Chapter 2

"No." Beckett said firmly, turning around to grab something from the medical supply rack.

"Why not?" Sheppard asked following Beckett. It was two days later and Sheppard was already facing his first challenge as 'dad; 'as Rodney had taken to calling him.

His team was up for an off-world mission and since he couldn't take the girl with him, Sheppard needed a babysitter. The problem was that she had been stuck like glue to him, and only him, for the past three days.

She didn't feel comfortable with anyone else. Sheppard had tried, but she didn't take to anyone. Except Beckett. So naturally, the Scottish doctor had been Sheppard's first choice. The child was close beside Sheppard, glancing around at all the people and strange equipment.

"Because! I have patients, and jobs to do!" Beckett said handing off his clipboard to a nurse. "We had seven personnel in here this morning alone!"

Sheppard looked around at the quiet Infirmary. "Look's like you handled it well." He commented drily.

"This isn't a joke, Colonel." Beckett said in annoyance. "What if we had a medical emergency?"

"Then you stick her in a corner and deal with it just like you have in the past." Sheppard replied. "Come on, Doc! You're the only one beside me that she likes. I can't exactly ask Rodney to do it."

Sheppard could see Beckett's resistance starting to crumble at that. "You have a point there, Colonel." He agreed reluctantly.

"Then you'll do it?" Sheppard asked. "It's only for a few hours; then we'll be back." He watched as the doctor looked down at the girl who looked back up at him.

"Alright." Beckett sighed.

"Great. Thanks, Doc." Sheppard said with a triumphant smile.

Turning to the girl, Sheppard bent down until he was eye level with her. "I have to go away for a while." He told her. "But you can stay with Beckett until I get back, alright?"

She didn't say anything, just looked back into his brown eyes.

Sheppard sighed and got up. "See you later, Doc." He said as he walked out of the Infirmary.

o0o

At first the girl was content just to watch Carson work. For the next several hours, she was at his side constantly. She watched everything he did carefully. A couple of times, Carson found himself tripping over her, but he didn't mind too much.

Finally, the girl got bored and started to goof off. After Carson had to tell her not to touch quite a few times, he decided she was better off doing something else. Grabbing his note book and a pen, he gave them to the child and sat her down in a corner.

Instinctively, she started drawing on the page. Heaving a sigh of relief, Carson gave a stern warning to one of his nurses to watch her closely and then went off to finish his rounds.

When he came back in hour later, he was surprised to see the child sitting on one of the Infirmary beds, drawing with one of the scientists that had come down a bad case of the flu.

"Well its looks like you too are getting along." He said cheerfully walking up to them.

Dr. Miko Kusanagi looked up at him with a smile. "I don't know why everyone is saying she's shy. She's actually quite bold." The child finished her drawing and handed the pen to the Doctor.

Kusanagi took it and finished her drawing of a rose. Carson lifted his eyebrows in amazement. Miko was quite the artist. He also noticed the tired look on the doctor's face.

"Come on, love." He said to the girl. "Let's go for a walk. Marie!" He called to the nurse. "Can you make sure the doctor is comfortable?"

"Yes, doctor." Marie said coming over.

Carson took the girl's hand and helped her off the bed.

"Thanks for drawing with me." Kusanagi said with a smile at the child.

The girl looked back at her, but didn't smile back. "Come on." Carson said gently and together they walked out of the Infirmary.

Marie took the notepad off the doctor's bed and raised her eyebrow. "Did you do this?" She asked pointing to the very well done portrait of Dr. Beckett.

Kusanagi looked at the drawing and shook her head. "No. I've never seen that before. We were doing flowers the entire time." She shrugged. "Maybe someone else did it."

Marie nodded as she set aside the book. But after as she putting the book back on Dr. Beckett's desk, she looked at the portrait again. No. She thought to herself. There's no way the girl did this.

But the entire time she had been watching the child, no one else had used the notebook.

o0o

Carson smiled as he watched the girl walk ahead of him. She was definitely getting bolder.

Carson's smiled faded as he wondered how everyone was doing back home; what where they doing back home. Where they wondering the exact same thing about him?

Carson was brought back into the present by a tug on his jacket sleeve. He had stopped walking and now the girl was tugging at his jacket, trying to get him to move again. They had already reached the science wing.

Carson looked down into her concerned blue eyes. We can't keep calling you the girl. He thought. "You need a name." He said aloud.

She looked up at him expectedly and then pointed to an open doorway.

"You're right." Carson said with a smile. "Let's finish our walk first."

