The aftermath of the battle was, in some ways, more difficult to deal with than the conflict itself. The damage to the city was repairable, but the loss of personnel, military, scientists and Athosians, was significant. Elizabeth knew their names, had shared meals and stories with them and now they were gone. And there were still others in critical states, their lives in the capable, but human, hands of Carson and his staff.

Standing in command, she gazed down at the platform where the Gate rested and waited for her missing expedition members to reappear, courtesy of a stolen Wraith dart. In an almost blinding flash of blue, the group stood there. Elizabeth searched their faces, and when she saw one man, she drew up short. "Peter!"

At his computer, Rodney jerked upright and gaped as well before joining Weir in a scramble down to the others. They had thought Peter lost aboard the Ancient satellite when the Wraith destroyed it, but

here he more or less stood, arms slung around Teyla and Ford, woozy but very much alive.

"Dr. Weir, Rodney," he said, nodding to them, but wincing slightly at the movements. Rodney stopped short of hugging the man, but just barely. Lack of sleep did tend to make the man more emotional.

Before they could question him, Carson and a few of his larger, more intimidating assistants appeared and, in a flurry of activity rarely seen outside a county ER, triaged, then whisked the wounded away with shouted orders for all the others to get themselves down to the infirmary or there would be hell to pay.

Ford looked amused. He smiled at Weir and nodded to Carson's retreating back. "How can he be so calm about people with sucking wounds, but put a gun in his hand and he falls apart?"

"We're civilians, Lieutenant. We don't generally like guns," she said, knowing the young man did not really know anything but the military mentality. "You'll be glad to know, however, that he and Rodney both acquitted themselves well in defense of this city." She gestured to the side, where several marines were loading a deceased Wraith into a body bag.

When two of the enemy had come crashing into the gate room, gunfire had erupted all around Weir. A rain of bullets had put the creatures down and, with the smell of sulfur still in the air, she looked around and was startled. The guns clutched in the hands of every soldier weren't surprising, but seeing Rodney and Carson with weapons at ready was a shock.

With a nod, Ford said, "Then I'd better get down to the infirmary before the Doc comes after me." The young man then herded the rest of the survivors out of the gate room.

"Dr. Weir, all teams are reporting their sectors are clear," Rebecca Ryan said, trotting down the stairs from the upper deck. "Major Sheppard has just landed in the Jumper bay and General Hammond and Colonel Caldwell are waiting for your word to come down."

Still a bit unnerved, Weir nodded to the woman. "Tell them they may come down at their pleasure," she said, then glanced up to where John Sheppard was descending the stairs from the Jumper Bay. He sought her out and made eye contact, holding her gaze for several long moments. Before he had left on what they assumed would be a suicide mission, they had shared a similar communion and it had taken all their resolve to break away.

Watching him descend the stairs toward her, she couldn't help but feel an almost overwhelming sense of relief. He's safe. That thought echoed in her mind more than it should, but if she was honest with herself, John had long occupied a certain part of her heart. It wasn't love, but it was something that could become…something. But not now.

She shook her head slightly as he approached and smiled at him. "It's good to have you back, Major," Elizabeth said, then made a hand gesture to encompass all that was going on around them. "It looks like we'll be busy for a while."

For a quick moment, he grasped her arm, then nodded. "Yeah, but having the Daedalus up in orbit does give us a bit of a safety net. And McKay's going to go nuts over the dart that's just waiting for him on the mainland," Sheppard said, but sobered quickly. "How many did we lose?"

"Too many, at least a dozen," she told him, moving toward the stairs again.

McKay's face, pale and sweating, appeared from behind a consol. "Did you say a dart? An intact dart? Where?"

Blinking, Sheppard said, "You look like hell, McKay. You need some sleep."

"Sleep? I seem to vaguely recall what that is," the scientist said, then looked up in the direction of the Jumper Bay. "I should disarm that weapon."

Sheppard and Weir exchanged glances. "Let someone else do that, Rodney," Elizabeth said as she patted his shoulder. "Just relax for a bit or you're going to crash."

"Relax? Okay," McKay muttered, glancing around the area. Radek Zelenka had entered the room at some point and was speaking quietly with Ryan. He too looked dead on his feet. "I don't think Carson will give us any more stimulants."

"And that's probably a good thing," John said. "Get some rest. If you do, we'll go see that dart on the mainland."

"I'll be in my quarters then," Rodney said, rising quickly, swaying, then sitting down again. After a minute, he got to his feet, slowly and carefully.

Sheppard took his arm, then called over his shoulder. "Dr. Zelenka, you're off the clock too."

With a smile Weir watched as Atlantis's highest ranking military officer played sheep dog, herding the two exhausted but reluctant scientists off to their rooms. She knew he'd be back as soon as he deposited them in their rooms. After all, the General was on his way