A/N: Story takes place shortly after Hot Zone in Season 1. Story is complete.

Here Be Dragons by T'Pring

"And by the way, I saved your ass."

"I know you did. But you have to trust me."

"I do…"

"Do you?"

A piercing shriek pulled Elizabeth out of sleepy stupor and thrust her into cool morning reality. She hit the alarm clock with a practiced slap, not bothering to set the snooze. She was awake. Mostly.

A brisk shower and her morning cup of Athosian tea did little to penetrate the fog that seemed persistent between her ears and she walked into Atlantis's beautiful control room, more occupied with her own thoughts than with her day's tasks. It was her habit to check in with the technicians on duty, get the daily status report on what new, amazing discoveries had been unlocked that day as they continued to explore not only the physical wonders of Atlantis, but also its treasure-trove of knowledge, housed entirely within the city's database.

Today, Rodney had already spread two laptops across one of the piano-like keyboards in the back of the control room, a sure sign than either something was up, or that he was feeling particularly smug. Teyla stood easily at his shoulder, looking at the laptop he was furiously typing at.

Elizabeth sighed, not feeling particularly up to the energy it took to manage McKay in ego-mode.

"Good Morning, Dr. Weir."

Teyla's cheerful greeting, always so formal and yet warm at the same time, cheered Elizabeth considerably, so she mustered her courage to join the Athosian woman in her comfortable vigil over Rodney's efforts. With a quick glance around the room, Elizabeth confirmed that John – Major Sheppard – wasn't nearby.

She breathed a quick breath of relief. The mood between them had been forced since their conflict during the Nano virus outbreak. John hadn't exactly been avoiding her, but he'd been spending less time in the control room than usual. When he was around, he'd adopted this annoying attitude of…nice. A behavior that only reminded her it was she who was still a little mad. The fact that he wasn't mad only reinforced the message that he considered their conflict her problem.

She shook off her unease and forced herself to return Teyla's smile.

"Good morning, Teyla. What are you up to so early in the day?" The young woman usually spent her mornings either with the computers or training Sheppard's soldiers in Athosian stick-fighting techniques.

"I received an alarming message from the Athosian settlement. Rodney is helping me scan the mainland and search the database."

"Alarming?" Elizabeth stepped closer to peer at the screen that Rodney, who so far had ignored her arrival, was working on.

"Yes. A hunting party that was exploring the foothills of the mountains to the west of the settlement encountered a very large predator, yesterday. They managed to escape it without injury, but they are concerned that by inadvertently revealing themselves to it, they have led it back to the settlement. A farmer spotted an animal that meets the description prowling the furthest boundaries of his field this morning."

"How large is very large?" Elizabeth wondered out loud. Teyla's eyes went wide with concern.

"The hunt leader told Halling that he had never seen a creature like it! It was reptilian, capable of moving on four legs and standing on two, and it had…wings."

"Wings? A large flying creature lives on the mainland? Why haven't we spotted this before? We surveyed the mainland for miles around the settlement before we began building it!"

"I do not know. The hunters never saw it fly. Perhaps the wings are vestigial. Perhaps it was flushed from its regular habitat during the hurricane last month. Or…" Teyla's voice trailed off, amused. "I have no idea how to speculate about a creature that is so far from my experience. Rodney hopes there may be some information about them stored in the Ancient database."

"So, have you found anything?" Elizabeth prompted Rodney who was still studiously ignoring them. She felt a nudge of curiosity and it was a good feeling. Rodney just chuffed.

"I've found the directory for the section of the database that seems to include the Ancients' notes about indigenous species on this planet, if that happens to qualify as 'anything'," he snapped, slapping harder at the keys.

"Did they mention this creature?" Teyla leaned forward to peer at the screen in her eagerness.

"Unfortunately, the Ancients didn't have the manners to catalog their entry under the phrase 'big scary monster', so it might take another minute or two for me to read their cataloging criteria such that I can translate your less than specific description into something that might narrow the millions of records into merely a few hundred."

"Rodney!" Elizabeth began, her fragile temper flaring at his sarcasm, but Teyla just grinned, rolled her eyes and pointed to a section of the screen.

"I believe if you narrow your query to this category, we will have an excellent place to start."

Elizabeth suppressed a grin as Rodney took a breath to dismiss her suggestion out of hand, then cocked his head.

"Predators of the mainland," he muttered, obviously translating the column Teyla had pointed to. "I suppose that is as good a match as we can get. You're sure it was a predator? Not just a…a giant rodent or something?"

Teyla shook her head firmly. "Halling said the hunters were very impressed by the creatures' teeth and sense of smell. It pursued them like a thera." She hesitated, most likely at the blank look Elizabeth knew was plastered all over her face. "Thera are like the great cats from you world. What are they called? Lions! Mountain lions. Major Sheppard has described them. Rodney, I am certain that the creature is a hunter."

"Well, then. Let's see what we can find."

Rodney sounded interested, despite himself and didn't even protest when Elizabeth and Teyla crowded at his side to read over his shoulders. Several minutes passed in comfortable anticipation. Elizabeth tried to read and translate as fast as she could – there were some fascinating creatures in the list – but Rodney was skimming for the descriptors that they did have.

