ShaViva's Stargate Fan ... Stuff

Seated at her desk, Colonel Carter pinched the bridge of her nose. Her shoulders hunched for just a moment as she allowed the weight of the previous weeks' events to settle upon her shoulders again, just for a moment. She let out a sigh as she rubbed her fingers under eyes. Then she straightened again. There had not been much time during the day to think. With General O'Neill's departure and the conclusion of the investigation there had been much to do. Now that life was settling again, there was time enough to take it all in, compartmentalise it, and move on.

Before moving on, there was one last thing that needed dealing with. Her professional relationship with her second in command had been injured by the events which had incriminated him so badly, not in the least helped by his behavior early on in the investigation. Perhaps she had not handled things as well as she could have, but the time for dwelling on that had come and gone. Now it was time to put it away and move on. Before she could do that, there was a conversation that needed having.

Carter straightened in her seat and glanced at the clock. She was expecting the Colonel's arrival any moment. Hopefully they too could put this nastiness behind them.

Lt. Col. Sheppard arrived on time, less his relaxed self than he usually would have been. What had happened during the last two weeks had meant he'd been out of line on more than one occassion. He respected Colonel Carter and he had to re-affirm said respect somehow if they were ever to get past those events. "You asked for me, Ma'am." As close to a 'report as ordered' as he could get without being completely unnatural.

"Yes, Colonel." Sam looked up with a polite smile. "Please, have a seat." She waited until he had before leaning forward in her own seat. She clasped her hands loosely together on the surface of the desk. "I trust that everything is getting back to normal now that the General and his team have departed?" She knew that it was, but allowing him to report on the situation could serve as an ice-breaker, so to speak. It would also allow him to voice his thoughts on the matter, his concerns, and any questions that might continue to linger.

Her words surprised Sheppard, he wondered how much the General had told her before he left. "Of course, Ma'am. Things should be back to normal in no time." Sheppard hesitated he had to go on to explain his behaviour, uneasy as he felt about it. "Right after getting charged with the invesitagion in Atlantis and the first assessment of the situation General O'Neill had assigned me task in the whole mission," he began, summing up things efficiently. "the task was to draw suspicion to my person by behaving as odd and out of the line as I could make it." Without going so far that he got landed in the brig. "Now that the mission is over," unsuccessfully "I want to apologize for my behaviour towards you, I was out of line more than once."

"Yes," Carter stated. "I know that now. There isn't any need to apologize, Colonel. That isn't why I asked you here. The purpose of our sabotur was, from the very beginning, to set us all ill at ease. Unfortunately, he, or they, succeeded. They had us sniping at one another in front of our staff, which is something that I must apologise for. It's also something, that I think you will agree, we can't have happen again."

"I agree," Sheppard nodded, emphasizing the words. "we need to trust each other." Leaning back a litte he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The attacker brought out the rifts, the breaches between us - the points where we don't trust and where we don't think the others trust us. It can help us to understand what those rifts are and how to counteract them."

"Those were my thoughts exactly," Carter replied. "Why don't we begin by discussing what we think our the weak points in our armour - so to speak," she stated.

"Original Expedition versus SGC personnel," Sheppard began. "the attacker played heavily on this and was partially successful, at least in making people wonder and think in that direction." He himself had added it to his suspicious act too and seen some interesting reactions. "I think it went combined with the feeling: 'What exactly do we know of him or her?' and..." he was hesitant to mention the third fact that in his opinion contributed to the problem, but it belonged to the bigger picture. "and the fact that the selection criteria of the expedition and of the SGC were different, which sometimes creates the feeling 'Why was he/her ever allowed here?' - a conglomerate of isolated facts that is quite dangerous when mixed."

"I would have to agree with you," Sam stated, nodding and smiling as he pointed out the same things she had taken note of. "I think it's time we made it clear, to everyone assigned here, that we are no longer going to tolerate a mentality of them vs us. We are all in this together. The selection criteria for the expedition was laid down by a leader who was a diplomat, one who took into account the dangers which could be faced here, and so military officers were included. The over all ideal of the original expedition was exploration, to seek knowledge and understanding. Those ideals are still alive, but the expedition is no longer recognizable, to anyone involved." Carter paused for a moment to carefully weigh her words and meaning. "This is no longer the expedition that Dr. Weir created. Nor is this an SGC mission. We are a unique, and largely self-contained entity. We are all of us dependent upon one another for our survival. Military, civilian, scientist, you name it. Going forward, if we do not want our enemies to unravel us, then we have got to find a way to present a united front. Unfortunately our enemies are no longer relegated to the stars."

"We need to do more than that," Sheppard replied after a long silence. "We need to define what this expedition is. You stated what it is not - but we need to show them what this largely self-contained entity is. What are we and what do we stand for?" He met her eyes. This did not adress the issues that were beneath the surface, of those to whom Atlantis was home, and those for whom it was a stop on their career path. "We need to give them an identity, a spirit du corps that brings them all in together. I think that's the only way to bridge the gap and make sure that this mistrust will not get hold again."

"Exactly." Carter smiled brightly, pleased at the level of thought that he put into that - and that it more or less mirrored her own thinking. "But before we can give them an identity, you and I need to agree upon what that identity is, or should be." Her head inclined, "You've come to think of Atlantis as your home, so have I. We also have the privilege and the duty to look after everyone in it."

Sheppard took a moment to collect his thoughts before he launched into the topic, detailing his ideas on the subject. He could see that Col. Carter was listening, focused on all that he said. A discussion easily grew from that beginning and for the next hours the two were engrossed in the topic.

Saturday, 11th April | 0900 hours | Lorne's office

Lorne sat in his office contemplating the stack of files on his desk. He'd been there for an hour already, thinking about the events of the prior weeks and what he could have done about it. To his mind it all came down to one thing.

He hadn't known Lieutenant Hunter as well as he should have.

Who else didn't he know? Who else was hiding secrets that could hurt the city and everyone in it?

Evan wasn't sure ... the only thing he was sure of was that Hunter hadn't been working alone. Somewhere in the city lurked another with a dark purpose.

And so Lorne had started with the files of those newly arrived in the city ... determined to review each one.

Deep down he knew it wouldn't be enough ... he'd already read and reread Hunter's file that morning and assured himself that nothing obvious stood out. On paper, the Lieutenant had been exactly what he'd seemed. It troubled Evan that he couldn't see something in the other man's record that pointed to his eventual end.

It was entirely likely he'd already looked at Hunter's accomplish as well ... read that file just like he'd read Hunter's and come away none the wiser.

But he had to do something.

With a sigh, Lorne picked up the next file and began to read.

Saturday, April 11th | 2100 hours | Lorne's 'den'

Night fell over Atlantis as John Sheppard put the last report aside and decided to call it a day as far as paperwork was concerned. He had caught up on nearly all the things that had piled up during the chaotic last weeks. Walking out of his office he walked down the corridor towards Lorne's den as John had dubbed the place. The Lion's den for the newbies in the city. Usually he and Lorne held their discussions in Sheppard's office, but this was something where John had decided to call upon Lorne instead. Swiping his hand over the sensor the door opened for him and he looked in, knocking on the doorframe. "Major - do you have a moment?"

"Sir!" Lorne looked up from the file he was reading. They were expecting the Daedalus in a couple of weeks, bringing another round of new recruits to the city. Evan liked to know as much about each as possible so he could work out what training scenario was most likely to bring out potential weaknesses in each of them. Not that weaknesses were an issue as long as they were managed. After the whole thing with Hunter, Lorne was even more determined than ever to give every person posted to Atlantis as much attention as possible. He still thought that somehow, if he'd done that with Hunter, maybe they could have saved the young Lieutenant. "Of course Sir," Evan swung around in his seat, inviting the other man in. “Come in.”

Sheppard strode in and settled on a free chair. Lorne's desk was full with papers and folders that contained personal file - if John hadn’t known that the Daedalus was en route that would have tipped him off. Without further hesitation Sheppard decided to plunge in straight away. "During these last weeks - during the chain of incidents - I haven't exactly been behaving like myself, nor like a CO should when faced with a situation like this," he began. "I let most of the situation come down on you and placed you in a bad situation there, Lorne. I came to apologise for that. Necessary as it was, it still was unfair on you."

Frowning, Lorne leaned back in his seat and regarded the other man, trying to absorb what his CO was telling him. "You were the one in a bad situation Sir," he eventually replied uncertainly. "I understood that Sir ... not that I personally ever believed any of the things people were suggesting about ... you know ... you and Doctor Weir. I'm the one who should be apologising Sir. General O'Neill co-opted me to assist his team but I should still have come to you personally to let you know."

Sheppard shook his head. "You acted correctly, Lorne. With what was happening and what you saw from me, you did the right thing. You chose to do what was best for all the people in the city." The other man's loyalty, his willingness to believe in him, no matter how weird John had acted, was something that surprised him.

“Enough stalling,” John told himself. It was time to come clean. "You see, Lorne, right after the General arrived in the city, he and I concocted that plan, that it might be easier to catch the true culprit if I acted like I was truly guilty. With me out of the official investigation loop, I was freed up to watch for clues and draw the attention away from the people hunting the culprit. No one was in on the plan - I think even the General's team was in the dark about my role in all this. But I still let this whole situation land on your shoulders and knowingly placed you in a lousy situation."

"You were part of the General's plan?" Lorne asked weakly, adding a belated "Sir." Internally his brain was cycling through the past two weeks at dizzying speed, drawing new connections between all the things he'd thought he'd observed. "Of course you were," he muttered more to himself than to Colonel Sheppard. Shaking his head, Evan couldn't help but grin. "There I was worrying about being some kind of insider spy for the General and the entire time the two of you were working together!" Thinking more on what his CO had revealed, Lorne finally shrugged. "I'm your 2IC Sir ... it's kind of my job to back you up ... however you see fit."

Sheppard could see that the news had been a shocker and how fast Lorne was drawing the connections between all the events of the last two weeks. "Still - it meant abusing your trust and deceiving you - two things I neither liked doing nor want to see repeated, ever." Sheppard knew how hard it was to earn trust back once it was lost. "And actually I was glad you worked for the General. Had I really gone bad, you would have been able to stop me before permanent damage was done." Leaning back on the chair, he added "unfortunately we didn't get the real culprit. He vanished after his pawn was sacrificed."

"You were following orders Sir," Lorne said simply. "I know it would have been much tougher but it's not that different from my working directly for the General. Part of me was wondering the whole time if people were seeing that as a betrayal - the Atlantis versus SGC thing - because I've worked both posts. I was seeing it as giving everyone the best chance to be cleared ... you were trying to give us the best chance to catch the real bad guy." Rubbing hands tiredly over his face, Evan glanced at all the files scattered over his desk. "Did we fail him Sir? Lieutenant Hunter? I keep thinking that somewhere there was a clue ... something I should have seen. Because I didn't, whatever made that young man vulnerable was used to destroy him."

"A background check revealed some gambling debts - big debts," John replied. "But that took some checking and digging through material we would never get to see. It took the General's position and influence to get it done that fast. You couldn't have known, Lorne." John could see that Lorne was feeling responsible for what happened to the young man. He was a good man, and a first-class mentor for their new arrivals. "There was no way you could have known about his problems, and from all we know we have to assume it was a pro who manipulated him."

"Yes Sir," Lorne replied, not really all that surprised to hear about Hunter's problems. He hadn't known the ‘what’ but Evan had been sure the Lieutenant had been forced from the straight and narrow somehow. "We really need to catch the bastards who did this Sir," Lorne said grimly. "They've got access to information we don't ... how can we protect our people under those circumstances?"

"Their connections reach even farther on Earth," Sheppard replied. "We know they had illicit access to Area 51 material. I’m not sure what to make of this Captain's theory about the mimic device being reverse-engineered, but no matter what - they have high level access and who knows which organisations are involved." Nothing of that would help them, so he turned to the other part of the question. It was typical Lorne - going back to what could be done ASAP, not wasting time on things that could not be changed.

"One thing we can do is closing ranks here in Atlantis,” John continued. “Making sure we work closely with each other so we know whom to trust. We can crosscheck the information we have on new guys as much as we can. The General will surely point out some of the problems back on Earth and might even get something done about the culprits back there." The more restricted information was, the smaller the circle that could leak it.

"Agreed Sir," Lorne nodded, understanding the importance of regrouping and rebuilding the trust the command staff might have lost during the worst of the crisis. "I hate to admit it Sir but there was division in the ranks ... although I believe before Hunter was revealed people were starting to band together again." Evan hesitated before finishing. "I hate that it's necessary Colonel but at this point I'll take any information I can get about anyone new to the city. If I were the criminal mastermind behind all this now would look like the perfect time to slip a replacement minion into the ranks."

"Agreed," Sheppard nodded "You got a point there - we might already have a new minion inbound." The idea was a sickening one. Perhaps Hunter had become dispensable, because a better suited replacement was under way. "We might not like it, but we need to take all background information we have on our new guys into account. As well as -" John didn't like this even more, "any motivation behind shifts of department, team or assignment. Not distrusting people, but having a closer look at those things. In case our culprit brings in his minions harmlessly and takes the time to transfer them to more sensitive places over the course of several months."

Lorne sighed, regretting that the situation had gone so far ... that the merest threat that something might happen in the future would force them to change so radically. "Just so you know Sir," he said lightly, "I really hate this. I'll do it of course but ...," he trailed off with a shrug, not sure what else to say.

Sheppard bit his lip, deciding for oneself to do something less than honourable was one thing, dragging others into it was worse and ordering others into it... he didn't like to go there. "I hate it myself, and I keep thinking and thinking that there must be another way out. That we should start turning towards each other not against each other..." his voice trailed off, leaving the sentence open. "And then I start wondering how to protect our people, all of our people the next time."

"Rock and a hard place Sir," Lorne replied. "We've all been there before ... probably have to go there again in the future, after things are back to normal here." Thinking to lighten the mood somewhat, Evan took the conversation back to the Colonel's confession of being a part of the General's plan from day one. "I bet Doctor McKay about burst a blood vessel when you told him about your part in things Sir," he offered with a faint grin.

The comment made a faint smile rise on Sheppard's face. "I still have to tell him - all of my team," he admitted. "But I’m sure Rodney will jump like he did when Atkins gave him the three grapefruits."

"I don't know Sir," Lorne joked. "He almost hit the ceiling that day." Meeting his CO's eyes and seeing the worry there ... the reluctance, Evan turned serious again. "If you don't mind my saying so Sir, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your team will forgive you ... once they understand you had no choice but to keep everyone in the dark."

Grateful as Sheppard was for the steadfast support, it didn't make him feel better. It rather reinforced how much trust had been deceived if not abused in the process of that mission. "It just makes me see how much trust there is to rebuilt." he said, half to himself, half to Lorne. Shaking off the brooding, he turned back to the pile of files on Lorne's desk. "And speaking of rebuilding - your team is in for some restructuring too, with Parker and Moreno going diplomatic."

"Yeah," Lorne agreed. "At this point I have no idea who to replace them with either. I've got an idea for one position but ... well, I want to speak to the candidate first before I run it past you and Colonel Carter, Sir. If they're not interested there's no point in taking it any further up the line. I understand the need for increased diplomatic support Colonel and I figure I've got some leeway on making a decision given we won't be going off world until I've caught up on the personnel issues ... and given all the new files a closer look." Evan knew his CO would understand his desire to focus on that to the exclusion of other duties that could be put off for the time being.

Sheppard nodded. "Give those things priority - some of the other stuff can wait without doing much harm," he decided. Rebuilding a team was a complicated thing, with teams as small as theirs where trust was an absolute pre-requisite and the skills each team member needed to bring in were also quite extensive. "And take the time you need for your team," John grinned. "They need to be top-notch - how would they bail us out of trouble otherwise?" The joke was half serious - Lorne's people had gotten them out of the fire more than once and Sheppard had no doubts at all that Lorne would find the right people to fit in with his team.

"Thank you Sir," Lorne agreed, returning his CO's grin. "I'll make sure my team is ready to go before yours needs saving," he said, adding jokingly "it'd help if you could stay out of trouble for a while Sir."

Sheppard chuckled. "I'll do my best - but you know Pegasus; trouble always finds us." He rose, it was already late enough. "I think we both can call it a day," he said while making his way to the door.

“Yes Sir,” Lorne agreed, watching his CO walk away before turning back to the pile of work in front of him. The colonel had been right ... time enough to continue tomorrow.

Sunday, April 12th | 0500 Hours | Gym

Teyla rolled her shoulders, then her neck as she padded out silently to the center of the small gym after her initial stretches. It had been a very long time since she had the place to herself and the quiet this early in the morning was a welcome and much needed change. She casually spun her Bantos rods a few times before settling into a basic defense stance. She took a moment to clear her mind, and after a half dozen deep breaths began the flowing steps of the Water forms. These were the first basic forms her mother had taught her so long ago, and they formed the foundation for all others to follow. Defend, attack, deceive, lure, evade – all flowed naturally into one another like slow eddies in a wide deep river. But even the calmest river was capable of pulling a man under with hidden currents, and the speed with which the rods sliced through the air only hinted at the strength guiding them. She only battled air at the moment, but should she connect, bones would break.

Teyla felt her muscles warming, stretching, but she felt she was still too tense and repeated the forms. By the time she segued into the Wind forms her muscles were pleasantly humming and a fine sweat covered her skin. She spun, her feet never leaving an invisible circle whose radius was no longer than her natural reach, and crossed the rods in a whirling attack designed to unsettle one’s opponent. Back and forth, over, weaving with a speed that was impressive to behold. She glided to her right and into a deceptive attack where one rod served as shield, the other darting in to compromise an opponent’s hamstring as she spun again. She danced with the rods, a bronze whirlwind seemingly trapped within a space hardly more than four feet in diameter, her hair flying, her eyes closed, and her muscles singing with the memory of each movement.

Sheppard entered the gym, ready for a good workout to get the sleepiness out of his bones. He often started his mornings running and if he didn’t he was a walking sleeper until some good ole’ exercise got him alive and awake again. This morning it didn’t need his usual fifty plus pushups to get there – startled he stopped by the door when he suddenly realized he was not alone.

She was so lost in her own thoughts she did not hear the doors to the gym open as she flowed seamlessly into the Fire forms.

Teyla was in the middle of the gym, whirling through the practice forms with her bantos sticks, so fast that John was hardly able to discern the different forms. She had taken much time and patience to explain the basics to him and he recognized the forms she sometimes used in fights. But this was different; it was far faster and more complex than the ones he knew. Amazed and fascinated John stayed close to the door and watched.

She had taught Ronon only a few of the advanced attacks – though he was good and a quick study, these, the most advanced of the forms, took years to master and a discipline she felt the Satedan had yet to reach. His anger still held too much sway over his actions, but some day…. And the Colonel…. A faint smile touched her lips as she decided he would more than likely hurt himself. However, if he could ever find peace and balance within himself … ah, then it would be hard to say.

There was a smile on Teyla’s face as she lunged into another series of spins. John didn’t know what had brought it on, but right here, in this moment Teyla radiated a serene, centered perfection that he’d hardly been able to imagine or describe.

Teyla lunged in a particularly vicious attack, rods a pale blur, and could almost hear the sound of a throat being crushed. She snapped to the side, her feet still within the confines of her invisible barrier, and took out another throat. Spin, lunge, attack – the movements seemingly rapid and random, the rods an extension of her own hands and arms as she attacked multiple opponents. To be a master of the Fire forms, one had to know precisely where body and weapons were at all times. The rods whistled within a hair’s breadth of one another, her footing solid but flowing, her balance low and the attacks full of startling power. Sweat flew from her hair as she spun again, her eyes closed and a faint but content, lip parted smile on her face that was completely at odds with the chaotic, dangerous attacks she wove.

Another spin brought her nearly to the edge of her circle and the rods whistled. Had they been the blades her ancestors once used, an enemy’s intestines would be on the ground at her feet.

An aggressive blur of spins, leaps and hits with bantos sticks made John stare outright. Teyla still seemed so serene, so completely centered, yet she delivered an attack that would kick any Marine on base across the room and floor - even Ronon. The bantos staves whistled in the air and whirled at a speed that they were more like blurs, hitting here and there with an amazing speed and precision.

She wasn’t sure what made her freeze, rods held ready in the first basic defensive Water form, but when she suddenly opened her eyes she found John staring at her. She let out a soft, self-conscious laugh. “I’m sorry – I didn’t know you were there.” She relaxed her stance and ducked her head almost apologetically since she wasn't exactly sure how to read the expression on his face right then. “How long…?”

John’s face lit in a startled smile. “Ah… not really long… or long enough.”

Teyla blinked, then broke into a smile herself. She gripped both rods in one hand and brushed her wet hair back out of her face as she caught her breath. “It seems we’re both early risers this morning,” she said as she crossed over to a bench where a towel and her water sat. “Don’t you usually run with Ronon?” She set her rods down and picked up the water first. She was there simply because she woke up several hours before and had grown weary of staring at the ceiling in her far too empty quarters. Torren was due back later that morning, and she was looking forward to it.

"Ah - he deserves a lie in some times too." John replied lightly. In truth he had not found a good moment yet to talk to Ronon about the events of the last weeks. He also still needed to talk to Teyla too, to explain the deception he had participated in during the violent spiral of the incidents. He took a deep breath, no time like the present. "Teyla - there is something I need to tell you." He didn't manage to speak on, feeling as tongue tied as he hadn't been in quite some time.

One delicate eyebrow rose faintly. She picked up the towel and draped it around her neck, then sat on the bench. He seemed uncomfortable and she hoped the less confrontational position of sitting would help put him at ease. She offered a comforting smile. "I am listening," she said softly.

John sat down too, suppressing the urge to wander forth and back all over the practice floor. Searching for her eyes, he tried to sort out his thoughts, to find the right the words to begin. But the words had retreated, leaving his mind blank. How could he possibly explain? "I know I have been behaving odd these last weeks -" That was more than stating the obvious, not exactly a good beginning, the words began to flow easier, bringing the things out in a rush that felt like jumbled mess. "It was part of a plan, a plan to draw out the culprit, to lure him into the open. I was to act guilty and odd to draw attention away from the people hunting the real agent." His gaze was still fixed on Teyla's eyes. "I hated to deceive you, to leave you out of the plan, but no one aside from the General even knew that this was the plan."

Teyla had been in the background for most of the events, and as such she had the time just to simply observe, and on the nights she couldn’t sleep, more than enough time to reflect. After that conversation in his quarters, a more tangible picture formed of the events swirling around Atlantis, driving people apart with suspicion and doubt. She reached out and placed a hand lightly on his forearm. “I had surmised as much,” she said. “But please, remember – we’re your team. Your friends. We have your six, John.” Her next words came out soft, tender. “Always, no matter what.” She kept her own gaze locked on his. “If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me for my words in the mess that day. Now that I look back, I see they were uncalled for.” She ducked her head. “I am sorry.”

"No," repeating the gesture, he reached out to her, his hand on her shoulder, to prevent her from ducking the head or looking away. “You spoke because you were worried, because you cared – you said what you felt was needed to snap me out of the attitude – and you still cared even after I lashed out.” He still felt guilty for that, Teyla was the last person to deserve all the attitude he had put on that day in the mess. “You cared and you did what you could to help me – never apologize for that.”

Teyla looked back up at him and clearly read the hurt in his own eyes. She sat her hand on his, where it rested on her shoulder, and smiled faintly and a touch tiredly. "So, as Ronon would say - we good?" She even managed to imitate the big Satedan's cadence with just those two little words.

John smiled at Teyla's imitation of the big guy's voice. "We're good," he repeated softly, a tremendous relief flooding through him.

Teyla reluctantly slid her hand from his but then put both of hers on his shoulders. Since they were both sitting, she was able to just lean forward and touch her forehead to his. "Good," she whispered. For the first time in weeks she felt the tension and frustration from the past few weeks finally flow out of her until she was once again the quiet pool at the base of a waterfall. There were still currents, yes, but they were manageable.

The Athosian gesture of touching foreheads had sometimes felt awkward to John, but today it expressed perfectly what he felt. Here, in that moment he was sure, that they could leave all the storms and unrest of the past weeks behind them.

Monday 13th April | 0700 Hours | Daniel Jackson's Lab/Office

Colonel Cameron Mitchell walked into Jackson's office, carrying a pad of paper, pencil, his laptop and a strong cup of coffee. His ears were burning in embarrassment as his punishment for getting into a fight with John was starting today. He wasn't alone... but this was his fault to begin with.

John Sheppard hadn't been assigned to sit classes for punishment since he had left High school. Now he was beginning to feel like a kid again, as he set up his computer at Dr. Jackson's lab. He'd rather have done some cleaning duty in the armoury than sitting classes like a 14-year-old. For the record: he hated school. Looking up he saw Mitchell come in. "Colonel."

"Sheppard," Cam greeted him, sitting down and getting set up. "How's your-" he asked, gesturing to his face. They had settled things... were still friendly, but now that they were being punished, would the other man regret not pressing charges? He slumped down in his chair, stretching his leg with the pins in the knee out in front of him. If he was going to be treated like he was in High School again, might as well act like it. "Wanna pass notes in class?" he asked, making a joke.

"It's okay," the bruises were healing well enough. Sheppard finally had his laptop connected to a power line and sat down too. Mitchell seemed a little apprehensive. Perhaps he would prefer some more military punishment too. "Notes on class - there are notes?" he asked curiously.

Cam grinned. "Not notes on the class. Of course, I figure IM messages would probably be more efficient," he told him, logging into the intranet that ran through Atlantis and pinging John's computer. ‘I bet five bucks Jackson's lesson will be boring,’ he typed and sent to the man, with a smirk.

John grinned, "Perhaps he will read us Ancient Limericks." he typed back and then added.
"There once was an Ancient my grandfather knew
who had so much what he wanted to do
that whenever he thought it was time to begin
he couldn't because of the state he was in."

