"Kale and a few others are waiting on the other side," Elizabeth told Sheppard and his little group – which had grown by one more with the addition of Lieutenant Ford – who Weir had asked to join them, just to make sure Sheppard had a little military back up on the off chance that something happened. Besides, Ford was already aware of what the Light Ones could do to someone – and he'd seen pretty much all there was they could do and was used to it. Weir didn't want more babies in the future if she could help it.

"Good… I'd hate to have to worry about getting ripped apart by Dark Ones on my way to visit my first born."

John's voice was a mixture of worried sarcasm and uncertainty, and Weir couldn't help but feel just a little bad for him – even though she was amused at the same time.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," she said, gesturing for Grodin to dial up the gate.

"Keep them out of trouble, Aiden," Teyla told Ford as he readjusted the harness he was wearing.

He grinned, shaking his head.

"I'll try."

Look at all the good he'd done the last time they'd gone visiting…

"Are you sure this is on right?" Carson asked, tugging his own harness and looking at Melony worriedly. "It feels loose."

She tugged on it, and nodded.

"It's fine, Carson, don't worry. It's supposed to be loose on top. You're not going to fall. I never have – and I've flown with them several times."

He gave her a less than confident look, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Don't worry. Okay?"

He nodded, and she gave him one last tug on the harness, smiling gently and telling him she loved him with a simple look.

"Let's go," Sheppard said. He looked at Mitchell, who stepped away from Beckett. "If you run into any trouble, give me a shout."

Mitchell smiled.

"I'll call Teal'c. He's closer."

"He's on Earth."

"But he doesn't have to fly for an hour and a half to get to the Stargate."

Good point.

"She's not going to run into anything," McKay said, annoyed. "We checked that planet. It's safe."

"Take some Jaffa," John advised.

Mitchell grinned.

"I planned on it. Tell Aron and Derna I said hello."

Sheppard's expression grew pained, again.

"I will…"

With that, he led his team through the gate, and the others watched as it shut down behind them.

"Those two are in for an interesting couple of days…" Elizabeth said to no one in particular. And it didn't take a genius to figure out which two she meant, either.

"Better them than me," Ronon said.

Melony couldn't help but smile again.

"I'm going to go get what we'll need for our own expedition," she told him and Teyla. "You two coming?"

They both nodded, and she led them out of the control room and towards the supply rooms.

OOOOOOOOO

Like Weir had told them, Kale and several other Light Ones were waiting on Sheppard's team when they emerged from the gate. Three of the Light Ones were in wolf form – obviously to protect against any attacks from Dark Ones, while the rest were in their human form. Kale smiled when he saw them, and stepped forward.

"Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay, I am glad you could come."

Sheppard gave an awkward smile.

"Yeah. We're… um… glad for the invitation. We brought company," he added, gesturing to Beckett and Ford.

Kale nodded, his welcoming smile turning on the other two.

"You are both welcomed here, Doctor Beckett and Lieutenant Ford. Melony chose not to come?"

He looked a little disappointed at that. He had known that Elizabeth wouldn't be able to make it – Weir had told him that she and Sheppard preferred if at least one of them were close to Atlantis at all times – but he had expected Mitchell.

"She has a mission scheduled for morning," John answered. "She wanted to come, but couldn't do both."

"I understand." He turned to Carson. "This is your first time here, isn't it, Doctor Beckett?"

Carson nodded.

"Aye. It's a lovely place."

"But very dangerous. At least this area is." Kale gestured to the others. "Let's get to the clearing," he said.

As they moved from the small clearing that the Stargate was in, flanked by wolves who were watching the forests around them intently, Kale continued speaking to Carson.

"You've never flown with us before?"

"No."

"He's a little nervous about it, too," John said, glad that the conversation was about Beckett and not the babies. "So try not to drop him, okay? Colonel Mitchell wouldn't appreciate that."

"No, I imagine she wouldn't be too happy," Kale replied. "Do not worry, Doctor Beckett. I will carry you myself, and I will make certain I don't drop you."

Carson gave him an uneasy smile, feeling just a little queasy at the thought of flying around under a large bird – even though he had seen Melony do it a couple of times.

"Thanks."

"You two must be looking forward to seeing your offspring," Char said from the other side of Rodney.

"Um… yes."

"Should we have brought flowers or something?" John asked.

"Why would you do that?" Kale asked, curiously.

Ford snickered, earning himself a glare from Sheppard and McKay both.

"It's something of a custom where we're from to bring people who have had babies flowers," McKay explained. "Also sick people, people who have died, and people who are having birthdays."

"Curious…" Char said, shaking his head as they entered a much larger clearing, which would be used for a pickup spot. But the humans were an odd people, he already knew. It shouldn't have surprised him that they did such odd things.

"If you will take positions in the center of the field," Kale said, gesturing them to follow their wolfy guides. "We will change forms and come collect you."

The four men nodded and headed for the center of the clearing.

"You're going to love this, Doc," Ford said, grinning as he whacked Carson on the back, excitedly. He was the only one who was looking forward to flying again, and it showed. "With the harnesses, it's even safer, and the view is incredible. Especially once we get over the valleys."

"Joy…"

Carson wondered if it was too late to change his mind, and he gave another tug on his harness as he came to a stop by one of the wolves.

And then it was too late, because a moment later there was a scream of warning from above, and the first of the incredibly large birds came swooping over the clearing, aiming right at him. He braced himself, closing his eyes, and felt a shock as the talons grabbed the handles of the harness he was wearing and jerked him off his feet, yanking him into the air with a couple of powerful wing beats.

By the time he managed to force his eyes open, they were already well above the treetops, and climbing even higher.

"Oh, crap…"