Laura Cadman had known strange things happened when you worked on either Stargate project but nothing had prepared her for this. She was now residing in the body of Dr Rodney McKay and neither of them was happy about this.
He was still bitching about the fact she’d taken his body for a run the night before when a call from behind them caught her by complete surprise.
“Dad!”
“That would be me,” Rodney growled at her, as she fought to keep them walking in the same direction.
“They let you breed?” Laura blurted out, instantly regretting saying it.
“Would you just…” he trailed off as he turned to where the call had come from.
Laura stared at the girl smiling at them. She knew her, Laura was sure about this, the girl was one of the lab techs.
“Dad,” the girl said again, looking a little confused, as Laura finally remembered her name, Alisa, “Are you okay?”
Rodney frowned, “Who’ve you talked to?”
“Paranoid, Rodney,” Laura laughed.
“Shut up,” he hissed, making Alisa stare at him in confusion, “Not you,” Rodney told her.
“Then who?” Alisa drawled.
“You’ve not seen anyone?” Rodney asked her.
Alisa shook her head in confusion, “I got off the Jumper, I said hi to Lieutenant Smith and walking back to my room,” she showed him her backpack, “I saw you.”
“Told you,” Laura laughed.
Rodney let out a sigh of annoyance, “Would you stop talking for two seconds.”
“What did I say?” Alisa stared at him.
“I’m not talking to you,” he replied, waving his hand at her.
“Okay,” Alisa pressed her hands over her eyes for a second, “Is there a conversation going on that I’m completely unaware of?”
“She’s got you there,” Laura told him, making Rodney growl in annoyance.
“Come on, Lissa,” Rodney took her arm, “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Alisa was staring at them, complete astonishment covering her face as Rodney explained what had transpired the day before.
“So,” Alisa said after several minutes’ silence, “You’re telling me that one of the new security officers, Lieutenant Laura Cadman is stuck inside your head.”
“Exactly,” Rodney replied.
“You can hear her,” Alisa continued, her head tilted to one side, “And she has the ability to take over your body.”
Rodney nodded again, both of them watching as the teenager took in everything she’d been told.
“Okay,” she nodded slightly, “This has to be the weirdest thing I’ve heard since I got here.”
“Lissa,” Rodney reached out to touch her shoulder, frowning in confusion as she pulled back away from him, “What’s wrong?”
“I…I don’t know her,” Alisa whispered, she was shaking slightly.
Rodney slowly pulled his hand back, “Lissa.”
“I should go see if Radek needs me for anything,” she murmured softly, slowly backing away, “I’ll come see you later.”
With that she fled the room.
“Well thank you so much,” Rodney snapped.
Laura frowned, wishing she could pace, “What the hell did I do?”
“Because of you, my daughter won’t come near me,” Rodney snapped, his pain at her rejection coming through.
“It’s not like I did this on purpose, Rodney,” Laura snapped back. She sighed, “Look, she’ll get over this. She just has to get her head round it because let’s face it, Rodney; ‘By the way, I’ve someone in my head’ is not the average thing that your Dad tells you, even around here. And if it is ever said, most kids would be calling a shrink and having you carted off.”
Rodney turned and looked in the mirror, so in a sense they were looking at each other.
“You really think she’ll be alright with this?” Rodney asked, his voice soft.
Laura smiled at seeing the depth of this man she’d had pegged as an unfeeling arrogant bastard, “If she’s as smart as you say she is.”
Several hours later, as they were arguing over what he was to wear on his date, there was a soft knock.
“I am telling you,” Alisa stated as she walked in, “Dr Moss is an idiot.”
Laura was completely confused as Rodney grinned.
“What did Moss do this time?” Rodney asked, watching as Alisa sat cross-legged on his bed.
“He made so many mistakes while we were setting up the generators on the mainland,” Alisa cried, her hands waving about wildly in annoyance, “And guess who had to fix them? Why are you dressed up?”
Rodney grimaced slightly at her segue way, “I’m having dinner with Dr Brown tonight.”
Alisa stared at him, “Are you insane?”
Rodney folded his arms across his chest, frowning at her.
“Okay, wrong thing to say,” Alisa acknowledged, “I’m just questioning the intelligence of having dinner with a woman when you have another’s consciousness in your head.”
Rodney turned to her, “Is this because I have a date?”
“Dad,” Alisa laughed, “I’m sixteen, you haven’t had a date since I was eight that I know of. Trust me; I’m not having a tantrum over this. I’m actually worried about you.”
“Lissa,” Rodney replied, trying to ignore Laura’s laughter in his head, “I have cancelled on her far too many times and trust me, I have someone in my head is not the best thing to say when cancelling dinner with someone.”