Cam snickered. "Awesome, man. Oh. Oh! That's a great, Sheppard. Let's get him to telling stories. Don't interrupt and pretend to be taking notes and we won't have to do a thing," he typed quickly, eyes twinkling in amusement.

John had never been good at the good pupil routine, but here together with Mitchell it might fun. "Okay," he typed back. "lets be nice good students. For a while."

Cam looked over at him, catching Sheppard's eye and nodded, looking pleased with himself. "Jackson is late... Isn't it bad when the Teacher is late?" he asked, still slouching.

Humour twinkled in Sheppard's eyes. "The teacher shouldn't be late... bad example and all." Unfortunately even a late teacher was no excuse for leaving. He still hated school. "Perhaps he forgets about us altogether." he added hopefully.

Daniel walked into his class and smothered a smile as his two students tried to look innocent and eager to learn. He wanted to laugh and remind them that he had actually taught university for a number of years. Their antics were amusing, but not likely to derail his program. Setting his laptop down, he walked over and pulled up the whiteboard. Writing quickly, he then stepped back.

"Right, might as well get started." Daniel indicated the whiteboard and its text. "Can either of you tell me anything about the message I just put on the board."

Cam looked at it for a few moments, frowning slightly. "Jackson... I don't speak that language," he said. "Is it Ancient?" Cam asked, looking over at Sheppard then back at Jackson.

Sheppard raised a hand. "The writing seems incomplete, Sir!" he added to Mitchell's comment.

Daniel grinned at the two men, "Kudos to you both. Yes, Colonel Mitchell, it is Ancient and Colonel Sheppard is also correct. While in English what I wrote is complete and acceptable. In Ancient it is not. The Ancients' written language allows for no punctuation and no spaces. In addition, the Ancients were all about aesthetics in their writing, carefully phrasing things so that each line was equal in length and the cadence was acceptable to their ears. There are twenty-five distinct letters that parallel our English alphabet. F and U use the same character in Ancient. Additionally, some letters have a different meaning depending on if they are right side up or upside down. However, its etymology most closely resembles Latin."

Flipping the board over, Daniel presented a script he had written out earlier.

"First is a simple translation of the Ancient symbols to corresponding English alphabet. This is, of course, only as close as we can get due to the differences in the two languages," Daniel stated as he pointed to the first set of symbols on the board.

"Any questions so far," Daniel asked.

Cam's eyes widened at the influx of info trying to be able to keep up. So far, it wasn't working. "Yes. I have a question. Why is F and U the same letter. They're not even similar," he asked as he typed out 'Operation Distract Jackson is Go' with one hand and sent it to Sheppard.

Sheppard suppressed a scowl. The thing about the F and U was obvious, they were just upside down and downside up for difference. He typed in his notebook: "The letters are horizontally inverted, Col." before saying: "Are the speaking values/tone levels of the letters similar to the English ones, Dr. Jackson?"

"Similar to the English ones based on Latin rules," Daniel answered. "Now, another quirk with Ancient is that, order to make the lines pleasing to the eye, they had no qualms in breaking words up. Try translating that after five shots of tequila," he teased. "Before we move on, to prove I gave you a class, I have to show results to the General. I will be giving you a standard English phrase that has been written in Ancient. You will need to translate that and e-mail it to me. Also, I will give you five words in Ancient that you will have to translate to English. Are we ready to move on?"

Cam frowned as Sheppard explained and frowned slightly. He knew this stuff? Of course he did. That made sense... he did live in the City of the Ancients. Duh. "Looks the exact same to me, Shep. But you get the A," he typed back swiftly, giving him a grin. "I think so, Jackson," Cam said, actually going along with this since Sheppard was.

Sheppard nodded. "So let's take a go at it." It couldn't be all that hard, once you got used to these letters.

"That's Dr. Jackson, Colonel," Daniel corrected, hiding another grin.

The next several hours were spent as Daniel took them through phonetics, conjugating verbs in Ancient and Latin, basics of Latin and more rules on the Ancient language. Finally, with an hour to spare in their eight hour course, Daniel put up his hand calling a halt to the class. "Okay, I am giving you two items to translate along with the five Ancient words. You can work on it for the last hour or e-mail me your results."

"Phrase #1 will be from an old poem. Phrase #2 was a popular nursery rhyme," Daniel smiled, "Good luck."  Daniel quickly wrote the two phrases on the white board, along with five words for the two men to translate.

1. Derentis
2. Lauriferum
3. Eetium
4. Lingum
5. Ferox

Daniel stepped around to his workstation and tapped a couple of keys on his laptop's keyboard. "You should receive copies of the items to be translated and vocabulary words as well. I'll forward the results to Jack once you have sent them back to me."

Once his students had gathered up and exited, Daniel settled behind his work station. He had already put in a full day but wanted to get a few items completed before reporting to Sam for their nightly dinner date. It was her turn to cook which made the evening even better.

Monday, 13th April | 1220 hours | Mess Hall

Major Lorne strode towards the lift doors, keen to call his patrol duty finished so he could get some lunch.

"Ouch!"

Stepping back from the still closed door after ploughing into it, Lorne rubbed at his shoulder. That had hurt. Frowning, Evan studied the door for a moment, dumb founded. Getting doors to open and close around the city was child's play ... something he never actively thought about.

Glaring at the offending door, he punched a sharp and deliberate thought at it. "Open!" There was a moment’s pause and then the doors slide open slowly, letting him inside. Pressing the section of the map for the Mess Hall, the rest of his journey was uneventful. Radioing his team that he'd finished and was going off duty, Lorne walked towards the Mess lost in thought.

Leia was in the hallway, holding a mug of coffee and noticed her favourite Major walk by in a daze. "Major?" she asked, looking at him as he kept walking. "Evan!" Leia prompted again, hurrying to his side. "Hey. You in there?" she asked, looking slightly amused.

"Leia!" Lorne stopped abruptly, turning to greet her with an apologetic look. "Sorry ... I ah," he hesitated, not wanting to admit he was bothered that a door wouldn't open for him. How childish would that be! "Ah ... I was just um ... thinking," he finished lamely. "Nice one Evan," he thought to himself. "Instead of sounding childish you go with stupid?" Shooting her a rueful smile, Lorne added "How are you?"

"Good. Busy. You know how it goes," Leia told him. "Those must have been some heavy thoughts. You seem really bothered," she said, looking at him in concern. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Thanks but ...," Evan frowned. One incident with the door he'd write off as an anomaly but the more he thought about it the more he realised that there had been something off with him ... with his ATA gene ... for a couple of weeks. He hadn't really been paying attention - what had been going on in the city had taken all of his time and concentration. Looking up suddenly Evan saw Leia watching him in concern and realised he'd trailed off without finishing his sentence. "Sorry," he said again. "It's nothing."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about... I'm just worried about you," Leia told him softly. "You've been distracted, especially today and then you didn't even notice me earlier...," she said, trailing off. "So, what are you doing now?" Leia asked, changing the subject.

"Lunch," Lorne admitted, glancing at her mug. "Don't suppose you want to join me?"

Leia grinned. "I'd be happy too," she told him, heading to the Mess Hall. "I was just getting a refill but I'm sure Dr. Weir would rather I eat than skip lunch again..."

"I'd say so," Evan agreed, falling into step beside her. "You do that a lot ... skip lunch?" he asked as they moved towards the serving line.

Leia frowned and looked thoughtful. "Yes. I just get busy and before I know it, it's late and I haven't eaten," she told him sheepishly.

Pausing to choose a prepacked sandwich, juice and fruit, Evan then led the way to a nearby table. Sitting down he shot Leia a teasing look. "I guess I'll have to live up to that promise then won't I? Bring you the equivalent of ice-cream some time."

Leia grinned back. "I guess so..." she drawled. "Or maybe just do something fun with me," Leia suggested as she opened her own sandwich and put miracle whip on it. She'd gotten much the same lunch, keeping her coffee.

"Something fun huh?" Lorne raised an eyebrow questioningly. "And what would Doctor Leia Mahanay find fun?"

"I find a lot of things Fun, Major ... but how about the next time you have to test a Puddle Jumper or something, you take me along. I can record your results and you can go really, really fast. I haven't been able to drive or cut loose like that in awhile..." Leia admitted, smirking slightly.

"Well ... I do like to go fast ... some of the time," Evan smirked in return, finding himself entertained by Leia's suggestion. "Okay - deal. Consider yourself co-opted for official record keeping on my next Puddle Jumper flight."

Leia grinned and nodded. "You are a pilot. Don't you guys usually have two speeds...? Fast and asleep?" she teased him gently. "But I'm glad I'm officially doing your records for a flight."

"I'm more than just a pilot," Evan shot her an intent, serious look, their eyes meeting for a few moments. Relaxing, he grinned ruefully. "But yeah, pilots in general are a bit like that. Rest assured I know how to go slow when the situation calls for it."

"Of course you are, Dear. You're also a kind, sweet and amazing man. But you have to admit ...," she trailed off, raising her eyebrows. "I'm glad. Slow can be good. But so can fast.”

"Well you won't see much of the scenery if I fly the Jumper too fast," Lorne offered, his expression all innocence. "That was what we were talking about, right?" All thoughts of his troubles opening that lift door were forgotten as Evan got caught up in the back and forth conversation with Leia ... 'friendly teasing with a slightly suggestive edge' ... not his usual way of talking to women but something about Leia always drew him in and he was trading quips before he realised it.

Leia grinned wider. "You can draw me a picture for later," she told him, very suggestively.

Lorne gave a short burst of laughter. "I really could you know," he offered without explaining that he was talking about the sketching and painting he did in his spare time. It wasn't a secret but at the same time Evan didn't advertise his skills either.

Leia grinned. "Ooh-ho. You could draw me a picture, eh? The Major has secret talents," she said in glee.

"Maybe," Lorne quipped with a sly look. "Okay ... so one Jumper flight, extra fast?"

Leia nodded.

"I'll let you know when I can do it," Evan continued. "I've got some flight time owing so maybe in the next couple of days, okay?"

"Sounds good to me. Just let me know when and where. I'll be there," Leia promised.

"Great," Lorne caught a glance at his watch and groaned. "Damn," he muttered, shooting Leia an apologetic look as he pushed his chair away from the table. "I need to catch Radek before I report back for duty." Standing with his tray in hand, Evan smiled without a hint of teasing. "Thanks Leia ... for the distraction ... I appreciate it."

"You're welcome!" she said cheerfully, watching him leave. "See you!"

Throwing her a wave, Evan dumped his tray and then headed for Radek's lab.

Monday, 13th April | 1245 hours | Radek Zelenka's lab

Major Lorne went straight from the Mess Hall to Radek's lab. Leia had distracted him from his worries but the fact remained that something wasn't right. Unfortunately, Evan had a sneaking suspicion he knew where his problems might have come from. Hopefully Radek would be able to put his mind at rest. Stopping just inside the doorway, Lorne saw the scientist working at his laptop, all of his attention focussed on whatever task he was engaged in.

"Radek?" Lorne cleared his throat to get the other man's attention. "You got a minute?"

"Huh?" Radek looked up, badly startled. He shoved up his glasses to buy himself a moment of time. "Oh uh, hello, Major! Just a moment..." His limber fingers finished entering the lines of code -- it took all of thirty-eight seconds -- and then saved his work, copied it to McKay's laptop, then closed his own.

"Hello, Major," he repeated with a warm smile. "What can I do for you?"

"This is probably going to sound a little crazy so I'll just ...," Evan moved fully into the room and sat in the chair next to Radek's. "Do you think I could have any lingering effects from that device we activated a couple of months ago? Because I thought I was back to normal that day but ... the past couple of weeks things have been ... off."

Radek tilted his head. "I've been on Atlantis long enough to know that nothing's impossible. But i need to know exactly what's been 'off' before I can tell you if it's from that machine." He leaned forward slightly. "What's going on, Major?"

"I couldn't get a lift door to open Doc," Lorne admitted. "Well, I mean I could but I had to think about it! It's been instinctive since the day I set foot in the city and now I have to think about it?" Evan shot Radek a troubled look. "Before that it's been maybe just a bit of sluggishness ... not enough that you'd even notice at first."

Holding up a hand, Radek stopped him. "Before we go on, allow the man who had the gene therapy four times and yet remains completely gene-blank a moment of smugness." He smirked for ten or fifteen seconds, then the hand he had raised lowered onto Lorne's wrist.

"Okay, now, let's figure this out. Did the difficulties start after the machine, or did you notice them before?"

"Nice," Evan couldn't help but be amused at Radek's attempt to lighten the mood. "I've never had a problem doing anything with the gene ... before that day. Since then? I don't know Radek ... maybe I was but I only really noticed it recently. It's probably nothing ... I wouldn't have even mentioned it - except for the door thing this morning."

Radek seemed lost in thought. At last he picked up a paperweight and flipped it toward Evan.

Lorne reacted instinctively, snatching the object from the air as soon as it was in range. "What was that for?" he glanced down at the object curiously; raising an eyebrow when he realised it was Ancient and now emitting a faint glow.

"Mm. You're right." He nodded toward the paperweight. "That thing purrs like a kitten whenever it is near ATA gene. It all but prostrates itself at the Colonel's feet. The first few times you were in here, it was glowing softly. But much brighter than this."

"So there is something wrong with me?" Evan asked in dismay. Focusing on Radek's paperweight he thought on ... smiling when it glowed brighter. "I can still do things when I actively think about it."

"But you shouldn't have to actively think about it. The technology should respond naturally to you." He lifted the paperweight, which went dark and cold. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere we can run some tests. If it's the machine, we'll soon know."

"Thanks Radek," Evan got up and followed where the scientist led, feeling better just knowing his friend was on board to help. "Hey ... we don't have to tell anyone else about this, right?" Lorne asked, not keen on having to admit to his current troubles.

"That depends on what we find. I might have to call Rodney in on it if I need assistance." Radek squeezed his arm. "But until then -- no."

"Thanks Radek," Lorne replied. Rodney had been there the day they'd activated the ATA gene 'charger' ... he didn't mind if the two worked together just as long as they could work out what was wrong with him. "So, what now?" Evan asked. "You want me to turn on more stuff?"

"Actually, let's take a walk," Radek grabbed a tablet. "I want to see how doors react to you, so let's walk a good long while." Then he looked up and smiled. "Besides, I have a double reason for wanting to walk."

Any questions Lorne might have had were answered when Radek's stomach gave an audible growl. A sheepish look came on the scientist's face and he shrugged, laughing slightly.

"Sure thing Doc," Lorne agreed with a laugh as the two men walked towards the lift doors. "I didn't have any trouble getting up here from the Mess ... not that I want to invalidation your tests but you'll forgive me if I hope the same is true for the return trip."

"Mm, yes," Radek said. He input the information and when they reformed, he gestured for Evan to precede him to the doors. "And blank your mind."

Evan tried really hard not to actively think 'open' at the controls ahead of time. He noticed it because he was paying attention ... the very slight lag before the doors slid open in front of them when they were no more than a step away. Nothing like as bad as earlier but Lorne had no doubt Radek had observed it too. "So much for that hope," he muttered, throwing the other man a weak smile.

Radek's frown deepened when the doors remained closed for a few moments before opening.

Lorne pressed the section of the map for the Mess Hall, feeling a sense of déjà vu. He experienced the flash of vision that indicated they'd transferred to their chosen location, the doors sliding open immediately after.

"So ... lift doors are obviously a problem," Evan tried for a casual, conversational tone, eyes forward as he made for the Mess doors. "I'm not sure I really want to know what else I'm gonna have problems with."

Radek was worrying his bottom lip. "So the doors opened sluggishly, then they open just fine. So it would seem your powers aren't consistently weaker."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Listen to me. Most of us who work in the main lab are ATA-blank. So we tease Rodney and Miko about their 'powers'." Complete with air quotes and a sarcastic tone, though he was smiling fondly.

"I'm sure McKay doesn't mind," Lorne returned in amusement. "Let's go get you something to eat," Evan added. "You can tell me what else you want to test."

The two men walked together to the Mess Hall, Lorne listening with interest as Radek explained how he was going to test him. With a sigh, Evan realised it was going to be a long afternoon.

Monday, 13 April | 1600 hours | Radek Zelenka's lab

Radek took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, then replaced them and let out a frustrated sigh.

If anything, the results were consistently inconsistent. Sometimes the Major's gene would not work at all. Sometimes it took awhile, but it worked. Sometimes it worked perfectly.

He had repeated the tests again and again, and the results were the same every time. Inconsistent. Sometimes he would get all three responses of the gene in response to the very same test. Sometimes they would be consistently good or consistently bad, then upon one final repeat of the test, the results would give the opposite of what was expected.

The only consistent in the Major's tests was a frustrating, maddening inconsistency.

Radek had hit the wall. He could do no more. Leaning back in his chair, he tapped his radio. "Zelenka to McKay -- if you are available, I require your assistance in my lab."

"Well, don't sound so enthused," came the immediate reply. Rodney's voice was also a bit muffled. "Was heading that way anyway. Be there in a few. McKay out." Not even three minutes later Rodney came bustling into the room and still chewing away on, judging from the wrapper in his free hand, the remains of a powerbar. He had his datapad in the other and was paying more attention to it than where he was going. "Say, I was going over your specs for the wormhole drive and I think I found a way to reduce power consumption by six per cent." He stopped just short of running into one of the work tables and finally looked up. His eyebrows had nearly grown back, and the sparse things raised as he took in Radek's flustered appearance. "What? I did!"

"Thank you, Rodney," Radek said tiredly. He slid the datapad he was working on toward his friend. "Look at this. I believe it is self-explanatory."

Rodney blinked at Radek a few times before he glanced at the datapad. A second later he put his down and started scrolling through data. "Huh. Did you try...."

"Yes, yes, and result was inconsistent. Just like the others. Did you look where I noted..."

“Just getting … to … it ….” Rodney read intently for a moment then reacted as if goosed. He looked up at Radek, his expression somewhere between really surprised and really nauseous. “Every result was, was different? You sure?” One hand came up and flapped wildly for a second. “Of, of, of course you are. Holy crap!”

Radek leaned back and crossed his arms, looking tiredly at Rodney. "Now you see the problem. That should not have been so, but there it is."

“See, I knew the supercharger would come back and bite us in the ass. Knew it!” Rodney snagged a spare stool and plopped down heavily on it. “And the Major wanted it destroyed.” He snorted and rubbed at the barely visible scar on his forehead, a new habit he’d picked up when he was troubled. “I suppose first thing on the agenda is to go back to that lab and do an in depth analysis of the device.”

"Agreed." Radek shut down his laptop and grabbed another tablet. "Let us go." And he led the way out of the lab.

Monday, 13 April | 1730 hours | Science lab 12, East Wing

Radek came through the door, pausing just inside to glare at the cause of his current scientific predicament.

"Bastard machine," he breathed in Czech, before taking out his tablet. "Okay, first I think we need to--"

Rodney was standing in front of the main console, his head turned to the side while grimacing, his arms stretched out full length, and just his index fingers touching the activation crystals. The console hummed to life and he yanked his hands back as if shocked. Then he saw Radek just staring at him and straightened the front of his jacket somewhat pissily. “Hey, I’m not taking any chances, okay?”

"I doubt you are in any danger," Radek snorted. "Any machine worth its salt would be terrified of you." He pushed his glasses up and moved to the machine, himself.

"As I am ATA-blank, I feel I am quite safe."

"Things can still blow up in your face," Rodney mumbled under his breath as he retrieved his laptop from where he sat it on another console and started plugging in leads.

"Hand me those---no, the other---yes, thank you." Radek plugged in leads on the console he was standing by, and booted it up.

"And, sadly, I do not read Ancient so well when it goes by this fast," he growled, entering the lines of code to slow it down. "Much better." A moment later, he sat back. "Huh. Rodney, what do you think of this?"

Rodney leaned over and watched text for a moment. His eyebrows drew down and he pulled his chin back. “What the hell?” He went back to his own laptop and scrolled through text. He glanced back at Radek’s computer as if verifying that what he now read on both screens was correct. “This can’t be right. We shut it down. How in the hell did it access the mainframe and….”

"Do that?" Radek said, shaking his head. "Will it affect the other ATA users or just the Major? How do we shut it off? How do we stop it from happening again?" He went off into Czech, rubbing his head. "What a mess!"

Rodney was rubbing his forehead again as he sighed wearily. “Okay. Radek, if you could start the analysis of the supercharger, I’ll follow this tracking program and make sure no one else is in its sights.” As he attacked his keyboard all he could think was the thing latching onto Sheppard and his super gene and wreaking utter havoc. Just what they’d all need right now.

"The absolute last thing we need right now is this getting hold of Colonel Sheppard and his supergene," Radek said, with that annoying habit of seemingly reading Rodney's mind as he set to work on his assigned task.

Rodney gave his colleague and friend a half-assed double-take, then concentrated on his own computer. For nearly an hour the only conversation was comprised of mumbled comments as both men thought out loud, or muted bi-lingual swearing as they ploughed through data. Rodney suddenly broke the silence. “Ha! Found you, you…. The tracker program – it was activated while we were reversing the process. Wouldn’t have started if we stopped it just a few minutes before we shut it down.” He blinked. Then shrugged. “Yeah, that made sense. Heh. The Major became his own episode of Wild Kingdom.”

Radek burst into a moment of wild laughter at that, then clamped both hands over his mouth to calm down. Chuckles still burst from him for moments to come. "Leave it to you to break the tension," he chuckled, shaking his head and pushing up his glasses.

"So, the Major is being tracked. But I am not seeing the connection between that and the gene's malfunctioning---" He trailed off, his eyes going wide as the connection became clear. "The program is malfunctioning as well."

Rodney sighed heavily and hung his head. "Figures," he muttered. He rubbed at the faint scar on his forehead. "So, you ever get the urge to find an Ancient and, well, kick their ass?" He glanced at Radek. "Or am I the only one?"

"You are hardly the only one," Radek growled. "Especially when they injure our friends." He wiped his hands over his face. "So, let's find a way to turn off this piece of crap."

Rodney snorted and couldn't stop the little grin as he looked at Radek. He went back to his own computer. "Have you isolated the start-up routines for the piece of crap yet?"

"Heading to your tablet --- now." Radek tapped one key, then said, "And when we work our way through the routines....."

“Hopefully we can find the hiccup.” Rodney’s eyes scanned data. “So, how is the Major handling all of this?” He’d know how he’d be handling it – freaking out and probably driving the new shrink insane.

"Frustrated as hell," Radek said before trailing off into Czech and pointing excitedly at a bit of data -- and blinking and lowering his hand. "No. I am tired, I was reading it backwards for a moment. My apologies."

“Wait, wait – what were you looking at?” Radek pointed out the stream on Rodney’s computer. For a few minutes he just stared at the data, then a slow crooked smile lit his face. “I think you may have something there,” Rodney said and his fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Talk to me, because I am not seeing it at the moment." Radek leaned over his shoulder.

"Look at this section," Rodney said and pointed to a spot a little too hard and making his screen go all rainbowy at the point of contact. "There's a gap, like something is missing - maybe a system glitch, which wouldn't surprise me after ten thousand years - and when it tried to do some self maintenance ...."

Radek's eyes narrowed. "It read the glitch as a 'null' command. And those would be the times his gene nullified." He shot Rodney a smug smile. "So... are you up to an afternoon of coding?"

Rodney interlaced his fingers, stretched his arms out, and gave his knuckles a crack. Then went ow as the still tight skin from his healed burns stretched. "Bring it on!" he said as he wiggled his fingers over the keyboard.

Radek sat down beside him and pulled up a linked computer. He took a deep breath and blew it out.

Then his fingers flew on the keys and a line of code began to appear on Rodney's screen. Rodney immediately copied and started inserting it in all the null points he could find. That gave Radek time to start working on the larger chunks of coding that was compromised and reading as gibberish. Soon they were both attacking large sections and for close to an hour the lab was filled with the sound of clacking keys and snorts of amusement.

Rodney broke the silence. "You know, we've done this one too many times the last few years."

Radek's laughter rose to meet his as they worked steadily. Then he clacked a couple of keys with a flourish and sat back. "Done."

"Okay." Rodney finished his section and started scrolling through their additions and patches to make sure they caught everything. He could see Radek out of the corner of his eye doing the same thing. "I've been trying to remember for the life of me the host of Wild Kingdom, but all I can remember is Jim." He shook his head. "Poor bastard, hanging from a tree, getting smacked in the ass by a ... was it a leopard?"

"Jim Fowler," Radek said, not looking up from his work. "Marlon Perkins was the old man. And I believe it was a tiger."

"That's right - Marlon Perkins." His eyes darted across code. "He always creeped Jeannie out." He made a minute correction then leaned back and crossed his arms. "So, do you know where the Major is right now? Because it might be a good idea to give him a head's up before we hit enter...." He shrugged.

"No, just hit enter. I'll tell him later today."

Rodney did and both men sat there and just watched as the program ran through code. "Well, so far...."

"...so good," Radek finished. "I think we've done it." He smiled at Rodney. "Thank you."

Rodney waggled his head and muttered, "You're, um, welcome." Then he started gathering leads. "And the Major wanted to blow up this place." He closed his laptop and tucked it under his arm. "C'mon, I'll buy you dinner."

"I shall be sure to order lemon chicken," Radek snarked, then grinned at the glare as they walked out together.

Tuesday, 14th April | 1845 hours | The White House - Presidents office

Sitting in the office of the President of the United States, General Jack O'Neill couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu ... only two weeks before he'd been sitting in this same chair talking about the Atlantis Expedition and here he was, doing the same thing.

"The problem goes deeper than Lieutenant Hunter?" President Hayes asked, having already been briefed on the full situation.

