Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. No profit is made from this.
Summary: A storm causes problems for Jennifer and Ronon as they become lost at sea and dependent on strangers to make their way back home. This is set after quarantine and is a Ronon/Jennifer pre-ship
"Ready to go?" Ronon asked from the entrance of the small room within a wooden cabin, which housed Jennifer.
"I think so. Why are you hungry?" She grinned.
"Yeah, plus there's the storm." Ronon shrugged.
"Storm?" Jennifer asked, looking blank.
"All the wind, rain, thunder." Ronon pointed out wondering how she had missed it and shaking his head at her lack of survival instincts.
"Really? I guessed I missed all that." Jennifer replied doing a final scan of the room that had been used as a clinic. "Ok, I'm good to go. You know you didn't have to come with me on this trip."
"Nolan's not experienced enough to accompany you by himself." Ronon replied causing Jennifer to stare at him.
"Is that one of Sheppard's rules?"
"Atlantis rules." Ronon said as he opened the outer door to the cabin causing the wind to howl through it as rain swept in and a chilling wind hit Jennifer. Stepping back from the door she hastily zipped up her jacket.
"At least it's a Jumper ride back to the gate." Jennifer said, not wanting to walk through the storm. Ronon merely looked down at her took her bag and ran to the Jumper. Taking a deep breath Jennifer ran after him.
Despite her nimble feet by the time she reached the Jumper she was drenched. Shutting the hatch behind her she put down her bag, shook off the excess water from her jacket and walked towards the cockpit.
"Wet out there?" Nolan asked from the pilot seat.
"Just a bit." Jennifer replied as she sat next to the young, brown haired pilot, Ronon already seated behind him.
"Ready for home then?"
"You bet." Jennifer replied as a flash of lightning increased the illumination in the Jumper, causing Jennifer to ask. "Is it safe to fly in this?"
"Sure it is. We'll go up and over. It'll be fine." Nolan replied as another lightning bolt illuminated the cockpit, bringing out Nolan's profile and distinctive chin. When he saw Jennifer was still looking at him with doubt he added. "Trust me doc. I'm not loosing my hundred bonus points by crashing."
"Bonus points?" Jennifer asked.
"Sure, returning you from an uneventful mission is a hundred points. Once you are up to a thousand points yo-…you don't know any of this do you?" Nolan asked, noticing Jennifer's glare. "I think it's time we took off and got back to the gate. Taking off now."
"Who issues the points?" Jennifer asked. "Lorne, Sheppard?"
Instead of answering, Nolan studiously looked at the controls as he flew through the storm.
Not wanting to push her luck by distracting Nolan from flying through the bad weather she swivelled round and looked at Ronon.
"Did you know about this?"
"I don't get involved in Earth things." Ronon said, although Jennifer noticed he wasn't making eye contact with her. She was about to comment when the Jumper juddered causing her to pale and turn back to the front.
"We should be free of the turbulence soon." Nolan said calmly.
"Turbulence? I thought the inertial dampeners were meant to take care of that?" Jennifer asked nervously.
"Technically yes, but not after the two crazy docs install upgrades."
"You brought out a bad Jumper?" Ronon growled.
"It passed all the pre flight checks." Nolan said as he continued to lift the juddering Jumper. "Apparently though the upgrades don't like rain."
"Is it safe to fly?" Jennifer asked.
"So far." Nolan shrugged when all of a sudden the ride smoothed. "Hmm, guess they're working again." Glancing over at Jennifer he added. "You should try to relax doc, high blood pressure is a killer."
Jennifer glared back at him and muttered. "We'll see who's laughing during your next medical." Turning back to Ronon she added. "I don't know why you're smirking."
Ronon's reply was cut off by another bright flash and Nolan exclaiming as he hastily worked the controls.
"Crap."
"What?" Jennifer asked.
"That wasn't lightning." He explained as he dove the Jumper back into the storm.
"Well what was it?" Jennifer asked looking out into the stormy darkness. When the Jumper suddenly jolted from a hit Ronon said, moments before a dart flew past.
"Wraith."
"What?" Jennifer asked rotating round to look at Ronon, panic written on her face.
Ronon in response pointed out of the front window. Jennifer swivelled back round following the direction of Ronon's arm, where she saw Nolan swing the Jumper back round and fire a few shots at the dart before it disappeared into the clouds.
"How many are there?" Jennifer asked, trying to remain calm.
"At least one. The sensors are screwed up from the storm." Nolan replied just before the Jumper shuddered again causing Nolan, his voice strained from the effort needed to avoid the Wraith, to say.
"We're loosing shields. I'll try to shake them off." Just then the Jumper lurched. "Damn, the dampeners have gone again. Things are going to get rough." He warned as the occupants were thrown to one side then another.
"We need to shoot it down before it calls for back up." Ronon said calmly.
"Doing my best." Nolan said as he fought against the Jumper to bring it round for another attack. Catching sight of the dart Nolan fired off a few shots as the dart did like wise. A second later a flash sparked from the dart, moments before it broke up and fell towards the ground.
The joy and relief that sight caused was short lived as one of the shots fired by the dart hit the Jumper, causing it to lurch horribly as the lights flickered.
"Can we warn the village?" Ronon asked.
"Negative." Nolan replied. "We've lost comms. It's taking everything just to keep this in the air. Crap, I've lost navigation. I need to lose height so I can sight land again, I'm flying blind in these clouds."
As the jumper bumped and rocked through the air Jennifer sat pale and far from calm, her fingers gripping the seat. She counted every bump, waiting to see something solid to land on. That hope was dashed though when Ronon asked.
"Where's the land?" The words causing Jennifer to notice that beneath the cloud, instead of land, was a churning, rolling, blue layer.
"I told you we lost navigation." Nolan replied.
"You've taken us out to sea?" Ronon growled.
"Didn't have much choice. I'm loosing her." Nolan exclaimed just as the Jumper lurched again. "Brace for impact."
Jennifer saw the dark blue of the sea as the Jumper rushed towards it. To her side Nolan strained against the control, trying despite all hope being lost to salvage the situation. Part of Jennifer wanted to scream, but she was so scared she couldn't move or speak. Finally the Jumper did the inevitable and plunged into the sea. The last thing Jennifer saw was a wall of blue.
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, next chapter up tomorrow.