MGM owns all characters except OC's.

Thanks scr1 and Betherdy Babe. Some dialogue from GateWorld.

A/N: Sorry for the long break, but work and holidays took their toll. This starts right where last chapter left off.

Jennifer stared up into Rodney's eyes and noticed they were red, very red and there was white powder in his hair and on his clothing. Turning to face him fully, she asked, "Rodney, are you okay? Your eyes look… funny. Did you have a reaction to something?"

"Yeah, flash bang grenades," he said glaring at Sheppard, who was still silently staring at the monitor showing three hive ships on their way to Atlantis.

"Flash bangs?" Jennifer's mind quickly went through the chemical composition and her eyes widened. "I don't suppose you flushed your eyes out?"

"With the Genii and the betrayal by the Daganians, no, I didn't have time," Rodney snapped.

"Genii?" Gunny said questioningly.

"Yeah, our old friend, Kolya…" Rodney started as he tried to swipe at his eyes with his shirt.

"No!" Jennifer yelled grabbing his arm and making everyone stare at them. "There's powder all over your clothing. I need all of you in the infirmary right now to get checked out."

"We're a little busy right now," John snapped obviously annoyed with Rodney's comment about the Genii and the discovery of the Hive ships.

"Well, if you want to see the Wraith when they get here in two weeks, you better let us look at your eyes," she yelled at him.

"We need to debrief," John said as he looked at Elizabeth.

"That's easy, sir," Ford said angrily. "McKay wouldn't take one for the team, so we lost the ZPM."

"Oh, will you stop with that shit, Ford!" Rodney yelled.

"Take one for the team?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Ford…" Sheppard started.

"The leader was interested in McKay. If he returned her interest we'd probably still have the ZPM," Ford said.

"Oh will you…" Rodney started.

"Enough!" John shouted. "We are not talking about it again. The ZPM is gone!"

"We don't have time for this. Get to the infirmary, now!" Jennifer yelled pointing toward the staircase. The angry young woman was not waiting for a response and pulled Rodney behind her as she left.

The physicist fell in step beside her as they headed to the infirmary. "Do you… I mean could my eyes…"

"I'm sure you'll be fine, but we can't take any risks," Jennifer said thankful to have something to focus on besides the sense of impending doom brought on by Radek's discovery. The feel of Rodney's arm under her hand made her feel better, the warmth of his skin and the feel of his pulse under her fingertips helped to calm her racing heart. Carson almost died. I don't know how much of this I can take.

"It was in a confined space, though," Rodney continued with an edge to his voice. "That always makes these exposures worse, right? I also have some ringing in my ears. I…"

"Rodney, don't get yourself too upset until I get to scan you," the physician said smiling at her patient. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but John seldom listens when I tell him to do something related to his health."

The physicist seemed to calm down when she smiled at him, so she squeezed his arm tighter. Suddenly, the loneliness of the last several days came back to her. I missed him. Even though we are facing an uncertain future, I feel better just because he's here. Her smile widened into a grin that reached her eyes as she tried to convey her feelings with just her face.

Rodney must have gotten it because he smiled at her as well. "We'll be okay, you know.

We won't die here."

"I know," Jennifer said. There are too many smart people here for us to just get killed by Wraith. "I don't think we're going to die, I just… Well…" They reached the infirmary, so Jennifer had to stop talking to Rodney.

She organized the staff including Carson to get scrubs for SGA1 to change into since their uniforms were covered in aluminum and potassium perchlorate dust from the grenades and settled the rest of Rodney's team into exam rooms. She then turned her attention back to her patient; Rodney had showered in the back of the infirmary and was now dressed in white infirmary scrubs. The physician got towels and ran the eyewash station for a while to make sure the water to flush his eyes was not too cold.

"Do you really have to do that?" Rodney asked.

"Yes, now come here and sit down," Jennifer motioned to a chair set against the sink. "I'll need you to lean your head over the sink, so I can run the water in your eyes."

Rodney settled down after grumbling a bit more. Jennifer had to press against him to lean over the sink and run the water in his eyes. Her body brushing against Rodney's caused her to lose her focus as the desire to be in his arms came suddenly, sending a tremor through her. Glancing down, she could not see if Rodney was affected by her closeness because she was spraying water over his eyes and he was holding onto the sink to keep steady.

"Rodney?" Jennifer asked, "What was Ford talking about?"

Rodney groaned and mumbled, "Ford?"

"Yes, Ford. What was his comment about the woman liking you all about?" Jennifer shifted around to the other side to flush out Rodney's right eye.

