Stargate: Dark Frontier

Continuation fic for Stargate: Universal Sin Alternate ending to Atlantis.

A/N: Before you read the story itself, a few advisories.

1.) Dark Frontier is a Continuation Fic from Universal Sin. You can find Universal Sin on my Profile Page or the C2 archive.

2.) If you've read Universal Sin and are reading Dark Frontier now, be advised, the first half of the first season is much slower than the rest of the story. It is also much shorter as a result.

3.) The story builds upon arcs and while episodic, has an underlying story which builds similar to how B5 or DS9 did. Episodes 1-6 is a slow building arc which is a recovery from the events of Universal Sin, Episode 7 begins the more action/adventure aspect, building to the mid-season three parter which brings us back to what we know and love.

4.) Due to Fanfiction . net's new formatting changes, some episodes may not be formattered correctly with page/scene breaks. Please keep this in mind as the entire site was affected.

5.) The first half season is a little rough around the edges as I was - and continue to - learn how to write to a higher quality. By the mid-season three parter, the quality shoots up and keeps on going up. Please keep this in mind as you read.

Series Premiere – Episode 1

Welcome to Saudade Dr Beckett.

16 Days in Hoag's Object

Teyla Emmagen: "Have I said something amusing?"

Carson Beckett: *Laughs uncontrollably*

Laura Cadman: *Walks up* "Uhh okay… Did I miss something?"

Teyla Emmagen: "I mentioned his hippopotamus oath and he's been laughing ever since."

Laura Cadman: "Uhh that's Hippocratic Oath… a Hippopotamus is a… big… fat and hungry animal that eats these little white balls."

"You shall assist me… I will not ask again."

Carson shook his head, but his voice was strained. "No… no I won't help you…"

Michael growled softly, and motioned to one of his hybrids. "Bring her…"

The Hybrid wordlessly moved over and dragged a crying young woman into the cell where Carson was. She was crying and looked traumatized.

Michael hissed softly and used the back of his fingers to caress the woman's face. "Assist me… or she dies before your eyes…"

Carson hesitated; the look the woman gave him chilled him to the bone…

"Hold him up! Come on! Get him on the gurney!"

Carson groaned and tried to open his eyes, The female voice was hardly recognizable, but the sudden sharp pain in his left butt cheek quickly got him alert. "Ooo-ooh! Bloody…!" The lights were bright, and Carson felt almost drunk as he swayed around. "…Je-Jen…"

"The shot should start working right away… maybe an hour or two of rest and he'll be back to normal."

Another voice, this one male and deep. "He's been in there for almost 3 weeks Rey. You'd think he's as 'rested' as he could take."

Carson disagreed, his muscles felt so terribly sore and even with his eyes open he couldn't make anything out. His throat was dry as well and unable to say anything.

Another voice, this one recognizable. "He looks like hell… it's a good thing Jennifer put him in there when she did… I'll stay with him sir… he should wake up to a face he knows."

"Agreed… But I'm going to need you at sixteen-hundred to go to the mainland with us to explore that outpost. Drake's busy doing repairs to one of the towers and I want someone with engineering knowledge."

"Technically I only know how to blow stuff up… not necessarily put it together, but sure thing, sir."

Laura… even without the constant explosions around her Carson could recognize her man was Sheppard though, unmistakable with his peculiar drawl.

Carson didn't really feel much else though, and he drifted into a fugue state that blocked out everything.

"Why doncha just kill me then? If I'm really such a hindrance."

Michael growled, and he turned a menacing glare to Carson. "Watch your tongue good Doctor… I may have to remove it."

Carson quickly shut up, and cursing himself, prayed once more that his friends could hurry up and find him to take him home.

"Carson?"

The blurry vision was beginning to go away, and slowly consciousness seemed more like what Carson was feeling.

"Carson?"

Alive… that was a bit of an overstatement just now, but the rapidly better feeling he was getting made him smile.

"Carson."

It was always like this with Laura, Carson was often busy back when they were dating… she'd have to poke him or threaten to made a voodoo doll out of C4. She knew he recognized her and the faint smile he had was unabashed. "Laura… fancy meetin' you here."

The infirmary was bright and cheerful, the strawberry blonde beside him in BDU's was the likely cause in his mind though. 2 years with Michael had eroded much of the happiness in Carson's life, but at least he had someone he could talk to. "Carson… you keep pretending you're asleep and I'm going to pour a bucket of water on you… cold water."

Carson chuckled, and leaned up on the bed, he felt a million times better and smiled at Laura. "Aye… okay okay! I surrender!" He chuckled a bit, stretched his neck, and then looked around. He didn't recognize anyone. "Laura… where is everyone?"

Laura's face lost its cheer, and she took Carson's hand in hers. "Carson… there's something you have to know…"

Carson instantly feared the worst. "Oh no… not… how… how long have I…? He looked at Laura hard, trying to judge if there was anything different about her. He always assumed she'd age well like a fine wine, but she looked exactly as she did before he was put in stasis.

"A little over 2 weeks…but a lot's changed… We're not in Pegasus anymore."

A strange relief, but at the same time fear came over Carson. "What? So… the city took off?"

Laura sighed, and decided to let him experience it as she first did. "Yes… can you walk? Or… I can get a wheelchair if we need to."

Feeling his manhood insulted, Carson rolled over and swung his feet out onto the floor. He'd forgotten he was wearing scrubs and Laura got a nice eyeful of his exposed backside. "Oh grow up Laura… nothing ye haven't seen before." He was so glad that Laura was here, without Rodney… the place felt a little emptier.

Nevertheless, something was off, and as Carson tied up his scrubs he noticed that many things had changed… much of the expedition's equipment was moved or modified. He even recognized some Traveler technology from his day of knowing them. Laura giggled and took his hand. "Haven't seen it in awhile… forgot how cute it was."

The walk through Atlantis's corridors was…alarming to say the least. Dozens of men women and even children Carson didn't recognize worked diligently, repairing broken conduits, welding the broken walls back together. Some were even installing lights and what appeared to be information terminals. "Laura…what's going on? Where is everyone? Who are these people?"

