Ancient History
Chapter Ten:Interlude
By Ddoskocil
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This chapter is far shorter than I would have liked, but there was little else to add. Anywho, you get a Carson/Erika scene and a John/Elizabeth scene. Two for the price of one ain't bad. Next chapter should be longer. Sorry to leave this one the way it is, but...I guess you'll find out why in the next chapter.

ViolinAngel: Favorite, huh? Glad it got such high praise.
Simple Hope: I'm glad it flowed well. I guess I'm my hardest critic. And Lady Luck is shining today. ;)
Vecturist: It's a great way to work out frustration, especially if you're frustrated with your sib! There might be more about her past, but I'm not sure how to work it in just yet.
Soccor-Bitch: Thanks. :)

As always, enjoy!

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The alarm pierced through her brain. Erika groaned as she rolled over and smacked it. The room was quiet once more. Erika lay in bed for a moment longer, wishing she could go back to sleep. She grimaced at the memory of the tongue-lashing she had received from Rodney the day before, though, when she was twenty minutes late to the meeting. She blamed it all on Carson. She glanced at the man sleeping next to her before she heaved a sigh and sat up. She swung her legs out of bed and just sat there for moment, rubbing her palms over her eyes as she tried to wake up. She squeaked when strong arms grabbed her and pulled her back into bed.

Carson nuzzled the back of her neck as he pressed his body against hers. Erika practically purred as he kissed her neck and shoulders. She slowly turned in his arms and kissed him softly.

"Morning," she whispered against his mouth.

"Um. What time is it?" he asked as he rolled on to his back and pulled her even closer. She smiled and breathed in his scent. With a small content sigh, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. She closed her eyes again as he ran one hand over her arm and shoulder while he hand traced small patterns on her back.

"Five," she replied. "I have to get up." She tried to pull away, but Carson would not let go.

"It's too early," he said softly. His accent was thick and his words slurred, and Erika could tell he was already half asleep. She let him hold her for a while as she lightly ran her fingers over his chest. She could feel the lure of sleep as she lay with him and wished she could curl up with him for a few more hours. With regret, she slipped out of his warm embrace. He reached out and took her arm.

"Carson, I would love to but I can't. I've got to meet Rodney in a little while and it's too early to be yelled at again. We're doing a sweep of some of the new lab areas another team found the other day." She reached down and caressed his stubble cheek. She kissed him gently as she moved her hand through his hair. "Go back to sleep. I'll see you tonight."

"Um. Have fun with your Ancient bits," he commented as he rolled over. Erika smiled at his back as she slowly dressed. She really did not want to go tromping through the city with Rodney. With a heavy sigh, Erika opened the door and started her day.

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"Don't touch anything," Rodney commanded as they entered the Ancient lab. Erika looked around, her hands in her pockets. She turned back to the team.

"You heard, McKay. Don't touch anything unless we clear it first." She turned back and found Rodney in her face.

"I meant you, Erika. God only knows what you might activate. How is it that trouble finds you?" he asked her with a glare. Erika could hardly keep her laughter from spilling from her lips as she looked at him as she remembered the incident from the day before. Apparently Rodney remembered as well because he did not look amused. Finally Erika could not hold her laughter in check. It came bubbling from her in short, high pitched giggles that she tried to control, or at least cover, with her hands. Rodney, if possible, looked even less amused.

"Yes, that's right, mock me. Do you have any idea how long it took me to get that stuff off me? And who knows what toxins it had? I'm going to have to Carson look over me again."

"I'm sorry," Erika tried to say as she collapsed into a fit of giggles. "Pink!" she managed to gasp. She saw Radek grin out of the corner of her eye before the other scientist went into a different part of the lab. Erika coughed and managed to control herself when she looked back at Rodney.

"No. Touching. Got it, Sheppard," he commanded. She shrugged and continued to look around the room. She stopped at a terminal and ran her hand over it. It hummed to life. Rodney flung around and glared at her.

"I said don't touch anything," he yelled.

"It's just a terminal, Rodney. Nothing is going to blow up. Or spew pink crap on you. Oh."

"Oh? Oh what?" He walked over to her and looked at the information on the small screen. "What does that say? It doesn't even make sense."

"It's a dialect of Ancient."

"Are you sure?" She turned an icy stare at him. "Well?"

"How many dialects of Ancient have you ever seen?"

"I don't know. How many have you seen?"

"Several since arriving here. It seems most cultures that worship the Ancients have a high language and a common language. The high language is usually some dialect of Ancient-"

"Yes, isn't that fascinating. What does it say?" Rodney interrupted.

Erika continued as if he never spoke. "Although it's amazing that I can even recognize the high language as Ancient. It's been ten thousand years since the Ancients were here. Do you have any idea what language they were speaking on Earth ten thousand years ago?" She did not wait of his to answer. "Well, it's nothing we would recognize as a language. And only two thousand years ago, they were speaking Latin throughout most of Europe. It's amazing how languages evolve."

He gave her a blank look. "Well, isn't that great. What does it say?"

"It is great. And it's why I'm here." She turned her attention back to the terminal. "Well, this says 'memory' and I think this says 'transport,' or perhaps 'transfer.' I remember seeing writings similar to this in the notes Daniel sent with me. I'm going to need them if you want this translated," she explained as she tapped at the terminal.

"What did I say about touching?"

"Relax Rodney."

"McKay, Erika, you better take a look at this," Radek said as he poked his head around the corner. Rodney and Erika exchanged a glance before they followed the Czech. He led them to a smaller room off of the lab. There was a chamber in the middle with a terminal off to one side. Erika went to the chamber and looked it over.

"This is what I wanted you to see," Radek said as he pointed to the terminal. Rodney and Radek moved off to the terminal and hovered over the computer Radek had hooked up.

"This is the same dialect as in the lab," Erika whispered as circled it. She saw a word she had never seen before and lightly trained her finger over it. The chamber lit up. A tentacle of some kind dropped down out of the top and attacked to her neck. Erika screamed as it pulled her into the chamber. Then there was nothing.

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John stood in front of the chamber, frozen in place. He watched Erika, making sure her chest still moved up and down however slowly. It meant she was still alive. It meant there was still some hope of getting her out of there. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but Rodney strictly forbid anyone with the ATA gene from touching the device. And John agreed, no matter how much he hated it.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked as she stepped up next to him. He did not look away from his cousin.

"No," he answered honestly. It had been hours since McKay stammered over the radio that something was wrong with Erika. John knew the Chief of Science was working on the problem, trying to free her, but he still did not want to leave. All the guilt about not being there when that little bastard tried to kill her stuck in his gut. He was determined to be there for her this time, prove to her that he still cared about her.

A warm hand slipped into his. John turned toward Elizabeth. She was not looking at him, her focus on his cousin in the chamber. John just smiled as he turned back to Erika. Elizabeth gave his hand a gentle squeeze as they stood side by side. He returned it, glad to have someone by his side. They stood for a long time in relative silence as Rodney and Radek argued in the background.