I sat at the computer monitor waiting for Dr McKay to come back from trying to find someone else to sit in the control chair.

'I've already told you I'm not your man' the familiar Scottish lilt of Doctor Beckett travelled towards me

'Keep moving' McKay's bossy voice replied

'I'm a doctor! A medical doctor' Beckett retorted

'There's nothing to be afraid of'

'You don't understand, I break things like this!' Beckett exclaimed as they entered the room.

McKay reached over me to key in the setting to begin the monitoring process.

'The reluctant gene holder' I smiled

'Damn right' Beckett replied, flustered

'This thing has survived for thousands of years, it will survive you. Now sit down, close your eyes and concentrate!' McKay ordered

'Millions actually Dr McKay' I pointed out

'What she said' McKay indicated to me

I sniggered quietly as Beckett groaned childishly; his attention seemed to settle on me again.

'Why isn't she doing it? Isn't she the strongest gene holder here?' He asked

'Someone has to monitor power levels and I have no intention of becoming an ATA gene guinea pig either!' I retorted 'And she has a name!'

'She's put in a refusal for this task' McKay replied, shooting an annoyed glare at me.

Beckett groaned again and settled gingerly into the chair before he slapped his hands onto the armrests, leaned back properly and closed his eyes. He left it a second before trying to get up again.

'Again, nothing!' Beckett started

'Wait, this time try to imagine an image of where we are in the solar system' McKay asked

Beckett closed his eyes, breathed out and frowned. McKay watched his hand held scanner. I watched the monitor.

'I think I feel something' Beckett stated

McKay looked at me and I shook my head. The monitor was giving out no reading. He looked back down at his scanner with a frown.

'It could be lunch related' Beckett finished

I snorted and dived behind my computer screen to laugh in peace.

'Shut up! And concentrate' McKay retorted, I could tell from his tone his patience was wearing thin.

Beckett sighed and closed his eyes again. I composed myself and watched the monitor. The chair activated and reclined, taking Beckett by surprise. Nearby a drone that a scientist was working on lit up. It bounced around the room before shooting up the lift shaft. I stood up as McKay rushed over to the computer.

'What did I do?' Beckett asked

'It seems you've activated a drone' I replied

'What's that?' He asked

'A weapon device' McKay groaned

I rushed to the nearest radio controller.

'Send out a warning, we need to get any incoming and outgoing aircraft back on the ground' I said

I remembered my father was supposed to be flying in soon and my stomach flipped nervously. Dr Weir and a few staff members came out of the lift, she looked at me and I pointed into the chair room. She nodded before running over. I followed her so I could see if the drone actually hit anything.

'I told you I was the wrong person' Beckett said, his voice sounded as worried as I felt.

'It doesn't matter now, just do something!' McKay shouted

'Like what?' he shot back

'Carson, concentrate on shutting that drone down before someone gets hurt' Weir said gently

As Beckett shut his eyes I looked at the screen and felt. Everyone watched Beckett worriedly and I noticed Daniel Jackson stood nearby and went over to him. He put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

The screen showed the drone deactivate and I sighed in relief. Daniel clapped his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. Beckett gasped his eyes wide.

'I think I did it' He said

Weir sighed as scientist converged on the computer where McKay was. He still had an angry look about him.

Aiden Ford ran over, his hand on his radio 'Major Sheppard reports the drone appears to be incapacitated' he reported

I frowned; I hadn't heard that name before. Weir nodded before smiling happily at Beckett who beamed in relief.

'General O'Neill's helicopter is unharmed' Ford continued

McKay only relaxed then and he folded his arms and looked at Beckett in annoyance.

'It's on its way again, seven minutes now' Ford finished

'Thank god' Weir said

'Holy crap' Beckett said, it seemed to sink in what had just happened.

'Congratulations Doctor, you nearly shot my father down' I quipped

'Come on then Marley, let go and greet him' Daniel said

I looked at Dr Weir, who nodded with a small smile. I stood up and followed Daniel. We got to the lift shaft as my father got to the bottom.

'Jack' Daniel greeted

'Daniel' He glared comically at Daniel 'Warm welcome' He commented before noticing me

'Ah, Marley!' He said

'Sir' I saluted

My Dad grinned before giving me a massive bear-hug. He let me go and I noticed the man behind him. He was tall, almost as tall as my father. He had messy dark brown hair and he was looking around the cavern curiously.

