Woo, new update! I'm as pleased as you all are believe me, felt good to get this out of my head. Got a few more chapters to go, the next one of which shouldn't take too long to come along, it's certainly going to be the one with all the action, so I'll post it up as soon as I can. Hope you're all enjoying it so far and thanks for the reviews, good to know people are actually enjoying this.

"A.. date?" Elizabeth repeated, her eyes carefully studying Rodney's features. The word was tossed through her mind, searching for some kind of meaning within Elizabeth's memory. The idea that it was some kind of fruit seemed absurd, so she chose the second meaning that arose.

"A… meeting, often a dinner, where romance can arise."

Rodney licked his lips as Elizabeth voiced her understanding. A date. With Elizabeth. But then not really Elizabeth at all. He could still hear John muttering in his ear, and it was all he could do not to put his hand over it.

Elizabeth mused for another few moments, her slender fingers tapping her side. It was a movement that made Rodney smile despite himself. Even with this alien thing inside of her, she still had some of her old movements. He could find it so easy to forget that she wasn't Elizabeth at all. And it was that thought that caused his smile to disappear, and his posture to straighten. He couldn't forget that, not ever, not until Elizabeth was free from this weird being.

"Yes." Elizabeth finally replied, moving forward and gently touching his arm. "I will go on a date with you Rodney."

Rodney tried his best to ignore the flip of his heart, grimacing instead as he nodded. "Right. Well perhaps we should go then?" He held out his arm for her, watching her expectantly.

There was a pause though, and Elizabeth frowned. There was no head tilting to show she was thinking, but he could tell as her lips silently mouthed words. "Should I not, change, first? There are images of what this experience should be like." A slight grimace passed her own features as she nodded towards herself. "It does not seem to include what I am wearing."

Damnit, she was going to make this harder for him. "Uh, right." Rodney muttered, drawing his arm back to his side. "Well I wasn't sure if you had anything that's all."

A smile this time, one that Rodney would swear had a slight mischievousness to it. And again he tried to hide the little lurch in the pit of his stomach, even hoping he could blame it on a hypoglycaemic reaction and somehow get out of all of this mess.

"Of course I do Rodney." Elizabeth replied smoothly, patting his hand. "I'll only be a few moments."

Recognising the sign of a women about to take a while getting dressed, he headed out of the quarters, calling back. "I'll go and get ready myself!" Before heading down the corridor.

'Okay then McKay, what exactly is the plan now?'

Sighing, Rodney rolled his eyes, realised John couldn't see him, and muttered back. "Really, I'm not too sure. I'm kind of, making it up as I go along. She's gone to get ready."

'That should by us a few hours at least-ow, hey, I was only kidding Teyla!'

Rodney snickered at that, stepping into his quarters and heading over to his small cupboard of stuff. As geeky as he may be, like his fellow male companions on Atlantis, the wild array of scattered clothes was something even he couldn't get out of arranging. Besides, just looking at the heap of garments was enough to bring a misty tear to his eyes sometimes. Home for him was always where he flung his clothes down.

Finding himself muttering about the lack of an iron he rummaged around and retrieved a shirt that didn't look overly crumpled. The fact that it had an embossed Star Trek communicator on it did nothing to reveal his slowly rising sense of dread. For a brief moment he pondered changing into his 'lucky' boxers, and then mentally smacked himself for it. The rising apprehension was something he knew all too well, and one he knew had nothing to do with an alien being inside Elizabeth. It was the butterfly feeling he always got when he was going on a date, as rare as those occurrences actually were, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Trousers." He murmured, looking around the pile. "Some nice trousers."

------

"Is it just me, or did McKay just mutter something about an iron?" Everyone glanced to John, giving their own variable shrugs while he himself turned the volume down a touch. "I think for now we can leave it down a bit, I'm sure if he needs us he'll shout." Frowning a touch, he glanced over to Grodin. "Anything yet?"

Grodin blinked back up to him, continuing his idle tapping even as he replied. "I've already told you Major. There is nothing in the database at all. Perhaps Dr. Heightmeyer was right. It may have been something they just wanted to forget about quickly."

"No, it doesn't feel right." John shook his head to them, gesturing around the control room. "That's not what they were like. They must've left some sort of clue, some sort of warning on how to help. I mean somehow, that canister was made, and left on that planet."

