“If you want to blow up this city,” Alisa yelled, her hands planted on her hips, “Then fine. But I’d prefer you wait until I wasn't in it.”

“I have had enough of your attitude, Bonner,” Dr Moss snapped at her, “I am the one with the PhD. I am the one in charge of this experiment.”

“And you’re the one,” Alisa retorted, “Who’s going to send us all to hell, if you don’t fix the equations.”

“Get out,” Moss snapped, “You’re off this project.”

Alisa glared at him, “If you don’t listen to me then that’s your choice,” she told him, “I may only be an assistant but I sure as hell know more about this city than you do and I am telling you, you are wrong!!!”

“Get out,” Moss yelled, pointing at the door.

“Gladly,” Alisa told him, “But wait until I have time to get to minimum safe distance before you start killing everyone in the city.”

Angrily, she stalked out before he could reply. Once she was a few feet along the corridor, Alisa broke into a run. Her father was off-world on a mission so she couldn’t go to him, which meant that she’d have to disturb Radek. She knew he was sleeping after working late but considering he’d rather be disturbed than dead, she quickly changed direction and headed to his room.

“Alisa?” Radek murmured, annoyed to find the girl at his door, “What are you doing here?”

“I need you to look at something,” she walked past him into the room and quickly brought up Moss’s work on the laptop, “Is it me, or is this wrong?”

Radek frowned as he scanned the page, “When is he doing this?”

“Probably now,” Alisa told him.

Radek grabbed his jacket, “If he does this, he could make the ZPM explode.”

“Why do you think I’m here?” she reminded him.

Radek bit back any comment, instead he motioned her out of the room and together they headed back along the corridors. When they reached the lab, they found that the experiment had already begun.

“Control,” Radek hit his radio, “This is Dr Zelenka, disconnect the ZPM now.”

“What?” the confused technician asked.

“Just do it,” he snapped. Quickly Radek started to shut down the power systems.

“We need to get everyone out of there,” Alisa told him.

“Of course,” he nodded, he was concentrating on the screen in front of him he almost missed the small blur as Alisa ran into the lab, “Alisa!!”

He grabbed the radio, “Everyone out now,” he yelled, “Moss, disconnect the artefact.”

Moss turned to him, “I can fix this.”

“No you can’t, you idiot,” Alisa snapped, as she reached him.

Radek grimaced, annoyed at the girl for running into the room, he saw the energy spike, “Get out of there now,” Radek yelled through the microphone.

Moss started to run but Alisa hesitated, glancing back at the device.

“Alisa, now,” Radek snapped at her.

She started out of the lab but before she reached the door, the device let out a pulse of energy. Radek yelled her name as Alisa went flying across the lab, smacking into the wall before she slid to the floor unconscious.

                        *********************************************

Rodney was tired; it had been a hell of a day. He’d been in a Jumper that crashed, been shot at, tied up, threatened and now all he wanted was to get something to eat, get some rest and talk to his daughter, not exactly in that order. Ignoring John’s irritating quips, Rodney marched towards the infirmary. Getting there ahead of the rest of the team, Rodney was a surprised to find Carson standing with Cadman and Radek. All three were standing talking quietly, looking worried.

“Rodney!!” Cadman gasped suddenly, when she glanced up.

“Rodney,” Carson turned to him, his face grim, “I didn’t realise you were back.”

“What’s going on?” John asked when he arrived behind Rodney.

Radek stepped forward as Teyla, Ronan and Elizabeth joined them, “Alisa was working with Dr Moss on his latest project. She realised the equations were wrong and although she told him, he ignored her.”

He paused and Rodney clenched his fist, “And?” he demanded.

“Alisa and I went to stop the experiment and…” Radek swallowed, “She ran in, the device sent out an energy pulse. She was thrown against the wall with some force.”

“What?” Rodney’s face paled, “Where is she?”

“Rodney, listen to me,” Carson caught his arm, “She is alright. Alisa has a concussion and her arm is broken but she will be fine.”

Rodney took in several deep breaths, “Moss was responsible?”

