Author's Note: This story (at the time of writing it) is going to be a mixture of a lot of things. It'll probably have it's humorous moments, because I write as much humor into my stories as I can, but it'll also be action, drama, romance and angst. Bear in mind that this is an AU of the Atlantis story line (or Melony wouldn't be there) so if you don't think that the plot of this story follows the TV show... well... there's only one season so far. What can I say? I want to move forward faster than that, so I have to make stuff up as I go along.

That said; enjoy! It's definitely rated for a reason, and there will probably be chapters that I give warnings on since some of the content will be of a more serious nature.

Disclaimer: I don't own Atlantis or any of the characters I didn't make up. I do own the story line and the original characters – whoever may make an appearance. If you want to use them – or the idea – please ask me!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What are we looking at?" Sheppard asked, looking from the gate over to Melony and then to McKay, who was looking smug.

"Nothing yet," Rodney told him. "Just wait until everyone else gets here."

Sheppard shrugged, looking over at Mitchell once more, but she wasn't paying much attention to him just then. She was fiddling with some kind of device that was strapped to her forearm – a long, glowing thing that he had absolutely no idea what it was. Nothing new there, though, right? McKay was wearing one, too, but those two were the only ones – although Peter Grodin was looking fairly smug, also. Whatever it was, it had to be pretty cool, Sheppard decided. And probably incredibly complicated, since Mitchell had been closeted with Grodin and McKay on this thing for almost a week.

Weir arrived just then, and Sheppard noticed that she didn't seem to know what she was here for, either. She walked down the steps that led from the command center to the gate area, looking at Mitchell.

"So? What is it?"

"Wait..."

McKay looked over at Mitchell, who shrugged then nodded, and the Astrophysicist started fiddling with the device on his forearm. Mitchell walked over to stand by Sheppard, and was joined only a moment later by Carson Beckett who came over and stood on the other side, watching her. Melony's eyes, however, were on the gate, and that's where Sheppard and Weir both looked as well.

The Gate started dialing, and Weir looked up at the command center, but there was no one standing by the dialing computer.

"What the-?"

Sheppard looked over at McKay, who was now watching the gate. It swooshed open, the watery substance held in place by the shield that protected Atlantis from unwelcome visitors.

"How did you do-?"

The smug look was enhanced by about a billion, and even Mitchell had to smile.

"It's a modification of the remote gate devices the Jumpers have," Melony told them. "If we all have one of these, then we'd make less of a target at the gate if we're in trouble, because we wouldn't have to rely on the dialing devices at the entrances – which are perfect places for ambushes."

"A remote control?" Weir asked, looking concerned.

"It's not going to control the shield," Melony said. "It only dials the gate. And it's not connected to the IDC devices, so they still come into play, but if we're being chased or something I thought it'd be nice to be able to have the gate open and ready by the time we get there."

"Good idea..." Sheppard said, approvingly. He looked down at Mitchell's forearm. "How many of those do you have so far?"

"Just the two," McKay said. "They're not that hard to make, though – especially since we have the advantage of having access to the Ancient's own technology – so it wouldn't take too long to make enough that even a few teams can each have one."

"Or have a couple people on each team have one," Melony said. "Whatever works until he gets more made."

"That's impressive," Weir said.

Mitchell shook her head.

"The Jumpers gave me the idea – although I never would have thought of it on my own."

"I'll bet you would have," Sheppard told her, causing Mitchell to smile.

"Well... I didn't have to," she said. "We're not sure what the range is, and there's still a few things to test, but it looks promising so far."

Of course it did, Weir thought to herself. McKay was an absolute genius, and add Grodin and Mitchell to the mix and there was probably nothing the three wouldn't be able to make. God only knew what they'd be able to do if they added Zalinka.

"How long until they're ready to go out in the field?" Sheppard asked. He liked the idea of not having to stop at the gate to dial home. Of course, he'd been chased back to the gate more than once and could appreciate the time saved if you could dial on the run.

McKay started to say something, but Melony interrupted him.

"I'm going to go off-world tomorrow, so I'll be able to field test the one I have then."

Weir perked up at that news – she hadn't scheduled any off-world activities for the next day.

"You're going off-world?" She asked.

Mitchell nodded.

"Where are we going?" Sheppard asked, curiously, looking at Weir.

"We're not going anywhere," Melony told him. "I need to go talk to the Light Ones, though."

"Oh?"

She nodded.

"I'm ready to start figuring out how to defeat the Wraith, and I'm going to need a little help from Kale – if he's willing."