“You wanted to see me?”

Rodney McKay looked up from his laptop, and took a second look.

“Where did you get that?”

Colonel Mitchell posed, slightly, and smiled.

“From the tailor that-“

“Oh, yeah. Hey, I wanted to see you.”

She rolled her eyes and sat down on the edge of the desk he was sitting at; careful not to wrinkle the new tunic she was wearing. It wasn’t something she’d normally have chosen for herself – the style was completely alien to her – but the fabric was amazingly soft and supple, like wearing a Mok hide, only without the Mok – and the fit was perfect. Even better, it was a fairly conservative gray, not unlike the color of the uniforms she wore every day, so she didn’t feel like she stuck out in the crowd wearing it.

Melony ignored that.

“What did you need, Rodney?”

“I’ve been searching the Ancient’s data base…”

“Yeah?”

“Looking for any mention of the Ultum.”

He waited with a slightly smug expression, knowing that she’d ask him what he’d found.

She didn’t disappoint.

“What did you find?” she asked, more interested, now.

“Nothing.”

“Oh.”

That wasn’t the answer she was expected. Not considering the look on his face.

“Which means that either the Ancients didn’t want to acknowledge their connection to the Ultum, or Johvvon was lying.”

“And which was it?”

He grinned.

“Funny you should ask. Because the next thing I did was look up the name Johvvon…”

Again the dramatic pause – and again she bit exactly where he wanted her to.

“And…?”

“And found him. Or rather, I found a reference to a Johvvon. Remember, he said it was his name and his calling…”

“He’s not really a he, though, right?” She asked. “I mean, he wasn’t really in corporeal form, after all, and I certainly didn’t see-“

“It’s not a name, Melony,” he interrupted. “It’s a phrase. And not an Ancient word, either. The data base doesn’t even say where it came from, only that Johvvon refers to a guardian spirit – or a trap.”

“A trap? Really?”

He nodded.

“I never would have found it without actually having met him, but once I looked for it, it was right there in plain sight.”

He turned the laptop on his desk to face her, but before she could start reading, he started quoting the section he’d been looking at.

“Johvvon literally means trap – or beware,” he said. “And it’s used in several societies – none as old as the Ancients, of course – but some of them have apparently been around for quite a while. There are even stories about a guardian spirit that roams the forests and abducts the unwary – although it doesn’t say what happens to them.”

“We pretty much answered that ourselves, though,” Melony told him, browsing the article herself. “At least we know they aren’t killed and eaten or something…”

He shrugged.

“Small consolation.”

She changed the subject – at least a little of it.

“So you think he was telling us the truth, then? About the genesis of the Ancients, I mean?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged again, frowning. “Of course, he could have just told us that to keep us interested in staying long enough to trick us – me.”

“He could have told us anything. Why make up something so outlandish?”

“Why not?”

She looked at the laptop for another minute, but then shrugged herself. It really didn’t matter one way or the other to her. She had her own things to worry about, and how the Ancients came to be the Ancients was way down on the list. However, she knew it meant a lot to McKay, so she figured she’d allow him to finish using her as the sounding board he’d been looking for.

“So what do you think? Was he telling the truth?”

Rodney hesitated, but then nodded.

“I think so, yes.

“And…?”

“And I wish I could have met one of the Ultum…”

Which didn’t surprise her at all.

“Well, who knows? Maybe they’re still around somewhere. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open.”

He looked at her for a long moment, and then nodded.

“Stranger things have happened, right?”

“Definitely.”

He nodded again, more to himself than to her, and then shrugged, apparently willing to drop it – for now, at least.

“What are you going to do now?”

“What I have been doing,” she replied. Nothing had changed for her, really. “Keep looking out for the Jaffa – even though they don’t really need me anymore – and help Ronon hunt down Wraith until-“

“I meant right now,” he interrupted.

“Oh.” She shrugged. “How about some lunch?”

His eyes lit up.

“Really? Sounds great.”

He stood up and his hand brushed her side as he pulled his laptop back to its original spot on the desk.

“Wow…” He ran his hand along her new tunic, fingering the fabric. “Where did you get this?”

She rolled her eyes.

“From the tailor in the Village. The young guy with-“

“It’s incredible…”

“I know.”

“Can I try it on?”

“No.”

She turned and headed for the door, with him right beside her.

“Come on… just for a minute…”

“No.”

“I thought we were friends…”

“You can come with me when I check on the Mok, next time. I’ll even let you cuddle up to one.”

“Can I make a shirt out of it?”

She scowled, and he grinned.

“Just kidding.”

“Good.”

“Unless you were going to say yes…?”

“McKay…”

“Just kidding…”

So, a little longer in the making – and I completely forgot about the epilogue, thinking that I’d made the last chapter the end – but I like this ending better anyways. Let me know what you thought (although you’ll probably have to go back and reread the whole thing just to remember the first part)