Despite the distraction of having Carson around – and it was definitely a distraction, although a very pleasant one – Melony did manage to make good time dismantling Fuglier and loading various pieces of technology that she thought might come in handy onto the Jumper that had been left behind. Not everything would fit, of course, and she and Talon had some long conversations about what would be the best to bring and what would have to be left behind, but the tools that they might normally have needed could be left behind – as well as a lot of the diagnostic stuff, since there were plenty of those items at Atlantis – so that made that much more room for weaponry and other technology.

Once he'd been introduced to the protective shielding that surrounded the base, it was safe for Carson to touch most of the items in the lab. The problem, however, was that most of the items in the lab were simply too dangerous for him to handle without Melony right there anyways, so he didn't help as much as he'd have liked to.

Instead, remembering his promise to be responsible for the Mok, Carson used the down time to search through Melony's files on Talonopolis, mindful of the fact that the Mok wouldn't be the only thing that he needed move off that planet. He'd also need to figure out what indigenous plant life the Mok ate and take that as well, so it could be transplanted to the new planet alongside the Mok themselves. Luckily, Mitchell had plenty of information on the plants in the area around the lava base, and since that was the place the Mok seemed to congregate, the plants they ate had to be the ones around there as well.

By the time she and Talon had stripped Fuglier clean of what they could, and had loaded the Jumper with whatever they thought might come in handy, Carson had a fair idea of what he was facing with the move – as long as the others had figured out a way to move them. Because he was pretty sure rounding them up on horseback like a bunch of cows wasn't going to work.

"Are we ready then?" She asked him, as they were finishing up dinner one evening four days after everyone else had left.

He nodded.

"I think so… except for one thing…"

"Yeah? What'd we forget?"

"This."

He leaned over and kissed her.

Melony smiled as they broke apart.

"I'm pretty sure we covered that earlier…" Several times.

"Well, you do want to make sure we have it down, don't you…?"

"It can't hurt," she agreed, reaching for him.

Wanton

She felt Talon's amusement, and ignored it, her attention completely on what was at hand.

OOOOOOOOO

The warning alarms blared thru out Atlantis, drawing the attention of everyone in the command center – and the attention of a lot of people who weren't. Jack O'Neill had been discussing placement of people with Weir when the alarms went off and both of them simply looked over at Grodin, who was already checking the computer. He turned to the General and Weir.

"It's Colonel Mitchell."

"Lower the shield," Weir ordered, as everyone who had been in the lower level of the command center moved out of the way of the gate – including the Marines who had come to a defensive stance with their weapons up the moment the first alarm had sounded.

The shield dropped and a moment later the Jumper emerged from the gate, with Mitchell and Beckett clearly visible in the cockpit area. As the ship rose to the ceiling, Jack turned to head for the door, followed by Weir. The two of them were joined by Teal'c and Daniel, who had also come running at the first chiming of the alarms, but Jack knew that Sam was busy and unless she was called, her and McKay would probably not even realize Melony was back.

They were all standing by the rear hatch when it dropped, and Jack grinned as he watched Beckett trying to get out of the ship around copious piles of what looked like every piece of junk on Melonyville. A moment later, Melony came down the ramp as well, smiling at the welcoming committee.

"How's it going, Jack?" she asked.

"We're ready for your Jaffa," O'Neill told her, smiling as well.

"And the Mok?"

"Carter has something – but she wouldn't tell us until you were here. Something about not wanting to explain it twice."

Which made sense.

"Fair enough."

"Did you bring back enough stuff?" He asked facetiously, looking into the back of the Jumper.

"The only way I could have brought more was to leave Doctor Beckett behind," Mitchell said with a grin, glancing over at Carson. "Since I need him, though, I thought it'd be better to bring him along."

"You're too kind," Beckett told her with a smile of his own, long past the point where he might have had his feeling hurt by such a comment. He knew better now, and the last four days of having her to himself had simply reminded the two of them just what they meant to each other.

"Are the Jaffa ready to come?" Jack asked.

Mitchell nodded.

"I sent a message to Tao telling him I'd be there as soon as we were ready for them – and he sent me one back saying they're ready to come when we need them. They have enough supplies to be self-sufficient for three weeks – or more, if they ration things."

"We'd better bring them over, then," Weir said. "That way they can hear whatever plans we come up with and there's no confusion."

Mitchell and O'Neill both nodded their agreement to that, and Jack looked over at Melony.

"Why don't you get your junk stored in a lab somewhere?" Jack asked.

"We cleared one out," Daniel said before she could make a comment about having him call her technology 'junk'. "No one will go near it – because I've told them all just what can happen to them if they get hold of something protected."

"He was pretty graphic," Weir added with a slight smile. "No will mess with your things."

"Good."

Some of it was pretty dangerous, after all.

And you don't want people snooping through our stuff, Talon added.

And you do?

Of course not. If I had my way, we'd put a field around it so they'd get zapped if they tried

Which wasn't really an option, of course. It was bad form to zap your allies, after all.

Smiling, Mitchell nodded.

"I might need some help carrying it all…"

"I will help you," Teal'c offered.

That was all the help she needed.