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Rodney took a drink of his coffee, his hands shaking. John was an excellent pilot, and six other people had already landed the Lunar Module safely, including that idiot Mitchell. John was going to be fine. He'd already survived take-off and the long journey across space into lunar orbit, so what was one little trip down to the moon? Rodney knew the design specs in and out. That ship was as safe as they could make it.

"Detaching from command module now." John's voice resonated through Mission Control. Rodney took a deep breath and let it out, trying to still his hands.

"He will be fine, Rodney," Radek whispered into his ear.

Rodney straightened his spine. "Of course they'll be fine," he said, trying to keep his voice down, "but Apollo 18 is our last chance to do real science on the moon, and John and Lorne had better not screw this up."

"Ah, yes." Radek put his hand on Rodney's shoulder. "It is the science you are worried about."

Rodney glared at him. Radek smiled cheerfully and gave Rodney's shoulder another pat, then sat down at his station.

John's voice came through the radio. "Houston, Orion is free and flying."

Rodney let out a breath. The first part was done.

"Roger that, Orion," Caldwell said. "Davis, how does she look?"

"Just beautiful, sir," Davis replied through the radio.

Rodney tuned out as Davis started going through the visual inspection, making sure everything on the lunar module looked all right from the command module. The lunar module wasn't what he was worried about, not really. He didn't even know why he was so worried. If he was a less rational person, he'd say he had just a bad feeling about it, but that was ridiculous. 'Bad feelings' weren't based on any sort of verifiable evidence, no matter what his sister might say to the contrary. Of course, his sister would also say that if 'bad feelings' weren't verifiable, neither were any other feelings, and so his argument was invalid, but his sister had finished her PhD and then moved onto a farm. He clearly didn't need to take her imaginary arguments into consideration.

"Firing descent engine to begin orbit insertion," John said. Rodney tightened his hand on his mug. "Beginning descent and switching to manual control."

John was an excellent pilot. Rodney knew that. But he just couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding that something was going to go wrong, no matter how ridiculous it was.

"Houston, the Orion has landed."

Mission Control broke out into cheers, and Rodney unclenched his fingers. John was safe. Well, as safe as any man could be in hard vacuum, but he wasn't a bloody smear across the surface of the moon. That was something, at least.

"We can't wait to get started," Lorne said through the radio. "It looks like a beautiful day outside."

"I'm sure it is, but why don't we run a few checks first to make sure," Caldwell said with a sigh. "Commander Sheppard, if you would?"

Radek swiveled his chair around, almost bumping into Rodney's knees. "You see? They are fine. Go home, Rodney."

"But--"

"Go home. You are not supposed to be at work right now anyway, yes? They will be doing checks and tests for hours yet, and then they must suit up and then spend time removing the moon buggy."

"Lunar Roving Vehicle," Rodney said immediately.

Radek rolled his eyes. "Go home. Eat something. Sleep, so you do not fall into your coffee while they are doing the science you are so worried about. I will even regale you with the tale of the thrilling adventure of the moon buggy set-up when you return."

"Lunar--" Rodney started.

"Rodney! Go home."

Rodney sighed and walked towards the door. Radek was right. He really did have to get at least some sleep, and now that he thought about it, he was sure his blood sugar levels were off. And John was safely on the moon.

So why hadn't the ominous feeling gone away?

***

This was, hands down, the best day of John's life. This was better than his first kiss on that ferris wheel, losing his virginity, the first time he'd flown a fighter jet, and the day he found out he'd been accepted into the astronaut program combined. It was better than his first flight up on Gemini 12. It might even be better than the day he and Rodney had stopped cautiously dancing around each other and actually made a move. He was driving on the moon. Driving on the moon! Okay, so the controls were awkward and he couldn't go very fast, but his point stood.

"You're cheerful," Lorne said, his voice tinny through the radio.

"I am driving on the moon. This is the best day of my life."

"You make a strong argument," Lorne said. "I think you're going to run that red light, though."

"I'm more worried about the pedestrians." John turned the rover a little to avoid slamming into a boulder.

"Very funny," Caldwell's voice came through the radio. "You should be approaching the crater rim soon."

"We're coming on it now, Houston," John said, looking out through his helmet. The moon was like nothing he'd ever seen before, gorgeous and stark. The dark grey regolith blanketed almost everything he could see, broken only by a few boulders. Beyond that was the blackness of space, the sun shining brightly and blocking out the stars, and the Earth, hanging low in the sky in a crescent. It was beautiful, and a little humbling.

Something glinted in the sunlight, and John turned his head a little to look at it. "Hey, do you see that?"

"What?" Lorne asked.

John couldn't point. He needed both hands to drive this thing. "At my ten o'clock. Something's shining." He squinted, trying to see it better.

"Huh," Lorne said. "Yeah, I see it."

"Did you say shining?" Caldwell asked.

"Roger that, Houston. It doesn't look like anything else we're seeing on the surface, and whatever it is, it's highly reflective," John said. "Permission to deviate from the plan and go take a look? It looks like we'd still be heading towards the crater rim, just a little further to the left than we'd planned."

"Maybe an extra half mile," Lorne said.

John swore it was getting taller as they drove closer to the crater. And it almost seemed to be calling to him. It was more than a little disconcerting, but that just meant it was even more important to check it out.

After a long pause, Caldwell came back on the radio. "The geologists won the argument, so permission granted. But you're getting the same amount of time out, so you won't be able to spend as long at the site."

"Understood, Houston," John said.

"Thank you, geologists," Lorne chimed in.

"They just said 'you're welcome, Evan' in unison." Caldwell's voice was dry.

"I'll buy them a beer when we get home," Lorne replied.

John stared out at the glint. It was definitely getting bigger. If he was on Earth, he'd swear he was approaching a tower. It had to be a trick of the light.

They were silent as they drove on. John didn't want to say what he was thinking out loud. If it was just him and Lorne he might ask for a sanity check, but with Houston listening in, he'd rather keep his mouth shut. They might call the whole mission off if it seemed like he was losing it.

John slowed and pulled the rover to a stop in front of the slight bulge before the crater drop. "Houston, we've reached the crater rim." He got out of the rover and started skipping up the small hill. It wasn't high or steep, just tall enough to block the view of the crater itself from the rover.

At the top of the bank, he stopped dead. Laid out in front of him was what he could only call a city. Tall spires fanned out like a snowflake, and the whole thing was covered in a shimmering dome. It was beautiful. He wanted to sit down. There was a city on the moon. A city they'd somehow never seen from Earth, despite the fact that it glowed brightly in the sunlight. A city, which meant people, or at least some kind of intelligent life. And it almost seemed to be singing to him in his head.

