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Sheppard cautiously opened the door to his room. Everyone was just as they were before. He stepped in, closed the door and leaned heavily against it. There were some dressed casually, some formally, some in uniform. He scanned the too-familiar faces, took a breath and addressed his visitors.

"Hey everybody…long time no see." Then mumbled under his breath, "Johnny Cash passed, I couldn't have been visited by him?"

His eyes rested on the fresh-faced brunette that Rodney spotted earlier. Her cupid's bow lips spread to reveal a sincere grin.

John's chest tightened but he couldn't hold back his own smile. "Ya know…I sure have missed you."

---

Rodney stood with his 'grandfather' at the control station of the gate room. The older man clutched the fishbowl under one arm, while Rodney balanced the large, now-purring gray cat over one shoulder. The Bull Terrier leaned heavily against his leg.

McKay stared out at the various scenes playing out on the floor below. He got the sense that most of the visitors represented family members. For a moment, he felt jealous of their connections. He was quite glad his sister wasn't dead, but it would have been nice to see her.

Only recently did he begin to appreciate the benefits and comforts of having family. He recalled a quote that a fellow post doc student had once put up in the office they'd shared. "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."

He glanced at Carson, crying openly at whatever bagpipe ballad was being played by the beefy, red-faced Scots. Rodney wondered how the players were able to utilize their lung capacity efficiently when they too seemed to be blubbering just as much.

Zelenka was crouched with his back against the wall, speaking intimately with the boy in front of him. The child reached into the back pocket of his corduroys and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Zelenka carefully unfolded it and stared at the colored-pen drawing of a man and a boy holding hands on a balcony, surrounded by water. The scientist wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him into a long, tight hug.

Elizabeth's fresh laughter drifted from her office as she and Great Aunt Mattie cleared away the final hand of a game of Seven Card Draw. Rodney swore he saw the older woman slip a half-full bottle of whisky into the bottom drawer of Elizabeth's desk while flashing a wink at the commander of Atlantis.

Ford and Teyla stood on the steps of the gate room talking quietly and overseeing everything in a protective manner.

Sheppard's party drifted in last and Rodney was surprised at the relief he felt when he spotted the major quite happily bringing up the rear and snickering at some private joke he shared with a tall black soldier in desert camouflage fatigues.

McKay realized at that moment that these people had become his family. He'd done things with them and for them that he never, in his most expansive theories, thought he would do. He'd risked his life, willingly, and on more than one occasion, while barely giving it a second thought.

If only Dr. Carter could see him now, she would so be all over him.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth's voice broke the scientist from his reverie. "You're sure about this?"

She stood beside him now, with Aunt Mattie close behind. Rodney was a little taken aback when Mattie glanced at his grandfather and gave him a wink.

"Of course I am. Okay, um, everyone who pointed out that the energy readings on M5S-224 were life signs raise your hand." McKay let his hand shoot up in the air and glanced around quickly before lowering it and continuing with an explanation.

"Good. Now then, from what..." he paused briefly, not sure how he should address the man beside him, "my grandfather has said, all we have to do is dial M5-, uh, what was the name you used?"

"Ngarrindjeri," answered his grandfather.

"Right….um, dial M5S-224 and immediately shut the 'gate down again. They're pure energy; they'll barely require a nanosecond to lock on to the coordinates of their planet. They won't need the wormhole because they're going to be the wormhole, just as they'll be the event horizon on the other side. Look, it's an astrophysics thing, you wouldn't understand."

Weir seemed to be having a difficult time focusing on the scientist. "You're positive there's no chance of any beings on the planet losing their lives?"

"Elizabeth, trust me. I explained to him what happened when we visited, and the promise you made to the beings there regarding us using the 'gate. Besides, I don't think all these…people would be going through with this if there was a chance of any of their kind dying because of it."

Rodney's grandfather stepped forward, took up Elizabeth's hand and gracefully kissed the back of it. McKay rolled his eyes and watched in disgust as Weir laughed and blushed. He used the arm not occupied by the cat to steer his grandfather toward the 'gate.

"Time for you to be going, isn't it?"

At the bottom of the steps his grandfather spotted Kavanagh giving Cruella the silent treatment. She was obviously continuing to speak to him, while attempting to wipe off some unnoticeable spot on his cheek with a handkerchief that she moistened by dabbing on her tongue.

"Wow, she's a looker."

"You can't be serious. If she's anything like Kavanagh…well, just stay away from her. Try that one, I think she likes you anyway." Rodney pointed at Aunt Mattie who was now a few feet away from them, giggling with Elizabeth.

Rodney gave the cat one last scratch on the head and let it nuzzle his forehead before passing it off to his grandfather. As soon as the feline left Rodney's arms, it stopped purring. The scientist then bent down and looked into the large dark eyes of the Bull Terrier.

"You never cared about not having tags at all, did you?" he whispered. The dog answered with several quick, broad licks across Rodney's chin. He stood and was about to give his grandfather a hug when he realized the man's arms were filled with two-thirds of Rodney's childhood menagerie. He settled for giving the elderly spirit's arm a tight squeeze.

"Um…look, I know you didn't really come here for us. And you aren't really a Canadian ex-postal worker but, well…take care of yourself."

