This story sticks partially to canon and as such, contains major spoilers (and actual dialogue but I'll try to keep that to a minimum) for the SGA series from season two onwards. It is not, however, a novelization of the series. One of the main points of my writing this story was to fix some of the issues I have with the canon-writing, so as the story progresses, it will deviate further. I'm trying to give the story more of a "team-feels" vibe, rather than romance, but I did sneak a bit of Sparky (and a couple other minor relationships) into the background. I ninja-edit ALL THE TIME, even after the story is finished, because I'm more than a little neurotic, but I usually include a note in the summary if I've made any major changes. I'll try to add specific episode titles to the relevant chapters and update the tags as I go along. Let me know if I missed something in the tags!
This is the website I use for the dialogue parts - .

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I have decided to rewrite this story as part of NaNoWriMo. I was having a lot of trouble figuring out where the story was supposed to go and recently I realized it was because I was having issues with what I had already written. I have made some changes in the first few chapters so hopefully with my 50k words in November deadline, I'll be able to make good progress with the story. I have deleted the previous chapter postings so I apologize if I lost any comments in the process. I am reposting this first chapter now and the rest will come in chunks throughout November. Thank you for your patience!

This is the second installment of the Angel 'Verse series. I highly recommend reading that first, though it's not strictly necessary. Don't want to? Here's what you need to know-
1. The OFC - whose only name so far is "D" - was supposed to kill Elizabeth (and General O'Neill) before she went back to Atlantis. Jack convinced her to be Elizabeth's bodyguard instead. Until very recently, everyone thought that D was just an executive assistant. Now they think she works for the CIA. She speaks lots of languages, can remember everything, and always carries knives.
2. John and Elizabeth started "dating" shortly after they came back from Earth. They're keeping it a secret...for various reasons.
3. Everyone with the ATA gene experiences Ancient tech through a different sense. John is the only one who uses sight. Lorne and D both use sound. Rodney uses touch. Carson uses smell.
4. Atlantis has a partially functional AI. It's getting stronger. Rodney's trying to figure it out, but he's a busy guy. Not many people know about her, but those who do call her "Rosie" (like Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons), much to John's chagrin.
5. There are eight giant cats called mphakas (a cross between a siamese cat and a large jaguar) living on Atlantis. Four of them were adopted by military people (and D) and four were adopted by civilians. They are usually referred to as "kits". The kits are highly intelligent, extremely playful, and have all the characteristics of a pet dog. The military four have been trained almost like police dogs, while the civilian four have been trained for search and rescue.
6. Teyla, Ronon, and D have formed a make-shift family. They use Satedan terms of endearment for each other most of the time and occasionally they aggressively cuddle...mostly naked.
7. Elizabeth has been receiving self-defense training from D and Teyla. She's getting better, but she still gets bruises on her ass from falling during training.
8. Rodney and D started out disliking each other. A lot. Two people that smart with those size egos? It was inevitable. They became sort of wary allies for a while, then reluctantly fond acquaintances. Now they're friends. I guess. It's weird. They still argue, but now there's mild cuddling involved sometimes.
9. D became friends with Michael. Until he found out what the Lanteans did to him. Then he kind of had a mental meltdown and D killed him. She got in trouble for it.
10. Which brings us to this (where our story begins) - The IOA sent Mr. Woolsey to Atlantis to do Elizabeth's yearly review in person. They didn't outright say they were trying to get rid of her, but the writing's on the wall.
11. Oh, and one more thing, Elizabeth worked out a deal with the Taranians. 50 of their scientists are working on Atlantis in exchange for use of the Orion. The rest of the rescued Taranians were resettled on another planet. Major Lorne gets to command the Orion, which makes John pout every time he thinks about it.

As usual, I sadly do not own any of the Stargate characters or terms, only borrow them for my own amusement. I make no profit from writing this.

Google Translate was used for all foreign languages. If you actually speak the language and see something that needs to be corrected, please let me know! I will fix it as quickly as I can.

Questions, comments, reviews, and kudos are always appreciated.

Enjoy!

"Daedalus is five minutes out."

Chuck's announcement caused everyone in the control room to begin straightening their uniforms.

"Thank you, Chuck," Elizabeth turned to head down the main stairs.

