Mind Games

by TeylaJohn4ever

Carter and Teyla get kidnapped by Michael and an unlikey friend returns from the grave to help. Occurs during Season 4. Part of role playing game. For summary, check out description for RPG #1: http://forums./index.php?showtopic 2303996&st 0&start 0

1. Part 1

Written by:

LeaCharmedOne aka BambiScott: Rodney McKay, Harper Sheppard, Kale Emerson, Michael, Lorne
TeylaJohn4ever aka SGA4ever: Teyla Emmagan, Halling
sheppardkid: John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Samantha Carter
Teyla214: Netia
RachBeall: Elizabeth Weir, Todd
myhr17: Jennifer Keller, Temp
Eglaviel: Carson Beckett
DarkCrystal: Kat

It was a normal morning on Atlantis. The base was buzzing, people starting their work or getting ready for anything that could happen. Harper Sheppard sat at her desk in her living quarters in Atlantis. She looked at a picture of her father William, her Uncle John, and herself when she was 7. She touched the picture and got ready for the day on another world. She was still getting to know her uncle. After her father's death, he would only come around to visit her when he could get time off work - which was a rare thing - but he always made sure to go see her. Ever since she was brought to Atlantis, to help get information off the computers, she had become close to John. She walked out of her room, and as soon as she did, the hall lights came on. She sighed, knowing that her ATA gene had made her a useful helper around the base. Her gene was even stronger then her uncle's, though no one knew why. It ticked her off knowing that Stargate Command, back on Earth, only wanted her for the gene, and not her computer and engineering degree. She pulled up her blonde hair and got to work on a computer in the operations center. She was asked, by Col. Carter, to get up a communications network for those places that had been blasted when her uncle and his team had fought a Wraith who had managed to enter the city.

Rodney McKay sat down in the Control Room while he drank some coffee and checked for any calls coming into Atlantis. He had been searching for their friend Todd, the Wraith, in the hopes that he had found where Dr. Weir could be. Ever since Elizabeth had left, Rodney felt the urge to either kill or tackle the new commander of the Atlantis expedition: Col. Samantha Carter. He had always envied Carter's aptitude for creativity and for having a 'sixth sense' when it came to problem solving. In fact, he still has a crush on her, but he believes he is smarter than she is. However, he does, grudgingly, acknowledge that she is the wiser of the both of them. He then decides to go to the operations center, in search of food. "Anyone have a donut around here?"ﾝCrew members only stare at him as he takes someone's non-citrus fruit off of their plate. "For the last time, people, no food by the computers!" He greets the owner of the stolen fruit with a nervous smile. "Hey how's it going?"ﾝ He figures it would be best if he left before he gets into any more trouble and heads for the mess hall.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Pegasus Galaxy, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, former commander of the Lost City of Atlantis, is training her newly acquired crew of Replicators. She had managed to escape Oberoth with the help of some rogue replicators. These replicators seek the ability to ascend, and they believe that Elizabeth is the key to achieving that. Together, they managed to steal one of the Asuran ships, and had been in hiding until the day that the Atlantis team destroyed their planet, as well as all the other replicators. They had managed to take out several Wraith hive ships, and had, thus far, continued to remain undetected. As far as Elizabeth knew, no word of their existence had spread to anyone. All that people seemed to know was that Wraith ships had been mysteriously disappearing. This suited her just fine! She intended to stay "under the radar" for as long as possible!

Though she had managed to form a sort of bond with her crew, it was nothing like what she had on Atlantis, and she felt that every day. She avoided any kind of close personal relationship with any of them. "This is not my family!" she thought, "My family is in Atlantis!" They were a good team, she had to admit, and she did respect and trust them. She was even a bit fond of them, but it was strictly business. She was their leader, nothing more. Yes, she was friendly and caring, but she was also strong, firm, and reserved. The Asurans had learned not to try to involve themselves too much with her personally. She would never be mean, but any attempts to engage her on a personal level were always met with failure, so they simply gave her space.

Elizabeth desperately wanted to contact her former team/friends after their successful mission to the Asuran planet, but she knew that the time was not yet right for that. She also knew that they believed her to be dead; Oberoth having spread that lie in an attempt to squelch the rebellion of the ascension-seeking replicators. She had heard that some of those replicators had made clones of her and her team, hoping to still find a way to ascend, and that they had passed their belief of her death onto those clones, which had, in turn, passed it on to her former team. This news saddened her, but she knew that it was for the best - for now, anyway. She knew that her people, especially John, would never stop looking for her if they believed her to still be alive.

No, the time had not yet come to reunite with her old friends. However, though she longed for that day to come, she knew that when it did, things would never be the same as they were before. She wasn't completely replicator, but she was no longer completely human either. Still, she knew that, one day, they'd all be reunited - perhaps they could become close allies - so she continued to train her new crew, and do her part in the war against the Wraith.

Elizabeth stared out the window of her personal quarters, thinking about how very much she missed living in Atlantis and seeing the ocean and sky, instead of just stars. She missed her "family" most of all, though. "I haven't forgotten you, my friends! One day soon, we'll be a family again! When that day comes, you may need my help...and I will be there to give it!"

Teyla is standing over her son's crib watching him sleep. On a trip back to Earth, Sheppard had bought the crib for her along with some other toys that he was not old enough for yet. Her son is so beautiful with the same dark complexion as his mother and bright blue eyes. She is relieved for her baby to finally be safe from the clutches of Michael, who had captured her several months ago. She had named her son, Tagan, in honor of her father who died at the hands of the Wraith. She sighs thinking about how her son's father, Kanaan, had been lost and would never be a part of Tagan's life. Michael had used Kanaan to try to kill Teyla's teammates when they went to rescue her, but Rodney ended up shooting and killing Kanaan. Teyla knew that Rodney felt terrible about it, but she is not angry with him. In her heart, she knows that she was unable to save Kanaan from Michael.
Somehow, Michael had also gotten away the day of her rescue.
Tagan opens his eyes and begins to cry, bringing Teyla back to the present. Teyla picks up her son, gently cradling him in her arms. "You must be hungry," she speaks. "I love you, my little ray of sunshine."

Later that day...the alarm goes off, in the control room, indicating that someone is returning from an off-world mission. Rodney is in the gate room with Teyla, while Carter is mysteriously absent. "It's Colonel Sheppard's IDC." The shield is lowered and Sheppard steps through the gate, followed by a few science team members. Rodney meets Sheppard at the gate, but Sheppard seems to be agitated about something. Ignoring Rodney and his babbling, Sheppard heads straight for command central with a worried look on his face. "Teyla, do you know where Colonel Carter is?"
Rodney gives John a look, not appreciating having been brushed off. He follows Sheppard. "Why do you need Sam? Can't I do much better? I am smarter than she is."

Teyla answers, "I have not seen her since last night. We had dinner together along with Dr. Keller."

Harper looks up from her computer after typing in Sam's ID code. "Um, Uncle John, I can't find her ID code anywhere in the city."

"What? Let me see if you did this right!" Rodney pushes Harper away and types in Sam's ID himself.

Harper looks at John. "What's wrong?"

Sheppard looks back at Harper and says, "Hopefully nothing." Looking back at Rodney, who had begun muttering to himself, he asks, "Rodney, did you find her?"

Rodney looks up at Sheppard with a disgusted look on his face. "If I did, do you think I would still be typing on this thing." He then slams his hands on the keyboard and points at Harper. "What the hell did you do to it?"

Harper only shrugs, not wanting to get caught in Rodney's web. When Harper doesn't answer, Rodney rolls his eyes and looks back at the consul. After two minutes of Rodney talking to himself, Sheppard decides that it would probably be faster to look for Carter on foot.

"Forget it Rodney...I'll just check around and see if anyone has seen her." Sheppard quickly walks away. As he is walking down the steps, he suddenly stops and turns to look at Harper and Teyla - who have somewhat followed him out of command central. "Harper, take the mess hall. Teyla, check to see if she is in her quarters. I'll see if she is in the gym." Sheppard then yells up at Rodney..."Keep working on that consul and let me know if you find her." Sheppard continues down the stairs and heads toward the gym.

Harper nods to her uncle, and gives Teyla a smile, trying to be confident in finding Sam. She stumbles into the mess hall and starts asking people if anyone has seen Carter. When no one can give her a location, she spends some time searching around the halls before she returning to meet up with her uncle.

Teyla makes her way to Sam's quarters. She touches the controls to call Carter, but she receives no response. Teyla touches the radio piece on her ear and speaks, "Col. Carter, please respond." Nothing happens, so she repeats the message. Again, she receives no response.

Teyla clicks her radio, once again, and speaks, "Rodney, will you unlock Col. Carter's door so I can check her quarters? Maybe she is injured and unconscious."

Teyla waits for a response from Rodney. She's about to call him again, but then the door automatically opens. "Thank you, Rodney," she says into the radio.

She cautiously enters the room, accidentally stepping on some broken glass. She squats down to take a closer look and sees a stream of liquid around the glass. She stands back up and looks around the room, noticing that clothes are thrown all over the floor, along with a picture of SG-1 - the frame's glass is broken, and a lamp broken in two. She inspects further, looking for any signs of blood, or Col. Carter lying on the ground unconscious, but does not find anything else.

Teyla touches the radio piece and speaks, "John, I don't know what happened here, but it looks like someone might have kidnapped Col. Carter."

Teyla returns to the control room and looks at John, "We should set up teams to search the city. Maybe she is still here." She turns, "Rodney, can you see if Atlantis detected any intruders or anything out of the ordinary?"

Rodney nods, without any comment, and searches the database. He looks up in shock. "The gate was active this morning at 5am, and this says it was activated by Dr. Weir's ID! There's no way that's possible, is there?"

"Perhaps you should check for signs of replicators on Atlantis, Rodney," Teyla states, looking at Sheppard with worry in her eyes.

"Already on it!" Harper calls from the computer station next to Rodney's.

"You are so smart aren't you?"

"Rodney, chill, we have replicators to find." Harper states as they hear a beep on the screen. "No sign of any replicators anywhere in the city."

Sheppard looks at Teyla and says, "Teyla, take Lorne, and a few other men, and search the East quadrant. Harper, you take Rodney, and the two of you search the West quadrant. I'll find Ronon and we'll search what's left. Give me a call if you find anything, or anyone, out of the ordinary."

With that, the group breaks up into their teams, all of them hoping to find the missing Carter.

Rodney and Harper are in the process of searching the West quadrant when his laptop goes off. Rodney contacts the group. "I don't think a replicator is here, but it now looks like a virus is spreading all over Atlantis."

Teyla and Lorne make their way toward the East quadrant of the city. Walking down the hallway, they both see Col. Carter. Teyla hurries, with Lorne at her heels, to meet her. When they reach her, Teyla realizes something is wrong.

"It's not her," says Lorne, "It's a hologram." He clicks his radio, "Col. Sheppard, you will want to see this. We are looking at a hologram of Col. Carter."

The hologram begins to speak....

Lorne looks at Teyla. "Why do you think Sam has a hologram?"

"I don't know," Teyla responds. She clicks her radio, "Rodney, can you tell us where this hologram is coming from?"

The hologram continues to speak repeating the same message....

Rodney searches his laptop. "I have no idea! It's not coming from anywhere in Atlantis. We are coming your way now. Is it saying anything about where to find Sam?"

"Not exactly, it just keeps repeating the same message, " Teyla speaks into the radio.
Rodney replies, "Ok well, um...I have no idea. I'll be there in a minute."

Lorne starts to touch the hologram of Sam. "Weird, I never saw one of these up close."

The hologram continues speaking....

Meanwhile, Carson awakened from a rather log nap. Though Keller and her team had found a way to combat the problems Michael had created in him, Carson still found himself rather sleepy a lot of the time.

"Which really doesn't make sense," he mumbled to himself, "One ought to be rather awake after all that time in a stasis pod."

Carson glanced down at his watch and noticed he was late for his shift...and he needed to stop by and see Col. Carter before he reported to the infirmary...and he wanted to stop by and see Tagan.

"Well, I guess I'll be a little late..." Carson shrugged and headed down the hall...where was everybody anyways?

Carson grabs a young Marine who happened to be rushing by. "S'cuse me son, have you seen Col. Carter around?"

The Marine looks at him in confusion. "You haven't heard? You better get up to the main hall in the East quadrant."

"No I haven't heard!!! What the bloody hell is going on??" Carson yells as the Marine hurries away.

In another part of the galaxy Elizabeth, oblivious to the drama that is unfolding back in her beloved "home", is resting in her quarters. She had been up all night - the Asurans having no need to rest would sometimes forget that she did actually need it - and just wanted some peace and quiet for at least a few hours. However, that quiet is suddenly interrupted by the chimes of her door. She opens her eyes, sighs, then sits up on the edge of her bed.

"Come in."

The door slides open, and one of her bridge crew hesitantly steps through.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but we've just received some important intel and Arlon thought you should be informed immediately."

Elizabeth arches her eyebrow, "What kind of intel?"

The Asuran is just a little nervous at having disturbed her leader's rest, but she answers, "We've received word that the Wraith, the one you call "Michael", has instigated some kind of covert operation....and it has to do with Atlantis."

Back in that very city, Carson hurries to the hall where the hologram is still playing. "Col. Carter?!?!" Carson asks incredulously, "What's going on? I take a wee nap and the whole place turns into a dog's breakfast!!!! Since when do we have holograms in the halls?!"

Rodney was finding it hard to get Harper to shut up while walking to the others to view the hologram. He didn't mind Sheppard's niece but she had grown found on him- like anyone else- but she was like his sister, annoying.

"So Rodney you still like Sam right?"

"For the last time NO and why does it matter to you?"

Harper shrugged, "I'm not sure since I don't know the way you always look at her."ﾝ

"Do not!"ﾝ

"Do too!"ﾝ

"You're the one who's in love with Ronon!"ﾝ

Harper stops dead in her tracks and Rodney turns around being ahead of her and he can tell she is embarrassed. He goes over to her and puts his hands on her shoulder.

"See that's why you don't talk about Sam anymore deal?"

She nods and continues to walk with him being very silent now till about 2 hall ways away from the group. She had known Rodney would have used that to black mail her sooner or later but she thought it would be for starting a fight between him and Zelenka. Her green eyes closed for a minute as she continued to walk.

"You aren't going to tell him are you?"ﾝ

Rodney looks at her. He knew this was eating her up but he couldn't help himself, he always thought of Harper as a fun little kid he could control but he was way wrong.

"No I won't but I think Ronon already knows."

"I was talking about Sheppard."ﾝ Harper rolled her eyes knowing well that Rodney knew who she meant.

Rodney stops Harper by holding her right arm. "Why does it bother you so much what Sheppard thinks of you?"

Harper looks confused then smiles a bit trying not to bring back the bad memories of her life. "He's like a dad to me plus he took Ronon under his wing don't you think that would be weird for him his niece dating his prodigy. For now no one can know about Ronon and me or I'll tell every woman on this base that you like them."ﾝ

Rodney gulps as Harper walks to the group about a mile ahead of them. "She's good."

Rodney heads to the group and looks at the hologram that's Sam. "Well she looks good for a hologram."ﾝ He starts to trace a location from where the hologram is coming from. "Well this is going to be harder than I thought."ﾝRodney looks at Carson. "Sleeping in the pod again? You need to get back to you Carson."

Lorne looks at Teyla. "Should I get the others and have more guards in the gate room?"

"Yes, Major," Teyla answers.

Carson frowned, "It's not my fault you know, Rodney! Apparently being a clone is rather tiresome!"

Rodney didn't answer and went back to checking out the hologram.

"Well, since I'm not needed I'll go up to the infirmary," Carson said with a raise of his hands.

Rodney harrumphed and pressed a sequence of numbers on his computer pad.

"Actually I'll go check on wee baby Tagan first...where is he Teyla?" Carson asked.

After getting the call from Lorne and Teyla, Sheppard begins to book it down the hall with Ronon close behind. 20 minutes later, Sheppard and Ronon reach the group that has assembled around the hologram.

"Well that's new. Does anybody understand her?" He looks around the circle expecting someone to answer with the translated message. When all Sheppard gets are shrugs he replies, "OK then Rodney, Harper work on translating that message and let me know the second you have it figured out."

Back on the Asuran ship, Elizabeth had suddenly become wide awake. She stands up, directing her full attention to the "young woman" standing in front of her. "What about Atlantis???"

Though she knows that Elizabeth is not upset with her, the Asuran is still somewhat startled by her sudden movement, so she takes another small step backwards before replying, "Our intel suggests that this 'Michael' intends to regain possession of the Athosian woman and her child. To that end, he sent someone to the Ancient City, and captured its current leader. If our intel is indeed correct, he intends to use that woman's life as an incentive, to the rest of the City, to surrender the Athosian and her child to him."

As the Asuran was telling her all this, Elizabeth's face had gotten more and more stony, but she was also feeling just a bit confused. "Michael kidnapped Col. Carter from the City? How was that even possible?!" She began to pace, "How was he able to get anyone through the gate??? Surely, they would have raised the shield!" She stops walking and looks at the Asuran, "Teyla - the Athosian that you mentioned - would have sensed if any Wraith had entered the City. So, if one had managed to somehow make it through the gate, she would have sensed that immediately and alerted the others."

The Asuran remains silent. She knows, from experience, that her leader is not actually directing her statements towards her.

"Humans are a very interesting race." she thinks, as Elizabeth continues, "Still...that should not have mattered, since no one should have be able to get through the gate! How did that happen?!"

Suddenly, realization dawns on Elizabeth's face, and her expression loses all confusion. Her face is hard as she turns a steely gaze towards the Asuran, causing the poor "woman" to take yet another step backwards. "Kalia," Elizabeth addresses her by name, "Tell Arlon to contact Todd immediately."

"Carson, Tagan is with Halling. Can you go see how he is?" Teyla responds. Teyla turns toward John as he approaches the group rolling her eyes at his tardiness, "Where have you been? We called you a long time ago." The hologram continues to speak in a language the group has not recognized. Before Carson leaves to check on Tagan, the hologram of Carter begins to speak English. She speaks, "to ensure my safety, you," looking at Sheppard, "must bring Teyla and her son to me. Bring no weapons and you must come alone. If you do not then I will be killed." Teyla gasps glancing at John and then Carson who puts a protective arm around her shoulders. "Michael must have Col. Carter. He will never get my baby," she states looking back at Sheppard with anger in her eyes.

Rodney nods as Harper starts to work on the location of the hologram and looks to Teyla, "I'm sorry about what happened before now. I feel like I shouldn't have done anything and we would still be in this situation."

Harper goes to the operations center to try deciphering the whereabouts of the transmission of the hologram.

On an abandoned world Michael sits at his so called throne looking at his worshippers. "Take me to her."

He silently gets up and follows his slaves to a dark damp cave where they made a cage for him for this purpose. He slowly walks almost pacing back and forth and then whips his head and smirks at his hostage.

She awakes realizing she had been unconscious. She blinks her eyes a few times and focuses in on her surroundings, touching her head where the throbbing seemed to get worse. She tries to recall what has happened, and where she was...obviously a cage of some sort, very cold, and dark. She grimaced as she tried to sit up...it felt like she had been in a fight to the death.

It started to come back to her, she remembered retiring to her room for a short rest, and to catch up on some emails from Earth. She smiled as she thought of her friends. She had heard her door open and thought it might have been Keller, they had taken up a "girl's day" and had been planning one soon. When she turned around, she realized it wasn't Keller, in fact there wasn't anyone there at all, and so she turned around and continued her writings. A man appeared from thin air and pulled a stunner out and tried to shoot her from behind, instead shooting the picture of SG-1 she had next to her computer. She automatically rolled to her right and ran towards him to throwing the lamp sitting on her nightstand at him breaking it in two, struggling with the man who was twice her size. He put her into a choke hold and grabbed her hands then kicked her to her knees. He hit her across the face and then pulled some ties from his belt and tied her hands behind her back. She didn't struggle, knowing that she would eventually get away. He covered her mouth with a gag and then slapped some device onto her shirt. He flipped a switch on his, then hers, and they both disappeared. He dragged her out of the room and stuck the stunner into her side as they walked through the corridors to the gateroom.

They waited until a team had assembled into the room, ready for their mission. Helpless to let anyone know where she was and to help her, she tried to make noise but at that precise moment the gate activated. The team went through the gate to complete their mission and the kidnapper pushed her through the shimmering puddle. The man then pulled her into the brush next to the gate as the SGA team, fulfilling their mission, went looking for the town they were trying to barter with. Sam tried to scream but her muffled voice seemed to disappear in the wind. After the team had left, the man deactivated the cloaking devices, and took the one he had attached to Sam and put it into his pocket. He then proceeded to press some button on that looked like a communicator and spoke to someone saying that he had finished his mission. He took the stunner and tried to shoot her, being the bad shot he was he had missed, so he hit her over the head with it, knocking her out.

That was that, she sighed, rubbing her head again. She heard some quick footsteps coming towards the room, and she stood up. While trying to focus, she sees a familiar face approach the cage.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Col. Carter. Now tell me how are you doing?" Michael laughs intensely at the mere thought of her here for tea or some other kind of nonsense food humans eat. He sits down waiting for her reply.

"Apart from the splitting headache I suppose I'm fine. What am I doing here?" she continues to stand, feeling stronger.

Michael smirks and walks closer to her not going near the cage which would electrically shock anyone who touched it. "What do you think?" He paused for a moment waiting for a response. Realizing she was not going to speak, he continues, "You are the bait."

"I can only assume you mean bait for Teyla. You know they'll never exchange me for her, or her baby, you know that as much as I do."

Michael nods and then puts his pointer finger to his mouth. "That maybe true but they will have no choice once my ship is done. We are going to take over Atlantis."

She sighs and says, "How do you suppose you're going to do that? We've taken out more than one Wraith ship before." She begins to pace around the cage getting agitated at his audacity. "They'll find me way before you've finished your ship. It's not the first time I've been in this position." Taking a page out of General Jack O'Neill's book, she says "You know the good guys always win, and in case you haven't noticed, the people of Atlantis are the good guys"

Michael smiles, "Not any longer. I have people spreading word that the Atlanteans have been killing off humans instead of finding a cure for my virus that I been dropping around. Plus my ship will have more power than any other Wraith ship out there. I mean I did just destroy two hive ships yesterday. I have all the power I need to defeat you." Michael walks away and sits down leaning on the cave wall. "Just let me know on how you can stop that."

Her eyes narrow and she grimaces, turning around frustrated at his comments. She thinks for a while and then decides to humor him a bit, "So, you're going to take over Atlantis and then what? Kill off everybody except you're evil worshippers?"

She sits down and rubs her head again, the throbbing seemed worse than before. She feels irritated and very tired. She begins to feel hunger pains in her stomach and wonders if Atlantis has even discovered that she was missing yet. Shaking her head and realizing that she was starting to act like McKay a bit, she decides to stop complaining in her head and start figuring out how to stop Michael. Of course shaking her head is a mistake and the throbbing gets even worse. She starts to feel woozy, and feels like she is going to black out. She thinks, "Maybe I have a concussion," and then blackness takes over.

Michael opens the gate as Carter passes out. "Tie her up since she thinks she can win we need to keep an eye on her."

One of Michaels' worshippers nods and ties Carter up letting her arms and legs hand on the wall where she is tied. Michael walks off toward his throne and takes out a picture of Teyla.

Speaking to the picture, he says, "Soon my love, we will be together."

John gives Teyla an innocent look and with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes says, "Sorry, but I was on the other side of Atlantis, but I could always come back later if you think that I didn't take long enough. Now what have we…" As the hologram begins to speak Sheppard cuts off his sentence. "To ensure my safety, you must bring Teyla and her son to me..." Sheppard looks at Teyla with a torn look in his face. He must decide between saving his commander or keeping his close friend and her son safe. As Teyla looks at Sheppard, he responds with a look of defiance in his eyes. "You're right. I'll never let Michael get you or Tagan. And we're not giving up on Carter either."

Teyla looks at Sheppard with relief in her eyes, "Thank you, but how are we going to find Col. Carter?" Teyla steps away from Carson's protective arm around her in frustration at the situation. Ever since she had her baby, every one of her friends had become very protective of herself and Tagan. "Rodney, have you located the signal yet?"

Sheppard looks at Teyla understanding the frustration she must be feeling. It had not been but about 9 months since they had rescued Teyla and Tagan from Michael and had ruined his plans. Now, Michael was forcing Sheppard's hand by using Col. Carter...a position that Sheppard did not like being put into. As Sheppard waits for Rodney's answer he begins to think about the options at hand.

Rodney looks at the group. "I found a world but not a specific area to where Sam is." He looks down not wanting to feel like he let the team down.

Harper walks up to the guys. "I think I can help you there. I found this in the operations center." She states holding up a hand held device that looks like an ancient scanner but smaller. "If we can find some DNA of Carter we can use this to find her on that world."

Rodney takes the device from Harper who is showing it to the group. "How did you figure that out? Touching buttons?"

"No just my finger touched the print mark area then I figured it out." Harper looks at Teyla. "Do you know where Sam keeps her brush?"

"In her quarters. Should I retrieve it?" Teyla responds first looking at Harper then turning her eyes to meet Sheppard's.

Harper is about to resend to Teyla when Rodney cuts her off. "We have everyone's DNA. Didn't somebody stab you before you came here?" Rodney starts to walk to the medical bay to retrieve Sam's DNA.

Harper stands there ready to bounce on Rodney but turns to Teyla. "I guess that's a no."

Teyla gives Harper an encouraging smile and tells her, "Don't worry, he's always grumpy."

"He doesn't even make grumpy sexy!" She screamed down the hall hoping Rodney would hear. She then turned back to Teyla. "You know I would have Michael take me instead of you any day. We will get him I know it."

Rodney was off working on the DNA device and trying to get things ready for when they left to find Sam.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Teyla snickers. "Thank you, Harper, but nobody needs to be sacrificed to that monster." With an angry expression, she glances at Sheppard, "He must be destroyed or else we will never have peace from him."

Harper looks at Teyla and her uncle thinking that if something was going on she would have to figure it out. "So um Michael bad ok. Shouldn't we get ready to leave?"

"Yes, Harper. Carson, can you check on Tagan in Halling's quarters? John, should we gear up?"

Carson Beckett nods and takes off in the direction of Halling's quarters. Sheppard hearing Teyla talking to him breaks his train of thought and with a semi-confused look on his face says, "Um...yeah, right. I want everyone to be suited up and ready to go in 30 minutes. Lorne assemble your team and meet me at the gate room in 30 minutes. Ronon, you do what you do. Rodney, I want you and Zelenka to get that thing calibrated so that we can find Sam. Harper..." Sheppard looks at his niece with caring uncertainty in his face. "Harper...I want you to stay here with Teyla and Carson." As soon as the words are out of his mouth Sheppard knows that he is in for a fight from three different people.

Lorne clicks his earpiece and heads off to the armory to meet his team. Harper stares at Ronon then to John. "No way am I not staying here when you guys might die. Let me help. I want to fight Ronon has been training me. I can do it. I'm not a little kid anymore."

John just stares at Harper and takes a deep breath. "I know you can fight Harper. And before you say anything else, I also know that you can help. I have my reasons for wanting you to stay behind." He stops not wanting to go into this conversation any further and yet knowing that there is more to come.

Harper looks at her uncle with puppy dog eyes. "Sheppard..." She sees his glare. "Uncle John I know that losing a lot of your friends and family has made you somewhat bitter, but say Michael kills you and then Teyla, Carson and I have to come save you not knowing you are dead. I think we would need some help but YOU'RE DEAD so what do you want us to do now?" She walks away and turns back looking at him. "We can't lose you. Michael is tough, so how are you going to stop him? He knows you are coming."

"That's the point! You, Teyla, and Carson are the only ones left that I would trust with the responsibility to come and save the team. Anyway, maybe Michael expecting us to show up will work in our favor." Sheppard pauses and looks at his niece knowing that she desperately wants to go. "I need you and Carson here to help Teyla. She will be in charge of Atlantis while I'm off-world." Suddenly, Sheppard stops, a slight smile appears on his face. "Besides, Michael isn't that tough."

Harper smiles knowing that her uncle always could make bad things better with a joke. She nods. "Fine, but you be careful, okay? Save Sam and make sure everyone comes back." She looks at Ronon when she states this. He knows that she trusts him to make sure John gets home safely.

In another part of the Pegasus Galaxy, Michael walks around his new home watching his slaves work on the virus and also new plan--a way to get Wraith to look like humans without being human like on Atlantis when they made him human. He wants to be human and be with Teyla but he knows that will never happen so he will have to take her if she doesn't come willingly. He then strolls over to his lab table and starts to work on the virus himself since he knows a Wraith that he could easily get....Todd.