"Yes Sir," Jack replied. "Too many things that didn't add up ... plus some of what went down he just didn't have the skill base for, or the connections."

"Which means that someone ... or a group of someone's is after Atlantis," Hayes concluded.

"That would be a fair assessment Sir," Jack agreed.

"I've already met with the Air Force Chief of Staff," Hayes announced. "Effective immediately we're instituting a new branch of the OHS ... the Atlantis Office of Homeworld Security ... to operate out of Atlantis but have independent oversight to increase our commitment to building relationships in the Pegasus Galaxy. That will be the public message but focussing on protecting the expedition from internal threats and finding out who's behind it will be a primary objective. We're assigning the Hammond permanently to Atlantis to assist."

"Sounds like a job with a little too much flavour," Jack quipped, already knowing where Hayes was going. "I take it I'll be overseeing this new department along with everything else?"

"No, you'll be running the new department," Hayes announced abruptly.

"Sir ... didn't we already have this discussion?" Jack felt compelled to whine just a little ... acting grateful for the chance to be posted exactly where he was hoping to end up would take away his bargaining power in the future. If on the other hand the President believed a favour was owed? Well, that could come in handy in the future. "Me and Atlantis ... something always happens ... usually something bad!"

"You did a good job on the investigation Jack," Hayes replied. "You and your team and those on Atlantis you co-opted. That work needs to continue and you're best placed to see that it does ... without creating an atmosphere of continuing suspicion."

"I'm not the only one who could do that Sir," Jack continued. "What would I do with myself out there ... no cabin to retreat to ... no Simpsons? I'm not sure I can take that at my age Sir."

"Jack," Hayes looked at him pointedly. "You'll run a small team ... one you can hand pick. And you'll have the Hammond as your own personal taxi. You're always telling me how much you hate the paperwork here ... "

"Yes," Jack smirked as he interrupted. "I may have mentioned that a time or two."

"All of that would be up to you," the President pointed out. "As long as you meet reporting requirements for regular updates with Earth you can run AOHS how you want ... you might even get the chance to go off world now and again."

"No justifying the risk to 'The Man'?" Jack raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"No," Hayes agreed, "although if you go out there and get yourself killed I'll be less than impressed." The President looked at Jack, judging his feeling. "So, what do you say?"

"I have a choice?" Jack asked, again surprised. He'd gotten to the point of picking his own assignment and hadn't realised it?

"I won't force you to take the position Jack," Hayes said lightly. "I'd hope that you'd want to do it. You have ties out there ... strong ties. And who knows, maybe you'll find a new 'cabin in the woods' ... find a pond that actually has fish."

"My pond is perfect the way it is," Jack returned insistently, before adding a somewhat delayed "Sir." He sat back for a moment, tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair as he considered whether there was anything else he could ask for. "I get to choose my own team?"

The president nodded.

"Including those assigned to the Hammond?" Jack continued.

Hayes narrowed his eyes before nodding again.

"Bring in visitors from time to time?" something important to Jack's mind ... couldn't have his team, his family complete unless Teal'c could stop by whenever he had the chance.

"Within reason," the President allowed.

"Go off world if I want and the situation calls for it?" the faintly sly look on O'Neill's face said he'd be actively looking for those situations.

Another nod.

"And run things my way?" Jack concluded.

"Again ... within reason," Hayes replied.

"And when is this all supposed to take place?" Jack asked.

"The sooner the better," Hayes replied. "You have clearance to use the Daedalus for transport of personnel, equipment and supplies. You and your immediate team also have clearance to use the Gate to connect to Atlantis ... should allow you time to set everything up in the three weeks it'll take for everything to get to you."

Jack nodded, putting on his thinking face for a few moments. "Okay," he said abruptly.

"You'll do it?" the President confirmed.

"Yes Sir," Jack agreed. "I'll do it. Pencil me in for now ... let's see how it goes before you write my name down in permanent ink."

"Once you're there I'm sure you'll want to stay," Hayes said with an amused chuckle.

"Depends on how often Daniel can get himself into trouble," Jack replied. "I'm too old to be out there rescuing him."

"You'll be fine," Hayes smiled fondly. "Keep me informed ... tell me if there's anything you need."

"Thank you Sir," Jack stood, taking the President's proffered hand and shaking it.

As he walked from the room his mind was already engaged with the organisational task ahead ... and who he could get to assist him.

First stop? Stargate Command.

Tuesday 14th April | Evening | Club Thirty-Nine

Daniel gazed at the vision of beauty seated across from him. A gentle breeze from the ocean ruffled Sam's short, feathery hair. The subdued lighting did not dim the sparkle of her vibrant blue eyes. She was gowned in a off-the-shoulder midnight blue velvet dress that clung to her in all the right places. It clung and flared in all the right places, its capped sleeves emphasizing her delicate shoulders. She wore simple sapphire and pearl drop earrings that Daniel had given her several years before as a Christmas gift. In short, even if Daniel were not totally besotted with his former teammate, Samantha Carter was most likely the most beautiful woman he had ever encountered.

They had spent a quiet evening at the club enjoying dinner and one anothers' company. After the past couple of weeks, both of them had needed the down time desperately. In some odd way, the incidents had served to solidify their relationship and pull the inextricably toward that next level...the next step that they both wanted and now had the blessing of their dearest friend to do so.

Daniel rose to his feet and walked around to pull Sam's chair out for her. It was time to go home. Daniel was slightly in the lead as they stepped back into the main dining area of the club with Sam trailing behind him, his hand held in hers. Both stopped as they heard the song that filtered through the club's music system. It was their song, Bob Seger's We've Got Tonight.

Turning back to the woman standing just behind him, Daniel smiled radiantly, his blue eyes alight with warmth for this incredible woman that he had loved in one form or another from almost their moment of meeting. Tugging her hand gently, he guided her onto the small dance floor and pulled her into his arms, his eyes for her only as they moved together.

Leia came into the club, wearing a little black dress that she'd gotten, dressed to the nines when she noticed Daniel there, looking rather dashing himself. This was... This was beyond perfect! She smiled brilliantly and went towards him. Then her stomach dropped to her stiletto heels as she saw the vision he was headed towards. Colonel Carter... As the two started dancing, she studied their body language, seeing the truth. They loved one another. Oh God... They loved each other.

A smile slowly curved Sam's lips as she moved closer into the circle of his arms. Her hand moved from his shoulder, sliding around to the back of his neck as she leaned in. The whisper soft caress of her lips brushed along the line of his jaw, and then his ear. "Maybe," she murmured, "It's time we finished what we started before my door interrupted us..."

Daniel's heart hammered in his chest as Sam's lips trailed along his jaw line, "That sounds like an incredibly perfect idea," he stated, wrapping an arm around her. With Sam's head resting on his shoulder, they left the club.

Tuesday 14th April | Evening | Club Thirty-Nine

As Leia's heart shattered into a million little shards at the action between Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson in the middle of the dance floor, her eyes started to fill with tears. She maintained composure long enough to turn, praying that he hadn't spotted her, hadn't noticed her gaze upon them and hurried out of the Club.

Making long strides as she clacked down the hall, mercifully abandoned at this point, Leia felt the tears start falling, messing up her makeup. Her eyes blurred and she ran smack dab into someone's hard chest. Leia's vision cleared and she looked straight into a pair of familiar eyes, choking back a sob. "Ev-Lorne," she said, sounding breathless and fighting not to cry, subconsciously distancing herself.

"Leia?" Evan unexpectedly found himself holding a woman shaking with barely controlled emotion. He'd been on his way to the Thirty Nine, eyes trained with interest on the couple leaving the club, when Leia had burst through the doors. Instinctively Lorne put his arm around her and pulled her more firmly to his chest. "What's wrong? What happened," he looked down at her, eyes filled with concern. "Did someone hurt you?"

Leia felt herself shaking, wanting to push the emotion away like she'd been taught, force herself to just not feel but God, she couldn't. As he pulled her closer, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry as the tears kept coming. Leia let out a sob and shook her head. "No one... No one hurt me. I don't get hurt. It's not in my makeup," she told him, still crying and being stubborn about it as she fisted her hands into his shirt.

"I can see that," Evan replied, amused at her stubborn pride. He'd relaxed a little as soon as he'd realised Leia was okay ... well, of course she wasn't okay but it wasn't something where he’d have to go looking for the culprit. "So if you're not hurt, what's with the tears?" he kept his tone light and casual, hoping she'd open up instead of regrouping and pretending nothing was wrong.

Leia kept her face buried into his shoulder, knowing that she was blowing her cover, was showing too much, was being weak. But she couldn't stop, couldn't keep this at bay anymore. "I don't know," she sobbed. "I just felt like crying. Don't you ever do anything for no reason?" Leia asked him, her voice filled with emotion, not pulling away but knowing that she needed to regain composure before it was too late... before she revealed more that she wanted too.

"You felt like crying," Lorne repeated uncertainly, not sure how he should handle the situation. He had a sister and God knew she'd cried over nothing more times than he could count. But Leia didn't strike him as that type. "At the Thirty Nine. During dinner," he concluded, patting her back comfortingly as she clung to him, still crying. Even that was a red flag to him ... the clinging thing. Evan didn't know Leia that well but if he had to make a guess he'd describe her as someone showing every sign of being heartbroken. Pushing aside any personal feelings about that, Lorne reared back so he could look at Leia. "You want some company for this crying? We could go somewhere a little less public." He wanted her to talk to him, to turn to him as her friend and could only hope she'd take him up on the offer.

Leia whimpered as he pulled away and looked at him, her lips a deep red, face slightly pale and streaked with makeup, eyes bloodshot. She didn't... he couldn't see her this way. It was unbecoming. But here he was... and she didn't.... Was it so wrong to want someone with her? Her Father would say yes, but he was far from here. She mutely nodded, letting him wrap an arm around her shoulders, feeling his warmth as she started relax in the kind embrace.

Getting an affirmative, Evan tightened his arm around Leia's shoulders and guided her gently towards the nearest lift. They covered the journey in silence, Lorne choosing one of the open lounge areas he often went to when he needed some time out. Not too private but hopefully deserted at this time of the evening. Once there Evan settled Leia on to the couch and took a seat beside her, close enough to lend a feeling of comfort and support. "I'll just sit here quietly and let you cry if that's what you need," he began. "But if you want to talk about it ... him ... I'm here to listen."

Leia looked at him, wanting to wipe her face and not seeing anything. She gave him a slightly startled look and remembered that she had a cover story... and that she'd been flirting with him like mad. "It was... I'm in mourning, Evan. Haven't you ever just felt uncontrollably sad?" she asked him, trying to get his thoughts away from another man... She couldn't lose him too. Not today. "Where's the tissue?" Leia demanded, walls coming quickly up.

"I'm all out of tissues," Evan said, shifting away and unbuttoned his shirt. Shrugging out of it he offered it to Leia, adding "best I can do. Don't worry about ruining it." Sitting back with just his standard black t-shirt on ... with one slightly dampened shoulder ... he watched with a faint smile as Leia considered her options. She could either use his shirt as a really big tissue or leave the evidence of her emotional distress for him to see.

Leia sniffed and looked at the shirt, boggling for a second. She then quickly wiped her face and blew her nose. "I'm sorry... I just... I'm sorry," she told him, feeling so hurt and so raw at the moment. "I was... it's not what you think..."

"You know when people say that it usually is," Lorne replied, watching her closely. Leaving that subject behind, Evan shifted closer again, nudging her shoulder until she looked at him and then moving his arm aside, offering her his shoulder once again. "You have nothing to be sorry for Leia," he said as he waited to see what she'd do, whether she'd take the comfort he was offering.

Leia leaned into his shoulder, cuddling up against him. "I know... but it's nothing. It was vain hope that got dashed. Nothing more," she said, sounding hollow, even to herself. God, where was her normal ability to lie at? She was going to lose them both, never have another chance to be with Evan... work with him again... just because her real love had chosen another... again. "What's wrong with me?" she asked, unable to stop herself.

"Nothing's wrong with you!" Evan returned immediately. "And I'm sure it wasn't nothing." He ran his hand up and down her arm gently as she settled her head against his chest. Sighing, Lorne was silent for a moment, thinking. "Hope is important," he began lightly. "Whatever it is you hope for, it gives you purpose ... motivation ... a reason to get up every day. But it's uncertain too ... and often something you can't directly control. Not achieving what you hoped for isn't a reflection on you Leia ... it's just the way of the world ... no matter what world you're living in."

Leia scoffed, laughing bitterly. What world she was living in, indeed. "Thank you..." she said, feeling him comfort her. She wrapped an arm around his waist, feeling his strong muscles. It just... it hurt. It hurt so bad.

Evan wasn't sure he'd said anything to make a difference, but the fact that Leia had completed their embrace, wrapping an arm around him in return, had to be a good sign. Maybe it was as simple as just being there ... not letting her ride it out alone. "Any time," he promised, running a hand lightly over her hair.

Leia rested in the embrace, feeling him soothe her. Daniel hurt her... he hurt her so much. God... she hated Colonel Carter... was so angry at Daniel... and it hurt. She was supposed to be stronger than this... was stronger than this. But if Evan hadn't... If he hadn't been there... She clung to him, moving just slightly and kissing his neck in thanks.

Evan felt Leia's kiss shiver over him ... nothing discernable ... more the flutter of sensation inside his head and chest. All of a sudden he began to notice a whole host of things. How close they were sitting. The parts of her that were pressed up against him. What she was wearing and how hot she looked wearing it. Being attracted to someone from across a table was one thing ... having that attraction slam you with the addition of a physical connection was another. Shifting uncomfortably, Evan realised he was getting a little out of his depth here. Leia had turned to him for comfort and expressed only gratitude. No way was he even going to hint to her that his thoughts had shifted beyond that. "Let's walk," he said abruptly, extricating himself from the sofa with as much grace as he could manage and holding out his hand to her. "I mean, if you want to," he added hopefully.

Leia felt him shift and eased back, suddenly realizing how close they were. He was just being a gentleman... and she was... She wasn't just trying to rebound, was she? As he suggested that they walk, she nodded, watching him rise up. Leia blew her nose again and wiped her face, not looking like she'd been crying... She stood and softly smiled at him. "I'd like that... a lot..." she said, folding his shirt and putting it over her arm.

"Okay," Evan smiled, relieved that he hadn't messed anything up. "How about I walk you back to your quarters ... the long way?" he suggested, taking her hand and getting them walking down the corridor.

Leia nodded swiftly. "Sounds good. Thanks," she said, grasping his hand and holding it, needing to feel someone's support. It was weak, it went against her training and teaching, but... her cover. Her cover would need this. "What... What were you doing tonight? Did I- Is your night ruined because of my crying fit?"

"Nah," Lorne said casually, squeezing her hand reassuringly as they continued walking. "Didn't have any plans beyond a quick drink before I get back to reviewing personnel files," adding when he saw her puzzled look "standard stuff for when the Daedalus arrives in a couple of weeks. So in a way you rescued me from what was going to be a long and tedious evening."

"Well ... I'm glad I'm saving you since you just saved me ... I guess I don't owe you one after all," she told him, putting her head on his shoulder. She didn't know how to feel, what to do... anything. It was a bit boggling. "I don't want you to be confused...," she started, trying to cover for her lack of grace. "I don't want you to think that I've just been playing around with you ... because I haven't. I just ... I wasn't sure how you felt about me ... and I didn't want to assume and then have you tell me that you were ... not interested," she told him. "I guess the Daedalus is a big deal, isn't it? I mean, it would have to be and it's stupid to think that it's not, but...." Leia rambled, uncertain as to what to say.

"Hold on a minute," Lorne drew them to a halt, using his grip on Leia's hand to turn her to face him. Glancing up and down the corridor briefly and registering that for now they were alone, Evan bent his head a little lower and looked at her intently. "I wasn't confused until you said what you just said! We're walking right now because I assumed the comfort of a friend ... any friend, was what you needed - what you wanted from me. That wasn't a message about anything else ... you know that, right?"

Leia looked at him, horrified. She had thought that... and she was actually and Oh God. "Oh God..." she said, pulling away. "I- You said... the way you asked if I wanted to talk about what was bothering me... I just thought... and Oh God." Leia said, about to cry again. Dashed again. God... she really would never have anyone.

"No!" Evan grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back to him, frustrated that he clearly hadn't gotten the message across. "I'm interested okay ... I just didn't think you were." Seeing that she still looked upset, Evan groaned. "God, this is like being stuck in some kind of high school prom date nightmare. Here, let's try this." Without any warning ... without even thinking about asking for permission, Evan pulled her up to her toes and kissed her, making it clear just exactly how he was interested in her. Setting her back on her feet a few moments later, he looked at her intently. "Now are we on the same wavelength?" he asked pointedly.

Leia looked at him in surprise, her head so dulled by her emotional displays that she didn't put up a fight. As he kissed her, she resisted briefly then deepened the kiss, feelings shifting in her chest. They broke apart and she panted, looking at him as he asked if they were on the same wavelength. She blinked at him, slowly grinned and chuckled. "I think so," she said before she kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and throwing her body into his as they went back and gently hit the wall.

Stumbling backwards, Evan let the moment take them. Holding her tightly he gave as good as he got, forgetting for an instant where they were. The military in him ... that sense that was always aware of his surroundings, warned him that someone was approaching. It brought him to his senses abruptly. Ending the kiss, Evan leaned back against the wall, breathing hard as he tried to get himself back in control. Pushing himself off the wall, he grabbed Leia's hand and drew her with him, walking briskly down the corridor. Nodding casually to one of the Gate techs approaching them from the opposite direction Evan kept walking until they reached Leia's quarters. Stopping, he stood regarding her, thinking about what he wanted to say. "So we're clear?" he asked. "Because I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm going to say next." She nodded. "We need to slow this down ... not that I'm suggesting that was going anywhere but where we were ... I just ... I need to create the right impression here."

Leia kissed Evan passionately, feeling him respond as thrills went through her. She knew someone was coming but allowed him to end it, leaving it more in his hands. She breathed in and out, trying to clear the dizzy spell. They walked together, Leia feeling a mixture of different emotions, still hurting but God... Evan was... As he said he wanted to slow things down, she nodded, agreeing with him. While she was ok with just going for it... she couldn't and shouldn't here. Not with him. "Ok. That's... That's great actually. I was... It's not that I don't want too, but slow is better. I like slow when it comes to this," Leia assured him. "But I don't think you're a creep if that makes you feel better," she said honestly.

"The fact that you felt the need to say that is bad enough," Evan returned, disappointed with himself despite her letting him off the hook. What was it about this woman that always had him behaving so out of character? Major Evan Lorne wasn't a ladies’ man ... his reputation was so squeaky clean that nothing should be able to stick to it. He didn't believe in casualness ... at the heart of him was a serious man who cared enough about those he could influence that it guided his every behaviour. And yet not five minutes ago he'd let himself forget all that ... let himself take advantage of someone when they were vulnerable. His intentions had been good but the situation had gone in a direction he hadn't anticipated. "I'm sorry," he said seriously. "Not for being interested ... just ... well, the timing wasn't ideal ... you were upset and I ...," trailing off Evan put a hand to her cheek and stroked his thumb across her delicate skin, his expression puzzled and confused. Dropping his hand, he took a step back. "Friends?" he asked intently.

Leia looked at him and didn't know what to even say. She looked at him and his step back and grabbed a hold of his arm. "Evan Lorne. I was upset. Am still upset, I won't lie to you about that, but you did not take advantage of me. You comforted me the way a friend would... but my feelings for you are more than just friends. I didn't... I knew that we'd flirted... that we were very... close. But it wasn't until now... seeing you like this that I realized that... I feel for you more than friends. Now I have confirmation that you feel much the same way. If you think I'm going to just let it go, after the hurt I went through today, you've got another think coming," she told him.

Watching her intently, listening to the words and seeing her sincerity in both what she said and how she said it, Evan found himself grinning delightedly. "Well, I guess you told me then," he teased, smiling again before getting them back to the serious. "Okay ... more than friends ... but for now we don't act on the more part of that." Seeing her about to protest Evan shook his head. "No ... I know you think you're reacting logically, that you've considered all the angles, but you suffered a disappointment tonight. A personal disappointment. I'd be a lousy friend if I let you act hastily because of that. If the more part is gonna go anywhere then the when won't matter. Agreed?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and regarding her seriously.

Leia panted, about to come unglued on him before she noticed he was teasing. She breathed, trying to calm down and softly smiled. Leia frowned, opening her mouth as he interrupted her. Her nose flared as she exhaled and nodded. "Agreed. You're right... I'm all emotional and nasty right now. We can get closer anytime... I just... I don't want to be alone," she told him, groaning at her patheticness. "But it will be better that way..." Leia whispered, pressing a finger to his lips to quiet any backpedalling. "I'm a big girl now... I wear big girl underwear and everything... I think I should be alone, sorta deal with this and put it away without being on display..."

Frowning, Evan looked into her eyes, trying to read the truth or otherwise in her claims that she'd be okay now. "You sure?" he asked, not wanting to leave her alone before she was ready but understanding too that some things had to be faced to be put aside. "I know you're a big girl," Evan added, "and I know you can handle this. It isn't being weak to need to delay when you do that though ... and I think I can live up to 'just friends for now' even if I stay with you for a while."

"I'm sure. You'd just be sitting around while I laid down anyway. This way I can cry, scream, carry on and be miserable without anyone knowing. It's a small city, Evan... I've got to lock it away for now... not let it interfere with my work and then get shipped back to Earth for being stupid," she told him, hoping that he understood what she was getting at here. Leia wanted him to take her, make her forget about Daniel but she knew that he wouldn't... couldn't until she was in better spirits. So she would bottle this all up again, pretend to have let it go and then be good to get closer to him.

"Okay," Evan replied, troubled by how she'd described dealing with whatever had upset her. "But you know where I am if that approach doesn't work," he added. Glancing down the corridors again, as concerned for her reputation as he was for what was appropriate for a proper military officer, Evan moved in closer. Resting his check against hers for a moment, the only part of him touching her, he sighed, regretting that things couldn’t be as simple as they should be. Kissing her quickly on the cheek before moving away again, Evan smiled. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow sometime," he said casually.

Leia nodded. "I'll find you," she promised softly. They nuzzled cheeks, Leia keeping her hands to herself. She wanted to wrap her arms around him again, feel something, someone against her, someone to make the feelings she had for Daniel go away and to recognize the feelings she had for him but it wasn't the right time. "Don't worry so much..." she whispered as he sighed. She smiled as he kissed her cheek. "Definitely. We can do breakfast..." she offered, looking at him and clutching his shirt, forgetting that she had it.

"Breakfast it is," Evan agreed. "I guess I'll just ...," he motioned off down the corridor. "Night Leia," he said casually, turning and walking down the corridor. At the corner, he glanced back, smiling when he saw her standing at her door, watching him. Throwing her a wave he disappeared from sight.

Leia kept the smile on her face as she watched him leave. She waved and went inside, slipping off her shoes and then throwing them across the room in anger. How... How the hell did this happen?! Daniel was... She was in love with him! She felt betrayed and hurt, finally noticing Evan's shirt. She sank down on her bed, struggling with her feelings and not sure what to do. Leia hurried to the bathroom and got dressed for bed, grabbing the shirt and hugging it tight, letting it's scent fill her nose as she started to cry again, letting it all out.

Tuesday 14th April | Evening | Club Thirty-Nine

Rodney took great pride in his intellect - and everyone knew this quite well - but sometimes it was even too much for him to handle. Like right now - ideas were pinging around his head like a superball being chased by a cat in a bathtub, and when things got too chaotic there was only one way to calm them down long enough to regain coherency....

Beer.

He wandered into Thirty-Nine in time to witness Daniel and Sam getting really close on the dance floor and faltered in his steps. If he'd been feeling more juvenile at the moment, he would have told them to get a room, but instead he just shook his head and stomped on over to the bar. His favorite spot was open - a stool on the end that put his back to the room and effectually let him ignore, well, everyone - so he plopped down and scowled at Mac. Completely unaffected, Mac automatically poured a pint of whatever dark was on tap and brought it over. Rodney grunted a thanks, and after his first long drink sat there hunched over his glass and willed the beer to hurry up and get his thoughts into some semblance of order.

Movement to his right caught the corner of his eye, and when he turned his head that way he found Lt. Cadman leaning with one elbow against the bar two stools down. And smirking. "Oh, great," he grumbled and took another long drink.

“Drowning your sorrows McKay?” Laura asked casually, glancing over at him with a teasing smirk.

Dressed in jeans, boots that added an inch of much needed height, and a black lacy top she looked casual in an elegant kind of way. Laura had come down to the Thirty Nine without a clear plan beyond having a drink and doing a little people watching ... trading barbs with Rodney was a bonus that would certainly provide her with a little entertainment.

"Actually, I'm trying to bring order to chaos." He lifted the glass and stared deep into the dark, well, shallows. "And this is the catalyst." Mac took that as a signal and brought another over. Rodney didn't argue. "What are you doing here, trolling?"

"You wound me," Cadman dramatically raised a hand to her heart and sighed. Peeking out the corner of her eye to see how he was taking her theatrics, she couldn't resist laughing. "What? You don't like my outfit?" She glanced down at herself as though expecting to see something different than when she'd left her quarters in earlier.

For a moment Rodney was horrified at what just popped out of his mouth, but that lasted for maybe a nanosecond. He gave her a once over, then immediately went back to the safer contemplation of his beer. “It’s, it’s okay,” he said rather nonplussed.

“You sure know how to flatter a woman, don’t you, McKay,” Laura said lightly, not taking offense. “So order from chaos huh? What chaos would that be exactly?”

