Rose gasped as she stepped through on the other side, her breath taken away at the feeling of having every molecule separated and reformed. Although she didn't have time to really collect her thoughts because suddenly a blur flew to her and seconds later she was being lifted off the ground in a bone crushing hug.

Christopher chuckled as he watched Jack grab Rose and hug her for all she was worth. Jack scooped her up and twirled her around in his arms, kissing her cheek. Rose simply giggled as she hugged him back and pressed a kiss to his cheek as well. "I love you!" she cried as she clutched him close.

"Rose!" he whispered as he finally set he down on the ground, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

"How are you, wow you still look great, driving the Doctor mad?"

He gave her his infamous grin, "You'd expect less from me?"

"Course not! Oh, Jack I want you to meet someone," reaching back to the Doctor, she lifted a wide awake infant who didn't seem too scared by the travel, she lifted Emma from the Doctor's arms and turned back to her friend. "Jack, this is Emma, Emma this is your Uncle Jack."

Jack laughed out loud as he reached out and lifted the little baby into his arms, "Hi there Emma," he was so gentle with her, Rose suddenly realized how lucky she and Emma were to have found these two wonderful men again. "It's nice to meet you," he dropped a featherlike kiss to her forehead before looking back up to Rose. "It's wonderful to see you again, and to meet Emma, she's beautiful, just like her mother."

Never in all her life had Rose ever seen something quite so spectacular as what she was seeing. Hand in hand she and her Doctor stepped further into the gate room. She was stunned at how amazing and large it all seemed compared to her. It stole her breath away as she continued to take it all in.

Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard stepped out from behind the luggage and the crates of food and other items before them. "Okay everyone, here's how we're going to do this. All medical Doctors will report with Dr. Beckett to the Infirmary, where you will receive a specific debrief from him and his staff. All military personnel will go with Colonel Sheppard where he will give you a quick tour and run down of teams or places you will be going, scientists will be going with me to the labs, Dr. Zelenka will lead you through the process of hat you do here. Everyone else will be going with Doctor Weir for a brief description of what you will be doing. Tomorrow morning there will be a meeting with all the off world teams. If you think you'd like to be on one of the off world teams you need to be at this meeting; if it's not your cup of tea then feel free to sleep in a little. If you decide to do off world missions you will be sent to the Base Camp on the mainland for a period of three days; then once you are passed as fit by Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne you will see Doctor Beckett and his staff. Any questions?" Rodney spoke up, he looked around, when no one spoke up, with a final nod he smiled, "Lets get you all settled in then," called.

"See you tonight Rose," Christopher whispered as he pressed a kiss to her lips and followed Doctor Beckett with a small handful of about ten other doctors and nurses. Jack gave her a quick wave before also heading off.

Rose stood there for a moment, trying to fathom why she had suddenly come. It felt like the year five billion all over again. She'd gotten on some ship with a man she didn't even know and traveled billions of years into her future to watch her planet blow up. She suddenly wasn't so sure she could do this anymore.

"You must be Rose," Rose jumped at the unfamiliar voice and turned to see a beautiful woman with brown hair down to her shoulders; dark chocolate colored eyes and a beautiful smile. The mocha skinned woman held out a hand in greeting, "I am Teyla Emmagan, I've heard of you, only a little though."

"Uh—Hi, Rose Tyler, and this is my daughter Emma," she whispered smiling.

"Welcome, come with me, you are among one of the chosen people to join a team."

"But—why?" she asked softly.

"Doctor Weir saw something in you that sparked an interest; you do not wish to travel to other planets?" Teyla questioned.

"No!" Rose said suddenly, and then smiled shyly, "It's not that, it's just…"

"I understand it is a bit overwhelming here. One forgets this after five years of living on such a city, but you shall adjust. Come I'll show you to you and your husband's quarters then give you a quick tour of the city if you are up to it?"

"That sounds good," Rose replied gently.

"So um, are you human? From Earth?" Rose questioned as she and Teyla roamed the halls of the large city some time later.

"No, I'm from a planet called Athos; my people live on the main land now. We are Athosians, but I'm very similar to you. I feel, and think the same, I speak the same."

"You're less alien than some I've seen," offered Rose quietly, her mind wandering to the Slitheen and various other aliens she'd seen.

Teyla grinned as she looked at the young woman, "You are so young, yet I sense years of wisdom in you."

"I traveled with a friend for several years—he showed me all kinds of things you wouldn't believe…I suppose that's changed me a bit," Rose replied; her mother constantly said she wasn't Rose anymore, she was a completely different woman, and in some sense, Rose had the feeling it was true.

"It changes us all, you are very brave to give up everything and take this chance." Teyla replied softly as she observed the young woman. Christopher had been correct when he'd told them about this young girl.

"This may sound strange Teyla," pausing Rose collected her thoughts and then smirked shaking her head sadly, "But I don't belong on Earth—the two years I spent with my friend, and the two I've spent back on earth…I don't belong there anymore. I need to be among the stars."

