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Woolsey asked about the device, and even though Rodney told him it was inactive thanks to Jackson, he still pursed his lips and shook his head and ordered Sheppard to blow up the Attero device and the whole Ancient-Asgard research facility, not to mention the very last surviving Asgard in the universe.
"Are you stupid?" Rodney demanded, his voice cracking with sheer rage. He used the power suit's mecha fingers to rip off Woolsey's headset. "Don't you dare, Sheppard."
"Bad guys?" Sheppard asked. "Genocide, kidnapping?"
"Awesome spaceships, kickass weapons, cloning facility," Rodney countered.
"You had me at spaceships. The Travelers' say they have stasis storage for one-fifty on a good day."
"There are seventy-eight lifesigns on the planet," Hermiod murmured, hands deliberate on his instruments. "I regret they are probably chaotic evil."
"No more D&D for you," Rodney said, and crossed his arms. "I have great plans for that facility."
"This was your idea?" Elizabeth said, holding out her newly cloned hands as though she didn't trust them. "I'm not your science fair project, Rodney!" Rodney opened his mouth. "If you get a Nobel prize for this I'll, I'll resort to violence." The betrayal he saw in her eyes was worse than the thin hard set of her mouth.
"You're one-hundred percent human," Rodney told her again. "No nanites. You're in your own body, based off genetic material from Carson's records. And thanks to this little Asgard-human collaboration, Carson's not falling apart any more, we can move all your digital friends into real bodies, and we've nearly rehabilitated seventy-eight of the galaxy's most wanted criminals into hardcore RPGers. Not bad for a good five years' work."
Elizabeth paced the length of the infirmary room, arms crossed. "You spent five years bringing me back to life?"
Rodney shrugged in faux modesty. "I had to. It was you." He caught Elizabeth's hand as she passed, held her still, then raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
"I feel like Eliza Doolittle," Elizabeth said, with a sigh, and suddenly her arms were around Rodney, a hug so tight he felt his chest compress. "I feel like a monster."
"We'll get you therapy," Rodney told her. "Lots and lots of it, my fair lady."
Elizabeth laughed, a little desperately, and turned her head so she was looking up at him. Rodney kissed the tip of her nose, and then, as she straightened, each of her cheeks in turn.
"I'm scared," she said. "You have to understand."
Rodney held on to her, not planning on letting go soon. "We were so terrified we'd lost you," he said. "We mourned you, over and over. But I told Sheppard we weren't bringing you back until we got rid of the Wraith, so there is that."
"Peace?" Elizabeth asked, as if she was trying the word out.
Rodney brushed a hand over her shoulder, as if comfort could make her believe. "It's a good time to be alive."
Elizabeth sighed, relaxing her grip but not letting go. "It might take me a while to believe you," she admitted. "But I'm starting to want to."