"Well, what exactly have you tried?" Ford suddenly asked, striding over to the console and leaning over.

Shooting him a look, and rather obviously covering the console, Grodin replied. "Everything. The planet's coordinates, the alien encounter database, the planet database, history of less then nice encounters…"

"Less then nice?" Ford blinked back to him.

"Roughly translated." Grodin shrugged, before gesturing to the console. "There is absolutely nothing more that could be linked to it."

"This may be amazingly stupid but… have you actually tried typing in 'rainbow alien'?"

"You're right!" Grodin suddenly cried.

"I am?"

"Yes… that is amazingly stupid."

Rolling his eyes, Ford tried to shift him out of the way. "Look, come on. It might actually work! Let me type it in…"

"You don't even know what the translation would be, or how to operate the search function."

"Then perhaps you should do it for him?" Teyla asked, sending Ford a light smile. "If we all agree that Dr. Heightmeyer's theory is correct, then is it not a good thought that perhaps in order to stop people going back, the planets existence should not be taken from the database, but rather hidden?"

"You don't get it Teyla." Grodin snapped back, pushing back from the console. "The Ancients were highly sophisticated, I don't even think they have an equivalent word for 'rainbow'. I doubt very much that they'll have an entry with that in."

"Grodin!" John snapped back out of his own private thoughts. "I don't care how amazingly stupid it sounds, just try it. We're running out of options. McKay isn't here to save the day like, I hate to admit, he actually does quite often, so we need to do all we can."

"Fine, fine." Grodin sighed back, bringing up the search function. "But I'll need McKay's notes on the alien language. We've pretty much translated all the commands for the consoles into English, but since we have little use for the word rainbow… I'm gonna need those notes."

"Right." John nodded, before gesturing to Carson. "Beckett, go and get those notes. Oh, and tell Zelenka to get down to Rodney's lab with the Team A scientists, or whatever the hell they call themselves these days. We need to find out what that canister's about."

"I'll go with him." Jane replied quietly, before heading out with Beckett. The rest of them watched her go, everyone's thoughts obviously focusing on how this was all going to end, before they turned back to the console as one.

"I guess now we wait." Ford mused with a light grin.

"I hate waiting." John muttered back.

------

"At least he keeps his lab relatively tidy." Carson chuckled as he rifled through one of the drawers, before pulling out a booklet. "Ah, this should be it."

"Carson?" Jane said softly, stepping up to him. "I'm kind of glad we're alone. There is something I need to speak with you about."

"Sure lass." Carson replied with a grin, hugging the booklet close to him as he watched her curiously. "Ah, ya worried about Rodney?"

"Well, yes, I guess you could say that." Jane replied quietly, before biting her lip.

Carson's eyebrows rose, curious now as he'd never seen Jane seem this nervous before. "Are ya allright? Ya know, ya don't need ta worry. Rodney'll be fine. He always pulls through stuff like this. He's kinda like a lucky mouse or summit that's managed to hole up behind the fridge and survive for weeks on end with biscuits."

Chuckling at that, Jane glanced back to him. "Yes, well. Y'see, it's not actually this I'm worried about, it's something else. Rodney can be quite… highly strung at times can't he?"

"A bit of an understatement, but aye."

"Well, there is something I'd like to speak with him about, and I'm afraid of how he will react. But really I'd like to discuss it with you first."

"Me? Well, if you want. I've never been that good at the whole listening thing outside of bein an actual doctor, but I'll do ma best."

"Yes, well, that's the thing really." Jane suddenly smiled up to him. "This does really involve you."

"Because I'm Rodney's friend?"

"That's certainly part of it yes, certainly part of why it could be difficult, and why I need to know things first."

Carson just blinked at that, obviously confused by the direction of this conversation. "I don't mean ta be brash, but do ya think ya could get to the point?"

"I'm trying too." Jane sighed, brushing a hand through her hair. "I'm normally so cool and calm, even with Rodney, but when I try and explain something to you..."

"And here is ze great lab of Rodney the saviour of Atlantis, currently on a zecret mission to go boldly where many men have wanted to go before-ah, Doctor. I was just showing ze Enterprise team around Rodney's lab."

"I, uh." Turning away from Jane for the moment, Carson blinked. "I thought they came in here often?"

