Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for being so patient while I worked on the next installment. I've got the next few chapters roughed out, so it shouldn't be too long before they're posted.

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"Did you read the report?" Elizabeth asked John. They were on their way to the senior staff meeting.

"Quite an expedition," he replied. "I understand Kavanagh was involved."

"Yes, he was. Otherwise I would have pulled Dr. Grayson out of Rodney's lab immediately."

"Really?" John hoped she hadn't seriously considered that. He was looking forward to working with her.

"No, not really. Dr. Grayson has made exceptional progress working with Rodney. I don't want to separate the two unless I absolutely have to. Besides, any time Kavanagh's around trouble seems to follow. I've had a run in or two with him myself."

Elizabeth remembered her latest. She was still trying to figure out a way to gracefully ship him back to Earth. Unfortunately Kavanagh was just valuable enough to make it impossible to dismiss him without bringing attention to the matter.

"So Kavanagh was the cause of the dispute?" John asked.

"I don't know for sure, but my guess is he had a hand in starting the argument between them," Elizabeth replied.

"From what I heard, it sounded more like a lover's quarrel." John looked at Elizabeth with a mischievous grin.

"You think Rodney and Dr. Grayson?" Elizabeth pondered this for a moment before dismissing the idea.

"Whatever the reason for their disagreement," Elizabeth continued, emphasizing the word disagreement, "I'm willing to give it another try. This time without Kavanagh. I want her and Rodney to accompany you on this away mission."

"Good idea. Teyla and I can chaperone."

"John," Elizabeth looked at him disapprovingly. "Don't cause any trouble between the two of them. I want this arrangement to work out."

"Is that personally or professionally?" John was enjoying this.

"I just want them to be in the same room together without..." Elizabeth paused looking for the appropriate word.

"Quarreling?" John replied. "Like I said, we'll make sure to chaperone them. Besides, I'm not sure Rodney would know what to do with a woman like her."

Elizabeth turned to see John grinning ear to ear.

---------------

Emma had arrived early and was waiting in the conference room alone. Dr. Weir had requested her to attend the morning's briefing. She hoped it did not have to do with the debacle down on Level 6 the other day. So far she and Dr. McKay had kept an uneasy truce, although she had not actually seen him since that night in Carson's quarters.

Rodney entered to see Emma standing there. He glanced away quickly, not sure where to look. "Good morning," he said eventually, breaking the awkward silence.

"Good morning," Emma replied, trying to sound cheerful. "I finished those translations you left for me yesterday morning. Did you get them?" she asked, struggling to continue the conversation.

Rodney had communicated only by short emails with Emma in the last two days, choosing to work down on Level 6 in one of the labs they had found. Radek had assured her that there was nothing wrong, that he simply wanted to set up the new labs himself.

"Yes, yes. Thank you. They were just what we needed," Rodney asserted. He had not expected to see Emma at the staff meeting. He hoped that Elizabeth was not taking the initiative to dismiss her back to Archives. Although he had been avoiding her for the past two days, he needed her expertise. The progress they had made since she had joined the team was exceptional. Besides, he couldn't stand the thought of not seeing her again. The last two days had been miserable, but necessary. He had needed some time away from her to regain his composure.

"I have some more texts for you to decipher. I'll send them to you after the meeting," Rodney continued.

Emma breathed an internal sigh of relief. He couldn't be planning to get rid of her if he had more work for her to do. "Perhaps I could join you down on Level 6. It might make the work go more quickly." Emma bit her tongue. She knew immediately that had been the wrong thing to say.

"No, that's alright. I think it would be best if you stayed in the lab."

"I may see something that you overlooked..." Emma saw the spark in Rodney's eyes. She should have stopped while she was ahead, but the words had just fallen out of her mouth.

"Really. Something I overlooked," Rodney shot back. "Perhaps you could teach me the basics of quantum physics while we're at it." He was trying to make amends, but she was making it very difficult.

"I didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to what? Didn't mean to go off with Kavanagh without my permission?" Rodney felt himself losing control.

Now it was out. Emma realized that Rodney was still mad at her for wandering off the other day. But to bring Kavanagh into this was hitting below the belt.

"I did not go off with Kavanagh, he followed me," Emma responded her temper rising.

"He followed you. Huh. Well, you didn't seem to mind being with him when I found the two of you together."

"We were just talking." Emma was getting angrier by the minute. "Do you think I would actually be interested in someone like him?"

"I'm a scientist, Dr. Grayson," Rodney responded coolly. "I am an objective observer of my surroundings and I know what I saw."

"All the more reason why you should take me back down there with you," Emma replied. "You quite obviously misinterpreted your findings. Who knows what else you might misinterpret."

"That's it. You are hereby officially restricted to the lab. You will not leave it under any circumstances without my permission." Rodney realized too late that the conversation had spiraled quickly out of control.

"You're grounding me!"

"Yes I'm grounding you!" Rodney looked at her infuriated. "If that's the way you want to look at it, then yes, I'm grounding you! You will stay at your station until I say otherwise."

