Reminder:
"This is spoken English."
"This is spoken Czech."
This is a thought.

Previously: It's Anna's birthday. Radek is ready for this! (Chapters 56-59)


Chapter 62. Alteration.

Anna sighed and set her fork down. "Are you ever going to tell me?"

Radek glanced around the mess hall. He pointed to himself. "Are you talking to me?"

Anna glared. It was funny, because they were speaking Czech. At least, what counted for funny in Radek's reprotoir. She gave a forced, sarcastic laugh. "Ah-ha. That one never gets old."

Radek chuckled and picked up his toast. Somehow, Anna wasn't sure how, they'd gotten some rye bread shipped in from Earth. It was like a taste of home. "It's eight in the morning. You don't want to have every surprise so early, do you?"

"The cupcakes aren't a surprise," Anna mumbled dejectedly.

"No, but the bread is." Radek just grinned as he skimmed something on his tablet. The lines scrolled past way too fast for Anna to see what he was reading. Probably something having to do with work. Even when he wasn't working, he was.

"You did not get a bunch of rye bread sent from Earth for my birthday."

"What if I did?"

"You did not!" Anna hoped not, anyway. Because that would be weird. She imagined telling Iskaan this later. He'd ask what gifts she got on her birthday and she'd say something like, Bread. On the other hand, maybe bread was considered an excellent gift to an Athosian. Anything was possible when hunter-gatherer aliens were involved.

"No…" he admitted. "I didn't. But I should have. It would have been a good idea."

That was true. It might have been a birthday gift that there was still some left when they finally came down to breakfast. Anna hadn't slept in this late in ages. And she didn't think that Radek had either. They would have been done eating probably forty-five minutes ago if Anna hadn't waited for Radek to get up… but it was his day off, too. He didn't get many of those. Besides, Anna liked the idea of lazing around, reading, on her birthday. Even though she felt she could do that almost any day.

She scraped a drop of jelly off her plate with her finger. It wasn't technically peach jam, but it was incredibly close in taste. The only difference seemed to be that it was… green… It took a while to get used to.

"You're not inspiring confidence for my actual gift…" Anna muttered.

"Please, do not get so excited. I'm not even sure if the gift will work. This is the Pegasus galaxy. We have to make use of what we have." He glanced at her empty plate and then at his. "Done?"

"Yeah." She stood up next to him and picked up her plate. "I still want to know. You're driving me insane."

"Oh, miláčku, I wouldn't do that to you." But his grin said he would. He most certainly would, and he was enjoying it. "Not without necessity, anyway. There are a few things that need to be in place before you can get your gift."

Anna put her plate up to be washed while she contemplated what that could mean. He led her into the transporter and they walked out into the Control Room. Anna was momentarily jarred until she realized that Radek said yesterday he wasn't going to the lab today. He wasn't working, and he promised. Because it was her birthday.

But sometimes, even when he wasn't working, he went to the lab anyway.

Elizabeth looked up from the other side of the control room. "Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám, Anna!" * she said from across the room. Chuck looked up at her like she'd just something not meant for the ears of children.

Elizabeth said it very well, though. Anna wondered if Radek had coached her on the pronunciation or something. "Thank you." She went over to the console to see what Chuck was doing. Nothing too exciting, but she saw the corner of his sketch book sticking out underneath his console. He leaned over to pull it out when she approached.

"Happy birthday," he said, pulling a sheet from between the pages and handing it to her.

Radek excused himself to talk on his radio. Apparently to Doctor Beckett.

Anna turned the page to face her. It was a very good pencil drawing of a violin leaning against the Stargate. The constellation rune next to the violin was the symbol for Earth: the caret symbol with the dot above it. Due to the orientation of the Stargate and the symbols on it, it was upside down, but it was still clear to make out.

Anna smiled, careful not to bend or wrinkle the page. "Thank you. It's beautiful."

"Sixteen, huh…" Chuck shook his head. "Big day."

Not really. But Anna didn't say that. She wasn't eighteen, she wasn't American or Canadian, and even if she were, Radek wouldn't let her drive a car yet. Maybe not for a million years. He didn't want her going offworld anymore. Ever. Not after that thing with the dogs and then… Collins.

"Yeah," she said anyway. "I'm excited."

"You should be," Elizabeth said. "Today is a big day. We're going to watch Star Wars aren't we?"

"In the conference room?" Chuck asked, looking hopeful. "I mean… I won't ditch my shift to watch. I'll just make sure the Rebels win at the end."

