Almost as if they were expecting her, both scientists were in their little lab when Mitchell walked into the room five minutes later. Zalinka was standing by a lab table, and Markus – who was a Romanian woman, and apparently a genius when it came to molecular biology, was near what looked to be a small coffee pot.

"Colonel Mitchell, we heard you were back." Zalinka said, with a smile.

Well, that confirmed that, didn't it?

"Just got back," Melony told them. "And I thought I'd come by and see what you've found out about my little beans…"

"Funny you should ask," he told her, taking a small bag from the tabletop. "We just ground the lot of them, and as near as we can tell from the tests we've run on them, they're coffee beans. Or as close to it as we can find. Everything seems to match up, anyways, to what we have here." And he held up another baggie. "Which is from the commissary stores."

"So it's coffee?" She couldn't help the smug anticipation she felt just then, and Talon's amusement simply magnified it.

"We think it is." Markus said, nodding.

"It has the same components of coffee, and looks like it, and smells like it – but the only way to know for sure that it's not some deadly poison and really is coffee is to try it out on a test subject."

"Preferably a test subject with a symbiote to keep her from keeling over," they added, looking pointedly at her.

Since Melony had every intention of being the first one to try the coffee beans she'd found, she didn't even look at them funny for suggesting it. Who better to try it?

Of course, even if it's bad for you, you're still going to drink it when your coffee supply runs out, aren't you?

Of course.

That was the whole benefit of having a symbiote to keep her from keeling over, after all.

What did you do before you met me?

Dieted and watched my carbs.

"Let's brew it up," Melony said, gesturing to the little coffee pot.

Both scientists smiled, looking almost as excited as Melony felt, and Mitchell couldn't help but smile also as she reached for the empty coffee mug that was sitting on the table, waiting for her.

OOOOOOOOO

When she walked into the briefing room, Melony was holding a steaming cup of coffee – no big shock there, since she always seemed to have a cup of coffee somewhere close at hand, but the triumphant look on her face was new, and those gathered around the table had to smile.

"Let me guess…" Weir said. "You've been to see Zalinka."

Mitchell nodded and sat down beside Rodney, who was looking at the cup in her hand, speculatively.

"Just got back from there."

"Is that a cup from those beans you found?" McKay asked.

She nodded.

"How is it?"

"Unless I turn an odd color and start foaming at the mouth in the next few hours, all signs are looking good."

"How does it taste?" Sheppard asked.

"Like steaming heaven in a cup." She took another sip, and then set the mug down, looking at the small stack of papers on the table. "What's this?"

"Teyla and Ford have been trying to describe to Doctor Weir what the lava flow on A-08 looks like from the inside out," Sheppard said, pushing a couple of the papers to her. "This is what we have so far."

She looked at it, and saw that it looked like a maze – obviously they were doing a representation of the bolt hole, because the maze-like drawing ended up in an area with little trees and rocks. Besides, that was the only one of the tubes the two had been down.

"It's as accurate as anything else we have," Mitchell said, handing the papers back. "Next time I go, I'll take a video camera and some light, so we can get a better feel for it."

Weir nodded her agreement, and then settled in to a discussion of what had been found. Melony let the others talk, mostly. She was interested in hearing what they thought of the place, because she knew that McKay, especially, would end up spending a fair amount of time there while he helped her set up the equipment she was going to need. It wasn't so much that she needed his help, but he was eager to be a part of things, and since it wasn't dangerous – aside from the chance of falling into a hole and messing up your ankle – she was willing to allow him to be there. It was only when things got tricky – when she went after the Wraith to get one of their ships – that she'd be doing things alone, or with a minimum of help.

As she watched them discuss the planet – and the coffee beans – she turned her attention to Kale, who was sitting next to Elizabeth, still. She owed him a great deal, because she knew she'd never have found the flow on her own. Well, the flow, yes, maybe. The lava tubes and the ravine…? Almost definitely not. His help had been crucial, and she was grateful. She'd have to figure out a way to repay him, even though he'd said he was doing her the favor to repay her and the Atlanteans for introducing relations with the farmers who lived near them.

Weir reached out and touched Kale's arm several times during the course of the discussions, Melony noticed, and she wondered if the woman was aware of what she was doing. Probably not, if Talon was right. And as he liked to remind her, he frequently was.

Most of the time

Yeah, yeah.

She took another sip of her coffee, savoring it even though it tasted just a little different from what she was used to. She'd grow used to it in time, and it wasn't bad – just different. Then had another thought as she watched Kale and Weir.

Talon? These pheromones…? What else do they do? They're not dangerous, are they?

Of course not. All creatures have them – just not in the quantities that the Light Ones do – and they probably have more than I've ever seen in any species. Maybe because they have different forms. They occur naturally, Hot Shot, usually during breeding and mating seasons or when-

Would they affect a person's behavior?

You're looking at them affecting a person's behavior, he told her. Look at Weir. It's only temporary, though, and it's not like she's throwing him to the floor and fu-

Is it just mating? She asked, interrupting. If someone was near Kale and interested in someone else… would-

He was in her mind and knew where she was going before she even verbalized it. Melony could feel his silence as he pondered the question she was giving him, and then he gave the equivalent of a mental shrug.

Maybe

"Shit."

Everyone looked over at her, and Mitchell realized she'd spoken aloud. She frowned, and stood up.

"Sorry. I'll be back."

"Is it the coffee?" McKay asked.

She ignored the question and headed for the door, her mind a million miles from the Wraith just then.