Sheppard just smiles at his niece. She has always cared about what happens to him. "I'll be fine. It's Michael who should be worried. This time there will be nowhere for him to run and hide."

Harper nods to her uncle. "Ok, just make sure you kill him this time."

Sheppard looks at Harper with determination. "Believe me...I have every intention it!"

Teyla glares over at John with an extremely agitated look on her face. "I should be with you, Colonel. I know Michael better than anyone else on this base." Raising her voice, she continues becoming angrier, "Besides, if anyone is going to kill him, then it will be me. We can lay up a trap where he thinks he is going to get what he wants."

Sheppard looks at Teyla's angry face with a look of understanding and worry in his. "Teyla, you have every right to be angry about this but that doesn't change the fact that you are going to stay here. It will be a lot easier for this plan to work if Michael can't get to you." Teyla continues to glare at Sheppard not wanting to be protected. "Look, if you're here on Atlantis then Michael will have a harder time getting to you and Tagan. Besides, Tagan is going to need his mother and I don't want to run the risk of losing both you and Colonel Carter to that maniac." Sheppard pauses to gage Teyla's reaction. "Am I going to have to make this an order, Teyla?"

Rodney was off working on the DNA device and trying to get things ready for when they left to find Sam.

Harper is now in the mess hall trying not to be in anyone's way since her uncle forbids her from going with them. She knew he had a point but ever since Ronon trained her she never got the chance to get into the action. This time was going to be different. She thought.

Teyla sighs and relaxes a little looking less angry. "He has a good point," she thought to herself, but somehow John's different perspective always helps her to see a different view of a situation very similar when she told him she was pregnant but believed that she could still be on active duty. He was right then and most likely right now, but she was not going to admit that at this moment. She says, "No, I will do what you ask. John, promise me that we will be rid of Michael forever."

Sheppard lets out a slight breath glad he did not have to pull rank on Teyla. He slightly smiles as he says, "Good, because I really rather not have to pull rank." Suddenly, Sheppard's face becomes tense with anger. "And you can bet that Michael isn't getting away this time."

Teyla steps forward toward John lowering her head to meet his, the Athosian farewell. Sheppard lowers his head, their foreheads touching. "Good luck, John," she says. Both lift their heads, John nodding at Teyla. Teyla glances at the speaking hologram and asks, "Is there any way to turn that off?"

John clicks his radio, "Rodney, turn that damn hologram off."

Rodney responds, "Working on it."

After a few moments, the hologram disappears along with the voice.

"We'll be back before you know it. All right, I want everyone suited up and in the gate room in 30 minutes. Let's move people!" Sheppard heads off to get suited up.

Teyla nods her head looking at John heading over to find Carson and Keller to let them know what has happened.

Ronon walked swiftly to the mess hall. Spotting Harper quickly, he casually made his way over to her and sat across from her. Touching her hand gently, he whispered, "Harper, I'm leaving in a few minutes..."

Sam awoke to find herself tied up; something definitely different from before when she first woke. Looking around her, she noticed the wraith veins of the cave and knew she was in some sort of laboratory base of Michael's. Whatever he was planning, she had to find a way to notify Atlantis of the danger. But first, she needed to escape.

Harper looked up at Ronon and smirked knowing she was lucky to have him in her life. When they first met when John was forced to take Ronon to Earth cause Ronon was knew to Atlantis and well they didn't think it would be a good idea for him to stay when John left to go visit her. At first she though he was nice and somewhat weird with his looks and attitude but her uncle loved him. He was like a brother or nephew he never had so when she saw him again at her grandfather's funeral she saw a different side of him. When she had taken the job on Atlantis she never expected to get into a relationship but here she was in one and hiding it from her uncle.

Harper rolled her eyes. "Yeah everyone is but me. Who knows what Sheppard is thinking?"

Michael walked into the cave room and saw Sam was now awake. "Why hello passed out I see. Like the ropes I thought you might try to escape and well I'll let you leave when I get Teyla." He stated as he walked over to the lab table and started to mix up something like looked like blood.

Lorne walks into the room that has the equipment that they need for the trip and he notices Sheppard at his locker. "Hey I have my team on lock down at the gate room I guess Rodney already tried to kick them out."

Sheppard looks up at Lorne as he approaches. As he fiddles with the clip of his M-16 he replies, "Rodney is supposed to be getting ready to go find Colonel Carter. Tell your men to ignore Rodney and wait in the gate room. If he tries to kick them out again...I don't know...threaten him with an orange."

Ronon smiled cautiously, he didn't want to arouse any suspicion to their conversation. When Harper spoke, he narrowed his eyes slightly, "Sheppard is right on this matter, it's dangerous out there and you don't need to be involved in that." He didn't want her out there anymore than Sheppard did.

Sam knew she couldn't get free but that didn't stop her from struggling against her bonds. "You won't succeed, Michael. Nothing you do to me can ensure that."

Lorne chuckles at the thought. "Ok will do. I think Rodney of one of my members is going to get the jumper very soon I know it's been stocked up with supplies. Hey are you ok sir?"

Harper glares at Ronon. "In training you said I was a great fighter. Now when we need as many people as possible you think I shouldn't be involved no wonder my uncle likes you."

Michael looks at Sam as he puts his test tube down into a cooler. "Who said I'm doing anything with you. I just need you. I'm not doing anything to you." He then walked over to her not touching the cage knowing it had been turned on. The only good thing out of turning into a human for a bit was knowing how the Brig worked on Atlantis. "So would you rather me turn you into a hybrid?"

Sheppard stops messing with the M-16 and looks at Lorne with a grin on his face. "Yeah I'm okay. Why?"

Lorne just shrugged. "Just wondering since this is kind of like what happened to Dr. Weir and we couldn't get to her in time."

Carson headed down the hall to check on Tagan...with all the craziness going on around here it'd be nice to have a quiet moment with the darling boy. He entered Teyla's room and headed to the crib...strange, Tagan wasn't in it.

"Tagan! Where are you little lad?" Carson called out as he looked around the room.

Ronon sighed, getting frustrated at her stubbornness, "Harper. You're a great fighter but there's a difference between the gym and off world against someone who wishes to kill you or worse." He whispered more harshly, "I trust Shepherd with my life and you should too, he does have his moments where he knows best."

Sam watched Michael, knowing her prison cell was probably similar with Atlantis' own. She stayed silent, not wanting to provoke him further.

Sheppard's eyes suddenly fill with determination. "This time things are going to be different. I'm not about to lose another commander to a bad guy, especially since that bad guy is Michael."

Harper looks at Ronon and gets up and walks away and turns around coming back to him. "Don't die on me." She walks away kicking the trash can on her way out. After talking to Ronon, Harper was ticked off. How could they think she shouldn't go and save Sam? She the one who found her using an Ancient device. She knew that she needed to show them that she could fight and defend Atlantis. Which these thoughts she found a way that no one could stop her. She hurried and grabbed her things and ran off to the jumper bay and made sure no one saw her as she entered the jumper that the team was using to go find Sam. She jumped up to the netting that held medical things and weapons and found a spot to sit and then covered up with weapons on top of her.

Michael only smiles at Sam and starts back up on his work.

Lorne nods at Sheppard. "I'll be at the jumper waiting."

Ronon groans as he rubs his hands over his face in frustration. Thinking back to his task at hand, he stood suddenly and raced out of the Mess Hall. Passing by Lorne, he entered the Dressing Room. Rushing to get his gear on, he saw Shepherd waiting for him. Ronon checked his gun, motions fluid when he realized Shepherd wasn't moving much. He looked up at Shepherd, questioningly.

"Right, I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Make sure that everyone is ready to go." Sheppard returns to getting ready as Major Lorne leaves the room. I'm not losing another friend

Sheppard was lost in his own thoughts as Ronon entered the room. It was a rare for such an occasion but Sheppard just couldn't help it. He was still dealing with the loss of Elizabeth, one of his closest friends, and now he had to deal with that same possibility again. On top of that, his niece was on Atlantis, Teyla now had a son, and Carson was still alive...even if he was a clone. Being lost in these thoughts, Sheppard failed to notice that Ronon was staring at him questioningly.

Rodney is now at the jumper and finds Lorne.
"Hey don't have your team follow me again."

"Rodney they are here to make sure we get out of here without problems."

Rodney looks confused. "Then shouldn't they be at the operations center?"

Lorne rolls his eyes. "You kick them out of there and the gate room."

"Oh. Guys..." He looks at Lorne's team. "You can go back now."

The rest of Lorne's team mumbles something about hating Rodney as they leave the room.

Rodney's eyes grow huge as he watches them leave. "They hate me?"

Michael watched Sam and smiled as she did nothing. "So tell me Col. Carter do you have anyone you care about?"

Ronon leaned to try and catch Sheppard's eye. Seeing he was off in his own thoughts, he walked over to him, "Sheppard?"

Sam glared at Michael, "So you kidnap someone for idle chit chat?"

Michael smirked, "I get lonely and all I can think about is Teyla. How is she?"

Sam was disgusted with him, "Better off without you."

"Oh come on can't we talk or would you rather I have a Wraith feed on you. Make you what like 50 then?"

Hearing Ronon's voice, Sheppard is pulled out of his thoughts. "Hm...what...oh hey Ronon. Where have you been? It's almost time to leave and I thought I was going to have to come looking for you." Sheppard pauses to wait for Ronon's response.

A gentle breeze blows through Elizabeth's hair as she stands by the crystal clear water of what can best be described as a lagoon. It is surrounded by an outcropping of rocks with only one narrow, well hidden, entryway. This was why Elizabeth had chosen this place - no one could get in or out without her knowledge or consent.
Irindos really was a beautiful planet! Were circumstances different, she would be really relaxed right now. Circumstances being what they are, however, she is far from relaxed - she is tense and alert. She did not come here to marvel at the purity of the water or the breathtaking beauty of the indigo-colored night sky. She is here on a mission. A noise behind her interrupts her thoughts, and she turns to see her Second in Command, Arlon. He is calm but very serious as he says, "He has arrived ma'am." A humorless smile appears on Elizabeth's face and she replies, "Good. Bring him to me."

Two Asurans approach her, leading a blindfolded Wraith. He is fairly tall, and as the blindfold is removed, a unique tattoo, that surrounds one of his eyes, can be seen. Facial tattoos are not common amongst the Wraith, so it is one of the things that set this particular Wraith apart from the rest of his kind. He looks at Elizabeth, "Dr. Weir...always a pleasure." She raises an eyebrow, "Todd. It's too bad that I can't say the same about you." He pretends to be hurt, "Why, Dr. Weir, I thought we were friends!" Her eyes narrow in reply, "We are certainly nothing of the sort!"
"Let's just get right down to business, shall we?" She says, ignoring the smirk on his pale face.
"Certainly. You know, you need not have taken such extreme measures to get me here. I would have come if you had simply asked. Don't I always? And was the blindfold really necessary?" Elizabeth's eyes again narrow slightly, "Quite necessary, actually. We've never met here before, and I wouldn't want the knowledge of this location to be compromised." Todd feigns hurt feelings again, "Really, Dr. Weir, you wound me! Have I disappointed you in the past? Keep talking like that and people will think that you don't trust me."
"I don't trust you, but in answer to your question: No, you have not disappointed me. One must have expectations in someone in order to be disappointed by them. I expected nothing from you, and so, I was not disappointed." Todd is rather annoyed by this statement. "I have been nothing but helpful to you! I supply you with necessary intel - without my help, you could not have destroyed as many hive ships as you have!" Elizabeth crosses her arms, both eyebrows raising. "Ah, but are we the only ones that you've been helping?" Todd remains silent; his expression carefully masked.
"I'm not a fool, Todd, and neither are you, so let's stop playing this game." This time it's Todd's eyes that narrow, "I'm not sure what you mean, Dr. Weir."
"I believe you do, but for now, I'll play along."

She cocks her head slightly, "I recently received some rather disturbing news regarding Atlantis. It appears that someone, who was sent by Michael, was able to infiltrate the City, and kidnap Col. Carter. You know as well as I do that anyone who wants to safely enter the City through the gate must have a valid IDC code. These codes are stored in Atlantis's computers - the very same computers that you hacked into." At these words, a startled look appears on Todd's face, but is instantly gone - though not before Elizabeth sees it. "Oh yes, I know about that. Do you think that you are our only source of intel?"
He is growing increasingly more uncomfortable, but he replies, "The information that I retrieved from Atlantis's computers was stolen from me by other Wraith. I didn't even have the chance to find out how much of it could even be valuable to be."
"Oh, that must have been so disappointing for you!" She says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Is there a point to this conversation, Dr. Weir?" She is amused by his discomfort, "There certainly is, and I'm getting to it." She continues, "Now, again as you know, an IDC code will get you through the gate, but not the gateroom. An unauthorized visitor would be stopped immediately after stepping through the gate."
"So," Elizabeth looks out at the water, as if in deep thought, "The question then is: How was someone able to get through the gateroom, kidnap the Colonel, and get back out with her, without ever being detected?" She turns her head back towards Todd, and he replies, "I'm sure I wouldn't know." Elizabeth then motions to Arlon - who had been staying close by, keeping a wary eye on their "guest" - and he hands her a small disk-shaped device. She holds it up "Does this look familiar to you, Todd?" He remains silent, so she continues, "No? It should; it's exactly the same as the ones that you stole from us the last time that we had a little meeting. No....don't even waste your breath denying it, because I know that it was you." Elizabeth places the device on her chest, lightly taps it, and immediately disappears. She reappears, seconds later, just a few feet behind Todd. "No one has this particular technology besides us." He spins around to face her as she continues, "Except for the ones that you stole," She raises a hand to halt the protest she saw rising to his lips, "all of our devices are accounted for. This leads me to one conclusion: You were involved in the kidnapping, and.....you are working with Michael."

He suddenly moves towards her, but she is quicker than he is; tapping her chest and instantly disappearing again. Arlon and the other two Asurans - who had also remained close by - grab Todd, firmly restraining him when Elizabeth reappears several feet from them. "Now now Todd, that was a bit of an overreaction, don't you think? I was merely stating fact." She crosses her arms again. "Frankly, I don't know how you do it. It must be so exhausting playing both sides; without alerting either side to the fact that you are assisting them both." She quirks an eyebrow, "You were clever...I'll give you that, but you must have known that you wouldn't be able to keep it up forever." She shakes her head, but then smirks, "Imagine how devastated I would have been if I had ever really trusted you! Tsk Tsk, Todd." Todd is clearly irritated, and rasps "What do you want from me?"
"I want information, and your full cooperation. Both of which, you will give to me!" He looks into her eyes and sneers, "What makes you so sure of that, Dr. Weir?" She smiles, "Well Todd, Arlon, here, can be pretty persuasive!" As she said this, Arlon shot something into the back of the angry Wraith's neck, causing him to hiss. "What did you just do to me?!" Elizabeth, looking just the tiniest bit smug, replies, "Don't worry, Todd, it's not nanites. It's just a little something to quarantine your full cooperation. Do what I say, and tell me what I need to know, and you'll soon forget that anything was ever even inserted into that thick skull of yours. Betray me, and you will never forget it! It cannot be removed, and it will be a constant, unending, excruciating pain."
"Look at me, Todd." He looks up, "You know that I'm not bluffing." He sighs. "You know, I heard you were a lot nicer when you were the leader of Atlantis!" Elizabeth's jaw is clenched as she replies, "I may not be its leader anymore, but Atlantis is Home. This is what happens when you mess with my home, and my family!" Todd studies her for several moments, finally giving in. "What do you want to know?"

Four hours later, Elizabeth is back on her ship and is satisfied with the results of her "meeting". She came back with two things she didn't have when she left: the information she needed, and a plan......

Sam became silent again, this was not her day.

Ronon's attention went back to his gun which he expertly placed in its holder at his side. "I'm here now."

Sheppard just looks at Ronon..."I can see that." Sensing that Ronon didn't want to tell him where he had been, Sheppard turned back to his equipment. Once the clip on his M-16 was firmly attached to his vest, Sheppard ran down a checklist in his head and decided that everything was good to go. He looks over at Ronon with a look of anticipation on his face. "Are you ready?" Ronon nods is ascent and begins to head out of the door when Sheppard suddenly stops. "By the way, have you seen Harper? I wanted to make sure that she is obeying my order about staying here on Atlantis." A grin slowly spreads across Sheppard's face and a slight hint of concern enters his eyes. "Just because you've trained her, she seems to think that she won't get hurt on these missions."

Ronon turns back, "Yeah, I saw her. She's angry at your decision, but I agree that she shouldn't be going. It's too dangerous." Ronon shrugs, "Are you coming or what?" He turns to go to the Jumper Bay.

"I'm right behind you big guy." Sheppard follows Ronon out of the equipment room looking questioningly at Ronon's back. Ronon hardly ever agrees with me when it comes to people he trains and the danger level. I wonder if.... Before he can finish his thought, Sheppard and Ronon reach the jumper bay where they hear Rodney yelling up a storm. With a slight grin on his face Sheppard looks at Ronon who has a similar grin. "I guess McKay thinks we're taking too long."

Michael grins as he looks at Carter. "What will it be die or talk? I say the former of the two would be wrong."

"For the last time. I don't eat lemons! Why would we even bring them with us?" McKay questioned as he snapped his fingers together 3 times. "I got it you want us to bring Michael a gift."
The member of Lorne's team rolled his eyes as Rodney went on. "Don't you think that I know what you are trying to do? You're trying to kill us and take over as head team leader. oh you just wait till Sheppard hears this."

Ronon grins at Rodney's voice volume. He responds to Sheppard with his eyes raised, "McKay always thinks that, unless he's the one delaying things, then it's we're going too fast." Walking towards the Jumper, Rodney's voice gets louder with each step. When Ronon reaches the Jumper's entrance, seeing Rodney yelling, he clears his throat and puts his best intimidation face on. Rodney quiets and in Ronon's mind, he laughs.

"Wait till I hear about what Rodney?" Sheppard steps into the jumper as McKay finishes his little rant. "What are you babbling about this time?"

Rodney turns around spotting Ronon and sighs. "Yeah yeah what the heck have you been?"

Rodney then turns to Sheppard and eyes the member of the team who thought of lemons. "Well someone is trying to kill us by bring lemons to Michael."

With slight annoyance in his voice, Sheppard replies, "That's just you being paranoid again Rodney. Just stay away from the lemons and you'll be fine."

"Well, I don't really have anything to talk about." Sam turns to Michael, "And really, if you want me dead, why am I tied up?"

Rodney points up a finger in the air. "Don't you do that reverse psychology on me."

Ronon rolls his eyes and takes a seat at the front of the jumper behind the passenger seat. Putting his feet up on the back of the first, he calmly relaxes.

"Well how about you tell why is it that all the people on Atlantis are miserable I mean they leave Earth for a planet worst and leaving loved ones behind. I bet you left for a reason to escape someone." Michael sat down on a chair he knew after awhile he could get what he really needed from Sam.

Lorne starts to head into the jumper and shakes his head at Rodney as he goes and sits down next to Ronon.

Mean while Harper is looking at her watch wondering how long do guys really take. She then sees Ronon and hides more knowing that since he was a runner he would be the first to hear her move so she had to stay calm.

Sheppard turns back to McKay with annoyance written on his face. "It's not reverse psychology Rodney...it's common sense. If you're allergic to lemons then stay away from them and you won't have a problem. Now if you don't mind, we need to get going." Sheppard looked at Rodney with a look that read just see what happens if you argue . He then heads toward the pilot's seat. Once in the pilot's seat, Sheppard radios the gate room letting Teyla know to go ahead and open the gate. "Is everyone in?"

Rodney mumbles something about Americans and takes a seat next to Sheppard now buckling up. "Fine I set the coordinates for the place where Sam is."

Sheppard glances at Rodney for a second with slight amusement. It was always funny to see Rodney get a little flustered after he had been silenced. "Here we go kids. Please keep your hands and feet inside the puddle jumper at all times." The puddle jumper lifts up off of the ground and enters the gate room. "Keep the lights on for us Teyla."

Harper moves as the jumper takes off and a weapon hits her in her knee. She also scream in pain but remembers what she is doing.

Lorne looks at Sheppard. "Do you think Michael will be ready for us?"

Rodney is messing with the buttons on the jumper. "I have make sure Michael can't detect us right as we get there."

Sheppard concentrates on the HUD as he replies, "Oh he'll be ready for us, but we are also ready for him."

Sam shook her head, "You don't understand humanity. We left as a sacrifice to save those we care about, not to escape them."

Michael looks at her. "Save them from what each other! You came here to learn about the Ancients that's it, nothing more and now you say you can save them!"

"Learning increases knowledge about the world around you, knowledge can help save lives. You, Michael, use your knowledge to destroy lives. You twist logic to fit your own ideas about people and use it to make you feel less guilty. You were once Human. You do know those emotions." Sam sinks back against the wall, done with talking.

Michael glares at her. "You were the people who made be human with any choice! You should have asked me first maybe then I would feel guilty."

"Maybe it was a mistake. But that doesn't mean you have a right to destroy worlds of innocent beings." Sam continued to think of different ways of notifying Atlantis where she was. She knew they had to have noticed her disappearance and would be executing a rescue team.

Michael smiled. "Oh don't worry they are coming for you. I sent a message I'm trading you for Teyla. Plus I have another plan in action."

Teyla turns to Chuck, "Dial the address."

Chuck dials the address engaging the wormhole.

Teyla speaks smiling, "Good luck, John. Bring Col. Carter. home safely. Be home in time for dinner."

She watches along with Chuck and other members of the Atlantis expedition team as the puddle jumper flies through the event horizon.

Michael looked at her, "Oh you want to know about me reading your mind see while you were passed out I gave you a drug so I can read your mind so I know what you are planning. Don't worry it will wear off soon after I have Teyla."

Sam laughed, "Well good for me I have no idea what the plan is."

Michael smiled. "Well I will know when you do."

Back in the puddle jumper, there is a heated debate going on between Sheppard and Rodney. "If you mention that one more time I'll leave you on a planet infested with Wraith!" The rest of the team look on in wonder as Rodney looks at Sheppard in bewilderment.

"For the last time hockey is more of a sport then football. Its only men running around catching a ball that's not even shaped as a ball." Rodney argued that his home lands sport was better than American football.

Sam just sighed in annoyance.

"Hockey is not more of a sport than football. All hockey is men skating around flinging a little disk with sticks. Football is a true sport." Sheppard argued back at Rodney. "Golf is even more of a sport than hockey."

Michael then went back to work on his virus.

As soon as the puddle jumper went through the event horizon and the gate disengaged, Teyla walks down the corridor to the infirmary to let Dr. Keller know what had transpired. Keller has had her hands full treating patients that were injured because of an earlier mishap in one of Atlantis's labs that was recently discovered. Zelenka, along with some other science members had been seriously shocked by an electric surge. Teyla only hopes that everything has calmed down somewhat so she can let Keller know what has happened.

"Did you just insult hockey! Don't you dare. Ronon, Lorne, back me up here."

Lorne looked at Rodney. "I like basketball that's all I watch."

Sheppard looks over at McKay pointedly. "You're the one who insulted football. Don't tell me not to insult hockey after that." He then returns his gaze to the HUD completely ignoring Rodney. "What's your favorite team Lorne?"

"Charlotte Bobcats. I love North Carolina. What team do you like?" Lorne questioned as Rodney moped around searching for Sam on the radar.

Ronon turned around and faced them, "A real sport? A Satedian Fight, bare hands, no weapons or padding, now that's a sport."

Rodney turns and looks at Ronon and gulps. "Um, yes that is a sport." He turns away and mumbles something that sounds like none of them fights please.

Sheppard thought for a moment and then replied, "I'm partial to the Florida Gators." He then turns his gaze back from the HUD to Rodney. "How far are we from those coordinates Rodney?"

Rodney looks at the controls. "Um about 5 minutes but doesn't mean we won't have trouble cloaking the jumper before we just run in and save the day."

Sheppard looks at Ronon with a pained expression on his face. "I hurt just thinking about it. I have a hard enough time fighting you with a weapon."

Sheppard smiles at Rodney's remark. With sarcastic reassurance Sheppard remarks, "It's only if you have to Rodney. At least it's not a fight to the death. Right Ronon?"

Rodney looks more frighten. "Don't tell me they have them for fun."

"Who says that we were going to wait that long?" As he says this Sheppard puts the jumper into stealth mode. "Now we don't' have to worry about it."

Rodney hangs on for dear life. "I didn't mean this Sheppard."

Ronon grins, "You need more practice, Sheppard. Maybe we can continue that game we started on our day off. I think I was winning."

Sitting back in his chair, he looks at Rodney, answering if it was too the death, "Not always." His voice is low, "It depends if someone gives up."

Rodney gulps. "I'm never going to fight you."

When Sheppard went into stealth mode Harper got pushed further into the cabinet above the jumper. Poor Uncle John is driving.

Sheppard smirks as he replies, "I think I've had enough of that game to last me the rest of my life. And I still think that you were making that whole game up just so you could hit me."

Ronon stays silent and gives John a subtle smirk.

With an exhilarated look on his face Sheppard yells "Hang on to something. We'll be coming in a little fast as we enter the atmosphere."

Rodney looks at him. "Ya think?" He glares and grabs on to the main controls. "Man I rather be fighting Ronon now."

Sheppard just smiles as Rodney glares at him. "You'll get a chance to fight him later. Here we go!"

Rodney glares at John. "I'm going to kill you, Sheppard! First it was the lemons now its driving us to death!"

"McKay, you never come to training sessions very often anymore. Would be good for you. Teach you in case you'd ever have to fight me. Not that you'd win but it might make you feel better." Ronon enjoyed ranting on his team mates, especially Rodney McKay.

Ronon shifted his head slightly toward the netting above the jumper as they sped up. He ignored whatever he sensed.

Rodney points a finger to Ronon. "That doesn't help me now Ronon!"

Lorne leans over to Ronon. "Get him wild up more maybe Michael can capture him and we will have time to save Sam."

"Now now kids." Sheppard looks at the HUD display as a sensor goes off. "We're almost there. Time to get serious."

Ronon chuckles and then loud enough for Rodney to hear, "That would mean a very grumpy little man on the way home since he wouldn't have been able to be a "hero" in the Colonel's eyes."

"He started it!"

Lorne got his weapons safety off and was ready for the fight. "Ready whenever Sheppard."

Lorne turned and chuckled at Ronon. "Oh yes I did hear him and Harper arguing out him and Sam."

Remembering his argument with Harper put a damper on Ronon's mood. He turned back around to face the front of the jumper, getting ready to follow orders.

"I don't care who started it Rodney...it ends right now." Sheppard looked at Lorne as he readied his gun. "As soon as we touch down I'll explain the plan."

Lorne nods and looks at Ronon. "Do we have enough weapons? There are more in the net."

Ronon nods, "Yeah, I checked them before. Plus, we'd be screwed if we didn't at this point."

Harper hears the word net and freaks and peeks out and sees Ronon. Ronon don't you dare come over here or I'll tick you off so bad. All she could do was pray.

Before Lorne reaches the net Sheppard stops him. "If this plan works then we won't need more weapons than what we have." Sheppard pauses to check the HUD before he continues. "I had Ronon put some extra weapons under the seats just in case."

Rodney looks at everyone. "That reminds me no one can die I have a bet with Chuck on this."

"It's a very big bet." Rodney states as Sheppard hits the planet and they are now hovering over the planet. Rodney hits the cloaking button.

Lorne grabs all of his weapons and looks at Sheppard. "What's the plan?"

Ronon rolls his eyes at Rodney, "You're kidding me right?" He shakes his head, "You don't want us to die because you'll lose a bet?"

Keller stood over an unconscious scientist shining a small pen light into his eyes checking for damage, "Let's keep him under watch make sure his carpal tunnel and Guyon's canals are remaining only slightly damaged." She spoke with both authority and hesitant to the bright eyed young nurse, "When he wakes I want to know. Have him try to move his wrist and make sure his brain didn't sustain any injury. We need a CAT Scan on Dr. Young over in bed three as soon as possible. Pupils aren't responding well to light." She laid her hand on her patients always feeling a small stir for each one. "Tell Dr. Zelenka that if he'll just sit still for a few more minutes he can go and make sure to give him a small sedative."

She turned seeing the somber eyes of her friend. "Teyla, how's Tagan?"

Meanwhile Carson is frantically looking for Tagan, he quickly taps his radio.
"Teyla love, tell me you know where Tagan is please!"