"Are you kidding?" One of the scientists peeked around from behind Zelenka. "Rodney hates it when we get in his way! We only ever come in here when we're specifically ordered too, or when we're doing small projects."

"Right, yes, well." Carson gulped, before gesturing around. "The lab's all yours till he gets back. Major Sheppard wants the canister figured out as quickly as possible, now me and the doctor gotta get back to the control room." Grabbing hold of Jane's arm, he pulled her out of the Control room, ignoring the looks from the team. Then without another word, he started striding back to the Control Room.

Trying her best to keep up in her high heels, Jane sighed. "Look, Carson, I need to tell you-"

Suddenly Carson wheeled round, causing Jane to walk straight into him. Oblivious, Carson frowned. "Jane, I can't do this now. I may be dumb, but I can already guess, and I dunna wanna talk about it now okay? Ya need to tell Rodney what ya think before ya even involve me in this. Be sure anyway. Sometimes ya get false alarms."

"False… alarms?" Jane blinked then, before suddenly shaking her head. "What? No! Carson, I'm, I'm not pregnant. Me and Rodney haven't even… I mean there were times of course but, I just… no Carson, I like you…"

"Oh God." Carson blinked back to her, feverishly waving his arms at her. "Don't ya dare, don't ya dare say what I think you're gonna say. Rodney's ma friend, ma best friend on here even. And as nice as a lass that I think ya are, he is, an' nothing can change that. Even…" His voice trailed off, and he watched her, wishing that her eyes didn't have such sadness in them. Guilt was already rising, moreso because of what he could feel himself saying next. "I canna deal with this right now. We gotta help Rodney. Afterwards, mebbe…"

"No, forget it." Jane snapped back, icy as normal now. "We need to get this back to the Control Room, and help Rodney. It'll be nice to get things back to normal."

"Right…" Carson trailed off, before moving back to the Control Room.

------

Rodney surveyed himself in the mirror. The shirt was as straight as it was ever going to be after he'd laid on it for five minutes, and the communicator was certainly geeky enough that it might put her off. He'd ignored the nagging feeling that he should look good as much as he could, but it had been enough to force him not to sabotage the outfit fully. Crumpled trousers were the best ones he had, and even though his normal boots were the best ones he could manage he had to admit that he didn't look too bad. Or good, for that matter. For a moment he pondered getting her a gift, but decided that he probably didn't have anything she didn't already have. Sighing, he headed out of his quarters, surprised at the lack of people around him.

A thought flicked through his mind, and he whispered. "John, are you there?"

'We are always with you Rodney, always…'

"Oh, ha-ha." Rodney snapped back, before whispering. "I can't but help notice the rather significant lack of people around the corridors."

'Well would you believe it? Everyone suddenly got really tired. Just for a point of reference as well, the balcony nearest the Control Room is free, with a rather handy table and food set up.'

"My, how convenient." Rodney muttered bitterly, before lowering his voice once more. "Is there a plan of action at the moment? Like maybe as soon as I get her to the balcony some kind of device will be handy to easily remove the alien from her?"

'Sorry Rodders, no can do. We're still trying to figure out how exactly to type in 'rainbow alien' into the database.'

"Rainbow alien?" Rodney blinked, before suddenly snapping. "Oh, a point of reference for you too Major. Don't ever call me Rodders."

'Can do. We'll keep you updated as much as we can McKay, so don't worry too much.'

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say." Rodney sighed to himself, before stopping outside Elizabeth's quarters. It'd been half an hour, she might not be ready yet after all, maybe he should walk around for an hour and come back? Even better, she might forget, decide Atlantis wasn't even good enough for her, the alien being would leave, Elizabeth would wake and know nothing… Turning back around he froze as he heard the doors open. Coincidence, or maybe she'd heard him outside, even worse, what if she'd heard him talking to himself?

"Rodney…"

The tone of delivery was perfect. Just sultry enough to make his knees wobble, and welcoming enough to make his body turn around of its own accord. By the time his brain had caught up, it immediately shut down again at the sight of her. Half an hour it'd taken him, to put on a crumpled geeky shirt, dirty trousers, boots, and not even run a comb through his hair. And she was… well, Goddess immediately sprang to mind. One black shoulder strap of silk travelled down and across her chest, silver thread trailing down it, while a simple belt cinched her waist and allowed a long blousing skirt to hit the floor. A slash like that on anyone else would've seemed tame, but it'd already thrust open Rodney's mouth before he could think of uttering a word. It was simple, and elegant, and showed off absolutely nothing in a tasteful way. But it did so so well, that you knew exactly what it was hiding. It was like the proverbial pink elephant. The dress said 'don't think about what I'm hiding', and damned if he wasn't giving into it. And her hair! Elizabeth had short hair, he was sure of it, but it seemed so full of life as it curled around her features, and a simple silver necklace looped around that slim neck..

