Takes place while Rodney is recovering in the infirmary after "Grace Under Pressure."

Thanks to Heidi and Jen for the beta and suggestions!

STILL WATERS RUN DEEP

Beckett paused, his pen suspended in mid-air over the report he was writing as he tried to decide what had caught his attention. Something was off. His infirmary had its own cadence, its only symphony of background noise. The beeping of the monitors, the hum of machinery -- and though it was barely more than a whisper -- even the crashing of the sea could be heard. Whatever it was, though subtly disturbing, was not urgent. If there was anything too much amiss, he knew the monitors would be giving off alarms. He stood, making the rounds of the little infirmary, pausing at Rodney's bedside. In an attempt to keep the scientist's mind occupied during his stay, Dr. Weir had downloaded the SG-1 mission logs from the last databurst into a datapad -- something for which Carson had been profoundly grateful. Dealing with an injured Rodney was bad enough; dealing an injured and bored Rodney went beyond the patience of the proverbial saint…at least that's what his staff told him when they cornered him in his office.

The scientist was deeply engrossed in the report he was currently reading; so enraptured in fact, that he didn't even seem to have noticed the doctor's presence. Carson noted the slightly increased heartbeat, blood pressure, and respiration rates on the monitors with interest but without undo concern. The readings were on the high side of normal, after all. "Rodney?" When the scientist didn't acknowledge him, he frowned and tried again, this time a bit more forcefully, "Rodney!"

The scientist gave a guilty start as Beckett broke his concentration. "What?" he snapped, instantly defensive.

Carson noted his patient's pupils were slightly dilated as well. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes," he replied, obviously irritated to have been interrupted. "Why do you ask?"

"Your vitals are a bit off." Curious, Beckett leaned over to get a better look at the datapad.

Rodney turned it away before the doctor could see what was on the screen and glared accusingly at the monitors, blushing slightly. "I'm fine, just engrossed in an SG-1 report."

Glancing at the monitors again, Beckett noted the readings had begun to decrease, heading down toward mid-normal.

"Must be some report," said Sheppard, approaching the bed. Zelenka was right behind him. "PX7-445, I'll bet? I thought that one would be your favorite."

McKay blushed an even brighter red and stuttered a bit, his tone was brusque and annoyed. "These mission reports, Colonel, have saved our lives more than once."

"No doubt," said Sheppard amicably, acknowledging the statement for the truth it was, but the wide grin that creased his face and his twinkling eyes suggested more than just mere agreement.

Zelenka suddenly became intensely interested in a small imperfection in the wall, his lips twitching in poorly suppressed amusement.

Crossing his arms, Beckett studied the men; obviously they were baiting Rodney and he wasn't sure he approved. True, the scientist was on the mend, but he was not yet fully recovered from his near-death experience. He needed rest, not aggravation. "What happened on PX7-445 that's so…"

"Stimulating?" supplied Sheppard quickly. He had to pause a moment to slap Zelenka on the back a few times as the scientist went into an uncontrolled coughing fit. "It's not so much what happen on the planet as what happened when SG-1 returned…or should I say SG-1s, plural," he replied, pausing and flicking a glance at the scientist as if to give Rodney a chance to tell the rest of the story if he chose to do so.

"It has to do with a metaverse…" began Rodney, seizing the opportunity eagerly and launching into a long and drawn out technical explanation which ended with Carson blinking at him in confusion.

Seeing the doctor's bewilderment, Zelenka, his eyes still watering slightly, broke down the technobabble as much as possible. "Several alternate universes became…entangled… the result was stargate teams from alternate realities converging on our SGC." He waited a moment to let the physician process the information.

"There were fifty duplicate stargate teams from other realities at the SGC," said Sheppard, simplifying the information even further.

"Only thirty-six of them were actually SG-1…" began Rodney.

"Yeah, yeah," agreed Sheppard, cutting off the scientist before he could get going with the technicalities.

"I'm still not sure I understand. Are you saying there were thirty-six…copies…of Colonel Mitchell's team from other universes?" asked Beckett.

"Something like that," Zelenka said. He and Sheppard grinned at Rodney, receiving a glare in response.

Beckett frowned, still not understanding what the colonel and Radek found so amusing about the situation…or why it seemed to bother Rodney so much. "What happened?"

"Long story, short -- one of the Samantha Carters figured out a way to send them all back to their own realities," said Sheppard, his grin getting wider as he shot Rodney another glance.

"Yes, yes, it all ended happily ever after," the scientist said quickly. "Don't you two have things you need to be doing? Radek, you were supposed to be working on the back-up Naquadah generators…" he added hastily, obviously trying to rid himself of his two antagonists before they could say anything more.

Taking in his patient's increasing agitation, Carson was inclined to cut the visit short despite his curiosity and walked the two men to the infirmary door, giving the colonel one last inquiring look.

"Just picture it, Doc-- I'm sure he is-- thirty-six Samantha Carters in one room." Rolling his eyes appreciatively at the mental image, his face broke into another broad grin, and he couldn't resist adding one last parting shot just before stepping out the door, "I'm surprised you can find any measureable blood flow to his brain at all."

END