would eventually diminish his feelings of loss, so what was the point? Breathing another heavy sigh, his third in the last five minutes, Rodney laid his head down on the table and listened to the sound of approaching footsteps. He silently willed them to go away, but he knew that whoever was coming was probably looking for him to fix something in the city. Some days, Rodney felt like nothing more than a glorified handyman trying to hold a jet engine together with bubble gum and bailing wire.

The footsteps stopped at the entrance to the briefing room, and there was a soft knock on the door. Without lifting his head from the table, Rodney mumbled, "Unless there are multiple lives at stake and one of them is mine, it can wait a half an hour."

"I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?" Elizabeth's voice rang in his ears like a bell, and his head shot up.

"Lizabeth!" She gave him a wry smile. "What are you doing here?"

"You're not the only person on Atlantis who can pick and choose which meetings to attend."

Rodney frowned. "But…the president?"

She took a step forward. "It wasn't where I needed to be." She watched him, waiting for her words to sink in, before revealing one of the items from behind her back. "I brought you a present."

Rodney smiled despite himself when he read the title. "The Sixth Sense?"

Elizabeth smirked, revealing the second item. "And popcorn," she said, tossing a piece into her mouth. "I was thinking that if Dr. Zelenka still had this room set up as a movie theater, we could watch it in here."

Radek had hooked up his laptop to an Atlantis view screen, creating his own version of a private theater. From what Elizabeth had heard, Miko had found it very romantic.

Rodney had heard those same rumors. He swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like a teenager on his first date. "Uh…sure," he replied eloquently.

Smiling, Elizabeth took the DVD from him and loaded it into the laptop. When they were both seated and waiting for the movie to start, Rodney turned to Elizabeth and asked, "Am I even going to like this movie, now that I know the ending?"

Elizabeth smiled and slipped her hand in his before answering, "I think you'll enjoy it. Now shut up and watch the movie, Rodney."

Rodney still never saw the ending of the movie, but he did definitely enjoy it.

oOo