He stood just inside the doors of the infirmary, eyeing her from afar. She met his blue eyes with her own tear filled hazel green. Guilt churned within him as he glanced meekly at her, lying still pale within the confines of the infirmary, looking tired and weak.

He felt tears sting his eyes as he thought about what had happened. It wasn't really his fault, he shouldn't be standing around blaming himself, but at the same time he was suddenly afraid to speak to her about what had happened. What if she was angry at him, what if she hated him…what if she couldn't love him anymore.

Carson had urged the astrophysicist to speak with her, tell him how sorry he was that this had happened then help her begin to move on, but he suddenly wasn't sure how to do that, he didn't know what to say to her, how to help her. He brought his hand up to his eyes, rubbing them with his fingers before squeezing the bridge of his nose, boy he really screwed this one up. He wanted nothing more than to hold her, tell her how much he loved and adored her…he felt the engagement ring in his pants pocket, it would be a miracle now if she ever said yes when he finally chose to ask.

He closed his eyes, his mind suddenly wandering over the past forty-eight hours, thinking silently to himself how the best relationship in his life had just gone to hell only two days. The only women he had ever loved, the only relationship he couldn't physically screw up…was gone in less than two days.

Forty-Eight Hours Earlier

It was quiet, far too quiet for their comfort; the night had fallen upon the strange planet. The air was cold allowing their breath to be seen, as the two moons cast an eerie, iridescent light upon the heavily wooded planet.

They had their night goggles on, ear phones in, "Anyone else a little freaked out by this place?" Rodney's voice broke the unnatural silence in the air as he took another step, being mindful of the roots protruding from the densely vegetated ground.

"Yeah…are you picking anything up Rodney?" John returned as he continued to search for any sign of something. It had been Ronan who had mentioned this planet, explaining that he recalled something that could pose as energy here.

Elizabeth had picked up on the idea and agreed that it might not be a bad idea to at least pick it up. They just hadn't expected it to be midnight, nearly freezing and nerve-wrackingly uninhabited.

Rodney opened his mouth to respond with a resounding no when suddenly his screen blipped, and then another blip…he was getting a signal five meters to the left of him, before he had a chance to say anything he turned to his left and moved in that direction, five meters where approximately there was supposed to be some type of energy source. However, he saw nothing within a foot of the area, even with the night goggles.

Taking another step forward he froze, as he heard an audible click underneath his foot, terror welling within his heart. He gasped and tried not to jump as a small podium slowly rose from the vegetated ground around his feet, not more than half a foot in front of him. Atop the podium sat a single blue crystal...similar to the bright orange crystals found in ZPMs, but instead of a whole group together, it was a single one.

"Rod...you there buddy?" John's voice came chirping in his ear again.

Rodney opened his mouth to call for help, when suddenly the blue crystal exploded with bright light, sending Rodney flailing five feet from the podium, and into a large tree. He dropped to the ground, unconscious bleeding from his temple where he'd connected with the base of the tree.

"Rodney?" Teyla spoke up this time, her voice full of concern.

"I am fine," came McKay's response, as he stood, staring at the unconscious form on the ground. Smoke swirled around McKay as he grinned, strutting forward towards the figure he glared down at the man.

"Good, let's head home," John called to his brother.

"Very well," replied McKay, with another glance down towards the figure he quickly moved back through the dense forest.

John waited impatiently for his brother to come out of the forest, he was well prepared to lay into the younger scientist for running off, but instead he remained quiet as his brother came into view, "sorry," the physicist replied as he hurried towards them.

"Don't worry about it, just dial it up," John ordered rolling his eyes. The number of times his brother got into a mess by just wandering off was immeasurable. He sighed, suddenly understanding why Jack O'Neill had retired, with a guys like Daniel and Rodney around, it was hard to stay sane very long.

"I know what you are thinking," whispered Teyla as she smiled slyly at John.

