CHAPTER 130

EPISODE……………….THE KINDRED PART 2

They were extremely surprised to find him there and for a moment, didn't know what to do.

"Well, what are we still standing here for?" Beckett asked as he waved his arms. "I'd really like to get back to Atlantis where I should have been months ago!"

"Daedalus, this is Sheppard." Sheppard said.

"We read you." Caldwell said.

"We have someone we are bring with us. Prepare to transport us up." Sheppard said.

"Roger that Colonel. Before we bring you up, can you check on the General? We are still reading his T.A.R.D.I.S. in the complex." Caldwell said.

"You're what?" Sheppard asked confused.

"The General is still down there with you and his ship." Caldwell stated.

Sheppard pulled his life signs detector out and noticed a moving dot coming towards them.

"What is it?" Ronan asked.

"Something must have happened. The General and his ship are still here. Someone is coming towards us." Sheppard said.

"Ship, General who?" Beckett asked quietly, but didn't get an answer.

Everyone raised their weapons and pointed as Sheppard looked at the life signs detector again. Another guard like the others came around the corner with his a energy pistol at his side like the other guards. He started to move back to cover as he fired off a shot only to be hit by several rounds as they fired back and took cover. Seeing him down and dead, Sheppard looked at his life signs detector and still found a life sign on it, but not moving.

"Major, you watch Beckett and follow us." Sheppard said.

"Yes sir." Lorne said.

Several turns later, they came around a corner and found the T.A.R.D.I.S. still at the same place they left it. Ford was on his back, blood in his hair and around his head, though there was no signs of injury. His rifle was still on his shoulder and under his body where he landed on it. Ronan glanced around as Beckett moved through them to check on him.

"I think he was shot in the head at close range." Ronan said.

"What makes you say that? Catching him off guard is really hard." Sheppard said.

"Stun weapons have no effect on him, but those energy guns the guards had did. Plus that guy we shot a few moments ago also had one. He was probably here when the General was running back to his ship and managed to shoot him in the head before he could react. There is a burn mark on the wall back there that is recent." Ronan said while pointing.

"Makes sense. That guard wouldn't be alive if Ford saw him before hand." Rodney said.

"This is Ford Carter?" Beckett asked as they nodded. "He looks very different from when I last saw him. Well, I don't have anything with me to do a proper diagnosis, but I think he's in some sort of deep sleep. Last I heard, any head injuries he gets, depending on how bad, can take him awhile to recover. Judging by the amount of blood, I'd have to say most of his face to the back of his head was burned away by the blast. It is possible he was shot more than once as well."

"We need him awake. None of us know how to fly his ship and she can't be transported up onto the Daedalus." Sheppard said.

"I think I can do it." Rodney said.

"What, fly that thing?" Sheppard asked while pointing.

"Yeah, he told me some of the basics." Rodney said.

"I don't think so McKay. We could wind up anywhere." Sheppard stated.

"Well we know we can't have Sam come and do it for us since it would take to long for the Daedalus to go get her." Rodney stated.

"Why not call her for help?" Ronan asked as he picked up the cell phone from Fords inner pocket.

"Great idea! He only has to be in the ship so anyone can pilot her!" Rodney said while grabbing the phone. "That is if she lets them."

"Do you think she will let us?" Lorne asked while nodding at the ship.

"I think so." Rodney said while finding Sam's number. "Hey Sam, we got a little problem."

With her guidance, Rodney managed to actually get the T.A.R.D.I.S. to land behind the Colonel's chair on the Daedalus. Though it took about ten minutes because he landed on the ship above the bridge and then under the ship beneath the bridge. Once they landed in the right spot, the ship jumped into hyperspace and got back to Atlantis. Ford finally awoke towards the final stretch of the trip back and blew up at himself, in the T.A.R.D.I.S. at not paying more attention to what he was doing. He was further irritated when he tried to go back and follow the Wraith ship only to get a warning signal that told him that he couldn't go back unless he wanted to risk the chance of causing devastating damage to space and time since the concentration of the special energy only the T.A.R.D.I.S. generated was growing with each time he kept going back within a certain time period. Over the last, going on two days, he had done a lot of going back in time within those two days and went over the safety limit.

The only thing that helped keep his rage in check was that he was sure that Michael wouldn't kill her since there was a very good chance he was behind the theft of the Athosians. Which meant he probably wanted Teyla for some purpose which meant she had to be alive. They all agreed that was a very distinct and probable outcome and Ford felt that if anything did happen, he would be able to go back and save her if it came down to it and had to do it with a different time machine he could build. It wouldn't be as safe or predictable, but get the job done nonetheless. With that problem out of the way, they turned to the new one.

Beckett was checked out by Keller and by a scan K-9 did, comparing it with the last blood check Beckett had. Though K-9 was doing a more through check down to the microscopic level, the test they did showed he was indeed Carson Beckett. And all indicators showed he wasn't a Replicator either. Just to be on the safe side, he was placed in one of the observation rooms that people could look down into, the same room that Rodney was in when he had the evil persona of Sheppard in him that tried to kill him with a dream about being eaten by a whale.

For the moment, they had yet to tell him anything other than they were checking on a few things, telling him they'd tell him the results later. Ford was sitting down in the chair in the room below as Keller and a couple other doctors were running a few test on him while wearing isolation suits, just in case. Sheppard, Carter, Ronan and Rodney were up above watching as the test were being done.

"This is just weird." Ronan said.

"Got to be worse for him. He has no idea of anything that has happened yet." Carter said shaking her head. "When Ford was doing a check on him in the T.A.R.D.I.S., Beckett told him quite a few things, which he then told me. This Beckett has no idea we think he is dead."

"Oh god." Rodney muttered sadly.

"Once we get the rest of these test done, can you talk to him McKay?" Carter asked.

"Yeah, sure." Rodney said.

Looking and following a light in front of his eyes, he blinked as it was taken away and Keller stood in front of him.

"I'm really sorry about all of this Doctor." Keller said.

"Ah, don't worry about it lass. I understand the reason for following protocol all to well. Being captured for so long, I would run anyone else though a load of test as well." Beckett said with a knowing smile. "I did write the protocol. However, if you take any more blood, I might faint."

"That's the last we need." Keller said as another doctor took the needle out.

"Be sure to check for trace narcotics as well. Michael was giving me some sort of drug cocktail that I believe was laced with sedatives." Beckett said.

"Compared with your last blood work, we did find something unusual, which they are checking on." Ford said. "That probably explains it, but not what it is."

Keller nodded and left, going upstairs. They all turned around as she came in with her hood off and holding a tablet.

"Learned anything new?" Carter asked.

"Nothing so far. Preliminary test and the ones K-9 did along with those in the T.A.R.D.I.S. show that he is Carson Beckett. Even the quantum signature is right. There is no indications that he was created by nanites at any time either. Whatever has happened, that is Carson Beckett." Keller said.

"You are still going over other test though?" Carter asked.

"Yes. It may be a few hours to a couple days depending on how many test I do after ruling out what the other test say. If I find anything, I'll let you know. Any update on K-911?" Keller asked.

"Still in the building stage." Carter said. "Mostly programming work."

"Wait, you're building another K-9?" Rodney asked.

"For medical purposes. Our K-9 is more scientific based, so even though he can access and understand medical knowledge, it's not what he was really programmed for. Assembling a K-9 unit is very easy. Once you have all the parts, you put it together. The problem comes down to the programming." Carter said. "The laser system alone is extremely difficult. Only because we are modifying it for medical use."

"Yeah, that does take awhile." Rodney said in understanding as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I would ask for one myself, but…"

"Yeah, we would leave it to you to program him since you already know how to do that." Carter said with a small smile. "I can put in a request…"

"No. I think I can handle things myself, for now. I'll think on it though." Rodney said.

"I think he'd be more worried about arguing with it, even though he programmed it." Keller said as Carter laughed lightly and both were surprised when the man said nothing but continued to look at his friend below.

A few hours later, Beckett was walking around the room, still confined, but at least he had more than just the bed. A couple of chairs, a small table and a empty plate that had food that Ford made for him.

"Oh, Rodney." Beckett said happy to see someone.

"Hey Carson." Rodney said waving a hand. "Sorry I didn't come down right away after they changed everything around. Been really hectic the last few days."

"That's all right, I understand. Any word on when I can get out of here?" Beckett asked.

"Um, well, that may take some time, though I hear Ford is pushing for it." Rodney said.

"Really? Pushing for it as well? Why?" Beckett asked confused.

"Different circumstances." Rodney said glancing around. "But it is so good to see you again."

"Likewise." Beckett said shaking his hand before sitting down and waving at the chair for Rodney to join him. "Think about how I have been feeling though. I've been waiting for rescue for two years."

"Two years?" Rodney asked.

"Aye, since M8G-352. That planet were we left Michael and the rest of the other converted Wraith." Beckett said nodding. "You do remember?"

"Right, where you were captured." Rodney said after a moment.

"Aye. Don't you remember?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, but um, we need you to fill in some details for us." Rodney said.

"Well, as you may have already guessed, the treatment was less than a hundred percent affective. Despite the daily injections, some of them began to revert, including Michael. I think they used their Wraith telepathic abilities to summon a Wraith ship, but I can't be certain. All I know was, I was being interrogated by Michael, and he must have gave me an injection of some kind, because the next thing I know, I woke up on some other planet." Beckett said.

"Why did he capture you?" Rodney asked.

"He wanted me to help with his research, combining human and Wraith DNA. Of course I refused at first, but then one day, he brought another prisoner into my cell. She couldn't have been more than twenty years of age, and he killed her in cold blood right in front of me. And then he told me, for everyday I refused to cooperate, he would kill another one just like her, some even younger. From that day on, I had no choice but to help." Beckett said.

"I am so sorry Carson." Rodney said sympathetically.

"There was many times I thought about giving up hope, but that was when I thought about you and the rest of the team. I knew you would be out there somewhere looking for me. I must admit, I was surprised, but in a good way, when I found out that Ford Carter even came to help. You guys and Weir must have pulled some big strings to get them to come." Beckett said amazed.

"Yeah, sorry to say this, but we weren't there looking for you." Rodney said as easily as possible.