"Everything in place?" D checked the large digital watch around her right wrist.

"I received word from the last department ten minutes ago, ma'am," Chuck nodded and lifted a hand to his earpiece, "Everything's set."

"We'll be waiting in the gate room then," D moved to follow Elizabeth's path down the stairs, "Page the Colonel and McKay again, please."

"Will do," Chuck called after her, "Also, I just got word from Colonel Caldwell. He says 'Uniform since we slowed down'."

"Got it, Sergeant," D raised her voice to be heard as she joined Elizabeth and Teyla at the bottom of the stairs, "Let all affected parties know we're going with Plan A until otherwise notified."

"Uniform?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, ma'am," D agreed, "Changed when they dropped out of hyperspace. With the other information Hermiod sent me, I think Plan A will be a good starting point. We can adjust accordingly once we gather more intel. Chuck's contacting the appropriate people now."

"I do not believe we will encounter any difficulties," Teyla zipped her uniform jacket a little less than halfway up, "As long as we all play our roles, this Mr. Woolsey will find no fault with any of the senior staff here."

"Speaking of senior staff," Elizabeth glanced down to her watch, "Where are-"

"We're here! I'm here!" Rodney shouted, rushing into the gate room behind John, "I'm not late. I still have five minutes."

"Four now," D frowned at Rodney's appearance, "I thought I told you to stay out of the Orion last night."

"Who said I was in the Orion?" Rodney questioned, "I would've been here earlier, but Sheppard dragged me to the mess this morning."

"I made sure Rodney was fed so he won't be crabby," John looked from D to Elizabeth, "He wearing a suit or a uniform?"

"Uniform," Elizabeth answered, "Looks like Plan A, for now."

"No one said anything," D rolled her eyes and moved closer to Rodney, "I can tell by looking at you."

"I get hypoglycemic, not crabby. And you can't possibly tell-" Rodney stopped abruptly when D unzipped his jacket and started pushing it off his shoulders, "What are you doing? Why are you stripping me?"

"I wanted to see more of your body," D deadpanned, "I'm a sucker for fantastic shoulders."

"What?" Rodney's cheeks flushed pink, "Really?"

"No, Rodney," D rolled her eyes as she pulled the jacket from his arms, "Your jacket is dusty. And wrinkled," she shook out his jacket, "Which means you slept in the Orion's crew quarters again – in your uniform, again – instead of sleeping in your own bed," D sighed as she stepped around Rodney to hold his jacket out, "At least Radek was smart enough to make sure you got some sleep."

"Radek doesn't make me do anything," Rodney rolled his eyes as he slipped his arms back through the sleeves. D held the jacket steady for him, then reached up to brush her hands over his shoulders and back to smooth out some of the remaining wrinkles while he zipped it to the middle of his chest, "And I doubt Woolsey's going to notice a couple wrinkles in my uniform."

"According to Steven," Elizabeth smiled in amusement as D pulled Rodney's head down and ran her fingers through his hair to smooth it down, "Woolsey changed into the Atlantis uniform as soon as the Daedalus dropped out of hyperspace."

"Believe me," D moved away from Rodney to crouch in front of John, "He'll notice."

"Really, Vaughn?" John sighed as D started re-lacing one of his boots, "There's nothing wrong with the way my boots are laced."

"Yes, there is," D pulled the laces tight and tied them in a neat bow, tucking the loops into the top of his boot, "I'm surprised they don't fall off your feet while you're walking."

"Why isn't Ronon here?" Rodney scowled as D re-laced John's second boot, "Why does he get a free pass?"

"Because I told him that if he couldn't show up with less than three knives," D stood and eyed John's hair speculatively, "He shouldn't show up at all. He decided to watch the kits instead. Carson took them all to the mainland."

"Don't even think about it," John narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not sure there's anything I could do about it anyway," D let out a heavy sigh, "At least not without some industrial strength glue. And I'm not even sure that would work."

"I have never seen his hair look other than it does," Teyla declared, "Perhaps if he were to trim it to a shorter length…"

"Hey," John protested, running a protective hand over his hair, "There's nothing wrong with my hair either."

"Are you done yet?" Rodney huffed in annoyance.

