It felt good, for both of them, to have everything out in the open. "There's nothing else, right? You're not going to tell me two months from now that we have a kid or something?" she teased.

He grinned happily down at her and shook his head. "No...That's it... The big stuff anyway."

"I...uh...God this feels so weird," she shook her head.

"Weird?"

"I just... There's this part of me that still feels like I'm cheating on Daniel, but... I KNOW I'm not... And now I know that what I've been feeling for you actually makes sense..."

"Give it time, Sparks."

"Easy to say," she sighed.

"I know, and I wish I could make everything easier for you..."

"Just please don't hold anything important back anymore?" she pleaded.

"I promise. By the way... Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What prompted you to give Mitchell the time of day?" he asked.

Her face reddened and guilt washed over her as she remembered that Sheppard had seen them together. "Oh God! John, I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"Easy, easy... I'm not mad... Well, not at you. I shouldn't be at him either; it's not like he knows about us... No one does, but..." he shrugged. "That sure didn't keep me from wanting to zat him... or worse..."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's alright... I understand...Uh... Or I will... You gave him the boot once before, so why..." he trailed off.

"Actually it was Doc Heightmeyer's idea..." she cringed.

"That QUACK!" he barked.

"She thought it might help me get past any residual feelings for Daniel..." she chuckled.

"The woman's a menace!" he declared.

"I'll be sure to let her know I won't be doing that anymore."

"Make sure you tell Mitchell, too!"

They talked for another hour, then packed it in and set out for the city, each in their own jumper. On the way back, Sheppard explained to Caldwell via private, secure channel, that he'd found her and they'd spent all that time on the mainland talking through everything that had set her off. He assured Caldwell that she was feeling better and wouldn't be taking any more sudden jumper trips. He also wanted to make sure that no one would crowd her with too much attention and too many questions when she arrived.

Unfortunately, Heightmeyer didn't get the message. That, or she didn't care, as she was demanding that Logan come to her office the next morning for an emergency session. After assuring her that she was fine now and that she would stop by, Logan managed to get away from her long enough to go back to her quarters to take a shower.

TWO WEEKS LATER

"Is it just me, or does this place look familiar somehow?" Logan asked with a sour look on her face.

"Proculus. I didn't want to say anything, but I noticed that too," replied McKay. "I guess you went over all that footage from that previous mission, huh?"

"Yes, I did," she nodded. "I mean, I went over everything I could in all the down time I had. And I totally agree with your assessment of... everything related to that... But this? This is damn creepy, Rodney... A village, no sign of violence or mass exodus, but no people?"

"Maybe they're hiding? Could be that they thought we were the Wraith?" he ventured.

"I dunno, we've been here long enough for someone to see us. You getting any unusual readings?"

"No, I got nothing," he shook his head, his expression decidedly uneasy. He'd been thrilled to be loaned to Logan for this mission, but now was having some minor second thoughts.

"Okay then, we'll give it another thirty minutes or so and if we still don't make contact, we're outta here!" Logan declared.

She dispersed her team to search the village and surrounding area, while she helped McKay with his equipment. Logan had been back on full duty for two weeks now, and at the top of her game. She was no closer to recovering her memory, but she was getting to the point where she could almost accept that she would never get her memory back. Sheppard had filled her in on every tiny detail of their relationship, both before and after they'd become lovers and then husband and wife. It wasn't quite the same as remembering it for herself, but it was as close as she was likely to get at this point.

She'd been able to put her old feelings for Daniel into the proper perspective and get past the pain of what had happened between them. Again, Sheppard was a huge part of her being able to heal. Her love for Sheppard grew daily, by leaps and bounds, and she had to wonder how she could have ever thought that she'd be able to share her life with anyone but him.

It was a constant source of amazement that no one in Pegasus knew, or even guessed, the true nature of their relationship. She felt like it was written all over her face every time she saw him. It didn't give either of them pleasure or satisfaction that they were able to keep their secret; they hated that they couldn't share their happiness with the friends and colleagues, but there was no way they could make their relationship public and still remain where they were. The subterfuge was a necessary evil, for the time being.

