Elizabeth was pacing again and finally unable to watch John struggling weakly against the restraints in his bed any longer, she found herself wandering over to Teyla's side. In some ways, Teyla looked just as exhausted as John, although Beckett kept assuring her that her physical condition was not as severe. Still, the young woman who always had a ready smile for Elizabeth and an unquenchable strength, looked weary and drawn. Perhaps, like John's, her memories were difficult to re-live.

Eylana still sat next to her friend, and although she wasn't listening intently anymore, she held Teyla's hand lightly and kept quiet vigil.

Stepping close, Elizabeth smiled at Eylana who returned the expression and gestured for her to sit too. They watched in comfortable silence for a while before Elizabeth asked, "Have you known Teyla for a long time?"

Eylana grinned and nodded. "Yes, we grew up together. Our fathers were the greatest of friends. Sometimes as children, we believed we actually were sisters…or cousins at least." Elizabeth thought there was some hesitancy in the woman's answer, and being curious about Teyla's life before joining Atlantis, she asked the question she probably wouldn't have asked of anyone else…

"Are you not still close?"

Eylana nodded this time with respect at Elizabeth's insight. "We are still friends, but not as close. When the burden of leadership fell to Teyla, her duties required much of her time and… I felt she put too much distance between her work and her personal life. She got so serious at such a young age. We drifted apart," she admitted.

"And now she's even farther from her people," Elizabeth added with sadness.

"She has talked much about Atlantis in her dreams. She has learned many things, experienced many adventures, and trials, and triumphs." Eylana fixed Elizabeth with a steady gaze. "She belongs here."

Elizabeth was touched, and they sat together for a while longer. Finally feeling restless again, she whispered words of encouragement to Teyla and was walking back to check on John when a bust of activity and clatter of feet and noise and voices startled her to jog towards the Infirmary entrance. She pressed herself against one wall to get out of the way as first Ronon, then Rodney were wheeled in on gurneys, shadowed by a paramedic each. The wheeled beds were parked in the triage area and nurses descended upon the pair.

Next came Lt. Jones walking gingerly with an arm tucked into his side and escorted by his commander, Maj. Lorne who saw him to a bed and made sure he was getting looked at before stepping away. Lorne looked around the infirmary, spotted Elizabeth and headed in her direction.

But Elizabeth's eyes were on Beckett who was practically pouncing on Dr. Brown's plant samples. Grabbing them none-too-politely, he held them up once for a long gaze, then thrust them into the hands of a waiting lab technician with a spate of instructions. The technician hurried away with the precious plants.

Elizabeth headed towards Beckett, and Lorne, noticing, changed direction to meet her. Together they stopped for a moment, listening to the intense dialog of Drs. Brown, Miles and Beckett huddled in deep conversation.

"You following that?" she whispered at Lorne.

"No, ma'am." He shrugged.

Nodding she turned away and swept her eyes across Ronon, looking very much like Sheppard except covered in mud and grass, McKay looking pale and…drooling a bit… and the now reclining Jones. Finally she addressed Lorne again. "Thank you, Major, for brining Ronon home…What happened out there?"

Lorne sighed a deep long sigh. "That's a long story ma'am."

She nodded, "The one thing I've noticed, Major, is that when you're waiting around in the infirmary, one has lots of time to kill." She gestured resignedly towards a pair of chairs by the infirmary door.

"Yes, ma'am."

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"It's actually very lucky Rodney's team observed the canines as closely as they did."

"Sounded like they did more running from and shooting at than observing…"

Rodney slowly became aware of voices speaking near him, and although they were quiet and calm, he could catch most of the words. They just didn't mean anything to him in the quiet stillness of not-quite-conscious…

"That may well be, but the lab results just came back on the flowers, pollen, seeds etc. and as Dr. Brown suspected, none of those can account for the symptoms Sheppard and his team are experiencing."

The first voice was male and had a gentle lilt. Rodney could almost put a name to it…

"You mean, after everything Lorne and Rodney went through it wasn't the flowers after all?"

The second speaker was a woman and the strength and compassion in her voice immediately identified her…

"No, no, Elizabeth. In fact I'm certain that the flowers are the cause, but Dr. Brown believes, and I concur, that when the petals burst, they must release an organic gas of some sort that jettisons the seeds and also drugs the canines. Sheppard's team just got caught up in the circle of life on that nasty little planet."

Becoming more aware with each passing second, Rodney started to get interested in the conversation and was just considering a go at opening his eyes and joining in on the topic.