"Lorne? Are. Are you seeing this?" There was no response. "Lorne?" John turned to him and reached out. "Lorne?"

Lorne waved an arm out at the city, as if to say "what the hell?" then reached up and touched the side of his helmet and gave a thumbs down.

John frowned. "Houston? Houston, can you read me?" He waited for a moment, but there was no answer.

Lorne poked him in the arm and pointed up. There was something in the air flying towards them. Definitely flying, not falling, though it didn't look like any sort of craft he'd ever seen before, not even in the movies. He watched as it slowed, then landed in front of them. His heart was beating a mile a minute. A hatch in the back of the ship lowered, but nothing came out. It almost seemed to be beckoning them inside.

John swallowed, and walked in.

***

Rodney jolted awake and threw out a hand, silencing his alarm. His bed was cold, and he missed John. Not that John was normally in his bed - they could usually only come up with an excuse to spend the night together at most once a month, and the last time had been what seemed like forever ago. They'd managed to get in a night before John had left for the Cape, but that had been the first time in weeks. They had to be so careful. John was a public figure, they both worked for the US government, and on top of that Rodney was risking his green card. It was so stupid, what they were doing. But it was worth it. It had to be.

Rodney rubbed his face and got out of bed, switching on his NASA radio as he walked into the bathroom. John's voice carried him through his morning tasks, though he wasn't actually paying any attention to what it was saying. The phone rang as he stepped out of the shower, and he ran out to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Rodney." Radek's voice was hesitant. "We have lost contact with Sheppard and Lorne."

Rodney reached out for a chair and fell into it. "What do you mean, 'lost contact'?"

"They are not answering our radio hails. Also," Radek paused for a long moment, "also, we can not get a response from the rover's video camera."

"Maybe there's a problem with the antenna," Rodney suggested, leaning his wet hair back against the wall.

"Yes, we thought of that. But their EVA was scheduled to be completed over an hour ago, and they are not responding to the lunar module's radio either, and we know that is functioning. Rodney...." Radek trailed off.

"How long have they been out of contact?"

"A little over four hours," Radek said, slowly.

"And you're just calling me now?"

Radek's voice was quiet. "This the first chance I have had to get away. I wanted to warn you before you came in. I didn't think you would want your reaction to be public."

Rodney rubbed his over his face. "Right. Radek, I." He stopped. Wait. Wait just a minute, here. They'd been out of contact for four hours?

"Rodney?"

Rodney stared at his bedroom door, and the radio he could still hear faintly behind it. He got up, then remembered the phone cord didn't extend to his bedroom. "Radek, I'll have to call you back."

Rodney could hear Radek sputtering as he dropped the phone back into the cradle. He dashed back into the bedroom, and stared down at the radio. It wasn't on. He must've missed when he hit the switch. John's voice was coming from something else entirely.

There was a little red stone covered in some sort of runes and set in an art deco like casing sitting next to the radio, one of the many trinkets Jeannie had sent him for 'good luck'. She'd sent this one a few months back, and Rodney remembered that John had liked it. He'd said it seemed to almost glow when the sun hit it just right, so Rodney had kept it, unlike most of the things Jeannie sent. And John's voice was coming seemed to be coming from it.

"Who are you? What do you want?" John asked. His voice seemed hoarse, and Rodney stared unblinking at the stone. He was losing his damn mind.

Rodney picked up the stone. It felt warm in his hand, and seemed to be humming at some deep frequency he couldn't hear but could feel in his bones. He brought it up to his ear.

"I am Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Tagan," a woman's voice said loudly. Rodney hastily brought the stone back down. The sound was definitely coming from the stone. He rubbed his fingers over it lightly, trying to figure out how the sound was being projected.

"What do you want?" John repeated.

Rodney reached back to sit down on the bed and missed, landing on the floor. John was talking to someone. John was talking to someone, and there was no radio lag in the responses. John was talking to a woman on the moon. That was completely terrifying.

"I want to save my people, and you are going to help me," the woman replied. That. That was also terrifying.

The phone rang again, and Rodney pushed himself up off the floor to go and answer it, his hands still wrapped tight around the stone. He'd figure out what was going on the woman later. He didn't have time right now.

Rodney didn't bother with pleasantries; he knew who it was. "Radek, I have to talk to you. Meet me in the parking lot in 45 minutes."

"Rodney, you must listen to me! It's likely their oxygen has run out by now. Rodney." Radek choked. "Rodney, I'm sorry. I know that you and John have been close."

"Radek," Rodney said calmly, "they're not dead." Rodney rubbed his thumb over the stone. "At least, I don't think they are. Meet me."

Rodney dropped the phone back in the cradle without waiting for a response and gently placed the stone down next to it. He had to get dressed and pack a bag.

He had to go visit his sister.

***

John wondered if this is what it was like to be in shock. He was sitting in an alien city on the moon, an alien city that seemed to be populated by humans. The part of him that had read too much pulp science fiction and watched too many B movies wondered if they were shape-shifters or robots or some sort of holographic projections.

"I'm going to help you," he repeated, staring at the woman.

Teyla inclined her head. "You are. You both are," she said, turning to Lorne. "You both posses something we need very much."

"Please tell me you're not going to eat us," Lorne said. Lorne had clearly also watched too many B movies. Right, if they ever got out of this, no more group trips to the drive-in.

John took a deep breath. This was not the time for jokes, not even privately. This was the time for panicking and figuring out what the hell was going on.

Teyla looked shocked. "No!" She shook her head violently. "No, we are not the Wraith. You will not be harmed."

"Then what is it we possess, ma'am?" Lorne asked cautiously.

"Our Ancestors, and yours, possessed a gene which survives today only in very few of us. It is needed to run all of the Ancestral technology. We believe that you both possess that gene."

Lorne looked far more confused than an astronaut had any right to look. "Uh, what Ancestors?"

"There is much that needs to be explained, but you are both tired and stressed. Please, rest, and I will return to tell you what I know later." Teyla looked at their spacesuits and sighed. "I will have some comfortable clothing brought for you. We have enough water for many days, so please do not hesitate to cleanse yourselves."

John held up hand. "Wait, back up. The Wraith?"

"A truly evil race, and the scourge of my people. Please, we will explain later. Rest." Teyla waved her hand by the door and walked through. It shut behind her.

John sighed and starting pulling off his suit. Wearing this thing in full gravity was not fun. He didn't know how this city managed to have close to one gravity when the moon outside did not, but he had a feeling that if he asked, he wouldn't understand the answer. Rodney might. He wondered if he'd ever see Rodney again.

"John?" Lorne asked, quietly. "What do you think's going on?"

"Honestly Evan, if you weren't right here with me I'd think I was going crazy."

