It was going to a bad day, at least that's what was running through Rodney McKay's mind as he got out of bed today, not realizing that his best friend Doctor Carson Beckett was thinking the very same thing. Today they were going off world for the second time since the Wraith attack, and due to a request put in by Elizabeth, Carson was going along for the ride. She felt that all her Senior personnel as well as their second in commands should have experience off world just in case.
"Okay everyone, we're going to split up, Lieutenant Cadman, you take our favorite doctors here, Teyla you're with Loren and Donahugh. The rest of you are with me.
"But…" Rodney began.
"No Rodney, you're with Cadman," John said grinning at his younger brother. Rodney felt anger rising, she had just arrived on the Daedalus, how did he know if she was trust worthy.
Sighing; he, Carson and Lieutenant Laura Cadman headed west. They walked in silence for most of the time, until John finally called it. "Alright, I'm about ready to call this one. Doesn't look like there are any survivors," he spoke over his radio.
"The cullings are getting more and more intense," replied Teyla through her radio.
"Well, you said it yourself: too many Wraith woke up at the same time. Too many mouths to feed - or ... hands to feed."
"Well, we're headin' back to the Gate - meet you there?" came Major Lorne's suggestion.
"Sounds like a plan. McKay, Beckett: you havin' any luck?" Sheppard called.
They were walking through wildflowers, and Rodney was getting fed up and annoyed, "Negative, Colonel, we haven't found anyone," Beckett replied firmly.
"Make your way back to the Gate," it was a friendly order.
"Will do. Beckett out."
Cadman grinned as she bent down and swiped a few of the wildflowers from the ground, "so, maybe you should pick some wildflowers from around here, she'd really get a kick outta that."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Rodney shot back.
"You've got a date tomorrow with Doctor Katie Brown…right? Well she's a botanist, she never gets off world so…"
"What's this now?" Carson said suddenly.
Rodney instantly rolled his eyes, knowing what would ensue, "it's nothing, nothing at all," he replied quickly.
"You have a date, Rodney? With a woman?" joked Carson grinning from ear to ear.
"It is simply two adults sharing some friendly ... yes, with a woman!" He growled appalled that his friend would even make such a comment.
He felt his anger boil as Carson and Cadman giggled at his reaction.
"Well, she's excited about it. Not sure why, though," Cadman returned.
"How would you know?" McKay grumbled.
"Girls' poker night. I know a lot of things, McKay." She replied.
"I'm sure it's none of your business. This is an inappropriate field conversation," Rodney began to defend himself.
"What? I was just suggesting you might wanna pick some flowers ..." she stopped suddenly, hearing the buzzing coming from somewhere
"Yes, and maybe you should just do your job, which is to protect us…." Rodney continued.
"Shut up," Rodney didn't notice her voice had become serious, but Carson did, watching as she looked around for wherever the sound was coming from.
"Shut up? Let me tell you something ..."
"Stop speaking!" Laura growled at him, finally cutting off his words
"Dart," she whispered, she hit her radio, "We have a Dart incoming!" She looked at the two doctors, realizing they weren't moving, "MOVE IT!" she growled at them harsher than intended
"Seeing us will blow Atlantis' cover. Anyone get a clear shot, you take it, understand?" Sheppard replied over the radio.
The dart swooped down towards Carson, Cadman and Rodney, "Scatter!" Cadman yelled as she shoved Carson to the ground, she reached out for McKay, "MCKAY!" she cried as she tried to push him out of the way, they were both out of time, seconds later the dart swept them up in the beam.
Carson stared in disbelief at the empty space, he had to tell John…John…Rodney. "Crap," he mumbled
Meanwhile by the Stargate, John ran up the steps leading to the now activated wormhole, his P-90 ready to shoot.
"It is heading towards the Gate. We damaged it but it is still on its way!" called Teyla from her position.
"Wait - McKay and Cadman have been beamed aboard that Dart!" cried Carson as he ran across the field towards Sheppard.
"We can't risk the Dart making it back to the hive ship." Yelled John, setting his face in frustration, he opened fire, hitting the dart, he watched it veer off course, right towards Carson.
