'Evy!' Doctor Radek Zalenka's voice roared through the hall as he spotted Doctor Evy Crawley descend the Deadalus walkway, her backpack towering over her thin frame. Her eyes lit up when she clocked the Czech doctor standing not too far away and a big smile brightened her face. She lifted her hand in greeting and then flung herself in the warm embrace of her longtime friend. 'Radek.' She laughed in his ear and hugged him tightly. 'It's been too long. Still looking as tired as ever', she smiled at him when he released her.

'Those bags under your eyes aren't getting any smaller, my friend.' He quipped back at her and they laughed.

'How's life been on the Lantean side so far?' Evy asked while she lowered the backpack to the floor and took in the room around her. The high ceilings, the blue grey walls and unfamiliar scent. 'Quite a place you found yourselves here.'

'You bet it is.' Radek looked around the room and nodded his head. 'There's still so much to be seen. Only twenty-five percent of the place is known right now. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of everything yet to be discovered here.'

All around people were descending the spacecraft with looks of admiration and fear in their eyes. Evy smiled, recognizing that same feeling she had felt when she boarded the Deadalus the first time. Like everyone else, she had had no idea what would be waiting for her on the other side of the trip and it took her quite a while to get used to the thought that she wouldn't be able to just pick up the phone and call her parents or walk into a Starbucks.

But at the same time she knew, in a way, what her destination was. With a P.h.D in Linguistics and Ancient Lantean language, she knew before she even applied for a position, she could add value to Doctor Weir's team. Yes, knowing Zalenka could've helped her, but Evy was proud enough to admit that her skills and knowledge had helped her secure the new position on Atlantis. And she couldn't wait to get started.

'Anyone I should know before we get started then?' Evy turned back to her friend and raised an eyebrow. 'Better know who to look out for.'

Before Radek could answer her question he was cut off by a tall man with a dark blond hair cut, a thin nose and a slightly disdainful look on his face. 'So this is the new batch then.' Doctor Rodney Mackay gave Evy the once over and she returned in kind. 'Let's see who lasts the month, hmm?'

Evy smiled and extended her hand to the man in front of her.

Radek cleared his throat. 'Doctor Evy Crawley', he announced loudly before adding, 'P.h.D..'

'Ah yes', Rodney shook her hand briefly before dropping it abruptly, 'the linguist.'

'You make it sound like you don't approve.' Evy wiped her hand demonstrably on the fabric of her trouser once he let go and Rodney frowned.

'Surely we don't need someone to tell us what Ancient script to read, with Doctor Weir at the helm.'

'If that were so' Evy smiled sweetly, 'then she wouldn't have hired me to help her. Doctor Weir is busy enough as it is, so I can only be grateful she asked for me.'

Mackay shrugged and looked over his shoulder, spotting another group of new arrivals. With a small nod of acknowledgement he turned and left them standing.

'Well', Evy bent over to pick up her backpack, 'at least he didn't slap me in the face with a glove.'

'Believe me, that would not be an insult but an invitation.' Radek shook his head as he watched the CSO weave his way through the crowd of new arrivals. 'Never mind that, let's go check out what room they assigned to you.'

Evy's room, it turned out, was not too far away from the "Library" where she would be spending most of her days and she happily threw the heavy load onto the bed while scanning her room. Like many other rooms they walked through, the light seemed to emanate from the walls itself and as she stepped closer it seemed to brighten a bit. She quickly backed away. 'Looks great', she commented as she spotted Radek inspecting the cabinet near the window.

'Yes, yes, all the rooms are good. The city seems to know what your personal preferences are and even temperature adjusts to the person in the room.' He explained.

'Let me guess, your room is near sub-zero then?' She folded her arms.

'Of course, what else?' The doctor didn't fall for the little sparring match he could hear developing and instead invited Evy back into the hallway to further the tour. 'Let me show you some of the basics. You have a first appointment with Doctor Weir in a few hours I believe.'

'You are correct.' Evy followed him and the door behind her closed with a soft hum. 'That'll take some getting used to.' She mumbled under her breath before catching up with Radek, who was now legging it down the hall. He took her straight to the mess hall, the gateroom, training rooms and they were just turning the corner to check out the infirmary when Radek body slammed a man completely absorbed in something on a heavy tablet he was holding in front of him.

The two men bounced off each other and stumbled backwards several steps. Evy grabbed Radek by the arm and managed to keep him upright. The other man wasn't so lucky and ended up on the floor, clinging to the tablet. 'Good lord, cannae ye not look where yer goin'?' The man exclaimed.

Evy held out her hand to help him up and he gratefully took hold of her. When he straightened up she stared into bright blue eyes and a round, cheerful face. And as mesmerized as she was by the face before her, he seemed as much taken by her as she by him. 'So sorry about that', she said with an apologetic smile. 'We should've been more careful.'

The man hadn't blinked for nearly the entire time and it was then that Evy realised he was still holding her hand but she couldn't get herself to pull it free.

'Dinna worry about it love', he replied, not looking away from her. 'I shoulda been paying more attention to where I was goin'.'

From the side Radek stepped into view and cleared his throat. Evy dropped her hand and took a step away, looking at her friend and then back at the man she had been standing just a little too close to.

'Doctor Carson Beckett, our Chief Medical Officer', Radek gestured to the man whose eyes were still fixed on Evy, 'and Doctor Evy Crawley.'

This time when their hands met it was merely for a shake and both smiled. 'Evy, what a lovely name, and what will ye be doin' here love?' He inquired and squeezed her hand.

