As a general rule, I don't like to break promises, so as not to break my last one, this is the last chapter. Finito, etc etc. It's also quite a bit longer then the others ones, but I wanted to wrap stuff up. So, enjoy, review if you want, and I hope you've enjoyed the story!

Telana, on Atlantis? Could she be trusted? But Elizabeth knew the answer straight away. It was obvious.

"It, well it would be an honour Telana." Elizabeth managed to stutter out, before sighing. "There's just one major problem. We need to make sure that the men are okay."

Immediately Telana turned to Jane then, hand clamping around her wrist. "A problem that will soon be solved. Jane, it is time to learn how to use that strength of yours for good, rather then your own gain."

"What!" Jane blinked back to her, trying to wrench her arm away. "What are you talking about? Carson will be fine when he wakes up, I hardly touched him-and besides, you're just as capable."

"No, I am not." Telana replied, impatience creeping into her voice. "You are stronger then me Jane, you just need some patience. Only you can go into Carson's mind, and repair what has gone wrong. You must do it now, before he awakens and the damage cannot be revoked."

"But-"

"Jane, I thought you loved him?" Elizabeth stepped forward slowly, her hand resting on Jane's other arm. "You have to do what's right for you both, not just yourself. Could you really live, knowing that you'd broken him?"

Jane opened her mouth to reply, and then quickly culled it. With a silent nod, she slipped from their grasps, and walked out of the hut.

Instinctively, the others followed. Partly to make sure that she was going to him, but also with curiosity.

When they all reached the food hut, the three men were still laid back on separate tables. John and Rodney slumbered normally, quiet snorts and movements showing their recovery. But as they approached Carson, Elizabeth almost gasped at the paleness of his face. Not normally the darkest of complexions, his paleness still sent a shiver down her spine.

"What do I do?" Jane murmured softly, her courage and strength left so quickly, now that she could truly see the damage she'd done.

"Speak to him, within his mind. You must find him, the real him as you knew him before, and bring him back. You must be strong Jane, stronger then ever before, because you must now beat the damage you have done yourself."

Jane merely nodded, a numb look in her eyes, before gently she placed her fingers around his face. Elizabeth watched curiously, almost expecting some sort of flicker to show that something was happening. But only silence prevailed.

After a minute or so, Telana gestured for Elizabeth and Teyla to follow her. "We must leave them be. Jane must concentrate hard now, and must learn to deal with her pain. I fear that she may discover some answers to questions she never wished to ask."

"Very deep." Elizabeth murmured, finding the natural Rodney comment bringing her back from her own deep thoughts. "Perhaps I should check on Rodney, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all Dr. Weir." Teyla replied with a light nod. "I was going to make sure that the Major was alright as well. Unfortunately I kicked him quite hard."

"Well, I'm sure he'll understand." Elizabeth chuckled, before she moved over to the far side of the hut. Rodney's hand twitched a little, and instinctively Elizabeth took hold of it to calm it. There was a soft moan, and not soon after, Rodney's eyes flickered open.

"Damn, what the hell have I been drinking?"

"Nothing Rodney." Elizabeth replied with a chuckle, squeezing his hand.

There was a pause, and then he grinned up to her. "Think I could have something now then?"

Elizabeth laughed warmly at that, her head shaking. "Not yet Rodney, maybe when we get back to Atlantis. I'm sure there's still some of that wine that you treat me too when…" When I was under the effect of an alien. A soft sigh passed her lips, and Elizabeth smiled. "I'm sorry for hurting you. But I guess it was your turn this time to be under a strange presence."

"Who said anything about taking turns? At least yours didn't turn you into an ass."

Elizabeth chuckled a touch at his comment before replying. "So you actually remember everything then?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Rodney moaned then as he forced himself to sit up. "Uh, my butt's still asleep. Why do they always hit you in the butt?"

Elizabeth leaned forward against the table, an eyebrow rising. "You mean you've been shot like that before?"

"Well no." Rodney looked slightly sheepish for a moment, before quickly covering. "I meant, y'know, with those nature programmes. Shooting creatures in the butt-"

"Ah, those nature programmes you flick through between the Twilight Zone you mean?"

"Hey." Rodney suddenly groaned then, resting back once more. "I thought I was the sick one here. No roasting."

"No, I'll let Carson do that when we all get back."

Rodney suddenly frowned then, twisting round to witness Jane and Carson. "What exactly happened? One minute I was falling asleep, the next minute I was… well, being an ass."

"We, eh, don't really know." As Rodney blinked up at her, Elizabeth sighed. "The fact is, Jane's not who she seems to be. She's an empath, of some sort, and was somehow capable of controlling Carson, and ultimately you and John as a sort of backlash. A few sleeping darts put you back as right as rain-"

"Apart from the massive hangover, and a butt that's still asleep you mean?"

"Yes, apart from that." Elizabeth rolled her eyes before continuing. "But Carson, well that's a different story. She's trying to undo the damage now. It seems a little weird to me, but I'd rather have her try then have Carson die."

"Makes me glad I'm well out of it. I mean to think, she could've tried that on me." Rodney shuddered obviously then, before sitting up once more. "Oh, that eh reminds me. About the whole… well, primal thing? I'm… well, you know, I didn't." Clearing his throat, he sighed. "I'm not usually that forward."

"Oh, that." Elizabeth's cheeks flushed, and she chuckled nervously. "Hey, we've been in more compromising positions then that right? I remember not too long ago certain actions with needles and such…"

"Heh, yeh." Rodney's gaze automatically flew around to everything around him but Elizabeth.

"Anyway." Elizabeth suddenly clasped her hands. "I would've thought you'd be a bit upset. Jane and Carson being dragged up again."

"Why would I be?" Rodney seemed honestly puzzled as he finally dragged his gaze back to her.