"Alina was interested in me until she found out I wasn't really from Atlantis. I guess," Rodney explained. He was having a horrible time concentrating on anything, but the water pouring over his eyes and the feel of Jennifer's soft body pressed close to his shoulders and chest, while she rinsed his eyes. It took all his energy, which was not much after the last day, to keep from groaning and pulling her onto his lap and kissing her senseless. Something I haven't been able to do since that night in my quarters.

"Alina?"

"She was the… leader." Rodney shifted next to Jennifer as her breast brushed against his bare forearm. "J-jen…Ah… I," Rodney sputtered and coughed as he pushed Jennifer away. The water, which she was suddenly spraying all over his upper body made him cold and more than a little annoyed. "What are you doing!"

Jennifer looked at Rodney innocently. "Oh, I'm sorry. I got lost in thought for a minute." She turned off the water and grabbed a towel, which she handed to the wet man before her.

A feeling that she seldom felt before flashed through her. Some woman wanted to sleep with Rodney? "Was she beautiful?" An image of a beautiful seductive woman slinking around Rodney as they hunted for artifacts went through Jennifer's mind. Anger at this unknown woman flowed through the physician as she gripped the handle of the water sprayer tighter and accidentally sprayed more than Rodney's eyes.

"What! Was who beautiful?" Rodney asked as he yanked a towel from her.

"Alina," Jennifer said spitting out the word slowly as her breathes became deeper and louder. Her entire body tensed and she knew if this faceless woman appeared, she would slug her.

Rodney stopped drying off and suddenly looked at her with a broad grin.

"What are you smiling about?" Jennifer snapped.

"Why if I didn't know you any better, Doctor Keller, I'd think you were jealous." Rodney's eyebrows wiggled and his lips curled into a wry grin.

"What? Don't… don't be ri-ridiculous," Jennifer felt her face getting red as she stammered.

"Was she beautiful? That is a jealous person's question," Rodney said shaking his head with his arrogant I'm right and you're wrong smirk.

"No, I was only asking because your team always runs into beautiful women, Teyla, Perna and, we can't forget Chaya."

"Oh, but you forgot Sora," Rodney said. "Even though she was trying to kill us, she was hot."

Jennifer opened her mouth to speak and raised her hand to scold him, so Rodney backed away suddenly looking fearful.

"Hey, hey! We can't fight with each other now." John's voice broke through Jennifer's anger.

Rodney is making fun of me. I like him, he knows it and he's picking on me. "I am not fighting." Now I sound like I'm twelve.

"Now, don't make me come over there," the Major chuckled.

Jennifer looked over to see John and Richards enter the infirmary. First I cry and now I get jealous. I just can't win.

"What was this about Kolya?" Jennifer asked Sheppard immediately to redirect the conversation from her red face and Rodney's wet clothing. The last thing we need is them again. And Kolya, too. Jennifer felt a shudder pass through her at the thought of that man's dead eyes. "Did you kill him?"

John's eyebrows shot up his head at Jennifer's question. "Not a nice question from someone who vowed to save lives."

"Doesn't mean I have to want to," Jennifer shot back, very glad the conversation was moving on.

"No. I left him in a hole. I figured he'll owe us one," Sheppard said.

Jennifer's eyes caught Gunny and saw a look briefly cross his face. "You don't think that was wise, Gunny?"

Sheppard and McKay, who was still drying off, both turned to the veteran soldier. John asked, "You think I should have killed him?"

"Yes sir," Gunny spoke without a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Showing mercy is a bad thing?" John questioned.

"To a man like Kolya? Yes, sir, it is," Gunny replied standing at attention while addressing his commanding officer.

"How are you such an expert on a creep like that?" Rodney asked as he toweled off his hair only to have John glare at him. "What?"

"I speak from experience, Doctor McKay," Richards said in his calm voice. "He will view this as an insult, an affront to his character as a viscous killer. The next time we meet him, he'll be more savage than the last time. There's only one thing a man like that deserves... No, make that two things, a double tap to the head."

Rodney and Jennifer stood in silence after Sheppard and Richards left. The briefing would be held in two hours according to John and would involve the extended staff to discuss the plan of action. Both of them had things to prepare, especially Jennifer, who would have a role in the evacuation like the last time to Manara.

Looking at Rodney and noticing the scar still visible on his arm, she stepped closer to him. "Did he... he threaten you again?" The pain in her heart caused a lump to form in her throat and tears in her eyes. I wish Gunny did kill Kolya on Manara.