"Whoa-ho!" McKay exclaimed.

"What?"

"I just read a massive power surge somewhere around here..." he said, looking around.

"Power surge... You don't suppose this is a Genii village, do you?"

"I don't think so... The readings are different than any power source they have, but..."

"But what?"

"I have seen this signature before..." he glanced at her, clearly wary.

"Where?"

"Uh... I can't remember..." he trailed off, frustrated.

"Rodney..."

"Lemme think!"

A moment later, there was a rumbling, like thunder, only much louder, and then the ground around them began to move. They were both thrown to the ground with the force of the quaking, and McKay was knocked unconscious when his head hit a rock. The shaking continued while Logan crawled over to McKay and began checking his wound. A moment later, the shaking stopped as suddenly as it hard started, but Logan was momentarily stunned by a bright white light flashing before them. A figure stepped out of the light and gazed down at her with a self-righteous glare of superiority emblazoned on her face. Logan felt like she should know the woman standing above her, know her and despise her, but she had no idea why.

"Something I can do for you?" Logan asked icily.

"Do you not know me, Logan Devane?"

The way the woman said her name set Logan's back up. "Actually, I don't."

"That's not entirely true."

"Okay, so fill me in... If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say you were one of the Ascended."

"I am."

"And? So? Well? What?" she prodded.

"I was very surprised to see you here."

"Why? And why would you care?" Logan eyed her suspiciously.

"I care more than you know."

"Clearly. The Ascended don't ordinarily show themselves to us lowly mortals..." she gasped as it hit her who she must be. "Athar...?" she hissed.

"So you do remember."

"Only what I've been told. What do you want?" Logan eyed her suspiciously.

"I want to help you."

"Since when?!" she scoffed. "From what I've heard you have always refused to help us."

"I cannot help with other matters, but I can help with this..."

Something about the way she said that made Logan's skin crawl.

"You want to remember your past, do you not?"

"Of course I do, but..."

"Then do so..."

Another flash of light made Logan turn away and then she grabbed her head as a wave of staggering pain came over her and images jumbled together in her mind. They flashed so quickly in succession that she couldn't make any sense of them, and all the while, she thought her head would explode.

"STOP!" came the command from a more recognizable female voice. Logan opened her eyes long enough to register the form of another Ascended being, but the pain was so intense she couldn't focus for long.

"Janet..." she cried.

McKay opened his eyes to find Athar standing over Logan, who was screaming in pain, holding her head as she lay on her side. "Logan!" he cried, pain shooting through his own head and he fell back again.

"Stop this Athar!"

"She wants to remember..."

"Not this way! It's not your place!" Janet appeared to draw closer to Athar, threatening in her stance.

"She wanted me to help... Always wanting me to help... She turned him against me..." Athar was almost maniacal by then.

"Leave her be!" Janet ordered.

"No... she must see..."

Janet shed her human form and began to glow brighter and brighter until McKay couldn't make out which woman was which, not that he'd been able to see that clearly anyway. She lashed out with her mind and managed to sever the connection between Logan and Athar. At that point, Athar lashed back at Janet in a fury, and the battle was on. Logan finally stopped screaming and was now rocking back and forth, still holding her head. McKay dragged himself across the ground toward her.

"Logan?" he covered her body with his own to shield her from the glowing beings battling near her. "Logan, come on..."

"Make it stop," she begged through clenched teeth.

"I...can't... Hold on, Logan." he held her as she rocked, trying to comfort her as best he could.

Somewhere in the distance he heard Bates' voice calling to them. It cost him dearly to call back to them. "Here!" he shouted, the pain making him somewhat nauseous.

Bates and Lorne came at a run, staring in confusion at the 'light-show' bouncing here and there before their eyes. "What happened?" Bates demanded, kneeling by Logan's side.

