A/N:

Hideout Writer: "Sunday, August 8th was my brother's birthday. To celebrate, I'm posting an extra large chapter. Also, I have Angel here for the disclaimer. Angel?"

Angel: "Yeah, Hideout Writer here does not own Stargate Atlantis. Atlantis was owned by the Lanteans, and is now owned by MGM. Hideout also does not own Maximum Ride, Max does. (But J.P. owns the rights to the books.) And lastly,

Hideout Writer does not own the initial idea to bring the Flock to Atlantis, Max does. (But The Layman has documentation rights.)"

Hideout Writer: "(sobs) Thank you, Angel.

Angel: "You're welcome. Hey! Readers! Cheer up this sobbing writer by leaving a review, and he will answer below! Oh, and The Layman was wrong. Chapter six is NOT where things kick into gear. THIS chapter is. See ya!"

It's true what Hideout Writer says; I was originally planning on taking this story in a different direction, but the muse just stopped singing. Anyways, enjoy!

Sheppard's POV:

"Lorne?" I called, hitting my earpiece.

"Yeah, what is it, Colonel?" came the response.

"Could you set up six coms? One for each of our new guests?"

"Sure. Who are these guys, anyway?" Lorne asked. He hadn't been brought in on the loop.

"I don't really have a clue. They are fighters of some sort, I think. They might come in handy in fights against the Wraith."

"Huh, yeah, right." Lorne snorted.

"The youngest is only about seven or eight, but they indicated that they can all fight very well." Sheppard responded. He still wasn't sure why they were here, but wanted to make use of them while they were. "Sheppard out." It had been a rough week, and he went to his quarters to sleep. After programming his Ancient alarm clock, he sat on his bed, undressed, and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Atlantis knew how tired he was, and 'forgot' to wake him through the alarm clock. She also removed his bio-sign from the internal sensors, locked his door, and dimmed the windows. After blocking communications to his room, she waited for morning before she would awake him.

Elsewhere in Atlantis:

McKay's POV:

This kid was very ATA sensitive. In the non-work related conversation that we had, I learned that she and the other 'flock' members were uncomfortable in tight spaces, but that she and a couple others actually liked the Jumper. I also learned that they were unwilling to go to any hospital-like environment, due to their history with Itex. I made a mental note to tell Carson about that. Maybe he would make 'house calls' for them to make them more comfortable. "Angel?" She whipped her head around to me. "Would you be willing to come with me to the Chair Room? It's where Atlantis-"

"Has every control on the city that you could imagine. I know. And yes, I would be willing to go."

That was unsettling. So that's how everyone else felt when I was reading their minds! I shuddered. Before I could even get out the door, she was already out, and headed for the Chair Room. "Yeah, ignore McKay, 'cause unless there's an emergency, McKay is just a third wheel." I muttered sarcastically. Still grumbling to myself, I followed her.

Angel's POV:

I knew he was disgusted about me leaving him behind, but I didn't care all that much. He saw me as a way to turn on all the doo-dads he had in his lab. I was getting tired of it, and when he mentioned the Chair, Atlantis told me where it was, and I didn't bother waiting for McKay. When I got to the door of the Chair Room, there was a palpable energy that I could feel without casting my mind out to read someone. The door opened, and I almost reverently walked in. The door closed behind me, and I knew that Atlantis had been reading me and wanted McKay to stay away for a bit. I got halfway to the chair before I slowly spun around, taking in all the details of the room. The Chair looked really weird with all the silver webbing strung into it, and it looked really uncomfortable because it was so flat; not contoured at all. I hesitantly sat in the Chair, and it lit up, and then reclined like some sort of Lantean Laz-E-Boy®. I resisted it for a moment, because of my wings, then slowly lay back, splaying my wings out on either side of the Chair. The next thing that I knew, displays were lighting up all over the ceiling, and then I saw bright blue sparks dancing on my legs and moving up towards my head. I wasn't afraid of it, but I did ask Atlantis what she was doing. She told me that she needed me, and was assimilating me. The last thing I saw before the sparks engulfed me completely was the displays going dark again.

Atlantis' POV:

I had bonded with the girl, and was showing her everything about me. I also learned that the other 'experiments' were close friends of hers, and that she would do anything to protect them. She was worried that due to me bonding with her, that she would be unable to do anything with her friends. I assured her that I would return her to her corporeal state in a few hours. She was much relieved, and quit fighting me to go back. I told her that I needed the time to copy her consciousness to my data banks, and at the same time, copy parts of my coding to her. We would be each other to a certain extent. From her, I learned imagination, and compassion to a greater scale than I had previously. I was altering her body in ways that others would not understand, and hoped that she would be able to understand what I had done to her for her protection.