"No. Well, yes, but no knives this time. Only threatened to shoot me, which is quicker I guess," Rodney said with a smile. His eyes held onto hers and he touched her arm.

Jennifer stared into those perfect blue eyes, whose image was ingrained into her mind and helped her to fall asleep each night. The thought that they could be extinguished and almost were so many times already caused a wave of sadness to envelope her.

"We won't die here. I mean it," Rodney said squeezing her upper arm gently thinking their impending doom saddened her.

"I know. I don't know how much time we'll have to talk in the next two weeks, but I don't want you and Carson to feel bad about coming after me and bringing me here. This has been the most amazing adventure of my life and I would never trade it just to get a third PhD," Jennifer said, suddenly grabbing Rodney's arm in return and squeezing. "I only wish I could tell my dad that I'm glad I came. I think he'll feel guilty that he had a hand in sending me to my death."

"Jennifer..." Rodney stopped speaking and suddenly snapped his fingers as his eyes widened and a boyish grin broke his serious face. "You're a genius!"

"I know," she tried to copy his attitude and tone. It was obvious something she said sparked his genius mind and he was going to run off and save the day. At least I hope.

Rodney's sudden kiss to her lips shocked her out of her thoughts because it happened and ended so fast, she could do nothing, but deal with the aftermath. "See you in two hours. You are an absolute genius."

With that the physicist hurried out of the infirmary in scrubs and still carrying the towel. Jennifer was left staring at his wake. They had kissed far more passionately and longer than the quick peck on the lips, but the fact that he kissed her where anyone could walk in and for no apparent reason except something she said sparked his thoughts meant the world to her. He does really, truly like me. The grin on her face would stay there at least until the senior meeting.

In the conference room, Elizabeth was trying to get everyone's attention. In attendance were SGA1, Grodin, Beckett, Keller, Bates, Richards, and Lieutenant Reed, from logistics. Doctor Keller was seated between Reed and Sergeant Bates because they would work on the evacuation with her.

Clearing her throat, Elizabeth started, "Well, we knew they were coming; at least now we know when."

"That's something," John said.

"That's something?" Rodney replied looking annoyed.

"It means there's still time, Rodney... there's no reason to panic...yet," the Major said without all his normal bravado.

"Where there is time, there is hope," Teyla added.

"Agreed. So, recommendations?" Elizabeth said looking around the room.

"Other than panic?" Carson asked trying to lighting the tense mood.

"Other than panic, yes," Elizabeth said nodding.

"I realize this might not be cool, but we should consider M7G-677," Ford said from John's left. He had avoided Jennifer's gaze since he entered the room.

"As a possible evacuation site?" Elizabeth asked.

Jennifer swallowed hard at that comment as she thought of facing Keras again. Rodney was angry when I told him what happened. He won't let Keras try anything again, I'm sure.

"No, ma'am. I'm suggesting we take their Z.P.M," Aiden said.

"Their only means of protection from the Wraith? A planet populated mostly by children?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"For the record, they are not all children," Rodney said with a bitter tone. "He raises a valid point, though. We've already established that their ZedPM is nearly depleted, but it could be of some limited use to us."

Jennifer tried to catch Rodney's eye. She knew he was thinking what she just did and once she caught his penetrating blue gaze, she raised an eyebrow. Rodney looked somewhat ashamed and looked back at Weir.

"You asked for suggestions. It's a matter of survival," Ford said not backing down from his suggestion.

"I see. Well, we're not quite there yet, and as long as I'm in charge, we will never be there," Weir said with force behind her words.

"I agree, Doctor Weir. If this is to be our end, it is best we face it with both dignity and honor," Teyla said looking annoyed at Ford.

"To that end, I actually have an idea, in addition to panic," Rodney said, looking smugly at them.

This is it. Whatever I sparked in his brain. Jennifer looked with anticipation at the other genius in the room.

"Let's hear it," John said.

"It's really a long shot, but I think it's, uh, most likely worth the effort. Of course, it will mostly be my effort, so..." Rodney was building to the big finish as usual.

"What is it? " John asked used to Rodney's ploy but annoyed after all this time nonetheless.

"I think we can send a message back to Earth through the Stargate," Rodney announced like he would announce the dinner menu.

Jennifer's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. His eyes caught hers for a second until he had to face everyone. How could this be possible? Why wouldn't he have said something before?

"Excuse me!" Carson exclaimed.

"I thought we didn't have enough power?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not to send a person, no. We'd never be able to maintain the wormhole long enough. But I think if we were able to tie together all of our power-generating capabilities, we might... and I emphasize might... be able to establish a wormhole long enough to send a message," Rodney said.

