In the Eye of the Beholder

Disclaimer: I don't own Atlantis. Macy Tanner is my character, but all the other characters belong to the people at Stargate. I'm merely a fan.

Author's note: This takes place sometime after Aiden Ford first leaves Atlantis. It is a story in itself, so it's as if I'm ignoring just about all of Season 2.

Chapter 1

"Arrival"

Wow.

That was my first thought when I arrived in Atlantis. It's such a huge city. And so different from anything I'd seen on earth. Stargate Command hadn't been weird at first glance. It was like any other underground military bunker. I wasn't too impressed until General O'Neill showed me the Stargate itself; but here in Atlantis? It got me at first glance.

"Tanner!"

I nearly jumped. "Yes, sir," I stood erect.

"Your commanding officer awaits you in the briefing room."

I was confused. "Yes, sir. But, sir-"

"Yes?"

"I'm here as a civilian, sir."

"You still need to report to the higher powers. Now."

"Yes, sir." I tried to keep up with Colonel Caldwell while still taking in as much as I could.

"You can retrieve your things from the ship as soon as you're assigned a room, Tanner."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," I answered as we reached the briefing room. I watched in awe as the doors swung open to reveal a round table at which several people were already seated.

"Colonel Caldwell," the brunette lady stood to greet us.

"Doctor Weir," he nodded. "I brought the girl General O'Neill found. Allow me to introduce Macy Tanner." He turned to me, "Tanner, this is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, head of the Atlantis expedition."

I nodded to the woman who returned the gesture. She turned to her right. "This is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, our head military officer."

I snapped to attention and saluted him. Then I cringed, realizing what I'd done. I had come as a civilian, but that short while in boot camp would stay with me longer than I thought.

Colonel Sheppard looked confused at my reaction, but Doctor Weir continued with the introductions. "This is Doctor Rodney McKay," she indicated the man with the bored expression on his face, "one of our head scientists." He suddenly didn't seem quite as bored. "And this is Teyla Emmagan," Doctor Weir pointed to the quiet woman seated beside Colonel Sheppard. "She is the leader of the Athosians, some of the natives we found on another planet right after we arrived in the Pegasus galaxy. Now, most of them live on this planet, but on the mainland."

Teyla bowed her head to me.

"So," Doctor Weir sat down again, "now that you know a little something about each of us, why don't you have a seat and tell us a little about yourself."

I shrugged as I sat down in the nearest chair, between Teyla and Colonel Caldwell, and asked, "What do you want to know?"

"How 'bout filling me in on this whole deal with General O'Neill?" Colonel Sheppard suggested.

"Um, okay... to be honest, I'm still a little confused about that myself. He found me in boot camp, but I'll back up a little bit. I was in boot camp because I'd run away. I'm an only child, but my parents never really wanted kids. I guess they thought that if they threw enough at me, I'd take care of myself. But they wouldn't pay for school. I didn't have enough money coming in to pay rent for my own place- which I wanted desperately- and save for school.

"I finally got fed up with it and ran away. I stayed with friends for a little while, but just a week before my nineteenth birthday, I joined the United States Air Force. I wanted to travel, and I figured that was one way. I went to boot camp.

"One day, while we were stretching to run some laps, our drill sergeant introduces us to Brigadier General Jack O'Neill. Sarge said the general was there to observe us. Long story short, he saw something in me he liked. He asked me if I liked to travel and if I was willing to take risks. I said yes to both, and here I am. He also said that since I hadn't even made it all the way through boot camp, I could choose whether I came as military or civilian. I chose civilian." I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. "I, uh, have a few messages from Stargate Command too. Colonel Sheppard, sir, General O'Neill says, 'Congrats on the upgrade.' To Doctor Weir he says, 'Congrats on surviving this long with him.' And, to Doctor McKay, Colonel Carter sends a hi."

"Macy," Teyla spoke for the first time, "how old are you?"

"I'll be twenty in a few weeks," I answered.

"Well, then," Doctor Weir smiled, "that will make you the youngest Atlantean from earth. I suppose you'd like to rest. John, you can take Macy to Lieutenant Ford's old room."

"Excuse me?" he balked. "That's one we need to talk about. Now."

She raised her eyebrow questioningly. "Fine. Teyla, will you help Macy settle in?"

"Certainly, Doctor Weir."

Everyone rose to leave except Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard. As the doors closed behind me, I heard him start in on her, "You can't give her Ford's room!"

"So, Teyla," I said as we lugged and toted all my stuff from the Daedalus, "who is this Lieutenant Ford?"

"Aiden is a good friend of Colonel Sheppard's. He was, uh, is also the second-in-command here in Atlantis. He has been... missing for some time now. We have only seen him once since he ran away. It was the same planet on which we found Ronon."

The running away part caught my attention, but so did this Ronon. "Uh, Ronon?"

"Yes, he is a runner. Well, he was until Doctor Beckett removed the Wraith tracking device from him."

"Oh, yeah. I remember hearing about the Wraith when I watched that video Doctor Jackson had put together from the message y'all sent through the gate."

"Ah, I remember that message. I, of course, did not send a message as I am from this galaxy, but I do recall Aiden being in charge of that project. Come," she motioned me inside a room, "this is where you will stay. It was Lieutenant Ford's room, but, as I said, we have not seen him for many days. We keep his things in here; if they are in your way, though, you may move them."

