A/N: I haven't read the Dresden Files, or seen SGA for a long time, so I apologise for any mistakes and appreciate any corrections. I also apologise for forgetting this story exists.

In a newly discovered room in Atlantis, Doctor McKay was geeking out over new Ancient technology and trying to ignore Zelenka and the other bumbling scientist, but mostly Zelenka. This room seemed to be a sort of junk room, storing all sorts of devices and instruments. McKay recognised some as early prototypes of other technology like the screens in the control room. The rest must be abandoned ideas, duds, failures.

So far, they were just documenting everything in the room. The real science would happen later, hopefully in an empty room, by himself. His attention was caught by Zelenka, waving him over to a shelf on his side of the room.

"It just lit up; nobody has touched it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure." He glared.

Peering over, McKay saw a small grey tablet the size of a regular block of chocolate that had lit up of its own accord. He touched it, and fain- no, passed out.

Doctor McKay woke with a groan on cold concrete.

"Dammit Zelenka, what did you do?"

Then he noticed his hands. Large, calloused hands that were attached to long arms that disappeared into the sleaves of the black leather duster he was wearing. He wore a silver braided ring on one finger, as well as a charm bracelet hung with tiny medieval shield charms on his left hand.

"What on Earth?"

"Dresden! Don't bother running! Your death is inevitable, and even you are powerless against it."

It was at this point that a black and green badger- shaped cloud of light scuttled around the corner to stare straight at Rodney.

"I'm dreaming, I- I'm hallucinating. I need food."

A young man with a ratty-looking soul patch joined the badger thing at the entrance to Rodney's hiding spot.

"Come on, Dresden. If I am to kill Chicago's most feared wizard, he must be standing, otherwise where's the glory? People must speak of this moment for years to come."

"You're killing me for street cred?"

Rodney was still trying to convince himself that this was not real, when his hand found a small grey tablet in his pocket, identical to the one he had been holding moments before in Atlantis, except for the symbols etched on face of it.

Hit with sudden realisation, he stared up at the dark figure wide- eyed in panic.

"Listen, I'm not who you think I am, it has something to do with device, if you'll just let me explain…"

"Dresden, please. Stand before me, fight me."

The stranger held a long stick in front of him, with glowing runes running its length. An unseen force pulled Rodney to his feet. He noticed a similar stick lying nearby, which he picked up. As he straightened to his full height, he was nearly hit with a bout of vertigo as he realised how far away the ground was. The stranger now had to look up to meet his eyes.

"Potent-tia!" crowed the stranger, and Rodney went flying backwards.

"Ok, we can rationalise this later. Obviously there is no such thing as magic…"

"Casua-dolors!"

Every nerve ending in Rodney's body was on fire, and he screamed in pain. The young man stood back, a disappointed frown on his face. Rodney struggled to his feet, breathed deeply and raised his stick.

"Uh… potentia?"

Nothing happened.

"Dresden, you're not getting out of this. Please, face me properly, give me your best."

As Rodney stepped back, a heavy object in one of the coat's pockets thumped against his leg. The hooded man had raised his staff again, and was preparing some other not-spell to throw at Rodney, who slipped his hand in the pocket and immediately recognised the feel of a gun handle. Rodney was starting to like this Dresden fellow. Grinning, a plan forming in his mind, Rodney held his staff aloft and began chanting in Ancient, hoping that the guy wouldn't have a clue what he was actually saying.

Then, without warning, he brought the gun up and fired. The Voldemort wanna-be dropped like a pile of rags.

"Ha! Bad aim indeed. Take that, Sheppard"

"Hey, Dresden. You alright?"

His celebration was cut short by a tiny blonde woman who appeared from behind the wizard as he crumpled to the floor.

"I…Oh."

He looked back down at his own gun, and the woman laughed. She pointed at the floor a few metres behind the body, where a great chunk of concrete had been gouged out.

"You might want to work on that bad aim a little more. I've knocked him out, so he'll be down for a while. Who's Sheppard?"

"He's the- he's a friend. He's been teaching me how to use one of these. What just happened? And who is Dresden?"

The blonde's gun snapped back up, to point at Rodney.