"I've gotta stop this." Rodney sputtered out before he could stop himself. Elizabeth just tilted her head, stepping forward smoothly and offering him her hand. "Stop already?" She asked, eyes locking with his. "But think of all the fun we haven't had yet?"

"Oh believe me, I am, eh not, trying not too… heh."

"Where are we going then?" Elizabeth asked as she let Rodney pull her arm through his. "Somewhere quiet I hope, and free from distractions?"

"Eh, yes, definitely, certainly." Rodney's brain muddled through as many definite words as it could find. Normally he could find so many, but at each one his brain would stop to try and process the attempt to not think about Elizabeth so close to him doing… nothing. His legs automatically led them both to the door of the nearby balcony, mouth soon joining in as he gestured out. "The night I think was something of lucky timing but I hope you like the dinner it's, um…"

'Chicken'.

"Chicken?" Rodney squeaked in surprise. "Yes, I did sort of wonder how we managed to get chicken… I think it must be chicken?"

'The Athosians description is close enough to presume it is. Stop asking questions anyway, we've got work to do.'

"Right, so sit down and enjoy your 'chicken'." Rodney muttered, moving to pull back Elizabeth's seat for her. All his reserves of gentlemanly instructions rose forth and he glanced to the table. "Don't forget the napkin and I'll serve you a little wine." Wine, how could they give them wine? This was bad enough!

'Relax McKay, another gift from the Athosians. It's grape juice, or eh, the equivalent. Now just enjoy yourself like we all know you really want too.'

Blinking at John's reply, he glanced then to Elizabeth when she placed her hand on his. "Are you allright? You seem a little nervous, as if you're thinking about something."

"Uh, yes, I was just thinking what a beautiful night, and chance, this is." Rodney quickly replied, moving to pour the 'grape juice', before slipping into his own seat. This was so strange. Normal dates he'd already be trying to get as close as possible, now he had to do the opposite, but not so much that she got suspicious, certainly since he'd already pretty much said how much he wanted Elizabeth…

"You're thinking again." Elizabeth interjected his thoughts softly, her smile warm. Pausing then, she asked. "Shouldn't we light the candles?"

"Oh, of course." Rodney leant over, trying to ignore his own thoughts. Candlelight, even more stupid! Of course they couldn't really see their food otherwise but the way it flickered off her features was like eternal torment. In fact he knew it would be, there each time he closed his eyes, or went to sleep.

"Chicken." He suddenly blurted out, gesturing to the plate when Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "We should eat, we'll need lots of energy for…um." A gulp passed before he mumbled. "Later."

------

"Ya found it yet?" Carson nudged Grodin, looking more agitated then when he'd left the Room.

"Close enough I think. They don't have a word for rainbow, it's more like… 'all the colours of light'. 'Colerspectrisum' is as close as I can fathom."

"I think I prefer rainbow." Ford replied with a grin, before gesturing to the console. "So, does it work?"

"Be patient, it needs a few moments to go through the database. By comparison, the fastest computer on Earth would take months to go through it."

"Lets be glad that we're not on Earth then." John chuckled, eagerly watching the console as the others did.

"Forgetting the fact of course that we wouldn't have this mess if we were not on Earth?" Teyla replied back to the group, then joining the others as they turned back to the console.

"That's a good 'beep' right?" John asked, leaning over.

Grodin grinned, pointing to the screen. "It most certainly is Major. I believe Lieutenant Ford must be congratulated, obviously the Ancients realised that if they wanted to stop any of their kind from bringing up the information again, they should make the search term as simple as possible."

"And it took someone with as simple as mind as Ford here to even think of that." John grinned to Ford, patting him on the back.

"Uh, thank you sir." Came Ford's hesitant reply, before he too leaned over. "Anyway, what does it say?"

