*"Home sweet home!"

Kait took in a deep breath of air as she stepped out of the event horizon and back on the floors of Atlantis. Directly behind her was her ever-grumpy husband.

"Did we have to bring all of this back with us?" Rodney huffed, lugging two suitcases on wheels behind him. Kait raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms and dropping the large duffel bag to the floor.

"Dude… they're on wheels. You're not dying. I hoofed it with mine."

He glared and stretched. "It's heavier than it looks! And I have a bad back."

"You didn't have a bad back a few days ago on the kitchen counter…" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, making him straighten and give her a look.

"Well… that's different."

She rolled her eyes and smiled as Elizabeth came down to meet them, John at her heels.

"Rodney, Kait, it's good to have you back!" she smiled, warmly hugging both. "We never got a chance to tell you how wonderful the ceremony was!"

Rodney wrapped his arm around Kait's waist and shrugged. "Well, thank you. I wasn't thrilled with the dessert selection, but it was great otherwise… who even thought of having lemon squares there anyhow?" he said, making a face. Kait chuckled.

"We're just glad to be back. General O'Neill said you had a mission starting, but you needed someone to go to the planet's surface."

Elizabeth nodded. "That's right, although SGC is a bit behind. Let's walk and talk, Zelenka can get you up to date on the science staff's findings from the last few days as well. Leave your things, someone will take them to your new quarters in a few minutes." She said, motioning Zelenka to come down as they began walking up the stairs, leaving their bags behind for now.

Zelenka warmly hugged Kait, then shook Rodney's hand. "Congratulations. I had not had a chance to tell you that before, you left for your honeymoon before I could stop you. How was Hawaii anyhow?"

"Ah, there's no place like home." Kait grinned. "I got a tan, so that was nice. Every time I tried to tan on this planet with any kind of oil, I got burned in minutes. It was horrible. It was nice being on Earth for a little while… it's the simple things."

John grinned and grabbed her hair, pulling it back to reveal round bruises on her neck. "No tan lines and bruises all over… why Mrs. McKay, I do believe those are hickeys. Did you two ever leave your hotel room?"

"What hotel room? We rented a private house." Rodney said, shooting a smug look at Sheppard before kissing Kait's head softly. "And to answer your question… no, we really didn't."

They entered the briefing room, and took their seats. "Ok, people. As glad as we are to have you two home, we'll ask how your trip was later on. Right now, we need to show you what we've found so far."

Zelenka stood, and handed them two tablet computers, as they began to flick through the information on there.

"Why aren't you explaining?" Sheppard glanced at Zelenka.

"Eh, it's a better idea if they read it for themselves." He shrugged.

After a few moments, Rodney sat up straight. "You discovered another race? Similar to the Asgards?"

Elizabeth nodded. "We believe so. We've yet to find an actual living being, but we're pretty sure we have found their civilization, or what was once their civilization."

Kait glanced above her tablet's top. "So… who's going?" she asked, peeking above the tablet.

"Well, whoever asks first, but-"

"DIBS!" Kait said, bounding up and grinning. Elizabeth chuckled, as Rodney glowered.

"Oh that's not fair… just because we're married doesn't mean you get to be sneaky like that…" he grumbled.

"Relax. I was thinking both of you could check it out." Elizabeth smiled. "It's just a scouting trip. Nothing should happen."

"Elizabeth, you said that about Sokra too. And about M67-O90. And the planet where we were all trapped in a cave for days… in fact you always say that." Rodney said, as he stood up.

"Okay, I get it. Well this time we pre-scouted it out, it is abandoned." Elizabeth shook her head, as they all left the room. "Go get ready. Meet up at the gate in about 30 minutes. I'm sure your gear from Atlantis is right where you left it." She said, as Kait nodded.

"As long as no one rearranged my drawers, we're kosher. Where's our new room?"

"Well, as you're the first couple to marry in the city and NEED a dual living space, you got the first of the apartment-type rooms in the third spire. It cleaned up nicely, if I do say so. You can take one of the transporters to get there. It's the only room that's active, so you'll find it easily. Third floor in the spire." Elizabeth said, as Rodney nodded.

"Alright. We'll be back in 30."

As he and Kait headed for the transporter, and entered as they arrived, Kait grinned. "Too bad this thing isn't an actual elevator. Coulda' had some fun."

