8

Isa

Traveling to Isa had been nothing but uneventful for the trio consisting of Colonel Carter, Doctor Jackson and Colonel Lorne.

Evan found that he was grateful for the change in scenery. Although, he had surprised himself by feeling uncomfortable wearing a green SG uniform instead of the usual black AR uniform. He noted that Daniel was enjoying himself, asking questions, talking to a number of tradesmen from the medieval looking society.

They were so far out in the outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy that not many explorational trips had been made their yet.

"Doctor Jackson is having a great time," Evan remarked as Sam came to stand next to him, watching as their colleague vividly gestured toward the ruins of an old city as he talked to one of the women at a small market stand.

"That's Daniel in a nutshell," she admitted fondly. "You should have seen Jack's face in the very beginning when they were assigned to the same team."

"I can imagine," Lorne deadpanned. Unlike O'Neill, Evan had nothing against talkative civilians thrown into the mix, quite the opposite. He valued teams which consisted of people with different skillsets, even though he'd be the first to admit that Doctor Parrish's ramblings of the local fauna grated on his nerves at times.

She studied him for a moment with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "So, how does it feel to be out in the field again?"

Lorne smirked. It had been over a year since he'd been an operative, laying down cover fire for Sheppard's team as the Colonel himself had been on some insane suicide mission to nuke a Wraith hive ship from the inside. Even longer time had passed since he'd commanded the Atlantis Reconnaissance team, AR-2. "I could ask you the same thing, ma'am," he answered, politely dodging her question.

"Feels like I'm alive again," she replied slyly. "Don't get me wrong. I loved running the city but it was challenging. When I got back to the SGC I surprised myself with rejoining SG-1 for a while. Don't tell Mitchell I said this but the SG-1 is not the same anymore. Everyone has moved on now. Teal'c is busy with rebuilding the Free Jaffa movement and everything around it. Vala stayed behind to help out the Ba'al clone freed of the Goa'uld, she returned only recently, and Daniel is always busy trying to solve some mystery of the universe."

Evan smiled at that.

"Then, when the whole Wraith armada was out for blood, General Landry put me in temporary command of the SGC, claiming I knew how to handle it, having experience from Atlantis," she gave a light snort and shook her head. "To board the George Hammond was a blessing in a way and a new challenge since it was my first command of a ship. However, when time permits and the Hammond is resupplied, I do occasionally find my way back to SGC and do things like this."

He nodded, holding the smile yet he seemed saddened as he glanced away into the semi-dark night. "Yeah," he said hollowly in a subdued voice. "Atlantis isn't the same anymore either. I don't think the IOA will ever let her back to Pegasus and I-," he paused and shook his head. "It feels like the Atlantis Expedition has been dispersed – disbanded – and that its members are somewhat unwelcome at the SGC."

"No, Evan," Sam said kindly. "I know what you guys can do and what you did back there. You kept the Wraith in check in Pegasus and you were a stability factor for the people. You came back to rescue us from the super hive. Had Atlantis not appeared when she did, all of this would have ended differently. I know General Landry has incorporated as many AR team members as he could fit into the SG teams. Unfortunately, you know how IOA works and how much we've been dependent on them the last couple of years," she reasoned.

"Yeah," he mused. "It's just so unfair. I want to go back there, you know."

"And I think that if anyone is capable of getting Atlantis back to Pegasus it's you, John and Rodney," she encouraged him softly. "Who knows what Daniel might find? Maybe it's something useful."

Evan and Sam both looked at the archaeologist who in turn began to wave at them, indicating for them to join him.

OOOOOO

"Rodney?" Jennifer asked curiously as she came home, slightly alarmed at the bag sitting just inside the door.

"Here," he hollered as he neared, ready to leave.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked.

He mentally kicked himself for not remembering to tell her. He turned to look at her with a dumbfounded expression. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled. "I forgot to call you. I've been trying to arrange travel and brief everyone at the lab that I'd be out of town for a while."

She took a step back.

"SGC called," he finally explained. "We-, we've received a call from Pegasus."

"What?" Jennifer stated. "After a year and a half? Who is it?"

"That's what they want me to find out," he admitted. "I've talked to Sam and she says the General is concerned that it might be the Wraith."

"But you and John concluded that no one had the power or the technical knowledge to do that," she reasoned.

"I know that, Jen, but someone dialed the SGC. The sooner I get there the better," he said and huffed. "Of course, it would have been a lot easier if they'd just beamed me over."

"You quit," Jennifer reminded him softly as she reached out with her arms to gently sort out his collar. "And you've stepped on IOA's toes too many times for them to offer you a free ride."

"Ha ha," he snarked.

"When will you be back?" Jennifer asked carefully.

"You know as well as I do, that's impossible to say," he replied as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek and grabbed his bag to head out the door to the awaiting taxi.

