"What?" Beckett couldn't believe the fury he saw in Mitchell's pale eyes just then. Where there'd always been a lingering sadness, an ache that signified a hurt so great it seemed a very part of her soul, there was now a glint of steel mingled with an over-large portion of anger. "You're going to risk your life for a taste of vengeance?"

"I'm going to find a way to beat them, Carson," she said, pulling her hand from his because he was squeezing it harder than was comfortable in his surprise and anxiety. "They killed Marshal trying to get him to tell them where Earth was, which means they're not content with what they have here." Of course, what they had here wasn't acceptable to Melony or Talon, either, but that went without saying. "I'm going to stop them before they can get hold of someone else and find out what they want to know, and to do that, I need to know more about them than I've read in the reports."

"And if they capture you? You'll be used the same way they tried to use Colonel Sumner and-"

"They'll have to kill me before I give them any information," she told him.

"They will kill you..."

"I need to see for myself what they can do, and what I can do against them. I can't do that safely holed up here, waiting for them to come find us."

"You tricked me into giving you the gene therapy..."

She shook her head, reached out and took his hand once more.

"Never. I wouldn't do that, Carson." She let his hand go, and turned to walk over and look down at the water. "I honestly thought you knew," she said. "I figured someone would have told you."

"They didn't."

"I'm sorry."

He sighed and walked over to stand next to her, not touching her, but not separated from her by the anger and hurt he'd felt earlier. She wasn't a deceitful person, he knew, which meant that she hadn't tricked him. He'd known it before he even accused her, though, because he'd spent enough time with her to know what kind of person she was.

"What are you planning to do with the Wraith once you find one?"

"I want to see what it can do to me – what weapons and technology it has, and what weapons and technology I have that might counter its own stuff."

"They're damned near impossible to kill," Beckett said. "They regenerate remarkably fast, and bullets don't seem to do much more than knock them back for a moment."

"Then I'll have to see what a zat will do to it. Any clue?"

He shook his head, looking down at the weapon in its holster, hanging against her thigh.

"It might kill it with the second shot, like it does humanoids, but your second shot will probably have to come quicker than normal, or it'd have a chance to absorb the energy of the first one before the second hits."

She looked over at him.

"I hadn't considered that."

"I know the physiology of the Wraith better than you," he said, shrugging. "I've actually studied samples, so I have an advantage when it comes to knowing about what their bodies can do."

"Because you've seen it up close and personal," she said.

He made a wry face, and sighed, but nodded.

"I see your point, Melony..." he told her. "I still don't like it, and I'll worry like hell, but I understand what you're saying."

He wasn't saying he agreed, and he didn't need to say that he'd prefer she changed her mind, but he was telling her without so many words that he wasn't going to be angry with her for doing something that she obviously thought she needed to do.

"Thank you, Carson."

"Just don't do anything foolish..."

Yeah, like going off and looking for the Wraith wasn't foolish?

"I'll be careful." She promised him.

He nodded, but didn't say anything else, and the two of them stood leaning against the railing, silently staring out at the endless water in front of them for a few moments before he kicked back into doctor mode and asked her if she'd had a chance to have breakfast.

"No, not yet."

"Then that's your next stop."

OOOOOOOOO

"There she is."

Sheppard looked over in the direction McKay indicated, and saw Colonel Mitchell walking into the room with Beckett. He watched as she scanned the room quickly, and when her eyes met his own, he realized he was the one she'd been looking for, because she walked over.

"Good morning, Major."

"Good morning, Colonel. Nice uniform."

Mitchell smiled, sliding her hand along an imaginary crease in the brand new gray uniform. It was just as comfortable as her BDUs and even though it was gray, she had pretty much decided it wasn't too terrible.

"Well, I figured I might as well try it on and see how it fits... you know."

"It looks good."

"Thank you."

"Sit down?"

She nodded. "As soon as I get something to eat. Good morning, Doctor McKay." She added, giving him a welcoming nod.

"Good morning, Colonel Mitchell. I have one of those shielding devices for you."

"Great."

"You'll want to eat before trying it on," Sheppard told her, giving Rodney an amused look. He scowled, reminded of his first experience with the device, but he nodded.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea, yes."

Mitchell laughed, "I'll be right back."

Beckett sat down across from Sheppard and McKay, and the three of them watched as Mitchell went over and poured herself a cup of coffee, then moved over to the buffet line and served herself some breakfast.

"Did you manage to talk her out of her Wraith hunt?" McKay asked Beckett.

Carson shook his head.

"She managed to convince me she was right..." It was plain from his tone of voice he still wasn't sure how she'd managed that, but Sheppard understood completely. She'd already managed to convince him that she was right, after all.