He looked over and down at her shrugging, "What?"

"While he may be hard to stand during our missions, and he may not always listen, he is still your brother and your best friend...without him the missions wouldn't be nearly as interesting," she said smiling softly at him.

"My dear Teyla," grinned John, "you know me far too well," he turned his head as the wormhole engaged and he nodded to Ronan, "let's go home."

Carson pulled the light away from McKay's blue eyes and looked at him, "all right Rodney, you're clear...all of ye are..."

"Great," grinned John, "Rod, I heard Zelenka talking about the possibility of other submersibles down in the belly of Atlantis...wanna go check it out?"

"No," came McKay's straight forward answer as he looked over at his brother with clear cool eyes.

John glanced over at Carson in wonder; it wasn't like Rodney hadn't said no to him before, but at the same time, he never seemed so cold about it. Carson said nothing, but kept his eyes neutral as he glanced over at Rodney.

"I've got better things to do with my time than play with submarines," muttered McKay as he walked out of the infirmary, leaving four curious members of Atlantis behind.

"He's in a bad mood," muttered Ronan.

"No...no he's not," replied Carson softly.

"What do you mean Carson?" Teyla inquired.

"I was with him this morning, he played Chess last night with me...went to breakfast this morning...we were...well he was planning tonight..."

"What's he planning?" Teyla asked.

"Tonight he was going to ask Elizabeth to marry him," replied John calmly.

"He was?" Teyla said smiling.

"Yeah...he's been talking about doing it for months now...he's had the ring since the last time we all went home...he's just been keeping it pretty quiet about it. He had a whole elaborate set up...we actually ran through it last night...right before he came to play chess with Carson...Rodney wanted to make sure everything went perfectly..."

"Maybe it's just nerves," offered Ronan.

"No...That's not nerves, Rodney doesn't act...well when Rodney's nervous you know him, he twitches, he talks ten times faster than normal, he's a complete basket case. No there's something wrong..." John offered as he glanced over at Carson.

"Check it out," Carson ordered quietly.

Elizabeth sat quietly in her office, working on some last minute paper work. It had been a fairly quiet day thus far, no major traumas, no one seriously injured. She had the feeling that today was going to be a good day.

That's when McKay slid into her office, wearing a smug grin and a looking like he was seriously up to something. However one of the second things Elizabeth noticed was the strange coldness is his eyes and how void of emotions he suddenly seemed.

"Good morning Rodney," Elizabeth greeted with her usual warm smile.

"Hiya sweetheart," he greeted in a cocky return.

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide, it wasn't like no one knew about their relationship, but she'd made it equally as clear as he had, about keeping all personal areas of the relationship out of their work until more people were coupled up and comfortable with the idea, "are you feeling okay?" she asked gently, worry evident in her tone.

"Sure thing babe, why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh...Rodney, I think at work you'd best call me Elizabeth, you know better than that."

"Just thought today was special," he grinned like the cat that had eaten the canary.

"Rodney today is no more special than any other day..."

"That's what you think," he returned winking at her.

Elizabeth was quickly finding herself astounded and on the boarder line of offended as he continued to sit in front of her, effectively making a complete fool out of himself. This wasn't normal Rodney behavior...hell this wasn't abnormal Rodney behavior. Egotism was one thing, but this was...just plain weird.

"Rodney...don't you have something more important to do...I don't know, like a project or something...I heard Zelenka..."

"Zelenka...why does everyone suddenly care all about Zelenka?" McKay bit defensively. He stood up suddenly, leaning over his arms on the desk, getting a little to close for Elizabeth's comfort.

"Rodney…what's going on?" Elizabeth asked raising an eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"What makes you think anything is wrong? Can't a guy…a boy friend might I add…just notice his girlfriend a little bit," McKay said leaning closer to her.

Elizabeth felt heat flare through her cheeks as she suddenly backed away from him, "I don't know what's going on…but you should probably go…"

"Aww come on," McKay said suddenly.