"Excuse me?" Beckett asked unsure if he heard correctly.

"With us, back on M8G-352, we rescued you from Michael and got you back to Atlantis safely." Rodney stated.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Beckett asked.

"Obviously not you, but another you. Another Carson Beckett." Rodney said.

"Is this a joke? Because I remember you were not very good at them to begin with." Beckett stated.

"Yeah, I still haven't improved that and I really wish this was a joke, but it is not." Rodney said sadly.

"Are you telling me there is another Carson Beckett running around Atlantis?" Beckett asked.

"No." Rodney said.

"Rodney!" Beckett exclaimed.

"We brought him back to Atlantis, he went back to his duties and life as normal like the rest of us. Then misfortune came six months later when a explosion happened and he died. We weren't looking for you, because, we all thought you were dead." Rodney said sadly. "I'm sorry Carson."

"Have you heard anything new from Todd yet?" Carter asked as they talked in her office.

"No. He says that he's told us everything he knows about Michael, but I think he is lying." Sheppard said.

"We need new intel from somewhere else. Unfortunately, Ford can't go back in time, within certain moments anyway, to get anything." Carter said.

"Yeah, he's already explained why he can't leave, even though it was well over my head. Can I talk to Beckett?" Sheppard asked.

"I figured you were going to ask that. Ford is pretty sure that Beckett is either a clone or the Beckett that died here, was a clone. And as much as I agree that he seems safe enough to let out, but be watched for awhile, just in case, there is a few rules I can't bring myself to break, unlike Ford." Carter said.

"Yeah, he's broken a lot of them." Sheppard said with a nod.

"Even though, in many ways, I could care less about my record, I'd rather retired with good marks instead of leaving with bad marks and people thinking I left because of that. Once everything we've done for the past ten years plus gets out to the public, we are either going to be famous or infamous. I'd rather look like someone who tried to keep Ford in line than being someone who went along with most of his ideas." Carter said.

"Even though you have." Sheppard said.

"A lot of them are justifiable." Carter said with a sigh. "You can talk to him, but remember, this could very well be a trap, even though all the different test say there is nothing there, and, if this turns out to be someone trying to use are emotions against us, the Carson you all worked with died. I really hope this isn't a trick or trap, because to many emotions are conflicted as it is right now."

"I know. I'll be careful and let Rodney know the same." Sheppard said.

"I'm sorry Carson, I know this a lot to take in…." Rodney said.

"Aye, you're damn right it is!" Beckett exclaimed while still thinking with his hands intertwined under his chin. "First you tell me that I'm not Carson Beckett and then you tell me the other one died in an explosion. Oh god, you didn't tell my mother did you?"

"Well, yeah." Rodney said.

"Good Lord!" Beckett said shaking his head.

"You were dead, I'm sorry to be blunt, but we buried you. There was a funeral and a casket at her memorial church, I was there." Rodney said.

"This can't be happening! I got to go talk to her." Beckett said heading for the door.

"You can't!" Rodney said stepping in the way. "Do you have any idea what kind of effect that would have? What would you would even say to her?!"

"I'll tell her the Air Force made a bloody mistake!" Beckett yelled.

"Carson…." Rodney began.

"No, this is too much! Get Doctor Weir in here now, I want to speak to her!" Beckett said waving a hand at the door.

Rodney opened his mouth and then closed it, trying to come up with the right words.

"What is it?" Beckett asked.

"I can't." Rodney said looking at the floor.

"Why not?!" Beckett exclaimed.

"She's dead Carson." Rodney said sadly. "She was killed by the Replicators. She sacrificed herself to save us."

Carson sat down again shaking his head at the news.

"I'm sorry Carson, I don't know what else to say." Rodney said.

"You know, for the better part of the two years, I often imagined what it would be like when I finally got back. This is in no way how I pictured things." Beckett said also saddened by the news. "Something tells me that Ford and Samantha are here for other reasons then if you weren't trying to save me."

"They um, not by their own choice, were asked to take over after Weir died. Apparently the President asked them personally and they didn't turn it down." Rodney said.

"How long?" Beckett asked.

"About a year, or just over. Technically, they have been here longer, but having the T.A.R.D.I.S. has made it possible for them to come and go a lot, usually at night. They were once gone for a week, but for us, it was one night. Sam totally forgot what her plans were for that day when she got back to work." Rodney said.

"How did that happen? He shouldn't exist, it's a TV show!" Beckett exclaimed.

"One of my favorites too. Well, I don't have the whole story, but here's what I know…." Rodney said sitting down.

Michaels Wraith Cruiser landed on a planet that once had many people on it, until the Wraith came along many years ago and wiped out most of the population. Though most of the planet and the structures left were destroyed or in ruin, a small city that managed to keep from getting bombarded, had many old warehouses and other buildings that were in a state of decay. It was perfect for the plans Michael had and was still doing as he, a few people changed into what he was, and Teyla walked through a few of the buildings as they headed for a specific place.

"What is this place?" Teyla asked.

"Just another world, destroyed by the Wraith, abandoned by the people, and forgotten by both." Michael said offhandedly. "A perfect place to conduct my work."

Entering one of the old warehouses with two levels, they walked down a short hallway and up to a old metal door. He instructed one of the men to open it, which he did as she watched as Michael spoke.

"I'll leave you to get, reacquainted." Michael said waving her to go in.

She went in and was happy, surprised and saddened as the door closed behind her and was locked. She slowly walked forward as many people started to get up from various places and came towards her muttering different things.

"Teyla?" Holland asked with shock and surprise.

"Holland!" Teyla said in surprise.

He smiled and walked down greeting her at the end of the stairs, grasping her hands and then they touched foreheads as they usually did when greeting. All of them were still wearing most of the clothes she remembered seeing them in, though they were in really bad condition. Michael obviously did enough to keep them alive and warm for the most part, but not enough to keep them looking or being healthy enough to try fighting back or having enough strength to really run away and get anywhere if they managed it.

Ford, still feeling miffed at himself for his failures, was walking along with Sam to the infirmary to see Keller since she called Sam over an hour ago to tell them she found something with one of the test she did on Carson. The two would have been there sooner, but Sam had to deal with a important communication from Earth from SG-1 and Landry, plus dealings with the I.O.A. on some matter they deemed of the utmost importance but to her was a minor detail that could be dealt with later. Instead of using the option of having the guy come and talk to her directly, she got it finished in thirty minutes by talking to the guy over a secure channel. Ford asked her about it during the walk to the infirmary and she said it had to do with a project she was working on before getting the transfer to Atlantis where she handed it off to a team at Area 51. The said project dealt with some upgrades to some systems and building something that would take at least a year to do. Towards the end, they got lost and couldn't figure it out so they had little choice but to get answers from her and because the I.O.A. involved themselves in most of the SGC projects, personnel and various other things more often than before, it turned into a big questions and answers mess that almost gave her a headache because they screwed up and had to go back several steps to fix it and then move on.

"The I.O.A. is getting to be a bigger and bigger pain in the ass each time we hear from them. I still get emails and letters from them wanting to know what new news we have for them concerning the capabilities of the T.A.R.D.I.S. that we should be sharing with them." Ford said.

"I get the same things." Carter said rubbing her forehead.

"Headache?" Ford asked.

"That's mostly gone. But the tension from all that has moved to my shoulders." Carter said.

"I can fix that. If you are feeling good, especially if I was behind helping you get there, then I am happy." Ford said wrapping his arm around her waist.

"What do you have in mind?" Carter asked a bit curious.

"Well…" Ford said as they entered the infirmary and he grabbed a rolling stool. "You sit here. And while we listen to the good doctor, I'll rubbed give you a massage."

"That sounds perfect." Carter said sitting down with a happy sigh.

Keller looked up from the monitor she was looking at and working with as she heard and then saw them coming over.

"I know he is childish and I've even seen him spin on one of my stools before, but you, I never expected to see." Keller said.

"As much as I wish I could go do something with more fun to it, I'm not doing that right now. I just recently got done talking with the I.O.A., answering questions and other stuff that just about drove me nuts." Carter said as she tilted her head forward so he could get the kinks out of her upper neck.

"Your muscles are so tense I'd swear you seem ready to punch something." Ford said.

"I felt like it, but restrained myself hitting the screen. If he was here, probably. Since it was just a screen, I didn't want to cut my hand up. So, you called and said you had something for us to see?" Carter said.

"Yes. K-9 helped me find it after I decided to run a particular test that I once did on Ford. I also did it on you and am still surprised that your test says you are aging extremely slowly. Plus the number of years K-9 believes you'll have…" Keller said.

"Yeah, I'm still surprised after all this time too." Carter said. "What was the name of that test again?"

"It's not really a test, but more of a check of the DNA. Either way, it's called a Telomere." Keller said.

"Right, I remember now." Carter said.

"You'll have to refresh my memory." Ford said.

"Each time a cell divides, the chromosome is torn apart and rebuilt. In each process, a small part of the telomere is used up. As a result, the telomeres become shorter, the more we age, the shorter they get. In your case, they always stay the same. In Sam's case, it will take many, many years before any signs of aging will show. I wouldn't be surprised if, by the time everyone here and at the SGC has turned old and died, you still look very much like you do now." Keller said.

"Part of me keeps saying I should never have drank that stuff, but a bigger part of me says it will be worth it." Carter said with a sigh. "I try not to dwell on it much."

"I'm very happy for it, selfish reasons mostly." Ford said as he continued the massage.

"You are both luckier than most people." Keller said with a small smile.

"I'm going to guess that Carson's telomeres aren't right like they should be." Carter said.

"Yes. Compared with the last blood test he had over two years ago, those were normal. Which rules out the Carson we knew as being a clone. This Carson is a clone however. His telomeres are 30% more degraded than that of a normal person." Keller said.

"Being a clone isn't bad. But then, I had it happen and didn't have a problem with it so…" Ford said.

"We just have no idea how this Carson will deal with it." Carter said.

"Who's going to tell him?" Keller asked as they looked at each other.

Holland, one of the other people she knew and her were sitting on a old but study crate as they talked. Even with the exercising she did and other than being in top shape and excellent health, with all the stress and walking around lately, especially the long walk from the ship to their current location, she was happy to get off her tired feet.