Laura walked with one arm around Carson's shoulders to steady and guide him. "They're the Travelers… a lot of them decided to stay in Atlantis and live here… The city took a lot of damage in the last battle before we left and from what Sam and Larrin have said, it'll be another few months before it's back to normal."

"Sam? Larrin? Who're ya talking about?"

Laura winced, and recalled that Carson had only briefly met Sam, and had no clue who Larrin was. "Colonel Samantha Carter…. She came to see you for a minute before you went into stasis. Larrin's the leader of the Travelers, she's been working with Sam to get this place back in ship shape."

Carson furrowed his brow slightly, He knew Laura was a good soldier, why wasn't she calling Colonel Carter by her honorific? "I… wow… I feel like I've completely lost touch with reality… All I remember is whatcha told me when you and Ronon found me… Jennifer told me a little as well about the refugees… are they safe?"

Laura smiled, it was so Carson to worry about others first. "They're fine… most are still on the base and getting ready to leave."

"Leave? You mean….the Replicators are gone?"

"And the Wraith." A double edged sword, and Laura hated having the flick the blade around. "But not how you think… just watch…"

They'd reached their destination, and Carson drew in a long shocked gasp. Off in the bright distance, high in the sky, the Sun shone brightly through strangely formed clouds.

But that was nothing compared to the giant blue planet that dominated the horizon. "Laura…. Where are we?"

"We're calling this moon Saudade… and we're safe from the Wraith and Replicators because…" Laura hesitated, even after 2 weeks it was still overwhelming. "…we're six hundred million light years from Earth." Carson's throat constricted and he began to breath faster. Laura noticed instantly and put her arms around him. "Carson… come on… it's okay…"

"It's okay…?" Carson was almost hyperventilating now; this was by far the last thing he could have possibly expected when Jennifer put him in the stasis tube. "It's okay! No, it's not bloody okay! You say I've been in there 2 weeks and all of a sudden I'm halfway across the universe?"

Laura winced and held Carson still. "It was the only way Carson… there's so much you need to know… but we're safe."

Safe…. Carson looked up at the sky and the cold wind flapped at him. Laura's warm embrace did nothing to alleviate the chill in his bones.

Carson was in some rather odd clothing. He'd been forced to wear prisoner garb to help prevent potential escape for two years and was looking forward to the Expedition clothing.

He wasn't expecting to wear cured leather that made him look like a Traveler… and even more he was shocked to see Colonels Sheppard and Carter in similar clothing as he entered her office. "Dr. Beckett. It's good to see you up and around."

Carson didn't hold back. "Aye, but where? I'm so out of touch I feel I landed in an alternate reality!"

John pushed the chair from under Sam's desk and offered it to him. "I think you're gonna wanna sit down… Cadman and Ronon told me you're gonna need some serious catch up."

"Aye lad, I nearly fainted when Laura showed me the planet in the sky!"

Sam scoffed softly in amusement. "Sorry about that…" She turned an accusing face to John. "I told Colonel Sheppard to ease you in once Dr. Arius had used the cure we found in Michael's database… but evidently he's not one for subtlety."

John shrugged, an apologetic face to Carson. "Wasn't my fault… Cadman's the one who tossed you in."

Carson groaned softly and rubbed the sides of his head. "Tossed me in? Into a near aneurism, I'd say! How'd we end up here? Can we contact Earth? Who's still here?"

Holding up a hand, Sam gave Carson a smile of reassurance. Deep down inside she was still a little distrustful of this… cloned doppelganger… but at this stage she was glad to have someone else from Earth to talk to. "Slow down Doctor… we'll answer any questions we can… first off… are you feeling alright?"

"No I'm not bloody alright! I just took a 2 week nap and ended up across the cosmos and no one wants to tell me how that happened!"

John sighed; he could understand the Doctor's apprehension. "Calm down… we'll start at the beginning… Now Ronon and Cadman said that you were captured by Michael a little over 2 years ago."

"Aye, I went over this with them… he was trying to create hybrids and used my retrovirus research to further his own…" Carson sighed and tried to push away the bad memories. "Ronon tells me he killed Michael… and normally I wouldna wish any harm… but…"

Neither Sam nor John were unmoved by the Doctor's words. Carson simply closed his eyes and buried the memories. Sam spoke softly. "I'm sorry Doctor… I can't imagine what it must have been like."

"Aye, ye can't… and now yer telling me we're god knows how far from home?"

John remained silent, he gave Sam a small look but quickly turned away. Sam replied tactfully. "Yes… specifically we're in the Hoag's Object ring galaxy. We came here by using an experimental propulsion drive the Ancients had developed." Sam leaned forward on her chair and put her elbows on the desk. "I want to apologize to you. The stasis unit you were in was too large to fit through the gate… everything happened so fast after you were put in there that we weren't able to get a smaller one sent to us from the SGC before we left."

Carson shifted in his seat, he was glad to be somewhere safe, but this was rapidly turning into a nightmare. "…and it's taken this long to synthesize a cure from Michael's database?" He'd seen Jennifer's report, and his own theories projected only a few days with the proper knowledge… knowledge he had.

John spoke again, his own voice rueful. "I know you were close to figuring something out when Keller put you in stasis… but without her here…"

Worry entered Carson's veins. "Oh no.. you don't mean…?"

Sam shook her head vehemently. "Oh no no no… Dr Keller is fine… as far as we know."

Carefully chosen words, and Carson could tell from their posture that he wasn't going to like the answer. "As far as you know? What… what happened? Why isn't there anybody I recognize out there?"

A sigh escaped John's lips, and his reply was quick. "Because there's only eleven people from Earth left in the city with you included… along with two thousand refugees and almost five thousand Travelers…"

Carson's jaw dropped a bit and his breathing increased in intensity. "Wha… just… what happened? You didn't leave them in Pegasus did you?"

Sam shook her head. "No… we sent them back to the SGC… it's a long story but the points you need to know is that the others who stayed made their decision to stay… and because the IOA was unwilling to evacuate the refugees out of fear of a Wraith Worshipper somehow getting the Milky Way coordinates to the Wraith… we had to go rogue."

Carson flinched, things had gotten way out of control in his slumber. "What? Rogue?"

John nodded. "It was the last resort… the IOA was going to get rid of us and… well they were going to abandon all those people as well."