"Oh crap!" he screamed as he began to run in the opposite direction, Carson dove to the ground, narrowly being missed by the dart. John watched from afar as it went down, not realizing he was holding his breath, waiting for the crash.
Carson sat up gingerly, testing all his body parts, and then his eyes fell on the crash sight, there was nothing left practically, just the front half of the ship, no McKay, no Cadman. Standing up he slowly made his way towards the dart.
Gun raised he aimed it…however it was quickly obvious the Wraith was dying, compassion struck Carson, he didn't care what anyone said, he was a doctor first before and above all else, and while it seemed ridiculous, he also realized this creature was the only who could possibly save McKay and Cadman, he couldn't let him die, "I'm a doctor…I can help you…"
The Wraith reached out to touch the control panel, suddenly, a hail of bullets is fired into the cockpit. Carson ducked as John walked up from behind him, firing a second burst of bullets to making sure that the Wraith is dead.
"What the hell d'you think you're doing? " yelled Beckett, all the air in his chest gone as he thought of the possibility of never getting McKay or Cadman back.
"It was reaching for the self-destruct!" growled Sheppard in return.
"He's the only one that can get Cadman and McKay out!"
"I seriously doubt he'd oblige." Sheppard replied skeptically.
"Well, we'll never know now, will we?"
"Is everyone alright?" Teyla asked as she came hurrying towards them, she looked at the Wraith dart, and felt a small smile tug at her lips.
"We'll be fine, Hanson, radio Atlantis, we need Zelenka here ASAP…we've got a little problem." He whispered as he looked at the dart. He turned to see Carson walked away in a huff, and John knew he had to go after the man.
"Carson…"
"What is your problem?" It was the clearest and yet the most confusing thing Carson had ever said.
"Excuse me?"
"All you ever do lately is ridicule him, knock him down when he's just about ready to get back up. First with leaving him hanging by the rope and then this, over and over again you keep destroying him. Well congratulations Colonel, you've destroyed him for real this time!"
"Wait a damn minute Doctor, we don't know anything about the creatures, for all we know McKay and Cadman could both still be very much alive. We're not going to just give up on them now! Incase you've forgotten Carson he may be your best friend, but he's my brother!" growled John; the minute it left his mouth he regretted the words.
"Aye…but right now I seem to be the only one who cares about him. He's the same man he was last year John…you're the one who's changed. Does rank suddenly mean so much that you suddenly don't seem to care? He's just some doctor, well he's saved your ass a million times Colonel, remember that the next time ya'have a bug stuck to your neck or the next time your about to be sucked by some type of energy cloud! Because you don't exactly have him anymore to do all that!"
"I'm quite capable of saving my own ass thank you doctor!"
"Aye maybe, but you've landed in my infirmary plenty of times without him! If you think you can survive good luck, but for as often as you degrade him, and look at him weird, you just remember that Rodney is your brother and cares for endlessly, unlike you, he won't change."
"Look doc, I'm sorry okay…"
"Wee bit late for that now isn't it! You may have just killed your only living family you have left, and let me make this crystal clear, if he dies, so does this friendship!"
It was harsh, and un-Carson like, but John could tell that Carson blamed him for everything that had been happening to Rodney lately. John sighed, and realized he blamed him self for everything Rodney had been through lately.
Radek Zelenka arrived twenty minutes later, it didn't take long for him and Carson to get engrossed in figuring out how to get Rodney out of the dart…if it was possible, "Colonel!" Zelenka suddenly called as John stepped nearly the back of the cockpit, sparks flew from the interface, causing Radek to jump, grappling at Carson in fear as he looked around wildly to see where the sparks came from.
"First time offworld?" John asked as he tried not to grin.
"Yes."
"Well, if there were any more Wraith, they would have attacked us by now," explained Sheppard.
"Really?" Zelenka didn't sound like very convinced.
"If it makes you feel better. Did you find what we want?" Sheppard inquired.
"Uh…well, yes, but it's very complex. This interface controls the machine that dematerializes people, stores their information and then rematerializes them again when commanded to…"
"Great. Command it to!" Sheppard replied arrogantly.