He snorted and shook his head as the doors shut, then reopened in a whole new part of the city-ship, one that was previously used for storage. It had been cleaned out and was not actually rather nice. They headed to the only active access panel, and Rodney waved a hand in front of it. The doors slid open, and Kait grinned as she took in the room… if you could call it a room. It was more like a condo, to be honest. Large living space, a dining space, large bathroom, a large bedroom, and a spare room… you'd pay top dollar for a place like this back home.

"Remind me that I owe Elizabeth a huge favor…" Rodney said, heading into the bedroom, and going through the drawers to find his clothing. Kait followed, and opened the closet, finding their uniforms and black under shirts all neatly hung up.

"Found them." She said, grabbing a set of her clothes down and stripping her civilian gear. She looked up as she finished removing her t-shirt to see Rodney staring at her appreciatively. "Don't you need to get dressed too?" she asked, smirking.

"Eh, I do, but we have a few minutes…" he said, trailing his eyes down her bare legs and torso before trailing his hand down her arm.

She smiled. "Yeah, we do. But I know you… and you don't take a few minutes. Besides… anticipation can be a thrilling aphrodisiac." she smirked, pulling her undershirt on and walking off, stopping to pull on her pants and continuing to the spare room to find her gear.

He smirked back, and quickly changed his clothing as well, before following her to get his own gear. She had pulled his own pack out and packed his things in the few moments she had been in the room, so he pulled it on. "Thanks, I was just coming in here to do that."

"Eh, I was already here. No big deal." She said, as she hefted her own pack on. He helped her steady it as she snapped it to her waist. He turned her around and wrapped his arms around her waist, their foreheads touching.

"Are you happy to be back?" he asked her, "If you had wanted to stay… I'd have stayed." He said, as she grinned and nodded.

"Rodney McKay, you know I wouldn't trade my time on Atlantis for anything… well… almost anything." She said, leaning up and pulling his face down gently to kiss him, before pulling back and smiling. It reminded her of their reception, in the ballroom on Atlantis that they had managed to uncover in the fourth spire. They had put that and the auditorium area to good use that day… That whole spire seemed like it was made for orchestras, plays, and entertaining dignitaries, and it had been lovely.

It was one of the few times she had gotten him to dance with her. She had changed into her reception dress, white, hitting her knees, slightly fluffy, her shoulders bare. Someone had gotten a new song to play, pop-sounding and bouncy, and he had actually danced and jumped around with her to the song, smirking his ever present cocky smirk as she laughed.

What he hadn't told her was that seeing her smile was what was making him smirk… because he enjoyed watching her laugh. Every song change, he had loved watching her change her moves to match. It wasn't the only thing she was good at when it came to changing the moves mid-tempo.

And with every slow dance, his face had changed, he had pulled her to him, pressed his forehead to hers, and just smiled at her as they danced.

It had been a side of Rodney that he hadn't shared, because no one had ever bothered to learn he had that in him.

His sister had even come to the wedding and reception, as did his niece and brother in law. He had made sure that he brought as many people as he could to try and make up for her family not being able to come due to security reasons… so he had even asked Daniel Jackson and the rest of SG-1, knowing that they had a history.

And all in all, it had been a day that he'd never forget.

And now, his forehead against hers, he was brought back to that moment along with her, grinning lightly at her. "This is our home." He said, as she nodded.

"Yep. Home feels like a vacation now… this feels like home now. Being here, on Atlantis… with you… with the rest of our family… this is home." She said, as she looked up at the clock in the room and blinked.

"Oh crap. We need to go, now." She said, as she pointed out the time to him. He swore lightly and straightened his pack, as they headed out of the room and back to the transporter. They were quickly back to the gate room, heading to the gate right as they had begun to dial out.

"Well geeze, you could have waited." Rodney said, as Kait watched the sigils as they lit up on the gate. As the gate flared to life, they all stepped down. She absentmindedly took his hand as they stepped into the event horizon, and as usual, the pull felt like falling through a roller coaster as she stepped through to the other side.

She shivered as they arrived and stepped in snow. "Could have warned us that it was Antarctica here…" Kait said as Sheppard and Teyla looked confused. Ronon spoke up.

"It wasn't…"

Her face became confused as she pulled out her tablet and crinkled her forehead. "The last time you were here it was pretty… mild? Like, warmer than Frosty's snowballs at least?" she asked, as Rodney and Sheppard snorted.