Teyla smiled knowingly as she nodded, "You are not the only person here to feel such a way. I believe most of the crew of Atlantis feels the need to be elsewhere. Come, I feel Elizabeth has finally settled in and I'm sure she would love to speak with you about joining a team."

"Can I join your team?" Rose asked grinning.

Teyla returned the smile, "Perhaps, I would enjoy the company of another woman. We shall see."

"What we do here, is so much bigger, than anything back on Earth," came Elizabeth's voice.

"Doctor Weir, it's nice to see you again," Rose offered.

"Please call me Elizabeth, most people do. I trust you've seen parts of the city. Please have a seat, I'd like to speak with you about your travels with the Doctor, as well as the time you're going to be spending here," Elizabeth took a seat behind her desk, and opened up a file, she then glanced as both Teyla and Rose took a seat. She didn't miss movement out of the corner of her eye, as John quietly snuck in and had a seat in one of the chairs in a corner. "Almost seven years ago, I was called offered the position at the ancient outpost in Antartica. For the first six months, I; along with Dr. Jackson, began to go over all the files we had. One included the file that I hold in front of me, a man called the Doctor, only trouble was seven years ago we couldn't find him, we had reason to believe he was probably either an alien or working for some high profile security team, because we could only find the information from a group called UNIT. I orginally wanted to bring him on as our top scientist, when we couldn't find him I turned to the best we had that we could locate, Dr. McKay; however I continually kept tracks on the Doctor, out of pure curosity. Two years later we had reason to believe the Doctor had returned to earth, but then he disappeared again. With his most recent picture we tracked down the man you see today Dr. Chris Eccles and Jack Harkness. Chris helall the memories of the Doctor, but explained his situation, he also explained there was a young woman we should search for in this reality."

"I'm sorry this is a lot of information, I don't want to sound dumb-but you know about alternate universes?"

Elizabeth gave her a sly smile and nodded, "Oh yes, the SGC has had much more experince in that area than we have, but we've had some of our own experinces. Almost two years ago we learned of a large rip between this reality and another reality, my husband

"I believe Rodney will be pleased with how things have gone."

Elizabeth chuckled, "Well if he's pleased we'll leave Radek in charge more often. Rose, we have a position open on AR-3 right now, with Major Lorne, Lieutenant Cadman, and your friend Jack Harkness. You're more than welcome to join the team if you'd like to."

"Really? What do I have to do?"

"Well come to the meeting tomorrow morning at eight, then we'll put you in the first batch to go to the base camp—"

"What's base camp?"

Elizabeth gave Rose a sly grin, "Colonel Sheppard, Ronan and Teyla invented it, and it's quite an adventure. Eight people go at a time, excluding Ronan or Sheppard who usually man the stations. For two days you survive on the mainland with only the help of your other teammates. It checks you agility, your leadership skills, and your team skills. Don't worry, it's actually quite fun. I think Rodney and I are actually scheduled for another trip out there as well. You may end up going with some of us."

"Do you go off world?"

Shaking her head Elizabeth replied, "No, well not usually I get off every now and then—but I'm the leader here so I tend to run this ship rather than the teams. Colonel Sheppard and his team are AR-1, they're our best and strongest team we have."

"What about Chris, the Doctor?"

"He's the head of our number one medical team. He's very good too, you'd be proud." Elizabeth's features softened and she reached out, touching Rose's shoulder, "That could always change Rose. "Now I assume Teyla has shown you around?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent, well as we try to do every few nights on Atlantis, especially nights with new people, there's a large gathering in the common room, would you like to join us?"

"What will there be?"

Elizabeth grinned as she looked over at Teyla, "Well I happen to know that the Daedalus has supplied us with all the essentials, pizza, soda, ice cream, even French fries."

Rose's eyes lit up like a child at Christmas, "What will we be doing?"

"Movies, we try and watch a couple, usually the first is for people to really get to know each other, and the second movie people begin to settle down and watch. Its fun, come on."

Rose had managed to find a spot on the couch, curled up on one end with Emma still asleep in her arms. She watched others begin to file in, chatter fill the room, the food was already out and people were getting platefuls. Rose eyed Lauryn, who sat at the opposite end of the couch, as Rodney knelt down in front of her and handed her a plate. She quickly decided she had a lot to learn about these people, especially Rodney who she's seen only a little of in a week and hadn't been highly impressed.

Rodney smiled softly at his daughter and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "You eat, then you have to go to bed, you've got lessons tomorrow."

"Kay," she whispered in reply as she took a bite of her pizza.

"There's my girl," Elizabeth greeted as she pressed a kiss to her daughter's cheek, then took one of the child's chips, "Come here," Elizabeth scooped the five year old into her arms and took a seat beside Rose; Rodney however opted for the floor.

