Searching for wayward wives and playing moving service...I got three PhDs for this?

[dr_rodneymckay]

Rodney was halfway to the group room when he realized it was late morning and she wasn't likely to be there. Easily solved. He tapped his comm.

"MacGregor, this is McKay. Where are you?"

Comments

[dr_macgregor]

She gasps, worrying. "Clones? How is that possible? Did he clone both the body and the... snake? And yes, I don't know where, but I know he has one with him."

Rae looks up curiously when she feels him move. His words a moment later cause pain to flash across her eyes, then she looks down sadly. "Yeah. I can understand why... Um, get the silk boxers that match the shirt. He wore those that night, remember?"

She looks up when he explains. "I know he does. It's... it's not easy for *me* to separate it. I keep feeling like *I* did that to him, because I was forced to watch and... I could feel, too. Kinda not as intensely, but still there... I know, I do know, I don't know what I'd do without you, all of you."

Rae moved closer, to be fully against him again as his arms tightened around her. "I'm glad too, Rodney. She was going to scan the Ancient database, find things on ZedPMs to make you work yourself to death getting this city fully powered..." Her eyes closed, heat entering her heart as Rodney admitted he loved her. Rae looked up again and moved one hand to his face. "Oh... Rodney... I love you too. And I am *never* leaving again." She kissed him gently. "Let *me* the one to welcome you back... I think you have a better track record than I do..."

Rae looked down for a moment, then took a deep breath. "I'm coming with you. I need to face that, and there's more things I want to get... We can put them in my office for now." She shuddered in his arms. "I... *She* killed someone in there... He was just there to fix the sink, and she killed him and threw him over the balcony... Please. I need to see the empty room, not pictures of..."

[dr_rodneymckay]

"Yeah. The Trust has the technology, evidently. We don't know how many clones there are, but SG1 has killed quite a few." Rodney looked at Rae questioningly. "Astarte didn't know? Huh."

Rodney nodded; how could he have forgotten about the boxers? "Of course. I think they're the only pair he actually owns."

He listened to her and when she was through, kissed her forehead. "I get the watching and not doing thing. You ever need to talk, I'm here, Rachel.

No, Rodney, now is not the time to get hard. You're comforting her, dammit! "At least she didn't get to it." He unconsciously leaned into her hand, though his eyes widened as he realized what he'd said. Oh, he meant them, but he hadn't intended to say it yet. To hear her return it, though...

"Good. I'm horribly possessive and don't like it when people or things leave me." His arms tightened briefly as she kissed him. "Not by much, though. But I like the thought of you being here to welcome us home." And when did Atlantis start to feel like home? Oh yeah, when he fell for John, Carson, Radek and now Rae.

Rodney frowned as he looked down at her. "You sure you want to come? You don't have to...okay." He nodded, knowing he wasn't going to change her mind. Then she said that someone had died in there. "Oh. Is that how she was discovered? Someone found the body? Never mind, not important. Of course you can come, if you think you can."

Hesitantly, Rodney raised a hand to cup her cheek. "Um. You know you're welcome with us, right? You and Radek? I know you two will need private quarters, but for general purposes...you could stay with the group."

[dr_macgregor]

She could tell by his deer in the headlights blinking that he hadn't realized he'd actually said it until she returned the words. Fortunately, that was just amusing.

Rae smiled in his arms. "Call me terribly old-fashioned, but I'm not minding the possessiveness for some reason." She blushed lightly. "I... It makes me feel safer..."

Rae nodded in return. "I presume that's why they set the trap so soon after. John didn't know about..." She closed her eyes in pain. "About the one she killed out in corridor FourZed first. then she came back and... Used that hand thingy. Oh, you have to go get those from the toolkit. We can't take any chances on someone finding them, and gods forbid, being able to *use* them!"

She looked back up at him, seeing the concern in those bright blue eyes. "Yes, I need to. I don't know if I can... *touch* anything, but I need to change what I see when I close my eyes..."

His hand was warm on her face. She instinctively leaned into it, but lowered her gaze. "Thank you, but... That's somewhere I know Radek can feel comfortable and safe with you all. I'll just find something unoccupied until he might wanna look for something new. he needs a non-threatening place with familar comfort and smells and all."

Rachel took a deep breath and stepped back, one hand sliding into his. Her ring clinked softly against his, and she squeezed his hand a little. "Well. Let's go get this over with. We can put my stuff in my office until I find something." She walked with him through the doors of the balcony. Not too far into their walk, a realization came to her.

"Oh! Astarte could..." She looked at Rodney next to her. "I can scan the database for info on ZedPMs. She could read Ancient really well, I think I might still be able to do that. now that I know what words to look for, it should go faster..."

[dr_rodneymckay]

Rodney smiled at Rachel. "I'm glad I make you feel safe." He kissed her forehead gently.

His eyes light up when she tells him where the hand device is. "Really? Oh wow!" Rodney winces. "Er...sorry. But. Well. They wouldn't let me play with the goa'uld tech at Area 51. Except the Stargate and naquada generators.

"Okay, I'm not arguing. I just want to make sure you're okay and certain that you want to come." Rodney nodded when she turned down the offer to stay with them. "Well, you can always use my private room. I don't mind. I usually sleep in the group suite anyway. Only keep the private room for when Caldwell comes. He's twitchy about the new regs still."

Her hand in his, the feel of their rings clinking softly, does something for him he never thought it would. He has a wife and she loves him and he loves her and it's so unbelievable that a woman could do this to him. "No, no. Store it in my private rooms. In fact, consider them yours if or until you find a new set of rooms."

He tries not to show how excited the thought of finding ZPMs makes him, but he's sure it shows. "Good. That's good. ZedPMs are always good."

[dr_macgregor]

A thought comes to her. "Don't... Don't take anything apart just yet, though. We might be able to use it to get Ba'al. In fact... we should get together with John and some of the others to figure that out." Her eyes went cold for a second. "We should get him while we can still surprise him."

It's sweet, his offer of his rooms. It proves how much he does love and trust her, to stay among his private items that he keeps to himself... "Thank you. I'll do that. It's not as far to carry things anyway, then. I don't have much I need." She squeezed his hand a little tighter. "If... If you see that blue dress... I want it destroyed. I don't care how, please..."

Rae listens to Rodney comm Carson to meet them at the rooms with some boxes and a cart. She bumps shoulders with him as they walk and he gets excited about the ZedPMs. Surely she can find something to thrill him, get some use out of what that thing did to her. "I'll start reading soon." Her eyes went wide and she stops for a moment, turning to him. "I... You don't have to do anything with whatever I find, Rodney. It's not like what she planned, I... No false leads... I just want to *use* whatever she did to me for *something* good..."

He reassures her he knows the difference, and they continue towards the place she used to call home.