"Athar..." McKay said, still covering Logan's body with his own.

"What?! She attacked you?" Lorne gasped, anger etched across his face.

"There was an earthquake or something... and then she went after Colonel Devane..."

"What'd she do to her?!" Bates asked, trying to see where Logan was hurt.

"I don't know..."

There was a loud clap overhead and the sky darkened considerably, but the struggle on the ground went on unabated. A moment later, the two spheres of light were thrown apart and, the one they assumed was Athar looked like she was encased in... something... that prevented her from moving. Janet Fraser retook human form and stood by as the others took Athar and vanished. Logan's men stared up into the sky as if expecting something else to happen. Janet walked over to McKay and knelt down.

"Out of the way, Doctor," she ordered.

McKay reluctantly rolled off of her, but stayed close by.

"Logan? Logan...Listen to my voice."

"Do something!" McKay shouted.

All of a sudden, time seemed to stand still. Only Janet was aware of what was going on around her, while the others appeared frozen in time. She turned to face the two glowing beings who materialized out of nowhere.

"Let me help her," she demanded.

"It is forbidden."

"So is what Athar did to her... Why should she have to suffer at the hands of one of our own, doesn't she... and ALL these people, don't they suffer enough every day at the hands of the Wraith because we so-called enlightened beings refuse to clean up the mess we made?"

"It is not like that."

"It IS like that!" she shouted. "The Ancients were at least partially responsible for the evolution of the Wraith and what did they do about it? They ran away! They ascended and left the people of this galaxy to face the Wraith alone and unguarded. People they put here themselves! Now... this woman did nothing to deserve what Athar did to her, what she shouldn't have been allowed to do in the first place, so FIX IT! Or allow me to..."

There was a blinding flash of light and then silence. Logan's team, who'd been frozen, suddenly fell forward to the ground.

"Whoa!" McKay cried as he stopped himself from landing on top of Logan. He looked around in confusion.

"What happened?" asked Bates.

"Where's Dr. Fraser?" McKay looked around frantically.

"She was just here!" Bates replied.

McKay checked Logan's vitals to make sure she was alright since she'd appeared to suddenly lose consciousness. "We need to get her back to Atlantis NOW!" he shouted, picking up her limp body and heading for the gate.

Bates ran ahead to dial the gate. Along with his IDC, he sent instructions to have a medical team standing by. A few moments later, Caldwell gasped when he saw McKay carry Logan through the event horizon.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"We don't really know," he replied.

The medical team rushed into the gateroom with a gurney, where McKay gingerly deposited the still unconscious Logan. He ran behind them as they hurried her to the infirmary where Dr. Beckett waited.

Out in the hall, Bates and McKay tried to explain, as best they could, what had taken place on the planet. They told him what they could about Athar and the sudden reappearance of Janet Fraser, who apparently had stepped in to stop whatever it was Athar was doing to Logan. It had become clear to them that somehow time had stopped, at least momentarily, for them and that something had taken place between Fraser and probably "The Others" when she stepped in to try and help Logan.

"One minute she was writhing on the ground in pain, with Fraser bending over her, the next Fraser was gone and Logan was unconscious," McKay finished.

"That's when we came back here, sir," Bates added.

In the exam room, Beckett could find no physical reason for Logan's unconscious state. All of her vital signs were stable, which was a good sign. Her brain waves were somewhat elevated and erratic but otherwise normal. There was simply no reason for her not to wake up. A sudden commotion in the room next door startled him and he ran to check on the source of the noise. He was somewhat startled to find a somewhat embarrassed Janet Fraser frantically trying to find something to cover her naked body. He quickly pulled off the white coat covering his uniform and handed it to her, all the while keeping his eyes averted.

"Dr. Fraser...? How the bloody hell...?" he stuttered.

"Thank you Carson," she said. "Where is Logan?"

"Next door, doctor... How did you... Never mind, I can use all the help I can get!" he led her next door then sent a nurse to find something more for her to wear besides his coat.

