Their first three or four days back on earth, the three friends spent most of the time just hanging around, going to bars, drinking beer, eating out on the Air Force's bill, enjoying their time off together. Really relaxing together.

Nights were spent calming Rodney from nightmares and night terrors, while they slept in till mid afternoon. Rodney had slept until two one day, which was usually unheard of for the wayward scientist.

On Saturday of the first weekend John had plane tickets reserved for a round trip to Scotland, their first stop on the trip. They would spend at least three or four days with Mrs. Beckett, who was more than willing to house the Carson and Rodney in for a week if they needed it. John, on the other hand was heading to Cheryl's house. John had made a promise many years down the road and intended to keep it…hopefully.

After Scotland, the Carson and Rodney would head home and visit Jeannie's family for a little while, and then when they were finally ready they would head to Cheryl's.

Rodney was relatively calm most of the plane ride over to Scotland, when they finally landed and headed just outside of the sweet little town. Carson parked the car in the driveway and pulled out his key to allow himself in.

It was a simple house, large enough for three children and parents, but perhaps not large enough for the three of them. Maggie Beckett was already on the other side of the door, prepared to greet the boys. Carson had told her all about Rodney, and a little about his current situation, both the doctor and the Colonel felt that some good home cooking, and motherly love would do him a world of good.

"Hi mum," Carson said as he hugged the woman who had raised him. She smiled and gently patted him on the cheeks.

"And you must be Rodney, come in," she led them through the house. "I want you to know you are all welcome here any time," she said smiling softly at them.

She was quite a woman, Rodney found himself thinking, more than willing to take in her son and two strangers. Although, Rodney had a pretty good feeling that Maggie Beckett was similar to his and John's mother, she was probably fairly tough too, after all she raised three children, and while Rodney only knew Carson, he knew that Maggie must be a good mother.

That evening, shortly after an amazing dinner made by Maggie, Rodney decided to take a walk. Carson opted for a nice hot shower, saying he would find his friend after his shower. Nearly twenty minutes later, Carson stepped up to his friend, who sat at the edge of a small hill, over looking some mountains, and a small river, it wasn't far from the back of their property. Carson smiled, he had loved to come out here. As a boy he had always come own here when he was angry, worried or frustrated…he had spent three weeks of his life down here almost non-stop after the death of his father.

"You okay?" Carson asked the inevitable question, he knew the answer but he needed to ask it.

"Thinking…I've been doing a lot of it lately…"

"Thinking is good sometimes, Rodney, we're here if you need to talk."

"I honestly thought that John was dead…it was one of the few reasons I kept going in Koyla's hands. I couldn't die with him…"

"Have you thought about coming home to Atlantis?"

"Some…I'm not sure what value I would be at this point," Rodney said softly as he looked out of the beauty of Scotland.

"Elizabeth was right, we need you Rodney…Lauryn needs you."

"What good am I if I'm always going to be looking over my shoulder, if I'm always scared. If I can't even trust myself anymore…I obviously can't take care of myself anymore, we don't trust out instincts and it gets us in trouble."

"Rodney, we all have moments where we doubt ourselves…"

"Constantly? Carson, I haven't stopped doubting myself since…I blew up half a solar system."

"You made mistakes, we all do, but that's not reason to give up one something I know you've dreamed about every day since you were a boy. John has told me about you guys as kids, he told me you always wanted to travel to different worlds, you are now Rodney. That's something most people don't get to say. You're making a difference in the…galaxy. Good grief Rodney, look at Lauryn, if you don't think you make a difference she's the perfect example. You certainly make a difference to her, ever day of her wee life."

"A lot has changed since the Wraith's attack," whispered Rodney.

"Yes, and a lot more will change, let's face it Rodney, at lot has changed since the day you and I met. I'd like to think we've become friends."

"Best friends," Rodney murmured without meeting his friend's eyes.

"You're a good man Rodney, don't let someone like Koyla bring you down because he's so weak that he has to physically hurt you. You've come far, you've got more friends than you've had in a long time, and you enjoy life more than you ever have before."

