Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters... except maybe McKay's father... but that's nothing to be happy about.

AN: Hey guys! Sorry about the late update... again. I reuploaded the last chapter, fixing some of the little mistakes that I had missed: nothing changed to the story. I lost my beta... she disappeared on me after spring break. So if someone would like to help me out andfill in the position PM me or email me. I'd really appricated it. I'm also beginning to see that my hope for weekly updates has been crushed by my college schedule. Thankfully, I only have three more papers, a group project, and finals left. T-T I don't like school anymore. Luckily for you though, the next chapter is abouthalfway done. This is due to the fact that when I started writing this chapter I included somethings thatI shouldn't have and had to start over. p

Thanks for all the great reviews! I've taken somethings into consideration and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the ones to come! Enjoy and please review!

Carson stood in his office holding a thick folder in his hands. On the front in big red letters was the word CONFIDENTAL. He didn't need to look at the tab to know that McKay's name was on it. Taking a quick look to make sure that Sheppard and Rodney were settled in the next room, he sat at his desk and slowly opened the folder. The doctor's heart sank with every page he turned, reports of mishaps and accidents filled each page. However, each incident was written off as a typical childhood accident or a fight that Rodney had gotten into with kids his age. Looking more closely, Carson noticed that every time an injury required an overnight stay, it was at a different hospital. "Clever bastard," he whispered under his breath, knowing that his father had done this to avoid suspicion.

Carson closed the filed, feeling sick to his stomach. He felt guilty about having pried into Rodney's past. As open as he was about how he felt and what he thought, Rodney was a private man when it came to his past. He had mastered the art of evading questions that he had no intention of answering, and now because of a freak accident everything had slipped out into the open. Carson laughed softly as he thought of the fit that would follow when Rodney returned to normal. The smile quickly faded as he looked down at the file. He knew that this time, things wouldn't be so easy to fix.

A knock on the door pulled Carson from his thoughts. He looked up to see Sheppard leaning against the doorframe. "Is that what I think it is?" The Colonel asked.

"Aye, it is." He let out a sigh as he got up from his desk. "God, John, this is worse that we thought. I'm afraid that if little Rodney over there continues to regain his memories, we might have a big problem on our hands. But even if Zelenka is able to fit him before that happens, McKay is going to be very angry with us.Looking atsome of the things in that file, I'm surprised that Rodney's as well adjusted as he is as an adult."

"Do you think that-" Sheppard was cut off by a voice over their headsets.

"Dr. Beckett, this is the Gate Room. Do you copy?"

Carson gave Sheppard a worried look before responding, "Aye, Beckett here."

"SGA-3 and 5 had an accident off-world. We need you and all available staff here ASAP."

"I'm on my way." Carson was already out of his office, ordering his staff to grab the emergency packs and head to the Gate Room. He handed a bag to Sheppard and quickly turned to Rodney. "Rodney, I need you to stay put for a bit." Rodney stared that the two men with confusion. The doctor waited till he saw the boy nod, before turning back to Sheppard. "Let's go, Colonel."

"We'll be back in no time, Rodney." Sheppard said on his way out the door.

Rodney looked about the infirmary, only a few nurses remained. They were busy preparing for the patients that were bound to be arriving soon. He knew that he should listen to Dr. Beckett, but something inside of him was compelling him to find out what was wrong. He felt worried for the people that the doctor was going to help, people that he didn't know. As soon as he thought that, he realized his mistake. He did know those people, even if he couldn't remember them. Rodney took another quick look around before stealing out of the room after Sheppard and Beckett.

The gate room was filled with movement and shouted orders by the time Rodney reached it. The two off-world teams had been exploring an abandoned mineshaft, looking for any indication of what had once been there. When a small tremor hit the area, several membersbecame trapped in the caves. Due to atmospheric interference, the teams were unable to contact Atlantis and had been forced to find ways to get their team members out of the mines. In all, there were five severely wounded people and a few others with minor injuries. At the moment, Carson and his staff were doing their best to get everyone the help that they needed as soon as possible. Rodney stared at the scene in front of him, unsure of what to do. He could see Dr. Beckett hovering over an unconscious man and Sheppard helping a nurse to bandage another patient; while some were already being taken to the infirmary.

Rodney was contemplating just leaving so that he wouldn't get in anyone's way, when he saw the face of one of the female soliders. His heart sank for reasons he wasn't sure about, he didn't even realized that he had moved until he was kneeling besides her. The solider had a pained smile on her face as she looked at Rodney. He could see that she was in bad shape from that gash on the side of her face and the blood that was coming from a wound on her side.