“He…” Radek started, unable to continue as Rodney suddenly marched away before he could say anything else.

“Rodney?” Carson called after him.

John frowned before it dawned on him where Rodney was going, “Damn,” he snapped; running out with Ronan, Radek and Laura on his heels.

John had never known Rodney to move this fast as they ran through the corridors towards the labs. The four of them arrived just as Rodney grabbed the other scientist and flung him against the wall.

“You stupid son of a bitch,” Rodney yelled, “You could have gotten her killed.”

“Ronan,” John snapped.

The former Runner grabbed Rodney pulling him away from the other man; Rodney struggled against his team-mate, who was having problems holding onto the scientist.

“Rodney,” Laura moved in front of him and caught his face in her hands, “Rodney, you need to go back to the infirmary. Lissa needs you. You have to be there for her not here.”

Rodney stopped struggling and stared at the woman before him, “I…”

“Come on,” she said softly, nodding at Ronan to release Rodney. As Ronan stepped back, Laura took Rodney’s arm and moved him out of the room.

“He’s insane,” Moss yelled, rubbing his neck, “I’m going to report this, you all witnessed him attacking me.”

Ronan, Radek and John all shrugged, knowing the last person in the room more than likely would agree with Moss.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kavanagh replied, before looking back down at his work.

“Here,” Laura placed a mug of coffee in Rodney’s hands, taking the seat beside him.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

Laura smiled at him before she turned to the girl lying there, “No problem, Rodney.”

“I mean for everything,” he looked up at her, “I shouldn’t have brought her here. She’s isolated from people her own age and…you became her friend.”

“Lissa is a great girl,” Laura reminded him, “And she loves Atlantis. I’m honoured she comes to me for advice.”

“She never had a mother for that,” Rodney wasn’t even talking to her, “And she never had anyone here to really go to for advice on things I know nothing about.”

Laura smiled and squeezed his shoulder, “You raised a wonderful daughter.”

He gave her a slight smile back.

“Has it always been just the two of you?” Laura probed softly.

Rodney sighed, “Mostly. Her grandparents died several years ago so it’s been the two of us for quite a while.”

Laura hesitated slightly, “Were they your…”

“Her mother’s parents,” Rodney shrugged, “I haven’t seen mine for a long time. They know she exists but wanted nothing to do with us,” he waved away the thought, “It’s a long, long story.”

He sipped his coffee leaning back in his chair not wanting to talk anymore. Laura took the hint and slipped away to talk to Carson.

                        *********************************************

Scott Jenkins grimaced as he called his bosses name.

“What?” the man turned on him.

“Dr McKay, there’s a call for you from Chicago,” Scott told him, holding out the phone to him, “It’s the hospital.”

Scott had seen a few expressions on the other man’s face but never one like this; sheer terror filled the other man’s blue eyes. McKay grabbed the phone from him and started talking. Scott watched as he scribbled down several notes before dropping the phone in its cradle.

“I…I have to go,” McKay muttered, his face pale as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts.

Scott moved and took the paper from McKay, a little worried that the other man didn’t resist at all. He read over the information and frowned.

“Dr McKay,” Scott said, “You should go and get your things together I’ll sort this.”

McKay nodded, “Okay, yeah,” he muttered as he left the room.

Scott quickly phoned the airline, reserving a seat on the next plane for his boss, knowing this definitely had to have something to do with the man’s daughter.

Scott had worked here for two months before he discovered McKay had one and it was only when McKay had come in on his day off to pick up something he’d left that Scott had met the girl.

She was only eleven but she had sat at Scott’s computer and softly pointed out an error in his calculations. Astonished, Scott had stared at her and asked if he’d done anything else wrong, she’d pointed out a few more errors shyly. She’d been a great kid and he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

“Dr McKay,” Scott said, the moment the other man reappeared, “There’s a taxi waiting for you, your flight leaves in an hour and a half.”

McKay looked at him, taking the details before murmuring, “Thank you.”

