10

Back in the Saddle

One year, seven months and three days after the second homecoming.

Doctor Rodney McKay gritted his teeth in frustration. Whoever had rerouted that call was no newbie.

Bill Lee rested his head in the palm of his hand and closed his eyes. He was spent and testy. They had been at it for almost three days with little sleep and food. Carter had left yesterday, returning to George Hammond as it was being fully stocked and ready to ship out again. Daniel Jackson was documenting everything he could back at the Lantean facility, studying texts that the scientific team had managed to retrieve from the system. John had taken as many drones as he could spare back with the jumper and as Rodney had briefly walked into the lab where the weapons was to be set up he'd surprised himself with being jealous of Radek Zelenka, who had been handpicked to work with the drones instead of him.

While trying to let go of the bitterness at the fact that Radek seemed more important nowadays, he'd briefly gotten a glimpse of Evan Lorne as he had cunningly sweet-talked his way out of the infirmary to the annoyance of Doctor Lam. Sheppard's former SIC hadn't had the time to stay and chat, since he was to board the Odyssey and then be beamed down to Atlantis within the hour, but he'd managed to explain what they'd find in as much a detail as he could and Rodney hadn't been able to fully conceal his excitement. It had been hard for the Canadian scientist to get back to work on the mystery call from Pegasus after that, especially since he was stuck and had tried everything he could think off.

He briefly found himself wondering if he'd started to forget things, if he wasn't as sharp as he used to be. His ego had clearly taken the brunt of not being able to trace the origin of the call. His mind had started to drift away to other things. Apparently, Doctor Jackson believed that he'd finally found a nine-chevron gate address that led somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Rodney was painfully aware that the distance to Pegasus was much greater nowadays as there was no base there anymore and without some new invention and funding from the IOA, the only way to get there was to ship out on Daedalus who still did occasional supply runs.

Rumors had it that the Daedalus was under way, back from Pegasus, at the moment and that Teyla had hitched a ride with it to visit her people. He wondered if she'd be able to return to the base before he was to leave for Madison again. Like the rest of his former team mates, he hadn't had time to see her or even speak to her since they'd all said their goodbyes after the evacuation of Atlantis and that was one and a half year ago and then some.

It was funny. He'd thought he wouldn't miss the SGC or the Atlantis Expedition but if he allowed himself to think about it; he missed it terribly. 'Were Jennifer Keller, their house and his lab in Chicago not enough for him anymore?' he wondered. As he stared at the numbers in front of him, he found that he had no real answer to that question either.

OOOOOO

One year, seven months and twenty-five days after the second homecoming.

Daedalus had been delayed from Pegasus and Rodney hadn't got a chance to see Teyla and he hadn't solved the mystery of the caller either. Instead, he'd returned back home to Jennifer, crankier than ever. The good doctor had told him that he needed to work on his attitude and then reminded him that not many people would even get the chance to do what he was doing and that a failure wasn't the end of the world. To that he'd simply responded that it might very well be. Jennifer had sighed and shaken her head about that statement then asked him if he had learned nothing from his experiences in Pegasus? He had retorted that was exactly what he had done. Jennifer had reached out to him, placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes as she said; "You are a genius and you have it all. You run a flourishing company, you have a house and a woman to come home to. Money is not an issue and you have wonderful friends. What more do you ask for? A failure is not a failure if you learn something from it."

He had nodded and swallowed, knowing she was right.

She had smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. "Now, use that brain of yours to figure it out. Don't let anything stop you. Go back there, give it another try and then – if you're not able to piece everything together – come back and feel miserable."

He had been back at the SGC for three days now and was about to give in for the second time, as there was a faint knock on the doorframe.

McKay turned to see the Athosian standing in the doorway with a smile on her face.

"Rodney," she acknowledged jovially. "It is good to see you again."

"Teyla," he acknowledged with a sheepish smile. "It – ah – is good to see you too. I am sorry I haven't called."

"You have been busy," she reasoned, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I understand. You must tell Jennifer I am sorry that Torren and I haven't been able to visit you."

He gave her an awkward smile. "You have been busy too," he said. "I know you've been calling each other at times."

Teyla nodded.

After a moment of silence, Rodney finally spoke up again. "I heard you went back to your people. How are they?"

Teyla looked weary all of a sudden but she managed a faint smile. "They are well – but they are also distressed. It was hard to leave them again. I never thought Atlantis would be staying on Earth this long."

Rodney felt his temper rising, anger and frustration building up inside him. It wasn't directed at Teyla but at the IOA and the SGC and whoever the idiot was who decided to make the city-ship public display for scientists and technicians from various countries. Those people didn't have a clue about how Atlantis was constructed and functioned. They could do irreparable damage. However, he said nothing about it, instead he just nodded and abruptly changed the subject. "Did the Daedalus have any trouble with the Wraith?"

She shook her head. "No, we didn't encounter a single Wraith ship. Halling has been travelling around a bit lately and he said no one spoke of them. It is like they have disappeared from the face of the galaxy. The Coalition of Planets are growing in numbers and they approached my people with an offering of peace and forgiveness to the people of Earth. Halling has waited several months to be able to tell me so that I could pass it on."