"Uh, I can't…" Zelenka said, a little sadness and frustration in his voice.
"From what we can tell, the materializer is storing two life-signs," Carson jumped in.
"Which is good!" Sheppard said grinning.
"Yes, but there is only enough power in the Dart's energy cell to successfully rematerialize one of them. Power to the rematerializer has been completely severed and emergency back-up power has been completely run down," Zelenka tried to explain as he showed John the computer images.
"Okay…" John didn't get it…in fact it was as if Rodney was explaining it himself.
"You have to decide which one we're going to beam out."
"It's a terrible choice to have to make," Carson whispered.
"It's easy. Beam out McKay - he'll figure it out how to get Cadman free…" that wasn't the only reason to beam out Rodney, but for John it was obviously the most logical, he knew he couldn't give the real reason he wanted Rodney out.
"No, no, no, sorry - I was unclear," Zelenka said waving his free hand.
"There's no way of telling which is which," explained Carson as he eyed the Colonel.
"Yes. They just read as life-signs," Zelenka filled in.
"Perfect! Alright - that one." He pointed to the closest one, hoping desperately it would be Rodney. "Go," he said as though Zelenka really needed an okay. "Stand aside!" he called to everyone else.
A beam shot out from the back of the dart, Rodney suddenly appeared. He looked around blankly for a moment, his eyes landing on his brother.
"Rodney, you Okay?" John asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Mmm." He tried, suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground. Beckett and John ran over to his side.
"His pulse is stable but I need to get him back to Atlantis," Carson said looking at his brother.
"Teyla, Lorne, help the Doc head back to the city with McKay. We're gonna stay here with Zelenka - try to bring as much of the Dart back as possible…" John order, then he looked down at his brother, "Carson…"
"Don't worry lad, he'll be fine, I promise," Carson said gently.
"Right…"he looked down at his brother again, squeezed McKay's hand then moved so the others could help lift Rodney off the ground.
Rodney was lying unconscious on a bed with wires attached to his head. A light screen was passing back and forth behind him and over his head. Carson stood by his side, looking at Elizabeth and smiled weakly, "how is he Carson?" she asked meekly.
"All of his vitals are stable. His body's reacting like it's been struck by a Wraith stunner," Carson explained watching both the patient, the vitals and Elizabeth.
"So you think once the initial shock is over, we'll have the old McKay back?" she asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid so," he joked softly, patting his friend's shoulder, "Have they had any luck with the wreckage?"
"No. Lieutenant Cadman is still in there somewhere. Did you know her well?"
"No, not really. She was with the new batch that came aboard the Daedalus. She seemed quite lovely, though. She saved my life…"
"Well, you'll be the first person I call when we find her."
"Thank you….you'll be the first to know when Rodney wakes up," he said smiling lightly.
"Thank you Carson."
John had only been by once since they had brought Rodney in and took the scans. Carson had reported the same thing, that Rodney was stable. John didn't stay long, finding some excuse to leave before Carson could even apologize for some of the things he had said. Carson stood by, checking another patient's vitals when he heard Rodney groan from the next bed.
"Hello," he mumbled.
Carson hurried over to his side and smiled softly, "how're ya feelin' lad?"
"Um…terrible, what happened?"
"You were scooped by by a dart…"
"Oh, great! How'd I get out…"
"It's a long story, but I'm glad to see your doing well," replied Beckett.
"Hello? Dr. Beckett?
"Is that Cadman?" Rodney asked looking around for her.
"Dr. McKay?"
"Where is she?" Rodney asked, concern filling his voice.
"I'm right here!"
"Lieutenant Cadman is still trapped in the dart Rodney," Carson said…suddenly confused as to what was going on.
"WHAT?"
"Who said that?" Rodney begged looking around.
"I did," replied Beckett.
"You said "what?"?" Rodney said confused.
"I said Lieutenant Cadman is still trapped inside the dart," Beckett repeated.
"No…no, did you just said the work…"what?"?" he rephrased, becoming very confused himself.
"No…I didn't…" Beckett replied looking around for someone to help him.