I looked around the room. There was a bed and a night stand with a lamp on it and a bookshelf on the wall. "I don't think I'll need to change anything. I like how he has things."

"Very well, then," Teyla said. I could tell she was remembering Lieutenant Ford. "Now you must go to see Doctor Beckett. Follow me."

We walked down the hall, rounded a corner and stopped in front of a strange elevator-looking thing. The doors slid closed behind us as we stepped in. A panel opened to reveal a blueprint of the city with glowing dots in certain places. Teyla explained that the blinking dot was our current position. To go somewhere else, we need only touch the dot on the screen closest to our destination. She pointed out the designated medical corridor and told me to press the closest dot. I pressed it, and the doors seemed to slide open almost immediately. We were in the medical corridor.

"That was so... fast!"

Teyla smiled at my shocked expression. "The city of the ancestors holds many secrets. Come."

I followed her to one of the rooms where a man in a white lab coat greeted us. "Teyla, good afternoon! And who is this lovely lass?"

"Good afternoon, Doctor. This is Macy Tanner. Macy, this is Doctor Carson Beckett."

He smiled and shook my hand. "A lovely name to match a lovely face. You must have been with the group that just arrived from Earth."

I nodded and couldn't keep myself from smiling. "Yes, I am. I probably would've come sooner, but Doctor Weir wanted to meet me immediately, and then Teyla helped me move all my things into my room."

"Oh, it's quite alright, dear. I'm sure you met a few of our top people...?" he patted the table.

"Yes," I hopped up on the table, "I met Doctor Weir, Colonel Sheppard, and Doctor McKay. The head of the expedition and the ranking military officer and the head scientist."

Doctor Beckett chuckled, "And did Rodney tell you he was the best at everything?"

"No. Is he, Doctor Beckett?"

"Well, he likes to think he is. And, please, call me Carson."

"Sure. Teyla, can we get some food after this?"

"Of course, Macy."

"Well, you seem like a very healthy young lady. Off you go now!" Carson shooed us out the door. We nearly plowed into one of the biggest guys I'd ever seen.

"Oh, Ronon! Excuse us," Teyla exclaimed.

"Sorry," the hulking figure mumbled.

"Oh, Macy, meet Ronon Dex. Ronon, this is Macy Tanner. She just arrived today."

He sized me up in a single glance and nodded to me. I returned the gesture. Ronon followed us to the dining hall. There we met up with Colonel Sheppard who smiled and greeted us.

"Ronon, Teyla, and Macy. I can call you that, right?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"Good, and you can call me John. Now, with that out of the way, we will get our food, and then you can tell us some interesting stuff about yourself." I raised my eyebrows. "You know, what kind of stuff do you like; what are your hobbies, that kind of stuff. Like me. I like ferris wheels, football, and scary movies. Isn't that right, Teyla?"

"Indeed," she chuckled.

I grinned. "Well, I like roller coasters, skateboarding, and good comedies."

"Good! Now, Teyla, how about you?"

"Well... I like sunrises, stout tea, and the sound of the ocean."

We looked at Ronon. He returned our gazes. "I like big guns, fast fights, and dead Wraith," he claimed after a beat.

"Yes, and I like smart people who actually talk about worthwhile subjects," Doctor McKay said as he plunked his tray down next to mine.

"Rodney, nice of you to join us. We were just getting to know one of our newest additions. If General O'Neill sent her, she's worth getting to know, don't you think?"

"Yes, I suppose so. Now, what exactly are you here for anyway? You're too young to be trained in anything we scientists are doing."

"Well, Doctor McKay, I-"

"Rodney. Just call me Rodney, and I'll call you, uh..."

"Macy," John offered.

"Right, Macy. Now, why are you here?"

Exasperatedly, I answered, "Well, Rodney, quite frankly, I'm here to take over the Pegasus galaxy because you petty humans are incapable of doing so."

Ronon stopped chewing, and Teyla's eyes got big. Rodney blinked. "You- you're joking, right?"

John nearly choked as he laughed at Rodney. "Of course she's pulling your leg!"

I grinned.

"So, you're across the hall from me, you know," John glanced at me, "and down the hall from Teyla and around the corner from Ronon."

We were returning from my personal guided tour of Atlantis. If my first impression of the city hadn't been awesome, the second one certainly was!

"What about Rodney and Doctor Weir? And Carson?"

"What about them?"

"Where are their rooms?"

"Oh, well, Carson's room is close to the medical corridor for emergencies, of course. Elizabeth- uh, Doctor Weir's room is closer to the gate room because she likes to be close to her work. And Rodney? He picked a room where he'd be close to both means of escape- the Stargate and the Puddle Jumpers."

We both laughed. I had already learned a good bit about the people I had met just through talking to John. "Rodney sounds like he can be a wuss at times..."

"Yeah," John nodded, "he can be girly. No offense."

"Oh, it's okay. I don't mind being a girl. In fact, I kinda like the idea of a guy taking care of me." I let my mind drift back to the summer before my high school junior year. I'd had a classic summer romance. While I didn't feel secure and cared for at home, I did with that boy.

I shifted back to the present. "What about this Lieutenant Ford? What was he like? What happened to make him run away?"

John sighed. "Ford?" he smiled, recalling the young man. "Actually, you remind me of him in a lot of ways. He was a kid in every sense of the word... his twenty-sixth birthday just passed a few weeks ago."

He then launched into the story of the Wraith attack on Atlantis in which Lieutenant Aiden Ford was changed forever.