"Dresden, if this is some joke, drop it. Now. If you're not Dresden, then who the hell are you and where is he?"

"My name is Doctor Rodney McKay. I work for the United States Air Force. Dresden is probably where I was five minutes ago. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, but it had something to do with this."

He pulled the device out of Dresden's pocket and handed it to the woman, who kept the gun steady.

"What is it?"

"I haven't figured that out yet. I was examining it when I blacked out, and woke up here. My best guess is the device initiates some sort of mind transfer. It's a lot smaller than some of the other devices I've seen, but this one is from an incredibly advanced culture."

"It's technology?"

"Of course it's technology."

She took a few steps back and straightened her gun arm.

"The truth this time. Where is Dresden?"

"I just told you! I know that to the primitive and simple- minded, advanced technology might seem like magic, but it's not! Magic does not exist."

"Magic exists alright, and it doesn't get along too well with technology. Anything running off electricity tends to fry when there's magic floating around. If this is advanced as you say, it would have been dead before Dresden even touched it."

"Give it here, I'll show you."

"No, tell me how to make it work, then I'll see if I believe you."

Rodney sighed in exasperation…

"The device will only work if you possess a certain gene. That fact that it didn't light up when you touched it proves that you don't"

"Or that it doesn't work."

"For goodness sake, you have a gun. If you don't trust me, just shoot me. Preferably in the leg, or something, so I can live to complain about it afterwards."

Rodney held out a hand, and the blonde woman reluctantly handed over the device He moved a thumb over a clear part of the front panel. The device began to glow with a soft blue light.

"Look. It works. Well, it turns on. I'd need to study it further before I can make it work."

"It already has worked."

"Yes, by accident. I also don't know for sure exactly what it does. I need to translate it first."

"You can do that later. Someone will have heard the gunshots, and called the cops. I may as well take you to Harry's place."

Rodney nodded, and picked up Dresden's staff and a smaller stick, also covered in runes.

On the car ride back, the woman introduced herself as Murphey, a friend of Harry's, and gave McKay a brief run-down of his situation, leaving out vital details where she could.

"So, was he on a case for your lot, back in the warehouse?"

"No, that was for another client. Once that turned out to be fake. I found the remains of a tracking spell in his office, plus a contact number and retainer from the client."

"Why? Do you always check up on Dresden's clients?"

"No. Some friends of his, in the supernatural community, let me know that something was off. Some asshole with a spellbook, a bit a magic and delusions of being all-powerful. We've been on the alert for a few days now. I traced the contact number to the idiot there."

They rode in silence for a while, and then Murphey parked her car in front of an old brick building.

"Here we go."

As they walked through the front door, McKay gave a small yelp of surprise.

"What is it?"

"I felt something… like a curtain parting, or… What was that?"

"Probably the wards Dresden's got over this place. I've got a key, so you don't need to take them down. Here, sit down."

McKay's eyes bugged as a thought pinged into his brain.

"What's today's date?"

"The twelfth of October, why?"

"What year?"

"2007."

"That's good, I haven't travelled in time. I need to contact some people in Colorado. And you probably need to sign a non-disclosure agreement."

"What? Why? What's in Colorado?"

"I can't tell you until you have the proper security clearance. Suffice to say it's a matter of national security. I also need to let my people know that I am not… me, for want of better explanation."

"And they'll buy that?"

"This isn't the first time this has happened to us."

"What exactly do you do?"

"I am a scientist, specifically a physicist, and mathematician… basically I'm a genius."

McKay paused.

"You said this Dresden guy blows up stuff? Because, we have a lot of very sensitive and expensive technology in Atl-… our base, most of which is irreplaceable."

"From what Dresden's told me, magical ability is influenced mainly by genetic factors, so it comes with the body, not the mind."

"Oh good. So how come I couldn't do anything before, with the stick thing?"

"You don't know how. Magic needs a person's will to make it work, plus a whole lot of training and stuff. To be honest, I tend to tune out most of Dresden's ramblings on magic."

"But he definitely can't break anything?"

"Not with magic, but breaking stuff seems to come naturally to Dresden, so I hope you're insured."