Rose was about to ask where Chris was, when suddenly she felt a kiss land on her head, she craned her neck back and smiled up at the handsome man looking down at her, "Hello Doctor," she smirked at him.

"Hello," he greeted with his infamous grin, he quickly produced a plate full of food for both of them and took a seat on the arm rest, allowing Rose to lay her arm on his thigh. Second's later Jack appeared, a cute looking girl in a blue jacket by his side. They opted for the floor as well, causing Rose to simply shake her head.

It was as Elizabeth had said, the first movie was mostly for the children. A few adults, along with the handful of kids watched the first movie, before Carson made the announcement of bedtime. "Do we have to?" whined John from where he sat with Jay by his side.

"If ye want breakfast yes," returned Carson with a grin as he helped Jay to his feet, "Come on lass, you too," Carson said lifting Lauryn from her mother's arms. The child already fast asleep against his shoulder; a couple of the adults followed him out, including Laura Cadman and John, who decided who should probably make sure his son actually went to bed. Rodney also bid everyone a good night before heading out with Carson and the gang.

When the second movie finally ended Rose was fairly sure everyone was either asleep or leaving, she and Chris had abandoned the couch for their bed half an hour into the second movie, deciding to have some peace a quiet.

Rose lay in the bed, curled against Chris' back, listening to the sound of the waves lapping up against the edge of the city. She smiled, it reminded her ever so slightly of the beloved TARDIS. Maybe she could do this after all, maybe just maybe, she could live on Atlantis and be as happy as she had been on the TARDIS.

Forty-eight hours later Kate Heightmeyer, Carson, Elizabeth, Chris, Rose, Lorne, Jack, Rodney, and Laura Cadman all piled into two jumpers. "Where's Ronan, Teyla and Sheppard?" Rodney asked as he took the seat by Lieutenant Johnson.

"They took a jumper over several hours ago sir," the Lieutenant responded as he closed the rear hatch.

Rose sat in the back of the small space ship and had to smile, it was an entirely different world. They landed twenty minutes later, and Elizabeth stepped off the jumper and into the sun, her stuff in one hand, as the two jumpers closed their hatches and took off again.

"Welcome to the Atlantis Base Camp!" John greeted, causing everyone to whirl around and look at him as he emerged from the forest.

He was dressed in a t-shirt and sports pants, he wore sunglasses and a wide grin, "Before we begin there are a few rules you all have to abide by for the next forty-eight hours. If any of the rules are broken you will repeat the entire course next week, with the other half of our teams: Rule Number One: Absolutely no shop talk, sorry guys, we're here to have fun and bond, no talk of what's going on in Atlantis…I don't care how trivial or easy some of the tasks may seem to you; they require the utmost concentration and respect. That said Rule Number Two: Respect each other, until you step back onto Atlantis you are one team, if you don't all pass this little…test then you will repeat it until you do. We can't run Atlantis if we can't function as a whole, so respect yourselves, and each other…and the equipment you'll be working with. Rule number Three: Your ranks, and diplomas mean nothing on this ground. You are all equals here, and you will treat each other as such, you are no smarter than the people standing around you…" John shot a glance at his brother, before continuing, "If you think you are, you've already failed the test. Everyone calls everyone else by their first names, no exceptions. Rule number Four: Listen to each other, cockiness will get you hurt or killed, listen to your fellow team members, there's little room for error in this rule. Rule number Five: Do your best and you'll be fine. Now if you'll follow me, I'll show you what you'll be doing over the course of the next forty-eight hours."

John walked ahead of them into the forest. Elizabeth cast a glance back at Rose, smiling hesitantly, "How are you Rose?"

Rose shrugged casually from where she walked beside Chris, and Jack, "Little nervous," she replied smiling. "How many times have you been through this?"

"Once, but John changes it every few months so you're guess is as good as mine. It's our number one training facility for off world members. Generally though, we try to bring everyone here at least once a year to keep them in shape. You have to be at least somewhat physically fit to live in Atlantis with the dangers we face everyday.

After a few moments of walking through considerably dense forest, they all came to a stop and stood there absolutely stunned. Three obstacle courses, a rock, leering several feet into the air, and a high ropes course sat before them. John, Ronan and Teyla stood proudly looking up at what they had created.

"This is what we're doing for the next two days?" Rodney gaped at his brother.

"Yep…Welcome to MacGyver Land…well that was my idea, they wanted to call it something completely different. You're going to go through these courses for the next two days, you need to have a different partner for each task. And couples aren't allowed to pair up, so McKay, Beckett, you guys can't pair up with Cadman and Elizabeth. Rose, Chris, Jack this is your chance to get to know some of the people you're working with. Now, I expect respect at all times, as well as cooperation. So are we ready to start the fun?"

Elizabeth eyed her Military Chief for a moment, before deciding that he definitely looked like an eager twelve year old boy who just built a tree house or something. She chuckled softly and looked around at her friends. Her eyes landed on her husband, who had a very subtle but nervous look on his face, before taking a gulp of air, his eyes wandering up to the ropes course that stood nearly fifty feet in the air.