"At least it's not just me." Lorne stood. "I'll help you out of your suit if you'll help me out of mine."

John nodded and reached out, working the heavy suit up and off of Lorne's torso.

"I wonder what Paul's thinking right now." Lorne said, looking up.

John paused. Christ, Davis must be out his mind with worry. Not to mention all of Houston. Now that he thought about it, "You realize," he said slowly, "that we've been out of contact for so long that they might think we've crashed or run out of air. We never returned from the EVA."

Lorne stared at him. "They think we're dead."

"They might," John agreed. He wanted something to hit. Rodney probably thought he was dead, and if he did, he was definitely not dealing with that well. John took a deep breath. Rodney had Radek and Jeannie, and he'd get through this until John managed to get home. If John managed to get home.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" John called.

A boy entered, carrying a pile of things. "I am Jinto. I have brought you food and clothing."

"Thanks, Jinto," John said. "Just put it down wherever."

Jinto set the clothes down on a table, moving the food tray he was carrying on top of them to the side. "Do you need help removing your suits? They look very heavy."

"They are." Lorne helped John remove part of his.

"Then why do you wear them?" Jinto asked, giving Lorne a hand.

Lorne waved a hand. "Because there's no air out there, kid."

Jinto looked out the window. "Then why were you here?"

John shrugged. "We wanted to see if we could make the journey. We wanted to study it. It's the only place we can reach from Earth."

"Do you not have a Ring?"

"A Ring?" John asked.

"The Ancestors' Ring! Every world has one. They are a great gift that let us travel from world to world in an instant, far faster than the Traveler's ships." Jinto smiled, but it melted off his face in an instant. "I was in training to become a trader before the Wraith came again."

Lorne shook his head. "I'm pretty sure we don't have one of those. You use it for trade?"

"Yes, mostly for trade and sometimes to escape the Wraith. Though, the Wraith also come through it." Jinto put down his hands and looked out the window. "The last time the Wraith came, they took my father."

John paused and looked down at Jinto. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Jinto shook his head. "The Wraith have taken many. Ladon says they have taken too many and it may be our death, but that we'll take them with us. I am lucky; I still have Teyla, who helped my father raise me. Many of the Remaining are alone."

"The Remaining?" Lorne asked, cautiously.

"The Wraith have taken so many that all of us who are left live in the Ancestor's City, now. We are too few. But Teyla says that you can help us." Jinto looked John in the eye. "Will you?"

"Jinto, we don't even know what's going on." John looked at the boy in front of him and took a deep breath, putting Earth and Rodney at the back of his mind. "But I'll do what I can."

***

Radek stared down at the stone in Rodney's hand. "How can such a thing be possible?"

Rodney shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Sad as it is, right now my best idea is 'magic'."

"What is witchcraft to the ignorant is simple science to the learned," Radek quoted. He reached out. "May I see it?"

Rodney snatched his hand back. It was irrational, but he didn't want to let go of the stone. It was his only link to John.

Radek sighed. "Rodney, please. I will be careful. You know that four eyes are better than two."

Rodney did. He was a scientist. He knew that one person would often catch things another had missed entirely, though he was usually the one doing the catching. But Radek was one of the few people he ever allowed to check his work. Rodney reached out and placed the stone gently into Radek's hand.

Radek took it, and abruptly the sound cut off. He raised his eyebrows. Rodney snatched the stone out of Radek's hand, and John's voice came back as quickly as it had vanished. He and Lorne were talking about fruit, of all things.

"Remarkable. It must be keyed to you, in some way. Will it work if you're not touching it?"

"It was before," Rodney said.

"Would you please put it down on the dash, then? I would like to see it in better light."

"...I don't want to put it down."

Radek rolled his eyes. "I will examine it while you're holding it instead." He picked up Rodney's wrist. "Where did you say you found it?"

"Jeannie sent it, oh, a few months back," Rodney said. He resisted the urge to pull his hand back, and let Radek bring it up closer to his eyes. "She sends me things sometimes, things that she thinks will be 'good' for me. I have no idea where she found it."

"Hmm." Radek turned Rodney's wrist towards the windshield.

"Ow!" Rodney shook off Radek's grip and brought his hand back close to his chest.

Radek looked sheepish. "Ah, sorry. I was trying to see the writing more clearly. You know my friend Elizabeth, yes?"

Rodney thought for a moment. He was pretty sure he'd met her at something Radek had thrown last year. "The woman who made that amazing raspberry torte and talked about the Equal Rights Amendment all night?"

"Just so. She is a linguist by training, and she has recently returned to Houston. I'd like to show her these runes and see if they're similar to anything she's familiar with."

Rodney shook his head. "I have to go ask Jeannie where the hell she found this thing, and it's a three hour drive to their place outside Austin. They have a ridiculous aversion to putting in a phone."

Radek pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. "I will attempt to copy them and go to Elizabeth myself, then."

Rodney held out his hand, "Won't they miss you inside?"

"No more than they will miss you," Radek said, sketching surprisingly accurate copies of the runes.

"Right. ...what's going on in there?"

"It is pure chaos. I do not know how the press is not yet breathing down our necks." Radek paused. "Also, Davis has been saying some very strange things. He says that what appears to be some sort of structure has appeared on the surface. The mission physician is worried that he is going mad."

Rodney looked down at the stone in his hand. "Some sort of structure, huh?"

Radek nodded.

"Well, at least outside confirmation is telling us we're not going mad." Rodney looked up at Radek. "Give me a number where you can be reached today that's not work. I'll give you an update after I talk to Jeannie."

Radek scribbled something at the end of his notebook page and tore it off. "This is Elizabeth's home phone number and address. I suspect I'll be there for the rest of the day."

Rodney took it and put it in his pocket. "See you later, Radek."

"Good luck, Rodney."

***

John picked at the shirt he'd been given. It was scratchy and a little big, but it was still infinitely more comfortable than his suit. And it was better than Lorne's, which had a deep neck, cut almost down to the hem. John's chest may have been shaved before launch, but his hair grew ridiculously quickly and nobody needed to see his prickly chest stubble. Especially not alien queens, or whatever Teyla was.

As if he'd summoned her, a knock came at the door, and it opened before either of them could say anything. "Please, come with me," Teyla said.

John stood, and followed her out the door. He'd been in too much shock to really look at the city when they'd been flown in, but it truly was beautiful. It was colored in greens, blues, and reds, and there was what seemed to be stained glass everywhere. He imagined it would be even more beautiful on a planet with filtered sunlight streaming through the windows, instead of the stark sun that shone directly onto the moon.

Teyla led them down a hallway and opened a door at the end. It opened onto what seemed to be a closet or maybe an elevator, and she stepped inside. She smiled at them and beckoned them to join her. "It is more than it seems."