Teyla smiles at Keller, "He is well, but that is not why I am here." She sighs and almost begins to speak to Keller before interrupted by Carson. "Yes, Dr. Beckett, what is wrong?"

"Well, nothing is wrong," says Carson as he looks under Tagan's crib. "if you know where your wee son is...if you don't, then we might have slight problem!!"

Keller peels off her second skin, gliding Teyla to quieter areas. The tone in her voice made her nervous.

Teyla's eyes widen and she gasps, "Halling is looking after him." She clicks her radio to broadcast a message to the entire base, "Halling, if you can hear me please respond." She waits a few minutes but receives no response. Teyla turns to Keller in shock. Her heart is racing and she is so distraught that she cannot think. "What should we do, Jennifer?" she asks.

The voices of the radio rang in her head too. She clicked on her radio, "Halling, please respond. Base this is an alert from Dr. Keller if anyone is aware of Halling's position please contact Teyla or myself. Tagan is with Halling and he is not responding to call. Base please be on the lookout for Tagan we all know him and what he looks like." She received no response from anyone but relayed no information to Teyla on her face. "I'm sure they've wondered off to play and just can't hear us the base loves him like he's their own don't worry. Now what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"Now, now...calm down Teyla...let's make sure Halling still doesn't have him." Carson attempts to reassure her as he heads out into the hall. "Where are you? I'll come join you and then we can figure this all out."

Carson heads down the hall and then stops...for just a second there, his vision blurs and his brain feel like it's been hit by a hammer...but, then it passes and he feels normal again.

"That was odd," Carson thinks as he continues down the hall. "I haven't felt like that since before I went into the stasis pod."

But Carson pushes all thoughts of stasis pods and even that niggling thought about being a clone out of his head...he has more important things to think about...like Tagan!

Teyla relaxes slightly and replies, "I am in the infirmary with Dr. Keller. Please come quickly, Doctor." She clicks her radio again calling Chuck, the gate technician. "Has anything strange shown up on the sensors?"
"No, ma'am."
"Assemble a team together to search for Halling and Tagan. Then, keep trying to call him."
"Yes, ma'am."
Looking at Jennifer, Teyla sighs, "It's Col. Carter. She has been taken by Michael in exchange for myself and Tagan."

Her stomach sank. "How did Michael get Col. Carter?"

Carson finally makes it to the infirmary..."Maybe it's just me," he thinks, "but the infirmary sure seems a lot further away than it used to."

He heads toward Jennifer and Teyla who are deep in conversation.

"Any word?" He gasps as he takes in deep breaths. Has he always been this winded? Maybe.

Whatever worry had knotted in her stomach had been shoved to the back as she eyed Carson. Color seemed to fight for control on his face. She had known just how far away he was and was aware that he should not be winded. She took over picking his wrist in her hand.

"Doctor Keller, I'm fine." Carson reassured Keller. "How are you Teyla...any word?"

Keller ignored the protest from Carson more worried that the argument wasn't as full hearted as it should. He stood still for her letting her move about him silently making notes on what she was later going to force him into.

Concern immediately began showing on Teyla's face as she looks at Carson seeing how pale he looks. "Are you ok, Carson?"

Carson sighed, "Doctor, this highly unneeded at the moment, I have responsibilities I need to see too!"

His protests went unheeded. Keller continues to poke and prod Carson checking his vitals.

"You won't have much to do if you pass out. Doctor," Keller states.

Besides worrying about her teammates and now her son, Teyla had been handed more on her plate. Turning to Jennifer, she continues, "We believe that a friend to Michael used a cloaking device along with Dr. Weir's IDC to get on Atlantis, then kidnapped Col. Carter, and escaped undetected. We received a transmission from Sam, and John took a team to check out the location where the signal came from." Looking back at Carson, "What did you find in Halling's quarters?"

Carson breathed a sigh of relief as his breathing returned to normal.

"I walked past Halling's quarters on my way up here, and there's no one in there...now, where does Halling like to take Tagan?"

Sheppard lands the puddle jumper and turns to the team who are looking at him in anticipation. "Lorne, take four of your men and search for Sam. Michael will probably have her in a secluded part of the complex. My guess is that he'll probably have a few of his hybrids watching her. Once you have Sam radio in to let us know. Then head back to the jumper and be ready for a quick take off." A slight smile begins to creep across Sheppard's face as he continues. "Ronon, we'll take the rest of the team and give our buddy Michael a little surprise. McKay..." Sheppard looks at Rodney hesitantly for a second as he debates on what he should do. "...stick close to Ronon...and don't shoot anything until Ronon tells you."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth's ship is heading towards the planet where Todd told her Michael was holding Col. Carter. They were traveling at the fastest possible speed, and Elizabeth knew that it wouldn't be long until they arrived at their destination. She had formulated a plan that she was relatively sure would succeed, but it would depend on what plan of action Atlantis was taking. She knew that they would never turn Teyla and her son over to Michael - they had gone to great lengths to free her from him the last time - so she was sure that they would attempt some kind of rescue. By this time, McKay would have been able to locate where Michael was keeping Carter - of this she had no doubt. McKay could be arrogant - ok, very arrogant - but he was extremely intelligent and capable.

Elizabeth was very focused on the mission ahead of her, but she couldn't help feeling a bit of joy at the thought of seeing her "family" again. In her opinion, the ship couldn't get to their destination fast enough; both because of the necessity for haste and because of the impending reunion with her former team. She tried to imagine what the looks on their faces would be when they realized she was alive and could help them - would help them. She couldn't help smiling, just a little, at that thought.

Elizabeth forced herself back to focusing on the task at hand. There would be time enough for those pleasant thoughts after the mission was completed. Right now, she had to be prepared for when they excited Hyper-Space. She would do whatever was necessary to help Atlantis get their new leader back. This time, though, no one would need to sacrifice themselves. She would make sure of that! "Atlantis has lost too much already." she thought as she sadly remembered her dear friend Carson, as well as all the others whose lives had been lost for the sake of the City.

Ronon liked when Sheppard hinted at an idea of a "Surprise" pertaining to Michael. If it was anything like he thought it was, he was going to enjoy this mission. He grinned at McKay and patted him on the back. He noticed it was a bit harder than he intended as Rodney staggered and that only made him more amused.

McKay looked at Ronon. "Don't kill me this isn't a game."

Lorne got ready and told his team what they needed to do as he looked at Sheppard, "We are ready whenever sir."

Rodney only glares at Ronon.

Sheppard chuckles at the antics of his friends. It was always good to relieve tension a little. He then became very serious and looked at each team members' face. They were all awaiting for his order to move out. I hope that this plan works. "Let's move." The team exited the jumper and began their mission to rescue Colonel Carter. "Everyone stick close until we enter the compound. Once we get in, Lorne you and your men break off to find Carter." The team enters the compound and Sheppard gives the signal for Lorne's team to break off. As soon as Lorne and his men are out of sight, Sheppard looks at the rest of the team as they move across the floor. He whispers to the team..."All right, fan out into teams of two and search the area. If you see anything that looks important stick one of your bombs in it and set the timer for 1 hour. And if you see any unfriendlies...you guys know what to do." With that, the team breaks up and begins the search of the compound with Rodney going with Ronon and Sheppard going off on his own.

Rodney looks at Ronon and walks closely by him. "So where do you think she is?"

Harper waits till everyone is long gone from the jumper as she gets out and walks and looks around as a Wraith from behind her grabs her as she breaks his hand a stunner ray hits her back and knocks her out as another Wraith comes up to them as they dragged her away.

Harper is woken up by a burning feeling in her arms as two Wraith hold her from under her armpits. She screams and tries to kick her way out of there hold. "Let me go you freaks."
They throw her into what looks like the wraith holding chamber while she waits for Michael to come greet her she takes a running start trying to get out of the cage only to feel a shock as soon as she touches the veins of the cage. All of a sudden she falls to the ground. Dam cages She then passes out.

Harper opened her eyes and saw Ronon leaning over her smirking. She smiled and he extended his right hand to hers and helped her up.

"Easy there you haven't learned the trick yet kiddo." Ronon said as he tapped Harper's right shoulder.

She rolled her eyes as he did a kick spin showing off what he was teaching her. She then placed a point of her knife of her left hand balancing it straight up.

"Oh come on let me show you this."

She then place a knife on his hand as he tried to balance it she helped him with her right hand.

"What the hell is this?" Screamed John Sheppard watching his niece holding a knife on Ronon's hand.

Harper rolled her eyes at her uncle as she took her knife off her hand showing John the knife covering.

"We are using protection!"

"Harper is teaching me knife spins," smirks Ronon.

John glared at his niece, "Knife spins?"

She then threw a knife up in the air and with two other ones on her belt she showed a display of tricks and threw up the other two catching all three at once as she caught them she spun around quickly and then bowed.

Sheppard eyed Harper. "Baton! You're teaching him baton!"

With her uncle's voice screaming in her head she opened her eyes and sat up looking at the veins of the cage. "Dam!"

Why haven't I ran into any of Michael's men? Sheppard wondered as he walked slowly down a dimly lit hallway. He panned his M-16 from side to side waiting for some of Michael's guards to appear from the shadows. "I know that Michael expected us but this is ridiculous. I thought that there would be at least a few guards around," Sheppard mumbled to himself. Suddenly a noise sounded from Sheppard's left causing him to stop his progression and aim his gun in that direction. Nothing moved. "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm playing a game of cat and mouse and I'm the mouse?" Sheppard moved to where the noise had come from. As soon as he stepped into the shadows an arm wrapped around his neck and began to strangle him. Having his air cut off was not Sheppard's idea of fun. He fought to gain control of the situation. Finally, he aimed his M-16 at the floor and fired. The bullet found its mark in the foot of the hybrid soldier. Screaming, the soldier stumbled backward. As Sheppard raised his gun to finish off the soldier he heard the powering up of weapons. He was surrounded by a group of Michael's soldiers. "This day just got worse," Sheppard states to no one in particular. The soldiers relieve Sheppard of his weapons and communicator and then escort him to the hive ship where Michael, and unfortunately Harper, await.

Michael's hybrid guard comes over to him and tells him about Sheppard. Michael walks over to where Sheppard is and he smirks. "Hey Shepp! What's up? Bye Sheppard I'll deal with you later. Take him to the cell where his other team member is." Michael waves and laughs as the hybrids pull Sheppard off to the cage.

Harper sees her uncle and waves. "Hi Uncle John...When did you guys get here?"

The hybrids throw John into the cage and walk away.

Sheppard just glares at Michael as he talks. As Sheppard is lead away a slight look of question enters his face. "Other team member?" He hopes that Michael is bluffing and that none of the other members have been caught. Sheppard is pulled from his train of thought as he sees Harper in the cage. "Harper! What are you doing here?!" Suddenly Sheppard remembers the situation and waits until after the guards leave before he turns back to Harper, anger written on his face. "You were supposed to stay on Atlantis with Teyla, Carson, and Keller! I can't believe this!" He pauses in his rant as a thought hits him. "Were you hiding in the jumper this whole time?"

Harper smiles and looks down. "Would you be mad if I said yes? Where's Ronon?" She wondered if he was hurt or trying to find her uncle who probably went off on his own like usual.

Sheppard, who is trying to keep his voice down so as not to bring unwanted attention, responds..."Would I be...you bet I'm going to be mad! I gave you a specific order to stay behind! And what do you do?...You disobey that order, that's what you do. On top of that, you got yourself captured by the enemy."

"Well if someone let me go in the first place I could be the one saving your butt! Now we have to wait for someone to save us! Since I don't know you are yelling." Harper sighs and crosses her arms over her chest.

"And if someone had stayed where they were supposed to then they would be in the position to help...Now wouldn't they?" Sheppard looks at Harper as she crosses her arms. Anger slowly drains out of his voice as he says, "And I wasn't yelling. When are you going to learn to listen to me, Harper?"

Harper shakes her and raises her left hand. "I know never. So where is Ronon...Lorne...Heck even Rodney." She states as she pulls out of her shoe a small knife that is Ronon's. "I got this to use."

Avoiding Harper's question, Sheppard is about to respond to Harper's wise crack when he looks at the knife in her hand. "Where'd you get that? Isn't that one of..." His voice trails off as Sheppard finally puts two and two together. "You've been seeing Ronon, haven't you?" Suddenly Sheppard feels his anger begin to rise again. It was one thing to disobey his orders it was another to have his niece dating his friend and team member. He glares at Harper as he struggles to keep his voice low. "How long have you two been seeing each other behind my back?"

Harper puts a fake smile on. "No he gave it to me. You think I would date him? Ewe no way. We talk that's it." She gritted her teeth as she said this she knew she was in trouble.

"Don't even try that innocent act of yours." Sheppard looks at his niece. "Care to try a different story?"

Harper sighs. "I guess my cuteness doesn't work for you anymore. Ok before I say if I'm dating Ronon...one you brought him to my graduation party and we talked. Two he decided to come to grandpa's funeral to see me so you can really blame him more. Here it is I like him deal with it Johnny Boy. Plus didn't you like also hook up with Dr. Weir or something?"

Sheppard couldn't believe that his own niece was speaking to him like this. Way to go John...your niece is dating your best friend and they don't even bother to tell you about it, Sheppard thinks to himself. "Well, let me let you in on a little secret Harper. One, I don't care that the two of you talked. Two, don't ever call me Johnny Boy...I'm your uncle. Three, did it ever occur to the two of you that I actually might not have minded the two of you dating had you actually asked me about it?" As he asks the last question a slight bit of hurt enters his voice. "I thought that you knew me better than that. And, to answer your question, no we did not hook up...we were friends."

"I'm sorry Uncle John." She goes in for a hug and forces one from him and puts her head on his shoulder. "I just thought you would not like it since Ronon is like well your best friend which is weird since I'm dating him oh well. I always thought of you as my dad and well I wanted Weir to be my mom but she is gone now like everyone else from home."

Ronon came around the corner with Rodney in tow, gun raised. In a cell, he spotted Sheppard and...Harper? He hesitated for a bit and then pushed Rodney to the cell, "Open it."

He glanced around, keeping a watch, "What the hell is she doing here?" He looked back at Sheppard.

Sheppard is reluctant to give his niece a hug, not wanting to let her off the hook just then. I guess that her cuteness still has a little affect on me He looks down at his nieces head and replies, "Next time try a different thought...okay?" A mischievous smile suddenly appears on Sheppard's face. "If this is what it's like to have you as a niece then I don't even want to know what you would've been like as my daughter!"

Harper smiled. "Look at Uncle David then there you go."

Sheppard glanced at Harper, a slight grin playing across his face. "At least he deserved it."

As Rodney tries to open the cell taking his time he nods to Harper. "Harper."

"Rodney."

Rodney slams the box control like kind of the cage hoping it would break free. "Ok someone well Ronon shoot this thing open."

Ronon rolls his eyes and sends off one shot to the cage controls, frying the system and allowing the captives to escape.

Hearing sounds coming down the corridor, Sheppard prepares to charge anyone who enters the cage. His face fills with shock and gratitude when he realizes that it is Rodney and Ronon. "You mean my stow-away of a niece? She decided to hitch a ride on the jumper and got herself caught, that's all. What the heck took you guys so long?"

Ronon gave a stern disappointed look at Harper, wondering why she didn't trust Sheppard and more importantly, himself, to stay behind at Atlantis. He shrugged it off, needing to deal with it now that she was here. The stakes were higher. Ignoring the statement about Harper to an extent, Ronon kept his voice low, "After splitting up we encountered a few hybrids patrolling the areas. So we couldn't go that way and avoid suspicion. We managed to take a little longer of a route," here his voice growled in Rodney's direction, "..Since someone just had to have us go left instead of right." He grinned, "Good thing we ended up this way though."

On Atlantis, Teyla looks at Carson and replies, "Halling, takes him sometimes to see Netia, my closest friend. She enjoys playing with him and keeping him company while we are away on missions." She pauses for a moment before she clicks her radio broadcasting a message to the entire base, "Netia, please respond. I need to see you immediately." She looks back at Carson and Keller frantically waiting for a response.

Keller waits with her friends knowing she had just sent out a message to the entire base, but still she held out hope.

Elizabeth was completely focused when her ship exited hyper-space. They were cloaked, so she did not fear being detected by any Wraith ship that might be in the area. By the time the ship reached the planet's orbit, she already had her team geared up and ready to go. Elizabeth left Arlon in command of the ship; ordering him to remain in cloaked orbit. She and her team headed towards the planet in an Asuran version of a puddle jumper that was also cloaked.

The jumper was not detected entering the atmosphere, and it landed with no difficulties. Elizabeth and her team activated their PCDs (Personal Cloaking Devices) and exited - one of them remaining behind to stand guard.

Monitoring activity on a life signs detector, Elizabeth leads her team into the facility. They move through the halls quickly, silently communicating via their nanites. Because of her "little meeting" with Todd, she had a pretty good idea of where to look for Sam, and she headed in that direction. She saw several human life signs on the detector, so she knew that the Atlantis team was already here. She didn't know what signs belonged to what people, so she chose to head in the direction of the ones closest to the area where Sam was being held. She had no doubt that the Atlantis team already had a plan in action, but she also knew that she could significantly improve the chances of that plan succeeding. She halts her team in a semi-darkened crossroad of two hallways, and waits. She does not have to wait long, however, as Major Lorne and his team appears at one end of the hallway that she is facing. Elizabeth waits until they are about five feet from her before deactivating her PCD, and quietly saying, "Major Lorne." Startled, his head swings towards her - he and his team raising their weapons, but not firing. "Easy, Major." She says as she cautiously steps out of the shadows, keeping her hands where he can see them. "It's me. Dr. Weir. I know it's probably hard to believe, but it really is me....and I'm here to help."

Lorne looks at Elizabeth and motions to this team to lower their weapons. He comes over to her and places his hand of her face. "It's really you. I don't understand how? Why? When?" He then smiled Weir was alive he had dread the outcome when Stargate command told them they were not allowed to go back and search for Weir.

Rodney looks at Sheppard. "Well yes it is a numeric theory to go left then right. Then you will get to your destination and well we did."

Harper looked at Ronon she knew he was mad but she needed to do this. As he let them out she walked over to Ronon and touched his arm. "Thanks." She gave a sincere smile to him she kissed his cheek. She looked back to Sheppard waiting to know the plan.

Ronon stopped dead in his tracks, stunned that Harper would show any kind of affection to him in the presence of anyone, let alone Sheppard.

Harper spoke softly so no one could hear. "He knows." She knew either Ronon would be mad or Sheppard would yell at her for kissing Ronon either way she was screwed.

Ronon groaned a little but he was semi-relieved to not have their relationship such of a secret from Sheppard. He looked at Sheppard in an apologetic way without saying it. He decided to not say anything to either and pulled Rodney along as they started down the damp hallway, "C'mon, let's get going."

Harper glared at the back of Ronon's head she would have liked to hear something from him not knowing if he was mad or not. She turned to Sheppard. "I guess I'm with you?"

Rodney looks at Ronon. "Whoa! Easy there want me to pull a muscle."

Meanwhile, Chuck tries to locate Halling, Tagan, and Netia. "Sorry, they aren't appearing on the screen, ma'am."

Teyla goes pale, but before she speaks, "Teyla! I'm so sorry I didn't respond. Tagan wouldn't let me put him down," Netia says into the ear piece.

Teyla relaxes immediately after hearing her friend's voice, "Where are you? Where is Halling?"

"In Harper's room. She has bright colors and teddy bears in her room that Tagan loves," Netia smiles as Tagan giggles.

"Have you seen Halling?" Teyla pauses for a few moments. "I will be there in a few minutes." She smiles in relief at Keller and Carson, who gives her a pat on her shoulder. She takes off down the corridor toward Harper's quarters.

Keller smiled at Teyla trying to bring the same reassurance to herself.

Teyla hurries down the hallway to meet Netia. When she reaches Harper's room, she waves her hand over the control crystal to signal the occupant that someone is present. The door opens. As Teyla walks into the room, things become black for a minute and then a light emerges. The light is dull, but she is able to make out a man who looks to be beaten up in a corner.

"Netia? Where are you?" Teyla asks the darkness. Fear starts to stir in her heart. She walks towards the man trying to make out a face. "Hello?"

"Teyla?" The man lifts his head to reveal the face that of Halling. Before she asks any questions, she hears a voice behind her.

"Why, I'm right here," Netia appears from the darkness, her gray eyes glisten. "Michael has been waiting for you," Netia circles and stops in front of her. "I don't see why he wants you when..." Netia shakes her head as if to block out something.

Teyla's eyes widen and she responds, "Where is Tagan? What are you talking about, Netia? Michael is on another planet, far away." She steps toward her friend and gasps when she is close by Netia.

"Is he?" Netia asks questioningly, but in a deeper voice, that of a man.

"Who are you?" Teyla demands, her eyes searching the room. Raising her voice angrily, "Where is my son?"

Netia's eyes are an icy gray, cold. "We haven't been away from each other that long, Teyla. Remember, I wanted you to be with me, but for some reason you are hesitant. Why?" A bewildered Teyla stares at who is to be Netia standing in front of her, only to realize it is Michael.

Teyla looks at Halling who is sitting in the corner hunched down. Ignoring the creepy voice from Netia, she walks toward him. "Halling, where is Tagan?" She looks at his glazed eyes and receives no response. She glances back at Netia with fear in her eyes and heart starting to race. "What do you want? Where is my son? Michael, is that you?"

"Yes, it is. And I will have you, and little Tagan whether you can or can't resist it," Netia [Michael] give Teyla a dead stare and she grins. Suddenly, Teyla feels weak. It's a fight to have control of her own mind. Then the struggle stops, however Netia still stays there with that stare. A baby's piercing cries splits the silence. "Controlling your mind won't do me any good, but maybe Tagan can help you reconsider my offer."

Teyla's face hardens as she tries to stop Michael from entering her mind. "What have you done to Netia? Is she still alive?" She looks around the room and finally sees Tagan screaming. She tries to walk toward him but cannot move. "What is happening?"

"Netia is alive and well. As her mind is in an alternate state, I'm just 'borrowing' her body," Netia [Michael] walks into the room of the crying and comes back with tear-drenched Tagan in her arms still crying. "You know," she looks down at Tagan. "I could crush his little brain and leave you with no one," Netia [Michael] rocks Tagan. "But what good would that do me? So if you come with me, calmly and peaceful, we could be one whole family. The happy part might come later."

As fear grips her heart, Teyla struggles to move toward Netia. "Give me my son!" With every ounce of energy inside her, she tries to walk. "What have you done to me?"

"Oh my Teyla, you are not making this easy," Netia [Michael] walks over to a key pad next to the door. While punching in the code, she says, "When you walked through the door, you walked right into a transporter. It's ok, Tagan," Michael has Netia say, now in her own voice. The sound of Netia's voice calms Tagan's cries. "You see, I am keeping Halling here, so you won't try to escape," She turns to Teyla, who is still unable to move. "You escape, he dies." Teyla looks over at the defeated man, saddened that she has to do this to save his life.

"Ok, now let's go." Netia begins to walk against her own will through the transporter door. No control to speak out, scream for help, or yell. "We will do wonders Tagan, wonders," Netia [Michael] says as she carries Tagan through the transporter.

"NO," Teyla screams as she watches Netia start to disappear. She tries to move realizing that she is no longer stationary. She runs to the transporter door. "I'm coming too. If you hurt him, I will kill you Michael." She follows Netia and Tagan through the transporter. Halling still remains seated on the floor crouched over unable to speak or move.

Netia, Teyla, and Tagan disappear as Halling watches in horror unable to do anything.

Michael was in his throne room as he called it as a hybrid walked over to him.

"Master aren't you worried they are going to take the girl when Sheppard escapes?"

"Um no not really my plan has changed."

Michael stated as he got out the crystal in his pocket.

As Sheppard and Harper follow Ronon and Rodney down the hall, Sheppard's face becomes clouded with thought. Something had been nagging at him the whole time but he could never figure out what. The shock of seeing his niece in a cage combined with the fact that her and his friend were dating didn't help the situation either. Sheppard becomes engrossed in his thoughts as he tries to pinpoint what is making him feel uneasy.

Michael sits on his "throne" as Sheppard is dragged into the room. It had been about 30 minutes since he had been captured and put into the cage with his niece. The guards had come in the midst of the family argument which left Sheppard in a bad mood. Sheppard just stood and glared at Michael. "Is there something I can help you with or did you just bring me in here so we could have a staring contest?"

Michael smiled and made the hybrids sit Sheppard down.
"Where's Teyla I know you wouldn't bring her but you would be stupid if you left her on Atlantis you know that right?"

Sheppard just looks straight ahead. "Let's just say she's where you can't get her." He smirks as Michael begins to circle him.

After Michael circles Sheppard for the second time he stops and stares him right in the face. "I'm not so sure about that." He leans back down away from Sheppard's face. "Anyways I happened to hear you yelling at that girl. Do kind telling me which one of you I can kill first? Or we could always make a trade your life for Teyla."

Sheppard knows that Michael is trying to draw information out of him. Avoiding Michael's questions, Sheppard smugly remarks, "It's been awhile Michael. Where have you been? Off licking your wounds from the last time we met?"

Michael snickers at him, "Nope I been planning. So let me tell you this if I don't get Teyla or the boy you will end up losing the people you love one by one."

Sheppard looks up at Michael with anger and annoyance in his eyes. "You haven't figured it out yet, have you Michael? You're never getting Teyla or her son. Whether you kill me or not Teyla will stay where she is until you are dead." Sheppard stares at Michael as their eyes lock and a battle of wills begins.

"You know what Sheppard you annoy me." He spun around placing his hand on John's chest. "I don't need to feed but I can kill you. Oh do you want me to kill your team mates. First I'd start off on Sam cause she didn't help much at all did she? Then I would go with Ronon. You would be mad after that and then on to that niece of yours. I would keep Rodney as a pet till he gave me the location of Teyla then after I have her......." He starts to drain Sheppard's life source then returns it. "I'll kill you."

As pain courses through Sheppard's body he strains to look at Michael. "You know what..." He pauses to catch his breath. "...You're just as annoying." Sheppard fights to control the sporadic bursts of pain. After the pain fades a little, a grin slowly appears on Sheppard's face. Cryptically Sheppard's remarks, "Do you really think my team came alone, Michael? Let me say it again. You'll never get Teyla or Tagan." With that Sheppard braces himself for Michael's reaction.

Michael slams his fists on the table. "Who did you bring now??? Weir? One of the other team members that are dead?"

Sheppard grins, happy to have gotten on Michael's nerves. "That's my little secret." Now with sarcasm in his voice Sheppard say, "Sorry to ruin any plans of yours."

Michael smirks, "Oh I have other plans for this don't you worry. Now tell me who do you want me to kill first?"

The smile on Sheppard's face begins to fade until it is completely replaced with a frown. Sheppard debates on what to say to Michael. He know that Michael will go for his team just to get to him, yet he knows saying anything will have the same outcome. Finally he comes to a decision. "I refuse to answer that question Michael. But I'm going to let you in on something...for each team member you kill the more that will come to kill you." With that, Sheppard becomes silent.

Michael rolls his eyes. "We will see about that!" He looks at the hybrids. "Go find Ronon and McKay follow them for awhile then attack."

Sheppard eyes follow Michael's hybrids as they leave the room. Breaking his silence briefly, Sheppard yells after the guards, "Good luck with that."

"Sheppard? Sheppard! Uncle John...?" Sheppard suddenly snaps out of his daydream to see Ronon, Harper, and Rodney staring at him concern on their faces. "Hmm...What?" He suddenly realizes that they haven't been moving. "What's going on? We should have been gone by now."

"Well yes we know that but you been standing there for like 5 minutes." Rodney states matter of fact.

Harper looks at her uncle. "You okay?"

Ronon looks Sheppard over, trying to see if he's fine. Knowing Sheppard, Ronon figured he'd be just fine once they got moving. He nods to Sheppard and starts down the hallway again, pushing Rodney again, "C'mon, we're losing time."

Sheppard just looks at Rodney and smirks. He then looks at Harper and replies, "Yeah...I'm fine. I was just thinking'" After looking around the hall, Sheppard's says, "Let's get out of here before company comes."

Rodney walks up over to Ronon. "That hurt you know."
Harper and John follow them.

Elizabeth is relieved that Lorne accepts her so easily, and she returns his smile. "I'm afraid that the why and when a long story, best are left for when we have more time. All that matters right now is that I am me and I'm here to help." She covers his hand with her own and squeezes it briefly before letting it go. "Now, let me introduce my team." Lorne is startled again - but does not raise his weapon - as the three Asurans suddenly appear, as if from thin air.