"Don't worry Rodney, the ropes course isn't until the very end. Trust me, you'll feel confident when you get to that point. You're going to be sleeping in tents, which we have set up back towards the clearings where the jumpers were. So, let's get started!' John grinned.

Rose chuckled softly at how alike the Doctor and John were when they got excited. "I'm in," Elizabeth affirmed, setting her stuff down and walking over to John's side.

Rose smiled before raising her hand, "Me too."

"Excellent, Teyla why don't you begin, since this little game was all your idea," he offered.

"Very well," Teyla nodded and moved over to two logs that lay on the ground; they were about eight feet apart from on another. Along with those seven small crates on the ground; walking over to them she picked up one. "Pretend the distance between these two poles is a raging river, you cannot cross it simply by walking through, and these crates are your only way to get across. You must use them to get across; however, there are a few rules." She paused, making sure she had everyone's attention. She was pleased that even Rodney was listening, so she continued, "You cannot let go of the crates at any time, your hands or feet must always remain on the crates, if you lose touch with it even for a moment, one crate will be removed. You cannot toss the crates for any reason. You must get everyone to one side of the raging river within thirty of your minutes. If you step off into the river at any point, that person will be blindfolded and sent back to the beginning. This is a lesson in agility, team work and time; you have fifteen moments to plan how you choose to get to the other side."

John, Ronan and Teyla stepped back, as the nine members of Atlantis stood around in a circle. John wasn't at all surprised when the discussion quickly became an argument, starring none other than Rodney McKay. "Rod," John called out the warning to his brother.

Two blue eyes landed on John, "Respect buddy."

Rodney turned back to the group, and they continued to talk for the next fifteen minutes. Once they were finished, Elizabeth looked up from the group and offered a hesitant smile to John, "We're ready…we think," she whispered.

"Outstanding, you may begin then," John said nodding towards the "river".

Elizabeth took a hesitant step towards the first log closest to them, reaching out, gripping one of the seven crates, she slowly lowered it to the ground on the other side of the log. Without letting go of it, she took a step out onto the crate. She looked back to Carson, who handed her the second crate. She took it, then continued, stepping with one foot on the second crate that now sat on the ground, she kept her other foot on the previous crate, until Carson stepped up to it with both feet. They continued the pattern for several seconds, until they had all six of the seven crates down, and a mistake was made.

Lorne accidentally moved too soon, losing one of the crates, which Teyla all too pleasantly took away from them. He looked over at the line of his friends and shrugged. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay Todd, I'm sure we can do it with six," Elizabeth lied as she looked at the other side of their game, it was still a good three feet away and they weren't allowed to jump.

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Kate called, removing her foot from one of the remaining crates she carefully flipped it over, effectively stepping inside of it as though it were a boot. She looked over to Carson, who stood beside her on his own crate and smirked awkwardly, "Can you share a crate with Elizabeth for a moment?"

"Of course lass," Carson took a step towards Elizabeth without thinking.

"There goes a second one," laughed John as Ronan picked up the second crate, causing them all to curse quietly. Carson stood on a tiny crate with Elizabeth, both teetering on the edges of the piece of wood. Kate looked down at the ground and realized she had one foot in the plush green grace that was their water for this game.

"Damn," she mumbled.

"Sorry Kate," John whispered as he gently led her back to the starting point, he then pulled out a white bandana and tied it around Rodney's eyes. Rodney let out a squeal of fear and annoyance as John tied a knot. "Sorry Rod, but lets face it, you're the brains of the idea…time to be just the brains, not talking either. Everyone currently standing on a crate in the middle of the river, also can't talk anymore, you do this, and we'll give you the two crates back," John offered.

"Okay," Laura said from the shore side.

"Good, Teyla, please hand the team their crates back…and someone help Carson and Elizabeth before they fall off that thing," laughed John as he watched the two clutching each other to remain on the small box.

Carson turned to Elizabeth, inches from her face and smiled softly, "I have an idea lass, pick up ye're feet," he whispered. Without hesitation Elizabeth lifted her feet, to find herself completely supported by Carson's arms. He slipped his arm under her knees and held her across his body as though she were injured. Everyone watched as Carson literally swept her off her feet and cheered loudly.

Within a few moments their plan was back in action, the seven crates strategically placed far enough apart to span across their fake river. Carson stepped off his crate with Elizabeth in his arms, while Laura stepped onto the box he'd just occupied.

Behind Laura was Rose, then Lorne, who led a very nervous looking Rodney, helping guide him across their "river". Behind them came Chris, Kate, and Jack.

John nodded in pride as he clapped for the team, "Good job guys, let's get you guys unpacked then we'll have dinner," he offered.