John gave a mental shrug and stepped in. Lorne followed him, and the door closed behind them. A screen came to life in the back of the closet in brilliant color. It seemed to show a map of the city, and Teyla reached out and pressed a glowing dot. Something pulled at him for a second, then the door opened again and John blinked. The hallway was gone, and instead the door opened onto a huge room.

Teyla walked out like the change was nothing, and to her it probably wasn't. John felt like he was living in an episode of Star Trek.

"Hell of an elevator," Lorne said quietly.

"Where are we going?" John asked.

"I know you have many questions," Teyla said, "but there is one who can answer some of them far better than I. It is not much further."

She turned a corner and opened a door, leading them into another large room. It was clearly a hospital or infirmary or some sort – there were multiple beds and monitors and people bandaged and asleep. The monitors looked a lot more complex than anything he was used to, but apparently some things were the same everywhere.

Teyla said something quietly to a woman who was standing in the back, and she nodded her head and walked over. "These are our guests?"

"Yes," Teyla said. She turned to John and Lorne. "This is Perna, our head healer."

"Nice to meet you," John said out of habit.

Perna smiled. "And you."

"Is he lucid?" Teyla asked.

"For the most part," Perna said. "He will be eager to see our guests, at least. Please, follow me."

Perna led them into a small room off the main room, with only three or four beds partitioned off with curtains. "This is where our longterm patients stay."

John heard Lorne ask Perna a question, but he wasn't paying attention. He was too distracted by the huge guy with dreadlocks leaning against the wall.

"This is the guy?" The man said, walking over and glaring down at John. "Doesn't look like much."

"I am sure that he will rise to meet our needs, Ronon," Teyla said.

Ronon shrugged, looking disbelieving. "If you say so."

John wished they'd tell him what the hell they wanted him to do.

"I do," Teyla said firmly. "How is the patient?"

"I'm fine," said a vaguely familiar voice from behind the curtain. "Come in and talk to me yourself, Teyla."

"He's been talking my ear off for an hour," Ronon said. "He's fine." He walked towards the door and then turned around. "Meet you in the gym later?"

"I may not have time today, Ronon. I'm sorry," Teyla said.

"Right. The guy." Ronon looked John up and down. "Good luck with that."

"Hey!" John couldn't help it.

Teyla put her hand on John's arm. "He means nothing by it."

"Sure," John said, but glared at Ronon as he walked out of the room.

Teyla pulled back the curtain. "How are you truly feeling today?"

"Oh, just peachy," said the man in the bed. He looked to be about eighty. He was skin and bones and balding, with age spots on his hands, but there was something extremely familiar about him. "Do you know what Perna tried to do to me this morning? That woman is a sadist."

It was the voice that did it in the end. "Rodney?"

Rodney's face quirked up in that familiar half-smile that not even 40-plus years could hide, but his eyes were sad. "Hi, John."

***

Rodney pulled up next to the farm gate and squinted. It was locked. He sighed and parked his car on the side of the road. He grabbed the stone and frowned at it. He could still hear John's voice, fading in and out, but most of the other voices were no longer discernible. He hoped it wasn't running out of power, because he definitely did not know how to recharge it.

He sighed and put it in his pocket, and shut and locked the car door. He stepped over the low fence and started walking up the drive. He hoped it wasn't too far to the compound – he'd only been here the once, when he'd been trying to talk some sense into Jeannie after she graduated. Other than his complete and total failure, his memories of the place were a little foggy.

After Rodney had walked what felt like at least two kilometers, the houses started coming into view. A man stepped out and walked out to meet him.

"Hey, man. Did you walk up from the road? We don't have a phone, but I could give you a lift to the nearest mechanic. He's a good friend of ours."

Rodney shook his head. "No. Well, yes, I did, but I don't need a mechanic. I need to talk to my sister."

The man cocked his head at him. "Your sister?"

"Jeannie McKay? She lives here. Or at least, this is the address on the packages she keeps sending me."

"Huh. Yeah, I see it. You've got the same face." The man squinted at Rodney. "Wait, are you the same brother who came up here and yelled at her for not taking that asshole's job offer?"

"What? Uh. Yes, I, I suppose I am. I apologized for that!"

"Oh, you did not," Jeannie said from behind him. "I've got this, Mike."

"You sure?" Mike asked.

"Yep."

Rodney turned around. "I did so! I took you out to dinner and bought you that thing you wanted."

Jeannie crossed her arms. "But did you ever say you were sorry? No. No, you did not. But I took it, because that's the best anyone ever gets from you. Why are you here, Meredith?"

"Would you please stop calling me that?"

"Never," Jeannie said, her voice cheerful. "What do you want?"

"I. Could we go and talk somewhere?" They were starting to draw a crowd.

Jeannie sighed. "Fine, come on." She starting leading him across the yard.

"Are you okay? You're moving kind of awkwardly. Sort of like a penguin."

She turned around and glared at him. "I'm pregnant, Mer."

Come to think of it, she did look pretty different. He'd thought it was just the ugly shirt. Wait. "...did I know that? Was I supposed to know that?"

Jeannie sighed. "Honestly, I was sort of planning on telling you after the kid was born, and then you could show up and buy them some ridiculously expensive toy out of guilt, and we could go back to only talking through letters. We both tend to scream less that way."

Rodney winced. "Who, ah, who's the father?"

Jeannie paused, with her hand on the door of a small building. "His name was Kaleb."

"Was?" Rodney asked, quietly.

"There was a car crash. I found out I was pregnant a week later."

Rodney reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jeannie."

She smiled, her eyes a little watery, and opened the door. It was small, just one wide open room covered in rugs with a small table on the side. A woman with long red hair was in the corner nursing what looked to be a very curly-haired toddler. Rodney made a noise and Jeannie leaned over and lightly hit him.

"Naomi, do you mind if my brother and I talk in here for a minute?" Jeannie asked.

"Go right ahead," Naomi said, far too cheerfully. "We're almost done here, anyway."

Jeannie sat down at the table, purposefully leaving him the chair that would put his back to Naomi. Rodney rolled his eyes, and pulled the stone out of his pocket, laying it on the table.

"I need to know where you got this."

Jeannie leaned over and looked at it. "Huh. I always thought you got rid of the stuff I send you."

"I don't get rid of it!"

Jeannie gave him a look.

"Okay, I get rid of some of it. But, well." Rodney looked at the wall to avoid Jeannie's eyes. "John likes this one."

Jeannie reached out and pat his hand. "It's okay, Mer. You can admit to being a human being." Yep, she was definitely smirking at him.