Lorne backs up. "How did you do that? Who are these people?" he was shocked first off that Elizabeth was alive and she had a new team. He thought Atlantis was her team.

Elizabeth couldn't tell what Lorne was thinking, but she could tell that he had become uneasy. "It's ok, Major. They will not harm you; you can trust them. They were a part of a rogue group of replicators, and they helped me to escape Oberoth. We managed to steal a ship and have been working together since then." She smiles a little, "Have you been hearing anything about Wraith hive ships disappearing without explanation?" At his surprised nod and question, "That was you???" She replies, "Yes, that was us, but, again, it's a long story. We need to focus on the mission right now." He nods again, and she decides that now would be a could time to answer his first question. "The Asurans have many kinds of devices that are unique to only them. This," She points to the disk-shaped object on her chest, "is one of them. It's a Personal Cloaking Device - PCD for short. They are what allow us to go 'invisible'." Elizabeth taps her chest, and instantly disappears - but only for a couple of seconds - reappearing almost immediately. She grins, "Could you use a few of these, Major?"

Lorne shakes his head and laughs, "Yeah that would help a lot when we find Sam. Have you heard where she is?" He knew that if this was a trick he was going to die but the look in Elizabeth's eyes told him not to be in fear.

"Funny you should ask that," she says with a glint in her eye. "I do...well, a basic idea, anyway...but that's another long story, though I think you will enjoy hearing it sometime!" She grins at the memory that pops into her head, but shakes it off and continues, "Here are some PCDs for you and your team. Just tap them once to cloak, and again to uncloak. It's pretty simple. You will also need these." She hands him something that looks suspiciously like sunglasses, and says "We don't want you bumping into each other while cloaked, so these glasses will allow you to see an outline of each other." She then points down a hall to their left and says, "We need to head that way."

Lorne smiles and puts on his sunglasses and hands out everything to his 3 team members. "Ok we will follow you." He states as his team and him cloak up. As he put the glasses on he thinks this is so cool.

Elizabeth and her team all recloak as well, and head down the hallway. She continues to monitor the life signs detector, and leads the teams towards the sign that she believes to be Col. Carter. It takes several minutes to reach it, but they do so without issue. There, lying in a cell, is indeed Col. Carter. She is tied up, but she seems to be unharmed. One of her team begins to silently disable the lock on the cell and another destroys all monitoring devises in the room. Lorne's team stealthily and quickly takes out the Wraith guards. Once the cell is unlocked, Elizabeth steps in and walks up to Sam.

Sam has no idea what is going on. She has just seen her Wraith guards taken out and her cell door open, all as if by magic. Suddenly Elizabeth appears in front of her, and she wonders if she's seeing a ghost. She remembers her training, however, and doesn't make a sound. Elizabeth can see that Carter is startled, so she quietly says, "Sam, it's me. I'm not a ghost, I'm not ascended, and I'm not a clone. It really is me, and I'm here to get you out." She is untying the ropes that bind Sam, as she continues, "I know it's hard to believe, but I can't explain right now. We need to get out of here. Major Lorne is here too, as well as my team. They are all cloaked at the moment, but you will be able to see them in just a bit." She hands her a pair of the glasses and says, "Put these on." She pulls Sam to her feet, and places a PCD on her chest, activating it and then her own. "Let's go."

Lorne smiled at Sam and followed Weir. "Sheppard is looking on the hive ship we are meeting back at the jumper in one more hour." He started to look around these glasses gave them an advantage and he hoped Atlantis would get some of this cool stuff.

Sam is speechless as she sees Elizabeth Weir enter her cell. It's only when she sees Lorne and his team that she begins to realize that this might be actually happening. She continues to wonder if Lorne is really Lorne or if it is another grand scheme by Michael or the Replicators. When she's cloaked, yet another time today, she realizes it's at least better than being tied up in a cell and goes with Weir and Lorne.

"I think our first priority should be getting Sam to safety. So, if it's okay with you, I'd like someone from both our teams to take her to my jumper. My ship is in a cloaked orbit, and I think that she would be safest there." She looks at Lorne, "Is that acceptable to you, Major?"

At first Lorne is reluctant but he sees Elizabeth's smile and nods. "That's fine Ackles will go with your member."

Elizabeth is glad that Lorne accepts her suggestion. She really wants to get Sam to where Michael could no longer reach her. She also thought that having one of his team go with one of hers would help him feel more comfortable about Sam being on her ship. She looks at Sam, expecting resistance, and is surprised to find none. "Wow..she must really be worn out!" She whispers to Lorne, "The Col. Carter I know would not have given in so easily."

"Knowing Michael he drugged her or something. She has been hectic taking over your job so I bet she is also tired." Lorne stated as he watch Sam and Ackles go.

Sam looks at them both, "He knows what I know. At least that's what he said and he could read my mind. I'm trying to figure out if it has worn off or if he's still able to do so. So, if you want to get out of here undetected, you might as well not tell me anything else and hurry up."

Elizabeth nods her head, but says nothing. She listens closely as Sam begins to speak to them both. "He knows what I know. At least that's what he said and he could read my mind. I'm trying to figure out if it has worn off or if he's still able to do so. So, if you want to get out of here undetected, you might as well not tell me anything else and hurry up." Elizabeth places her hand on Sam's shoulder and says, "Thank you for warning us, but you don't have to worry about him getting any more information from you. As long as you're cloaked, he will not be able to read your mind. It's one of the great side effects of this particular device." Relief shows on Sam's face, and she turns to leave. Elizabeth watches her walk away. She is a little concerned about what Michael may have learned, but she has already begun to focus on what they can now do to help John. "Major, I think you should report in to Col. Sheppard and let him know that Sam is now safe." She looks him in the eye, "You don't need to tell him that I'm with you, though....not yet. He doesn't need to be distracted."

Carson waited with Keller and Teyla for Netia to respond...after a several long seconds it seemed like they were going to get a response, but alas only static came through.

Carson sighed in annoyance, "I'm going up to the control tower, see if we can get a lock on someone's locater beacon...honestly, what else can go wrong today?"

Arriving at the tower, Carson headed over to Chuck.

"Chuck, please search for Tagan's, Halling's and Netia's locator beacons."

Chuck the technician immediately began pressing crystal on a control panel.

Harper walks up to Ronon. "Hey I know you're mad I get it I just needed to do this. So if it's ok with you I'm here if you need help."

While keeping an eye out for Michael's goons, Ronon replied, "I'm not mad. I just don't understand why you couldn't listen to Sheppard and me." As they were coming around the corner, Ronon peered out to check. Seeing nothing, he waved them onwards. "Just stay close to us."

Harper walks with Ronon as John and Rodney follow behind. "That's the point I couldn't just sit there and wait to see if you came back to me."

Ronon feels his anger build up out of frustration, "Damnit, Harper. This is my job, I've been doing harder missions than this for years. I'm more than capable to finish the job and get home to Atlantis. I know that waiting at Atlantis is hard but that's what you have to do just like everyone else. If everyone did what you did, do you know how many people would be trying to go with teams off world. What you did was selfish; How do you think I feel now, I have to not only finish the mission but I've got to worry about getting you out also." Ronon blinks a bit and refocuses his attention to the hallways and dark shadowy corners where danger could be lurking at any moment.

Harper knew she shouldn't say anything else but like always she did anyways. "Atlantis isn't just a team its family. I'm not going anywhere but don't worry about me anymore. I'll do what I always do. Do it alone." She starts to walk in front of Ronon as she hears an incoming Wraith and grabs her gun she found outside of the cage.

Ronon hears the Wraith right as Harper starts to move in front of him. He sees the weapon in her hands and rushes to her, pulling her aside behind a corner, as the wraith come in sight and fire off stunners. He turns to see Rodney hiding also, in the nick of time, fumbling slightly to get his balance with his gun. Ronon looks around the corner and fires his gun, sending the burst of red through one wraith. "If you're planning on using that, Harper, you might as well."

Harper eyes brighten up and a grin comes on her face. "Don't mind if I do." She fires and hits a Wraith in the head knowing that would slow it down a bit.

Rodney just starts shooting aimlessly at the wraith only managing to get 2 good shots in.

As soon as Sheppard heard the firing of a Wraith weapon he hit the took cover. He touched his vest where his gun would normally have been and then remembers that Michael's men took all of his weapons. Waiting until Ronon and Harper force the Wraith back, Sheppard runs to where they are hunkered down. "Harper, give me your gun." Noticing Harper's defiant look, Sheppard replies, "Look, I'm going to provide cover fire while you, Ronon, and Rodney head for the exit." Sheppard pauses for a moment as a Wraith comes dangerously close to hitting him and Ronon returns fire.

Harper throws John her gun as she runs with Rodney to the next hallway over peering out so they both could watch to see if they needed back up.

Sheppard looks to make sure that Harper and Rodney have made it to the exit. A sigh of relief escapes as he sees Harper exit the hallway where the gunfight is taking place. "Alright...when I start firing make a run for it."

Rodney looks at Harper. "You hesitated giving him the gun are you crazy!"

"You couldn't even stand up while holding your gun."

"I did no such thing."

'Yeah you did."

"Did not!"

"Lair!"

"Freak!"

Lorne nods and presses on the channel of his radio. "Col. Sheppard we found Carter. We are putting her in a safe place. Ackles is standing by her till we leave. Over and out." He clicks off and whispers to Weir. "You are going to see the team right? You aren't just leaving me to explain this right?"

Elizabeth is a bit taken aback by Lorne's question, and responds, "Of course I won't just leave without seeing the rest of the team, Major! I know I'm not your leader anymore, but you are all still my family! At least, I still consider you all my family. I cannot speak for all of you." She smiles, "Besides, I have to help you get John out of the mess I'm sure he's getting himself into right now." Her eyes twinkle a bit, as she continues, "And you know that Rodney is going to want to have a chance to play with these "new toys" that I've given to you."

"Now, who does John have on his team? I assume that he was smart enough to not bring Teyla along on this one."

Lorne smiles, "Yes we better. We miss you so much Elizabeth. You're our family."

"Thank you, Major. I've missed all of you too!" She smiles warmly, "Now, about John's team...."

Lorne looks at her. "Ronon and Rodney."

"Good. I assume, then, that Teyla is safely back in Atlantis?"

Lorne nods. "Yes she is with her baby Tagan, Dr. Keller and um." He wasn't sure if he should be the one to tell her about Carson.

"Oh, she named him Tagan...I like that." She gives Lorne a curious look, "Wait...'um' what, Major? Is there someone in Atlantis that you don't want me to know about?"

Lorne looks down, "Um Carson.......is kind of alive. He is a clone but more or less he is alive."

Elizabeth is shocked. "What?! Carson??? Wow....I have really missed a lot since I've been gone! Hmmm...I only received word that clones of me, John, Teyla, Rodney, and Ronon were made - and those were destroyed - so where did a clone of Carson come from?"

Lorne glares. "Michael made him he had him make the Hoffan drug. He made Carson help him create the hybrids."

Elizabeth's face is stern as she says, "Great...now Michael can make clones???" She frowns, "I knew he wasn't smart enough to create the hybrids on his own! This explains a lot...I wonder why I haven't heard of this before now?" She looks at Lorne, "Never mind. I'll deal with my intel issues later. Right now, we have important things to do."

Lorne nods, "So what now? I guessing you have a plan to blow up the place?"

Elizabeth looks at him, "No, actually, I don't, but I can come up with one. Is that what John was planning?" She looks at her remaining team, "Because we can do that, if that's the plan." Her gaze returns to Lorne, I'll just need to let my crew know to send some explosive devices back with Ackles and Kalia."

Lorne shrugs. "Its Sheppard it was probably in his mind. he never did say the whole plan besides find Sam." He scratches his head. "Now that you mention it I know anything he has planned none of us do."

Elizabeth smiles, "It sounds like he hasn't changed a bit! I'll have my crew send down the explosives, anyway. I certainly have no moral qualms about destroying this facility!" She uses her nanites to silently communicate the instructions to her ship, then directs her attention back to Lorne. "The devices will be here in approximately ten minutes." They were all still cloaked, so she wasn't concerned about having to wait for them. "Ackles and Kalia will find us when they have landed. In the mean time, perhaps we should try to find Sheppard's team?"

Lorne nods. "Yes that would be a good idea."

"Very well, perhaps you should lead the way then?" She sees him hesitate, "Oh, you don't know where they are, do you? Right, you mentioned that he hadn't told you his plan, sorry.....we'll just continue using my life signs detector, then. Will that work for you?"

Lorne looks at the detector. "Rodney will want to see that too." He follows Elizabeth as Michael walks right by them ad hybrids follow him.

"For the last time find that girl no matter how many of you they kill!" Michael then stops moving and turns around looking at Weir and Lorne's direction.

Elizabeth, Lorne, and her team remain perfectly still. Elizabeth knows that there's no way he will know they are there, unless they make a noise, so they don't even breathe. They all breathe a sigh of relief, after he takes one more searching look then disappears at the end of the hall. "That was a little too close for my comfort, Major." He nods his head in agreement, and she asks, "What girl was he talking about? There's no way he could have found out that Sam was missing, already!"

Lorne shrugs. "I don't know. Teyla, Jen and Harper are all on Atlantis and no other women doctor or fighter has been off world on this take of a mission."

Elizabeth looks concerned, "That's strange...I hope we won't have another rescue on our hands." She suddenly looks at Lorne, as they continue moving down the hall, "Did you say that Harper was on Atlantis? I haven't see that girl since the last time I was on Earth! When did this happen?"

Lorne shrugs, "Um after you left she was granted her job here. I'm guessing she is here cause of Ronon. Oh ya, Rodney told me they are dating which is weird I never see them on the base together. That girl gets herself in more trouble every day. She won't go into Sam's office because it's not yours anymore."

"Trouble?" Elizabeth laughs, "I think trouble comes with the Sheppard name! She's a great kid, though...er, woman. I've missed her - it sometimes seemed like she was my niece too!" She smiles softly, "Her and Ronon, huh? Can't say that I'm surprised."

Lorne smiled. "Well will be. Well I know she will be glad to see you if you come back to Atlantis." He then follows a hallway hearing faint noises of a fight.

Elizabeth hears the noise as well, and follows Lorne. She glances at her life signs detector, "Major, I'm detecting Wraith life signs....as well as Human ones." He looks at her, and they both pick up their pace, followed closely by their teams.

As they get closer you can hear two people arguing over something. They didn't know both Rodney and Harper found a Wraith stunner and were fighting over who got to use it.
Lorne looks at Weir, "I'm ready to attack whenever."

Elizabeth nods and whispers, "Alright, you and your team take the Wraith on the right, and my team and I will take the ones on the left. I think our guys are pinned down around that corner. These are the only Wraith on my detector, so if we take them out, the team should be fine." Suddenly, she puts her hand on Lorne's shoulder, "Major, it now looks like a Wraith is sneaking up behind them. We need to move fast!"

"I need this more I'm needed on Atlantis!"

"Am I not." Harper yells over the gun fire and grabs the stunner form Rodney when he pulls it back.

"For the last time I'm not a liar and you are still a freak!"

"I rather be a freak then a liar!"

"You only came to be all lovey dove with Ronon!!"

"You came because you like Sam!"

Rodney lets go of the stunner which makes Harper fall to the ground.

"Didn't I say not to talk about that."

As soon as they are about to rush in to help Michael stands in front of them watching the fight from afar.

Ronon fires one shot down the corridor at the appearance of a cautious Wraith, "No, after you."

As they duck from the soldiers' fire, Sheppard looks at Ronon with a commanding look on his face. "Ronon...we don't have time for this! When I say go I want you to take off."

Ronon growls, "No, there's too many. You go."

Sheppard looks at Ronon, exasperation showing on his face. "You know, when I woke up this morning I had no idea that I would be in the middle of a gunfight arguing with you over providing cover fire. Besides, I've handled more than this. Go!"

"I'm a better shot than you and they'll keep coming so you go." Ronon fired again, "Plus, I'm not letting Rodney be the one to fly us back to Atlantis."

Sheppard looks over at Ronon with a slight smirk on his face. "You only think you're a better shot than me." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Sheppard reared up and took out two of the soldiers. "I'll hold them off long enough for you to get away. Don't worry about me...I'll catch up in a few minutes."

Ronon shook his head, "No, I don't think so." He sends off a few rounds, each hitting their mark as more wraith start to show up. "We came in together, we'll leave together or you leave first, whichever you choose."

Sheppard lets out a sigh. "Okay buddy...you ready to give these guys a run for their money?" He looks at Ronon with fire in his eyes. Both Ronon and Sheppard stand up and fire their weapons at the hybrids in front of them. They are so caught up in it that they fail to notice a soldier has crept up behind them. The sound of a weapon powering up catches Sheppard's and Ronon's attention..."Drop your weapons. I have orders not to kill you unless necessary." Both Sheppard and Ronon place their weapons on the ground and kick them over to the soldier. Sheppard glances at Ronon as he says, "This day just keeps getting better and better."

Ronon doesn't say anything but gives Sheppard an annoyed look that screams all kinds of cursed words.

Seeing the look in Ronon's face, Sheppard whispers to Ronon..."Whoa there big guy. Wait till they let their guard down..." The sudden lurching of the soldier in front of him caused Sheppard to pause mid-sentence.

Elizabeth and Lorne had both begun to move again, until they saw Michael standing to the side. They immediately froze. They were afraid that they would have to wait before they could help their friends, but he turned around and walked away. They moved back into action, both teams swiftly and quietly taking out the group of Wraiths. Elizabeth then stepped around the corner and fired between John and Ronon, killing the Wraith that was holding a weapon on them.

Ronon used the distraction of the fallen wraith to get his gun and throw Sheppard his own weapon.

All of a sudden the wraith stunner went off. There was Rodney and Harper both of the floor fighting each other over it both looked at the group. "He did it!" "She did it" they both said at the same time.

They get up and look at the now dead wraith.

"How did you two do that?" Harper questions Ronon and John.

Sheppard catches the weapon and checks it for ammunition. "Where do you think that shot came from?" he asks looking around the room. His eyes come to rest on Harper and Rodney. "What are you two doing here?! I told you to get out of here!"

Elizabeth suddenly uncloaks. "Hello John."

Lorne uncloaks also and goes over to Rodney and take his sunglasses off. "Here you go buddy figure it out." Rodney is in shock cause of Elizabeth and just stands there.

Harper moves next to Ronon. "Freaky."

As Sheppard is questioning Harper and Rodney, he suddenly hears a voice. "I know that voice." He turns around slowly, unsure if he is hearing things. His eyes lock on Elizabeth and shock covers his face. "But how...where'd you...you're supposed to be..."

Elizabeth quirks an eyebrow, "Dead? Yes well, the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." She's hoping that a little humor will help to ease the tension.

Ronon doesn't get a chance to respond as Elizabeth Weir appears out of thin air beside them. He raises his weapon, the noise of it getting ready to fire echoes.

Elizabeth takes a step backwards, as Lorne steps in front of her.

Lorne grabs the gun form Ronon. "Don't it's her. She helped me save Sam."

Regaining his composure, Sheppard commands, "Hold your fire Ronon." Sheppard looks over at Major Lorne. "Somebody want to fill me in here."

Ronon backs away from Lorne, ripping his gun back. He gives a look to Sheppard, being suspicious of it all, for a command.

Rodney looks at Ronon and backs away from him as he waves at Weir. Harper is shocked and winks at her uncle knowing that they were talking about Elizabeth earlier.

Sheppard just looks at Ronon and nods as if to say "stand down but be prepared."

Elizabeth sees Rodney wave and smiles back at him, but then looks right at John, "I'd love to John, but I don't think we have time right now. The longer we remain uncloaked, the easier it will be for Michael to track us." She sees something out of the corner of her eye, "Harper???"

Harper smiles runs over to Weir and hugs here. "It's really you." She releases her from the hug and rolls her eyes at Ronon. "Lorne told you she was the real her."

Elizabeth smiles at the first real reaction she's gotten since uncloaking, and hugs Harper back. "Yes, it really is me..but what are you doing here? Lorne said you were back on Atlantis."

Ronon relaxes slightly but not completely given the fact they're still in a Wraith facility owned by Michael. "Look, we should really get out of here."

Sheppard looks around the hallway for a second and then looks at the group. "Yeah...let's get out of here before Michael shows up. We'll have time for reunions later."

Harper smiles and looks at Ronon then back to Weir. "I'll tell you later. SO you guys found Sam." Lorne nods.

"I agree." Elizabeth says he she motions to her team to give the rest of them PCDs and glasses. "I find that it's much easier to get around here when you are wearing these. Wouldn't you say so, Major?" He grins and nods, showing everyone how to work their PCDs. "The major and I have a plan, John, but we'll tell you about it on the way." To Lorne she says, "Ackles and Kalia are waiting for us near the entrance."

Ronon decides to lead the way with Sheppard. He pulls Harper by his side so she's in the middle of the group, "Stay close...again."

Harper rolled her eyes. "Fine fine hot shot."

Rodney holds a device. "Turn left then we are at the jumper just outside of this ship."

Lorne looks at Weir. "Will you follow us back to Atlantis or do you want to go on the jumper?" He questions as they head outside where some wraith hybrids are.

As they reach the jumper and Elizabeth's ship Rodney and Lorne start to head into the ship with Ackles and the rest of the team.

Harper looks at Ronon before heading into the ship. "Can I move now?"

Elizabeth replied to Rodney, just as they reached Kalia and Ackles, "Our jumper is just a little further past that." She turns to Lorne, we call all actually travel back to Atlantis in my ship. It would be a lot faster, and we will all have a chance to catch up a little." She turns and addresses John, "I'll send Kalia with you, and she'll show you how to follow my jumper into the landing bay of my ship. Sam will be waiting for us there." He nods, and heads towards his jumper. Elizabeth sighs - she had a lot of explaining ahead of her. She has a pleasant idea, "Harper," She says with a smile, "Would you like to ride with me?"

Ronon just looks at her. He can't understand how she can behave like this when he tries so hard to protector. He turns and then walks away, getting into the Jumper.

She looks at Ronon walk away and yells after him. "I love you too!"

Harper then walks over to Dr. Weir "Yeah I would like that."

Ronon shocked, stops in his path and turns to see Harper with Dr. Weir, leaving to join her. His mind doesn't process everything and he stands there like a robot turned off. Sheppard pulls him into the jumper.

Elizabeth smirks at the young woman, "I thought you might." She winks and puts her arm around her, as they walk into the back of the Asuran jumper.

Michael went to go check on Sam and didn't find her so he yelled to his slaves. "Find Sam now!" The Hybrids started to run around the base looking for her.

Elizabeth and Harper are the last to enter the jumper and the hatch closes behind them. They take a seat as Elizabeth says to the Asuran sitting in the pilot's seat, "Nalu, take us up." She turns to another Asuran and says, "Mera, prepare to detonate the devices when we reach a safe height." At Harper's curious look, she explains, "As I was telling your uncle, Lorne and I decided to set charges throughout the facility and blow it up. It won't stop Michael, but it should slow him down a little." Harper seems to like that idea, and Elizabeth continues, "Anyway, Kalia and Ackles were setting the charges while Lorne and I were crashing your little party." Harper grinned at that, and Elizabeth couldn't help but grin back. "So," Elizabeth says, with an impish gleam in her eye, "I hear some interesting things about you, kiddo....." Before Harper can reply, they are interrupted by Mera saying "Excuse me, ma'am....but we've now reached a safe altitude." Elizabeth is instantly serious, "Very well. Do it."

The facility suddenly explodes, and though neither team can see it, they both feel it. Elizabeth is sure that John is grinning right now, and she grins too. "Maybe we got lucky, and Michael was still in the building when it blew." Harper looks hopeful, but then Elizabeth's grin fades, "Then again...our luck has never really been that great." As if on cue, Mera says, "Ma'am, I've just detected a Wraith ship leaving the planet and entering hyper-space." Elizabeth groans and looks at Harper, "I knew it wouldn't be that easy! So much for the pleasant family reunion!" She contacts her ship and tells Arlon to be ready to leave orbit as soon as both jumpers are safely docked in the bay.

Harper sits down on a chair and looks around she could tell why Elizabeth stayed with these people. This ship was huge she felt the ship shake as the planet blasted to pieces. She looked over to Weir with a grin. "I know I should tell you what I have been up to but I think your story is going to be more interesting or should we wait for the others to join and hear this?"

Elizabeth smiles at Harper, "If you like this, wait until you see the ship! It won't be long until we're docked in it. I think your uncle is really going to like it...he always did enjoy seeing new ships!" At the thought of John, her face saddens a little, but she answers Harper's question, "My story will have to wait. I don't want John to be hurt more because I told you before I told him." She looks away, "I know how much it hurt him that I ordered him to leave me behind with the replicators, and.....I allowed him to believe that I was dead all this time." She sadly turns her gaze back to Harper, "At first, I was upset that Oberoth had spread that lie, but then....I thought that it would be better if everyone believed that - for awhile at least." She looks away again, to hide some moisture that was gathering in her eyes, "Now I don't know if he'll be able to forgive me......" She shakes it off before Harper can respond, and turns back towards her with a smile, saying, "It is so good to finally see you all again, though! And you being on Atlantis was a really nice surprise, too!" She says, as she pulls the young woman into another hug.

In the jumper behind Elizabeth's Sheppard braces against the explosion erupting from the planet. As the shock waves subside a smile creeps across his face as he shakes his head. And I thought that I was the one who liked to blow things up. With the laboratory destroyed, Sheppard's thoughts slowly turn to those of Elizabeth. His face clouds over, hurt, joy, and confusion on his face. It had not been easy for him to leave Elizabeth behind during their mission to the Replicator planet. Indeed it had felt like he had lost a close family member and had nearly torn him apart. That feeling of loss had been renewed when the Elizabeth-clone and her team had sacrificed themselves so that his team could get away. He knew that she hadn't been the real Elizabeth, but the pain of losing her for the second time was. Now with the very real possibility that this Elizabeth was in fact the original, Sheppard's thoughts were in turmoil. How can she be alive? I saw her being surrounded by replicators. There's no way she could have survived that. Then again, Elizabeth has never really been one to give in so easily. But, if she's been alive all this time, why did she wait so long to let me know? So many emotions battle for control of Sheppard's heart. He lets out a silent sigh as he wades through his jumbled thoughts. I just don't get it. She had plenty of opportunities to come home. Why does she wait until now to appear? Is it some sort of...no, Elizabeth would never do something like that, clone or not. It has to be her! She could have... Before he can finish, Sheppard his pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Elizabeth's voice. She is informing him that Michael's hive ship escaped the planet before the explosion went off. "Dang it!"

Harper smiled at Elizabeth and hugged her back for the women who got her into the field she wanted to go in and also the one who demanded Stargate command to return her home after helping with the siege of Atlantis the first time she couldn't help but wonder why she didn't come see them on Atlantis. "Yeah it took me awhile to adjust but then it started to feel like home."

"I can imagine." Elizabeth says as she releases her. "It took me a little while to adjust, myself!" She smiles, but the memories of those first few months on Atlantis are bittersweet. "When we get back to the City, we'll have to have some serious girl talk! I want to hear all about your time on Atlantis....and I mean all about it." She winks as Harper blushes, "Unless something comes up, I won't have to leave right away, and so there should be plenty of time for it, too!"

Harper looks sadden as Elizabeth states that if something comes up. "You aren't planning on staying on Atlantis?" She wanted to tell her about how John was since well she died. She also wanted to tell her about Ronon but the most important thing was getting her to stay.

Elizabeth sees the sadness on Harper's face, and she feels it herself too. "Sweetie....I can't. I don't belong there anymore, and I can be more of a help with my ships." She suddenly stops, hoping that Harper didn't pick up the fact that she said "ships" and not "ship". She quickly continues, "I won't be leaving forever; I just won't be living in Atlantis. Not now, anyway." She puts her arm around the young woman that she has considered family from almost the day they met, "You guys are still my family, and you'll be able to contact me whenever you need to. Don't worry, I'm not going to disappear again...I'll always just be a hyper-space jump away." She says, trying to cheer her up.

Harper strikes a look of confusion about the ship or ships then looks at Weir. "Uncle John and I fought today then we talked about you. I know what you mean to him and me..." She knew a long sad story about John wasn't what they needed so she did what she does best make a joke out of it. "I can't his nagging anymore I mean I get enough from Rodney. So what do you want to know about back home...Atlantis?"