They sat around the campfire, finishing up dinner, each person talking quietly with the person next to them. John sat between Teyla and Ronan, "So tonight we'll do the giant knot after dinner, maybe play a few games or something…then I think tomorrow we'll pull out the big guns. Teyla, could you get them started on the two different knots, Ronan and I will clean up here."

"Very well," she stood and within moments had the others gathered heading back towards the field. "Now, this is a test where you have to push against each other and help one another stand up, you all sit down on the ground, with your feet straight out in front of you, and your arms interlocked," she waited and smiled as they all did as told.

"Very good, now, you must all figure out how to stand up together," she took a step back and watched as the whole group just sat there for a moment, as though realizing what they really were being forced to do.

"On three!" Lorne was the first to bring forth his suggestion.

Teyla couldn't strangle her laugh as everyone tried to stand when they counted to three and landed squarely back on their butts. She shook her head, "Try again, and don't be in such a hurry."

"I've got a better idea," Rose spoke up suddenly. "Why don't we try going one at a time, Elizabeth you stand up first so everyone can help anchor you up, then Kate, so you can help her up, then together you guys pull the next person up until we're all the way around the circle," she explained.

"Are you sure that's going to work?" Katie asked from where he sat.

"O' course it'll work, listen to the woman," grunted Carson as he helped anchor Elizabeth to her feet slowly, as planned Rose followed, then to the first guy who just happened to be Chris. He struggled to get up with the help of the two women, but was quite pleased when he found his way to his feet.

Getting the rest up proved to be somewhat easier now that the tallest of the group was standing and helping all the others to their feet. Teyla smiled as they all struggled to get Rodney to his feet last. Everyone let out a cheer as he finally got his feet underneath himself.

Teyla gave them all a moment to celebrate their triumph before she saw Ronan and John come towards the group, she offered them a smirk, "They have done well, perhaps it is time we discussed the purpose of these activities?"

"You're probably right. Okay everyone lets all gather around, have a short chat," John suggested as the group joined them. They all sat down in a circle, watching and waiting for John to begin, "Without sounding like you're twelve year olds, what did you learn from this exercise? As well as the other one?"

"Are you looking for twelve year old answers?" Rodney inquired as he smirked.

John shot his younger brother a harsh glare, but he couldn't hide the grin, "I don't know Rodney; is that all you can give me?"

"Obviously we learned team work," Rose supplied the answer.

"Ahh, we've got a smart one among us," John chided, he glanced at the young blonde woman, "Congratulations Rose, you're easily the smartest one here at the moment. Rose is right however—what you learned here today is something we need every single day we walk out into the field. I can't stress it enough, you have to work as a team out there, we're all aware of how hard the conditions can prove to be at times. There's little room for error guys. I'm sure Carson is getting sick of the same faces in his infirmary all the time."

"This from the man who spends most of his free time there," muttered Rodney.

"Aye because you tend to be the one in the bed," returned Carson.

Rose chuckled, unable to get enough of these three men's antics. There was something about them, but they seemed to be the best of friends or the worst of enemies.

"All right everyone, it's nearly nine so what say we mingle then head in for the night?"

Chris awoke to big brown eyes staring up at him, he jumped slightly and offered his wife a warm grin before hugging her with all his might, "I love you Rose," he whispered as he dropped a kiss to her nose.

"Love you too," the mumbled reply came in return. She opened her chocolate brown eyes and smiled up at him.

"Okay everyone! Time to wake up, we've got some great plans today and it's beautiful out here!"

Beautiful wasn't exactly the way Rose or Chris would have described it, stepping outside they found themselves instantly admits cold drizzling rain. "You need a new definition of beautiful," grumbled Rodney as he and Elizabeth stepped out of their tent, dressed in sweats and a sweat shirt.

"Stop you're whining Rod, this will make the first task easier, now that said we'll begin. We'll have breakfast afterwards, let's go." John led them to

He led them to a wide open field overcastted by the gloomy rain. There before them lay what Rose assumed was an obstacle course. Offering them all a smile John began, "It's fairly and simple friends, twenty five push ups at the very beginning, then you crawl under the barbed wire, run through the tire: please be careful they're slippery, then you have to climb the wall, crawl through the tubes and the monkey bars at the end, you finish off with fifty sit ups. Two teams of five, I'm team one and Ronan is team two. Carson, you're over here, Rodney you're on Ronan's team."

"What? Why?"

"Because we're brothers Rodney, we're trying to keep families apart remember—"

"What about you and Liz…"

"Rodney, shut up!" John growled he then turned to Ronan to continue.

The larger man nodded and smirked as he looked at the eight people waiting patiently, Jack you're on my team Lorne you're on Sheppard's."

Rose didn't miss the thankful predatory grin on Jack's face as he approached the runner, although she was fairly sure that wouldn't be a relationship that got much further than a fist to the jaw if Jack didn't tread carefully. She almost missed John's next words, "Rose you're on my team, which means Chris is with Ronan."

