Author's Notes: See below.

Six Weeks Later:

Teyla looked at Carson with a smile. "Are you ready? They are expecting us soon."

He nodded at he closed the plastic case. "I have to admit I'm more than a wee bit nervous."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry. Everything will be fine, of that I am sure."

Together they walked out of the tent in the middle of the village. Outside, dozens of Athosians were gathered. Halling stepped forward to Carson and smiled. "Words cannot express the gratitude we have for you."

A blush colored Carson's cheeks. The past few weeks were filled with trials, trying to return their DNA to its original state. With a fierce determination, Carson tried dozens of stands of the retrovirus before finding the correct one. Once discovered, the Athosians began to slowly transform back to their human state.

"I was just doing my job," he mumbled.

Halling bowed slightly before turning to Teyla. "Once the crops have been replanted and a new harvest is grown, we will have a great feast to celebrate our victory over our Wraith captor."

She touched his forehead to her own. "Take care. I will return soon." She looked at her people, smiling, then turned away from the village with Carson close behind.

Together they walked through the forest, the sounds of cracking branched below them. Finally, she broke the silence. "I know there are many people who will be happy to see you returning to Atlantis."

"It will be nice going back there. I'm glad that Colonel Carter convinced Jen to stay, though I have to admit. I'm a bit confused as to why she would stay on staff as a regular doctor. She has enough experience to be the head of medicine at any hospital on earth," Carson replied.

"I believe her willingness to stay has less to do with her position and more to do with a certain Runner on the expedition," Teyla said coyly.

"You mean her and Ronon?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"And I hear that Lt. Cadman has recently agreed to an assignment back on Atlantis," she added with a smile.

"Really? That's interesting," he said. He paused before adding, "Speaking of interesting, what's this I heard about you and Colonel Sheppard?"

He saw the panicked expression on her face before the mask of indignation replaced it. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Of course you don't," he said with a laugh. He leaned close to her. "Are you two shacking up yet?"

"Carson! I'll have you know that John is a perfect gentleman."

"Colonel Sheppard is a normal red blooded male," the doctor argued. "I'm just glad you two finally decided to move things forward."

Her face softened, "Me too."

Soon, they arrived at the gate, each eager to return to Atlantis. Teyla dialed the gate as Carson took a deep breath. It had been a hellish year, but he was finally returning to where he belonged.

The wormhole was established and together the teammates walked through the gate. On the other side, the rest of their team was waiting for them along with Colonel Carter and Dr. Keller.

Carter stepped ahead of everyone, in front of Carson. "Dr. Beckett, I just wanted to be the first to welcome you back to Atlantis."

He looked around room, seeing Chuck in the control room and his friends in front of him. "Thank you, Colonel. It feels good to be back."

"Great," Rodney said, stepping in front of Carter, "now that we got that out of the way, maybe you can talk to Doctor Keller. She doesn't seem to understand the severity of my hypoglycemia. Did you know that once she even said that my symptoms were psychosomatic?"

Carson grinned at his friend. He was definitely back home.

A/N: Wow! It's complete! I thought if the story started with Carson (yeah, that was him back in chapter 1) it should end with him too. J Thank you again to everyone who reviewed, especially those who took the time to review each chapter. I am humbled that y'all would take the time to drop a note. We'll see where the Muse takes me from here, but no big stories on the horizon. Thanks again and happy reading!