MGM owns all characters except OCs.

A/N: Thanks for the positive feedback. Thanks dwparsnip and scr1 for beta and starclipper01 for suggestions.


Jennifer did what she could to stabilize Wagner, but moving him from the other building and jostling him around caused more bleeding. Once she got him settled in a room upstairs and staunched the blood, a weary and bone-tired physician returned to the others with Sheppard on her heels.

Without any conscious thought, she fell onto the bench next to Rodney as he continued to play with the radio. Setting her head on her arms, she took a moment to close her eyes.

"How's Wagner?" Lorne asked.

"Huh," Jennifer's head snapped up because she swore she fell asleep. The sound of Colonel Sheppard's voice filling everyone in on Wagner's condition made her realize the Major was not addressing her directly.

"Doctor Keller will let you know if she needs blood donors, so eat something tonight," Sheppard could be heard saying. "Don't want anyone passing out if she draws blood."

"Go to sleep," Rodney said from next to her. "You look exhausted."

"I think I just did," Jennifer confessed as she looked at his hands fly around the equipment rewiring and reconfiguring. "So, do you think Morse code will cut through the interference?"

"It should. On Earth, it cuts through most atmospheric interference. But I have no idea what's causing this here." Rodney had not looked up from his work and continued to scowl.

"You must have some idea?" Jennifer asked trying to get Rodney to talk to her again. He seemed very agitated and upset since she came back downstairs.

"Do I look like I've had time to research it? With monsters trying to eat me and watching out for you?" Rodney said angrily as his eyes finally looked at hers.

Jennifer saw anger and, what looked like, sadness in his eyes. "Rodney, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he barked and turned back to his work.

"Did you eat anything?" Jennifer's dad was the kind of man who got angry if he was too hungry. He would never admit to having a dependency on anything, but she had been camping and hiking with him too many times to not notice he got irritable when hungry.

"Have I had time?" Rodney said angrily again.

Deciding that hunger must be upsetting him, she reached into her pocket to pull out the last peanut butter power bar and a bag of beef jerky. "Do you have time now?" She held the food out to him.

Instantly, his hand grabbed the power bar. Jennifer moved quickly and caught his hand with hers. Refusing to let go until he looked at her. "Rodney, I'm really scared, too. We…"

Jennifer paused uncertain of what to say next. She wanted to say, we've been through a lot today and I couldn't have done it without you, but it sounded too cliché. I want to get to know you better also sounded lame. The young woman settled for something else. "We've been under a lot of stress, but fighting among ourselves won't help."

Rodney did not pull his hand away and the anger seemed to melt away from his eyes until…

"Hey, Doc, is McKay stealing your food?" Sheppard's voice cut into their quiet moment.

Rodney quickly yanked his hand away with the power bar. "I don't steal food, Sheppard!"

"Only from children," the Colonel said as he sat across from them. The other soldiers were sitting around eating as well. Ronon was the next to come and sit with them looking immediately at the bag of beef jerky on the table where Jennifer set it.

"What's this?" He asked.

"It's dried meat," Sheppard added.

"Great," Ronon said opening the bag and pulling out some strips.

"Help yourself," Jennifer said sarcastically as she looked at the teammates critically.

"Wha…" Ronon mumbled with a full mouth.

"I was going to say let the hypoglycemic person eat first, but by all means…" Jennifer said looking at the Satedan and waving her hand.

"He started his whining about food again?" John said as he took out some dried beef.

"It's a real medical condition," Rodney barked at his teammate.

"Sure it is." Sheppard nodded.

"It really is. I know some folks don't think so, but people can suffer from low blood sugar and pass out." Jennifer looked at Sheppard and noticed he was smirking and checking her out once again.

"Since you are a physician, I'll believe you." Sheppard's eyes twinkling as a patented smirk spread over his face. It was smile that Jennifer was certain melted girl's hearts for years.

So, that's how it's going to be. Jennifer smiled sweetly and said a little louder for everyone to hear. "Thanks for you assistance with Wagner, Colonel."

"You can call me John," he said as a groan from Rodney could be heard to her right.

"No, I'll call you Colonel," Jennifer said. "It's the respectful thing to do, because I'm a lady and can't call you anything else."

Obviously missing the annoyance in her voice, John continued, "Because we're in a public setting, you mean? I agree we shouldn't embarrass anyone with pet names, just yet."

A part of Jennifer's brain knew he was joking around. No one of his rank and position was that much of an ass. Well, not entirely true. The sleepy, terrified part of her brain was in charge at the moment and that particular Jennifer was a smart ass. "If that pet name begins with an A and ends with an S with one letter in between, you're right. I don't want to use it in public."

Gut-wrenching laughter erupted from the only two men in the room allowed to laugh at their CO. Ronon and Rodney were almost in tears before they settled down.

Sheppard looked angry for a second and then laughed. "Guess I earned that."

"Sorry, Colonel, but your charms won't work on me. I realize women must melt under that look, but I'm immune to the charms of Air Force officers... and Marines, too." Jennifer glanced at Warrington while Ronon and McKay laughed once again.

"Just keep driving that stake deeper and deeper, ma'am," Warrington said with laughter in his voice.

Roberts, who had been staring at her for a while, chuckled from Warrington's left as Richards glared at the young Marine.

"Doctor Keller," Sergeant Richards said as he rose and went to the pile of equipment the soldiers gathered from each other and the village. "Why don't you head upstairs and get some rest?"

"Oh, no," Jennifer said as she rose, walking over to check on Warrington's injuries. "I've seen that horror movie too many times. The blond chick heads off alone to be eaten alive. No thank you."

