SHEPPARD AND FORD were busy moving room-to-room, checking and poking and prodding, when the coms gave the telltale static-y click...click before engaging.
"Major Sheppard?" Dr. Weir's voice came coolly. Sheppard was convinced if the room was on fire and falling down around her, Weir would be calm and collected as she ordered the evacuation.
"Yes, Doctor," he replied, absurdly happy to be distracted.
"We'd like to you to fall back to the command center. Grodin is noticing some power fluctuations in one of the upper levels, and Teyla wants to talk to you." Sheppard could feel Ford's eyes on him at Dr. Weir's tone. Holding up a finger, he calmly said, "On our way, Doctor."
Clicking it off he gave Ford a look. "The talk with Teyla went well. I don't know what the Doctor is getting at." Yet, he added silently.
The two women were facing away from them as they strode into the command center. As one, they turned and faced the two men, who halted and looked at each other.
"Spooky," Ford muttered to Sheppard. He nodded, and grimly stepped forward.
"Teyla has told me she's trying to find a girl for you, Major," Dr. Weir said with cold formality, "but she's had no luck so far. Mind filling in the blanks?"
Sheppard sighed. Some days, it didn't pay to get out of bed. He began explaining his morning, again.
"...and so now we're looking for her," he concluded. "Well, her, and a hydroponics site." He looked at the two women expectantly. There was a moment of silence as Dr. Weir absorbed what he said, and Teyla simply sat, inscrutable. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, expectantly. They only stared back.
"Teyla? Something to share with the class?" he prompted.
"The class?" she asked, puzzled.
"I'll explain later. Doctor Weir said you had something to tell me. Where Mahread'zhu ended up, maybe?"
She was shaking her head. "No, actually, the opposite. We can't find Mahread'zhu anywhere in the common areas, nor in the quarters assigned to her."
He sighed. It was never easy. "Sounds like maybe she's gone exploring. Grodin, have you figured out a way to track individual lifesigns yet?"
The quiet man straightened and shook his head. "We just don't understand how to calibrate the sensors for that, yet. But here's something...some more unusual activity," and he started to punch the screen display of Atlantis, "here, several levels above us. The power levels there are spiking." He paused, frowning. "Really spiking."
Ford and Sheppard exchanged glances, and shot up out of their chairs. "Have a team meet us—" Sheppard began.
"Major!" Dr. Weir shouted, standing herself. It was obvious she was not happy, and thought he was usurping her command.
His look was all business with a touch of annoyance. "If it's not Mahread'zhu, it could be the first and only sign of an invasive force," he called out as he raced from the room. Activating his com, he started calling out instructions to his men.
Minutes that felt like hours later, he met the team in the upper level. "The disturbance should be 200 meters East of your location, Major," Grodin directed him. Signaling silently, Sheppard took point. Moving like ghosts, the team flowed down the hallway. They stopped in front of a door, which helpfully did not open right away. Sheppard had enough time to hope it would open when he wanted it to before the wish became the deed. Still as quietly as possible, he and the team poured into the room, weapons ready.
Mahread'zhu spun around and dropped a tray full of bottles and containers she was carrying with a crash. "Major Sheppard!" she cried, as a man shorter than Sheppard protectively stepped in front of her. He glared at Sheppard, who had long enough to think I don't like him to himself, before whirling around to face her.
"Mahr'?" he asked, softly. Solves one mystery, Sheppard thought to himself. They do have nicknames. Looking at his team and starting to blush furiously, Mahread'zhu rested a hand lightly on the other man's arm.
"This is the man who helped me when we fled the Wraith," she told him, and turned to Sheppard. "I...I have wished to thank you for your assistance."
He felt his face scrunch up in puzzlement. "You already did," he said. There was something different about Mahread'zhu, something...missing. She seemed dulled, ordinary. His memory of the shared moment in his quarters was burned into his mind with her luminosity. But Teyla had said she wasn't truly there. And the obviously flesh-and-blood young woman before him was a stark contrast: hair a little flat and matted, fingernails broken, fresh stains on her clothes. There was a small inflamed patch below her chin where a blemish flourished. He felt confused, and stepped back beside Lt. Ford.
"Ever seen that Seinfeld episode?" he murmured, only to his second.
"All in the lighting?" Ford asked, just as softly.
"That's the one." He nodded, and turned to his team, speaking loud enough to be heard by them all. "Since we're up here, split up, explore, and secure, just like we've been doing. Ford, you're in charge." He tapped his com, activating it. "Dr. Weir?"
