This episode is thanks to a person who reviewed my last story and suggested this plot. Thank you!

. . .

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you just like coming to see me," Beckett said, taking a firm hold of Lieutenant Cooper's arm.

She winced. "Ah, come on. Who doesn't want to see you?"

"I'd appreciate it more if you just asked to go have lunch instead of dislocating your shoulder," he admonished. "Are you ready? This is going to hurt a wee bit." He gave a deliberate yank and the lieutenant gasped as the appendage popped back into place.

"I didn't dislocate my arm," she said, rubbing her elbow. "Ronon did."

"Oh, aye. Let's pretend you weren't the one egging him on." He tutted maternally, moving to replace a few pieces of equipment. "You need to be careful what you say to the man. If you tell him to do his worst, he'll take ya at your word."

"Thanks, Mom," she teased.

"How did they allow a child like you on the expedition, anyway? Shouldn't you be graduating from high school or something?"

"I am not that young, okay?" she said, accepting the ice pack he handed her.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Your tattoo says otherwise."

She pulled her arm back. "It's a delta. A very mature tattoo. It symbolizes change and, in hieroglyphics, a triangle symbolized the king. Got it when I was eighteen."

"And did you actually know all that when you were eighteen?"

She smiled. "I need to go see Dr. Weir. Thanks for patching me up, Doctor."

"Anytime. But you might want to do your sparring with Teyla until you get full use of that arm back," he warned.

"Will do," she said, heading out of the infirmary and carefully shrugging on her jacket. She walked up to the doorway of Elizabeth's office and knocked on the frame. "Dr. Weir?"

She looked up and motioned her over. "Lieutenant Cooper, come in."

The soldier stood at-ease in front of the desk. "What can I do for you?"

"I was planning on taking a trip to one of the new planets we've been looking at, one called Taras," she said, crossing her arms on the desk in front of her. "Unfortunately, the language is a little out of my grasp. I wanted to know of you were alright with accompanying me to speak with the people there."

"Do you have any sort of record of the language, Doctor?"

"We do, yes. I can have Zelenka pull it out of the database for you."

Cooper thought this over. She hadn't yet had to translate on the fly for the Atlantis expedition, and she'd only done it once before with Dr. Jackson back on Earth. But Elizabeth was nothing if not fair and patient, a fantastic leader, in the soldier's opinion. "You think I can manage this, Doctor?"

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "Well, you won't be without help."

Her brow furrowed. "Doctor?"

"Dr. Weir, the Daedalus has returned," chimed the radio on the desk.

"Come with me, Lieutenant," Elizabeth said, rising and heading for the door. Cooper followed wordlessly, unsure of the scientist's intentions.

They arrived at the east dock of Atlantis, where the Daedalus had already touched down and was unloading. She remembered her own arrival on the ship, how everything seemed so bright and unfamiliar. It hadn't been long before the newness wore off, and she found she missed the slight sensory overload.

"Dr. Jackson!" Elizabeth called with a smile, and Cooper froze. Yep. There he was. Walking away from the ship and looking slightly befuddled.

"Dr. Weir," he said as he returned the smile, if a bit distractedly. "I can't thank you enough for inviting me here. Or, should I say, convincing the SGC to let me come."

"It was my pleasure, Doctor." She gestured to the lieutenant at her side, who had fallen into an attention position. "I believe you remember Lieutenant Cooper from her time at the SGC."

"Yes, yes," he said as though just noticing her, shifting his luggage to shake her hand. "I'm looking forward to working with you again, you seem to have a very firm grasp of languages as a whole."

She wished her heart would stop racing as she accepted the handshake. "That's what I went to college for, sir," she said with a slight smile.

"Yes, well, let's let Dr. Jackson get settled in, and then we'll talk about going off-world," Elizabeth said, motioning for him to walk beside her.

As they turned their backs, Cooper allowed herself a private moment. She put her face in her hands, taking a few deep breaths. This was her idol, the smartest man she'd ever met (right up there with Rodney McKay). He remembered working with her, which meant that to him, she wasn't just another soldier in a unit. She'd often thought, being surrounded by so many researchers, that if things had been different, she herself would have become a scientist, maybe an archeologist like Dr. Jackson. It wasn't that she disliked being part of the navy, or the military at all, because she loved that job, too. The Stargate program had inadvertently offered her a chance to be both.

Composing herself again. she straightened up and followed the two brilliant doctors back into the city