'Wasn't me, how did you ah-'

'Keep my ass from getting blown out of the sky?'

He turned and indicated to the man with him

'The exceptional flying skills of Major John Sheppard' He said

So this was Major Sheppard. He nodded in greeting to Daniel and then his eyes fell on me. There was the briefest moment of eye contact, he looked at me with interest and I looked away to Dad.

'He likes it here!' Dad exclaimed

'Exceptional, you like it here?' Daniel asked

John shrugged with a cheeky grin. Dad grabbed Daniel's shoulder.

'Let's cut to the part where you start talking real fast but before that, Sheppard, I'll leave you in the capable hands of my daughter here, Dr Marlene O'Neill' He said

Major Sheppard looked at me with a smile. Dad looked at him sternly.

'Don't touch anything' He said

'Yes sir' Sheppard replied

Dad turned his attention to me 'Don't let him touch anything'

I saluted to him with a smile before he followed Daniel away. I looked up at Sheppard who looked down at me.

'Daughter huh?' He asked

'Yeah' I replied with a smile 'Come on, may as well show you around'

He nodded before following me. I was just telling him about the drone and how they work before we came to the chair room. We overheard the end of Beckett boasting about how he managed to shut the drone down.

'So you were the one' Sheppard said loudly

Beckett looked up as well as the scientists he had been speaking to.

'Me?' Beckett asked, as the scientists took their leave.

Sheppard stepped forwards and Beckett got behind the Control Chair.

'You're the one who shot that thing at me' Sheppard said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

I stood beside Beckett nervously as he swallowed

'Look, we're doing research' I said 'Working with technology, that for the moment, is light-years beyond us'

'And we make mistakes' Beckett finished 'I'm truly very sorry'

'And it should be considered that Dr Beckett is a medical doctor, not a scientist. He was right when he said he shouldn't have been asked to sit in the chair' I finished

Beckett nodded gratefully at me and Sheppard seemed to look forgiving.

'Well next time be a little more careful' He said, he was looking at the chair curiously.

'That's what I said' Beckett said

'Anyway you were telling me what that thing was' Sheppard returned his attention to me

'The drone?' Beckett asked, he looked at me for explanation too. He didn't really know what is was either.

'Yeah, the weapon the Ancients built to defend this outpost' I concluded

'The who?' Sheppard asked

I frowned and wondered how much Major Sheppard actually knew about the Stargate programme. It seemed Beckett thought the same.

'You do have security clearance don't you?' Beckett asked

'Yeah, General O'Neill just gave it to me' Sheppard replied

'Then you don't know about the Stargate then?' I asked

'The what?' He asked

Beckett and I exchanged glances

'Oh boy' I sighed

Beckett went into explaining everything, I occasionally chipped in with a few comments but generally I went back to the computer monitor to analyse the data from Beckett's foray into experimenting with Ancient Technology.

It was only when Beckett got into explaining the ATA Gene that I looked up and paid attention. I laughed quietly as Sheppard prodded the jelly armrest with a look of disgusted kind of amazement on his face. Beckett turned away.

'-so only their kind could use their technologies' Beckett finished

'So some people have the same genes as these Ancients?' John asked

'The specific gene is very rare, but on the whole they looked like we do' Beckett replied

'Actually, they were first. We are the second evolution of this form' I said before turning back to the computer 'The Ancients having explored this galaxy for millions of years-'

'Major please don't' Beckett exclaimed suddenly

I turned to see Sheppard preparing to sit in the chair.

'Oh c'mon what're the odds of me having the same genes as these guys?' John shrugged.

He sat down and the chair lit up. Not just the chair, the whole platform, which was more than the reaction I'd got and even when Beckett managed to activate the drone too. He stood with his mouth open as Sheppard looked around him nervously.

'Quite slim actually' Beckett said in shock 'Don't move'

With that he turned away and he went to fetch Dr Weir. Sheppard looked at me sheepishly.

'We're in trouble now' I replied sternly 'My Dad told you not to touch and told me not to let you!'

