A/N: Thank you very much insanekitty19, hifield, madwhiskey and Alerix Slynn (who kindly back reviewed each chapter!) for your lovely reviews. Readers like yourselves are why I keep writing this fic. I'm sure I could tweak this chapter for at least another week, but I've decided to post it before I turn myself in knots over it. I have been so lucky in the past with two excellent beta readers and I miss them like crazy now! The last chapter belonged to Sara, so Ronon gets this one. Thanks again for reading :)

Ronon POV

Sara stared at me in shock. "Have you lost your mind?"

I re-holstered my gun and rested my hands upon my hips. Actually, I felt more clear headed than I had in a long time. "What makes you ask that?"

"Well, maybe because you just risked everything to be free from the Wraith, and now you suddenly want to go and find them all over again?"

I shrugged. When she put it like that, I guess she did kind of have a point. I decided to humor her, "So, what would you suggest I do then?" I asked.

"You should leave and go someplace safe, somewhere where the wraith won't find you."

I shook my head. "Not gonna happen. Besides, even if I did, the Wraith bring death and destruction to every world in the galaxy. No place is safe - not for any of us."

Sara frowned. "Is it really that bad?"

I nodded. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she had no memory beyond the past few months. "I saw first-hand what the Wraith did to my home world. As long as they exist, they will continue to destroy others in exactly the same way."

"But..." Sara paused, and I got the feeling she was trying to find the right words for what she wanted to say, "Don't you have some place you want to go? People that you care about?"

I looked away. Her questions were innocent enough, but I wasn't prepared for the barrage of visions that suddenly assaulted me. Behind my closed eyes, I saw everyone and everything I cared about destroyed all over again. My comrades, my family, the woman I cared for... all of them taken from me by the Wraith. The gut wrenching torment that ripped through me made the stitches in my raw flesh seem like meager pin pricks in comparison.

"Ronon..?"

I came back to the present with a jolt. Sara was looking at me, and her voice was heavy with concern. I braced myself and turned to meet her eyes. "There is no one," I replied.

She must have guessed some of what I was holding back, because she was the first one to break eye contact. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

I shook my head. "Don't be. I won't be bowed by the Wraith - or by what they have taken from me." My voice deepened as my conviction strengthened, "I will fight them every inch of the way."

Sara tossed her pack over her shoulder and moved to stand beside me. I readied myself for further questions, and was surprised when she didn't appear to have any.

"I understand," she said simply.

I looked at her warily.

"But," she continued, "Right now you need to take it easy. I didn't cut that thing out of your back just to watch you die of infection. We need to find somewhere close by to make camp for the night."

I was surprised again by the strength in her tone. I wasn't used to taking orders. "It's too early," I protested.

"I don't care. If you don't rest up, your body won't have a chance to recover. You can't hunt the Wraith if you're burning up with a fever." She looked at me, "Besides, if you stay with me, the Wraith will be sure to come to you anyway. All you need to do is be ready when they show up."

She was right, of course, but I didn't feel inclined to give in too easily. "Okay," I reluctantly agreed, "But we see or hear anything that even resembles a Wraith, rest time is over, alright?"

She smiled. "You've got a deal."

XXX

With my stomach full for the first time in weeks, I lay on my side next to the fire, my head propped up against my hand. "That was a great feed," I said, recalling the fresh water trout we had cooked. "What did you say those things you dug up were called again?"

"Cammas bulbs," Sara replied.

"Mmmm, filling," I said with a contented yawn. "We should let the fire die down. No point making it even easier for the Wraith to find us."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sara admitted. She looked around the forest clearing we were both seated in, "At least with the undergrowth being so thick and dry, we'll be able to hear anything approaching."

I nodded, although right at this moment I was content to put aside my hunting plans for a few more hours. I felt warm and relaxed, and more than a little sleepy.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Sara, said. She was sitting opposite me, her legs crossed on her mat in much the same way as the night before.

I met her gaze lazily, "Depends on what it is," I replied.

Her eyes - a cool shade of blue - held mine across the fire. "The tattoo on your neck," she said, "What does it mean?"

I thought for a moment, and then, relaxed as I was, I decided to explain. "It's my military rank," I said, "I fought with the Satedan army."

"Oh," she said with a nod, "I remember you saying you were a soldier, so guessed it might be something to do with that."

I watched as she absently untied the strings that held her braids. Her fingers worked their way up its length, separating the strands. "It's a shame I don't have a tattoo, or something like it myself. It might help me remember a bit about who I am."

My eyes narrowed with interest. "So, how does that work exactly? You remember things like which plants cure which ailment, but you don't know who you are or where you came from?"

She shrugged. "I know, it sounds crazy, but that about sums it up. It's like living in some kind of weird dream... Sometimes I'm not sure if I've done certain things before or not, and other times I discover skills that I didn't know I had."

I frowned. "Sounds confusing."

"It is confusing," she admitted. She pulled a comb out of her bag and began to brush the tangles out of her hair. I tried to drag my eyes away, but found I could not.

