"Rodney," John reached across the couch to try to take Rodney's tablet, but Rodney glared at him over the top of it as he leaned away, "It's movie night. No working, remember?"
"I'm not working," Rodney smacked John's hand away as he made another grab for the tablet, "These are some of the schematics for the Wraith Dart that I spent the last two days studying. And Teyla chose the Princess Bride…again. I've seen it a dozen times already. I can look at these and watch at the same time."
"If Rodney wishes to be distracted during the movie," Teyla looked between the two of them, "then let him. Perhaps he will not eat as much of the popcorn this way."
"Hey," Rodney protested, "I only take my fair share."
Ronon snorted as he handed John a large bowl of popcorn and sank down on the pile of pillows in front the couch with his own large bowl. Rodney reached over into John's lap to take a handful of popcorn as the door chime sounded. John used the distraction to try to grab Rodney's tablet again, tipping the bowl over dangerously as Rodney scooted away with his handful of popcorn.
"If there is popcorn in my couch cushions again," Teyla moved to answer the door, "the two of you will be cleaning my room."
"Cleaning your room?" D looked at Teyla curiously.
"D," Teyla smiled as she ushered D into the room, "Have you come to join us for movie night again this evening? We are watching the Princess Bride and there is popcorn available if you can convince Rodney to share."
"I share," Rodney huffed.
"Since when?" John drawled.
"I wasn't planning on staying. I just came by to return your clothes," D held out the neatly folded garments in her left hand, shoes balanced on top, "I would've been by before now, but every time I try to leave my room, one of Carson's nurses shows up. I only managed to sneak out this evening."
"There was no rush," Teyla assured her as she accepted the clothes, "But thank you for returning them so promptly. How is your wound?"
"It's healing fine," D pulled the sleeve of her large black sweatshirt down to cover most of her bandaged hand, "Thank you for asking."
"What wound?" Ronon narrowed his eyes at D, "Why are you hiding it?"
"I got stabbed in the hand," D sighed and moved over to sit cross-legged in front of Ronon, holding her right hand out so he could inspect it, "Matriarch Otelia's son wanted my eyes."
"He wanted your eyes?" Rodney looked up from the tablet, "What does that even mean?"
"The Pulooy people only have iris colors ranging from pale amber to dark brown," D explained as Ronon carefully unwound the bandage on her hand, "Vathek wanted his wife and children to have something different."
"Wife and children?" Rodney's eyes widened, "You mean he wanted..."
"He tried to carve out my eyes when I refused to have sex with him," D shrugged, "I figured letting him stab me in the hand was better than losing an eye."
"He what?" Ronon growled and tightened his hands around D's.
"The Matriarch was quite impressed with D's handling of the situation," Teyla informed them, "And very disappointed in her son's actions."
D slapped Ronon's arm loudly to get his attention, "Dex."
Ronon looked up from her hand with an angry glare.
"I defended myself and he's been punished according to their laws," D spoke gently, "It's taken care of. You're squeezing my hand and it's starting to hurt."
"Sorry," Ronon relaxed his grip, "You hurt him?"
"Marines said she snapped his arm like a twig," John threw a piece of popcorn in his mouth.
"Your Marines are prone to over-exaggeration," D rolled her eyes, "He was mostly drunk and I doubt he's ever been in more than a bar brawl in his entire life. It was hardly a fair fight."
"You broke a guy's arm?" Rodney asked incredulously, "After he stabbed you in the hand? How do you know how to do that? I thought you were some sort of analyst. Why does an analyst know how to break an arm?"
"You've seen my personnel file, Rodney," D looked up at him, "Out of all the agencies I worked for, don't you think at least one of them would've taken the time to teach me how to defend myself?"
"Clean edges," Ronon held D's hand up closer to his face to inspect the stitched wound, "Slid in easy. Where's the knife?"
"It's an heirloom," D reached into her sweatpants pocket to pull out the short knife wrapped in a length of black cloth, "I got to keep it as part of the idiot's punishment."
"You keep a knife in your sweatpants?" John eyed her curiously.