At last, he paused. A table of biological information expanded across the screen and even Elizabeth could tell that there was more detail in this record than had accompanied most of the other species.

"It was an experiment!" she exclaimed at last. She pointed to a line of Ancient text in the table headers.

"What's an experiment?"

This question was from a new voice, and Elizabeth looked up from the screen to find John leaning over the back of the control panel to peer upside down over the edge of the screen. The man had an uncanny sense of when things were about to get interesting.

Elizabeth tensed, but Teyla's smile grew brighter. "Rodney has found a match for the creature that the Athosian hunters discovered. It appears to be a descendant of a species that the Ancients were trying to breed for…" she leaned in front of Rodney to peer at the screen, eliciting a grunt of annoyance, "security and offensive battle maneuvers."

"The Ancients were breeding attack dogs on the mainland?"

John was nothing if not quick on the update, Elizabeth had to admit. Rodney chuffed again, this time going for an air of superiority.

"The originals were more like flying geckos than canines. And they weren't nearly as big as your hunters described. The Ancients described them as roughly," Rodney toggled the information on the screen, pulled a double-take, then gave John a disgusted look, "dog sized. Teyla, are you sure the hunters weren't exaggerating?"

"I am sure," Teyla answered firmly. "Perhaps they have grown larger in the centuries since the Ancients abandoned this world."

"Perhaps." Rodney didn't sound willing to concede the idea, but he went on, reading more from the file. "The Ancients apparently set up an outpost in the foothills, not more than a deer blind really, and then lured the individuals with the traits they wished to evolve to the blind in the hope that they could build a colony that would answer to them."

Rodney closed the database window and opened another. Teyla and Elizabeth straightened and Teyla's look of disappointment mirrored her own.

"If these things are souped up predators, I'm even more worried about the settlement, now," John exclaimed firmly.

Elizabeth favored him with a calculating look and, sure enough, he was already radiating that "let's go" energy that was becoming all too familiar. It was the energy that preceded lines like "I'll do it" when volunteering to manually trigger a trap that catches power-eating darkness and "It's just a little nuke," when referring to insane plans to outrun an overloading naquadah generator.

"I am concerned, too." Teyla was nodding. "I must warn Halling right away. Rodney, does the database describe any weaknesses of the creature the Athosian hunters might exploit, or...or tell how the Ancients persuaded the creatures to answer to them?"

"No. Not in the species database, anyway. The file referenced the breeding program records, but the link is offline. My guess is that the data was kept at the blind itself and is inactive. We might find out more if we find the blind and turn those computers back on."

John slapped his hands together. "Then that's what we'll do. Elizabeth, I'd like to take a security team to leave at the settlement, too. The Athosians might need some help keeping an eye out for those things until we figure out how to either lure them away or frighten them off."

Teyla's look was pure appreciation, but Elizabeth felt herself bristle.

"Adding security to the settlement is entirely up to you, Major," she began, hearing her voice go frostier than she really intended. "But I'd like to look into the records a bit more before I approve a mission into deep forest to look for the research blind."

John stiffened, opened his mouth, then hesitated. His expressive face flashed a second of keen calculation, then settled into that maddening look of supreme niceness.

"Sure. Take your time. But in the meantime, it's going to really impact the Athosians' ability to hunt and work their land if they have to look over their shoulders every second. Not to mention leaving them with extra security over the long term will take manpower off my rotation for Atlantis security and offworld recon. Not to mention resources to ship teams back and forth from the mainland and – ."

"I get it, John," Elizabeth snapped, then immediately regretted it. "Look, I'm not saying wait a month, I'm saying wait ten damn minutes!"

"Oh. Ok," John's grin was infuriating. "It will take us an hour to muster a security unit and enough supplies for a day or two. We don't want to put the Athosians out while we're hanging around. Rodney, can you get us coordinates for the research blind and recent scans of the mountains to determine how many of those things are out there?"

Elizabeth snapped her jaw shut and glared. Rodney was looking nervously between her and John when he answered, sounding flustered.

"What? Well, yes. I've got the coordinates, but it's in deep forest. You won't be able to see it from the air."

"We'll survey what we can and land a jumper where we can." John dismissed the concern.

"And I've been scanning for ten minutes and picked up nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?" Elizabeth pounced.

"I mean – I am not detecting any large creatures, except the Athosians, within a hundred-kilometer radius of the settlement. That may be because they are reptilian and have a very cool bio-signature that is difficult to distinguish from ambient temperatures, but we are dealing with Ancient meddling, here."

"What are you implying?"

"That one of the traits they could have been enhancing was stealth, the ability to avoid sensor detection."

Elizabeth shot John a look. "Still think we should rush into an expedition on foot?"

"Still think we should leave these things alone for the Athosians to handle by themselves?" John shot back. "Rodney, be ready in an hour. Teyla, call Halling and let them know to expect us. For the moment, I'd also recommend you ask your people to stay within the village itself until we set up some security around the fields. Hunting is unadvised altogether."

"I will do so," Teyla replied crisply and darted to the communications panel. His orders dispensed, John turned last to Elizabeth, his body language conveying determination even while his face remained plastered with nice.

