Authors Note: Well the third chapter...yes what to say about this...it gave me trouble...alot of trouble...it and I went to war at one point because it just wasn't coming out right...hmmm...comments would be much appreciated on this...i'm still not sure on it...

Thanks for Reviewing go to - Savin, sueKay-04, KraftyM, NenyaVilyaNenya, Caro, Hettie, Laheara, Silverthreads, and reef girl...

On to the story...
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Chapter 3 – Waters Edge

The mornings of Atlantis were always a magical sight to behold. It wasn't the fact that they saw the sun rising up from the endless water, or that it signaled another day. The magical part of the mornings was that Atlantis, with her ever present blues, would change to different shades of red, reflecting the sun's light through her walls. The occupants of Atlantis woke to this everyday and it never lost its brilliance.

At that time of the morning, everyone had some place to be. Military shifts were being changed, greetings were exchanged, and scientists went to work on solving those puzzling questions about a long dead race. Along with the daily rituals that went seen by all those who lived in the city, there were those rituals that went unseen. They were small rituals that people did day after day to give them strength to continue through, to be able to fight to live once again. Every morning you could always find a figure standing on one of the balconies, watching the slight waves come crashing into the city walls.

John Sheppard believed those waves were like his live; no, it was more like he was the water surrounding the city. Looking out over the balcony to the distant horizon the water was calm. No waves, no ripples, not a single movement could be seen, but as you moved closer to Atlantis, each wave that crashed against the city showed how turbulent the water really was underneath that calm exterior.

John's hands clenched on the balcony railing, his knuckles going white from the force he was using. Las night had been awkward, seeing McKay bending over those shards like that. John shut his eyes, releasing his grip on the railing slightly, and bowed his head. He was still unsure around him. When once he had been steady in his gut feeling to trust McKay, now he questioned it. Then there was hearing Cadman and her former team last night. They were having fun, just laughing about the stupidest things, playing poker, and talking together. His team had been like that once, laughing even though the Wraith could be upon them at any moment. In any case, the trust between them was lost and John wasn't sure it could be completely regained. John opened his eyes, and looked towards the horizon. The red was fading now but instead of the normal blue sky that usually hung over Atlantis, a steel grey was taking over.

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On the opposite side of Atlantis, Cadman lay in her bed listening to the quiet, wait, no, make that loud snoring around her. After the team get together last night, Brian, Casey, and Alex had crashed on her floor and on her table. She turned and looked at her alarm clock; it would be going off in a few minutes, signaling the start of another day. What had they been talking about last night? She remembered the poker game, and the drinks (god that alcohol was strong), but the conversation was a blur to her. Suddenly, the alarm clock went off.

"Ugh…"

"Shut that damn thing off"

"My head, my poor aching head"

Each of the 3 crewmembers of the Daedalus slammed a pillow over their head trying to block out the noise. Laura laughed at their pathetic attempts.

"A little bit of a hangover today do we…if only Caldwell could see you now."

"CADMAN SHUT THE DAMN THING OFF!" Alex yelled and then held his head in pain.

Laura let them suffer a bit longer and before shutting the alarm off. Sighs of relief went out through the halls. Brian then dared to lift his head above her bed and opened one eye.

"What time is it?"

"Oh, just about 0700"

A series of groans went out.

"Do we have to get up?"

"Yeeeess," 2 people said.

"Ugh…"

Laura finally got off the bed and went to get dressed. Coming out she saw that they were asleep again, and kicked Alex with her boot.

"I'm up. I'm UP already."

"Well then if you're so up…I'll meet you in the mess in 30, that long enough for you."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."

Suddenly Casey appeared next to Cadman fully dressed. Laura looked at her. Casey looked back at her. Laura blinked. Casey blinked.

"How did you get dressed so fast?"

"Talent" Casey said in a deadpan voice.

"Alright, Casey and I will be in the mess, you boys better be there in 30 otherwise were comin' back with a surprise."

As the door opened another groan was heard from the boys.

"Lightweights," the girls said and the door closed.

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Tucked away in the corner of a bed, a man just stared at the wall willing sleep to come. If John Sheppard was said to be water, this man was meant to be fire, but the fire had burnt out. He had even noticed it himself. Even if he were to solve the energy crisis they were going to be facing soon, the trust that the people had in him wouldn't be regained. Dark rings circled his eyes and a noticeable shake could be seen as his hand went to shut off his alarm. Sleep hadn't come last night. It hadn't come for a few nights, and he wasn't about to ask Carson for something. Right now he would just get up and deal with it. Eventually he would get the needed sleep, but there was no reason that anyone had to know.

Rodney slowly got out of bed. Grabbing a power bar out of his drawer, he quickly scoffed it down. It would abate his shakes for awhile, at least until he could get another power bar into his system. Quickly, he got dressed and went down to his lab. He had projects he had to finish and papers to sign, hopefully with no interruptions. Lately though he had not even gotten a hello in the labs, and everyone who needed advice went to Zelenka, who was not seen throughout the day, choosing to float around the labs like he owned the place. Rodney finally got himself a cup of coffee and sat down at his table. He booted up his computer and checked his messages for the day. There were 3 in total but one caught his eye.

To> RodneyMckay
From > unknown
Subject> blank

Didn't I tell you to leave?
Why are you still here?
You're worthless McKay, and the more people see that, the better it will be.
Just remember the longer you stay here the more consequence it will have.
Don't forget…I'm watching in the shadows.