Spoilers: Michael, The Siege, Hide and Seek

A/N: Many, many thanks to LittleKnux2008 for beta. It's another long one.

Summary: Elizabeth addresses Rodney's recent behaviour, but learns something about herself. WIP.

Chapter Eight: Pre, during and Post... Michael

Chapter Eight

Rodney bounded up the stairs two at a time and strode towards Elizabeth's office. He had a broad smile on his face and a spring in his step. Acknowledging the Senior Control Room Technician by his name, and with a friendly nod, he swept across the walkway, and came to a halt at her office door.

There must be some mistake. It was he, Rodney, who had a meeting scheduled with Elizabeth at this exact time. All day, in fact. An entire day going over mission logs and dissecting command outcomes. Re-evaluation of vision and purpose. An entire day with Elizabeth. He and Elizabeth. Working… together.

He placed one hand either side of the doorframe. His face fell and he stared at the scene before him, just waiting.

Carson turned around in his seat at Elizabeth's desk. The doctor's face was excited, smug even. Elizabeth pushed against her desk to stand.

"Excuse me for a moment please, Carson." She was pleasant, gracious.

"Yes, of course Elizabeth." The Scot was ebullient.

Rodney frowned hard as Elizabeth approached him. Unable to hide his disappointed confusion, his words came out as a hiss. "I thought we…?"

Elizabeth was composed, controlled, as she cut him off. "I'm sorry, Rodney." She didn't sound sorry, not really. "Really, I am. But something else has come up. Something… important. We need to reschedule the mission re-evaluation. You don't mind, do you?"

He could see only her diplomatic manipulation, there was no trace of genuine concern for his 'mind' or otherwise.

"What exactly has 'come up'? There's no Wraith activity, no emergency. What's Carson doing here?" The paranoia was unsuppressed.

Elizabeth didn't hide her annoyance. "Look, Rodney, I'm sorry I didn't contact you to cancel. Carson thinks his retrovirus is ready to test. We want to take a Wraith and treat it until it becomes human." Her eyes shone with a wild gleam, but her mouth was a tense line.

Rodney couldn't believe what he was hearing. Glancing past her at Carson, he took hold of her arm with a gentle grip and pulled her out of her office completely, walking a little way until they were at least possibly out of the doctor's earshot.

He leaned close, voice shrill, hands flying. "Are you out of your mind? 'Take' a Wraith? Treat it with the retrovirus? Here?" He leaned back, hands on hips, staring at the ceiling for a moment. Elizabeth just stood, scowling, arms folded.

Rodney stared at her again, and pointed at her with shaky finger. "See? This is exactly why we need to take some time to figure out what the hell we're doing here. You can't just 'take' a Wraith and pump it full of retrovirus. That's not science, and it's not war. It's… it's insane!"

She pursed her lips, and raised an eyebrow patronisingly. "I appreciate your concern, Rodney. But I know what I'm doing. I have John on his way to discuss the details of the project."

Rodney's mouth dropped open. He just couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could she do this? She must be completely unhinged to even contemplate such a course of action. So much for seeing Heightmeyer. Any benefit that had temporarily brought had been swept away in some experimental frenzy.

She hadn't finished. "Why don't you… go find someone to play chess with instead?" She stuck out her chin. Conversation ended.

Play chess? Was she utterly insensitive, or did she actually know that he'd found someone to decently play against?

"Fine." He snipped. "I'll go find Cole, and you can play your silly games with the other boys."

He could have sworn she was rolling her eyes at him as he stormed down the stairs.

0o0o0

"Please, Rodney. I just want you to be there."

Her voice echoed in his radio earpiece. He swallowed hard. How could he refuse her? Michael had been having dreams, and the senior team were going to discuss options. Everything seemed to be unravelling, and all he wanted to do was shout 'I told you so'.

"Rodney? Can you hear me?"

He sighed. "Yes, I'm here, Elizabeth. I don't see what…"

"I know you aren't really involved, Rodney, but I just want you there. I… You're usually there, that's all. It's beginning to feel… I feel you should be there."

He sighed again. He wished she'd never changed. She seemed so… unsettled now. Was she really sure what she was doing? Were any of them? He'd been surprised at Teyla's whole-hearted devotion to the whole affair. Carson must have sold her one hell of a story about how this would 'cure' the Wraith. He was strangely grateful to Ronon for his honest assessment of this project. It seemed quite in keeping with his own view, in many ways. And then there was Sheppard. Sheppard thought there was an opportunity here that was too good to be passed up. Rodney couldn't help wondering what the opportunity was going to lead to, but… Rodney did trust Sheppard.

"OK. I'll come. But promise me something, Elizabeth?"

"What?" Her tone was curious, caring.