"I did not think that I would ever see you again." Teyla said.

"Nor did we. I just wish it happened under happier circumstances." Holland said.

"Where are the rest of our people?" Teyla asked while glancing around.

"They were taken." the lady next to her said.

"Taken?" Teyla asked.

"To be experimented on, turned into one of those people…those things." she said with disgust.

"How long as this been going on?" Teyla asked.

"For many months, since the day of our arrival." Holland said sadly.

"Kanaan was one of the first." the lady said.

"I know. I saw him on Michaels ship. But I did not realize it happened to so many." Teyla said saddened by the news and also angered at the same time. "I am so sorry. I should have been there when the village was attacked."

"There was nothing you could have done. Fifty men armed with Wraith stunners infiltrated the village under the cover of night. They took us all completely by surprise." Holland said.

"These four walls have been our prison ever since." the lady said.

"We must not abandon hope. The people of Atlantis know of my disappearance. It will not be long before they come to our rescue." Teyla said strongly.

"It is a pleasant thought." the lady said with tears in her eyes. "But until today, we held the same thought about you."

Knowing Carson as Keller had, she suggested to the two that he be brought in to look at the results for himself. They saw no objections to it and had him brought to the infirmary. Sam had other work to do and left, leaving Ford behind, thanking him greatly for the massage that got rid of the kinks and pains. Rodney came in with Carson and a guard, who Ford sent away, thankful to leave since the man did know Carson and had been saved by him a few years ago.

"I knew you would want to see the results yourself." Keller said as Carson looked at the screen.

"And you are certain it is from my sample?" Beckett asked with mixed feelings.

"Yes. I ran the test twice myself and had K-9 even look. There is no mistake. I'm sorry." Keller said.

"It doesn't matter." Rodney said walking away from beside her.

"That's easy for you to say Rodney. You didn't just find out you were born in a test tube." Beckett said.

"As far as I'm concerned, my best friend just came back from the dead. I'm not going to complain over a couple telomeres." Rodney said waving at the screen.

"I thank you kindly for that, but it doesn't change the issue that I am not the real Carson Beckett." Beckett said.

"No, you're not! Because the real Carson Beckett wouldn't be standing here worrying about himself and instead trying to figure out how to help us." Rodney stated.

"I am more than willing to help Rodney, but I'm not so sure that my help would be wanted." Beckett said.

"Why not?" Rodney asked.

"Somehow, I don't think he is staying here for his own benefit." Carson said while jerking a thumb in Ford's direction.

"I'm not on guard duty." Ford said sounding offended as he got off the stool. "I'm here in case you needed to hear something from me, which seems to be the case."

"Like what? That you understand how I feel? I don't see how that is possible." Beckett said.

"Loki came back to Earth and cloned me, thinking I had what the Asguard needed to help them with their cloning problems." Ford said sitting back down again after stretching his back. "Unfortunately, I didn't help much. However, he did successfully make a clone of me, that was dying. Thor fixed the problems and when he came back, it was impossible to tell who was who. The thing that made the difference was our memories after the car crash. We talked for awhile before he decided on what he wanted to do with his life since he couldn't stay here."

"Because you were with Sam at the time." Rodney said.

"Right. Seeing as we both were going to live, basically, forever, he decided to go through that Mirror that went to other universes to start over in another SGC if possible. We never got to see him, but from what we heard from another SG-1 that came through the gate during that Stargate mishap that involved all those SG-1's coming to the base, he was doing rather well. Point is, we were the same person. We knew what we were thinking and all that stuff that makes us, us. As bad as it is that the Carson with us died, you can live out the life he didn't get to finish, if you choose so. You are him, just with different memories of the last two years." Ford said as he got up again. "Just let us know what you want to do when you decide."

"What do you think people will say? There's Carson, he's back. Or wait, that's just his clone." Beckett said sarcastically.

"The Replicators created doubles of Sheppards team. Kinda freaked out the real team, other than Rodney." Ford said.

"Yeah, we got along very well." Rodney said with a smile. "It was so nice to talk to someone who understand me."

"Anyway, the plan was to allow them to live with us and help like they usually did. They were human and replicator, to a very small point. Keller and Rodney can give you details and the story, but the point is, we were going to let them live with us. Then the Replicators came and caused trouble. They sacrificed themselves to save us, but we were still willing to let them live here. I doubt anyone here is going to have a problem with you staying and going back to being a medical doctor here. We deal with the uncertain and strange everyday. You technically coming back from the dead and going back to your life as before isn't any different. Just think about it." Ford said walking out.

"Wait, what…" Rodney began.

"Take him back to his room he used to have if it is still open or let him explore. Carson is no threat. He's a doctor, the rule is first do no harm. Besides, I trust him. That's enough for me." Ford said walking out.

"I really do not understand that man." Carson said.

"Neither do I sometimes." Rodney muttered. "So, what do you want to do? I'm hungry myself and he's been doing a lot of the cooking here. You really need to try some of his brownies…."

"Are you serious?" Carter asked in her office as she paced around.

"Come on Sam, you know me. I don't usually trust easily. And if I was making a mistake, I would have left myself a note, from the future, that Carson was a threat. Since I didn't find a note, everything must turn out well in the future." Ford said.

"He was created by Michael, one of the most dangerous enemies we have right now." Carter said.

"We've dealt with much worse." Ford said.

"I can't argue that." Carter said crossing her arms as she sat on the edge of her desk.

"Besides, his field is medicine. Not science. If he was going to do something, he'd have to do it in the infirmary where all the medical chemicals are. It's been almost an hour since I talked to him in the infirmary when he was told the results. Rodney and him talked for awhile and unless he's came back inside, he's out on one of the balconies over looking the city. Trust me, I didn't get any bad feelings about this." Ford said.

"I agree." Rodney said. "During that time I was with him, Carson is everything I remember him to be. Whatever process Michael did to clone Carson, he reproduced everything about him. Memories, personality, his mannerisms. He may be just a clone of the Carson we knew, but he is Carson. I trust him too."

"But this still could be a very elaborate trap that Michael has come up with. However he learned of you and the T.A.R.D.I.S., he managed to keep you from taking Teyla back by using all those Darts and moving to a area of space that had other Wraith vessels to keep you distracted and make it harder to locate her." Carter said.

"True, but I don't think having Carson captured was ever in his plans. If you look at it from this point of view, he created a clone of Carson and left the original behind. For all intents and purposes, we had no way of knowing there was another Carson out there. And when ours died, which he may or may not have known, we still had no knowledge of the other Carson and with ours dying, we've never even tried to look for this other one or even had any intel on the fact that a clone was out there." Ford said.

"Makes sense." Carter said thinking. "You and Sheppards team were on that planet looking for Teyla. Michaels ship dropped out of hyperspace and immediately attacked the Daedalus. He must have realized we were there for Teyla and ran away quickly instead of claiming to have her and try to negotiate for time to get Carson off the planet. I'm sure he knows we wouldn't fire on the ship with her on it."

"With as many Darts as those ships have, he could have sent them down and attacked us while getting Carson out and we'd never know about it." Ford said as he sat forward. "Since we wouldn't dare attack his ship with Teyla on it, he could attack us and make us leave because he would have the upper hand."

"But he created Carson to help him further his research." Rodney said.

"After two years and god only knows how many people that got experimented on, he or they should have come up with something by now." Carter said. "Having nothing to do for two years except research, Carson and whoever was working with him must have finished whatever it was they were trying to achieve."

"Which means he didn't have anything to loose if Carson was left behind." Ford said. "I can't understand why he took Teyla though."

"She did show compassion for him once, even when he turned back into a Wraith." Sheppard said.

"Somehow, I don't think revenge is his motive. If it was, she'd already be dead." Ford said.

"She might be at one of the places that Carson told us about." Rodney said. "Michael moved to four different locations to do his work, and Carson remembers the layout of them. He was trying to stay ahead of the Wraith and has managed to do so after all this time. Instead of blindfolding Carson, he just had to follow them around walking the same paths over and over."

"Which further proves to me that Michael never worried about us coming after Carson because we never knew about him, so there was no trouble of having Carson knowing almost everything since he wasn't going back to Atlantis." Ford said.

"They did blindfold him as they activated the DHD's though, as a precaution." Rodney said. "After that, it didn't seem like they cared if he saw where they were as long as he never saw the addresses. But he did remember one address when he was being taken to another planet by one of the mercenaries. They forget to blindfold him apparently."

"It's a start." Sheppard said.

"Hopefully it will lead to some better clues of what this research is and possibly the locations of the other three planets." Ford said getting up.

"You all have a go, but be careful. Wherever you end up, the place could be loaded with traps." Carter said.

"That's why I'm bring him along." Sheppard said jerking a thumb. "He'll hopefully spot them with that, screwdriver thingy."

Sheppards team and Major Lorne's were in the armory getting fitted and ready to go. Rodney clipped his vest into place and then took one of the offered P-90's as Ford came in with his Heavy Arms rifle at his side.

"Go ahead Rodney, I'll be right there." Carson said as he was finishing tying his boot.

Grabbing a CB unit, he headed out with the others leaving Ford, Sheppard and Ronan. As Ronan was finishing with his boot, Ford shook his head with a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Sheppard asked while hooking his P-90 to his vest.

"I wear this coat because I try to avoid pain and dying even though I go fight in the open. I once asked Ronan if he wanted a vest that could help protect him better and he said no. He will go and fight bare handed, like I will, can die if not careful, and seems to get less injuries and impacts than I do, and he wears even less. Just his leather pants and that shirt like vest." Ford said waving a hand. "And occasionally that cool coat."

"The Wraith want to capture their prey, not injure them. No amount of armor is going to stop a stun blast." Ronan said checking his energy pistol on his hip. "And armor only slows you down in a fight."

"He has a point." Sheppard said.

"True. Back when I asked, he said he was fine as he was. Had he said what he said just now back then, I would have understood it better." Ford said with a hum of thought. "I've been so used to fighting with the coat, I'm not used to fighting without it."

Ronan walked out as Sheppard was finishing his stuff and Carson was finishing his other boot.

