Chapter 3: A way home.
Rodney had been sitting in his lab for a long time and he was really beginning to feel hungry. His stomach was grumbling and all he could think about was food, Perhaps I should head down to the mess hall and then I'll go and see Sheppard.
Standing up, he closed his laptop and started towards the mess hall, really hoping that he wouldn't run into Teyla along the way. Before he'd even reached the door, someone who he thought and hoped that he'd never see again walked into the room.
It didn't take him long to recover from the shock he'd felt, "What the hell are you doing here Kavanagh!?"
"I work here Dr McKay," and if looks could kill he'd be dead by now, "I should warn you that Teyla is looking for you McKay and she really is in a foul mood. You know I don't know why she chose you, because I would never treat her the way you do."
The thought of Teyla and Kavanagh together really repulsed him whatever reality he was in. "Well, I'm going to get something to eat and then I'm visiting Sheppard, so do not touch any of my stuff!?"
"Why would I touch any of your stuff, Zelenka's my boss, so I only work with him. You tend to be a bit of a lone wolf, no-body wants to work with you; except maybe for Zelenka."
That was a relief, maybe Kavanagh would leave him alone for a while, "why are you here then?"
"Zelenka sent me to tell you that he's bringing you some food up in a minute."
Rodney chuckled at the thought of Kavanagh running errands for Zelenka, "What are you his servant or something?"
"No Dr McKay, he is just a really nice and considerate guy, who I don't mind helping when he asks me to do something, I have no idea what he sees in you though."
Getting tired of the conversation, he decided that it was time to put a stop to it, "Yes well thanks for the message, now can you please leave as I'm really busy right now?"
Kavanagh just glared at him and left the room, leaving him in peace at last. He was close to working out how to reverse the effects of the device, but he feared that Sheppard may have to activate it again, but hopefully it wouldn't malfunction the way it did the last time.
A few minutes later Radek came in, with a plate of sandwiches and a pot of coffee, and rather than get annoyed with him he decided that he'd play nice for a change. It sounded like the Rodney in this reality was a bit of a tyrant, so perhaps he could ease the suffering of these people for a while.
"Hey Radek, thanks for the food, would you like to help me with this device?"
Radek stared at him with a look that could only be described as suspicious, "okay…."
"Come on Radek pull up a chair beside of me and we'll eat and work together?"
"Thank your Rodney, I'd really appreciate that."
It wasn't long before they were sitting at their computers hard at work. Rodney knew that he'd have to go and visit Sheppard at some point in the near future, but for now he was happy to find a way to get them both home.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When John awoke again, he definitely felt a lot better, the pain in his hand and knee were muted and he was happy to see that he was alone, he had no idea how long he'd been asleep, but he was glad that Jennifer had disappeared. Now all he needed was for Rodney to come and take him home. Looking around the room he wondered if the wheelchair were nearby and if it were, he would stage one of his famous infirmary escapes. Then he would go and look for Rodney himself, since he was getting sick of laying around and doing nothing.
It didn't take him long to realise that the wheelchair had been removed and worse still Carson had actually put the bed rails up on his bed, so basically, he was trapped.
He was just trying to figure out a way to climb over the bed rails and escape when Teyla entered the room and it was definitely not the woman he loved, she was about twenty pounds heavier for a start, but that could be because she was pregnant. The last thing he wanted to do was to hang around and find out though.
"John, I am so sorry that you were injured by my good for nothing fiancée, but I need you to tell me where he is? He promised he would come home soon, but that was two hours ago!"
All John could do was lie and stare at here, he didn't want to be anywhere near this woman and what had the Rodney in this reality done to end up with her, "I'm sorry I have no idea where Rodney is, or why he hasn't been home today."
The look that Teyla gave him was terrifying, "John Sheppard, I have no idea why you insist on lying to me. Rodney is your best friend, and you would do anything for him, sometimes I wonder why Jennifer puts up with you, I don't know why I put up with Rodney."
"Umm…., why do you put up with him then?" John asked apprehensively.
She sighed and he didn't miss the faraway look in her eyes, "oh… John he takes care of me and gives me everything I need."
The Teyla he knew didn't need anyone to look after her, although he liked to think that she would let him protect her if needed, "aren't you the leader of your people?"
"I was once, but when I chose to come to Atlantis, Halling insisted that he take over the leadership. I could have fought him on it, but I wanted to come to Atlantis to fight for my people, but when I met Rodney, I fell in love with him and for some reason things changed."
John wondered why she seemed so angry and perhaps this was the reason, or maybe she just needed to meditate, "so you still meditate, or what about bantos rods, do you still use them?"
A thoughtful look crossed her face, "who are you, if you were John Sheppard, you would know all of this? You would know that I kick your ass every week in the gym and that I haven't meditated for a few years now. Rodney always makes fun of me when I do it."