Rodney sat on the never-ending plane journey, desperately wanting to march to the cockpit and yell at the pilot to go faster. They wouldn’t give him any information, all they’d said was there’d been an accident.

Rodney was sure the only thing that was keeping him breathing right now was the knowledge Alisa would need him awake when he got there. Assuming she was…he stopped that thought then and there.

Finally the plane touched down and Rodney grabbed the first cab he could. When he finally made it to the hospital, he charged to the reception and grabbed the attention of the first person.

“My name is Rodney McKay, I was called about my daughter,” desperation filled his voice, “Where is she?”

“Dr McKay?” a tall, thin, balding man appeared at his side, “I’m Dr Mitchell; I treated your daughter.”

“Is Alisa alright?” Rodney demanded.

“She’s fine,” Mitchell assured him, “The car they were in was hit by a drunk driver. Alisa was trapped in the back seat and although we thought her leg was broken initially, it is just very badly bruised.”

Rodney rubbed his hands across his face, sagging a little in relief, “Oh thank God,” he sighed, looking back at the doctor, “What about Arthur and Andrea?”

“Mr Bonner was killed instantly,” Mitchell told him gently, “While Mrs Bonner had severe internal bleeding. She should be out of surgery now. If you want I’ll take you up to see her, once you’ve seen your daughter.”

Rodney nodded shakily, following the doctor to the room where his daughter lay. Rodney glanced in to see her staring at the ceiling, she was curled up into a ball and her eyes were slightly glazed.

“She’s had some painkillers,” Mitchell explained, “Her leg is going to be quite tender for a while.”

Rodney nodded and entered the room, “Lissa.”

She turned to him and tears filled her eyes, “Daddy.”

Within seconds Rodney had her wrapped tightly in his arms, every part of his body aching as the tension left him.

“Its okay, Lissa,” Rodney murmured soothingly, his daughter crying in his arms, “I’m here, its okay.”

“Gran and Granda were hurt too,” Alisa clung to him, “Are they okay?”

Rodney licked his lips as he moved so he was sitting on the bed, resting Alisa against his chest, “Your Granda was hurt really badly,” he told her, his eyes wet with unshed tears, “And the doctors couldn’t help him get better.”

“He’s with Mom isn’t he?”

The stark question reminded Rodney how smart his daughter was, “Yeah. He’s with your Mom, honey, where they can both watch over you.”

“Where’s Gran?” Alisa asked, fear in her voice.

Rodney took another deep breath, “Your Gran is in another part of the hospital. The Doctors had to do a lot to help her. I’m going to go see her soon.”

Alisa gripped him tighter, “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Rodney soothed, “But I have to go see your Gran. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“Dr McKay,” Mitchell spoke up from the door, “I’ll stay with Alisa until you get back. We’ve been talking about how best to fix my computer.”

“Don’t you have other patients?” Rodney asked, continuing to gently soothe his distressed daughter.

Mitchell shook his head, “I finish in five seconds. Go and see her grandmother.”

Rodney gently kissed Alisa’s forehead, “I will be back very soon.

Andrea was lying still in her bed, Rodney had listened to the nurse explain he had only a few minutes before he moved to her bedside.

“Rodney,” Andrea murmured softly, “Alisa?”

“She’s fine,” Rodney assured his mother-in-law, “She was hurt and is pretty upset but she’s going to be fine.”

“Arthur’s dead,” she cried, “I saw him as we waited to be pulled out. He’s dead and I couldn’t do anything.”

“I’m sorry,” Rodney reached out and held her hand, “Now you have to get better and then you’ll come back home with Alisa and me.” He watched as she took several deep breaths, her eyes closing, “You know she’ll love having you with us.”

Rodney frowned as she didn’t answer him, “Andrea?” he whispered worried, gasping in horror as the machines started to beep. Someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back out of the way, as several doctors and nurses scrambled in.

“No,” he breathed, “Please, don’t leave me too. I need you, Andrea. I’ve no one else to turn to. Please.”

