The next morning she was up bright and early, feeling better than she had in a long time – and not just since coming to Atlantis. She made a fresh pot of coffee and showered again – when you spent months at a time in a tiny ship with meager bathing facilities, a long hot shower was something to be enjoyed every chance you had – and then she dressed in one of the Atlantean gray uniforms with the black trim that the military units wore. Might as well fit in with the crowd, after all.

More out of habit than any true concern for her health, she strapped her holsters on as well, the Beretta going into its customary spot on her right, the zat in its holster on her left. Jack's Beretta went into her waistband as well, but the P-90 was left where it sat on top of her dresser when she picked up her cup of coffee and walked out of the room to go have a look around on her own and maybe test out the Ancient's gene thing.

OOOOOOOO

"Carson? Have you seen Colonel Mitchell?"

Beckett looked up from his breakfast and shook his head at the question.

"No, not this morning."

McKay frowned.

"I went looking for her to give her this personal shield device, but she wasn't in her room."

"Why would you give her one of the shield devices?" Beckett asked, gesturing for Rodney to sit down.

"So she can take it on her Wraith hunt."

"What?"

Rodney made an impatient gesture.

"Her Wraith hunt. You know, the whole reason for the gene therapy in the first place?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"She didn't tell you?" Rodney asked, mildly surprised. He'd assumed Carson Beckett had been the first to know, as much time as he'd spent with Mitchell. "She's determined that she needs to see a Wraith up close and personal so she can get a better perspective on them. So she's going to take a Puddle Jumper out to find some."

"That's crazy! Is she out of her mind?"

McKay shrugged.

"She's either stupid or brave," he said. Then he added, a little reluctantly. "She's not stupid, though."

"She must be, to be thinking of going out looking for the Wraith." Beckett pushed his plate away and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I've got to find her and talk her out of this..."

"You're not going to be able to. We all tried yesterday, and she wouldn't listen to any of us. Not even me. She won't listen..." he trailed off, since Beckett wasn't listening to him, either. The doctor was already heading across the room for the door, his step agitated. McKay scowled, looked down at Beckett's unfinished meal and snatched the bacon off the plate, then hurried to catch up.

"I can't believe she's even considering doing something so reckless." Carson said, hurrying down the hall towards her quarters.

"She's not in her quarters," McKay told him. "I was just there, remember?"

Beckett stopped, looking at him, and McKay was surprised to see just how worried he was.

"You haven't seen her at all this morning?"

"No. If I had I wouldn't have had to ask you, now would I?"

"Damn it."

Beckett started off down the hall in the opposite direction, leaving Rodney staring at him.

"What's with him?"

McKay stuffed a couple slices of bacon in his mouth and looked over at Sheppard, who had been drawn by the commotion.

"He's looking for Colonel Mitchell. I guess she didn't tell him about her Wraith hunting plan, and he's not taking the news well."

"Huh."

"Think we should help him look?"

Sheppard shook his head.

"I don't think so. Nothing we said would talk her out of this plan – and she outranks me, so I can't order her to stay – so maybe Beckett will have more luck..." He didn't sound like he was too optimistic, though.

McKay wasn't so certain, either.

"She seemed pretty determined, yesterday."

"Yeah..." Sheppard looked over at him just as he was stuffing the last of the bacon into his mouth. "Bacon for breakfast?"

"Yup."

"Sounds good." He turned and headed for the commissary. He wasn't worried about finding Mitchell; they had a flying lesson scheduled for later that day, so he was pretty sure she'd come find him.

McKay looked down the hall Beckett had disappeared down, and then shrugged. Breakfast sounded good, and he could give Colonel Mitchell the shield device later. He turned and followed Sheppard.

OOOOOOOOO

After a full hour of searching, Beckett found Mitchell standing in one of the smaller rooms that had been the first room he'd found when they'd arrived in Atlantis. He first heard voices, and had assumed – incorrectly – that there were a couple of women in the room talking, but then he realized that the voice he was hearing was that of the hologram the Ancient's had left. The one that explained where they went and why, and had given them their first hint of the dangers of the Wraith. Curious, he walked into the room from the side, and saw her standing on the small platform that activated the hologram, watching the recording intently. Obviously the gene was working inside her, because only those with the gene were able to activate the hologram – although everyone could watch it once it'd been activated.

She looked over once she realized she wasn't alone, and smiled when she saw who it was. The smile almost made Carson forget he was upset, but only almost.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Good morning, Carson. How are you?" She didn't seem at all perturbed at his abrupt greeting.

"How am I?" he asked, walking over. "I'm feeling a bit betrayed and used. How are you?"

Her smile faded, replaced by a confused look.

"What's wrong?"

"When were you going to tell me about your little Wraith hunt?"

She'd been right; when he was upset or excited, his accent made him almost impossible to understand. It took Melony a moment to figure out what he'd said.

"I thought you knew..." she told him, confused. She'd assumed someone would have told him. "I-"

"You're going to be killed if you go off looking for the Wraith."

"You don't know that."

"I do know it." He said, hurt and fear vying for dominance in his expression. Mitchell frowned, unsure what to do. She hadn't expected something like this to happen.

"Carson... I need to get a better look at them. It's the only way I can-"

"The Wraith are deadly! Don't you understand? They're the ones that finished off the Ancients. What do you think you could do when the Ancients couldn't do anything?"

"The Ancients were caught with their pants down," Melony told him. She knew this now; she'd watched the hologram thing several times since she'd accidentally turned it on. "They got cocky and weren't used to running into anyone that could beat them, and they paid for it. I'm not going to make that mistake."

"The Ancient's technology wasn't enough to keep them safe from the Wraith," he told her. "Just having the gene and the ability to use their technology isn't going to keep you safe! Don't you understand?"

Melony stepped off the platform and reached out and took his hand as she walked past him. She wasn't going to be yelled at any further – at least not in such an open room where anyone could walk in on them. Wordlessly, she led him out to the balcony that led off the room – the door opened automatically for her, now – and turned to face him, still holding his hand.

"Carson, listen to me..." she said, softly. "You're making the same mistake the Ancient's did. You're thinking that their technology is the only technology out there. It's not."

"They built the Stargate!"

"I'm not saying their technology isn't potent, but it's not all there is. If I can use some of the Goa'uld technology I have access to, and add it to the Ancient's technology and a few things from the good old USA, I'll have a better idea of what can be used to defeat them..."

"They're-"

"Going to pay."

"What?"

She let go of his hand, but even as she'd been holding his, he was holding hers, too, and he didn't let go.

"They killed a good friend of mine, Carson. They tortured him... I'm not going to let them get away with it."