Author Notes: Thanks for the feedback guys. Hope you like this chapter, it might be the last for a while as I go back to uni soon so will be very busy with silly essays.

Chapter 6: Orion

Explanations had been sketchy at best. Rodney wasn't relinquishing any information anytime soon, especially in front of John and Elizabeth. Carson tried to fill in what he knew, finally recounting Rodney's tale after keeping it quiet for so long. Laura was deceptively forthcoming; she would answer any question concerning where she had come from, but always managed to avoid the ones they really wanted answered, like about her past with Rodney, their daughter, or how she had come to be in their universe.

All in all, it left a very confused head of Atlantis and a shocked head of military trying to get their heads around the day's events in Weir's office. Carson smiled tentatively as he entered the office, handing Elizabeth a tablet, "She's getting better. I've got her on supplements and am trying to get her body weight up. She and Rodney still haven't seen each other since the yesterday, and to be honest, that's probably a good thing for both of them physically. Mentally though...someone needs to get Rodney to open up, and I don't know about you, but I'm meeting a brick wall here."

There was silence for a moment, until Elizabeth sighed, scrubbing her tired face with her hands, "How can this be real?"

John snorted, "We hardly lead a normal base of operations here. I'm still trying to get my head around an Earth controlled by Goa'uld for thousands of years. Could you imagine? Hell, could you imagine McKay lasting there for fifteen years?"

"Aye, I know what you mean."

Weir shook her head, "I don't care who she is, or where she's from, the question remains of what we do with her now."

John shrugged, "The Daedalus doesn't leave until tomorrow."

Carson shook his head, "You can't. I think Dr Heightmeyer will agree with me on this – until those two resolve their problems in dealing with their past, if you send one away, the other one will have to follow. Besides, it would be irresponsible just sending her there without us knowing what would happen to her when she arrived."

"Carson's right, John, and we can't afford to lose Rodney. Until I get orders from Earth on the matter, she'll have to stay."

"Are you sure?" Rodney tried to keep the hope out of his voice, continuing to scribble in the new notebook he had started since Laura's return. Jeannie had tried to get him to explain, but he had flat out refused. In reality, he was trying to figure out a way to sort out their universes. Laura couldn't stay here without fundamentally altering their world, but every time he figured out a solution, there was always the guilt hanging over his head – could he really send her back to that Hell?

Jeannie sighed exasperatedly, "I can't leave you like this Mer! I miss Madison and Caleb, but at least I know they're safe. You're life has just gone beyond complicated, and this is partly a family matter. I want to learn what has really been going on these past four years."

Rodney smiled weakly, "Thanks."

Jeannie simply nodded.

Laura lay awake in her darkened room off the infirmary, watching the moonlight on the ceiling. She couldn't sleep; her mind kept turning to Rodney.

Sighing, Laura sat up and swung her feet to the cool floor, allowing her bare toes to assimilate the odd sensation of a completely smooth floor that wasn't metal. She could tell almost everyone in Atlantis was unhappy about her arrival; she upset their perfect balance. Nevertheless, apparently they had decided to give her the months that it took the Daedalus to return to Earth and back with orders concerning her stay. Making up her mind, realising that she wouldn't be able to sleep, Laura rose silently, and padded barefooted to the doorway. She slid silently out, smiling as she made no sound that her guard, with his back turned to her, could hear.

As Laura slipped unnoticed out of the infirmary, she thought on how different this place was. If this had been her Earth, there would have been no way she would have gotten away with that. There was a time when even Rodney would have woken at the slightest sound, but it seemed that he had completely let go of any habits that hailed back to her life. Suppressing a sigh, the Laura crept out into the corridor, intent finding at least a slight crack in the surface of this perfect city – nothing should be this flawless. Cautious exploration. Xac had preferred suicidal tendencies, but Atlantis was unlikely to reveal any legions of Jaffa, and so she felt relatively safe.

She hadn't been exploring for very long, when, "I doubt the base security would appreciate your little night time wanderings dear."

Laura probably would have decked the Scotsman if he had been standing any closer, she had no idea how he had managed to appear behind her without her noticing. "For the love of Seth! How the hell'd you creep up on me like that?"

Carson smiled, raising an eyebrow, "Impressive; two different religions in one sentence."

Laura shrugged, "I've never seen the point in restraining my language. If the situation looks bad, it probably is, and there's no reason to try and make it seem better."

Carson leaned against the wall, his eyes sparkling, "What are you doing up, lass?"

"What are you doing up?" Laura retorted.

"I asked first, and technically out of the two of us, I'm the one who is allowed to be standing here, but since you're curious, I was doing paperwork and thinking about a new arrival Atlantis has recently acquired."

"Really, and what do you think of them?" It was an honest question. She was curious why this man was so damned friendly. She had talked to him more than Rodney at any rate.

Carson shrugged, "I haven't decided."

Laura folded her arms, but Carson merely smiled, walking forwards and gently taking her by the hand. Walking as silently as anyone she knew from her world, Carson led Laura through the darkened halls of the city, until they reached a doorway from which a slight breeze wafted through, "Err, Doc?"

"Do you know the myth of Atlantis?"

"Sorry, no."

"Then why don't you take a real look at her." Carson led her through the doorway, and it was one of those rare moments when Laura's mind was completely wiped blank, which, considering all that she had seen in her life, was a pretty hard task, "The sunken city of Atlantis, recently renamed to the floating city."

Quietly, Carson guided Laura to the balcony overlooking the sparking water and the shining stars. He had suspected, but hadn't been completely certain. They remained leaning on the balcony, allowing the salty wind to swirl around them for some time, until Laura whispered with a childlike quality to her voice that she thought she had lost long ago, if she had ever had it at all, "Is that a sea?"

"Aye, but you should probably be called an ocean – far bigger."

"It doesn't look real. Are we actually…"

"Floating? Aye, but you'd haveta ask Rodney to explain the specifics."

"It's beautiful. It reflects the sky. I never knew there were so many stars, or that you could have so much clear water in one place…"

Carson smiled softly, "You should go and wake Rodney – make him watch a sunrise with you. I sometimes think he only ever sees the science of this place." Laura didn't reply, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and looking skyward to the moon. Her eyes had darkened considerably, the spell broken, but Carson felt this needed to be said, "You need to talk to him Laura. He can't understand if you don't let him. He never meant to leave her; he thought the machine would bring them both here."

Laura barked a laugh, an icy mirth dancing in her eyes. "He is not the man I knew for fourteen years. He is the man I knew for the first two."

Carson sighed. This was going nowhere. He decided to change topic, "Elizabeth has granted you freedom within the city, as long as you're with either a senior member of the staff, or two escorts."

"Two escorts - aren't I popular? Is one of them that charming Major Lorne? I felt we established a rapport that day."

Carson snorted, "I'm sure."

Laura smirked, "He deserved every second I made him squirm."

Carson rolled his eyes, "You and Rodney are more alike than either of you will admit. Come on - back to bed with ye, before your guard has a coronary."

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Just a little insight into Rodney and Laura for you there:) Please review.