“Oh, I’m so going to need therapy when I leave this place,” Alisa jumped up and moved to the door, “I’m going to get something to eat then I’ll see what else I can do with the Wraith ship. See you later…you too, Lieutenant.”
*********************************************
Rodney and Laura woke up with an extreme headache; the last thing they remembered was being in Heightmeyer’s office and arguing with each other. Opening their eyes to see the infirmary ceiling had them completely bewildered.
“Dad?” the gentle voice of his daughter came from their bedside, “Dad?”
“What happened?” Rodney moaned, as Laura murmured the same question but only he was heard.
“You had a seizure,” Alisa whispered, squeezing his hand tightly.
“Why?” Rodney frowned confused.
Carson moved over to stand behind Alisa, “From what we can tell,” he explained, resting his hands on the teenager’s shoulders in comfort, “The constant fighting over the dominance of your brain is having a deleterious effect on its lower functions: heart rate, respiration, organ function…”
“That's not good,” Laura said through Rodney.
“Of course it's not good,” Rodney snapped back at her.
Alisa turned to Carson with a look of sheer desperation, the entire situation confusing her completely.
“I'm not sure how long you can go on like this,” Carson told them
Rodney looked at him sharply, “What do you mean?”
Carson sighed, “These misfires will only increase in frequency and severity over time.”
“Well fine,” Rodney waved his hand, dismissing them, “She'll stop trying to take over control of my body.
“It's not as simple as that, Rodney,” Carson told him, he turned motioning Heightmeyer over to them.
“One of you has to release control,” Kate told them, “One of you has to let go completely.”
Laura felt sick, she didn’t know how since she had no physical body before she realised that Rodney was feeling as sick as she was.
“Ah, well, maybe if someone…say you…hadn't told her to try and take control in the first place,” Rodney snapped at Kate, “None of this would have happened.”
“Dad,” Alisa breathed, “You can’t blame Kate for this.”
“I was just trying to help both of you,” Kate reminded him.
“What happens to the person,” Rodney whispered, Laura could feel his grip on Alisa’s hand tighten even more, “The one who “lets go”?”
Carson hesitated, “Well, we're not certain, of course. We've not often run into these situations before…”
“They would disappear,” Laura took over as Carson trailed off, she squeezed Alisa’s hand this time, “I know they would, ‘cause I can already feel it happening to me. It's getting harder to be in here. It's taking more of an effort.”
“Has it always been like that?” Rodney whispered.
“Past few hours,” she sighed, tears filling her voice, “You haven't felt it too?”
Rodney hesitated, “Well, of course I have,” he replied, “I just thought I was fighting with you,” he glanced down as Alisa giggled slightly, “Look,” Rodney turned to where Radek was standing, “Where're we at?”
“Well,” Radek said, chewing his lip, “We've successfully rematerialized a pair of mice. They were whole and correctly reconstructed…”
“But?” Rodney demanded, knowing the tone.
“They didn't survive,” Radek admitted with a grimace.
“I'm afraid if one of you doesn't let go,” Carson moved the conversation back to its original direction, “Both of you will die.”
Alisa let out a shuddering breath and swallowed hard, for once not saying anything.
Laura slowly raised Rodney’s hand, “I'll do it.”
Carson frowned, “Which one of you said that?”
“It was Laura,” Alisa whispered, her voice shaking, “Laura volunteered.”
Laura opened her eyes and shifted slightly, she rested her hand against her forehead before gasping slightly as she realised that it was her hand.
“You should relax,” a now familiar voice came from her side, Laura turned to find Alisa sitting between the two beds, “Carson says everything’s fine.”
Laura sighed before smiling at the teenager, “It’s nice to meet you properly, Alisa.”
“You too, Lieutenant,” Alisa gave a soft nod.
“I thought you were calling me Laura?” she noted.
“After what you did before the separation,” Alisa grimaced, “Which by the way is going to add several years to my therapy, I think Lieutenant is fine for now.”
Laura winced, remembering the kiss, “Sorry about that.”
“John covered my eyes after a second,” Alisa told her, before clarifying at Laura’s confused look, “The Colonel.”
“Do you know absolutely everyone by their first names?” Laura laughed.
Alisa shrugged, “When we were cut off from Earth, this place and the people became family. I was the baby, I still am.”
“And adored by everyone,” Laura laughed.
Alisa blushed slightly, “I’m going to go get Carson and let him know you’re awake. I think he’ll be very interested in that.”
Laura opened her mouth but before she could say anything the girl had disappeared.
“Feeling better?” Laura grinned when she noticed Rodney awake in the bed beside her.
She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as he looked the wrong way, finding the empty bed at his side.
“Oh no,” Rodney groaned.
Laura laughed and called, “Over here.”
Rodney turned, on seeing her he let out a deep sigh, “Oh, a little less crowded. You?”