They started walking again, and then Carson stopped as a thought hit him. "Cailean." He said. "That's it!" He bent down until he was on eye level with the child. "Cailean." He said touching her shoulder. "That'll be your name."

She gazed into his eyes and then spoke for the very first time. "Cailean." She repeated slowly, saying it perfectly, matching Carson's Scottish lilt. Then she touched his chest. "Carson." She told him.

"Right!" Carson said excitedly. "That's my name." He smiled.

Suddenly, she smiled back. It was like the sun breaking through the clouds on a cloudy day. Then she skipped away from him, unaware of what she had just done.

Carson stood and watched her skip. He smiled again. She looked happy. For the first time in three days, she was finally smiling. His smiled turned to concern as he realized what door she was about to enter; whose lab she was about to walk into.

He ran and grabbed her by the arm, but it was already too late. Dr. Rodney McKay had already heard them.

Rodney started to look up from his computer. "Radek, if that's you…." He broke off when he saw them. "Oh. Carson. What brings you down here?"

"Cailean and I are going for a walk." Carson said looking down at the girl at his side. He smiled encouragingly and she smiled back. Carson breathed a silent sigh of relief. Good, she wasn't going to run and hide from Rodney.

"Kay-lin?" Rodney repeated slowly, trying to say it like Carson and failing badly.

Carson nodded. "It's Gaelic for 'the child.'"

Rodney snorted and turned away.

"What?" Carson asked defensively. "She deserves to be called something better then the girl all the time."

"I know that." Rodney said turning back to Carson. "But couldn't you come up with something more original? Besides she's only staying a few days; don't get too attached." He turned back to his work.

"What does that mean?" Carson asked.

Rodney turned back with a sigh. "It means that she's not going to be here long, so there's no use pretending that we like her. What do you mean, what do I mean?" He asked starting to get flustered.

"I think you're just jealous because she doesn't like you." Carson said.

"What? No!" Rodney protested. "Why would I be jealous? Besides, the only people she likes are you and Sheppard; that alone says something. Don't touch that!" Rodney snapped at Cailean.

During his and Carson's conversation, she had been slowly edging closing to the work bench and the Ancient device sitting on it. At Rodney's sharp tone, Cailean shrank back from the work bench and grabbed the edge of Carson's jacket in her hand.

"Look what you've done now, Rodney; you've scared her." Carson said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and hugged Cailean to his side.

"She should be scared." Rodney replied not sounding the least bit sorry. "We have no idea what that device does. For all we know, she could have blown us all up."

Carson huffed at that, but didn't argue with him further. They had found out that Cailean hated the sound of raised voices. Carson didn't blame her. Some days it just about drove him batty listening to the amount of arguing that went on during the course of a day.

"Have you figured out what the device does do?" Carson asked.

"Almost." Rodney said tapping on his keyboard and squinting at the screen.

Carson watched him for a moment. "You don't have a clue what it does." He stated.

"Yes; of course I do." Rodney shot back getting annoyed. "Ok, no. But I'm not about to go around pressing buttons like Sheppard."

"Have you tried thinking 'on'?" Carson asked.

Rodney glared at him. "Of course I have. It must be broken of something, because it's not responding to me."

"Maybe if you tried pushing a button." Carson suggested.

"What? And blow up the entire city?" Rodney scoffed. "There's three different buttons!"

"Blue." A small voice said from beside Rodney.

They both turned to see Cailean pointing at the device. During their argument, she had moved back to the workbench. Her small finger poised over the blue button. She looked up at them. "The blue one." She insisted.

"Cailean. Don't touch." Carson warned.

Rodney started to get nervous. It wasn't everyday that your life was in the hands of a five year old kid.

"Blue." She insisted emphatically again and then pressed the blue button.

"No!" Rodney yelled.

There was a flash of yellow light, blinding them for a moment and then, silence.

Rodney opened his eyes and saw that the object had projected a stream of light towards the ceiling. He looked up and gasped. Displayed on the ceiling was a still image of the most beautiful waterfall he had ever seen. He heard Carson give a sound of appreciation from beside him.

The image flickered and then changed to an image of Atlantis, submerged under a hundred or more feet of water.

"Amazing." Rodney murmured.

"I'll say." Carson breathed still looking at the ceiling. They both looked down at each other.

"Pretty." Cailean said and they both looked over at her. She smiled at them and then pressed the red button. The image faded and then disappeared into the little device.

"How'd...?" Rodney muttered.

"I don't know." Carson replied in a low tone watching Cailean as she continued to play with the device. "She must have the Ancient gene."