"What's wrong with him? Is he ever going to say a word to me?" Carson asked.

"He's not used to dealing with this sort of thing. Clones, duplicates…." Sheppard said with a shrug. "He had some trouble when he came across the Replicator version of himself. He did the same thing when Elizabeth died."

"Rodney told me. It must be difficult." Beckett said.

"Yeah. Give him some time and he'll come around." Sheppard said.

"Aye." Beckett said.

"Ronan was a bit upset with us when we took over, since we didn't use the T.A.R.D.I.S. to go back and save Weir. I wanted to, but there was too many reason to not go back because of the danger." Ford said as Sheppard helped Carson put his pack on. "Seeing as he was more of a man of action like Teal'c, I told him to come at me with everything he had one day in the sparring room. I wasn't surprised when he managed to get past my defenses a few times. Anger, when used right, can be very powerful. After that day, he had more respect for me."

"I thought he respected you because you helped his friends, even though he couldn't bring them to Atlantis." Sheppard said.

"That was a different sort of respect. A warriors respect can only be gained through fighting. I know it sounds barbaric or caveman like…" Ford said.

"No, I understand it all too well." Sheppard said. "I still have bruises to prove it."

"If it wasn't for Teal'c, I don't think Sam would have understood it either." Ford said.

"Before we go, I just want to say thank you, to the both of you, for trusting me. I promise you won't regret it." Carson said as they headed for the door.

Sheppard nodded and then let Carson go first.

"Carson…" Sheppard said.

"Yes?" Beckett said turning around.

"Your radio." Sheppard said tossing him one.

"Thanks. No regrets." Beckett said.

"He almost always forgets the radio on the way out." Sheppard said as Ford laughed.

"Daniel usually ended up late or forgetting his gun. Always that bag with his notes, books and other archeological tools came first. Everything else came next if he remembered it." Ford said. "It was worth the laugh to see the look on Jack's face whenever Daniel did forget his gun."

They went through the gate with Sam wishing them luck and came into a town that could have been mistaken for being Amish, except for the fact that it wasn't. It was late at night and, despite Ford groaning about it, they went to the bar anyway. Sheppard pointed out that bars usually had all the town info and gossip, so Ford relented and felt glad he had his Sonic Screwdriver on him in case he was served alcohol. When they entered, all the people shut up and looked at them as they went to the well maintained bar.

"Hmm, guess we showed up during happy hour." Sheppard said as he and Ford leaned on the bar. "Hi, we're looking for a fellow that has been known to stop in here from time to time."

The bartender continued to clean and move things behind the bar as they looked at him.

"You've come to the wrong place." he stated with a slight threatening tone.

"We haven't even told you what he looks like." Rodney stated.

"I got this guys." Ford said reaching into his pocket. "Is this worth anything here?"

"Is that gold?" Rodney asked.

"Yes. And you, bartender, can have all of it, which I am sure can more than pay for everyone in here getting a round of drinks, beside us. We're working currently." Ford said laying the gold strip down on the bar. "We just need some information."

"As much as I wish I could take that, I don't have anything to tell you. Other than your best bet would be to leave. You won't find what you want here." he said setting the bar back into Ford hand.

"What if I gave you five of these?" Ford asked reaching into his coat. "I'm sure…"

"Tempting, but…" the barkeep began.

Sheppard noticed the mans eyes stray behind them and up slightly. Ronan also noticed it as there was a click noise that the three men that knew what it was heard. Sheppard moved backwards quickly as Ronan fired a couple of shots and dived over the counter. Rodney and Carson fell backwards as Sheppard hit them, making them all get under the cover of the second floor ceiling as someone above them, in a dark corner of the second floor, fired at them. Ford, at the time Sheppard moved back, pushed the bartender in his chest with the gold bar, shoving him out of the way as the bullets hit him and the area where the bartender was. The bartender hit the floor crying out in pain as a bullet caught his leg. Ronan got up and fired a few shots as the unknown person peppered the counter top with a few burst. The bullets raked across the top running over Ford's back and back to Ronan as he tried to fire again. Sheppard heard a whine of something powering up at the same time he also heard the click of a empty gun. Ronan got up and then ducked as the weapon was thrown at him. Ford spun around and fired his energy pistol, letting off several burst rapidly that was about twenty some odd rounds. Sheppard knew whoever attacking them was hit when the banister above broke and the man fell. Ford just barely caught him before he hit the floor as he tossed his gun aside.

"Nice shooting General." Sheppard said.

"I would have shot sooner, but my coat is open so I didn't turn around. I don't think these people would handle someone coming back from the dead very well." Ford said quietly as he put the body on the counter.

"What did you do? My gun can't do that." Ronan said.

Ronan handed over the P-90 that was tossed at him as Beckett went around the bar to tend to the man's injured leg.

"A rapid burst shot I built into it. Completely depletes the power cell though. Best works at close range or on a group of people." Ford said looking the man over with his Sonic Screwdriver. "He's unconscious, took at least five of the stun blast. Not that it matters. A few other small injuries, nothing major unless you count the broken ribs. He'll live."

"He was carrying a P-90 like us?" Rodney said in wonder as Sheppard was looking at it. "How did he get one?"

"Probably the weapons Teyla's people had. Or it was taken from the stuff I gave Ronan's former friends. We can check it out later and ask the guy." Ford said while putting his stuff away.

"Doc…" Sheppard began.

"The bartender took a shot clean though his upper thigh. I've stemmed the bleeding for the moment. Give me a few minutes to finish." Beckett said.

"Alright." Sheppard said. "Let's head outside and contact the Majors team at the gate, let them know we are coming soon."

"Sorry for the trouble. You can keep that." Ford said waving at the gold on the floor.

The bartender nodded happily as Beckett finished working on the leg.

Sam was waiting at the gate as the medical team came up with a gurney.

"What's going on?" Keller asked in her blue medical outfit.

"Sheppards team is coming back. They say someone is injured." Carter said.

They waited by the gate as Sheppard and Rodney came through first.

"What happened out there?" Carter asked.

"We're all fine. The General's coat saved him from getting a back full of lead from a P-90. The guy who had it though, not fairing so well." Sheppard said standing beside her.

"P-90? How did he get it?" Carter asked.

"That's the ultimate question." Sheppard said as the rest came through.

Ford put the man on the gurney as Carson was on the other side telling them his injuries, blood pressure and O2 stats.

"He has taken several stun blast from a gun similar to Ronan's. There is three or four broken ribs on his left side along with other injuries I have yet to fully examine. Breathing is labored, but I don't believe his lung is punctured." Beckett said.

"All right, we'll take over from here." Keller said as she lifted the bandage from over his left eye. "Oh my god."

"What's wrong?" Carter asked as Keller backed up a step.

"I know this man. His name is Nabel. He was there on New Athos with Teyla when we found her people missing. He tried to kill us." Keller stated.

"That's all right now love. For the moment, we need to get him to the infirmary and stabilize his condition. Let's go lads." Beckett said pushing the gurney along with the other nurses.

As they were in the infirmary, finally stabilizing Nabel, Carson passed out while trying to put a bandage on a deep cut on the mans leg. Keller quickly had him placed in a bed and immediately checked as Nabel was finished by the other nurses and doctors.

"Carson's information lead you to that place, putting you all in danger." Carter said.

"We already knew that we went left Sam. Are you okay? I can finish up the day if you want to quit." Ford said with worry.

"Yes, no. I don't know." Carter said rubbing her forehead as she went around the desk and sat down. "The I.O.A. ragged my ass today about so many things, including tougher protocol discipline, especially on you. Though Atlantis, under my command, has been doing very well, they are looking at my mistakes and everyone else I deal with personally, instead of my accomplishments."

"That figures." Sheppard said. "They tried that crap with Weir too."

"Carson didn't set us up. We had no way of knowing we were going to be attacked. As soon as we walked in, it was obvious they knew who we were because it got very quiet and they told us to leave." Ford said.

"And it was in that way where you know they know something even though they say they don't and tell you to leave anyway." Sheppard said. "Besides, the outcome is what is important. We have one of Michaels men, who we can hope lead us to better information or to Michael directly."

"The P-90 had to be one of the ones from the weapons cache on New Athos. He was a spy planted there to begin with, it's no wonder he had one of our weapons." Rodney said.

"Well, that is one mystery solved, even if it was a ambush." Carter muttered. "That just confirms that Michael has the rest of the weapons and Teyla's people. Unless he is working for someone else and we haven't learned that yet, which is highly unlikely."

"Doctor Keller to General Carter. You need to come down to the infirmary. There is a problem with Doctor Beckett." Keller said over the speaker com in her office.

"What sort of problem?" Carter asked while looking at Ford.

"It's medical, about him. Nothing dangerous to us if that is what you are thinking." Keller said.

"We'll be right down." Carter said.

Heading down quickly, they were instantly concerned and a little shocked as they came in and found Carson unconscious and in a bed hooked up to a oxygen and some other medical equipment.

"What happened?" Ford asked as he looked around for K-9.

"He's with your daughter right now." Keller said. "She called looking for his help, so I told him to go ahead. As much as I like his help, you two are probably leaving soon, so I….."

She trailed off as Sam shook her head slightly as she stepped back out of Ford's view.

"I need to get back to knowing how to do it myself anyway." Keller said quickly as Ford raised a eyebrow. "I'll have my own dog soon as well…."

"Yet, I'm making you a K-9 unit…wait, why would we be leaving?" Ford asked tilting his head slightly.

"No reason." Keller said quickly as the various people in the room looked at the three. "So, unto Carson's problem…."

"Whoa, wait, you said leaving like you know something I don't….Sam?" Ford asked while slowly turning around.

"We'll talk later." Carter said crossing her arms with a tone he understood.

"Okay." Ford said drawing the word out in confusion.

The others saw it radiating off him as he turned back around thinking hard and Sam asked Keller to continue.

"Now, Carson collapsed in the middle of working on Nabel. I did a scan quickly finding he has necrosis in several of his internal organs. His cells aren't renewing enough to sustain tissue function." Keller said.

"Jack's clone had the same sort of problem, though it was a much slower degradation." Ford said, obviously still thinking on what it could be that Sam was keeping hidden.

