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John led Julia outside onto the pier; the setting suns bathing them in orange-gold light. She hadn't said a word since they had left the room. He squeezed her hand gently as he gave her a comforting smile. For a long moment they stood in silence, hand in hand looking out onto the water.

Julia's thoughts were racing as she watched small waves ebb and flow. The briefing had only raised so many more questions than had been answered. How could this happen to them? How could they be something without knowing it? If the genes were so strong in them, how come they didn't have any idea about it before?

"How come I have both genes?" Julia asked, suddenly breaking the silence that had formed around the two. "If the Wraith are evil wouldn't they be enemies of the Ancients?"

"They were," John tried his best to explain as he searched for the right words. "are. At least here they are. We have no way of knowing how the wraith acted in your reality."

"How did it find us?" she kept her gaze on the ocean.

"Wraith can connect telepathically with each other. Teyla can connect with them with some effort."

"Is there some reason they would seek us out?" Julia asked cautiously.

"Why?" he eyed her warily as he awaited her answer.

"Attie and I," she slowed her speech from rushing to form a single sentence. "We both had a nightmare that it came to kill me." He shifted his eyes downward but his face was turned to her still. He opened his mouth but then closed it again. He turned his body so that they stood face to face and looked into her eyes. "It's dangerous for me to be here isn't it? Not just for me, but for everyone here." She clenched her teeth as she fought tears. "For all you know, they could've followed us here. We may have led them right to you."

"Hey," he looked at her, sincerity flooding his eyes, and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, never letting go of her hand with his other. "Let us worry about the wraith. I'm sure it's just coincidence. But if you, any of you, have any more dreams like that, let me know, just so we can rule it out." She nodded in compliance and he smiled at her.

Not long after, Carson and Nixie found themselves walking along the pier as well. Carson had his hand softly on the small of Nixie's back as they walked up to the other pair who were now sitting at the edge of the wood still hand in hand.

"Hey guys," John greeted with a smile that Julia couldn't definitively call sincere or not. He almost seemed surprised to see the two, or perhaps it was just that they were both smiling that perplexed him. Nixie's eyes were slightly pink-rimmed but all traces of sadness or frustration had otherwise disappeared. She took a seat beside Julia with Beckett close behind. He kept an arm around her as they all talked for what felt like effortless hours. Eventually Beckett and Shepard went inside to get some dinner and brought a large basket back outside to the girls. They talked about the differences of the two realities and for the most part the conversation stayed on cheery subjects. Nixie somehow ended sitting in front of Carson with his legs outstretched on ether side of her as she leaned back against his chest. John sat cross legged, propping himself on one hand, his other still held Julia's tightly.

After what seemed like forever, Attie had finally managed to sit up against the wall opposite of the railing. But eventually reality weighed to heavy and she pulled her knees against her chest, burying her face in her arms that lay folded atop them. She felt the cool breeze brush against her bare skin but she ignored the need to shiver. She knew that it was probably night by now, that she should go inside, maybe get something to eat and find the others. But the more she thought about it, the more oppressive the very thought of walls felt. Unasked questions faded in her numbing mind. She didn't want to think anymore, it was too hard to fight the tears when she thought. So she sat, curled with her back against the wall, her face buried in the darkness created by her own body. But every time her eyes began to close, thoughts rushed her mind. So she starred into what seemed like unending darkness, her mind void of conscious thought as the silence formed a protective barrier around her.

The sound of the door opening sliced through darkness. She wondered if she had somehow managed to fall asleep as heavy footfalls circled to her other side. She heard someone sit beside her but refused herself to wonder who it was. She forced herself perfectly still as a light weight was slung over shoulders. She realized it was the jacket she had left in the room during the meeting. She had completely forgotten it as she had fled the room.

"Are you awake?" The deep, rough voice asked. Attie simply raised her head and laid it back against the wall behind her in response. Ronon saw the emptiness of her expression and guessed she wasn't in the mood to talk. They sat in silence for long moments.

Why had he been the one to find her? She had expected that they would eventually wonder where she had gone, but she would've guessed that Julia, Nixie, or even Teyla over him. She thought that the return of the cold glare had meant the return of his want for her death. For a moment she let herself entertain the notion he had come to kill her. She imagined all the ways he could get away with it so far from everyone. Of course she only guessed that she was far because the thick silence; she still had no idea to where she was. His voice snapped her out of her dark imaginings.

"You know you shouldn't run around the city alone." He said simply. She could only guess by the tone in his voice that he was as uncomfortable as she was.

"Sorry," her voice was thick even in the single word. He didn't know what to say. In what movies he had seen, people always asked if the upset person was okay, even if it was obvious they weren't. He thought it was a dumb question, but couldn't think of anything better.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a sigh.