"Rodney, come on." Elizabeth knew there was no point in dragging it out any longer. It had hurt watching Rodney fight with Carson for Jane. Some part of her had wanted it to just be a primal thing, but… it made sense in some way. Rodney had obviously cared too much about her to actually want to admit he still liked Jane. "I know that you still like Jane. I mean, that's why you and Carson had that fight."

"What!" Rodney's eyes widened, and he leapt off the table-bed. "Elizabeth, come on now, that's insane; I probably would've fought him over a cabbage!"

"Maybe, but that's not the name I heard you both calling." Elizabeth dug her nails harder into her arms. Damnit, why was she even getting involved with this? She'd ridden herself of all these worries and fears the past few days; come to terms with just being friends. And now… the hurt had reared so easily.

"What? Elizabeth I…" But what could he tell her? That really, in his mind, it wasn't Jane he was fighting over? His lack of reply caused hurt in her eyes that she tried so hard to hide, and he just couldn't lie again. "Elizabeth, I was fighting for you. Like I said, it was primal, but in my head it was just… fighting for my woman. And… look, you have to understand I wasn't my usual genius self, so it wasn't names it was pictures. And, all I could see was your face. Names made no sense to me."

"Oh." It would be typical that her linguist brain would choose that exact moment to shut down. "Rodney, that's… so sweet."

"It is?" Rodney blinked back at her incredulously, before suddenly smiling. "Listen, Elizabeth. These past few days have been… well, I thought, perhaps you know maybe… sometime we could-"

"Everyone! He's awake!"

Elizabeth's head immediately shot round, and like everyone else, she promptly darted off.

Rodney sighed to himself, following along behind. "Always happens. Just about to score, and something always happens. She chooses an artefact over me, decides she liked me when she hated me, world war three begins…" Muttering on his way, he moved to join the rest of the team as Carson emitted a small groan.

Jane moved back to allow them all to close round him, stepping beside Telana with a worried look on her features.

"Carson!" John beamed down to the Doctor. "How're you doing? Got some damned nasty bruises from Teyla here. How about you?"

"Uh?" Carson blinked up at them all, before with a groan he slowly rose. "Feel like ma heads been used as fishbowl for a thousand drunk piranhas. But apart from that, pretty damn dosey." Immediately his gaze shifted to Jane, and he added. "Mind if I have a wee bit 'o time alone with Jane?"

Various replies of 'oh, of course not' wafted over them, and they all moved off; making sure to stay just close enough to accidentally hear what was said.

Jane approached with obvious trepidation, resting her fingers on the edge of the table. "How're you feeling? I'm sorry, I must've given you one heck of a headache."

"Ah, it's alright." Carson waved a hand at that, sitting up fully. "Ma head's actually clearer then it has been for a long time. But there is something we should talk about-"

"Carson, it's fine." Jane suddenly smiled to him, resting her hand on his. "I've been inside your mind now, properly. I mean, I looked, rather then changed. I realise that the love I sensed was… well, not the same love that I feel for you. More like, 'a bonny wee sister'. Would that be about right?"

Carson chuckled at that, nodding his head in reply. "Aye, pretty damn close. I can't deny that there was some attraction, mebbe in some 'male' part 'o me. But you made me realise that was what had been creeping me out. I could never be wi' ma sister like that."

"I understand Carson. There's something else I need to tell you as well." There was a soft sigh, before she added. "I'm staying here, with the Alonins. Telana and I have spoken, as have I and Elizabeth, and we all think it would be for the best. I'm a lot freer here and… I've finally found who I want to be."

"Oh." Carson looked downcast for a moment, before squeezing her hand. "Well, ah guess I can't really argue with sound reasoning like that cannae?"

"I know." Jane sighed, returning the squeeze. "I'll have to get used to living without men now."

"You'll love it lass." Carson chuckled back to her as he pulled away. "Besides, this ain't much of a frilly society is it?"

"No, I suppose it isn't really." Jane replied with a soft chuckle, relaxing now that Carson was better. Her expression sobered for a moment though, and she added. "You realise though, we may never see each other again? I have a feeling any expeditions to this planet will be female only from now on."

Carson frowned softly, forcing himself up from the table so that he could perch upon it properly. "I guess it's for the best, aye? I will miss ya though lass."

"As I will miss you Carson." Jane smiled back to him softly, before leaning in to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Now, you go and get some rest. I need to discuss things with Telana."

As Jane moved off, Carson's gaze naturally followed her. There was a tinge of sadness that made him wince, before he shook his head. At least this time, they'd been able to be honest with each other.

The others watched the interaction with interest, before eventually Elizabeth gestured to them. "I think perhaps we should all go and get some rest for good. There are still, oh I'd say, around four hours until the dawn. And I'm sure Telana will allow some leeway and extend the time to maybe six hours, if you would like to get some rest?"

"Uh, I think I've had enough rest as it is. My butt's the only thing that isn't yet awake."

"That's what I was saying!" Rodney replied to John, gesturing to the aforementioned area. "I mean I feel like I'm walking differently, do you think I am?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Do a little walk…"

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at them both, before chuckling over to Teyla. "Well, it seems like the end of another adventure here on the Walton's mountain." As Teyla looked at her blankly, Elizabeth just laughed. "Never mind. Oh! Telana, I need to speak with you."

Telana nodded back to Elizabeth, gesturing for her to join her and Jane. "Yes, there is much to discuss. We need to make arrangements."

"Most certainly." Jane agreed, while Elizabeth glanced back to the other three. "Like I said, get some rest. Teyla, make sure they do okay?"

John looked immediately scared, giving Teyla a wary look. "Hey now, I'm being good! That thing before wasn't my fault…"

"However, I will stand true to my word Major. If you misbehave…"

"Wait, does this include me as well?" Rodney whined, a pleading look sent to Elizabeth.