"I keep hoping that if I can find a way to get the tracking device out, my memory will come back," she said.

"Makes sense," I replied. I thought for a moment and then pushed myself up into a sitting position. "You mind if I take a look at it?"

She looked at me in surprise, "There's nothing much to see," she said, "It's just a lump in my head. But if you want to have a look..." She lowered the comb.

I got to my feet and walked over to crouch down beside her. She tilted her head to the side and swept her hair over her shoulder, feeling for the lump with her fingers. "There it is," she said, indicating a spot at the base of her skull.

I reached out to touch the area with the pad of my right thumb, and she removed her hand. Her neck was long and slender, and my fingers brushed gently against her right cheek as I rolled my thumb over a small lump that was about the size of a small acorn. I pressed down gently, and when it didn't budge, I pressed a little harder. "It feels like it's attached to your skull," I said uneasily.

She nodded softly. "They injected me with something that solidified, and then fused itself to the bone."

I shook my head as I pictured the procedure. "It doesn't look like something that can be cut out," I admitted.

"I know," she nodded again.

My hands were still in her hair, and the motion caused the strands to move against my fingers. They felt like smooth, cool silk against my skin. Before I could pull away, she lifted her head and straightened up a little. I suddenly found our faces were very close together, and when she turned her head to speak, my lips was only inches from her cheek. She opened her mouth, but whatever she had been going to say was suddenly lost, as she too, became aware of how close we were. For a long moment we stared at each other, and my gaze shifted from her eyes to rest upon her mouth. Her lips were parted, I saw, and as I watched, she turned her head towards me a fraction more. I felt a sudden surge of desire, and for a brief moment I almost gave into it. Something held me back though. Memories of another woman - a woman who I carried in my heart - flooded my mind. The visions were so vivid, so real, that I knew I wasn't ready to let them go. I closed my eyes, and felt the spell between Sara and I break.

She looked away abruptly, and I got to my feet. "I'm gonna take a look around before it gets dark," I said, as I checked my hip for my gun. I felt it's reassuring presence, and without looking at Sara, I stepped into the forest and left the clearing. I walked at a brisk pace - one that required all of my concentration in order to negotiate the thick undergrowth. My senses were pricked for anything that moved or seemed out of place, but I could detect nothing out of the ordinary. Only when the shadows around me had faded to near pitch black, did I turn and begin to loop my way back to the camp. It was difficult to see where I was going and I had to use every bit of my tracking ability to retrace my steps By the time I neared the clearing, I was beginning to tire. Sara was right, I realized, I should have been taking things easy. "It's me," I called, a moment before I stepped out of the shadows

Sara sighed, and lowered the gun she had aimed at me. She looked pale and stressed, and I immediately felt bad for the abrupt way I had departed earlier. .

"Sorry," I said, not sure if I was meaning for scaring her now, or for what had happened earlier.

She shook her head. "Don't be."

I sat down in front of the fire again - not directly opposite her as before, but just off to her right. She still wouldn't meet my eyes, and it suddenly hit me that she seemed to be embarrassed. This, if nothing else, confirmed that she had been a willing participant in what had almost happened between us. As awkward as I felt, I knew that it was only fair I give her some kind of explanation. "Look," I said, and then broke of as I realized I still had no idea of what I was going to say. I thought for a moment and then started again. "Before," I said, "It had nothing to do with you."

She raised her eyebrows, and smiled wryly into the fire. "Thanks," she said, "That makes me feel so much better."

Her reply was so direct that I almost smiled. I'd never had time for people who didn't say what they meant. I stretched out my legs, crossed them at the ankles, and leaned back on my hands to do a bit of fire staring of my own. There was no easy way to say what I needed to, but if Sara and I were going to stay together for a while, then I knew I had to try. At least it might help us avoid misunderstandings in the future. "There was a woman..." I said slowly, "... back on Sateda."

Sara turned to look at me, and I could tell I had her interest.

"She was a nurse," I continued. "When the Wraith attacked our world, they came in such numbers that they over-ran our defenses. I stayed and fought, but it wasn't a battle that could be won." I paused and uncrossed my legs, drawing a knee up to my chest and resting my elbow on top of it. "I made arrangements to get her out safely."

Sara shifted her gaze back to the fire, but I was so deep in memory that I barely noticed. "But when I went to the hospital, she refused to go with me," I continued. "She said she wouldn't abandon those who couldn't be evacuated..." I squeezed my eyes closed as I saw again what happened next. "There was an explosion... She died, right there, before my eyes."

I fell silent, and a few moments later, Sara turned to look at me. "She was your wife?" she asked.

I shook my head slowly, but then thought better of it. "She was the closest thing to it," I replied. I pushed myself to my feet and retreated back to my side of the fire. I didn't feel like talking any more. Already, I had shared much more that I had intended to. I stretched out on the forest floor and pulled my coat around me. Despite my exhaustion, it was a long time before I managed to fall asleep.