Due to her mind reading abilities, I was able to increase my sensitivity to my occupants. The Ancient gene would still be helpful to those who had it, but access for non-ATA holders would be increased.

I was using my ZPM to create miniature drones, and equip Angel with them. All to soon, my time was up, and I had to return her to the chair room. I can now communicate with Angel in a way that no one else can; she would be my corporeal representative to my inhabitants.

Angel's POV:

At first, I was angry that she would dare to take me from the rest without even asking, but when she explained, I forgave her, and asked only that she warn me before she tried something like that again. She didn't tell me much about what she was doing to my body, and I didn't ask. Atlantis had promised that what she was doing would not interfere with my ability to run and fly, and in general do the things that a normal eight year old bird-kid would do. All of a sudden, I felt the process of returning begin, and I knew that she had finished whatever she was doing. When my sight returned, I saw Max standing in the room, directly in front of the Chair. I also saw Rodney; he was scraping his jaw up off the ground. In a few seconds, the return was complete, and I un-reclined the Chair, standing as I did so.

"What were you doing?" Max asked me. She was angry, but after a moment of reading, I saw that under the anger, she was concerned, and scared. McKay was just flat out amazed.

"When Rodney here asked me if I wanted to go to the Chair Room, I jumped at the chance, and went straight here. Atlantis showed me where to go, and when I got here, I sat in the Chair. Atlantis hadn't warned me that she wanted to momentarily assimilate me, and caught me off-guard. By the time I saw the blue sparks working their way up my legs, it was too late for me to do anything, and so I was kind of forced to let her finish. I wasn't about to go anywhere without my legs." I said the last part with a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"What did she do?" McKay was -for once- so curious that he left out the snarky, smug, know it all side of himself.

"She copied my consciousness into her memory banks, and downloaded parts of herself to me. In a way, I am Atlantis, and she is Angel. It's kind of hard to describe. Atlantis told me a little about what she was doing to me while she worked. First and foremost, I can read and write in Ancient!"

"No way! But, but, but, that's impossible!" Whadda you know, McKay makes a pretty good motor boat.

"No, it's not impossible. You just saw me materialize on the Chair, I have freaking wings, I can read minds, and Atlantis likes me very much, as you saw. There are a lot of things that you thought impossible, but turned out to be possible. You yourself got hit with the Ascension accelerator, and developed multiple abilities, such as healing, mind control, and telekinesis. You of all people should have an open mind, McKay."

"Is there anything else that she did to you, Ange?"

"I don't think so, but who knows. I do know that I feel well rested. We are still going to the mainland, right?"

"Yes, but I think Carson will want to see you first, and probably Wier. Hey, have you seen Sheppard?"

"Yes, he's in his room, taking an Atlantis protected rest. He will wake in about…a half hour, I think. When he does, Atlantis will uncloak his bio-sign, open communication access, open his door controls, and un-dim his windows."

"Atlantis did all that for him?"

"Yeah, he is her favorite person here, and he did need the rest."

"Well," put in Max, "I came here because Lorne came to me with this" she held up a small black piece of plastic, "and told me that he couldn't find you. McKay came to me just seconds after Lorne left, and said that you had taken over the Chair Room. I followed him here, and then the doors opened to show - nothing. After about five minutes, I was ready to leave, but McKay told me that the Chair would be upright, and it was not. Thirty seconds after that, the blue sparks began dancing at your head, working their way down your body, and I think you know the rest. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"I'm fine for now. I guess Atlantis felt a little guilty for taking me without asking me first, and so she 'fed' and 'rested' me before she put me back." At the look Max was giving me, I said "I'm fine. Really, look for yourself." I put on the earpiece just in time to hear

"Sickbay to Angel, Come in please Angel."

"Angel here." I replied

"Ah good, you've received you're comset, I see. I need to examine you before you go to the mainland. Just to be safe."

"Understood. I'll be right there. Angel out." I turned to the pair standing in the doorway,

"I've got to go to Sickbay, Carson needs to check me out before I got to the mainland."