“The cyclonic miasma of rampant random ideas that has my cerebellum twisted in a knot. Seriously, I couldn’t tell the difference between String Theory and freaking string cheese right now.” Between his regular multiple projects and spending all day trying to decipher the supercharger…. He looked down at the bar and for a moment even contemplated just whapping his forehead against it a few times. Oh, hey…. No, that would hurt. He settled on the beer instead.

“Sounds like you need a little mental C4 to clear out the space,” Laura advised, motioning Mac over. “Tequila?” she raised an eyebrow at Rodney expectantly.

"Ummm...."

"I'll take that as a yes," Cadman signalled for two shots, getting up and taking the seat next to Rodney. Taking up her glass she held it aloft, mischief sparkling from her eyes as she turned to look at him. "To chaos ... be it cerebral, explosive or otherwise," she proposed the toast, clinked McKay's glass with her own, and then downed the tequila in one go.

“That works.” Rodney eyed the shot glass dubiously. “You know, I was trying to get the neurons to fire in sequence, not outright explode….” He shrugged and downed the shot. Then proceeded to make a few faces and shook his head. He hurried and killed the last of his first beer to get rid of the taste.

"Lighten up McKay," Cadman returned. "You've got plenty of neurons to spare ... or so you keep telling me." Signalling for another shot for both of them, Laura waiting until it had been delivered before looking at Rodney questioningly. "So tell me ... why'd you come here all by yourself? Surely one of your minions ... the little one who likes it when you yell at her ... would have jumped at the chance to help with your chaos problem."

Rodney let out a short bark of a laugh. “Naw, she couldn’t help.” He sighed rather heavily. “Believe it or not, there are days when even I can’t handle my intellect – ideas come so fast and furious ….” He waved his hands up by his temples. “Gyah! They’re like an entire pack of Jack Russell’s hopped up on fudge brownies and Red Bull, just yapping and bouncing and basically interfering with anything conducive. And when they get bad, I take a break – yes, a real break – and try to appease them so I can get some freaking work done.” He picked up his fresh beer, lifted it and his sparse eyebrows in salute to Cadman, and took a drink. “Now you know.”

"That's ....," Cadman trailed off, not sure that there was anything she could say in the face of his explanation. "That explains a lot Rodney," she said sympathetically, for once not trying to make every response a veiled insult. "Well, if you can't make everything behave itself then drowning out the noise is the only other option. And lucky for you, I'm fully qualified to assist." Laura smiled, raising her second shot and an eyebrow expectantly. "You in?"

Rodney eyed the second shot and the lieutenant rather dubiously. “All right.” He picked up the shot glass. “But let’s get one thing straight – I don’t want to drown things out. I just want them to behave. You, ah, do understand the concept of behaving, don’t you?”

"When I have to," Cadman replied with a cheeky grin. "Don't worry McKay ... I'll look after you."

“Yeah, I remember how you ‘looked’ after me when you were a tenant,” he mumbled as he downed the shot. And made faces again, but this time there were even a few tears in the corner of his eyes. “Really, I’m more of a whiskey person,” he said as he sat the shot glass down. “Or Radek’s special brew.” He shook his head and let his cheeks flap comically. “Holy crap! That. Is. Nasty.”

"You have to keep bringing that up, don't you?" Cadman downed her own shot quickly, grimacing as the alcohol burned its way down to her belly. "I'm sure I said sorry ... and besides, you really needed the workout ... not that there's anything wrong with the way you -," breaking off, Laura shot Rodney a quick look before focussing back on her empty glass. "I think I need another drink."

Rodney blinked at Cadman a few times, then he was signalling for Mac to top them off. “Me, too.” Mac was completely impassive as he poured more of the strong liquor. Rodney didn’t wait for Laura – he downed his immediately, slammed the shot glass down, and shoved it as far away from him as he could. This time the tongue came out with the grimace. “Okay. No more. I think I just lost one IQ point. Permanently.”

"A whole point huh?" Cadman quipped, downing her own shot and really starting to feel the effects ... she had a nice relaxing buzz going, just enough to take the edge off ... not that she ever had trouble saying what was on her mind. "Would you even notice?" Shifting a little closer she nudged Rodney's shoulder with hers. "That's not the only thing you've got going for you McKay."

He rocked a little more loose-limbed from the nudge than he should have. “Well, it certainly can’t be my ebullibent, eblumi … charming personality now, can it?” Rodney carefully picked up his beer and was glad he’d already drank some of it down. “And yes, I’d notice. I notice lots of things.” He tapped his temple with his free hand and stage whispered, “Genius, you know.”

"I know," Laura held back a smile, amused at the way the alcohol was affecting him, taking the edge off his intensity. "He's actually kind of ... cute like this," she thought, swaying just a little herself. "Oh, great going Cadman ... McKay and cute in the same sentence ... that is just wrong!" Giving herself the mental equivalent of a Gibbsmack, Laura blinked and tried to refocus on the conversation. "So you notice things huh?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. "And what have you noticed about me, McKay?" It was probably low of her, but what woman wouldn't take the opportunity to find out what a man really thought of her if given the chance?

“Well….” Rodney drew the word out and for a second he thought he sounded like Sheppard. “You’re feisty, for one.” He squinted at her. “And blonde. For now. I thought for awhile there you were more, well, red. Strawberry blonde. Did I imagine that? I hope I didn’t. Because strawberry blonde works, too. Adds to the feistiness, you know. Huh. Seems I like both blondes and red heads, now that I think about it.” He stopped and blinked a few times. “Um, what was the question?”

Raising an eyebrow ... well, as best she could in her slightly inebriated condition, Laura was genuinely surprised. Rodney McKay had noticed her hair? And not just that, but he'd actually registered that she'd changed the colour slightly? And it sounded like her ... enthusiastic - even in her own head she wasn't calling it feisty - attitude was a positive to him? Who would have thought it?! "What did you notice about me Rodney?" she repeated, her tone taking it from the easy going straight into the suggestive.

“Oh, that was the question,” Rodney said rather quickly. He held his beer glass protectively in both hands as he grimaced. He didn’t feel this, well, put on the spot when he defended his first master’s thesis…. “Um.” His fingers drummed spastically against the glass as he tried to think of something besides her nice…. And in that top…. “You’re, ah, fearless when it comes to your job?” His voice came out on a bit of a high note and he cleared his throat. “I mean, hey – I build bombs. I know how difficult it is to defuse them. That you can is kinda cool.” He suddenly realized what he just said and shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. “In a, you know, totally insane, death-wish kind of way.” He quickly took a drink and hoped his ears weren't as red as they felt.

Laura laughed, delighted that he'd chosen to compliment her on her skills instead of something a little more frivolous. Sure, he'd tried to scale it back with his death-wish comment but she could see his embarrassment. He meant it. Nudging his shoulder with her own again, Cadman smiled. "See ... you do know how to flatter a woman!" Signalling Mac for more tequila, she waited until he'd set two glasses down in front of her before letting mischief guide her words. "It's okay McKay ... I've been inside your head ... I know how your mind works when it comes to women. You like me," she shot him a teasing look, pushing one shot glass towards him before taking her own and downing it in one go.

“That’s, that’s, that’s utterly preposterous!” Rodney grabbed the shot and slammed it. Then rested his forehead on his arm. “Oh dear God, there goes another IQ point,” he muttered into the bar. “And I have work….” One of the Jack Russells took that moment to sit still and cock its head. He sat bolt upright, his eyes wide, and started digging in his jacket for his pen. “Paper! I need paper! Mac!” He snapped his fingers and held his hand out, and Mac supplied him with a blank order ticket. Rodney immediately started scribbling formulae in his blocky but tiny handwriting. “I hope this makes sense when I’m sober,” he mumbled.

"I hope you remember this when you're sober," Laura leaned against his arm, ostensibly to get a look at what he was writing but also because the tease in her just couldn't resist. "What is that McKay?" she asked, breathing hotly in his ear.

Rodney glanced at Cadman, then did an exaggerated double-take as she really invaded his space, and for a second all the little pinging thoughts in his head disappeared like they were sucked into a black hole, leaving behind a vapour trail of Cuervo Gold. “Um, ruh-remember, um….” He glanced back at what he was just scribbling and felt a brief stab of panic because, for a moment, it looked like Chinese to him. “This?” The word came out squeakier than anything Sheppard could produce. “It’s, ah, something for … ZedPM’s, stretch them out … longer….”

"That's ... cle-ver," Cadman practically purred the word, her eyes meeting his. Had they always been that blue? A few moments passed before she came back to herself and realised she'd been staring at Rodney. Glancing away on the pretext of getting more drinks, she gave herself a mental shake. "What are you doing Laura?" she thought, vague hints of panic bubbling to the surface. "Flirting with McKay? Have you lost your mind?!" Looking back at him again, she couldn't help but grin at his bewildered expression. "Still ... it is fun ... and what's the harm?" Shifting just a little closer, Laura ran a finger lightly over the back of his hand. "I bet you're clever at lots of things ... Rodney."

Rodney swallowed audibly as his brain flitted between raw numbers, a panicked voice babbling, holy crap, a gorgeous woman is blatantly flirting with me, and a louder voice bellowing, run away – it’s Lieutenant Cadman! His external voice let out a very unintelligent sounding umm followed by, “I … am?” Then his snark gene kicked in gear. “Okay, this is just, just, just….” His hands fluttered wildly before doing a ‘time-out’ sign. “You’re freaking me out here!” Actually, he was freaking himself out because he was – oh dear God – enjoying it. He glanced around for any witnesses and was so glad Sheppard wasn’t there. Because, seriously, he’d never hear the end of it.

"I'm freaking you out?" Cadman returned, even her level of alcohol induced nonchalance not enough to completely cushion the hurt. "Oh, you're in trouble here girl," she thought. No reason to be upset that Rodney seemed less than impressed with her attempts at harmless flirting. Unless it wasn't actually harmless? "No, no, no ... don't even go there Laura!" she sternly ordered herself. This was the trouble with having been in someone's head. Despite the outward, snarky facade Cadman knew that Rodney was actually a pretty decent guy ... more than decent. But obviously he wasn't looking at her in the same light. Laura shot Rodney an annoyed look - whether directed at him or just a carryover from being angry with herself wasn't important. That one glance was enough to have her watching him closer. He looked a little ... blue. "Breathe McKay," she ordered, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking him lightly. If he hyperventilated and passed out she'd never hear the end of it.

Rodney latched onto the bar like a drowning man latching onto a piece of flotsam. “Okay. Yes. Breathe. Breathing is good. In. Out. In….” He swallowed again and gave her a sickly grimace. He really really hoped he was reading her wrong, because if this was genuine flirting…. “Oh dear God,” he let out in one explosive burst. And grabbed his beer because she looked, well, mad. And he knew she could kick his ass.

"Relax McKay," Cadman said dismissively, deliberately not meeting his eyes so there'd be no chance he'd realise she was upset ... assuming he'd notice which he probably wouldn't. "I'm not about to jump you ... or anyone who's that horrified at the mere thought. Your virtue is safe with me." Suddenly feeling far too sober, Laura signalled for Mac to bring her another tequila shot. Downing it quickly didn't seem to help the litany of thoughts running through her head. Rejection Rodney McKay style! She could almost laugh if it didn't make her feel so pathetic, a condition probably not helped by the amount of alcohol she'd already consumed. "Is he actually scared of me?" the thought sat low at the back of her mind, making it easy for Laura to stomp on it before it took over. "Another place not to go tonight Laura," she told herself firmly. Pasting a smile on her face, Cadman finally looked at Rodney. "So ... how's that chaos thing now?"

Rodney blinked at her a few times. “Um, ah, um….” He didn’t hear any yapping in his head. “Better.” He found his notes and had no idea what he had been writing. He shrugged with one shoulder, his ever present crooked grimace in place, and muttered, “I didn’t say horrifying.” Then he felt his face get really warm and tried to hide it behind his, whoa, now empty beer glass.

Cadman shot him a quick look, noticing immediately how red his face was. The beginnings of a smile appeared on her face as she worked out the implications. Glancing around and noticing how busy the club had gotten gave Laura an idea. "Come on," she said, sliding down from her stool. She swayed, staggered slightly and quickly grabbed Rodney to hold herself steady. "I'm a little drunk," she noted semi seriously like it would be news to anyone. Her head still spinning, Laura leaned more heavily against Rodney, resting her forehead on his chest. Frowning, she mumbled into his shirt "What was I saying?"

“You’re drunk?” Oh, now that was brilliant, he thought and mentally slapped himself. He managed to slide off his stool and one, not manage to tip over himself and, two, not knock the lieutenant over. “Yeah, I think you need to call it a night,” he said as he awkwardly clasped her shoulders and gently pushed her a little more upright. “Okay?” He fidgeted for a moment, glanced around for witnesses, then stuck his elbow out like a gentleman. “Can I walk you home, at least?”

Laura frowned in confusion, looking at his arm and then back into his eyes. The only thought in her head now was wow. "You can," she agreed, trying to appear casual as she wrapped a hand around his arm and shifted in close to his side. Closing her eyes for a moment until the world felt a little steadier, she smiled. "Let's go."

Rodney quickly stuffed his note in his jacket pocket and carefully headed for the door. When Cadman leaned even more into him for support he couldn’t stop the big, goofy grin that lit his face. He saw a few people eyeing them with knowing little grins of their own, and surprisingly it didn’t annoy him. Hey, he was the one with a gorgeous woman on … his … arm….

Holy crap! Did I just think …?!?

His steps faltered a moment as they got to the door and he felt the panic settling in again. The yapping pack in his brain was back, full force, and funny – it had nothing to do with physics. Well, maybe some of it, all that crap about polarization and opposites attracting and oh this is so not going through my head right now. He glanced down at Cadman and stammered out quite a few unintelligent sounding, well, sounds before finally saying in one quick burst, “Yup, just gonna, you know, make sure you get back to your quarters without tripping over any planters. You know the Ancients and their planters – any open space and they just had to put one. Damn nuisance, if you ask me. And the things are all empty now, so what use are they? Decorative garbage cans? I’d say ashtrays, but there’s no smoking here, and oh dear God, I’m babbling like a fool, aren’t I?”

"Hmm?" Cadman said distractedly. Of course she'd been listening as they walked but she hadn't really registered Rodney's specific words, lost in her thoughts. "I like your rambling ... it's sexy." Laura looked up and then suddenly stopped. He looked shocked. "I said that aloud, didn't I?" She gulped, tried for a teasing smile that didn't quite work, and then decided to just power on through. Clutching his arm a little tighter, Laura tugged, getting them both back into motion.

Rodney jerked forward, his mouth gaping as he was still processing what she said. Okay, no one’s ever called his rambling sexy. Annoying, yes. Whiney, yes. Over the top or too dumbed down, yes. And usually accompanied by eye rolling and eventually a growled shut up, Rodney…. But sexy?

"Remind me never to drink that many tequilas in one night," Cadman muttered a few minutes later when they were standing at her door.

“You got it,” he mumbled back. He glanced around and was glad the hallway was empty. He carefully detached his arm from hers, and since he really had no idea what he should do next because - hello, really really weird turn of events there - he awkwardly but lightly bumped her shoulder with his. “Well, um, ah, here we are, all safe and sound.” He pointed back over his shoulder and swallowed. “I should, ah, get back to my, um lab – left a few things, um, on. My work never ends, you know.”

"Thank you Rodney," Laura hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning up to press an almost shy kiss to his cheek. Not waiting for his reaction, she turned, swiped open the door and almost ran inside, willing the door to close quickly behind her. Leaning against it, she stood, listening for his leaving footfalls ... a few moments passed before they finally came. Sliding down the door to sit on the floor Laura groaned and rested her still spinning head back. "Nice one Laura!" she scolded herself. "What the hell was that?" Groaning again, she added "and Oh God, please let McKay not remember any of that tomorrow." Vain hopes she knew were destined for failure. It didn't matter ... all she really had to do was find the old Laura Cadman again ... and get rid of the one who'd claimed control over her actions for the evening ... before the next time she saw Rodney.

Rodney stared at the closed door for nearly a minute before turning and heading down the corridor, his hand on his cheek. “That did so not just happen,” he muttered as he shook his head. In his mind the surprise from that was just as shocking as getting shot in the ass with an arrow….

He stopped in the middle of the empty hall and glanced around. He was just going to head back to his own quarters, but when he realized it was practically on the other side of this particular section of the city, he decided to head to his lab. It was closer. As he wandered off one of the yapping Jack Russells in his mind piped in with the brief thought I wonder if that was planned before another drowned it out with something, well, useful.

Wednesday, 15th April | 0830 hours | Mess Hall

Leia Mahanay woke up, still holding the shirt that Lorne had given her to blow her nose on and hurried to start her day. She stood underneath the spray of the shower, feeling the water pour over her. Her head pounded and she felt like crap. She hadn't cried over anything in a good number of years... why the hell now?

Dr. Daniel Jackson. She thought she was in love with him. She was in love with him, right? Although.... Lorne... Well, she definitely felt something for him. Maybe had for some time and just didn't cotton on until now. But still ... Dr. Jackson hurt her. Ignored her feelings. Hadn't noticed all the things she bent over backwards to do for him. She growled, punching the wall.

Leia quickly washed herself, getting dressed and put in her radio, contacting Lorne. "Evan? This is Leia. I want breakfast," she said, slightly demanding.

"Right now?" Evan looked up from the personnel files he'd been reading since 0600 hours with a frown. She sounded ... annoyed and he could only hope it wasn't a belated reaction to his behaviour of the previous evening. "I can meet you in the Mess in ten minutes," he offered. "How's that?"

"I- Yes. That's great. Sorry. I- Uhm... I'm sorry. Didn't mean to be so demanding," she said. "Ten Minutes," Leia confirmed.

“I'll see you there,” Lorne signed off. Scribbling down a few notes regarding the file he’d been reading and marking his place, Evan stacked up the files and locked them all back up in his filing cabinet. Closing and locking his office door behind him he headed for the Mess Hall.

“Leia,” Evan arrived a few minutes later to find her pacing in the corridor outside the Mess. She looked a little agitated but not as troubled as the previous night ... although, as far as the Major could tell she hadn't slept well.

"Evan," she echoed, softly smiling at him as he caught her in a moment of reflection outside the mess hall. "Glad you made it," Leia told him, softening the hard gaze that she'd gotten while she thought about what happened. They walked into the Mess Hall together, Leia fighting the urge to hug his arm.

Moments later, breakfast selected, Lorne led the way to a table near the corner of the room. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked once they were both seated, hoping the question wouldn't have them revisiting the awkward ending of the previous night.

"I'm ok. Tired," she said, giving him a brief smile. "Better than last night, so that's got to be a plus, right?" Leia asked, feeling stupid for letting him see her like that... for being so weak.

"Don't worry about last night Leia," Evan said quietly. "I've already forgotten all about it ... well, not the good bits of course," he added, shooting her a teasing grin.

She frowned, looking confused for a moment then grinned at him. "I like that... selective memory loss. Must be a good skill to have," Leia teased back.

"Comes in handy especially for those times when a mission hasn't gone exactly according to plan," Lorne acknowledged. He looked at Leia for a moment, not sure how to say it but feeling the need to check their status. Things had shifted between them the previous night before either of them was ready and Evan could only hope it hadn't damaged their relationship ... current, or future. "So ... we're good?" he asked uncertainly. "Still friends?"

Rather than answer Leia's attention seemed taken with something by the entrance. Glancing over there Lorne only saw Daniel and Colonel Carter, looking very chummy together. Meeting Daniel's eyes, Evan wordlessly invited the two to join them, thinking both he and Leia could do with the chance to spend time together without it being just the two of them.

Wednesday, 15th April | 0900 hours | Mess Hall

Daniel and Sam entered the Mess Hall unashamedly holding hands as they joined the serving line. They had left Club Thirty-Nine the night before with passions heightened but logic prevailing leading them to stop at Daniel's quarters first and get an overnight kit put together for him. Even that had carried an intimacy to it as Sam helped him pack with the occasional shared kiss or teasing comment. Arriving back at Sam's quarters Daniel had raided Sam's stash of wines while she went to change and make other mysterious preparations. They had not rushed into lovemaking, spending some time talking and drinking their wine. Both had need to calm nerves after so many years of longing for one another. Eventually though, they had retired to Sam's candle lit bedroom and spent a heavenly night exploring one another, making love, and sealing a years' old bond.

Nothing that passed prepared Daniel for the awe and joy of waking up the next morning entangled with the bedclothes and Sam. They had enjoyed another glorious round of lovemaking although the pace was somewhat more frenetic than it had been the previous night. Hunger and duty had finally driven them from the bed and into a shower before leaving Sam's quarters. Discretion would be the order of the day once they officially signed in for their day's shift, but for now, holding hands and loving looks were still the order of the day.

Sam shared another look with Daniel. Her lips curled into a small smile. Then she gave him a nudge, hurrying toward the serving line when her stomach growled once more. With some reluctance she slid her hand out of his, and reached for a single tray for them to share. Her other hand rested against his back, for just a moment, and as he reached for fresh fruit, Sam wrinkled her nose at him, although her eyes were sparkling. Without a word, she leaned past him and took up two plates of eggs and sausages. It was a morning for more filling nourishment than melons and berries could provide.

Once through the serving line, Daniel picked up the single tray they were sharing, and glanced around. Instinct made Daniel want to keep Sam to himself. It was a reaction that was as old as mankind. The male wanting his mate kept from other males. Yet civilized reason prevailed and when Daniel's eyes were caught by his CO who signalled them over to his table, manners made it impossible to shun the invitation. Nodding to where Evan sat with Dr. Mahanay, Daniel led the way through the mix of tables with Sam trailing behind having paused long enough to fix their coffees. Reaching their table, the archaeologist nodded a greeting to both with a friendly smile and a curious expression regarding his CO's date.

"Evan, Leia, mind if we join you?"

"We don't mind, do we Leia?" Evan looked to his companion, expecting to see a smiling agreement. So not the case ... in fact if he had to guess, Lorne was pretty sure she was boiling with anger. "Over what?" Evan thought, looking from her to Daniel and Sam and then back again.

Leia looked at him as he signalled them over, eyes wide, nose flaring in rage. How could he?! She forced herself to breathe, lips curving into a smile. "Of course not. Good morning, Colonel, Daniel. How are you doing today?" she asked sweetly, hiding her rage beneath a mask of politeness.

Oblivious to Leia's shift in mood, Sam couldn't stop herself from looking at Daniel and smiling. It was a small, secretive lifting of her mouth as her eyes sparkled at him, recalling the previous evening. "We're doing well," she answered, still looking at Daniel.

Evan wasn't stupid ... despite Leia's open, friendly smile, he knew something was going on. Putting it all together had him groaning inwardly at the way fate had played this one. Lorne was 'in serious like' for a woman who was in love with his team 2IC. The obvious changed status between Daniel and Sam must have set Leia off, both last night and again this morning. Suddenly the whole thing had gotten a lot more complicated ... and Evan wasn't sure what he should do next.

Daniel's eyes visibly softened as he returned Sam's gaze, "We're doing great. How are things with you two?" He was not sure where to go beyond small-talk for the moment, but decided that would suffice although he added, "If we're interrupting something, we can move tables?"

"No!" Lorne spoke before Leia could say anything. He didn't really know what was going on but was pretty sure Leia would be angry with herself if she let something slip in a moment of understandable upset ... better to just power through and get finished so he could talk to her later. Smiling weakly when everyone looked at him in surprise Evan shrugged. "Ah ... I just meant ... you weren't interrupting ... anything ... much." Trying to catch Leia's eyes, Lorne raised an eyebrow, conveying hopefully the right message. "I'm just trying to help ... speak up if I'm wrong."

Leia looked at Evan with a slight glare as he shouted 'No' and brought the attention of the entire mess hall on them. If she could've gotten away with it, she would've shoved her fork into his thigh. She fixed a smile on her face. "You certainly don't have to move... Like Evan's rather excitable explanation, we'd enjoy some company. You're not interrupting at all," Leia told them, grasping his hand and bringing it to the top of the table, showing that she could be nauseatingly cute too. "We were merely enjoying our breakfast, and each others' company," she said, eating her toast and acting like absolutely everything was right as rain.

Evan winced at Leia's glare. "Okay," he thought. "Way to stuff that one up Evan!" Squeezing her hand, he turned to Daniel and Sam. "That's right," he smiled weakly. "Two ah ... friends enjoying breakfast ... together."

Even the normally oblivious Daniel now detected an undercurrent he could not place, however, extracting himself and Sam from the situation gracefully did not seem possible at the moment. He stirred a dollop of heavy cream into his coffee while he sorted his thoughts for a safe avenue of conversation. "So ... Evan ... any thoughts on our new team? Maybe we should consider getting together soon for lunch?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Lorne agreed, grateful for the change of subject and shift of focus away from him and Leia. "I've got an idea for one of the vacant spots ... we should talk about it some more."

Leia thinned her lips as Lorne just announced that they were only friends. He said he was interested last night... just because Daniel Jackson was sitting right there with that woman, he changed his mind? She pulled her hand away, picking up her coffee and drinking it as they made plans. "How is that coming anyway? The team rebuilding, that is.... I know you never said anything about it... so if I'm crossing a line, you'll let me know, right?" she asked Lorne, her voice still pleasant, but acting even more distant.

Evan didn't miss the additional distance in Leia's voice ... rather than being angry with Daniel anymore it seemed she was now annoyed with him. Not something he could fix with Daniel and Sam as an audience ... he'd just have to speak with her later. Right now the only thing Lorne was sure of was that a major clearing of the air between he and Leia was needed ... before she could plaster everything over with that mask she'd spoken of in the past.

"It's okay," he told Leia with a casual smile. "You're not out of line. I've got ideas for replacing Parker and Moreno ... just haven't had a chance to talk to anyone yet. First priority right now is reviewing personnel files ... so there's little chance for an off world mission anyway." Grinning at Daniel, Evan added "but don't worry ... it's still up there on my list."