"I'll take Teyla, Kate gets to be with Sheppard."

"And Finally our two intrepid women, Liz sorry babe but you're with me," John grinned to his sister-in-law.

Elizabeth grinned as she moved over to John's side, instantly linking her arm with Rose. Rose instantly giggled as she leaned into Elizabeth's friendly gesture. "Now, just to make this a little more interesting and fun, what say we play for a few stakes?" John said wiggling his eye brows. "Say the team that wins has to do all the other team's paper work for a week?"

"You are so on," Rodney returned eyeing his brother.

John chuckled and nodded, "Good, first team to finish at the end, properly wins, Carson; Rodney you two are first."

Rodney shot John an angry glare before he and Carson stepped up a few feet, "On your mark," called Ronan.

"Ready, set, go!" John finished.

Both Carson and Rodney dropped to the ground beginning the twenty five push ups. Just watching them made their friends cringe as the two men struggled shortly after they got past six. Needless to say Rodney was up minutes later, grunting through short gasps of air as he dove towards the barbed wire, where he instantly got hung up. Allowing Carson to take the lead; seconds later both men were caught in gracious amounts of mud as they began to run through the tires, which instantly sent both men sprawling.

"I said they were slippery!" called John as he continued to watch his two best friends.

Rose grinned, sure that they'd won when Carson grabbed the rope and began to scale the wall with a little less than ease, while Rodney just stared up at the rope with a horrendous gulp before finally gripping it and pulling himself up and over the wall. She lost sight of the two men as they disappeared into the tunnels, seconds later they both appeared together and grabbed the monkey bars. Both men slipped, causing Teyla; who now stood at the end of the game to monitor, told them to go back to the beginning of the bars. Finally Rodney dropped to the ground and began the first ten of fifty sit ups. By the time he was on twenty-five the winded Doctor joined the scientist.

"Laura GO!" yelled Teyla from the end. Laura took off beginning her push ups, "Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth followed close behind, proving that even though Laura was a marine, Elizabeth wasn't out of shape by any means, They both entered the barbed wire with ease and grace, the tires continued neck and neck for the two of them. Laura was one step ahead of Elizabeth over the wall and into the tubes. But Elizabeth caught up rapidly and both women ended the bars at the same time.

"Jack and Lorne!" called Teyla again before heading back to the beginning; trusting the girls to keep track of the rest of the game.

Jack amazingly surprised everyone when he surpassed Lorne in the push ups and the barbed wire. The tires proved that Jack had gotten cocky when he landed unceremoniously on his ass twice and getting doused in water. Lorne was just finishing the tunnels when Jack finally got up and over the wall.

"Rose!" second later Elizabeth's call was followed by Laura's for Chris to begin.

The two gleamed at one another and began their race. Rose could hear Jack cheering her on at the end as she dipped under the barbed wire. The Doctor was a trained solider, but Rose was young and shorter; seconds later she gracefully flew through the tires as Chris struggled with his long legs. The wall was an easy call, even Chris knew he'd lose at that as he remembered Rose's first valiant rescue. He caught up with her in the tunnel but lost to her on the monkey bars when his legs hit the ground half way across.

"Kate!" Rose called as she huffed, thrilled she'd beaten Chris at something. She didn't get a chance to catch her breath however because a second later Jack swooped her up in his arms twirling her around like she were queen of the world.

"Teyla go!" Chris called as he made his way over to his new wife and kissed her lips, "Nice job." He wasn't really put out by losing, it wouldn't be the first time he doubted it would be the last with her around to keep him on her toes.

Kate didn't stand much of a chance against Teyla, although she wasn't far behind, however Teyla easily finished ahead of the psychologist so Ronan began the race, John followed him instantly, by the wall both men were neck and neck. It wasn't until the sit ups that either team though they'd win.

However John beat Ronan by one sit up, gaining a cheer against his team. "That was amazing!" cheering Elizabeth as she hugged her muddy husband.

Everyone seemed all smiles after that, even Rodney who was caked in mud and wet. John grinned, knowing part of it was simply because the love of his life was so damn happy about winning, never entering his mind that Rodney would be the one picking up her slacking paper work.

He gave everyone a few hours to relax and for the sun to come out. By lunch time the sun was indeed beginning to peak into the sky; so he decided to call them all in from their various positions around the small camp site, "Okay guys, time for step one of the big ropes course tomorrow, come with me."

John led them back to the side of the mountain he'd pointed out earlier, two ropes hanging from high above, "Ronan will give a quick lesson of safety then we'll go two at a time, team up with whomever you'd like as long as their not your spouse," John affirmed.

Twenty minutes later everyone was geared up and ready to go. Rose stood up first, with Laura behind her, Jack decided to go up with her with Chris as his spotter. "This is easier than the elevator shaft," mumbled Rose as she began to pull herself up and find the foot holds. Jack was also having little trouble and soon both had reached the top.