"MCKAY!" The voice screamed suddenly.
"Yes…where are you?" Rodney asked.
"I'm right here," Beckett replied.
"No..no, I'm talking to Cadman—shut up for a second."
"She's not here Rodney…"
"Yes I am!" Cadman returned.
"You didn't just hear that…you didn't just hear Cadman say that?"
"No…I didn't," Carson said shaking his head.
"Headse…" he touched his ears…suddenly realizing he wasn't wearing a pair of head phones his eyes grew wide, "I'm not wearing a headset!"
"McKay…where are you?"
"I'm in front of Carson…"
"Oh no…uh, put your hands over your eyes…"
"Why?" Rodney asked her voice skeptically.
"Just do it!" she bit.
"Lieutenant Cadman is still trapped in the Dart…I think maybe your experience…" he watched as Rodney put his hands over his eyes and peeked through his fingers like a small child, "Rodney, what are you doing?"
"Oh, this is terrible."
"What's terrible?" questioned Rodney.
"I can see that! I can see your hands over your eyes as though they were my eyes!"
Carson looked at Rodney take his hands down, still completely confused but what the doctor was doing.
"Carson—hi…"
"Hullo," he whispered in a grimace.
"Who go us out of the dart?" Rodney questioned.
"Zelenka…but he only go you out. Lieutenant Cadman is still trapped inside the dart," Carson repeated for what was probably the tenth time.
"No…no, no, no, no, no…"
"This cannot be happening…" Cadman whispered.
"Cadman's not trapped in the Dart," Rodney finally said.
"Excuse me?" Beckett said really lot and confused at this point.
"She's in here," Rodney replied tapping his head.
Rodney convinced Carson to let him out nearly fifteen minutes later and headed down to the gate room, where they had the Dart sitting. He had one of the man transformer bits in his hand, his face livid with anger. Elizabeth, Rodney and Carson were at his side, as well as Zelenka.
"Oh, nice work!" Rodney said sarcastically.
"We were running out of power. I knew hardly anything about the machine. Who would have thought this could be one of the side effects?" Zelenka replied.
"So - instead of waiting to understand what it was you were doing, you just sort of mashed on the keyboard hoping something would happen!"
"Well, you're alive, aren't you?" Came Zelenka's come back.
"Ask him if he knows how to fix it!" Cadman poked.
"He doesn't know how to fix it!" growled Rodney.
"What?" Zelenka questioned as he eyed Carson, John and Weir, they were obviously just as confused and lost as he was.
"I'm talking to her!" Rodney bit pointing t his head.
"You can hear her thoughts?" Elizabeth was in awe at the thought.
"No, not her thoughts…Thank God! I can hear when she's speaking…or trying to speak."
"Are you sure he should have been discaharged?" She asked leaning over to Carson.
"According to the M.R.I….he's as healthy as he ever was," Carson explained.
"Sure doesn't feel that healthy in here!" retorted Cadman.
"Well we can't all be track stars now can we!" He realized everyone was staring at him and suddenly pointed to his head again, "It was here again."
"Maybe there's something wrong an M.R.I wouldn't pick up…if you know what I mean," he was only half joking. Carson tried to repress the smile.
"I'm not crazy! I just have another consciousness in my brain!" growled Rodney, hurt by his brother's accusation.
"Oh my god!"
"WHAT?" Rodney growled.
"He's…you're his…oh wow!"
"Cadman…" Rodney began.
"Holy crap! That is soo weird! How many other people know about this?"
"About five…"
"What just happened?" Weir asked.
"He sure looks crazy," John said to Carson.
"I'm sure I do! But only because Doctor Fumbles McStupid over here, was way in over his head!" Rodney yelled ignoring Elizabeth's question and pointing to Radek.
"Yes, yes, I made a mistake trying to save your life. Now, d'you want to try to fix it, or do you want to continue to berate me somewhat?"
"I'm perfectly capable of doing both at the same time. Now - I assume you've tried to run one of our own generators on it?" Rodney returned.
"It's not as simple as that ..." Zelenka started.
"Why not?"