"Peachy," her tone was flat. She was starting to get frustrated at the unwilling company. Finally she gave in and turned her head slightly against the wall, just enough so she could see him if she looked out of the corner of her eyes. "Why you?" she couldn't keep the resentment completely from her voice. He gave her a puzzled look. She turned her head the rest of the way but kept the top of her head against the cool wall. "Why did you come up to find me? You obviously don't trust me, or like me for that matter. Or maybe that's why it was you. You didn't want anyone else to run the risk of coming up here, just in case right?" Her voice turned bitter and hurt. She rolled her eyes looking away, and bent her head into the heels of hands.

He looked at her in silence. He wasn't angry at her accusing tone, but wasn't sure how to answer her questions without making her confusion worse.

"Does anyone trust me?" She continued her questions in a softer voice and he took them as rhetorical. "They have no reason to right? For all they all know it's my fault the wraith are even here. For all I know it's my fault!" She stood up and began to pace along the terrace. He watched, still and silent, as her ranting became more directed at herself. "This is unreal! This cant be real! It just… doesn't make sense! I mean, I've always been the one giving the unrealistic ideas the benefit of the doubt, but this? It's like some crazed science fiction writer having a field day! I mean who accidentally falls through some weird lights display in the middle of the woods and ends up in another reality/galaxy with life sucking aliens? Not to mention the giant guy with dreadlocks who acts like I tried to kill him! No offence." She said briefly regarding him before again launching into her rant. He raised an eyebrow but let her go on, partly because he knew she needed to get it off her chest, and partly because he was afraid to stop her.

"And of course my supposed best friends are off who knows where, probably with military boys and a doctor! But of course it's my fault we're even here." She halted her pacing and looked up as if suddenly realizing an obvious truth. "This is my fault. Oh my God, this is entirely my fault. I couldn't just keep my hands to myself. I had to…" She folded her arms, turning to the railing and sighed. "Not listen. If anything happens, it's my fault." She felt a firm hand grip her shoulder. She glanced behind her; she hadn't even heard him stand. "How did you…?"

"It's not your fault." He cut her off. "You had no idea this would happen."

"But I…"

"It's not your fault." He insisted and she gave up, she turned her attention back to the view of the darkened city. His hand slipped from her shoulder and he came to lean against the railing beside her straight figure.

"This is really screwed up." She leaned down next to him. "My whole life I've always complained about it being too ordinary. Now look at me, one little trip to another reality and few life sucking aliens and I'm out here spilling my guts to someone who might want me dead." she said, her mood starting to lighten.

"Trust me, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now."

"Well, that's good to know." She smiled despite herself. She was about to say something else but something stopped her.

Suddenly she heard whispering, but it sounded odd, like it was coming from her.

"Are you okay?" Ronon asked suddenly looking concerned. As she looked at him, flashes of the corridors quickly flew by. A face of wraith abruptly broke into view and seemed to come at her through her thoughts.

She realized suddenly that she was stumbling backwards and Ronon quickly caught her. "What is it?" he asked in a low voice. "What's wrong?"

"They're coming," she realized only now how breathless she was. "I just… They know we're out here." He helped steady her and pulled out his gun, switching it off stun.

"When I tell you to run, run. The transporter's down the hall to the left." She nodded gravely. "Just stay close."

He waved his hand to open the door and stuck his head out of the doorframe before stepping out into the hallway. He nodded to her and she slowly entered the hall behind him.

"Let's go." He ordered, and quickly started in the direction of the transporter.

Ronon pushed Attie to the ground just as a beam of blue light soared over where she had just stood. She didn't wait to look at what had just shot at her, or even for the order to run from Ronon. She scrambled quickly to her feet and started for the transporter.

She risked a glance behind her and saw that Ronon was down; his gun midway between him and her. She looked up to the direction of the slowly approaching wraith and quickly ducked behind a wall out of sight.

She knew what she had to do, but it all seemed like it belonged in some sort of movie rather than reality. Of course it was only now that she realized how relative that term truly was.

Attie sprinted from the behind the wall and the beams started to fire again. She swooped to pick up the gun without pause and fired it blindly in the direction of the wraith, keeping her eyes locked on Ronon. She grabbed his arm and slung it over her shoulders awkwardly and wrapped her arm tightly around his waist, dragging the rest of his body. She managed to pull him into the transporter without getting hit by enemy fire. She pressed on the center of the glowing map in haste to be anywhere but there, but just as the doors were closing a stray shot of a wraith gun slipped into the transporter and hit Attie square between her shoulder blade rendering her unconscious.