"Where else would I put it?" D asked as she handed Ronon the blade, "It's not like I have a belt on right now and I'm wearing socks with no shoes."
"Never mind," John snorted, "Obviously a dumb question."
"I was actually going to ask Teyla if she had any contacts that are good with leather work," D looked over her shoulder to where Teyla was sitting in the large, over-stuffed chair, "I was hoping one of them could make a sheath for the knife."
"I would be happy to ask," Teyla nodded, "There are several people among our trading partners that could create something appropriate for you."
Ronon pricked his thumb with the point of the blade and blood started welling up. He stuck his thumb in his mouth to clean off the blood before he tapped a fingernail on the metal, "Strange metal."
"Strange how?" Rodney set his tablet next to him and leaned forward to look at the knife.
"It's strong and sharp, looks used often, weird color," Ronon handed the knife over to Rodney, "Blade's an heirloom, but it doesn't look like it's been sharpened for a long time. Most blades need honing and sharpening after years of use."
"If it's an heirloom," Rodney turned the blade over carefully in his hands, "It's possible he's never…hmmm."
"What 'hmmm'?" John questioned.
"This almost looks like…" Rodney trailed off.
"Refined naquadah," D finished as Ronon started rewrapping her injured hand, "I was going to ask Major Lorne about that tomorrow morning when he returns. If it is naquadah and the Pulooy are willing-"
"This could be a huge find," Rodney interrupted as he stood, "I'm going to take this to the geology lab now and have them test it. If it's really made of naquadah, this could solve a lot of problems for us. Naquadah is a major component in a lot of Ancient technology, including the Stargates themselves, but we haven't been able to find a source for it in the Pegasus Galaxy yet. They even used a naquadah-based alloy for the construction of Atlantis. This could make repairing the City go much faster."
"Sit down, Rodney," John tugged him back down to the couch, "It can wait until tomorrow. No work on movies nights."
"But-" Rodney protested.
"I'm sure Vaughn doesn't want her brand-new knife," John gave D an expectant look, "in the hands of the geologists without her there."
"Of course not," D replied smoothly as she held out her left hand towards him, "You know how the geologists are, Rodney. They'd need constant supervision for something like this and I couldn't possibly do it tonight, being injured and all. The painkillers Beckett's got me on are pretty strong. I might fall asleep in the middle of the lab and who knows what the geologists would do then."
"First thing in the morning," Rodney glared at D as he handed the knife back, "I expect you to meet me in the geology lab."
"Dr. Beckett's supposed to clear me for light duty in the morning," D nodded, "I'll be there at 0900."
"Fine," Rodney huffed and picked up his tablet again.
"Before you get all wrapped up in Wraith schematics," John put a hand over the tablet screen, "Start the movie."
"You're staying," Ronon finished wrapping D's hand.
"But I was-" D started.
"We're watching The Princess Bride," John interjected, "It's one of Teyla's favorites."
"The book was better," Rodney reached over to the laptop sitting next to him and tapped a couple keys. The movie appeared on the large hanging screen across from the couch and chairs.
"Books usually are," D moved from the floor to sit between John and Rodney on the couch, leaning over Rodney to set the knife next to the laptop on the small table, "As long as I get to look at the Wraith specs, I'll stay."
"I agree the book was better," John moved the popcorn over into D's lap so Rodney could grab a handful, "But the movie's pretty awesome too, so we're watching it."
"I've only ever read the book, so I wouldn't know," D looked over to John curiously, "You've read The Princess Bride?"
"He could've been in MENSA," Rodney snorted.
"I already knew that, Rodney," D rolled her eyes, "But that has absolutely no bearing on him reading a classic book."
Ronon leaned back against D's legs as the movie started playing.
"Are you three going to be talking through the entire movie?" Teyla raised an eyebrow at them.
"Sorry," D ducked her head and leaned over to Rodney to whisper, "Move the tablet this way so I can see too."
"These are for the weapons systems," Rodney shifted closer as he moved the tablet halfway between himself and D, "I have the dematerializer specs on here too."
"Cool," D grinned as she looked down at the screen, "You figure them out yet?"