"Elizabeth," he began and she heard that same tone in his voice he'd used when she'd tried to dress him down after he'd neutralized the Nano viruses. Sometimes I see a situation a little different... "We can't secure the settlement if we don't know how to manage these creatures. The only way we can do that is to find the blind and get into those records. If we're lucky, they'll tell us how to say "Fetch" and "Stay" and call the things off."

"And if we're not?"

"Then we'll at least know what we're dealing with. Personally, I find it easier to make friends with a dog if I know where it likes to be scratched. And besides, it's not like we're going on an overnight hike unprotected. I'll get a jumper within a short walk, or better. We'll have plenty of backup." He patted his sidearm.

Elizabeth held his gaze, acknowledged that he seemed to be taking the time to persuade, if belatedly. And she appreciated that. She took a deep breath, willing herself to see the situation logically. Perhaps she was overprotective. John's seemingly endless confidence and headlong enthusiasm rubbed against her natural caution. They didn't just see things differently, they saw things from the completely opposite end of the tube. Perhaps she should take the time to try out a new perspective.

"Very well, you can take a team to the blind and learn what you can," Elizabeth saw the grin on John's face go genuine, but she kept on talking, "and I'm going with you."

The look of pure surprise was priceless. John stared, shared a look with Rodney who looked equally surprised, then tried for a rebuttal.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We'll need someone on the database here to link up when we get the blind active -."

"Peter can handle that. If you want to settle the situation as quickly as you can – which I agree, the Athosians are at risk – then you'll need someone who can translate those records at the blind."

"Rodney can -."

"Rodney has the Atlantis database running through translators for our use in the city. We won't have access to those at the research blind, not until we link it to the City. You may need someone who can read Ancient without a translator to do that."

"But -."

"And like you said, it's just a stroll through the woods. Nothing to worry about."

"I didn't say there was nothing to worry about," John spat, then stopped himself, realizing the trap she'd set. If he contradicted her too adamantly, he'd be confirming her concerns to start with.

"Of course not. But I think I have been a bit overcautious of late. I'm going to embrace your recommendations fully, Major, and join you."

"My recommendations didn't include you, Elizabeth. And don't think I don't know what you're doing."

"What am I doing?" she asked innocently.

He glared for a long moment, and Elizabeth managed to keep her face passive, her posture neutral. In the game they were playing – the "who's in charge" game – she had at least outmaneuvered him verbally, and he knew it. But it was important to her.

John needed to trust that she would give him the reins at the right time, so that he didn't feel the need to overrun her. But at the same time, she couldn't trust him if he consistently understated or ignored the danger she was trying to evaluate. She needed him to be honest about the threats he was facing. The incident with the Nano virus had painted a very bright spotlight on his tendency to ignore his own welfare, at risk of everyone else. Elizabeth hoped a bit of subtle manipulation might bring John around to her perspective, just as she was trying to give his a go.

"Be ready in an hour or we're leaving without you," he snapped at last and stalked out of the control room towards his own preparations.

Elizabeth grinned, but it was rueful. She liked John. She hated the tension that had crept into their working relationship of late. They were all in this chin deep and they couldn't afford to disrupt what fragile control they did have over their tenuous situation in this uncharted galaxy.

Rodney was shooting furtive looks at her until she chuffed.

"What?"

"It's just...Are you sure you want to go traipse around the woods with mad dogs on the loose?"

"Major Sheppard seems to think it's safe enough." She spoke the words with a finality that even Rodney picked up on, but she did hear him mutter, "Safe enough for him," before he went on.

"I've been scanning the area that the database says the blind is in and I'm getting no unusual readings of any sort. No power, no computer pings. If the blind is even still there, it's completely shut down. We should take a naquadah generator in case whatever local power they were using has died completely."

"Sounds good. Anything else?" Elizabeth was eager to get to her own packing. She didn't doubt for a minute that John would leave her behind if she were late.

"There's just a note in the database I can't translate."

"Regarding what?" Elizabeth stepped around to peer closely at the screen. Rodney pointed at a message that popped up when he hovered over a certain spot on the map of the mainland.

"Regarding the blind. It's a geo-tag. It appears anytime you are searching this specific location – or flying over, I assume. We'll be able to see it from the HUD on the jumpers."

Elizabeth squinted, trying to get the context of the Ancient note. It contained a couple of vocabulary words that she had not run across yet. Something about "this is where" or "find this here". That made sense. The second vocabulary word must refer to the creatures themselves, which is probably why she hadn't seen it before. She tried for a phonetic pronunciation. The first symbol usually sounded like a "der". The second two combined to make a "ah-ee" dipthong. The third...

She stood up abruptly, covered her mouth with her hand.

"What? What does it say?" Rodney exclaimed, squinting at the screen as if staring at it would tell him what she'd figured out.

"Dragons," Elizabeth said at last when Rodney gave up and fixed her with an annoyed look. She didn't know whether to laugh or shudder. "It says, 'Here be dragons'."

Rodney grinned like a kid. "Really?"

Elizabeth just nodded. She really wished that John had given her those ten minutes...