Lorne parked the jumper as close to the splash zone as he dared, so close that he'd only have to back up to return to the safety of Atlantis should things go badly. It was hard to imagine anything could when they stepped into the cool twilight of the planet and found all calm and quiet.

"Okay, Doctor Parrish, what exactly are we looking for today?" Reed looked up at the night sky, considering. "Or tonight, rather."

"Answers, Lieutenant. I want to start by getting some of those plants we saw just before I found the wraith. Do you remember where they were Major?" Parrish turned to him expectantly.

"Yeah, Doc, but they're a little far from here. Why don't we start closer and go after them if no trouble develops." Parrish looked vaguely disappointed, but agreed easily enough. Lorne conceded that Sheppard may have had a point about no arguing being an asset.

"So Parrish, we just rip them out of the ground and throw them in a baggie?" Coughlin asked seriously. Parrish rounded on him with an expression that revealed more horror than the discovery of the mutilated wraith had.

"No! Don't..." But Parrish trailed off when he realized the other man was teasing, and had, in fact, already began the careful digging required to reach the plant's roots.

"Just kidding, Doc. My grandmother bred roses. I helped her take samples and repot them all the time. I got this. It's brown-thumbs Walker you want to watch out for." He grinned and indicted the man next to Lorne who was eyeing the gardening equipment doubtfully.

Parrish and Lorne looked at him too and Lorne made a quick decision. "Coughlin and I will assist the doc. Walker and Stevens you take photos for Parrish's records and Reed, you watch our backs."

"Yes, sir." His men chorused as they set themselves to their tasks.

"Thank you, Major." Parrish's eyes and tone were warm as he thanked him and Lorne was grateful for the dark that hid the flush on his face.

"No problem, Doc." He bent down to gather some equipment for himself and asked where the he should start.

Six hours later they were dirty and tired and Coughlin swore his back might never recover, but they were all - even Parrish - laughing and joking and having a genuinely good time.

"Thanks guys," Parrish said as they loaded the last of the samples securely into the back of the jumper. "I couldn't have gotten all of this done without your help."

Reed slapped Parrish on the back companionably. "Anytime you need the four toughest babysitters slash gardening assistants in the Pegasus Galaxy, you just give us a call."

"Four?" Parrish asked what Lorne had been thinking.

"Yeah - me, Walker, Stevens and Coughlin. We just keep the Major around for decoration."

Their teammates broke out into (wholly unnecessary) laughter, but Parrish gave him a small sideways smile and said, "Oh, I think the Major's more than a pretty face."

Lorne caught the implied compliment - both of them - and squeezed the doc's shoulder in thanks before taking his team home.

After that Lorne started scheduling his team for a lot of botany missions when there was nothing more pressing to do. It was especially helpful to see a friendly face after a bad mission or to ease them back into things after an injury - real or psychological. Dr. Heightmeyer thought it was very healthy of him. But she didn't know that he also scheduled them to Parrish's missions when everything was fine just because he missed the way Parrish smiled over each new discovery.