"It's suddenly all a little more meaningless to me...like I'm out there trying to do good things, and suddenly I see that people like Koyla will always be around, making it twice as hard for me to make a difference."

"But it's people like you who can help us stand up against him. We've come a long way Rodney, but we can't go any further without you on our side...without you in Atlantis."

"I barely remember even arriving back..." mumbled Rodney.

"I can..."

"ELIZABETH! We've got Rodney, he's in really bad shape, have Beckett come with a litter," John yelled, he wasn't going to lose his little brother now, not after having just gotten him back.

John stepped through the wormhole first, followed closely by Major Lorne, Teyla and several other Atlantis Personnel. Beckett was just running into the gate room when he spotted John, wet, dripping with sweat, looking terrible, holding a mere image of what was once their Rodney McKay.

He was soaked, Beckett was fairly sure that most of it was unfortunately vomit and urine from the smell, but he took a deep breathe and started screaming out orders as John carefully lowered the unconscious scientist into the little, "He's in shock," Carson called as he lifted up the litter. He eyed John who was suddenly at the other end.

"Lad..." Carson began.

"No arguments Doc, I've waited two months to see my brother, I'm not suddenly letting go

now, you tell me how he is, then I'll worry about getting clean."

"Very well Colonel..."

Carson rushed around giving orders, finally after about ten minutes he handed John a sponge and some warm water, "get him clean, as clean as you can, all cuts, bruises anything bleeding wash gently with warm water and soap, then clean his face carefully, then if you feel comfortable to go further clean his arms and chest. The nurses or I can do the rest, just try to get some of this...grime off the poor boy."

"Okay," John gently took the sponge and began what could easily be described as dirty work. He headed for the head wound first, gently dabbing at that until it was a rigid cut. Then began to work on the rest of Rodney's face, as gentle as he could be as he cleaned off the tear tracks and dirt from the man's swollen face. Then moved to his neck and arms and his chest to the point of Rodney's waist band. He knew what Carson was afraid of, and John was in no hurry to find out if Koyla had gone beyond beating his brother, so he solely worked on cleaning off his brother's upper body. Never once did Rodney stir during his bath, the occasional moan when John hit a nasty bruise, but he remained out of it most of the time.

"Thank you Colonel, now do me a favor, go take a shower, not a long one, but just take one," Carson said simply.

John nodded, and hesitantly left his brother's side. While Carson went back to working on his friend, stitching him up, finding the bath, looking over him for anything else they had to be worried about, casting his broken bones.

"It's amazing how much you can come to miss someone when they're gone for a long time, for the first few hours I had someone coming every few minuets to check on you, see how you were doing, if you were awake yet. Then of course John never left, and Teyla was there most of the time. Ronan even sat with ya a wee bit."

"I had to survive...I had to know if he was alive...if I'd ever see my brother again..."

"I know lad, and he is alive."

"How badly was he hurt?"

"Actually he was one of the few who walked out practically unscathed, he had a few bruises, a minor concussion and a sprained wrist, but as soon as he heard what had happened to you...it didn't seem to matter anymore."

"They were going to kill me..."

"Rodney..."

"No, I had heard them talking about it, Koyla ordered one of his men...who I'm fairly sure wanted more than to torture me physically, to do whatever he pleased with me and then kill me. If you'd guys hadn't come when you did...I would have died that night."

"Rodney, we did come, and you're going to be fine."

"I know...but...I just can't help but imagine what might have happened..."

"Rape?"

"Possibly, probably...it was definitely on my mind, and no doubt on a few of theirs. You know what's worse...I wasn't scared...honestly, I mean I felt like if I were going to die then I'd rather die with dignity then screaming like a two year old...I didn't scream much, cried a few times, but certainly not in front of them...Part of me was praying, that if something did happen I would die or be completely out of it..."

"I'm sad to say I've seen it before, men and women...I think it destroys a part of the person..."

"I'm sure it does, it's pretty hard to accept..."

"They didn't..."

"No, like I said I'm sure they thought about it...probably as a last resort, but no, it never happened."

"Good."

"Part of me still feels dirty, even though it didn't."