"You too." The older 'man' leaned in and whispered furtively, "You were always a good boy, Roddy. Look after these people. You can learn just as much from them as they can from you."

McKay walked up the steps to stand next to Elizabeth. Aunt Mattie leaned in close to her great-niece and said something. Rodney couldn't help but notice the older woman shoot a glance toward Sheppard before Elizabeth blushed and the two of them rolled into another fit of giggling.

McKay figured he probably wouldn't tell the major that the ladies were making fun of him.

Mattie stepped lightly down the stairs to join the rest of the visitors as the two large groups began to distance themselves from one another. She looked at her niece, nodded again towards Sheppard and winked, and Elizabeth nearly snorted while trying to hold back her laughter.

Rodney took a close look at the highly qualified and consummately professional career diplomat beside him. The sleepy eyes and rosy cheeks raised his suspicions. He leaned towards her and sniffed. "You've been drinking," he stated, in a shocked tone.

Elizabeth let a mischievous smile spread across her face. "And playing poker and telling dirty jokes, too."

Carson shuffled up the stairs, tears dampening his face. His relatives were obviously still playing and crying, as well. Elizabeth was a couple of steps above him but she rested her hand against his back in a comforting show of support.

McKay shook his head. "To think they come from the same island as William Wallace." He nodded down toward Carson. "I'm just thankful he's the only one who can hear that music. Well, if you really consider the sound of bagpipes to be music."

Elizabeth shot him a reproachful look.

"Whaat? Hello? McKay. I'm Scottish too. I'm allowed to make fun of bagpipes."

Carson seemed not to have heard any of it. He wiped the cuff of his sleeve across his eyes. "I'd forgotten how beautiful i'tis."

McKay's attention shifted to where Sheppard stood. The majority of his group had already stepped away from him and he wasn't acknowledging any of the Atlantis personnel. He'd set his face with an emotionless expression and his arms were crossed tight against his chest.

The only person with him was the pretty young woman with the long brown hair. She held her hand to his cheek and Sheppard placed his hand over it. McKay studied them. He could only guess what was being said, perhaps she was saying that she loved him, or was proud of him. And perhaps his reply was how much he missed her, and that he always thought about her and the rest of them.

She suddenly showed a broad smile, pulled her hand quickly away. The action forced a grin onto John's face.

Before they parted the woman held out her fist as if giving the 'thumbs up' sign, but her fingers didn't quite close enough to make a fist. John matched the motion, interlocking his fingers with hers. Their thumbs bobbed up and down slowly, alternating sides, one-two-three, before their demeanors changed and a fierce thumb wrestling match ensued.

The young woman may not have possessed digits as strong as the major's but they were definitely more agile. John nearly had her thumb pinned when she swooped it out of the way and locked his down tightly.

McKay read her lips as she gloated. 'I always could beat you.'

Sheppard dropped her hand and shoved her gently on the shoulder, pushing her towards the rest of his visitors. A voice came over the intercom.

"Preparing to engage Chevron One."

Sections of the 'gate lit up sequentially as Sheppard moved backwards up the steps, one by one till he reached the spot where Elizabeth, Rodney and Carson stood. His eyes never shifted from one particular figure amongst the sea of people on the 'gate room floor.

She smiled once more at him just as the 'gate glowed with a connection. A split second later the huge ring powered down and only Atlantis personnel remained. They returned to their duties at different paces. Some eager to get back to their current lives, others reluctant to turn their backs on the place where their loved ones just stood.

McKay glanced at Sheppard, who stood one step down from him. "I don't see how you could have even considered ignoring her. She was hot."

"McKay! That's my--" he stopped himself and chose a different tactic. "Ya know, where I come from that's called necrophilia."

Elizabeth didn't try to rein in her laugh.

Rodney looked horrified and was utterly relived when a technician called for Elizabeth's attention, thus shifting focus away from him.

"Dr. Weir? Excuse me, ma'am, do you have time to take a look at this?"

Elizabeth followed the tech, leaving the three men staring at the empty floor. Sheppard sighed quietly. "God, what I'd give for a drink right now."

Carson and Rodney nodded in agreement. McKay smiled, glancing at Weir's currently unoccupied office. "Exactly what would you be willing to give for a drink right now?"

The other two men stared at him quizzically. He turned and headed up the steps toward the office. "Follow me, gentlemen."

Sheppard tossed his arm over Carson's shoulder and guided the mostly dry-eyed Scot up the stairs. They nearly bumped into Rodney as he stopped abruptly. His peripheral vision caught a figure still crouched against the wall of the 'gate room.

"Wait a second." He called in a gentle tone. "Zelenka?" The Czech seemed not to hear, so Rodney tried again a little louder. "Radek?"

A pair of bright blue eyes rose to look in the direction of the voice. McKay indicated with a nod of his head for the other scientist to join them. Zelenka seemed unsure, but Rodney knew the one thing that would help all of them right now was being with family. Well, that and the whisky.

"That wall will still be there later if you want to go back to it. Now c'mon."

Zelenka allowed himself a hint of a smile and pushed himself up from the floor. The three other men waited for him to reach them before continuing up the stairs.

"So, Major," began McKay, "I don't think you ever said exactly what you'd be willing to pay for a drink.…"

-fin-