She knelt next to Warrington to look at his back. "Looks good, Sergeant."

"Thanks to you, ma'am," the big man said with a smile.

"Only if she has sex with someone," Roberts said from next to her as silence descended over the room.

"Excuse me?" Jennifer looked at the young man's green eyes with surprise. He had been checking her out all day, but making jokes about sex was the last thing she expected from him.

"Roberts!" The angry bark from Richards caused everyone to jump including Jennifer. "Outside with me to set charges!"

"What?" Roberts said turning to look up at Richards. "Oh, come on, it was a joke. All horror movies have some beautiful woman having sex and getting killed."

"Thanks for that advice, Sergeant Roberts," Jennifer said in a voice that dripped with sarcasm. "I'll be sure to take sex off my to do list for the evening. It was second behind, don't die at the hands of mutated creatures."

"Roberts! I said front and center," Gunny yelled. "Get some Claymores! We're going outside!"

"But those things are out there," Roberts whined as he stood in front of the angry Master Gunnery Sergeant.

The part of Jennifer that was a healer and cared about everyone was concerned, but the woman who had been reduced to an object by the young man's gaze most of the day could care less. She noticed no one else in the room said anything as Richards began ordering Roberts around.

"Get your night vision goggles, so you can see them." Richards stepped nose-to-nose with the shorter, thinner soldier.

"It was a joke," Roberts glanced at Jennifer and back at the angry man in front of him. "She joked about being blond and…"

"A joke causes people to laugh and no one's laughing," Richards growled. "Get your goggles and some Claymores and be ready to go outside in a minute. Disobey me again and I'll station you out there for the night."

"But…" Roberts was not letting up.

What an idiot? Jennifer shook her head as she watched the man dig his own grave. Richards never looses his cool under pressure, her uncle's words rang through her head. I guess he never saw Richards with an idiot before.

"When we get back to Atlantis, you will pack your shit and be in the Gateroom to return to Earth with the first dial out," Richards said in his quiet, deadly voice. The initial outrage over the implied insult to Jennifer was gone and replaced with his cool demeanor once again.

"You can't throw me off Atlantis," Roberts started.

Lorne had stepped close to the men and said, "But I can. Now do what the Gunny says."

Jennifer swallowed as Roberts headed to the pile of gear. Richards turned to face her. "I'm sorry for how he's treated you today, Doctor Keller. I should have done something earlier, but keeping you safe was my first priority."

"No harm done, Gunny. Besides, I'm used to it," Jennifer said with a defeated voice. Because she was blond and considered pretty by many, she endured far worse than Robert's roving eyes and rude comment.

"Don't ever be. You are an intelligent, resourceful, compassionate and incredibly brave woman who deserves to be treated with more respect than the Queen of England," Richards said. As the meaning of his words sunk in, Jennifer felt tears well up in her eyes. "If I'm around, I guarantee you won't be treated with disrespect ever again."

With that, he turned and started getting things ready to go outside. Jennifer felt her face flush as she glanced around for a place to settle in and avoided looking at anyone.

"Doctor McKay," Richards said to Rodney who was still seated with his teammates and playing with the radio.

"Yeah," he said looking at the Marine.

"You'll need to move upstairs. We'll be going lights out down here," Richards said as he pulled some goggles out.

Now that Rodney was joining her on the second floor, she was not as frightened as before. "What about Warrington?" She asked.

"I can hold a gun and still shoot, ma'am," he said with pride in his voice. The Marine did not want to be treated differently because of his wounds.

What a contrast to the whiny Sergeant Roberts? Jennifer smiled at the big man. "We'll need someone to protect us. I know Rodney's considered one of you guys, but he'll be busy with the radio and as much as I am terrified to close my eyes, I know I'll end up falling asleep from exhaustion at some point."

"Warrington can take up a position at a window in the corridor," Sheppard said. "Ronon and Lorne, stay inside. I'll set charges outside with the others."

Jennifer grabbed a couple of blankets that were in the supply pile along with some bars and water. Realizing she had not eaten anything since in the morning with Rodney, her stomach suddenly rumbled.

"Do you need a hand?" Jennifer asked Rodney as he took the radio equipment and his computer bag.

"No, I'm fine," he said with a smile. "You handled yourself really well back there, by the way."

"Thanks," Jennifer said as she felt her cheeks heat up. "But I was really rude to a senior office and member of this expedition. I'll need to apologize…"

"No you don't," Rodney said as he climbed the stairs in front of her. Ronon was helping Warrington come up behind them. "Sheppard plays Captain Kirk all the time with beautiful woman. It's nice to see him get shot down for a change."

"So," Jennifer could not help but smile as she paused next to Rodney at the top of the stairs, "you think I'm beautiful?"

"I… Ah… I mean… Um…" Rodney stammered as the lantern light Jennifer was carrying showed his stunned expression.

"Thank you. It's the nicest thing anyone said to me in ages," Jennifer said and meant every word. For some reason, this man, who she should have hated if she listened to her uncle, had found a way to make her feel safe and happy in the midst of all the horror around them.

Jennifer found a room that was adjoining to the room Wagner was in. Setting the blanket on the floor and the lantern in the corner, she took off her jacket to make a pillow out of it. Voices were heard in the corridor, but her mind was already shutting down for the night as exhaustion was overtaking her. The last thing she heard was Rodney saying he was going to stay in the room with her if it was okay. An affirmative response came from her as she fell immediately to sleep.


A/N: Great big thanks to Starclipper01 for sharing your military expertise. Will confess I had no military adviser before, so mistakes or accuracies are all mine.