Title: Appreciation

Fandom: SGA

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Ma'am, a moment?" Lorne forestalled Colonel Carter as she rose from her seat while everyone else filed out of the briefing room.

"Of course, Major," waving for him to continue as she settled back into her chair.

Lorne waited until the door had closed after Teyla and Dr. Zelenka as they followed the rest of SGA-1 and the department heads to the mess for lunch. After a moment's pause he began with a bit of a sigh, "It's the new marines, ma'am."

"Ah," was Colonel Carter's response as she leaned further back into her chair. It typically took some time for the new recruits to settle in to Atlantis, it being an alien city in a different galaxy with a constant threat of attack from the Wraith. And it was due to the Wraith that Atlantis had such a large marine population. New recruits were often fast tracked to Atlantis rather than spending adequate time at the SGC adjusting to the…unique situations that the Stargate program represented. To put it bluntly they often got macho jerks who were just there to kick Wraith ass. Useful when under attack but difficult to work with, especially for the equally valuable scientists.

"Usually by now we've had some major disaster with the gate or some ancient tech lying around which allows the marines to properly appreciate the scientists." Lorne explained.

"But all we've had lately are Wraith attacks and other more military inclined problems." Sam nodded thoughtfully.

"Exactly. The new marines, well, there've been some problems. They're not disrespectful to anyone established here," Lorne hurried to assure the Colonel, "but there've been some problems between training sessions. Right now the new scientists have their introductory training with Teyla right after the marines finish with Ronon. There's definite contention there. It hasn't quite gotten physical yet, though it's been a close thing between Sergeant Edwards and Dr. Jones when the marines were picking on Dr. Gottenmeir."

"Of course," Sam muttered under her breath. They should have seen that coming. Dr. Johannes Gottenmeir had caused a bit of a stir when he'd first arrived. A brilliant German engineer built like a Norse god, he also had to be the meekest man alive. Ironically the only person he ever stood up to was Dr. McKay when defending his work.

Lorne continued, "The Sergeant has a bad attitude and Doctor Jones, well," Lorne snorted, "there's a reason she's such a good linguist. I have a feeling if the marines understood half of what she calls them they'd be buying her drinks rather than trying to intimidate her."

"What have you tried so far?" Sam asked, knowing that actions would have already been taken before coming to her.

"The Colonel and I discussed moving the training times but that doesn't really solve the problem. Sheppard and McKay have both punished the people involved in any direct scuffles and made clear that they frown on this behavior. McKay's lectured the marines extensively on how they're all idiots and that their only purpose is to protect the scientists, Sheppard's gotten creative in punishment work, Ronon's tried beating the concept into their heads and Teyla generally gets by with her withering looks when they get rowdy as her students are coming in. Somehow, though, I don't think they've quite gotten the message," Lorne concluded.

"And I don't suppose it helps that the civilians are all required to receive basic hand to hand defense training and weapons practice but the military personnel aren't required to have any sort of scientific knowledge besides knowing not to touch anything." Sam sat quietly for a moment, thinking, before a sly smile snuck across her lips.

"Not a problem," Sam said briskly, getting to her feet. "When do the marines have their next session with Ronon?"

"Later today, 1300."

"Good, I've got some time to set up and give Ronon and Teyla a bit of warning."

"Warning? What are you going to do, ma'am?"

"Since fate hasn't seen fit to grace us with a technical disaster lately we'll just have to create one ourselves."

Ronon had just released the marines from training when Teyla and Colonel Carter entered the training room, deep in conversation. They went to talk to Ronon while the marines toweled off and grabbed some water, winding down. They talked amongst themselves, joking around before they left. It wasn't long before conversation led to the soon to be incoming geeks. Sergeant Edwards especially had taken to hanging around a bit longer than he would normally after training just so he could "accidentally" run in to a couple of geeks on his way out. "Don't know why they even bother training, we're the ones gonna have to save their sorry asses when they end up doing something stupid."

"What they should be taught is how to keep the hell out of the way. Nothing but a liability," Corporal Stark agreed.

"Got that right. Keep them in their cushy little labs or going around picking plants on some safe little planet. Don't know why we gotta always have mixed teams."

Sergeant Lopez was downing a water bottle nearby and overheard, "Sheppard and Lorne swear they owe the geeks their lives several times over. Hell, everyone on the base says so."

Edwards scoffed at the idea, "Right. Just trying to make us play nice. We're in the middle of a war out here and we gotta share ammo requisitions with scientific journals so the geeks can remind themselves of just how superior they are working with tech that's not even theirs! Not only that but then we also waste ammo trying to teach them not to shoot their own foot off, damn civilians."

Lopez shrugged, "Got a cousin in med school and another building airplanes. Geeks have their use, all I'm saying."

"Not on the front lines. Can't even run, stupid idiots freeze whenever real trouble hits them," Stark laughed. Just then a loud pitched whine pierced the room, interrupting all conversation. Heads turned, looking for the source. It was traced back to a strange device tucked behind some towels.

"What is it?" Teyla asked as they all examined the device, Colonel Carter crouched next to it.

"It's a naquedah reactor. It's set to overload. We have 5 minutes before it blows and takes the city with it!"

"Can you disarm it?"