Sam continued, though Carson saw an emotion flash across her eyes… and it was aimed at John. "… we had to organize a coup and well… most of the expedition didn't want to come with us." Seeing that Carson wasn't going to reply, Sam averted her gaze. "It wasn't an easy decision… and we're still trying to recover from the damage we sustained during our trip in subspace and the last battle…"

Carson dropped his head into his hands, unsure of anything now. "So… what now?"

John looked to Sam, and now Carson could see something… the two of them seemed familiar but there was… some kind of animosity… something was between those two and it wasn't good. "I guess that's really up to you now doc,"

"What? What do you mean?"

Sam took a deep breath and spoke eloquently. "I'll be honest with you Doctor… we're in bad shape. The city has taken so much damage it'll take months to get back to normal. Most of our staff who were familiar with the city are gone and the Travelers aren't up to specs compared to Earth's best scientists…" She paused and took another breath. "we're especially hurting for Doctors and medics… The Travelers have a few, but nowhere near trained enough to handle running a whole department with this many people on the base." She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I know it wasn't your decision to come here… and I take full responsibility.. and it hurts me to have to ask this… but…"

"You want me to take over the infirmary." Carson spoke tersely, a little taken aback at how quickly they were asking him this. Sam and John both nodded, obviously ashamed. "I've been trapped with Michael for 2 years… doing research and development on hybridization and the Hoffan Drug… all I wanted was to get away and go home… and now you're telling me that I can't go home… and you need me to go back to the way things were…"

Both former USAF Colonels became bashful, and Carson could see his words had their intended effect. Carson continued. "Well they can't… Maybe you were ready for this… this change… but I wasn't. I never agreed to this and…" The anger was in his veins, the words of unrelenting ire that wanted to lash out and put both of them in their place… But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "…and as much I want to tell you two to… *sigh* I just can't. I… I…"

Sam nodded, her face ashamed. "Yes… yes of course… " She tapped her headset. "Cadman come in." The blonde woman with long unfettered hair nodded once and listened to some unheard voice, then replied to it. "If you could come to my office?"

Carson scoffed. "My babysitter?"

John groaned and shook his head. "No… but this place has changed… Laura and Teyla have offered to walk you through anything you want and… and you can ask me anything. I mean it." He rubbed his forehead and temple with one stretched hand. "I'm sorry this had to happen this way Carson... I really am."

Carson simply sighed and bowed his head. Nobody in the room said a word and Carson could tell that despite being safe, Atlantis was nowhere near the tight knit home he'd once been taken from.

A tour of the broken base, and meeting a few unrecognizable faces. It was sobering to know that he was one of 11 people on this base that came from Earth… and only 13 from the expedition in total.

It was nice to see Ronon and Teyla again, though Ronon simply growled and walked away. Teyla assured him that Ronon was simply unused to Carson being around again and patted him on the shoulder. "You must admit, the situation is nowhere near normal… even for Atlantis."

The mess hall was a good place to do this, though the oddly shaped hunk of… something… He couldn't decide if it was animal mineral or vegetable. "I'm just shocked is all… I'm not angry that I'm here… I just wish I could have had the choice."

The Travelers and Refugees in the area gave him odd looks, but most just ate in either silence or private conversations. "Understandable. Although I doubt you would ever wish to leave this place." Teyla had elegance in her voice that always made Carson just a little happier. "It has been a hectic two weeks Carson… and I will not lie, it has not all gone smoothly."

Carson turned back to Teyla and sighed. "I gathered that… I could have sworn Colonel's Sheppard and Carter were avoiding each other even though they were in the same room."

Teyla nodded gently, and she lowered her voice. "They have been reluctant to speak to anyone since coming to this galaxy including themselves. I believe they are just depressed as they are the one who left the most behind."

Nodding, Carson replied. "I can see that. This place feels so… broken… like a glass pane that's shattered or…" Carson sighed and looked to Teyla. "Who else is here… people I would know?"

Shrugging, Teyla recited it from memory. "You've already seen Laura, John and Samantha… other than myself and Ronon, Dr Zelenka, Dr Esposito, as well as several marines decided to join us." Teyla's eyes seemed to light up. "Oh yes… and Dr. Jackson is here as well."

To that, Carson flinched. "Daniel Jackson!"

"Do you know him?"

Carson nodded. "Aye! I met him before we even left for Atlantis 4 years ago, he's here too?" Seeing Teyla nod and smile, Carson truly thought he was dead and this was some form of punishment. "Good lord… are you sure it's only been 2 weeks? Everything's changed so much that… I… I just don't know what to do anymore!"

Teyla sighed and squeezed his shoulder. "I know… and… there are so much to tell you that…" She stopped for a moment and seemed to think hard. "Carson… you once told me of something called a hippopotamus oath."

It was said with the most elegant and prim voice Carson had ever heard. Given the insanity already around him, hc couldn't help it and started snickering uncontrollably.

"Have I said something amusing?"

That only made it worse, for the first time in years Carson honestly felt joy in his gut and guffawed at the unintentional mispronunciation.

He was still laughing when Laura came up from behind, now in Traveler clothes instead of her BDUs. "Uhh okay… Did I miss something?"

Teyla furrowed her brow and shrugged. "I mentioned his hippopotamus oath and he's been laughing ever since."

Carson fell into another fit at the mention. And Laura stifled a giggle. "Uhh that's Hippocratic Oath… a Hippopotamus is a.. big.. fat and hungry animal that eats these little white balls." Even Laura thought it was funny, and seeing Teyla smack Carson after giving her a strange look, felt that maybe with time Carson would get used to this just like she did.

Eventually Carson stopped laughing, and seeing Teyla staring at him with just a hint of anger, sighed apologetically. "Oh I'm sorry Teyla… it's just…it's been a long time since I really found anything funny and…"

Teyla's glare became a smile, and she leaned forward to take him into a hug. "I understand… and I am glad you are with us." She let him go and looked to Laura. "I must go… Torren will likely be driving Daniel insane."

Carson furrowed his brow. "Torren?"

A small smile, and Teyla looked to Laura. "Could you…?"

Laura nodded and sat down across from Carson. "Yeah yeah… I'll uhh…" A sort of resigned voice came to her face and she smiled at Carson.

