You know, no one should be so dependent on anything as much as you are on that...

Melony smiled as they all sat down at the table, a cup of steaming coffee in her hand and the smell of it in her nostrils.

I'm not that bad, and it's been a few days, after all.

She sat down next to Kale and smiled again when Carson sat across from her, figuring that he'd wanted a better view of the Light One. This was fine with Melony, because she could see Beckett better sitting across from him, although it did cut down on how much covert hand holding they could do. She couldn't really do a lot of hand holding while giving a report, anyways. It wasn't done like that.

Sheppard had offered to bring Kale something to eat, and they'd been joined by Ford and McKay who greeted Kale cheerfully, well remembering him from their first trip to the Farmer's world.

"Come and sit down," Mitchell had told them, figuring they'd be interested in hearing about the visit to the sacred city. Both had joined them – Ford sat down on the other side of Melony, and Rodney sat down beside Sheppard, who had just returned with a plate of assorted foods for Kale to try.

"You can have coffee," John said, holding up a cup identical to Melony's. "Or you can have tea."

"Or water," Weir said, coming to sit across from Kale, next to Carson, where she, too, would have a good view of the Light One. "We have plenty of water around here."

It was pretty much a common joke around Atlantis, and the others smiled – causing Kale to smile politely as well.

"What's good enough for Colonel Mitchell is good enough for me," he said, reaching for the coffee cup.

Carson felt another stab of jealousy – and knew it was dumb, but just couldn't help himself. Here he was, just coming down from an epiphany – he'd just realized that he was in love with Melony, after all – and she was flirting with the alien. And it – he – was flirting back.

He stifled that, knowing he didn't have any say over how she acted around others – or what she did with others – but it wasn't easy. He wanted to take her back to his quarters – or hers – and tell her what he'd discovered. Unfortunately, she was too busy preparing to tell them all about what she'd discovered, and how could he compete with a guy who could turn himself into a wolf and a bird at any minute?

"They let you go to the city?"

McKay's voice cut into Carson's thoughts and he turned to the Astrophysicist, who was looking at Melony with a mixture of jealousy and awe.

"What did you find there?"

"Another Stargate."

"You're shitting me..."

Mitchell grinned; she'd known that was going to cause a stir.

"Nope. We found it in one of the buildings – along with a wall filled with Stargate addresses – as near as we could tell. There was other writing as well, but it was in some language I didn't understand."

"I did not recognize it, either," Kale added. "Of course, my people abandoned writing forms even before the Sundering, so even if it is from our ancestors we will maybe never know."

"Did you find the point of origin on the other gate?" Rodney asked.

Mitchell nodded.

"We came through that gate – I wanted to try it out and see if it would work."

"So could you use this lost city –"

"Sacred city," Sheppard corrected Weir, who had started to ask a question. "They know where it is."

She smiled.

"Sacred city... as your base to study the Wraith from?"

Mitchell shook her head.

"It'd be perfect if I could – because of the proximity of the Stargate – but I can't for the same reason I can't use this city. Because there's a chance that the Wraith will come looking for their dart or in case it has a self destruct device on it."

"Ah."

"But I'm going to help her find the perfect planet for this base of operations," Kale said, smiling reassuringly to Weir. "It won't take long, I am certain."

"Not with your help," Mitchell agreed.

Carson felt another pang of jealousy, and stood up, unable to sit through any more of the report. He didn't have to be here, anyways. It wasn't a medical report. They all looked at him when he moved, and he shrugged.

"I'd better head back to the infirmary," he explained. "I have some inventory to take care of."

Weir nodded.

He looks upset

Why?

I don't know, hot shot. Maybe you should go ask him

I will as soon as I'm done with the report.

She wanted a chance to spend a little alone time with him anyways. She'd certainly missed him, and had missed being held by him.

"So, how are the rest of your people?" Sheppard asked, unsure about just why it was so great to find an extra Stargate on a planet – he wasn't aware it was a rare thing, after all. "Everyone getting along with the Farmers?"

Kale nodded, smiling at the question because it showed that as an ally the Major cared for the rest of the Light Ones.

"Trade is getting ready to go in full swing. The cold weather is upon us, now, and soon the snow will fall – which means that the Farmers will soon need us to hunt for them, and will be supplying us with warm blankets and other coverings, so we will not be forced to transform to stay warm at night. It was a very good day for my people when you and yours arrived on my planet."

"For us, too," Weir said. She was a diplomat, after all.

Kale smiled.

"How come Aron didn't come with you, Kale?" John asked, trying to sound nonchalant. "I'd have thought the more of your kind helping the better it would be..."

"Aron is with child, Major. She needs to stay in the safety of the colonel at the moment."