"It seems to be Teyla's basic story, but of course a little more factual. Ah… the end, okay then;

'With the planet in turmoil, and filled by the 'rainbow' beings, only one woman survived. A scientist, she had returned to the planet days earlier from a research mission, and been set upon almost immediately by one of the beings. Knowing that unlike the men she would survive until her pregnancy was over, the months allowed her to work on some way of securing the planet forever. Those who had been before left work, and remembering earlier experiments with ascended beings, she devised a shield generator that would in fact'-oh, wow, this is ingenious."

"What?" John blinked, glancing to Grodin, and then back at the screen.

"Well, it makes so much sense! I don't see why we didn't think of it before, listen;

'-devised a shield generator that would in fact feed and enshield the beings at the same time. Knowing that at this primal level the beings hungered for basic things, she created three layers. When energy from one was drained by the beings, they would travel to the next one in their hunger, allowing the previous one to regain power once more. As the beings fed on the shield, they would never leave unless they sensed a greater supply outside of it. That is why the gate address of this planet must be eradicated from the history of the database, known only to those who would ensure its secrets are kept, and the keyword so obscure, that the cleverest may never find it."

"That does sound ingenious, but what about the canister?"

Grodin's gaze tracked down the page, before he shrugged. "It doesn't say, it just mentions the shield. I'm guessing the information must've been gained from a last transmission by the scientist, before she died, or maybe even before she could build the canister."

"Then we better get Zelenka and the team that information." John muttered, gesturing to Ford. "Come on, lets head down there. At least we know now why the alien headed into Elizabeth, it obviously sensed that it could feed itself better off her then the shield."

"But…" Teyla went to reply, sighing as they left. Carson glanced to her, nodding. "I know what you're thinking Teyla, why did it choose Elizabeth and not Rodney or even you? It knew it was alone, it knew it only 'ad one chance, so it went for tha best one. For all we know, it can sense chemical changes in the air, like the kind when two people who're attracted to each other come together."

"Then it would seem our only chance of collecting the alien being again, would be in the hands of Dr. Mckay and Dr. Weir."

------

"More grape juice?" Rodney replied smoothly, not even waiting for a reply and pouring out another glassful for Elizabeth. He couldn't believe how wonderful this all was. His mind was a glorious haze, with the sound of the ocean gently ebbing away his sense of dread. And she was so beautiful. Just watching him, and listening to him. How long had he even talked? He couldn't remember. And she'd listened. Just like she always did.

Sitting watching her sip just reminded him of how lucky he was, how much he'd wanted this. And he couldn't believe he'd wanted this. Blondes, it was always blondes. They were the ones who had funk, or something similar. That's why this had to be it. That's why he knew he-he what?

"I want to do something for you." Rodney suddenly decided out loud, his quirky smile widening. "I want to give you something, something that I've never given to anybody."

"What's that Rodney?" Elizabeth asked quietly, her eyes tracking his movements curiously as he rose up from the table and held out his hand.

"I-I want to dance with you."

Elizabeth blinked at that. Taking his hand she rose, still watching him curiously though.

"I know, it doesn't seem so strange but..." Gingerly he pulled her closer, his hand settling on her slim waist. "But, you see... I wanted to be a pianist. When I was younger. But I was too clinical, no imagination, this was before, anyway..." He gulped a little as she pulled herself closer, just watching him. "I figured if I was going to be a pianist, then I might make it big in some club or other, or with a stageshow, and I should know dances." A strange blush rose to his cheeks, and he added. "It turned out I was quite good. Once my Father found out he put a stop to it, said it was girly and..." Biting his lip, he shook his head. "Anyway. Since then, I've never told anyone. I was too scared. Plus I suppose astrophysics never really called for dancing, and soon after my piano teacher told me I should find something else and-"

His babbling was interrupted as Elizabeth leant up and softly placed a kiss on his lips. It was so different from that time in the lab. Gentle, unprovoking, and yet somehow more powerful. It awoke him deep inside and he found himself kissing back just as gently. How could he be so lucky as to be kissing Elizabeth right now? With the ocean, and moonlight. It was like some sort of perfect date...

"No, wait.." Rodney pulled back abruptly, the haze suddenly being pierced by those thoughts. Of course, it was just what the alien wanted. Was this somehow Elizabeth's perfect date that the alien was creating? He looked into her eyes and for a moment thought he saw clarity, before she glazed over.

