Chapter 2

24 hours had passed since he had seen Carter and McKay awoke in the helicopter. He remembered wandering around the SGC before deciding he needed some sleep prior to coming to Antarctica, and O'Neill had agreed.
He grabbed his things as the helicopter landed. He ran quickly from the propellers that were still spinning violently. The helicopter lifted off as McKay entered the base at Antarctica; he stood and stared in awe, the people, the noise, and the new gadgets he now had the chance to play with. He heard someone protesting feverishly, "No I don't wanna!"
"Please, Doctor you have to try it out, you have the gene."
"Aye man, I may have the gene, don't mean I know how to bloody use this thing."
Rodney smiled and stepped forward to see a terrified man sitting in the chair
"Hi, Rodney McKay, Dr. McKay, What Ya' so worried about? You can't make anything explode."
The doctors face paled and the chair jerked backwards and he managed to stutter, "God, uhhh B...Beckett, Dr Carson Beckett I think I may have sent some explosions this way!"
A siren began to ring; Rodney shuddered to the feeling of the siren beating through his body. Elizabeth came running from her temporary office.
"Sgt, what's the problem?"
"Dr Beckett somehow sent 3 missiles out."
"And the target?"
Carson whimpered, "Here!"
Rodney glanced over. "Okay I spoke to soon, you are gonna make explosions; your going to kill us and you call yourself a doctor!" he ranted
Weir stared at him "And you are?"
"Dr. Rodney McKay, Astrophysics."
The first missile hit; the base shook violently and shattered glass fell from the ceiling but luckily no real damage.
"Uhhh Elizabeth, I wanna get out. I hadda enough, gene or no gene"
"Carson just relax." Elizabeth said.
As Carson tried to calm himself down it became apparent it was having the opposite effect. Rodney moved closer to Carson and whispered something in his ear, the chair became upright again and the last two missiles exploded before impact. Rodney held a hand out and Carson took it.
"You alright?"
"Aye, I am now, thanks to you." Carson blushed slightly and made his excuses, "Best be getting back to the infirmary. Elizabeth, Rodney." and he departed
Weir glanced at McKay and asked, "What did you tell him?"
"I'm sorry I can't divulge my secret powers!"
Weir smiled and continued, " I see we have a genius on our hands then, I had been warned by General O'Neill. I'll get Zelenka, Johnson and Kavanagh to meet you; they are part of your team. I'm sure one of them will show you your office.
"Thank-you. What do we know so far about Atlantis?"
"All in good time. One thing is possible, we may be going there sooner than we think; Zelenka will brief you."
"Zalenki...Zacheckla...what is his name again?"
"Ze-len-kar!"
"Zelenka, right."
Rodney had been there three hours and had jumped straight into work, and had already mispronounced Zelenka's name on no fewer than five occasions.
"My god, how bad iz za name Zelenka? Ze-len-kar!"
"Seriously, if you know I'm calling you then why does it matter if I call you Zar or Zarla?"
Zelenka huffed and continued with his calculations. Hours passed again and Rodney needed to find his quarters - he still felt tired and slightly jetlagged from Russia. When he eventually entered the room he heard the shower being switched off. Carson Beckett walked back in, with a towel covering his waist down and another to ruffle his short hair and catch any runaway droplets of water. Rodney's face felt like he was on fire; he was staring profusely at the doctor's body unable to glance away. The shape of his back, a slight scar down one arm, the water that stuck to the doctor's shoulders. The fire was moving down his body and to the front of his trousers.
"I... I... I'm sorry didn't realise."
"Nah, it's okay, my fault. I shouldda remembered you were her;, been a long day."
Rodney nodded with agreement. Carson grabbed his clothes and got changed in the bathroom. Rodney set about placing things around his bed.
"That's Samantha Carter isn't it?" Carson asked as he entered the bedroom.
Rodney glanced to see a photo had fallen from one of his books, he used it as a bookmark to remind him of her, and he managed a nod before grabbing at the photo and shoving it in the closest drawer.
He did have one of Davey and he placed that on the bedside. They were an item a lifetime ago, but it never went anywhere. Davey knew Rodney was hung up on Sam and they had remained friends.
Carson glanced at the photo and saw them hugging each other round the waist, while their free hands were entwined. Carson thought best not to comment but he felt strange that there was someone else who liked men and wasn't a woman.