"... The trick is having it interface with the Wraith machine in real time. The power fluctuations are, are, are huge. Er, if we overshoot just a little ..."
"Wait, wait, what does that mean?"
"... we're screwed up."
"Yeah, yeah. Um, I'm sure if we can maybe run an interface program that will take care of all the ..." Rodney tried desperately to concentrate
"Hullooo? Rodney? Will you please answer me?"
"Uh, here's what I want us to try."
"Rodney!" Cadman called.
"We'll take a, uh, naqahdah generator ..."
"Ro-o-o-odney!"
"... and, um ..."
"Rodney. Rodney!"
"... and, uh ..."
"Rodney! RODNEY!" she screamed
"YES! WHAT!" He finally screamed furiously.
"Stop ignoring me!" she said in a kinder voice.
"Well, stop asking stupid questions!"
"Rodney ..." Beckett's voice came quietly, Rodney didn't even catch it.
"I will get you out of here, Okay? Now just be a good little girlie and keep quiet." He said rudely.
"Don't you dare condescend me! This is as much my problem as it is yours!" she growled at him.
"And do you have a degree in physics, hmm? Well what about mechanical engineering, huh?"
"Rodney?" Elizabeth spoke.
"YES?" He screamed, and looked down at the floor realizing it had been Elizabeth and not Laura. "Sorry…I'm sorry, what please?"
"Why don't we let Zelenka handle this?" Elizabeth suggested.
"I'm fine," Rodney lied.
"No, you're not," John finally spoke, he didn't miss the hurt that flared through Rodney's ocean colored eyes.
"Oh what, like you've never heard him tell you how annoying you are!" Cadman laughed slightly.
"As a matter of fact…"
"Rodney," Elizabeth whispered.
"I'd me more useful…"
"I'd like you to see Doctor Heightmeyer…"
"I'm fine," he replied casually.
"Rodney, I'm not asking you," Elizabeth's statement was simple and almost painfully caring.
"Oh wow…you've got a lot of problems! Wait a minute why are you going out with Katie if you have the hots for Weir?"
"Just leave me alone!" he yelled as he walked away from the people who claimed to be his friends.
"Well…that went well," muttered John, getting glares from Zelenka, Beckett and Weir.
"You're not helping," Elizabeth finally stated eying him.
"What?" John asked as Elizabeth and Carson walked away, "what did I say?" He questioned obliviously.
"How do you feel you're qualified to help us with this problem?" Rodney questioned.
"I'm not, who could be Rodney? It's not like they covered this in medical school, split personalities, but not two physical personalities in one person's mind. But I have spent some time as a couples therapist…" Kate Heightmeyer said gently as she sat in her office across from Rodney.
"We are not a couple!" Cadman said in disgust.
"In any sense of the definition—not a couple." Rodney finished.
"In physics a "couple" is defined as a pair of forces equal in magnitude acting in opposite directions." Kate explained eyeing her favorite scientist.
"Hmmm…" Rodney said softly
"So don't you feel that applies here?"
"Yeah, that's very clever, but we're not equal forces…"
"Watch it!"
"And by that I mean she's just a voice in my head, I have control of the body." Rodney finished his statement.
"I've seen your body McKay, you can keep it."
"How do you know that? She's been able to access the part of your brain that creates speech and controls hearing, why not movement," Heightmeyer pointed out.
"Well if she could have, she would have by now."
"Maybe you need to release control."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because like it or not, you're sharing that body. The roles could have easily been reversed, Rodney, you could be trapped in her body. And wouldn't you like the chance to say, talk to others without having to go through her."
"YEAH!" Cadman said confidently.
"Maybe…"
"Maybe?"
"Okay, yes, I would want that…"
"So let her," Heightmeyer finished.
Rodney walked away from the hanger grudgingly, when had Zelenka grown balls…when had he suddenly become so brave.
"Do you treat everyone like an asshole?"
"Leave me alone," he mumbled.
"Seriously, you're pissed because Zelenka did the very same thing you would have done, if it had been him. You get angry at everyone else for your mistakes! Did you ever think about taking credit for your screws ups even once?"
"SHUT UP!" he yelled, suddenly reddened when he realized those around were now staring.