"Doubly so." Elizabeth smirked, winking back to him, before moving out of the hut with Jane and Telana. She ignored the raised eyebrows from the two women, instead plunging straight into negotiations. "Well then, it seems pretty clear that an arrangement has been made. There's only one thing I'm worried about Telana, the one thing you missed out from the story." Her gaze flickered over to her, hands expanding. "Do you still have your Ancient knowledge?"

Telana seemed nonplussed by the question, her hands clasping as she nodded. "In, a sense, yes. I do not have access to all knowledge, but there is much I still know."

"And yet, you wish to come back to Atlantis? You see, we have met an Ancient before, and she was extremely reluctant to share information with us. Let alone leave her own planet."

"My circumstances are different." Telana pursed her lips at that, her gaze flicking between the two women. "I will tell you more soon, first I must inform my Clan of the changes. Namely, Aranis."

A few moments later, they reached the main campsite. Already, the Alonins were gathered, Aranis leading.

"Sister." Aranis supplied as soon as they had stopped, scowling at the other two, before moving forward. "You know I have found problems with your leadership for some time. You cling to the old ideals, to those fairy stories…"

"They're not stories Aranis." Telana replied patiently, gesturing to the Temple not far off. "You know why we go there each year, why we have the rebirth later then the others. It keeps us as we have been before. It is why I write those journals."

"Foolish!" Aranis snapped, stamping her spear butt on the ground. "You proclaim they are not stories, and yet you write them down as if they are not great secrets either! Countless times I have offered you guidance, but every time you refuse it. It is time for us to make up your mind for you."

"There's no need." Jane suddenly stepped forward, her gaze locking with Aranis. "Telana has already chosen to leave this place." As gasps echoed through the other Alonins, Jane straightened. "And she has chosen me, as her successor."

"What!" Aranis flung the spear down in anger, striding forward. "You are not even an Alonin! How dare you presume!"

"I do not presume, I know." Stepping past Aranis, Jane gestured to the others. "You have all seen, and heard what I did this night. Of my power. Telana has been your great leader for centuries, wisely leading you. And now, in her wisdom, she has chosen me as her successor. I have a greater power, but unlike Aranis I know how to control it. Telana has chosen this fate, and she has chosen me. Have her choices let you down before?" Suddenly then, she turned to Aranis. "Well Aranis, has your sister ever let you down?"

Aranis made no reply, instead she stalked over to Telana. It was hurt, more then anything else within her eyes, and forcefully she drew Telana into a hug. "You would leave? So easily?"

"No, not so easily Aranis." Telana hugged her back just as fiercely, a smile on her features. "But I must do this. I no longer belong here, I yearn too much to explore, and to be free."

Just as suddenly, Aranis pulled away. Her gaze locked with her sister, and she sighed. "You may lose the wisdom. You know that don't you?"

"Perhaps it would be for the best, Aranis. Sometimes it makes me ask too many questions."

Aranis laughed raucously at that, before moving back to Jane. "I know what you did this night, and indeed you are strong. But you must also be patient. I am foolhardy, and quick to anger. Do you think you could handle me like my sister has all these centuries?"

Jane pondered this for the merest of moments, before grinning. "You've never met some of my patients have you?"

There was more laughter from Aranis at that, before she clamped her arm around Jane's shoulder, and led her to the campfire. "Come! It is time to educate you on our history."

Telana watched her sister move off with a quiet look, before turning to Elizabeth. "Now, it is time to speak with you properly. Your concerns are well-founded."

"Yes, your sister seems to share them. She mentioned a loss of wisdom?"

Telana nodded to that, before she sighed softly. "You mentioned a woman, an Ancient. When I was an Ancient as you know it, I lived here, with my family. Then we heard of the Wraith, and were told, told to start the ascension process. Do you think I wanted that?" Telana snarled, before shaking her head. "My family thought it was a blessing, that I was strong enough to be able to ascend. But I wanted to stay and fight! That's why when I did ascend, I fought with all my might. Eventually, I realised that perhaps it could be good. That with my powers, I could help those who were left behind, destroy the Wraith. Of course this was disallowed, we were to remain 'impartial', even to our own race! In those early times, even as ascended beings, there were rebels. Unfortunately, my side lost."

"I… never imagined that anything like that would happen when you'd ascended." Elizabeth shook her head incredulously. "The reports that Dr. Jackson have made are sketchy at best, as he remembers little. But we know full well the Ancients policy on non-interference."

"Yes, well it was not a unanimous decision." Telana scuffed the ground with her boot, before shrugging. "Anyway, that is why I see no reason to fear them. I am no longer the leader here, so any punishment would be on me alone. I have nothing to lose."

Tilting her head, Elizabeth watched her for a moment, before nodding. "Very well. Well, I see no reason to stop you from coming with us then Telana. I told the others they could sleep a little later if that's okay? It'll give you enough time to get things ready."

"Thank you Elizabeth." Telana moved forward and hugged her, a warm smile upon her face. "I am looking forward to this more then you can possibly realise. It is too long since I felt truly excited about something. Jane and Aranis will be sure to prepare everything for our departure tomorrow. Aranis knows where I placed your things, so you should be able to collect them soon."

"Then I'll leave you to your preparations." Elizabeth replied cheerfully, as she moved away from the hug. "And I'll meet you here with the others two hours after sunrise." With that, Elizabeth started trudging back to her hut.

When she finally arrived, it was to find Rodney beavering away in the little booklet that Telana had given them what seemed like ages ago.

"I thought you'd finished with that?"

Rodney jumped, scoring the booklet with charcoal. "Damn. Oh, well, after tonight, I felt like writing a little more. A lot's happened really."