Max stood aside, and McKay left, headed for some coffee. I walked out of the Chair room, then burst into headlong flight when the passageway got wide enough for my wings. I decided against using the transporter for now, taking the stairs instead. When I got to the Sickbay, I was gently panting, and I waited a moment to allow myself to settle before I went in. Stepping in, I looked around for Carson.

"Ah, there ye are, little lass." He said kindly. I liked him, even though he was a doctor. "I'll be needin' ye to hop up here on the scanner bed so I can examine you." He grabbed a tuning fork, and triangular rubber hammer, and a spiked wheel. When he came back to me, he told me what he was going to do before he did anything. I guess that he didn't want to spook me, and that the rest of the flock had gone through this before me. "I'm not a very good veterinarian, so I'm trying to examine ye based on what information Maxine saw fit to give me. I'm going to start by testing your reflexes. What I will do is gently hit your knees with this mallet." he proceeded to do so, and I involuntarily kicked out gently when he tapped me. "Ah," he said "ye've got better than average reflexes. Next is hearing. I will tap the fork, the hold it next to your ears." When he tapped it, I told him "I can hear that from here." He seemed surprised, and put the fork down.

"Only that blind one, ah … Iggy, was it? Could hear that well." He took his stethoscope and listened to my heart for a moment. "Good. Alright, then. I need you to look me straight in the eye-that's it, now don't look away, I'm going to shine my penlight…" He swung it to my eyes and away a couple times, then put it away. "Good! Now for the last part. I need to take a blood test, and a full body scan, and then ye're good ta go, ok?" I didn't very much like the idea of the blood test, but Atlantis told me that he did that for everyone on Atlantis, and that he would not be using it for experimentation. I agreed to let him take it, but first, I presented him with a small sample of what happened to me at the School. "Ye've been through a lot, lass. I'm not surprised that you hate hospitals." He said, after the effect of my memory burst wore off. "I'll try to be as quick about this as I can." He took the sample, murmuring sympathetically about my history. "For the scan, I need you to lay down on the bed. Being that ye have wings, will it be uncomfortable to lay down on ye're back?"

I nodded. "Probably, but I can bear it for a little bit. How long will it take?"

"It will-" He stopped. "There is the results of a scan here, and it matches up perfectly to you. Is there something ye wish ta tell me?"

I knew I could hide it no longer. "Atlantis bonded with me." I said. "She led me to the Chair Room, and when I sat, she converted me to an energy form, and took me on a tour through the entire city. She taught me how to read and write in Ancient, and she put part of her coding into me. I am part of Atlantis, and she is part of me. We can communicate on a higher level than she could previously, or with anyone else. She may have altered my body somewhat as well."

"I would love to keep ye here for observation, but I understand how you feel about medical environments, so please promise me that ye'll come straight here if anything seems wrong with ye, ok?"

"Okay, I promise. And I will hold nothing back if anything does come up." He seemed relieved when I said that, and I asked "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, ye're free ta go. You should talk to Wier about that."

"'That' what?" I asked, though I knew full well what he was talking about.

"Atlantis bonding with ye."

"Oh. That."

"Aye." he grinned. "That."

"Angel to Wier," I said, tapping my earpiece.

"Wier here. What do you need, Angel?"

"I'm coming to the Control Tower. Can we talk in private?"

"Certainly, Angel. Is it something important?"

"You could say that." I said in as carefree tone of voice as I could manage. Being an eight year old bird kid helps with that. "Angel out. Thank you for taking the time to check me out, Carson."

"Not at all, lass. Ye can feel free to come again at any time, sick or healthy." He had a smile on his face as he shook my hand. "Ye best get on up to the Control tower now. At this point, Wier's expectin' ye."

I smiled. Here was a man who genuinely cared about the people around him. "You're right Carson. I'll see you around."

"'Bye now."

I turned, and with no further ado, ran to the transporter at the end of the hall. When the doors opened again, I was in the Control room. I walked up the stairs, and went into the conference room. I saw Wier sitting at one of the tables. Behind me, the doors rumbled closed.

"Do you know where Sheppard is? I can't get him on his radio, and he isn't in the city."

"Are you sure about that, Dr. Wier?"

"Yes. His bio-sign is not on-screen."

I smiled in spite of myself. Letting Atlantis speak through me, I said "I turned a blind eye to him, blocked radio communications, dimmed the windows, locked his door, and kept the lights down on his room. I'm also playing his favorite music to soothe him." Atlantis' voice through me seemed different compared to mine, more of a singing voice than I had.

"How? What? Huh?" she seemed slightly hysterical at the end.

