"So, what do you do for fun?" Sheppard asked as they walked down the hall towards the impromptu commissary.

She shrugged. She hadn't actually had a lot of free time to just goof off, and she hadn't really felt like doing anything just for fun recently. He didn't need to know that, though.

"I watch football, fish, and play golf."

"College football?"

"Not unless there's a reason. I'm more into the pro games."

Sheppard made a face.

"I'm a college guy myself – or a really good pro game – you know, Cowboys against the Redskins, Packers against the Steelers, all the good rivalries."

"Those are the best." She agreed.

"Where are you from?"

"Green Bay."

"Packer fan?"

"Is there anyone in Green Bay who isn't?"

He smiled.

"Hockey fan?"

"Only when I'm being forced." Jack had forced her to sit through more than one game – and before that, Michael had as well.

"McKay here is Canadian."

Mitchell turned to the other man.

"Are you a hockey fan, then?"

It was Rodney's turn to make a face.

"Only when I'm being forced."

Melony smiled.

"Here we are..." Sheppard stood aside so she could enter the room first, and Melony saw that they weren't the only people who were heading for breakfast at that time. The small room held two long tables with benches – sort of like long picnic tables – and there was a scattering of personnel and Athosians at both of them, although there was plenty of room left over. The smell of bacon permeated the room, and Mitchell breathed it in deeply. She was hungry.

You might not want to eat too much

What? Why not?

Because I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing, and it might make you queasy

But I'm hungry

You choose, but if you ralf all over everyone, I'm not going to let you forget that I told you so...

Mitchell sighed. So much for breakfast.

Have some coffee, you'll live

Yeah, she'd live. But it wouldn't be-

"There's Dr. Weir."

Mitchell looked over where Sheppard was gesturing, and then looked over at the coffee pots that were set up on a counter with a stack of clean mugs.

"I'll meet you over there in a minute," she told him. The major nodded and he and McKay headed for the food serving area, while Mitchell went and poured herself a cup of coffee, took an appreciative sip and walked over to stand across from Weir.

"May I join you?"

Since she'd been watching Melony since she'd entered the room with Sheppard and McKay, Weir certainly wasn't startled by her. She smiled and gestured to the bench across from her.

"Please."

Mitchell sat down, and Weir introduced the woman she was sitting next to.

"Colonel Melony Mitchell, this is Teyla. She's one of the Athosians."

"Teyla." Mitchell gave her a slight nod in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I am pleased to meet you as well, Colonel Mitchell."

Teyla understood immediately what Halling had meant the night before the moment Colonel Mitchell walked into the room. Where the other humans glowed with life force – everything alive glowed with some small amount of life force – this human radiated it. At least twice as brightly as Doctor Weir did. She'd never seen anything like it.

Mitchell was aware of the frank stare immediately, and she took another sip of her coffee, wondering what it was about her that these Athosians found so interesting.

Maybe it's your sunny personality?

She gave a purely mental snort.

Aren't you supposed to be working on that gene thing?

Slave driver

"How are you settling in, Colonel?" Weir asked, unaware of Teyla's scrutiny.

"So far, so good," she answered. "I've read the mission reports, and I just had Doctor Beckett give me that Ancient's gene, so I should be able to interface with the technology around here as soon as Talon figures it out."

"You had him inject you with the gene?" Weir asked.

"Don't worry Elizabeth," Rodney said as he came over and sat down beside Mitchell, carrying a plate filled with bacon and scrambled eggs. "With her symbiote, she doesn't need all the anti-rejection drugs that everyone else needed."

"What's a symbiote?" Teyla asked, curiously.

"It's the Tok'ra that Colonel Mitchell has inside her," McKay explained as Sheppard came over and joined them as well, sitting on Melony's other side. "It and Colonel Mitchell have a symbiotic relationship – she lets it live in her and uses her senses and she carries it around, and in return she gets a long life with perfect health."

"You have a creature living inside you?" Teyla asked.

Mitchell nodded.

"Then that would explain why your life force is so much different from those around you."

"My what?"

"Some of my people have the ability to sense the life forces of those around them," Teyla explained. "Everyone has one, but yours is especially strong. Now I understand why. There are two of you."

"Ah."

"Teyla can sense the Wraith," Sheppard said, realizing that Mitchell might be a little skeptical about the whole life force thing, and wanting to add a little credibility to the statement.

"You can?"

She nodded.

"Not many of my people can, however."

"None of us can," Sheppard said. "Apparently it's not a trick we can learn, either."

"You must be especially wary, Colonel Mitchell," Teyla said, remembering that she'd promised Halling she would warn the newcomer. "With a life force such as yours, the Wraith will be drawn to you more than the others."

"Yes," Rodney said, taking a bite of his breakfast. "With your symbiote and the extra years it gives you, I imagine you'd look like some kind of smorgasbord to them."

"Well... that's appealing..." Sheppard said, sarcastically.

"No, it's perfect," Mitchell disagreed.

"How so?" Weir asked, confused.

"Because as soon as I get this gene thing working so I can learn to fly one of the Puddle Jumper ships, I'm going to go Wraith hunting. It'll be that much easier if they'll come to me."