"You can say that again." Elizabeth chuckled as she slipped into the low hammock. "Although I think my mind's too muddled to really make sense of anything."

"Normally I would think that." Rodney replied, as he slyly shifted so that the booklet wasn't readable from her position. "But my head's a lot clearer then normal. Maybe you were right about this whole countryside thing."

"Well I can't imagine you'll get much chance of having this same experience again." Elizabeth murmured, yawning softly.

"No doubt something just as weird will crop up though." Rodney muttered, as he paused to think over something. With a soft sigh, he tapped the booklet. "Look, Elizabeth. There's something I've been meaning to ask you, about when we get back to Atlantis. I thought, y'know, maybe, we could possibly… that thing you said, about the wine before? That offer, could be good…" His gaze drifted up, only to result in an even deeper sigh at the sight of Elizabeth having dozed off. "Right, yes… of course, how else could this possibly end?" Shaking his head at himself, he settled back against the hut and began writing again. "I swear, one more time, and that's it."


Two hours after the arrival of the Alonin's dawn, the team was assembled and ready to go. The men especially seemed happier to be back in uniform, John smiling with love at his gun. "Ah my dear, it's good to see they haven't hurt you."

Telana and Aranis exchanged some more hugs and quiet words, while Jane said goodbye to the team. Because of their similar size, Aranis had fitted well into Jane's uniform, although she still found it hard to get used to wearing boots, shown by her stumbling here and there. In a sign that strong relationships had already been formed, the burning of the diaries was foregone, with Rodney seeming pleased at the fact he'd be able to keep it. Eventually, when all goodbyes had been done, the two groups stood opposite each other.

Elizabeth gave a polite nod to Jane, smiling at how well she'd already integrated into the Alonin's society. She obviously suited their culture, and already Elizabeth could sense the pride that came with being a true leader.

Jane returned the favour, a teasing wink reserved for Carson, before the two groups took their separate ways.

Telana looked back only once before they began the trek to the Stargate, just enough to see tears in her sister's eyes. Yet she knew that this was right. She arranged the straps of this 'backpack' that Jane had supplied her with, and tried to focus on her walking. The weight of her journals and memorabilia upon her back was reassuring, and enough to make her forget about the loss of her family.

Occasionally Elizabeth glanced back at her, presumably to make sure that she hadn't changed her mind. But each time she did, and the closer they got to the Stargate, the stronger her resolution that this was the right step. Probably the weirdest thing, was getting used to being around men once more. Although it seemed that the other women found the company of men intriguingly entertaining.

When their destination had finally been reached, Rodney moved forward and typed in the address for Atlantis. Telana stood impassively as the wormhole was achieved, glancing away from it only to meet the gazes of the others. Various memories of millennia ago, when this Stargate was first built flooded back, and her first trip through it. She remembered now, that she'd always preferred to fly. As she approached it, her mind instantly linked to those old memories, of the time of ascension… when she'd been punished. Shaking her head to herself, and trying to ignore the growing headache, she stepped through the Stargate.


"Unauthorised Gate Access!"

The klaxons blared, and Ford glanced over to Grodin. "Access Codes?"

"Nearly there… yup, it's them."

Ford let out a breath of relief. "Thank God." Before he ran down to the gate. "Hey guys, have a good holiday?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." John replied, gesturing to him. "You would've loved it. We even brought a friend back for you."

Ford's gaze drifted over the group, and he suddenly winced. "Eh, would that by any chance happen to be the strange woman that's just collapsed on the floor?"

"What!" Elizabeth cried, darting round.

"Oh, crap." Carson muttered, running forward. "Right, we'd better get her to the infirmary. Lieutenant, call for a medical team okay?"

"Right." As Ford gave the call up to Grodin, Elizabeth frowned down at her.

"I don't get it, she was fine wasn't she?" As her gaze darted around the rest of them, met only by looks of surprise, Elizabeth found herself wondering if she'd done the right thing bringing her here.


"Well Carson, how is she?"

The team now stood at the side of Telana's bed, the Alonin hooked up to the Atlantean bio-bed that Carson adored. When it actually told him what was going on that was.

"I'm not sure. Her vital signs are perfect, she's in great health, no signs of pathogens, or genetic diseases. A perfect Ancient."

"But, she collapsed." Rodney cut in with impatiently, gesturing to her. "And she's obviously not awake now. Maybe the machine's reading her wrong-wait a minute, Ancient?" He suddenly blinked, nudging Elizabeth. "You never told me I was right!"

"Rodney, not now." Elizabeth silenced him with a wave of her hand, before nodding to Carson. "But there must be something?"

"Aye, there is." Carson moved over to the bed, touching it and causing the screen to shift. Instead of the previous vital signs, it now displayed a 3D image of a human brain. The image delved deeper, until it focused on a specific area that was a bright blue, compared to the paleness of the rest. "I think, to be blunt, and this is just a wee guess here, nothing to really back it up… I think, that her mind's being erased."

"Oh come on!" Rodney snapped suddenly, gesturing to the panel. "You're saying that some Ancient's been watching over us and suddenly decided, 'ooh, naughty girl, better erase her brain'."

"Not exactly that, but along those lines." As Rodney snorted, Carson sighed. "Look, I'm not sayin' that some Ancient has constantly bin watchin over 'er. What I am sayin, is that the Ancients are pretty advanced. They could've easily put something inside Telana's brain, like some kind of trigger-"

"To erase her mind when she thought about leaving the planet, or giving away Ancient knowledge?" Elizabeth mused softly, her gaze fully focused on Telana now.

"Or simply when she went through a Stargate."

"I thought ya didn't believe ma theory Rodney?"

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Rodney muttered, before sighing. "It's possible though. It's still not fully understood what exactly the Stargate does to your body when you travel through it. Who's to say it doesn't have some kind of mark that could be detected by something left in the brain?"

