A/N:

Hey guys! So I know the last chapter seemed kind of like a lull, and it was. It was also supposed to be. But I don't write lulls well. I'll continue practicing. But now we're back to the action!

Life is still mad, as I'm trying to get things sorted in other areas of my life. So please stick with me. And if you like what you read, drop me a line. It keeps me motivated to continue posting. On that note I really do want to thank everyone who kept after me when I had lost my motivation to post in this community and write period over my long absence. You are all wonderful human beings. Thank you!

Recap:

Atlantis has left earth once more.

Episode 7 Feedback

Not wanting to tax the hyperdrive engines or the jump drive engine that the city had been outfitted with, at least until the engineering team had been over them with a fine-tooth comb, the flight was taking quite a lot longer. And the strain of constantly being among the stars was beginning to show on more than a couple of the Atlantis expedition members who were more used to being planetside.

It didn't help that things like the gravity drive and the hot water were glitching. The engineering team got them back, quickly enough, but not without many complaints.

"I can't go any faster Jack." Sophie sighed, rubbing her eyes. She had been up for nearly thirty-six hours straight working. God bless her parents and family, both adopted and blood-related, who could be there for Luka when she simply couldn't. "If I do, do you have any idea what I could set off in this place? Hot water is nothing."

"Carter gave me a quick rundown." Leaning back against the rail of the small room engineering had turned into a break room. It looked out over the giant space of engineering and currently housed a couple of tables and coffee makers that had seen much happier times. A testament to the fact that engineering had been working themselves to the bone. "Something about air?"

"Yeah." The bottle of water in her hand sloshed as she tried to take off the lid. The metal slipping when her hand simply couldn't tighten around it. "Someone was so tired that they crossed the oxygen scrubbers with one of the fire suppression systems that we put in, not the Lanteans. Had Romanov not gone back over it himself and it passed inspection simply because someone less familiar with the systems looked at it?"

"Death?"

"Gasping for air and turning a beautiful shade of blue." She turned to the wall, about to launch the frustrating bottle at it. Jack fished it from her fingers and opened it before handing it back. Nodding, she continued. "Everyone is working, even if they only have a passing knowledge of engineering and the system. Rodney, Zelenka, Romanov, Sam, and I are all heading up teams. I even pulled in my father onto a welding team."

Nodding thoughtfully, Jack's eyes narrowed. "Does that mean no movie night in the cafeteria?" At first, he thought he broke her. Her shoulders began shaking and her eyes squeezed shut while her face screwed up. A squeak here and there got past the silent emotion that she was holding back. And he really did think he finally made her snap. That she was bawling and not likely to stop any time soon.

He had seen her pushed to the edge. Than once. More often than not by him. Or some other higher up. But he had never seen the tension that followed her around like a cloud the past few days. She had always remained calm, at least outwardly. But he had watched her almost vibrating with the desire to hit someone just that morning. Something had to be done.

But then she gave up trying to hold herself together and laughter echoed through the room. She clutched at her sides and tried to wipe her leaking eyes on her shoulder. "Oh bless your hide."She finally got out. Then a few more laughs bubbled out. "I might be able to swing the movie but I'm not sure about the popcorn."

Jack chuckled, knowing his work was done when her shoulders relaxed from the ramrod still hold she effected. "Well without the popcorn we may as well call the whole thing off."

She sighed, leaning down to right a hastily overturned chair and slump into it. "Popcorn may be the least of our worries soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"She means the water reclamation center," Rodney said as he and Zelenka filed in, followed by a haggard Romanov who was deep in conversation with a tired-looking Sam. Everyone was showing signs of strain. But they understood the need for these twice-daily meetings to keep everyone up to date in a way that the filed reports just couldn't.

"And the waste disposal." Romanov added.

Zelenka cut him a quick look as Woolsey walked in, tugging the bottom of his uniform coat into place neatly. He had forgotten just how far engineering was from his office, but he couldn't in good conscious fall the heads of the department so far from their work and teams just because he was a little out of shape and it was a bit further than he was used to going.

"What's this about waste disposal?" He asked as everyone got a drink and sat down to face him.

Sighing again, Sophie took point as it wasn't to the point of the city blowing up as she and Rodney had agreed in their truce. "We have noticed a disturbing up tic in the repairs that we're having to make. We all understood that not all systems would be operational at lift off, but the major ones like water reclamation, waste disposal, air purification, and artificial gravity were done. We have the written and visual confirmation of that. It was only the minor systems that were to be worked on while in transit because they wouldn't affect anything."