"Yes, it was. In fact… look… the trees still have their leaves." Teyla said, pointing to the nearest trees, which did in fact have full plumage.

They headed into the ruins of the city, making their way into the epicenter, where they had made a discovery about some runes and strange stones.

"Ok, so who found these stones?" Rodney asked as they walked, the city itself being strangely warmer despite the snow.

"Ronon and I did. I did not remove any; I wanted to wait for you to maybe see what you could make of them…" Teyla said, as he nodded.

They found the stones in the center of the city, and all of them walked forward as Rodney and Kait began to get power readings. Teyla removed the top to the case, and a light flared into the room. 6 gemstones began to glow and emit power readings that were off the charts. They all stepped back, as Teyla raised her weapon slightly.

"They did NOT do this before!" she said, as Kait clicked away on her tablet.

"These power readings are incredible, but so unstable… you can feel the power they're letting off…" she murmured, as Rodney moved closer to the box. As he did, the gems began to tremble, making him stop in his tracks.

"Back off, Rodney, you're setting them off!" Sheppard said, as Rodney backed up. Kait blinked, then stepped forward, causing the gems to shake. She backed up.

"Sheppard… walk closer." She said, as he shot her a look, then he did as she asked. The gems shook again, and he backed up quickly.

"Ronon… you go. Try and get the lid on." Rodney said, finally understanding what was happening. Ronon stepped forward, waiting for the gems to shake, but they simply continued to glow. He quickly put the cover back on the case, and the power levels vanished.

"It's the ATA gene." Kait said quietly, as Sheppard looked at her.

"Come again?"

Rodney looked at him. "The gems, they reacted to those of us with the ATA gene, whether naturally like you and Kait, or artificially like mine. If Carson was here he would have set them off too." He said, as Kait nodded.

"Ok, so what does that mean?"

"Oh do I look like I know? We've been here for all of 30 minutes… and seen those crazy gems for all of 2 minutes. I have no idea why our ATA gene is setting them off." Rodney said, rolling his eyes and getting back to his keyboard. He went over the power readings, blinking. "I can tell you this… I've never read energy readings like this… not even from a ZedPM…" he said, as Kait blinked.

"Seriously? More powerful than a ZPM?" she asked, as he nodded.

"Oh WAY more powerful… by about 3 times the power output of a ZedPM more powerful." Rodney said, making her blink then move to his tablet to check his readings.

"Holy shit, I think you're right… damn!" she said, flabbergasted.

"Ok, well… I think we need to head back…" Sheppard said cautiously, making both Rodney and Kait blink and shake their heads.

"No way." Rodney said, as Kait nodded.

"This is the worst timing to pull us." Kait said, as she went over her data. "Leave us here or something, but if we can find the other source of power here…" she trailed off, as Rodney spoke up.

"We may be able to finally defeat the Wraith once and for all." Rodney said, as Sheppard sighed.

"Ok, so what do you want me to tell Elizabeth?"

Rodney shrugged. "Ask her to get as much info from the Asgardians about this race as she can… and tell her to put in a call to another Ancient tech specialist… his name is Nicholas Rush. He already works for the SG:C, you just need to get him to Atlantis." He said, as Sheppard nodded.

"Ok, well I'm leaving Teyla with you. I refuse to leave you two alone here." He said, as Kait nodded.

"That's fine, John, just go get us more info. Maybe you could convince Hermiod to come tell us something about these people." She said, as she smirked and began to walk off, Rodney right there with her, using their tablets to find the other source of power.

"Teyla… stay with those two." Sheppard said, as she nodded.

"Of course, John." Teyla said, before following Rodney and Kait. Sheppard motioned for Ronon to follow him, and they headed back for the gate.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE** WE ARE BACK! WELL, I'M BACK I SHOULD SAY. BACK TO THE ADVENTURES OF ATLANTIS AND SG-1, AND BRINGING IN A CHARACTER FROM UNIVERSE AS WELL BECAUSE HE'S THE ONLY SALVAGEABLE CHARACTER FROM UNIVERSE IN MY OPINION. PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU FEEL SO INCLINED TO DO SO! THIS IS GOING TO BE PART OF THE 'HIS CONUNDRUM' SERIES. :) ENJOY!**