"Wait though." John suddenly shook his head. "What about when Chaya came here? She managed to get through the Stargate and be fine."

"Yes, but she was less willing to help us John." Elizabeth moved forward, placing her hand on Telana's arm. "Telana, well by the Ancient's standards, she was a rebel. They know that if she had the chance, she'd give away all the knowledge she had."

"So they made sure that she never would." Rodney muttered, shaking his head. "That's despicable."

"It's the Ancient code." Elizabeth sighed softly. "And they knew she'd never give information away on her planet, because no doubt they'd punish everyone there for it. She wouldn't risk it until she was sure there were no ties between her and her planet."

"Uh, Carson… I think there's something wrong with her." John gestured to the arm that Elizabeth was touching, Telana's fingers twitching madly.

As Elizabeth stepped back, Carson shook his head. "It'll just be a side-effect of the massive amount of activity within her brain. It'll likely be sending out stray impulses all through her body."

"You know, this is just typical." Rodney suddenly moaned. "We finally find an Ancient who's actually willing to help us kick some Wraith butt, and she's got an eraser inside of her."

"Major, what are you attempting?" Teyla queried, as he fumbled around in his backpack.

"I'm looking for that journal thing, I think she's trying to write something."

"Major, I told ya, it's likely just a side-effect. You'll get nowt but gobbledy-gook."

"Worth a try though isn't it?" John shot back, before he placed the charcoal in Telana's hand, and the booklet before her.

"Okay Telana, if you can hear me, start again."

The twitching stopped, and Carson sighed. "Major, the process is nearly complete, activity is decreasing-"

"Carson, shut up!" John suddenly cut him off with. "Look, she's moving again."

The team watched fascinated as Telana's hand began to move once more, this time in fluid motion. With mechanical neatness, she wrote four separate lines of characters, before her hand finally dropped.

"Activity has decreased to normal levels." Carson murmured, still staring at the booklet in John's hand. "I can't say when she'll wake up, but I doubt it'll be any time in the next hour."

"What did she write?" Elizabeth murmured, glancing to the booklet.

"Something I think Rodney will be very interested in." John suddenly grinned, before he ripped the page out and handed it over to him. "Care to take a look?"

Rodney's mouth dropped open, before he laughed. "It's four gate addresses! I'm sure of it. They couldn't be anything else!"

"ZPM's maybe?" John mused.

"I don't know, but I can't wait to find out!" Rodney beamed, not even waiting for confirmation from Elizabeth before he dashed out of the room.

Elizabeth watched him go with a warm smile, only to turn back to a room full of raised eyebrows. "What?" She asked innocently, before nervously clearing her throat. "Yes, well, I'm sure we all have things that need to be caught up on."

"Maybe you should go and follow Rodney?" John asked sweetly, a smirk on his features.

"Maybe you should go and find those reports I've been asking for constantly Major?"

John's eyes widened, and he coughed. "Yes, well, I believe that there are a few things I should be doing… uh, Ford, you wanted me to do some Jumper practice with you right?"

"Uh, well it can wait if-"

"NOW, Lieutenant." John sent him a knowing look, before hurrying out. Anything was better then paperwork. Ford gave them a shrug, before running out after him.

"What had you planned on doing Dr. Weir?" Teyla asked curiously, moving over to her now. There was no sign that Teyla was referring to the recently retreated Rodney, and so Elizabeth relaxed a little.

"Well, I thought I might stay here and watch over Telana. No doubt she could use some explanations when she awakens."

Teyla watched Elizabeth for a moment, noting how she hugged herself in the way she often did when she was trying to work something out in her mind.

"None of this was your fault."

"What?" Elizabeth shot out of her thoughts, the evident surprise proof that Teyla had hit the metaphorical nail on the head. There wasn't much point in trying to deny it really. "It was my decision though wasn't it Teyla? For her to come with us? I should've known that it wouldn't go smoothly. I mean, it never does."

There was a quiet moment where Teyla and Elizabeth just stared down at Telana. Every few moments, Carson would glance over, before returning to his work, deciding to play the role of the Doctor this time and leave the women to talk it out.

Finally, Elizabeth sighed. "Fine, okay, I know it wasn't really my fault. But… I just wish I wasn't so helpless with everything. Sometimes I wonder if Jane was right, that I'm not strong enough to be a leader."

"We are all helpless Dr. Weir." Teyla replied quietly, while her gaze remained fixated on Telana. "Even though as leaders we hate to admit it. People constantly look to you for all the answers, but how can you give things that you do not possess yourself? Our greatest ability, is to simply show people how to find them."

"You're astonishingly profound at times Teyla."

"I thank my Father for that."

"He must have been a great man." Elizabeth turned to look at her then, before suddenly smiling. "I'll leave you alone with her."

As she moved off, Teyla glanced over with surprise. "But, I thought you wished to stay with her?"

"I think perhaps, you would be better suited to the job. You've known her for longer after all… I would only be trying to make myself feel just that little bit better." With that, she turned and moved off.

As soon as she was free of the infirmary, Elizabeth slowed her pace. Three days, three whole days she'd been away from Atlantis. Right now, it felt like weeks with everything that had happened. Really, she'd intended it to be a holiday of sorts, and then of course she'd made Jane and Carson come along. Resulting in her losing a great psychiatrist, and not really resolving anything between her team at all. So much for leadership skills. But then, there was also the good side of it. She'd managed to bring back a semi-Ancient, who'd actually given them something she assumed to be important. It had to be didn't it? Out of everything that was within her mind, Telana had chosen those things to give to them. What could it possibly lead too? Without realising it, Elizabeth suddenly noticed she'd automatically walked back to her own quarters. The official side of her was nudging her to go back to her office, deal with all the paperwork she'd missed… after all, she'd had enough free time hadn't she? But then the other part of her, pulled off her backpack, and reached in it. With a smile she entered her quarters, sat back on the bed, and opened the journal at the last page. She could allow herself another hour.


