It took all of ten minutes for Major Sheppard to 'kill' Carson Beckett. It wasn't as if he hadn't done the exact same thing only the day before, after all. The only difference now was that they weren't carrying sticks and they were wearing vests that made an incredibly loud noise when you died.

He and Beckett walked back to where McKay and Mitchell were sitting, waiting, and Melony stood up when she heard them coming.

"Killed him, huh?"

Sheppard nodded, but he slapped Beckett's shoulder.

"He led me on quite a chase for a few minutes there, but I got him." He looked at her, and then McKay. "You scored a kill on her?" He sounded incredulous and impressed at the same time.

Rodney shook his head.

"I killed her," Carson said, wryly. "It was an accident."

Of course it was, since she was on his team.

"Well, it happens," Sheppard said.

Carson sighed, and Melony smiled as she took off her vest.

"He's right; it does happen."

"It's never happened to me," McKay said, taking off his vest as well.

Mitchell scowled, and handed her vest to McKay.

"He killed you, too, as I recall..."

McKay shrugged. There was that, it was true.

"I'm going to go find something to eat, and then I'll look into how to make the guns make noises," he said, figuring that he didn't need to be reminded of the fact that he got killed. Of course, he knew that Mitchell didn't expect him to be perfect – no more than she did Beckett – but it was still kind of annoying to think that the doctor with so very little experience had managed to kill him. He was, after all, beginning to think of himself as quite the militant.

"Coming?" Sheppard asked, thinking that something to eat would be a good idea. Killing made him hungry, after all, and breakfast had been interrupted.

Mitchell shook her head, taking Carson's vest from him and handing the gun and vest to McKay.

"I've got a few things I want to take care of, first."

"I'll save you a cup of coffee."

Mitchell smiled, "Sounds good. I'll meet you there – or later in the lounge to discuss this little experiment."

Sheppard nodded and headed for the elevator contraption that would take him back up to the upper levels, and McKay followed him. Carson started to follow as well, but Melony reached out and caught him by the back of the shirt, holding him in place for just long enough to let him know that she wanted him to stick around for a moment.

He turned, and the two of them watched as McKay and Sheppard walked off, and then Melony looked over at Beckett, who sighed.

"I'm sorry I killed you."

Melony had known he was still upset about that, which was one of the reasons she'd held him back. To talk it out with him.

"Don't be, Carson. It happens."

"If it was real, you'd be dead." He was obviously upset about that. More so than he was about getting killed himself.

"That's why we didn't use real guns," she told him, matter-of-factly. "Because it happens, and Major Sheppard and I have both seen it happen." She smiled ruefully, "Although I have to admit, I didn't expect it to happen today – and that was my fault, because I really wasn't paying attention to where you were once I put you there."

"It wasn't your fault. It was mine."

She shrugged.

"So, next time you'll know to take a half a second and make sure of your target. But no longer than that, because I don't want you to make a target of yourself by hesitating."

He frowned, "How do I know how long to take?"

She shrugged. "It takes experience, Carson, that's all. You wouldn't expect me to be able to remove someone's pancreas, would you?"

"You're not a doctor-"

"And you're not a soldier." She put her arm around his shoulder, touching him for the first time. "You're just learning to be enough of a soldier to keep yourself alive – like me learning enough first aid to keep someone from bleeding to death, or something like that. Get it?"

It made sense when she put it like that, Carson thought. He nodded, and felt a little better about his performance.

"So, even though I killed you, you're okay with how I did?"

"Even though you killed me," she agreed.

He smiled.

"You do realize I killed McKay, don't you?"

"You got lucky, you know? He made a big mistake freezing up when he saw me killed. That's what killed him."

"But it was my gun." He told her.

She smiled, and nodded.

"Yes, you killed him."

"Which means...?"

"That you get to sleep with me all week – schedules permitting."

He preened.

"However," she said, taking his hand and squeezing it. "I think there should be some kind of penalty for killing me."

His smile faded, and Melony laughed.

"Okay, okay... no penalty."

"Everyone says you're the hardest kill to make," Carson said, putting his arm around her as they walked towards the elevator now as well. "You're lucky I don't claim a bigger prize."

Oh, now what would the bigger prize be? Talon asked slyly.

Melony blushed, and kept Talon's comments to herself, because it was obvious Beckett hadn't realized the way that had come out. She knew that if he had his mind as deep into the gutter as Talon did, he'd have been blushing a brilliant red and apologizing.

Gutter? Moi??

She laughed, and her arm went around his waist, hugging him close, and realized that it was becoming almost natural to hold him like this. That was almost scary.