"But Carson, that little dust mask Rodney was wearing… it wouldn't have protected him from a gas that potent, would it?"

"Nae… not for long anyway. I'm betting that the Colonel and the others were exposed to a concentrated or direct burst of the flower-gas at some point. Rodney, may not have been directly exposed like they were, or the mask may have offered enough protection for no longer than he was there. But mostly, the silly lad just got dumb lucky."

Rodney decided to play dead for a few minutes longer, not liking the way the talk had turned.

"So where do the canines come in?"

Yeah, Rodney wondered, where do the canines come in?

"Well! This is all very interesting…"

Not likely, thought Rodney.

"Dr. Brown and Dr. Miles theorize that the canines and plants have a symbiotic dependency. The canines distribute the pollen and seeds in their fur to other plants and locations to spread genetic diversity. In turn, the gas seems to stimulate hormones and behaviors that facilitate reproduction of the fittest. Territorial and rutting aggression in the males, selectivity and possible fertility stimulation in the females just for example."

"So that's why John and Ronon were so agitated and Teyla was much quieter. But Carson, our people are not dogs…"

"No, but all creatures are essentially chemical machines. Our bodies use hormones to maintain daily bodily function like any animal…"

"What about the memories?" Elizabeth's voice was soft and wary, and Rodney could hear Carson sigh.

"That takes a bit more reaching, but Dr. Brown and I speculate that, as Rodney guessed, the organic gas also triggers the memory centers of the brain, possibly to help the Canines recognize a former successful mate, or find a previous mating ground. The human mind is much more complex and the memory, especially, is incredibly more developed than the lower animals…"

"And so this particular side effect was also more developed. So to speak."

"Aye. Might prove a wonderful medical treatment for Alzheimers someday." Carson sounded optimistic and there was a brief pause as Elizabeth seemed to be digesting the overload of information. Rodney found himself almost dozing off again, before even really waking up…

"So, back to my original question. Why was observing the dogs so lucky?"

"Ah yes. Jones told you about watching the male and female pair by the gate?"

Rodney could hear the snicker in her reply as she said, "Yes. He was beet red from blushing by the time he finished his report, poor boy."

"He was a bit flustered when he talked to me too. Anyway the important part was how the creatures behaved after their encounter…"

Rodney stopped listening, his mind working furiously as he recalled the scene himself and sitting suddenly bolt upright, he sputtered out at Carson, "Are you saying… that to cure Sheppard and Teyla they have to… Do you mean... WHAT are you saying here!"

Carson and Elizabeth whirled at Rodney's outburst, their surprised expressions rapidly turning into amused relief. Together they stepped up next to his bed and smiling, Elizabeth patted his knee and said, "Welcome back Rodney. How do you feel?"

But Rodney would have none of it. Not yet. Fixing Carson with his best "King of the Lab" glare, he repeated. "Are you telling me that Sheppard and Ronon and Teyla got knocked out by some "Call of the Wild" aphrodisiac flower fumes and that to cure them they have to….to…" He stumbled to a halt, reddening himself.

"Mate, Rodney?" Carson was way too amused for Rodney's liking. "No, Rodney," he went on reassuringly. "Medical ethics aside, we have plenty of drugs that simulate the related hormones and we've started them on a course of several in the hopes that the organic compounds in the gas are intended to breakdown or dissipate in their presence."

"Oh." Rodney looked uncomfortably relieved. "…And?"

Carson smiled warmly. "And, it's working." He gestured slightly behind him.

Rodney shifted to see Sheppard in the next bed over, laying quietly in deep restful sleep. The heart monitor set up next to him beeped softly, its tempo sounding about right to Rodney, although Carson might have said it was still a bit fast for a person at rest… Beyond Sheppard, Ronon also lay just as still, looking cleaned up and not nearly so wild.

"We wouldn't have figured this out without your theory from at the beginning, Rodney. You did good…" Elizabeth's praise was warm and genuine and McKay finally felt himself relax. It was over. He'd resuscitated Ronon with the epi-pen, and saved the Colonel's ass one more time, and probably found a cure for Alzheimers and all mental illness in the process. Not bad for a day's work, he thought. He sat back against the pillows looking forward to a leisurely evening of well deserved pampering and pretty nurses bringing him food.

"Rodney. You're fine. You can go now."