Anna laughed a little. It wasn't as much fun to watch films in English, since she had to concentrate more than usual to understand what they were saying, but she'd seen it more than once in Czech so she was very familiar with the story. If only she knew that it might have been preparing her for a life in a galaxy far, far away…

"After we go see Doctor Beckett," Radek interrupted. He stepped back into the conversation and glanced at Elizabeth with a raise of his eyebrows.

Anna looked at him askance. Doctor Beckett wasn't part of the plan as far as she was concerned. Maybe he wanted to see Star Wars?

"He wanted to wish you happy birthday," Radek explained. "But he is working today."

"Have fun," Chuck offered. "We'll hold down the fort for you, Doctor Weir."

"Thank you, Chuck." Elizabeth patted Chuck's shoulder and slid around the console to stand next to Radek.

They walked to the transporter together. Anna lost track of the conversation somewhere between the Ancient shields and automatic lighting malfunctions in the lower tower. Someone else could handle the malfunctions, but heaven forbid Radek should miss out on an exciting system failures on his day off. Even Elizabeth sounded unduly excited about it.

Anna slid ahead into the infirmary. Doctor Beckett stood to one side, talking to Doctor Cole. He paused when he saw her, gave her some last minute instruction, and grinned widely. "I told you I'd be back for your birthday, didn't I? So, všechno nejlepší." * He picked up a small white and purple flower and a small box on the way to her. "Teyla tells me this is a friendship flower on some worlds. It also alleviates a headache if you chew on its petals. I'm not sure if that's some sort of symbolism about talking to your friends to vent or something…"

"Díky." ** She pulled the lid off the box. "Chocolate?"

"It's popular around here, so be careful with it," Doctor Beckett warned with a joking grin. He glanced up to Radek.

"Alright, Anna." Radek looked around as though avoiding her eyes. "I told you that there were some things that needed to be in place before you could receive your gift. I guess they're in place. So here we are."

Anna glanced around. "My gift is in the infirmary…?" Radek sure knew how to hide birthday presents, that was for sure. "Why?"

"Because…" Radek sighed and looked directly at her. Like he was having second thoughts about this gift. "Because it's the ATA gene therapy."

"Really?" Anna almost squeaked. Maybe she did squeak. She figured it was allowed.

Her response prodded a chuckle from Radek, even though he looked just as nervous. Elizabeth only smiled in response.

"Really, ATA gene therapy?" she repeated, looking at Doctor Beckett.

Doctor Beckett nodded, also looking pleased. "Remember, Anna, the odds aren't fantastic that it will work on you. It didn't work on Radek."

"But that doesn't mean it won't work for me," Anna interrupted. Better to think happy thoughts right now. She was going to be very, very disappointed if this didn't work, of course. But she didn't think she would ever forget the time Radek set aside his fears to let her get a Puddle Jumper permit.

That's basically what it was. A license to fly a Puddle Jumper.

"No, it doesn't…" Doctor Beckett almost laughed. "Just try not to get your hopes up too high. Alright, come sit down over here before you burst."

Anna didn't quite know what to do. She hesitated between Radek and the bed Doctor Beckett had indicated. Quickly, she wrapped Radek in a hug, and skipped to the bed before he could return it. Before he could react at all, really.

She rolled up her sleeve. "How soon will we know if it worked?"

"Ah, we should know pretty soon. The amount of time ranges, but the minimum is about four hours. And Colonel Sheppard has the rest of the day off to give you your first Puddle Jumper lesson if I've heard things right…" Doctor Beckett gave Radek a glance over his shoulder as he prepared his needle.

Anna had seen smaller blades of grass than the needle Doctor Beckett was handling right now, but it didn't matter. It was just one poke with a needle and then… maybe… Puddle Jumpers. She closed her eyes and then opened them.

She always watched needles. She used to be terrified of needles, but she started watching them when her mother got sick. She wasn't afraid anymore.

"I'm ready," she whispered.

Doctor Beckett chuckled and tied a piece of rubber around her bicep. The alcohol felt cool on her skin and—a moment later—the needle stuck the bend in her elbow.

She watched with morbid fascination. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," she said, still focusing her eyes on the place on her arm where the needle went in. "I thought it was really going to hurt, but it almost wasn't as bad as any other kind of shot."

"I'm glad." Doctor Beckett removed the needle, holding gauze over the prick and setting the needle aside. Then he wrapped up the gauze. "All right. Off you go. Remember, just because it's in your blood doesn't mean you know how to use it."

"Thank you, Doctor Beckett!" Anna threw her arms around him.

He seemed surprised, but he returned the hug. "Ah, it's nothing, really. Don't thank me until we know for sure. You really should thank your dad and Doctor Weir." He patted her shoulder. "I hope you have a very happy birthday, and it only gets better from here."

"It will…" Anna said. "I can feel it."