'I just sat down' He replied worriedly

Beckett presently came back with Weir, my Dad, Daniel and McKay. She looked at him confused and I stood up as my Dad gave me a stern glare before turning to Sheppard.

'Who is this?' Weir asked

'Major John Sheppard' I replied

'I said don't touch anything' Dad said

'I-I just sat down' John said, with a worried nod.

McKay stepped forwards with an intent look on his face 'Major, think about where we are in the solar system'

Sheppard seemed to get a look of concentration on his face and a swirling blue image of the solar system appeared above us. I looked at McKay excitedly and he grinned. Weir smiled. John looked up at it puzzled.

'Did I do that?' He asked

I sat back and watched the monitor. The graph spiked with the energy in a comfortable manner and McKay came over and watched it with me.

'Extraordinary' He remarked

'And to think, he only got clearance today' I replied

John abruptly got off the chair, which powered down. The image disappeared, he looked around him at the faces and I got up.

'C'mon, you need a sit down' I said

He nodded as I led him into a different room. I sat him at a table and poured us both a cup of tea. I placed it in front of him and he sniffed it curiously.

'It's tea' I said 'It's better than coffee to warm up with'

'What was that?' Sheppard asked

'It seems you have the ATA Gene that Doctor Beckett was telling you about' I said

'You're absolutely sure' Sheppard said

'Only a gene carrier could've made the chair work' I said

'Do you have it?' Sheppard asked

'Yes, I do. My father has it too and up until just now, was the strongest carrier' I said

'What do you mean?'

I looked at the Major carefully 'Only you and my father have managed to make the chair power up simply by just sitting in it. It sometimes powers up for me too but not as spectacularly as that'

'What does that mean?' Sheppard asked

'It means that Dr Weir will shortly be asking you to join her expedition, I seriously recommend you think about it too' I replied

'What is this?' John asked

'Dr Weir is currently leading an expedition to try and find the lost city of Atlantis' I replied

Sheppard looked at me incredulously 'You're kidding right?'

'No I'm not Major. We are on the cusp of discovering where it is too, exactly where it is. We believe, at the moment, that it is in a separate galaxy to the Milky Way' I replied

'This is insane' Sheppard exclaimed

'Not really' I replied

Dr Weir came into the room and I got up to leave. Today was my last day on the outpost, I was returning to America for awhile before coming back again. I wanted to get my things together properly.

I met Dad in the control room later on and Dr Weir was currently talking to him. He motioned for me to come over and I tuned into what she was saying.

'Sorry doc, I need Daniel here' Dad replied

'Oh. I'm talking about Major Sheppard' She said

Dad turned to look at her and I smiled. I knew she'd want him.

'Oh' Dad said 'Don't you have a dozen or so people already who can use the Ancient technology?'

'Yeah, with concentration and training they can make it work. But John Sheppard, he does it naturally' Weir smiled

'You know you should check into his record' Dad frowned

'I know about the whole supposed black mark in Afghanistan, but he was trying to save the lives of three service men-'

'Disobeying a direct order in the process' Dad replied

I snorted but knew better than to make a comment. Weir frowned in amusement.

'General, I've read your own file. Please' She grinned cheekily

I grinned at her from over his shoulder. Dad looked down, an amused twinkle in his eye.

'Right. Okay, it's your expedition. You want him, you ask him' He said, getting into the lift next to me.

'That's the thing, I have' Weir said

Dad raised his eyebrows and I looked down to hide the smug grin on my face.

'Really?'

'Yes, he refused' Weir said

'And I suppose you want me to try and convince him?' Dad asked

'Please, if you wouldn't mind?' Weir asked

Dad sighed 'Fine, I'll give it a shot'

'Thanks General' Weir smiled

Dad shut the door with a nod to her and the lift started to ascend up the shaft. Dad nudged me playfully and I looked up at him.

'So, a whole three weeks with the old man eh?' He asked

'Yeah, I don't know what came over me' I joked

'Oh come off it kiddo' Dad laughed

'What are you going to say to Major Sheppard?' I asked

'Don't you worry about that Marley. I've got to talk to you about this whole expedition thing when we get home anyway' He said

'Why?' I asked

'Just wait until we get home' He said

XxXxX

Hope people don't mind me giving O'Neill a daughter. Review please and tell me what you think.