Elizabeth woke with a start, glanced around, and then suddenly realised what had woken her up. A rather insistent pounding on the door of her quarters. Rubbing her eyes, she slipped from the bed, and moved over to open the door.

She was met with the sight of Rodney, his fist raised ready to give the door another pounding.

"Oh, Elizabeth." The fist was quickly hidden behind his back.

"Who else were you expecting in my quarters Rodney?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow back to him, smiling inwardly at the blush that immediately encompassed Rodney's cheeks.

"Well.. You, of course. It's just, I wasn't sure where you were, and when you didn't answer the COM call… and I've been knocking for five minutes…"

Elizabeth shifted to lean against the door, grinning up at him. "Well, my door is always open. You could have just come in."

Utter shock passed over his face, before he straightened, clearing his throat nervously. "Well, I uh… wasn't sure how appropriate it would be. Going into the quarters of my senior officer, especially with-"

"I don't see why not, Major Shepherd's done it before now." As Elizabeth turned back into her quarters, she allowed herself a little smirk. Obviously, that was evil, but she felt like having a little fun at the moment.

Rodney paused at the threshold for a long moment, allowing that thought to sink in. His features decided to settle on a scowl, and then he marched inside. This was professional after all. He even gestured to the table within the room. "Well, I was looking for you so I could tell you what we'd found out about those addresses."

Elizabeth cleared a few things off the table, before sitting down. Fun time was over, and she settled her hands before her. "Something interesting I'm assuming, with the ferocity of the knocking."

"In some ways, yes." Rodney managed, not moving to sit down himself. Instead he took his favourite 'pacing while explaining' position, hands already moving with Rodney-like animation. "They were all gate addresses, that's a fact. And they all connected."

"And yet I fail to see the enthusiasm I so usually see with you Rodney, when you think we're about to latch on to a couple of ZPM's."

Rodney smirked to her for a moment then. "Believe me Elizabeth, if I thought we were going to latch on to more then one ZPM, I'd be somersaulting through the Stargate. But, you're right… there seems to be some problems."

"Do you think you could possibly sit down and tell me them?" Elizabeth asked as she gestured to the seat next to her. "You look like you've got one of those Wraith insects down your trousers."

"Thanks for giving me tonight's nightmare." Rodney muttered, giving in and settling into the chair with a slight huff. "This whole four address thing has presented us with a real problem. One of them, don't even ask… it's like what all those eco-lovers back on Earth predict us to be like in a hundred years if every household used a fossil fuel planet. Toxic gases like you wouldn't believe, not even some of the bugs we've found in volcanoes, could ever survive there."

"So that's off limits then…" Elizabeth sighed, already foreseeing the future of the conversation. "But I assume we actually have some hope from these addresses?" Her eyes fixed on his, sly smile gracing her features. "You do have that look that tells me you've found something good, or at least weird."

"Weird? Oh yes, definitely weird." Rodney beamed back to her. "But I'll mention that in a second. Anyway, second planet? Another complete bust. Pressures that would squash you to within a thousandth of a millimetre within a mere millisecond… those parts of you that are actually capable of that without exploding first of course." As Elizabeth winced obviously, he added. "Oh yes, by the way, we're now down to nine probes."

Elizabeth hid a chuckle, instead leaning back in her chair. "So then, I can only hope we're on to the good news now."

"Oh, yeah." Rodney nodded emphatically at that, leaning forward a little bit more, his fingers trailing diagrams on the table. "The third one, worked like a charm. We sent the probe through, found a pretty primitive planet. Mountain village by the looks of it. I'm gonna take a guess and say Ancients."

Elizabeth just shook her head at him, laughing softly. "Come on Rodney, I very much doubt that's going to happen again. Besides, Telana seemed like she wanted to stay away from Ancients as much as possible."

"Hmm, maybe." Rodney stared down at the table for a moment, before shrugging. "Anyway, do you think we could go?"

"In a few days, sure." Elizabeth replied, ignoring the sigh from Rodney. "From the sounds of it, the planet isn't suddenly going to disappear, so I think we can afford to wait a bit."

As she rose, a thought suddenly struck her. "Wait a minute, you said third time. What about the fourth planet? Full of brimstone and fire by any chance?" When her joke wasn't even met by a look, Elizabeth approached Rodney, nudging his arm. "Okay, it wasn't that bad, what aren't you telling me?"

Rodney rose too from his chair, looking downwards for a moment. It was a short moment later that he met her gaze, then he folded his arms. "You see, this is where the weirdness comes in, and you have to promise me you won't ask things like 'are you sure', and 'have you checked'. Because, believe me, I have. And really, I know the address off by heart anyway…"

"What address?"

"Ours." As Elizabeth just sent him a look of bewilderment, he sighed. "Don't you get it? The fourth address, it was ours! The gate address for Atlantis!"

"What!" It finally sunk in, and Elizabeth shook her head. "That can't be. Are yo-right, sorry. Look, there must be some mistake though. Why would Telana give us our own address?"

"I don't know!" Rodney threw his hands up, returning swiftly to pacing now. "Maybe, maybe they're linked somehow, maybe it's just because this place is important."

"But we already know that…" Elizabeth murmured, her tone slow and cautious, as if she might miss something if it wasn't. "In fact, none of it makes sense. Why give us four gate addresses, one of them our own, and two of them inaccessible?"

Rodney gave a small shrug, his expression showing that more then anything he wished he did know. "Maybe they're just playing games with us, trying to make us run around in circles."