"I did not come here to talk about the whereabouts of LTC Sheppard. I came to tell you what happened to me. During the last three or four hours."

"There was an energy spike in the Chair Room that lasted for about thirty seconds, then power came back to normal. Another spike, the same level as before occurred about half an hour ago."

"That was me. And Atlantis. She guided me to the Chair Room after Rodney suggested that we go there to run some tests, but I ran ahead of him. Atlantis 'greeted' me at the door, then opened it. After I stepped inside, the door closed, and locked. At that point, I had been getting very tired of Rodney because he was just using me as a way to turn on all his stuff. Anyway, I looked around, then sat in the Chair. It reclined suddenly, and because of my wings, I fought it for a second or two, trying to get comfortable. After I had laid back, displays started to light up, written in Ancient. I couldn't understand it, and then Atlantis took over." Atlantis took up the story. "After she sat in my Chair, I reclined it, and when she had settled down, I turned on several displays, just as I would have if McKay or Sheppard sat in it. After that, I assimilated her. That, Dr. Wier, was your energy spike. I copied her consciousness into my memory banks, copied parts of my coding into her, taught her the language of the 'Ancients' as you call them, and gave her a means of defense. After I had finished, I returned her to her corporeal form, shortly after unlocking the doors. She had fought me at first because she thought that she would be unable to participate in the activities that she had participated in previous to this event. As for your LTC Sheppard, he is just waking up. When you return to your computers, you will find him on my bio-signs screen. I have also unlocked his door, unblocked his comms, and am lightening his windows now. You can call him if you wish."

"Wier to Sheppard."

"Sheppard here."

"Sleep well?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"Five-thirty. When were you looking to get up?"

"Three. I have a lot that needs doing."

"Well apparently, it wasn't very important. Atlantis had locked you in your room and hidden you from sensors and communications."

"WHAT!" came the shout.

"She locked the door. Even Rodney couldn't get in."

"But why!"

"Because I care about you, John." Atlantis interjected through me.

"Who are you?"

"I am the voice of Atlantis. But you may call me Angel, because that is who you will see me as."

"What's going on here? Is this some sort of prank pulled on me by Rodney?" He sounded annoyed.

"No, this is real, John." said Wier. "I'll let Angel and Atlantis explain to you what is happening."

Connected to Atlantis as I was, I was a live life-signs detector, and I could differentiate between people. I ran towards Sheppard's sign. Coming to a stop before his door, I waited for a moment, then waved my hand over the door control. On the other side, he waved his hand over the control. The door opened.

"I wanted to explain in person what happened. Only certain people will know. You, Wier, Carson, and McKay will be the ones to know among the contingent on Atlantis. The Flock will also know. This is a secret." He nodded his understanding. "I was working with Rodney."

"That is a surprise. Most people can't stand the man because of his snarkiness."

"He's not the only one that snarks around here. He had me turning on all the Ancient gadgets that littered his lab, and then after a while, he suggested that we go to the Chair to run some tests. Atlantis showed me where to go, and I ran ahead of Rodney - well ahead. Atlantis 'greeted' me at the door, and I walked in after she opened the door ahead of me. After I sat, she took control, and assimilated me."

"That's a big word for an eight year-old; do you know what it means?"

"Yes, I'm not exactly your typical eight year old." Atlantis took up the story. "After I assimilated Angel, I copied her consciousness into my memory banks, and copied parts of my coding to her. We essentially became each other to a certain extent. I taught her what you call Ancient, and gave her a means by which she could defend herself at range. I also took a full body scan, and sent it to Sickbay along with the other medical information that I learned from her. She was quite distraught at first, because she thought that I had taken her, and would never return her. After I promised that she would be returned, unharmed to the Chair when I was done, she ceased her resistance to me, and I was able to finish the process of transfer. I unlocked the door to the Chair Room shortly before returning Angel to her corporeal form. I am now able to talk through her because of the changes I wrought upon her. And John, you are my favorite person in my halls." Atlantis ceased speaking, and returned control to me. "The reason that Atlantis locked you into your room, and shielded you so much was because you were very exhausted, and you needed the sleep. Don't be angry with Atlantis. Even Wier understands why she did it."

He looked unconvinced, but decided to drop it.

"Are you still coming to the mainland with us?"

"Heck yeah!" I responded enthusiastically. "Bonding with Atlantis has not altered my plans in the slightest."

He stopped so suddenly that I didn't notice that he had stopped.

