"This is a joke, right?" Bellamy asked as he flipped through the packet Kane had handed him.

"Not at all, Major. I thought you wanted to lead your own mission."

"I did - I do. But General, sir, this is a babysitting job. It's all scientists. Besides me, Miller's the only one that has any off-world combat experience."

"It's an uninhabited planet, we're not expecting there to be any combat."

"If it's an uninhabited planet then why do we need an archaeologist?"

"It's uninhabited now, but since there's a stargate that means there used to be a civilization; and since it's not a planet known to the Goa'uld-"

"You're hoping it's Ancient. Okay, well what about my sister?"

"I thought you'd be grateful that you'd be with her on her first off-world mission."

Bellamy didn't respond so Kane continued.

"This is a big responsibility, Major Blake. I don't think I need to stress to you the threat this country is facing right now. No, there's not going to be any combat, but I'm putting you in charge of a team scouting for a new Beta site. This is not something I take lightly but I believe you're the best man for the job. Prove me right."

It might have sounded like a compliment, but Bellamy took it for what it was. It was a challenge and Kane was manipulating him knowing Bellamy wouldn't walk away from a challenge.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Briefing's in a half hour. You're dismissed."

Two scientists, his baby sister and the president's son. Not exactly the team he was hoping for.

"Man, what did you do to piss off Kane? Besides me, this is the worst team that could ever happen to you," Miller said after they left the conference room.

The briefing had been exactly what Bellamy had expected it to be. A lot of science, most of which he didn't completely understand, and very little actual strategy. The entire mission was about Monty, Jasper and Jaha collecting as much information on the planet as they could while he, Miller and Octavia were there to make sure that they don't get themselves killed.

"Something terrible apparently."

They walked down the corridor to the infirmary for their last minute check up before they go off-world.

He and Miller split up as they each found an open cot to sprawl out on while they waited their turn.

"Doctor Jackson, huh?" He heard Jasper said across the room.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and, by his tone, he was willing to bet that Jackson had done the same thing.

"I've heard every joke a thousand times."

A blonde blur distracted him from Jasper's obvious attempt at self-control to not tell the same thousand jokes.

"Doctor Griffin," he said as a greeting.

"Major Blake," Clarke said, professional as ever. "All your bloodwork looks fine, so I'm just going to inoculate you and then you're clear for off-world duty."

"Thanks I -" he felt a quick swipe of a cotton ball on his arm right before a sharp stab. "Goddammit!"

"Sorry, forgot to warn you." Never mind about professionalism then.

With a small - and completely fake as hell - apologetic smile, Clarke moved on to her next patient.

Bellamy ran into Wells Jaha on his way out.

"I just wanted to say thanks for, you know, letting me on your team," Wells said.

"Don't. It was Kane's decision, I didn't have any say in the matter."

Bellamy didn't even try to keep the malice from his voice. Wells was everything Bellamy resented; privileged and rich, well-meaninged but completely ignorant. Then there was his father. Thelonious Jaha represented everything that was wrong with the world. His rise to power was built with policies that made it all but impossible for families like Bellamy's to survive.

An awkward silence followed, ending only when Wells just nodded and walked into the infirmary.

Bellamy didn't turn around until he watched Clarke greet Wells with a smile and a hug.

What Bellamy hated most about Wells Jaha was that he was jealous of him.

"So, if DHD literally stand for Dial Home Device, what does GDO stand for?" Octavia asked as she walked over to Bellamy as they waited in the Gate Room

"Garage Door Opener."

"Seriously?"

"You press the button, it opens the iris so you can get through the gate. It was the 20th century, what do you expect?"

"A little more imagination."

Bellamy laughed, "You ready for this?"

"Are you kidding me? This is the whole reason I enlisted."

"Chevron seven locked," a voice boomed over the intercom from the control room as the stargate whooshed. "Wormhole engaged."

Octavia's stance went rigid with anxiety as she watched the other members of the team step through the gate.

"Why do I have to wear this helmet?" Octavia asked, tightening the strap under her chin.