"You're so arrogant, no wonder you don't have any friends."
That hurt, not matter how much Rodney wanted to pretend it didn't, for the first time in a long time he had really started feeling like he didn't have any friends. But that wasn't true, Elizabeth was his friend…Carson was his friend…
"Rod…" came the voice from around the corner, Rodney's eyes shot up and caught a glimpse of his brother. Was John his friend anymore, did John even care anymore.
"What?" Rodney asked in exhaustion.
"I…are you okay?"
"No Colonel, you see I seem to have this other person stuck in my head…"
"Rodney, stop, okay, I didn't come here to yell at you, or accuse you of anything. I came here to check on my brother."
"Oh, now you care!" yelled Rodney.
"Hey! I always cared you stupid little twit, I never stopped giving a damn about you, sometimes I regret that!" John looked around and quickly dropped his voice a decibel lower, "I'm sorry okay, I've screwed up, is that what you want to hear, because I'll admit it."
"It's not even this so much…it's everything."
"Rod, I know I haven't been very fair or even nice to you…lately, Rodney I don't know when our brotherly banter went from safe and friendly to almost cruel, but that is definitely my fault, and I'm sorry okay…You're not crazy, and I'm sorry for hurting you in front of your peers, in front of anyone. You know better than anyone that wasn't my intention."
"Really?"
"No, look Rod…I was the one who gave the order to shoot the dart down…."
"No, it's not your fault, honestly the idea of what had happened if it hadn't been shot down is significantly worse…"
"Yeah…I suppose so, sure got an ear full of Carson though, not sure when he became the other older brother," chuckled John.
"He is might over protective isn't he," Rodney whispered smiling.
"We okay then?"
"No…you're okay, I'll live…"
"Want me to walk you to your room?"
"Oh because that so isn't weird," chuckled Rodney.
"Get some sleep pal, okay?"
"Right sleep…"
"Cute," muttered Cadman.
For the first time since her voice had started speaking, Rodney chose to ignore her, taking a moment to enjoy the way he felt, knowing that maybe his brother didn't hate him, and that maybe they could patch up whatever the hell was wrong with their relationship.
"I would like an apology," Rodney stated simply.
"Laura," Heightmeyer agreed gently.
"Forget about it!"
"You did take over his body without permission," Heightmeyer continued.
"He doesn't ask permission when he takes over!"
"Because it's my body!" he screamed.
"Yeah—and I'm a guest! Try and be a little more corteous!"
"You see? You see what I have to put up with?"
"Put up with?"
"There's a lot of stuff I'm not doling right now that I would be doing!" he screamed.
"I don't wanna hear about it…"
"All right you two!" Heightmeyer called.
"You're the one who said 'set up rules'. Well, I did. I-I-I-I followed them - I stuck to them. She basically hijacked me."
"Hey, you had a real opportunity to get inside the mind of a woman and actually expand your horizons, but no-o-o-o-o."
"Did you ever for a second consider that I might not want to get inside a woman's ..." he gasped suddenly his face squinted in pain as a seizure wracked his body.
"RODNEY!" Heightmeyer cried as she jumped up, she gently grabbed his head, lowering him to the body as he slipped out of the chair. She lowered him to the ground as he continued to seize.
"This is Heightmeyer! GET BEKETT IN HERE STATE!" she cried as she hurried back over to his side. She felt tears burning her eyes as she looked at his body. She reached for his neck, feeling for the pulse.
"What happened?" Beckett asked as he hurried into the room.
"Seizure!" she cried.
Beckett knelt down by his friend's side, "oh Rodney," he whispered softly.
Sheppard was at their side halfway to the infirmary, "what happened?" He asked worry filling his voice. Elizabeth joined their sides and looked at their head scientist.
"He suffered a severe seizure…"
"He's going to be okay…right?" John whispered reaching out and gripping his brother's hand.
"I don't know lad, he's had two seizures within days of each other…I'm worried, I'll call ya lad, I promise," Carson said as he stopped them at the door to the infirmary.
"Come on John, Carson will take good care of him," Elizabeth said gently gripping his arm.