Jennifer Keller watched her fiancé leave with a sigh. She subconsciously fingered at the ring on her finger – the one that told everyone else that she was engaged to be married to someone. 'Why did everything turn out to be so complicated when it came to domestics?' she thought dully.

Nothing had changed between them. She was still trying to help Rodney develop a softer side, a humbleness she knew that he possessed deep inside, and she still liked him but did she love him? That was a question she couldn't answer at the moment. Life was so busy, so hectic, even after they'd moved out of Atlantis, that they seldom saw each other more than an hour before they needed to go to sleep and then one hour at breakfast every morning. It wasn't the relationship she'd imagined she'd have but, truth to be told, she hadn't expected to be in any relationship at all.

Her old friends from school – those she had left and managed to see nowadays – had told her to fight for the one she loved and that a relationship was a labor of love that needed a lot of work to function. The fact that Rodney was as socially awkward as she was when it came to the opposite sex had actually helped her feel comfortable around him. Besides, they shared the experience of Atlantis and knew each other well. She knew what had happened to Rodney and Rodney knew what had happened to her, therefore they were able to help out and offer support to one another when not many others could.

She missed being able to talk about her years 'abroad' to her father and she hated lying to him so she figured that starting a relationship outside the sphere of the SGC would not even be possible for her. Jennifer's thoughts returned to the previous topic of love. 'Was Rodney becoming a friend to her? A man whom she shared a house with? Someone to have and to hold at night just as an excuse not to live alone?' Jennifer couldn't stop thinking about it. She'd given it a lot of thought recently without getting any answers. She found herself perplexed about the whole issue. She missed Kate Heightmeyer at times like this; Teyla would do too but neither of them would be coming to her rescue anytime soon. Kate wasn't even alive.

Her thoughts strayed to Evan and she smiled. She missed having him around, missed his dry wit and dimpled smile. She missed the twinkle in his blue eyes as he smiled at her and she missed him trying to coax her out of the infirmary late at night just to get her something to eat. He'd decided to care for her whether she'd wanted it or not. Ever since they'd become friends - a few weeks after she'd joined the Atlantis Expedition - she'd felt like she belonged there. Jennifer shook her head. There wasn't anything going on between them. She considered Evan her adopted big brother, but if she was completely honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she was attracted to him and felt safe when he was around. Unfortunately, that was also the issue; she didn't want to mess up a perfectly sane and wonderful friendship. Besides, why would Evan feel something for her?

Jennifer Keller sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she walked into the kitchen to microwave some cold leftovers from the day before, then she would go to bed and sleep so that she could start the next day early. For one crazy moment she considered retaking a position within the stargate program. Unlike the people on the stargate teams, a medical doctor such as herself with the amount of experience she had was always welcomed and she liked Doctor Carolyn Lam.

OOOOOO

It was getting darker and darker as the away team made their way across the ruins of a large city. Lorne switched on the flashlight on his P90 and made his way over uneven ground. He frowned as he thought he'd seen a faint flashing light ahead of him. He shook his head, blaming it on vivid imagination. The ruins were composed of solid rocks, there was nothing technologically advanced about them. He couldn't understand why Doctor Jackson was so interested about in the first place.

Sam glanced around the premises, happy to see that their search for clues didn't warrant the attention of the locals anymore. It was nightfall and everyone was tired and worn after several days on the market and food court a few miles down the road. Besides, the native scientists had already been fine-combing the place and come up empty. The two former excursions made by SGC to Isa had revealed nothing of importance and had been a complete waste of time as long as the IOA was concerned. If Daniel didn't find anything this time, she doubted they'd ever return.

"What do you expect to find?" Sam asked curiously.

"I am not sure," Daniel replied as he knelt before a large boulder and ran his fingers across it. "It's just that it feels like there should be something here."

"A hunch, huh?" Lorne called from his position a bit further away.

Daniel gave him a sheepish smile. "I suppose that when you put it like that-," he admitted but never finished the sentence as the former member of the Atlantis Expedition suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Lorne?" Sam called as she quickly made it over to where he'd been standing.

Daniel rushed over to her with a worried expression on his face.

"Down here," Evan called, his voice rough.

Daniel and Sam shared a frown as they saw a faint edge that outlined a hole in the ground. They eased down, flat on the ground, to try and see better. Sam shone her flashlight into the pit and found a dusty figure, in the process of slowly turning around, only to squint at the bright light as the beam fell on him.

"Evan, are you alright?" she asked worriedly as she noticed that he'd taken quite a drop.

"I'm avoiding a full body inventory at the moment," he quipped, then grimaced as he rolled and got up on hands and knees.

"We'll get you out of there," Daniel assured him.

"Actually, I think you'd want to come down here," Lorne replied as he stared at a lone pillar that rose from the ground next to him, the design all too familiar.

OOOOOO

To be continued