Daniel returned his CO's smile before polishing off his coffee. The entire time they had been visiting, he and Sam had been picking at their breakfasts, often sharing from one plate to the other. Now, with undercurrents of tension rife at the table, he rose to his feet and held out his hand to assist Sam to hers, "Sounds great, Evan...just give a yell when you want to discuss anything. I need to get to my office and I promised to walk this lovely lady to hers first so we should head out." Turning slightly he nodded to Leia as well, "Always a pleasure to see you too, Leia. You both have a great morning." Sam added her own leave taking with a pretty smile before helping Daniel clear their soiled breakfast dishes and taking his arm as they left the Mess.

"Well ... that was awkward," Lorne acknowledged, turning from watching them leave to look at Leia.

"You're the one that made it that way," she snapped at him, rising to her feet. "Look. I have to go. With Dr. Weir still in the Infirmary, my workload had increased exponentially," Leia told him. "Take care of my tray, would you? I've got to get my day started," she said as she exited the Mess Hall, her long strides cutting the distance to the door down to almost nothing.

Wednesday, 15th April | 0945 hours | Nearest balcony to the Mess Hall

Major Lorne strode quickly after Leia, following her away from the Mess Hall but staying out of sight for the moment.

Leia had made her excuses ... busy, lots to keep up with because of Doctor Weir being absent ... etc. etc. etc. and left before Evan had a chance to say anything. Hence him following her now.

When he was close enough and the timing was right, he put a hand under her elbow and steered her out a nearby door, quickly thinking it 'closed' behind him. Luckily this wasn't one of his ATA lag times, everything working smoothly to have them standing on the balcony - somewhere private where he could talk and hopefully get some answers.

Leia turned and gave him a hateful look. She opened her mouth to stay something as they were deposited on one of the balconies.

Letting go of Leia's arm, Evan walked to the railing, holding on to the edge as he looked down to the ocean below.

"You wanna tell me what that was all about?" he asked quietly, turning and leaning against the edge with his arms folded across his chest.

"You want to explain why I'm going to be behind today? Because I don't have time for this nonsense," she said, heatedly. "And didn't your Mother ever teach you it's impolite to accost a lady?" she snapped, eyes full of fire.

"She did," Evan agreed, feeling the beginnings of anger starting to bubble away inside. What had her interest ... her participation in that kiss last night really been about? "But she also taught me never to leave an argument unresolved and from where I'm standing this is starting to look a lot like we’re arguing. So I'll say again, what was all of that about? For that matter, what has any of this," he gestured a hand between the two of them, "been about Leia?"

"You're the one who said we were merely friends. Friends don't kiss each other the way we kissed. If anyone's confused, it'd be you," she said haughty and crossing her arms in front of her. "As for the distance in the Mess Hall, it was jealousy. That stupid, weak, emotion, ok? I was jealous!" Leia said, losing her cool.

"I said we were friends - and not merely - because I thought we were and because I didn't think you'd want our personal business aired so publicly," Evan shot back with a hint of that inner anger showing through in his voice. "And the only thing that's confusing me right now is why you participated so enthusiastically last night when clearly you're in love with Daniel!"

Leia looked at him then reared her hand back and slapped him. "You don't know a damn thing about me!" she yelled.

Evan's head turned with the force of her slap ... she hadn't held back and he felt the sting across his cheek, no doubt now sporting the visible red impression of her hand. "I'll give you that one because I was out of line," he said grimly, hoping she got the point that he could have stopped her ... and that he would if she tried that again in the future. "You're angry about Daniel, Leia ... I get that," he turned away, moving back to his position looking out across the ocean. "What I don't get is where I fit in ... was I just some kind of stand in while you waited for him to notice you?"

Leia gritted her teeth and panted, realizing what she'd done. She looked at him as her eyes filled with tears and her face crumpled. "No!" she yelled. "No, you were never just some damn stand in. I don't know what I feel about Daniel... but I- You're the only one who's seen me! Who notices me, the real me! And I don't know how to handle that!"

"You can start by talking to me now," Evan said firmly. Leaving the balcony railing, he walked to her, not stopping until they were toe to toe. Tipping her head up gently with one hand he looked for the expression in her eyes, something inside relaxing when he saw real emotion swirling there. "Just ... talk to me Leia ... let me know you."

Leia let out a squeak, tears welling up in her eyes as she refused to cry again. "You don't want to know the real me... trust me on that one. I'm petty, pathetic and weak... I don't let myself feel and then when I do, it explodes like right now..." she told him, letting him look at her, appraise her.

"You're not weak Leia," Evan returned, pulling her into him and hugging her close, "or pathetic ... or petty." Resting his chin atop her head he let the silence calm them both for a few moments before speaking again. "I do want to know you Leia ... the stuff you want to show me as well as the stuff you seem determined to hide. But you have to want that too because I'm not going to force something from you."

Leia let him take her into his arms, shaking as she held in the tears. She breathed, calming herself down, forcing herself to breathe again. "You wouldn't be forcing me... I want... I need to be honest with you," she told him. "I might have been in love with Daniel... and as much as it hurts... I don't think I am anymore."

"You knew him before you came here?" Evan asked, wanting ... needing for her to explain it to him.

Leia nodded. "He was my teacher... In University. How pathetic is that? I guess... He was the first one I'd ever really loved... and to have him still not return it, after all the things I did for him to notice me..." she trailed off.

Although he was curious about Leia's statement - the things she thought she'd done to attract Daniel's attention - Evan felt it wasn't important for him to know the specifics ... he had to trust that she'd tell him if it had an impact on the two of them. "I'm not sure if this is any consolation right now but I don't think Daniel is aware of any of this," Evan said, pulling back a little so he could look down at her. "He's a little more ... oblivious than the average male. Although," Evan grinned suddenly, "I think even he picked up on the undercurrents between the two of us ... especially the fact that you looked like you wanted to hit me back there."

Leia sniffed. "Not hit... stab you with my fork," she told him, pouting slightly as he looked down at her. "I just... I worked so hard on helping him, going that extra mile for a department that's not even mine, and invited him to lunch and all this stuff..." Leia told him. "But I never made him anything," she said quickly, trying to defend herself.

"Your fork huh?" Evan held back a smile, sensing she wouldn't see the humour in the situation. "I appreciate you holding back on that urge." Stepping back, Evan grabbed her hand and guided her across to sit on a bench someone had installed for just that purpose. Pulling her back into his side, with his arm around her, Evan relaxed back, stretching his feet out in front of him. "So ... only I get the home made treatment huh?"

Leia nodded, knowing that it was actually kinda funny, but unable to summon the urge to smile. "I- You're welcome," she told him, taking his hand and let him guide her to the bench. They sat down and she wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling herself closer. Leia nodded and swallowed. "Yes. Only you," she told him.

"Well ... I'm glad to hear it," Evan replied, content to sit for a while just being there with her. Eventually he remembered duty ... hers and his and sighed. "Time to get back to work?"

Leia frowned and nodded. "I suppose it is," she sighed, rubbing her face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you," Leia told him, feeling very bad about that.

"If I didn't think I deserved it I would have stopped you," Evan replied. "So forget about it." Removing his arm from around her reluctantly, Lorne got up, holding out a hand to her.

Leia frowned and then nodded, letting him pull her up. "I- I don't think you really deserved it much... but I just... It happened," she said, embarrassed at her actions.

"Well I guess you'll just have to kiss it and make it all better then," Evan said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

Leia gave him a shy smile, lowering her eyes for a moment, and gently kissed his cheek. "All better now?" she asked, looking at him.

"I might need a repeat dose later but I'm good to go," Evan replied teasingly, charmed by her sudden shyness. "I just wish your hurts were as easy to comfort," he added, using his hold on her hand to tug her in for another hug.

Leia chuckled and nodded, letting him hold her as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Squeezing her tightly, Evan lifted her off her feet, grinning when she giggled delightedly. Setting her down gently, he looked at her for a moment, hesitating, a whole host of thoughts running through his head. His promise of the night before that for now they'd be just friends. His feeling that she needed time to sort out her feelings for Daniel, despite the fact that he believed she also had feelings for him. The self doubt and misery in her eyes when she'd admitted that nothing she'd done had even gotten the attention of Daniel as the object of her unrequited love. "Is it," he began, stopping and then starting again, deciding to just go for simple and blunt. "Can I kiss you? Just one simple kiss ... nothing more."

Leia looked at him and nodded. "I'd really like that, Evan..." she told him, tilting her head towards his and moving closer as their lips met gently at first then more urgently, both melting into the kiss before they reluctantly broke contact.

Evan tried to keep it light but, even with his mind firmly on controlling the situation, found himself in danger of being pulled back into that passionate world of the prior evening. Clearly even a simple kiss wouldn't be simple between the two of them. "Okay ... work," Evan said lightly, keeping his arm around her as he turned them towards the door and then out into the corridor back amidst the city's residents . He wasn't on duty yet and he figured if Leia minded she'd pull away.

Leia sighed. "Do you think I can call in today? Have a bit of a lay about day?" she asked, teasing him. She hugged him as they walked, passing other residents and most likely starting the rumour mill. But she didn't care. Leia was happy to let others see her.

They walked like that until they reached the crossroads where each would take a different direction. "Thanks for breakfast," Evan said, dropping his arm as he stood in front of her. "It was certainly interesting. Next time I say we go somewhere a little more private ... and lose the company. Deal?"

Leia scoffed at his statement. "You're right. Breakfast was... interesting. In that Chinese curse sort of way. You definitely have a deal," she told him, smirking slightly as she reluctantly started travelling down the hall towards her office. "I'll be taking lunch at One-Thirty, in case you'd like to know...." Leia told him with an implied invitation.

"Valuable intel," Evan teased. "I'll check my schedule." He stood for a moment and watched her walk away, waiting to see if she glanced back. When she did, throwing him a wave before disappearing around the corner, he found himself smiling. "You are in so much trouble," he thought ... not that he could do anything to stop it now. Leia had him hooked and all that remained was for him to find out where she intended to lead him ... and where he could lead her. Shaking himself, Evan turned and headed for his own office.

Wednesday, 15th April | 1130 hours | Stargate Command | Conference Room

Sitting in the conference room at the SGC the next day, Jack waited for his two invitees to arrive. He'd sent them each an invitation late the previous evening before starting the process of shutting down his office in Washington and transferring everything he needed back to Colorado. Jack had no idea who'd be taking over his role at this stage. He had to concern himself only with setting up a new department - a task that seemed mammoth even without having to do it in a whole other galaxy. Still, he'd have help ... some of that coming from the people he was waiting for.

Striding up the stairs to the conference room, Darek wondered why he had been ordered to report there. The only thing he could assume was that something had been grossly wrong with the long end of mission report from the investigation. Only 30 minutes before he and McKinnon had been discussing options and details for their upcoming mission. The details of the first survey of the Aqueduct had been fascinating and the problem rested with the ancient systems that canalised the water up in the mountains. They'd need to survey them in detail to find all the problems that needed to be fixed. Darek was still sure that there was a pumping mechanism hidden somewhere, that brought the water up to the level of the Aqueduct. He pushed all the musings aside, right now he'd have to see what had gone wrong with the report or some investigation detail.

Entering the conference room he saw General O'Neill was already there. Darek snapped to attention. "Captain Sterling reporting as ordered, Sir!"

"At ease Captain," O'Neill said, never one to stand on ceremony unless the situation called for it.

A moment later, almost on the heels of the General's statement, Dr. Garman strolled into the room. After returning from Atlantis, Madison had almost immediately gotten on a plane as soon as the post mission debriefing and physical exams were completed. She had flown to San Diego and from there to South America. She had only just returned to the static INEST location in Baltimore in time to receive the invitation. She walked into the conference room looking tanned and healthy, but just a tiny bit travel worn. "It's not that I'm not touched you missed me so much, but honestly General, we have got to stop meeting like this." Her head inclined, she studied him. There was something in his eyes she couldn't entirely define. "Okay, what did Daniel do this time?"

"Nothing ... that I know of," O'Neill replied, his expression amused. "You know something I don't?"

"Nope." She grinned crookedly. "You know as well as I do that if there is any way for him to get in trouble, he will. So I just naturally assumed it was something he'd done."

"True," Jack agreed with a smirk. "Not this time ...," he paused and then continued. "Well, thank you both for dropping everything for this," O'Neill began. "Effective yesterday, you're looking at the new leader of the Atlantis Office of Homeworld Security."

"Congratulations, Sir." Darek was not sure if congrats were really in order, because this post was probably the political consequence of the events in Atlantis.

"Thank you Captain," Jack said blandly, still not sure he should be excited with the prospect. Sure, he got to relocate to Atlantis - could hang out with Daniel and Carter whenever he wanted. But it came with a pretty heavy cost ... unearthing what was likely to be an interconnected mess of conspiracy. That part he could do without.

"That's ... very interesting," a single, elegantly shaped brow rose in question. "Not to sound disrespectful to The Man," Maddie drawled, "but why are you telling us this?" Anticipation and curiosity tingled through her, starting up her spine and settling at the base of her skull, like an itch she couldn't quite be rid of. The doctor's head inclined, she studied him closely while she waited.

"I'm glad you asked," Jack replied. "How would you both like to come back to Atlantis ... work for me in the new department?"

If the General had said he needed assistance in grilling some old army-boots for a nice BBQ, the surprise could hardly have felt greater for Darek. He bit down the immediate question 'Why?' because it made him realise that it might be connected all too closely with the events of the past weeks. "Sir - what exactly would working for the new department entail?" he inquired instead.

Madison looked at Darek, and then at Jack. With a shrug, she hooked a thumb at Sterling. "What he said," was her response. "Atlantis already has a fully staffed Medical Department."

"They do," Jack agreed. "And from what I understand they're kept pretty busy running the current program of activity. The IOA is keen for us to broaden our relationship building across the galaxy so we'll be providing both military and medical assistance, liaising with the city's Diplomatic Operations department. I'm thinking we'd do a combination of tagging along with Carter's teams or if it's something big enough we'll run it in house. On top of that we're charged with protecting the internal security of the city. I'll pick up a couple of extra staff from those posted to Atlantis and we have the Hammond and crew at our disposal - once she's been repaired." The General paused to give them a moment to absorb the information before continuing. "The two of you were a part of the original investigation and you both did well under difficult circumstances. I could use that kind of attitude for what's ahead. So ... comments?"

The doctor's lips pursed while she considered it. "So this would be more of a permanent placement," she stated unnecessarily, merely thinking out loud as it were. She glanced at Darek, hoping to gauge his feelings on the proposal. Whatever he was thinking, she couldn't exactly read it - but then she did barely know the man. Instead, she shifted her attention back to the General. "Well, I suppose turning you down would be the height of bad manners." One corner of her mouth quirked into a slight grin. "When would we be expected to leave?"

"Within a couple of days - a week tops," Jack replied. "The Daedalus will be ready to ship out later today with additional supplies and personnel. The basic setup for the new department has to be in place before they arrive. It's three weeks for them so that gives us two weeks to get organised."

Darek had listened to the exchange between the Doctor and the General. Permanent stationing in Atlantis - it needed a moment for him to take it all in. The information about when to leave and the time for the Daedalus he just absorbed, they were just details for the issue. He recalled the conversation he had had with Major Lorne only days ago. When the Major had indicated that Darek might be interested in a transfer to Atlantis Darek had not really believed it would ever happen or be possible. Three days later he found out the contrary. Inwardly Darek nodded, some part of him already had known the decision: he wouldn't say no to the most incredible journey there could be. "If we have less than a week, Sir - the logistics will be quite a lot to handle." he said, turning to the problems that were already in discussion. "How much of equipment and personal will need to be shipped?"

"The logistics guys have that already under control," the General revealed. "They've probably been working on it the whole time we were on Atlantis - no way they could get the Daedalus ready so quickly otherwise." Meeting Darek's eyes, Jack continued. "I take it from your answer that you're on board Captain," he concluded before shifting to raise a questioning eyebrow at Doctor Garman. "And avoiding the appearance of bad manners means you're committed too Doc."

Both nodded their agreement.

"Excellent," Jack smiled faintly before turning his mind to what still needed to be done. "In that case, take the next four days to get yourselves organised. We'll gate back to Atlantis first thing Monday morning."

"Four days." Madison blew out a sigh as she considered everything that would need to be done in that amount of time. Hopping overseas for a week or two at a time was no issue - that she was accustomed to. Hopping to another galaxy for an indefinite period? That was a little more troublesome in the scheme of packing and closing up her apartment. "Right. Four days. That should be a... piece of cake." Already her mind was making a list of everything that needed to be done and calculating how long it would take.

"I guess this one of those 'The hour waits on no one' situations, Dr. Garman," Darek said in good humour. Getting ready to leave for another Galaxy in only four days was something akin to madness, he admitted but then would four days or four months really make all that much of a difference?

"I’ll see you both back here in four days then," Jack concluded the meeting, happy with the result.

Wednesday, 15th April | 1400 hours | General O’Neill’s temporary office, SGC

“You wanted to see me General?” Vala Mal Doran stood in the doorway of the office Jack had borrowed for the week, a curious expression on her face.

“Vala,” Jack replied, getting up and motioning for her to come in. He waited until she’d taken a seat before retaking his own, looking at her assessingly before speaking again. “I heard you’re working with Colonel Reynolds’s team these days. How’s that working out?”

“Well ... it’s not SG1 but ... its fine,” Vala said lightly.

O’Neill didn’t miss the hesitation though, nor the fact that Vala had become a lot more subdued than he remembered her as being. “So you wouldn’t like a little vacation then?” he asked her.

“Vacation?” Vala’s interest perked up immediately. As was her way, she’d known the Daedalus was preparing for more than just a standard supply run to Atlantis for a while, and with the General’s arrival and then the announcement of his posting to a new department, Vala quickly put the pieces together. “I might be interested,” she said evasively. In her experience it never paid to be too enthusiastic about anything ... that only gave the opposition something to hold over you during bargaining.

“I have it on good authority ... mine actually, that a certain Colonel might be missing home,” Jack shared while amusement rose to the forefront of his mind at her guarded response.

“Really?” Vala frowned in confusion. “I thought Samantha would be happier now that Daniel’s been posted to Atlantis permanently.”

“Not Carter,” Jack shot back, shaking his head at her obtuseness. “Mitchell. He’s stuck there while his ship gets repairs ... looking at another couple of months at least. He could do with a pick me up.” Jack deliberately kept to himself the news that the Hammond would be stationed in the Pegasus galaxy permanently, thinking that was something Mitchell should tell her himself.

“Well, it’s nice that you thought of me General but I hardly think my visiting will cheer him up,” Vala returned. “I’m sure even you heard all the way from Washington how excited Colonel Mitchell was to get command of the Hammond. The fact that he managed to damage her so seriously on the maiden voyage won’t have him feeling very generous towards anyone.”

“I think you underestimate the power of a little attention,” Jack smirked, “feminine attention. I have no doubt you’ll be able to take his mind off of practically anything ... if you’re up for a three week journey to get there.”

“My schedule is a little light right now General,” Vala replied blandly. Grinning suddenly with her eyes sparkling, Vala continued. “You know – it’s been a while since I had a good space voyage and you know how fond I am of the Daedalus.”

“No mutinies,” Jack said sternly. “No taking the ship for a joy ride. No trying to trade it for a boxful of trinkets. You behave yourself missy or I’ll have Colonel Caldwell bring you straight back here without the stopover.”

“Spoil sport,” Vala pouted. Meeting Jack’s eyes she couldn’t help but laugh, dropping her bad girl pose with a shrug. “Things have been a little quiet around here lately,” she offered. “Thank you for the invitation General ... I’d be more than happy to take that vacation.”

“Good,” Jack replied. “The Daedalus leaves in two hours.”

“Two hours?” Vala jumped up, horrified. “That’s hardly enough time to freshen up, let alone pack.”

“You best get to it then,” Jack advised kindly.

“Right,” Vala turned to the door, but turned back again quickly. “Thank you General,” she said again before hurrying from the room, leaving Jack’s door swinging in her wake.

“That man has no idea what he’s letting himself if for,” Jack muttered, thinking about his conversation with Mitchell before he’d left Atlantis. “Each to his own,” O’Neill shrugged, and got back to work.

Wednesday, 15th April | 1500 hours | Darek's Quarters

Darek stood in the small quarters and checked over the list of items to pack. A simple box sat on the ground, the things in it would not go with him but were to be send home. Some books were stashed in the box and some other things Darek had picked up in the months he had been stationed here. There were still a few things to decide on.

Darek picked up the cardboard roll that lay on his bunk. It was as long as his forearm, he opened it and fished some rolled papers out of it. He took the time to sort them through. Two of them were maps, copies of old maps, one of them covered with comments and markers all penned down in a tiny cursive writing. The other one was littered with comments and markers in French. Darek shook his head, he had forgotten that he still had those two at all. He should have discarded them a long time ago, after they were not needed any more. For a moment he was tempted to just rip them apart and throw them out, but decided against it. Instead he folded them tightly and stashed them in an envelope, he knew who to send them to. He was quite sure that Heinrich still had the other set, anyway.

The other two papers from the roll were copies two, but copies of two pencil drawings. Darek would have had a hard time to explain why he had them here, or what the drawing of the two warriors on guard meant to him. But then who was going to ask, anyway? Rolling them up again he returned them to the cardboard roll and then put the roll in the lashes on the side of his backpack.

The next on the table was another book. An old, faded copy of “Seven Years in Tibet.” Darek opened it shortly and did a quick check on a photograph, an old black-and-white picture that was lying between the hind pages of book. Opening the book up front his eyes hung on the flowing handwriting on the title page. For a moment he was tempted to put it in with the other books for sending back, but then decided against it. He had taken this book with him on many trips and journeys, so why leaving it behind now? Wrapping it in some plastic bag for protection it got a place in the backpack.

The last thing sitting on the bunk was a stack of photographs, shots taken over the years. Agramonté pass in the Pyrenees on a glowing summer day, the pilgrim’s road to Saint Iago de Compostella at dawn, half a dozen different pictures from places and mountains in the Dolomites, the Diamir-face of Nanga Parbat, Rongbuk Monastery, K2 and Grausinkar seen from afar. Between them a picture of Karl, Heinrich and Darek himself standing on a high pass road behind them a chain of white, snow-capped mountains. Darek grinned. That trip had been worth it, all repercussions included. He pushed the pictures back into a tidy stack an packed them away too.

Sitting down on the empty bunk, Darek took a note block and a pen from the box. He still had a letter to write, something he had kept for last. Usually his letters to the old man were easily written, continuing on military history and tactics debates they had, discussing engineering problems they had bounced forth and back, or descriptions of the country and places Darek had been stationed at. This time Darek kept things shorter, to the point, letting the old man know, he’d be out of contact for an unspecified length if time. He knew the old man would understand, he always had. Darek had no idea if he’d be able to write or send a message from Pegasus at all. And even if he could, he’d have to be damn careful, the old man was far too good in asking questions and finding things out. Folding the letter he packed it into the box, then closed the box and penned down the address. Another glance over the room, everything was packed and stowed away. Ready to go.

The door opened after a short knock and Malachi McKinnon looked in. Darek rose from his bunk, walking to the door, accompanying his comrade outside.

Thursday 16th April | 0900 hours | Puddle Jumper - Atlantis and Mainland

Major Lorne strode into the Jumper Bay dead on time, wondering whether Leia would keep him waiting. After their conversation Monday morning Evan has checked the Jumper schedule and reserved a slot for the purpose of keeping up his flight hours. He'd also gotten approval from Colonel Carter for Leia to accompany him, since she was a civilian and her department head was still off duty.

And then they'd had their little ... thing Tuesday evening. Evan still wasn't clear on exactly what it all meant and thankfully when he and Leia had met for breakfast the next day, after some initial angst she'd seemed fine. Their interactions had returned to the more comfortable friendship they'd already established and Lorne had realised he needed to live up to his promise to 'do something fun' with Leia.

He'd dropped a note under her door the previous evening ... disappointed Leia hadn't been there so he could ask her personally.

Leia,

Cut loose departure time 0900 hours ... hope to see you there.

Evan

Throwing his pack in the back of the Jumper, Lorne moved to the pilot’s seat and began checking the systems, waiting for Leia to arrive.

Leia arrived, stowing a bag in the back and went up to the front, silently coming up behind him. "I'm here. Don't leave without me," she told him, gently touching his shoulders with her hands. Since her little.... Fit.... Evan had been nothing but understanding and so very nice. She was looking forward to this trip so very much.

Hearing Leia’s approach before she made her presence known, Lorne allowed her to think she’d managed to sneak up on him.

“You made it,” he swivelled in his seat to look up at her. “Just in time too because I was about to zoom off into the big blue,” Evan smiled, making it obvious he was teasing her. “Take a seat,” he gestured for her to sit beside him in the co-pilot’s position, “and I’ll get us cleared and on the way.”

“Control this is Jumper Two requesting clearance for roof departure,” he turned back to his controls and spoke in his professional voice.

“Jumper Two this is control,” Chuck replied. “Major Lorne, you’re cleared for takeoff.”

“Acknowledged,” Lorne replied. “Leave the light on for us ... Jumper Two, out.”

Turning back to Leia, Evan grinned. “You ready?”

"I was born ready, Evan," she said, teasing him and smiling in excitement as she sat forward, wanting to see everything.

“I’m sure you were,” Evan replied, returning her enthusiastic grin with one of his own. He loved flying the Jumpers and the chance to share that with someone new ... to see them experiencing how amazing the Jumper was only made him appreciate it more.

Activating the systems and receiving instant mental feedback that everything was good to go, Lorne flawlessly guided the ship up and through the open roof. Bursting out in the big blue as he’d called it, Evan looked across at Leia.

