A/N: Here comes the second chapter. I hope you enjoy.

When Nancy stepped into her office the next day, her first thought was, Wrong door! Everywhere were boxes.

"What the hell?" she exclaims and walks out again to look for the clerk. The poor man calmly explains to her that all the boxes have been brought from the Pentagon along with a letter.

Back in the confines of her office turned storage room, she unfolds the paper and reads one line:

"Have fun!" with General O'Neill's signature below.

Now I have something to read! Should be interesting.

She had just finished the first box of files when her cell phone starts ringing and pulls her out of her concentration. The call from Mary, her wedding planner, was a welcomed distraction from the mission reports she had just read, or so she thought.

"Mrs. Sheppard, I can't seem to send the invitation out to Mr. Harrison's brother. The address you gave me seems to be incorrect."

"Weird, it is the only one I got. Maybe we can invite him via E-mail? It isn't conventional but at that, neither is his job."

After that, they talked about the table and room decorations and scheduled a dress fitting, but then Nancy had to go back to her duties, aka reading tons of files to prepare for her visit to Pegasus and all the other things she had to do as part of her new position.

From what she could tell, the General had only sent the files of the department heads on Atlantis so she would know who she would meet and what they had accomplished. It was already past dinner time when her office phone started ringing. It was once again a welcomed distraction from all the strange information she had read over the course of the day. Many unfamiliar words were swirling around in her brain, but she picked up anyways.

"Hello?"

"Oh good, you are still at the office," a voice Nancy didn't recognize at first said happily, "This is General Jack O'Neill, in case you were wondering."

"What can I do for you, General?" she asks politely.

"I wanted to invite you to Colorado Springs for the next Atlantis dial-in. Interested?"

"Yes, I am interested. When are they scheduled to dial in?"

"30 minutes from now. Are you alone in your office?"

"Sir, I am sorry to remind you, but I am in Washington. I'll never make it to Colorado in 30 minutes or less!"

"Don't worry, I'll pick you up!" the last words were reaching her in stereo, and when she swirled around, a smiling General O'Neill stood in her office.

"How did you get in here?"

"Asgard beams. The Apollo is in orbit." with that he gave her a small black object, a locator beacon, and seconds later, after a stop at the Apollo, Nancy Sheppard found herself in an elevator in Cheyenne Mountain.

"So, this is a normal means of transportation for you?" she asks the man beside her, who didn't seem to need a beacon in his hand to get beamed up.

"You get used to it, but it only works when a ship is in orbit."

"Which isn't always the case." Nancy finished nodding.

By now, they had reached the end of the first elevator, and when they entered the second, she asks, "How far down are we going?"

"This is the last elevator," O'Neill answers, smiling.

A short while later, the two of them arrive in the control room, where General Landry greets them.

"You are early. We don't expect the dial-in for another ten minutes."

"Ah, you know I never can spend enough time here, and the director now has a chance to see a little of the facility before Carter calls."

"Do you have any questions beforehand, Ma'am?" Landry turns to face Nancy.

"What is it that is going to happen? I mean, do you do this in person via video, or is it a pre-recorded message they sent days ago? I am sorry, I can't really picture this with Atlantis being in Pegasus and all."

In the room below, the Stargate starts to activate, and O'Neill says, smiling:" Let's see who is calling now?"

All the while, Landry watches Siler, who begins his routine of checking for an IDC. After a couple of seconds, he announces :

"It is SG-14. Receiving MALP telemetry."

"Put it on screen!" Landry orders, and Daniel Jackson's face appears. O'Neill leans toward Nancy and tells her

"This is a scheduled check-in, so we know they are still alive and well. It is going to be similar with Atlantis, so watch."

After that, he steps forward so he can be seen in the camera. "Hi Daniel, having fun?"

Nancy observes the other General and the reaction of the archeologist, both smile and shake their heads or roll their eyes.

"I am fine, Jack. Everything is fine. We are in the process of translating all the inscriptions here, and I am going to send you the first pages now." with that, the face of Daniel disappears, and a military officer, a major, appears. Landry asks a few questions about threat assessment, but the Major denies any threats at the moment.

Jack O'Neill goes back to his spot at Nancy's side.

"Wow, so we can send video and data through this thing?"

"Yes, and according to the scientists, it is the only thing going both ways!"

"Yes, I remember Colonel Carter and Doctor McKay mentioned that in the video you showed me. So when I stay back here, no one can see me?"

"Yes, you have to step forward so the camera can pick you up. So now when Carter calls, we are going to inform her of your upcoming visit, and she is going to inform us of the latest in Pegasus."

"Okay, could we tell her my name is Harrison? It is better because I am going to be married soon, and I am going to take my husband's last name."

"And you don't want to answer any questions concerning a certain Lieutenant Colonel!" Jack adds.

Nancy blushes slightly and answers, "That is part of it. I know it is silly, and Sheppard is a pretty common name, but still..." she shrugs her shoulders and stays silent when she realizes that she rambled.

Just moments after their short exchange, the gate activates again, and Sergeant Siler confirms it is Atlantis. Nancy watches as the familiar face of Colonel Samantha Carter pops up on the screen. She exchanges a few words with Landry, who then motions for Nancy and O'Neill to step forward.

"Colonel, today we have two guests listening in on your report. The General brought over the Director of Homeland Security, Director Harrison."

"Director, pleased to meet you. Do you have any specific questions for me now?"

"Not at the moment, but I'll be having plenty when I come for my visit." Nancy gives back.

Before Sam can ask, Jack swoops in and explains: "Mrs. Harrison will be visiting Atlantis in a few months as an official IOA representative, and with that authority, she will inspect and assess the city and the employees. I would propose to introduce her as such to the rest of the city."

Nancy is fascinated when Samantha Carter sums up the newest developments and explains that she will go off-world with only Doctors Keller and McKay. The female Colonel seems calm, controlled, and optimistic that her trip will be successful. When the voice of a young man reminds Colonel Carter that it was time to go, she says goodbye and logs off.

After their goodbyes to Landry, General O'Neill leads Nancy back to a level from which they can get beamed.

Back in her office, Nancy checks her mail and sees that her fiancee's brother has answered to the invitation.

Hey Nance and Grant,

Congratulations on setting a date.

I'll ask if I can get leave, but nothing is sure. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Maybe I'll see you soon.

He had sent it without typing his name, so he had been incredibly busy. In her head, Nancy noted that she wanted to try and find out where he is stationed so she could maybe help him in getting the time back home. Grant would be home tomorrow, and they would go over the newest wedding details, and she was sure he would be happy to hear about his brother.