"Is something wrong?" She asked innocently, head tilting.

Rodney bit his lip, trying to ignore the way that the moonlight reflected off her skin. Candlelight, moonlight. Poetry certainly had a lot to answer for. Not that he cared for it much anyway, bunch of poncy know-it-alls who wore funny clothes and talked in their own language and probably spent most of their life around funny chemicals...

"Uh, no, no everything's fine. I just thought of how late it's getting. We should probably get back." He moved back from her, only to find that familiar strong grip upon his hand. Hiding the wince as best he could, he glanced back to her.

"Please, Rodney." Elizabeth murmured softly. "Just one dance. That's all I ask.

"I-uh." He couldn't refuse, he just knew he couldn't. "Fine, fine. Here." He pulled her close once more, pushing back the rising anxiety's and dreads in his mind. "But only one. Then I'll walk you back to your quarters."

------

"There is nothing more I can do!"

"Zelenka, there's gotta be something."

John smacked on the table, winced a little, and hid his hand behind his back. "Look, we're all as frustrated as you are, believe me. But McKay's doing his, uh, 'thing', so you're our only hope."

"And zere is nothing on Atlantis like this Major."

"Maybe because we didn't find it on Atlantis?"

John and Zelenka stared each other down for a moment, before John sighed and grabbed one of the parts of the canister. "It looks simple enough Zelenka, you're sure there's nothing you're missing?"

"It is very simple Major, that's ze problem."

"Wait a minute." John gestured the metal towards the sheepish-looking 'Enterprise' team. "You're telling me, that it's too simple for you to work out?"

Zelenka looked uncomfortable for a moment, before nodding. "In a manner of speaking... yes. Whoever built this technology, was obviously trying to make it as low-tech, and simple as possible. Maybe to reduce on power."

"I can't believe this!" John cried, his gaze darting round. "We brought the best and brightest here. Now you're telling me you're too bright to figure this thing out? That's gotta be the stupidest thing ever." Taking a deep breath, he added. "Okay then, maybe I can figure this out."

Stalking away from the bench, he held the metal up to the light, twisting and turning it around. "Hmm, lightweight." He mumbled, idly tossing it in his hand. "Lightweight..." He repeated once more, his gaze following the continual rise and fall of the metal. "Maybe..." Stalking back to the bench, he grabbed the other pieces of the canister, assembling them haphazardly. Suddenly then he grabbed Zelenka's jacket, yanking him down to his level. "Tell me, you see that." He muttered, his gaze not wavering.

"Uh, see what?" Zelenka blinked, wriggling free from John's grasp.

Sighing, John pointed to the edge of the metal. "You're telling me you've never noticed how thick this metal is? It's a pretty thin canister, and it's got twice the width you'd expect on all the pieces, and yet, it's as light as a feather."

Zelenka studied the piece for a moment, before shrugging back to him. "Perhaps the metal itself is just very light? The Atlanteans were very good at such-hey, what do you think you are doing?!"

John pulled back the trigger of the gun, shooting off the edge of the piece. "I'm looking for what I think is gonna be-yup, thought so." Putting his gun back, he held up the piece for all to see.

"It's... hollow." Zelenka murmured, taking hold of the piece and looking through it. "No, wait, zere is something. I think I may be able to get it..." Taking hold of a nearby knife, he carefully extracted a set of wires. "They seem to run the length of the canister."

"They don't look like normal wires." John murmured as he glanced over Zelenka's shoulder.

"They're not." Zelenka replied, cutting open the wire and showing the exposed tissue within it. "In fact, zey may be nerves."

"Nerves?" John blinked, before recoiling. "As in, human nerves?"

"No, they're a lot different. They may be Wraith."

As one the whole team staggered back, even John eyeing it nervously. "What-the, well what the hell are they doing inside a damn canister?"

"I suggest we get Beckett down here immediately Major. I am no Doctor, but they look like they could be in a state of decay."

"Right, yeah..." He pulled out his radio, and called into it. "Teyla, tell Beckett to get down here as fast as he can. And tell him to bring surgical tools and a microscope."

"Is someone hurt John?"

"No, but this is definitely his department. So tell him to get his ass down here."

"The Doctor just made a reference to you not taking your pants off Major. A suggestion that would seem most wise in the current situation."

