“Seriously, you’re driving me crazy…”

I’m sorry

“I know. You’re in my head. I can feel how sorry you are. Stop saying it.”

Okay

Talon grumbled a little to himself, but he didn’t say he was sorry again – although she knew that he’d been about to. The problem was, she’d been serious. Between him inside her head telling her every hour how bad he felt about his role in the destruction of Lantica and McKay hovering around her doing the same thing every chance he got, it was beginning to wear on her nerves. Even worse, they were both sincere about how bad they felt and both of them were doing their damndest to make sure she knew about it.

While she’d been confined to the infirmary, Carson and Fraiser – with a fair amount of help from both Jack O’Neill and Elizabeth Weir – had been able to keep Rodney from her bedside all hours of the night asking her what she wanted in the new ship he was already designing. A new ship that was going to be Replicator proof, he promised. More annoying while she was stuck in bed was the fact that Talon kept thinking of new things for the new ship as well, and he would run them by her any time she was awake and a thought came to him. As smart as he was, they were constantly coming to him.

Once she was freed from the infirmary and allowed to move around a bit – but still stuck on Earth because she and the others were spending a fair amount of time sifting through the intel they had on the Replicators – she was again hounded almost nonstop by Rodney, who had taken to constantly carrying a laptop with ideas for the new ship. She’d finally gone to Jack for help, and although he’d been far more amused than sympathetic, he had assigned McKay and Carter to the Replicator problem and sent both of them to Atlantis to see if there was any mention of them in the huge Ancient database.

That had given her a little peace and quiet – minus the constant murmuring in her head – and she’d actually managed to enjoy her time on Earth, despite the way she’d arrived and the fact that she never wanted to see that little pod that Fraiser had sitting in a storage room off the infirmary waiting for Thor or one of the other Asgard to come and collect it.

She and Jack had taken a day and gone fishing in one of the numerous rivers that ran through the mountains around Colorado Springs, and had pulled in several good looking trout before she’d been ticketed by a fish and wildlife agent for not having a proper fishing license for the state of Colorado. Something neither of them had even considered. It had been worth it, though. She’d needed a distraction and time spent with Jack was always a plus.

Besides, Talon had never had trout.

“Are you about ready?”

The sudden question pulled her out of her reverie and she turned to see that Sheppard had arrived at the door to her on-base quarters. He was dressed in typical black BDUs and she noticed that his hair was growing a little out of control once more. But she didn’t call him on it.

He’s probably like that Harry Potter kid, Talon remarked, amused and for a pleasant change not in apology mode. Can’t control it no matter what he does…

She smirked, but didn’t comment. Instead she nodded and brushed a hand down the front of her own uniform to make sure it hadn’t managed to wrinkle. Not that it mattered, since they were on stand down for the rest of the day, but she was an Air Force Colonel – despite other titles she could claim – and she refused to look wrinkled.

“Did McKay and Carter arrive?”

“About an hour ago.”

“Teal’c?”

“He came with Teyla.”

Now John smirked as well, because the two of them privately enjoyed the relationship developing between Teal’c and Teyla – and neither of them would even consider asking the two of them how it was going. It wasn’t any of their business – but it was fun to speculate about.

Privately, of course

Hush.

Talon snickered in her head, but it only made her smile as she and Sheppard headed for the elevators that would take them up to the surface.

OOOOOOOOO

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Sheppard asked her ten minutes later.

Melony’s answering smile was good-natured – it was a gorgeous day and she was glad to be out again. Especially since they were going to a party. Her brother’s Mustang was gleaming in the sun and the top was down since it was so nice out. Sheppard had been drooling over it since the first time he’d seen it.

“You’d scratch it.”

“A beauty like this?” He looked shocked. “Never. I’d treat her like glass…”

She hesitated, but then shrugged and tossed him the keys.

“Fine.”

He caught them automatically, but stared at her in surprise.

“Really?”

“Why not?”

Talon and McKay weren’t the only ones feeling a little guilty. Sheppard had been injured in their half-assed plot to take on the Replicators and Mitchell knew it could have been prevented. Letting him drive the Shelby was a good way to make up for it without actually saying anything.

He smiled, and headed for the driver’s side before she could change her mind.

“You know where to go, right?”

“Of course. I’ve been there a million times.”

“Let’s take the scenic route…”

She laughed and got in the car by simply jumping in, but true to his promise John opened the door and carefully seated himself behind the wheel.

“Your brother had good taste.”

