Foreboding

Teyla almost ran through the hallways to her quarters. She wasn't sure what had just happened, and she felt it better not to give it much more thought.

"Teyla!" Teyla stopped dead in her tracks, but was relieved when she realised it was a female voice she heard behind her.

"Kate, hello. What can I do for you?" Teyla took a deep breath to keep her sudden nerves down.

"Well, there's this file I..." Kate Heightmeyer stopped talking when she saw Teyla's heated face. "Is something wrong, Teyla?"

"No, it is nothing. What is it you wanted to ask?" Teyla tried to act as normal as she could, even though her mind really was somewhere else.

"It can wait. There is obviously something on your mind. You were racing through the hallways, you look all heated, and now your eyes are turned the other way trying to avoid my look." By now Kate was smiling, and getting quite curious as to the reason of this sudden character change. She had never seen Teyla this uneasy.

Teyla sighed. "It is nothing really. Just..." She knew Kate was going to get it out of her one way or another. Not because she was the base's psychologist, but more because they had become friends over the course of this last year. "Colonel Sheppard and I were just practising... What?" Teyla looked at Kate who was grinning from one ear to the other, and impatiently awaited Teyla to continue.

"Nothing. Go on." Teyla looked like she was caught in the act, but she saw the humour of the situation.

"John, as he wanted me to call him," Teyla added mischievously, as she saw Kate pulling up her eyebrows, looking amused, "Yes Kate, he said that. And then, erm…"

"Then what?" Kate got more and more impatient.

"Then… he kissed me." Teyla folded her arms in front of her chest, and looked from Kate to the ground, to the ceiling, into the hallway, awaiting Kate's reaction that followed instantaneously.

"He kissed you? Colonel Sheppard actually kissed you?" Kate stepped forward to Teyla, and held her by her arms. "That's great! Wow, he finally found the courage and made a move. Quite a bold move even."

Teyla didn't really know what to say. She wasn't sure what she felt, let alone what to say.

"So, how do you feel?" Kate was still a psychologist, even though she really was curious how this would work out, and what exactly had happened that lead up to the kiss.

"Shall we discuss this further in my quarters?" Teyla said, as Atlantis personnel walked by.

"Oh yes, sure."

They walked towards Teyla's quarters to talk more privately. Arriving there, Teyla waved her hand over the opening panel, and Kate saw a slight shiver in her hand.

"So, how do you feel?" She demanded an answer.

"I am not sure actually." Teyla sat down on her bed, Kate next to her, not as patient to patient, but as a friend to a friend. "It was strange. He seemed to have been practising, even though he said to me he had not."

Kate frowned: "He practised kissing?" While saying that she realised what Teyla meant, and started laughing. "Ah right. The fighting. Of course."

Teyla grinned, which made the knot in her stomach release itself slightly. "No, not the kissing. Indeed, the stick fighting. He was much better than normal, and he even defeated me."

"Did he hurt you, and then kiss it all better?" Kate was now obviously teasing her, but Teyla didn't mind. She could use a bit of tension-relieving laughter.

"No Kate, it did not happen like that. In the fight, he pushed me against a wall, and then he…" She hesitated, could hardly say the word.

"Kissed you?" Kate folded her arms and smiled broadly at Teyla, who was glad her friend took over.

"Yes."

"And? Did you kiss him back? What did he say afterwards?"

"Then he backed away, looked surprised, and walked away. Doctor Beckett called him."

Kate let out a disappointing sigh. "Saved by the bell."

"I guess." Teyla wasn't really sure what that meant.

"And what now? He didn't ask you on a date or anything?" Kate really hoped there would be a continuation.

"No, he almost stormed out of the room. Still, it was strange. It did not feel like something Colonel Sheppard... John would do. And then there is the fact that he was so good during the fight. Maybe I should go and see him. See what is wrong." Teyla sounded unsure. She wanted to see him desperately, but she did not want to find out that really something was wrong with him.

She wanted that to be a real moment, to be a moment in which John actually showed his real feelings towards her. However, the strangeness of the moment, and his sudden strength worried her. John was her superior, her boss in a sense, and she knew they could not be together. It would influence their work, and John knew that. Nevertheless, she still hoped it was real, that he had really kissed her because he wanted to, deep down inside, and he suddenly felt the urge to do so and acted on it.

Then she heard his voice over the city's intercom: "Hey doc, this is Sheppard. We may have to bump up our first check-in."

It was as if a sack of potatoes was dumped in her stomach. Kate and Teyla looked at each other, and Teyla let out a deep, disappointed sigh.