A/N: Well, this is the end. I want to thank everyone who's stuck with this. Also, while my beta has been doing an excellent job, she doesn't want to continue, and so I am looking for another beta for any stories I write in the future... At the moment there aren't any planned, though volunteers would be nice :). Anyway... enjoy...
I've been here before...
A.T. 1:12:00
John woke with a start, more than a little disorientated by finding himself on an unfamiliar floor. Once he'd worked out he was still on Atlantis, he heard the reason why he had woken. Above and to his side, he heard the sounds of a man stuck in a nightmare.
Finally, he recognised the room as Rodney's, and while he puzzled through why he was there, he stood up, stretching muscles stiff from yesterday's exercise.
Deciding he couldn't leave Rodney in his nightmare, he gently shook his shoulder. Rodney woke in a much more violent way than he expected, but as he calmed down, his mind, still a little tired, caught up with the present.
"Why're you in my room?" He asked.
"No idea. I must have dropped off and nobody moved me. Are you alright? That sounded like one hell of a nightmare."
"I'm fine."
John gave him a disbelieving look, but as it raised no response, John headed towards the door. He intended to get a shower and find out what was going on.
As he reached the door, Rodney, now sitting on the edge of his bed, spoke up. "Well... actually..." He faltered.
John sighed. "I know you've seen something happen. It's changed you. You aren't the Rodney that, from my point of view, you were two days ago. If talking about it brings the old one back, then I'm happy to listen."
Rodney stayed quiet for a minute, and John came over to sit next to him. "Rodney?"
The obvious concern in his tone chipped at the dams holding back the strains of the past week.
"I saw it happen, over and over again." He started.
Foreseeing the rush of emotions about to break through, John put a comforting arm around the physicist. "It's alright."
"I saw you all die, again and again, and I couldn't do a thing about it." Tears ran down his cheeks as sobs coursed through his body. "You died in my arms. I...I...I was so alone... We were the last two left and you left me alone."
"I'm still here Rodney. I'm not going anywhere." He had realised that Rodney had gone through a lot, but that last sentence had shaken him. "It didn't happen. You stopped it."
"I saw it happen. How can you say it didn't happen? You left me." Rodney clung to him like a small child. He became increasingly upset as he went over the memory.
John never realised Rodney had such a close attachment to him. But, now he thought about it, he did seem like a brother to him. "Shh. It's alright. I'm here. I'm back. You saved me." He practically cradled the distraught man, and slowly, he calmed down.
They moved apart, Rodney still sniffling a little. "You must think I'm really stupid, a coward."
John's expression changed in an instant. All traces of sympathy had disappeared. His face went so fierce Rodney tried to draw back, scared, but John held him tightly by his shoulders.
"Never, ever, let anyone tell you that! You are far braver than anyone else in this city. I saw your watch. Twenty-odd loops, defeats each one. And yet, you won! You kept working and defeated all the odds. Never say you are a coward."
Looking decidedly stunned after that tirade, Rodney said weakly. "You really think so?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't." Replied John firmly. "Now, I suggest we'd better show ourselves before a few rumours start. But not until we've both showered."
Rodney looked at both of their appearances and grinned.
"Now that's better." John clapped his shoulder and then headed off to his room.
A.T. 1:14:00
Rodney received a hero's welcome when he entered the Gate Room, much to his surprise as he didn't feel like one. John trailed behind, allowing the physicist the full spotlight, and in order to listen in to what people didn't want him to hear.
"I heard he cried like a baby..."
John paused, and then grabbed the man who had come out with that ill-timed comment. "Do you want to try that one again?" He said menacingly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elizabeth spot what was happening and deliberately turn away.
"No. You can't intimidate me. He's a coward and always will be."
The entire room fell silent as the man's raised voice echoed around the room.
John's fist blurred and the man slid across the floor. "Wrong answer."
He then walked away, and nobody went over to help the sprawling scientist. Never had Rodney had such unanimous support, and with him far from over his past week, he had never needed it more.
As John drew level with him, Rodney said, "There was no need to hit him, you know."
"Anyone who calls you a coward deserves a punch or two, yourself included. Now, I think you've earned a drink." He led Rodney to where someone was handing out drinks. They then had the most enjoyable evening the physicist had had in a long time.
Fini