Elizabeth was curious about why Harper and John would be talking about her, but she let that slide.....for now. "Meredith Rodney McKay, nag? Never!" She says as both she and Harper laugh. "I do want to know how John's been since I've been gone, Harper," Her expression gets serious again, "because I know he won't tell me...well, not all of it anyway." She sees the semi-worried expression on Harper's face, so she says, "Oh, I don't mean right now....we'll talk later, okay?" The girl nods, relieved, and they both smile. The moment is interrupted by Nalu, "Ma'am, we have arrived at the ship, and are about to enter the landing bay." Elizabeth replies, "Thank you, Nalu. We are in no danger now, so please uncloak so that Col. Sheppard will have no trouble following us in." The ship had already been alerted to their arrival, and Sam was waiting in the bay for them when they landed. Elizabeth noticed that she looked a bit more refreshed since she saw her on the planet, and she was glad to see it. They all exited their jumpers, and headed towards the Colonel. Elizabeth instructed Arlon to take the ship into hyper-space, and instantly they were on their way back to Atlantis.

Harper smiled at her and watched them take off hoping it wouldn't be too long. She went over to Weir. "He's been the same but grumpy. Most of times he stays in this room for awhile. We never know what he is up to."

Concern shows on Elizabeth's face as Harper finishes her statement. Seeing John standing not too far off, she leans towards his niece and whispers, "That is one of the reasons you and I need to have some serious girl time when we get to Atlantis." At Harper's nod, she straightens up and walks over to Sam. "Col. Carter, I didn't really have time to say it on the planet, but it's good to see you again." Sam smiles and returns in kind before Elizabeth continues, "Arlon has told me that you wish to contact Atlantis as soon as possible. That definitely won't be a problem...our long range communication is second-to-none." She can't help but feel a little pride, but it dies when she sees the look on John's face. She can't quite read his expression, so she turns back to Sam, "We'll go to the bridge; you can contact Atlantis from there." Harper touches her arm, and with a smirk on her face, whispers something in Elizabeth's ear. Elizabeth smiles, looks at Rodney, and then looks at Kalia. "Kalia, will you please show Rodney to the room where he can relieve himself? Wait for him, and when he's finished, bring him to the bridge." She hears a snort from Ronon, a giggle from Sam, and notices that everyone, including the Asurans, are having difficulty keeping the smiles off of their faces. They continue on to the bridge, as Rodney walks away with Kalia, muttering something about not liking blondes after all.

Rodney now sees Sam talking to Atlantis and gives her a pat on the back. As he does this he takes the mic out of her hand. "Chuck go get me Carson now." Chuck replies back with a yes and channels in Carson on his radio. "Dr. Beckett, Dr. McKay would like to speak to you he is on channel 5."

Carson tapped his radio, "Yeah, Rodney I'm here."

He winced as Keller took some blood for yet another test.

Rodney grins. "You won't believe what I'm riding in. It's spectacular, magnificent, and enormous." He can hear Carson mumbling something about hurry it up. "Ok fine I'm on an Asuran ship. We will be to Atlantis in no time now. You won't believe what else I should tell you."

Now at the bridge Harper looks over at Ronon and sees him looking at her and when she smiles he turns away. She shrugs it off and goes over to Weir. "Rodney is going to be so ticked off." She looks for him around the bridge but doesn't see him and starts to laugh.

Elizabeth laughs, "It's just payback for the nagging....right?" She winks and Harper laughs again.

Harper nods and looks around the room seeing Lorne who sees her look and turns away quickly. "Um I wonder what is up with him did you nag him on the mission?"

"What do you mean what you shouldn't tell me?" Carson asked with a touch of annoyance in his voice. "Rodney, I've no time for games and jokes, you know."

Keller walked away with her blood samples and Carson rubbed his rather sore arm...it was a pity clones weren't immune to some sorts of pain.

"So, when can we expect you here?" He asked Rodney as he hopped off the infirmary bed.

Doctors made the worst patients, she decided. Standing in his path, the same conversation was going on in her head and she would deal with it.

"Yeah I know." Rodney rolled his eyes and looked at his watch on his right hand. "Oh I would say in less than 2 hours if this thing has super speed it might take less." He looked out the window and saw a burning star. "This place is so fun. What's new there?"

"Now Harper, you know that I never nag, I persuade." Her humor disappears as she looks over to Lorne, "But I didn't do either with the Major. He was cooperative and friendly almost from the moment I uncloaked in front of him." She looks at Harper, "Perhaps he's not happy with you? I mean, I get the impression that your presence on this mission wasn't exactly planned." She says as she quirks an eyebrow.

Harper looks down to the ship's floor. "I needed to come save Sam plus I would be so worried about R....Rodney's skill with wraith weapons last time he messed up a program I made." She looked up and smiled.

"Oh, we had some excitement when we couldn't find Tagan, Netia or Halling earlier, but the locater beam helped us locate them...Teyla went to get them...that reminds me..." Carson glanced over at Jennifer.

"Have you heard from Teyla yet?" Jennifer shook her head as she typed away at her laptop.

"So anyway, Rodney...that's about it from here."

"Carson, sit down. If you keep moving around like a panther in a cage I'll put you in one."

Elizabeth didn't miss Harper's stutter, and couldn't resist teasing the girl a bit, "Sure, you were worried about Rodney. I'll pretend that I believe that." She lowers her voice, "We'll talk about Rodney later...." She nudges Harper as Rodney enters the bridge, "Well, speak of the devil....." He ignores both of them and heads straight to Sam, causing both women to laugh. He shoots them a dirty looks, but that only makes them laugh more. "Ok," Elizabeth says once they calm down, "I need to go discuss some things with Arlon. Why don't you go see if Ronon needs some company?" She winks and leaves Harper standing there, blushing furiously.

Rodney sighs. "God just leave this line open I'll call back when we are there. See you soon."

Harper smiles at Elizabeth and walks off to find Ronon. She sees him sitting by himself looking out the window. She sits next to him and touches his shoulder. She doesn't speak but waits for him to say anything to her.

Elizabeth had been in discussion with her 2IC, Arlon, for some time when she noticed that Rodney had finished his conversation with Atlantis. He had actually been watching her for awhile now, so she decided that now was as good a time as any to talk to him. She walked over to him, and he seemed to be getting more nervous the closer she got to him. She wasn't going to let that deter her, however, and just walked right up to him, pulling him into a hug.

"Um yes...This is nice." He hugs her back with little confusion on his front but then puts on a smile. "Stating the obvious but this is weird."

Elizabeth laughs and releases him. "Rodney, I'd say that 'weird' is an understatement!" She smiles warmly, "It's good to see you again."

"Well yes it's really good to see you since you're alive. Now tell me when did that happen?" Rodney then touched her shoulder moving down to her arms and looked up at her seeing she was confused. "Sorry, just checking."

Elizabeth smiles at Rodney's awkwardness, "It's ok, Rodney. I know how hard this must be to believe, but it is really is me." Her smile fades a little, "As to what happened...well, that will have to wait until I talk to John. Sorry." She's afraid that this might upset him, but is surprised that he seems to understand. "So," she asked, "Who were you talking to on Atlantis? It sounded, um....animated."

Rodney smiles a little bit, showing his teeth. "Um Carson." He mumbles a bit. "It was nothing important."

"It's okay, Rodney...Lorne already told me about the clone of Carson." She puts her hand on his shoulder, "Are you doing okay with him being around?"

Rodney shrugs. "He's my best friend but he is not. I'm trying my best but sometimes he gets to me." Rodney notices Sheppard waiting anxiously to talk to Weir. "Well there are others that need to talk so I have to go find a way to drive this ship." He walks away going to another room finding Lorne.

Elizabeth is confused by his abrupt ending of the conversation...until she sees John.

Ronon heard Harper before she sat down next to him, lightly touching his shoulder. He turned towards her, in an acknowledgment of her presence and slumped slightly, relaxing. A few minutes go by of silence before he breaks it, "Why'd you say it?"

Harper looked at him knowing what he meant. "You don't know how it felt when my dad died. I curled up into a shell and then I met you and you made me feel like myself again. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

Ronon made their eyes meet, "I know. I know that." He stood, reaching his full height, "I just," he paused searching for the words, "You're the first person since..." He cleared his throat, "It's been a long time since I've been in this sort of position."

Harper nods to him. "It's okay I get that I just needed to tell you. I hope that was alright." She smiles trying not to show her fear that he was going to break up with her any minute.

Smiling, Ronon comes down to her level, cupping her chin in his hand, "It's perfectly fine, I just got used to not having this for a very long time."

Harper smiled and then got up and walked to the window and looked out. "Sheppard knows. Rodney knows, heck even Elizabeth knew. I guess I'm not going anywhere now."

Ronon sat back down, "Well, it's better this way... right?"

Harper looks back at him. "I might get sent back to Earth for this. I'll be the first one from the Stargate command who is dating someone from the Pegasus Galaxy."

He laughs it off. "What? You mean I could get you into trouble?" Ronon's smile fades as he searches her face, "Are you serious?" He pauses, "I'll talk to Sheppard or Colonel Carter...someone."

She shakes her head. "They can't help well they might be able to but it's up to the people on Earth but they don't know sweet you really are I mean you did try to beat up Teal'c so you aren't the best person in their eyes." She walks over to him and taps his shoulder. "Plus I'll fight them every way I'm not leaving no matter what."

"Hey, the fight between Teal'c and I was a fair one and everything was settled." Ronon cringes at his next words, trying to find optimism, "Maybe... Maybe it would be good if you left. You'd be safe at least."

Harper rolled her eyes. "Atlantis is home now. Sure I have friends who don't call, an over protected uncle and a crazy old lady who thinks you are Brittany Spears. No I'd take Atlantis any day." She walked around him looking back. "I would only go to Earth if you went with me."

Ronon gives a half smile, "You know I couldn't do that."

Harper smiles and sticks her tongue out. "Then I'll just have to stay....so what do you think of Weir being back?"

Ronon's suspicious nature shows. "I'm glad she's back. I just hope it's really her, like before."

Harper glares at Ronon. "It is her! I know it so don't even try to start anything about that or you will have to get through me first and I learned to fight from the best."

"John." Elizabeth is about to say more, but John grabs her arm and pulls her out into the hall and into one of the empty rooms.

Sheppard pushes Elizabeth into an empty room and shuts the door behind him, making sure that nobody saw them. As he turns around, his eyes slowly find their way to Elizabeth. She looks at his face seeing the confusion written on his face.

"John" Elizabeth says, uncomfortably, "I don't even know what to say......where to begin...." She still couldn't read his expression, and wasn't sure how to proceed.

Sheppard tries to keep the anger and hurt that he is feeling out of his voice. "Well you can start with how you're alive and why you haven't come back to Atlantis." The expression on his face reveals the anger and hurt that his voice hides.

Elizabeth could see that John was angry, and she wasn't surprised. She had expected it, but nothing could really prepare her for experiencing it firsthand. She knew that this was going to be no easy conversation. She sighs, "Ok, let's start with the 'How'. After you all left me with the replicators..." She saw him wince, and hurried to rephrase her statement, "I mean...after I ordered you to leave me with the replicators, Oberoth decided to keep me prisoner. He thought that he would be able to get information from me.....boy was he wrong!" She was encouraged when she saw John smirk, so she continued, "While I was being held prisoner, I met a rogue replicator named Arlon. He told me that there was a group of Asurans who were against Oberoth. They were seeking a way to ascend, and they believed that I was the key." She looks at the ground, "Long story short, they helped me escape and we stole one of the Asuran ships. I've been with them ever since." She looks back up, "As to the 'Why'.....well...I knew that I could do a lot of good with the Asurans. I found out that you all believed that I was dead, and I knew that if you knew that wasn't true, you'd never stop looking for me. You didn't need to be distracted....you already had enough to deal with without my adding to it." Moisture gathers in her eyes as she says, "I wanted to contact you so many times, John! The timing just wasn't right. I wanted to come back as an ally, not as someone that the IOA could turn into a science experiment."

Sheppard looks at Elizabeth as she explains. A look of disbelief begins to creep onto his face. "Do you mean to tell me that you couldn't even contact me and let me know that you were alive?!" He begins to pace from one side of the room to the other, his anger apparent now. "Do you know what we've been going through, Elizabeth? Not only did you lie to me, but you lied to everyone on Atlantis. And what about your family? How do you think they are going to feel about this?" Sheppard pauses for a minute as he collects his thoughts. "And who are you to determine what I can and can't handle?" Noticing the look on Elizabeth's face, Sheppard stops himself from saying anything more. After a few moments of silence, a slight laugh is heard from Sheppard's side of the room. As Elizabeth lifts her head to look at Sheppard, she notices that his expression has changed to one of sorrow. He turns his head slightly toward her as he bites his lower lip. "Have you been following our movements all this time?"

"John, this may seem like splitting hairs, but I didn't lie to you! Oberoth started that lie, not me. By the time I found out about it, you had already been told I was dead." Elizabeth is feeling a little bit angry at John's outburst, but she doesn't really blame him. Her heart feels like it's breaking, as she continues, "I had already been working with the rogue Asurans for awhile, and I decided that, for a time, it would be best if I left things the way they were. I could help Atlantis more as long as no one in the galaxy knew I was still alive." She looks right at John, "And maybe I may not really know what you all have been going through, but you have no idea what I have been going through!" John seems surprised by the force of her words, and she's surprised herself, "I'm part replicator, for crying out loud! You have no idea what that is like! I'm both human and replicator, but still neither." She takes a breath to calm down, "As for family, you are as much my family as anyone, and you know it! Don't you think that I would have chosen to not contact you unless I felt it was absolutely necessary???" Her face is pained as she continues, "John, you know me better than anyone else...you have to know how hard it was not to tell you! It just about killed me to stay away, but once you know what I have been doing....you will, I hope, understand." She can feel tears on her cheeks, but she ignores them, "To answer your last question, we haven't exactly been following your movements, but we have been aware of many of the goings on of Atlantis. We have many informants throughout the galaxy." She notices that John seems to tense every time she says "we and she suddenly understands. She takes a step closer, and quietly says, "They are just my crew, John, and this is just a ship. You all are my family, and Atlantis will always be Home." Almost as an afterthought, she says in almost a whisper, "I've missed you, John....."

Sheppard stands there staring at Elizabeth. He is unsure of how to react to her explanation. Finally, he begins to speak with determination. "You know that I trusted you regardless of that situation. And contrary to popular belief, so did everyone else. They all worked constantly trying to find you." Feeling his anger begin to rise again, he pauses momentarily. At last, almost in a whisper he says, "We could have figured something out, Elizabeth." Suddenly, Sheppard's face takes on a look of indescribable nature. "And I do have an idea of what you've been going through...probably more than anyone. Have you forgotten that?" Sheppard looks solemnly into Elizabeth's eyes, his face betraying the turmoil.

"No John, everyone wanted to trust me; that's not the same as actually trusting me. And I've never blamed anyone for that! Nobody knew whether or not the replicators would be able to control me once the nanites were active......I didn't even know at first!" Elizabeth is growing a bit frustrated, but finally admits, "I wasn't able to escape from Oberoth right away, John." Her expression becomes pained, and she subconsciously puts a hand to her forehead, "I was his prisoner for awhile...." She pauses, as her gaze grows distant. Seconds pass, and John begins to grow worried, but just as he's about to make a move towards her, she snaps out of it. "It took time and considerable effort before I was finally able to escape. By that time, I had no idea where you had relocated the city...and in the condition that I was in, there was no way I could have found it either."

She suddenly stops, realizing that she had just revealed more about what she had been through than she had intended. She knew that John already felt guilty for leaving her behind, and she didn't want to add more to it. She gives him a sharp look - then immediately looks away - hurrying to cover her blunder, "The rogue Asurans and I had to go into hiding. Oberoth was never going to stop looking for me - he had become obsessed with me...with making me pay......" She stops again - this was not going the way she wanted it to at all! She could see the pain on John's face, and it was breaking her heart. She sighs and begins rubbing her neck; avoiding looking in John's direction, "We stayed in hiding until you and your team destroyed the Asuran planet - nice job, by the way - and my new 'crew' took good care of me. I owe them quite a lot, John...I really do. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them. Anyway, while we were still in hiding, we managed to make some friends who have stayed our allies to this day. Once we no longer had to worry about Oberoth, we were able to forge even more alliances until; finally, we had a pretty expansive information network in place. It's because of these alliances, and this network, that I knew about Sam's abduction."

The hand that was rubbing her neck now drops to her side. "However, even though this network became quite effective, I was never able to get any information on the whereabouts of Atlantis. As far as anyone knew, it had just vanished. I had almost given up hope of ever finding it again...until word reached me that the new leader of our great city had been kidnapped." She sees the expression on John's face, so she says, "I know....I could have used the network to get word to you that I was alive - and I actually did try a few times - but something always seemed to happen, and word never reached you. There was one planet where, I swear, I must have missed you by only about ten minutes!" Elizabeth feels frustration bubbling up again, as she continues. "So much time had passed by then, and I knew that, for the sake of the city, you all would have already accepted that I was dead, grieved, and begun to move on. One of our allies told me about a group of people who came to his planet from Atlantis in order to trade. He overheard them talking to his village elder about a new leader of Atlantis, who was named Col. Carter, and I knew then that life in the city had returned to normal. Well, as normal as life can be on Atlantis, anyway. That's pretty much when I just decided that it would be best to leave it the way it was....at least until I knew the time was really right. Until that time came, I was determined to do all I could in the war against the Wraith." A small smile appears on her face, "And I've managed to do quite a bit!" She sees that John is trying to hide a small smile - Lorne had filled him in on the mysterious destruction of the hive ships - so she feels a little encouraged. "Those hive ships never knew what hit them! Literally...they never saw a thing!" She chuckles, "Cloaking has got to be the best invention of all time!"

She then remembers the point of the conversation, becoming serious again. "If there's one thing that replicators can really do, it's replicate! I started with a small crew, and one ship, but I now have a full crew and five ships. Well, five and a half, actually. The sixth ship is still being built...er...replicated. It takes a lot of time and power to replicate anything, so it has taken all this time to create what I currently have." John seems stunned by this revelation, and a tiny bit concerned. She knows what he's thinking, so she quickly says, "Don't worry, John! They are not like Oberoth or Narim. Everything has been replicated by my original rogue crew, and there is something in their makeup that is different from the other replicators. This 'quirk', if you will, has gotten passed on to everything they've replicated. I can't explain it....maybe Rodney could figure it out....."

She suddenly remembers John's last comment, and finally looks at him. "John, I do know that you can understand, more than anyone else, what this feels like, but you still can't completely understand. Carson was able to make you fully human again.....I never will be." Elizabeth feels drained; this conversation has taken a lot out of her - both emotionally and physically. She's beginning to feel like John will never understand, and will never forgive her, but she can't change what happened. And she doesn't even know that she would change it, even if she could. She has been able to do a lot of good that she would never wish undone! She wishes with all her heart that John and her "family" could have been saved the hurt, but there's nothing she can do about it.

Elizabeth finally has enough...if John wants to keep being angry at her, then so be it! He could just be angry all by himself! She wasn't going to stay here, doing her best to keep him from hurting, only to be hurt herself. He wasn't the only one who had suffered, after all! "I'm sorry I hurt you, John...it's good to see you again." Her cheeks are wet with tears as she turns and strides towards the door, but she is stopped by a hand on her arm. She sighs, hanging her head, but doesn't look at him, "What? What more could you possibly be angry with me about???"

As Elizabeth begins to walk away, Sheppard softly grabs her arm. "I'm not angry, Elizabeth. I just..." Sheppard pauses unsure of whether or not he should continue. "...I just don't know what to think, what to say." Frustration enters his voice as he continues. "You should know that even when Colonel Carter became leader of Atlantis that we still looked for you. We never gave up hope. When your clone told us you had been killed by Oberoth...it...it was like a little piece of all of us had been killed too." He looks at Elizabeth with a rare softness in his eyes. "I didn't mean to...I can't...you know that I'm...what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad you're okay." A slight smile plays across his face. "And thanks for the help."

Elizabeth stares into John's eyes for several moments, relief beginning to spread over her features. "It was nothing....I've had a lot of practice getting you out of messes." She grins, and he returns it. "I'm glad to see that you haven't changed since I've been gone." This earns her a sheepish shrug. She places her hand over his - still on her arm - and says, "I meant it, John....I really have missed you!"

At Elizabeth's remark, Sheppard becomes thoughtful. "If I remember correctly, I ended up saving you quite a few times." A sly grin plays across his face at the thought of being missed. "Hey...why don't we get out of here?" With that, Sheppard opens the door and begins to lead the way to the bridge. He stops and looks at Elizabeth, a sheepish look on his face. "On second thought, why don't you lead the way?"

Elizabeth laughs, "That would probably be best." She steps past him into the corridor, but turns back to look at John with an impish light in her eyes, "And you're right, you have saved me quite a few times....but it usually didn't involve a mess that I had gotten myself into." She laughs again, and before John can respond, she turns and walks towards the bridge.

Sheppard just smiles as Elizabeth turns and walks away. "You're right...it was usually a mess that Rodney had gotten us into." Elizabeth stops at the corner and looks back at Sheppard, both sharing the same thought and smile. He jogs to catch up with her and they both head toward the bridge. It's good to have you back Elizabeth.

Keller turned from her laptop seeing the sleeping Carson. All his pacing had finally worn him out. She'd stared at that laptop 'til the lines and symbols blurred somehow thinking she could change the outcome. A small headache crept its way across her brain. Keller rubbed her eyes trying to get words start but closing them as soon as they say the same thing they had before.

She got up moving around him checking his vitals happy just that they were stable. For now, she stood over him now staring down at the man who was becoming her friend.

As Todd left after his meeting with Elizabeth, he couldn't help but have feelings of guilt. He stole from those he trusted and helped an enemy. He knew this was going to happen, but why? There humans why do I feel this way? Try as he could, he couldn't find an answer. He returned to his hideout, an old underground Wraith lab. He was fortunate to know of this place. It was used during their war with the Ancients as a secret weapons research facility. The only Wraith who knew of its location are dead, it's very existence wasn't even known to Michael. This was surprising given Michael's ability at gathering intel.

When Todd steps inside he goes straight to one room in particular. There he finds his friend still lying on the table right where he had left him. He was Todd's closest friend all his life, had they been human they would be considered brothers, but we're not human, we are Wraith. As he examines his fellow Wraith, he knows his friend is close to death, he was dying from second hand exposure to the Hoffan drug that Michael had been using. It was time to pay Michael a visit.

Michael was on the same planet as Todd setting up his new home for now. Todd could hear the noise even underground. Michael yelled at his hybrids. "Move that virus into the lab tent. I need that to stay cool for my plans. You go capture a Wraith before Teyla gets here. Go now!"

Todd had contacted Michael, the meeting was set. He was moving into dangerous territory now. Not only was he going to be meeting with a dangerous adversary, but his enemy has begun setting up base on his own planet. The meeting was to take place on a neutral planet, now he had to find a way to go through the Stargate without Michael realizing it. Fortunately he still possessed an item that would give him an edge. Todd knew he was walking into a trap, that Michael would not honor his part of the deal. But his friend's life was at stake, he had no choice.

Todd waited by the Stargate for Michael to arrive, using one of the two Asgard cloaking devices that he stole, Todd waited for Michael to go through the gate and he followed suit. Todd thought it strange that Michael was alone; perhaps he was going to honor his part of the deal after all. After stepping through the gate, Todd left in a different direction than Michael, he had to uncloak as to not tip Michael off as to exactly where he had came from.

Now about 100 meters away from the meeting spot, Todd crouched down beside some bushes. Taking out a custom made pair of binocular scopes, he carefully surveyed the area. Michael was standing alone in the center of some Ancient ruins. Todd glanced around the area, everything seemed calm, to calm. There was nothing left to do, except continue on with the meeting. Todd then walked up to Michael."Do you have what I came for?"

Michael holds up a bag of research. "I do but I also have another plan for you. How would you like to be human? Now I know what you are thinking but you helped me so why shouldn't I help you." He smirked hoping Todd would agree.

Todd looks at the package that Michael is holding up, almost as if he was teasing him like a child."I have no interest in becoming a part of your experiments."Tilting his head slightly, "In fact I'd prefer not associating with you at all! I held up my end of the bargain, are you honorable enough to do the same? I found out what you wanted the device for, the real question is what interest is Col. Carter to you?"

Michael laughed, "Oh don't worry about her she is nowhere in my plan. All you should know is that you are mine! Get him!" With that a dozen wraith hybrids showed up out of nowhere and surrounded Todd waiting for his first move.

Todd didn't even flinch as the Hybrids sprang forth."I knew that you'd double-cross me!"And in a split second Todd disappears. Making his way back to the Stargate he can't help but think, it was a good idea to take two of these cloaking devices. Todd goes through several Stargates before making his way back home; he couldn't take the chance of Michael tracking him. He returns to the underground lair he now calls home, all feelings of hope slipping away. He finds himself walking slower than usual, starring down at the floor as he makes his way around the winding corridors. Trying to think of what he's going to tell his fellow Wraith, but nothing comes to mind. He stops at the doorway where his friend still lies on the table, looking up he feels his heart stop! His friend is dead.

Michael freaks out when Todd gets away. "Now forget him we have bigger problems. Let's go find Teyla." Michael leaves on his ship and returns to the planet he has now made his own waiting for Netia to bring Teyla to him.

Rodney was in the bridge touching buttons he shouldn't be touching but he didn't care. As he did that one of Weir's team mates walked behind him fixing whatever Rodney had done on each piece of hardware. Rodney glanced back glaring at the Asuran that had been redoing his work. Why is he following me? He must want to know what it means to be great. With that Rodney sat down at a chair and started to look over the ship seeing if there was anything he could duplicate.

Once Harper had left Ronon to go do whatever she went to where Sam has been. She watched her for a moment or two; somewhat sad that she never gave Sam a chance really since Weir was well is her mentor. She walked over to the bench seat Sam sat in and sat down next to her. With a sigh and a whole lot of mixed emotions going on in her head she knew she needed Sam's help. "I need to tell you something."

Elizabeth and John return to the bridge with smiles on their faces, both in much better spirits than when they had left it. Elizabeth noticed Rodney fiddling with some of the equipment, but she wasn't worried - she knew that her efficient crew would be watching him closely and would reset anything that he had touched. She was amused by his enthusiasm, but not surprised - he had to be in tech heaven right now. She smiled and looked at John, noticing that he was watching McKay as well. He turned and looked back at her - a smirk on his face - and winked. She grinned widely, trying not to laugh. Rodney, I don't know what John's planning, but you are definitely in for something!

She scans the room, making eye contact with each of the Atlantis team members, noticing that they all looked relieved to see her and John in good moods. This amused her a little. Were they all worried??? She sees Harper walking towards Sam, looking a little tense. I wonder what is that all about?

Sheppard walks quietly up to Rodney with a serious expression on his face. "Rodney..." Rodney jumps at the sound of Sheppard's voice behind him. "Sorry...didn't mean to scare you. Listen, I was wondering..." He pauses and slowly looks around as if he doesn't want anyone to hear what he is about to say. His eyes finally come to rest on McKay again, a slight hint of urgency in them. "...I was wondering...if you can tell me where the head is?" As Rodney begins to explain Sheppard loses all seriousness and lets out a laugh. At this point, McKay knows that Sheppard has played a joke on him and he settles back in his seat none too happy about it. With a big smile on his face, Sheppard walks back over to where Elizabeth is standing and watching.

Rodney rolls his eyes. "You jerk! A joke would be easier if I don't know you kissed Elizabeth or something then that's what I would call a joke."
He smiles and walks over to them. "Go ahead kiss already." He crosses his arms. "I'm waiting."

Elizabeth has a huge grin on her face as John walks back over to her. There is a smirk on his face, and he's not even trying to hide it. "Now, John..." She is struggling to keep her face straight, but is failing miserably, "Was that really necessary?" She finally can't control it anymore, and bursts out laughing - turning away from Rodney's direction to hide it as much as possible.

Sheppard just grins at Elizabeth. "No, but it was still funny." Rodney approaches and expresses his feelings. Sheppard looks at Elizabeth and then looks back to glare at Rodney. "I'm not going to kiss Elizabeth, Rodney. We're friends and I am not about to kiss my friend." A thought suddenly occurs to Sheppard. "What were you doing at that terminal?"

Elizabeth had abruptly stopped laughing, and turns to Rodney - staring at him in disbelief. "Rodney, that's not funny...why would that be a joke?" She looks at John, then back at Rodney. "We weren't even.....why would you...how could you...." She doesn't finish, but just turns and strides away from both him and John - failing to hear the question about the terminal.

Rodney looks down to the ground. "Um...nothing. I should go." He starts to leave when Sheppard holds his shirt making him can't leave. Rodney grins at Sheppard. "Um trying to get us some parts."

