Next up: Taking care of the Twins. Warning, I wrote this late at night and I needed a break from the angst. Therefore, it may seem a little different from my other chapters. I hope you still enjoy it.

Beckett stood in his office, surrounded by Dr. Weir, Lieutenant Ford, Teyla, and Dr. Zelenka. All of them were waiting for him to tell them what exactly had happened the day before, how it was possible that Rodney was still alive. "All my tests show that Rodney is slowly, but surely, getting better. The blue particles are still in both of their systems, but it doesn't seem to be having a negative affect. Also, the gene-activator worked perfectly and Rodney can now use the ATA gene to the extent he could before. And let me tell you, it is very uncanny to have him now exactly what you are feeling."

Chuckles echoed in the small room before Weir asked the question every wanted to ask. "Not that I'm complaining, but how is he still alive?"

"My best guess," answered Carson honestly, "is that John managed to restart Rodney's heart after it began failing. It's analogous to, say, a computer. Rodney's body was failing, but after he 'died', John was able to 'reboot' and clean the system of its problems. A rough comparison, but it's the best I have."

Weir nodded in understanding. "The next question is, what do we do now?"

Zelenka pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I believe we are getting close to figuring out how to reverse the de-aging process. There are quite a few combinations in the crystalic structure of the cylinder that we will have to test, so it may take a few days."

"Good, keep it up. Carson, I'd like to keep the twins in the infirmary, try to keep them from getting into trouble."

The physician looked startled, than a horrified look passed over his face. "Dear lord, those two get in enough trouble as adults. Can you imagine what they could do as children? For that matter as twins with empathic abilities?"

Weir grinned and patted Beckett on the shoulder. "You'll do fine."

00000

Weir had decided to keep Rodney and John's situation on the quiet side, not wanting to involve too many people. Of course Aiden, Teyla, Radek, Carson, a few scientists, and the medical staff knew, but everyone else was just told that two children had been found and that McKay and Sheppard were on the mainland. Therefore, the twins were kept in a separate room in the infirmary, not allowing any unwanted visitors. This made for two very bored 7 year old boys. This is a bad thing.

Crash. Beckett's head jerked up at the loud sound coming from 'The Room'. He silently groaned, not wanting to go in but knowing he had to due to his position as chief medical officer. 'I could have been happily ensconced in my own little practice on Earth, but nooooo. I had to go off, see another world, be threatened by life-sucking aliens, and take care of the child-versions of my best friends.'

Gathering his patience, Carson opened the door and assessed the damage. 'At least they aren't sick anymore' he thought absently. No, in fact Rodney and John were quite well, and happily playing with the markers a nurse had given them. (Where she got markers from, Beckett didn't know) However, instead of nicely drawing on the pad of paper they had been given, the boys had decided that the room needed redecorating. A red spaceship sat on a blue moon where there was a green astronaut bravely fighting off what looked to be a purple T-rex, all over the millennia-old walls of Atlantis.

The two culprits looked guiltily up at the doctor from where they sat on the floor, engaged in a wrestling match. Next to them lay a pan, the source of the crash, which had fallen off a table. Carson gave them the patented 'doctor' glare, and the boys sheepishly pulled themselves off the floor and into two chairs.

Obviously this was the part where Beckett should give them a talking-to, but the good doctor had a headache and was not in a good mood. So he did the next best thing. "Teyla?"

"Yes, Dr. Beckett?"

"Would you be so kind as to come watch over the twin terrors in my infirmary for awhile? I have things to do and can not stay and keep them out of trouble."

He could almost hear the Athosian trying to hide a smile. "It would be my pleasure, Doctor. I will be right there."

00000

With Teyla keeping the children occupied, peace once again reigned in Atlantis's infirmary. Beckett sighed as he settled down in his chair, downing two Tylenol for his head. It had been 12 days since John and Rodney had been turned into children. Doctor Zelenka's team was reported to be close to finding the way to change them back, and Beckett truly hoped it would be soon.

Sure, the boy's were sweet kids, but the personnel of Atlantis didn't have the time or the ability to take care of them. They couldn't keep the two locked in the infirmary forever, and as normal little boys they needed to be outside, playing and releasing their pent-up energy.