“So, where to?” he asked, curious to see what she’d envisaged for their flight.

She looked out the window and then grinned over at him. "High up into the sky and then towards the mainland. Maybe we can see one of the snakes if we look," she suggested, having heard a rumor that they could eat a man in one bite.

“I’ll give you the heights,” Evan agreed as he set the ship on an upward angle that would have them skimming the lower edge of the atmosphere. “Man eating snakes I could do without though ... we’ll have to see what else we can find to entertain you.”

Leia giggled as they went up, loving every minute, and wrote out on her records, reciting it. "Pilot took ship to atmosphere and denied Co-pilot chance to see Man eating snakes. Findings will most likely prove that to be the best option. Mainland flight will commence once pilot has shown Co-Pilot the stars."

Laughing, Evan glanced across and saw Leia diligently playing out her role as record keeper. “You don’t have to do that,” he said lightly, adding when she looked up with a frown. “Keep records,” Lorne clarified. “That was just an excuse ... I would have brought you along regardless. Besides, your first space flight deserves your complete attention.”

Leia grinned at him. "Oh. I know that. I was being facetious." she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him as she laughed happily. "Oh my God!" Leia said in awe, totally blown away and feeling joyful.

As the Jumper broke the atmosphere and transitioned into space, Evan watched for Leia’s reactions as much as he paid attention to his readings. The sky over their second planet was alive with a magnitude of highlights ... five moons, star clusters, nebula ... it really was spectacular. Setting a course that would see them orbit the entire planet, Lorne turned in his chair and just watched Leia’s face.

Leia looked at everything, looking amazed and like a child, watching the circus. "Oh my God," she whispered, one of the lucky few to see such a sight up close like this. She reached out and touched the window. "It feels like you can almost touch it... like it's just there..." Leia whispered in awe.

“Its space,” Evan replied, both amused and delighted with her childlike awe. “It’s always there ... but I know what you mean. Still remember my first space flight in one of these ... don’t expect I’ll ever forget that feeling.”

"Of course it's space... I just haven't ever seen it like this. There were viewports on the Hammond, but I was busy working..." she explained, rolling her eyes.

The Major let Leia absorb the experience as the Jumper completed one revolution around the planet. “Okay, Mainland next,” he announced when they were once again back where they’d started.

Flying back through the atmosphere, Evan set a course for the Athosian settlement that would take them on a wide arc over the surrounding area. They were flying over a thick forest of trees still some distance away when the Jumper suddenly lost power.

“What the ... ?” Lorne took his hands away from the controls and then replaced them, concentrating hard on reactivating the Jumper, but nothing happened. “This is not good,” he muttered grimly as the ship began to dip alarmingly, nearing the canopy of trees. “Come on,” he slammed his hands down on the console, both frustrated and determined to fix the problem before the worst happened.

"Evan?" She asked, looking faintly alarmed. "Evan, what the hell is happening?!" Leia pushed, bracing herself as the Jumper dipped lower and brushed the tree line. "We're going to crash!"

“FUCK! ... we are,” Lorne didn’t even bother to apologise for the uncharacteristic cuss. “Brace yourself,” he ordered grimly, even as he reached over and pressed her head down into the classic crash position, keeping his arm there and using the other to brace himself against the console. Giving up wasn’t in his makeup ... punching thoughts at the Jumper systems in the vain hope he could get the Jumper back to full power, Evan tried to think of anything he could do to improve their odds.

He couldn't, and as the Jumper rocked and shook, time seemed to slow down ... until the ship broke through the trees and then it was dirt and trunks and branches rushing towards them rapidly.

Evan felt the Jumper slam to a halt ... it stopped but he didn’t, momentum carrying him forward and slamming his head into the front view screen. Action and reaction came into play ... bouncing off the screen, Lorne was thrown clear of the pilot’s seat into the centre of the front section.

Without a sound, he finally came to a stop, crumpled on the floor of the Puddle Jumper.

Leia braced herself and felt the bumps and jerks as she squeezed her eyes shut and things just went so quick that it was like she lost time. They finally stopped and she felt Evan pull away as he kept going. She looked up and started panting, trying to calm herself. "Oh shit..." she breathed, looking around.

Lorne lay unmoving, face down on the floor, unconscious in an 'I’m probably not going to wake up any time soon' kind of way.

Leia looked at Lorne and checked him over, pressing on his body and checking for injury. After being properly satisfied, she turned him over. Nasty bruise already forming on his head... possible concussion... Leia sighed and brushed his hair back, hating herself for a moment. She was letting her feelings get in the way of her mission. Evan was a pawn. Ok, sure... he was wonderful. But she had a mission. That was the most important thing. Not her. Not Evan Lorne. She pulled his head into her lap and let him lay there while she sat and thought out her next action.

Thursday 16th April | 1030 hours | Crashed Puddle Jumper - Mainland

Lorne returned to consciousness gradually ... frowning in confusion he wondered why he was lying on the floor and why his head really hurt. Opening his eyes proved more difficult that it should have been and through the fog that was his current mental ability Evan couldn't decide how much he should worry about that.

Putting a hand to his forehead where the pain seemed to be originating from, Lorne winced. "Ouch," he groaned, finally opening his eyes. His vision swam, multiple blurry images finally settling into one person.

"Leia!" Lorne registered a number of things at once ... they were in the Jumper, he'd crashed it, obviously bashing his head on something in the process, and now had said head in the lap of the woman whose life he'd risked trusting his ATA gene when he'd known there was a problem. "Nice one Evan," he thought sarcastically. "Way to impress a woman."

"You okay?" he asked in concern, pushing himself up into a sitting position and manfully biting back the urge to cry like a baby as pain stabbed into the centre of his head. Raising his knees, Evan sat back against the wall and dropped his head down, one hand clenched across his forehead.

As Lorne moved himself around, Leia watched him in relief and fear. "I'm fine. Might have some soreness tomorrow, but I'm fine," she told him, kinda scared and upset that he was hurt. "Are you sure you should be moving? I think you might have a pretty bad concussion there."

"Probably not," Lorne replied weakly, feeling dizzy and in danger of embarrassing himself by revisiting his breakfast. Swallowing hard, he leaned his head against the wall of the Jumper, hoping that everything would settle if he just kept still. Then he'd be able to work out what to do. "Did I get a call through to Atlantis?" he asked Leia suddenly, struggling to remember clearly the few minutes before they'd hit the ground.

Something in Leia's eyes shifted, worry mixing with a certain amount of detachment. "Of course," she lied, testing the waters a little. He hadn't and she wasn't ready for them to arrive. Not yet. "Just relax," Leia told him softly.

"So ... they'll be lookin' for us," Lorne replied, slurring his words just slightly. Frowning, he tried to clear his mind enough to work out when they were likely to be rescued. "Maybe ... two ... hours tops," he suggested uncertainly.

"Yes, Dear," Leia told him softly. "They'll be looking for us. While we wait, I'll keep you awake, ok?" she said. "Tell you a story. A long time ago... there was a little girl. She was raised with purpose, with a mission to protect her country. But the little girl was lonely. She wanted someone on her side... at her side. To help her. But, the little girl did bad things. She murdered, she stole, she let others hurt her so they couldn't hurt others... Because of this, the little girl didn't think that anyone would love her, would care for her...." she continued, leaning against the wall next to him, trying to draw him in.

"What happened to her ... the little girl?" Lorne asked in a low voice, trying to concentrate on what Leia was saying even though his head was throbbing with every heartbeat and all he wanted to do was just close his eyes and sleep.

"She grew up ... did more bad things," Leia said softly. "She fell in love with a wonderful man who never once looked at her. But as luck would have it, she found another that was even more wonderful... They fell in love. He wanted her, not knowing the evil that she did... the evil that had been done to her. He was a defender of what was right and she was a shadow, a non person for her country... both good people, but she was a tool for what the Defender would consider evil. But she wasn't. Right, Evan? Or do you think she was evil?" Leia prompted him, trying to keep him with her.

"What evil was done to her?" Evan asked, taking the question seriously ... needing some kind of basis for deciding whether the evil described was actually evil in practice. "Did she have a choice?"

Leia looked at him, hesitating. "She was never loved. Only trained to be a tool, Evan. No. She never had a choice," she told him, surprised at her own admission. "Well, maybe she was loved... but she was not shown it," Leia answered.

"Never?" Evan frowned, not sure he'd be able to get his head around that even without the raging headache making everything fuzzy. Turning his head slowly, he looked at Leia in confusion. "How old was she when all this started?"

"Six weeks old." Leia said simply.

"So this little girl was taken as a baby and trained her whole life to be whatever the people who took her wanted her to be," Evan stumbled through the meaning behind Leia's story. "And during all that they never showed her any love ... they just used her?" His tone took on an edge of horror ... had this really happened to someone Leia knew or was she talking hypothetical’s to keep him awake and paying attention? "And if she did have a choice?" Evan asked, closing his eyes and feeling himself drift.

"Yes. She was thrown away by her parents and picked up. Like dumpster diving," Leia told him with a bitter smirk. "The little girl was well cared for. I suppose that could be a form of love. But love is weak. It's not useful. So, no. She wasn't. If given a choice, She would do... what felt right," Leia told him, snapping her fingers. "Wake up, Evan!"

"Huh?" Evan snapped his eyes open, wincing when he turned his head too quickly to look at her. "Sorry," he said in a low tone. "Tired ... dizzy." Refocussing on the story, Evan struggled for a moment to recall the last part. "So she'd ... do the right thing?" he asked, interpreting what Leia had said. "She's turn away from evil if she could ... if she had a reason?"

Leia grinned. "Of course. But ... you have to ask yourself ... is it evil just because someone said it was ... or is it good veiled?" she asked, knowing he was slipping away. "Don't be tired or dizzy. Focus Evan."

"Hey ... I'm trying here," Lorne tried to smile, tried to reassure her that he was fine. "Would help if you stopped asking me hard questions!" Taking a moment to think ... well, the best approximation he was capable of right then, Evan went back to her first question. "No ... I don't think the little girl is evil," he said sincerely. "She had no choice and if she did, she'd do things differently. Who would hold that against her?" Trying to get his head around the entire story, Evan continued. "Hopefully as an adult she'd find a way to break out ... not continue to let them use her like that." He lapsed into silence for a moment considering her other question. "Is evil just a label?" he asked. "Is that what you're implying? That an act could be either depending on who's doing the labelling? I don't know Leia ... evil's been around as a concept for a long time ... I think it's a little more than spinning until you can see if from a different side."

"I always ask hard questions," Leia told him with a smirk. As he gave her his rambling answer, she realized in that moment that he would never fulfil her needs as a pawn. Evan Lorne was simply too noble, too good and pure. "You're far too noble, Evan. One of these days, someone is going to get a hold of you and shatter that nobleness of yours..." Leia sighed with a smile. "Don't go to sleep. I'm going to try calling for help again," she said, feeling slightly vexed.

"Noble?" Evan frowned, confused even more by her reaction. "Wait," he said sharply when she started to get up, groaning as that made the pain radiate freshly in his head. "What have we been talking about here Leia? Someone real? Someone you know? Because if we are ... we could help them get free ... find somewhere safe."

Leia turned on him, her eyes cold. "There is no safety, Evan. You're dealing with things beyond you," she snapped and strode over, pushing him down with her foot into his shoulder. "Stay down, Evan."

"Ouch," Evan glared up at Leia, "you wanna go easy there tough girl?" In the confusing swirl of thoughts going on in his head, the ones that rose most sharply to the forefront were hurt ... and suspicion. She'd just shut him down, and not kindly. Why? Because he'd said something that cut too close to home? "I might not understand exactly what we've been talking about here," he said grimly, shifting away from her and using the wall to push himself up to standing. Putting a hand to the wall, he held the other up, wordlessly telling her that he wanted to keep her where she was. After a moment he still felt light headed but steady enough to continue. "But I'm guessing this isn't a story to you." Meeting her eyes, he let her see the promise in his. "And you're wrong ... I can keep you ... her - that little girl safe."

Leia glared angrily at him as he rose to standing. "You have no idea what you're even talking about, Evan." she told him. "No idea at all," Leia said heatedly. "You don't know him like I do... You couldn't keep a piece of paper safe from him."

"And you don't know me if you think I'd let anyone get close enough to hurt you Leia," Evan retorted, getting angry himself and then regretting it when he felt himself swaying. Leaning back against the wall, Evan swallowed hard, trying to pull everything back to the now so he could focus. "You give this guy up and we nail him ...," he ground out. "All it requires is for you to trust me ... but I guess that's not your strong suit, is it?"

Leia moved quickly, decking him in the nose. "You know nothing about me. I'm loyal, damn it." she snapped at him, knocking him unconscious.

Evan slumped to the floor again, unmoving and silent.

Leia resisted the urge to keep punishing Lorne for getting to her. But it was bad enough she punched him. There was only so much that you could pin this sort of accident on. She went to the front and activated the two way radio. "Atlantis, this is Dr. Leia Mahanay. We need help... Our Puddle Jumper crashed and Major Lorne is completely out... Please respond," she asked, sounding desperate and scared.

"Doctor Mahanay, what is your exact location?" Chuck replied immediately.

"I... I don't know," she breathed over the radio, injecting some fear into her voice. "We were headed to the mainland... doing a practice flight," Leia explained. "Major Lorne's hurt..."

"Stand by," Chuck replied. There was a few moments of silence before he spoke again. "Colonel Sheppard is on his way Ma'am. If you can search the rear section you should find a flare kit ... wait for at least half an hour and then send out a flare. The Colonel should be able to track it."

"Thank- Oh God, Thank you..." she said with relief. Leia checked her watch and calculated the proper time. "I'll be waiting, thank you..." she told him as the connection cut off and she looked around frantically for something to injure herself with. She finally ran full fledged into the rear hatch, knocking herself to the floor and causing a pretty big goose egg to appear on her head. And then she sat back and waited for rescue to arrive.

Thursday 16th April | 1230 hours | Crashed Puddle Jumper - Mainland

"Dr. Mahanay reported the crash, Sir,“ John Sheppard did not like the sketchy details they had about the accident and he really the thought of another accident. Had it been one? Or was it perhaps the next incident?

Calling himself to order, he focused on the troubles at hand. “Have Ronon and Teyla meet me in the jumper bay, send Dr. Keller as well.” He decided. “Let her know we have injured people at a crash-site.”

Teyla was the first to arrive in the jumper bay, fully kitted out and ready to go. When she saw John's expression, she immediately knew something bad had happened. "John...?" she said as she came up by his side. "What has happened?"

"The Puddle Jumper with Major Lorne and Dr. Mahanay on board crashed," John was grateful for Teyla to be here. Her steady presence helped to calm him a little. "Dr. Mahanay reported the crash and also that Lorne was injured and unconscious." The latter worried him most. One of his people was out there in that crashed ship and they needed to reach him fast.

Ronon arrived at a ground eating pace that looked slow and ambling but was far from it. Emerald eyes glittered as he reached his teammates and rumbled out, "What are we waiting for?"

"That would be me." Dr. Keller joined them, carrying the easily recognizable black duffel which contained the emergency medical supplies they would need in the field. "I'm ready whenever you are, Colonel. Do we have any more information on Major Lorne's condition?"

The Satedan leaned forward in surprisingly graceful move for so big a man and snagged the heavy duffel from Jennifer with a rumbled greeting to the doctor and a quiet smile for her.

A shy smile was the petite doctor's response. "Thank you," she said quietly, before making her way up the ramp behind Teyla.

Teyla nodded at Ronon and offered a calm hint of a smile to Dr. Keller before heading into the jumper. She spared a quick glance to the jumper’s own emergency medical supplies secure in their cargo netting before stepping into the cockpit. With Rodney absent, she took her place in the co-pilot’s seat. She didn’t have the ATA gene, but over the years she had learned how to operate some of the ship’s systems once John had activated the controls, and she tried to act as his eyes and monitor the scanners while he flew.

The puddle jumper took off, John pushed him through a rather fast fly-out. It was never hard to control a jumper even at high speeds, especially with a first-class lookout beside him to monitor the scanner. Today he pushed the jumper a little harder than usual. "We don't know much, except the jumper crashed and Dr. Mahanay reported in," he explained to Keller while flying. "She also reported Major Lorne injured and 'out cold', no details." The flight to the crash site should not take long, John expected something to come up on the scanner any moment now.

Ronon sat in his customary seat behind Teyla, legs outstretched while he idly twirled his sidearm. He was concerned for Lorne and the Diplomat yet excited to be getting out of the city at the same time. Occasionally his eyes strayed to Jennifer Keller and lingered briefly before scanning the interior of the jumper restlessly or staring past Teyla out the front view screen. "Are we there yet?" He rumbled out, impatience and humor vying for the upper hand in his voice.

In spite of the dire reason for their outing, Teyla did let out a soft laugh. “I believe you need more exasperation in your voice if you wish to compete with Rodney,” she said. When the barest hint of the mainland appeared on the horizon she called up the scanner. It took but a moment to detect the energy signature from the downed jumper.

Ronon simply grunted in Teyla's direction as a response. His look, however, clearly indicated that he felt no need to compete with McKay...on any level.

Jennifer quickly looked away, a blush coating her cheeks as she recalled the weeks he had spent competing with Rodney for her affections. The end result being her choice of the other man, although that had not lasted very long. The consequence still remained, however. She felt awkward, perhaps even a little guilty whenever she was around the large Satedan.

With the crash site located, John guided the puddle jumper in. He went straight for the closest secure landing place. Seeing the crashed jumper while he guided them down, John winced. That didn't look good. They'd need to find out what the hell happened here. There was absolutely no way that it was a simple pilot's mistake - Lorne was far too good a pilot for that. Again he wondered if this was another attack, another incident, if General O'Neill could go on straight where he had left off. The jumper sat down and John released the rear hatch. Time to find out.

The doctor was the first out of her seat. She moved to retrieve the duffel, but fingers missed and instead brushed along Ronon's arm as he rose, keeping it firmly in hand. The tips of her fingers tingled with the contact and she looked away, ducking her face in a shy little smile while she mumbled her thanks again. She preceded the group down the ramp and made her way toward the other jumper. The rear hatch of the crashed jumper was slightly ajar, but had not yet been lowered. Keller looked back at Sheppard. "Colonel, can you open this?"

Sheppard checked the hatch, it was damaged but not too badly. He gestured Ronon over to assist him, in case the hatch was stuck. it took them two attempts to move the hatch. It opened slowly, accompanied by a screeching sound.

Once the hatch was open, Keller made her way into the Jumper. "Dr. Mahanay," she called out. "Major Lorne." Her gaze scanned the interior of the Jumper. Both of them were down, but the Major remained unconscious. Keller made her way toward him first and crouched beside him. She very carefully took his face between her hands and bent over him, examining the damage. The very visible bruise and bump were evidence of the head injury, and the fact he remained unconscious was telling. "Dr. Mahanay, was he at all conscious at any point following the crash," she asked.

Leia looked at her, the headache she was feeling getting worse. "A few moments he woke up... but it didn't last long. Is he going to be alright? We spoke briefly and he told me to call for help... but then passed out again. I was afraid to shake him. Did I do the wrong thing?" she asked, looking stricken and scared.

"Actually, you did the right thing," Keller told her. "Not moving him until we know if there is any unseen damage was the best course of action."

While Jennifer spoke, she reached out instinctively, knowing that Ronon had set the duffel nearby. From inside one of the front pockets she removed a pen light, and then proceeded to lift first one, and then the other of Lorne's eyelids to check his pupil response. Sluggish. Not good. She lifted her gaze to Ronon, forgetting the awkwardness the moment she was presented with a patient. "Can you help me," She asked softly. "I need the neck brace inside the bag. We're going to have to stabilize his neck." Without really waiting for a response, because she honestly did not expect refusal, she took his hands and placed them gently on either side of Lorne's head. "Just hold him steady," she said, speaking softly, but confidently. "I'll snap the brace into place."

Ronon obeyed Jennifer's instructions silently gently bracing Lorne's head while the doc did what was needed. Afterward, he simply moved out of the way, waiting to be summoned to aid with the stretcher.

Teyla crouched down next to Dr. Mahanay and looked into her eyes. She seemed a bit dazed, but she was following everything without any discernible problem. She held out her hand and offered a kind smile. “Doctor? Are you well enough to move so we can give them more room to help the Major?”

Leia took Teyla's hand. "Of course. I-" she stopped suddenly and looked at Lorne before pulling herself to her feet. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be in the way," Leia said, moving as a dizzy spell caused everything to spin a little. She faltered just slightly. "Whew... must've hit harder than I thought."

Seeing that Teyla was gently taking care of Dr. Mahanay, John turned his attention to Dr. Keller. He trusted Teyla, she would find the right words to help the other woman out of the shock and help her move, once the time came. His eyes on Dr. Keller he saw her snapping the neck-brace into place. John winced, he'd flown evac-choppers and seen far worse, but a neck injury rarely boded well. "How bad is it?" he asked on low tones.

"I'm not going to know for certain until we get him back to the infirmary," Keller replied. "I'm worried about the head injury. His pupil response was sluggish, which means he could have a pretty severe concussion. I want to get him under a scanner ASAP. There could be internal bleeding." Jennifer continued to examine Lorne. She ran her hands along his arms and legs, checking for broken bones. She checked his ribs as well, and felt of his abdomen to ascertain the presence of internal bleeding. When she was convinced that he was stable enough to be moved, she nodded to Ronon to slide the stretcher over. "Colonel, we're going to need you for this."

Together, the three of them rolled Lorne onto his side and slid the stretcher beneath his body - all without moving his neck more than was necessary. Even with the brace, it was important to keep it stable. With that sort of head injury, there was also the possibility of neck injury - depending upon how he managed to hit it. In any case, better cautious than not. With Lorne on the stretcher, she pushed up the sleeve of his right arm and started an IV. If she had to administer medication at any point on the flight back to the city, the IV would make it much easier. There was also the fact that they had no way of knowing when the Major would regain consciousness. The IV and tubing were secured near Lorne's feet, and Keller bent over him again to secure the straps of the stretcher across his body.

Once she was finished, she leaned back and nodded. "We're ready." That said, she rose to her feet and stepped over Lorne to kneel beside Dr. Mahanay. "How are you feeling?" She took the woman's chin in her hand and tipped her head slightly to shine the light in her eyes. The response was immediate and normal. "I don't think you have a concussion. We'll get you back to the infirmary and do a complete exam there."

"I feel ok. A little dizzy. Is Evan going to be alright? He... He covered me when we were going down... He's going to be ok, right? Please?" Leia asked her, looking unnerved and a little frightened.

"I really don't know," Jennifer said, but not unkindly. She finished her examination of Leia and rose. "Let's get back to the city," She told Sheppard.

Sheppard nodded, the faster they got back the better. He and Ronon carried the stretcher to the other Jumper. Inside they set it down and secured it. Sheppard was willing the loose five minutes on securing the stretcher meticulously because he still didn't know what had made Lorne's Jumper go down. If it was some kind of natural phenomena, some distortion caused by something in the area their jumper might suddenly be affected too and they'd be in for rough flight. He looked up to Keller and the other women, checking if they were in and ready too.

Keller moved into the jumper and took position beside where they secured Lorne. She would be keeping an eye on his vitals throughout the flight.

The jumper rose from the ground, Sheppard put it through a speedy rise while he contacted Atlantis over the radio, reporting them on their way back and ordering another jumper and an appropriate crew to secure the crash-site. He'd have to contact General O'Neill over who was to conduct the analysis of the crashed craft. Usually he'd have sent a scientist out with the crew to secure the jumper, but perhaps the General had his own ideas whom he wanted on the case.

The jumper sped over the sea again, Atlantis was straight ahead. They'd be back in record time.

The moment they touched down in the jumper bay, they were met with a team from the infirmary. Keller watched as Sheppard and Ronon moved the stretcher onto the gurney brought by the medical team. They moved quickly, pushing it toward the infirmary. As they walked, Keller called out orders on what needed to happen once they arrived.

Teyla offered Leia a steady arm and a comforting smile as they followed the rather impressive parade to the infirmary.

Leia took her arm, giving Teyla a grateful look then turned her attention back to Lorne, watching him and looking pale, torn inside.

Once they arrived in the infirmary, Keller followed Lorne's gurney into the critical care unit, but not without calling out for another medic to see to Dr. Mahanay, she too required full examination.

Over the course of the next while, both survivors of the downed jumper were examined and scanned. There were X-rays and MRIs, blood work, and in Major Lorne's case - he was connected to several monitors, including an EEG to monitor his brain activity, and a heart monitor to keep watch on his other vitals. While he remained unconscious, a vigil was kept among the medical staff. He was checked often, at fifteen minute intervals, and his brain scanned every hour to check for swelling or bleeding.

While banged up, Dr. Mahanay was ruled to be in good condition and released to her quarters if she so chose, with a warning to take it easy for the next day or so.

Lorne's condition appeared to be no worse than a severe concussion, but only time would tell just how lucky the Major was after his ordeal. All that remained was to watch, and to wait...

Thursday 16th April | 1630 hours | Infirmary, after the Puddle Jumper Crash

Leia moved in her chair, getting comfortable. Her goose egg bruise was going down and nothing was wrong with her. She'd made it through the accident in one piece, no harm, no foul. It was Evan who was her main concern. He had been hurt badly... some of that inflicted upon him by her... what if he didn't remember his first name? What if he remembered what they’d talked about? This entire thing... God, she was on edge. Couldn't really concentrate on the paperwork she'd brought with her but soldiered on anyway. Lorne would be alright... he'd have to be alright.