Sheppard looks at Rodney as he holds his shirt to keep him from leaving. "Don't touch anything unless Elizabeth says it's okay Rodney. This is her ship and what she says goes. We need to get back to Atlantis and we don't need you screwing around with their systems. Okay?" With this, Sheppard releases Rodney's shirt and just stands in front of him. "Besides, I'm sure that you'll have plenty of time to do that later."

Rodney looks at Elizabeth walking off then to Sheppard. "My bad...sorry."

Sheppard watches Elizabeth walk off and then returns his gaze to Rodney. "Just watch it...okay?"

"Aren't you going to go after her? I mean she looked at you not me." Rodney states as he fixes his shirt from Sheppard's hold earlier.

"No, Rodney, I'm not going to go after her." With a look of slight exasperation on his face, Sheppard walks off in the direction that Sam and Harper are sitting.

Rodney looks at the direction Elizabeth left and then to Sheppard walking away. "You people are crazy!" The Asurans look at him and he points to one. "Maybe not you but defiantly you." As he points to another one.

Elizabeth completely ignores Rodney, and continues walking away. She intends to find Arlon, and find out how much longer it will be until they arrive at Atlantis. Remember, you are HAPPY to see him again....

Carson's eyes slowly opened.

"What's...what's going on?" He asked Keller. "I'm tired of being so tired!"

Keller smiled down at Carson. "I know." She saw the question in his eyes.
"The injections that have been keeping you alive aren't working anymore. I've had to double the dosage which seems to be working as of now but we run the risk of the same thing happening again. You're bodies getting use to the drug. Without a new drug. I..." Tears formed from where she didn't know.

Carson stared up at Keller.
"Well, I'm sure we can figure out something else...don't give up hope yet luv, I sure haven't!"
He pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"And I must say I am feeling much better now, so I think I'll get up for awhile."

Worry crossed her face but she pushed it aside figuring he would be ok for now. She blanked as her heart fluttered from that deep Scottish voice that zinged through her like lightening causing all her senses to shut down. She grabbed his arm helping him out of bed relieved to see the pallid shade his face had once held was gone. She would take more blood, run more test, and drink more coffee than the whole medical team combine.

"Don't worry Carson I'm not giving up hope. You can stand up and walk around a little but please don't leave here."

As soon as Teyla walks through the transporter, she looks around realizing she is in one of Michael's labs. The room is very dark, poorly lit, and her eyes wander some more looking for her son. She sighs in a little relief as she notices Netia still carrying Tagan. As she follows Netia, she sees a light beaming down on something or someone. As she comes nearer to the light, she realizes that Michael is the figure standing there. Her eyes narrow and she speaks, "You won't get away with this. Atlantis will realize I am gone and they will come looking for me just like before."

Michael rolls his eyes as his hybrids grab Teyla and sit her down on a chair and tied her up. He walks over to her and touches her face. "It's ok my love they are busy with Sam right now."

Teyla flinches at Michael's touch in disgust. She struggles with the hybrids trying to free herself without success. Glaring back at him she asks "What are you going to do with me and my son? What have you done with Col. Carter?"

"Now that woman is fine. She won't talk to me but she is fine. As for your son well he will be my son now." Michael smiles as he sits down across from Teyla.

Teyla looks angrier at Michael and says, "He will never be your son. Shepp...Atlantis will find me and you will live no longer." She struggles some more trying to get loose from the tight bindings holding her to the chair.

Michael only took a sip of his drink. "Don't worry, pet, Tagan will be safe. I will raise him as my own. Teach him that hybrids are human's friends who only want to kill the Wraith."

Teyla looks around for Tagan seeing Netia still holding him. "You are crazy! He will never believe you because I will kill you first before Tagan is your son!" Tagan starts to cry and Teyla's shoulders tense. "Give me, my son so he will calm down."

"Very well, my dear. Untie her and hand her Tagan." The hybrids untie Teyla and glare at Netia as she gives Tagan to his mother.

Teyla caresses Tagan close to her body. Teyla whispers, "Shhh, it's ok now. Mommy is here." Tagan hearing his mother's voice begins to calm down and his cries become soft whimpers. Looking at Michael, Teyla says, "What do you have planned for me?"

"Oh nothing just you are going to stay here. Do you think I would really kill you Teyla?" He looks down sadden by this. "I could never kill you."

Teyla looks fiercely at Michael and replies, "I could easily kill you, Michael. Because you killed so many of my people for your experiments, I have no good feelings toward you...only hatred. You will die and nobody will grieve your death. I will never be yours for there is only one man who has touched my soul and he is not you."

Michael smirks. "Sooner or later you will have to pretend to love me or you won't see Tagan again for many years Teyla. I do promise you that." He then motions to his slave to bring the food over and they place it in front of her. "Please eat up you have a hard day."

Teyla shoves the food away from her. "I will never love you. I will be rescued and you will die," she says. Remembering what John Sheppard always said, she continues, "We don't leave anyone behind. We always go after our own." Tagan starts to cry and Teyla looks back at her son realizing he is hungry. "My son is hungry. Can I please have some privacy?" she asks thinking of a way to escape.

Michael nods. "Fine but hybrids will be right outside this door." He said pointing to the door and then walks out.

After feeding Tagan, Teyla looks around for a means of escape. She starts pulling on what appears to be an air vent when Michael walks back in the room.

Michael smiles at Teyla as he walks into the room. "Don't try to escape. I mean I will know if you leave plus you can't go anywhere. The gate on this planet has been locked."

Teyla rolls her eyes at Michael thinking, what does he mean the gate is locked? She looks down at Tagan grateful for him being safely in her arms. She is worried about Netia for she knows that Netia cannot control what Michael has done to her. "What have you done to Netia?"

Michael smiled. "Don't worry about her she is fine now. I only controlled her mind only for only a bit."

Teyla's eyes narrow as she stares into Michael's eyes. "If you hurt her, I will kill you and all of your monsters! Please let her go so she will be safe," she pleads.

Michael smirks. "No, not yet. Sorry, my love."

Arlon stands up from the control chair as Elizabeth walks towards him - preparing to surrender the seat to her - but she gestures for him to sit back down. He notices that her face is flushed, and she seems a bit agitated. He is very protective of his leader, and is instantly on the alert. "Are you alright, ma'am?" He was watching when she had abruptly walked away from her friends, and Rodney's comment had not gone unnoticed either. His eyes narrow as he glances first at John, then at Rodney - lingering a little longer on Rodney. Rodney's sees the Asuran's glare, and instantly becomes nervous - quickly moving as far away from him as possible. Arlon turns his head back towards Elizabeth, as he hears her say, "I'm fine, Arlon." She knows that he's very protective of her, so she wants to allay his worry - both for his sake and her friends'.

She sees Rodney skittering over to the other side of the bridge, and smiles a little. She is appreciating Arlon just a little more right now! She turns her gaze back to her Second in Command, "Really, I'm fine. What is our status?" Arlon studies her face for a few moments, and then seemingly satisfied with what he finds; he looks down at his control panel. He touches a few buttons, then responds, "We will be reaching Atlantis orbit in under ten minutes, ma'am." A light of anticipation glows on her face as she smiles, "Good. I will inform the others." She starts to turn away, but then turns back - a very impish light in her eyes, "Actually...will you please go and inform Dr. McKay?" He grins and replies, "With pleasure, ma'am." She returns the grin, and watches as he gets up, then walks towards Rodney - chuckling as she sees her old friend growing more nervous the closer Arlon gets to him. She considers watching the entire exchange, but then just decides to go and inform the rest of the team. She smiles to herself as she walks over to Sam and Harper. I'll ask Arlon about it later. She sees Ronon and Lorne standing over by one of the windows, and gestures for them to follow her. She makes it over to the women at the same time that John does. She only glances at him briefly before turning her attention to all of them. She gives Sam and Harper an apologetic look, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you all know that we will be entering Atlantis orbit in under ten minutes."

Arlon was enjoying his task. This Dr. McKay seemed to be really afraid that he was going to do something to him! As if Dr. Weir would ever allow anyone to hurt her "family"........She's not above a little harmless torture, though. He grins, and that only serves to make Rodney more jumpy. He comes within four feet of him and stops, crossing his arms. "Dr. McKay?" Rodney has backed up as far as he can go. Arlon smirks, never breaking eye contact. Is he trying to blend into the wall? "Dr. Weir asked me to..." He pauses just briefly, enjoying the effect that it is having on the already scared man, "to inform you that we will be entering Atlantis orbit in under ten minutes." He turns then and heads back to the command chair - smirking again as he hears Rodney exhale in relief. Would that all my tasks be as much fun as that one.....

Rodney glared at the Arlon as he walked away he then turned and went over to the group standing by Lorne and Ronon. He hoped to get caught up on the ship events the others had while he was off messing this up.

Harper looked at Elizabeth and smiled she could wait and talk to Sam a bit later. She glances at Ronon and smiled and did the same to John.

Elizabeth sees Rodney approach and hides a smile, pretending to ignore him. She returns Harper's smile, but looks at John. "John, I think we had better contact Atlantis and let them know we're coming." He nods, and she looks back at Sam and Harper, "Would you two like to join me in my jumper when we head down to the city? Perhaps we could have a bit of 'girl time' on the way." When they reply that they would enjoy that, she smiles again. "Wonderful! I look forward to it then." Harper looks relieved by the suggestion, and Elizabeth again wonders what has made the girl so tense. She thinks that she may have some idea, however, so she determines that she will lend as much moral support to her young friend as possible - hence the invitation. Assuming that I'm correct about what she needs to talk to Sam about, she may need a bit of back-up. She briefly places a reassuring hand on Harper's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. She then turns her attention back to John, and they then turn and walk over to the communications console.

Harper smiles at Elizabeth well knowing what she had been reassured of. She then sits down waiting for her uncle to contact Atlantis.

Rodney walks over to the communications console where Sheppard and Weir are. He starts looking at it to see what made it different then Atlantis's jumpers.

Sheppard looks over at Elizabeth after she mentions contacting Atlantis. Nodding, he says "That's probably a good idea." They walk over to the communications console where Elizabeth opens a channel with Atlantis. "Atlantis, this is Sheppard." He pauses to allow Atlantis to reply. Rodney walks up at this moment and Sheppard sees the want in his face. "Don't even think about it McKay." After a moment of silence, a response crackles through the console..."Go ahead Colonel Sheppard." With a satisfied smile on his face, Sheppard states, "We have Colonel Carter and we'll be home in time for dinner." A brief pause is followed by..."Copy that, we're ready for you." With that, Sheppard closes the channel and glances at Elizabeth before he turns to walk back toward his team.

John has just turned to leave when Elizabeth turns and looks at Rodney, acknowledging his presence for the first time since his little "joke".

"Rodney." He looks at her, pleased that she seems to have stopped ignoring him, "I assume that you will be happy to be back on Atlantis?" He gives her a look that basically says "Duh!", and nods. John pauses on his way back to the team, curious about why Elizabeth would ask Rodney that. She knew that the nervous scientist was always happy to return to the city. He listens as she continues. "I also assume, then, that you will be happy to see this Carson again?" Rodney is confused and unsure where she is going with this questioning, so he just nods again. Elizabeth is amused by Rodney's confusion, but manages to keep a completely straight face. "I must say am looking forward to meeting him, myself. I just have one request for when he's introduced to me...." Rodney waits expectantly, "Please do not kiss him again. I know you'll be happy to see him, but it would just make an awkward situation even more awkward." With that, she spins around and heads to find Nalu to prepare the jumper. She doesn't see Rodney's face turn bright red, but she does hear John laughing as she walks away. How do YOU like it, Rodney? She smirks as she heads into the corridor. John and Elizabeth 2, Rodney 1.

Rodney places a smug look on his face in disgust of what Elizabeth said to him. He watched Lorne, John and Harper crack up and then gave him his evil eye which Lorne stopping laughing not sure what he would do to him.
"Relax Rodney it was a joke." Lorne states as he walks over to him.
"Oh I'm so having kids." Rodney walks away leaving Lorne in an unpleasant mood remembering when he had told Rodney it was a good thing he wasn't going to have kids.

Unable to control himself, Sheppard busts out laughing at Elizabeth's joke. It had been a while since he had heard her crack such a good joke and he was glad that she did. Sheppard finally gets his laughter under control in time to hear Lorne and Rodney's exchange. As Rodney walks away, Sheppard looks at Lorne with a slight look of sarcasm on his face. "The day McKay has kids is the day I'll take out a Wraith fleet."

Lorne smiles at him. "Then he must be having kids soon then sir."

Elizabeth is grinning at the laughter coming from the bridge Man, I've missed these people! She continues walking, but notices that some of that laughter seems to be following her. She turns around and sees that Harper and Sam have followed her into the corridor. Sam walks up to her - with a wide grin on her face - and says, "I have got to shake your hand for that one, Elizabeth!" Elizabeth returns her grin, extending her hand. "Thank you. I do what I can." Both women start laughing again, and Harper joins in. When the laughter has calmed down, they all smile at each other and continue down the corridor. They take the transporter to the jumper bay, and head into Elizabeth's jumper - John's team arriving just behind them and heading into the Atlantis jumper. Elizabeth is becoming excited at finally heading home, and looks at Nalu, "Nalu, take us to Atlantis."

Harper looks at Elizabeth as the older women nods to her reassuring her it will be alright. She goes and sits down next to Sam.
She sighs and looks up to Sam in a respectful way. "Col Carter can we talk for a minute."
Sam nods telling her it's okay; Harper takes a deep breath. "For the past couple months Ronon and I....well we are dating Ma'am." She starts to play with her hair as she usually does when she gets nervous.

Sam sees Harper's nervousness as she takes a seat next to her. She is only somewhat surprised at what the girl has revealed to her. The Atlantis rumor mill was alive and well, after all. However, she had hoped, for Harper's sake that it really was only a rumor. Neither Harper nor Ronon were military, but that probably wouldn't matter to the IOA. It didn't take much for that wonderful organization to raise a stink about anything! Despite Harper's reserved attitude towards her, Sam had come to respect the girl. She did an excellent job in Atlantis, and always had a great attitude. She never had a complaint about her, and she was happy to have her in the city. Sam sighs. She doesn't want Harper and Ronon to go through what she and Jack had to go through. Hopefully the fact that they're both non-military will work in their favor.

Sam looks at Harper, "How long has this been going on?"

Harper starts to curl her hair threw her fingers. "Um about since I came to Atlantis." She knew that sounded bad so she did what she did best, ramble on. "I mean I met him on Earth when he came with Uncle John but I know that doesn't help the case any since Ronon isn't even from Earth...well." She noticed Sam's glazed on her and she stopped.

Sam is surprised about what Harper just told her, "This has been going on for over a year, and this is the first I'm hearing about it?" She glances at Elizabeth, then back to the nervous young woman next to her. "Harper, what have I done that makes you feel like you can't trust me? Why couldn't you have come to me about this?"

Harper eyes Elizabeth then Sam. "People only found out about it recently. I do trust you I'm over the whole taking over Dr. Weir's place but then again I didn't want to be hired. I know how some people in the military work, just look at Sheppard." She looks down to the floor. "Go ahead I'm ready for whatever got for me."

Sam sighs, "I'm not going to do anything to you, Harper. You haven't committed a crime, or even broken any rules." She pauses, meeting Elizabeth's eyes as that woman gets up and comes to sit next to Harper. - As Elizabeth puts an arm around the younger woman, Sam continues. "I would just be better equipped to help you if I had known what was going on from the beginning." She looks at Elizabeth, "Elizabeth, I'm sure, will agree with me when I say that the IOA can tend to be rather......difficult."

Elizabeth grimaces, "I'd say that difficult is an understatement." She sees worry starting to show on Harper's face, and hurries to assure her, "Don't worry; Sam is a great person to have on your side! Besides, the IOA will probably won't even pay much attention to it once they know I'm still alive." She grimaces again, and Sam gives her a sympathetic look.

Sam turns back to Harper, "Don't worry, Harper. We'll work something out, but it may not be easy. I just want you to be prepared for that." She puts a hand on Harper's shoulder, "From now on, though, please don't be afraid to come to me with anything that's on your mind. I know I'm not Elizabeth, but I am here if you need me. Okay?"

Harper looks at Sam and smiles. "I know the IOA and it won't help that Ronon is from another galaxy then me. If they hired me I want you to know I'm staying on Atlantis." She looks at Elizabeth and nods. "I'm not going back to Earth." She looked around knowing she have said something from the start but her and Ronon just started something and he left and bam she was back on Atlantis and they started over again. Only if she knew he felt the same way it would be easier then to later on find out he wanted to break up and she already gave up her job, friends, family and most of all Earth.

"I don't think you will have to leave Atlantis. You are a pretty valuable asset to the expedition, and I will do all I can to ensure that you stay." She squeezes her shoulder. "We'll figure something out. Don't worry." She looks at Elizabeth, and decides to try to lighten the mood, "And Elizabeth is right....the IOA will probably be way more interested in her than in who you are dating."

Elizabeth grimaces again, "Man, you can't even get away from them when you're dead!" The women all share a final laugh as Nalu guides their jumper into the city - following carefully behind John.

Harper smiles at the women knowing very well that the IOA will be the least of their problems with Michael still out there.

Rodney sat by Lorne as they fought about Rodney having kids.
"You don't even like kids."
"Sure I do."
"Since when?"
"Since today ok? Be quite or I'll sick Ronon on you."
Ronon grunts and looks out the window not wanting to deal with this. Lorne rolls his eyes and looks at John. "Sheppard what do you think of all your friends coming back to life?" Sheppard looks at him. "First Carson now ."

Sheppard gazes at Lorne with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I'd have to say that it's...well...it's definitely going to take some getting used to." With that, Sheppard returns his gaze to the front of the puddle jumper.

Lorne nods. "Yes sir yes it is. Sir, do you think that it might be possible that Dr. Weir will take over Atlantis again?"

Letting out a sigh, Sheppard glances at Lorne. "I don't know. I have a feeling that if the IOA finds out that Elizabeth is still alive, which they probably will, that they will not be too thrilled about the idea."

Lorne shakes his head. "Man wait till I get to be in charge of the IOA then they will feel the pain." He grinds his teeth together in anger.

Sheppard smiles at Lorne's statement. "You forget I have to be gone before you become head of the IOA." He pauses to take a quick look at Lorne. "And no offense, but I kind of like it here."

Lorne laughs, "Who said they would pick you over me? They hate you."

Sheppard just grins back at Lorne. "It's a mutual feeling."

Lorne laughs and rolls his eyes. "Well you better like me when I'm in charge." He states as the ride to Atlantis.

Sheppard just chuckles at Lorne's remark. "As long as you don't turn into Woolsey we won't have a problem." Lorne and Sheppard exchange a knowing smile with each other. "I'm pretty sure I'd have to shoot you then." Smiling, Lorne turns back to Rodney who has been listening to the whole thing and begins to pick on him about having kids. After a few minutes of Lorne and Rodney arguing again, Ronon speaks up. "Sheppard, are we there yet?" Sheppard turns around to look at Ronon. "We're almost there. Why? Are you getting antsy about something?" Ronon just looks at Sheppard, knowing full well what Sheppard is referring to. Avoiding the subject, Ronon looks around the jumper, his eyes coming to rest on Lorne and Rodney who are still arguing. "No, I'm just getting a headache for some reason." With that, Rodney and Lorne both quit the argument and face Ronon. Sheppard grins with an understanding look on his face as Ronon stares at Rodney and Lorne. "Gee, I wonder what could be causing it?" Grunting, Ronon looks away from Sheppard catching the intended meaning. Smiling, Sheppard glances at Lorne and Rodney as he turns to take control of the jumper again. "Buck up buddy. We'll be back on Atlantis soon and then you can get something for that headache."

Carson paced back in forth in the infirmary.

"I don't understand why they aren't back yet!" He burst out at last. "And where's Teyla?"

Color had not only come back into his face but shot into it. She had stopped asking him to sit down and had turned to her work.
"Carson you know better than I do that they won't be here in the blink of an eye."
She would have liked to pretend she did hear the last part of his question but the look in his eyes told her she couldn't.
"Maybe she's feeding Tagan. We know she's found him she'll get back to us soon Carson just don't wear yourself out again."

Michael had taken Teyla back to a holding cell allowing her to keep her son with her. Looking at Tagan, she asks, "I wonder if John found Sam?" She sighs and relaxes a little against the hard, cold wall closing her eyes for a bit. Praying and hoping for her soon rescue, she falls asleep with Tagan cradled close to her body.

Netia walks towards the cell and to her knees. "Teyla!" Netia grunts in pain. Teyla jumps as she wakes up, a sleeping Tagan in her hands. "Look, I don't have time," The pain is so unbearable as Netia starts to cry. "I somehow temporarily broke away from Michael's control, but Teyla I was able to pick up some information. He wants to..." Netia screams as Michael controls takes over. Netia desperately looks at Teyla. "Teyla, HELP ME!"

Elizabeth, Sam, and Harper were all in a fairly good humor from their ride together. Had they not all been anxious to return to the city, they would actually have enjoyed more time together. Sam looks at Elizabeth, "This was a good idea, Elizabeth. It's not often that I get to have any 'girl time'....well, not since Janet died, anyway." Elizabeth sees a shadow of sadness cross Sam's face, so she tries to lighten the mood again, "Yes, well, it's not often that I get to have any human time, so this has definitely been nice!"

Harper and Sam both laugh at that, but then Sam turns serious again. "Seriously though, Elizabeth, I'm glad that you're back." She looks Elizabeth in the eyes, "And I want to thank you for coming to rescue me. I didn't really get a chance to thank you while we were on your ship, but I wanted to make sure that I did before we get back to the city. So....thank you." Elizabeth doesn't hesitate to reply, "You're welcome. It was my pleasure! In fact, if you ever again find yourself kidnapped and held hostage by an obsessed psycho Wraith hell-bent on revenge by building a freak hybrid army, you know how to find me." Sam laughs, but then looks at Elizabeth sharply. "Wait.....I know how to find you? You aren't planning on staying in Atlantis?"

Elizabeth sighs. She hadn't wanted to get into this, but she knew the topic would come up sooner or later. She looks at Harper - noticing that the girl suddenly looks very sad - then stands up. She doesn't answer for a few moments, but goes and sits on the opposite bench facing both of the other women. She leans forward, placing her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands. She glances at Harper again, and then turns her attention back to Sam. "As I tried to explain to Harper, I can't stay in Atlantis. I will always consider Atlantis my home, but I don't belong there anymore.....too much has changed." Her face grows a little hard, "And I will not allow the IOA to make me their prisoner or turn me into a living science experiment! I don't have to answer to them anymore. As far as Earth is concerned, Dr. Weir is dead."

Sam is a bit surprised by what Elizabeth has just said. She knows how deeply the other woman's love of the city and its people really goes. She sacrificed herself for them, for pity's sake! She'd have thought that she would have jumped at the chance to return to her old life. And, frankly, I'd kind of like to get back to my own life, for cryin' out loud! Although she did see her point - that old life didn't exist anymore. For all intents and purposes, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, leader of Atlantis, was dead. In her place was Commander Elizabeth Weir, leader of the rebel Asurans. Sam allows the silence to stretch a bit longer before replying, "So....what were you thinking of doing then? You know that I will have to report to the IOA that you are still alive....."

Elizabeth is relieved that Sam doesn't seem to be angry, and replies, "I know you'll have to tell them; I never expected that you wouldn't. In fact, I don't mind meeting with them, myself, at some point, if they request it - and I have no doubt that they will request it!" She grimaces, "But I'm not under their authority anymore, so I won't take orders from them. I would like to be an ally to Atlantis and Earth. As you've seen for yourself, I have technology that can only be rivaled by the Asgard, and.....I have my own fleet of ships. It's a modest fleet, but it's extremely effective." She sees Sam and Harper's questioning gazes, so she explains, "It's a long story, but, in short, I have five replicator ships at my command and a sixth is currently under construction."

Sam is impressed. "Holy Hannah! You've been pretty busy, haven't you?" Elizabeth just smiles sheepishly. Sam returns the smile, then a thought occurs to her, "These ships of yours.....do they all have cloaking devices?" At Elizabeth's nod, Sam continues, "Ah...you wouldn't, perchance, have had anything to do with the mysterious destruction of a multiple of Wraith Hive ships, would you?" Elizabeth grins and replies, "I may have......" Sam laughs, "It seems that another 'thank you' is in order. In fact, I really have to shake your hand for that one! Well done!" Elizabeth takes the woman's hand again, "You're welcome. As I said, I do what I can. I hope this shows what a valuable ally I could be. Perhaps you could mention all this in your report to the IOA?"

"Are you kidding? How could I not? Atlantis can certainly use an ally like you, and who better than its former leader? I'll fight the IOA, myself, if I have to!" Further conversation is cut off by their jumper landing in Atlantis. The ladies all stand up and prepare to exit. Sam turns to Elizabeth, "We'll talk more about this later, okay? I want to hear the long story." Elizabeth smiles, "Of course." They all turn and walk out of the jumper. Elizabeth is overwhelmed by emotion as she takes her first step back into the city that she hasn't seen in so many months. She can feel John watching her, so she sends him a quick reassuring smile, and exits the jumper completely. She takes a long wonderful look around the landing bay. It's good to be home.

Rodney jolted off the jumper as soon as it landed. He saw Elizabeth's smiled to John. 'Oh yeah they aren't so going to kiss again.' He rolled his eyes as he made his way to the operations center to get the data into the computer that he had persuaded one of the Asurans to give him on their ship. He began to set up a system to decode what he got trying to find a way to use it on their own jumpers. He looked around at the team feeling a slight calm in the air ever since they got back.

Lorne got off after getting his head bitten off from Rodney. 'I'll get him back later.' He then took off his gun belt and handed to one of the men on his team who was going to put them away. He walked over to Rodney and stood there waiting his orders from Sam or John.

Harper still being in an emotional distress walked out of the jumper unsure of why she even came to Atlantis in the first place. She noticed Ronon getting off and gives a slight smile to him as she starts to walk away from the group. She then walks off to the V.R room wanting to know for sure if her reasons of coming to Atlantis were the right ones.

She sits down on a chair starting to play the hologram left by the Ancients. She sighed this would be a lot easier if she had someone to talk to about this. She put her feet on the chair and wrapped her arms around them lowering her head hoping to figure out what the hell is wrong with her.

Sam noticed everyone heading in different directions, so she said, "You all have ten minutes; then I want to see you in the infirmary." She sees many grimaces, and replies, "You know the drill.....no arguments! Debrief will be at 0800 tomorrow." As they all start splitting up, Sam touches Elizabeth's arm. "Elizabeth," The former leader stops, and waits, "I know I can't order you to go to the infirmary, and I wouldn't even try it, but....." Elizabeth just smiles, "It's ok, Sam. I know the drill, too, and I know that you'll want to make sure that my nanites pose no threat to the city. I understand, and I have no problem with it." Sam smiles back, relieved. "Thank you. I'm glad you understand.......I mean, of course you understand! You were the leader of this city for longer than I have been.....and you were a better one, at that."

Elizabeth starts to shake her head and disagree, but Sam stops her, "No. It's true....you were the best leader this city had, and will probably ever have. Yours is quite a reputation to live up to!" She laughs and continues, "I think I've done a pretty good job so far, though, but anyone who wants to even attempt to live up to your reputation will have to have their whole heart in it. I....well....I don't really. I came here to fill a need, but the assignment has always just been a temporary one. Sooner or later the IOA is going to replace me with one of their own." She sees surprise on Elizabeth's face, and explains, "You know that the IOA have always wanted to get one of their own people into some kind of position of authority here in Atlantis. However, because the situation with the replicators and Wraith had escalated, it was decided that a Military leader was necessary....for the time being, anyway. Jack...er, General O'Neill and Homeland Security had my name at the top of a short list of candidates, so here I am." She shrugs, "I knew I would only be here for a year or so, so I don't really mind. Frankly, I'm pretty ready to get back to my life in the Milky Way!"

She looks at Elizabeth, "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I came and I will miss everyone when I leave, but this place has never really been home to me......certainly never like it was to you!" A thought occurs to her and she grimaces, "I will feel badly leaving the city in the hands of the IOA, though." This causes Elizabeth to grimace, "Ugh....I can only imagine what that will be like!" She looks over at John, who appears to be waiting to accompany her to the infirmary. "Poor John! I hope, for his sake, that it won't be Richard Woolsey...or should I say I hope for Woolsey's sake?" Both women laugh, and walk over to John. He raises an eyebrow at their laughter, but neither one of them seems to care to let him in on their joke.
He decides to let it go, for now, and the three of them then turn and head towards the infirmary. Elizabeth is unsure as to how she will react to a clone of Carson, or how he will react to her, for that matter.