"When this is over, talk to me, OK?"

There was a long pause. "OK."

0o0o0

Michael had killed Cole, the one they all called King. Rodney had lost his chess partner. Rodney was going to lose it if this whole sorry mess wasn't resolved soon. He decided to take a trip to see Elizabeth, and find out what was going on.

"Hey, how's it going?" He slapped the Canadian Sergeant on the shoulder as he came up to stand behind him.

"Fine, sir. Dr Weir is out of her office, sorry."

"Oh, right, thanks. Hey… she talk to you much?"

The Sergeant hung his head, and sighed. "Rarely." He looked up at Rodney. "I can't help it if I'm not Dr Grodin, right? I mean, I miss him too. Why can't she just…?"

McKay waved a hand. "Don't worry. I'm working on it. She'll come around… eventually. Keep up the good work, OK?"

The Sergeant smiled at the rare compliment from Dr McKay. Usually he just pushed him around.

"Sorry to hear about King, sir."

"Yeah, damn shame. Thanks. No more chess for me for a while." Rodney gave a tight smile and headed back down the stairs.

0o0o0

"Rodney?"

"Yes."

"Are you coming…? You're late."

"I know. I… Yes, I'm coming."

"Right, good."

0o0o0

Rodney entered her office. Elizabeth was standing by the far wall, her arms held around her protectively. Looking up, seeing him, she gave a shy smile.

He cleared his throat. "Shall we?"

She shut her eyes for a moment, and then smiled, her head dipping in agreement. "Yes, perhaps we should."

Rodney made to sit at the chair in front of her desk, but Elizabeth walked up to his side, and took his arm.

"Please, let's just start by sitting over here? OK?" She pulled him gently to the couch.

They sat down awkwardly, hands on laps, heads down.

"Rodney…"

"Elizabeth…"

They gave nervous chuckles when they spoke simultaneously. Elizabeth covered his hand with hers.

"I need to go first, Rodney."

He nodded, sadly.

"I… I realise we… I made a mistake. Another one. I know. We should never have done it. Even Teyla…"

She stopped speaking, but Rodney didn't say anything, just looked at her.

When she was ready, she carried on. "I see now that I need to stop and think about how I'm leading this expedition. I apologise…" She held up her other hand as he finally started to speak. "No, let me finish. If I'd taken one more day, talked things over with you, maybe things would have turned out differently. Maybe we would never have made Michael. Maybe Cole would be alive. I'm really, truly, sorry about that."

Rodney blinked hard. "So you did know we used to play chess. I thought you were just being…not nice."

She sighed deeply. "Yes, I did know. But you are right, I was being not nice. I would take back all those things I said, if I could."

He looked into her eyes. "At least you can take them back. I'm still here; we can work this out. I understand the pressure you're under, to deliver, to save this galaxy, Earth even. You're going to make mistakes. I'm not even saying that making Michael was a mistake. Just… don't leave me out any more. I want to be there, help you." He looked down, a little embarrassed by his speech.

They sat quietly for a minute. Elizabeth let his words travel through her mind. Something struck her, and she took his hand in hers, shuffling a little closer on the couch.

"You don't still regret all the things you said to Peter, do you? We've been over all that. You were good friends, it's the way you were."

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand. "No, not regret, it just... makes me sad sometimes, that's all."

He took her hands in his, turning to face her. "He says you don't talk to him. You need to treat him like everyone else. I do."

Elizabeth knew exactly who he was talking about. The Canadian Sergeant who replaced Peter as Senior Control Room Technician. She couldn't even bring herself to say his name. Every time she saw him, all those memories came back. She couldn't…

"Elizabeth." He squeezed her hands, watching her bowed head. "You've got to start somewhere. It's been… almost a year. You're still… hurt."

She looked up, and smiled sadly. "Yes, I think I know. Thank you for showing me. And I will, I'll talk to him… Rodney, if I tell you I'm sorry, for pushing you away… will you help me, now?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "I told you before, Elizabeth. You and me? We can do this. Now, come on, down to work. It's going to be fun, on the whole. Why don't we start with my marvellous adventures with the personal shield? I loved that day. Well, mostly, obviously there was…"

She smiled at his happy chatter, and leaned back, letting herself relax as she just listened.

A/N: The next chapter will be the last... Sorry, I can't help it if season 2 is coming to an end! This was originally a short fic inspired by the degeneration of McWeir in season 2, then became an interpretation of their relationship against the rest of the backdrop of season 2, so I'm gonna wrap it up after Inferno!

I've really enjoyed putting them through the mill, and then fixing them, and I'm feeling hopeful for the final chapter, even though it isn't written yet LOL.

I may do something similar in season 3, who knows?

Many thanks for everyone reading and reviewing, you make me very happy!