Evan came back to consciousness gradually ... frowning he registered lots of things all at once. The pain in his forehead when he'd frowned. The fact that he was lying in bed, probably in the infirmary, but had no memory of how he'd gotten there. The rustling sounds of paper advertising that someone was sitting beside him. Forcing his eyes open, Evan squinted as bright - for him anyway - light stabbed into his eyes. "Leia?" he grated out, his voice rough. That only confused him more ... how long had he been out?

"Evan? Oh thank God, you're awake..." she gasped, putting aside her work. "I'll get a nurse... just stay still," Leia told him, relieved and wondering what he would say next. She put a hand on his chest and started to stand up, needing to touch him, feel him breathing.

"Wait," Evan put his hand over hers, holding her in place. "What happened?"

Leia looked at him, startled. "We... We got in an accident in one of the Puddle Jumpers. You were requalifying and I tagged along to watch you fly. Something happened and you couldn't get the controls to respond," she told him. "We crashed and you took the brunt of the crash, protecting me... Do you remember?" Leia asked.

"I crashed a Puddle Jumper?" Evan looked horrified. Shifting into a sitting position, he winced at the spots that danced behind his eyes before it all settled back to bearable. "I'm never gonna live that down ... I'll be retiring and someone will bring it up!"

"We'll move onto the mainland... No one will care there," she said gently, trying to make him feel better.

Straining, Evan tried to bring back the details but all he could remember was the systems just dying on him ... nothing, no power, no ATA link. ATA link! Damn it! "I'm so sorry Leia," Evan said grimly. "I never should have risked you on that flight ... are you okay?" As he said the words he noticed her head. "Geeze, did I do that?"

Leia frowned. "You mean... It wasn't just some fluke?" she asked. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit of a bruise. My head came down harder than I thought... but you knew that would happen?"

"Tempting," Evan replied with a faint smile at her first suggestion. As the last part of what she'd said registered though, he had the grace to look a little guilty. "Ah ... I didn't exactly know I'd crash us," he began, "but ... I knew I had a problem with my gene ... it was always just a lag before things responded. Doctor Zelenka was looking into it for me. If I'd thought the gene would fail me completely I never would have taken a Jumper out, let alone risk you. I'm just ... glad you're okay."

Leia looked at him in disbelief. She scoffed and closed her eyes. "I know you wouldn't try and crash us on purpose...," she told him, looking at him again. "But Evan, you should've told me. Told Colonel Carter! You should've never been in the air like that. What if I hadn't been there to call someone? You would've died out there..." she said, getting upset.

"I know, I know," Evan shifted slightly in the bed, tugging her down to sit next to him. "It was crazy - stupid! I was so busy pretending I didn't have a problem that I ah ... I didn't stop to think about what could happen." Meeting her eyes, Evan tried for meek, hoping she'd take pity on him. "You're gonna forgive me though, right?"

Leia let out a shocked chuckle and sat down beside him. "This isn't something that you can pretend not to have, Evan. Something is wrong and while it's good that you've admitted the problem and are working on said problem with Dr. Zelenka, the fact that you haven't told anyone else could've gotten us both killed," she told him then cupped his face. "Of course I forgive you... We're ok. But you don't have to go to those sort of lengths to impress me..."

"I wasn't trying to impress you!" Evan replied, his face reddening in embarrassment. "God help me if I still feel the need to show off for a girl at my age." Leaning into Leia's hand, the coolness soothing against his still aching head, he sighed. "You're right though ... this could have been a lot worse. I'll have to file a full report with Colonel Sheppard and Colonel Carter ... after which I'll hopefully still have a job."

Leia looked at him with a look of 'Oh,' and bit her lip, flushing just slightly. "You'll have a job. They'd fall apart without you here," she promised, smiling at him slightly.

"While I appreciate your confidence I think your opinion may be just a little biased," Evan smiled in return. It was kind of nice ... more than nice ... having someone think highly of him and not be too shy to reveal it. "It seems I have you to thank for being safe and sound and back in the city," he said. He'd fallen into the habit of keeping a hold of her hand whenever they found themselves in these sorts of situations ... one of them comforting the other ... now he used that, raising said hand to his lips and pressing a warm kiss to the back. "Thanks for looking after me Leia."

"You're welcome ... What else could I do?" she told him. "And as biased as I may be... it's true. You're very welcome though. I'm just glad you weren't alone... I don't know if I could've handled that..." Leia told Evan, looking into his eyes.

"Hey, let's not even go there okay," Evan returned quickly. It bothered him that he couldn't remember more ... had no real idea of just how bad it had been for her. "How long?" he asked suddenly. "Before they rescued us?"

"Um... I don't... I don't know. I was out for awhile too..." she told him, looking dismayed that she couldn't give him a real answer.

"Oh," Evan frowned, suddenly concerned about her all over again, wracking his brain in an effort to dredge up even a few details. Leia had reassured him that she was fine ... she was right there in front of him so Evan knew she was okay. But still he felt the need to check her over, make sure she was telling him the full story. He felt ... concerned for her. Confused at the impression he had that somehow she was in danger. That he had to help her. Almost groaning in frustration that he couldn't recall any details, Evan looked at Leia again. “So nothing’s wrong – with you? There’s nothing I need to know about?” Squeezing her hand, he waited until she met his eyes. “You’d tell me if there was, right?”

"Of course I would. I just hit my head a little hard," she told him, smiling slightly. "Nothing's wrong with me. I promise," Leia said with a grin.

Evan registered her words but for some reason they didn't make him feel that much better ... his protective instincts had been triggered by something and it was already frustrating the hell out of him that he couldn't remember what. For now all he could do was resolve to keep an eye on Leia until he was convinced she really was okay. The sudden need to yawn had Evan noticing that the headache he'd been vaguely aware of until then had become more insistent, pounding away in the centre of his head and making him feel just a little sick. "Maybe we should tell Doctor Keller I'm awake," he suggested in a low tone, trying not to let her see that he wasn't feeling at his best.

"Ok, ... I'll get someone," she told him, leaning down and kissing his head as she left to go get Dr. Keller. "Love you," Leia whispered just so he could hear her.

"Whoa," headache forgotten for the moment, Evan grabbed Leia's hand just before she got out of range, pulling her back around to face him. "Not so fast! You love me? What does that mean? You care about me, hate to see me hurt? Or you're in love ... racing heart, hot to jump me, can't think about anything else?"

Leia turned to face him, looking at him in surprise. "Wha-?" she started as he rapidly started asking her questions. "Well... Yes. I love you. I hate to see you hurt, I care greatly about you, would mourn you if you’d gone a bad way in the accident... and I have moments of 'racing heart, hot to jump you, can't think of anything else', at times," she said, repeating what he'd said to her, lowering her voice and making it sound sexy while she did his quote. "We really need to talk about your habit of grabbing me though..." Leia teased.

"Yeah, right after we talk about your habit of bomb shelling me," Evan retorted, wishing his head didn't hurt so much so he could think clearly. Running through what she'd said Evan realised he wasn't exactly enlightened ... but maybe lying in an infirmary bed with a King Kong sized headache had more to do with that than anything else. "I'll admit I have no idea what all that means," he said, trying to get his own feelings straight - the ones he was ready to admit to anyway. "I'm not sure how I feel about the mourning thing ... that's part of why I never got involved with anyone ... but that's neither here nor there right now ... and I'm rambling." Shooting her a wicked smile, he raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I'll take the rest though ... especially the 'hot to jump me' part ... when I get out of here and can think straight." He felt her shifting, knew she was about to go get the Doc ... and realised he'd given her nothing in return. "Leia," he waited until she met his eyes. "I ah ... I'm not ready to put a label on it but ... that description I gave pretty much describes my thinking too."

"Well, they say Love is a battlefield. I guess I just have more advanced technology..." Leia told him with a smirk. "You definitely are and I think you're quite possibly out of your mind on painkillers. Even if you don't quite feel them," she said, rolling her eyes at his smirk and excitement at her wanting him. She thinned her lips, wondering if she'd said it too soon or it wasn't right yet when their eyes met after he said her name. She grinned. "We'll have to get back to that once you're completely healed up. I like my men healthy," Leia teased, pulling away and hurrying to get the Doctor.

Evan slumped back in his bed, watching her retreating back with a bemused expression. "Her 'men'?" he thought to himself, those protective ... possessive feelings kicking in again. "Try m-a-n honey and you'll have it right." The mystery that was Doctor Leia Mahanay had him confused and on unfamiliar ground but he was Air force ... and a pilot at that. If he couldn't work it out ... work her out ... then ... well there wasn't going to be a then. Settling back, Evan waited for Doctor Keller to check him out. The sooner he could be released the better.

Dr. Keller slipped quietly into the room. She was studying the results of the scans they had done. "You're awake." She gave a pleased smile and walked over to check the monitors recording his EEG and vitals. Then she took out a penlight and checked his pupils. Still somewhat sluggish. "You're very lucky," she told him. "You have a severe concussion, but fortunately there wasn't any internal bleeding."

"Thanks Doc," Lorne replied gratefully. "How long 'till I can get out of here?"

"At least another day," she told him with a smile. "I want to keep you for a full twenty four hours. We'll continue running scans and tests to make sure there wasn't any more serious damage. We need to watch the brain for signs of swelling or bleeding, all things which may begin to become apparent after several more hours."

"Oh," Evan felt a little disappointed which was ridiculous considering the headache still throbbing inside his head and the nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Okay ...," he trailed off, shooting a quick glance at Leia, that unexplainable feeling of worry still hovering. "I ... ah, I can't really remember anything after the Jumper lost power," he told Jennifer. "Is that something that's gonna come back to me later?"

Leia hung back, not wanting to leave Evan. Especially as that all important 'Would he remember?' question hung in the air. Would she have to arrange something tragic to happen to someone that... Well, if she were to be honest, she did love. Really love. Would she have to be the one to put him in the ground for revealing too much?

Maybe she should request reassignment. Have her King pull her out of the situation and infiltrate again... once the suspicion had died down. But could she leave this? Her face darkened as she looked at Evan, lost in thought.

"It's not uncommon," Jennifer explained, "for the moments just before or just after a head injury of this sort to be forgotten. As your brain heals, it may come back to you, or it may not. It really is dependent upon the state you were in physically at the time the events took place. Dr. Mahanay stated that you regained consciousness for a short time after the crash. Naturally, with the concussion, I wouldn't expect you to remember those moments. It's lucky you were lucid at all."

"Yeah, can't remember any of that," Evan agreed, shooting a quick look at Leia. "So, once I'm out of here, I can return to duty?" he asked Doctor Keller hopefully.

"Mmm, not exactly." Keller smiled. "You'll have to take it easy for a couple of days. If everything goes okay, I'll release you to light duty."

"I knew you were gonna say that," Evan replied dejectedly. He understood the necessity ... this wasn't his first concussion, although probably his worst ... but, still, sitting on the sidelines, or worse trying to tone back his duty activities never sat well with him.

Leia took his hand and looked down at him. "Be a good boy and do what the Doctor says, Evan... Please?" she asked, looking at him with a slight pout as her eyes shone at him, hoping that it worked to get him to behave.

Keller's brows lifted in surprise, as much at the words as at the tone. This was certainly new. Saying nothing, she stepped forward and recorded Lorne's vitals, checked the leads connecting him to the monitors, and adjusted the IV drip just a tad. "Right now, I'm going to recommend that you get some rest," she said. "And you," she told Leia. "Both of you need rest now. We'll be monitoring you throughout the night," he told Lorne. "So I'd recommend sleeping where you can."

Evan felt his face redden as Leia's words loudly proclaimed there was something ... personal going on between the two of them. Jennifer hadn't missed it ... and Lorne hadn't missed her reaction. It worked though ... Leia's caring actually did have him feeling more cooperative with his current circumstances. "Hey," Lorne looked at Leia pointedly, "I'll be good if you are! Do what Jennifer tells you and go get some rest. I'll be fine here."

Leia looked at him, then blinked as she just realized what that sounded like. Oh... Uh oh. She only... It was... It came out of her mouth before she thought about it. Oh for heaven's sake, she was losing her edge! What was it about him and Dr. Jackson that did this sort of mental thing to her? "I'm always good and always listen to what the Doctor says," she said with teasing air of superiority. She looked over at Dr. Keller and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm... Um. Sorry," she said, having the grace to at least look a little embarrassed.

"It's okay," Evan waited until Leia let her eyes meet his, silently trying to tell her he didn't mind. Hopefully her answering smile said she'd gotten the message.

Settling back in the bed, Lorne let himself relax. The headache that had been plaguing him since he'd woken up was still churning away, now accompanied by a wave of tiredness that had him closing his eyes wearily. It took only moments for him to fall asleep ... unaware of those around him or the fact that he hadn't even said goodnight.

Thursday 16th April | 1800 hours | Infirmary

The Infirmary was one of John Sheppard's least favourite places. Either he was in himself with one or another injury or it was the long waiting, - waiting to learn which of his men would make it. He dreaded the waiting more than being injured himself. This time they had been lucky, no one dead, no permanent damage. Seeing his 2IC on the way to recovery lifted his mood a lot. "You gave us quite the scare there, Lorne," he greeted him with a big grin. "Glad you decided to hang in there and stay around." He tried to make light of the worries they all had shared.

"Thank you Sir," Lorne replied, shifting to sit up in the bed. He'd been lucky over the years ... and again that day, something Evan was fully cognisant of. "It could have been a lot worse Sir," he admitted.

Sheppard nodded, things could have gone much worse. "We’ve already got a team over on the mainland securing the crash-site," he told Lorne. "I'd have sent a scientist team in straight away, but we’ll have to clear this with General O'Neill first, in case he wants to have his engineer-captain tagging along." His jaw set in a determined expression. "Whatever was the cause for the Jumper to fail, we'll find out how it was done and who did this to you." Who nearly killed Lorne, continuing the attacks on SGC personal.

Lorne winced as he listened to his CO's words. He'd known he'd have to file a full report but hadn't considered the implications that could be attached to the incident. "Ah ... Sir," Evan looked down at the sheets before resolutely meeting the Colonel's eyes. "It wasn't sabotage ... it was me ... I'm the reason the Jumper lost power and crashed."

"You?" John frowned, disbelieving. There was simply no way that this was a pilot's error. Lorne was a damn good pilot, one of the few John knew to be in the same category as himself. They were fairly evenly matched in Jumpers, although John was sure he'd have the upper hand in a Black Hawk, due to more experience in Helis. Was it possible that Lorne was covering for someone else? Someone he didn't want in trouble? "I find that hard to believe," he stated what he thought outright.

"You and me both Sir," Lorne replied ruefully. "It's a little more complicated than me making a flight error." Evan thought for a moment, trying to decide how far back he needed to go to fully explain the situation. "You might want to pull up a chair Sir ... this could take a while."

Getting a chair, John sat down, deliberately relaxed. Whatever Lorne had to talk about was nothing that needed him to feel like he was up with the Inquisition. John had been there himself, it took time to work through the reasons and causes of a crash. "I'm all ears." he said.

"Thank you Sir," Lorne said gratefully. "I can't say for sure Sir but I believe this whole thing started back about two months ago. Radek called me down to one of the unexplored research labs to help him turn on a device. He thought it had something to do with ZPM charging but as soon as I activated it for him we realised it was something else. You won't be surprised to hear Sir that the thing was malfunctioning. McKay and Radek believe it was some kind of ATA gene supercharger but instead of charging me up it turned off the gene. The Doc's worked it out pretty quick, marked the device as too dangerous to investigate further and we all thought that was the end of it."

"But they fixed the problem with the gene, didn't they?" John asked. "You’ve had no troubles these last two months with using the equipment around here?" ATA genes acting up was trouble, and sometimes the things that just woke up when he entered a room were downright frightening.

"On the day, definitely Sir," Lorne agreed. "Everything seemed to be working as usual until a couple of weeks ago. It was hardly noticeable Sir ... just the occasional instance of lag when I tried to open a door or call up a system. Always inside the city and like I said, barely noticeable. I honestly didn't think anything of it until a few days ago when I went to open a transporter door and couldn’t, well not without me really having to think about it. So I ah ... I went and spoke to Radek Sir ... asked him to look into it for me, since we both agreed it might be some side effects of that machine."

John bit his lip - then the incidents had happened and he himself had acted totally out of the line, probably preventing Lorne from telling him about the problem. "So it failed completely midflight?" he asked, suddenly wondered what security systems the Jumpers had in case the pilot was suddenly incapacitated.

"Yes Sir," Lorne replied. "I'm really sorry Sir ... I should have realised that kind of failure was a possibility. I risked not just myself but the life of a civilian because I didn't admit I had a problem. Like I said ... it’s pure luck I didn't pay a hefty price for that." Evan paused and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I should have reported the problems to you as well Sir," he admitted. "I take full responsibility for the damage ... for my lapse of judgement."

"You couldn't report to me, because at the time the problem started I was under investigation, acting like I was conspiring against this very command," Sheppard replied. He'd have to bar Lorne's flight status until the problem was worked out, but there were many more people responsible here. "And we never experienced such a fatal reaction from a Gene failure. Usually there are safety measures in place that prevent damage to all people involved." His eyes met Lorne’s. "Nevertheless, I'll have to bar your flight status until such time as the scientists have fixed the problem."

"Understood Sir," Lorne replied, his feelings mixed. The idea of being off the active flight list hurt ... even though he wouldn't risk going out again until he was sure everything was working as it should. Like every pilot he prided himself on keeping his hours up and his status current ... it was more than that of course. He loved to fly ... anything. Telling himself he'd be back to that in time, Evan thought about the rest of what Colonel Sheppard had said. "I was distracted by what was going on in the city Sir," he agreed, "but I don't really see that as an excuse. Before the failure in the Jumper, the thing with the transporter door? That's when I should have spoken ... I don't know why I didn't. Because I didn't see how serious it could be ... because my ego wouldn't let me call attention to a weak gene? I don't really recall what happened after the crash Sir but everything that happened before is vividly clear."

"If not talking to me makes this your failure, it’s mine also," Sheppard said slowly, "because I made it impossible to approach me, or to even trust me, at that time." Again he realised how much he had left Lorne hanging when he agreed to play that role in the General's plans. "And you got one point right: no one knew how dangerous it could be. Even if you had come to me, I might have advised you to stay away from rabid doors and cut down on your hours as chief toy-activator for Rodney and Radek." He shook his head. "To this day I believed the jumpers had a failsafe program, in case the pilot was incapacitated and no one else on board had the gene." Not talking about solo flights. "We’ll have to look into this. If they don't have a safety protocol or auto landing function, we’ll have to make a flight crew of two people with the gene the new standard operating procedure."

"Maybe it was this specific flight Sir," Lorne suggested. "Something about my gene problem rather than the Jumper back up systems. Who knows what that device did to me? I'll follow it up with Radek Sir ... find out if they've made any progress." He let the feeling of relief that everything was out in the open ... that it didn't seem his career was going to suffer because of his lapse, wash over him. He'd gotten off lightly in his own opinion ... but he'd take it and make sure nothing similar ever happened again.

John thought the whole thing about the machine and gene through. To him the gene was something natural, he rarely needed to focus on it to have things spring to live or make devices work. He’d sat down in a chair and started the lightshow. Since then he’d learned a lot about how to handle it. Remembering his own run ins with the Ancients, a thought came to him. "Perhaps the machine is not malfunctioning," he said. "If it is really a gene supercharger, designed to beef your gene up to a fairly strong level, they'd probably have built in something to weaken you first, so you have to learn to handle the new strength step by step." What you want to strengthen you must first weaken, what you want to built you must first destroy... hell, he should have better listened back then.

"I hope not Sir," Lorne replied self depreciatingly. "I'm pretty happy with my gene exactly the way it was. I'd prefer the easier malfunctioning device which can be fixed approach ... get back to being me again."

"Ah - the strong gene doesn't hurt or anything," John grinned, relaxedly. "It’s just like the city always knows you’re there and she likes you." That sounded downright weird, but there were no other words to describe it. "I'll have Rodney procure some assistance and resources for Zelenka," he returned to their original topic, "so he has all he needs to figure this out."

"I'd appreciate that Sir," Lorne said gratefully. "Thank you for being so understanding Sir ... I'm not sure I deserve to get out of this with nothing more than a really sore head but I'll take it just the same."

The silence settled there for a moment. John could see how much Lorne was beating himself up over what had happened. He understood it all too well, he'd be the same if their roles were reversed. Nothing John could say would be worse then what Lorne thought of himself at the moment. He was a good man. "Listen, Lorne," John said, putting off the CO manners. "This thing - the crash - it'll come back to you when you least need it. It will for a long time - don't let it get to you. When it gets too much, or you need to talk - call on me, no matter what time." There were still moments when John could see the barren storm ravaged ice spiralling towards him and heard the panicked shriek over the radio 'Helios - you are off course - pull up!' It had taken him a long time to work past it, and he wouldn't let Lorne go through the same loop if he could help it.

"Thank you Sir," Lorne knew the other man was speaking from experience ... even if he hadn't heard some of the stories he'd have known from Sheppard's demeanour. "I'll try to put this into perspective ... and I'll come talk to you if I need to." Lorne hesitated before continuing. "To be honest right now it's the whole thing with Dr Mahanay that's really bugging me Sir. I could have gotten her killed ... I don't know how she made it through with barely a scratch."

"She said you shielded her from the impact," Sheppard recounted the few things he’d heard the Diplomat say during the rescue. He hadn’t paid much attention to her, knowing her less injured and safely in Teyla's capable hands. "You protected her from harm. She hit her head a little, but that’s all. Not even a concussion. I wouldn't be astonished if she settled on you being her knight in the shining armour."

"Tarnished Knight at best Sir," Evan returned modestly, trying not to let his embarrassment at the other man's words show too much. "But I appreciate you telling me even that much. Leia wasn't very forthcoming when I asked her about it earlier. Said she couldn't remember much."

"Shock probably," Sheppard assessed. "Not so much about the crash itself, but about your condition after. When she reported the crash, she forgot many vital details like position and such, but reported your condition right away." Such moments proved what was truly important to a person, so important that it even got through to them in shock or fear. "When we reached you, we found her right beside you, and it took Teyla some skill to coax her away to make room for the Doctor." He hesitated for a moment, and then added: "She might also feel a little embarrassed because she couldn’t do anything to help you. That makes people feel useless, especially when they care about the person needing help."

"Ah ... yeah, that could be it," Lorne replied, not sure how to feel about what Colonel Sheppard had revealed. He found himself touched that Leia had been reluctant to leave him. "You've got it bad Evan," he thought, amused at himself. Feeling compelled to offer some kind of explanation, Lorne continued. "We're ah ... we're friends Sir," he said awkwardly. "That's why she was there in the first place ... she hadn't been further than the mainland and it seemed pretty harmless to show her the planet from space."

Sheppard suppressed a chuckle. Friends indeed. "She's a diplomat, better she knows her way around a Jumper before we need to bring her off world the first time for negotiations," he said. "Come to think of it, I should suggest beefing up the whole orientation program for her diplomatic team."

"Good idea Sir," Lorne agreed, relieved to not have to explain anything further.

Nodding, Sheppard left the Major to his thoughts.

Friday 17th April | 0800 hours | Atlantis Office of Homeworld Security

Sheppard had seen to it that he reported to Atlantis Homeworld Security first thing in the morning. He could have reported the facts he had learned about the Jumper crash - that it had not been a new incident - in the late evening briefly, but he wanted to have the time needed for the discussion that might come out of it. Of course a bit was tactical thinking, the last thing anyone wanted was an especially grouchy General taking a dim view on the whole matter.

Outside the official office he had first run into Captain Sterling, who seemed to be occupied with getting some set up for a computer network organised. He confirmed that the General was already there. Col. Sheppard nodded and swiped the door chime. There were moments when he would have preferred knocking on a door.

General O'Neill looked up from yet another spreadsheet projecting their use of supplies for the next decade - well, the next financial year but it might as well have been a decade for all the guessing he was forced to do.

"Yeah?" he called out, opening the door and expecting to see one of his team lining up for the answers to questions Jack hadn't even thought to ask yet.

Sheppard stepped in, he could see he had probably come into the middle of a planning session. "I came about the Puddle Jumper Crash yesterday - your office was informed when the rescue took off," or at least he hoped it had been. "By now we know most of what happened and why, and I thought you'd prefer to be informed right away, Sir." Procedures with the AHOS had not been established as of now, and Sheppard tried to establish some good basis of working together, instead of exchanging long memo's nobody would ever deign to read.

"We were informed," O'Neill confirmed, pushing aside his spreadsheets and giving John his full attention. "So ... what happened?"

"Major Lorne was asked by the scientists to activate a device some time ago. The device proved to be from another messed-up Ancient project, having the side effect of making the ATA gene unstable. The problem seemed harmless enough and fixed at the time. Yet it returned again, and eventually turned up during a Jumper flight - and the Jumpers proved to have no failsafe in any shape or form." Sheppard summed up the events. They would have to dig through all the Jumper protocols to see if there was a failsafe that just was inactive for various reasons. With Ancient tech, it was always possible.

"Is Major Lorne going to be okay?" Jack asked, concerned for the young officer he'd grown to like in the years since their first meeting. He'd checked in with the infirmary briefly late the prior day but Lorne had still not regained consciousness.

"He'll be fine," Sheppard answered the question. The hours waiting for the man to regain consciousness had been hardest, for those who cared what happened to Lorne, or counted themselves among his friends. "He woke yesterday in the afternoon and the Docs say he'll be alright."

"Well, that's a relief," the General replied. "I'm guessing you've already suspended his flight status until the situation is resolved?"

"His flight status is barred until such a time the scientist can provide a solution," Sheppard replied. He hoped Zelenka would work out what was going on and find a way to fix it.

"So the Jumper just lost power?" O'Neill asked curiously. "We've never tested their fail safe capabilities?"

