Ronon felt the shift in weight as she lifted her head off his shoulder and met his gaze briefly before glancing at the small table to his right next to her bed. Leaning across his arm she reached for the small drawer and slid it open, extracting a small black object before settling back into his lap. He slid his arms back around her as she reclined against him.

In her palm she held what looked like a broken boot knife - a slick black handle with a silver edging. When she flicked her thumb, a length of silver blade snapped out of the side and locked into place.

"I won this from Cadman in a poker game." She said softly, using her palm to carefully push the blade back down into the side of the handle. "It's called a switchblade."

She held it out and he accepted it, mimicking her motion to snap the blade in place. It was sharp and sturdy, and not a bad choice for a woman since it was small and easy to conceal. He handed it back and she flicked it open while she spoke, hypnotized by the flash of silver as it leapt out of the casing.

You stupid bitch. You just had to go and hand it in. You have absolutely no concept of self-preservation, do you? I warned you. I told you what would happen if you did it, and you still did it. You really are a stupid whore…

The words sounded wrong coming from her lips. Words he knew weren't hers. Words she voiced with a low drone, her shiver echoing the memory.

"I thought I was needed in the infirmary and he'd come to get me." Snap. Fold and click.

"I threatened to castrate him." Snap. Fold and click.

"When I grabbed for my radio he apologized. Said he was just feeling overworked. Said he'd go talk to Woolsey in the morning." Snap. Fold and click.

"What…" His hand landed on hers and extracted the closed knife before she sliced off a finger. "Happened. Exactly."

"He yelled. Shoved me a couple of times. Just… freaked me out. Which was the whole point, I guess." She shook her head. "He's a big guy. Not as big you, but big… compared to me. Okay everyone's big compared to me. He wasn't really worried about me having a knife. He thought it was funny. He did do a quick turnaround when I picked up my radio, though."

"And you let him go?"

"Damn right I let him go." She whispered with a nod. "I just wanted him gone. I don't know. Stupid, right? I locked my door. I was going to talk to Woolsey. I was fully planning on talking to Woolsey. But then… then the day just went… crazy… And I… I forgot. I mean, I didn't forget, forget. I just… okay maybe I wanted to forget. I guess I just hoped it was over with. I didn't know he'd come back. "

"Come back…" Ronon felt himself slipping again and he struggled to keep his mind focused. She needed to tell him, and he needed to listen but the wait was going to be the death of him.

He waited. But it was very. Very. Difficult.

She wiggled out of his arms and he wasn't sure he should be letting her go. But he did. Watchfully. Then changed his mind and decided to follow.

She crossed the room, hesitated when she reached the small desk on the far side. Digging into the top drawer she extracted a stack of small yellow squares. The self-sticking notes McKay was so fond of leaving instructions and warnings on.

She turned and handed them to him.

He flipped through them. There had to be several dozen. All scribbled with single words. Bitch. Whore. Cunt. A variety of others he didn't recognize but assumed she had. He handed them back and she returned them to the drawer.

"They were stuck all over. Everywhere. On… everything. Walls. Widows. Mirrors. Drawers. In my drawers. I took them all down. And it took me a while to do it. And then I heard him laughing."

She turned to face him, her arms automatically reaching for him and he stepped forward, accepting her body against his.

"He was in here the whole time. Watching me rip them all down. Thought it was funny. After he left I just… I just couldn't sleep. Couldn't stay. He'd been into everything. Left notes everywhere. Touched everything. I mean, it's stupid I know, but I just didn't want to touch anything. And the worst part was… I had no idea. No idea he was even in here. No sense of self preservation. I mean, some crazy guy's hiding in the corner and I'm all la-la nothing's wrong. That… is the worst part. That… keeps me awake."

Ronon felt her body shake. He understood. He would have sensed another presence the minute he entered the room. Hell, he'd even known there'd been someone in her to begin with. But she… she wouldn't have known. Matterson could have cause all kinds of hurt and she wouldn't have known. She would have been here… alone. Unaware. Unprotected.

It wasn't right. It wasn't how it should be. A woman like her should be revered. Talent and intelligence. Beauty and grace. On Sateda, women of her power would be protected. Threats were the direct responsibility of her champion. But here… here they followed Earth rules. Don't do anything for fear of hurting someone's feelings. He felt the anger building and nodded to himself with the realization that now… now it was too late for Earth rules. Matterson was going to learn about Satedan rules.

"He just left?"

She nodded, the top of her head rubbing against the underside of his chin.

"He didn't hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"And you haven't told anyone?"

Her fingers tightened in the back of his shirt. "I gave most of the notes to Richard. Woolsey. In the morning. The stack you saw… those were just the ones I found later. The one's I'm still finding."

"So Woolsey knows."

She nodded.

"Matterson's locked up?"

She shook her head.

"Why the hell not?" Matterson scared her. Invaded her personal space. Insulted his commanding officer. That should be more than enough to have him taken care of.

"Woolsey said he would take care of it. I think he was planning to remove him from rotation."

Ronon rolled his shoulder. "If he'd have locked him up in the first place Lorne wouldn't be lying in a bed with a bullet hole in his shoulder."

She sighed. She shook her head, her words muffled against his chest. "No. No. And that's what's got me so… worried. Ronon. I… Eli didn't shoot Evan."

"Wait." He pulled away, holding her at arms length while he scanned her face. "He broke into your room and terrorized you and you think he's not capable of trying to shoot you?"

She shook her head. "I didn't say he wasn't capable. I said he didn't do it."

"How can you be so sure?"

Chewing her bottom lip she stepped further away, standing just out of his reach. She exhaled, then nodded, an internal battle either won, or lost. Quickly turning, she yanked at the edges of her shirt, pulling it up her back. A series of harsh red scrapes slashed across the pale skin of her upper back.

"Eli didn't do it, Ronon." Her voice was quiet as she lowered her shirt and turned back around. "I know… because he was in the bathroom with me when Evan was shot."