"Not yet," Rodney shook his head, "But I just started looking at them. We worked on the engine components while we were-"
"Shhh," John threw a piece of popcorn over D to hit Rodney in the back of the head, "No working on movie nights."
"This isn't work," D grabbed the kernel from Rodney's lap and threw it over her shoulder at John, "This is fun."
"Exactly," Rodney gave John a smug smirk as he grabbed a handful of popcorn, dropping several pieces into D's lap as he ate.
"You're both weird," Ronon dropped his head back onto D's lap, "Quiet."
"The three of you are getting popcorn on my couch," Teyla sighed as she moved from the chair to lay on the pillows with her head in Ronon's lap, "You will be cleaning it up before you leave."
"Yes, ma'am," they all replied quickly.
*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*
Elizabeth looked up as D stomped into her office, a stack of tablets balanced in her left hand as she muttered under her breath in clipped Russian.
"Dr. Beckett only cleared you for light duty, Dr. Vaughn," Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at the other woman, "What are you doing with all those?"
"Catching up on the two weeks' worth of paperwork," D dropped the tablets onto Elizabeth's desk, "that seems to have accumulated in the last five days. This is ridiculous. It's like these people have forgotten how to function without a damn babysitter. I'm feeling a very strong urge to send a sternly worded email to all the department heads on their complete and utter lack of-"
"Have you been spending time with Rodney again?" Elizabeth interrupted as a grin spread across her face.
"Yeah, I was in the lab with him most of yesterday. Sign this," D nodded and pushed the first of the tablets towards Elizabeth, "I also got roped into watching Princess Bride with his team the night before last. He had the schematics from the Wraith dart with him that I wanted to see."
"Anything interesting about the schematics?" Elizabeth entered her electronic signature and moved the tablet out of the way.
"Security reports. The things you need to be concerned about are highlighted," D handed Elizabeth the next tablet, "The Wraith dematerializer might prove useful if Zelenka's engineers can figure out how to reverse engineer one. Dr. McKay already assigned a team to look into it."
"Useful how?" Elizabeth skimmed over the security reports, noting the parts that D had highlighted, "Why didn't I hear anything about this incident in the mess?"
"The timestamp," D leaned over to point at the tablet, "It only happened last night and your meeting with First Sgt. Lock isn't until 1430 today. He'll explain in detail then."
"All right," Elizabeth nodded and set aside the tablet, "The dematerializer?"
"If the team manages to figure out how to reverse engineer one using Earth-based materials," D scrolled through another tablet before handing it to Elizabeth, "We'd be able better utilize the space allotted on the Daedalus for both mission-critical and personal items. This week's requisitions. Nothing to be concerned about for once, which is shockingly pleasant."
"Do you think the engineers will be able to figure it out any time soon?" Elizabeth signed the tablet and put it to the side, "Being able to get more personal items here in the City would boost morale considerably. And Major Lorne could quit sending me emails with his inventory reports about what he calls the 'woefully understocked' armory once a week."
"If the team is allowed to concentrate solely on this project, I'd say a month or so. In reality it'll be at least two months. And Major Lorne is using polite phrasing about the armory, ma'am," D gave Elizabeth a flat stare, "Whether you like to acknowledge it or not, Atlantis is at the center of an intergalactic war that has been raging for millennia. And while I understand that this is meant to be a scientific expedition, if Atlantis came under attack, the scientists would be expected to defend themselves. Even if there were enough weapons and ammunition to go around, half of them have never fired live rounds outside a range setting. They're more likely to hurt themselves than anything else. The military would have their hands full defending critical areas of the City and dealing with any intruders. Unfortunately, in this particular place, most of the people can be replaced. The equipment can't. Usually it's the other way around."
"You've thought about this before," Elizabeth sat back in her chair to look up at D.
"Yes, ma'am," D leaned back against Elizabeth's desk, "I've spent a lot of time considering millions of scenarios involving Atlantis and the personnel here. Part of the reason I'm so good at what I do is the fact that I don't think like the average person. When I calculate something, I take into account factors that most people wouldn't even think to consider. I always have at least a dozen contingency plans in place for each part of my plans. The future of Atlantis is no different."
