So book three begins, hehe:3


"Speak The Truth, Even if Your Voice Shakes"

Time always had a way of flying by on Atlantis; everyone had become used to it as days turned to weeks and weeks to months. That was precisely what it did, in the case of Forrest. It had already been two months since she watched a puddle jumper fall from the sky of her homeworld. If she had been able to know what that day would become, she doubted she would change a thing.

Forrest and Castiel alike had become beloved members of the expedition, the entire base now used to their presence. A few new members would come through the gate but quickly adjusted with the help of others. The pair had become at home, learning as much as they could about the culture, and way of life that the people around them knew too well.

John had introduced the bonded pair to cartoons, having invited them to movie night he held for the Athosian kids. Having told Castiel of it when Forrest was off-world last, the dragon had managed to drag her along. Every Friday night since, she has happily sat on the rec room floor with the kids to watch. She found them entertaining and exciting, have explained more than once that animations like that were nonexistent on Loonrian. Needless to say, Carson had been trying for weeks to get her to join in on movie night with him and the other nurses, but it fell at the same time. She said once she was tired of the cartoons, she would join them.

Forrest had become a familiar face to everyone, though some things still tended to through people off. One of the things people struggled to get used to was that Forrest called everyone by their first name. Anyone and everyone, unless she was angry or trying to get your attention. Rodney had been the most annoyed, seeing as he had earned his title. But a few others were quick to point out that they too had won theirs, and were not complaining. She still refused to use a transporter; she just did not like the idea of them, and so as regular Castiel and she would glide around the city. Using the balconies as landing and take off pads. More than once, Forrest had scared people to death by jumping off a ledge, only to be caught by an already flying Castiel.

The most impressive things came from Carson and Forrest working together in the infirmary. They had managed to get the bio matched stitches perfected. Among many things, Forrest had helped Carson improve many Earth medical methods. While it had taken her a few long evenings, Forrest had managed to rework some antibiotics to act similar to the stitches. Bio matching to what they were fighting. She had explained that on Loonrian there were only one or two kinds of antibiotics. Both designed to match the infection they were applied to combat. It was impressive, to see her and Castiel work. There had already been more than one instance of the dragon being useful. His wings were strong enough to act as a stretcher for wounded, able to carry people around without help left many people available to administer treatment. He could do paperwork even, seeing as he could write quickly, often allowing Forrest and Carson time to work on other things. Not that they had told Elizbeth yet that all their reports were written by the dragon. Then, of course, the most significant thing the base taught Castiel was how to brew coffee and run a microwave. Everyone having grown quite accustomed to the dragon walking by with a metal tray and offering it to anyone who needed it. He had become the mascot of the entire medical department.

"So they choose to be muted?" Carson asked curiously from where he was sitting at his desk, Forrest sitting cross-legged on the floor just beside him, leaned against the wall. "Well, yes in a sense. You see, the dragon breed was formed a very long time ago when Dragons first started to get involved in the medical field alongside humans on our world. It was selective breeding on their part, that created Castiel here today." The dragon was happily sprawled across the floor, his head resting in her lap as she affectionately scratched his ears. " The parents are the ones who allow the surgery to take place. It is considered an honor to be muted amongst their kind. Think of it this way. When a human goes say deaf, another sense is normally enhanced to make up the difference right." He spun the chair around, looking down at her as he nodded his understanding. "That is why dragons with medical aptitude choose to mute themselves. They can get by without their own voice, so they try to increase another sense to their advantage. Better hearing, stronger sense of smell, even softer touch. All of those can be extremely useful in the medical field. There was another younger Mute at the university while we were there whose sense of smell was so strong she could pinpoint internal bleeding without scanners, even tell how severe it was." Carson had to admit, the concept was not a bad one. "Castiel was one of those who has better hearing. He can easily hear the heart rate of someone across the infirmary from us. Very useful in situations where you need to be able to tell if something is changing sooner rather than later with a patient." "So dragons like Malco, Destroyers right? They are selectively bred as well." "Exactly, Destroyers are more strategic in the brain, with some bred for leadership and others to obey orders. They have a bit more of an aggressive streak as well." He watched how she trailed off, thinking of the large black dragon. "You know, speaking of him. When do you think we would be able go back to Loonrian? I would love to see him again, maybe bring home some of my research." He smiled, as he stood from his chair and offered her a hand. Watching as Castiel lifted his head to allow her to stand. "How 'bout we go ask to 'lizabeth ourselves?" She smiled, grabbing a hold of his hand and standing, watching as Castiel lazily moved onto his feet, yawning *I was enjoying my nap.* *you sleep all day long Cas, get over it.*