A sad smile crossed the physician's face. Yes, they were normal boys, but they had grown old in their ordeal. It still pained both of them to speak about their parents, and continued to have nightmares pierce their sleep. At times Carson almost felt relieved that their older selves hadn't had to live with the memories these two had.

Teyla never thought she would be so glad to see Lieutenant Ford as he walked into 'The Room'. She had spent the past few hours trying to keep Rodney and John occupied, and the Athosian was exhausted. "Aiden, I am going to go get something to eat. Would you please stay with the children until I return?"

Not knowing what he was getting himself into, Ford agreed, and Teyla nearly ran out the door. The lieutenant looked down at the boys who stared back with identically raised eyebrows. "So, um, who wants to play a game?"

Two pairs of eyes lit up. "I do!" they exclaimed in unison. Rodney jumped onto one of the beds. "Let's play Pillow Prime-Not Prime!"

Though he despised Prime-Not Prime, Aiden couldn't help but acquiesce at the sight of two very cute pouting faces. "How do you play Pillow Prime-Not Prime?"

The twins grinned, taking turns answering. "It's like regular Prime-Not Prime,"

"except when you get one wrong,"

"you get hit,"

"with a pillow!"

Ford had a very bad feeling about this.

00000

Elizabeth Weir pulled the covers on Rodney's bed up to his chin, gently tucking him in, after having done the same for John. "Good-night, boys." When they didn't automatically reply like they had the past few days, she knew something was wrong. "Alright, what is it?" Weir asked as she sat in a chair between in the two beds, facing the twins.

Rodney, the chosen spokesperson, cleared his throat. "What's happening?"

Elizabeth didn't understand the question. "What do you mean?"

"Why are we here in Atlantis? John remembers better than I do, but even I remember one moment being at Ammontech and the next being in a totally different place. And now you won't let us out of our room, just like them."

Weir sucked in her breath. She hadn't thought that they would correlate being kept in the infirmary with being held in an Ammontech cell. The notion disturbed her. "Rodney…"

"We trust you, Lizbeth." Rodney said quickly. "I know you're a good person, but you're hiding something important. We just want to know what's going on."

Elizabeth sat back in the chair, silently debating with herself. She didn't want to burden these boys anymore, they had been through enough. Yet Dr. Zelenka was close to figuring out how to return John and Rodney to their adult selves, and she couldn't bring herself to make them go through with an experiment without telling them why. Biting her lip, she decided that it would be best just to explain it to them now. "This may sound very strange, but I assure you it's true. We are in a place called Atlantis, but it is not a base in the US. In fact, it's not even on Earth."

Instead of being skeptical, both sets of eyes lit up. "Awesome!" exclaimed the boys together.

Weir smiled, "Yes, awesome. Atlantis was built by…extinct aliens and we came here a few months ago in order to learn about them. Unfortunately, we don't know what some of the devices they left behind do and we had some trouble with one."

"The cylinders!" interjected John. "The cylinders we were holding when we came here, that's what you had problems with."

"Yes. You see, you were right when you said it was no longer 1976, John. It is the year 2005."

The boys let it sink in. John got it first, his hazel eyes widening. "We're 35!"

Rodney's mouth dropped open. "The cylinder…it was some sort of time travel device?"

"No," Weir said, shaking her head, "it turned the 35 year old John and Rodney into your seven year old selves. We have some of our scientists working on the device and figuring out how to turn you back."

Both boys were silent and Elizabeth grimaced slightly, thinking they were upset. That was, until Rodney spoke up again, his eyes thoughtful. "Can I see the device? I'm really good at fixing things, maybe I can figure it out!"

Weir held back a snort. That statement was so Rodney McKay it wasn't funny. "Dr. Zelenka is working on it now and he's almost there. I'm sure he would be happy to explain it to you when he's finished."

Rodney looked like he was about to go into a pout, but then John began talking. "So we're in an alien city? Have you met any aliens? What do they look like? Am I a policeman in the future, I've always wanted to be a policeman? I bet Rodney's your head astronaut. Do you have spaceships? Can I fly one?"

Elizabeth let out a chuckle. "Slow down, John. Right now, all you're going to do is sleep." The twins groaned. "Sleep; or I'll bring Dr. Carson in here." They groaned again, but settled down in their beds. Weir smiled. "Good-night."

"Good-night!"

"'Night, Lizbeth!"

I believe there are only two chapters left.