Sara stayed silent during the entire ride to the safe house. Why others called it a "safe house" when it was a motel room confused her. Why did she, of all people, need a safe house? Still, she walked into the room without saying a word and eyed the two full-sized beds. The chintzy comforters and fluffed pillows did nothing to disguise the worn-out feeling. Sara had the strange urge to check and see if the headboards of the beds had left divots in the walls. It just looked like that kind of motel.

Detective Marsh followed her into the room. "Miss Johnson, I'm so sorry."

Sara whirled, her suitcase thudding against the floor of the second-story room. "What is going on?"

"I can't say." Marsh took a few steps toward her. "Look, I barely got brought in on this, and only because I know your boyfriend. Same with Solano. Keith's runnin' this gig, and it's his place to tell you."

"But he's not telling me anything!" Tears came to her eyes, and she hated them. "In the last week, I have been threatened with an intrusive investigation and arrest, not to mention put on administrative leave without pay, and questioned about things that I have already told every single one of you. Now, you show up and rip me from my home and my cat and my life! So pardon me for being a little angry! Now. Someone had better start talking!" By now, she'd worked herself into a full-fledged rant and glared at Marsh as though he had any control over her situation. The rational part of her brain told her that Marsh could not step out of line on this, and she quickly squelched that little voice. She wanted answers. She wanted Evan.

Marsh took a few steps forward and perched on the corner of the bed. "All I can say is you're in protective custody. You've got me, Solano, and Keith for the next while."

"How long?"

"I can't say."

"Why?"

"I can't say."

She growled. "You've got to give me something. Anything."

"Sara. . . ."

"No." She held up a hand. "I've had it with the bureaucracy that's involved in police work. You're a bunch of politicians when it comes to your precious promotions. I realize the military probably isn't much different, but at least there's national security to back up Evan's reasons. You're just afraid Nathan's gonna have your head if you tell me what's going on."

Marsh simply stared at her.

She let out another low growl and stalked into the bathroom to set up her toiletries. She didn't do much traveling, but she always unpacked when she first got to a hotel. Now, she slammed her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash onto the edge of the bathtub, making as much noise as possible. She set out her toothbrush and comb on the edge of the sink, staring in the mirror as she did so. What was happening to her?

When she returned to the main room, Marsh still sat on the edge of the bed. He'd shed his sport coat, revealing his sidearm in a shoulder holster. Sara stopped walking for just a moment. Marsh had always been the big teddy bear of a detective during her work with the crime lab. The only time she'd ever seen him as anything but friendly was when he worked a scene. Now, he waited for her to settle with a grim expression.

Choosing to ignore him, Sara finished unpacking her clothing and slamming the drawers. Then, she flounced over to the other bed and flopped down. She was being childish, but she wanted answers. And she knew no other way besides yelling to get them.

The hours dragged by. Sara eventually switched on the TV, earning her a glance from Solano as he sat by the window. She flipped through the channels until she ran across reruns of Wormhole X-treme. Deciding that cheesy sci fi was better than cold silence from the two cops in the room, she turned the volume up until she could understand the words. Marsh shook his head at her choice of entertainment and moved to the small table next to Solano's chair.

Halfway through the third episode of Wormhole X-treme, Nathan appeared with food. Sara sat up, her stomach growling at the smell of hamburgers from the greasy spoon near the crime lab. She ate there once a month and had considered taking Evan when he showed up for lunch next time. Just thinking of him turned her stomach, and she lost the sudden flash of appetite. She missed him. Watching Wormhole X-treme brought his silly comments to mind and made her smile at the screen. She knew that Marsh and Solano had seen and wondered about her sappy grin, but she couldn't bring herself to care. For now, though, she'd settle for answers.

Pressing the power button on the remote, Sara turned off the TV as Colonel Danning said, "It's what I do."

Nathan grinned at her. "How can you watch that stuff?"

She shrugged. "You have a problem with it?"

Marsh walked over and took an order of fries from Nathan's hands. "You might wanna tell her what's goin' on. She's been a bit. . .touchy since coming here."

Behind him, Solano smirked.

Sara glared at both men. "Forgive me for wanting an explanation as to why I was dragged out of my home without any warning and stashed in a cheap motel room."

Nathan handed out the rest of the food and settled on the foot of the bed that Sara hadn't occupied. Offering a foil-wrapped hamburger to her, he said, "You're here because we discovered something during the investigation."