The trio moved along the hallways, on their way up towards the control room in hopes of catching Elizabeth in her office, to make their trip request. Forrest had not stepped through the Stargate since the return flight from the horror that was her first off-world mission, but the idea of going home was enough to get her to step into it once again. They rounded a corner, only to have a familiar voice call into Carson's radio. "Carson I need you to come to the control chair." Rodney had no manners as he made the demand, causing Carson to stop mid-stride. "Rodney find someone else, you know I hate the bloody thing." Forrest listened curiously, he had told her of his experiences with the chair, it had been one of the few rooms that the pair had left unexplored. "Colonel Sheppard had to take Tayla to the mainland, and Lorne and his team are off world. I just need to run a few tests you don't have to try and fly the damn city." She could see the look of utter annoyance on his face, as Castiel stood next to her. *They need more people with this gene, maybe start making it a requirement for their new members?* She looked at the dragon and shook her head *there would only be like 12 of them then.* "Fine Rodney, we will be there shortly." She could see the look on his face, as she followed him once again. "You can tell him no." but he shook his head, "Sadly its not that easy." He explained as they walked down a flight of stairs.

She had become close to him; she had to admit. While she spent time with the others, like Tayla and John, she found herself mainly in his company. They ate meals together, worked together, in general, were rarely apart. He had been there for her, since the first day she arrived. She felt closest to him, out of everyone there. They worked well together, and she found comfort in knowing they had a shared field. It was Castiel who caused the most chaos between the two friends. His ability to write would mean he could easily now tell anyone what they had been talking about, and the dragon did enjoy messing with the two doctors. Be it translating something from Loonrian wrong, or purposefully making mistakes for them to fix. While they had caught onto his antics pretty quick, they still would occasionally fall victim to his pranks. The dragon seemed to have a hidden motive or goal for the pair that he refused to explain.

They winded down the hallway, soon enough a familiar figure appeared ahead, dark hair and slender frame easy to match a name to. "Elizabeth!" Forrest called out happily, seeing as they would still get to hopefully make their request. She turned, smiling lightly as she waited for the three to catch up. "I take it someone roped you into the chair?" she said, able to see the unhappy look on Carson's face. "Aye." Forrest quiet for a moment, before speaking. "We were actually on our way to talk to you when Rodney radioed in." She explained as the group once again began to walk towards the control chair. "What might you both need to talk to me about?" She had grown used to the constant reports from the pair of doctors, considering they were making improvements every other day it seemed. "Well, Forrest would like to make a trip back to Loonrian, to check on Malco, and maybe gather up some of the university's database to bring back here to use." Carson was explaining it well, as Elizabeth listened. "That does not sound like too bad of an idea, but you know I can't guarantee how soon that would be able to happen." All three nodded "we know that just wanted to get the request in." Forrest responding, able to see the hallway open up to the blue colored chair and platform.

Elizabeth walked in first, followed by Carson, Forrest and then last of all, Castiel. Rodney and a few other scientists had their equipment set up around the room, happily tapping away on tablets and other screens. She had come to admire their dedication to their work, even when it seemed to have adverse effects on the mind, like in Rodney's case. She had been trying to convince Carson to let her run a few of her tests, only to be shut down by the fact Rodney was still scared of Castiel and refused to allow the dragon near him in any medical situation.

She stepped up onto the blue glass platform with the others, she was able to hear the sound of Castiel's claws tapping on the glass. The reaction was instant, as the blue stones seemed to change color, their shade shifting to the light mint color of Castiel's markings, the entire room going silent very quick, as they all turned to Castiel who was standing looking down at his paws on the now matching floor. "That is new." Rodney pushing the others away as he looked at Castiel, who had stayed froze. *What is happening?* "Don't ask me Cas." She said it aloud, seeing as now everyone was wondering the same thing. The dragon took a tentative step forward, the stones glowing again matching his footfalls. "Okay, just keep walking along the edge for now." Rodney watching as he hardly looked up from the tablet, the other scientists quickly buzzing around the monitors like bees. "Now he shows some interest." Carson muttering it loud enough for Forrest to hear, making her smirk. She could feel the dragon's unease and nervousness. "You're fine." She said as she watched him. He ambled around the chair, his footfalls glowing as he moved. He walked around the back of the chair, and a low hum quickly started. Next to the chair, just behind it on either side, two long pillars raised up from the platform. The same coloration and design of the chair, but the pillars had long cutouts on top. Similar to how the chair had places for your hands. "This is insane.." Rodney was standing next to Castiel now head level.

