Home sick from work with a bad cold, but you guys get the reward.

Title: Simple Things
Author: Cindy Ryan
Pairings: Sheppard/Keller. Lorne/Keller friendship
Summary: See part one
Notes: For Nika

Jennifer stumbled as she was dragged into one of the small rooms above the tavern. The dark haired man picked her up and tossed her on the bed as if she were a sack of grain.

Jennifer moved to scramble away but he snagged her left arm and slammed it against the nearest bed post.

Jennifer fought to cry out as pain sliced through her now broken wrist.

The man went to grab her right hand and Jennifer bit his forearm clamping down as hard as she could.

The man pulled his arm back splitting Jennifer's lower lip in the process. He snapped her right hand up and pressed it hard against her left arm before binding both to each other and then to the bed post with coarse rope.

Angrily Jennifer lashed out with her feet but the other man was ready. He grabbed them and tied them to the bed post at the end of the bed.

"Just let us go."Jennifer pleaded. "I promise we won't return."

"The Elders ruling is final."The blond man stated with a smile as he entered the room."You will be punished for your crimes."He turned to the other men. "Leave us."

Jennifer swallowed hard as the other two men left and closed the door behind them.


Pain sliced sharply through Evan dragging him back to consciousness.
For a long moment all Evan could feel was the pain.

A sharp throb in his right side made it very difficult to breathe.
His head felt like somebody had shoved an ice pick through it.

Slowly Evan forced his eyes open. Pain surged and Evan quickly closed them ; taking slow even breaths.

The pain in his side lessened……and Evan struggled to remember.

The storm….
Being arrested…..
Jen……..

The thought of his friend caused Evan to bolt up right. Which turned out to be a very bad move as nausea washed over him as the pain intensified ten fold.

Darkness closed in and Evan collapsed back to the floor, unconscious.


John was used to working with a clock.
It was part of being military.

Now, though, John hated it.
It was taking every thing he had not to constantly check how much time had slipped away.
Part of John knew down to the last second how much time they had left to save Jen and Evan.

The other part didn't want to know.
Didn't want to know how much precious time was wasted since they were stuck by this damn storm.

John stopped pacing and slumped down against the wall behind the pilot's chair and slid to the floor.
He drew his knees to his chest and watched Rodney.

The scientist was mumbling to himself as his fingers flew over his tablet.

John dragged his gaze away from Rodney and stared unseeingly at the opposite wall of the jumper.

Daybreak was getting closer and consequently the storm was lessening.
The wind didn't howl as much.
It didn't rock the jumper with every pass.
Snow wasn't constantly pummeling the hull.

John swallowed hard.
Sitting here doing nothing was just killing him.
Two people he considered family were counting on him and John couldn't do a damn thing.

Unbidden an image of Jen in her wedding dress flashed in front of his mind's eye.
The image turned nightmarish as it melded with an image of what Jen was going through.

Beatings….
Broken bones…..
Bruises…..
She was the lone woman among a team of men…..

John's right hand clenched into a fist at the last thought.

If fate was cruel……
If they couldn't get to them in time………

There would be no place on this planet that these people could hide before John eliminated each and every one of them.