Instantly they turned to cheer on those who were below them, Laura and Chris were next with Lorne and Rodney as spotters. After them Elizabeth spotted Lorne and Carson spotted Rodney. Finally Kate and Teyla ascended the peak with John and Ronan at the bottom.

Once everyone was at the top, Ronan looked over to John then pointed out to the north, "Look ahead of you!" he called upwards.

All eyes moved North, there was a collective gasp, in the distance they could see the very tip of Atlantis' spiral tower, "My God," whispered Rose as she felt Chris wrap his arm around her waist.

"That is something," came Rodney's reply.

The sun was beginning to go down, as John revealed a hidden football, with girl's vs. boys—the women got the ball first in offense. "Hike!" yelled Elizabeth as Kate tossed her the ball. Elizabeth ran back a few feet, searched for Rose who stood on the other end trying to get around Chris and Jack.

"Liz!" called Teyla.

Elizabeth pulled out the perfect fake pass as both Jack and Chris headed to Teyla as Elizabeth made to throw it to the alien, she then tossed it to Rose, who made her way down the field. She ducked just in time to narrowly miss getting tackled by Rodney, however Carson wasn't so easy and with that they made their first down as the Scot took her to her butt.

"Hope I didn't hurt ye," Carson laughed as he helped the woman off the ground.

She giggled and shook her head, "Just fine, nice tackle," they'd decided not to hold anything back, none of them minded getting a little dirty. So they'd gone full out tackle, as long as they were careful, which everyone had agreed to, including Dex.

It was two hours later when they sat around eating dinner and just talking, Rose and Chris explaining a few of their various exploits; Jack joining in now and then, when John finally announced what they would be doing this evening.

"The sun goes down in about ten minutes, everyone get dressed in your darkest clothes, we'll reconvene back here and go back out to the field, where we're going to be playing capture the flag."

The night wore on, Rose and Jack were two of three on their team to be sent out into the field and the first thing Rose did was successfully capture her beloved fiancé. He chuckled as she pinned him to the ground between her thighs, "My Rose, you are competitive," he joked as he grabbed her wrists. It was a question at that point of who would be returning to their base with whom.

"Give up now and I will let you go," she offered as she leaned down giving him a chastising kiss.

"You won't let me go," he muttered, his hands just above her behind, as he slowly began to drift up. Seconds later she let out a shriek as he began to tickle her sides.

Meanwhile Ronan caught Teyla and Kate, however he was halfway back to their base when Lorne and snuck up on him, bringing the odds to three against one.

However, it proved to be a surprised to everyone when Rodney was able to sneak around both teams, evade his beautiful wife of three years and capture the flag. The game was over by two that morning, everyone was laughing and grinning as they headed back to their campsite.

Elizabeth sighed as she and Rodney snuggled into their tent an hour later. They'd remained awake to talk over a small bonfire, until Elizabeth finally admitted exhaustion and headed to bed. Rodney followed, out of light concern for his beloved wife. So as he curled his arm around her waist he finally got up the nerve to ask what had been bothering her for just over six weeks now. She'd been away from home for one of those months, on Earth while Rodney remained back on Atlantis, he was concerned about her being away for so long. "What's wrong?"

She slowly turned around in his arms and smiled lightly, gently touching his cheek, "What makes you think something is wrong?"

"A lot of things I suppose…you've been avoiding me lately, not obviously so, but—"

"Rodney, can I ask you a question."

"Elizabeth we have no secrets from one another remember? I thought we agreed on that after we got married."

"We did—Rodney something happened while I was on earth—" she paused then grinned, "Well actually that's not quite right, rather something didn't happen."

Rodney looked at her, his blue eyes full of confusion, "I'm not following."

Reaching don Elizabeth gripped his hand in her's, her soft smile turning into a large unabashed grin, "Rodney, I had Carson run some tests while I was on Earth, sweetheart, I'm eight weeks pregnant."

It must have taken a moment before Elizabeth's words sank in, but finally his infamous smirk came out, as though he were suddenly really proud of himself, "Seriously?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I was holding off on telling you, because I was afraid of what might happen if I miscarried this one too—but, well I spoke with Carson about it, and he says the baby is perfectly healthy and the likelihood of having another tube pregnancy is slim."

"That's great!" Rodney threw his arms around his wife and hugged her for all she was worth, he couldn't be happier. She'd never even known she was pregnant the first time a year ago. Rodney had been crushed and guilt ridden that he'd done something wrong the first time the baby had died. However, this time he was just elated and perhaps a little worried about his future child.

"So you're okay with this? You're really ready for another child?"

Rodney looked up at her beautiful green eyes and shook his head, "First off it's not as though I have much of a say so, second off it takes two to make a third, and third I couldn't be happier. Lauryn's going to be six in two months, she's growing so fast, I'm definitely ready to have another baby around, even if he is as wild as his mother."

Elizabeth laughed as she playfully smacked her husband in the shoulder, "Don't even get me started on the poor girl."

