Author: Jadelyn Tate
Story: Falling In the Black
Rating: M (just to be safe--it won't get up to NC-17 but I honestly don't know how mature it will get)
Disclaimer: I own no one but Nicole Scott.
Short summery: She didn't know she was searching for a place to belong...until she found it.
A/N: This focuses mostly on an OC dealing with life in the Pegasus galaxy from Season one through…whenever I end it. :D Also, this is for my own personal prompt challenge of 50 prompts. If I get enough interest, I may LJ community the prompts.

Prompt: #36 - Heights

Nicole sighed as she slipped into one of the alcoves in an attempt to side-step Dr. McKay. The man had no sense of personal boundaries or tact and had been bugging her about the translations for all the science things in the database. She'd been working practically around the clock for Dr. Beckett but so far, nothing she was translating was making sense because she was missing key words that apparently couldn't be translated into English.

What she could translate, however, seemed to make Dr. Beckett happy. Several of the items they would have little use for were moved to a storage room and several notebooks were left for the CMO to look over, filled with hour's worth of translations.

Dr. McKay, however, wasn't at all impressed with Josh's work, even though Nicole had gone over them (twice!) when the scientist had complained they didn't make sense.

Once certain she wouldn't run into the scientist again, she quickly made her way upstairs, taking the stairs since it was highly unlikely Dr. McKay would now that they had transporters/elevators.

"Dr. Beckett, I have the latest translation for you," Nicole called. He turned around, smiling.

"Are they going to make any sense this time around?" he asked, with a friendly grin to let her know he wasn't making fun of her talents. She gave him a shy smile in return.

"Probably not," she admitted. "You--you may be able to make sense of one or two of the devices—one seems to be a toxin detector--but other than that…"

"Got it lass," he smiled at her. "Hungry?"

Nicole started at the abrupt change in subject. "What?"

"Are you hungry?" he asked. "I was just about to go get something to eat."

"I…yeah, I'm--I'm hungry," she said. The doctor beamed at her.

"Wonderful!" he said. "I dislike eating alone around here. It's bloody spooky as it is."

Nicole gave him a small smile and the two began walking and talking about the translations. It wasn't until she felt the wind that she realized which way they taking to get to the Mess Hall. She froze.

"Lass, what is it, what's wrong?"

She didn't answer, simply staring down at the city from the balcony they were on. He looked in the same direction and then back to her. Sudden understanding filled his eyes. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you lass?"

"Phobic," she was able to get out. He clucked a bit and gently steered her to stand on his other side and went into the first door they found. Once finally back inside the structure, she was able to breath again. He set her down, gently pushing her so her head was by her knees.

"Carson, is everything alright?" Ms. Emmagen said, approaching.

"Yeah, just a bit of a fear of heights," he told the woman. "She'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Some of the Athosians can't go outside either without getting faint," Ms. Emmagen said knowingly. Nicole whimpered before looking up at them.

"Dr. Beckett?"

"Yes, lass?"

"I'm not hungry anymore."

That startled a laugh out of him and even the Athosian managed a small smile. "Aye, I daresay you aren't," he agreed. "And the MRE's aren't good for this anyway. Let's get you some water instead."

"Well, there's plenty of that," she mumbled, forgetting to be timid in the face of her nausea. The two laughed again.

The CMO helped her up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders so she could lean against him as they made there way to the Mess hall. Luckily, it was practically empty, with only Dr. Zelenka and a few guards inside.

"Carson, is she okay?" the scientist asked, hurrying forward. Dr. Beckett settled her down on one of the benches while Ms. Emmagen went to speak with one of the guards.

"She'll be fine, Radek," he said. "Just a bit faint from the heights."

"Ah, yes, very high we are," he agreed. Nicole turned a bit green and he winced. "Shouldn't have said that."

"Here, drink this," Ms. Emmagen said, handing a cup of water with little leaves swirling inside. Nicole took a few sips and smiled. It was sweet bit with an underlying tang. The Athosian smiled when the scientist asked what she put in the water.

"A few of our spices," she explained to the curious doctors. "That's a type of tea that will help with the nausea."

"Thank you Ms. Emmagen," Nicole whispered. The Athosian smiled.

"Call me Teyla," the woman replied. "And you're welcome."

"Aye, lass, enough with the Dr. Beckett," the CMO suddenly said. "Call me Carson."

"Radek," the scientist piped in. "We'll all be together a while, from the looks of it, and we're all civilians. Don't have to deal with titles much."

"Nicole," she whispered, biting her lip as she looked up to give them all a small smile. "Call me Nicole."