John's voice came softly through the stone, almost indistinguishable now, and Jeannie jumped. "What the hell? Wait, isn't John supposed to be in space right now? Why is...." She trailed off.

Rodney put his head in his hands. "Like I said. I need to know where you got this."

***

"But." John stopped. "What?"

"Don't worry," Rodney said. "I'm not Rodney. Or, well, I am. I am Doctor Rodney McKay, PhD, PhD. But I'm not your Rodney. He's still safe and sound on Earth, I assume." He coughed.

"Please take it easy, Doctor McKay," Teyla said, handing him a cup of water.

"Wait, this is Doctor McKay? The whiny engineer that hangs out with Radek Zelenka?" Lorne asked.

"He's not that bad," John protested.

Lorne held up his hands. "Sorry, didn't know you two were close."

Rodney laughed, but there wasn't any humor in it. "No one ever does."

"Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" John asked.

Teyla looked at Rodney. He shrugged, and it looked wrong on the frail, old frame. "We will try."

"How much do you know about alternate realities?" Rodney asked.

"Spock has a goatee?"

Rodney sighed. "This might take awhile. Teyla, do you have something I can draw with? I need to get into quantum theory and some pretty obscure hypotheses, here."

"I've taken quantum physics, Rodney." John glared.

"Not like this, you haven't," Rodney said.

Teyla put out a hand. "Perhaps the science lesson can wait for another day, and you could just give a brief summary."

"I vote for that," Lorne said.

"Right. So. Let's start at the beginning," Rodney said.

"That is generally advisable, yes," Teyla said.

"Think of alternate realities as every choice is always made, somewhere. You've heard of Schrödinger's cat?" He waited for John and Lorne to nod. "While the box is closed, the cat is both dead and alive. Either result is possible until the cat is observed. But even though there is only one box, one scientist, and one cat, when the box is opened, in one reality the the scientist looks in and sees one result, and in the other reality, the other result. Both those realities now exist. They've split from each other, even though they were once the same. They now continue on their merry way, never touching again. With me so far?"

"Yes doc, thank you." Lorne rolled his eyes.

Rodney huffed, and started coughing again. Teyla helped him take another drink of water.

"Brief, Doctor McKay," Teyla chided gently. "You do not have the strength you once did."

"I hate this," Rodney said, his voice scratchy. John wanted to reach out and touch him, reach out do something. But Rodney had said it himself: he wasn't 'John's Rodney'. John didn't have the right.

"Please continue," Teyla said.

"From what I've been able to figure out, in a reality that wasn't mine or yours, someone was performing some kind of experiment on the Wraith. Trying to make them human, I think. It failed spectacularly and created a new Wraith/human hybrid, of sorts. They were ruled by a creature named Michael."

"What are the Wraith?" John asked.

"Oh. You haven't told them?" Rodney asked Teyla.

"I did not know how to explain."

"The Wraith are... hmm. The Wraith are a race of humanoid aliens of enormous strength and power. They were the enemy of the Ancients, or the Ancestors, whatever you want to call them, who built this city millions of years ago." Rodney waved a fragile arm around the room. "And the Ancients lost. Badly." He paused. "Also, they eat humans. Or eat their years, I suppose. Their life force. Their potential." He smiled bitterly. "I was forty-five two months ago. And I'm lucky I'm still alive at all. If you can call this luck."

"It is luck, Doctor McKay," Teyla said softly. "You have brought with you great hope to my people."

"Well, that's something, I guess. Not much of a comfort, I admit, but something."

"You were forty-five?" Lorne's voice came out in a squeak.

John stared at Rodney in shock. Rodney stared back. "...I'm sorry," John said.

"If you ever see a Wraith, kill it. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, just kill it." Rodney said with a sigh, leaning back into his pillows.

"You were telling us about Michael," Teyla prompted.

"Michael. Right. Apparently he took over the the first reality he came from, killing the humans and the Wraith alike, converting what he could of both into his new species, but it wasn't enough. So he found a device that let him and all his followers travel into a new reality, and used it, traveling into mine.

"We fought. We destroyed many of his followers, but he only created new ones. And the pure Wraith grew desperate, culling their human herds far more than they ever had before, until there were barely any left. They started feeding on each other. And yet Michael kept coming, and kept destroying. And he contributed to the death of the humans too – when people refused conversion, he would destroy their planet's atmosphere so that they couldn't be a food source for the Wraith, either.

"And then one day, Michael and his followers were just... gone."

"Where did they go?" John asked, already knowing what the answer was.

"Here," Teyla said. "They had come here."

***

Rodney stood outside the little ramshackle shop, Jeannie at his side. There was a sign on the door that read "Open", but other than that there was no evidence the place had been used in years.

"Here? Really?" Rodney asked.

"Really," Jeannie said. "The owner's very nice."

"Nice," Rodney repeated.

"Yes, nice. Also creepy, but mostly nice. Are you going to go in and talk to her or not?"

Rodney sighed and pushed open the rusty door, Jeannie at his heels. "Hello?"

"Just a moment!" a woman's voice called from the back.

The shop looked much better on the inside, clean and neat. Rodney wondered why the owner couldn't spend some time cleaning up the outside. She'd definitely get more customers.

"Can I help you with something?" A middle-aged woman with curly brown hair to her shoulders came out to the desk.

Rodney took the stone out of his pocket and placed it on the counter. "My sister says she purchased this from you. Where did you get it?"

She looked down at the stone and back up at him. "I made it, Rodney McKay, many, many years ago. You are almost too late, you know. I've been expecting you for weeks."

Rodney took a step back and hit a shelf. "How do you know my name?"

She smiled. "I know everyone's name. But that's not what you really want to know, is it, Rodney. You want to know it works, how to copy it, and how can you use it to your own ends."

Rodney did want to know how it worked, but no. "No. What I really want to know is how I can get John back. He's stuck up there! NASA has left him and Lorne for dead, but that thing tells me they're still alive, and I need him back."

She cocked her head. "Truly? Is that all you want? That is not what the other you would say. His heart wishes for death, revenge, and the salvation of a people."

"Look, I don't know what 'other me', you're talking about. There's just me. And while, sure, I might be willing to save some people, I definitely don't want to die, and I don't have anything I need revenge for." Rodney paused. "Well, it might be nice if Kavanagh finally got his comeuppance, but he's eventually going to do that to himself."

She nodded. "You do believe that. You believe that all you need is science and John Sheppard. You may even be right. Unfortunately for you, John Sheppard needs to save the world, and you are almost too late to join him."

"John needs to...." Rodney held up a hand. "Okay, whatever, I'm not dealing with that right now. Tell me how to join him."

"That is not the right question, Rodney McKay."

"Not the right question? What do you mean, not the right question?"

"It is not right question," she repeated.

