Title: Atlantis

Author: Tonia Barone

Rating: Teen

Spoilers: Minor ones for Rising, Hot Zone, MAYBE a teensy one for Duet. If you can find it. winks and grins

Disclaimer: So not mine it isn't funny. looks on the brink of tears at this horrible fact

Notes: Also, this is the first official appearance of SLASH in this series! gasp shock You've been warned. rolls eyes and mutters Don't see why, though. 'Round here you get more warnings for het than slash...

This takes place during chapter 5, BTW. You can probably tell where.

This is also my first try, really, at writing Rodney, John and Radek so sorry if they're a little OOC. Don't think they ARE, but if so...shrugs

Thanks, as always, to jakisbishlygay for beta.

Summary: Radek knows Atlantis is alive, but he wasn't about to tell anyone.

Radek spared a moment to look upward when the lights dimmed. It wasn't much, and really not so noticeable, but a few of the other scientists had noticed it only happened when the Stargate opened. It was first thought to be a power drain, but when they allotted more power to the gate, nothing happened. Nothing in the sense that there was no difference—the lights still dimmed.

The others gave it up as a fluke of the city, but Radek had wondered. He made certain that he was in the control tower the next few times teams were sent through the Stargate and made an interesting discovery: the lights only dimmed when Major Sheppard and his team left. It didn't take a genius to figure out why and he wondered how he, or anyone, could have failed to see the connection.

Of course he didn't tell Rodney. For one, Rodney would throw a fit about how the city favored the Major and likely be a bore for weeks afterwards. For another, Rodney would undoubtedly whine and complain about how he wasn't the one to discovery the cause for the lights dimming. It would cause more trouble than it was worth to tell him, and besides, it would rankle Rodney to no end when he began to look smug in the labs and Rodney had no idea why. Let Rodney figure it out on his own.

There was another thing he'd noticed about the city: it was alive. Not breathing like they were, but it was alive all the same. After everyone was settled, he thought about how the city had lit up for them upon their arrival or how the city had collapsed the shielding in the uninhabited areas first, before they raised it. Motion detectors and the like, yes, quite possible, but not the answer, he thought. It was the little things that made him think the city was alive.

When they first settled into their quarters, they found that they didn't need to do anything other than move in; the lights and water were already taken care of. Something he considered to be very peculiar for a city that has been sleeping for over ten thousand years. Surely the Ancients would have turned off all non-essential systems?

The next day he'd been eating in the large dining hall they'd found when he heard several of the other scientists talk about how their beds were perfect. This wouldn't be quite so odd if it weren't for the fact that no less than four people commented on their beds being either "just like the feather mattress grandma had" or "hard as a rock—perfect for my bad back." It seemed like too much of a coincidence that these people would just happen to find rooms that contained beds to their exact preferences.

Radek began to sing softly in his native language. The other scientists hadn't commented on it as of yet, if they even noticed. Not that he cared; he sang for her, Atlantis. She was obviously sad because the Major was off-world and his mother would sing to him when he was sad so he sang. It hurt no one and the city did seem to brighten just a shade when he did.

So, yes, he was quite certain the city was alive and he suspected that Major Sheppard knew it, too. It was in the way that the Major would lovingly stroke the walls on occasion as he passed or how he dropped by the labs regularly to see what else they had discovered.

/Though, admittedly, that last was more likely to be about checking on Rodney than the city/ Radek thought. He, at least, had noticed how the Major was around Rodney and vise versa. It didn't bother him, as it might some of the Major's men, but then again all Radek cared for were the city, and her wonders, and keeping them all alive. The fact that the Major and Rodney fancied each other was insignificant by comparison.

He did wish that the ATA gene therapy had worked on him. It would be nice to not have to wait for others to activate whichever device he was working on at the moment. Also, he was curious about something he had heard Rodney and the Major discussing once.

Shortly after Rodney had, surprisingly, saved them from the shadow-entity, he had made mention that he could hear a faint whisper in his head sometimes. That it even, on occasion, seemed to guide him as he worked on the Ancient technology.

Rodney had asked the Major if he heard it too, and the Major had said, "Yeah, I do, except it's not a whisper; it's..." The Major's voice took on an awed quality as he continued, "...it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Calming and reassuring and curious and grateful..." He seemed to come back to himself and said in a gruff voice, "Not that I've told anyone—and neither will you!"

"B-but why! This could help us in ways too numerous to mention. I wonder if Carson hears it, too." Rodney asked thoughtfully, completely forgetting about the Major for the moment.

The Major sighed, "I don't know, but probably so since he has the gene, too. Listen, McKay, don't go bothering him about it; he's freaked out about Ancient technology as it is."

Rodney was quiet for a few moments before he finally rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine. I'll let what could possibly be the most important discovery about Atlantis go. Who cares if this means we'll probably never understand some of their technology. Wouldn't want to make Carson uncomfortable, now would we?"

"Exactly," said the Major, grinning the way he did when he won an argument against McKay or Dr. Weir. His 'I'm cute and charming and don't you just want to give me your first born pretty please?' grin.

Since then, Radek had decided to work under the assumption that Atlantis was, in fact, sentient hence his singing. At first he only did it when he was alone, worried what the others might think. When he realized that most of the others thought he was rather eccentric, if a lot more likable than McKay, then he sang wherever he was, whether he was alone or not. No one commented on it, not really, but a few of the more superstitious scientists noted that the lights seemed to brighten just a touch when he sang and that, as they say, was that.

Radek needed to check on something in one of the new labs they'd found. It was a bit off from where the other labs were, but they had found some devices that looked like they might help both the medical and hydroponics departments. Personally, he thought it was used to process herbs for medicinal purposes, but not everyone agreed with him.

As he walked, the lights a few yards ahead would turn on; Atlantis lighting his way, a romantic might say. He reached out to touch the wall beside him in thanks and was amused when the lights blinked in response. Yes, Atlantis was alive and for whatever reason she seemed to have chosen him to gift her attention on.

When he finally made it to the lab, he wasn't surprised to find the lights on, waiting for him. He looked towards the ceiling and smiled. "Thank you, Atlantis."

The lights dimmed considerably when a panel nearby lit up and text scrolled across it. Curious, he stepped up to the panel and quickly read the text, surprised it wasn't in Ancient, but in English.

You are welcome, Engineer.