Since I've been making you suffer with cliffhangers over the past few days, I thought I'd be kind and give you this all at once. Do you like happy endings?

OoOoO

From the look on the other's faces, their hearts were beating as fast as hers.

"We've now got him stable," the voice continued. "We have cleaned out his shoulder wound and removed the bullet. We cleaned the wounds on his back. We're giving him an intense course of antibiotics."

"It is he going to be okay?" Rodney interrupted impatiently. Elizabeth smiled. For once, Rodney asked the question she was wanting to ask.

"Didn't I say that?" The voice said, distractedly. "Sorry, yes, he's going to be fine. He'll not be fit for duty for a while, and he'll need skin grafts on his back, but he's going to be fine."

"Thank you, doctor," Elizabeth said. "Can we see him?"

"Not just yet," the doctor said. "We've got him sedated, and I want to keep it that way for another few hours or so, to give his body time to start the healing process."

"Very good, doctor," Elizabeth said. "Let me know when he's awake."

"Well, I'm glad our rescue heroics were not in vain," Rodney said, a big smile on his face.

"I will tell Sandro," Teyla said. "He asked if we could let him know any news we had of Dr Beckett."

Elizabeth nodded, and those who had gathered for the briefing, started to file out of the room. John paused briefly before he left. "He's tougher than you think," he said, smiling at Elizabeth. She nodded.

"I think he's tougher than he thinks too," she said.

OoOoO

Carson could feel himself slowly coming back to consciousness. His body ached, and his eyes seemed reluctant to open. Then, at that moment halfway between sleep and awakening, he remembered. He remembered the fighters forced to kill each other; and the pain of the scourge on his back. But most of all, it was a children, ill and afraid, who forced him out of sleep.

His eyes opened, shining a vivid blue. He struggled to get up, murmuring to himself, "the children, I must check the children."

A gentle hand was placed on his chest, slowly pushing him back towards the bed.

"It's alright, Carson," a gentle, but familiar voice said.

"Elizabeth?" he murmured.

"Yes, Carson," she replied. "You're home now, here on Atlantis."

He looked around at the familiar scenes of the infirmary, and let out a sigh of relief.

"And the children?" he asked.

"They are all fine," Elizabeth replied. "They're now back with their families, being well and truly spoiled I hear."

Carson chuckled. Then another thought struck him. "John and Ronon?"

"They're both fine too," she replied, smiling. "I believe Ronon is training John in fencing now. I don't think he was too impressed with his swordsmanship."

"Ah, Dr Beckett," one of the nurses said, coming towards his bed. "You're back with us I see. Let's see if we can make you a bit more comfortable."

Elizabeth took this as a signal that it was time for her to leave. With a gentle smile and wave, she left the doctor to the auspices of his staff, who had promised to make sure he got the best care possible.

OoOoO

Sandro had contacted Elizabeth once he had heard that Carson was on the mend. He and his people wanted to organise a "thank you" event. He explained that it was their custom, when something significant happened to his people, that they celebrated this, and invited everyone who had been involved in it to attend. Sandro wanted his friends from Atlantis to be there. He also said that Calay would make everybody's life a misery until she saw for herself that "Mr Doctor" was okay.

Elizabeth was smiling at the memory of the conversation with Sandro as she approached the group congregated by the Stargate. It was good to see Carson on his feet again, even if he was holding himself very carefully to avoid hurting his back further.

"About time!" Rodney said, noticing Elizabeth's arrival. "We were about to send out a search party."

"Now you know how I feel," Elizabeth said. "Every time you're late returning from a mission."

"Now, children," John said. "We're meant to be on our best behaviour, remember." He grinned at Elizabeth as he threw her own words back at her. She grinned back.

"May I say, Dr Weir," he continued. "You're looking very nice today." Elizabeth looked momentarily taken aback at his complement. But quickly recovered her composure.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Col Sheppard," she retorted.

"Now we've got the mutual admiration society out of the way," Rodney interjected. "Can we get going?"

Elizabeth glanced at Carson, and they exchanged an amused smile.

"Nothing much changes, I see," Carson said with an affectionate grin at Rodney.

"It is the promise of a feast," Teyla explained. "That has made Dr McKay, and Ronon, so eager to return to the planet."

"Now I understand," Carson said his grin getting wider. With that, the assorted group went through the Stargate.

They were greeted on the other side by Sandro, and a group of villagers who were holding garlands of flowers. Each of them received a garland of flowers. Ronon had to bend almost double to allow the little girl who had his garland to put it round his neck. Carson smiled to himself when he saw it, particularly since the little girl had been one of the children who had been abducted with him. It was nice to see her giggle as Ronon thanked her.

As they entered the village, they saw that all the houses had been festooned with flowers, and at the far end, much to Rodney's delight, there was a table laden with food. As Carson looked round, he saw many familiar faces: those of villagers he had treated; their families; and even some of the fighters who had been released from their captivity. He was rather thankful that none of the Renegades were there. Sandro had explained that although many had agreed to give up their old ways, they were still being carefully supervised, for their own protection as much as anything else.

