The Long Way Home

Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen: Crazy With A Cause

It was a nightmare, one that Rodney would never wish upon his worst enemy but it was happening right now to his friends and he was powerless to stop it. Cass and John had experienced so much over the course of the expedition and as Rodney looked down at his friend lying here unconscious he wondered if any of it was worth it. He was rarely the type of person to doubt the cause but when it hit him on such a personal level it was hard not to face the consequences of their actions.

Michael had been their responsibility, they had morphed him into the rejected hybrid that he was today and in turn this was their fault. They hadn't known what they were getting into and they had greatly underestimated the Wraith that he had once been. He was a brilliant scientist and a skilled warrior, they should have seen that in the first place. They should have remembered that revenge was a dish best served cold to the Wraith and they were merciless with their antics. Their experimentations on Michael had only served to give the lunatic a cause of his own.

"I knew it wasn't you." Rodney told his sleeping friend as he lingered by her bedside. "She was much too cordial, too interested in my work."

There was humour in his tone but there was also pain. He harboured so much guilt over this, ever since Beckett had told him about the clone it had weighted upon his being like never before. He went over the signs regularly in his head, wondering how the greatest genius in two galaxies had not spotted it sooner. If he was honest he thought it had all been about self deception, he hadn't wanted to admit the possibility that the clone hadn't been the real Cassandra, that would mean accepting that they had committed the unforgivable and left their friend back in the clutches of Michael.

Keller had told him of Cassandra's ailments after John had left the Infirmary. Rodney understood that it was too much for the other man. It was bad enough for him but for John to know that Michael had sullied his wife...

Rodney shuddered at the thought as his hand sought out Cassandra's limp fingers. She felt cold under his touch, like she was lifeless. Keller had commented about her emotional state during their discussion. She had been disorientated and confused, she had been so frightened they had sedated her so they could run all the relevant medical tests. Michael had stolen away her spark and Rodney wondered what she would be like once she was on stable ground.

Keller had expressed concern over the mental ramifications this could have upon Cassandra. Rodney's primary thoughts had been on the miscarriage but Keller had rightfully pointed out that the real Cassandra had been MIA for over a month now with a clone living in her place. The sense of displacement when she got back to Atlantis could be overwhelming.

"John knew." Rodney said responding to his thoughts on Sheppard. "He knew from the beginning but none of us really believed him, we thought he was just freaking out over the fact you'd been captured. It turns out he was right."

Rodney pursed his lips together grimly. He wished he'd paid more attention to Sheppard, he'd noticed the two of them had grown apart but he thought that was a marriage thing. It was only now that he was putting the pieces together. Michael had never intended for them to find Cassandra, he hadn't counted on those dogtags. How could he?

"Your back now and that's all that matters." Rodney muttered, clasping her hand between both of his before rubbing them together in order to warm it. "We'll take care of you now, well Beckett probably will but I'll be there too, to help eat the hospital food."

"She is listening you know?" Keller said kindly as she tapped the tablet in front of her to monitor Cassandra's brain activity.

Rodney nodded his awareness. He hoped that Cass was listening, he had wanted to come down here and check on her, maybe even to ask for her forgiveness. It wouldn't be right to venture in to that domain yet, he understood that it was a precarious time and the important thing was to let Cassandra know that she was safe and secure.

Jennifer Keller drew the tablet closer to her chest as she reviewed her patient. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Cass going through that trauma on her own. They shared the same profession, they had the same ideals, the same hopes and wishes for this galaxy and it made Keller reconsider her desire to be there. It wasn't too late to return to Earth and pick up a more lucrative job, but she had wanted to help people and to explore new possibilities.

Keller wasn't sure whether to take this as a testament to her future here on Atlantis but she was determined not to allow herself to be dissuaded by what had happened to Cassandra. Doctors did this back on Earth, they went into war zones and dangerous places all the time trying their best to help people. They stood firm against the pressures and the intimation that was bestowed upon them. Cassandra was one of the brave ones, she had been one of the first to step into the fray and Keller would make sure she wasn't the last.

Rage was a human emotion and unfortunately for Michael it was the one that was controlling every one of his impulses at the moment. He had arrived back at his compound to find the hybrids in disarray and his Queen missing. Nobody seemed to have any idea of what happened, she had simply been there one moment and then she had vanished the next.

Michael's fist impacted the silver surgery tray, the noise clanging through the room as the instruments scattered upon the floor. The fury was erupting through every one of his senses as he stared at the table where they had conceived their child. She would have been ready over the next few days, they could have tried again to have another baby but instead Atlantis had stolen her away. He found himself roaring at the ceiling in the indignation as it rushed through his veins. She was his and now they were going to find out all those precious personal details he had shared with the woman he called his lover.

He found himself at the helm of his computer, his nostrils were flaring as he struggled to grapple with the fiery emotions that burned inside. By now they would have found out about the clone and she would either have been captured or killed. They would have kept her alive he supposed to glean information and that was their folly.

His finger strayed to the interactive interface as he selected the clone and pulled up her stats, she was still alive, still healthy. As far as he knew she would be in the heart of Atlantis and that was what he needed to destroy. That would be the only thing to relieve his anguish, they had stolen everything away from him and now it was time for them to discover how that felt. They needed to feel what it was like to have everything they loved wrenched away from them.

Michael drew up the information that the clone had stowed away on that tiny transmitter she had left for him on New Athos. There was a plan forming in his mind as he surveyed schematics, he had a way of taking back his Cassandra and of destroying Atlantis once and for all.