"Prove to me that you bonded with Atlantis." he commanded.

"You and McKay like to race your R/C cars in one of the outer sections of the city. It's not inhabited, but it is powered and dry."

"You're right. Thank you for confirming. Why did Atlantis choose to bond with you?"

"Janus was working on a way to make Atlantis class ships sentient. He intended to bond with Atlantis, but event forced him to not do so. Everything was in place for his bonding when the Lanteans abandoned their city. I was the closest match to Janus; everything except for the avian DNA is exactly like Janus' DNA."

"Janus. That name is familiar…I have to talk to Dr. Wier." he tapped his comset.

"Sheppard to Wier."

"Wier here. What do you need, John?"

"Who was Janus? The name is familiar and I know you talked about him, but I didn't find it to be terribly important because I had other issues to deal with."

"Janus…he was an Ancient, and he was a scientist. He worked with a variety of projects, but few of them came to completion. Why do you ask?"

"Because apparently, Angel is his descendant, and Janus had planned to make Atlantis sentient by bonding with the city. When he was forced by the evacuation to leave the city, he had all but bonded with Atlantis. When Angel got here, Atlantis tried to figure out what was different about Angel, but decided that it did not matter. The two bonded, and you know the rest."

"Yeah, I know. That's some good info. Thanks."

"Thanks for the scoop on Janus. Sheppard out."

We were walking as he talked, and suddenly, I ran ahead, ending up in the control room, at the staircase that led to the Jumper bay.

"Hey!" I heard Sheppard yell behind me.

I ignored him, and ran up the stairs to the Jumper that we would be using to go to the mainland. It was powered down when I got there.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Sheppard said again.

"Watch." I said, gesturing towards the Jumper. I then walked up to it, and the section right in front of me lit up. The rest of the Jumper lit up as soon as my foot touched the ramp.

"I admit, I'm not that good." Sheppard said.

"May I fly it?" I asked. I used my telepathy to urge him to allow me to fly it.

"Uhh, sure. But I get to be co-pilot! I am not going to risk anything happening while you're flying it."

"Yeah, right! I won't wreck it, I promise."

Control Room:

Max's POV:

Everybody was gathered in the Control Room at the appointed time, with the notable exception of Angel. "Where's Angel?" I asked.

Someone at one of the computers in the nerve center said "She's already in the Jumper bay with LTC Sheppard."

"Great. Let's go. Wier said that one of the botanists was in charge of the food for the group, and another was in charge of seeing to it that we had enough food. We do." Much cheering from the Flock. "We are going to go to the mainland today in one of their Jumpers." Mixed reactions from the above mentioned Flock. "The door will be left open so we can get in and out as we please." Subdued cheering. I guess some figured that the Jumper was better than flying. "Well, everything is set; let's go." We walked up the stairs, and into the Jumper bay. We found one Jumper, lit up and ready to go. And the other one was already closing the back hatch. I pointed. "That one, has the food. It will be closed for the duration of the trip, but there are snacks it this one. Or so I've been told." Looking up, I saw that the upper door was already opening and that the 'supply' Jumper was already slipping out. We climbed aboard, and found - "Angel! Why are you sitting in the pilot's seat?"

"He said that I could." she replied, motioning to Sheppard.

"Hi." said Sheppard. "If we are ready to go, I'm gonna close the back hatch until we clear the city, at which point I will open it again."

"When do we go?"

"Now." Angel replied. She gripped the yoke-thingy in front of her, and the Jumper lifted off. "I told you this thing is neat!" She exclaimed.

"Humph."

We cleared the tower, and the rear hatch was opened.

"Finally! I didn't think that door would ever open, you know, this city reminds me of like Star Trek, you know? In fact-mmmph"

"Thank you, Ig." I said, a smile on my face. "I'm gonna show Sheppard just what I can do." I dropped into my warp-drive-thing, and shot forward, way ahead of the Jumper. I could imagine what Sheppard was saying at this moment in time.

A/N: "Annnnnnnnnnd CUT! That's a wrap! Now, if the audience would leave a review, it would be much appreciated. EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

There will now be a sneak peek section added to the bottom, after answers to readers.

Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode!

[Answers to reader would be here, but nobody reviewed. :(]

Scenes from the next episode!

The trip is canceled due to poor weather, and the flock meets Ronon and Teyla in the gym.

The Layman; Is any of that even possible? Well, it is now; it's in print.

Anywyas, as Hideout Writer said before, please review. PLEASE!