D stepped back to survey the group. Each of them wore the Atlantis gray uniform, different colored triangular panels on their jackets according to each of their roles, Atlantis and flag patches displayed on their shoulders.

Elizabeth's jacket had red panels on the front, matching the red tee-shirt underneath, jacket unzipped halfway. Her chocolate brown curls fell just past the collar of her jacket and her pants were neatly pressed, clean, dark gray tennis shoes underneath them. Teyla's jacket had the same red panels but she wore one of her Athosian vests underneath, textured lavender fabric with a brown leather tie laced through the metal rings at the top. Her light chestnut hair fell smoothly to her shoulders, short bangs across her forehead. Her pants were as neatly pressed as Elizabeth's but she wore black boots underneath instead of tennis shoes.

John's uniform was a slightly darker gray, black panels on the front and a clean black tee shirt underneath. His pants didn't have the same crisp crease that Elizabeth and Teyla's did, but they were clean and unwrinkled, his boots now tightly laced over the bottom of them. His gun was strapped to his right thigh, knife sheath hanging off his belt next to it, and his black hair was its usual spiky mess. Rodney's uniform was the same darker gray with blue panels, both pants and jacket still visibly wrinkled. His short brown hair was now mostly in order, thanks to D's efforts, and his dark gray tee shirt and tennis shoes were relatively tidy compared to everything else.

"Do we pass inspection now, Officer Vaughn?" John drawled lazily.

"Mostly," D frowned slightly, "I guess."

"I don't see anyone scrutinizing every detail of your appearance, Red," Rodney crossed his arms over his chest.

"I doubt you will find anything out of place with regards to my appearance, Rodney," D took a step back, "But you're welcome to try."

D wore the same darker gray uniform as John and Rodney with the same red panels as Elizabeth and Teyla. She wore a black pullover underneath her jacket, thin zipper pulled up to the base of her neck. Her jacket was zipped exactly hallway up and she wore tightly laced black boots underneath her pressed pants. She wore her gun on her left thigh, black straps somehow not interfering with the crease in her pants. Her dark burgundy hair was twisted up into a sleek bun, pinned low at the nape of her neck, and her long bangs were swept neatly to the side.

Rodney's eyes flickered over D from top to bottom and when he found nothing out of place, exactly as she said, he dropped his arms back to his sides, muttering under his breath.

"Ma'am," D took Elizabeth's elbow, "If you would…"

Elizabeth let D mover her so she was lined up with the exact center of the stairs and the glass windows above them. D moved John to Elizabeth's right side, one step back from her shoulder, then Rodney to John's right side. Teyla moved to Elizabeth's left side without prompting, leaving a space between her and Elizabeth for D.

"Does it really matter where we stand?" Rodney grumbled.

"Yes," D looked up to the control room, raising her voice to be heard, "Time, Sergeant?"

"Coming into orbit now, ma'am," Chuck replied quickly, "One minute."

"We must make a good first impression on Mr. Woolsey," Teyla glanced over to Rodney, "Proper presentation will help with that."

"I suppose this will have to do," D took her place at Elizabeth's left side, standing in line with John a step back from Elizabeth's shoulder, "Although, you boys could try smiling. Politely, if you can manage it."

"It's one guy from the IOA," Rodney rolled his eyes, "You've been buzzing around the City for the last six weeks getting everything ready. We're prepared. We're more than prepared. If anything, we're over-prepared."

"Rodney," D spoke overly sweetly, "I swear to whatever you find holy, if you mess this up-"

"Dr. Vaughn," Elizabeth interrupted, reaching back to touch her fingers to the back of D's hand as she continued in a softer tone, "D, I appreciate all the effort you've put into this but…you're making me nervous. I'll be fine. It's a yearly review, not an execution."

"Sorry, Elizabeth," D ducked her head, "I'm just trying to make sure everything to goes smoothly."

"Atlantis, this is Colonel Caldwell of the Daedalus," Caldwell's oddly formal voice crackled over the radio, "I am requesting permission to beam down Mr. Woolsey before we begin offloading supplies."

"Showtime," Elizabeth moved her hand from D's and lifted her other to tap her earpiece, "Daedalus, this is Dr. Weir of the Atlantis Expedition. The gate room is clear. You have permission to proceed."

