Um, Roberts was nominated for O’Connors seat.
When Rehnquist died he was moved to the CJ slot. Meirs was then nominated for the open Associate Justice seat.
When Meirs imploded Alito was nominated for the AJ seat.
So there’s no way that Roberts was any sort or revenge plot to stick it to Conservatives. The revenge plot in your scenario would be Alito.
I stand corrected, thank you.