"To keep you from cracking your skull."

"Why don't you have to wear a helmet?"

"Because I'm a pro. Now, after you."

He nudged her shoulder until she was standing on the platform. Octavia looked back at him, smiling, right before stepping through the wormhole.

Bellamy waited to follow her, going through his mental checklist one last time, before giving a wave to the control center and walking through the gate.

Bellamy exited the wormhole, the stargate closing behind him, to find Octavia sitting on the ground, looking pale and nauseous.

"Is it always like that?" she asked.

He patted her back and helped her up.

"You get used to it."

"Uh, Bellamy," Miller called out. He was standing next to the DHD with Jasper and Monty. None of them looked very happy. "You're gonna wanna see this."

Bellamy made his way over to them and what he saw made his stomach drop. The DHD was smashed and the control crystals were missing.

"I thought the MALP showed the DHD and it looked fine."

"It did. This must have happened between then and now."

"So, this happened within the hour. That means whoever did this should still be nearby." Bellamy turned to Monty. "Can we dial out at all?"

"Not without the control crystals."

"How is it that in a hundred years we haven't been able to find a way to fix a problem like this?"

"One: we were kinda you know fighting a lot of different aliens who were trying to destroy earth and two: this is Ancient technology. It's kinda hard to improve technology that we're just now starting to actually understand!"

"Which begs the question why they couldn't fix it."

"They probably could, but we don't really have the ability to access any of their super Ancient knowledge."

"Okay," Bellamy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Let's split up and search the perimeter, look for the crystals or find whatever son of a bitch did this."

Going against his instincts, Bellamy teamed up with Jasper and had Wells go with Octavia. Monty and Miller were staying behind, ordered to try and do whatever they could to fix the DHD while waiting for the SGC to check in.

Miller turned back to the gate after watching the rest of the team disappear into the forest.

"Alright, what's the plan Doctor Green?"

"I don't know yet. And please, call me Monty. Doctor Green makes me sound like a murder suspect in Clue."

"Alright, what's the plan Monty?" Miller smirked at him.

"No idea. I'm running a diagnostic but I'm pretty sure the results are just gonna be 'needs a power source,' which we already know."

"So basically the plan is to wait? Great." Miller pulled a deck of cards out of a pocket on his vest. "You know how to play rummy?"

"So, obviously we're not alone here," Jasper said.

"Obviously." Bellamy was not as excited as Jasper was at this revelation. In fact, he wasn't excited at all.

"You know who I hope it is? Furlings. How cool would that be?"

"What the hell are Furlings?"

"What? Are you kidding me? Furlings are one of the Four Great Races. The Ancients, the Asgard, the Nox; we've met all of them. The Furlings are still - a hundred years and three galaxies later - a complete mystery to us. Never met 'em, never even encountered any ruins. So, here we are on this planet that's supposed to be completely abandoned, that was only known by the Ancients, and now has some sort of mysterious DHD-sabotaging inhabitants. I mean come on, it has to be them."

"I think that's a bit of a stretch. Besides, aren't you a geologist? Shouldn't it be Jaha nerding out about Furlings and you nerding out about some kinda super special rock or whatever."

"Hey, just because I'm a geologist does not mean that I can't get excited over the possibility of meeting an ancient, super intelligent alien race that no one has had any contact with in, like, a millennia."

"It's not like anyone really needs an archaeologist on missions anyway."

"Hey, don't diss archaeology. If I wasn't so bored by history I would totally be an archaeologist. Indiana Jones is basically my hero. Also, need I remind you that the SGC wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for an archaeologist?"

"Yeah and didn't he die about a hundred times?"

"It wasn't a hundred. And at least half of those times were mistakes or false reports. And one of them was actually a robot! But, no, yeah, I see your point."

Bellamy was just about to give Jasper shit for saying history was boring when he spent his time staring at rocks when he heard a series of gunshots and then Octavia screamed. As he was trying to figure out which direction they were when he heard something crash into the bushes behind him. He turned around to find Jasper on the ground, his eyes were wide open and a spear was sticking out of his chest.