As near as Talon had been able to tell, there was nothing suspicious about the food. Of course, he'd been wrong before, Melony told them as she'd taken another bite of the fish – which was delicious.

"I'm all for eating," Rodney said, looking at the plate he'd filled up.

John smirked, but didn't say the obvious, and Ford nodded his agreement.

"There's really nothing they can want from us, is there?" He asked.

Sheppard and Mitchell both shrugged. Who knew? But Sheppard started eating his meal as well and had to admit that if he was being drugged, it was probably worth it for the good meal. Teyla and the others started eating as well, and for a long time there wasn't a sound in the room except for the contented noises of people eating a home-cooked meal.

OOOOOOO

Melony didn't make it completely through her meal before she started dozing off. She wasn't all that surprised she was sleepy; Talon was healing her and taking a lot of her own energy to do it, and sleep was the only way to regain that energy. She yawned, and set her plate aside.

"You okay?" Sheppard asked.

"Tired."

He knew how she felt; he was beat, too. Of course, it might have just been the five-hour night, but he was injured, too, and his body was screaming for a little sleep as well.

"I wonder how long we have until the sun sets..."

"About 3 hours," McKay said around a mouthful of cake.

"How do you know that?" Ford asked.

McKay rolled his eyes.

"Because the sun set nine hours after we arrived on the planet yesterday, and presuming it sets the same time every night – more or less – it'll be the same time in three hours that it was yesterday. Give or take a few minutes."

"Oh."

"Of course, we've traveled a little and I don't know where the poles on this planet are or if we're any closer to them, so if we are then the day could be a little shorter-"

"McKay." Sheppard's sigh was one of suffering.

"What?"

"We get it. Three hours."

"Give or take."

"I need some sleep," Melony said, carefully lying back against the covering that was protecting her from the hay she was sitting on.

"Go ahead and sleep, Colonel," Ford told her, looking around for a blanket but not finding one. "I'll wake you up when the sun sets. Or when they come."

She nodded, and dozed off almost immediately.

"You mind taking the watch?" Sheppard asked Ford as they all watched Mitchell fall asleep.

"Not at all, Sir." He didn't really dare sleep after taking that blow to his head, anyways. Not for a few hours, at least. Just in case there was a concussion – although he was sure he was fine. "Go ahead and get some rest."

Sheppard wriggled around on his make-shift bed for a few moments, getting comfortable, then closed his eyes and tried to ignore the throbbing in his hand and fall asleep as well. It didn't take long.

"You guys could sleep, too," Ford said.

Teyla shook her head.

"I'm not sleepy. I will stay awake and keep you company."

Rodney didn't even answer. He was still munching his way through their meal – and showed no signs of stopping long enough to sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Colonel?"

A low voice woke Mitchell, and she opened her eyes to find Ford kneeling next to her.

"Hmm?"

"The sun's down..."

"What?"

"It's sunset. The light ones should be coming any time. I thought you should be awake."

Melony nodded, and started to sit up – and found she was stiff and sore and could barely move.

"Oh, God..."

"Are you all right?" Ford asked, helping her into a more upright position.

"Just stiff," she muttered, wincing at the stabbing pain in her shoulder. Obviously Talon hadn't gotten that far, yet.

Your leg is more important, right now, he told her. I need to get the bones together in case you need to be mobile

She definitely agreed with that, although if they were up on a mountain she wasn't sure how she'd be able to get down in the event that they needed to escape or something. She looked around the cave – it was fairly dark outside, but there were candles of some sort inside the room that had been burning ever since they'd arrived, and these gave off plenty of light to see by.

"Have we heard from them?"

"Not yet," he said, watching as McKay woke Sheppard up. The Major looked just as sore and out of sorts as Mitchell did, but from what Ford could tell, he was fine. More or less. At least their food hadn't appeared to be drugged or anything. "They should be here any time, though."

She stretched – carefully, and flexed her left arm and right leg to see how they felt. A little stiff from the odd sleeping position, but fine otherwise. Her shoulder was on fire, though, and she winced when she tried to move her right arm. Damn.

"Help me up, Lieutenant, will you?"

He pulled her to her feet simply by putting his hand under her left armpit and pulling her up and held onto her once he had her up, certain that she wasn't going to be able to stand on her own. She looked pretty unsteady.

"How's the leg?"

"It's throbbing." She admitted. "How's your head?"

"I feel like it's going to explode any minute."

She frowned, and he smiled before she could start worrying.

"I took some aspirin," he said. "It'll stop hurting soon."

"If it doesn't, let me know, and we'll get some ice for it."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She started to say something else, but was interrupted by a movement at the opening of their cave. Aron and Kale were standing there, arriving silently. The male light one moved into the room, and walked over to where Melony was standing, leaning on Ford.

"We have come to take you to the Council," he said. "Do you feel up to it?"

She nodded.

"It's not far is it?"

"Not far at all." He promised. "I could change forms if you need to lean on me..."

Mitchell shook her head, although she had to admit that it was something to see when he transformed himself like that. "I'll use Lieutenant Ford, here," she said. "That way you don't have to bother."

"It is no bother," Kale said. "I am responsible for your injuries, so I am responsible for making sure you are taken care of. Just as Aron is responsible for him." He gestured to Sheppard, whose eyebrows rose at that statement.

"What?"

"We injured you carelessly, and in the manner of my people, it is our duty to make sure you take no further hurt – and want for nothing while you are in our care."

"It's not that bad," John said, holding up his splinted wrist.

"It could have been," Aron said from the doorway. "But I am glad it isn't. I dropped you harder than I intended to."

"Well, I was in an awkward position." Sheppard said with a slight smile. He'd been holding his machine gun pointed at her underside ready to shoot her – how could it have been her fault? But he wasn't going to tell her that. It probably wouldn't have been the best way to remain friends, after all.

"So I am responsible for making sure you get to the Council without further injury," Kale said. "I will change and you can lean on me."

Melony shrugged – one-armed – and nodded. Of course, it was just as much her fault as it was his that she was hurt – except for the part where he'd stabbed her with his claw when he'd grabbed her out of the sky. But, like Sheppard, she didn't mention that just then.

"Um... Okay."

A moment later the light one was gone and the huge wolf-thing was back. It nosed its way between Ford and Mitchell, and once the Lieutenant was sure it had her, he let go and moved out of the way. Melony leaned heavily against Kale's furry back, and decided that he was a bit more support than Ford had been. Of course, he also outweighed Ford by at least a few hundred pounds.

"Are you ready?" Aron asked, once Mitchell had been transferred from the human's care to Kale's.

"Yes."

"Then let's go. The Council is eager to meet you."

She turned and led the way out of the entrance, walking slowly.