Author Notes: Thanks for the support! The story has taken a big jump in time now, and is set directly after season 3's McKay and Mrs Miller. Enjoy :)

Chapter 5: Thunder

"Finally." Lieutenant Greenwood sighed as Doctors Beckett and Zelenka stepped through the Stargate.

Greenwood didn't bother with any further conversation, instead turning about and striding off down the path already beaten by his team. Zelenka sighed something unintelligible, but Carson had a funny feeling it had something to do with ignorant soldiers not grateful that their universe had been prevented from caving in. From what Carson understood, it had been close, and had drained all of their ZPM, but he had so far had the sense to stay out of Rodney's way, and so did not know the full details. Besides, the CSO would be wanting to spend more time with his sister. Probably.

Carson frowned as raised voices began to penetrate the woodland. One was Major Lorne, the commander of the team, and the one who had radioed for the assistance of the two men. The other was presumably native, as there was no woman on Lorne's team as far as Carson knew. "What is this about?"

Greenwood looked uncomfortable for a moment, "We, erm, think we activated something. Major Lorne has the ATA gene, so, yeah."

Radek and Carson exchanged worried looks at this vague answer. They increased their pace, until they were in a tiny clearing that allowed entrance to a small cave-like structure. More of an overhang really, as the only thing that could fit was a strange device that was far beyond Carson's expertise. The fifth addition to Lorne's team however…

"Will you just give me your gun!" Lorne's voice was hardly the embodiment of calm; apparently his personality didn't gel with the stranger who stood before him.

"I thought I told you to fuck off?" The stranger folded her arms, "My gun, not yours. Go find your own."

Lorne's face grew darker, but then he noticed the two doctors, "Ah, finally."

Radek rolled his eyes, "Why do they all say that?"

Carson looked between everyone worriedly, "What happened here?"

"We were investigating the power output of this device when I activated it and materialised...her into being."

Before Carson could ask anything further, the stranger snorted, "Oh please – I'm impressed you can even make your gun work! The chances of you ever being able to comprehend, let alone activate, anything as complex as that device are equal to that of me turning purple. Don't flatter yourself."

Lorne seemed to take a very deep breath, and then spoke in a neutral tone, "Beckett, perhaps you could talk to her, we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot."

"Dear gods, how long did it take you to come up with that one?"

Carson looked at Zelenka, who seemed as baffled as he was, "I'm sorry, lass, what do you mean?"

Lorne scowled, "When she materialised, she, well, she landed on my foot."

"Something I can honestly say I do not regret."

Carson sighed; so much for peace and quiet, "Major Lorne, why don't you show Radek everything? I think it would be best if I talked to lass alone."

Under normal circumstances, Lorne might have felt a bit ruffled to be given an order by a scientist, but on this occasion, he was more than glad. Carson waited until he was sure they were well enough out of the way before cautiously stepping forwards. She was scowling, and her body posture was defensive. Well, no better place to start than with introductions, "My name is Doctor Beckett, or Carson if you like. What's yours?"

She blinked, her eyes suddenly hopeful, as if someone had removed curtains from behind them, "You're a 'doctor'? I mean, that's your title?"

"Aye, lass, are you hurt?"

Her face split into a slight smile, "I'm looking for a doctor. Not you I mean, but I dunno, maybe there's like a list or something."

For a moment, Carson was thrown by her sudden complete conversion from hostile to vaguely open and friendly, before he repeated his first question, "Sorry, but what do I call you?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, right, sorry, but you're the first vaguely smart person I've met, well I mean…" She paused, catching herself before she went off on another tangent, "My name is Laura. And I'm looking for a Doctor Rodney McKay. Know one?"

Carson blinked in shock. The rest of the Atlantians were with Zelenka; none of them wanting to get close to the sharp-tongued woman, and hadn't heard a thing. He said the first thing that came to mind, "But you're dead! Rodney told me you were dead!"

Dr McKay? You are required in the infirmary immediately.

The voice rang clear in Rodney's earpiece, cutting him off mid-sentence in his goodbye to Jeannie before she left the next day. He sighed, "What? I'm busy."

It was insisted, sir, I'm sorry.

Jeannie bit her lip awkwardly, "If you've got to avert a disaster, I won't mind you leaving."

Rodney sighed, "No, I guess, well, you might as well come too, I mean, if you want to. You'll want to say goodbye to Carson, right? And that guy sleeps like a log in the mornings."

Jeannie smiled. She knew it was a lie, that her brother was trying to keep up conversation, and she was deeply hopeful and grateful for it, "Sure."

The pair made their way swiftly through Atlantis, on the way meeting up with John and Elizabeth, who had clearly also been called. By the looks of it, they had come straight from the Gateroom after seeing Ronon and Teyla off on their little information excursion. "Do you know what this is about?" Rodney asked accusingly to the Colonel.