The Doctor furrowed his brow as Teyla waved goodbye. He then gave Laura an accusing face and questioned. "Torren? Who's Torren?"

A heavy sigh escaped Laura's mouth, and she replied softly. "Her son."

The surprises kept coming, and Carson's eyes went wide. "Son? She… she had a son?" Laura nodded and pulled a fry off Carson's plate. The Pegasus version of the potato fried nicely was and surprisingly tasty. "…Who's the…" It suddenly made sense, the animosity between John and Colonel Carter earlier. "It's Colonel Sheppard's isn't it…? That's why…"

Laura nearly jumped at the mention. "Oh damn! No-no–no-no-no!" Her hands came up and tapped her chest clearing her throat from the choking fry. "Whew… damn…"

"So… it's not John's?" Carson made a slightly suggestive shrug of his shoulders. "Then… then who?"

A few more snickers, Laura would definitely have to tell John about this. "It uhh… he's not here… it was an Athosian named Kanaan."

Carson winced in recognition. "Oh… oh no… he…" Carson simply shut his eyes and tried to block it out. Kanaan was one of the first to become hybridized and from what Ronon said, likely dead in one of Michael's failed raids on the Wraith. "I knew him... he was a good man."

Laura shrugged and sighed. "I wouldn't know… but if Teyla liked him than it's a safe bet." They remained quiet a moment, and then Laura continued. "She's been holding it together… but it hasn't been easy… Most of us are still shell shocked and…" shaking her head, Laura looked at her watch. "Oh crap… Carson?"

"Aye?"

"I uhhh.. I've gotta go… Sheppard is taking a team to the mainland to look for an ancient outpost there's supposed to be there..." A sudden flare erupted behind her eyes, something Carson knew that meant bad news. "Why don't you come with us? We can play catch up and I'm sure you'd be helpful."

Carson groaned softly, and feeling the need for fresher air decided to just go with it. "Why not? And while we're at it I might finally figure out how I ended up in an alternate reality…!"

A snicker, and Laura motioned for him to follow.

The City was so… full… yet at the same time Carson couldn't help but feel lonely. The last time he'd been here he had just finished work on the updated retrovirus… the thought that it was in part his research which led to the deaths of the Athosians was a hard pill to swallow.

Laura led him to the armory, a pair of Travelers in body armor protecting it. It was unbelievable just how strange it seemed…. The Travelers seemed to have usurped the position the expedition had,.. he wondered who it was that had taken his… or rather Jennifer's place.

"Laura… how bad are things… really?"

Laura had just looped the Tacvest onto her shoulders and considered the question."…What do you mean?"

"Colonels Carter and Sheppard said this place is in bad shape… they asked me if I could help with the infirmary… how bad is it really?"

A moment to zip up her vest, and she grabbed a radio from the table nearby. "…Honestly? It's bad. The Travelers are smarter then the average bear but they've got nothing on our people… and with only Zelenka and Ella staying… we need everyone we can get."

Carson sighed and put the vest on. He didn't know exactly what to do now, but he appreciated that Laura was willing to tell him the truth. "And medically? What's going on that they need me?"

"The uhh… the Travelers have their own medicine and doctors..," Laura handed Carson a radio and sidearm in a pouch. "… but it's strange. They've scavenged most of their technology and most of Atlantis's tech is beyond them. A lot of the refugees are sick and some of the Travelers are getting sick from being on the planet… something to do with their immune systems I don't know…" Laura turned to the side and took a deep breath. "So yeah… Sam and John were right… we're in bad shape and we could really use your help. "

Carson could see the desperation in Laura's voice…if only he could get used to the idea of never going home again.

"Brrr… why is it so cold?"

Carson was now glad that he was wearing the leathers of the Traveler style of clothing. Laura had explained that very few of the renegades now felt comfortable in BDUs as it reminded them of home and what they'd willfully abandoned.

He noted that most everyone else wore them except for the lightly tan skinned woman in front of him who seemed extra bundled up. Laura replied to the other Captain's question. "Colonel Carter says it's cuz this moon is in the middle of winter. The mainland is closer to the equator though so it'll be nice and hot."

To Carson's side, Sheppard mumbled. "Must be those Spanish genes talking cuz I really don't feel anything."

The small group chuckled, and Carson looked at them. He only recognized Sheppard and Laura, the others were all either Travelers except for the one Marine captain. He looked to Sheppard expectantly but was interrupted by the 'Spanish' Captain. "Maybe it's the 2 years I did in Iraq, can't imagine what McMurdo would be like."

Carson knew Sheppard had been stationed there, but he didn't know if the Captain knew, staring back at her he didn't see any hostility… but he did see a little humor. Sheppard's voice showed that he was only slightly amused. "Watch it Vega… Dusty showed me a little video with you and Drake that…"

Vega instantly blushed and shook her head. "No no no! That-that's okay!"

"Good. Now how bout you fly the jumper? I got to talk to Carson and Cadman needs to see if her ATA therapy worked. I'd rather not let her at the controls with the ground nearby."

Seeing a little annoyance, but clear respect, the Captain entered the jumper and waved the Traveler crew in as well. Carson turned to Sheppard and shrugged. "Gene therapy? I thought it didn't work on Laura."

John put an arm on Carson's shoulder and pulled him into the back of the jumper. "Lot I gotta catch you up on doc…"

A lot turned out to be the entire trip there, Carson asked about everything, How they'd ended up here, specific people, how Torren Rodney was conceived and named (Carson found it oddly fitting for the child to be named after Rodney… he wouldn't exist if not for the scientist)

Carson did notice Sheppard getting a little nervous and agitated at the mention of the physicist. He wanted to ask more, but decided to wait a bit.

The coup was difficult to listen to… so many people hurt, and somehow miraculously very few fatalities. Sheppard promised to introduce him to Larrin later as well as Reyna the head Traveler Doctor, the person who'd modified the gene therapy to be up to 75% efficient.

He'd just gotten past that when Vega called over her shoulder. "We're nearing the mainland! Picking up some readings from…that way!"

Sheppard rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well then let's head that way!" Seeing how Carson was rather astonished with their odd camaraderie, John lowered his voice. "Don't worry Doc… it's just…Well we are the only people from Earth… gotta stick together."

