It was a roaring blaze, almost too big for the opening that they had found nestled between buttress-rooted trees. Sizable flames licked the edges of curious leaves, drying and blackening them until they fell into the fire and rose again as a shower of sparks.

Many layers of people were reclined against the sporadic rocks, listening to the distant rumble of thunder. McKay had coaxed – well, more correctly dared a marine to climb one of the trees with his science equipment. The marine, having completed his assignment, was currently swinging haphazardly through the branches to the amusement of those below.

McKay shook his head worriedly. "This is going to end badly," he said to Zelenka, who was busy with a burnt marshmallow.

The caramelised blackness was licked tentatively before the scruffy scientist recoiled and tried to shake it off his stick.

"And it's going to be my fault. That's my career right there," he pointed to the monkey-like shadow, fumbling for a hand hold. "Right there, about to hit the ground with a thud."

"Yick," Zelenka tried to pull his fingers apart but they were stuck together by the remains of the marshmallow. He continued with a rant in Czech which encompassed the stick, fire, sky and stars until he was tapped on the shoulder.

Rodney McKay stared at him with a look of sheer annoyance. "English!" he said, shaking his head.

The alcohol was well underway and the sheer volume that had made it up the long hike was impressive. When they really wanted to, the Atlantis expedition could do great things.

"Need your help," announced a voice behind Rodney. A moment later he found himself hauled to his feet by a determined set of hands and then dragged off around the fire out of sight. Rodney cried for help, but Zelenka was too busy threading another marshmallow onto his blacked stick to notice.

"Put. Me. Down." Rodney wiggled his legs, attempting to get free of the stranger. He felt like a kid on school camp, trying to avoid the attention of the popular kids in case they decided to use him as entertainment. This felt very much like his worst fear.

"Relax Rodney," Lorne said, trying to stop the body from struggling. "The Colonel's got a problem he needs you to help him with."

Rodney was released and dropped unceremoniously on the ground in front of a group of female botanists who looked rather worried and guilty.

Sheppard, tummy down on the ground, lifted his head up and waved. McKay waved back, confused until Sheppard said, "That's not McKay, that's a squid. How did we end up underwater?"

"Yesss..." McKay drawled out, "very helpful." He turned his attention to the girls. "Explain."

An adorable but currently petrified botanist with wavy auburn hair and dazzling eyes stepped forward. "It was supposed to be a joke," she gasped, her pale hands shaking. "We didn't think that he actually would, you know..."

"Actually what?" prompted Rodney, watching John attempt a 'freestyle' swim.

"We thought it was harmless," interjected one of her friends, not game enough to step forward.

"Well, we didn't know for sure," the botanist continued, "but it looked as if it was closely related to an Athosian herb." Katie, frightened by the stories she'd heard of Atlantis's head, was trying to divulge as little as possible. "Although, some of us had concerns."

"Concerns..."

"That it could have been the Night Herb."

Lorne snorted with repressed laughter behind McKay's head. They both watched as John shimmed forward to gnaw on a blade of grass.

"Damn, wish we'd brought the cameras," he said. "This is a month's worth of blackmail."

"You – be quiet!" Rodney instructed fiercely. Lorne held up his arms innocently.

"Spectator only," he reassured the scientist.

Rodney sighed at the deranged Colonel Sheppard underfoot. "You better go get the doc, Major."

"I would," replied Lorne, "except we didn't bring one."

There must have been close on a hundred people bathing in the firelight or hanging from the trees nearby. "What do you mean, there isn't one?"

Lorne shrugged. "There isn't one. They were all busy. I tried to get Lisa – you know, the gorgeous nurse who arrived last week, but Beckett said that he couldn't spare anyone. Most of us know basic first aid though."

Rodney listened to Sheppard recite the alphabet backwards. "I seriously doubt they covered this in medics 101." He turned back to the female botanist. "You – uh..."

"Katie," she replied, standing in front of the others in a protective manner.

"You come with me. We're gonna take him back to the jumper and get him to Atlantis. Yeah, that's the plan. You too Major Whatever. This is your fault as well."

Lorne scoffed. "You want to take him back looking like that? Colonel Carter will kill us – especially you. I hear you're her favourite and I also hear that those close to her have a tendency to die horribly."

"Die – horribly?" Rodney gulped.

Lorne squatted down to get a better look at Sheppard. He flashed his torch over John's eyes which were almost all iris.

"Preeeetty," said John, trying to catch the light from the torch as it tracked over the ground.

Lorne clicked it off and John started to cry.

"Now look what you've done!" yelled Rodney, as John pointed at the spot where the light had been and wailed.

"No problem. All we gotta do is keep an eye on him for a few hours. This, Night Whateveryoucallit – how long's it last?"

Katie turned to the group of girls behind and then came back with an average of their estimates. "Five to eight hours."

"I can't do five more minutes of this," Rodney pointed at the hysterical John as tears rolled down his cheeks. He kept repeating, 'the light is gone, the light is goooooooone!' between sobs.

Lorne picked John up off the ground and turned him around so that he faced the enormous bonfire. The crying stopped immediately and was replaced with an appreciative, 'ooooooh...'

"See," said Lorne. "Easy. They're like three year olds – all you've got to do is keep them entertained. My niece has got a couple."

The group, including Rodney, had almost convinced themselves that this was going to be fine until John grinned evilly and launched himself at the pretty flames.

"Whoa!" Rodney, Lorne and Katie yelled in unison, leaping on top of the Colonel.

*~*~*

Teyla and Ronon sat on the other side of the fire, locked in a silent competition of 'who could make the better spear'. It had been a popular fire-side activity in both their cultures and they were thrilled to find another individual willing to put their honour on the line to compete.

With a tree branch balanced in each of their laps, they hacked away at the wood with a sharp knife. They frowned with concentration, slashing and slicing.

"Want marshmallow?" Zelenka wandered over to them with a shredded bag housing about three puffy sweets squid-ged in the bottom. The pair ignored him as he seated himself between them.

"Good fire. I like camping," he continued, picking up a stick from behind Ronon. Pleased with it, he proceeded to thread a marshmallow on its end and extended into the roaring blaze where it quickly caught fire and vanished. With a genuine smile, he placed the remaining marshmallows on the tips of Ronon and Teyla's spears.

The two hunters stopped slicing and stared at each other first and then lowered their gaze to the Czech scientist humming happily.

*~*~*

Back in the city, Colonel Samantha Carter leant over the balcony, watching the very last linger of sunset fade into darkness. A chill settled as the stars popped out, showering the ocean in a soft glow. She couldn't see the mainland from here – which was probably a good thing. It was peaceful, for a change.

Suddenly it really felt like an alien world. The way everything moved and the sounds of the air, they were different from Earth and she liked it.

There was a soft wrap on the glass doors behind her.

"What can I do for you?" she smiled as Dr. Beckett paced around the control room. He stopped and grinned warmly as she stepped back into the room and shut the Atlantian evening outside.

"Normally I wouldn' bother you," he began. "It's jus' that Sophie was in getting a shot an' happened to mention that they'd lost contact with the science equipment sent to the mainland. She wasn' goin' ta mention it but I thought you should know. Probably nothing."

Sam folder her arms over her chest, "When is it ever nothing with Rodney involved?"

"True," he replied.

"Leave it with me, Carson. I'll see if I can raise them on the radio."