"Go ahead, Major," came her still cool voice, but he detected a note of warmth and concern.
"Situation is stable. Seems Mahread'zhu and another Athosian went exploring." He let his tone carry the subtext of disapproval. He paused, looking around, then added, "The team is securing this level. We'll report back as soon as all locations are secure."
"Works for me. Weir out." He smiled at her decidedly non-military tone, and looked around the room once again.
It was a sight to see. The room itself, for one, was huge, far larger than most of the ones they'd already explored. It obviously had agricultural roots. Mahread'zhu and her companion appeared to have been working to restore the room, and had accomplished a frighteningly large portion of it. Dead plants were piled together, and several areas appeared to be prepped for new arrivals. Sheppard could swear it looked like fertile American topsoil, freshly raked. Of course, he supposed it would look like home dirt to most people. Against one wall, panels flickered, cycling through information. Tables were filled with vials and powders, asking for his attention. And one corner held a lovely little niche, just the right size for a still. It reminded him of his assignment on the aircraft carrier, and the little corner in the bowels of the ship where he'd painstakingly set up his first still. One thing he knew Atlantis would need is more rotgut. His Grandpappy Sheppard would be proud.
He turned instead back to Mahread'zhu and her companion. The man stood far too close to her for his liking, one hand on her shoulder, watching Sheppard with hooded eyes. Mahread'zhu stared at him with puzzlement...and maybe a touch of fear. He gave her what he intended to be a reassuring smile, but the events of the day kept running through his head, making him uneasy. Probably not my best effort at reassurance, he reflected.
"What did you mean, I already did?" Mahread'zhu asked. Her lower lip trembled, Sheppard noted.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. Focus was what was needed. Distractions needed to be put aside.
"This morning." She looked at him blankly. "In my quarters?" Still nothing. He sighed. Why was it never easy?
"This morning, when I awoke," he began, again. He found it no easier this time than the others; in fact, it was more difficult because she stared back at him with no comprehension in her eyes. Instead, they appeared troubled.
Finally he finished. Mahread'zhu looked as if she would be physically ill. Her companion shifted weight and glowered. Sheppard looked down at the man coolly. After a moment, Sheppard nodded to the other man. "Major John Sheppard," he said, wondering why he made a slight emphasis on the 'Major.'
"Jondo," he said stiffly. The two men regarded each other for a timeless moment. Sheppard gave Jondo a patently false smile, which made the man glower even more. I really don't like this guy, Sheppard thought to himself.
A small noise made him look over at Mahread'zhu. The color had drained from her face. "It…I…" She stopped, looking very lost. Sheppard felt an urge to protect her, mentally shook it off. "I am not ready. I never considered myself a candidate for the Joining. Nor someone like you being a candidate for ani'ame." Sheppard could feel Jondo's hostility crank up a notch.
"I know exactly what you mean," Sheppard said, smiling his first genuine smile at her. "Especially since I never knew anything about things like the Joining and ani…ani'ame. You'll have to tell me all about it."
"There is nothing to tell," Jondo interjected gruffly. Sheppard threw him a hostile look of his own. "Your exchange this morning must have been a mistake."
"A mistake?!" chorused both Sheppard and Mahread'zhu. She turned towards Jondo, placing a hand on his arm.
"Jondo, you know mistakes cannot be made regarding ani'ame. The choosing is beyond knowledge." Her face crumpled slightly as she turned back to Sheppard. "But I confess to wishing guidance. Is there any way I might speak with Teyla?"
Movement by the botanical room's doorway caught Sheppard's eye. "I think that could be arranged," he said. "I'm going to need to report back in, anyway. The research team is gonna want to look this place over."
Jondo started, real distress on his face. "We have work to do here."
Sheppard gave him his best command nod. "We certainly do."
Jondo gave no signs of backing down. "You would not take my work away from me," he said, quietly, gazing directly into Sheppard's eyes. "It…is all I have." Mahread'zhu again touched his arm, comforting him.
For a moment, Sheppard was tempted to do exactly that. But his reaction wasn't based on logic. The man had found the place, seemed to understand it. "No, I don't think we need to do that," he said. "But a few more hands could really speed the process along, don't you think?"
Jondo still looked unhappy, but he nodded once, sharply. Sheppard beckoned. "Come on. I think we've all got a lot of explaining to do."