Carson glanced out of the infirmary doors...at long last he could see Col. Carter walking toward him with Sheppard and another.

"What a relief she's safe!" He thought to himself.

Suddenly Carson caught his breath. He squints his eyes at the approaching group. Those dark auburn and brown curls...they looked like...like Elizabeth's curls...no, it couldn't be.

"I don't understand!" He said quietly...but loud enough where Keller heard him and looked up from what she was doing.

Keller jerked from her seat wanting to see her commander, but got a look at someone that see didn't expect. "Oh my gosh. Dr. Weir." Every medical possibility went through her head but non stuck. "I don't understand?"

Elizabeth walks into the infirmary and sees identical looks of shock on both of the doctors' faces. Although she knew that she would be meeting the Carson clone, she hadn't been able to completely prepare herself for what it would actually feel like to see him in person. So many memories poured over her at the sight of his face - the last of those memories deeply sad.

Her beloved friend had died; that was a fact. Not only that, but he had died a hero. They had had a funeral for him and buried him on earth - yet there he stood in front of her. Him, and yet not. She looks at him, but before she has a chance to speak, Sam addresses the doctors, "I know you're shocked right now - trust me, we all were too - but this is the real Elizabeth. It's a long story - and hers to tell - but be assured that it is really our Elizabeth Weir."

"How? Why? And I thought a clone was weird. I guess this is what you get when you come to another galaxy."

Sam looks at Keller, "Oh, trust me....you didn't have to leave the Milky Way to experience weird. We have plenty of it back there too! You just can't get away from it apparently........" She smiles, "But in Elizabeth's case, it's not so much weird as complicated." Elizabeth smiles at that description, as Sam continues, "She was never actually dead." She suddenly realizes how that sounded and looks at Carson. "Sorry Carson, I didn't mean...um, well I just meant that......ah....well....sorry."

Carson doesn't really seem to be paying all that much attention to Sam, however. His eyes haven't left Elizabeth since she walked into the infirmary. Elizabeth has gotten used to this reaction by now, but she's still a little unnerved, herself, at seeing her old friend again. Well, sort of her old friend, anyway....

Keller let out a weak laugh at Sam's joke. She reached out a hand for Elizabeth.
"It's good to have you back ma'am. Saying you've been missed would be quite an understatement." She glanced at Sam. "Not to say that Col. Carter hasn't done a magnificent job while you've been gone."

Sam waves her off. "That's ok Jennifer, I know what you meant. In fact, I said pretty much the same thing to her, myself."

Elizabeth's realizes that Keller is speaking to her, and diverts her attention from Carson to the young doctor. Smiling, she takes her hand, waits for Sam to finish what she's saying, and then says, "Thank you Dr. Keller. That's very sweet of you to say."

She turns back to Carson again, noticing that his eyes still haven't left her. "Uh, hello......Carson."

"Elizabeth!" Carson said in a hushed, awed tone. "They said you were dead."

"Yes, well that's what Oberoth wanted everyone to think." Elizabeth looks at him with great sadness in her eyes, "You, on the other hand, are dead.......I was here when you died - I spoke at your funeral - yet here you stand." She feels moisture forming in her eyes, so she looks away. "I'm sorry. This is just a little unnerving. You're exactly like him, but..... I know he's dead." She sighs and turns back to him. "I can't even imagine what it's like for you - to feel like you are Carson Beckett, but know that you aren't....not in the truest sense, anyway."

She takes a step towards him, and when he doesn't flinch, she takes another, then another, until she is standing directly in front of him. "Never the less," Elizabeth reaches out and pulls the still somewhat stunned Carson into a hug. "It's so good to see you again....."

Teyla, still holding Tagan, rushes to Netia but stopped by the bars keeping her inside the cell. "Fight it, Netia! You are a strong woman!" She yells and then closes her eyes in order to connect with Michael to distract him for a bit.

Netia is sobbing as the pain stops. She looks up to see Teyla connecting to Michael. "Teyla, don't!! Teyla?" Netia sees that Teyla is unable to hear her. Netia quickly looks for a key to unlock the cell. "Teyla, Teyla can you tell me where the key is?" Netia asks but then sees Teyla in a struggle. "Teyla, break away now!" Netia demands.

Teyla continues to try to connect with Michael ignoring Netia's protests. Strain turns on her face as she tries to distract Michael away from Netia. She tries to control Michael so he will give the key to the other cell holding Netia to her.

Michael felt Teyla's push into his body and as hard as he could he blocked her out but got a plan. He then walked to the cell that held Teyla and Tagan. He dangled the keys to the cell as he walked knowing that Teyla would think she had him in her control. He stopped at the cage door and only smiled hanging the keys next to him.

Teyla's face strains as she continues to try to connect with Michael. She hears his voice in her head...

Carson flinched inwardly as Elizabeth spoke...yes, he wasn't the real Carson and it was getting harder and harder to face that fact. He embraced Elizabeth and then pulled away...there was a great sadness in his eyes.

"Yes," he said. "It is hard feeling like Carson and being told I'm not...I...I still have all of his memories as if they were my own...I remember the experiments with Michael...I remember sitting in the chair in the Antarctica...and unintentionally firing the drone at Col. Sheppard and Gen. O'Neill...I remember everything...and yet...it wasn't me...and I didn't do any of it."

He blinked and stepped back a little bit further...he seemed to be holding back tears.

"I'm Carson...to me...in every way possible...and yet, to everyone else...I'm not...I can't help but feel...feel...well, inferior."

Elizabeth was saddened even more when she saw the moisture forming in Carson's eyes. She hadn't meant to upset him. "I'm so sorry, Carson! I didn't mean to imply that you were in any way inferior to the Carson that I knew! You are truly exactly like him.....it's just that I remember very well that day he gave his life." She looks away, "He....you....were a hero. You died saving others, and that's just not something easily forgotten."

She sighs and looks back at him, "I was the one that informed your mother of your death, and I spoke at your funeral. It was one of the hardest times in my life, and I've never forgotten it. I can't forget it." She steps closer and puts her hand on his arm, "But that doesn't mean that you are any less the man he was. You are him, for all intents and purposes. You would do the exact same thing that he did, were you in a similar situation. I have no doubt about that." She smiles and gently squeezes his arm, "So, I think I should be saying 'Welcome back!' to you!" Tears begin to form in her eyes, but she does not break eye contact with him, "I have missed you, my friend........"

As Sheppard watches Elizabeth and Carson's reunion, he begins slightly out of place. He has never been good at reunions and he knows that he probably never will be. Not wanting to disturb the touching reunion, Sheppard turns to whisper to Carter, an obvious look of discomfort on his face. "I'm going to go look for Harper. There are a few things that the two of us need to discuss." Carter nods her ascent and with that, Sheppard heads to find his niece.

Sam nods at Sheppard, feeling somewhat out of place, herself. "That's fine. In fact, could you round everyone up and bring them back here? Their ten minutes was up two minutes ago." He smiles, nodding, and leaves the infirmary with one final glance at the two people who had both, at one time, been lost to their "family".

Sheppard is walking down the hall in search of Harper when he sees Ronon coming towards him. "Hey, where've you been?" Nonchalantly, Ronon says, "Been in the gym. Why?" Sheppard stares at Ronon for a second before he responds. "You were supposed to be in the infirmary a couple of minutes ago to get checked out." Ronon looks at Sheppard with annoyance evident in both his face and voice. "I'll never get why I have to go get checked out when I'm not the one who's been hurt or captured." Sheppard grins slightly as he says, "I know, but it's protocol...as annoying as it is. Anyway, head to the infirmary and I'll catch up with you there." An almost imperceptible grin spreads across Ronon's face as he begins to head to the infirmary while Sheppard begins to walk in the opposite direction. "Oh!" Sheppard turns back toward Ronon, who has shifted to look at him. "Have you seen Harper anywhere? I need to.....she needs to get checked out too." For a brief second, Ronon sees an awkwardness expressed on Sheppard's face that is quickly replaced. "I think I saw her go toward the library." A concerned look crosses Sheppard's face. Ever since his niece was a little girl he could always tell when she was upset about something because he would always find her in the library crying. "Okay, I'll go get her and we'll meet you in the infirmary." With that, Sheppard makes his way to the library while Ronon reluctantly heads to the infirmary.

Harper looked up to see her uncle standing in the door way of the VR room. She sighed adjusting herself to make sure she looked okay after her mental breakdown. She knew her uncle could see she had been distressed but she blew it off this was no time for her to get into a big ordeal. "Hey Uncle John. Now don't tell me...the infirmary." He nods and she rolls her eyes. "Do I have to?" Ever since her father had been in the hospital at the time of his death she hated going to any doctor worrying they would fine something wrong with her in fact when she had gotten blood work done and they found her ATA gene she thought she would die cause of it.

Sheppard remains standing in the doorway as he watches Harper. "If it were up to me I'd say no, but it's not." Harper nods as she stands up to leave. As Harper passes by him, he lightly grabs her arm to stop her. "Are you okay Harper?"

Harper stops and turns to face John smiling at him. "As of right now um no but I'll be ok. Just have to rethink my goal per say." She smiles as she starts to walk away going to the infirmary.

Carson smiled...feeling better than he had in days.

"Thank-you Elizabeth...and I must say, Jennifer has done a wonderful in my place...you couldn't have picked a better replacement."

Elizabeth looks at the blushing young woman, "Yes. I was only here for a short time after she had to take over, but I have heard good things about her from the team. She and Rodney were actually the ones responsible for activating my nanites. I wouldn't be alive now, if not for them." Elizabeth notices that Keller blushes even more - although she hadn't thought it possible for someone to blush more than the girl already had been. She smiles and glances between both of the doctors, "So.....who is going to do my examination?"

"Oh, I'd be happy-" Carson suddenly stumbled as he turned toward his desk. Without even realizing it...he found himself down on his knees...strange lights dancing before his eyes.

"Maybe this was a wee bit too much excitement." He thought to himself.

All three women are alarmed when they see Carson stumble, but Elizabeth is closest to him, so she is the first to reach him. She reaches out and steadies him just as Carter and Keller reach them. She looks at Keller with concern on her face, "What's going on? What's the matter with him?" Just as the young doctor is about to explain, Carson stops her with a wave of his hand- apparently wanting to speak for himself. Elizabeth looks back at him, as she gently maneuvers him into a chair, and waits for him to explain.

Carson gulped in a breath of fresh air and waited for his vision to clear...he needed to explain this to Elizabeth himself.

"While Keller and her team did all they could to stop me from needing those injections from Michael...it seems the affect is not long lasting...I'm fine...but, I just need to rest a lot more than before...certainly not something I'm used to! He said as he thought back to all the late night shifts he used to pull...well, actually that the real Carson used pull...it was getting bloody hard to remember that.

"I'm fine Elizabeth," he quickly continued as he noted then concern in her eyes. "But, perhaps Dr. Keller should do your examination."

Elizabeth doesn't quite believe him, but she lets it go - for now. She turns to Keller, who is still looking at Carson with concern in her eyes, and says, "That's fine. I'm sure she can handle it."

This snaps the young doctor out of her thoughts, and her eyes move from Carson to Elizabeth. Elizabeth gives her a small smile of assurance, and they move to one of the gurneys. Elizabeth takes a seat on it, and looks Keller right in the eye. "Dr. Keller." The young woman looks back at her, "I think I may have a way to help Carson."

Keller looked into the eyes of the woman she had brought back from life only to believe she had died. Elizabeth leads her to the gurneys and just took a seat as if nothing had happened between her 'death' and now. Everything was pushed aside when she heard that maybe she could help Carson.
"How?" Keller pulled at a gurney her notepad on her lap and that pen out of her hair.

"The same way that you kept me alive." She pauses, allowing what she had just said to sink in - watching as Keller prepares her arm to take some blood. She continues, "It worked for me, so why couldn't it work for him?"

She glances up briefly to acknowledge Rodney and Lorne as they walk into the infirmary - Keller doing the same - then she returns to what she was saying. "I know he doesn't have nanites, but you can use mine - take them from that blood sample." Keller looks up just as she finishes drawing the blood.

Elizabeth smiles gently, "As long as Carson agrees to it, of course. My nanites are already programmed not to take control, and we've both seen that they can heal pretty well." She looks Keller right in the eye, "I know it's extreme, Dr. Keller, but just think about it. Okay? It may be the only chance he has if his current treatment has started to fail."

Keller focused on the small and routine task of drawing blood so she could keep the knee jerk no out of her voice. She looked down at the vile of blood that could cure everything or destroy more. She had gone over the statistics, run every test she could think of, and nothing came close to what Elizabeth was offering in the shape of a cure.

Worry churned in her stomach as she placed the vile down on the tray pulling off her gloves. She had done it before against orders but there was no other option here there could be. Although at this moment she couldn't think about any.

Elizabeth completely understands. She nods, "Of course. It's a very serious decision, I know, and both Carson and Col. Carter will have to agree to it." She sees the young woman's turmoil, and feels for her, but it's Carson that concerns her more. I will not let him die this time - not when I can save him! "I'll speak to Col. Carter about it." Keller nods in reply, but her attention is directed elsewhere - she is looking at Carson, worry clearly showing on her face.

Elizabeth sighs, causing the young doctor to look at her again. "I don't want to scare you, Jennifer, but this may be the only way." Keller seems surprised that Elizabeth called her by her first name - she doesn't remember her ever doing that before.

Elizabeth looks away from the young doctor to Carson. "I won't lose my friend again." She turns back to Keller, "I can prevent it this time.......and it's really not so bad having the nanites." She smiles a little, "I never get sick anymore, and my injuries heal much faster." She removes the gauze that Keller had placed over the needle puncture, and holds her arm up. There isn't a mark to be seen anywhere on her arm, and Elizabeth can see that the doctor is a little stunned, but has clearly gotten her point.

"It's not perfect; I won't lie. It's not easy to accept that you are part replicator - believe me, I know - and it has already been hard for him to accept that he's a clone. Having to accept this, on top of that, may be difficult for him. But when the alternative is death, I'd say that the nanites a pretty good option.......one you've taken before, in fact - with success."

"Michael!" Netia yells as her weak body struggles to get up. "Leave them be, Michael." She slowly walks towards him using the wall for support. Michael doesn't even look at Netia as he begins to chuckle. Netia sees that Teyla is still struggling to break free of his control. "Stop!" Netia screams but Michael just stares at her with a face, blank face. Suddenly Teyla collapses to the floor, Tagan still in her hands crying. "Teyla!" Netia gathers all her strength as she jumps toward Michael and starts to fight him. She punches him over and over until he collapses to the floor. Netia pulls her knife out of her boot. She holds it straight over him, but stops and drops the knife. "Father?" Netia looks down at her father bloody face and gets up quickly. "Why, Netia? Why have you done this to me?" Her father asks with such a hurt look on his face.

"NO!!! Michael STOP!" Netia realizes the trick and can't seem to regain control.

Even as she lies on the floor, Teyla is still connected to Michael. Netia's attempts to stop Michael have failed. Michael continues speaking to Teyla in her head...

Michael now moves away from the cage only to look at Tagan and his mother. "In time my boy in time."

Michael finally releases Teyla's mind and she slumps to the floor. Still holding Tagan who is now crying, she opens her eyes to see Michael's face. She glares at him and states, "He will never be yours."

As she sits cradling Tagan, Teyla begins to think about John…hoping that he finds her soon. I should try to talk to Netia, she thinks. Never attempting this before, Teyla tries to connect to Netia to reassure her that everything is ok for now and that Michael has not hurt her or Tagan.

Michael only rolls his eyes as he walks away from them. He goes to his lab to finish up his virus.

Harper sat still thinking about her reasons of why she came to Atlantis. Why did she really come here? To be close to John? Or to escape Earth? She then started to bite her nails almost looking as Rodney would be if the world were to end. She sat still in the V.R room where she had went to hear the Ancients talk about the Wraith making her fear them more as she did.

A concerned look spreads across Sheppard's face. I hope she isn't thinking about what I think she is thinking about As Harper is about to round the corner, Sheppard calls out..."I'll meet be there in a few minutes. I have to go find Teyla." Speaking of Teyla, I wonder where she has been this whole time. With that, Sheppard walks off to find Teyla and go to the infirmary.

Harper continues to walk away from Sheppard waving her hand at him as he states he is going to find Teyla and notices Ronon walking in front of her. She stops for a moment looking at him from behind smirking, yummy. She then walks up to him bumping her left side of her body with his right side. She takes a step in front of him turning making herself walk backwards as she taps Ronon's shoulder. "Going to get checked out? Me too. You know since its mandatory I can check you out. "She smirks kind of making a joke but not really.

Feeling someone bump him, Ronon glances to his right and sees Harper as she moves in front of him. As she speaks to him, he can't help but think back to her earlier statement of the possibility of her having to leave Atlantis. She can't leave just because people know. That makes no sense! The sudden touch of Harper's hand on his arm pulls him out of his thoughts. "What? Yeah, I'm going to the infirmary. You?"

Harper tilts her head wondering what he had been thinking about when she did her infirmary joke. I thought it was funny. "I told I was too. Are you okay?" She rolled her eyes; Ronon Dex would never admit his true feeling to anyone. "Didn't you hear me when I said that I should check you out?" She sighed every since there fight about her going with the team to find Sam all up to the fact the IOA might control her place here on Atlantis things had been different between them.

Lorne and McKay made their way to the infirmary as they do Rodney starts to think about Carson well clone Carson.

"Carson? Huh?"

Rodney looks at Lorne. Does he have superpowers like I did? "You read my mind?"

Lorne chuckles at Rodney. "You were mumbling about him. What's up still thinking he is the real Carson?"

"The one I killed um...no."

"Oh come on its not your fault Rodney. Carson asked me to go fishing too but I blew him off for a painting."

"What a painting?" Rodney stops so does Lorne.

Lorne messes his hair up. "Um yeah I paint."

"Interesting." Rodney states as he walk into the infirmary with Lorne behind him.

"It's not that interesting."

Sam turns from Carson as both men enter the infirmary. "What's not that interesting?"

Elizabeth and Keller both look up briefly to acknowledge the two men, but immediately return to their conversation. Rodney notices that they seem to be very engrossed in whatever they are talking about, but he turns towards Lorne wanting to hear him answer Sam's question.

Lorne gives Sam an awkward smile to Sam looking at Rodney before his eyes goes back to Sam. "Rodney thinks it's weird that I paint."

"Yes in matter of fact I do. For a guy who can kill people and also paint now come on."

Lorne shakes his head at Rodney and returns his attention back to Sam. "How are you doing Colonel?"

Sam smiles at Lorne, "I'm doing fine, thank you, Major Lorne." She gives Rodney a look, and then returns her attention to Lorne, "And I think it's great that you paint! I actually garden to unwind. Well, I work with my plants; anyway....I don't actually have a real garden." She glances down to make sure that Carson is still alright, and then looks back up at the two men.

Lorne smiles at Sam and looks at Carson then to Rodney. "See not everyone is like you McKay and does nothing to relax." He then fixed his messed up hair from earlier as he saw Rodney's glare. "So just wait for the team I guess."

Sam glances at Carson again, "Yes, we'll have to wait. Dr. Keller is busy with Elizabeth right now, and Carson's just feeling a little bit winded." Rodney looks a bit alarmed, and quickly glances at Carson, so Sam hurries to reassure him. "He's ok, Rodney. He just needs to rest a bit......there's been a lot of excitement, recently." Carson nods his agreement, so Rodney relaxes.

Sam looks at Rodney, "I think Keller will be done with Elizabeth soon, and Sheppard is rounding up everyone else."

Rodney chuckles at Sam's statement. "Then we will be here awhile since I have no idea where Ronon or Harper went off to. Sheppard will have a rough time finding them. As for everyone else we are on time just waiting for the unpunctual people."

Lorne stands rolling his eyes at Rodney waiting till someone came to take him away.

Halling still sitting in Harper's quarters finally becomes awake. He searches the room allowing his eyes to refocus. "Teyla? Netia?" He calls out. Seeing nobody there, he tries to stand up quickly but stumbles. Where have they gone? He begins thinking back to the events that previously occurred and remembered...Michael has Teyla! He walks swiftly to the door and runs down the hall heading toward the control room looking for Colonel Sheppard.

Carson glanced up at Dr. Keller and Elizabeth.
"All right...enough with the hush hush...what's this all about?"

Elizabeth and Keller are both startled to find Carson standing in front of them. They had both become so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't even noticed his approach. They look at each other with a "deer caught in the headlights" look, and then look back at the Scottish doctor. Keller begins to speak, but Elizabeth stops her with a hand on her arm. "It's alright, Dr. Keller, I'll tell him."

The young woman seems a bit unsure, so Elizabeth gently squeezes her arm in reassurance - much like she has already done with some of the others since being reunited with her "family". She doesn't know Keller anywhere near as well as those others, but the girl was still an extended part of that "family". Elizabeth couldn't help but feel almost motherly feelings towards the distraught young woman. She could feel herself slipping back into her "Leader of Atlantis" mentality, but she knew that this city was not her responsibility anymore, so she tried to push that mindset away. Old habits die hard, apparently.

Seeing Keller relax slightly - after a long searching look at Elizabeth's face - Elizabeth finally turns to Carson. He has been waiting patiently, but he was becoming increasingly concerned by the seriousness in both women's faces and the apparent intensity of their conversation. Elizabeth recognizes his expression, and hurries to alleviate some of his worry, "I'm fine Carson - the picture of health, actually." She glances at Keller, who nods in affirmation. Elizabeth's gaze returns to Carson - whose concerned expression has been replaced with one of curiosity - and she begins to explain, "We were actually talking about you......"

Elizabeth pauses when she sees Sam approaching them. She's actually relieved that the Colonel seems to have felt the need to join their conversation - she could tell both of the necessary parties at once. She smiles politely, "Sam."

Sam, much like Carson, had not missed the fact that a very intense conversation was happening between Elizabeth and Dr. Keller. So, as soon as she finished talking with Rodney and Lorne, she follows Carson's example, and walks over to the women in question. "Elizabeth; Dr. Keller." She looks at Carson - noticing that his expression is a bit tense - then returns her attention back to the women. "Is everything alright?"

Elizabeth nods, "Yes, everything is fine......perhaps even better than fine." She smiles hesitantly, "I may have a way to help Carson - permanently - but I'm not certain that you will like it....."

Sam glances quickly at Carson - who seems to have become keenly interested in what Elizabeth is saying - then to Keller, and finally back to Elizabeth. She crosses her arms, and replies with guarded interest, "Well, we won't know until you tell us, so what were you thinking?"

Elizabeth studies Sam's expression. I think she may have already guessed what I'm thinking. She takes a steadying breath, and begins to answer the question - but turns her eyes to Carson while speaking. "We could use some of my nanites." Carson involuntarily gasps a little, but, as Elizabeth suspected, Sam does not appear to be surprised. I was right; she did guess what I was thinking....it shouldn't surprise me, though. She is a genius after all!

Before either Carson or Sam can say anything, she continues, "I know it's an extreme measure, but, from what Dr. Keller has told me, Carson's immunity to his treatments will just continue to grow. Eventually, his body will cease to even respond to them at all - and, unfortunately, it appears that it will happen sooner, rather than later." She leans forward slightly; alternating her gaze between Sam and Carson, "My nanites are already programmed not to take control, and their healing abilities are quite effective - they brought me back from the brink of death." She reaches out and grips Carson's arm - staring intensely into his eyes, "If they worked for me, they can work for you too."

She leans closer to him, and whispers so that only he can hear, "I can't let you die this time, Carson.....not when I have it in my power to prevent it." Moisture forms in her eyes, "I...we...can't go through that again - none of us. It was hard enough the first time.........please Carson....let me help you." She stares into his eyes for a moment longer, and then releases his arm and returns her attention to the Colonel. "Psychologically speaking, it will be an adjustment for him to be part replicator, especially since he is still adjusting to being a clone, but there is no danger physically - either for him or for the city. It's completely safe, and I believe that I, myself, am a testament to that."

Elizabeth sighs and looks at Keller before looking back at Sam, "Dr. Keller and I are agreed.....at this point, though extreme, it's the only really viable option available to him. I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise."

Sam is deep in thought. She had indeed guessed what Elizabeth was going to suggest, and she didn't find herself completely against the idea. Experience had taught her to be wary, though, and her first reaction was to refuse. The Asuran threat had been effectively neutralized, however, and Elizabeth did have a point - she was a testament to the fact that it was safely possible. And there was no reason to believe that the nanites wouldn't work as well in Carson as they had in Elizabeth. In fact, her scientific mind told her that they would work just as well in him as they had in her.

Sam echoes Elizabeth's sigh. This Carson has grown on her - despite her initial reluctance to accept him - and she did not want him to die. She looks at Carson, who also seems to be deep in thought, and then looks at Elizabeth and Dr. Keller. "I understand....you have my permission to do whatever you feel is necessary." She glances at Carson again, "As long as Carson agrees to it, of course....."

Keller watched the whole scene play out in front of her but couldn't seem to speak. Half replicator. Nanites. Wait did Elizabeth just say the she was ok with it.
"Hold up wait. Elizabeth I did not say I approved of this I merely said I would talk to Carson and Col. Carter before making a decision. Again the reason we used your nanites were reengaged was because your brain half dead. This is completely different we don't even know what's going on."
She saw the shocked looks on the faces her colleagues as the normally quiet and complaint doctor disagreed with someone.
"Look this is my patient and I need to run a battery of test before I even think about this being a possibility. I will give you my findings after I take this and this." She held up the newly drawn blood of Elizabeth and Carson's arm.

Elizabeth is surprised by Keller's outburst, and looks at the flushed doctor, "I didn't say that you had agreed to actually doing it, Dr. Keller. I said that we were in agreement that, at this point, it's the only really viable option available to him." She gives the woman a stern look, "I understand that you are concerned about Carson, but there is no need to get yourself worked up." She shifts her gaze to Sam, then back to Keller, "And, ultimately the decision is Carson's. He's been a doctor longer than you have, and it will really only affect him. Our opinions don't really matter." With that, Elizabeth gets up off the gurney, and, with one last squeeze of Carson's shoulder, walks over to where Lorne and Rodney are waiting.

Sam watches Elizabeth walk away, then turns back to Keller, "She's right, Jennifer. I know you have your concerns about this - and they are duly noted - but, ultimately, the decision is Carson's to make - not yours. In Elizabeth's case, the decision had to be made for her because she was unable to do so herself. This is not the case with Carson." She holds out her arm for the doctor to take some blood - her signal to the young woman to calm herself down and do her job - and looks at Carson. "Carson, why don't you go back to the chair and sit down? You're starting to look a little winded again." She places her free arm on his shoulder. "You don't need to decide immediately.....just take a little time to collect your thoughts. I know it's a lot to take in, and I'll support whatever you choose to do."

Carson nods, then turns and heads back to the chair he had been previously sitting in. Sam sighs. Poor guy.....it wasn't too long ago that he found out he was a clone, and now he finds out that his only real hope of surviving is to become part replicator. She looks over at Elizabeth, who has returned to Carson's side, making sure gets to the chair safely. Elizabeth seems to have adjusted to it, though....so it must not be too bad......

Keller knew they were right, but she just couldn't get that nagging thought to leave her. She took Carter's blood and order into an available bed to make sure she didn't have any surprises left in her system. She didn't blame Elizabeth for her outburst although she was hurt that her career was called into question. Elizabeth blamed herself; everyone knew that, she didn't want him dying on her again. Keller would run the test but she agreed that if Carson wanted this there was nothing she or anyone else could do to stop him.
"Ok Col. Carter I won't insult you by asking all the standard questions you know what I need to know so just tell me."

"I'm fine. And no, I didn't hear you." Ronon ignores the questioning look in Harper's eyes as he continues toward the infirmary. He notices that Harper isn't with him and turns to see her observing him. They stare at each other for a few seconds, each trying to figure out the other. Finally, Ronon breaks the silence. "You coming?"

She smiles knowing she had won the stare off but she couldn't help but feeling not enough for him to deal with. She walks up to him walking along with him. "I just want to let you know that if you need to talk I'm here. I mean I can so use someone to talk to about being on Atlantis but..." She looks at him. "It will just start another fight with you. I don't want that."

Ronon still feels slight hurt and anger about what happened between the two of them earlier that day. Even so, it has always been hard for him to stay mad with her for too long. There was just something about her that made him feel...well...more at home. As he looks into Harper's eyes, Ronon can't help but let the argument go. A small smile plays across Ronon's face. "I'm good"...Ronon pauses to collect his thoughts..."I'm not mad anymore you know. I just thought that you would've talked to me before you told anyone about us. And you know how I felt about that stunt you pulled."