Elizabeth and John entered the conference room to see Rodney and Emma glaring at each other. They had obviously interrupted something. Elizabeth glanced at John seeing a smirk on his face. She raised one eyebrow signaling him to remain quiet.

"Good morning," Elizabeth stated, hopefully loud enough to break the stalemate before them.

Emma turned to see Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard watching them. "Good morning, Dr. Weir. We were just..."

"We were just discussing the latest findings on Level 6," Rodney interrupted. "Dr. Grayson has made good progress on the texts we found down there."

"Well I'm glad to hear that. She's turned out to be quite an asset to your team." Elizabeth watched the two closely. It seemed Rodney was not so eager to get rid of Emma after all, despite his inability to get along with her for more than a few minutes at a time.

"I'm sorry I'm late everyone," Teyla entered to see what looked like the end of a rather intense discussion. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not at all," Elizabeth replied. "We were just welcoming Dr. Grayson to the meeting. I believe you two have met."

"Yes, briefly," Teyla confirmed. "Welcome Dr. Grayson." Teyla, like the rest of Atlantis, had heard about the incident on Level 6. It looked to her like there were still some issues that needed to be resolved between Rodney and Dr. Grayson.

The five of them sat down at the table, Rodney and Emma at opposite ends. Elizabeth started the meeting.

"Our latest reconnaissance has found signs of civilization on Planet P3X-794. It looks to be pre-industrial, but there are some readings that suggest Ancient technology." Elizabeth pulled up the report on the screen in front of her.

"I would like the four of you to check it out. Dr. Grayson, is that alright with you?"

Emma's ears perked up. Was Dr. Weir talking away mission somewhere with Ancient technology? She started to answer when Rodney interrupted.

"Elizabeth, do you think it's wise to contact a new civilization under these circumstances?"

Emma knew he was referring to her. She wondered if she would ever get Dr. McKay to trust her completely. She waited for Dr. Weir's response.

"What circumstances are you referring to, Rodney?" Elizabeth asked.

"You know." He glanced at Emma. "I mean I'd hate for us to meet what could be a new ally, walk into their town, say hello and blow them up."

"To be fair, Dr. Grayson hasn't blown up anything," Colonel Sheppard responded. "Yet." He winked at Emma.

Rodney watched Sheppard flirt with Emma. "Precisely. Yet," he answered looking angrily at John.

"Rodney, John is right. It's unfair for you to make such assumptions."

"I'm just saying there's a difference between translating some text at a computer and making contact with a new civilization," Rodney continued.

"Dr. Grayson, what do you have to say for yourself?" Emma had only half heard the conversation. She had been studying the report now in front of her.

"Dr. Grayson?" Elizabeth repeated.

"There's something different about these texts." Emma said quietly, trying to digest what she was looking at.

Elizabeth waited to see if Emma had found the same inconsistencies she had.

Emma looked up in amazement. She saw Dr. Weir smiling at her. "These are..."

"Precisely," she replied. "I thought you'd be interested." Elizabeth had read Dr. Grayson's research linking early Mediterranean civilizations to the Ancients. She thought Emma would be the perfect choice to investigate these anomalies further.

"There are Earth languages mixed in with the Ancient symbols," Emma continued. "And the architecture..."

Col. Sheppard moved around to the other side of Emma.

"See this temple? There are Minoan influences here. The main structure is typical Ancient architecture. But there are early Classical Greek influences in the surrounding buildings." Emma stopped to study the photographs more closely. "I don't understand. How did Earth architecture dated at less than 10,000 years get here to the Pegasus galaxy?"

"Are you saying the Ancients came back?" John asked, leaning over Emma, putting his arm on the back of her chair. He was trying to make out the details she was referring to.

"I'm not sure. There have been reports of parallel development in civilizations within galaxies, but this is the first evidence I've seen of it happening between two separate galaxies. Especially two so far apart." Emma shook her head. "I don't know what to say."

Rodney, in the mean time, had worked his way around the table stopping behind Emma. He had been trying to concentrate on the report but was distracted to see John so close to her.

"Perhaps you are misinterpreting your observations, Dr. Grayson." Rodney said sharply.

Emma looked up to see Rodney staring at her. She did not miss the hidden message in his statement.

"Perhaps I am," Emma replied. "Once I see the ruins in person I'll have a better understanding of what they are."

Rodney moved in next to Emma to take a look at the computer screen, pushing Colonel Sheppard out of the way. John stepped back, suppressing a grin. He got Rodney's message loud and clear.

"And what do you make of this, Dr. Grayson?" Rodney had flipped to another image on the screen. He watched her, hoping she would make a mistake proving she was not yet ready to travel with them off world.

"It looks like a symbol for a ZPM," Emma replied. She knew she was being tested. She needed to prove to the others that she could work under Dr. McKay's supervision without creating any more problems.

"A ZPM. Well, wouldn't that be nice," Rodney replied sarcastically. "Actually," Rodney looked down at the screen. "It's a symbol for a ZPM." He quickly ran through a series of images to confirm what he saw in front of him.

"Elizabeth! There may be a ZPM down there, "Rodney announced excitedly.