She unwrapped the warm meal, willing to eat so long as she got her answers. "And that something is. . .?"

Nathan squirmed. "Your computer had been hacked."

"Ha!" She couldn't keep the triumphant tone from her voice, especially with the cheesiest episode of Wormhole X-treme running through her head. "I told Stanton I was innocent!"

Nathan grinned. "Yeah, he wasn't happy about it. Wanted to keep investigating you. The crime lab director put a stop to that."

"Thank him for me."

"Will do." Nathan narrowed his eyes, suddenly sober again. "However, we found out something more. Sara, there's no easy way to tell you this, so I'm just gonna say it. There's a price on your head. A mercenary group operating somewhere in California has a hit out on you for some reason."

The hamburger stuck in her throat, and she forced herself to swallow the half-chewed piece. "Excuse me?" she choked as her eyes began to water. She grabbed the iced tea Nathan had brought her and used it to ease the rest of the bite down her esophagus. "Why?"

"We don't know."

"But you stashed me here because you want to protect me?"

"Yeah."

"Do you realize what you've done?"

This time, Nathan blinked. "Sorry?"

"Evan." Sara shook her head. "Look, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what he's into. But it's big. A man like that doesn't go away. I disappeared, which means he's gonna tear this city apart." At least, I hope he does, she added silently.

Nathan stared at her without changing his expression. "I'll handle Evan."

Sara wanted to tell him that no one handled Evan. That Evan was his own man and would resent being kept out of the loop. But the words stuck in her throat. She lost her appetite, and the one thing that could calm her right now had been kept from her. Rather than enduring Nathan's concerned face, she rose and went to the bathroom to draw a hot bath.

Someone wanted her dead. And she didn't know how to get through this without Evan at her side.

oOo

Nathan watched Sara disappear into the bathroom and let out a quick breath. He hadn't wanted to tell her about the hit on her head, but he knew she had a right to know. No matter how much it stung for her to choose Lorne over him, he still cared for her. He'd made a pest of himself, and he saw that now. But he couldn't allow her to remain in danger.

Behind him, Marsh pushed to his feet. "You shoulda told her."

"I know."

"Lorne's not gonna be happy."

"I know that, too." Nathan rubbed his eyes, already tired of this entire situation. "I wish there was something I could do."

"There is." Marsh met his eyes. "Bring the man here."

"I can't."

"Can you afford for someone like him to tear this city apart, as Sara put it?" Marsh shrugged. "Lorne knows how to handle himself in a fight. We've all seen it. We've talked about it. That man is in deep, and he likely has contacts that we can't even begin to fathom. I recommend we bring him in. He'll protect her because he loves her, and he'll keep her calm because she loves him. We need both of those right now."

"Marsh, I know what you're trying to do." Nathan held up a hand to stall the other man's well-intentioned plans. "But I also know department procedure. Sara's in protective custody. She basically disappeared."

"You don't disappear from men like Lorne." Marsh rose and walked back to the table, about as far away from Nathan as he could get. "But, like I told Sara, you're runnin' this gig. It's your call."

Nathan ran his hand across his face and considered his options. He could keep Sara isolated and fight a war on two fronts. Marsh was right, as was Sara. All the guys had seen Lorne's devotion to her. They'd heard how he talked about her every Friday when he and Coughlin showed up to play basketball. And they'd quickly seen how aware Lorne stayed about his surroundings. The guy wasn't jumpy by any stretch of the imagination, but he always stayed on edge. As if someone might jump out and attack them at any moment. While all the cops at the Friday night games would have been ready for a threat, Lorne and Coughlin would have taken down the bad guys and returned to the game without breaking a sweat. Something Nathan couldn't say for all his men. He'd often wondered what Lorne had seen that hardened him into the soldier they all knew.

Could he afford to have a guy like that tearing San Francisco apart looking for his girl? Nathan shook his head. Lorne might not be the most expressive about his emotions, but he was methodical. He thought things through, planned everything with the precision of a military op, and executed his plans without mistakes. Failure wasn't an option for Lorne. In many respects, the man resembled a Marine more than an Air Force officer. But, then, special forces did that to a guy.