"No…seriously Rodney, it's time for you to leave…" she said standing up and pointing to the door.

"You can't throw me out…"

"Like hell I can't…Rodney get out of my office!" she growled angrily.

With a cold stare from McKay, she watched as he marched out of her room. She watched his retreating back and was stunned, he wasn't sulky, but he also wasn't walking normal.

Rodney groaned as he slowly allowed awareness to pull at him. His blue eyes drifted open and he realized he was still on the planet they had decided to visit. "Oh…that hurts," mumbled Rodney as he reached out to touch the side of his head. He gasped in pain, pulling his hand away he was stunned to see it covered in blood, "What the…Why is it always me!" he suddenly cried out.

Taking a deep breath in effort to calm himself Rodney began to look around, "you can do this Rodney, no problem, you've got a life signs detector…just wander back to the gate…dial up home…and see where the hell everyone is…and why in Gods NAME they left me here!" he growled.

Pushing against the ground he slowly lifted himself to his feet, groaning as his head began to swim. He leaned heavily against the base of the tree, taking deep gasping breaths as he tried to ride the pain out, "one of these days…" he mumbled to himself, "my brain…is going to be mush," grunting he sighed as the world righted itself again and he took a step forward.

It was light on this planet, which Rodney knew meant, that he'd already been out of it for at least twelve hours. He groaned as he looked around, "the…the…days…eight hours long…" he managed before taking another step. He tried desperately to remember everything he knew about this planet.

He wasn't paying attention to his feet anymore, as he forced his muddled brain to function to further capacity, suddenly he gasped in pain as hit the ground, pain shoot up his right wrist, he cried out and clutched the wrist close to him.

Lifting his head up, he realized he'd tripped over a root, he groaned and gently let his head fall back against the dense ground, pain filled blackness began to suck him under.

"Doctor McKay…is acting oddly, is he not?" Teyla questioned as she watched from afar as the Doctor spoke to Elizabeth.

"Well…his temper's a little short…and he certainly does seem…" John struggled to find a word that didn't sound as bad as horny…but that was the only word he could think of, so he left the sentence hanging.

"He seems aggressive," Teyla pointed as she watched Rodney continue his discussion with Elizabeth.

John turned his eyes, it was true, Rodney seemed to be far closer to Elizabeth than she wanted and her body language was screaming for help. John wasn't quite sure what to make of the radical change his brother had suddenly taken on in the past fifteen hours. He felt the desire to cheer as Elizabeth stood up and walked away from Rodney, leaving the scientist behind with a deep scowl on his face.

"Perhaps you should speak with him," suggested Teyla calmly as she looked at her friend.

"That's probably a really good idea; see what's going on…why don't you go ask Carson if he noticed anything different about our favorite snarky scientist."

"That sounds like a good idea indeed; I will speak to you when I know more," with that the Athosian woman moved out of the room, John couldn't stop his eyes from naturally following her graceful movements.

Standing up, John hurriedly made his way to his brother's side, "hey, buddy, what's going on?" questioned John as he sat down by his brother's side.

"What do you want?" the caustic growl came, surprising John.

"Uh… I wanted to talk, see what's happening, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," grunted McKay as he stood up and walked away from his older brother.

"Yeah…sound just fine too," Mumbled John as he observed his brother leave; immediately his eyes grew wide, "Oh that's not good," he whispered.

"Where is Rodney right now?" Elizabeth questioned as they sat in Carson's office.

"Ronan's keeping McKay occupied…but I'm sorry to say that's not my brother," John stated as he pointed to the door.

"And ye can tell this how…last time I checked he had the DNA…the blood work all points towards that man out there being your brother."

"The blood work is wrong, I promise you Carson…it's a totally different person…in fact I'm not even sure that thing is a person!"

"How can you tell?" Elizabeth questioned raising an eye brow. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed his unusual behavior recently. However she wanted to know John knew for sure.