Fraser examined Logan carefully, assuring herself that all was well before turning to Beckett to explain what she could.

"But she's going to be alright...?" Caldwell asked.

"She'll be fine... She IS fine. She needs this down time to be able to process all the memories that have been restored," Fraser replied.

"Why did Athar do that to her?" Caldwell asked.

Fraser shrugged. "Jealousy, perhaps; revenge for some perceived slight... It doesn't really matter, she never should have been able to attack her."

"Agreed," Caldwell's jaw tightened in anger.

"Dr. Fraser... Pardon my impudence but... What are you doing here?" Weir ventured cautiously.

"Well, you know from Daniel Jackson that it's possible for ascended beings to retake human form..." she began.

"Yes, but..."

"I couldn't stand by and do nothing... I never could."

"We can't thank you enough for that..."

At that moment, Sheppard came hurtling into the infirmary, fear and anger in his eyes. "Logan?!" he asked.

"She'll be fine, Colonel," Beckett assured him. "Thanks to Dr. Fraser here," he grinned.

"Thank you... Dr. Fraser?" he asked perplexed, stunned to see her fully human.

"Long story, Colonel. Logan's still out, but you can go in and sit with her," she smiled warmly.

"Thanks!" he said and disappeared into Logan's room.

A moment later, Carter, Daniel and Teal'c burst through the door and gaped at Fraser.

"Janet?" Carter asked.

"Hello Sam, Daniel, Teal'c..." she smiled.

"It's really you?" Carter asked.

"Really and truly," she laughed.

The three of them came forward and took turns embracing her and peppering her with questions.

Weir returned to her duties and Caldwell to his, leaving the reunited comrades to reminisce and catch up. Beckett went back to work, checking on the other patients he had and let Sheppard have some privacy with Logan.

In her room, Sheppard leaned over, brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead softly, a single tear streaming down his face. He buried his face against her belly with one arm draped protectively across her body.

Sheppard was sound asleep when Logan finally began to stir, then awaken. She was somewhat disoriented, but she knew it was Sheppard there, with his head resting against her belly. She reached down and gently worked her fingers through the unruly chocolate brown hair. Sheppard snapped instantly awake.

"Sparks?" he croaked.

"Hey flyboy..." she whispered.

"How ya feelin?" he leaned over and kissed her softly on the mouth before she could answer.

"Like someone's been inside my head rearranging things..."

"Are you in pain?" he asked, deeply concerned.

"My head hurts..."

"Is it bad? I can get the doc..."

Logan grinned up at him. "Well, it doesn't hurt as bad as that time you made me drink that awful jungle juice you concocted at McMurdo..." she teased.

"Hey, that was good stuff..." he stopped suddenly as it hit him that THAT particular memory had been one of many she'd lost.

"Logan... honey are you..." he trailed off, not daring to hope.

"I remember..." she smiled.

"That's great!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly against him.

"What the hell happened to me?" she asked.

"You want me to take that one, Colonel?"

They turned to find Fraser standing in the doorway.

"Janet?" Logan gasped.

"It's me, Logan," she came forward and hugged Logan.

"You're... back?" she asked incredulously.

"If Daniel can do it, why can't I?" she grinned.

"I'm so glad you did!" she laughed. "Did you... do this? Give me back my memory, I mean?"

"Not really..."

"But she's the one who made sure you were okay," Sheppard pointed out.

"How..." she gasped as she remembered encountering Athar. "Athar did this?" she asked.

"Not out of the goodness of her heart, I assure you."

"She was mad at me," Logan nodded.

"Yes. This was an attack, designed to inflict as much pain as she possibly could."

"What do you mean?" Logan's eyes widened.

"The sudden onslaught of all those memories, all at once... It was too much for your mind to process in an instant. There was no way for you to be able to sort through it all in any cohesive manner. She did it to drive you insane."

Logan stared from Fraser to Sheppard, who was barely containing his anger and hostility. "I thought she wasn't allowed to do things like that."