"Jack's clone was also created by the Asguard, who had been cloning for a lot longer than anyone else we've came across." Carter said. "Is it because Carson is a clone that this is happening?"

"That's the only thing I can think of. Right now, I have him on a treatment that is promoting cell growth, but really, I might as well be trying to cure old age as well. That will only last so long before his body fails." Keller said. "He slowly dying."

"I'm going to guess that bringing Vala to help with the healing…" Ford said as she shook her head.

"That would only work for awhile, but eventually, the break down would start again. Sort of like that Ori plague." Keller said.

"Does he know?" Carter asked.

"I doubt it. I'll be telling him as soon as he wakes though. I asked K-9, but he doesn't believe that anything in the T.A.R.D.I.S. could help Carson and suggested that putting him into one of the stasis chambers would be the best thing until a permanent cure could be found." Keller said.

"Do what you can and try to find a cure first, or at least something to delay it better. We'll wait until you think it's the only choice left and then put him into stasis." Carter said.

"Do you think he'll be awake soon?" Rodney asked.

"Probably. Or so the readings the machine says." Keller said pointing.

"Keep us informed." Carter said.

Sheppard and Ronan left along with Carter who came back in a few seconds later. Ford was still on at the end of the bed in deep thought when she grabbed his arm breaking him out of his train of thought.

"Are you going to stand here all day?" Carter asked. "Or sit in this case?"

"I was about to ask that myself." Keller said.

"No, I was thinking. What would you be keeping from me…" Ford said looking at Sam intently. "And why?"

"I said we can…" Carter said putting her hand on his chest.

She stopped talking as his eyes changed to realization as they moved down her body.

"You're…" Ford said tapping her abdomen lightly.

"Yes." Carter said with a smile she couldn't hide.

"General…" Keller said quickly as a smile spread across his face. "The news is great, but don't hoot and holler in here, please."

"What's going on?" Rodney asked in loss that went away quickly as he saw Sam's hand over Ford's on her abdomen. "You're pregnant again?"

"Yes. It was suppose to be a surprise…" Carter said with a happy sigh.

"I'm sorry, I thought you already talked to him…" Keller said.

"How did you know?" Ford asked. "No offense, but we've always had K-9 scan Sam…"

"He told me this morning when I felt sick. You were off working on something in the city and I had an important meeting. I wanted us to tell Sally together and my parents…" Carter said.

"Sorry I blew it. I am happy though. As much as I wish I could set up a party or something, the timing is bad. We'll have to do something later after we get Teyla back and hopefully fix the doctor too so he can join in. I'll keep it quiet." Ford said. "Though I can't deny I want to hoot and holler as Keller said."

"So will we." Keller said elbowing Rodney lightly. "We won't talk."
"Ow." Rodney said looking at her and then back at them quickly. "Yeah, my lips are sealed."

"What would leaving have to do with…" Ford asked as they left.

The two didn't hear what Carter said as they were already outside the infirmary.

Carson woke several minutes later and then Keller told him what happened as Rodney stood by the bed with her.

"No wonder I've felt like a dogs breakfast since I got here." Carson said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry Carson, I wish there was something I could do." Keller said sympathetically. "I even asked K-9 if there was anything in the T.A.R.D.I.S. infirmary to help, but he said no. He also said using a one of those hand healing devices that the Goa'uld had wouldn't do anything other than be a short fix."

"You tried love, that's what matters." Beckett said with a smile.

"Wait, this doesn't make any sense. You were with Michael for two years, why is it happening now?" Rodney asked.

"He's got a good point Carson. No offense, but with how badly your body is giving out, you should have died a long time ago. What was it that could be different?" Keller asked.

It took him a moment of thinking before it hit him.

"It was that weekly injection he was always giving me. He always said it was a sedative to keep me from trying to escape. It must have been a drug that keep my cells from deteriorating." Beckett stated.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that drug or any idea of what it was." Keller said.

"Michael always gave it to me himself. When Colonel Sheppards team rescued me, it had been four days since the last injection. Assuming it takes seven days to break down…" Beckett said while thinking.

"We scanned you the instant you got here. And you were scanned in the T.A.R.D.I.S. That must be the unknown chemicals that the readings came back with." Keller said.

"Exactly. If we can look at those readings and do another scan to see what is much more different in me now, perhaps we can find out what it is that I need." Carson said as he tried to get out of bed.

"Wait, hold on buster. Where do you think you are going?" Keller asked pushing him back into the bed lightly. "Let us work on this. The less you move, the longer you have."

"You don't seriously expect me to life here and be useless as my own life hangs in the balance do ya?" Beckett asked.

Giving Rodney a look, he sighed and then shrugged.

"Very well, but the moment you start to over do it, I will have Ronan come in here and put you in bed, understand?" Keller said.

"Aye." Beckett said.

Most of her people had went back to sleep as night time came. She was however restless and praying for help to arrive soon. Hearing someone outside the room, she got up from the small bench and walked to look out the cell doors.

"Kanaan, look at me." Teyla ordered.

It took almost a minute before he slowly turned his head.

"You know who I am. I do not know what Michael has done to you, but I do know, that deep down, the man that I know is still in there." Teyla said as he walked up to the door. "I need you help. We, need you help. If we do not find a way out of here quickly, then Michael will force on us, what he has forced on you. Our child will be born soon, and Michael will take him away to be used for some terrible purpose. You must not let that happen."

She could see she was getting through to him and felt hope surge through her as he began reaching out. Some loud noise in the distance startled them both and made him look around before walking away as she called out to him.

That night, the family sat down together in Sally's room to talk. Sam's parents were sitting in the two recliner chairs by the wall at the end of her bed as Sam sat on one side of the bed with Sally in the middle and Ford on the other side. It took a little bit longer to tell Sally what was happening without telling her about the facts of life when she asked how it happened. After Sally understood, at least to the point that she was going to have a sister or brother, they moved onto what Sam wanted to talk about that came up in the infirmary.

"Sam, are you sure about this? Your whole life has been about getting to this point." Jacob said.

"I never really wanted command as much as I like having a family dad. If we both retired, we could spend so much more time with Sally and you two instead of having breakfast, lunch, dinner and doing what we can at night. I don't mind going off in the T.A.R.D.I.S. almost every night to have family outings, but once the baby arrives, I can't work here and take care of him or her like I did with Sally at the SGC. There it was more safer. Here, we never know when the next attack or something even worse could happen." Carter said.

"I don't mind retiring. I would like to get away from working all the time. We could go live in the mansion, full time for the most part, and go off into the universe or some other universe at our leisure." Ford said. "The people here know how to take care of the city very well. They were doing it before we arrived and I'm sure we can give glowing recommendation for people we think could do the job after we leave."

"You know John doesn't want the job, right?" Amy asked.

"He's better off in the field." Carter said. "Just like Jack should have stayed. Really, we weren't really trying but more or less hoping. If it happened, we were thinking of retirement. If not, we'd stay here until it happened."

"And it happened. How long did K-9 say it has been anyway?" Ford asked.

"Almost three weeks. He's been keeping watch on me for awhile since my period was late. It wasn't until he was sure that I was pregnant and not growing a tumor or something that he told me this morning." Carter said holding their tired daughter closer to her.

"What will you do if either of you are needed?" Jacob asked.

"We can come in and help and then leave when we are done. We can leave a cell phone here permanently that they can use to call us if they need help and if SG-1 ever needs us, they can do the same." Ford said. "Doesn't matter if we are in the future or past, we can still get there."

"What if we are in another universe?" Amy asked.

"We'll get the message once we get back in this universe." Carter said. "Being a time machine, we can drop in any time."

"That's true." Jacob said. "Well, if you really want to do this, we aren't going to stop you. I'd like to see more of Earth again anyway."

"I think it is a good idea." Amy said. "Spending more time on family matters is more important than work."

"I know, I'm still trying to make up for all those missed years." Jacob said patting her hand.

"We'll also see more of Mark and his family hopefully too." Amy said.

"When do you want to tell everyone you are both retiring?" Jacob asked.

"We're going to wait until we get Teyla back." Carter said.

"But that could be awhile." Jacob said. "You might end up having the baby before…"

"No, I'm confident we'll find her first. We aren't letting her have that baby on some unknown world." Ford said. "We want to be there to see her son and she wants us there to. Plus, I promised to help find her people. If Michael has both her and her people like we suspect, we'll have this all sorted out soon."

"Well, we will all hope and pray for the best and leave it at that." Jacob said.

"I think it's time for bed for all of us." Amy said as she got up and kissed her sleeping granddaughter. "It's time for the little angel to sleep."

"That's princess." Ford pointed out.

"Princess to you two, angel to me. Grandma's prerogative." Amy stated.

"Yes mom." Carter said with a small laugh while Ford helped her tuck their little one into bed.

Later that night, everyone else was in bed and the night shift had taken over. Carson and Keller were still in her office looking over the scans from the T.A.R.D.I.S. and from the ones taken in the Atlantis infirmary.

"I'm starting to go cross eyed." Carson said rubbing his eyes at he sat back.

"Well, we don't have to look anymore. I found it. There is an unknown polypeptide chain in a few of your organs." Keller said as he moved over.

"Can it be identified?" Beckett asked.

"I think so." Keller said pushing a few buttons. "There it is."

Both felt excited until they saw that it was something created with a Wraith enzyme.

"This is enormously complex. I don't think we can duplicate this." Keller said.

"What about what I heard of Ford's ship and it's matter…" Beckett began.

"From what little I understand, from what Sam told me, if there was a cure that could be made, it would create it for them if they wanted it. Since the T.A.R.D.I.S. doesn't have any samples of Wraith DNA, it has no template to work with." Keller said.

"Rodney told me he saw Ford kill several Wraith with his bare hands. Very gruesome story, but he had a lot of Wraith blood and other parts on him." Beckett said.

"Yeah, he did." Keller said with some disgust. "He stank too. Unfortunately, all those samples are already been looked at and cataloged. They were destroyed in the end so what happened to Lt. Aiden Ford didn't happened again as part of some experiments. Ford Carter and several others recommended the protocol behind that."

"That bloody figures." Beckett said.

