Ronon POV

Erik and I eventually discovered a set of bunk beds on the darkened rear wall of our cell. We laid Troy's body out on top and then sat down below and waited for the night to pass. By the time we heard footsteps in the corridor outside, we were both chilled to the bone and of ill tempers. I approached the window, Erik next to me, and looked out to see an elderly, overweight woman with long unkempt hair nearing our cell. She wore a faded red apron pulled over her clothes and pushed a cart that held a large cooking pot. The aroma of hot food wafted towards me as she drew level with our cell door and stopped.

"What's going on?" Erik asked immediately. "Where are we?"

The woman smacked her lips together and I noticed she was missing her teeth. "Questions like that will only lead to trouble," she replied with a shake of her head. "I just deliver the soup." She dipped a ladle into the large pot in front of her and began to spoon some of the hot liquid into a smaller bowl.

Despite the dryness of my throat, I had no interest in eating. I gripped the window bars with my hands. "We want to speak to someone. Tell whoever's in charge to get his arse down here."

The woman gave a thin laugh. "I tell you what…I'll keep that one to myself, eh? Nobody demands anything of the master, least of all the new arrivals. If you want to prolong your life expectancy around this place, I suggest you drop the attitude." She leaned forward to peer deeper into the cell. "Thought there was supposed to be three of you? Your friend, he a late sleeper?"

"You should wish he was," Erik bit back. "He died last night… and when I find the person responsible, I'm going to make them pray for the same."

"Dead, huh?" the woman paid no attention to Erik's threats. "That gas is too strong… I've always said it," she shook her head. "The master paid a hefty sum for the three of you. He's going to be very put out when he gets the news." She picked up one of the bowls and held it out to Erik. Quick as a flash, he reached out and closed his hand around her wrist.

"How 'bout you show some respect?" he pulled her towards him. "The man you're talking about was…is my cousin. He didn't deserve to die like this." The bowl fell from the woman's grasp and landed at my feet. She tried to pull her hand back and then winced as Erik tightened his grip. "I'm not here to play games. I'm going to ask you some questions. Either you answer them, or you stay here until someone comes along who will."

I watched the scene with an odd feeling of detachment. The woman obviously knew more than she was letting on. Her part – however small – in Troy's demise, absolved me of any sympathy towards her. "I suggest you start co-operating," I told her.

She shook her head. "I can't…" she said. "The master… If I told you anything, he'd have me flogged."

I glanced at Erik. What kind of place was this? He returned my look and then to my surprise, he abruptly released the woman's hand. She pulled it back and rubbed her wrist with the other. "You don't understand," she said. "You'll find out how things are around here soon enough… Then you'll wish you could go back to not knowing."

I rolled my eyes, bored with the dramatics. "Get out of here," I told her as I jerked my head back in the direction she had come.

She didn't seem to need asking twice, and with a smack of her gums she turned and quickly began to wheel her trolley back down the corridor.

I looked at Erik. "What do you make of that?"

He shook his head. "No idea. Whoever's in charge seems to have his minions running scared."

"Uh huh," I nodded. "What she said about us being paid for… Sounds like whoever brought us here isn't part of the hierarchy."

"Probably scavengers…" Erik theorized, "…or maybe pirates out for money. I guess we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I gave him a long look. If our situation was as bad as I was beginning to suspect, then that just might be the understatement of the year. I sighed and looked down at the partially empty soup bowl at my feet. "Least it doesn't look like they intend to starve us," I said as I scooped up the bowl. There were only a few mouthfuls of liquid inside, but as I bought it to my lips, it bought welcome relief to my parched throat. With an effort, I stopped before the bowl was completely drained. "Here," I passed it to Erik. "I gotta feeling we're gonna need the strength." He took the bowl and finished the contents. Then, with nothing else to do, we retraced our steps back to the bottom bunk and sat down again to wait.

Sara POV

I got up early the next morning having barely slept a moment during the night. The outfit I had chosen to wear to Danisine lay draped across my nightstand and I rolled out of bed and quickly pulled it on. I feared my burgundy leathers would look out of place in a world that was apparently dominated by men, so to be safe I had chosen a small, tight fitting black tank to wear beneath my leather jacket. It bared my arms and mid-rift in a suggestive fashion, but was cut high enough at the front so as not to expose the scar between my breasts. If necessary, I could shed my coat and appear more subordinate towards the men with whom I travelled.

The thought of eating made my stomach turn and so I skipped breakfast and looked in on Natara. She had woken when I put her to bed the night before and I had taken the chance to explain that she would be spending today with Isobel. To my surprise, my sister in law appeared to be holding herself together possibly better than I was, given that she was also missing her husband. Whatever her thoughts, her calm organized approach to things made me feel confident that Natara would be well looked after in my absence. I backed out of Natara's room without waking her and then took a moment for a quick freshen up in the bathroom.

Nobody else stirred at this early hour and I soon found myself pacing back and forth in the dining hall as I tried to calm my nerves. On a whim, I suddenly decided to leave the house and walk down to meet Marcus – the only other person who I knew would be awake at this hour as he prepared to leave for Atlantis. The walk to his house was brief and I sighed with relief when I saw the lights were on. Before I could rethink my decision, I stepped up and knocked on the door. He appeared a moment later, wet from the shower and dressed in nothing but faded, black leather pants, the top dome of which was undone. His face and bare chest were dotted with rivulets of water and he dabbed at them with a towel as he looked at me in surprise.

"Oh," he said. "I thought the plan was to meet at the control tower? I didn't expect…" He ran his hand through his damp hair and then stepped aside to let me past. "Come in," he said.