"No." Elizabeth shook her head then. "If anything, the Ancients don't interfere. I certainly can't see them as the joke-playing types. No, there's something else here we're missing."


Anyana's eyes slowly opened, trying their best to cope with the large amount of light that surrounded them. It was so much brighter then the sunlight of the dawn… and it didn't feel like the sun's rays either. Gingerly, her eyes opened fully, settling on Teyla.

"Hello?"

"Shush, you must stay calm for now Telana. Dr. Beckett says that you must stay here for the rest of the day, in order to regain your strength."

Anyana watched her, before suddenly shrinking back in her bed. "Wait, why did you call me Telana? Why am I here?" Her eyes flickered down to the bed, and she started to struggle. "Why are these worms inside me!"

"Telana! Please, calm down." Teyla moved forward to take hold of her, only to be greeted by another yell from Anyana.

"Stop calling me that! I am Anyana! Release me from this prison!"

Carson came running over, eyes wide. "What tha hells going on 'ere?"

As Teyla struggled to hold her down, she yelled back to him. "Tel-Anyana, she has woken up." At the look from Carson, she shrugged. "Do not ask me, she says her name is Anyana."

"I see." Carson murmured quietly, before moving over and nudging Teyla's hands away. "Teyla, let her go. Anyana…" His gaze flickered to her, and he smiled his perfected 'please stay calm' smile down to her. "You're on Atlantis. We're your friends. We… brought you here, because you're sick. Can you tell me the last thing ya remember?"

"I-I…" Anyana's gaze darted between the two, then she slumped back into the bed. "I remember my planet, we… Atlantis, you said?" As her eyes took in the surroundings, she relaxed a little bit more. "Then, you must be friends. And yet…" Her gaze shot over Carson's uniform. "You do not look like what I remember the base's personnel as. You seem different."

"Aye, well…" Carson's voice trailed off then. "See, there's a wee bit of history there. I believe Doctor Weir will be able to fill ya in with those sorts of things."

As Anyana scrutinized him, Teyla bent down and rummaged within her backpack. "Anyana, I believe there is something you should read. When we brought you back, you were not who you are now. You referred to yourself as 'Telana'."

"I would never do that!" Anyana suddenly snapped back, snatching the backpack away from Teyla's grasp. Sullenly, she added. "That is my mother's name, it should never be spoken."

"Please Anyana, you must trust us. Things are not how you…" Teyla paused for a sigh then. "Perhaps, you could tell us what exactly you do remember?"

"I…" There was a moment, as Anyana glared at them both, deciding whether she could trust them. Then she shrugged. "I remember my inauguration as the leader of my people, the Alonins. No doubt they will be wondering where I am, I should return…"

"Eh, you can't move yet lass, you're not fully stable."

"I will not be ordered around by a man with such a strange accent!" Anyana shoved him away, struggling to get up. It was only when she half-collapsed to the floor, waylaid by Teyla halfway, that she grew quiet. With as little help as she could manage, she clambered back up. Turning herself away from Carson, she sighed to Teyla. "Very well, what should I read?"

"These." Teyla dumped the backpack on to her bed, releasing a bunch of small booklets in front of her. "I believe this one, is the newest. It should hold the key to your current questions."

Anyana surveyed the small mound, before taking the journal reluctantly. "Very well." She muttered. After reading a few lines, she snorted. "Please, this is trickery! Obviously these are all forgeries…"

"Please Anyana, just allow yourself some trust." Teyla pleaded, gesturing to the journal.

There was another sigh, before Anyana returned to the journal. The first few moments were interspersed with snorts of disbelief, but as she carried on further into the book, they lessened, and her features grew more thoughtful. Eventually, she reached the last page. It was this page that she read over another few times, before finally glancing back to Teyla.

"So… you came to my planet, to take part in some 'trials'. Brought men, even though they are expressly forbidden, and resulted in me leaving my planet as their leader. The passage ends there. However this writer seems to be me."

"She is you!" Carson suddenly exclaimed, moving so that he was within Anyana's sights. "Even if ya do suddenly wanna call yourself Anyana, this was you, only last night in fact. Don't ya recognise your own handwriting?"

"Handwriting can be forged." Anyana murmured, though it was clear that her resolve was waning. "For now, I will assume that this is all true. In that case…" There was a pause, in which both Teyla and Carson watched her intently. "Well, I suppose I had better start doing some reading."

Carson moved off back to his work at that, chuckling, while Teyla smiled to her. "Thank you for listening Anyana. I am sure you shall find the answers within those booklets. You may even begin to remember things."

Anyana made no reply as Teyla moved off. Once she was fully alone, she reread over the last passage of the journals, and sighed. "I can only hope, for all of your sakes, that I do not."


Rodney ducked his head down once more. He kept telling himself he wasn't watching Elizabeth, that really he was trying to figure out what was so important to the Ancients about four gate addresses, but Grodin's and Zelenka's babbling was simply irritating him even more.

Her office was only a few steps away, and yet he was stuck here, on a problem that normally he'd be so intent on solving, but right now couldn't even begin to think about. He was tired, cranky, wishing that he'd spent the last three days here rather then wearing a pair of shorts that had made him afraid of tight underwear for the rest of his life, but even more, wishing that he could just resolve things between him and Elizabeth.

"See, he's staring at her again." Zelenka's mocking tone cut through his thoughts, and he turned to witness both him and Grodin sniggering.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rodney replied haughtily, focusing intently on the screen once more, even as he felt his ears burning.

"Come on McKay, all you need is a little bit more drool, and you'd be like one of those cartoons."

"I say, that he should just get it over and done with." Zelenka pretend-whispered over to Grodin. "Just get rejected, then we can get back to working on this."