------

Beckett ran into the lab, Teyla, Ford and Jane not far behind, each one helping with the carrying. Beckett raised an eyebrow at the Enterprise team, who were rather obviously huddled into a corner, before moving over to the bench.

"What in the name of-are those nerve cells?"

"That's what I'd like you to tell us Doctor." John replied, the only one apart from Zelenka who had stayed close to them.

Cutting a small section off, Beckett placed it carefully underneath the microscope, adjusting the magnification. "Oh my." He murmured, adjusting it a little more, before sighing. "Aye, they are. I recognise them from the arm that we recovered before. The only question is, how did they get there."

"Well, we found them inside the canister." John shuddered a little as he glanced at the nerves. "By the looks of it, they were lining the inside of the canister's casing."

"Mighty ingenious then!" Beckett replied as he inspected the nerve. "It sounds like this researcher was cleverer then we thought. O'course it explains why the canister story itself wasn't in the database, the Ancients prolly thought it wouldn't look good, using Wraith remnants to escape a planet. At least it clears up how the canister works."

John glanced around the rest of the group, before clearing his throat. "Do you think, perhaps, you could enlighten the rest of us?"

"Oh, o'course." Carson smiled back, picking up the hollow piece. "We know that the alien being feeds from primal energy, quite like the Wraith do. But unlike the being we met that was held here, it's most attracted to energy from living organisms. Creating an enforced shield like the planet's would have been impossible with such a small container, and if free it might result in releasing it's own kind..."

"So she used Wraith cells instead? Why not just kill a rabbit or something?" Ford interjected with, wincing himself at Carson's explanation.

"Because..." Carson rolled his eyes before continuing. "Once the animal's life had been depleted, then the alien would inevitably start feeding on the ZPM, which in turn would quickly free it. The ZPM shield was simply a backup, should the canister ever become damaged, and to make sure that the open part of the canister was doubly protected. This way though, a continuous cycle would continue. The wraith nerve cells need life energy to work, the organism needs life energy to continue living."

"So..." Ford muddled through this all in his head, before concluding. "Once the alien being was inside, it would continue to take life energy from the wraith nerve cells, which in a way was really it's own that would be taken back into the cells themselves."

"Precisely." Beckett replied. "Which is why I suggest we fix the canister as quickly as possible, and put these nerves back. All we need to do is get the alien being out of Elizabeth, and into the canister once more, and the link should start again."

"There's only one problem, uh besides getting the alien out of Elizabeth." John glanced around the group. "How exactly, are we going to get it in? Atlantis has more then enough 'food supply' for this being, even if it does leave Elizabeth. Who's to say it won't just find someone else?"

"That is a problem." Carson murmured, tapping the bench. "I suppose we'll just have to hope that the alien being is desperate enough, or depleted enough of energy, to take whatever it can get first. Which only leaves one person."

"Rodney." John murmured. "Well, okay, lets start with the worst one first. How do we get Elizabeth free?"

"Oh, that one's easy." Carson replied, gesturing to a nearby bag. "We'll have to do the age-old 'fake death' thing. The alien thinks she's dead, goes to the next available host. Which in this case will be the canister."

"And Rodney?"

"I'm afraid he'll have to drug himself, otherwise the alien will try to inhabit him."

"Right." John sighed, before frowning. "But there has to be one concrete thing. Rodney has to believe that Elizabeth is dead."

"What?" Teyla was the one to outcry at that, moving over to John. "John, you cannot do that to him. Everyone here knows how he cares for Doctor Weir. If he is forced to kill her..."

"But he won't be. And she'll wake up within a few minutes, by which time the alien will be safely inside the container. Right Carson?"

Hesitant at first, Carson finally nodded. Glancing to Teyla, he shrugged. "It's the only way. The Major's right. Rodney has ta believe, otherwise he might give it away. I know how much he'll be hurt..." Idly he glanced to Jane, worry rising at her obvious quietness. "But, well he'll understand. He'll have ta stab himself too. And they'll wake up soon enough, don't worry."

Teyla just sighed, her gaze drifting to the canister. "All this for such a small thing."

"It'll be over soon, don't worry Teyla, then we can get back to normal things." John smiled, patting her arm, before glancing to Zelenka. "Okay then, we need to get this canister built back up, and hidden in Rodney's quarters, and that syringe good and ready Doc. Work as fast as you possibly can. Rodney and Elizabeth are counting on us."