There was a bright flare of white light in front of them then a balding man with sharp brown eyes behind his round glasses appeared, a small black rolling suitcase behind him. He was dressed in the same Atlantis gray uniform as Elizabeth and Teyla, red panels on the jacket and a black tee shirt underneath, gray tennis shoes on his feet.

"Mr. Woolsey," Elizabeth stepped forward and offered her hand, "Welcome to Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy. How was your trip?"

"Thank you, Dr. Weir," Woolsey shook her hand briefly, "The trip was long, but ultimately uneventful."

"That's good to hear," Elizabeth smiled politely, "I believe you already know most of my senior staff. Lt Colonel John Sheppard, the Expedition's Military Commander," John nodded once as Elizabeth gestured to him, "Dr. Rodney McKay, the Head of our Science and Research departments," Rodney's face twisted into something that was probably supposed to be a polite smile as Elizabeth turned to her other side, "Operations Officer D Vaughn, our Chief Intel Analyst and my executive assistant," D tipped her head forward slightly in acknowledgment before she took a step back, "And this is Ambassador Teyla Emmagan of the Athosians. As I'm sure you know, she and her people have been great allies since the beginning of this expedition."

"I would like to offer you the traditional greeting of my people, Mr. Woolsey," Teyla moved forward to grasp each of Woolsey's upper arms in her hands and tilted her head forward, "to welcome you to the Pegasus Galaxy."

"Oh, I-uh-Of course," Woolsey stammered, tilting his head forward to touch his forehead to Teyla's briefly, "Thank you, Ambassador Emmagan, for your kind welcome."

"Please, Mr. Woolsey," Teyla smiled warmly as she released him, "You must call me Teyla."

"Richard," Woolsey returned her smile hesitantly.

"Dr. Beckett would have been here as well," Elizabeth drew Woolsey's attention back to her, "But he's currently on the mainland. He has regularly scheduled visits there, providing medical care for the Athosians and the Pulooy."

"That's perfectly all right, Dr. Weir," Woolsey tugged on the bottom of his jacket to straighten it, "As long as I get the chance to speak to him before I leave."

"He's scheduled to return this evening," Elizabeth assured him.

"Mr. Woolsey," D stepped forward again, "I've arranged for Ambassador Emmagan to take you on a quick tour of the City. If you'd like, I can have your bag sent to your room while Teyla shows you around. Also, if you would provide me with a list of people you'd like to speak to, I can make sure they are available to you."

"I can certainly provide you with that list, Officer Vaughn," Woolsey agreed, "But I'm not sure the tour is necessary. I really should get to work if I'm going to have time to interview everyone."

"Atlantis is truly a magnificent place," Teyla moved closer to Woolsey again, linking her arm through his as she started walking slowly towards the hallway, "Surely you have a little time to spare, Richard. It would be a shame if you were unable to see the wonderful place you have read so much about in our reports."

"I suppose I can spare twenty minutes," Woolsey relented as Teyla led him from the room.

Elizabeth waited until they were out of hearing range before she turned back to the group.

"That went well," Elizabeth looked over to D, "Didn't it?"

"Mostly well," D wrinkled her nose, "He's an A-sharp keysmash."

"What does that even mean?" Rodney stared at D incredulously.

"Rosie made him an A#4," D explained, "She didn't bother to assign him a chord and he's so flustered at the moment that he hasn't settled into one of his own. It's like someone smashed their fist onto the keyboard by that note and hit everything around it. His sound clashes badly with Atlantis' natural song. It's…disconcerting. I think she's decided not to like him because she's quite fond of Elizabeth. She understands the rest of us enough to know what's going on and she's…nervous, I guess."

"While I appreciate the sentiment," Elizabeth gave John a pointed look, "Rosie not going to cause any problems for Mr. Woolsey. Is she?"

"I'll try to talk to her," John rolled his eyes, "But I can't guarantee she'll understand or that she'll listen if she does. And I'd like to go on record –again – to say to I object to calling her Rosie."

"If we're going on record about things," Rodney gave D a smug smile, "I'd like to point out that not once did Woolsey comment on anyone's uniform."

