So formatting is still hard for me so I'm hoping this one looks a little better than the last one! Eek! Hope you enjoy!


"I'm really relieved you both joined me," she confessed as the three of them sat down at a table together. "I kind of felt like I was back in high school again and didn't know who to sit with," she smiled sheepishly.

"Well, we always like to get to know the new recruits," McKay said shortly, "And by recruits, I mean scientists or other scholars. Not air force. Or marines. I don't care much for military," he babbled, frowning. "Sheppard, Ronon," he nodded to two men she had noticed when she stepped through the Stargate. One of the men was about six feet tall with dark, rumpled hair and blue eyes. She could tell he was clearly military from the blue uniform he wore. The other man was taller still with darker skin, long dreadlocks, deep-set hazel eyes and wore a scowl on his bearded face. He looked to be several years younger than the other man. He was also dressed unlike anyone else she had seen, confusing her as to his exact role on base. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but he made her uneasy. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Hi Rodney," the first man chirped, raising his chin to him.

"McKay," the other one said in a low voice that seemed to reverberate in Emma's chest.

They continued on their way and Emma followed them curiously with her eyes for a few moments longer. She quickly tore her gaze away when the one called Ronon turned around.

"Peanut butter and jelly?" she heard Zelenka ask.

"Hm?" she responded. "Oh...this," she blushed, looking down at the sandwich in her hands. "Well," she started, "as a linguist, I travel a lot and so I've gotten food poisoning enough times to know that I have to ease myself into new cuisines," she explained.

"Meatless Mondays here can be pretty suspicious," Zelenka conceded.

"But a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" McKay asked, "Honestly, how old are you?" he only half teased.

"Twenty four," she answered quickly, "No twenty five," she laughed, correcting herself and pointing in the air, "My birthday was about a week ago. Some birthday present, huh?" she scoffed, looking around at her unbelievable surroundings.

"I wish I still could afford to forget how old I am," Zelenka muttered to himself.

"I wish I was young enough to afford to eat whatever I wanted," McKay mused, looking over incredulously at the man called Ronon's tray, filled to the brim with food.

"You do," Zelenka supplied simply, looking at McKay who opened his mouth to argue.

"So I hear you know my friend Dr. Jackson?" McKay mentioned, changing the subject.

"Yes," she nodded happily, eyebrows raised, "I was his fact checker more than anything, but we did do a few joint projects together. He's an amazing guy, an amazing linguist," she said, shaking her head, "I was super fortunate to have him as my first boss out of grad school. I knew he and Colonel Carter were close; that may or may not be how I got this job," she muttered under her breath, "but…I was unaware you two were friends," she said, cocking her head.

"Yes, well, Dr. Jackson and I – Danny and I," McKay began, then rattled off some excuse as to why Dr. Jackson perhaps hadn't mentioned him. But Emma was distracted; Zelenka was looking at her and shaking his head, rolling his eyes. Emma stifled a laugh into her bottle of water.


With Zelenka and McKay at her side, she cautiously made her way into the briefing room. It was too small for the amount of people it needed to accommodate who were all seated around the large conference table, elbows touching. Multiple languages bounced off the walls. Some were dressed in military gear, others were just civilian scientists. She guessed that the few others, not dressed in any one specific fashion were, for lack of another word, aliens. There weren't any three seats next to each other, so she found a seat with the other newcomers. Like a panther, the man with the dreadlocks slinked into the room along with his friend, the man with messy brown hair, and took a seat next to McKay and a regal looking woman with shoulder length brown hair.

Col. Carter stood up from the front of the room to speak. The room fell silent. "Good afternoon. You all have been called here to meet our new team of scientists," she began, "The reason I feel you should know them is because many of them will be assigned to your SG teams." Those who weren't new to Atlantis started to survey those who were. "Each one of them will introduce themselves, their specialties and anything else they feel you should know."

Each new scientist introduced him- or herself until it was finally Emma's turn. She felt the familiar stomach pangs of public speaking nerves as she stood up. "Hello," she smiled kindly, "I'm Emma Rogers," she began looking around the room, "Doctor…Emma Rogers," she repeated, still unfamiliar with her new title, "I am originally from outside of San Antonio, Texas…if that means anything to you," she caught a glimpse of the man named Ronon, "I got my undergraduate degree in Modern Languages from MIT, then took a gap year in Santiago, Chile where I taught English, then received my PhD in Linguistics a few months ago from Oxford University. Since then, I have been doing translating and decoding work under Dr. Daniel Jackson's supervision at Stargate Command. I speak 16 modern languages fluently and am conversational in two others. I am well versed in Ancient and some of its various derivatives, and in written Wraith, which I have studied most as of late with Dr. Jackson," she stated confidently, "What else?" she whispered to herself, feeling nervous again, "I'm…a Leo, I used to barrel race...and I enjoy long walks on the beach," she added at the end, laughing.

