Sheppard looked over when he saw Mitchell heading his way, and then frowned when he looked over her shoulder at McKay and Beckett.

"What's with them?" He asked when she was close enough to hear.

Melony smiled.

"Shock factor. What did you find?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing yet. I thought I'd come see if you wanted to come with us?"

Mitchell nodded.

"Let's go."

OOOOOO

"You're sleeping with her?"

Carson was blushing so red; now, they could have hooked wires up to him to generate thermal power. He hadn't expected her to blurt it out like that. Really, he hadn't expected her to even really mention it to anyone. Which he should have known better. She was pretty much as open about things as she could be – maybe it had something to do with Talon, or maybe it was just her nature.

He nodded.

"You lucky bastard!"

McKay looked over at Mitchell, who was talking to Sheppard. Man… and he'd thought he was doing pretty good to have been on the planet with the Light Ones… well, yeah, he had been doing pretty good to be on that planet, because that had been pure bliss, but Mitchell… well… that was another thing, entirely.

Carson nodded, again. He was lucky, and he knew it. Although that love definitely had its price, because the more he thought about what she was getting ready to do, the more scared for her he became.

"She's going to get killed…" Carson said softly, his gaze following McKay's, and he watched as Melony and Sheppard disappeared down the lava tube that had the crack across the floor of it. The one he'd fallen into and hurt his ankle in.

"She's just checking out a tube with Major Sheppard," McKay said, wondering what had Beckett so worried. "They know the crack's there, now, so they-"

"Not in the lava tube, Rodney," Carson said, shaking his head. "Doing this Wraith thing… her need for revenge is going to get her killed."

McKay looked at him, and realized that maybe it wasn't such a great thing to like someone in Mitchell's line of business, after all. It might even be love, the way he was watching her. He tried to think of something to say that would ease his concern, and scoffed.

"With Talon? She's not going to get killed, Carson. He won't allow it."

"He's worse than she is…"

McKay scowled.

"She's not going off half-cocked. It's obvious she's planning-"

"It's the Wraith."

"They're not gods." McKay argued. "For that matter, she's taken out gods, before – remember? The Goa'uld thought they were indestructible, too, and look where that got them. I wouldn't worry too much about her. She's going to be fine."

He tried to be comforted. He knew that McKay was trying to be helpful, but Carson didn't know any Goa'uld, and hadn't seen them at their worst. He knew what the Wraith were capable of doing – and maybe they were capable of even worse things. Who knew? All he knew was that there were a lot more of them than there was Melony, and he was afraid for her.

"Besides," McKay said, slapping him on the back. "This time she and Talon have me to help them. How could they possibly fail with that kind of help? Now come help me decide where to string this last set of cables."

OOOOOOOOO

"They haven't strung any wires or cables down this tunnel yet," Sheppard said, pulling out his flashlight and waiting for Mitchell to do the same. "We don't want anyone down here until we know for sure where it goes."

"Good idea," Melony agreed. "Have you explored past the crack?"

He shook his head.

"I had them build a wooden planking over it, though, so we can get past without falling in – as long as you're careful."

Which explained to her what he'd been doing with his time. And it was a good idea. For safety reasons, if nothing else.

Not to mention you're too lazy to crawl into the hole and out the other side?

That, too.

They reached the turn in the tube that was right before the crack, but Melony could hear a soft murmur of voices and see bobbing lights in plenty of time to warn her it was coming. Sure enough, a moment later they came up to the rest of Sheppard's security force – the few that he'd decided to bring from Atlantis, leaving the rest under Ford's command on base.

Mitchell shined her light onto the crack and saw that there was, indeed, a solid wooden bridge going across the span of it. It would still be possible for someone to fall into the hole, but they'd have to really not be paying attention, now, and anyone that dumb deserved to take a fall.

The one Marine and two Air Force enlisted men all quieted when Mitchell and Sheppard approached, and they waited to see what their next orders would be. Since it was her base, and she outranked him, Sheppard motioned for Mitchell to decide. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't already know what she was going to say.

"Shall we see where this thing goes?"

Yup, that's what he'd expected to hear.

Sheppard nodded, as did the all the others. They hadn't really wanted to go down the tunnel alone – Sheppard had said something about Lava Lizards or something like that, and they hadn't been completely sure if he was joking or not – but with Mitchell and the Major both with them, well, what could go wrong?

Melony had them all double check their lights, made sure everyone had backups with them, and their weapons – just in case – and she headed across the planking that made the makeshift bridge.

"Maybe we'll find us some of them Lava Lizards, Major…" she said, unable to help herself.

"Wouldn't that be a hoot?"

Sheppard crossed the bridge, shining his light in front of him so he could double check where his feet were going, and after only a moment's hesitation, the rest of the group followed. One at a time, since they weren't sure exactly how many people the bridge would support at one time.