With Carson's last comment ringing in his ears, Rodney watched in disbelief as the Scottish doctor packed up his things, gathered his bags and walked quickly out the door. Rodney shot Sheppard and Teyla a dirty look, and started gathering up his own things. Zelenka tilted his head at the astrophysicist, a knowing smile on his face, before also shooting Sheppard and Teyla a dirty look and returning to his work.

Rodney stuffed the last data pad into his backpack, "Radek, keep downloading the jumper schematics onto the data pads. Uh… if you can try for the…"

"… weapons chair system instructions and information, ano, ano, ano…" Zelenka interrupted, waving his hand vaguely in Rodney's direction.

Rodney jogged after the doctor, heading towards the infirmary. He stuck his head into Carson's office. Empty. He scowled. He saw the data pads and the back-pack Carson had been carrying leaning against the desk, so he knew the doctor had been here. He turned around, heading for Carson's quarters. He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked louder. No answer. Using his newly acquired Ancient gene, Rodney opened the door to the Scot's quarters and poked his head in warily. Empty. Rodney's scowl grew bigger. He let the door slide shut and stomped down to the nearest transporter. Where was he? Ok, he said something about mermen… so… water… Rodney snorted. That narrowed it down to… just about everywhere. He sighed, looking at the transporter map. Pick a pier, any pier. Rodney wiggled his fingers and selected a pier at random.

Down on the East Pier, Carson sighed. His feet sat perfectly still in the water. He was outed. They knew. He swished his feet slowly in the water. He sighed again. He bowed his head, concentrating on the feel of the water around his feet. He failed to notice Rodney walking up behind him and stopping, staying uncharacteristically quiet. Carson looked down at his feet in the water. He swirled them in small circles, watching the play of the ripples around his ankles.

Carson's mouth twisted bitterly, "Uath Adétche," he said sadly to himself.

"What does that mean?" Rodney asked.

Carson jumped, yanking his feet out of the water. He whipped his head around, eyes widening. Seeing it was Rodney, he visibly relaxed. He sighed, sliding his feet back into the water. He turned away from Rodney. Bowing his head, he allowed his feet to resume their gentle swishing, hoping for a few moments silence before the inevitable questioning from Rodney. He heard Rodney sit down next to him, but didn't look up. Carson didn't want to see the horror, the fear, in Rodney's eyes. In anyone else's, aye, it would hurt, but in Rodney's… it would break him.

"What does it mean?" Rodney asked again.

"Uath Adétche," Carson said softly, keeping his head bowed, "It means 'foul creature'."

Rodney frowned, "Well, that's nice… why are you called that? And Selkies and Mermen? I mean, obviously they exist, you're one of them… but why did Atlantis recognize it? And… well I have lots of questions, but those will do for now."

Carson fought the smile that threatened to cross his face, steeled himself and turned to look at Rodney. He blinked slightly. Rodney looked back at him, blue eyes alight with curiosity. Curiosity? Not fear? Not horror? Carson tilted his head at him for a moment, surprised into silence. A small smile crossed his features. Typical Rodney.

He sighed, "You're not goin' to leave me alone until I tell ye, are ye Rodney?" his eyes crinkled slightly, showing he was joking.

Rodney shot him a crooked smile, "Nope."

Carson returned the smile, "Aye, didna think so. Ok…" he rubbed his face, collecting his thoughts, "Uath Adétche… they call me that because I'm, well, I'm a half-breed. They, the fey, don't think twice about gettin' human women pregnant, or someone from their own, well, species, but it's a complete taboo to get another fey, someone from another kind, pregnant," Carson sighed, "Which is exactly what my father did…"

Rodney frowned, "But, your mother, in Glasgow…"

"Isn't my biological mother," Carson said with a fond smile, "She's a wonderful lady I met after I was exiled, a nurse when I was doing my internship. She adopted me, so she's my mam."

Rodney smiled, gesturing for Carson to continue, "Ok… Atlantis… well, you know I was the one who discovered the gene? That was no accident. The Ancient gene is a fey gene. That's why I was the one who found it, and why that damned room demanded my fey title."

Rodney looked confused, "But, the Major, his gene is stronger than yours, right? How does that work?"

Carson snorted, "The Major has nothin' on me. I'm just more aware of mine," Carson gave Rodney a rueful smile, "I've been concentratin' more on not destroyin' things than makin' all the gizmos ye put in front of me work."

Rodney blinked, "Your gene is stronger than the Major's? But… in Antarctica… the chair… the drone…"

"Aye," Carson said with a shamefaced blush, "In Antarctica, and when we first arrived here, I was terrified. My affinity is with water. Antarctica is one big ice floe. Atlantis is surrounded by water. I was so scared I'd break somethin', or cause irreparable damage, or… aoidhe tairmiscim… hurt someone. The drone was a mistake… I, well, I got a bit annoyed at bein' dragged around the base to turn things on. I accidentally set the drone off."