"Oh," he mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes; there stood Kate, Carson and Zelenka.
"Rodney," Beckett took a step closer to his fried and smiled lightly, "go contact Major Sheppard, he'll want to know he's awake." Carson order a nurse, she nodded and headed off to do what Carson said.
"What happened?" Rodney asked softly.
"You had a seizure."
"Why…?"
"From what we can tell, the constant fighting over the dominance of your brain is having a deleterious effect on its lower functions: heart rate, respiration, organ function ..."
"That's not good…" Cadman whispered.
"Of course it's not good!"
"I'm not sure how long you can go on like this."
"What do you mean?"
"These misfires will only increase in frequency and severity over time."
"Well fine, she'll stop trying to take over control of my body."
"It's not as simple as that, Rodney."
"One of you has to release control. One of you has to let go completely," Heightmeyer said gently.
"Ah, well, maybe if someone - say, you - hadn't told her to try and take control in the first place, none of this would have happened."
"I was just trying to help both of you."
"What happens to the person - the one who "lets go"?"
"Well, we're not certain, of course - we've not often run into these situations before ..." Beckett explained.
"They would disappear. I know they would, 'cause I can already feel it happening to me. It's getting harder to be in here. It's taking more of an effort."
"Has it always been like that?" Rodney questioned.
"Past few hours. You haven't felt it too?" Cadman whispered.
"Well, of course I have - I just thought I was fighting with you. Look - where're we at?" Rodney asked Zelenka suddenly.
"Well, we've successfully rematerialized a pair of mice. They were whole and correctly reconstructed ..."
"But?" Rodney interrupted.
"They didn't survive," Zelenka finished.
"I'm afraid if one of you doesn't let go, both of you will die," Carson whispered. Rodney looked at him for a moment, eyeing his best friend.
"I'll do it," Cadman spoke.
"Which one of you said that?" Beckett asked, fairly sure it had been Cadman.
John rushed into the infirmary suddenly, looking worried about his brother, "Rodney, are you all right?"
"I'm sore…" he whispered as he leaned back against the bed.
"I bet you are, Doc…can I sit with him for awhile?"
"Of course, Rodney, try and get some sleep, both of you should."
"We don't have that much time Carson," Rodney stated.
"Rodney…"
"Spare me okay, I know what's going on," muttered Rodney.
"You're not going to die Rod, I promise," John whispered.
"Carson," Laura suddenly called sadly.
"What are you doing?" Rodney questioned.
"I wanna write a letter to my folks. I'd really appreciate it if you'd deliver it yourself the next time you gate back to earth…Rodney, explain what happened…"
"Well, I'm not sure when I'll…The Gate! We can use the gate!" Rodney said suddenly
"What're you talkin' about?" Carson asked as John stood up as well as they looked at Rodney
"Well, the Gate dematerializes you as you step into it, sending your information to the next Gate so it can be rematerialized on the other side," Rodney began.
"We know that!" Cadman suddenly spoke.
"So if we can take one of the crystal control modules from the Gate and interface it was the Dart, we should be able to build a safer system," Rodney explained as he threw back the covers to get out of bed, but both John and Carson grabbed them, trying to hold him back.
"Rodney, wait. I don't thinm you're in any condition…"
"I don't have time to talk—I need to get this done before the next seizure!" he bit as he threw the covers off, he stood up, John at his side gripping his arm.
"You could kill yourself doing this," stated John gently.
"Please John," whispered Rodney eyeing his brother.
"Get him a robe, come on now!" John yelled.
"All right, this should do it," Rodney said as he finished putting in the final crystal from the gate.
"Just because it works in a simulation doesn't me…"
"I would prefer not to suffer a fatal seizure while we wait for you to round up more mice protesting. So, shall we?"
"Rodney…"
"Don't try to talk me out of this—I may very well listen." Rodney told her softly.
"I was just gonna say thanks."
"Well, you're welcome. I can honestly say that the entire experience has been very…um…oh good," Rodney said looking up to see John and Carson lead Elizabeth in.
"Hold on Rod, I thought all the mice died?" John didn't want to see his brother go in into the beam in one piece and reappear a fried Rodney-ball.