Carson narrowed his eyes, and decided that enough was enough. "Then what was that little edge you and Colonel Carter had? I've never seen you so…" Unable to think of a word, Carson simply shrugged.

John on the other hand just sighed dejectedly; he rubbed the back of his head as he replied. "That's… complicated."

It was obvious the Lieutenant Colonel was having a hard time for some reason. In fact… it seemed that with everyone else including the Travelers, John had a nice friendly relationship… Carson was honestly surprised that he wasn't getting along with Colonel Carter. "Well… alright…I won't prod…" He stayed silent a moment. "Changing subjects… Laura said something about an illness… something the Travelers were having trouble with."

John nodded. "Yeah… don't know how the hell it's spreading. Rey's got her hands full and she said she was close but needed help… that's uhh…" John again seemed bashful. "…that's kinda why we unfroze you."

His eyes wide yet again, Carson didn't know what to say. "I… I don't know what to say… I just spent the last two years doing things I really didn't want to do… and now yer asking me to jump right back into the thick of it…" Carson lowered his voice so only John could hear. " 'Good Boy Carson! Make up for the atrocities you've done by helping us! *Sigh*. I don't know what to do Colonel… I… I want to help… I really do… but it's just too fast! How.., how can you expect me to just…"

Shaking his head, John sighed. "I'm sorry Carson… goddamnit I'm sorry I had to do this… I'm sorry for a lot of things now…" He seemed so depressed, Carson felt bad for poking him with the righteous poker of his ire. "Can't change it… and I guess we'll just have to keep on going."

"John… I'm sorry." Carson shook his head in embarrassment. "I just…"

"It's okay." John smiled ruefully. "… I deserved every bit of that."

"No ya don't it's…"

"Carson." John started at him, and Carson could see that it was badly affecting John to be in this situation. "It's okay. Seriously. I'm the reason we're all here… so you've got me to blame for being here."

Now feeling horrible, Carson shook his head. "No… no… I… I don't blame you. Laura told me that you saved her and everyone on this base..." a moment of silence and a sigh. "My life is a small price to pay."

Neither man said anything after that. And it wasn't much longer before Captain Vega reported in. "Got a lock sir… no real areas to land around it though."

John grumbled as he moved to the front section. "How far is the nearest suitable landing area?"

Cadman in the passenger seat tapped a few buttons and nodded. "About 3 kilometers."

Vega grumbled and looked up at Sheppard. "Sir… permission to act freely?"

John furrowed his brow, confused over the wording. "Act freely?"

The Captain smiled and looked to the console. "Don't mind if I do!"

To everyone's surprise, a drone spat out of the left launcher and headed down about 100 feet away from where the sensors detected the outpost.

John jumped in surprise and raised his voice. "Vega!"

She gave him an innocent grin and looked down to where the drone had detonated. "Oh look. A parking spot."

Carson could see John wanted to snap at her, but he also saw a sense of resignation, something he'd never seen in John before. "Colonel?"

The Travelers were a little surprised, but for the most part they agreed with Vega. Cadman was staying completely out of it and simply input landing coordinates. Just in case.

John finally grumbled softly and motioned with his head. "Get us down there…"

Despite the destruction at the landing site, the jungle itself seemed rather nice. Carson had to admit, it was nice to breath real fresh air again instead of the reprocessed air of Atlantis or Michael's laboratories.

Laura stayed close, a P90 on her vest and a Doppler scanner in her hands. John remained near the front, while Vega took point with the Travelers making up the center group. "Remind me why I'm here?"

Laura turned and shrugged. "Well… we're hoping this outpost has some information on this galaxy. You're familiar with ancient systems and well…" A sigh left her lips. "We're pretty low on people with that experience… and the gene."

Carson groaned softly. "Great… all that medical school training to end up being a genetic interface again…"

John chuckled as he listened from ahead of them. "Hey… you're lucky I landed assbackwards in that chair a few years ago or you'd have done it a lot more."

The travelers were confused, and one of the more daring men sidled up to Vega ostensibly to question her about the exchange, Carson watched as she easily and quickly tore the man's intentions out from under him. It was almost comical the way he walked back to his friends deflated.

"Hold!" John held up his fist, and the group quickly stopped and took ready positions. "Cadman… whaddya got there?"

Laura tapped a few buttons on the screen and clicked her tongue. "Looks like there's an entrance about 50 feet to the right… there's some dense underbrush though."

Before anyone could act, John turned and pointed at Vega. "No! Once was enough!" His scowl quickly turned into a grin. "That's why we brought the machetes."

Carson furrowed his brow. "Machetes?"

Everyone in the group but him pulled the massive blades from hidden holsters on their legs. Carson simply hadn't noticed and now questioned exactly how much else he hadn't noticed.

They quickly cut through the underbrush, and Carson took a look at the plants. Many were of a strange variety but for the most part nothing remarkable. Some seemed to move on their own, but he was sure it was just an optical illusion.

They reached the entrance, and instantly Carson furrowed his brow. The design was completely different yet still familiar.

"Anyone else feel like walking the other way?"

John rolled his eyes and turned to Vega. "That's enough Captain… Come and take point."

The Travelers chatted amongst themselves and John reasserted his authority. Carson watched as even though she did move and take point, Vega was still postured for attitude.

She flicked her flashlight on and they moved ahead. The dark and humid atmosphere inside the outpost made them all start to regret wearing leather. Laura groaned softly as she unzipped her vest. "God it's so hot…" She began to fan herself as she looked at the Doppler scanner. "Doesn't look like there's any structural damage sir… the alloys are pretty much the same as Atlantis, Carbon/Trinium with a trace of Neutronium… lot of plant life though…"

One of the Travelers moved forward and poked one of the plants with a stick. He jumped back when it shirked away, reacting to his presence. "Whoa! Sheppard!"

John rushed forward with his P90 at the ready, Vega automatically took up a position covering him while Carson watched. "What is it?"

"That plant just moved… watch."

The Traveler poked the plant again, and again, it moved avoiding the explorative stick. John grumbled something below his breath that Carson couldn't pick up and then turned to the doctor. "Carson… I'm no botanist but aren't there some types of plants that can do that?"