The nurse looked up at Rodney shocked to see the boy. "What are you doing here Rodney?" She almost shouted. "Dr. Beckett told you to stay in the infirmary."

"It's okay." The solider interrupted. "Let him stay, please. Let it be a last request, huh?" The solider tried to joke. Yet from the look on the nurse's face, Rodney knew that the situation was serious. "Long time, no see huh, McKay," the words were meant to be light, but he could hear the pain in her voice.

Something suddenly clicked in Rodney's mind, "Cadman?" He asked softly, moving closer.

Cadman's laugh was quickly followed by a coughing, as the nurse reached into her kit. The nurse stopped suddenly and looked at Rodney for a moment. Unexpectedly she grabbed his arm and put his hands on Cadman's chest at the base of her ribcage, right over the blood soaked pressure dressing. "Listen to me Rodney; if you're going to stay here, I'm going to need your help. I want you to keep pressure on this, okay? Can you do this for me, Rodney?" Rodney paled slightly, but nodded quickly. "I need to control the bleeding a bit more before we can move her." He could feel his hands almost instantly becoming covered with blood. He watched Cadman's face closely to see if he was causing her any pain.

"Why is it that you're always around me at my worst, McKay?" Cadman tried to suppress a groan as the pain from her wound steadily increased.

"It's not that bad." He stated, half watching what the nurse was doing.

"A cave fell on me, McKay." Her tone drew back his attention to her. "I think that this can qualify for bad."

"You're going to be fine." He stared at her intently, only to meet an equally intent stare.

"So now you're an optimist, huh?" She teased. "I think I've seen every side of you that there is now." Rodney gave her a puzzled looked before the nurse pulled his attention away by handing him clean pressure dressings. It was about this time that Sheppard had finished helping the other nurse and notice Rodney at Cadman's side. He looked around to make sure that he wasn't needed before making his way to Rodney.

They didn't see the Colonel until he spoke, "What are you doing here Rodney?" His voice was clipped, it was the voice that he usually reserved for situations that were about to turn for the worse or when McKay was about to do something he really shouldn't.

Rodney looked up, but before he could think of something to say Cadman let out a gasp of pain causing everyone's attention to turn back to their wounded friend. "This is one hell of a way to go." She moaned between the waves a pain that shot out from her chest. Sheppard knelt down next to them both, Rodney responded before he could say anything.

"You're not going to die." Sheppard was surprised with the conviction that he heard in Rodney's voice.

"That's sweet." Cadman painstakingly reached a hand to put it on top of his. "But it's not nice to lie."

"I'm not." Rodney never took his eyes from Cadman. She gently squeezed his hand, wearing a sad smile.

"You sound pretty sure. But I hate to be the one to say this, but you can't know everything McKay."

Rodney leaned forward gently, trying not to jar her wound. Sheppard could see that his facial expression had changed. The only way he could describe it was that for the first time Rodney truly looked like his older self. He whispered to her, "I know you Cadman. You're too stubborn to die."

"He's right, Cadman. You're going to be fine." Sheppard tried to reassure her, but she didn't hear him. She was looking at Rodney intently, like she was trying to figure him out. Shakily, she reached up the hand that she had placed on Rodney's.

Cadman gently caressed his cheek, "I could almost believe you." As her hand dropped, she left a streak of blood across his cheek. Cadman's whole body seemed to cringe in pain, before her eyes closed. Rodney kept his hands on the wound as the nurse shouted for a gurney. Sheppard had to pull Rodney away so that they could lift Cadman up and rush her out of the room. He didn't take his eyes off of her for a moment.

"She just passed out from the pain, she'll be fine." The nurse reassured them. "Carson's a great surgeon."

As she walked away, Rodney was dead weight in the Colonel's arms. "Rodney lets go." Sheppard nudged him forward slowly towards the infirmary. After a moment, when he was sure that Rodney could walk on his own, Sheppard released his hold on him. The boy was walking in a dazed, seeming not tonotice that he had Cadman's blood on him. Sheppard let him be until he saw the boy take a wrong turn. "Rodney, the infirmary is this way."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Sheppard, his eyes were wet. "I'm going to my room." Rodney started walking again.

"Rodney," Sheppard called out.

"They'll be busy, and I'll just be the way. So it best if I just go to my quarters." Rodney kept walking as he talked to Sheppard. "It's weird, I sort of remember Cadman. I remember her voice more than anything."