"We also don't know if this Wraith polypeptide chain came from a normal Wraith or what Michael is." Keller said.

"I don't think it will matter." Beckett said.

"But it might." Keller said.

"Let's see what we can do and hope for the best love." Beckett said patting her arm. "My life is on the line here and I'd rather try while my mind is still functioning."

Morning came and instead of being peaceful, it was brusque as the door opened and awoke many of the Athosians as several unknown men came in.

"Do not incite them." Holland said quickly as he moved to be in front of her.

"Her." one of the men said while pointing.

"No, you will take me instead." Holland said standing in front of Teyla protectively.

He was backhanded aside and when she and others rushed to his aide, a few men pulled them apart and practically dragged her away as her people cried out. When guns were pulled, they shut up and hid. Leaving with her, the door was closed and locked again quickly.

They had been going over trying to recreate the chain needed for awhile with no real results yet.

"Let me know the moment when you have the test results on this." Keller said handing over a small vial.

"Yes ma'am." the nurse said walking away.

"Dammit." Carson swore as he looked away from a high powered microscope.

"What is it?" Keller asked.

"See for yourself." Beckett said moving back as she looked.

"The primer is not annealing to the DNA template." Keller said while backing away.

"There is too many contaminates. It means we are back to square one." Carson said with a sigh of anger.

"I'm sorry Carson, but we've only been at this for a little while. We knew it wasn't going to be easy." Keller said.

"I was really hoping for a major breakthrough by now." Beckett said.

When he jerked slightly as pain went through him and for a moment, made it difficult to stand, she knew he was beginning to overdo it.

"Okay, that's enough." Keller said.

"No, I can't stop now." Beckett said brushing her arm off his. "We have to continue…"

"Carson, you're only making yourself worse. Me and my staff can continue to work on this. We may find that breakthrough in the next several test or nor for a year. And you don't have a year. The best option right now is to put you into status before your condition worsens to the point that even if we had the cure it wouldn't work because of how far the deterioration is, understand?" Keller said.

"Oh no, I'm not getting into one of those bloody things!" Beckett exclaimed.

"But it is our best bet. You'll still be as you are when we find the cure making the chances of it work much better." Keller said.

"And what if you never find it? I'll be stuck in that damnable machine for god only knows how long?!" Beckett yelled.

"Isn't that better than trying in vain to find the cure for this while the clock is ticking away at your own life?" Keller asked.

"No." Beckett stated firmly as he went back to work.

Teyla was taken to a lab area in the complex where there was several large shelf like objects that stood side by side, a few feet apart, and though mostly dark, the shapes in the dim light inside each bed showed the outline of someone there. Each person was hooked up to small hoses and other medical equipment in each bed that went to a Wraith computer nearby. In the middle of the large dark room was a metal bed system that tilted, obviously meant for a woman because it allowed the legs to part rather widely. A bright light from above lit that small section and nothing else making the rest of the room seem much darker. A few different solid tables were around the bed with different instruments on them or had a computer system. Michael wasn't in the room when she was brought in and then strapped down to the bed against her will. They left, with the bed tilted more than 45 degrees.

"Michael?" Teyla asked into the darkness after a few minutes.

She was a bit surprised but relieved when Kanaan came into her view and stood there like a guard.

"Kanaan, look at me." Teyla said with a demanding tone that got his attention and made him turn to her. "You must release me. Michael will be here very soon. Please let me go. I can help you and the rest of our people escape."

She wasn't sure she got through to him and started to feel scared not only for herself, but for her child as he looked at her with the same blank look. Her eyes lit up when his eyes had the look she remembered seeing in him before his change.

"Teyla?" Kanaan said.

"Yes, it is me. Please, let me go. Michael wishes to use our child for some evil purpose. We can't allow that." Teyla said as her eyes became teary.

He put his hand on her belly with a smile that matched hers as she knew he was back to his normal self, or at least to what she remember. He started removing the metal cuff on her left arm by using some straight tool from the nearby table, which made her feel hopeful for rescue and or escape when he suddenly stopped and stood up straight again with the blank stare.

"Kanaan, what is it?" Teyla asked.

He continued the blank stare as Michael walked into the room from a entrance south of her. He looked at her and then him before dismissing Kanaan away.

"Now, let us get started, shall we?" Michael said.

Ford, Sheppard, Rodney, Keller and Ronan were in the infirmary near a bed that Nabel was on. He was in a white hospital gown with his hands on his chest. They were all waiting for him to wake up, which Keller said should be any moment. The others were on Nabels left and Ford was on his right.

"Hmm, I see you once again opted to save my life." Nabel said after waking up and seeing her near his head with arms crossed and a very unhappy look on her face.

"It wasn't a easy decision. I really had to think if it was worth the effort." Keller said with distain.

"She only did so because you have information we need." Sheppard said with his hands on his hips.

"Ah yes, about Michael. I knew that when you showed up at that bar. Sorry, you wasted your time. I'm not talking." Nabel said staring at the ceiling and then noticing someone else beside him. "Aren't you suppose to be dead? I shot you with most of the ammo."

"True, but my coat is bullet proof. Hell, it's just about anything proof." Ford said casually. Leaving his hands in his suit pockets, he leaned over slightly as his friendly looking demeanor turned into a look that made the man visibly flinch. "Michael took someone very important from us, so we need to know where she is. You cooperate, you may live and even get to leave. If not, I will make what is left of your life a living hell."

"It doesn't matter what you do to me. Once he finds out, if he hasn't already, that I have been captured, I'm as good as dead. He has spies everywhere in this galaxy." Nabel said ignoring the threat.

"Not here." Sheppard said. "And especially not in a few other galaxies we know."

"I had to modify this technology to work for humans." Michael said as he walked around her and picked up some Wraith device that looked like a hand held mirror of sorts, but had a cord going from it to the computer. "It's crude, but remarkably effective."

"Michael…" Teyla said as he was working on the Wraith computer. "Whatever has happened to us in the past, I beg you, do not harm my child."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Michael said sincerely as he picked up the device again and put it just above her belly. "Now, just relax. This will not hurt at all. Listen closely."

The device turned on with a audibly blip and showed a red light across her belly as he moved it around. A healthy heart beat noise was emitted as it scanned her child.

"Hear that? Your baby is very healthy. Now look." Michael said as he activated something on the device while still scanning. The screen changed to have a ultra sound like picture of the child which she did see. "See, he is perfectly healthy and doing just fine."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Teyla asked as he put the device back and went to a computer behind her and the bed. Rage and fear were in her voice as she continued. "On the ship, Kanaan said our child would serve the cause. What did he mean by that?"

"You have the gift, and so does Kanaan." Michael stated while still working on the computer. "Have you ever stopped to think of what that means for your son?"

Mixed emotions crossed her face as he moved back into her sight.

"He is very unique. I have had much success with my hybrids, but there is still some complications and other details that need to be worked out. Your child will help me do that." Michael said.

Disgust was on her face as he turned away and grabbed a vial of some yellowish liquid and a glass syringe.

"You have taken very good care of him. You should be proud." Michael said filling the syringe. "Even so, I believe he could use a little help."

"Michael, please…" Teyla begged as he turned and held up the syringe.

"I need this child. I cannot afford to let anything happen to him." Michael stated.

Not being able to move, she couldn't help her overwhelming fear to come out as he put the needle into her, causing her pain and even more fear of the unknown to what he was doing to her child.

"How did it go?" Carter asked as they walked to the conference room.

"Nabel gave up the address. I think the threat Ford made to him about doing something to his manhood brought about the quick turn to help. Ronan also promised to beat him within an inch of his life and then Keller said she'd do everything she could to fix him up so they could do all that damage again until he talked." Sheppard said.

"Really?" Carter said. "Then again, not surprising."

"The General's plan. I know Ronan meant every word and I'm pretty sure that the General did, but we could tell that Doctor Keller wasn't going to allow it if it came down to having to make good on the threat." Sheppard said.

"Ford's told me that he has used that threat many times on several other people, and pretty much all of them caved when a needle was brought out. We had one guy, back at the SGC, that had to do with a rescue, I think. Or was it information retrieval? Whatever it was, Teal'c and Ford were both in the room with the guy and hearing whatever Teal'c said, plus Fords threat, the man caved quickly and spoke before the rest of SG-1 could even walk away from the door. We left him on the floor bawling in fear and messed himself. To this day, we still haven't heard what Teal'c said to the man. All Ford said was that the threat Teal'c made was just as bad as the threat he made." Carter said.

"When I heard him say it to Nabel, it even made Ronan cringe." Sheppard said.

"Did you?" Carter asked.

"I'd be lying if I said no. Keller looked disgusted and had to shake off the thought. Point is, we know where she is and Carson knows the lay out." Sheppard said.

In the conference room, all of Sheppards team was there along with both Generals and Carson. A dry eraser board was drawn on it, crudely, and Carson was giving them the details.

"This is one of Michaels more larger facilities. The main lab is located in the center of the building." Carson said as he marked places on the crude map. "Not to mention the fact that this entire place will be heavily guarded."

"Great." Sheppard muttered.

"Are you absolutely sure this is the right place?" Carter asked.

"With the description that Nabel gave, trust me, this is the place. I've been there dozens of times and know the lay out very well. I think I should go with to help point things out better." Beckett said gesturing at the map. "This entire complex is like a large maze. You can get lost or turned around very easily, not to mention that most of the place is dark to begin with."

"Thanks Carson. We'll get back to you when we have a plan." Carter said.

He nodded and placed the marker on the tray and then left as the others sat down.

"What do you all think?" Carter asked.

"I say he goes." Ford said.

"Same here. Even if this is a trap, whether he is there or not isn't going to make much difference." Ronan said.

"If it is not a trap, his insight into where to go will be a great help." Sheppard said.

"Wait, we can't let him go with." Rodney stated.

"He wants to go Rodney." Carter stated.

"Yeah, and he's dying at the moment. The rest of you may think he is just some clone that we can use and then throw away when he dies…." Rodney said.

"We did not say that." Ford stated. "If he hadn't volunteered, I would have Keller have him back in the infirmary being looked after or trying to keep finding that cure for him. Failing that, put him in stasis. There is a good chance we might find that injection he needs in that lab, which means we could give him it and still have a sample to look at and make more. Even though he is a doctor, I can tell he wants to get back at Michael as much as the rest of us."