"It's totally a boy!"

"How do you know?"

"Call it a father's instinct, it's definitely a little boy, and he's going to have my eyes, your hair and hopefully your brains."

"Am I ever going to get a child with my eyes?"

"I have no say over that."

"I love you Rodney."

He smiled as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, romantically and slow, he'd discovered one thing about Elizabeth since first meeting and falling in love with her. She was the most devoted, loyal and lovingly romantic woman on the face of the planet. "I love you and our little boy."

The next morning dawned far too quickly for the Atlantis camp, as they rolled out of bed, got dressed and headed for their final challenge through base came. John had made it a mandatory rule that husbands and wives or significant others were not to be paired together for the high ropes course. So Elizabeth turned to Rodney, giving him a soft smile she looked to Teyla and without asking the two women instantly paired up. The pairs continued, Rose and Laura chose to also stick with their pair. Rodney and Carson turned to one another, while Jack chose Chris, Todd and Kate chose one another. Ronan was the first to head up to the deck as they called it, which led out in two different directions.

When Rose would look back days later on the entire camping experience, she would vividly remember some moments better than other, however the one thing that would always stick out in her mind was how everyone really bonded together as they worked on the high ropes course, and how those on the ground cheered those who were in the air. Even more so, those in the air were cheering on their teammates that were also above the ground. Rose would always remember the feeling of getting onto the V with Rodney, and realizing that they could only chose absolute trust if they were going to do this course. Rodney looked up at her and offered her a nervous smile, "Afraid of heights?" he questioned as they stepped out onto the thick wire lines.

They each got one line to put their feet on and the other for their harness to slide along above them. She looked up into his blue eyes and shrugged, "Not so much, you?"

"Wouldn't admit it if I was," he grinned as he reached one hand out to her.

Letting go hesitantly with one hand she pressed it against his palm, she looked down at to Chris and Elizabeth who were now comfortably on ground. "You can do it Rose, just let go of the rope, you have to trust him!" called Laura as she joined the two friends.

Taking a deep breath Rose put her other hand against Rodney's calloused ones. He looked up at her and offered another small smirk, and then it began, they started to scoot out further on the rope, the only thing holding them up was the pressure against one another as well as their harness. Rose was fairly sure it was the scariest moments of her life as she put all her faith in another man she barley knew and had thought little of until hours earlier.

They made it back to the deck at last, Rodney held onto one of her hands as Jack gave her a hand up. Then they both helped Rodney step up to the platform.

Rose was sure she'd never forget the feeling of knowing she'd just made a new friend in Rodney McKay, they'd talked up there, laughed a little bit about the situation. He'd told her how he adored Atlantis and his wife to pieces. Rose had told him how she'd met the Doctor and how it had been love at first sight—and second.

When they finally reached the ground Rodney gave her a loving hug and smiled at her, "You did good, and you'll do wonderful on Captain Lorne's team," he offered as he then patted her on the back.

Rose looked to Elizabeth suddenly, she hadn't been told at team she was getting placed on, she'd been offered a position on the second team, but she didn't actually believe she'd get it. "Really?"

"Do you want to be with Laura, Todd and Jack?"

Rose beamed, "Are you kidding me? This is great!"

They arrived back on Atlantis by noon, tired, jovial and none worse for the wear. Rose stepped into the shower and for the first time truly felt like she belonged on the snowflake city, as though she'd earned a position there.

She heard the door to the bathroom slide open, and waited, "I'm proud of you," Chris called over the sound of the running water.

"What for?" she asked as she finished rinsing herself.

"You were always so strong Rose, but it takes a even better person to trust someone instantly, and that's something you've never stopped doing."

Rose smiled softly as she turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her body, "I love you Doctor," she murmured as she stepped out of the shower and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"I love you and I'm so glad I met you."

"Me too."

"We've got a welcome to Atlantis party if you want to go? I wasn't sure, apparently Elizabeth has some big announcement as well."

"I'd like that, just let me get changed."

The party was out on the balcony of the rec room on Atlantis, everyone gathered around, drinks in hand chattering pleasantly, until Elizabeth and Rodney entered, hand in hand. "Okay everyone, first off I'd like to welcome and congratulate all the new members of Atlantis, it takes a lot of guts to step through that gate for the first time with no idea what's on the other side. Second off Rodney and I would like to make a very happy announcement." Glancing over to her beaming husband she grinned as well, "Seven months from now there will be another McKay on this city."

The inhabitants let out a cheer, several people smacking Rodney on the back in excitement. Rose smiled at the couple, in only a light jealously, sure she had little Emma, but she wanted so much more, and she wanted it with Christopher. She was able to make her way later that evening to Elizabeth and Rodney to congratulate them. Pleased to see them so happy, it was then she learned of her very first mission.

"You embark tomorrow at twelve hundred hours," Elizabeth filled her in, "And try not to worry, you'll do great!"