"Well, what are we—mice or men?" he said eyeing his brother.
"Are you sure about this?" Elizabeth asked.
"Absolutely…yes," he whispered looking her in the eye.
"Okay," she replied sadly.
"Just…just give me a second," he stepped towards the marked area of the gate room, "well Laura, it's been um…unique."
"To say the least," she replied lightly.
"All right, step back," Zelenka called, he began to calibrate the system
Suddenly Rodney held out one finger, "wait!" Cadman called. She moved Rodney's body, and walked over to Carson. Grabbing the doctor by the lapels of his lab coat she pulled him close and pressed Rodney's lips to his.
"Okay, I'll never be able to look at your two the same!" John called.
Cadman finally broke the hold and smiled through Rodney, "Just in case this doesn't work," she said.
"Oh!" Rodney gasped as he jumped back and removed his hands. He covered his eyes as he stumbled back to the target area, "just…just hit it," he whimpered.
Zelenka hit the button, Rodney disappeared in the Wraith beam.
"Okay, it's reading as two life signs," Zelenka began…
"Get him out of there now!" growled John.
Radek nodded and hit the button again, Rodney and Cadman reappeared, frozen. Rodney turned his head to look up at his brother, before they both collapsed unconscious to the ground.
He slowly opened his eyes, everything was blurry, in front of him was Elizabeth and Zelenka sitting in a chair and on a bed. John was also sitting in a chair by Elizabeth, watching Rodney.
"Oh good," whispered John as he stood and approached the bed, Elizabeth and Zelenka right behind him.
"Feelin' better?" Cadman's voice came.
Rodney turned his head to see the next bed was empty and felt dread fill his every being, "oh no," he whispered.
"Over here," came the voice again. Turning to his other side he felt relief flood through his every fiber at the sight of Laura Cadman waving to him while Carson took her pulse.
"Feelin' little less crowded," he said smiling softly, "you?" he questioned as John came towards he head of his bed.
"Same, it's nice to have my own body back," Cadman said grinning.
"You're both doing supremely well," Carson said as Elizabeth came to stand beside him.
"Ah, good to hear….Nice work," Rodney said looking over at Zelenka.
"Well…it was your idea…"
"Well, of course it was…but you were, well you were there."
"Lieutenant way to survive what I think may be my worse nightmare," John joked as he gently patted Rodney's shoulder.
"Thank you sir," she replied chuckling.
"Yeah, thanks," mumbled Rodney.
"I imagine you two might like a moment," Elizabeth said grinning.
"Actually, ma'am, I think I'd like some time alone," Cadman replied.
"Same here…it's um been awhile."
"Release them as soon as you can Carson," Elizabeth said gently patting her friend on his shoulder.
"Aye," Beckett said as he squeezed Cadman's hand.
"We should let you get some rest," John said gently as he and Zelenka headed out of the infirmary.
Rodney looked over at Cadman and smiled weakly, "hey," he whispered. Turning his head his face dropped as he tried not to imagine what she could possibly know about him. What all had she found out, aside from the fact the he liked Elizabeth and John was his brother.
"Rod, ya okay?" John asked gently eyeing his brother.
"Huh, sorry," he whispered.
"Are you okay, you've been quiet ever since you woke up…and it's been nearly twelve hours?"
"Guess I'm just trying to get used to the idea of being alone again," he said smiling weakly.
"Hey, you're not alone pal, you never were, you may lack a second consciousness in your mind, but you aren't alone. I'm here."
"Are you? Do you realize all the things she could know?"
"Like what, that you had a shitty childhood? Rodney most people can guess that, that we're brothers, most people won't even care about it. That you like Liz, hell even I know that and I don't need to be inside your brain to guess that."
"Gee thanks," mumbled Rodney.
John sighed and reached out, gripping his brother's hand he smiled gently at him, "we're going to be fine buddy, promise. You're not alone anymore."
"Love ya bro," mumbled Rodney as he closed his eyes again.
"I love you too Rodney," John whispered as he pulled the blanket back over Rodney's shoulders.