The commotion stopped suddenly and as Rodney heard the words, ‘Time of Death’, he left the room. Dropping into a seat, Rodney covered his eyes with his hands, allowing his grief to spill out before he returned to his daughter.

The funeral and cleaning out Andrea and Arthur’s house had been the most horrible thing Rodney felt he’d ever had to do. Alisa was not doing well, her leg still hurt her quite badly, she only really spoke to him and she wasn't sleeping. In fact now Rodney wasn't sleeping because the only way Alisa would actually get any rest was if Rodney sat with her during the night.

The first few nights he’d waited until she was a sleep before slipping away, only to be woken in the middle of the night by her screaming. She thought he was going to leave her too and Rodney had given up moving from the bed after she was sleeping. He was tired and cranky almost all day, his back hurt from the way he half-slept each night and he was worried about his daughter. The only person spared from his bad mood was Alisa.

                        *********************************************

“How’d she know something was wrong?” John asked, leaning over Rodney’s shoulder while Rodney was going over the equations Moss had been using.

Rodney glanced up, he quickly highlighted several lines.

“This,” he explained, “Is the first thing both Radek and I ever showed her. We did it purposefully to make sure she never accidentally triggered an overload.”

John nodded, “Makes a lot of sense.”

Rodney turned to look at his unconscious daughter, “She was meant to be safe here,” he whispered, his hand gently covering her uninjured one that sat next to him.

“It was an accident, Rodney,” John reminded him, “There’s no way anyone could have seen this.”

“I know,” Rodney sighed.

John watched his friend, he decided to ask the question he’d asked a long time ago but had never received an answer to.

“Who used Alisa against you, Rodney?” John asked, “Who made you so afraid?”

Rodney looked back at the laptop, John thought his friend was going to avoid the question but after a second Rodney closed the computer down.

“Okay…”

                        *********************************************

“Dr McKay,” a man boomed, making several of the others in his lab grimace.

Rodney turned to the sound, starting a little as he recognised the man entering the room, “Senator Kinsey.”

“I have something I need you to do,” the Senator as always got straight to the point, he looked around at everyone, “This would be better spoken of in private.”

Rodney nodded to his staff to leave; once they were gone he folded his arms across his chest, “What can I do for you, Senator?”

“You’re our current expert on Wormhole technology,” Kinsey reminded him as he handed Rodney a file, “And you estimated that the Stargate can only retain information for 48 hours.”

Rodney frowned, “And?”

“I expect you to make sure that this time limit is kept to,” Kinsey told him.

Rodney flicked through the file, “You want me to help kill Teal’c of SG1?”

At the disgust in Rodney’s voice, Kinsey laughed, “Of course not. All I want is your cool head to prevail against Major Carter’s irresponsibility.”

Rodney handed him back the file, “I can’t go anywhere just now.”

“Ah yes,” Kinsey mused, “Your daughter. A very intelligent child from all I’ve heard. I also heard about the accident that killed her grandparents.”

Rodney felt his stomach twist into a tight knot.

“It would be terrible if someone called social work claiming you were abusing her,” Kinsey sighed softly.

Rodney felt ill, “What?”

“Even when proved wrong,” Kinsey continued to muse, “She’d be out of your care for several months and in her current state…”

Rodney snatched the file back, “When do I leave?”

Kinsey smiled, “Now.”

Rodney sighed in relief to get away from SG1 and the way they were looking at him; the disgust and anger at his part in almost losing their friend made him ill. He was going to have to resign when he got back as well because now they’d be trying to assign him to Russia.

“Dr McKay,” a random technician called to him, “You have a phone call.”

Rodney entered the room he was motioned to and grabbed the phone, “Yes.”

“It’s Diane,” the calm voice answered him, “Rodney, I’m so sorry to call you while you’re working but…”

“How is she?” Rodney sighed.

He heard Diane sigh as well, “Not good. She hasn’t slept since you left and she barely says a word, even to Kirsty.”

“Put her on,” Rodney told her, he waited for a second as he listened to Diane coax Alisa over to the phone.

“Daddy?”