"In the sense of incapacitating the pilot midflight - no," Sheppard replied. "The scientists here and at the SGC studied the jumper's programming but considering how much of the programming consists of macros that connect directly to the pilot's thought process, they are only slowly making headway to understand it all. We knew there were a lot of safety protocols in place, for a lot of different kinds of cases." Hell, when they had taken out the jumpers for their first mission, they had hardly known how these ships worked. Sheppard still remembered his elation when he had flown them out for the first time.

"I guess running that kind of test would be a little impractical given how the Jumper interface works," Jack mused. "Obliging of Lorne to test it for us," he added ruefully, feeling free to make light of the situation now he knew the other man would be okay. "So, either the Jumper was at fault ... or could it be these gene problems you mentioned?"

"I asked him about the events prior to the crash yesterday - Lorne gave me a full description." Sheppard replied. "Of course we need to check over the jumper wreck - I had troops send to secure it, but wanted to coordinate with you which engineers we send over." Which would probably not change very much in the outcome. The details Lorne had given him about the events leading up to the crash made a gene-failure very likely.

"You were thinking maybe this was another attack," Jack commented. "Given recent events it could have been ... and I guess we can't rule it out completely until we've confirmed Lorne's view that it was his gene problem that caused the crash." Thinking for a moment, the General continued. "I'll have Captain Sterling accompany your team to assist. Hopefully he won't find anything suspicious."

"When I heard that Lorne's Jumper had crashed on the mainland for no apparent reason I was sure we had another attack on our hands," Sheppard admitted. He had expected the General to want one of his men to tag along when they went to check out the jumper. "Only after Lorne's report did I take other possibilities into consideration." Sheppard didn't mention explicitly that he had learned about the gene failure possibility only afterwards.

"Understandable," Jack agreed. He noticed how carefully John had worded his statement about Lorne's report ... maybe there was a story there but O'Neill trusted the other man to tell him what he needed to know. If Lorne had initially not informed anyone of his gene problem there would have been a reason ... and like himself and Colonel Sheppard the Major had probably never considered the possibility that a Puddle Jumper could just lose power and drop out of the sky as his did. "Sounds like you've got the situation well in hand Colonel," Jack commented. "Beyond Captain Sterling's involvement I see no need for any specific actions from this department."

Sheppard was relieved that the General didn't ask for more details. He'd been prepared to fight this one out, if necessary, but if the General was willing to leave things as they were and not ask questions, John was grateful for it. "The team departs for the crash-site at 10.00hours, I'll have one of them find Captain Sterling well before that." Now all they could do was hope that the investigation of the wreck didn't turn anything up that would cause fresh questions.

Friday, 17 April | 0900 hours | Rodney McKay's lab

Radek poked his head into the lab and said, "You heard." It was not a question.

Rodney's head snapped that way. "Yeah. Was just sending you an e-mail to meet me in the lab, see what the hell is going on."

"Well, I am here." Radek looked terrible, like he hadn't slept. "Let us find out what is happening." His voice was tight, his accent thicker. Testimony to the stress he was under.

Rodney snapped his laptop shut, shoved a few extra leads in his jacket pocket, and stood. He eyed his friend. "I have some fresh coffee - McKay Special Blend. Need a hit before we head out?"

"Ano," Radek said with a nod. "Potěšit." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I think....I did not say that in English."

"That's alright, I actually understood that." Rodney went over to his bio-hazard sticker plastered pot and opened the drawer underneath for his stash of go cups. He filled it and handed it over. "You have been teaching this base Czech slowly but surely. All the engineers and half the Marines cuss fluently in Czech now," he said with a crooked grin.

A small but real amused smile touched Radek's lips as he accepted the cup. "Thank you." He took a sip and winced. "And you say my 'hooch' is bad?"

"Hey, yours grows hair on the chest, mine burns it off. And, um, make it run circles around the city." He poured himself a cup before they headed out.

Once they got to the lab they immediately hooked up their laptops and without a word, got to work.

Radek spread his hands, gesturing at the screen. "This makes no sense!" He trailed off into cursing in Czech. ".....says it is working as it should!"

Rodney frowned at his laptop, then stood and kicked the console support. He found Radek looking at him and shrugged as he sat back down. "I'm going to go check the connection with the mainframe and that tracking program. If you could check the...."

"No, no, I shall do that. ATA-blank, remember? It could still tag you if it chose. It can not tag me. I will do that, you check the--"

"Patches, make sure nothing got reversed or nulled again." He slowly started going through the code again, line by agonizing line.

Radek returned ten minutes later. "The connections and the program are working as expected." He spread his hands. "They're fine."

"Gyah!!" Rodney scrubbed his face hard then glared murderously at the Ancient equipment. "The code checked fine, too." He looked at Radek. "Have you tried any of the tests again with the Major since the crash? Is he still having problems with doors?"

Radek shook his head. "I have not. Why do we not do it together?"

"He's still in the infirmary, isn't he?" Rodney asked as he detached leads.

"No better time than the present, then." Radek powered down each laptop as Rodney got the leads detached. He froze, looking at the data from one. "Wait, wait! Rodney, look at this!"

Rodney followed his pointing finger. On the screen was a very small chart -- with a descending line.

Radek looked wide-eyed at him. "The tag looks like it has to wear off, yes? I am not misreading?"

Rodney leaned forward and squinted at the screen like he was a ninety-year-old in need of bifocals and a really big magnifying glass. "Why can't they do things simple?" he grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his forehead.

"They would be rational if they were," Radek shot back. He typed in a string of commands, muttering dire words in Czech as he did so, and the chart suddenly filled the screen.

For once Rodney didn't just shove Radek aside, but he was shoulder to shoulder with the other scientist as they read the new data. "Huh. Looks like it'll be another...." Fingers twitched spastically as he ran calculations in his head. "...Another twenty-two point, oh, four-seven hours before he'll be released from his collar." He straightened up. "Now why in the hell would they put such a time delay on their experiment? They want to see how freaked out their subject is from the whole thing? See if he gets a Pavlovian twitchy response to every door he approaches?"

"Who knows how the Ancient mind works. Perhaps it was deemed a necessary evil in the programming. Perhaps it was just unlucky!" He swore. "Any route, the Major is in the infirmary because of this program."

"Well, I think it's about time we told him some good news. God knows we hear enough of the 'we're all going to die horribly' kind around here."

"Agreed," Radek said. He closed the lid of the laptop, preserving the data. "Let's go."

Friday, 17 April | 0930 hours | Infirmary

Radek walked in and smiled, making a bee-line for where Lorne lay. He sat on the chair beside his bed while Rodney just sort of hovered near the foot. "How are you, Major?" Then he winced for such a lame opening question.

"Considering how I could be feeling, surprisingly good," Lorne replied, smiling at his friend. "I'll be feeling a whole lot better if you're here to tell me you've worked out my gene problems."

"Well, then," Radek said with a smile as he leaned forward a little. "I think your day is about to get much brighter. We've found that the gene problems were caused by the machine we had the problems with earlier. You were 'tagged' like an animal."

"I was tagged?" Lorne asked, surprised. That wasn't the explanation he'd been expecting. "How?"

"The machine put a biochemical marker on your ATA gene. But there was a huge chunk of code missing in the program. And when the program hit that code, it reacted and shut down your gene."

"So this is good news, right?" Lorne looked at Radek hopefully. "You can fix this?"

Radek looked up at Rodney, then smiled at Lorne. "Hopefully it is already fixed. We wrote a chain of code to turn off the tag. You might always carry the marker in your blood -- as you would Naquadah if you had been Goa'uld infested -- but your gene should begin to work normally again very soon."

"Here, catch." Rodney pulled Radek's little Ancient 'paper weight' from his pocket - they had made a short detour on the way to the infirmary - and grinned rather crookedly when the Major fumbled but caught it. The little mystery device glowed a steady blue. "That look about right?" he said to Radek.

Radek didn't have to reply in words. His beaming smile said it all.

Lorne looked down at the small device he'd seen once before in Radek's lab ... a grin spreading over his face as it continued to glow steadily in the palm of his hand. Looking first at Rodney and then to Radek, his expression was all about appreciation and gratitude. The ATA gene had been something Lorne had pretty much taken for granted since he'd arrived on Atlantis ... really only appreciating it when he was flying a Puddle Jumper. The past few days had been one of those you don't know what you've got until it's gone events that would see him looking at it much differently in the future.

"Thank you," Evan said sincerely. "Both of you."

"Do not thank us yet," Radek said. "We must still test you for at least 48 more hours to make certain the 'tags' are all gone."

"I'm not doing anything else," Lorne said ruefully, knowing that when Doctor Keller released him later that day it'd be off duty only. "Just tell me what to test when."

"I think we'll wait till you're released, yes?" Radek smirked and patted his shoulder. "There will be plenty of time for testing then."

"I'll try to curb my impatience," Evan quipped back. "I guess I'm keen to draw a line through this one - and forget about the whole crashing a Puddle Jumper thing."

"Believe me, I understand," Radek winced. "That was horrible! But seriously," he said, leaning back in the chair. "I, too, am eager to 'draw a line' through this one. This was not something I care to go through again. For either of us."

"Agreed," Lorne replied. Before he could say anything he was overtaken by a huge yawn. Looking at Radek apologetically he continued. "Sorry ... all this sitting around is making me tired. I wonder if Jennifer would notice if I just checked myself out?" he quipped.

Radek laughed and patted his shoulder. "Let's let you rest."

"Thanks Doc," Lorne settled back down in the bed, nodding to Radek and Rodney as they took their leave.

The visit had lifted a weight from his mind he was only now realising he'd been carrying so heavily. Strange to realise how much he counted on something he'd had his whole life that had never been useful until he'd come here. He wasn't Colonel Sheppard - the city didn't throw itself at Evan's feet - but there'd never been anything he couldn't do with his gene once he'd set his mind to it. Knowing he'd be back to normal in a couple of days almost made up his very bad day ... almost.

Saturday, 18th April | Midday | Colorado Springs

 “I’m going away,” Jack sat beside a grave at the Colorado Springs cemetery three days later. “Further than Washington this time.”

Reaching out, he absently picked at the grass. Talking to Charlie after his death had never come easy to Jack but over the years he’d practised and eventually gotten to the point where he almost felt as though he was connecting with his son’s spirit in some way. After the day the crystalline alien had shown him his boy ... brief as it had been ... Jack had realised that he needed some way to acknowledge the empty space in his heart.

It wasn’t in him to visit regularly ... deep inside Jack didn’t believe he deserved it ... a closure that somehow suggested forgiveness. He’d never forgive himself. He’d let himself forget ... well, not forget as such. Just close it away in an airtight box ... preserved but out of sight so that day to day he could do what had to be done.

His visits to Charlie’s grave were reserved for the times when big changes occurred in his life ... then Jack would open that box, let it all out, tell his boy all about it. It was his way of taking Charlie with him, no matter where he went.

“A lot further away,” Jack continued, squinting off into the distance. “There’s trouble there Charlie ... trouble your old Dad has to get to the bottom of. And you know how much I like puzzles.”

Sighing, Jack sat silently for a time, letting himself remember ... images of the things they’d done together, the things that Charlie had loved. Over the years those images had blurred, to the point that now it was more about the feelings behind the memories than remembering the situations themselves.

Pride that his boy was a talented sportsman. Joy in the way Charlie had put his whole spirit behind every laugh. Sadness at the things Jack had missed ... things he’d have been there for if only he’d known time would be so short.

Fear at the sound of that gunshot.

“I’ll be back though,” Jack finally spoke again, looking at the tombstone with unseeing eyes, his vision focussed inwards. “Gotta visit ... well, I’m sure I can come up with someone.”

Getting up slowly, Jack dusted off his pants and then stood for a few moments. “I still miss you,” he said in a low tone. “You know that won’t change, no matter how far away I am.”

Swallowing hard, Jack took a moment. He could never say the words, but he always thought them.

“I love you.”

“Bye Charlie,” he said aloud, turning and walking slowly away.

Saturday, 18th April | 1100 Hours | Boston MA

The morning was clear and bright. There was a crisp wind off the bay, but the sun shining, bringing warmth to a spring day. Salt hung in the air, bringing with it the smell of sea with every breath. Madison strolled along the sidewalk that stretched in front of the Aquarium and wound it's way around toward the dock. It gave a perfect view of the harbor. Beside her, her sister strolled just as casually, hands tucked into black slacks. Dianne was the eldest of the Garman girls, a Boston homicide detective, and Madison's dearest friend.

Her apartment had been packed up and sublet. The majority of her belongings were in storage, but those few items with a more personal meaning had been carted to Savannah to be stored in her parents' garage. The trip had two reasons, of course. She had explained to her parents that she would be away for a while, and had spent the night with them before getting on a plane to Massachusetts. She had seen Laura while she was there, the youngest of their brood. Her brothers were both stationed abroad. Iraq and Germany respectively. Then she'd gone to Boston, but there had only been enough time for lunch before she had to get on a plane to Colorado.

"What did mom say?" Dianne glanced at her sister from the corner of her eye. Throughout lunch Maddie had explained where she was going and why. Dianne wasn't particularly fond of the idea, but she understood that drive. It was one she felt also, the sort of thing that kept you going to work every morning, even when your job seemed the most pointless.

"Don't forget to write, and it wouldn't be out of the question if you called every once in a while and let us know you're still alive," Madison drawled, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Ouch." Dianne winced. "You were expecting better? They've got one son in Iraq, the other in Germany and you're flying off to God-knows-where, Africa to join Doctors Without Borders."

"No, not surprised at all." As far as stories went, at least it was the most believable. Somehow "Mom, Dad, I'm going to another planet" didn't have the same ring to it. Not to mention the entire issue with the non-disclosure agreements, classified information, and ending up in prison for the rest of her life. "It just doesn't make it any easier."

"For any of us," Dianne reminded her. "Why you couldn't be satisfied working in any downtown, run of the mill hospital I'll never know. Nope, you've got to go where the action is."

"Says the cop." Madison smirked at her. "Would you be happy reading meters and handing out tickets?" At the look her sister gave her, she laughed. "Alright then."

The pair of them stopped to look out over the harbor. Logan was located on just the other side, and they could see the planes coming and going. "You'll be careful." It wasn't a question, but a directive. There was only thirteen months between them, but growing up as military brats and moving around as often as they had, sometimes all they'd had was each other. Their brothers had been older and not interested in hanging out with their sisters, and Laura was years younger. They had spent the majority of their adult lives thousands of miles apart. Dianne had fallen in love with Boston during college and stayed, put down roots. The boys had joined the Air Force, following in their father's footsteps, even Laura had put down roots, but all the moving around had left its mark Madison. She had never been satisfied in one place too long. In all honestly, Dianne wasn't surprised at this turn of events. Only that it hadn't come sooner. Still, somehow the sisters had managed to see each other several times a year. When that would happen again was the unknown. Dianne wasn't fond of the unknown.

A taxi pulled along the curb at the end of the winding path a few yards away. Madison stepped back with a smile. "I'll be careful. I'll write. I'll even visit." She smiled crookedly. The sisters shared a hung, hanging on a few moments longer than was really necessary. Then she stepped away. "You know, you might consider settling down what that guy of yours. You can't date a man for three years and not throw him a bone."

"Get in the taxi," Dianne said with a roll of her eyes. She was smiling as she watched her walk away.

Madison stopped to look back one more time. She waved before sliding into the backseat.

She made it to Logan on time, and the flight to Colorado was long, but uneventful. Upon arriving she reported to the SGC. There was still much in the way of equipment to be sorted and packed, and much of it she preferred to do herself. With her personal obligations out of the way, she was able to focus on the professional. The excitement and anticipation she held at bay the previous several days was allowed free, and she honestly couldn't wait to step foot onto Atlantis again.

Monday, 20th April | 0900 hours | Stargate Command

"Dial it up Walter," Jack ordered, looking forward to his next task ... informing Atlantis that they were about to get some new arrivals.

"Yes Sir," Walter acknowledged, running through his usual routine until he could announce "Chevron eight ... locked."

The wormhole whoosed out as dramatically as always, settling back into it's rippling puddle.

"Atlantis, this is Stargate Command," Walter announced.

"Stargate Command," a male's voice replied. "This is Atlantis. We read you. Standby for Colonel Carter." Chuck swivelled in his chair and used the intra-city communications to contact Colonel Carter.

She came down the stairs from the command level. "This is Colonel Carter."

"I have General O'Neill here Ma'am," Walter replied.

"Carter," Jack stepped forward, greeting his ex team mate with his usual irreverence. "What's the weather like there?"

She smiled. "Sunny and clear with a nice tropical breeze out of the south. How is the weather in Colorado, Sir?" Her brows lifted as she wondered at the reason behind the call. They were a few days from their weekly check-in, and that was conducted with General Landry, and occasionally a member of the IOA joined him. "Are you missing us already?"

"The weather's cold Carter," Jack replied. "And I haven't had time to miss you. That's part of why I'm calling. The President has ordered the formation of a new department ... Atlantis Office of Homeworld Security. You're about to get company of the permanent kind," O'Neill said lightly.

Carter exchanged a look with the others in the Operations Center. "Atlantis Office of Homeworld Security." It was obviously a result of the recent events. She couldn't say that it was necessarily a bad idea, she supposed it depended on who would be heading it up. "When can we expect them, sir." What she wanted to ask was 'who'."

"Oh, in about three minutes," Jack replied with a hint of 'smirk' in his voice. He'd known Sam would resist the urge to ask him who ... the fact he hadn't volunteered the information must have her feeling just a little peeved with him. "The Daedalus left a few days ago carrying additional supplies and personnel. The command team will be making their way through the gate to brief you and your staff and set up for their arrival."

"Three minutes." Carter stared at the figure on the view screen in front of her. His amusement belied his actually messing with them. "General, with all due respect, we couldn't possibly be ready to accept an influx of command staff in three minutes." Sam suppressed the urge to scowl at him. "If I may ask, sir, why weren't we informed of this change prior to now?" And he still hadn't told her who, which didn't bode well, especially when she barely had enough time snap her fingers at Chuck and indicate for him to get Sheppard up there, now!

“Relax Carter,” Jack advised. “Your visitors are happy to allow you the required time to get them settled once they arrive. And as for why you weren’t informed, the decision was made less than a week ago. Even for this the IOA wouldn’t approve more than one use of the ZPM to dial Atlantis.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “So I take it we’ve got the all clear to proceed?”

Relax? She would like to remind him to relax the next time something like this was sprung on him. He wasn't exactly the most adaptable human being she had ever met. "Yes, of course, sir. Please inform the new Atlantis Homeworld Security command detail to proceed." She nodded to Chuck to take the force field down.

“Will do,” Jack replied, not missing the fact that Carter was more than a little annoyed with him. Hopefully she’d be happy enough to see him that she’d appreciate the funny side. “Stand by.”

Leaving Walter to do the rest, Jack trotted down the stairs and into the Gateroom where Doctor Garman and Captain Sterling waited. The open wormhole flickered in the background as O’Neill grabbed his bag and strode a few steps up the ramp.

“Ready?” he turned back and asked them.

"Of course." Madison said. She looked at Darek. "What are the odds they took the force field down?"

"Fifty-Fifty," Darek replied in pretended seriousness. "Under normal circumstances I'd say: send a scout group in first."

"Yes. I was afraid of that." Her gaze shifted back to the gate. "We're ready when you are Sir."

"Okay, let's go," Jack said, his eyes alight with humour over their comments.

Turning he walked up the ramp and through the event horizon, stepping out moments later to the astonished faces of Colonel's Carter and Sheppard.

"I'm ba-ack," Jack drawled with a faint grin. When the two just looked at him, his eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "What?" he asked. "You didn't think I'd let them send just anyone did you?"

"Well if we had known it was you, we would have rolled out more of a welcome mat," Carter teased. "We might have even splurged on a fruit basket."

Madison snickered, and looked down to school her features.

"Fruit basket huh?" Jack gave one of his seldom used laughs, happier with the familiar teasing welcome than others might have expected. It wasn't home yet but with his team ... sans Teal'c ... in residence it soon would be. "Nice."

Deja vu... Lt. Col. Sheppard watched the prank the General played on Col. Carter and grinned. Much because he was amused by the prank, but even more because the General's arrival meant the other man had been successful at preventing the political fallout of the events hitting Atlantis too hard. And for that Sheppard was more than grateful.

"So," Jack looked to Sam. "We'll drop our gear ... sit down and chat?"

"We'll meet you in the conference room shortly," Sam replied with a single nod.

Nodding in return, Jack hoisted his bag over his shoulder, motioning for Doctor Garman and Captain Sterling to follow him. Chuck stepped forward and indicated that the team should follow him across the Gateroom to a small office often used for short term storage.

Gear stacked inside Jack and his team headed for the Conference Room.

Monday 20th April | 1000 hours | Conference Room

An hour into their return to Atlantis and General O'Neill still hadn't stopped smiling internally at how surprised Sam and Sheppard had looked when three familiar faces had stepped through the gate instead of the unknown command team they'd been expecting. Of course, now he had to get on with the work of actually setting up his new department, hence the current meeting of his team and the Atlantis command staff.

"Got a nice place for us to set up shop?" he asked Sam casually. "I'm thinking something with an ocean view ... private but, you know, cosy." Jack grinned, fully expecting to get a Carter eye roll in response.

"Oh no," Sam smirked at him. "For last minute room and office assignments, everyone gets tossed into the lower, inner levels of the city."

"This isn't going to be a guilt by association room assignment is it?" Madison asked. "I need a lot of sun. Preferably a northerly exposure. Sunrise is pretty, but I'm a fan of sleep too."

"Oh come on Sam," Jack raised an eyebrow at his former team mate. "Aren't you just a little bit glad you're getting lumped with me instead of some other schmoe? That's gotta be worth something."

The Colonel gave him an exaggerated sigh. "Since it's you," she began, "I suppose we can come up with something." Her lips pursed while she went over a mental schematic of the city. "There are a set of offices in the command tower, a few levels down. Well, I would assume they're offices. We haven't used them. There is an ocean view. We can set you up there."

"That sounds more like it," O'Neill replied. "We'll head down there later, check out what needs doing." Turning to Colonel Sheppard, Jack added "I assume I can borrow some of your men to assist with clean up ... until the Daedalus arrives the new department is just myself, Doctor Garman and Captain Sterling."

"I'll assign some people to assist your team with all things necessary." Sheppard replied. "Should be easy as you don't intend to set up shop in one of the less explored spires, Sir."

"A central location ... in the thick of things ... will suit us nicely," the General acknowledged, thinking about both aspects of their reason for being there ... something he'd have to fill both Colonel's in on asap. Looking to Sam Jack continued. "How about personal quarters?"

"The rooms you stayed in on your last visit are still available," Carter told him. "They're among the best we have to offer. My thinking was that we'd put you there, at least for now. There are larger apartments for you to choose from, I'll have a list of those locations provided for each of you."

"Just when we thought we were going to get out of having to apartment hunt," Madison told Darek. "That's the part I always like the least about moving. Are you going to like your neighbours, is the plumbing okay, how long is the commute? Oiy!" Her blue eyes danced with amusement.

"Exactly," Jack grinned over at the Doctor, much amused with her relaxed attitude. Turning back to Sam he added "I'll stick with the quarters I had last time ... anything larger I'll just have to clean and you know how fond I am of cleaning."

Darek grinned at Garman's words. "Plumbing can be fixed and neighbours can be ignored, or shocked into moving themselves." He was okay with whatever quarters he'd be stuck in. If it was the ones from last time, they'd be more than fine.

"Okay, moving on, we should talk about the IOA's reasons for setting us up here," Jack began, suddenly more serious. "They genuinely want to expand our role in Pegasus ... get us out there actively trying to make connections. Not that you guys haven't done well on that with limited resources."

"Having a department specifically devoted to that," Sam stated, nodding, "will be more beneficial than any of the progress we might be able to make on our own. For the most part we end up on the defensive, which is pretty much business as usual for the Stargate Program."

"There's more," Jack said grimly. "Under cover we're here to apprehend the real culprits behind the Hunter affair."

"Then the investigation will continue," Sam nodded once. While she did not like her people under suspicion, she liked even less that one among them was conspiring against the whole. "What will you require from us to facilitate this?"

"At this stage nothing specific," the General replied. "Co-operation in the form of letting us go about our business ... we don't have a lot to go on right now ... until they decide to act again."

"Unfortunate, but true," the Colonel said, and not without a little frustration. Then she gave a nod. "Just let me know whatever you need, as your setup progresses. We'll make the staff as available as possible until the remainder of your staff and supplies arrive."

"Thanks," Jack nodded, knowing the situation would frustrate the city's leaders on a number of levels, not the least of which was the idea that somewhere amongst them was at least one person with a sinister agenda. "We'll make our secondary objective need to know only," he added ... they would all see the necessity of that. Thinking about what his new department could offer in 'trade' for consideration of alliances, O'Neill turned to Maddie expectantly. "Anything specific we need to set you up for mobile medical services?"

"A revolving supply of vaccinations, antibiotics, and other medications," Garman told him. "The bulk of what I'm going to be using will be arriving on the Daedalus, but once it gets here, it could go quickly depending upon how the residents of the Pegasus Galaxy respond. I don't want to dip into the city's supply." As part of the diplomatic service the team would be offering, she would be acting as a sort of First Contact Medical Counsel. In short, she would demonstrate for Pegasus natives how they could assist them in bettering their medical resources, in exchange for becoming allies.

"Anything else we need to address right now?" Jack looked at each person in the room as he asked the question. With most of what they needed to actually start work still enroute on the Daedalus, the first three weeks would be about setting up procedures to guide the work of their new department.

The conversation that followed covered the practical aspects of establishing a new department. There wasn't much they could do to forward either of their man objectives but it was enough to keep O'Neill and his team busy until the Daedalus could arrival.