She smiled; it was a long time since she felt stung by mention of her dead brother, and she knew he would have preened at the praise for his baby. Jack had done a great job of keeping it glistening.

“That he did.”

Sheppard turned the engine over and put the car in gear, and the conversation died as they drove to O’Neill’s house, him enjoying driving the Shelby and her just enjoying the breeze and giving occasional directions.

OOOOOOOOOO

It wasn’t really a party. More along the lines of a relaxing get together with people who needed a chance to unwind and didn’t always have the chance. Fraiser, Carson and Teal’c were teaching Ronon how to play ping-pong and Teyla and Daniel manned the bar b que that was such an integral part of any get together that included Jack O’Neill. Elizabeth Weir had even arrived, lured from Atlantis with the promise of a nice quiet day off, a perfectly cooked steak and a chance to relinquish all decision making for at least the afternoon. At the moment, she and Rodney were sitting in a couple of lawn chairs watching the ping-pong game that had developed into quite a competition once Ronon had figured out the rules of play. Weir had been ready to suggest that she and Rodney play winners, but the game was fast and furious and she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to play winners. Or losers, for that matter.

Carter and Jack were in the kitchen tossing together a salad while waiting for the final guests to arrive, and when they heard a car pull up outside, both of them looked out the window.

“She let him drive?” Sam looked over at Jack surprised, but O’Neill wasn’t.

“She likes him,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, she’s been driving it for the past week everywhere she needs to go, so it’s not as much of a buzz as it was the first time she got in it.”

Sam just shook her head, but she was more than willing to admit that he knew Mitchell a lot better than she did. Sheppard tossed Melony the keys as they walked up to the door, and Jack met them with a smile.

“You’re still alive, Sheppard, so I’m going to assume you didn’t scratch her car…”

John grinned, and handed over a brown bag that was holding a bottle of good wine. Not great wine, but pretty good stuff. Certainly good enough for those who were gathered.

“She scowled at me the entire way here, sir. I didn’t dare go over thirty.”

O’Neill chuckled, knowing that was almost certainly an exaggeration, and waved both of them out towards the kitchen and the door that led out back.

“No wonder you’re late. Everyone else is here, so go say your helloes and grab something to drink.”

That said, he and Sam went back to their salad making while he watched Mitchell greet the others through the kitchen window where she wouldn’t be aware of the scrutiny. Carter noticed the concern in his expression, however, and the way some of the lines on his face deepened a little. She’d seen that worried look before.

“You okay?” she asked, leaning a hip against the counter and stealing a celery stick they hadn’t chopped yet.

He nodded, but didn’t look at her.

“Just thinking about all the things that can go wrong with this Replicator thing.”

Carter shrugged.

“They’re a threat, Jack. But we’ve been threatened before. Nothing new there.”

“Lantica was a deadly little ship – the most advanced we have – and they took her down in an instant,” he pointed out, still looking out the window.

“They didn’t get any information from her, though, and it did serve one good purpose… Something that will cause you a few less sleepless nights…”

He looked over at her, surprised by that.

“What?”

“Mitchell – well, Talon, really – knows just how dangerous and sneaky the Replicators are, now. After the destruction of Lantica, Talon’s not going to be nearly as brash as he normally is – and he won’t be taking Melony along with him on some crazy, super dangerous plan.”

Jack hesitated, clearly considering that. And then he nodded, and even lost a lot of the worry in his features.

“That’s a good point.”

It had been Talon and McKay who had tried to trick the Replicators, not Melony, but he knew that Talon had some measure of control of Mitchell whether Melony wanted to think that was true or not. Now that Talon had almost gotten her killed, he had to admit that the chances were very good that he’d be a lot more careful in the future.

Sam nodded.

“I know.” She covered the salad bowl and picked it up. “Now, let’s go and have a good afternoon, shall we? Time enough for worrying later.”

He nodded his agreement and turned away from the window – and his brooding. Sam was right; there was plenty of time for that later. He had every intention of enjoying this afternoon and they could worry about the future – and the coming war with the Replicators – tomorrow.

“You’re right.”

She smiled.

“Of course I’m right. I’m a-“

“Genius, yeah, I know.”

He took the bowl from her and carried it out to the party, allowing himself to relax and enjoy the day. Time enough for other problems later.

The End

OOOOOOOOOOO

Woot! So, I know I stopped sooner than some of you were expecting. Remember, though, that this story was about the shakedown of Lantica and not the war with Replicators. That will have to wait for another story and another time. I hoped you liked this one and thank you all for reading and for reviewing as well, when you had time.