Cailean held the device towards them and pressed the yellow button. A bright flash made Rodney and Carson blink.

o0o

"How did this happen, Carson?" Weir asked as she walked with Beckett towards the Infirmary. "I thought you'd examined her thoroughly."

"I did." Carson said hurrying to catch up with her. "I just didn't think to test for the Ancient gene. It's not something I usually look for in a child." He admitted. "Even if I did test for it, they wouldn't be able to know what to do with it."

Weir conceded that he had a point there. Children were too curious to be left alone in the city that everything was activated by touch and thought. "What do you suggest we do now?" She asked stopped before the doors to the Infirmary.

"She can't be left alone at all." Carson said firmly. "We need someone that she's comfortable with to keep an eye on her, and it can't be me." His tone became soft. "As much as I love the little sweetheart, I have a job to do."

"Who's watching her now?" Weir asked as they stepped into the Infirmary.

"Marie, one of my nurse's;and a Marine." Carson told her.

Weir stopped at that and turned to stare at Carson.

He held up his hands. "It wasn't my idea. Major Lorne insisted once he heard she had the Ancient gene. News travels fast around here." He said sheepishly.

Weir smiled. "Keeping the grapevine busy are we, Carson?"

"No, I believe that would be Rodney's department." Carson replied evenly. "Frankly, I think he's just a wee bit jealous over that fact that our little friend has the gene naturally." He smiled.

"Doctor Beckett!"

They both turned as a nurse ran up to them.

"Marie, what's the matter?" Carson asked in concern. "Is Cailean alright?"

"Cailean?" Weir asked. But she was ignored when Marie shook her head. "She's missing, Doctor! I just turned my back for a moment!" The young woman sounded close to tears.

"Don't worry, love." Carson soothed though his face was full of concern. "She couldn't have gotten far."

Weir's earpiece crackled. "Dr. Weir?"

Weir touched her ear and spoke. "This is Weir. Go ahead."

"Colonel Sheppard's team is requesting clearance to return to Atlantis."

Weir looked up at Carson with a worried expression on her face. "Let them in." She replied. "I'm on my way." She turned to Carson. "Carson, I suggest you get some of the Marines to start searching the base for….." She paused trying to find the name.

"Cailean." Carson supplied. "I thought she needed a name." His tone was sheepish again.

Weir nodded in understanding. "For Kay-lin. I'll deal with Colonel Sheppard."

o0o

The 'gate closed behind Sheppard and his team with a watery snap.

Weir was waiting for them in front of the stairs. "How'd it go?" She asked.

"Wet." Sheppard said he ran a hand through his hair, shaking water droplets to the floor. "We walked right into a downpour. How's everything here?" He sounded like he was talking about base security, but Weir knew he was talking about the girl; Cailean as Carson had called her.

She hesitated. Behind Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon were also shaking the water off of their clothes.

"Elizabeth?" Sheppard asked drawing her attention back to him. "Is everything alright?" His tone was more forceful.

Weir faced him and breathed in. This was going to be harder then she thought.

o0o

Sheppard stormed through the hallway, speeding up his pace even more when he saw Beckett along with the SG-4 Marines.

"Beckett!" He called.

Beckett looked over at Sheppard and said something to the Marines before turning to face Sheppard.

"How'd this happen?" Sheppard asked once he was in within speaking distance. "I thought you were watching her! And what's this Elizabeth tells me about the Ancient gene?"

"Calm down, Colonel." Beckett said holding out a hand. "It wasn't anyone's fault. Cailean just slipped away on us."

"Calm down? Just tell me what happened!" Sheppard said raising his voice slightly. Then he realized what Beckett had said. "What did you call her?" he asked.

"Cailean." Beckett said. "We couldn't very well call her the girl or the child for the rest of her stay. So I named her Cailean. It means….."

"Yeah, yeah. It's nice." Sheppard said hurriedly. "I don't care what the name means, Doc! Just tell me what happened!"

Carson gave him the quick version of what happened.

Sheppard ran a hand through his hair again. The military side of him realized what could potently happen with a child that had the Ancient gene. So far, she had been good about not touching stuff, but….

The softer side of him knew that she had probably run away because she was scared of the Marine. Or she sensed that something wasn't right. Children had that ability, right?

"Colonel Sheppard, Weir." His earpiece crackled.

Sheppard touched it. "Go ahead." He said.

"We're trying to use the sensors to find her." Weir said, turning to Rodney who was hovering beside her, tablet in his arms. "But so far no luck. Rodney will keep trying."

"Thanks." Sheppard's voice sounded resigned through the radio.

"We'll contact you if we find anything. Weir out."