"So what would you suggest then?" Elizabeth asked curiously, "To improve security here in the City."
"Make weapons training mandatory for everyone stationed in Atlantis," D answered automatically, "As well as at least two forms of self-defense. Regularly scheduled war games involving all personnel, not just the military, both within the City and at a suitable Alpha site, using live ammunition at the Alpha site as much as possible. The armory needs to be tripled in size, minimum. There should be at least one handgun for every person stationed here and enough ammunition for each gun to take down a Wraith. There needs to be an increase in heavy weaponry and explosives of at least four hundred percent, especially since it takes so much effort to take down even one Wraith, much less a dart or a hive ship. The military personnel rotated here from the SGC need to receive additional training – ideally from someone like Specialist Dex – on how to effectively deal with the Wraith before they are allowed to step through the Pegasus gate. The same goes for the civilians. Many of them still balk at carrying a nine millimeter for self-defense. There are only three companies of military personnel stationed here at any one time and a lot of them are concentrated specialties. Ideally, there should be an entire division, but we could make it work with a single, full battalion, leaving the three companies we have now as they are and adding two additional companies of infantry troops. There are a handful of people here who are irreplaceable, both civilian and military, which is a huge problem in a war-zone. Take out a few key personnel and you cripple the City's ability to function. Everyone should be cross-trained in as many disciplines as they can handle, especially the civilians. We're still too heavily dependent on Earth for mission critical inventory. We need to find a way to either manufacture or trade for important items so if we were to be suddenly cut-off from Earth – especially since they're now embroiled in a war with the Ori – the impact wouldn't cripple the City. I'm not talking about militarizing the expedition, just acknowledging the fact that we are in a warzone and need to act accordingly. The civilians need to be protected properly if we want them to be able to continue making progress with the technology here."
"Why haven't you brought this up before," Elizabeth wondered, "either with me or with Colonel Sheppard?"
"You've never asked before," D shrugged, "And it's not my place to bring something like this up with the military command."
"How much of that is actually necessary and how much is you being overly cautious?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Most of it is necessary," D answered thoughtfully, "The cross-training should've been implemented the day after the expedition set foot in Atlantis. The resource cost for cross-training is negligible, so it could begin at any time. It really comes done to a matter of budget and whether the IOA will agree to all of it. With the right people in the right positions telling the IOA that it's essential to the continued success of the Atlantis expedition, we could probably get at least seventy-five percent of it accomplished within the next six months, the rest of it within the next year or so."
"All right," Elizabeth leaned forward and tapped her fingers on her desk, "Write up a proposal and schedule a special meeting with the senior staff to discuss it. What's on the last tablet?"
"A report from the geology department," D tilted her head to the side and thrust the tablet at Elizabeth, "They think the Pulooy planet has naquadah deposits. They want to send a team to check it out. Ma'am, what do you mean write up a proposal and schedule a meeting?"
"All your suggestions," Elizabeth accepted the tablet, "I'm sure you've come up with a way to accomplish most of them. Write it all out and email the proposal to the senior staff so we can discuss it when everyone's available."
"But…" D ducked her head, "Isn't that over-stepping my bounds, ma'am? I don't want to offend anyone involved or make them think I know their jobs better than they do. They're only ideas and theories. I was only thinking out-loud."
"Why did you put so much thought into it?" Elizabeth asked carefully.
"Because this is the longest I've ever been in one place," D straightened the cuff of her uniform jacket over the edge of the bandage on her hand, "and I guess I kind of like it here. I'd like Atlantis to be protected as best it can be."
"Write up the report, D," Elizabeth smiled, "I'll deal with the consequences if there are any hurt feelings because of it."
"Yes, ma'am," D inclined her head, "Should I speak with Major Lorne about scheduling a geological survey on M59-693?"
"Please do," Elizabeth scrolled through the tablet, "As soon as there's an available spot in the schedule. Tell them survey only until I get a chance to speak with Matriarch Otelia about this."