The visitors were led to a raised platform where they were seated with great ceremony. Carson was grateful that his seat was padded at the back but he still sat down very carefully.

Sandro stood up and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"As is our custom," he said. "When we celebrate a great moment in our history, we like to share this with those who made the journey with us. Today we welcome our friends who joined us from through the Standing Circle. To you all, and especially to you Dr Beckett, we owe a debt of gratitude. You cared for people, and taught us a valuable lesson. You made us look at ourselves honestly. You made us realise that to do nothing can be just as bad as to do the wrong thing. And you were prepared to risk your own lives to protect us. For that we will always be grateful, and we owe you our future.

"Dr Beckett," Sandro continued. "My people especially wanted to honour you. Our children are our future, and you protected them with your life. Please accept this token to show our appreciation of what you did."

Calay came forward, very carefully carrying a delicate pottery dish. Her face was very serious as she concentrated hard on what she had to do. As she approached him, Carson got to his feet, aided by a steadying hand from Ronon.

When Calay reached him, she looked up at him and gave him a lovely smile.

"Dr Beckett," she said carefully, struggling with the unfamiliar name. "The children wanted to give you this to say thank you." With those words she handed the dish to Carson.

He took it carefully, and when he looked inside the dish, it was filled with the sweets that the children loved to eat.

He looked up, smiling. "I like to thank you for this honour," he said. "I was glad to be able to help. And it has been a joy to spend time with your children."

With those words, he gently lowered himself back onto his seat. Now that her task was over, Calay reverted to her usual self. With a big grin, she climbed up onto Carson's knee, and snuggled up to him. Elizabeth managed to rescue the pottery dish as Carson tried to juggle with both it and Calay with only one good arm. He gave her a grateful smile.

Sandro sat down, and then to the surprise of many, Teyla got to her feet.

"Sandro told me that amongst his people it was customary for a song to be sung to celebrate such an event. He asked me if I would sing such a song."

A small group of musicians then joined her, playing a simple, but haunting, melody.

As she started to sing, she looked directly at Carson. When he heard the words of the song, he looked up, a very startled expression in his blue eyes.

With their eyes alight with mischief

Mixed with innocence and purity

They reach into a part of us

That's longing to be free

From all the pain and from the suffering

The general worldly weariness

That reaches to our souls and back

And weighs our spirit down.

Suffer the children

With their innocence and purity

Suffer the children

Grant them freedom from all pain

Suffer the children

Protect them from our bitterness

Suffer the children

That through them we might be free.

When their eyes are dim with suffering

Mixed with hurt and their bewilderment

They reach into a part of us

That's longing to protect

Them from the trials and tribulation

The complex ideologies

That reaches into our hate and fear

And weighs our families down.

Suffer the children

With their innocence and purity

Suffer the children

Grant them freedom from all pain

Suffer the children

Protect them from our bitterness

Suffer the children

That through them we might be free.

But their eyes should shine with wonder

Mixed with joy and expectation

They should reach into a part of us

That's longing to rejoice

In all the beauty and simplicity

The love and understanding

That reaches to our souls and back

And sets our spirits free.

Suffer the children

With their innocence and purity

Suffer the children

Grant them freedom from all pain

Suffer the children

Protect them from our bitterness

Suffer the children

That through them we might be free.

When she finished, a moment's silence followed before everyone started clapping.

"That was beautiful, Teyla," Elizabeth said. "Is it a song from your people?"

"The melody is," Teyla said, looking directly at Carson. "But the words are not ours."

Elizabeth followed Teyla's eyes. A suspicion began to grow in her mind, and a wide grin spread over her face. "Carson," she said. "Did you write those words?"

"Don't tell me you write poetry, Carson?" Rodney said, a note of amazement in his voice.

Carson's face was turning red. "I've been known to dabble abit," he admitted, almost reluctantly.

"And why didn't you tell me?" Rodney demanded.

"Well, when you've been called a sissy for writing poetry in the past, it makes you reluctant to admit to it."

"It was beautiful, Carson," Elizabeth said, putting a hand on his arm, and sending a warning glance Rodney's way.

"I didn't say it wasn't," the scientist retorted. "I was just surprised that Carson had written it."

Teyla approached Carson. "You are not annoyed with me for using it, are you Carson?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, love," he responded. "It just took me by surprise, that's all. Where did you find it?"

"I was sorting through your things which Sandro had returned to us while you were ill. I found it there."

"Thank you, love," he said with a smile. "You turned it into a beautiful song. And you made even those words sound good with your beautiful voice."

It was Teyla's turn to blush. "Thank you, Carson," she said, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Why does she never do that to me?" Rodney asked John, as they both stood observing the scene.

"Because you haven't written any poetry," John replied, logicially. "Woman like that sort of thing."

"I could write poetry if I wanted to," Rodney said, slightly defensively.

"Of course, Rodney," John responded, sardonically. "Now let's get some food, before Ronon eats it all!"