Sheppard dropped his hand from his radio. "Come on, Doc. Let's start with the control tower."

o0o

Major Lorne and his team of Marines and Air-Force personnel were combing the hallways surrounding the control tower. So far no luck.

"Let's try the jumper bay." Lorne suggested after another room was checked.

"You think she'll try and fly away on us?" A Marine joked.

Lorne shot him a glare.

"What are you thinking, sir?" A young Lt from the Air-Force asked respectfully.

"I have a hunch." Lorne said simply. "Come on."

In reality, he had more then a hunch. The Jumper bay was his private thinking spot; when he needed to get away from everything. There was calmness there; an alive feeling that must have something to do with the Ancient technology in the hanger.

If the child had the same gene, maybe she would feel compelled to go there like he did sometimes.

It's worth a shot. Lorne thought as they walked towards the hanger.

o0o

"Spread out and search all the jumpers on the lower level." Lorne ordered once his team had entered the hanger bay. "Teams of two." He nodded to the Sergeant behind him and they moved towards the first jumper.

Lorne walked up the ramp, shining his flashlight into the corners. The Sergeant walked behind him. The sound of scuffling came from underneath the control panel and Lorne shone his light in that direction.

Cailean sat on the floor underneath the control panel' she was so small that she almost fit into the space. She scooted further under as Lorne's light shone on her.

"There you are! Come on out." Lorne motioned with his hand as he walked closer.

Cailean continued scooting back until her head hit the wall. She looked scared.

Lorne sat down on the floor so he was closer to her level and beckoned again. "Come on now. The Colonel's been looking all over for you."

She hesitated again, glancing up at the Sergeant.

Lorne looked up. "I'll be fine here, thanks."

The Sergeant nodded and then left the Jumper.

Lorne held out his hand and this time Cailean came out without hesitation. She ignored his hand and crawled into Lorne's lap instead, resting her head against his shoulder.

Lorne froze at the unexpected gesture. None of the kids had ever done anything like this. Almost of its own accord, his arm wrapped around her little body. Cailean let out a content sigh and snuggled even closer to him, hand latching onto his collar. A few minutes later, her breathing evened out; she was fast asleep.

Lorne carefully slide his other arm under her knees and then stood; the girl in his arms still fast asleep.

"Let's go give you back to the Colonel." He muttered softly into her hair and then walked out of the Jumper.

The Sergeant raised an eyebrow and the other scientist stared as Lorne walked down the ramp. He ignored the looks and spoke softly to the Sergeant.

"Radio Colonel Sheppard. Tell him I'm bringing her to the control tower."

o0o

Sheppard and Weir met Lorne at the bottom of the stairs to the control room. In his 2IC's arms was Cailean. She was sound asleep with her head pillowed on his shoulder, one little hand curled around his collar.

"We found her in one of the Jumpers." Lorne spoke softly as not to wake her. He looked down at Cailean in his arms. "She won't let go."

Weir smiled. Cailean looked so cute in Lorne's arms.

"Since she seems to like you. Consider yourself promoted to babysitting duty, Major." Sheppard said trying to control a smile.

Lorne looked shocked. "Sir, I can't…" He took a breath and started again. "I'm a soldier, not a babysitter, Colonel."

Sheppard grinned. "I was only kidding, Lorne." He stepped forward and took Cailean from Lorne's arms. She shifted in her sleep and settled her head on Sheppard's shoulder.

Lorne looked a little disappointed to have the girl leave his arms.

"If you don't need me…." Sheppard asked looking at Weir.

Elizabeth shook her head with a small smile on her lips. "Good night, Colonel."

Lorne nodded. "Colonel."

Sheppard nodded back to Lorne and then turned to Weir. "Good night, Elizabeth. Come on, you little monkey." He muttered under his breath to Cailean. "Let's get you to bed."

o0o

The doors to his quarters hissed open and Sheppard walked in, leaving the lights off as not to wake his sleeping charge. The cot that someone had found rested up against the wall, horizontal to Sheppard's bed.

He gently laid Cailean on the cot and covered her with a blanket. She curled on her side, one hand grabbing the blanket and pulling it up to her chin. Sheppard watched her sleep for a moment and then walked over to his desk.

He booted up his computer and opened up a new file. He needed to finish the mission report for Elizabeth before the morning. He usually would have done it before supper, but with Cailean missing, there had been no time. There had also been no time to grab dinner, but for some reason Sheppard wasn't hungry.

He looked over at Cailean and realized how much he had grown to like her in the short time she had been here. He didn't know what he would do if anything happened to her.