John shrugged. Elizabeth frowned, replying vaguely, "I approved Major Lorne's decision, but he wasn't too specific on the details. I wasn't able to be present; they returned in Jumper Two." They reached the infirmary, and headed in the direction where they could see Beckett standing in the entrance of an isolation room. Carson's soft brogue could be heard too. The four entered the room. Carson was leaning against the wall in a seemingly relaxed manner, talking to an almost skeletal woman who was sitting on a bed. Both John and Jeannie, who were on either side of Rodney, felt his whole body freeze up and his muscles tense. The woman hopped off the bed and pulled a cold smirk across her face, "Miss me?"

The comment made John frown; who the hell was this? Conversely, it seemed to break Rodney from his shock. He took a step into the room, "How…how..?"

The woman dropped all pretence of a smile, and there seemed to be an air about her that suggested that if she had been a normal person, she would be crying. Before anyone could say anything further, the waif-like visitor had taken one step forwards and thrown her arms tightly around Rodney's neck, burying her face in his collarbone. If that hadn't been enough of an absurdity, John watched as Rodney actually returned the hug, he too looking as if he was scared of letting go. Carson seemed content to not interrupt.

And then suddenly the woman broke out of the hug, and promptly slapped Rodney across the face. Hard. "You bastard."

Everyone seemed taken aback by this change of mood. Rodney moved his hand up to his cheek in shock and bewilderment, and for once, he had no retort. Everything had just gone beyond the land of what was surreal. John moved forwards in confusion, as did Carson; Rodney was looking exactly the same as he had when they had first met in Antarctica, and that had not ended well. In fact, he looked just about ready to bolt. First his sister on Atlantis, then his weird duplicate that was not him, and now this. And the fact that Elizabeth had brought John along and Jeannie was in the room as well just made everything more claustrophobic. "What-"

And then the woman was attacking Rodney, with violent shoves and slaps which were clearly intended to be harder had it not been for her malnourished state. Too overwhelmed to put up much of a defence, the scientist backed up. John jumped forwards, and grabbed the slight woman around the waist, pulling her backwards, and meeting a surprisingly strong resistance. After a few moments, she stopped struggling, and simply stared at Rodney with dead eyes. He stared back. No one knew what to say. And then the woman opened her mouth, clearly pronouncing five, cold words, "You let him get her."

Everyone except Carson exchanged looks of complete confusion and worry. The doctor rested his eyes on his friend worriedly. Rodney's eyes stared blankly at the woman from another world, his face draining of all colour. And then he turned on his heel, and all but ran from the room. Jeannie followed him with her eyes, and then, giving the strange woman one more look, went after her older brother.

A strangled sob escaped the mystery woman in John's arms, and her knees buckled. The Colonel eased her to the floor, looking to Carson for guidance. Elizabeth managed to gather her thoughts, "What on Earth is going on here? Carson – who is this?"

Carson, contrary to his usual nature, ignored their leader, instead beckoning one of his nurses over, "Give her the usual check. And a sedative. The poor lass needs sleep."

As the nurse led the now passive Laura to another room, John spoke up, tension and protective anger for his teammate clear in his voice, "Beckett, what the hell? 'The poor lass'? She just attacked McKay!"

Carson regarded them both with a cool expression, gauging whether to tell them, or just to go straight after Rodney. In the end, he decided he'd probably need help with this one. "Dr Weir, Colonel, that woman is Laura, the mother of Rodney's daughter, Hannah McKay. She's had a rough journey, so I think it's best if we just let her sleep. From what I know, she's no risk to us."

Elizabeth blinked in polite shock, while John just unashamedly gaped in denial.

Carson sighed, giving them both an apologetic shrug. This was going to be a long week.

Jeannie ran after her brother, grabbing his arm, and wrenching him around to face her, "Mer – what the hell?"

Rodney refused to meet his sister's gaze, instead quietly asking, "Let me go please."

"No! What was that back there? Who is she? And why did she attack you?" Her voice was rising, attracting some odd looks, but she didn't care. Rodney tried to shake her grip, but she held firm, "Talk to me Meredith."

And then her brother did raise his eyes, making Jeannie let go of him in shock. Never, in all her life, through all their sibling rivalries and fights, had she seen Rodney's eyes look so blankly cold. "She's from a lifetime ago. She doesn't matter anymore. None of them do."

And he strode off, leaving his sister with more questions than when she had started.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: I know a few of you wanted Hannah to come to Atlantis, and in the original version, that's what happened. But then the story stopped being about Rodney, and was all about Hannah, and I ended up writing her so selfishly and Mary-Sueish that the original point of the story disappeared. So I took my revenge and deleted her, replacing her with the more mature Laura. I hope this new version is better, and would appreciate a small review of your opinions. Thanks for reading!