"Sorry," I told him as he closed the door behind me. "I couldn't sleep and nobody else was up at Thornby."

"It's no problem," he said as he led me into the sitting room and gestured towards the couch. "Take a seat. I'll be right out."

I watched as he left the room, his bare torso equally as well defined from the back as it appeared from the front. It was the first time I had seen him in such a state of undress since he had begun body building and I had to admit his physique had changed noticeably. Feeling a little awkward, I perched myself on the familiar edge of a nearby armchair. Maybe it was a mistake for me to come here?

"Can you put the jug on?" Marcus called from the room next door; his bedroom, as I inadvertently recalled.

.

Eager for something to do, I jumped up and headed towards the kitchen. This was the first time I had been inside Marcus's house since I met Ronon and as I entered the kitchen I was surprised to find that although there had been a few small changes, everything was much the same as I remembered it. I checked the jug for water and then turned it on as I reached for a coffee cup. After a moment of thought, I placed a second one next to it. "Milk and sugar?" I called through to Marcus, not letting myself dwell on the fact that I still remembered how he took his coffee.

"Black. No sugar," he called back.

I raised my eyebrows. Scratch that, maybe some things had changed after all. The jug came to the boil and I poured us each a coffee just as Marcus entered the kitchen. I relaxed a little when I saw that he was now fully dressed, a faded grey T-shirt sitting beneath what I recognized to be his old leather jacket.

"I'm sorry," I said again. "I hope you don't mind me being here.'

"Not at all," he shook his head. "You want breakfast?"

My stomach churned. I was still much too anxious to eat. "No. Thanks."

"Hope you don't mind if I do then," he said. "We've still got about half an hour to kill before we're due on Atlantis."

I watched him place a fry pan on top of the stove and soon the aroma of bacon and eggs filled the kitchen. Anxious about the day to come, I took my coffee and pulled out a seat at the table. "You have the vespers ready?" I asked.

He nodded as he flipped his bacon over in the pan. "I got them last night. Lucky for us Erik insists on keeping them in top condition. It will make it easier to pass them off as new."

"He's going to be majorly piqued when he learns we've offered them for trade," I said with a small laugh.

"Well, I'd rather have him here and pissed with me, than out there somewhere missing," Marcus replied as he loaded his plate and came over to join me at the table.

I shrugged of the uncomfortable feeling of de-ja-vue that came over me. How many times had we sat together at this same table in the past? "I agree," I replied as I pushed my memories aside. "I'll deal with my brother's temper when we get him back."

We lapsed into silence for a moment and I looked around the room. Despite the conversation having flowed to this point, I really didn't feel right about being here. As illogical as it was, I felt like I was somehow betraying Ronon, and that was a feeling that didn't sit well with me. The silence stretched out and I fiddled with the handle on my coffee mug while Marcus finished eating. When he stood up to put his plate in the sink, I stood up also. "Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Almost," he said as he picked his gun belt up off the kitchen counter and slung it around his hips. "I know we're going to take the automatics from the control tower, but I feel better having this as back up," he explained as he placed his foot on the chair and secured the thigh strap in place. As he finished, he withdrew his foot and stood up. Eager to get going, I turned to leave.

"Sara?" he called me back.

I bit my lip. Something in his voice told me that whatever was on his mind was of a personal nature. I braced myself and turned to face him. "Yeah?"

He came closer and although I was not aware of doing so, I must have stepped back a fraction because he immediately halted. His expression was sad when he looked at me. "It's not what you think," he said. "I hate how things are between us. All of this avoiding each other, guarding everything we say…its hard work."

I stared at him, not sure of where he was going but feeling the need to hear him out.

"I know what we had is over," he ventured. "Rest assured, I have no desire to make a fool of myself all over again." He shifted his weight and extended his hand towards me, palm up. "I just wanted to… uh, offer you my congratulations."

"Congratulations?" I raised my eyebrows. "What for?"

He gave a soft laugh and looked away for a moment. "Your engagement," he said when he found my eyes again. "I know it's practically old news now, but I never got a chance to say it earlier."

"Oh." I stared at him. Of everything he could have said, I had not seen this coming. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Umm, thanks," I told him. He seemed to relax a little and I realized that I was not the only one who had been on edge. It was not his fault that I had chosen to show up on his doorstep, completely unannounced. "I appreciate it. I know it hasn't been easy for you."

He nodded. "It's getting better. You probably haven't noticed, but I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. The past few months, I've kept pretty much to myself—"

"I noticed," I interjected.

He gave me a wry smile. "The thing is, I think I'm finally ready to move on. You know, meet someone else… You being engaged and all, it's just reaffirmed it."

I nodded, unsure of what to say, or even if a reply was necessary. Before the silence could stretch out and become awkward, I found my tongue. "I hope you meet someone special," I told him. "You deserve it."

He shrugged, and glanced down to check the buckle on his gun belt. Despite the nature of our conversation, this was awkward territory. I did my best to pull us both back from it.

"Thank you for your help with finding Ronon and the others," I told him.

"No need to thank me for that," he shook his head. "It's nothing the three of them would not have done for me if our situations were reversed."

"I know," I replied, and just like that I found myself growing worried and anxious all over again. "Can we get going?"

He picked up the leather pouch that contained Erik's prized guns. "Lead the way," he said as he gestured towards the door. I few minutes later, we stepped outside together and set off at a brisk pace towards the control tower.

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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the quick update. I was lucky in that my husband was away for the weekend so I got a lot of uninterrupted time at the computer. Thanks once again to those who kindly left a reivew for my last chapter!

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