Rodney thought for a moment. Okay, this was obviously some sort of bizarre morality test. He could run with that. He'd read enough science fiction to know where this might end if he didn't. "Okay, John needs to save the world. So tell me how to, to help him."

She smiled. "That, Rodney McKay, was the right question." She touched his head with her thumb, and he felt a static shock run through his body.

"What are doing to me?"

"Giving you an answer," she said. Her voice resonated through his body, like she was speaking directly into his brain. "Close your eyes."

Rodney closed his eyes almost involuntarily. In his mind, he saw Jeannie and himself driving down the road, making turns and coming to a turn-off that led to a barn. He saw where the key to the barn was. He was what was inside the barn, and he gasped.

Her hand left his head. "You have less than a day before you are left behind, Rodney McKay. Do not miss the bus."

She took two steps back, her body disappeared, she turned into a creature that seemed to be made of light, and flew through the ceiling. Rodney fell to his knees.

"Mer? Meredith!" Jeannie reached out and put his hand on his shoulder, then immediately pulled it back. "Ow, you shocked me."

"Did you see that?"

"See what, Mer?" Jeannie asked, helping him back to his feet.

"That woman, that... creature that just flew through."

"Mer, this place is empty. There's no one here. I'm sorry to have dragged you all the way out into the middle of nowhere." Jeannie looked at him. "Are you okay?"

Rodney looked around. The nice clean shop was gone, and its place was an empty, dusty shell. There was nothing to say the shop had ever been occupied except for a faded painted sign over the counter that read 'Oma's'.

***

"So, what, you want us to kill this Michael guy?" Lorne asked.

"No," Teyla said. "No, not at all. In fact, he is already dead."

"Then what do you need us for?" John really wanted some answers, here. He was supposed to be driving on the moon, not having the most surreal day of his life.

"We're getting to that," Rodney said, his voice hoarse, and smiled weakly. "John and I spent months trying to figure out where he'd gone. We had to try and prevent what he did to us from happening to someone else. But by the time we got here, we were already too late. Michael and his followers had already started the cycle again."

"Those you see in this city are all the humans left from my galaxy," Teyla said. She shook her head. "So many people, lost."

Rodney nodded. "The people of this reality didn't have the resources to fight back that my people and I had. It was a massacre. Those that Michael and his hybrids didn't kill or convert, the Wraith took. But John and I managed to find Michael, and we killed him." Rodney looked to the side, his eyes unfocused. "Unfortunately, not before Michael had time to infect John with the conversion virus."

That was. Okay, ew. "You mean there's another me out there, who's one of these Wraith/human hybrid people?"

"No," Rodney said softly, looking at his hands. "No, there's not. You." He shook his head. "John asked me a question, and I. I couldn't say no."

"Jesus, doc," Lorne said. "I'm sorry."

John kind of wanted to throw up. He reached before he could stop himself and gripped Rodney's hand, careful not to put too much pressure on the fragile bones. "You did what he wanted. What he needed."

Rodney quirked his lip at him. "I know. That doesn't really make it any better."

They sat for a moment in silence, broken only when Rodney started coughing again. This time, John took the cup of water and helped him take a sip.

"We managed to do something else, though. We stole his reality movement device." Rodney smiled triumphantly. "His followers and their new leader aren't going to be able to move again."

"Uh, as someone who lives in this reality, I'm not sure that's a good thing," Lorne said.

"We do not believe that their new leader knows of this galaxy, or the people in it." Teyla sat back. "Your planet should be safe."

"What he does know, is how to track Atlantis," Rodney said.

"Atlantis?" John asked.

"Oh. Uh, that's this city's name. And, yes, it really is the actual Atlantis, the one that sunk beneath the ocean," Rodney said.

"So he knows how to track the city and you brought it here?" John stood up and backed away.

"We had to," Teyla said. "I am sorry, but it was a risk that we had to take. Hopefully the city will be gone by the time it takes for him to track us again."

"I wouldn't have told them how to get here if we'd had any other choice, John," Rodney said.

"Why didn't you have any other choice?" John crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

"There is nowhere in this reality my people will be safe," Teyla said softly. "We have found one we may go to, one without any Wraith or people whose territories we would be invading. We will be safe there."

"So why not just go there?" Lorne asked.

"We can't," Rodney said, sadly. "None of us have the gene strong enough to activate the device. Not even little Harmony, though god knows she tried." He looked John straight in the eyes. "But you do."

John leaned further into the wall, taking its support.

"But if I activated the device, I'd have to come with you."

"Yes," Teyla agreed. "You would."

***

"Mer, where the hell are we going?" Jeannie gripped the inside of the car door.

"Jeannie, I swear I am not crazy. There was a woman in there, and she gave me a vision. A vision of where to find a spaceship, so that I can find John." Rodney rolled into a left hand turn.

"Look, did Mike give you anything before we left the farm?" Jeannie asked, seriously. "Because you really don't want to be taking random substances from Mike."

"I am not high, Jeannie." Rodney turned briefly to glare at her. "And I'm going to prove it to you."

"Uh-huh. Well, if the woman comes back and gives you another vision, could you stop the car first?"

"She's gone, Jeannie. I don't think she's coming back." Rodney made a right onto an old dirt farm road, taking it slow. He pulled up next to a boulder and came to a stop.

"That's not a spaceship, Mer. That's a rock," Jeannie said, dryly.

"I'm aware of that, thank you." Rodney got out of the car and walked over to the boulder, looking for the crosshatch the woman had shown him was there. He pressed it lightly, and a small tray shot out of the boulder, revealing a little golden key. He grabbed it and the tray disappeared back into the rock.

"Mer, what the hell are you doing?" Jeannie called from the car window.

Rodney walked back and held up the key. "Getting the key to the kingdom"

Jeannie stared at it. "How did you know that was there?"

"I told you."

"Right. A woman made of light gave you a vision." Jeannie slammed her head back against the car seat.

"Look, you're the person who keeps sending me special stones that will supposedly be good for my 'aura'. Why do you have so much problem believing in a vision?"

"I don't send you those stones because I believe in auras, Meredith, I send them to you because I know they'll annoy you."

Rodney turned to look at her. Suddenly, the past four years of his life made so much more sense. "Did you drop your mathematics career to annoy me too?"

"For the last time, I did not drop my mathematics career just to spite you." Jeannie sighed. "I finished the degree to spite my advisor and then refused to go into a field full of men like him. You realize he thought that I cribbed my entire dissertation from you? After all, I couldn't possibly have my own mathematical theories, I'm a girl. Fuck all of them."

Rodney stared at her. "You never told me that."

"What would you have done, Mer? Honestly. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. Just... drive to your magical non-existent spaceship."