Rodney looked at Carson, his own face flushing lightly, "Well… I… if I'd known…"

Carson giggled, "Rodney, if ye'd know ye woulda dragged me round the base more, mebbe even out onto the ice shelf… just to see what I could do, ye know ye woulda."

Rodney nodded, grinning sheepishly, "All in the name of science," he said, waving his hands airily, before looking curious again, "Just what can you do?"

Carson sighed, rolling his eyes, "Shoulda seen that one comin'. That's the thing with bein' Uath Adétche, a half-breed, Rodney, no-one, not even me, is entirely sure what I can do."

Rodney stared, "You mean you don't know? You haven't tried?"

Carson raised an eyebrow at him, "No. I haven't. I've spent the last twenty-five years tryin' to pass for human. Selkies can shape-shift into seals, and Mermen can create sea-storms and have some control over the sea, I know that much."

Rodney blinked at him, "You can turn into a seal?" he asked incredulously.

Carson grinned, "Nope. That's the one thing I know for certain I canna do."

"So…" Rodney mused, "You could… possibly… create sea-storms and control the sea?"

Carson shot him a don't-go-there look, before sighing, "Yes, Rodney, I could… possibly… create sea-storms and control waves and such. I don't know."

"Try it."

"What!"

"Try it. What better place to see if you can do something weird than in an alien galaxy that's full of weird?" Rodney said excitedly, eyes lighting up.

"No, Rodney, you dinna understand…"

"Neither do you, if what you're telling me is right. You have no idea what you can do."

Carson's eyes flashed. They narrowed at Rodney, whose own eyes widened, realizing he may have pushed Carson a little too far. Carson stood up. Rodney followed suit, opening his mouth to babble an apology. Carson held up a hand, blue eyes calming slightly. He looked out over the blue expanse of ocean. His lips curled up in a small smile. He turned back to Rodney, whose jaw dropped. Carson's eyes… instead of the clear, calm sea-blue they normally were, Carson's eyes had darkened, specks of pale blue, green and white dancing in their depths, like the caps of waves. Rodney opened his mouth to speak again, realized he had no idea what to say and closed it again. Carson turned his gaze back to the ocean. His head canted slowly to the side, a look of concentration flitting across his face. Rodney watched, stunned, as the water around the East Pier started to swirl, mimicking the patterns Carson had previously been making with his feet. The astrophysicist took a step forward, looking down at the water. The water eddied, whirling gently in a figure-eight, creating whirlpools that could not possibly exist in nature.

The concentration faded from the Scot's face. The waters slowed and finally stopped, leaving no evidence of their previous activities. Carson blinked, his eyes returning to normal. Rodney gaped. Still staring at the waters, Rodney crouched down by the pier. He swept his hand through the water that had once housed the impossible whirlpools. Rodney stood up, finding himself looking at Carson's back. The Scot was standing on the edge of the Pier, staring out over the sea. He turned back to Rodney, a small smile on his face.

"Happy now?" he asked.

Rodney just blinked, "Not really. That was… and you just…" he glared as Carson snorted with laughter, "What?"

"Nothing, lad, nothing," Carson grinned.

Rodney put his hand up to his ear, frowning as someone spoke over his radio. His eyes widened. He scooped up his backpack, gesturing to Carson to follow. Still listening to the voice over his earpiece, Rodney's frown grew deeper. He let out a startled gasp, breaking into a jog, not bothering to check if Carson was still following. He was. Rodney raced into his lab, breathing hard. Zelenka rushed up to him. The Czech's face was pale.

"Radek, what is going on?" Rodney growled.

The Czech brought up a schematic, "Wraith are coming."

"WHAT!" Rodney yelled, causing the room at large to wince, "Why didn't they come up on the radar sooner? Surely we would've picked up a hive ship…"

"Ano, would pick up hive ship…" the Czech interrupted, waving his hands in frustration, "But, no hive ship, just darts. Many, many darts."

"How many is many, Radek?" Rodney asked, moving over to the nearest computer.

"Stovky," the Czech answered helplessly, "Ah, hundreds, maybe one or two hundred."

"Holy crap," Carson breathed, before rushing out of the room, "I'll be in the infirmary!"

Rodney swore. He scowled at the screen in front of him, fingers moving furiously over the keyboard. He swore again. Rodney spun in his chair, reaching for a data pad and connecting it to the laptop in front of him. His fingers flew over the keys once again. Without warning, his hands stopped. Zelenka watched as Rodney's face paled. He heard Rodney's murmured 'Oh no'. The Czech moved around to Rodney's shoulder. He read the display. Zelenka closed his eyes in defeat. Rodney's fingers moved over the keys once more. The Canadian thumped his fist down on the desk and swore once more.

"Mamrd! Zmrde zkurvenej! Svůj posrat!" Zelenka kicked an unfortunate office chair.

Rodney buried his face in his hands, "I should probably be glad I didn't understand that, shouldn't I?" when the Czech curses continued, Rodney turned around to look at Radek, "We need to tell Elizabeth."