Epilogue

The mission had been a disaster. Not only had there not been anything that the Atlanteans could use for trading, the indigenous people of the planet had decided that Mitchell and Teyla should be kidnapped and kept for breeding purposes – something that neither woman was all that keen on.

They'd made the mistake of trying to grab Mitchell first, and the moment she realized that there was a serious danger, she'd made sure that the men who'd tried to grab her wouldn't grab anyone again – not anytime soon, anyways. Not until the broken bones had healed. Then she'd pulled her Beretta, and although none of the people living on the planet knew what it was, they instinctively knew that it was dangerous – and so was she – and had backed off long enough for Teyla and the rest of Sheppard's team to join her and then get the hell off-world.

They'd dashed for the gate with pretty much an entire angry village after them – and Sheppard had had Melony use her zat to keep the fastest of them back while Ford dialed the gate, and then they'd dove through as quickly as possible in order to get through and get the gate shut down on the other side before any of the villagers could get through the gate and get killed by the shield that would be put up immediately after they all came out the other side.

Weir and several others were waiting for them when they came tumbling through, and the gate was shut down immediately. The team lay on the floor of the command room for a long minute, catching their breath, while medical teams came rushing up to them. Carson dropped down between Sheppard and Mitchell, his eyes concerned.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm not."

"Me, either..." Sheppard agreed, trying to get a deep breath. "Ford? McKay? Teyla?"

"I'm fine."

"Me, too."

"I can't breathe."

Mitchell sat up and looked up at Weir.

"We probably shouldn't go back there anytime soon. You might want to make a note of that."

Weir nodded, and reached a hand down to help her to her feet, and Beckett stood as well, pulling Sheppard up.

"I'll want a report as soon as you can get it together, Colonel. You, too, Major."

They both nodded, and Weir went back up the stairs to the computers, signaling Grodin to make a note in their logs about not returning to planet A-34. (They had yet to figure out any really cool names for most of the planets they'd been to – and unless they knew what the inhabitants called their world, they just gave it a number and left it at that).

"I'm going to go take a long, hot shower," Ford said pulling Teyla to her feet as he got up. "That place was just too kooky."

"Kooky?" Teyla asked.

He smiled, "Come on, I'll explain it on the way..." They turned and headed for the door; followed by a medical team that would give them both a routine physical to make sure all was well with them before they were allowed to return to their quarters.

"McKay?"

Rodney held his hand up – he was still on the floor gasping.

"I need to quit smoking."

"You don't smoke," Sheppard told him.

"Then I'll start so I can quit," he said.

"Maybe if you hadn't eaten half a pound of-"

"Okay, okay." McKay heaved himself to his feet as well, and headed for the door, and Melony smiled as she watched him go.

"He's not that badly out of shape."

"Nah, he just wants us to feel bad for making him run." Sheppard agreed.

"Better to run than stay there," Mitchell said, smiling at Carson, who was still standing between the Major and herself.

Sheppard nodded again, and the three of them headed for the infirmary as well, with Melony walking between the two men.

"What happened?" Beckett asked.

Sheppard grinned, looking at Mitchell who was shaking her head in remembered disbelief.

"You're going to love this story, Doc," John told him, laughing. Mitchell scowled, but her arm went around Carson's waist for just a moment as they walked, and she felt him brush his hand briefly against her own as Sheppard started the story.

OOOOOOOOOOO

It was late by the time she'd finished her report. Way too late to go find a certain doctor – who was almost definitely in bed, because it had been a long day for him, too. She'd taken her laptop and a cup of coffee to one of the quieter places in Atlantis that she'd found – a deserted room that had probably been some kind of storage closet of some sort. It had a built in desk that was perfect for her to use as a desk – something her quarters didn't have – and she'd brought in a couple of empty boxes, one to be a chair, and one to be a stand for her coffee when she was drinking some – which was always.

Only a few people knew of this place, which meant that she was never interrupted when she was there, and unlike her quarters, there were no distractions so she was able to get her reports and other paperwork done as quickly as possible. Of course, it was hard to come up with a non-embarrassing way to write out that a race of people had wanted to use you as a broodmare, but she'd put it in as few words as necessary and made it as matter-of-fact as possible.

You better get some sleep

Yeah, I know.

She looked at her watch, and decided she'd go see if Carson was awake anyways. What the hell, he might be. She did owe him one more night of cuddling from that bet, after all, and she didn't want to miss it if she could avoid it.

Wanton

She smiled, but didn't deny it.

"Nothing wrong with a little cuddling, you know?" She said, aloud.

Not at all

He gave her a slight surge of affection, and Melony's smile grew. He was such a softie sometimes. Too bad he was a snake, because she was incredibly fond of him.

Doctor Becker wouldn't like that

Talon, of course, had been following her train of thought. It wasn't like they had any secrets between them, after all.

He'd get over it.

Go find him and get your cuddling, Hot Shot

Talon's presence faded just a little, like it did when he was retreating into his own considerations and ignoring her – as much as he could, and Melony decided that she'd do just that.

She left the broom closet – as she called it – and dropped her laptop off in her quarters, then headed for the set of rooms that were across the hall from the infirmary. Hopefully, he wouldn't already be asleep. Hopefully he'd –

"Ah, I was just coming to look for you."

She smiled when she heard the lilting brogue behind her, and turned in the hallway to see the object of her search coming from the other direction – from her quarters. She stopped and let him catch up to her, and his arm went around her – almost casually, although she knew it was something he was still getting used to doing.

"I was looking for you, too," she told him, truthfully. "I was hoping you hadn't gone to bed yet."

He shook his head, and opened the door to his quarters, which were much bigger and more fully equipped than her own – or pretty much anyone else's.

"Not without you."

It sounded so erotic when he said it like that, and Melony felt a shiver go through her. Of course, he hadn't meant anything more than just that; he was waiting for her so he could sleep with her in his arms. The two of them still slept fully clothed, and hadn't done more than held each other, although sometimes Melony was so tempted to do more. She knew that physically, she was more than ready for the next step. It was just the emotional part that was holding her back. She wasn't ready – and no matter how much she wanted to be ready, it wasn't going to happen overnight. Luckily, he understood that, and wasn't in any hurry.

"Someday that's going to have a whole other meaning," she told him, running her hand along his cheek.

He nodded, and hugged her close for a moment. Yes, it would. And it'd be worth the wait.

"Come on," he whispered, kissing her softly. "Let's go to bed."

The End!

So! The end. No killing – not real killing, anyways – no sex, no fighting. A little Sheppard and the others, and a lot of Melony and Carson, just like I said at the get-go. I hoped you liked the romance – I hope there was romance, and I hope none of you are disappointed with this one because there wasn't much action. There's more coming, I promise!