Catch and Release

by kisahawklin

Summary:

Radek can't stop thinking about Elizabeth.

Notes:

For nonisland.

For nonisland's Fandom Snowflake Wish #2: I'd love to have fic bringing Elizabeth back from the whole replicator plot at a point of your choosing without pairing her with John (or Caldwell). Genfic is totally fine! If genfic is not your thing, my personal favorite (yet tragically rare) Elizabeth pairing is with Radek Zelenka...

This is not quite the happy ending, but in my heart of hearts, I imagine Radek goes to visit often, and they spend much time together and fall in love happily ever after. It's just late and I'm really, really tired.

She doesn't look like Elizabeth, but somehow, he knows she is. It's hard to think of her as Elizabeth when she's wearing FRAN's face, but the way she speaks, the earnest tone of her voice... he knows it is her.

When she steps through the gate and into space, Radek doesn't think he'll ever see her again, but he can't stop thinking about her. He hears her soft, perfect voice in his sleep, and he wakes up crying. It's days before he can think straight, and when he finally makes up his mind, he goes to Major Lorne's quarters.

"Doc," Lorne says, and gestures him in. "You okay?"

"Not really," Radek says, pacing in front of Lorne's door.

"Listen, I know that thing with McKay losing his mind sucks–" Lorne starts and Radek puts up his hand.

"I have made my peace with Rodney," Radek says, not that he has given up hope yet. It just hurts too much to think about the Alzheimer's that runs in his family, and how it could be him not understanding the basic building blocks of physics, much less tying his shoes. "I need… something else."

Rodney's condition is the perfect cover; everyone is so wrapped up in what is going on that Lorne taking Radek to check out some readings on a random uninhabited planet is put on the roster without even a second glance.

After they pick Elizabeth up – and thank god for Lorne, because Radek could never have done it himself – they take her to The Cloisters. It's empty now, and Radek asks her if she would like some of her replicator friends to keep her company. He doesn't suppose they could do too much harm in the Cloisters.

"No," she answers, and Radek doesn't miss the relieved look on Lorne's face, though he ignores it. "But I wonder if you could program in a way for visitors to come and go once and a while." She smiles at Radek. "I don't know how often you could come, but I would be grateful to enjoy your company for a while."

Radek smiles at Elizabeth, who still doesn't look like Elizabeth, but feels like her, and he nods. "I will work on it, and I will come to visit before too long." She smiles ruefully. They both know it will be years for her before Radek can get back – maybe decades.

"I'll be waiting," she says, and disappears into the cave entrance.