"Watch him next time he walks…my brother takes long sure strides, with a slight favor of his left leg…when he was fifteen and I was sixteen we were in a car accident…it was a minor injury at best, never incredibly painful, but his knee was badly bruised for several months, he used crutches for a weeks. He's fine now, we never really talk about it…but that's how he walks. This guy…this imposter walks in shorter strides, with no favor to either leg."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Elizabeth I watched Rodney recover for three months from that car accident, I still feel guilty about it. Trust me…it's not my brother, I'll give you that Rodney is sometimes a little…bi-polar from time to time…but never to this length, I've never seen him act so aggressive in all the time I've known him."

"He has been…a little…forward…as of late," Elizabeth agreed to. She hadn't ever been scared of Rodney, but whoever this man was gave her a whole new reason to be afraid.

"So you believe Rodney may still be on the planet…"

"I'm not…" John didn't have a chance to think, when the alarms from the gate room went off. Alerting them to an off world activation.

"Let's go!" Elizabeth's order came quickly as she hurried out of the door, followed closely by three of her four best leaders.

They arrived in the gate room to see Rodney McKay…another Rodney McKay, lying on the ground. Carson immediately ran over to Rodney's side, taking in the man's appearance. "John, help me!" Carson called as gently felt for a pulse. He was pleased to feel the pulse was strong and steady.

"What happened?" John asked as he knelt down beside his brother.

"I don't know…let's get him to the infirmary."

Rodney slowly opened his eyes again, groaning as the light hit his eyes, "where am I?" he managed to mumble.

"Your home…cares to explain what happened?" John's voice broke through his haze.

Rodney turned his head to glance at his brother and groaned slightly, "big…podium thing…it came out of the ground with a blue crystal on it…I…I touched it…big mistake…threw me off my feet…I woke up found myself alone on that stupid planet…got up to move and fell flat on my face…eventually I got here though…how long have I been gone?"

"Well it's been nearly two days since we were on that planet…Carson says you're going to be fine…you've got a broken wrist and a minor concussion…but aside from that looks like you're going to live."

"Oh…comforting," Rodney mumbled he looked down at his arm noticing it in the cast and sighed, "How long until this comes off?"

"Six weeks baby brother…but that is the least of your worries currently…we've got a little problem."

"What?" Rodney asked eyeing his brother cautiously.

"Well…now this is just a guess, but that crystal you decided to touch…that probably wasn't your best idea…I have reason to believe it duplicated you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there's currently another Rodney McKay running around…causing a little bit of havoc. And now we need your help to get rid of the real one."

"Havoc…you mean I have an evil twin?"

"Uh…seems like it. Get some rest, Elizabeth's talking to him now…"

"Elizabeth…where is she!" Rodney asked suddenly sitting up and getting worried.

"I don't know…she just said she'd speak to him."

Rodney threw his covers back, groaning as he tried to get out of bed. John was by his brother's side in an instant, "what the hell are you doing?" John asked, supporting his brother's weight.

"That blast knocked me off my feet…if he's wreaking havoc here on Atlantis…he could hurt Elizabeth!" Rodney hissed.

That thought had never even entered John's mind, he continued to hold his brother up, studying the scientist closely, "I'll go help her…"

"No! I…John, either help me get to her room or move, because one way or another…" he stopped, a wave of dizziness flowing through him. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down, "please John…if anything happens to her."

John looked at his brother for a moment, studying the man that stood before him, taking a deep breath John steadied his brother further, then quickly handed him the shoes sitting by the bed, "Carson's gonna kick my ass for this," mumbled John as he kept one arm around his brother's waist and began maneuvering Rodney forward.

"Doctor McKay…" Elizabeth began as she opened the door to her room, cringing internally. This wasn't Doctor McKay; at least it wasn't her Doctor McKay. "What can I do for you?" she forced a steady tone into her voice.