"Fine!" Rodney suddenly snapped, smacking the console in front of him, causing a tirade of error messages and bleeps from the Atlantis database. As the entire hall turned to look at him, he snatched his laptop and stomped backwards. "I'm going to go and report on our progress to Elizabeth. Lets hope you two can actually continue on in with some semblance of intelligence without having me around to answer everything for you!"

As sniggering continued, Rodney stomped over to Elizabeth's office. He was met with a soft smirk, which rose to a laugh as he slammed the laptop down on the desk. "I see you're making friends as always Rodney?"

"Oh, please, they're just… a bunch of knuckleheads who can't even come up with anything without me having to share my genius with them."

"Mmhmm." Elizabeth nodded back to him, before eyeing the laptop. "However I'd appreciate it if you didn't take your rage out on your laptop Rodney, it'd cost quite a bit to get another one from Earth… in terms of energy and time of course, you understand."

"Well, of course I know that." Rodney huffed, folding his arms. "I am the one who does most of the calculations around here." He turned then to witness Elizabeth's focused gaze upon him. "Okay fine, I shouldn't be taking it out on you. It's just-"

"Extremely frustrating, I know." Elizabeth replied, tapping her pen upon her desk. "But you're not the only one privileged enough to feel these things Rodney, I really wish you would learn to understand that. You need to learn to calm down a bit more. Have a relaxing few days before you head out to that new planet."

Rodney sputtered for a moment, all ready to release some more sarcastic quips, only to be derailed by her offer. "Calm down! Relax! I can't relax!"

"Why not?" Elizabeth replied back to him, a sweet smile on her lips as she tilted her head. "I understand my plan somewhat backfired with the last few days, I had hoped that we could all relax with the Alonins. However, if you feel you need some help, I'd be happy to offer some suggestions."

Rodney simply stared back at her, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to say. Some male part of him was evident that a much smoother guy, would by now be hinting at various 'relaxing' things they could do together. Rodney being Rodney however, he simply gulped. "Uh, well, I thought perhaps, maybe, modelling some particle waveforms to increase energy input could be quite informative."

"Well there you go then, you don't even need my help." Elizabeth replied, that sweet tone still evident, before she glanced back down at her paperwork.

"Right, well I'd uh-I'll be going then." Rodney mumbled, taking hold of his laptop and moving back out of the office. When he was met halfway by a group of smirking faces however, he found a surge of frustration rising within him. Swiftly he turned back, and moved back into her office. Dumping the laptop on her desk again, he took a deep breath, and then began. "Elizabeth, would you like to join me to model those waveforms?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, glanced up, and then sighed. "Um, no insult to what you do, of course Rodney, because you do an amazing job. But… do you think perhaps, I could pass? It's just not really my sort of thing."

"Oh." Rodney could almost feel himself deflating, and once more took hold of the laptop. "I'll leave you be then…" Another mumble, and he promised himself, the last damn time he was going to try this. Him and Elizabeth, it was just never meant to be. Any girl that didn't like his waveforms, well, they just weren't worth fighting over.

"Oh, Rodney?"

There was a wince at the gigantic leap that his heart did, and he turned slowly back to her. "Yes?"

Elizabeth was fully watching him now, and he would've sworn later that there was a smirk hidden beneath that gaze somewhere. "Since I'm not too keen on waveforms, and you're not too keen on translating Ancient, or looking at trade agreements, maybe we could do something else together? I could do with a little bit of relaxation myself."

"Oh." Rodney tried his best to ignore the squeak in his voice. Now was the time to be manly after all. Suggest something relaxing, yet suitably tantalising like… sunbathing. There was a mental shudder at that. No, after that planet, he wanted to stay fully covered for at least a week. Plus he could just see the report back to Earth now. 'Drs Weir and McKay were the first casualties of the Wraith attack, as they were instant prime targets sunbathing on one of the upper balconies.'

"I thought perhaps, I could cook you something." Elizabeth piped up with. Rodney suddenly noticed then in the time he'd been thinking to himself, she had stood up and was moving closer to him.

"Cook?" Forget waveforms, this was definitely something worth fighting for. "Uh, can you cook?" At the look from Elizabeth, Rodney quickly corrected himself. "I meant, are you allowed too?"

"I am the leader here." Elizabeth smirked back to him, folding her arms. "I believe it's about time I exerted some authority don't you? I can't promise anything special, maybe just some stew. Think you could handle that?"

"What time?" Rodney replied quickly, a grin already forming. Hell, as nice as Alonin food was, he still couldn't get the image of that moss out of his mind. Plus just the thought of him and Elizabeth…

"Oh, say 17:00 tonight? That should give me a few hours at least." Elizabeth chuckled to him, before nudging him out of the office. "Meet me in the mess hall, and we can discuss some of your latest science reports. That device that writes invisibly or something seemed quite intriguing."

"Oh!" Rodney exclaimed, turning to her. "The Invisio-matic? I named it myself… anyway, you see, you can actually load diagrams into it, and it'll spray them on to paper or-"

"Rodney, please, leave the excitement till tonight okay?"

She even seemed sincere, that was the main thing that made Rodney smile. "Right yes, of course, I'll just go and finish them then!" With another bright grin, he marched off out of the hall. Zelenka and Grodin gave him thumbs up as he passed, and even though he simply rolled his eyes at them, he couldn't help a little shout of 'yes!' once he was safely on his own, back to his lab. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea just being himself around Elizabeth, his 'charms' seemed to be working already.

Ooooh, man! Looong chapter. :glues her hands back on: Right then, that is the last chapter of Amazonia. And yup, I'll be writing another story! Hopefully to answer questions like:

'What's up with this four addresses thing?'

'Will Anyana ever remember anything useful?'

And most importantly of all…. 'Is Elizabeth's stew any good?'

So, tune in when, well when I write it! Hope you guys have enjoyed this one.