"And they certainly wouldn't kill anyone if they failed or didn't work correctly the first time," Rodney added, his eyes fluttering at the first sip of heavenly coffee. The coffee was actually burned and he was covering the taste with too much creamer and sugar that it was more like hot ice cream at this point but he was dead on his feet so who was he to complain. He was simply too tired for one thing.

"Reasonable." Woolsey acknowledged. "So what's happening? Wear and tear from breaking in systems that were damaged and repaired?" He guessed. Or more accurately hoped.

Zelenka shook his head. "If that was the case we would be receiving malfunction readings long before any system actually went offline. No, from the damage we've been documenting it's more like someone is deliberately and systematically damaging the mechanics of each system to make it look as if it's wear and tear or simple human error and we're running around to exhaustion to repair what they do before it causes real damage." He smiled his thanks when a mug was placed in his own hands, he had just come back on shift so was better rested but still a bit groggy.

"Sabotage?" O'Neill asked, his eyebrows drawing together. "I thought we took care of that back on Earth."

Sam chuckled at the tone that filled his voice. Not many people would know what it meant.

"The virus, yes." Romanov agreed. "No more signs of that."

"And the military took care of the invaders," Sophie added. "At least we thought they scooped everyone."

"They were The Trust by the way." Slouching into a seat, Jack stacked his fingers over his still lean stomach. "Nasty little buggers pop up like cockroaches when you least expect it. And apparently have some new toys. The bug that you found." He clarified.

"Well, that takes care of one problem." Romanov sighed, running his fingers through his hair until it was almost as wild and untidy as Zelenka's.

"Does it?" Sophie asked when Rodney and Zelenka nodded at Romanov's words. "How would The Trust get a hold of Genii tech? Someone had to ferry it to them. And an SG member is the only one that could. They are either on one of the ships or here on Atlantis itself and I don't know about anyone else but I don't like either idea."

O'Neill snorted. "Can tell you're used to thinking military strategy."

"Blame it on grandpa and daddy." After a beat, she added as an afterthought. "And my brothers."

Sam chuckled. "I gotta admit, Jack. I've seen the photos of the damage that Sophie has been insisting that everyone take. It does look like sabotage."

"What about the mix up in the oxygen scrubbers and fire suppression?" Woolsey asked. "You told me that was human error."

"That's part of the problem," Sophie explained. "It looks like I could be human error due to exhaustion. Which is what was put in the report. But because of the nature of what we've all seen..."

"We'd be idiots if we didn't suspect something." Rodney agreed. "And while I'm not sure about you and O'Neill-"

"Rodney please remember who signs out paychecks." Radek reminded softly, shaking his head at the gall of his partner.

"Homeworld Defense is the one now signing and if they wanted me to behave they should have let me sleep first."

"It's Sophie's turn next for a long break." Zelenka reminded. "She's been on longer than any of us and she has a son to see to."

Rodney looked to Sophie who was at that moment picking her nails using her utility knife. She didn't look at him. But she didn't have to. He had the distinct impression that she was spending too much time with the resident specialist.

Medi-spa. Permanent resident wing.

Sophie and her family had been moved into permanent quarters soon after she woke up. The pier of the city that held the permanent resident quarters was quite a bit more secure but the main reason was that it was the permanent resident pier were the amenities that lay in the lower levels. Not that most current residents knew about them.

Sophie and her family just so happen to know all the nooks and crannies. Benefits of having the city engineer in the family. There were indoor gardens that had been reclaimed from the depths. There was even a spa that was half zen retreat and half medi-spa. There were public baths that reminded her of a vacation that she took and the Turkish baths she had visited. There was even a virtual reality room that had been recently repaired and dried out. It was simply going through final checks before it was opened to the general population. And that was besides the multiple pools and grottos.

It was the spa that Sophie went to first. Her mother and grandmother insisted. It was a ritual that they had taken part in since before she had been born. Conversation and tea before she was allowed to go home and rest.

Never before had she very nearly ached to skip the time to unwind and just go home and sleep. She only had thirty-six hours before she had to go back on shift. All she wanted to do was hold her son, eat, and sleep.

