Author's Note: Alright, this one really has very little to do with the actual episode… I just noticed that none of the girls were in this episode, (despite it being AMAZING!) and so this is my take on what they were getting up to while the guys were all on Earth. Its continuing the story I started in The Seer if anyone's wondering.

(there is a small mention to one of my SG-1 fics as well.)

Miller's Crossing

Jennifer took a long swig from her water bottle and then looked breathlessly towards the other woman in the room.

Sam smiled in amusement at the disheveled young woman; wearing that face that was trying to convey the message of 'that was a piece of cake,' while her eyes were unconsciously pleading for an escape from the torture.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight," Sam said, giving into the eyes once more. "We'll pick it up tomorrow night."

Jennifer sighed in relief and undid her sweat tangled hair. It sort of stuck in a gelled/poofed state as she made her way to the door and the showers.

She turned back just as the door slid open and raised an eyebrow at the woman packing sweat bands back into her duffel bag in the corner, silently wondering why she wasn't all sweaty as well.

"You coming?" she asked.

Sam looked up in surprise but waved her off. "Yeah, go ahead without me. I'm just goanna pack some of this stuff up," she said, referring to the pile of punching bags, dumbbells and arm weights lying against the wall beside the door.

Keller glanced once between the equipment and her commanding officer. "Ok," she gave in. "Goodnight, Colonel."

"Night, Doctor," Sam said as Keller disappeared around the corner and the doors slid shut.

Now alone in complete silence, Sam let the pretend smile wipe from her face and she sighed.

She zipped up the duffel bag and made her way over to the said pile of heavy objects. She sighed again, dropping her bag next to it. Sam Carter usually wasn't one to procrastinate, but this could wait, she supposed.

She crossed her arms over her chest and gazed into one of the Atlantean lanterns that lit the room.

She wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, she thought. Maybe everyone else had forgotten the vision, but for her that was impossible.

Sam shifted her vision to the rack of sparring sticks on the other side of the room.

It wasn't just the concept of the vision anymore; she thought it might eventually go away but now every time she closed her eyes she saw it. The repeated vision of the city's destruction would haunt her dreams every single night. It's like it wanted her to focus on it… like she had to do something soon, now, even, or her nightmare would come true.

Sam sighed again and strode over to the rack of weapons that had been calling to her ever since she had entered this state of deep thought.

She picked up one of the sticks and examined it with care. She hadn't lied when she told Teyla she had never sparred with sticks before. These weapons were short and lightweight and felt clumsy in her hands.

She remembered fighting with the wooden staff back on Neruva before she got her memories back. She had been extremely quick to learn and very skillful with the weapon.

She frowned and replaced the stick, searching the rack for one of more appropriate size.

She selected two of the longer, heavier sticks and weighed them in her hands.

The visions weren't the only thing troubling her lately, though. They still had a wraith prisoner, and their work with the nanites was going nowhere fast. To make things worse, they had just received word that McKay's sister had been kidnapped having something to do with Rodney's emails concerning the project.

Sam stepped into the middle of the room and began swinging the sticks in large circles on either side of her, testing her coordination. She had never been one for air-fighting; that's why she had punching bags. She liked to know whether she was hitting the mark or getting hit. But when it came to clearing the mind, work-outs tended to do it better then meditation.

The reason for the kidnapping was of little concern to her compared to her other worries. There were plenty of reasons why anyone seeking information about the goings-on in Atlantis would be after Jeannie. But this whole kidnapping thing had thrown everyone off. McKay stopped acting like McKay; in fact he had packed and left the city without trying to insult or seduce her once. She supposed his relationship with his sister must have improved since the last time they worked together.

She began testing different moves now, from the martial arts Teal'c had taught her to the violent strikes she had learned on Neruva. The sticks sliced through the air like whips while she spun and waved the weapons about her.

From the short time she had been given to work with Mrs. Miller, she had grown a great respect for her. Of course, as amusing as it was, the childish behavior wasn't one of her strongest traits; but Jeannie was very smart and had good values. She respected that. Not to mention the fact that if she had never had the time to speak with Jeannie, she'd still be calling McKay 'Rodney' rather then 'Meredith' and she would never have found out about the nice little embarrassing stories McKay kept to himself.

She was worried for both Rodney and Jeannie. But then there was also Teyla…

"Teyla!" Sam exclaimed, as one of her spins landed her facing the said woman in the doorway.

The Athosian raised an eyebrow as her eyes swept around the room and finally landed on the woman frozen in front of her. From what she had seen of her new commanding officer outside of her office so far, Teyla was beginning to think of her as being very odd.

"Colonel Carter…" she greeted. "…Do you not… sleep where you come from?" she asked, in the most polite way possible.

Sam straightened, remembering that the two women had decided to hold sessions in the middle of the night. She blew some hair out of her face awkwardly. "Oh, well… yeah, I do… I just… I just finished a training session with Doctor Keller and I was…"

"Exercising?" Teyla finished for her, her eyes drifting to the sparring sticks still clenched in either hand.

Sam looked down at the sticks as well and then back up at Teyla. She smiled weakly and waved them in recognition. "Yeah."

Teyla smiled in return, then scanned the room again as though double-checking that Colonel Carter was the only one in the room. "Mind if I join you?" she asked.

Sam looked slightly frightened by that suggestion and her frown showed it. "Umm… no, sure… go ahead," she said, forcing a smile.

Teyla returned it and walked over to the rack to select her own sticks.

"Feeling better?" Sam asked, slightly uneasily.

"Excuse me?" Teyla asked, confused.

"The, umm, flu you had?"

"Oh, that, of course…" Teyla said. "Yes. Thank you. I feel much better."