"She's not," Fraser assured them. "And she's been dealt with."

"By the good doctor herself," Sheppard added.

"So, you were sent back as punishment?"

"No. And it was the Others who actually set everything right in your mind..."

"With some gentle persuasion, of course," Sheppard grinned at her.

"You needed to be almost in a coma-like state while the memories sorted themselves out... The Others did that and sped your healing."

"Imagine that..." Logan breathed.

"Only because Janet insisted," Sheppard told her.

"Were you... Were you SENT back or did you choose to retake human form?" Logan asked.

"It was my choice. I never could just sit around and do nothing to help... Especially where my friends are concerned."

"Thank you...For what you did to stop Athar, and for coming back to us. We need you, Janet... And I've really missed you!" Logan threw her arms around Fraser and hugged her tightly.

"It's good to be back!"

"I assume you and Daniel have already been comparing notes?" she asked.

"We have," Fraser confirmed.

"How long have I been out?"

"Too long!" Sheppard said emphatically.

"Over a day," Fraser said. "Oh, and just so you two know... there are a lot of things I can't remember from the time I was ascended, but... YOU two, I DO remember."

"Excuse me?" Sheppard said warily.

"I know the two of you are TOGETHER, in every sense of the word."

"Janet..."

Fraser held up a hand to stop her. "I think it's great, and your secret is safe with me," she assured them.

"Thanks," Sheppard hugged her.

"It was worth it just for the hug!" she teased.

"Thank you, Janet."

"What are friends for?" Fraser smiled. "Now...You still need some rest, Colonel Devane, so no getting out of bed until either Dr. Beckett or myself say so...No arguments!"

"Fine..." Logan grumbled.

TWO MONTHS LATER

It seemed as though everything had finally returned to normal. Logan was back on full active duty, her memory fully intact. Missions went on, as always. Janet Fraser had returned to Earth to retrieve her daughter, Cassandra, and be fully reinstated in the Air Force. Since Carolyn Lamm was now the CMO at the SGC, Fraser had been assigned to Genoa, where SG-1 was stationed in the Pegasus Galaxy, much to everyone's delight. Carter had been ecstatic to have Fraser back and to have Cassandra there with them.

Logan and Sheppard blissfully settled back into (secretly) married life, juggling their nights between his quarters and hers, astoundingly able to keep their secret in such a close-knit community as Atlantis.

Both Daniel and Teal'c were becoming more frequent visitors to Lantea as time wore on. Daniel and Kitah were getting more serious, and there were even whispers of an impending marriage between the two. Likewise, Teal'c and Teyla were very nearly inseparable when not on duty. Ry'ac, the son of Teal'c, had even paid a special visit to Atlantis to visit Teal'c and meet Teyla. The two of them hit it off famously and soon the threesome looked like a real family.

Both Logan and Sheppard were pleased with their relationship, though to differing degrees. Having known Teal'c for so long, Logan knew that Teyla was the perfect woman for him. She understood the commitment and sacrifice Teal'c made to continue protecting Earth's and Pegasus' interests. She knew the demands of being out there on the front lines, and she would not resent the time spent away from her in defense of their peoples. Likewise, Teal'c found the same qualities in her. Fortunately, neither of them were in the military, thereby not governed by the same regs that kept others apart, or hiding their true feelings. They were free to pursue romance without fear of repurcussions, and Logan couldn't have been happier for them.

"You're a hopeless romantic, you know?" Sheppard had teased her.

"What's wrong with wanting our friends to be as happy as we are?" she purred.

"Nothing... But if you're not careful, you're going to end up a bigger matchmaker than Carter!"

Logan laughed, knowing those were big shoes to fill. "Come to think of it... Isn't it about time Elizabeth found someone..."

"Whoa Sparks! I was only kidding... sort of... about the matchmaking thing, but you're really starting to sound like a yenta..."

"Hey!" she swatted his behind playfully.