“Same,” Laura grinned, “It's nice to have my own body back.”
“I’ll second that,” Alisa spoke up appearing at her father’s side. Rodney motioned her over and hugged her tightly. He let her go after several minutes and turned to Radek who was standing close by, “Nice work.”
“Well, it was your idea,” Radek reminded him.
Rodney was about to agree but his daughter stopped him. Laura watched, amazed as the teenager gripped his hand and sat beside him. The scientist gently rubbed the back of his daughter’s neck comfortingly as they talked and Laura watched, smiling.
*********************************************
“Morning, Alisa,” Laura greeted
The teenager dropped into the seat across from Laura, setting her tray down, “Good morning, Lieutenant.”
Laura sighed. Alisa had joined her for breakfast almost every morning for the past week and a half and yet still refused to call her by her name. She’d seen Rodney the day before, scowling that his daughter was eating with the woman who had spent several days driving him insane.
Laura loved it.
But she also enjoyed talking to Alisa. The girl was smart, sarcastic and noticed almost everything about Atlantis.
“What are you working on?” Laura asked, watching as the younger McKay rolled her eyes.
“Radek has stuck me with Moss, again,” she rolled her eyes; “How that idiot managed to get himself on the team is beyond me.”
“Is it that bad?” Laura bit her lip, watching the girl stab at her breakfast.
Alisa rolled her eyes, “I knew more than he did when I was five.”
“But you’re the daughter of a genius, as well as a genius yourself,” Laura reminded her.
“Fine,” Alisa laughed, “You knew more when you were five.”
“Do you know how much you sound like your father?” Laura mentioned as she chewed her toast.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Alisa grinned, making Laura roll her eyes. Alisa quickly finished her drink before jumping up, “See you tomorrow, Laura.”
With a cheeky grin, the teenager strolled away.
“I like her, Dad,” Alisa sighed, glancing up from her computer at her scowling father.
Rodney tutted slightly, “That’s typical.”
Alisa glanced up, “So, she borrowed your body once or twice.”
“Do you want to know exactly what she did?” he snapped, his arms folding across his chest.
Alisa held up her hands, “No. Please, I have enough things to give me nightmares.”
She pushed aside her laptop and turned to him properly, “Dad, she knows that I’m your kid, she’s smart and she doesn’t look at me like I should be in a straight jacket when I mention I know how to blow things up,” Alisa cried, “She gets excited.”
At his confused look, Alisa rolled her eyes, “Laura is an explosives expert, didn’t you check her file?”
Rodney grimaced at his daughter, who was laughing at him, “I would prefer to forget all about Cadman.”
“I doubt that’s going to happen,” she reminded him, going back to work, “Considering she’s dating Carson, and she’s my friend.”
Rodney rolled his eyes before starting to leave, “You need to get better taste in friends.”
Alisa smiled softly, watching her father before returning to her work.
“Hi, Rodney,” Laura grinned, as he stepped onto the balcony she was sitting on.
“You had to be here, didn’t you?” he muttered annoyed.
“Sit down,” Laura told him, “And stop being an ass.”
He glared at her before taking a seat on the ground, making sure she was a good distance away from him.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Laura told him, “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?” Rodney demanded sharply.
“About Alisa,” Laura saw she had his complete attention.
Rodney scowled at her, “What about her?”
“She’s a great kid,” Laura smiled, seeing the smile curl Rodney’s lips, “I know you don’t like that she talks to me but you seriously have to get over it.”
“Thank you so much for your advice,” Rodney snapped at her.
Laura turned to face him, crossing her legs and rested her hands on her knees, “Have you ever thought she might need someone to talk to, someone who isn’t in the higher echelons of command around here?”
“Alisa is just fine,” Rodney told her agitated.
Laura frowned at him, “I’m not saying she isn’t, Rodney. Alisa’s a great kid and she loves being here but she sat beside me the first morning. She was looking to talk to someone.”
“Alisa is known as Bonner in every record we have,” Rodney reminded her, “And for a very good reason.”
“Alisa is brilliant,” Laura said, smiling at Rodney, “One day she will outshine you and with her knowledge of Atlantis makes her the perfect candidate for someone who wants to blackmail the entire command staff,” she stopped suddenly, looking shocked, “That’s the reason she was allowed back to Atlantis.”
Rodney glared at her, “It wasn’t the only reason but it was the one thing that managed to convince the top brass that she should be allowed back here.”
“Listen to me,” Laura told him, “I’m not going to put your daughter in danger. I like her and I want to be her friend. You’re just going to have to accept it.”
With that said, Laura pulled herself to her feet and patted his shoulder, leaving him alone.
“Cadman,” Rodney called, giving her a slight smile when she turned back, “Thank you.”
Laura grinned at him before strolling away.
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