Perhaps it was time to tell her the truth and hopefully he would get a chance to tell Jennifer, before he left as well, "Umm….do you believe in alternate realities?"
"I have seen some pretty strange things on Atlantis John, so yes I believe that you have come from another reality, the question is why?"
"Unfortunately, it was an accident, Rodney and I were in his lab testing an ancient device when it malfunctioned, and we ended up here."
"I don't want to know anything about your reality, but you obviously know me pretty well, so I think I will take your advice and go back to meditation and try and remember the strong warrior I used to be."
"That's good to know Teyla and I'm sure if you talk to Rodney about the way you're feeling, he will support you in that."
"Let me guess, the Rodney and you from this reality went off world this morning?" Teyla asked with suspicion.
"I'm assuming that's where they went and hopefully, we will be gone by the time they get back."
"You are remarkably similar to Major Sheppard in this reality, and obviously your Atlantis needs you. I hope you have someone waiting for you at home John and I will do everything I can to help you get home."
So, he was still only a Major in this reality, what had happened here, so that he hadn't been promoted, "Major Sheppard?" He asked and immediately regretted it, since he really didn't want to know.
She furrowed her brow and stared at him to the point where he felt uncomfortable, "why are you not a Major in your reality?"
"Umm…. I am actually a Colonel."
"Really!" She exclaimed raising her eyebrows.
"Please don't let the Sheppard from this reality know, in fact don't let anyone from this reality know?"
He was relieved when she nodded her head, "I promise I won't tell anyone about this."
Before he had a chance to respond, Carson came into the room, "Teyla what are you doing here, you should be home resting and my patient really needs to rest."
He was surprised when Teyla leant in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll catch you later John."
Once she had left the room, he turned to Carson, "okay Carson when can I get out of here, I'm feeling fine."
"I want monitor you for another hour or so, but then if I'm convinced, you're alright, I'll let you go home with Jennifer."
"That sounds good doc." Well, the part about getting out of the infirmary sounded good, but he had no desire to go home to Jennifer.
"Okay lad, are you in any pain?"
"No, I'm alright at the moment Carson."
"I'll come in and see you in an hour or two then."
"Thanks Carson."
He watched his friend leave, out of the three people he'd come across in this reality, Carson was the only one who seemed normal.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney rubbed the back of his neck, he had been hunched over his computer analysing the device for hours, Zelenka had left the lab a while ago now, so for the moment he was alone with his thoughts.
"Rodney why are you still here and not with Teyla?" Jennifer asked entering the room.
"Ummm…Jenn, why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to you about John. You're his best friend, so I thought that you might know what's going on with him. I really don't know what I see in him sometimes."
"Umm…why are you with him then?"
"I guess when I came to Atlantis, I felt so insecure, I was young and I had no idea whether I should be here or not, but when Major Sheppard was in the infirmary after he was fed on by the Wraith, he was warm and friendly towards me and I instantly felt safe and he's been looking after me ever since."
"You're a genius Jenn and one of the strongest women I know, do you really need someone to look after you?"
Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him suspiciously, "John is very intelligent, and he is a loving, caring man, and he makes me feel worthwhile, but you're his best friend and you should already know that, so tell me who are you are and why are you here?"
"Well, you're a genius, why don't you figure it out. The Jennifer Keller I know, would be able to."
The minute she worked it out he knew, because her eyes lit up just like his Jenn's did when she had an idea, "are you from an alternate reality?" She asked him, but he could still see her mind ticking over, so he allowed her time to work things out, "so I take it my John and Teyla's Rodney are off world?"
"Yep, and we're hoping that we'll be long gone before they come back."
She looked from his face to the device that was in his hand, "Is that the device which you used to come here?"
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure it malfunctioned, that is why Sheppard burnt his hand."
"I'll do whatever I can to help you get home."
"Please talk to your Sheppard, if he's anything like the man I know, he'll understand what your feeling, he may not be able to articulate the way he's feeling, but he sure as hell tries at times?"
"I will as soon as he gets back."
"Oh, and one last thing, well a couple of things actually, number one: are you the chief Medical officer here? And number two: Sheppard's only a Major here?"
"Well Carson wants to go off world and help the sick and injured throughout the galaxy, so he's asked me if I'd like to take over and chief medical officer and Woolsey agrees with him."
He could see the light in her eyes, and it was something that he hadn't seen in this version of her until now, "and what are you going to do Jenn?"
"I think I'll take it and in answer to your question about Major Sheppard, he has never been offered a promotion. He is still in charge of the military here, but when the Daedalus is in orbit, he has to take orders from Caldwell and believe me he hates that."