Sam smiled, though still unconvinced. Teyla had made her selection and turned to face Sam, twirling her sticks by her side.

Sam tensed, feeling the sweat forming on her face and hands. She repositioned them on her weapons and began circling in step with the other woman. She was beginning to feel that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea.

Sam had gone in an almost complete circle and her back was facing the door by the time Teyla made any move. She was the first to attack, and was directly in front of Sam before she had registered the movement.

Sam moved her sticks fast, blocking several blows with loud cracks as the sticks connected with one another. She stayed completely on defense while the other woman swerved around her, lashing out at every part of Sam's body left unguarded.

Teyla swung at her face with both sticks crossed over one another. Sam blocked it in similar, and heaved the woman several feet away from her with the force of her arms.

Both were breathing hard now, and Sam simply waited for Teyla to make the next move. They fell in step, circling each other once more.

"It seems your first priority is defense," Teyla observed.

"Is it?" Sam asked, trying to keep conversation to a friendly level.

Teyla advanced on her again, lashing out several times. Sam was forced to back up to avoid some, and she felt her arms weakening at the force of Teyla's strikes. Finally, the Athosian landed her first blow against Sam's face and she dropped onto her shaking knees, struggling to stay upright. She was gripping one of her sticks tightly in front of her, using it for support.

It stung badly and she could hardly feel the right side of her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and ground her teeth together, trying to hold back the tears. She'd had much worse then a whip lash across the face before. 'Pull it together!' she told herself.

Teyla frowned. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," was Sam's quick response, despite the fact that she could feel blood on her cheek and was beginning to wonder whether or not she would be needing stitches.

Teyla sighed. "Why do you hold back?" she asked, and Sam finally opened her eyes to look at her.

"Who said I'm holding back?" she asked, a fake smile creeping onto her face. "I wouldn't underestimate yourself."

Teyla only frowned more; in anger? Disappointment? Sam couldn't place it. She stood up hesitantly as Teyla turned around to return to her position.

"Very well…" she said, and Sam had the chance to furrow her eyebrows just before Teyla spun around and she was struck across the face again. This time she couldn't hold back the cry of pain as she tumbled over and rolled several inches onto her stomach.

Yup, definitely going to need stitches, she thought.

"You are not even trying!" her exasperated opponent accused.

Sam struggled to push herself off the ground. She could feel her hair sticking to the blood on the side of her face. What was this woman's problem!?!

From a kneeling position, she picked up one of the sticks she dropped and gripped it tightly. "Yes, I am!" she argued.

Teyla fumed, and drew her stick wielding arm back once more. Though Sam's vision was blurred by tears, she caught this action and raised her hand in defeat. "Ok, ok!" she said, standing up and backing away several inches.

Teyla lowered her weapon and watched Sam impatiently.

Sam sighed and put a hand to her forehead, rubbing it warily. "Jennifer told me," she admitted finally.

The Athosian frowned more deeply, both in concern and dying anger. "Jennifer told you what?"

"That you were pregnant."

Teyla sighed and closed her eyes, turning away from Sam to return her sparring sticks to the rack.

"I suppose you would have found out sooner or later," she said.

"She was concerned for you. That's the only reason she told me," Sam called after her.

Teyla nodded in understanding. "I know."

Sam frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry, it's just… where we come from we take pregnancy very seriously. We have to take very careful steps to ensure the safety of both the mother and baby before birth."

Teyla clenched her fist around one of the sticks and glared at the floor. "But if you do not think me capable of fighting and defending Atlantis then I am of no use to you!"

Sam's mouth dropped open slightly at that remark. "What!?! No! Teyla, that's not was this is about!"

When Teyla still did not look up, Sam sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Look, I know we may not know each other very well yet, but don't think I'm taking this position lightly! As commander of this city the only thing that matters to me more than Atlantis is the people in it; that includes you and Ronan!"

Teyla frowned and creased her eyebrows sadly, lifting her chin just enough so she could glance over her shoulder at the other woman.

Sam took her hands off her hips and dangled them loosely at her sides, her anger fading away to be replaced with a look of concern. "If anything were to happen to any of you…" she trailed off, but Teyla understood. She nodded and turned fully to face her.

"Thank you, Colonel Carter," she said, smiling weakly.

With that, she brushed lightly past Sam and out of the room, leaving the other woman standing alone with nothing to say once more.

Sam rubbed her face in exhaustion, and was slightly surprised when her hand came away red. Then she remembered getting whacked in the face by the stick two times in a row.

She sighed deeply and went to retrieve her forgotten duffel bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she left the room.

If it had been anyone else who had hit her in the face twice with a big wooden stick, she probably would have received adequate revenge right then and there; but for some reason she wasn't feeling hateful or vengeful towards Teyla at all. Perhaps slightly perplexed by her attitude, but she wasn't planning on beating the crap out of her anytime soon.

In fact, she felt like the encounter had gone pretty well. She felt like sparring with Teyla was almost a sort of rite of passage for both of them. They both now knew more about one another, and with knowledge comes respect. She wasn't sure where she had heard that before, but it seemed to fit in this situation.

Sam paused outside the infirmary, contemplating whether or not to pay Keller a visit. Seeing as the lights were all off and it appeared to be empty, she thought better of it and walked on towards her quarters. She would let Jennifer have her well earned sleep tonight, though she might get scolded harshly the next day when the young woman saw her bruise.

She would say that she had tripped and hit some dumbbells. It would be believable, seeing as packing them up was what she was supposed to be doing… but who was she kidding? She didn't need to explain herself to Keller. She would just tell her it was an accident.

She didn't even shower that night, nor wash her face of blood… she just collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep like that, her legs dangling halfway off the bed and her face buried in a pillow. And for the first time since she had seen the vision, she was too tired to dream.