As much as she wanted to stay with him and see him to the infirmary, Mitchell knew that Carson was in good hands and that she wasn't needed. Had the injury been serious, she would have gone anyways, but it wasn't and she knew it. So instead, she stood beside Sheppard and the others as he was rolled away in a gurney, his ankle already being checked over by a member of his medical staff as they moved.

When they left, Weir and Kale walked in the same door, Elizabeth's gaze following the gurney for a moment, then coming to rest on Mitchell and the others.

"Is he all right?" She asked.

"He will be," Sheppard said, speaking up since he was the one with Beckett when he'd taken the fall. "He fell in a hole, but it's just his ankle."

Weir nodded, looking at the others to make sure none of them carried any signs of injuries. When she saw that they were wet, but unharmed, she relaxed a little.

"What did you find?" She asked as they all started walking out of the Jumper bay. "Anything of use?"

Melony opened her mouth to reply, but McKay spoke up, first.

"The place is perfect, Elizabeth. It has enough untapped geothermal energy that we can rig it to light the entire complex, and enough room that half the people in Atlantis could easily stay there if they needed to."

Weir smiled, looking at Melony, who nodded.

"He's right," she said. "It's perfect."

"Good enough that you're not going to keep looking?"

"I don't think I could find anything better."

"It was still raining?" Kale asked.

"Yeah," Sheppard answered. "But the main cavern was dry."

"And warm," McKay said. "I couldn't see exactly where the water from the crack in the ceiling was drawing to – we had to leave before we got a good look at things – but where ever it goes, it's not puddling up on the floor."

"Why don't you all go get changed and dried off, and we'll have a debriefing?" Weir suggested. "I'd like to hear more about this place." But not while they were all wet. Besides, that would give her a chance to check on Carson Beckett and make sure he was really all right.

"Sounds good."

Sheppard and the others left, but Melony stayed behind with Weir and Kale.

"It's really that perfect?" Elizabeth asked the Colonel.

Mitchell allowed herself a grin and nodded.

"Yeah. Not only that, but there's a perfect bolt hole that leads out into a forested area that would be easy to get lost in."

"And that's good?" Kale asked.

"It is if someone's chasing you," Weir said. Melony nodded in agreement and explained what a bolthole was. When you could turn into a bird and fly away from danger – or into a wolf to deal with the danger – a bolthole wasn't necessary, obviously.

"Even better," Melony said when she was finished explaining the concept, "If something happened here, and we needed to evacuate – all or partially – this place would be a good place to consider. The gate isn't that far from the lava tubes, and the tubes themselves are impervious to sensors – at least the ones on the Puddle Jumper."

"Really?"

"We couldn't find them with the ship. We had to land and go in through the front door. It's probably something in the makeup of the lava that forms the walls and covers the entire area, but we'll need to examine it further to see what it is, exactly."

"It sounds too good to be true," Weir said as she and Kale and Mitchell all started for the door.

Melony grinned.

"The part that is too good to be true is the fact that there are a ton of those coffee bushes in the area."

"If it's really coffee…"

"My next stop is going to be Zalinka's," she said, smiling still. "I want to see if it is – and if it is, I want to get started on harvesting those bushes. My coffee supply is starting to dwindle."

You have a full case of grounds, still

That's not that much.

Talon snorted, and Melony could feel his amusement.

Hey, I have to look towards the future, right? Do you have any idea how hard I'd be to deal with if I ran out of coffee?

The very thought sends chills through me, he told her, sarcastically, causing her to smile again.

"Before you go check on your coffee beans, get changed," Weir said. "I don't want you leaving puddles in the halls."

Since Melony wasn't actually that wet, she knew Weir was exaggerating, but it was a good idea, anyways. Even though she wouldn't catch a chill – not with Talon – it was still uncomfortable to be cold.

"I'll be in the briefing room in forty-five minutes," she said. That would give her time to stop and check on her beans, and time to check on Carson and make sure his ankle injury wasn't that serious and he was settled.

"We'll see you there."

Weir and Kale went off in one direction, and Melony watched them, wondering if there was something developing between them. She knew Elizabeth had a fiancé – they'd discussed him once, briefly – but she was sure walking close to the Light One.

Jealous? Talon asked her, slyly.

You know better.

She wasn't interested in Kale – not like that. He'd be easy to fall for, though, with that sensual body and good looks – if you liked aliens. And Melony had to admit, there wasn't anything wrong with aliens.

If anything, it's the pheromones he's giving off, Talon said off-hand.

What?

The pheromones, Hot Shot. He and his people ooze them

How do you know?

Because I can feel them in your reaction to him – even though you can't. If you were at all interested in him, then I'd actually have to step in and keep them under control, but since you're not… he allowed himself to trail off, knowing she understood what he meant. She wasn't stupid after all.

"Huh. I didn't even think about that," Melony admitted as she headed for the corridor that lead towards her quarters.

I'll bet none of the others have, either

Why didn't you say something?

Why should I? They're all adults, and there aren't concerns of any little ones getting underfoot here. I figured they'd figure it out, eventually. Besides, nothing wrong with a little nooky. If it's done right, he added, darkly.

Reminding Melony how devastating it could be if it wasn't, although he realized what he'd done immediately, and smothered her with his affection. She might have been annoyed at the way he was constantly interfering with her own feelings, but she understood what he was doing, and why, and besides, she loved the way it felt to be bathed in that kind of love. She wallowed in it.

Still feeling warm and gooey inside – and not at all chilled – Melony skipped heading for her quarters and went directly to Zalinka's. Coffee always came first, after all.