"If anything happens, at least we'll have the T.A.R.D.I.S. nearby." Rodney muttered.

"Not this time." Ford said, earning him looks from all but Carter.

"What? Why not?" Sheppard and Rodney asked.

"We think, that somehow, someway, Michael has managed to be able to detect when the T.A.R.D.I.S. is near or around. After what happened when Teyla was captured and Ford tried to go after her, it was very obvious he either knew how the T.A.R.D.I.S. operated or has some way to scan her." Carter said.

"I should have been able to land on that ship and find her quickly. I couldn't even get a minute trace and with all those Darts flying around along with the other ships…" Ford said trailing off. "Someone from Atlantis has been to this planet once before, probably before Michael was created. I didn't look at the time stamp. Even though we have the coordinates for the planet, I'm sure there is a Wraith cruiser or Hive ship nearby that is keeping a close watch."

"Once you get there, he can call the T.A.R.D.I.S. for extraction, but going in before hand would only get Michaels attention. Which could put Teyla in more danger and allow him to escape much quicker." Carter said.

"Going by gate is fine with me." Sheppard said.

As everyone else was getting ready, Rodney met up with Carson in the hallway when he fell down in pain. Instead of going to the infirmary for help, Carson insisted on going with the team no matter what was happening with him. Rodney had no choice but to relent to his request. Ford left his Heavy Arms rifle behind opting out to use his energy pistols instead to cut down on the noise. With a good luck and god speed from Carter, they went through the gate and were surprised to find no one around guarding it. Keeping to the shadows and using the life signs detector, they moved around with Carson's directions. Entering a dark building, they moved slowly and as quietly as possible.

"I'm reading a bunch of life signs." Rodney stated as the machine beeped at him.

"Probably the Athosians." Ronan said.

"Yeah, it could also be a bunchy of those Frankenstein's that Michael made." Sheppard said.

"Doubtful, all those dots are too close together while also being spread out." Ford said glancing at it.

"Doc, which way now?" Sheppard asked seeing a couple different directions to go.

"This way." Beckett said pointing to their left.

"About the same direction as the life signs." Rodney said.

As they were moving through the complex, Michael and a two other hybrids came into the room where she was still lying. Two of the hybrids stood on either side of her while Michael began working on the computer behind her.

"What's going on?" Teyla asked as Michael moved to another computer. "There is a connection between us Michael, you can't deny it. I can sense your fear."

"I wouldn't go that far. Call it, concern." Michael said while working on a computer to her left.

He moved to a computer on her right and pulled the plug on one of them. The lights in all the beds went off as they and other things shut down.

"What are you doing?" Teyla asked.

"I am shutting them down." Michael stated.

"You mean you are killing them." Teyla said with anger and sadness.

"I cannot leave any loose ends behind. Anyway, there is always more where they came from." Michael said pushing a button that lifted the cuffs off her hands and feet. "Take her to the ship. We are leaving."

With a strong grip on her arms and wrist, the two men lifted her up and started out of the room, not giving her a chance to try fighting back or escaping.

The group went up a flight of stairs that Carson pointed out. Opening the door slowly, Ford peaked out not seeing anyone or hearing anything. Sheppard and Carson came out behind him along with the others as they started to look around. Bullets bounced off various metal poles and the walls nearby as they all went for cover behind various boxes and other stuff or stayed on the stairs. They quickly returned fire immediately as they spotted their attackers. Ford hit one guy with a blast and missed the other two as they ducked out of the way. Ronan got one of them as they stood up from behind a box and started to fire.

Down the hall some ways, Holland and the others heard gun fire and got up. He ran over and looked out the cell bars, waiting to see who it was.

"I really hate getting shot at with our own guns." Sheppard muttered while reloading.

"I was more used to being shot at by staff weapons myself. Seeing your enemies fire coming at you made it easier to avoid sometimes." Ford said as he fired back and hit the same guy Ronan shot. "Hmm, that's a first."

"We need to get through these guys quickly before Michael gets a chance to run away." Sheppard said.

"I'd use my Sonic Screwdriver to make a sonic noise that would make them drop, but it would also effect you guys. And if Teyla is nearby, it may or may not cause damage to her child." Ford said firing off several shots that all missed. "Damn, I'm still not used to these things."

"Why not use your other guns then?" Ronan asked hitting another guy.

"Because with this flimsy place, my bullets would travel through most of the place and possibly hit someone other than the enemy." Ford said grazing a man who Rodney managed to take down.

"Nice job Rodney." Sheppard said taking another guy out.

"All those life signs we are getting ahead still haven't moved. They must be the prisoners." Rodney said as they moved out slowly seeing they weren't being fired at anymore.

"Hello?! Is anyone there?! You must help us!" Holland yelled.

"Did you hear that?" Ronan asked as they took cover behind a few things.

"Sounds like Holland." Rodney said.

"Is that that bald guy who is the second leader under Teyla?" Ford asked.

"Yeah. It does sound like him." Sheppard said.

"Help us, please!" Holland yelled.

They took off quickly with Carson pointing the way. Ford got there first and glanced around seeing no one guarding the area as the others ran up.

"Who…" Holland began.

"Hey Holland. Been awhile. Stand back for a moment." Ford said.

Holland did as the team outside looked away while Ford blasted the lock off.

"Colonel Sheppard and friends." Holland said as the door was opened. "It is very good to see you all again."

"Likewise." Sheppard said as the rest of the people came forward. "Where's Teyla?"

"Michael has taken her." Holland stated.

"Alright, we'll go get her. General…" Sheppard began.

"Already on it." Ford said as the cell phone connected. "Sam, we've found the Athosians. Is it safe?"

"All clear on this end." Carter said.

"Thanks. We'll be home soon after we find Teyla." Ford said.

Hanging up as he pulled his dog tags out, the T.A.R.D.I.S. soon arrived after he whistled. Sheppard and the rest of them ran off quickly as he ushered the surprised people in his ship. Ford quickly got them into a large room nearby and gave Holland a quick run down on the basic controls for getting food, water and some medical supplies if needed.

"We'll be right back with Teyla. It's best if you don't leave this room until we get back. You'll just get lost quickly. And don't touch any of the buttons either. No one but us can get in so there is nothing to fear." Ford said. "Even if someone is pounding on the door, they will never get in."

"Thank you General. We'll stay here." Holland said.

"Where's the bathroom?" a small child asked as he started out.

Giving Holland a quick rundown of the directions, Ford wasn't that surprised when over twenty people went with him.

"This door is the only one open, so you should have any trouble getting back." Ford said.

Holland nodded and then left with the group as Ford ran back to the console room and grabbed his Heavy Arms rifle. Putting the clip in quickly, he gave it a pat and then ran out, closing the door behind him.

Sheppard and the others made it to the lab just over a minute later as Ford was getting the people into his ship. They didn't see anyone around even though the lights were on.

"My god." Beckett said as he started checking out the beds and people in them. Pulling back a plastic sheet, he felt for a pulse and then spoke with sadness. "They're already dead. We're too late."

"Hey Sheppard." Ronan said waving a almost empty syringe.

"You think Teyla…" Rodney said in fear as he saw the object in Ronan's hand.

"No, I don't think so and you don't think so either." Sheppard stated firmly.

A stunner blast hit some machine near Sheppard making him and the others quickly get down and behind cover. More shots hit various places near them as more men came. Ronan turned the metal bed around and took cover behind it as Rodney and Carson stood behind a metal ladder attached to a wide pole next to the beds. Sheppard got behind the large machine and fired back only hitting the stacked crates of some sort a few of the men where hiding behind. Sheppard switched his aim to above him as a few men on the metal catwalks above fired down on their different positions. All of them fired back, neither side hitting the other. Rodney stopped and pulled his detector out as it beeped at him.

"I don't mean to rush things, but we are running out of time! I'm getting an energy reading! They are about to leave in the ship we spotted!" Rodney yelled.

He fired around the corner at the guy above and then ducked back as a few shots came at him. Carson, only using a 9mm berretta, took off to his left and around a corner. Rodney turned at the last second finding him not there and saw him go around the corner.

"Carson!" Rodney yelled before firing around the corner again.

"Great, down one man and one woman." Sheppard muttered as he fired at the guy above again. "And no General for backup."

Carson followed a path he had been on before and wasn't surprised to see Teyla and two guards holding her. The guy on her right went down from a few shots in the back followed quickly by the guy on her left as he turned and fired too late, hitting the ceiling with a stun shot.

"Carson?" Teyla asked in disbelief as she stepped back.

"I know, I'm the last person you expected to see." Beckett said reaching out.

Gun fire was heard in the background as she backed up in fear.

"It's alright, I'm here to help you." Beckett said.

"This is not possible." Teyla said backing out of his reach.

"I'm sorry, but there is no time to explain. Colonel Sheppard and the others are waiting for us back in the lab. Ford is taking care of your people in his T.A.R.D.I.S. No doubt he'll be along shortly to help the others and get us all home safely." Beckett said grabbing her arm gently. "We must hurry though."

"I can't…" Teyla began.

"Teyla.." Beckett said.

"Kanaan." Teyla stated while not moving as he pulled again. "The father of my child is still here and I will not leave here without him."

"There is no time." Beckett stated.

"Quite correct. Speaking of time, I must hurry as well before that man can find me with his interesting time ship." Michael said.

Carson quickly got in front of her and pointed his gun at Michael, who only smiled lightly without any fear.

"You should have run when you had the chance Teyla. But instead, you let your feelings get in the way." Michael said.

"Shoot him Carson, shoot him now!" Teyla said in extreme anger.

"He doesn't want to shoot me." Michael said as he stepped forward. "Or to be more straight forward, he would like nothing better. But like all my creations, he is under my influence."

Carson tried to pull the trigger and his body started to shake as he tried with all his might, but his finger refused to move no matter how much he tried.

"I'm very sorry Teyla." Beckett said in anger not only at Michael but at himself.

She went for the gun only to stop as a Wraith stunner pushed her back.