"Sorry," Colonel Carter said in a low voice not her own as she turned to face them with an evil grin. She threw a bound journal that had been lying near the reactor to the nearest marine. Stark clumsily caught it. "You'll have to find yourselves some other geek."

"Gu'auld," Teyla said with a defensive hiss, Ronon's pistol, never far from his side, aimed unwaveringly at the Colonel.

"Dr. McKay!" Edwards shouted, reaching for his headset.

"No time!" Ronon roared as he and Teyla guarded a smirking Colonel Carter. "Like she said, find some other geek!"

"Hurry!" Teyla added urgently.

Lopez and Edwards rushed for the door, a couple of others following. Most took up defensive positions around Carter while a few looked around helplessly, Stark included, hands unconsciously wringing the book in his hands. When the door opened the marines hurtled through, a startled Dr. Gottenmeir jumping back against the wall, cringing. He obviously had been hesitantly hovering outside, not wanting to enter the training room early by himself. Lopez, not bothering to say anything, grabbed Gottenmeir roughly by the arm and yanked him into the room. Edwards continued to plunge down the hall, almost running in to Dr. Keisha Jones as she rounded the corner. "What the," Jones began, startled, before seeing who it was. Seeing the Sergeant she drew herself up to her full 5'3" and opened her mouth, obviously gearing up for a fight.

"Need your help," Edwards pre-empted her and started to turn to lead her back to the training room.

Dr. Jones grinned triumphantly. "Ha! I knew it! I knew that you'd…"

"Sorry, Doc," Edwards broke in before grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder as she gave an indignant squeak. "No time," he explained as he ran full speed back to the training room, carrying her all the way.

Dr. Gottenmeir was already intently examining the reactor while everyone else hovered uneasily nearby. The marines were unprepared for this sort of situation, unsure what to do when all their weapons and strategic knowledge weren't of any use. Dr. Gottenmeir looked up briefly as the Sergeant and Dr. Jones entered, Dr. Jones still cursing in every language she knew. "Ah, good, Keisha, does this say anything I need to know before opening?" he waved calmly at the device while Edwards plopped Dr. Jones down next to it unceremoniously.

Intrigued and relieved to finally be working with a fellow scientist instead of trying to drill some sense into idiot soldiers she immediately turned, reading, forgetting her surroundings, absorbed in the words. "Wasn't expecting to need Gu'auld out here," she mutters to herself as she circled the reactor, making sure she read everything. "No, nothing but the usual dire warnings," she continued, "It's marked 'Open here'" she finally said, gesturing to one of the panels, looking at Dr. Gottenmeir in puzzlement.

"That's what I thought, he agreed." He reached over, opening the covering as indicated, and then settled back a moment to study the insides of the reactor, ignoring the continued whine and shuffling around him as everyone worried about the countdown.

After a long pause Corporal Stark practically shrieked at him, "Well! Can you disarm it?" Dr. Gottenmeir looked up, startled. He reached in to the reactor, made a few deft movements, and the whining stopped suddenly. The room held its breath in anticipation.

"That was easy," Dr. Jones stated, looking at her college for confirmation.

"Too easy," he agreed. "Must be a distraction," he said, continuing the thought.

Immediately Dr. Jones whirled to the marines still surrounding them and started barking instructions. "Search the premises! We need to do find whatever we're not supposed to be finding." She gestured to the other scientists who had entered the room already, coming for their scheduled training, "Doctors follow, make sure they clear the area first, then find whatever they miss and take care of it. Go, go, go!" she yelled, with a shooing motion as they all rushed to comply.

"Belay that!" Colonel Carter's voice cut through, loud and commanding before anyone got through the door. She had a smile on her lips as she deactivated her voice modulator while Ronon holstered his pistol with a satisfied grin, Teyla standing serenely proud next to them. Everyone, the doctors included, immediately surrounded the three, on guard and suspicious, expecting who knows what. "Lesson learned, I'd say," Carter explained with a grin before turning serious. "You never know where the front lines are here in Atlantis or what kind of battle is going to be fought. Scientists and soldiers a like are vital to what we do here, each in their own way. We arranged this little impromptu training session to give you a brief view of how real all those stories you hear are. Out here all skills are necessary for survival. So endeth the lesson."

There was dead silence as each person contemplated her words, shifting uneasily as they realized that they were standing as a group, scientist and marine interspersed in crisis. Corporal Stark dropped the book that Carter had tossed to him, it felt like an eternity ago, making a loud thump as it hit the ground and disrupting the silence. All heads turned to look. "Ooops?" he offered shakily, still trying to recover from the seconds from death scenario. Dr. Gottenmeir picked it up, disbelief in his eyes as he paged through it. He handed it to Dr. Jones who burst out laughing as she read the title. "How to Disarm a Naquedah Reactor for Dummies," she finally managed to read out loud, opening it to show simplified schematics and basic instructions in Ancient.

Carter shrugged. "You take defense and weapons training. I wanted to give them a fighting chance. A little knowledge can go a long way."

"Uh, think you can maybe teach me to read that thing Doc?" Sergeant Edwards turned to Dr. Keisha with a smile, hand outstretched.

"It's a deal," she agreed with a grin as the ice broke and the new scientists and soldiers started to interact together for the first time.