"Yeah, well you guys had a lot of time to talk a little while back." Sheppard noticed that Rodney had stopped in front of his own door but didn't open it. He had reached out to the door crystals but stopped when he saw the blood. Using his gene, Sheppard opened the door and guided Rodney inside.

"Let's get you cleaned up alright." Sheppard went ahead into the bathroom, while Rodney stood at the doorway looking around the room. John first washed the blood off of his own hands first before he turned on the Ancient's version of a shower. The water cascaded down from a spout high on the ceiling. He made sure that the temperature was fine before returning to Rodney.

He hadn't moved from where Sheppard had left him. He was staring at the room with a strange smile on his face. Sheppard suddenly realized that he'd never really seen Rodney's room before. Looking around he noticed that the room had only the bare essentials; it was spacious and very open. Which was strange since, after they reestablished connect with Earth, most people on Atlantis had found ways to bring over personal items and things to decorate their living spaces with.

"It's kind of bare, isn't it?" Rodney's voice was soft.

"Yea, I guess it is." Besides a desk and his bed there was no other real furniture except the metal cases holding science equipment.

"In a strange way, it makes a little sense," as Rodney spoke he would randomly look down at his hands, "that as an adult I would still hate small spaces. My dad would sometimes lock us in the closet, me more than Jeanie but I was fine with that. The room is more open this way." The matter-of-fact manner in which he spoke was a little unsettling. Sheppard remembered that the last thing that little Rodney remembered was being left in the closet; it was only now that he realized that that had happened before. Most likely, it had happened frequently.

"I'm surprised that you don't have any pictures of your sister." Sheppard mentally kicked himself as soon as the words left his lips. He had wanted to get him talking about happier things and had completely forgotten that the adult Rodney had become estranged from his sister.

Rodney looked up at the only wall with frames on it. In those frames were diplomas and certificates, no personal pictures at all, aside from one picture of himself when he had graduate from college. He stared at the wall almost blankly, he didn't notice when Sheppard walked up to him and guided him towards the bathroom.

"The shower is set. I'll call Weir and tell her where you are," since Carson wouldtoo busy to disturb. Sheppard didn't say that last part, and hoped that Rodney wouldn't make the connection. Rodney shuffled slowly into the bathroom and closed the door. Sheppard took two steps and practically collapsed on Rodney's bed.

"Weir, this is Sheppard."

"Go ahead."

"I've got Rodney with me and I think that we're going to be staying in his quarters for the time being. If you could tell Carson later I'd really appreciate it."

"No problem John." She paused. "I saw Rodney leave the Gate Room with you. Is he okay?"

"He's a little shaken up, but he'll be fine."

"That's good to hear," Sheppard could hear someone speak in the background before she continued, "Once things quiet down I'll inform Carson."

"Thanks, Sheppard out." Once the conversation ended, he lay back onto the bed and tried to relax. Looking up at the clock next to the bed, he was surprised to see that it was already eleven o'clock. At least the day is almost over, he thought to himself before drifting off.

Unaware that he had fallen asleep, Sheppard was startled when he felt the mattress shift slightly. The lights were turned off, but he knew that it was Rodney curling up next to him; close but not touching. "Sorry, Rodney, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"I think I hurt Jeanie." His voice was small and level. Sheppard moved his head to look down at Rodney. "You asked about the pictures."

"Oh, yea," Sheppard responded back just as quietly. He'd almost forgotten about the early question. "Why do you say that?"

"Whenever I think about her, I get this sinking feeling in my stomach. It's kind of like how I knew I could trust you. Instead of trust I feel bad about something, but I don't know why. I only really get pieces of my memories." Sheppard tried to think of a way to alleviate the boys fears but he was at a loss. He didn't really know anything about Jeanie, so for all he knew what Rodney was saying was true.

"You should get some sleep; it's been a long day." Sheppard sat up slowly and saw Rodney staring at him intently.

"Will you stay?" Rodney's voice was pleading. "I don't real-"

Sheppard cut him off, "sure Rodney." He knew all about how Ronan had taken to watching over Rodney in the infirmary at night. He was surprised to hear about it at first, but he could understand the Satedan's willingness to help the boy. As an out of place nine year old, Rodney had a certain vulnerability that made you want to do anything you could for him. Sheppard took off his boots and looked back at the bed, given Rodney's size there'd be enough room for the both of them.

Sheppard scooted up the bed and stretch out. Once they settled in, he waited until he could hear Rodney's breathing even out before he fell back asleep.

--TBC--