But they had informed her that Teyla would be joining them and that the men had the two little ones. Apparently Ronon and John had taken the boys at first and then her brothers, father, and grandfather decided to make a day of it. Swimming and training, food and naps when the day had gotten too much for them. Either way, she was free until dinner and her mother knew she would never sleep until she unwound a bit.

Yawning, Sophie relaxed into the massage beds while the various air jets and motors turned her muscles and bones into a puddle of jelly. "Mom can we not talk about my work until I'm sitting with a cup of tea?" She begged.

"That bad?" Kara asked, worried by the dark rings under her daughter's eyes. Furlings normally had much more energy than humans and needed much less sleep. So the level of exhaustion she was displaying was worthy of concern.

"Mmmhm." Sophie sighed as her grandmother's weathered hand slid over her forehead and neck.

Rota shook her head at her daughter's concerned look. The exhaustion wasn't a holdover from her recent near-death experience. It was emotional and mental, not physical. "You will tell us when you can child." The oldest woman murmured.

It was half an order, they all knew it, but it was a sign of trust that Sophie appreciated.

Slowly the older woman brushed out her granddaughter's hair and plaited it, nearly making her doze off. "Don't fall asleep yet. Teyla will be here in a few moments." She whispered. Rota rarely ever raised her voice. Preferring to make people listen with her quietness and silence rather than raising her voice. "You don't want to miss time with your friend do you?"

Shaking her head, Sophie forced her eyes open with a groan.

Kara chuckling at her daughter as the massage table turned off with a quiet tone and handed her a cup of tea as she sat up and the door to the room slid open with a hiss. "Mud baths, next?"

"Earthlings bath in mud?" She asked, thoroughly confused already.

Gym. Resident's Pier

Erik and Sigrun were patient men. They had to be, with the combination of age and children that they had. But they had also learned to be observant. Wives and daughters had a tendency to make you that if you were smart. If not… well… you were asking for trouble no matter the race.

They both knew Ronon was interested in Sophie. But they were pleasantly surprised by how he behaved toward Luka. Not many men that Sophie had dated since her husband died every made it past meeting Luka, let alone were patient enough to listen to the boy. But here he was, slowly teaching the boy while Luka rattled on about his theories and mathematical equations. Even calculated the angles of hits and pressures.

"Ronon," Luka started, and his grandfathers knew that tone of voice. He had inherited it after all. It was the I'm-going-to-you voice.

Ronon grunted his attention.

"You need to cut your hair."

The Satedian specialist raised an eyebrow and grunted again.

He wasn't getting defensive the way Sigrun expected though. The young tended to get offended easily. Even the old and stupid tended to as well.

Erik smiled as he threw a kick at her father-in-law's legs, missing by miles as Sigrun jumped and kicked out at his head and he was forced to abort the kick and jump out of the way.

"Too easy to catch and yank."

Ronon chuckled. "No one has yet." He swung the bantos rod slowly at Luka, frowning when the boy smacked it aside quicker than he expected and spun under his arm. Quick as a blink, Luka had jumped on his back, wrapped his small hand around a few dreads, and yanked back. The boy's own bantos rested a few seconds later across Ronon's throat just long enough to make his point before he hopped away.

"You're too used to opponents that are nearly as big as you or are friends who wouldn't take such easy shots. Smaller or more desperate?"

"Easy target." Ronon finished with a nod. He would honestly consider it.

Sigrun cut a look at his son-in-law who nodded in return. "Ronon, go play with the boys." The much older man directed as Erik moved off to start a four-way battle with his sons and Luka came to stand and bow before his great grandfather.

Not quite so ready to release his tiny student, the specialist first looked in on Torren who was snoring away in the playpen that Sophie and Sigrun had cobbled together out of spare engineering parts. He snorted. John was twisted up like a pretzel around the toddler, his hand resting on Torren's stomach.

Then John's comms buzzed and the city announcement system crackled to life. John's eyes snapped open and he smacked the com in his ear. "Sheppard."

"All security report to stations." The first announcement ordered calmly. "All engineering report to stations. All medical report to stations."

Seeing the look his sons were giving him, Erik picked up Torren and bounced him gently on his hip to calm the rudely woken boy while Sigrun and Luka began collecting their things. "Go." He ordered. "We'll take the boys back to our quarters."

"Non-essential personnel return to quarters." The next announcement came.