"He didn't comment, but he definitely noticed," D insisted, "His micro-expressions shifted distinctly when he looked at you and the Colonel."

"Micro-expressions?" Rodney asked warily.

"Micro-expressions are involuntary facial movements, most lasting only a fraction of a second," D clarified, "They usually occur when someone is trying to hide their feelings, but they can also happen when the person doesn't know how they are feeling. It's nearly impossible to control them and they're pretty much universal on Earth, so with the proper training and equipment, they can be used to read a person."

"I'm sure you've had the proper training," Rodney snarked, "But I don't see any equipment here. You can't possibly notice something that lasts for only a fraction of a second."

"You'd be surprised what she notices," Elizabeth bit back a smile, "D is extremely observant."

"Hyper-observant actually. I can't help but notice. Woolsey's nose wrinkled slightly when he looked at you," D pointed to the bridge of her nose, "That's a sign of disgust. While it could be that he really doesn't like you, the fastidiousness of his own appearance makes me think he didn't like the unkempt appearance of your uniform. When he looked at Sheppard," D tapped the corner of her mouth, "The left side of his mouth lifted slightly. That's usually a sign of contempt or hate. Since he did almost the same thing, though not as noticeable, when he looked at me, I'm thinking it's because the Colonel is military and because we are both wearing guns. It seems Mr. Woolsey disapproves of firearms."

"Seriously?" Rodney gave her a flat look, "I think you're making this stuff up."

"That, right there," D smirked and pointed to Rodney's face, "That thing that happens in the space between your eyebrows, that indicates doubt. You're welcome to look at the security footage, if you don't believe me. You'll have to slow the frames considerably to notice, but the expressions will be there."

"Can I go now?" Rodney looked back to a still amused Elizabeth, "Some of us have real work to do."

"In a minute, Rodney," Elizabeth turned to D, "Are we still on Plan A?"

"Actually," D tilted her head to the side, "Plan B would be better. It looks like he bought new tennis shoes for the trip. And new black tee shirts."

"Plan B then," Elizabeth turned back to Rodney, "You can go, but make sure you show up on-time to the staff meeting tomorrow morning and to your interview," Elizabeth paused, "And maybe you could take a shower and change into a clean uniform sometime before then."

"This is ridiculous," Rodney threw his hands into the air, "My uniform cannot possibly make that big of a difference. It's barely dirty. If anything, the wrinkles prove that I've been working hard."

D blinked up at Rodney innocently, "Don't you want to help, Dr. McKay?"

"NO. Don't do that," Rodney pointed a finger at her, "It's not going to work this time."

"You want to make sure Elizabeth keeps her position as leader of the Atlantis Expedition," John looked at Rodney with wide eyes and a pouty lower lip, "Don't you, Rodney?"

"Not you too," Rodney shifted his hand to shake the finger at John, "Don't make that face at me. Grown men should not be making puppy dog eyes."

"It's all right," Elizabeth spoke calmly, "If Rodney doesn't want to participate, I understand. Of course, no one is obligated to do anything to help me in any way. This is a yearly review, after all. It's not like the IOA would try to replace me with someone else if they find something amiss. Someone who would be more concerned about following rules and regulations than-"

"All right, fine!" Rodney threw his hands up again, "I will go take a shower and change my uniform, even though there is absolutely nothing wrong with this one. I'll go check that stupid email again to find out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing for these absurd plans. But then I'm going back to my lab to get some real work done."

"And you'll show up on time for your interview with Mr. Woolsey," Elizabeth smiled warmly.

"And I will show up on time for my interview," Rodney agreed with a huff.

"And you won't insult Woolsey's intelligence," John added.

"And I won't insult Woolsey's intelligence," Rodney grumbled, "Out-loud."

"And you'll take Woolsey's bag to his room," D continued.

"And I'll-wait, what?" Rodney scowled at D, "I will not take his bag to his room. I draw the line at manual labor."

"It was worth a try," D grinned at him as he grabbed the handle of Woolsey's suitcase, "That's okay, I have to go through his stuff anyway."

"I didn't hear that," Elizabeth turned to go up the main stairs.

"Selective hearing is contagious," John drawled as he followed Rodney and D out of the gate room, "Who knew?"