Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis or it's wonderful characters.


11 – Waiting

Day 3 Continued

Jennifer peeked out the back hatch of the Jumper. "Ronon, have you ever seen a firefly?"

"A fire what?" he asked, standing and moving to the back of the Jumper to stand next to her.

"Firefly, little bug whose little butt glows from time to time and it can fly," she explained as he came up beside her.

He looked off the way she pointed and they both noticed the bobbing little flickers of light that were moving in their direction and multiplying. After another minute of watching Ronon realized what he was seeing.

"Shit," he expelled under his breath as he reached for his radio. "Sheppard," he called urgently. After only a moments hesitation he called again, "Sheppard," pacing in the small space the Jumper provided.

They heard the crackle of the radio as the very quiet voice of Sheppard responded, "I see them, buddy. We're cut off from you, so we've hunkered down here. Where are Teyla and Rodney?"

Jennifer kept watch on the progress of the multiplying lights of what appeared to be villagers with torches heading toward the gate. She heard a sudden rustle in the bushes not far from the Jumper. Jennifer jumped back, hand over her mouth to stifle any noise as she moved behind Ronon who already had his stunner drawn.

With one arm behind him making sure Jennifer stayed there, he eased them both to the side of the jumper to give them as much of a shield as he could. With stunner raised Ronon's eyes never left the landscape before him.

Ronon's radio crackled to life, "Ronon, we are coming in low." Ronon immediately shifted his aim toward the right where the villagers were making their way toward the gate as Teyla and Rodney came into view and made their way toward the Jumper, keeping their bodies as low as they could on a run.

"Shep, Rodney and Teyla are both with me," Ronon called over the radio.

"We're going to skirt wide and come at you from the Ancient facility side too. Keep me informed if anything changes." The relief in knowing his teammates were already safe in the cloaked jumper was evident in John's voice.

For the next twenty minutes Teyla and Rodney each looked out the front windshield and kept track of what the villagers were doing. Jennifer and Ronon took up posts at each corner of the back hatch, keeping a lookout for Sheppard and Lorne's team as well as an eye on the villagers still streaming down the path from town.

"That village did not look that big," Rodney stressed, watching the gathering at the gate gain in size without an end in site. "Seriously, those little huts must have incredible basements in them - where in the hell are they all coming from?"

"A better question might be what are they gathering for, Rodney?" Teyla pulled a pair of binoculars out and tried to take a closer look. "It could be some type of ceremony," she continued as she looked about, studying the group.

At that point Rodney had pulled out his binoculars also. "It's kind of late at night to be having a ceremony don't you think? This meadow is pretty large, but I'm starting to wonder if it will hold them all. We need to keep an eye out. I know we're at the very edge and all, but if that crowd gets much larger we may need to rethink our parking spot."

"Oh," Teyla said on an intake of breath.

Ronon hurried back to the front of the Jumper, "What?" he asked, as he looked out at the crowd.

"I can not be certain, but it looks like they are setting up weapons and have them aimed at the gate," Teyla relayed, handing the binoculars off to Ronon.

"Ronon," Jennifer quietly called from the back of the Jumper.

Ronon quickly made his way to the back, moving in front of Jennifer's position and squatting down.

Kneeling behind him, Jennifer lifted an arm over his shoulder and pointed into the bushes.

With a short nod he acknowledged her direction and slowly backed her up, keeping his body in front of hers. "Shep," he called over the radio.

"It's just us, buddy. We'll be coming in low on the left within two minutes," Sheppard relayed.

After everyone was onboard Sheppard made his way to join Teyla and Rodney, accepting the binoculars Rodney handed off as he exited the pilot seat.

"Looks like they're waiting for a concert to begin and the Stargate will be the center stage," Rodney said, filling him in.

"This can't be good," Sheppard hissed at no one in particular.

"Wouldn't want to be the next one through the gate," McKay observed. "Their weapons may be primitive, but we all know that even primitive can bring a Jumper to the ground," the physicist worriedly conveyed, thinking of the prisoners of the penal colony who brought their Jumper down using slingshots and homemade explosives.

"That may be a problem for the alternate Atlantis teams," Lorne said thinking aloud as he joined the Colonel at the front of the Jumper.

