It was a lovely evening on MK9-673. A light breeze was blowing as the first sun was setting, while the second one waited politely for its turn. The air had an earthy scent, and was filled with the exotic song of some bird or other.

It would have been a lot easier to appreciate if Rodney hadn't been flat on his back staring into the barrel of an energy weapon inches from his face.

"This is not Atlantis," TK said coolly.

"No, it isn't."

"This was not an accident."

Rodney took a short moment to consider before answering, "No, it wasn't." When his captor failed to say anything else or to lower the weapon, he licked his lips and said, "For the record, I chose the nicest world I could think of."

Yeah, that really didn't sound as mollifying as he'd hoped.

"Toss your weapon away," the clone commanded. Rodney did as he was told, careful not to actually touch his face to the gun still hovering right freakin' there. TK kicked the gun further from Rodney's reach, then pulled away a couple of feet and lowered the gun slightly. "Sheppard agreed to the deal. He said you would take me to Atlantis. It appears that you Atlantians are lacking in honor."

"No, really, we have honor, lots of it," Rodney said quickly. "It's just that, um... well, we don't seem to use it in certain situations."

"I risked my life, turned on my own kind, to help you and the others escape!"

"Yes, that's the type of situation where we tend to forget the honor bit. Don't ask me why. It's a flaw, granted. But nobody's perfect, right?"

TK's expression remained stony as he turned his gaze toward the gate. "Why haven't they followed? I'm sure they didn't expect you to go through the gate with me."

"No, that definitely wasn't part of the plan. And they can't follow, because I'm the only one who knows what address I dialed." Rodney sighed miserably. "Quite frankly, I'm not entirely sure the others know how to dial. They generally leave that to me. It's really kind of annoying, them being so dependent on me for that. For almost everything technical and crucial and impossible, really. And no one even seems to appreciate it!"

TK nodded absently. "When I was... that is, when Kolya Prime was working for Cowan, he was always kept in the shadows, forgotten, like a shameful secret everyone knew but no one wanted to acknowledge. But when a dirty job needing doing, Cowan always called on Kolya. And the job got always done, and Cowan was satisfied, and there were never any accolades, no public recognition of his contribution."

Snapping his fingers excitedly, Rodney sat up a little straighter. "Exactly! And I'll bet that they ridiculed him, called him names. Whiner, complainer, ego-maniac..."

"Monster, cut-throat, ruthless..."

"Hypochondriac, geek..."

"Cold-blooded, heartless..."

"Wow. You know, who knew we'd have so much in common? Hey, can I stand up?"

TK shrugged. "Go ahead." He continued staring through the inactive gate, a faraway, lost look in his eyes. Rodney got to his feet and realized that the clone wasn't bothering to keep the gun on him anymore. He looked pretty melancholy, actually, and kind of lonely. Rodney felt sorry for him.

Not sorry enough to stay or anything, though. "Um, can I... I mean, are you... you're not gonna... keep me here, are you? I mean, like a prisoner, or something?"

TK turned and fixed him with an intense but inscrutable stare. "If I did, I'd be just like him, wouldn't I?"

"Frankly, yes. Good point, actually." Aware that he hadn't gotten a definitive answer, Rodney pushed ahead. "So, if I were to say I'd like to leave now..."

Holstering his weapon, TK waved toward the gate. "You're free to go. I wouldn't recommend going back to that planet, though."

Snorting, Rodney said, "Yes, thanks, I have no intention of going back there. Ever. More than likely, the others went back to Atlantis to regroup and try to figure out where we went. I'll just head back there and relieve all their minds of the worry they certainly must be feeling."

"Certainly," TK said, a ghost of a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "After all, you're in the company of a heartless monster."

"Well, I could have brought you to your knees at any time with the power of my complaining. We were actually pretty evenly matched."

TK turned and began to walk away. "Good luck, Dr. McKay."

"Hey, um, so... what are you gonna do now?" For one insane moment, Rodney was convinced the answer would involve the word "Disneyland."

"Reflect, ponder, plan." The faint smile TK shot him didn't do much to make the answer truly comforting.

"Yes, well... good for you. Best wishes, and so forth. Um..." He gestured toward his gun, lying unattended. "Okay if I take this with? They yell at me when I don't bring them back."

TK only laughed and continued walking away. Rodney dialed Atlantis, input his IDC, and hurried into the wormhole.

The gate room was a madhouse. Marines were training their weapons at the open wormhole, waiting to see if they would get to shoot someone. Beckett was getting Teyla onto a gurney, prepping her for the infirmary. Elizabeth stood nearby, hugging herself and wearing the I can't believe I've lost another damned expedition member look, and Sheppard was glaring over his P-90, clearly expecting the worst.

"Everybody can relax!" Rodney said, nervous but cheerful. "Nobody here but us astrophysicists." Behind him, the wormhole disengaged.

Beckett was the first one to get in his face. "Rodney, what happened to you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, really. Turns out he wasn't such a bad guy, after all. He—"

"Not that, you bloody git! Your foot! I was told it was so bad you could barely walk on it. Just more of your bloody exaggerations, was it?"

Rodney frowned down at his injured foot. He was indeed walking on it. "Huh. How the hell did that happen?"

"Another pathetic play for attention!" Beckett exploded, then spun around to follow Teyla's gurney. "I have no time for pretenders, Rodney. I have real injuries to attend to."

"Carson, I... I swear, it was really hurt before! Where's Ronon? He'll tell you!" But Ronon was busy pushing the gurney, looking rather like someone training for luge competition.

Elizabeth approached. "Rodney, I'm very glad you—"

"I know, you're glad I'm back, safe and sound. It's gratifying that you—"

"I was going to say, I'm glad you didn't put anyone else in danger with your recklessness out there. From now on, stick to Colonel Sheppard's plan. Now, report to the infirmary, just in case you did manage to get injured."

"'Just in case?' Elizabeth, most of the skin is burned! I don't know why I can walk on it now, endorphins maybe..."

Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth turned and headed back to her office. Rodney was gaping at her back when Sheppard appeared at his side, glaring in obvious fury.

"That was sure one lame-ass stupid stunt you pulled out there."

"Why does everyone think I did it on purpose? Do you honestly believe that I would ever, in a million years, voluntarily accompany the clone of a known murdering bastard to a deserted planet with no back-up and no chance of rescue?"

"Just get your ass to the infirmary," Sheppard growled. All around, Marines sneered at Rodney, as though he'd just eaten the last candy bar in the city.

He was walking a quiet hallway, halfway to the infirmary, when he realized that Sheppard was walking alongside him. "What now? Am I exceeding the speed limit of this corridor?"

"Nah," Sheppard said mildly. "Just thought maybe all those crystals you've got stuffed in your pockets might be getting a little heavy. I can carry some if you want."

Rodney stared mutely, which was a genuine rarity, like an Athosian contraction. When he didn't answer, Sheppard stopped, his hand on Rodney's arm. "Seriously, buddy, what happened on that other planet? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Rodney suddenly had a powerful wish that there had been some clones made of Colonel Sheppard. He would have taken great satisfaction in smoking them.

- end