'God… where's Katie Brown when you need her?' "Yes Colonel, I'm not sure of the name or exactly how they do it, but I know it's perfectly normal for some plants to react like that."

John flicked the safety on his P90 to the off position and shrugged. "I dunno… I remember Sam telling me something about a giant plant thing attacking the SGC once… Watch yourselves."

Carson had heard of that rather interesting story as well, and knowing that life existed in many forms, unholstered the Sig Sauer from his hip and held it shakily.

Laura noticed immediately and backed up a bit. "Stay calm… just stick close and we'll be fine."

Unable to find a reason to disagree, Carson nodded and moved ahead examining the walls.

It was definitely an Ancient design, the angular walls and dark colors spoke clearly. But the vegetation and thick layers of dust said it hadn't been occupied in a long time.

There were no lights other than the odd crack in the ceiling that filtered in sunlight, and the Marine's P90 flashlights. The Travelers used some kind of glow stick as they explored as well, not touching anything but remaining curious.

Vega suddenly snapped and held her rifle at the ready, the other soldiers reacted and aimed as well towards the corridor she pointed at. "I saw something move…"

John took a few steps forward and looked, he couldn't see anything. "Coulda been one of those plants."

Carson could see that Vega was very agitated whatever she'd seen had scared the hardened marine. "Don't think so sir… moved fast and…"

"What? What is it?"

Vega turned to Sheppard slightly and said. "…it looked big."

John cleared his throat, looked back at the Travelers who now had their weapons drawn, and nodded softly. "Alright… we've got no idea what this thing might be…." He pointed to the Travelers. "Keep those things on medium unless we're threatened…" he then turned to Cadman. "Stay in the pack." Turning to Carson he nodded again. "You too Doc…" Finally he patted Vega on the shoulder. "You're with me… watch my six."

"Yes Sir…"

Carson noticed instantly that John was retaking control, whatever it was that was keeping him back earlier was gone, and the youngish Captain quickly let go of her attitude. Carson followed Laura and took a position between the Travelers and Sheppard.

They had moved ahead another few rooms, each one trashed and what appeared to be flood damaged. Laura kept scratching her head and mumbling to herself but what, Carson didn't ask.

They'd finally reached the center of the outpost, and everyone gave a small gasp of surprise. It looked surprisingly like the control room in Atlantis, some panels were even still lit with power. Except…

John moved forward and traced a finger on the console. He shone his light on it and instantly became tense. "We're not alone… someone's been cleaning up." He turned to the group and signaled with his free hand. "Pair up… spread out and radio any contacts. Do not engage unless you're attacked."

The Travelers seemed reluctant, but wordlessly they followed orders. Carson was not enjoying the idea of going off even with Cadman, and he was relieved when John looked to him. "Doc… try and see what you can make of these systems. Cover him Cadman…" He motioned to Vega and cocked his head towards what appeard to be the gateroom. "Come on… gotta find this bogeyman of yours."

"More like a ghost… wish I had my proton pack."

John chuckled at the dark joke, then pulled his own particle magnum from his waistband. "Next best thing." The gun made a sound as it switched to overchage mode, and the two soldiers left the area opposite the direction of the 4 Travelers.

Carson gulped, still feeling very unsure about this, and began to examine the consoles. The ancient script scrolling across was very unfamiliar, even to the language he'd seen in Atlantis, Laura kept a watchful eye on the surroundings and evidently tried to calm him down by chatting. "How ya doing Carson?"

Feeling the need to vent a lttle, Carson fell back on snark. "Oh same old same old… using my gene to find out how close to doom we are… basically everything but what I trained my whole life for…"

The Travelers, John and Vega were all on their radios, reporting what they found. "Found the gate room… don't see a ring though."

"Keep an eye out… if this outpost's here there's probably gates…"

"Does every galaxy have to have stargates?"

"It'd be a mighty boring place without em."

Laura sighed, and walked over to him. "It's been rough… I know… it's hard on all of us but I can't imagine what it's like for you…"

A clanging sound off in the distance alerted them both, and Carson quickly fumbled with his sidearm. "Wha-wha what was that!"

Laura took a position and unslung her P90. "Don't know…coulda been a wall falling or something…"

Their radios began to chatter, the Travelers squawking to each other. "Did you see that?"

"No… wait! What the…?"

"Contact!" The sounds of particle magnums firing filled the radio and echoed down the halls. "It's too fast! The hell is that!"

Carson could feel his pulse and breathing increase, a natural human reaction to threatening stimuli. Laura motioned for him to follow and they quickly took cover behind a console. Laura tapped her headset and muttered. "This is Cadman… we're taking cover in the control room… what's…"

"Stay there Captain! We've got a… something running around!" John's voice was strained as if he were running. "Everyone regroup! We need to figure ou..."

Vega's voice cut in seconds before he P90. "There!"

The rapport of the gun was close, and Laura moved over to the window to look down towards the gate room. "Holy…"

Carson scurried over and looked as well. He saw John and Vega firing at a rather fast moving black figure… Carson couldn't tell if it was humanoid or not, that bounced from one end of the room to the other.

The floor itself seemed to shift, and John was knocked off his balance ending up on the ground on his ass.

Vega managed to hold on, and seeing the black figure rush towards her unloaded the rest of her clip in a one handed burst using her other hand to balance out..

Carson had always had a good eye, you needed to if you wanted to be surgeon, so when he saw the bullets simply bounce off the creature, itself then swatting Vega away like a ragdoll, Carson wished he hadn't seen it. "Captain!"

The now unconscious Captain landed on top of John, and the figure finally stopped.

It was a strange sight indeed, the figure seemed there but at the same time, he wobbled from side to side like a heat mirage. It raised… something. Carson couldn't tell whether it was a hand or not, and the floor shifted even more revealing an opening.

Almost majestically, a stargate rose up out of the floor and began to dial. How the creature had dialed without a DHD was amazing, and even more, the gate flashed open so fast that Carson was unable to see which symbols were dialed. The chevrons themselves glowed a pale violet, another difference.

Laura raised her P90 and fired, the bullets ricocheting but doing little in any harm to the specter standing in the gateroom. Once the gate finished establishing a lock, it then calmly wafted over and through the gate horizon without a word.