"What is insane Rodney?" Elizabeth standing next to Forrest and Carson who were staying quiet for the moment. "There are so many things turning on right now; I do not know where to start. It is like the city is setting itself up to run a few systems at the same time. Like side by side." He said as Castiel stood still, looking at the scientist. *Am I a problem?* Forrest shaking her head. "He wants to know if he is a problem." Rodney looking up from his tablet, shaking his head, "No not at all, actually if you could maybe put your um, paws on those things?" The dragon looking back to Forrest who nodded her head. He moved over to the pillars behind the chair, sitting down and happily wrapping his tail around his back feet. Sitting upright, he placed his paws nervously on the tops of the pillars. The humming gained a low tone, as Forrest winced lightly. Carson quick to notice, as he looked from Castiel to her. "What is it?" She looked up again, a puzzled expression on her face. "He can see quite a bit; there is a lot of information that we both do not understand." The images of the things he was seeing drifting over. *Carson did say you can see and control things form the city with this thing.* "Yes we know that, but why can you?" She looked at Rodney, who was still holding his tablet, and ignoring her question.

"Forrest, here." He snapped his fingers as he pointed to the chair, her eyes going a bit wide as she looked at Carson and Elizabeth "Why?" "Do it, you won't die." She looked to Carson, who offered her a slightly reassuring smile. She walked towards the chair, everyone's eyes focused on her as she sat down and leaned back. It surged to life, the colors of the platform once again changed, the light green now meshed with a darker shade as the control chair hummed to life. *okay, I understand what you meant* *this is insane* she could see things, like as if Castiel had been showing them to her. They floated in her mind, power grids and other strange things that she did not understand. "What are you seeing Forrest?" Elizabeth's voice sounding curious, as Forrest opened her eyes "Everything I guess, I have no idea what I am working with here." She said as she glanced over at Rodney who had taken a stand next to her. "Cas can look at different things, at the same time as me." She could feel him exploring the things, looking at different aspects of the city that they could access. Rodney seemed to pause, as he thought for a moment, "Okay you two, let's try this. Forrest, I want you to try and focus on shutting the door into here. Castiel, um, turn off the lights in this room." "Rodney?" "I want to have something I can easily see working; this right here could change some things up." The group watched in silence, as the pair focused, Around them, the overhead lights of the room shut down, leaving only the glowing chair floor as light. Then with a hiss, all the doors to the room closed. "That worked." Forrest's eyes were open once again, "Does that mean I can stop? Shit is making my head pound." Carson looking to Rodney, before he snapped away from the tablet. "Yeah, that's fine go for it." The scientist quick to turn around as the chair leaned forward and Forrest leaped out of it. Spinning to look at Castiel who had dropped his paws from the pillars. *That was interesting.* *you don't say?*

"So when were you going to tell us she had the gene?" Rodney quickly looking at Carson, who shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, "Um, well I did not really know." "What the hell do you mean you didn't know? Wait, really? Did you not test her? You do that to anyone that shows up here!" "I just didn't think it was necessary." Elizabeth having now stayed silent, as Forrest walked over to stand next to her. Castiel perched on her shoulders. "I have come to realize this is normal for these two?" Looking up at Elizabeth, "you have no idea.." They continued to listen, "You are just a twitterpated mess right now." The look on Carson's face rather angry, but at the same time almost embarrassed, "Excuse me?" "You heard exactly what I said." "What does twitterpated mean? I have heard you say it a few times now Rodney." Forrest's innocent question quickly snapping them from their argument. "Ask Colonel Sheppard to show the movie, Bambi, next Friday. It should explain it." Elizabeth finally stepping in "well, I think there needs to be a bit more digging now." She said as she laced her fingers together, looking forward. "We are going to boost that trip to Loonrian to tomorrow morning, Rodney you will be going along with your team." "Um, you know what tomorrow is right?" "Yes, it would be the 4th of July." Rodney rolled his eyes, "you think our all American, football loving, explosive obsessed pilot is going to want to go out tomorrow?" "I banned fireworks after last years incident." *what are fireworks, and what happened last year?* *we will ask Carson later.* "Besides, the Barbeque is not till after dark. Plenty of time for you to go gather up some of the university's database." She was quick, turning to look at Forrest and Carson, "Now, Carson, test Forrest for the gene. You both have been so caught up in trying to recreate Loonrian medical tech; you have yet to try and explain to us how the bond works." The last part directed more at Carson, who was trying to not make eye contact. "Yes, ma'am." He did not wait for any more, he turned quickly followed by Forrest to walk out of the hall. "Forrest! Be ready to head out early!" Elizabeth calling after them, before looking at Rodney again. "What just happened?" She wanted to know, without Forrest present. Simply for the fact that it had not been told if it was good or bad. "Well, normally you can only really focus on one thing at a time in the chair. But, based on what we all just witnessed, with Castiel also connected they would each focus on different things. This could mean a few things, generally speaking. But right now, it tells me that Loonrian was much more than a random developed planet." She looked him in the eyes, "I have a feeling, I have been trying to find out more on that planet in the wrong places. I have an even better idea, on where to look in the database now."