CHAPTER FOUR: RETURNING HOME

McKay was pacing, watching the pink woods with a growing sense of trepidation. The gate remained open, waiting for either something to pass through or to be shut down, and part of him wanted to damn the precautions and carry Teyla through now. That, and he wanted the major to already be there. Sheppard and Ford had radioed to say they were on their way back with a slave they had rescued--a girl named Straein--but it wasn't fast enough for him. The longer he waited, either for word from Atlantis that the quarantine was set up or for Sheppard to appear, the more time he had to worry about the energy readings on his scanner.

Something was very, very wrong with this place. More than just Teyla and the rescue the Major had reported to them over the radio, though they were obviously tied up with the whole. He couldn't put his finger on it…but it felt wrong.

The last time he'd felt this way was when he'd first met Chaya. Which wasn't a good thing. He'd been wrong then…well, he'd been right, but he'd been wrong as well.

But ignoring his instincts was not something McKay was particularly good at. He hated two things more than anything—ignorance and deception. Chaya had deceived them, even though she had done so for ostensibly honest reasons. It had rankled him, even after she left. And it had set a wedge between him and the major for several days. But, somehow, they both got over it. They often did…water off a duck's back. One day, they were just back to normal.

Well, as normal as his relationship with Sheppard was.

And part of him was afraid…that he was about to ruin it again. But he knew. He knew….

Something was very wrong.

And he also knew Sheppard wasn't going to believe him…again.

He straightened, sighing a little in relief as he recognized his two missing teammates appearing from out of the flowering trees….

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Sheppard jumped up the steps of the stone dais, immediately shifting to kneel next to the still unconscious Teyla to check on her. Behind him, Ford walked more calmly, sticking next to a rather plain woman with startlingly blue eyes. As she moved up the stairs, lifting the hem of her skirt daintily as she did so, her eyes met McKay's…and seemed to recoil a little. Turning her head, she looked behind her to the monk they had met first. The black haired Tae had his head bowed slightly, looking up at all of them on the dais from beneath his eyebrows.

Tae looked unhappy. He turned away at the slave girl's look, furrowing his brow in a way that suggested he suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

The woman's jaw tensed and she turned to face the gate, letting the event horizon reflect in her depthless eyes.

McKay stared at the woman, his eyes narrowing. The feeling of wrongness was like a fire in his chest.

"This is her?" he spat, curling his lip a little. Her head turned to look at him again, but he was focused on Sheppard now.

Sheppard glanced up, not hiding his annoyance at the scientist's disdainful tone. Where the hell had that come from?

"You were expecting someone else?" he replied harshly. "Yes, it's her. Doctor Rodney McKay, meet Straein. Straein, Doctor McKay." Introductions made, he looked directly at Rodney. "She'll be coming with us."

"Really," the other man grimaced.

"Something the matter, doc?" Ford asked, also picking up on the tone. McKay glanced at him and then back at the woman. She stared back now, tilting her head slightly, and any nervousness she exhibited earlier melted away. She met his eyes evenly, and that made him even more suspicious. But he just shook his head.

"No, it's fine," he stated in a voice that said it was clearly not fine. The major grimaced, then turned his head away, standing up to face the open wormhole.

"Atlantis," Sheppard tapped his radio, "are you ready for us?"

"Yes, major," Weir replied, "We were just about to radio you. Come on through. Carson will met you on this side. You'll come through, into the tent, and into a jumper. Assuming you're well enough to fly…?"

"Yes," Sheppard replied to the implied question. "As of now, it's only Teyla who's been affected. Then, what, out to the west pier?"

"Yes. The rest of Beckett's team will meet you there."

"Got it." Fixing the P-90 in place, the major turned to McKay and Teyla. He was planning to pick up Teyla, but, surprisingly, McKay already had. He actually looked somewhat heroic, carrying her in his arms. But the expression on the scientist's face was not heroic. It looked somewhere between constipated…and darkly suspicious. He was looking sidelong at Straein. In response, or perhaps even in ignorance, the woman herself was staring down at her toes, her long blonde hair covering her face.

"We ready?" He was asking McKay, though it was Ford who answered.

"Yes sir."

"Then let's go." He turned, looking back at Tae. The young man still had his head bowed, watching them from the ground below the raised dais. He looked strangely uncertain, and, for a moment, it bothered the major. But only a moment. Absolute conviction that they were doing the right thing washed over him, and returned his gaze to the Stargate just as McKay walked through with Teyla…and he smiled back at the wonderful smile Straein gave him as she followed after them.

-------------------------------------------------------------

They were met on the other side, finding themselves inside a quarantine tent, as Weir had promised.

McKay was about to put Teyla down on the stretcher prepared for her, when her eyes opened. She looked up at his face, face bright with surprise. Her right arm wrapped around his shoulder tightly and her left grabbed the front of his shirt. Her leg muscles twitched where they were draped over his right arm.

"Dr. McKay?" she blinked, every muscle in her body tensing up.

His mouth fell open slightly, and then opened more as she wriggled.

"Please put me down," she said quietly, obviously uncomfortable.

"Um…." Rodney looked up, straight into the blue eyes of Carson Beckett…hidden behind the plastic cover of the Haz Mat suit.

"Not quite yet, darlin'," Beckett answered, putting his face in her line of sight, "You've not been well."

Teyla turned to look at him, her own lips parting in surprise at his suit, and the more so as she recognized the set up of the quarantine. Numbly, she let Rodney place her on the stretcher, then watched with completely puzzled eyes as she was wheeled into the waiting jumper.

McKay, the major and Ford followed, along with more of Beckett's team, and a woman Teyla had never met before. The woman smiled at her shyly, and Teyla found herself smiling back without compunction, though something niggled at the back of her mind in warning.

"This is Straein," Sheppard explained, waving at Teyla to get her attention. "She's going to be living with us from now on."

"Oh," Teyla met his gaze, still not hiding her confusion.

"Long story," he replied. "Let's get you well first."

She opened her mouth to explain that she actually felt perfectly fine, but Beckett interrupted.

"Major," the doctor appeared at Sheppard's side, glancing with the same curiosity at the girl before smiling at the pilot. "Feel up to getting us over to the West pier?"

"Of course," Sheppard was all smiles now, and so was the girl. Soon, everyone was smiling on the jumper…except McKay. He had his arms crossed, staring at the back of the jumper as the hatch sealed shut.

---------------------------------------------------------

TBC