A/N: Standard disclaimer; see previous chapters.

A/N: This is a short chapter to deal with the policy. For those interested, the Air Force policy on Fraternization is on the Internet and does specify civilian employees and contractors. I have rewritten some sections. Though I do write policies, I've never written a military policy, so errors are involved. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

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Briefing Interlude

"Excellent. You've gained another pound."

The nurse in the infirmary was smiling as she recorded the weight measurement. Dr. Elizabeth Weir, though glad to have gained the weight, was still a little embarrassed by the fuss made over every pound.

"So, I get my laptop, right?" she said as she stepped off the scale.

"Dr. Beckett warned me that you would be looking for this," said the nurse, pulling Elizabeth's laptop computer from a storage bin. "He said to remind you that half days are four hours, not eight. And you are to eat three complete meals and be in bed by 11 PM."

Elizabeth shook her head in frustration. "I didn't have this many rules when I was in boarding school!"

The nurse looked stern and as if she were going to make another comment, but Elizabeth held up her hand. "I know, I know. And I scheduled an appointment with Kate this afternoon so I wouldn't be too tempted."

The nurse closed her mouth and nodded. As Elizabeth turned to go, however, she placed her hand on her sleeve, detaining her. "Please keep in mind that you gave us quite a scare. Carson has been kicking himself all week. You are truly helping Atlantis when you take care of yourself."

Elizabeth swallowed convulsively, nodded, and ducked her head as she left, feeling a little ashamed of herself.

Moving quickly to her office over the control room, she smiled and nodded at everyone, noticing that they seemed truly glad to have her back. As she settled in behind her desk with a fresh cup of coffee, she noticed someone had left a muffin, with a note, next to a coaster. Opening it, she read "Every little bit helps. – John." Smiling at his thoughtfulness, she took a quick bite, finding it was banana nut, one of her favorites. She took a sip of coffee, some hazelnut from John's stash of treats, and opened her laptop.

By her reckoning, she was a week behind on Atlantis reports, and she still had to review the new material that arrived through the transmission from Earth. She quickly checked her email, downloading those reports she needed to see, then checked the network for the shared files on the server. Deciding to get the Atlantis material out of the way, she settled back to read.

Two hours later, Dr. Weir looked up and stretched. She was fortunate that she had been keeping up with the paperwork before her collapse. Reading the reports of the last week didn't take too long. Keeping Dr. Beckett's concerns in mind, she decided to take a break for a snack before attacking the reports from Stargate Command.

Making her way to the mess hall, she picked up a piece of fruit and got a coffee refill before heading back to her office. As she settled back into her chair, she pulled up the SGC report of the wraith battle. It coincided with what had been discussed at the group debriefing but was not nearly so entertaining. She also read, with increasing interest, the true extent of John's injuries. She shook her head with a wry smile. That man would never be open and honest about the state of his health.

After skimming a few more reports and memoranda, she came upon a policy update:

Air Force Instruction 36-2909A

Special Fraternization Policy for Atlantis Mission

TOP SECRET

Fraternization policy? She was not aware that this policy was under review. In fact, the Department of Defense had spent some effort in bringing the policies of the various armed services into some form of consistency. To create a specialized policy seemed to go against that effort.

The rules of fraternization as described in AFI 36-2909 have been applied to the Atlantis expedition as an extension of the United States Air Force. Now that the expedition is in its third year with more contact with Earth, this policy has been reviewed and altered to reflect the unique nature of the expedition. Professional and non-professional relationships on Atlantis are governed by this policy.Unprofessional relationships are those interpersonal relationships that erode good order, discipline, respect for authority, unit cohesion and, ultimately, mission accomplishment. It is the responsibility of commanders and supervisors at all levels to ensure compliance with this instruction.

This document has been substantially revised and must be completely reviewed.

Elizabeth Weir was astonished. The idea of the US military actually taking context into account was amazing. She quickly began reviewing the provisions. The prohibition against relationships between enlisted men and officers was still in place but with a twist.

Because the military contingent is organized into teams on Atlantis, commanders are given the option of acting on nonprofessional relationships by moving one individual to another team. In this way, the chain of command is preserved as is discipline. If commanders choose to exercise this option, care must be taken to preserve unit cohesion.

She thought about that for awhile and it appeared to make sense. She made a note, however, to ask John his opinion. This provision could affect Teyla and Ronon, though, technically, neither were subject to the rules of the Air Force.

3.2. Relationships with Civilian Employees and Government Contractor Personnel. Civilian employees and contractor personnel are an integral part of the Air Force and the Atlantis mission. They contribute directly to readiness and mission accomplishment. Consequently, military members of all grades must maintain professional relationships with civilian employees and government contractor personnel, particularly those whom they supervise or direct, and must avoid relationships that adversely affect or reasonably can adversely affect morale, discipline and respect for authority or that violate law or regulation.

This was the paragraph that had always given her trouble. Was it possible they changed it?

Given the scientific and exploratory missions of Atlantis, the civilian population of scientists, diplomats, and service personnel are critical to the missions' success. Given the long periods of deployment, some allowance must be made for more personal relationships. Therefore, in this context, relationships across the service classifications of personnel are permitted provided they do not adversely affect morale, discipline and respect for authority. Relationships between military and civilians are subject to these same rulings. Commanders are encouraged to deal with infractions as creatively as possible.

"Creatively?" The military? Elizabeth kept reading.

Civilian units are also subject to the Air Force Sexual Harassment Policy.

Well, that made sense since the civilians were not military. Sexual harassment was still a difficult rule to adjudicate, but it was more appropriate for the civilians than the unaltered Air Force policy.

3.9 Special consideration for leadership of the mission. The definitions and policies expressed here apply to the leadership of the mission and any non-professional relationships that may develop. Attention should be paid to any relationship that adversely affects morale, discipline, unit cohesion, respect for authority, or mission accomplishment. Leaders are particularly warned to remain circumspect in their interactions with subordinates and to guard against any adverse effects of such a relationship.

What? Elizabeth reread that paragraph. If she was right, then she could have a relationship with anyone on base as long as it didn't adversely affect the mission. Could that be right?

After reading the entire policy again from the beginning, Dr. Elizabeth Weir leaned back in her chair and reflected on what would happen once it was distributed to the personnel of the city. Some would find the policy much easier to follow. She would need to work out a procedure for any relationship that caused problems, a creative procedure, she thought with a smile.

Finally, leaning back to her laptop, she brought up her email and sent the policy to all personnel as an attachment. Having spent two more hours on this material, she closed her laptop, albeit unwillingly. Heading off to the mess hall for lunch, followed by her afternoon session with Kate, she decided she was looking forward to Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard's return more than usual.

TBC

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