Rodney huffed. "They kidnapped us, wanted us to hang for causing so much grief in the galaxy," he recalled bitterly. "Now they want to mend fences?"

"John might have awakened the Wraith prematurely when you first arrived to our galaxy," Teyla said softly. "But it was never his intention. Sooner or later the Wraith would have awakened anyway. The culling would have been inevitable with the exception of the protection from Atlantis that you provided. They know that."

She watched him as he swallowed and managed a faint smile.

"They believe that Atlantis destroyed the Wraith," she added kindly.

"Since they've been wrong on so many occasions, they are unfortunately wrong about that too," he admitted sourly.

"I heard of the unknown call from Pegasus," she began curiously. "I did not know you had found who was behind it? Are you saying that it was the Wraith?"

He laughed bitterly. "I haven't and I can't do it. It's a complicated procedure to dial across galaxies without a power-source capable of creating a stable wormhole. This call is serialized, using a similar method of dialing as the one Carter and I used when we created the Midway station."

"Do you think Todd is behind this?" Teyla asked darkly. "He's had access to our systems while we worked together on Atlantis and the Wraith knows the address to the stargate here at the base."

"It doesn't make sense," Rodney reasoned. "The last thing we knew, was that he was trying to distribute the retrovirus again."

"I fear that the resistance amongst the fractions of Wraith people is massive. Perhaps General Landry is right," she suggested. "Maybe the caller is Wraith, seeking an alliance with us to defeat the others of its kind."

McKay pursed his lips into a thin line of displeasure at Teyla's suggestion. "If your suggestion is true, we might have tipped the scales in their favor," he said darkly.

He saw his worry reflected in her dark brown eyes for a moment, then she nodded and spoke up again. "It was nice to see you, Rodney," she repeated. "I must go and collect Torren John from Chuck. I promised I wouldn't be long. Are you leaving now?"

He followed her gaze to his bag. "Yeah, I'll try and come up with something remotely if I can, but I'll head straight back to Chicago and then back to Jennifer in Madison."

"I am dividing my time between here and San Francisco," she explained. "John is based here and he's become like a father to TJ. I enjoy being close to Atlantis and there's Evan. Amelia and Ronon isn't too far away either."

For someone not very adept on using his emotional side Rodney McKay could be exceptionally brilliant in the field at times, surprising even himself. "We'll just keep on being miserable on different locations then," he stated. "You're not the only one missing Atlantis and the life we had."

"I have noticed that the spark is missing in the eyes of those I've met – those that used to work in Atlantis," she replied hollowly. "I am not sure I understand why. You are all home?"

"I guess that-," he sighed, not really sure what to say or how to say it. "Most of us didn't know what home felt like before we had to leave Atlantis. It's hard to readapt to being stranded on one planet, working with trivial things that doesn't really matter."

Teyla broke into a jovial smile. "Unlike John and Ronon, I have always known you to have a softer, caring side," she said. "It suits you to use it. Take care, Rodney."

"You too," he replied.

OOOOOO

One year, eight months and two days after the second homecoming.

Amelia broke into a grin as Teyla walked through the door. "Hey, Ronon, she's here," she hollered over her shoulder.

Teyla smiled and greeted the human woman with the traditional Athosian customary bow; foreheads touching. "It is good to be back," she said.

Ronon appeared behind Amelia and bowed to greet his friend.

"It is good to see you again, Ronon," Teyla said kindly as their foreheads touched gently.

"Are they good?" he asked bluntly, inquiring about her people.

Teyla smiled at his impatience. "Yes, they are as well as can be expected," she replied. "I wish I had more time to talk to them – live with them."

Ronon shrugged. "You could have stayed behind," he suggested.

She shook her head sadly. "No, Ronon. At the moment, my place is here. I told John that I'd follow Atlantis to Earth. I made my decision then."

"They are your people," the Satedan argued.

"Yes, they are," she said softly, patiently. "But I alone cannot help them or protect them from danger. As long as I am here, their hope of Atlantis returning will be alive as they know that I will not abandon them."

"False hope," Ronon muttered bitterly.

Teyla frowned as she cast a glance at Amelia.

"He's getting more and more agitated," Amelia explained softly with an apologetic look directed at Ronon. "He wants to go back and kill some Wraith."

The Satedan sighed and shook his head. "No, I like it here," he replied. "It's just that Earth is perhaps not what I expected."

"There are troubles brewing across the globe," Amelia countered. "If you want to go to war, I am sure the military can find some way to get you to a hot zone."

Teyla looked from Amelia to Ronon and then back again. "I have a feeling you've been talking about this before," she stated softly.

Amelia nodded exasperated.

"Ronon. It has not been easy for me or Torren John either," she reasoned. However, John and the others have given us great opportunities here and for that we should be grateful."

He snorted.

"Besides, I haven't lost hope that – one day – Atlantis will return," Teyla finished before changing subject altogether. "How about some sparring? You and I – Bantos - one hand only?"

He broke into a grin. "Challenge accepted."

OOOOOO

To be continued