Many of the others in the room laughed too. She felt the knot in her stomach ease up. Col. Carter spoke up again. "Dr. Rogers will not be assigned to any team for the time being and will be conducting research on the Wraith database in the linguistics lab." Emma smiled and sat back down, then looked back at her manila folder. "Oh," Carter uttered again. Emma looked up at her again, not sure what else she was going to say. "I believe that Dr. Rogers is also the youngest non-military member of our expedition now," she smirked genially. Emma blushed.


The meeting adjourned with Carter's final words. "Now, you all have today off to get settled into your quarters and to explore the city if you so desire, but I expect to see you all working hard tomorrow. Please don't hesitate to come to me with any questions or problems," she finished. She hung back in her seat, chatting with a few scientists, old and new, while everyone else slowly filtered out. Emma caught up with McKay and Zelenka and hoped they didn't mind that she was bothering them again. "I'm sorry, but where's the gym?" she asked, "I was thinking of going for a run."

"Does it look like McKay knows where the gym is?" the handsome military man with the messy hair interjected. "Doctor," he nodded to her.

She winced. "Oh please, it's Emma," she spat out quickly, "I'm not used to the title yet." She turned her head as she caught the eye of a young marine in her peripheral vision looking her up and down as he exited the room. She felt her stomach plummet.

"Why not?" he asked. She turned her attention back to him. "You earned it," he said smoothly.

McKay rolled his eyes. "Emma, this is Captain Kirk, Captain Kirk, Emma," he gestured loosely.

Emma laughed at the reference and took his outstretched hand. He was innocent enough.

"Colonel John Sheppard," he smiled.

"It's nice to meet you," she smiled back. "So…the gym?" she pressed on.

"It's in the east wing of the city," he explained, "Find a transporter and all of the maps are oriented to the north. Touch the east quadrant and you should be able to find it from there," he finished.

"Thanks. I'd better get going, then," she said, gesturing with her thumb over her shoulder, "It'll take me at least an hour to find," she joked, touching McKay's arm as she walked past them all. "See you later," she waved with a smile, leaving the room. By now, she knew how to get to her quarters without getting lost and she headed down the second corridor she passed.

"Captain Kirk?" Sheppard asked in a raised voice, "I was just being friendly!" he said innocently.

"I'm sorry but your friendly and flirting are very hard to distinguish from one another," McKay quickly said defensively.

"That is what makes it so effective," Teyla interrupted in a low voice with a smirk as she and Ronon passed by them.

Sheppard shrugged looking satisfied and followed them.

"Oh please," McKay groaned to himself, rolling his eyes again.


She ran her hand over the control crystals and her door slid open. The room smelled like salt water and it made her smile. With a sigh, she realized that before she could do anything else, she had to finish unpacking. She began with putting the remainder of her books in her bookshelf. A note on yellow parchment fluttered to the ground with her name on the front. It was in Dr. Jackson's spidery handwriting. Curious, she picked it up and opened it.

Emma –

I want to let you know what a pleasure it was working with you, however briefly, this past summer. If ever you need anything later in your professional career, please don't hesitate to contact me…provided I'm in the galaxy (or even the Pegasus galaxy). You are the brightest young woman I know and you will go much farther than I have in your promising future. I'm incredibly happy that you have taken this opportunity that has been presented to you in Atlantis as I always wished I could have gone. Know that nothing like this will be available for you again, so enjoy it! (But work hard too…)
Best wishes,
Daniel Jackson
PS Please tell Sam that I say hello and miss her terribly.

She smiled as she read the note from her mentor; she owed this entire experience to him and his connections. She gently placed the note on her desk. She turned around, hands on her hips and braved her duffel bag. She hung up all of her clothes, unpacked a few novels that she had brought for pleasure reading, and found more photographs, these without frames. After a brief search, she found some tape in her desk and affixed them to the wall above her shelf of framed pictures. She held the last photograph in her hand for a full minute staring down at it, her heart hurting. A newborn Allie was asleep in the arms of her mother in the hospital bed. Slowly, she taped this photo to the wall, too. There was one more picture that she chose to put in her desk drawer instead of on the wall, as it didn't fit with the rest. She turned around, and slid her duffel under her bed, then changed into a set of workout clothes. As she sat on her bed with her laptop creating a new workout playlist, she tied her shoes on and waited for her iPod to update the new songs. She breathed in a puff from her inhaler, stretched on her floor, and then exited her quarters, braving the vast city in search of the gymnasium.


Again, reviews are always appreciated. :)

A/N: Stealth edit made on 10/27/17 to fix some formatting and to add a Meatless Monday joke. Who doesn't love a good Meatless Monday joke?