"Yes yes I know." She threw her hands up in the air. "But it's good to hear that you aren't mad." She then walked into the infirmary as Ronon followed noticing the tension in the room and she looks at him. "No one noticed us we can still leave."

Elizabeth briefly lifts her watchful gaze from Carson to the entryway as Ronon and Harper walk in. She smiles, glad to see that they seem to be getting along again, and waves them in.

Ronon laughs at Harper's enthusiasm at getting a checkup. "We haven't been noticed yet." As soon as he says this, he hears someone call his name. Glancing at Harper with an I-told-you-so look on his face, he says..."See what I mean?"

Harper sticks her tongue out at Ronon. Show off. She then walks over to Rodney and hits the back of his head. "Thanks I could have gotten out of here."

Rodney then glares at her and mumbles. "Evil. No wonder why Ronon likes her." He then looks up at Ronon "Oh Ronon."

Harper rolls her eyes at Rodney and then walks over to Elizabeth and sighs and shakes her head, "Guys."

Ronon walks up to Rodney as Harper heads over to Elizabeth. Folding his arms across his chest, Ronon glares at Rodney. "And where have you been McKay...the bathroom?"

Rodney has a smug look on his face. "What? Um no in fact I was with Lorne. Where were you?" He questions looking over at Harper and back to Ronon. "I guess you have a thing for blondes too?"

Sam grimaces, but proceeds to give Dr. Keller all the information that she needs. She is relieved and proud that the young woman has composed herself, and is now doing her job as if nothing had happened.

Elizabeth continues to stand by Carson, wanting to make sure that he doesn't have another attack of weakness. She looks up as Harper walks towards her, and laughs when she sees the girl smack Rodney on the back of the head. She gives Harper a wide grin when she reaches her, "Thanks for that...I needed it."

Harper smiles at the group and takes a bow. "Me too."

Still glaring at Rodney, Ronon shifts slightly to obtain a slightly more intimidating posture. "I was in the gym. Sheppard told me to get in here. Got a problem with that?"

Rodney takes a step back. "Um no but what were you doing in the gym?" He then smiles hoping Ronon wouldn't tackle him.

Elizabeth laughs again and pulls the girl into a hug. "I've missed you, Harper!"

Harper smiles as they get out of the hug. "So is everyone ok in here?"

Elizabeth's smile fades, and she briefly glances at Carson again, but she turns back to Harper and replies, "Um.....yes, mostly." She notices that Keller has finished with Sam, and the Colonel has joined the group by the door. "Carson got just a little winded, so Keller has been doing the examinations. Sam and I are both done."

Harper scans her eyes over to Carson. "He better be ok. That's good glad to hear." She sees Lorne getting checked out and grinds her teeth. "I hate this place."

"I won't know 'til I check you guys out. Come on up on the gurney." Keller watched the two love birds scowl at the idea but complied with the order.

Harper looks at Keller. "Man I really hate this place." She states as she sits up on the gurney. "No shots I mean it." She points a finger at Jen.

Keller smiled at the new comer to Atlantis and one that was becoming her friend. "Ok follow the light. So how is everything going with you and Ronon?" Keller had the shot in Harper's arm before she even finished the sentence. "See that wasn't so bad."

Harper grabbed her arm. "Jerk...everything is fine right now but not sure the IOA will think so but oh well. The IOA can kiss my..." Keller had put wooden piece in her mouth before she got finish.

"That's Dr. Jerk now say ahh." she received a smart ass 'ahhh'. "The IOA won't find out anything from me as far as I know you all are just friends." She picked up another vile and needle ignoring the annoyed look she received."Well friends that make out like wild monkeys in the storage room closet."

Harper closed her eyes as Keller put the needle into her. "Don't make me bring up the almost kiss you had with Ronon when you were locked in here with each other." She opened her eyes and smirked knowing what that line would do her friend.

"Is it really smart to annoy the woman who's doing the mandatory physical that I get to say how active it is? Plus don't remind me of the worst mistake in my life. You know that I didn't grab him." She let out a little chuckle as her friend's eyes widened. She put the vile on the tray bring out her chart. "Ok did you ingest, inject or get into anything unworldly?

Harper looked at her then glanced at Ronon. "If you mean not from Earth, then yes every day. Well other than that no." She looks around. "Yeah everyone knows now Sam is going to help me with the IOA but Ronon freaked out over it. I think he didn't realize I worked for someone important."

Keller gave her a blank stare. "We all eat non-Earth things here I mean when you were traveling did you deal with anything strange. Don't worry about Ronon I'll deal with him next."

Harper shakes her head no. "Nope oh I was making a joke saying that if you count a kiss as ingesting salvia. Sorry might have got a little loopy from the blood loss."

"Yeah yeah I know what you meant I just didn't want that image in my head thank you know I'm going to have strange and creepy dreams. Ok you're good but if you start speaking languages, turning into some weird creature, or become invisible come see me. Now go so I can strip search your boyfriend to make sure everything's in working order."

Harper got off the gurney and smiled at her. "Good luck with that I mean I haven't even gotten that far...yet. Well tell everyone that so Uncle Shepp doesn't kill him. You would kind of need him to be alive for your creepy dreams." She states as she backs away making sounds that started to creep out Keller a bit.

Keller suppressed a shutter as she walked over to Ronon. He was sprawled out of the gurney. Oh she was so making Harper pay for therapy.

Harper sat on a chair touching the place where blood was taken from her. She moved around every time she touched the part of her arm whined in pain.

Noticing Rodney take a step back, Ronon smiles and returns to his normal stance. "Getting in a little practice." Ronon turns his head toward Lorne and smirks as he says..."Don't you think you should be in there McKay? After all, you need all the help you can get." Rodney grimaces at the thought of sparing with Ronon again, but before he can respond, Keller calls Ronon over for his check up. Brushing past Rodney, Ronon makes his way to a gurney and lies down. After a few minutes wait, Keller walks over to Ronon and begins to ask the usual questions. "No...I didn't drink, eat, get stuck by, get struck by, or go near anything out of the ordinary. I feel fine and there are no weird markings or wounds on me." With that, Ronon holds out his arm so that Keller can draw his blood.

How many vials of blood had she taken today? "Well that tells me that you and Harper haven't been going at it today."

Rodney rolled his eyes at Ronon and then walked over to the others.

Ronon, who has been watching her draw his blood, lifts his head to look at Keller. A smile creeps across his face as he thinks about what Keller had just said to him. "We've been going at it.....just not like that."

Oh she asked for that one. "Ok my mind can take no more. Have you been speaking any languages unknown to you?" She took out her pen light shining it into his eyes.

As Keller shines the light into Ronon's eyes, he says..."No, I haven't been speaking any other languages." As Ronon thinks about what Keller said, a smile flickers across his face. "Harper been saying things about me behind my back?" At the expression on Keller's face, Ronon can't help but laugh a little. "Must be bad too to get a reaction like that."

Keller's own sly smile crept across her face. "What is said between two women sharing appletinis and jello shots is sacred.

Ronon grins at Keller's statement. "Well, I guess I'll just have to find out the hard way."

Keller remembered the night when the two women stayed in her room watching cheesy romance movies and drinking 'til their livers and stomachs protested. "I doubt Harper remembers anything more than the toilet in my quarters." She looked down checking off her list. "Ok your done. Next is Rodney or Col. Sheppard." She looked around not spotting Sheppard. Protocol demanded they come straight to the infirmary but she knew he liked to wonder. "Where is Col. Sheppard?"

Ronon looks around the infirmary for Sheppard. "He went to look for Harper." He glances in Harper's direction and sees her in a conversation with Elizabeth. "Then he said that he would come here after he found her. Other than that, I don't know...but ask Harper."

Harper noticed that Weir was alone so she walked up to her. "I need to ask you something?" She stated in a worried voice. Elizabeth looked concerned and sat down as did Harper. "What was the reason you came to Atlantis as the head of the expedition."

Rodney walks over to Carson looking worried. "Hey are you okay?"

Carson sighed and looked up at his friend...actually, really more like his best friend. "Yeah, I'm okay...just a wee bit tired...and, well...I've got a few things to come to term with..."

Rodney just listened.

"I don't want to die Rodney." Carson said as he looked at the ground. "I was just starting to accept that I was a clone...and now I'm going to have to become a clone with nanites...this whole blasted mess is a lot to deal with."

Elizabeth looks up from Carson as Harper walks up to her. She sees that the girl really wants to talk to her, but she is a little concerned about leaving Carson alone - until she sees Rodney walking over to them. She leaves him to sit with Carson, and walks to a secluded corner with Harper. She sits down, and looks at the young woman with a little bit of concern. She starts to ask if she's ok, but stops when she hears her questions. She leans back in her chair, a little surprised at what she's being asked. One of her eyebrows arches, "Before I answer that, may I ask what has prompted this question?"

Harper looks out the window and then back to Weir. "Well I'm kind of worried that I'm here for the wrong reasons now. I mean I came here for work or I thought I did. The more I think about it I think I came to be close to my uncle and now with Ronon." She looks to the ground questioning her decision. "What if I'm only staying here for them and not for work anymore?"

Rodney looked at his best friend. "Listen here no matter what happens you are still.....my best friend. You aren't going to die. No matter what we have to do I'm not letting you die on me again." He stopped rambling and now was shocked that he had stated his feelings to Carson. I mean when Carson had died he dreamed up a memory of him and Carson and how he said he was his best friend but this was real. He was real. He got pulled back into the discussion. "Wait what things to come to term with?"

Carson glanced at him and cocked an eyebrow. "You mean besides the being a clone-replicator?"

Rodney blankly states at Carson. "Since when are you a replicator? What did I miss?"

"Apparently, Elizabeth thinks she can give me some of her nanites and they can fix the problems that I've been having thanks to Michael." Carson rubbed the back of his head as he talked...that headache was going away thankfully.

Rodney smiles. "That's great! Let's go get it done now. I'll stay with you." He can't believe that his friend would finally be okay again.

Carson looked up at Rodney in surprise. "Are you serious...you're okay with all of this?"

Rodney looked at him. "When you died I was a mess. I didn't even think I could go tell your mom Carson I want you to stay around and not die on me again. No matter what you are inside you are still my best friend." He then looked at Carson and shakes his head. "Why am I spilling my feelings to you?"

Carson smiled, "Well that certainly makes me feel better my friend...I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be for this...of course, there's still plenty of tests to run and whatnot..."

Rodney smiles. "That's why you are the doctor. I mean what how long can these tests take anyways?"

Carson grimaced..."Rodney...you of all people should know that the proper precautions need to be taken...and that simulations need to be done and perhaps a program that controls the nanites might need to written...it could take awhile."

Carson stood up and then turned slowly toward Rodney with a sly look on his face.

"Of course, Rodney...if you cared to help lift mere medicine to scientific level...I'm sure we could use help the nanites..."

Rodney nods, "Of course I will help any way I can. Are we going to start soon?"

Elizabeth smiles warmly in understanding. She leans forward in her seat, taking the young woman's hand and squeezing it gently. Unlike with Dr. Keller, whom she did not really have much of an opportunity to get to know, Elizabeth had distinct motherly feelings towards John's niece. It always pained her to see someone she loved hurting. "Harper." The girl looks up at her, "The reasons that I came here don't really matter. I'll tell you, but I think it will help you more to hear the reasons why I stayed."

Harper nods, so Elizabeth continues, "As you already know, before coming to Atlantis, I was briefly in charge of the SGC. That experience opened up possibilities for me that I had never even known existed! I had spent years dealing with different countries, but suddenly I had to deal with different worlds!" She smiles remembering, "It was all new and exciting, and once that bug had bitten me, there was no going back!" She laughs and gives Harper a mischievous look. "It's a good thing your uncle didn't hear me mention a bug....."

Elizabeth smiles at Harpers giggle, and returns to her story. "When I was offered the chance to lead the Atlantis expedition, I jumped at it! I had always been interested in the mystery of the Lost City, and Daniel Jackson got me even more interested. Long story short, I came because it was an incredibly amazing opportunity......but that is not why I stayed."

"Obviously, I had no choice but to stay for those first several months.....but once we were able to dial Earth again, I did. By that time, these people had become my family, and they needed me. I cared - and still care -very much about all of them.....even Rodney!" She winks and continues, "I'd have done anything, or given anything as long as they were all safe!" And I have! She sighs, "Those are the reasons I stayed, Harper. In fact, they're the reasons I'm here now. The fact that I'm no longer a part of Atlantis doesn't mean that I feel any differently."

Elizabeth gently squeezes the young woman's hand again, "Sweetie.....your reasons for coming here don't really matter. What matters is that you are needed here.....from what I've been told, you've made great contributions to the city!" She smiles, "These people care about you, and it's clear that you care about them too. I don't see that those feelings have affected your work....if anything, I'll bet that they have actually motivated you to do your best."

"I'd say that love for this 'family' is as good a reason as any to stay.....it almost assures that you will do all you can to keep them and this city safe." She looks over at Carson and Rodney. "Look at me and Carson......" She turns back to Harper, with sadness on her face. "Do you think that either of us would be here right now if we didn't feel that way?"

Harper smiled at Elizabeth's touch. It felt good to have a motherly figure to look up to. Elizabeth had been one of those people in her life that cared for her without any reason for doing so. "Thank you. With all the nice things you have said to me over the years this is the best and now maybe I could even bet Rodney on some work." She looked over at Rodney then back to her. "I hope to be one day like you." She hugged her and whispered into her ear. "No matter where you are or what you become you will always be like a mom to me."

Elizabeth is truly touched by Harper's words, and feels tears forming in her eyes. Since the day she had met Harper, they had seemed to have a bond. She had tried to fill the void left by the death of the young woman's mother, but she had never tried to take her place. Still, it meant so much to her to hear Harper say that she was like a mom to her - she already loved the girl like she was her own. "Thank you, Harper...that means the world to me!" She hugs her tightly, "And no matter where I am, or what I'm doing, I'll always be here for you. I mean it...you call me, and I'm here!" She pulls back and looks into Harper's face, "I love you, kiddo. Don't ever forget that."

Harper smiles and nods at Weir almost ready to cry but doesn't as she looks around the room. "I love you too." She then wipes her face and sighs now feeling calm. "Now only if this adventure could be over and we could get some time off."

Elizabeth laughs a little as she too glances around the room, "Yes, what do you think the chances are that this little 'break' will last?" She grimaces, "Knowing Atlantis, there's bound to be some kind of trouble on the horizon!"

Harper smiles, "Hopefully for awhile after we hand in our mission reports. Now I have to explain how I got on to the jumper when no one saw me."

Elizabeth looks back at Harper and quirks an eyebrow. "Yes......I'm curious about that, myself......"

Harper smiles. "It must be the Sheppard gene."

Elizabeth crosses her arms, and tries to look stern. She can see that Harper's not buying it - which could have something to do with the smile she can't seem to suppress - but she tries anyway. "Is this the same gene that manages to get you Sheppard's into all kinds of messes?"

Harper only grins as she shakes her head, "Who knows probably so."

Elizabeth grins again, "Uh huh....I'd say it's definitely so......"

As the rest of the team gathers in the infirmary, Sheppard is on the other side of Atlantis looking for Teyla. He has just left the gym and is heading toward her room. I wonder where Teyla could be. I thought for sure she would be in her room. Maybe she's in the gym. As he heads toward the stairs, Sheppard is suddenly aware of the sound of running coming towards him. As he pivots to see who it is, he hears his name being called. "That sounds like Halling"...Sheppard whispers to himself. No sooner than the words are out of his mouth than Halling rounds the corner, a frantic look on his face.

"Colonel Sheppard, I'm so glad to finally have found you!" Halling is out of breath from running down the hallways on the search for him. "Teyla, Tagan, and Netia have been taken."

Sheppard looks at Halling's disheveled appearance as he tries to catch his breath from running. He is about to ask Halling what is wrong when, amongst gasps for air, Halling tells him that Teyla, Tagan, and Netia are missing. A mixture of alarm and disbelief appear on Sheppard's face as what Halling said rings in his ears. Sheppard closes the distance between him and Halling to where they are only a foot from one another. "What do you mean Teyla, Tagan, and Netia have been taken? Who took them, Halling?"

Halling speaks with worry on his face, "Michael. He used Netia to get Teyla and Tagan while you were gone to rescue Colonel Carter. I tried to stop him but was unable to move. I would like to go on this rescue mission with you, Colonel."

Sheppard's face becomes pale as the shock of what Halling just said begins to sink in. "Michael"...Sheppard mutters. Suddenly, Sheppard remembers what Michael had said to him during the interrogation on Michael's ship. "So that's what he was talking about." He looks up at Halling who is waiting for a response. "How long have they been gone, Halling?"

Halling looks confused for a moment with his eyebrows turned downward thinking. "I'm not sure, but it has been many hours. I was with Netia this morning watching Tagan. Her face changed and she insisted that we go to Harper's room. Netia sometimes will take Tagan to play in Harper's quarters but generally only when she is there. Harper was not present and as soon as we entered I felt that something was not quite right. I ignored my apprehensive feelings and continued to talk with Netia watching her play with Tagan. Suddenly she froze and she spoke but it was not her speaking. She said, 'I will have my love for now until eternity. Bring the child to me with his mother.' When I tried to go toward Netia, I was forced to sit down. I tried to talk and move but was unable to. A few moments later, Teyla arrived speaking to both of us. At first, I was unable to respond but then I felt the force against me relax a little, but not enough for me to be able to get up. Michael took control of Netia and insisted that Teyla come with him to see her son and protect me from death. I tried to tell her not to go, but she went anyways. A door just appeared, opened, and Teyla and Netia holding Tagan stepped inside. After a few minutes, I was free and able to stand but became very disoriented and passed out. I don't know how long I was out, but as soon as I awoke I came to find you."

Sheppard's face clouds over in anger. "So that means that not only don't we know where they are, but they've had plenty of time to get there." He pauses for a second so that he can calm down and decide on the best course of action. After a moment of thoughtful silence, Sheppard shifts his eyes to meet Halling's. "Come on. We need to get to the infirmary"...Sheppard activates his earpiece radio..."Colonel Carter, this is Sheppard..." With that, Sheppard and Halling begin their trek back to the infirmary.

Sam was leaning against the wall, waiting for everyone's examinations to be done - she wanted to make sure that no one tried to sneak out of them. Knowing this group, one of them would, too! She couldn't help but smile as she looked at them all, though. They had risked their lives to save her, after all. She glances over to Elizabeth and Harper. Whatever the former leader had said to the young woman seemed to have lightened her mood. In fact, everyone's moods seemed to be lighter - it certainly was good to have Elizabeth back! She smiles, remembering how she felt when Daniel came back after he had sacrificed himself.

Carson turned toward Keller, Elizabeth and Rodney. He says, "Whenever you're ready...!

Sam's thoughts are suddenly interrupted by John contacting her on her earpiece. He sounds tense, so she is instantly on the alert, "Carter here. Is something the matter, Colonel?"

Elizabeth's grin fades as she looks around the room, and she turns to Harper, "I wonder where Teyla is? I was hoping she'd come to meet us when we arrived......" Just as she finishes saying this, she notices that Carter is speaking into her earpiece. Concern floods through her as sees the tense expression on the Colonel's face. I knew this "break" wouldn't last!

Harper glanced over at Sam then back to Elizabeth. "Oh no what's wrong now?"

Elizabeth had walked over towards Sam to see what was making her so tense, but stopped when she heard Carson speak. She turns towards him, surprised that he has made his decision so quickly. "What? Are you sure Carson?"

Sheppard, who is now running down the hall with Halling close behind, hears Carter's response. "I'll say something's wrong...Teyla's gone missing!" There is a stunned silence as Sheppard lets what he has just said sink in. "Halling was with her before and we are on our way to the infirmary so he can explain what happened. We should be there in about 4 minutes."

Rodney helped the others get ready for the nanites to go into Carson's body. He had got some test done on how fast Carson would be able to heal. "Ok I figured out that you should be able to heal as fast as like around 10 minutes."

Carson was getting the nanites she stood there with Rodney trying to program them for Carson. Both of them working it would probably take all of an hour to get them ready.
" Rodney this part isn't compatible. We need to change the stream of electrical flow."

Rodney looked at Keller. "Come on if we do that then the flow could change his blood stream!" He sated looking at the computer and stopped what he was doing. "Um I guess we could if we had taken some blood out of him than the impact would be stable."

Keller stood there holding the syringe that would change everything in her hand. "Are you sure?" His head nodded as she did it. Nanites now cursed through Carson's body. "Ok we'll wait a couple of minutes then take more blood so we know they're working.

Sam cannot believe what Sheppard has just told her. Michael has Teyla? How? She replies into her earpiece, "Understood. See you when you get here." She looks up and sees Elizabeth walking towards her. She always did seem to have a sixth sense about these things. She glances past her, and notices that Carson, Dr. Keller, and Rodney were all heading towards the lab portion of the infirmary - each one of them with serious expressions on their faces. Carson must have chosen to receive the nanites. Her relief is brief, however - the unknown fate of Teyla pushing it all away.

Elizabeth was now sure that something was definitely wrong. She hadn't had the chance to get to know Sam super well, but that didn't matter - the leader's expression spoke volumes. She reaches Sam, and cannot help but feel as tense as the woman looks. "What's wrong, Colonel?"

Sam looks at her, then begins to reply in a low voice, "Colonel Sheppard just contacted me......Teyla is missing."

Elizabeth is stunned...she was hoping that Teyla had just been delayed by taking care of her son. "What? How? When?"

Carter shakes her head a little, "I don't know, Elizabeth. Col. Sheppard is on his way here now, with Halling. He said he'd explain when they got here." She sighs, "He should be here soon....."

Elizabeth nods, all the lightness of before gone. It has to be Michael! He must have this planned it all from the start! She crosses her arms, her face hard and angry. "You know that Michael has to be responsible for this....."

Sam nods, her expression a mirror of Elizabeth's. "Yes." She glances around the room, then back to the former leader, "And he will pay for it."

Harper goes sits beside Ronon while Sam and Elizabeth start talking. "So you ok?"

Ronon looks up at Harper as she sits on the gurney across from him. "Yep. You?"

Harper smiled as she touched her arm where the blood was taken from. "Ok just Keller poke the heck out of me. She was the one asking questions I just gave her what she wanted."

A smile spreads across Ronon's face. "I noticed. She'll be having nightmares for a week."

Harper smirked at Ronon. "She is the one who asked all I did was tell the truth."

The smile on Ronon's face gets a little bigger. "I know. Could tell by the look on her face."

Harper smiled and brought up her legs to her chest. "So um this is weird." She looks around seeing the others going on about whatever they were doing. "We don't have to hide anymore."

Ronon follows Harper's eyes around the room and takes a deep breath. "Yeah. It's going to be different."

Harper thinks of the word different. Either it would break them or make them. She looks at Ronon and smiles. "I guess so."

Ronon gazes at Harper. He doesn't want things to change but he knows that it is likely. "Um...Keller was asking where Sheppard was. Do you know?"

Harper smiled at Ronon. "Well let's see when your Uncle is in the air force and not allowed to tell you where he is. He doesn't really tell you much." She rolls her eyes. "He's looking for Teyla last time I checked."

Ronon rolls his eyes at Harper's response. He then glances back at Harper with a look of surprise on his face. "Shouldn't Teyla be in the control room?"

Harper looks at Ronon. "When you have a baby you are always running around."

Ronon shrugs as he says..."I wouldn't know. Never had one." The two are silent for a moment as each gets lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Ronon sits up and gets off of the gurney. "Maybe I should go look for them."

Harper sighs, "Always the hero. Go on hot shot. Have fun." She smiles as she motions him to go away.

Ronon stares down at Harper and smiles. "I always do." With that, he turns to walk out of the infirmary. Before he can get half way across the infirmary, he hears Colonel Carter call his name.

Carter saw Ronon heading out of the infirmary. "Ronon." She wanted him to be here when John arrived, so she felt she should stop him from leaving. He stops, then turns and walks over to her. "Sorry, but we have kind of a situation right now, and I'd like you to be here when John gets here." She pauses, but then decides that he should know. "He contacted me just a few minutes ago.........Teyla is missing."

Ronon looks shocked at Colonel Carter's revelation. "What? How long?"

Sam looks at Elizabeth, then back at Ronon. "I'm sorry, Ronon. I don't know...we'll just have to wait until Sheppard and Halling get here."

Ronon shifts his eyes from Sam to Elizabeth and then slowly brings them to rest back on Sam. A look of anxiety plays across his face....Hurry up Sheppard. Get in here already.

As they walk swiftly to the infirmary to discuss their new predicament, Halling begins, "Colonel, I would like to accompany you to rescue Teyla. I feel that her capture is my fault. I should have never let Michael take her!"

Sheppard glances at Halling out of the corner of his eye. "It's not your fault Halling. I should've figured this all of this out earlier." For a moment, Sheppard becomes engulfed in his own thoughts. Suddenly, Sheppard realizes that Halling is looking expectantly at him. "Sorry Halling, but I don't think that Colonel Carter will let you go. We might get into some trouble." As his thoughts drift back to Teyla, he begins to speed up the pace. We have to hurry. I can't let anything happen to her.

Halling says, "I'm aware of the risks, Colonel. I have known Teyla all her life, so she is very precious in my eyes. I want to help in any way possible. Please...Colonel." Halling's eyes show desperation waiting for John's response.

Sheppard sees the desperation in Halling's eyes. "I know how you feel Halling but I can't take the risk. The best way for you to help is to stay here." He pauses to catch his breath and their eyes meet. "I'll bring her home.....trust me."

Halling blows out air in frustration then continues, "Very well, Colonel. Bring her home safely. Promise me that you will kill Michael so he can never go after Teyla again." Both walk swiftly as Halling continues looking at Sheppard for reassurance.

Sheppard's jaw becomes tight and his face determined as he says..."Don't worry, I'll bring her home safely and I'll kill Michael if it's the last thing I do."

"Thank you, Colonel," He pauses for a moment before continuing, "What would you like me to do while you are gone to rescue her?"

Sheppard looks at Halling, unsure of how to answer that question. "Um..." He pauses trying to think of what Halling can do to kill time. "Maybe you can do an Athosian ritual for good luck. I have a feeling we might need it."

Halling nods his head, "Very well, Colonel." Both men continue quickly to inform the others waiting in the infirmary.

Harper sat there listening to what Sam had said about Teyla. She couldn't believe that Michael had a plan that actually worked. She got up and walked over to the group and waited.

Lorne walked over to the group putting his armor back on knowing that they would be going after Michael.

Rodney looked at Keller and smiled hoping that his would work and help Carson.

Carson blinked and waited.

"Well...I do feel a little different...but that might have something more to do with my lunch..."

A few tense moments passed. Finally Carson stood up.

"No nausea...no dizziness...no extreme weariness...I think I'm okay!!"

Rodney smiled and hugged this friend. "That's great!"

Keller gave a weary smile. Yeah, great. She just hoped nothing went wrong. "Now don't go running any marathons but you can walk around if you'd like just contact me if you feel weird." She pulled out the last bit of blood for now. "I mean it Carson doctors make the worst patients especially you."

Meanwhile…As Michael walks away, Teyla desperately tries to connect to Netia. "I'm fine, Teyla," Netia says as she crawls to the cell and turns over to lie her back against it. Netia chuckles as she recalls a past memory.

"Remember when we were little, and we ventured off into the woods at night against our parents' wishes?" Netia looks at Teyla as she gives her a slight nod. "As we walked across the river bank I slipped and fell into the rough current and was screaming for you to help me." The two women laughed at the memory.

Teyla smiles at Netia remembering back when they both were young girls. Clutching Tagan close to her body, she looks at Netia and says, "And instead of me being able to rescue you, you dragged me into the river with you. Luckily...." She pauses for a moment as tears start to form in her eyes. She continues, "My father rescued us...Oh, I wish he was still here."

"We've lost the most important people in other lives, but we've been close always," Netia said as she started to softly cry. The woman sat in silence for a long time, listening to the shuffles of footsteps.

Looking down at Tagan, she smiles thinking back when Netia first held her son. "Do you remember when youn first held Tagan a few days after he was born?"

"Yes! I was afraid that I was going to break him. He just looked so fragile," she sighed. Netia smiled at Teyla, but suddenly looked around. "Do you here that?"

Teyla smiled at the memory and said, "Now, you won't put him down for a minute." Teyla heard the noise and looked at Netia, "I don't know...maybe it's the team coming to rescue us."

TO BE CONTINUED….