"Just wanted to talk…are you all right? You seem…nervous," his last words spoken in a tone Elizabeth could only take as menacing.

"No…no I'm fine…why don't we go to my office," she suggested calmly.

"Why? What's wrong with talking here…are you sure you're all right?" McKay asked taking a step further inside the room. Elizabeth backed up slowly, hesitant to get anywhere near him.

"I'm…fine…Rodney, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable…are you sure we can't do this in my office," every warning bell in Elizabeth's mind was going off as the imposter took another step closer to her. She was vaguely aware that she only had about five more feet before she hit the edge of the bed.

"Uncomfortable…really, why would you be uncomfortable around me?" he asked again, reaching out and touching her cheek. She flinched away; suddenly afraid of what might be going through the mind of this person.

"Rodney please," she whispered, she jumped when she felt the back of her knees hit the bed…she'd been wrong.

"Are you always afraid of those you love," he began to move his head closer to hers, and she turned away suddenly, she could feel tears burning in her eyes…not like this, not with this man. This wasn't her Rodney. A million images of what could possibly go wrong from here were rushing through her mind as she tried to find a way to get away from him. She felt his arms slide around her waist, none too gently and she cried out. The kissing began from her collar bone up to her neck, kissing and nipping; she closed her eyes, stealing herself for what could very well happen in a matter of moments.

"FREEZE!" John burst into the room, gun drawn, Elizabeth gasped as she was whirled around and held tightly in the imposter's arms, a knife suddenly at her throat…he was going to kill her…it was the first thing that ran through her mind as her entire body began to shake.

The real Rodney stood by John's side, looking pale, tired and pissed. He also held a gun out, both prepared to shoot if forced to, "get away from her!" Rodney demanded with strength Elizabeth was sure he didn't have to spare.

"Why are you here!" the imposter yelled.

"What, this wasn't part of your plan…how many have you killed? Why are you here? Why would you do this?" Rodney growled.

"I am simply protecting my people…you were a threat…you discovered our secrets…"

"We what? How?" Rodney returned.

John felt like he was watching a wicked game of tennis, he shook his head quickly, "we'll send you home…we won't harm your people any further, just let her go."

"She is your leader…she will not allow it! You must all die!" the man hissed suddenly, causing John and Rodney to jump slightly.

"We'll shoot," John stated as calmly as he could muster himself to be.

"I am not mortal Colonel Sheppard…I will not die as your people do…"

"Your in the body of a mortal…let her go," John said stepped forward.

Elizabeth cried out as the knife cut into her neck, fear filled her eyes, she didn't want to die, she was aware tears were beginning to run down her cheeks as she looked desperately between the three men.

"Listen to me," Rodney began, "you have my word…let her go, we won't ever step foot on your ground again…we'll erase you from the database…and lock your address out of our systems…just please don't hurt her."

"She means much to you," the imposter spoke suddenly, surprising Rodney.

"She means the world to me, look she's not going to stop us…just…let her go…" Rodney spoke, his eyes were on Elizabeth…he knew that look he'd seen it before. More than once, he just prayed that wasn't the look of her fearing him as well as the Rodney McKay who was holding her hostage currently.

Elizabeth looked ready to snap, John could see her visibly shaking under the man's grasp, he thanked whoever was watching that they'd come when they did and not moments later, afraid what she might have suffered then.

"Get away from her," John stated again as he cocked his 9mm. He would shot this man, just like he'd shot Koyla, as long as it meant Elizabeth was safe.

John met Elizabeth's eyes, and for a moment he saw the flicker, she gave a slight nod, careful of the knife against her neck and the blood already dripping from the small wound he had created. John didn't hesitate.

Elizabeth dropped to the ground as a resounding blast hit the air and the imposter McKay dropped to the ground in a heap, bleeding from a single wound to his head. Instantly Elizabeth began to scoot away from the body, jamming herself against the wall, curling into a fetal position, knees to her chest.