"Don't. I will stun you if I must, but it will be much easier if you are walking on your own." Michael said keeping the stunner on her. "You are coming with me if I have to drag you to my ship unconscious."

Fuming, she could only glare at him and hope the others arrived in time as Michael took the gun from Carson. Extremely heavy gun fire in the background got their attention, especially after hearing a few screams and the sound of metal bouncing off the concrete floor.

"Time is much shorter than I thought. You should have stayed with me doctor and I could have given you your shot. I do not have one on me however. You have served your purpose anyway." Michael said stunning Carson and then grabbing her arm before she could do anything.

They left quickly, despite her reluctance as Carson dropped to the floor.

Both sides were still firing at each other, no one getting hit at all. Rodney fired at the guy above them, not hitting him as he ducked behind some metal bars for protection. Sheppard quickly turned and just barely avoided firing as a new but familiar gun fire filled the air. The guy on the catwalk jerked as several rounds hit him and ripped through the metal around him. He and part of the catwalk came crashing to the ground as one of the men moved out from the cover of the crates to avoid being landed on. Sheppard and Ronan saw him, hitting him with a few shots. Ford didn't see where the other guys were but guessed someone was still on the other side of the crates and sent several burst through it. They heard a cry of pain and then nothing but the sound of a body hitting the floor seconds later. A guy nearby hiding behind a unknown square machine like Sheppard, stood and fired a shot that hit Ford but did nothing.

"You see those gas tanks General?" Sheppard asked while replacing his clip.

"What gas tanks?" Ford asked.

"Those….." Sheppard started pointing out as Ford fired a few rounds into them.

All of them ducked down and looked away, mostly expecting a large explosion. Instead, they heard the guy cry out as some sort of white mist sprayed out of the tanks filling most of the room as they exploded. It dissipated quickly and Ronan shot the guy before he could recover.

"I think that's all of them." Sheppard said as he got up.

"Where's Beckett?" Ford asked looking around.

"This way!" Rodney said pointing as he ran with the others following.

Several turns later, they found him on the ground and partial awake.

"Carson, are you alright?" Rodney asked kneeling next to him while checking for any injuries.

"I think so. What happened?" Beckett asked.

"You ran off, that's what happened." Rodney stated.

"Did you see Teyla?" Sheppard asked.

"Aye. Michael took her after he stunned me." Beckett said as Rodney and Ford helped him to his feet.

"That doesn't sound good." Ronan said as they all heard the sounds of the ship taking off.

"Call your ship. We can still get to her…" Sheppard began.

"We're too close to her position. We have to run back." Ford said taking off with them following.

Getting back to the T.A.R.D.I.S., instead of the door opening like he expected, he bounced off it and hit the ground hard.

"Right, forgot to use the screwdriver first." Ford grumbled.

Pulling the key out quickly, he got inside and started to scan only to find the ship had already jumped into hyperspace within the planets atmosphere. Plus, several Darts had went through the gate as well just recently. Two minutes later, the others came rushing in as he was still scanning.

"What took you so long?" Ford asked as he made the ship dematerialize.

"Carson can't run fast at the moment." Rodney stated as they sat him in the chair. "The stunner effect hasn't wore off yet."

Heading off after the ship, he came out of space where the readings said it dropped out of hyperspace at a nearby planet only to find the ship had left the area already after sending off several Darts and picking up more that came from the gate on the planet that then ended up sending the Darts that just left the ship through to another gate.

"Not this again." Ford growled in anger before yelling in anger that startled the others.

"What's wrong?" Rodney asked.

"Michael pulled that same damned stunt from before! We left the planet with Darts going through the gate to god only knows where and with the time it took for us to catch up with the ship, those same Darts could have went through three more gates. The ship jumped into hyperspace ten seconds after it got here, letting off several Darts and taking on a few more that came from the gate on the planet. The Darts from the ship went through the gate and by now have went through three or more gates. I didn't read her on the ship, but since they or she could be in one of the Darts to be rematerialized later, she could be anywhere now. Jumping around in time will only complicate and make things worse in the long run. We have no choice but to go home and hope we get news of her location soon." Ford growled.

"But…" Rodney began.

"He's right. Our best bet it to go back to Atlantis and hope for news of her location soon. The less time traveling this ship does right now the better our chances are of getting to her quicker." Sheppard said.

"You actually understood what I said when she was captured the first time?" Ford asked very surprised.

"I watch enough Sci-fi and working with Rodney and you all this time, I've picked up enough to understand how dangerous time travel is if you do it in the same point and time often enough." Sheppard said. "I'm not a big fan of Doctor Who like you, Sam and Rodney are, but I was bored enough one day to sit and watch a few hours of the new ones with Rodney recently."

"There's hope for you yet Sheppard. I'm impressed. We'll be home soon and then getting her before you know it." Ford said turning back to the controls.

Going back to the planet, per Sheppards command of sorts, they picked up a few people that they managed to not kill to question later. Since Ford was able to scan the planet for her and anyone else, it was no surprise they only found the people they didn't kill there and the various wild life still left on the planet.

Back on Atlantis, Keller and her staff were having a bit of a time dealing with all the Athosians as they were being treated. Those of a more serious nature were in the infirmary and a few other rooms nearby while the rest were still being checked out inside the large open room inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. where Ford landed her. Keller said it would take a better part of the day and most of tomorrow to check out all the Athosians and then he could have his ship back, unless a emergency came up.

Carson started to take a turn for the worst so Keller informed Carter that it was time since she could do little else, especially after the lab was checked in hopes of finding the injection Carson needed and unfortunately, they came up empty.

"Zelenka is getting the stasis pod ready." Carter said as she, Ford, Sheppard and Rodney were in the infirmary. "He'll be able to be put in it in about a minute."

Keller nodded as the group looked over to see Carson, lying in the bed, talking to Rodney.

"He was right there in front of me. And I tried with ever fiber of my being to pull that trigger, but couldn't do it." Beckett said.

"It's not your fault Carson. He made you susceptible to the mind link just like all the rest of those….hybrids." Rodney said.

"I still wish I could have made a difference." Beckett said.

"You did make a difference. A huge difference. We have Teyla's people back and Michael on the run. Before you know it, we'll have him and Teyla and we all can go back to worrying about just the Wraith again." Rodney said.

"Thanks Rodney, but…" Beckett said.

"No. Don't say anything about it. You're going to be just find and soon we'll be talking again, having a good time like best friends do. You'll go into the stasis pod and very soon, we'll be bring you out again to give you the cure." Rodney said.

"I'm a doctor, I know my own prognosis. Once I go into that thing, there is a very good chance I won't come out." Beckett said.

"I don't believe that for a minute. You have three great scientist and one very good doctor looking into this cure, not to mention a robot dog. We'll have this thing figured out in no time." Rodney said very confidently.

"It's time to go." Keller said as she walked up. "Trust in us Carson, we'll find this cure."

He nodded at them with a small smile of hope that didn't really reach his eyes. The small amount of machines he was hooked up to were disconnected and then he was wheeled off to the stasis room. Ford and Carter were working on the Atlantis computer controlling the pod as Carson was helped off the bed. Sheppard, Rodney, Ronan and Keller, along with Zelenka were in the room as the pod was being given the final preparations commands.

"It's all set and ready to go." Rodney said as he punched in a few final commands on the tablet in his arms.

"Remember this if nothing else Carson, we will find this cure. I have the best people working on it right now and once we're done here, I'll be back on helping them as well." Keller said.

"So will I." Rodney stated.

"Once we get Michael and save Teyla, we'll get the information we need out of him to save you. That's a promise." Sheppard said.

"Thank you, all of you." Beckett said nodding. "Oh, Samantha, can you do a favor for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Carter said walking over.

"I wrote a letter to my mother, saying things I wish I had a long time ago. You can say it was found after you shipped off my things. And don't worry, I was very careful not to divulge anything classified." Beckett said.

"We can deliver it personally tomorrow after the medical personnel are done with Teyla's people. We'll both go for you." Ford said as patted Carson shoulder. "I promise."

"Thank you both." Beckett said.

Sheppard patted him on the arm as he walked in front of him.

"Don't worry Doc, we'll have this sorted out very soon." Sheppard said.

"You bring her home safely Colonel, you understand." Beckett said.

"Count on it Doc." Sheppard said.

"This is exactly what I was afraid of." Ronan said as he now stood in front of him.

"I know big man. I'm sorry." Beckett said remorsefully.

It was a bit surprising when the two hugged, but not surprising as well since Ronan had decided his family now consisted of the core group of the Atlantis personnel, which included Carson.

"You won't feel a thing. Other than a burst of cold that will happen when the machine activates. Your life signs will be monitored on this machine 24/7." Rodney said with mixed feelings as Carson stepped into the recess in the wall.

"I want you all to know, that these last few days, have been worth every minute." Carson said as he looked at them all.

"I've been toying with the idea of putting dreams into these things. I could program it to have you fishing in the highlands, with a couple blonde masseuse perhaps?" Rodney said with a smile.

Everyone turned to look as Ford chuckled.

"Sorry, Jack had to go into ones of these and I know he would have leaped at the chance of that dream before having to go into stasis as he did." Ford said.

"Yeah, he would have." Carter said with a small knowing smile. "But with fishing for his."

"Thanks but no. I'll be fine Rodney." Beckett said.

"Okay. This isn't goodbye then, this is see you later. That's what we agreed upon." Rodney said.

"Did we?" Beckett asked.

"That's how I remember it." Rodney stated.

"That's fine then. So, I'll see you all later." Beckett said nodding.

Rodney nodded as a few others did and then he pushed the button needed, reluctantly. The pod glowed and then a glass like field came forward encompassing him.

"Well, now he's safe until we find the cure. One less worry to think about." Ford said getting a few looks.

"You make it sound so easy." Rodney said sarcastically.

"We will find that cure either on our own or from Michael and we will save Teyla. This is what we do. We promised it to him and to ourselves. If any of you are having doubts now then obviously everything that has happened and you've all done since joining the Stargate program and when it all started has been for nothing." Ford stated firmly.

It took a moment for them to all realize what he meant, minus Carter who she knew he wasn't talking to. They all nodded in understanding and all doubt in their resolve went away quickly.