A/N: You guys are all brilliant, thanks for the kind reviews. I apologise in advance, I seem to be dragging you up hill and down dale in this absurd voyage. Keep trudging folks...

Chapter Six - ASH

Rodney's eyes flicked back to the top of the memo on his laptop screen. His lips were pursed with confusion as he read the note once more.

"I wanted to apologize for my recent behavior towards you. If I have caused you any hurt I am sincerely sorry. I realize it is little comfort, but I now see that the burden of this expedition has affected my ability to treat you with the respect you deserve. Without your expertise none of us would be here, and you deserved better. I shall do my best to work decently with you from now on, perhaps as well as we did last year.

With regret

Elizabeth"

He shook his head, anger against Sheppard rising in him. Damn that Colonel, he had talked to her, hadn't he? And what kind of excuse was that anyway? The 'burden of the expedition'? Was she the only one who'd had a hard time? 'Last year'… his thoughts wandered to some of the events in the early days of being in Atlantis. He saw her smiling face, her laughing eyes, and her hand on his. He felt a stab of regret in his gut. 'With regret'. Did she mean that? Did she really regret how things had turned out? He dropped his head to rest in his open hands, covering his face. A deep sigh slipped from his lips. What was he going to say to her?

0o0o0

"Shall we begin?" Elizabeth smiled at the team gathered for the pre-mission briefing.

Rodney shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

John's eyes took in the interplay around the table, and he smiled at her encouragingly, "Sure. Fire away."

As Elizabeth took them through the mission objectives, Rodney barely spoke more than ten words.

Drawing to a close, Elizabeth addressed the Chief of Science. "Rodney? Are you happy with everything?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Perfectly happy with this mission. After all, it makes sense."

Elizabeth looked away, the obvious parallel making it impossible to meet his eyes. She knew as well as he did that her memo hadn't made any sense. He was clearly even more confused at her apology than he had been at her harsh behaviour, but she didn't know how to get out of the deep hole she'd dug for herself.

TBC

A/N: I'm really sorry. It's going to be OK, I swear.