Sheppard vacated the seat and made his way mid Jumper so he was more easily seen and heard. "Okay, listen up. We'll do this in 4 man shifts; my team will be up first. Two in the front and two in the back, while the other team sleeps. We'll switch in four hours."

Sheppard turned and looked at Jenn. "Who knows what's going to happen. I need you rested just in case. I'd suggest you eat something and then sleep."

The Colonel spoke up again to everyone. "We have no way of knowing how long till the alternate universe's Atlantis teams come through, if they come through. This could take a while, stay alert." Everyone shifted around to follow Sheppard's orders.

Jennifer ate a power bar quickly and moved to lie down on the floor next to Lorne, but before she could lower herself all the way to the floor, she felt hands on her arms from behind maneuvering her until she found herself sandwiched between Lt. Jacobs and Major Lorne.

Jennifer was used to their heavy handedness, but couldn't help protesting. "Seriously, even in a cloaked Jumper surrounded by Atlantis' two top teams," she teased as she lay her head back between the two. Even with the thin air pads they'd laid down to sleep on, the floor was still hard and Jennifer was pretty sure no one would be getting much sleep.

"Yeah, probably not the best idea to have both of the teams with you at the same time," Jacobs teased, "only leaves third rate teams to rescue us."

Jennifer elbowed him and was rewarded with an oomph sound from the Lieutenant.

"You okay," Lorne quietly asked Jenn.

"I'll be fine, Evan," she answered quietly. As she looked toward her feet and the back of the Jumper she observed Ronon on alert watching the scenery out the back. She knew he wasn't their Ronon, but seeing him made it hard not to dwell on their Ronon.

Lorne nudged her with his shoulder and she rolled her eyes. He had grown to know her so well. "I'm just a little nervous about seeing our Ronon again. I worry that it's going to be real awkward after these last few days."

Lorne knew what she said could very well be the case and his heart went out to her. "I know you'll be fine, and that first awkward part should pass quickly. At least he won't know that you caught this Ronon in your room in nothing but a towel and I think I heard something about a kiss." He didn't get any further before Jennifer punched him in the arm. "Hey, hey, it's not like you were very forthcoming. You avoided me, I had to ask around."

"So it's my own fault?" she teased him, not really upset. Although they had been speaking softly she flicked a glance Ronon's way to see if he showed any signs of hearing them.

"Sure is, missy," he teased back softly before his voice became more serious. "You can always escape by joining us on a few missions. We've missed you these last couple of missions."

"Why, were they boring?" she asked, thankful for his understanding.

Instead of answering he pulled her in close allowing her to use him as a pillow, "Go to sleep, Doc."

Jennifer dosed off and on for several hours, at one point waking to find herself between Teyla and Rodney. She rolled her eyes and slipped back to sleep, a small smile at knowing she was loved by these overprotective people.


Day 4

It was John's second shift watching and the villagers had still not dissipated. At least it had grown light out and was easier to see. Behind him he could hear Lorne's team about, getting something to eat and talking smack. It was interesting to hear Jennifer giving as good as she got. He'd noticed before this mission that she was buddy-buddy with Lorne and his team, but he didn't get a chance to see her interact in this manner very often. He even heard Rodney throwing a barb in from time to time and Teyla's light laughter.

Ronon moved in beside him and handed over a cup of coffee. "Someone's watching out the back right?" Sheppard asked.

"Yep," the big guy replied.

Sheppard shook his head then took a sip of his coffee. "What do you think the odds are that this is just some type of ceremony and they'll all be dispersing shortly?"

"Wouldn't bet on it," Ronon replied, looking at the gathered group of warriors.

"Do you think they're here because of us?" John asked absently.

"Definitely," Ronon responded looking over at Sheppard.

They were both thinking the same thing, but Sheppard voiced it. "Was afraid of that."


As the morning wore on everyone took turns watching while breakfast was eaten.

"Colonel Sheppard," Lt. Jacobs called out from the front of the Jumper as the gate engaged a second chevron.

"I see that, Lieutenant," Sheppard said as he pulled on and refastened his tack vest, the rest of the team quickly did the same.

Ronon drew his weapon and the others pulled their P-90's up as they watched the chevrons continue to engage.

"Here we go," Sheppard called out. "Wish there was a way to warn them," John thought aloud as he watched another chevron engage.