Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to Stargate: Atlantis or Stargate: SG-1 or any of the films/series/songs mentioned in the story.

Author's note: First of, this is the 8th episode/story of my season 6 of Atlantis, but the story begins in "I am Atlantis.' Then, in sequence: 'Spite and Malice,' 'The Last Petal I,' 'The Last Petal II,' 'Avenues,' 'Pavlov,' 'There's a Dinosaur in my Tent,' 'Run to the Water' and 'Mrs Beckett.'

Also: Don't think I don't appreciate all the reviews. I told Hubby that though fanfiction might be a hobby like any other, this is one that's much better for my ego than, say, stamp collecting! Today I'd like to especially thank one of the Guests. I can't thank you in person, as there's no link back to an account of yours, but thank you none the less!

Chapter 1

"I'm just saying, it's been a while," Rodney said as they walked down the wide tarred road leading from the stargate towards – what they hoped – was civilisation. So far this world looked more promising than most they had visited. No other world had ever sported a tarred road and Ronon had only recognised it from his visits to earth. And of course any world that could develop to this point in the galaxy was something worth looking into. The only peculiarity was that the planet did not appear on the list of addresses Atlantis had of active stargates in the galaxy.

That was also exactly the reason why they were now walking down this path with the sun setting to their right. One of the programs that continually ran in the background – according to Rodney – was one checking for any addresses that were not on the system. Ronon wasn't exactly sure how it worked, but obviously it did and it had found this planet. The theory was that – seeing as Atlantis knew all the planets the Wraith knew about – this might be a planet unfamiliar to the Wraith and thus one not frequently culled. Hence their – or at least Rodney's – excitement about finding a tarred road.

Not that the scientist could just be happy about something. Ever since they had stepped onto the planet, he had been complaining about finding a paved road, but not finding a taxi service to go along with it. Well, it did feel kind of funny to be walking along the side of the road like hitch-hikers from earth, but as Teyla had rightfully pointed out: she would rather be walking freely along a road than be at the mercy of another inside a vehicle. That had basically ended that argument, which was why Rodney had moved onto the next subject.

"That does not mean it's a bad thing," John replied. Ronon had to admit, though, he was listening only with half an ear. Instead his mind was on Teyla. The entire thing with him and her and Kanaan had ground to a halt and none of them really knew where they needed to go from here.

"No, it's not a bad thing, but don't you think it's kind of strange that we..." Rodney continued, but John interrupted him.

"Not that I'm superstitious or anything, but let's not tempt fate," he told his friend. Beside Rodney Teyla smiled.

"Colonel, I never would have thought you were superstitious," she grinned and John gave her a mock-scowl.

"It's just that every time Rodney points out how things could get worse, they tend to get worse," their leader and friend replied. "If I were to believe in fate, I'd think fate didn't like Rodney," he added.

"Look, you can joke all you want to; the point is: we haven't seen a Wraith in quite a long time," Rodney told them. John scowled, Ronon laughed and Teyla lifted her eyebrows.

"I really hope Colonel Sheppard is wrong about fate hating you," she seriously informed the scientist, but Ronon could see the laughter in her eyes. Yet Ronon had to admit it had indeed been a while since the last time they had seen any Wraith activity. Usually hardly a month passed without one of the SGA teams at least hearing about the Wraith, but the life-sucking aliens have been quiet since their failed attack on earth. Okay, so the Wraith had lost quite a bit of their resources in the process, but surely the best way for them to recover their losses would be to cull as many planets as possible. Yet wherever the SGA teams went, everything was quiet of Wraith activity.

The road they were following finally reached a small town. The town reminded Ronon of one of those small towns in America he had seen in a movie once: those small towns where everyone ate at the same diner, knew everyone else and they wore cowboy boots and said 'hee-hah' a lot. It even had a tumbleweed that rolled by just as they stood staring at the place.

"This is so out of my worst nightmare," Rodney remarked. "And seriously, how did two completely different cultures end up with this?" he asked as he spread his arms to take in the entire town.

"I find the town rather charming," Teyla dryly remarked.

"So did that last town we found Lucius Lavin in," Rodney reminded them.

"I hate that guy," John needlessly added. The couple of times they had met Lucius, he had tried to manipulate them and had in fact been manipulating the small towns he had been residing in. None of them felt any fondness for the pudgy man. The last time they had seen him, though, he had just lost his 'super powers.' Ronon hadn't really thought about it till now.

"Surely not every small town we come across would be the home of..." Teyla began, but Rodney suddenly held his right hand up; silencing her.

"Shut up," the scientist snapped. If it had been any other person, any one of the team would have been insulted, but years of working with McKay had taught them to tolerate his abruptness. Besides, he usually only did something like this when he felt there was something important he needed to know. "Does anyone else hear that?" he asked with a slightly bewildered look on his face.

Silence descended upon the small group. At first Ronon didn't hear anything but the wind and the sound of people talking. On one of the sidewalks a couple walked by, speaking softly and looking intently into each other's eyes. For a moment the wind shifted, though, and the strains of a song being played on a musical instrument was blown to them. The song seemed oddly familiar to Ronon, but it was too brief for him to identify. Rodney and John were staring at each other with slightly bewildered expressions, though. Obviously they had identified the song even from the brief snatch they had heard.

"Is that...?" John began.

"No, surely it can't be..." Rodney spoke almost at the same time, but that was as far as either came before falling silent.

Finally John pulled a face of disbelief. "Nah, it just sounded like it," he told Rodney. Just then the wind shifted once more and another few strains of the same song were carried to them. Both Rodney and John's expressions turned incredulous. "No way," John said moments before both he and Rodney took off down the street at a run.

With a shared expression of confusion Ronon and Teyla ran after them. As they ran the music became louder and finally Ronon was able to identify the song – just as John and Rodney ran into a building. As they opened the door, the sound surged for a moment.

...they're sharing a drink they call 'loneliness'

But it's better than drinking alone...

Ronon did not know that many songs from earth, but he had once heard Rodney play this song on the piano someone had brought with them. It was a tune one did not easily forget, but how was it someone was playing it here, in the Pegasus Galaxy?