'Mostly reading I think.' Evy looked at Radek but quickly returned to Carson. 'Ancient texts that it.' She explained. 'Doctor Weir has asked me to help categorize and analyze the tablets you all found in a library. See if I can work out more of the Lantean Ancient stories, maybe even find some technologies that we have yet to discover back on earth.'

'Sounds fascinating.' The doctor sighed and waited for her to continue.

'Yes', Radek stared at them, one eyebrow raised high up on his forehead. 'Fascinating.'

'You need to follow me.'

Evy looked up from the glowing tablet before her and smiled at Radek standing in the doorway. 'Sorry my friend, I really want to finish this.' She pointed at the text. 'I'm nearly done.'

'That', he said while walking towards her, 'is what you said yesterday.' He took the pen from her hand and placed it on the table. 'And the day before and the day before that.' He folded his arms and Evy straightened up to face him. 'Just because you never slept at school, doesn't mean I will allow you to do the same here.'

'Come on, just a few more minutes.' She pleaded disingenuous, knowing full well that he wouldn't let her continue if he put his mind to it. It had been Radek that would pull her out of the house, the library and away from her desk while they were still at university together and while he was a bigger scatterbrain than her at times, at least he knew the importance of food. She gave in.

'Doctor Beckett is joining us.'

'Joining us for what?' Evy perked up. She'd been seeing the doctor around the city a few times in the past few days and every time she felt her stomach make a little leap. He seemed to go out of his way to talk to her and give her advice on what was the best time to go to lunch, where the best lookout spots were to overlook the water and complimented her on her progress in the library, even though she knew she had barely made a start. The tablets of texts were scattered around and in no apparent order and she soon realised that the only way of categorizing the information was to translate everything, before being able to determine what went where.

'We're going for a walk. You need fresh air and there's a great walk near the water's edge. There are guards stationed on the explored limits of the city but it'll still take us about twenty minutes. Ah here's the good doctor.'

Carson came flying around the corner, slightly red in the face and he stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Radek and Evy. 'Oh.' He said nervously. 'Hullo.' He swallowed hard and then closed the distance between them. 'Where are we goin' then?'

'Just follow me.' Radek started down the hallway and they dutifully followed him.

They wandered through the halls until they reached the outer doors. Carson held it open for both of them to walk through and as she passed him by Evy looked up at him. 'Thank you.' She whispered.

'It's nothing love.' He said while staring at her.

'Yes, thank you.' Radek lightly commented as he swiftly passed by him.

The wind was blowing slightly but the sun was strong enough to warm them as they stood on the platform overlooking the vast expanse of water. 'Wow.' Evy couldn't take her eyes off of the sight before here. 'It's just incredible.'

'Ay', Carson stepped up next to her, looking at her from the side. 'It is.' He then turned and stared at the ocean.

They stood overlooking the water for a while when suddenly Radek raised his hand and lightly slapped his forehead and swore loudly. Evy and Carson looked at him in surprise, while he continued to curse and check his watch.

'What?' Evy finally broke through his rant and he looked at her.

'I forgot my meeting with doctor Kavanagh.'

'Really now?' Carson eyed him suspiciously. 'What about?'

Radek gave him a withering stare. 'What it's always about. Sheppard brought something back from his latest expedition and now we', he pointed at himself and at the city, 'need to figure out what it does. And if I am late this appointment will be even less pleasant than it already is.'

'The meeting hasn't happened yet.' Evy called after her friend as he quickly walked back to the door.

'You have no idea love.' Carson said behind her and she turned back to look at him. 'Doctor Kavanagh is na exactly flavour of the month around the city.'

'I'll be sure to steer clear of him then.'

'Ye best do that dear.' He nodded. 'Shall we continue? Remember the lookout I told ye about? It's just up ahead. 'Tis a wee climb up the stairs but I promise ye, it's worth it.' He extended his hand to direct Evy towards the looming tower on their right and they set off.

The climb definitely had been worth it, Evy had to admit as they stood side by side with a near bird's eye view of the water and the city. It had taken them nearly half an hour to get to the lookout, mostly because Carson requested regular breaks to avoid a heart attack. Being quite in shape herself, Evy would've bounded up the stairs in no time but she preferred to stay close to the Scottish doctor whose stare made her feel slightly light-headed. Every time they accidentally touched arms she felt her heart pound a little faster. As they stood on the lookout they kept turning left and right, shifting ever so slightly until in the end, there was little to no space left between them.

'Do you miss it?' Evy asked, not taking her eyes off the water.

Carson looked at her. 'Do I miss what?'

She glanced at him. 'Life on earth. Your friends. Family. Whisky. The Highlands?'

'Oh ay, the highlands are just magnificent. And I miss ma family on occasion but there are those moments that make up for it.' He shifted and his hand softly grazed Evy's fingers.

Slightly surprised by the touch she looked down and then gently let her fingers slide between the warm hand next to her own. Neither of them spoke and only stood there, fingers intertwined, the wind blowing around them.

The peaceful moment was abruptly interrupted by a voice calling into Carson's earpiece. 'Doctor Beckett, we need medical assistance in the hospital.' Rodney's voice cried loudly and Carson winced a little before tapping the device. 'On my way.' He replied. 'So sorry love, I need to go.'

Evy let go of his hand, surprised by how sad it made her feel to let go of him and then shook her head. 'No, don't say sorry, you're needed. I'll stay here a little longer.'

'Of course.' Carson replied and then he briefly grabbed her hand, squeezed it tightly before bounding down the stairs.

Within seconds he was out of sight and Evy stared at the space he had just been standing, still feeling the touch of his hand around hers.