It was amazing. It was beyond anything she could have imagined in her wildest dreams. Standing on the balcony of the lost city of Atlantis, looking out over a wide, calm ocean with a clean breeze ruffling her hair.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the crisp ocean air fill her lungs. It seemed to have been forever since she had last been to the ocean, and now here she was, millions of light-years from home, on the open sea once again. She hadn't realized how much she had missed it until now.

Of course, she was happy merely to be seeing the open sky. She hadn't admitted it to anyone—except to Rodney—but she had been sorely unhappy with the prospect of spending God only knew how long underwater. She loved water, but she loved the sky more and she didn't want to even imagine having to spend days, weeks, months or years trapped so far from the sunlight. So far from the moon and the stars and the wind. The thought of it made her shudder even now and she wrapped her arms around herself to dispel the disquieting feeling that had settled upon her.

"If you're cold the smart thing would be to come inside."

Elizabeth jumped slightly and looked over her shoulder. She hadn't even heard the door slide open, let alone hear Rodney step out onto the balcony. He was holding two mugs in his hand—and they were steaming. Elizabeth could have kissed him, but she should have known he'd be the one to remember to bring the coffee. She murmured a thank you when he handed a cup to her and she closed her eyes, savoring the slightly too-strong drink. Definitely a McKay brew.

"There's a party going on, you know." Rodney pointed out. Elizabeth opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. Rodney sighed and shrugged, joining her at the railing. "Yeah, not a big party person myself."

"It's not that." Elizabeth smiled, turning to face the water again. "It's just… this is just so amazing it's hard to take it in all at once. It's even harder when you're trying to meet and greet an alien race of humans."

Rodney grunted and sipped his coffee.

"Good food, though."

Elizabeth laughed and nodded her head in agreement. A moment of silence stretched between them and Weir instantly knew there was something on her chief scientist's mind—he was never so quiet unless he was thinking of something important or uncomfortable. She didn't even need to look at him to know that he was doing his best not to look at her—another sure sign that he was trying to say something he didn't want to.

"Just spit it out, McKay." She sighed. At least Rodney had the decency not to look surprised anymore when she read his mind. She was beginning to think that he rather appreciated it—a sort of a load off his shoulders.

Rodney was silent a moment longer, and when he finally spoke he still refused to look at her.

"You weren't going to leave, were you?"

Elizabeth looked up in surprise. Rodney was staring intently down at the water crashing onto the distant piers, an unreadable expression on his face, his cooling coffee forgotten between his hands.

"What do you—"

"When the shield was failing and I told you we needed to evacuate… you weren't going to do it, were you?"

The man sounded almost hurt by the words he said and Elizabeth felt a twinge of guilt. He was hitting rather close to the mark—she would have been unwilling to leave. In the end he probably would have forced her to go, but not without a fight on her end.

Elizabeth shook her head, not to deny anything but to try and clear her thoughts.

"Rodney, I—"

"Look," Rodney interrupted, straightening and turning to face her, "I didn't want to leave it any more than you did—I still don't. But I didn't follow you half-way across the known universe just so you could get yourself killed."

Elizabeth blinked in surprise. She was startled by the look in his ocean-blue eyes and realized in that moment, in those words, that she had a better friend standing before her now than any she had ever had in her entire life. Here was a man willing to throw himself across the known universe to keep her safe and sane, to keep her company and to stand by her side. She didn't know how to respond, but she felt a deep contentment looking at him in that instant and knew that she would never regret or begrudge this friendship—no matter what happened in the coming months.

"You followed me?" she asked softly, not knowing what else to say. Rodney suddenly flushed and he looked away, mumbling intangibly to himself. He glanced over at her and he flashed her one of his lopsided smiles.

"Couldn't let you do it alone." He said lamely at last. Elizabeth smiled and stepped up to him and threw an arm across his shoulders. She touched her forehead to his and laughed gently.

"I'm glad you did, Dr. McKay." She grinned. "This party just wouldn't be the same without you."

"Never is." Rodney grinned back, straightening again as Elizabeth pulled away. She turned to go back inside when Rodney's quiet voice called her back once again.

"Just… please, Elizabeth, do me one favor." He said quietly. Weir turned to face him and she stood silent, though she suspected she knew what he was going to say. "If I ask you to go…just go."

She stood quiet for several moments, watching him silently in the moonlight. He stared back at her, his blue eyes holding the same look they had when he had been trying to convince her to leave with the sea threatening to crash in around them.

Then she nodded, just barely.

"I will." She whispered. McKay smiled slightly and nodded.

"Good to know." He said, and turned back to the sea. Weir sighed and shook her head, smiling to herself as she stepped back inside.

Yes, she was certainly glad she had a friend like Rodney McKay.