"Well, I would've told him that I'm a rocket scientist, not a mathematician, for one."

"Mer, it wouldn't have helped. Drive."

Rodney eased his way up the dirt road, looking for the barn. It hadn't exactly been visible from the road.

Jeannie pointed. "Is that what we're looking for?"

Rodney looked over at the dilapidated barn, with its red paint faded and streaked in the sun and its roof partially collapsed. "Yes. Yes, it is." He parked and grabbed his bag and the one Jeannie had packed before leaving the farm because she refused to leave him alone while John was missing out of the backseat. "Let's go find ourselves a spaceship.

Jeannie pushed herself out of the car. "You are going to look so ridiculous in about five minutes."

"No," Rodney said. "No, I really don't think I am." Rodney slipped in past the falling down door and gave Jeannie a hand through.

"Seriously, Mer, this place is falling apart. I'll admit that it's kind of pretty, though."

"The barn is falling apart," Rodney agreed. "But that door isn't." It was a metal storm door, paint still bright and even the door knob still shining.

"Huh," Jeannie said, walking over to it. "I admit that's kind of weird."

Rodney slipped the key into the door, and it settled with a satisfying click. He turned the knob and it opened onto a concrete staircase, leading down. He flipped on the light switch, and turned to Jeannie. "Coming?"

"I feel like I'm in a horror film." Jeannie grabbed the railing and followed Rodney slowly down the stairs.

The stairs led into an open cavern, and Rodney stopped to take it all in. There, in the middle of it, was his spaceship.

"That is the ugliest spaceship I've ever seen," Jeannie said. "It looks like a metal sausage."

"It's a spaceship. A spaceship that we can use. Do you really care what it looks like?"

Jeannie looked like she actually stopped to think about it. "Okay, not really." She beamed at him. "It's a spaceship!"

"See, I told you the woman was real!"

Jeannie ignored him. "Okay, now how do we open the door or get it out of here?"

"As for the door," Rodney said, "she showed me that too." Rodney went over and lowered the back hatch, and Jeannie stepped inside.

"It looks like a bus."

"A space bus," Rodney said.

"Fair point." Jeannie took the bags and set them on the bench seats.

Rodney walked to the far end of the bunker and pressed a button. The ceiling started to retract, dropping dust and plants into the clean, concrete room. He ran over into the ship and closed the hatch before too much debris could settle onto it and climbed in front, sitting down next to Jeannie. The screen lit up in front of them, and Rodney took a deep breath.

The ship lifted up into the sky.

***

"No," John said.

Teyla bowed her head. "Please, we have no one else to ask."

"You want to leave my life, my friends, my whole reality behind to save a bunch of people I met this morning!" John shook his head.

"I think it might be kind of fun," Lorne said with a grin.

"You're welcome to it, Evan. I can't do this."

"If this is about your Rodney," Rodney said softly, "don't worry about it. John and I made a deal."

"Don't worry about it? I can't just leave him! I." John cut himself off.

Lorne looked at him and tilted his head to the side. "Oh. Oh, you know, that explains so much about you."

John clenched his fists. "I can't leave him. I can't."

"John," Rodney said. "John. You won't be. He's going to make the bus. I told you. We made a deal."

"This is the first you've mentioned this, Doctor McKay." Teyla raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't think you'd object to a few more people joining the trip." Rodney looked up at the ceiling. "Oh. He's holding up six fingers. Six is good, right?"

"Perna!" Teyla called. "Doctor McKay has begun hallucinating again."

Rodney started coughing furiously. Perna stepped into the room. "Everyone, out. Breathe for me, Doctor McKay."

"John!" Rodney called, his voice weak. "John, you have to!"

John walked out of the room, his head down.

"Please, John. You must at least consider it. The lives of everyone in this city are at stake." Teyla put her hand on his arm. "Please."

"I'll think about it." John walked off, leaving Lorne and Teyla behind. He had no idea where he was going, but it didn't really matter. He just need somewhere to go and think.

He found a door standing open, and looked through it, surprised to see a balcony. He stepped outside, and starred at the lunar landscape. He was supposed to be out there, taking samples and doing experiments, not here, in this insane city. Though, this was a hell of a lot more comfortable.

John looked up. The Earth hung in the sky like a beautiful blue jewel. On that planet were his friends, what few he had of them; his family, not that they'd talked in years; and Rodney. Right now, only one of those things mattered.

"So, you gonna do it?" a voice asked from behind him. John turned around.

"Ronon," John said.

"Well?"

"I don't know." John looked back up at the Earth.

"I knew you didn't have the guts for it," Ronon said.

"It's not cowardice," John said. Ronon looked at him, eyebrow raised. "Or maybe it is. Maybe it is cowardice. That I can't give up one person to save thousands."

"Yeah," Ronon said. "That is cowardice. If I could go back and save my wife, I would. But if the only way I could save her was to let all these people die, I don't think I could."

John bowed his head. "You're right. I can't let these people die. I have to do this. I don't have a choice."

Ronon put his hand on John's shoulder. "I'll get you drunk, after."

"Thanks, buddy."

***

Rodney settled the ship down in Elizabeth's driveway.

"Now, aren't you glad I found that invisibility mode?" Jeannie asked.

"Oh, shut up."

Rodney dashed out of the ship, a sense of urgency pushing him that they had to go, they had to go now. He knocked on the door and was opened by that woman he vaguely remembered from Radek's party. "Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "And you are?"

"Rodney!" Radek cried. "Where have you been? There is something decidedly odd going on."

"I was with Jeannie and. Look, can we talk inside?" Rodney asked.

"Oh, Jeannie! Hello! I see congratulations are in order." Radek rushed behind Rodney to help Jeannie up the stoop.

"Thank you, Radek," Jeannie said. She held out a hand to Elizabeth. "I'm Jeannie McKay, nice to meet you. And this is my very rude brother, Mere-"

"Rodney," Rodney said quickly. "Rodney McKay."

"Elizabeth Weir," Elizabeth said, taking Jeannie's hand with a laugh. "How about you come inside and sit down?"

Rodney shut the door behind him. "We have to talk."

"Yes," Radek said. "Yes, we do. Something very odd is going on, Rodney. You remember that John and Lorne are on the moon, yes?"

Rodney stared at him. "What? Yes, of course I do. That's what I have to talk to you about, and I need to do it quickly, so if you could hurry up?"

"So you remember," Radek said, "and I remember. Jeannie, I assume, remembers?"

"Of course I do," Jeannie said, settling into a chair. "Apollo 18 is the last trip to the moon. Why wouldn't I remember?"

"And Elizabeth remembers," Radek said. "But Carson, Carson did not remember until we told him."

"Carson?" Rodney asked.

