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1. Jack doesn’t want Daniel to go to Atlantis until Daniel persuades him to spend some of his retirement there. They have adjoining quarters in a quiet part of the city. Most people don’t want to live there – it’s a little too creepy on the outskirts – but Daniel says the peace and quiet helps him work and Jack is there for when he’s had enough peace and quiet. The General seems okay with this plan, and when Daniel is buried deep in a deskful of coffee and scrolls, he wanders Atlantis seemingly at random. He never offers advice until he is asked, but whenever his advice is needed he just happens to be around.
Jack’s presence affects Atlantis in myriad ways. Competence at hand-to-hand combat goes way up; the food gets better and more varied; when good people have died and the burden of her responsibilities is getting to Elizabeth, she knows someone she can talk to in the quiet part of the city.
It’s not all good; Ronon now deals with boredom on missions by practising his newly-developed Simpsons impressions, and since Ronon’s idea of boredom is not getting to shoot anyone, it quickly starts to grate on his team’s nerves. After one excruciatingly non-violent mission, Teyla goes to the General’s quarters to ask politely if he would consider asking Ronon to return his dvd boxsets. He isn’t in and when Teyla explains the problem to Daniel, he stands in his doorway looking as aloof as a man can when dressed only in a bathrobe, folds his arms and says in a suspiciously loud voice: “Tell me it’s irritating when you’ve endured it for ten years.”
2. It takes a while for Doctors Jackson and McKay to get talking, but one day they are seen sitting on their own in the corner of the mess hall, clearly having an intense discussion. As Lorne and the others approach, Rodney is making short choppy gestures with his hand and Daniel responds by frowning and waving both hands wildly. Entertainment is usually in short supply in the city, so Lorne and co. sit at the nearest table and eavesdrop with no pretence at subtlety. These guys are both notorious firebrands, so this should be good.
“But Rodney, if the dimensions in spacetime aren’t fixed concepts but fluid entities that shift with our point of view, then how can you be right? The p-branes…”
“Oh please, the only pea-brain in action here is you! The type IIA theory may appear at first to be a ten dimensional theory in the normal perturbative limit, but it actually reveals an extra space dimension…”
And they go on like that for several incomprehensible minutes, maybe longer, Lorne doesn’t know because by then he’s got bored and gone in search of chocolate pudding. It doesn’t take long before the space around them is empty again.
The two of them are seen having a set-to about once a week, and every time it’s about some convoluted theory or obscure philosophical point. Their colleagues regret the lack of a more interesting showdown, but still regard it as a plus because McKay’s intellectual spats with Jackson seem to have a calming effect on him; for a couple of days after he’ll be bearable, if not tractable. People who need anything from McKay tend to wait for a day when they’ve seen him at the corner table with Doctor Jackson arguing ferociously about who-cares-what.
3. It takes a while for Daniel and Rodney to trust each other but once they do, they start to drop little hints and then Rodney finally has someone he can talk to about the utter pointlessness of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the highs and lows of loving a man who answers to his duty as well as his heart. At last he can compare data and begin to tease out the mystery of which traits were instilled by the military and which are just John being an idiot. He can talk about his hopes for their future and his fear they won’t survive long enough to have one. He tells Daniel about the days he thinks John isn’t right for him, and the days he thinks he isn’t good enough for John.
Daniel listens, questions, and gently mocks Rodney’s paranoia until it begins to erode. He shares his own experiences of Jack and what a lifetime of secrecy can do to a good man. If either of them sees someone approach, they break out the long words and argue vehemently about a pre-agreed concept. This being Rodney, he has instituted a points system based on how long you can bullshit convincingly about the other man’s field of expertise and how many stupid things you can say about your own. Nobody has ever worked out that Daniel knows next to nothing about string theory and Rodney could not care less about the implications of anthropomorphising an alien species. Once any interlopers have been scared off, they get right back to the stuff that’s difficult to talk about. It’s amazing how alike Jack and John can be, even though if you asked them they’d insist the only things they have in common are their careers and a damn fine game at chess. For example, both men pretend not to know what is really going on but they watch from a safe distance and if the conversation goes on for an unusually long time, John and Jack will flick an eyebrow at each other and they will get out fast in case they are required – horror of horrors - to participate. Some days Rodney times them to see how long it takes before they run for it.
After his conversations with Daniel, Rodney finds his heart lighter and his head clearer. He doesn’t ever admit it out loud, but secretly he recognises he’s been snapping at people a lot less since Daniel got here.
4. Radek is helping Daniel to improve his Czech. He doesn’t mind; it’s good to talk to someone in his native language and it’s funny hearing Doctor Jackson practise swearwords in his gentle measured tone.
Teyla is teaching Daniel about her people. She finds it oddly relaxing to tell him tales of the past and it helps with her secret fear that the Athosians are losing themselves to another culture.
No-one wants to be around Hermiod long enough to know what he talks about with Daniel; the Asgard respects Jack, but Daniel is the only human he appears to like.
5. One day when Rodney and Daniel are sitting at the same table as the others they begin to argue about the Wraith. This time, it’s an argument everyone can follow. What do they really know about their enemy? Which potential weaknesses merit further investigation? They quiz Carson on medical matters and they remind each other of tiny details from mission reports and debate their significance fiercely. General O’Neill asks them to clarify the more obscure points (although he doesn’t put it quite that tactfully) and they break things down for him while people on the tables around them listen in. In return, they ask him about Wraith tactics and what they reveal. Then they quiz him on how the Wraith design and fly their ships and what that tells an experienced pilot who has flown many kinds of spacecraft. That gets John involved, and he calls some guys over to join them. Two hours later, the mess hall is full of people and everyone is throwing in a thought here, a theory there. The conversation goes on into the night. Elizabeth feels a new energy in the room and sees no reason to break it up. The next day, eight people ask her for permission to suspend their current research while they investigate an idea they’ve had.
Twelve months later, the people of Atlantis are no longer fighting for their lives against the might of the Wraith; they are patiently hunting down and exterminating the last traces of a dying race.
Ronon is starting to do Simpsons impressions again.