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Elizabeth was engrossed in a detailed report from Stargate Command when John Sheppard sidled into her office. Carson had released him and his team last night and cleared them for light duty today. They would all most likely be back to full duty in a couple of days. She held up her hand distractedly to indicate she needed a moment to finish and tried valiantly to cram in the last bit of information the report had to offer as John quietly perched on her desk and began to rearrange her ornaments.

Giving it up as a lost cause, she stared blankly at the screen for a second before slowly pushing back and relaxing into her seat. John hopped off immediately into the chair opposite and sat looking mildly bored, waiting for her to speak first. She studied him closely before she did.

John certainly looked showered and fresh and was radiating the annoying charm she knew so well. He certainly looked much better than the night before last when she'd sat with him as he finally slept, face still pale and pinched with lingering pain, his hair matted from the day's ordeal... Aside from the bruise on his cheek that was rapidly turning from red to a mottled purple, he looked the same as he had the morning he'd stepped into the Stargate. Still, she detected just a hint of fatigue in his posture, and a shadow of melancholy in his expression that worried her.

"How are you feeling?" She said at last, knowing that the little phrase meant a lot more about their friendship and her reputation for bad bedside manner than about his physical condition.

He smiled in appreciation and fiddled with his hands in his lap. "A little tired," he admitted. "Carson's threatened me with bed rest if I so much as jog up the stairs today. Apparently being thiiiiiiis close to a coronary infarction riles the man into a mother hen frenzy." John made light of the statement, and held his fingers ridiculously close together as he squinted comically at them. But Elizabeth felt a jolt through her stomach. She didn't know it had been that near a miss.

Trying to conceal her unease with humor she raised an eyebrow and said, "According to Carson, it's a good thing you and Ronon are in such good shape. I believe his words were 'strapping young lads…'" She loved it when she managed to embarrass her usually cool 2nd in command, and at his uncomfortable squirming, she let him off the hook by adding, "He said Rodney wouldn't have lasted the afternoon…"

John chuckled and sighed, "Yeah, I need to push him a bit more. Maybe I'll tell him he has to take lessons with Teyla…" he trailed off at the wicked thought, then seemed really pleased by the idea. Looking at his hands again, he went on hastily as if losing his courage to speak, "Look, Elizabeth, if you're not doing anything at the moment," he gave her tablet computer with the report still displayed on it a glare, "Could we go through the end-of-year personnel reviews for my command now, instead of next week? Carson won't let me do anything but paperwork today anyway so…"

Wondering why he looked so awkward, she thought through her schedule quickly and nodded. "Sure, she said, give me a second to re-arrange a couple things."

His voice was even softer as he went on, "And I thought we could maybe sit out on the East Pier while we work."

She looked up quickly in surprise expecting the suggestion to be a joke, or a bad attempt at obviously-inappropriate-so-you-won't-think-I'm-serious flirting. Instead, he just looked back at her with quiet sincerity. A bit confused, and just a tad flustered she crossed her arms and teased, "John Sheppard, are you taking me for a walk in…"

"Don't." His soft rebuke stopped her. "I just… I just think that next time I have to spend a day re-living the last two years, I want some of those memories to be of sitting on the East Pier." He tried to make a joke out of the situation, but she saw the determined look in his eyes and finally understood that he was dead serious. He'd lived through hell in a day and was searching for something more than work and crisis and survival. Hadn't she made just such a vow to herself in the infirmary two days ago? That she would try to find quiet, pleasant time with her colleagues…and friends?

"Ok." She replied. Catching and holding his eyes, they exchanged a silent promise. "That sounds really nice."

She bustled at her desk for a moment, changing her calendar and unplugging her laptop from the workstation so she could carry it with her. Finally ready, she looked around, smiled at John and they moved towards the office door. Just before they passed into the hallways that led out to the main part of the city, he suddenly paused in mid-step. Elizabeth watched him closely, suddenly worried. Slowly and timidly, he stuck out his elbow and swiveled a bit, offering it to her. Grinning happily, she looped her own arm through his.

A few strolling, arm-in-arm steps later he turned to her mischievously. "Now THIS," he said, finally sounding like his usual playful self, "is a Walk in the…"

"DON'T SAY IT!"

Author's note: I would like to say a heartfelt thanks for the cool people on gateworld who took the time to write out and post transcripts of most of the episodes I drew "memories" from. Made the writing much easier and saved me lots of time in front of the DVD player watching TV...hey wait, what was I thinking darnit ;-) I would also like to say that "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," and I extend my heartfelt apologies to any botanists and endocrinologists out there who feel I have butchered their science with my "little knowledge" as I crafted this story. You can blame wikipedia, entirely.