#

Radek didn't know what to hope… Anna would be sorely disappointed if it didn't work, of course. Radek knew exactly how that was, though, and he'd been perfectly fine. Well, with variable definitions of "perfectly" in this instance, he was certainly not much worse for wear. Sometimes intensely jealous, but he got by. He realized—or decided—early in his life that genetics weren't required to be one of the best. Genetics made it easier to get started. After that, it was all hard work and dedication.

Was that what he was going to say when the gene therapy didn't work?

"When will Colonel Sheppard be done?" Anna asked. She stared at the chess board in front of her. "I don't mean to be impatient," she added hastily. Probably because Radek already reminded her that Sheppard was very generous to offer to give her flying lessons at all.

Sheppard apparently had his usual off-day work-out regimen to complete.

"If you're not careful, I might beat you," Elizabeth joked, studying the chess board. She wasn't very good at chess, but Anna seemed to be obliging her by not taking the easiest routes to victory.

Anna glanced at the board and shrugged as though that were a possibility. "You might."

Then she glanced at Radek.

What if the gene therapy did work? Now, that was a terrifying thought. If it did work, Radek would be sitting in the back of a Puddle Jumper later while Sheppard gave her the first lesson in Puddle Jumper piloting. They let Rodney fly those things—they'd probably let anyone with the gene fly one.

"He'll call us when he's ready. You know what he does to keep in shape better than I would." Well, for now she did. His perfect life in Atlantis seemed to be crumbling. He could think of nothing else.

Not that Anna having the gene would change that. But his being on a reconnaissance team would. Then he might have to turn some of his attention to being more fleet on his feet than he was currently. Obviously, Rodney didn't put much more effort into physical fitness, but he could run away from danger as well as anyone.

For all the running Ronon did, he probably never fled peril quite like Rodney.

"I know that he runs a couple of kilometers with Ronon and then he works out with Teyla…" Anna put her forehead on the table. "I'm going to die."

Elizabeth laughed.

"Don't be so dramatic." Radek rested his elbows on the table and studied the board. It was Elizabeth's turn.

She really was in a difficult position. It probably wasn't possible for her to win now, but she certainly wasn't giving Anna much to think about. "May I?" Radek asked her.

Elizabeth gestured at the board. "Please. I was never much for board games."

"Board games?" Radek sniffed and reached for the bishop. "It seems rude to relegate chess to the same category as Candy Land…" he muttered.

Anna gasped and her head popped up. "Švindlování." *** She watched him slide the bishop across the board, effectively disrupting any plans she might have been making. "Elizabeth was playing fine, Radek. She doesn't need your help."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise at Anna. "I think you just wanted an easy win." Elizabeth offered Radek a half-grin.

"No," Anna pouted. She stared at the board again. "I just want to know if the ATA gene took." Anna touched the top of one of her pawns and then decided against it. Then she looked up suddenly. "It's not really fair, though. I don't think anybody in the city can beat him."

Radek smiled a little pridefully. "You've come close."

"Liar and a cheater, then," Anna threw back.

Radek frowned, but he couldn't really be angry. He waved at the board. "Enough excuses."

Elizabeth glanced at Radek. Then she reached for her ear. "This is Weir."

Anna sighed and moved one of the pieces.

Radek knew that look on Elizabeth's face. He imagined it was one he used often. He hated being called away from spending time with Anna… or anyone he said he would spend time with. Not that the latter happened with any frequency.

"I need to go to the Control Room," she sighed after giving whoever was on the other end of the radio the affirmative. "I'll be back soon, though. Hopefully in time for cupcakes." Elizabeth stood, but didn't walk off immediately.

Radek scanned the board with a small grin. Alright, so maybe Elizabeth wasn't in such a bad position after all. Sort of like the ATA gene. Even the people who had it didn't always know how to use it. Radek contemplated Elizabeth's knight for a moment.

"Take your time," Anna mumbled. She put her forehead back on the table while Radek decided on his turn for Elizabeth's game. "I'll just be here. Dying."

Radek moved the knight. "Check."

"Švindlování!" ***


Czech Things

First, I could swear that a few weeks ago I got lost in the labyrinth that is the internet looking at Czech board games (?) and I decided from that whole rigmarole that it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that Radek would know what Candy Land is. Either that or it was Snakes and Ladders, which is basically a worldwide thing. However, any Czech readers that I have... what are some children's board games that you have? I must know. Research purposes.

* What you say for a Czech birthday, like "happy birthday." I have no idea what it literally means. I just know that's apparently what you say for birthdays.

** "Thank you." Informal. So, I guess, like "thanks."

*** "Cheating."


Next time: This is still torture.