John groaned as he tried to get up, but Vega's limp body was enough to hold him down for a minute. "Carson!"

The feeling of being needed was there, Carson instantly snapped into Doctor mode. "Let's go Laura!"

The Captain was still surprised, she had hit the thing at least 20 times and not a single bullet penetrated or done any visible damage. "Yeah… yeah let's go!"

Quickly they raced down the hallway to the gateroom, the Travelers joining up and quickly showing they were okay. One limped and held his chest though, and as they ran Carson gave him a quick check up. Other than a bruised rib and minor twist of his ankle, the man would be fine. The Traveler recounted being thrown to the side as if he were a toy.

They finally made it to the gateroom where John had propped Vega up against his chest and examined her. "Doc! She's hurt pretty badly…"

Ignoring the obvious comment, Carson looked to the Travelers and spat orders. "Which of you has the medkit?"

A younger one with a lean face gulped and nodded. "I do… I've been learning from Reyna and…"

Feeling a tad impatient, Carson waved at him to move forward. "Well move it lad! I'll be glad you teach you everything I know after we get outta here!"

John's voice cut in quickly. "Cadman! Secure the area and Radio Atlantis! Tell them what happened and to get more teams down here now!"

Carson ignored it, and hardly noticed two Travelers moving off with Laura. He knelt down and quickly accepted the scanner from the Traveler medic. "Alright… let's see…" He ran it over the Captain who now stirred softly regaining consciousness. "Alright… contusions along the arms and body… moderate concussion… mild internal bleeding… a few hairline fractures…" He sighed dejectedly. "She'll be fine… but I can't treat her here… We need to get back to Atlantis."

John nodded and felt Vega push away. "Agreed..."

Vega pushed up and shook her head as if clearing her vision. "Oh fuuuck… anyone get the license plate?"

Nobody laughed, and as she tried to get up she fell back down from the dizziness. "Oohph!"

Carson shook his head and pushed her back down. "Oh no! You're not walking anywhere. If ya didn't have such a hard head I'd be wondering how yer even still conscious!"

John smiled at that, it was classic Carson motherhenning. "Listen to him, he's got big needles and he's not afraid to use em."

Now the group chuckled, and Carson looked around. "We need a stretcher… try and…"

Interrupting, John looped one arm under Vega's legs and the other around her back. "No time… Let's go. I got her."

The captain snorted and groaned as she was picked up off the floor. She wrapped her arms around John's neck and muttered. "Oh great… my hero." She gave John a weak 'come hither' look that was more sarcastically comical than anything else.

John rolled his eyes and motioned to the group. "Let's go, we'll be back with a bigger team."

One of the Travelers picked up one of the bullet casings from the floor and deadpanned. "… and bigger guns."

Carson insisted on being the one to treat Vega once they'd gotten to Atlantis. The attitude giving Captain quickly warmed to him and felt much better after some of Carson's feared 'Big Needles'

It was late now, and a fully armed team had secured the outpost. Carson didn't bother with the details and instead looked around to the packed infirmary.

He'd been so focused on Vega that it hadn't occurred to him that these people were sick… many of them Pegasus natives. What exactly was affecting them was unclear… at least only because he wasn't in the know.

Carson asked around, and it wasn't long before he was introduced to Reyna Arius, the CMO of the Travelers. A shortish woman, her lightly tanned skin and angular features were almost what Earth would call Asian. She spoke with an elegant voice, and the smile she wore warmed Carson to the thought of working here. "Greetings Dr Beckett, I'm glad you're feeling so well."

Blushing a little, Carson shrugged. "Well… I hear I have you to thank for that."

Seemingly receptive but not bashful over his compliment, Reyna motioned him to follow her. "Thank you Doctor… Dr Keller was a great help as well and I only wish she could have stayed."

"Yes… I do miss her as well." Carson missed a lot of people, but now wasn't the time for nostalgia. "Still… that's impressive. I uhh…" Carson wasn't sure how Reyna would react to his first hand knowledge of Wraith technology. "Well… I'm sure you know I've had experience with that kind of technology… I know it's not easy,"

Understanding crossed Reyna's face, and she nodded gently. "Yes… and I'm almost positive there's an answer in there for what's spreading in the base…"

Carson felt that urge inside him, the urge to help. It had never really gone away, and despite the pain in his soul from what Michael had forced him to do, he couldn't stand here idly and do nothing. "Do you have pathological data yet? What about blood samples and protein cultures?"

Reyna smiled, and knew the Lanteans were correct in their praise of Doctor Beckett.

Waking to a gentle hand on his shoulder, Carson stirred himself back to some semblance of consciousness. He'd been working for hours and apparently fell asleep at the desk Reyna had provided for him. "Hey… wake up sleepy head."

Carson rubbed his eyes and looked at who was waking him. A rather attractive blonde Traveler woman pulled him up into his seat and chuckled. "Wow… Sheppard was right."

"Hmm? Ach… who… who are you?"

The woman held out a hand. "Larrin… I'm a Traveler." She smirked. "I guess you could call me the Traveler. I'm what Sheppard calls the "Commander in Chief"."

Carson finally reached a level of consciousness where two way communication was possible. "Commander in Chief? The.. Oh… you mean you're their leader?"

Larrin nodded and pulled a chair out for herself. "Yeah… We've been on Atlantis for about 5 months now. I think Sheppard might have told you about us."

It all came back to him, the conversation in the office, the trip to the outpost, the… "Ohh… it's been a very long day… you'd think I could get some rest but…"

A small sigh, and Larrin clicked her tongue. "Yeah… actually… that's why I'm here." Carson gave her a curious look. "I wanted to thank you… you don't know this, but Reyna was able to take the information you pulled out of that Wraith database and synthesized a vaccine for those who were ill."

Carson raised his eyebrows now fully awake. "Really? Ohh… I… I was just looking to see if what kind of knowledge they had on the immune system… figured the Wraith would have better knowledge than us."

Larrin shrugged around a bit and mused. "Well… not exactly. Whether you know it or not you just saved everyone on this base."

"Huh?"

The vaccine Reyna gave you…" Larrin smiled and pointed to her own arm where a little bandage was. "…with the information you provided her, she was able to modify it into a broad spectrum vaccine . It turns out there's some kind of spore in the air that we're just not used to."