Nodding to Marsh and Solano, Nathan left the motel room and pulled his keys from his pockets. If he knew Lorne, he'd find the guy at either the police station or Sara's apartment. He needed to go to the department anyway and decided to make that his next stop. He finished his business, exited the station, and had just reached his car when Lorne appeared, followed by another officer with messy hair and a Hawaiian-looking giant. All three men appeared angry, and Lorne didn't stop until he stood face-to-face with Nathan.

"Where is she?"

Nathan let out a deep breath. "Protective custody." He led the way to a nearby bench, knowing that he'd have a bit of privacy if that giant kept glaring at the newbies. "I can't tell you where, but I know she's safe."

Lorne's eyes narrowed, and his facade cracked just enough for Nathan to see the very worried man underneath. "What happened?"

Nathan glanced at the men surrounding him. He trusted Lorne, but he didn't like how the giant kept glancing around. And the guy with messy hair just waited with his arms folded. Before explaining, he stuck out his hand to the second man. "Detective Nathan Keith."

"John Sheppard. The big guy over there is Ronon." He nodded toward Lorne. "Now care to answer the man's question?"

"In the process of investigating the leaked photos, we found out that there's been a hit put out on Sara." Nathan met Evan's eyes. "I managed to get Stanton to back off after he discovered that her work computer had been hacked. And I put her into protective custody myself. We don't know what the hacker was after beyond the photos, but we're still investigating."

Ronon stepped even closer. "We know."

"Excuse me?" Nathan had to tip his head back just to glare at the guy.

Lorne laid a hand on Ronon's arm. "We found this. . . ." He pulled a rolled photo from his jacket pocket. ". . . .on her personal computer. Someone had planted it there, and we've got one of our best guys tracing the hack as we speak."

Nathan ignored the whole "one of our guys" comment while he took the photo and looked over it. His face paled, and he knew it by the sudden coolness that washed over him. "Tell me this is some sick joke."

"No. Why?" Ronon apparently wasn't much for talk, and he kept his questions to monosyllables.

"Because this is one of Sara's crime scenes." Nathan took a closer look at the woman holding the file. "Unless I miss my guess, she had a hard time with this scene. Something about a wedding later that day."

The three men exchanged glances. Finally, Lorne spoke. "So you're telling me that my girlfriend had incriminating evidence on her computer? That she's in danger because of this?"

"Most likely." Nathan met the man's eyes, insisting on telling him the truth. "We don't know who these guys are, only that they're mercenaries who operate somewhere in the state of California. I've handed the case over to our organized crime division, and it's been given their highest priority. This photo must be the reason for the hit."

Lorne never looked away. "Take me to her."

"I wish I could."

Sheppard stirred. "Look, I have a few favors I can call in. I'll make sure to clear it with your supervisors. Just take the man to his girl. You never know when you'll need an extra hand around, and Lorne's not gonna put her life in danger."

Nathan stood in front of those three, his mind whirling with the implications of his decisions. Sheppard apparently held some sway in San Francisco, though he didn't know what. And Lorne wanted nothing more than to get to Sara. He couldn't be sure about Ronon, however, and finally decided to go with his gut. "Fine. But only Lorne. The rest of you. . .just stay out of the investigation."

Sheppard grinned. "No promises. And I'll make those calls right away."

Nathan accepted that, knowing he would get nothing more, and nodded with his head toward the police department. "Let's get this photo to the detectives, and I'll take you over to the safe house."

oOo

Across the street, Muscles watched the detective and Lorne disappear into the police department. He couldn't go in there, but he knew that his best chance of finding Sara had just been dropped in his lap. All he needed to do was follow the detective right to the safe house. Then, he could use Sara to find the way onto Lorne's military base.

As he waited, Muscles let his mind wander to the reason why his bosses wanted that base. What could be so terribly important? Violating national security wasn't a problem he had, and he'd served his time with pride. The government had never done a thing for him. He had no qualms about betraying it. However, when men like Lorne got involved, things got dicey. Muscles had seen Lorne's dossier. He knew the kind of guy this was. Calm. Quiet. Observant. Deadly. Those four qualities often translated into the scariest kinds of enemies. Most men like that became snipers.

The other two men with Lorne could become a problem, Muscles realized. Especially the big guy. He'd nearly made Muscles as he observed the quartet, but the conversation had drawn his attention before anything went south. Still, it bore greater precautions next time.

Muscles grinned. And there would be a next time.

~TBC