"Alright, that settles it. You leave immediately." Elizabeth ordered. The possibility of another ZPM couldn't wait. "And Emma, try to bring back any information you can as to how these Earth civilizations got there."

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," Rodney interjected, "But Dr. Grayson has more important things to take care of here."

"We need her on this trip." John replied.

"Well you can't have her," Rodney turned towards Colonel Sheppard. "I've restricted her to the lab."

"You grounded her?" John asked amazed.

Rodney looked at him exasperated. "I have not grounded her, I've just..."

"Restricted her to the lab," John finished Rodney's sentence, trying not to laugh.

"Dr. McKay," Elizabeth stated firmly, "Dr. Grayson is accompanying you to P3X-794. I expect you will do everything necessary to make sure she is properly prepared. And you will make sure she gets whatever support she needs for her research once you're on the planet."

'Elizabeth!" Rodney exclaimed.

"Enough. Go." Elizabeth said, before Rodney could continue. Sometimes she felt more like a den mother than the leader of a scientific expedition. She was going to have to keep a closer eye on the situation between Drs. McKay and Grayson.

Rodney pulled Emma aside as they left the briefing room.

"Go get your pack and meet me at the jumper bay." Rodney was trying to remember everything he needed to tell her. "There's not enough time to give you a thorough briefing for going off world, just be prepared for anything."

"I did receive the basic training back on Earth," Emma replied, trying to convince Rodney she could handle the mission.

"Okay, well, that will have to do." Rodney studied her closely. "And I know I don't have to remind you to... you know." This mission was off world, not within Atlantis. The dangers were much more unpredictable.

"I understand. Don't worry." Emma knew she had to be on her best behavior on this mission if she didn't want it to be her last. She smiled at Rodney reassuringly. Rodney nodded and sent Emma on her way.

He returned to the lab to collect his equipment. Radek was already packing up what he would need to bring with them.

"The imaging scanner is not working at 100 capacity so use it sparingly," Radek reminded him.

"Yes, yes I know," Rodney replied. He hated how Radek fussed over the equipment when it was taken off world.

"And the video recorder link is acting up," Radek continued.

"I've got it," Rodney snapped back.

"And you've got to set the calibrator to just above zero on the energy scanner to get an accurate reading, not at zero," Radek continued.

"Alright! I know!" Rodney turned to him, irritated. "Anything else?" Rodney noticed that Radek seemed especially nervous.

Radek looked down and shuffled his feet. "Well, uh, take good care of Emma."

Rodney paused to look at Radek, then looked away. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her." He turned and walked out of his lab, knowing full well that Radek, not to mention Carson, would never forgive him if something happened to Emma under his watch.

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Rodney reached the jumper bay to find Emma already there. She was sitting at the control panel while Colonel Sheppard instructed her on how to fly the jumper. Rodney struggled to put down his pack and the equipment he carried.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't let her touch that!" Rodney exclaimed.

Emma turned to see Rodney rushing towards them. They hadn't even left the bay and he was already stopping her from contributing to the team. She wondered if she would make it through this mission in one piece let alone survive to go on another one under his strict control.

"It's alright, McKay. She should learn how to fly this thing. We can always use another pilot."

"She shouldn't be allowed near this thing," Rodney replied exasperated. "You don't know what will happen." Rodney was now ranting. "I don't want her accidentally opening up the hanger doors when we're five miles above Atlantis without any oxygen."

"Dr. McKay, there are failsafe protocols in place. That's not going to happen." Emma replied.

"And since when have you become a mechanical engineer?" Rodney turned on her.

"Stop it you two, before I have to separate you." John interjected. "Rodney, I will fly the jumper out of Atlantis, and Emma will take it from there."

Rodney started to object.

"Just for a short time. She needs to learn how to fly."

"You don't know what she's capable of. You haven't spent time with her." Rodney shot back.

Emma stood there watching the two of them. She felt helpless to defend herself while they argued over the merits of teaching her how to fly the puddle jumper. She looked over at Teyla who signaled for her not to worry. Emma turned back to Rodney and John.

"McKay, come with me." John pulled Rodney out of the jumper away from Teyla and Emma. He needed to calm the man down. "You've got to give her some space, Rodney."

"She shouldn't be with us in the first place. She doesn't have control of her Ancient genes! She shouldn't be allowed off world," Rodney continued emphatically.

"She's a big girl, she can learn."

Rodney tried one last-ditch effort to keep Emma from joining them. "I can't be responsible for her actions if you insist on bringing her with us."

"That's okay. She can stick with me." John replied with a grin.

"No, no!" Rodney replied quickly. Obviously his last-ditch effort had been a total failure. There was no way he was going to let Emma go off alone with Colonel Sheppard. "She's on my team. She'll stay with me." Rodney turned and walked quickly back to the jumper.

John watched him walk away, chuckling to himself. Teasing Rodney about Dr. Grayson was too easy, but he certainly wasn't going to let that stop him. He would have to remember to pace himself, though. He didn't want Rodney's already short fuse burning out too quickly.