"Oh, yes, sorry," said a man Rodney didn't know, carrying a large pitcher and some glasses. "I was making iced tea in the kitchen. I've been staying with Elizabeth for awhile. Doctor Carson Beckett. Medical."

Rodney shrugged. "So he doesn't pay attention to the space program."

Carson shook his head. "No, there is something decidedly peculiar going on. When Radek showed me his sketches, it was like I had whole new memories in my head that weren't there before."

"Also!" Radek said, loudly. "Also, when I called into Mission Control to say I would be out, they did not know why I would be in. All mentions of the mission in the papers have disappeared. And Elizabeth saw Paul Davis eating lunch with General O'Neill."

"I'm sorry, what?" Rodney stared down at the paper Radek had thrust into his hand. There was nothing there about the landing.

"I saw Paul Davis eating lunch with General O'Neill," Elizabeth said. "Today."

"But that's completely impossible," Jeannie said. "Are you sure it wasn't a lookalike?"

"Positive," Elizabeth said.

Rodney was nodding. "No, that makes sense."

"Nothing about this makes sense, Rodney!" Radek set his glass down forcefully on the table.

"No," Rodney said slowly, "it does. This is kind of hard to believe, but I met an alien today."

"An alien," Radek said.

Jeannie nodded. "He did, unfortunately."

"She put some information into my mind. Who's to say she, or others like her, couldn't take information out of other people's minds? Or even bring Davis back down to Earth and make him forget he ever left?"

Elizabeth, Radek, and Carson were staring at him.

"Look, we can prove it. But we have to go. We have to go now." Rodney stood up. "Jeannie, are you coming?"

"Yes, Mer. I am." She pushed herself out of her chair.

"How about you, Radek?"

"Go where, Rodney?" Radek asked.

Oh, right, he hadn't really explained that part. "To the moon. Possibly somewhere else. I think it's going to be a one way trip." They were staring at him again. "We found a spaceship."

"A spaceship?" Carson asked. "Truly?"

Rodney nodded. "It's parked in your driveway."

Radek dashed outside.

Elizabeth walked over to the window. "There's nothing there."

"It's invisible," Jeannie said cheerfully.

"But we have to go now, or we're going to miss the bus," Rodney said.

Radek came back inside, muttering in Czech. "There really is a spaceship parked in your driveway, Elizabeth."

"...give me a moment to pack a bag," Elizabeth said.

"Really?" Rodney asked. "Just like that?"

"I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"I think I will come as well," Radek said. "I can not leave you to die on the moon alone."

They all turned to look at Carson.

"I think you're all crazy, frankly, and that we're just going to be sitting in your driveway," he said. "But since my dear old mother passed, I don't have any reason to stay. I might as well. If we actually do go to the moon, it would be quite an adventure."

Rodney's skin felt like it was itching. They need to go, and they needed to go now. "Well, if you're not onboard in the next three minutes, I'm leaving you behind."

Rodney helped Jeannie back out into the ship, and helped her settle down in the chair. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mer. I'm sure."

Rodney waved at her abdomen. "Even with...."

Jeannie nodded. "I think, when you shocked me, that some of the stuff she put into your head got transferred to mine. I know I'm going to be fine, and so is my child. And you are not leaving me behind, Meredith."

"It's just, I really do think this is going to be a one way trip."

"I know." Jeannie smiled. "I can't wait."

Rodney walked back of the ship and helped the others find the door. They trailed in and put their things down. Radek and Elizabeth immediately headed for the front, while Carson came in more slowly.

"Last chance for second thoughts," Rodney said.

"No," Carson said, slowly. "No, I think this will be good for me."

Rodney closed the hatch and headed back to the front, sitting down.

"Lift-off!" Radek said.

***

John stood in front of the device and stared at it. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm afraid I don't know how it works," Ladon Radim said. "Rodney will have to explain it, providing he's lucid enough."

"What if he's not?" John asked.

"Then we attempt to decipher the notes he gave us as a last resort." Ladon laid them out on the table.

John looked down at the notes. They even had the same handwriting. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Perna led Rodney slowly into the room. John was surprised that he was walking, though Perna did immediately settle him down in a chair next to the device.

"Have you set it for the ideal reality, Doctor McKay?" Teyla asked.

"I just need to make sure it hasn't been changed." Rodney fiddled with something on the device and nodded to himself. "It's set for the reality we decided on."

John watched him. This Rodney wasn't his Rodney. He never would be. Watching him hurt, knowing that he was going to be the only Rodney would see from now on.

"John, when the time comes, put your hands here," Rodney said, pointing, "and think 'on'. The device should do all the work from there."

John nodded. "I guess there's no time like the present, right?"

"No!" Rodney held out a hand. "No, not yet. Just a few more minutes."

"Doctor McKay?" Teyla looked at him in concern.

"Just a few more minutes, Teyla. I promise."

Ladon put his hand up to his ear and frowned. "Teyla, Larrin says that there's a ringship coming in from the planet."

"Let them in," Rodney said. "Please."

Teyla looked at Rodney and nodded. "Let them in, Ladon."

Rodney relaxed almost immediately. "They made the bus. I don't have to stay." He looked up at the ceiling. "I don't have to stay, right? We made a deal."

"Who?" John asked. "Who made the bus?"

Rodney smiled at him. "I did." Then his clothing seemed to collapse in on itself, and a ball of light floated out, and shot toward the ceiling. It joined a second ball of light that John hadn't noticed before, and disappeared.

The only noise in the room was Rodney's clothes, settling to the floor. "He ascended," Perna said, her voice reverent.

John had no idea what that meant, but he wasn't asking while everyone was staring at the ceiling in awe.

"John," Lorne said, sticking his head in the door. "I have someone here who really wants to see you."

Rodney walked in, whole and healthy and young, and John was by his side before he even realized his feet were moving, and leaned in to kiss him. "Rodney," John said, pulling back. "Rodney, oh god, I thought I was going to have to leave you."

"Hey," Rodney said, rubbing his thumb over John's hand. "I'm here."

"So I won't have to get you drunk?" Ronon asked.

"Nah," John said, falling back to reality. "I'm good." He looked around the room, expecting the sneers he would've seen if he'd kissed Rodney in public on Earth, but they weren't there. Teyla looked indulgent, Perna was still staring at the ceiling, and Ladon just looked bored.

"Right," Rodney said, "let's get this show on the road."

"You know what this is?" Ladon asked.

Rodney shrugged. "There was this woman made of light who came and talked in my head, and, ah."

Ladon shook his head. "I don't want to know. Well, John Sheppard?"

John put his hands where the other Rodney had told him, feeling his Rodney's hands on his back, thought 'on', and saved the world.