It made perfect sense. In their first year on Atlantis, there were several small epidemics due to the same reason. "Ohh… that… that's good to hear."

Larrin nodded and motioned for Carson to get up and follow. "Come on, I promised Sheppard I'd get to know you… he said you're a great guy."

Carson furrowed his brow, certainly this woman was making the effort. "Oh… what else did he say?"

A moment of hesitation, Carson could tell Larrin knew a lot more about him than she was letting on. "Ohh… nothing none of the others haven't told me… you didn't hear it from me but they're all glad you're here, and after today, I can see why."

Carson couldn't help it and smiled. As much as he wanted to go home and see family he hadn't seen in years, at least something familiar and familial was here with him.

"Vega's gonna be okay?"

John was sitting far away from Sam, Daniel between them. "Yeah… yeah she uhh… she's got a hard head. Nothing a little rest won't fix."

Sam remained relatively quiet as well, focusing on Daniel. "The teams Larrin sent out say the outpost is still functional, just doesn't have power. A lot of the systems look like they've been pulled apart though and it'll take time to get everything back to normal."

Daniel shrugged and muttered, his chest still sore from his injury 2 weeks ago. "Well what is normal? We don't know anything about this galaxy beyond that the Ancients were here... and apparently they left a stargate system here as well."

Sighing, John rubbed his hands together. "Larrin told me that her teams found some data crystals… they're bringing em back now and she uhh… requested… our help in translating them."

"Sure, I'd love to go over them." Daniel replied instantly, almost eager to learn more. "With any luck we'll be able to figure out exactly what this galaxy is like."

Sam snorted softly and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It might have to wait… I've been going over repair lists and requests to leave… the refugees know about the mainland and want to go there…" She groaned softly. "…With that… thing you mentioned though… I'm not sure I'm that comfortable doing that yet."

Getting up, John stretched his neck and sighed. "Well Larrin's got a few of her ships doing scans and finding suitable colony sites. It's mostly jungle out there and it's a little harsher than Pegasus." He looked to the door, and quickly he motioned with his head. "I'm gonna see how Vega's doing and Larrin's teams."

Without even excusing himself beyond that, John left the office leaving Daniel and Sam alone. Daniel sighed softly and looked to Sam. "You two have to stop this."

Sam knew what he was talking about, but decided to play dumb. "Stop what?"

Narrowing his eyes and giving her a blank stare, Daniel muttered. "This! Whatever this is…" Daniel sighed and shook his head. "He's terrified you know?"

"Oh? What of?" Sam knew damn well what John was terrified over, but they'd agreed not to discuss it.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but we're all scared Sam… but he's got a hell of a lot more on his conscience just like you do."

Sam pursed her lips, and remained impassive. "Your point?"

Daniel groaned and got up out of his chair. "My point is… like it or not, you two are still the leaders of this base. Before we came here, you two were like two sides of the same coin… but now? It's like you're actively avoiding each other even if you're in the same room!"

Sam shook her head and sighed. "Does it even matter? We might be the leaders… but what's left? This isn't an expedition anymore… we're just trying to survive."

"That's not enough."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Daniel and glowered. "Excuse me?"

Daniel didn't hold back a thing. "It's not enough to survive. We need to live for something. Everyone on this base is getting restless and it's popping up in our people."

Scoffing, Sam couldn't resist. "Our people? There's eleven of us Daniel…! Eleven… I hardly think that makes a difference in the grand scheme of things."

The Archeologist shook his head, and he leaned on her desk with his hands. "You're wrong. And I can prove it. Look at the Travelers… they've been surviving for the past ten thousand years and what do you see?"

"What do I see?"

Getting a little exasperated with how Sam was being so pedantic, Daniel gave her one last chance. "You see people who have no purpose… all they know how to do is survive… They look to us for guidance… God why do you think Larrin hasn't just shoved you aside and taken over herself?"

Sam didn't really have a good answer to that, so she simply sighed and remained in her seat.

Daniel took her non-response and rolled his eyes. "Look… I'm not saying you can go back to the way things were… we're long past that… but you've got to put this silent bickering aside. If not for the Travelers… for the people who decided to follow you instead of going home."

It was a harsh yet perfectly logical argument. Sam took a second then nodded gently. "…Alright… I'll…I'll try." She sighed heavily. "I'm going to bed… it's been a long day and I've got even more work waiting for me tomorrow… let alone trying to keep this place from going hungry."

Daniel furrowed his brow. "I thought there was still plenty of supplies left from the IOA… that crazy philanthropist?"

Sam shook her head and chuckled. "No… only enough for another 2 months… unless we can find a source of food in this galaxy or start growing crops… we're screwed."

The stress levels were high, and all Sam wanted was to go home… Daniel saw how affected she was by the circumstances, and decided to give her a little of his own consolation. "Sam… do you remember when Jack and me first went through the gate?"

Sam scoffed and nodded. Her eyes were darkened with exhaustion. "Yeah… yeah I uhh… I fought tooth and nail to go with you guys… I lost."

Daniel chuckled and shook his head idly. "You didn't miss much… but uhh… what I wanted to say was… Sha're wasn't the only reason I stayed behind."

The Colonel looked at her longtime friend, and wondered what he meant. "What?"

Daniel nodded and sighed. "I lost my purpose on Earth… and it wasn't just the fact that no one would listen to me… I… I just didn't know what to do anymore. Catherine gave me a reason to keep going and… and I took it." Sam remained silent, only listening. "We're in the same situation now… and one of the ways I managed to keep going was to keep doing things I enjoyed." He chuckled. "Remember the Cartouche room?"

Sam laughed openly, it had been many years since she'd thought of it. "Yeah… of course I remember… I fell in love with you there." A snort left Sam's lips and both friends laughed, Sam could feel the tension lessen. "I think I get what you mean… you loved archeology and… and even though you thought you'd never come back… you kept at it."

"Exactly…" Daniel pulled himself back up and groaned softly at the pain. "It'll take time… and it will happen… but only if you let it."

Sam bowed her head and rubbed her nose. Sleep… that was all she could hope for today. But the past 2 weeks had been hell every night. "…God I hope so…"