"Well perhaps it's time for you to encourage him to fight for what he wants, the Sheppard that I know would never let Caldwell push him around."
"I will definitely talk to him about that, but before that happens, we need to get you back home. Is there someone waiting for you back on your Atlantis Dr McKay?"
Blushing he turned away from her and looked down at the device again, he had almost worked it out so perhaps he should get back to it.
"I take that as a yes Dr McKay, don't worry I'll help you get back to her."
He looked up at her and smiled, "thanks Jenn."
"Alright, I'll let you get back to work then, let me know when you've found what you need, so that I can say goodbye." She said before flashing him a smile and leaving the room.
At that moment, an alarm on his computer went off, telling him that his calculations for getting home were complete. Now all he had to do was get Sheppard out of the infirmary and bring him back to his lab.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John was bored, he had spent far too long staring at the infirmary ceiling, and he knew every spot and every blemish on it. He was about to start counting the spots on the walls when Rodney walked into the room with Jennifer, Teyla and Carson.
Narrowing his eyes, he stared at Rodney, if they were all there at once something was definitely going on, "what's happening?"
"Well, I think it's time for you to go home lad," and the smirk on Carson's face said that he knew exactly what was going on.
He glared at Rodney, "what did you tell him?"
Carson looked down at him and he spoke to him in his soft lilting voice, "Don't be too hard on him lad I figured it out. Although you are like Major Sheppard in so many ways, there is one in which you are different, you seem to be the kind of man who will fight for what you want. Major Sheppard used to be like that, but at some point, he gave up. I can only assume that it was after I died and Rodney, you seem so much kinder than the Rodney here and again, he seemed to value his friends a lot more before I died."
"So, you're a clone too?" Rodney asked and John could see the sorrow in his eyes.
"Yes, I am and although everyone has accepted me as their long-lost friend, it has changed them, Teyla, Jennifer, Rodney and John in particular."
"You're a clone in our reality too doc," John said, and he had to wonder how Carson's death had changed these people so drastically, it had changed them as well, but in his case, it only made him fight harder. "Anyway, doc can I go now?"
"Yes lad, I'll get your wheelchair for you. Rodney has told me that he has fixed the device, so your hand shouldn't be burnt this time, but when you get back home, I want you to go straight to the infirmary and see your doctor."
"Thanks for everything Carson, "John said with a smile as the Doctor left the room.
A few minutes later Carson came back and with the help of Rodney he settled him into the wheelchair, before heading to Rodney's lab. One thing he knew for sure was he couldn't wait to get home to see his Teyla again.
It didn't take long for them to reach Rodney's lab, where he was handed the device, "okay Sheppard, all you have to do is think on and think of your Teyla, home and then hopefully we'll end up in the correct reality."
That is exactly what John didn't want to hear right now, his head was beginning to pound, and his hand was throbbing, "what do you mean hopefully!?"
"Well according to the ancient data base, the device isn't always one hundred percent accurate."
He thought about asking him how accurate it was and then decided he really didn't want to know all he wanted to do was to get home, "all I have to do is think of home and Teyla right?"
"Yep," was all that Rodney said.
"Okay then let's get this over and done with then."
He was about to activate the device when Teyla stepped forward and pulled him in for a hug and kissed him on the cheek, "thankyou John, I hope that you can get home to your Teyla."
"Ummm…. Thanks."
Thinking about Teyla and his home, he thought on and nothing happened, "Rodney!" He exclaimed, "why isn't it working?"
"I don't know it should be working, just give me a minute and I'll check the data base."
"Perhaps we need to take the bandages off his hands," Jennifer suggested stepping forward.
"You could be right Lassie," Carson agreed, stepping up alongside of her.
"Do it!" John stated firmly.
He stood still while they gently unwrapped his aching hand. Once they had finished, he grabbed the device and thought on again, it didn't take long before a low humming started and a blue light emanated from the device, but this time it didn't heat up.
A blinding flash struck his eyes and for a second everything went black and he couldn't see a thing. When his vision cleared, he looked around the lab and the only person he could see was Rodney, so hopefully that meant that they were home.
"Hey, Sheppard, do you think it worked?" Rodney asked looking around the lab.
"I sure as hell hope so, because right now my hand and my head hurt. I want to be in the infirmary with some good drugs, Carson looking after me and Teyla, my Teyla, sitting by my side."
"Okay then let's go and see if our Carson is here and I'll tell him that you want to be in the infirmary and he'll probably die of shock."
"Maybe don't tell him then, Rodney."
"And Sheppard, let's never tell anyone about that alternate reality, because it was just plain weird."
"Agreed."
It wasn't long before Rodney grabbed the handles at the back of his wheelchair and was pushing him through the halls of Atlantis and this time, he really hoped that it was his home.
TBC…