“Hey, Lissa,” he smiled, relieved and comforted to hear her voice, “What’s wrong?”

“Are you coming home soon?” she whispered.

“I’m just on my way,” he promised, “I’m sorry I had to leave so quickly but it was very important.”

“But you’re coming back?” Alisa asked, fear and worry filling her voice.

“Of course,” Rodney promised, “And the moment I get home, I will come and pick you up no matter what time it is. I promise.”

Alisa let out a long sigh, “Okay.”

“Let me talk to Diane again,” Rodney told her, “And I’ll be home soon.”

“Rodney?” Diane asked when she took the phone back.

“Give her half the sedative,” he said, “So she can get some sleep. I should be home soon.”

“I will,” Diane promised, she hesitated for a second, “Are you alright, Rodney?”

Rodney sighed, “I think I might need a new job,” he told her, “It doesn’t matter. I’m heading home now so I’ll be back soon.”

Hanging up the phone, Rodney leaned against the wall for a second.

“So,” a voice came from behind him, making him spin to find Jack O’Neill standing leaning against the door frame, “You’ve got a kid.”

Rodney swallowed hard as he nodded.

“And I’ll bet,” O’Neill mused, “That someone, who will remain nameless, pointed this fact out to you recently.”

The knot in Rodney’s stomach loosened just a little.

“Got a picture?” the Colonel asked.

Not sure why, Rodney passed over the picture of his daughter to the other man. O’Neill looked at it for a few seconds.

“Cute kid,” he handed Rodney back the photograph, “Smart?”

“Extremely,” Rodney replied, unable to hide his pride in his daughter.

“You should get going,” O’Neill told him, starting to leave, “And I wouldn’t start looking for a new job just yet, I doubt Russia needs you as much as we previously thought.”

Rodney watched the other man leave. With a sigh of relief, he grabbed his stuff and started home.

                        *********************************************

“Dad.”

Rodney jerked up from his doze in the chair, wincing at the pain in his neck, “Lissa, you’re awake.”

“Can I go back to sleep?” she groaned.

Rodney smiled, his hand gently cupping her cheek, “Not just yet,” he told her, “Got to wait for Carson. How’d you feel?”

“Sore,” she murmured, “What happened?”

Rodney saw a nurse nearby and waved her to get Carson, he turned back to Alisa; “You made friends with the wall. You have a concussion and broke your right arm again.”

Carson arrived at his side and Rodney moved out of the road watching the doctor check his patient.

“How is she?” Elizabeth appeared at Rodney’s side, concern in her eyes.

Rodney nodded, “Seems to be doing alright. I have some issues with Moss however, which I’ll need to sort out.”

“Try not to do anything rash;” Elizabeth placed her hand on his shoulder, “You’re very lucky there was no one to back up his claim that you attacked him.”

“The man’s a moron,” Rodney snapped, folding his arms across his chest, “The only way he got on this expedition is because his father gave the Oversight Committee a lot of money.”

“Rodney,” Elizabeth scolded gently, “I think Carson wants to talk to you.”

He turned to where the doctor was standing waiting for him.

“Is she okay?” Rodney demanded instantly.

Carson held up his hands to stop the overbearing father, “As I said when I talked to you originally, she is fine. Her headache will probably last for a few days, her arm will heal in time and I want her to rest for the next few days.”

“She’ll rest,” Rodney assured his friend, “Even if I have to tie her to her bed.”

“I know that,” Carson laughed; he patted his friend on his shoulder, “Go keep her company.”

Carson turned to Elizabeth and grinned as Rodney headed back to his daughter’s bedside.

“You should tell the masses she’s awake,” Carson said to the Expedition Leader, “And that I’m allowing only two visitors at a time just now. Since Rodney’s going to be a permanent fixture until I release her, that’s one of them.”

“You know that’ll last until the moment you turn your back,” Elizabeth laughed.

Carson rolled his eyes in despair and headed back to work. Elizabeth glanced over to where Rodney sat talking with Alisa; she walked over and joined them.  She’d tell the others later.