"It's not unusual, I'm fairly sure John felt the same way after his time in the Iraqi prison."

"On the plus side I think your mom likes me," Rodney said grinning softly.

Carson chuckled, "she likes everyone."

"She's pretty cool."

"Aye that she is."

"I don't know how you do it, leave her behind and come back to Atlantis."

"It's hard, but I know she wouldn't want me any other way, she knows I'm where I finally want to be, and she wouldn't want that taken away."

"Your a good man Carson."

"You're not too bad yourself," Carson said smiling, "Come on Rod, lets get inside," it was the first time Carson had ever used his best friend's nick name, but Rodney didn't hesitate to answer to it.

With bags on their shoulders, and suitcases in their hands, Maggie Beckett smiled softly as she pressed a kiss to Rodney's cheek, "now you take care of yourself lad, and ye watch out fer me Carson too," she said patting Rodney's cheek.

"Don't worry Mrs. Beckett, your son can take care of himself just fine, but I'll watch him I promise," Rodney said grinning. Four days in Scotland and another two traveling a little bit further to other beautiful areas had really brought a sense of calm and normality back to Rodney's world. He couldn't help but find peace in a place as beautiful as Scotland. He and Carson had done a good amount of talking and had finally made his decisions about what to do.

"Well son, I'm sure I'll see you soon," whispered Maggie as she hugged her eldest son close. He smiled and rubbed her back.

"Aye mum, few months perhaps, six at the most…I'll try to be home for Christmas," he said looking at her.

"Just come back," she replied pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"So… Rodney, where to now?" Carson said as he and his best friend climbed into the car a few minutes later.

"Cheryl's house…John's probably fighting in the middle of a custody battle," mumbled Rodney.

"What is he trying to do?"

"Remember when we went into the future because of the solar flare…well he met his son, quite a kid I must admit, a little…bitter, John thinks maybe if Johnny were raised by his real father that he would turn out better. Johnny admitted to both John and I that he and his step-father never got along very well."

"So he's trying to gain custody of a child that barely knows him?"

"Essentially yes," replied Rodney.

"Your brother is a fool," chuckled Carson.

"I know," returned Rodney grinning.

Rodney pulled the SUV in front of the house as he looked up at the beautiful two story house, and he smiled, outside John was playing with both his seven year old son and eight year old daughter. John's arms were wrapped tightly around a football as his son and daughter piled on top of him trying to take it from him. Cheryl smiled from where she stood on the porch watching. She looked up at the black SUV and smiled.

"Rodney, it's wonderful to see you again," Cheryl said as the two men approached her. Rodney smiled and embraced her, thrilled to see she seemed to be handling everything fine.

"Cheryl, this is John and my friend Carson Beckett, Carson this is Cheryl."

"Nice to meet you," she said shaking the Scot's hand.

"Aye and you…" replied Carson.

"So…uh what's going on?" Rodney couldn't resist asking.

"Well, your brother stopped in a few days back…apparently he wants to take Little Johnny with him…to wherever you guys live…."

"And?"

"And…I asked Johnny what he wanted, John said he couldn't tell me everything, but he could tell Johnny….so he told Johnny, and Johnny was a very big boy about it. He told his daddy that he would consider it, but he wanted to make sure it was okay first…"

"And?" Rodney asked.

"He's still thinking, he and Lisa have been getting to know John for the past few days…I don't know who I'm kidding, Johnny doesn't get along with Rob at all, the two are always screaming…Johnny knows John is his daddy and ever since meeting him and finding out his daddy was in the air force…well you can imagine," she whispered softly.

"He would be safe Cheryl, I have a daughter there, she's just an infant and she's well cared for at all times. He would never be in any serious danger, and if for some reason he was we would send him straight home."

"I know Rodney, and believe me that means a lot to me…it's just…"

"He's our son," came Carson's soft reply.

"Yeah… But I told him it was up to him to make the adult decision, and if that means he wants to go with his dad…then I'll let him go."

"I'll watch out for both of them," Rodney said simply.

Cheryl smiled gently and gripped his hand gently, "thank you, and I'll hold you to that."