"Beckett, Teyla we need you here Stat," John called calmly into his ear phone. "Rodney…sit down," he ordered taking a look at the scientist who looked ready to collapse.

"But I…" Rodney said as he began to move towards Elizabeth.

"Now is not the time!" hissed John as he pointed his brother to the nearest chair and sat the younger man down. Moving over to Elizabeth hesitantly, placing the gun on the floor by her feet, he gently reached out and touched her head, "Liz?" he whispered, afraid for his friend's life and sanity at this point. She'd just gone through a hell of two days trying to stay clear from the one man she wanted to spend all of her time with, and now the imposter was dead…there was really no telling what this would do to Elizabeth and Rodney's relationship…but John was fairly sure it would take some getting over.

Reaching out, John slid closer, one knee under himself and the over by her side; he gently pulled her to his chest, cradling her as she began to cry.

Elizabeth was admitted for observation, Carson had cleared her as healthy, but he still felt it important that she remain in his care for twenty-four hours…not to mention she hadn't been gung ho to return to a room where she'd almost been killed in.

Her eyes turned up from the edge of the bed to the man who stood by the door, his eyes rimmed by red, swollen no doubt from all the tears he had shed. Carson had finally admitted to Rodney's trouble dealing with everything that had happened. She was terrified; she couldn't help but feel suddenly afraid of him. How was she supposed to get past this feeling she had around him.

His wrist was in a cast, he looked pale and exhausted, but his eyes looked lost. They held a new level of sadness to them. Elizabeth sighed, wishing she could make this all right again. She felt tears in her eyes as she looked down at the blanket draped across her body. Was it her fault? She felt like it was, she had noticed the obvious difference, but she hadn't stopped it early on…she wasn't sure there was anything she could do, but for the first time she was sure she understood how a rape victim must have felt. Violated and frightened of men suddenly.

Part of her wanted nothing more than to grab him into her arms and hold him until there was no tomorrow. She felt her own eyes fill with tears; she bit her lip to hold them back but found herself unable to keep them at bay. They would have to move past this, they couldn't spend the rest of their lives at such an awkward place. She couldn't live her life like that, because as much as she was frightened by what had happened over the past two days, she still loved and adored him with all her heart. He was still the one for her, and she knew she was still the one for her.

She covered her mouth with a shaking hand, and then suddenly something occurred to her. Carson had told her she could stand on her own; so ever so slowly; she turned her legs out of the bed, gingerly setting her feet on the floor. And that's when she almost went down; she wasn't surprised to see Rodney running towards her.

She held her hand up, stopping him where he stood, no more than five feet away from her. She pushed her self up from the bed further, gripping it for support. She paused, allowing herself to gather her footing firmly, and then hesitantly she took a step forward. She kept her hazel eyes settled on his blue aching eyes.

She reached out a shaky hand to his cheek, touching it ever so lightly, he turned his head away and down from it, as though he didn't deserve her love anymore. She braced herself for what she was about to say, she knew the truth, he'd always forgiven her…it was her turn to step up to the plate and forgive him this time.

She gently stroked her thumb over his soft cheek, and then suddenly she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Instantly his arms were around her, it wasn't a savage kiss, but it was full of love and passion as he dug deeper, their kiss deepening with each second, his hands gently running over her back. Her other hand slipped through his hair as she continued to pull his head closer to her.

When they finally pulled apart, they were both gasping for air, Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly found there was no need for words, there were never the two of them. For as long as they may argue and annoy one another, she was in love with the man who stood before her. Suddenly she found herself pulled tightly into a hug, as he latched onto her, gripping her close as though if he let go he would lose the most important life line he had. Seconds later she found her lips entwined with his again, god she did love this man. They would heal, perhaps this was only the beginning and they had a long road ahead of them…they'd been set back a little bit, but in the end she knew they would be closer and better off because of this whole problem.