"Hey guys!" John called as he came up the steps with Lisa at his side and Johnny in his arms.

"Hey!" Rodney said as Lisa hugged him automatically. Surprised by this he returned the hug with a smile and gently patted her on the head. "Hey Johnny, how's it going?" he asked as his nephew smiled at him.

"Good…Uncle Rodney…if I go with you guys…will I be allowed to visit mommy?" the little boy asked.

Cheryl smiled, as did John and Carson, but Rodney surprised them all as he lifted Johnny into his arms and looked seriously at him, "Johnny, if you want to see mommy then you will see mommy, you may not be able to see her everyday, but you can see her lots, I promise okay?" Johnny nodded and wrapped his arms around Rodney's neck.

John grinned as he watched Rodney soak up the love, if there was one thing Rodney needed right now it was the innocence and love radiating from the little boy.

"Mommy…I think I'd like to go with daddy," the boy said as if it was the easiest decision.

"Johnny, if you want to go, then you can go," she said, trying not to show how sad she was at the thought.

"I'd like to go…I don't like arguing with Rob, I wanna be with my real dad…" he explained looking at John.

"Then you can go honey," she said gently, "why don't you go and pack some clothes, maybe Uncle Carson and Uncle Rodney would like to help you?"

The boy grinned as he was placed on the ground, and quickly led Rodney, Lisa and Carson into the house to help him pack. "We'll be back for Christmas…Cheryl…."

"John…you take care of that little boy, truth is he'll be happier with you than here. He's too much like you John, he needs to be busy, he needs to have something to do all the time, he needs to see the world…or more…he needs a real father who can really be there for him, who really wants to be there for him. Rob…he tries but he's not Johnny's father and…Johnny knows it. They don't get along, at least with you I know he's got a better chance of having a good childhood and not going bad. I told you when you came here that if he said he was okay with it, and preferred to be with you then I wasn't going to put up a fight. We never went to court John; there was a reason for that, and it's going to stay that way, it only seems fair that you get at least one of your children."

"I'm sorry Cheryl," he whispered as he pulled her into a tight hug. She sighed as she leaned her head against his chest.

"He'll be happier John, and that's all I want for my children's lives, is for them to be happy and healthy."

John clasped his son's hand tightly in his, the little brown haired boy looking back at his mother and waving goodbye. He hadn't even cried, in fact he seemed excited. Jon reached out and lifted his son into the back of the SUV. "Ready for the ride of your life buddy?" John asked the hazel eyed boy.

"YEAH!" cried the boy smiling. John grinned, rounding the car he got in behind Rodney.

"Now we'll have two Sheppards and two McKays," mumbled Carson as he strapped himself in.

"Just drive Rodney," John said smiling softly.

"Johnny," John called as he escorted his son out of the huge ship, the boy was stunned looking around, "welcome to Atlantis," John said smiling.

The two big eyes just took everything in around him, surveying the area. John smiled as he led his son through Atlantis. They had spent the duration of the trip home explaining everything about Atlantis there was to explain. Johnny was fully caught up on everything he needed to know, and so far hadn't shown any sign of wanting to turn back, in fact he still seemed quite eager about it. Now as Johnny clasped his father's hand he really got the full affect of what his father had been talking about.

"Welcome home boys," came Elizabeth's voice from in front of them.

Rodney grinned when he spotted his little girl in her arms, as if he hadn't seen the child in months, which was practically true, he hurried over to her side and whisked the girl into his arms, pressing a kiss to her chubby cheeks, causing the little infant to giggle in delight.

"See Liz, told you we'd bring him home," John said smiling as he and Carson stepped up to either side of Rodney and Elizabeth.

"And thank you again," she said smiling, she looked down at the boy, grinning, the child looked just like John. "You must be Johnny," she said kneeling down and holding out her hand.

"Hi! Are you Doctor Weir?" he asked.

"I am, but you can call me Elizabeth."

"Wow! This place is so cool!" Johnny said grinning.

"Well you've only seen part of it buddy," John said grinning.

"There's more?" two hazel eyes looked up at his father.

"Oh yeah…much more," grinned Rodney as he answered the boy's question.