Of course, Jennifer could not help but smile slightly. He is a genius.

"How much time are we talking about?" John asked.

"Well, approximately, uh, one point three seconds, give or take," Rodney said with his usual calm when delivering something he knew others would not fully understand.

"That's not much time," Carson stated.

"Time enough to say, S.O.S." Aiden said.

"Don't be so analogue!" Rodney snapped causing Jen to laugh. "One point three seconds is more than enough time to send a message if it's in the form of a high compression data burst. Now, I helped refine the encoding for the US Air Force a few years back. Colonel Carter should be able to, uh, decipher it on the other side."

"You're suggesting this now?" John was obviously pissed.

Jennifer wanted to jump in to Rodney's defense to tell them how dangerous this would be to the city. She read all his and Colonel Carter's papers on the Stargates and wormholes and knew the power would have to be enormous to open a gate between galaxies, even for one point three seconds.

"Because it probably won't work, and there's a very good chance it could overload our naqahdah generators in the process."

"Well, then, we can't take the risk! No power, we won't have a chance in hell!" John responded.

"There are three Wraith hive ships on the way, Major! Desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, I spent the last couple hours working out ways of minimizing the risk." Rodney glared at John for obviously doubting him.

"Assuming it's possible, how much information could we send?" Elizabeth asked

"Everything. I mean, uh, mission reports from all the senior staff, uh, a ton of stuff on Atlantis, things we've learned in Pegasus..." Rodney paused. "We can put in our city specs, mission reports and tactical assessments, data that we've been able to decipher from the Ancient database..."

"All that, one second?" Ford questioned.

"One point three," Jennifer and Sheppard said at the same time.

"See, you jest, but if I can finesse the compression ratios, you'll be looking for things to add," Rodney said looking at Jennifer, trying to jog her mind with his eyes.

"Is it enough to include personal messages?" Jennifer asked as their conversation from earlier came back to her and the knowledge of all the movies, books, music and information he got on her laptop back in Chippewa Falls.

"Uh, sure... I mean, several hours of video. Much more if it was strictly audio," Rodney said to Jennifer, which elicited a big smile. "The algorithm I've devised is extraordinarily efficient."

"I think messages home would do wonders for morale, especially now," Elizabeth said smiling at Jennifer. "Excellent idea Doctor Keller and good work Rodney."

"Thank you," Rodney nodded to Elizabeth and looked very smug, "I have a lot of work to do...shouldn't I, uh ...?"

"Lieutenant Ford, maybe you'd like to handle this? Give everybody a few minutes on camera to send a personal message to their loved ones?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'd love to, ma'am," he replied.

"Good," Elizabeth said. "Now, for the rest of you, we need to discuss the evacuation."

"If I could offer a suggestion?" Jennifer said hesitantly looking at Elizabeth and John.

"Go ahead, Doctor Keller, you and Doctor Grodin will be in charge of the Alpha Site while we are on Atlantis," Elizabeth said so nonchalantly that Jennifer almost dove into her next comment without pausing.

"I... I will?" Jennifer's eyes opened wide and she paused.

"According to Doctor Grodin, you were basically in charge on Manara. I'll make it official now," Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Not sure Manara was a shining example of trusting me with an alpha site. I was going to say, I'll handle the set-up and evacuation, but leave the selection to others," she said quietly.

It was obviously impossible for Sheppard to not laugh at her comment, but he was trying by squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. "I'll handle the final review of the alpha site, before Doctor Keller goes."

After Jennifer's comment, the meeting settled into a basic discussion of the evacuation and resettlement of Atlantis, everyone was given assigments and the meeting broke. Jennifer was still so stunned and frightened by what Elizabeth told her that she could not get up.

What if I mess up and someone dies again? What if the Wraith come before we can get out of Atlantis?The gentle hand of Rodney McKay pulled her from the frightened thoughts swirling in her head.

"Congratulations, but it's only until someone more senior gets there," he said with an arrogant look and slightly upturned lips.

"Hey," Jennifer swatted at him as she stood up.

Rodney quickly stepped back so she did not hit him. "You do an awful lot of that lately."

"Because you annoy me an awful lot lately," Jennifer replied with a smile. "But not right now. I can't thank you enough for trying this. I know we need to warn Earth about the Wraith and share our knowledge, but... well..." She wanted to say out loud that she thought he might have done this just for her, but her knowledge of relationships and guys was so non-existent that she did not want to assume.

"You're welcome and I did want you to feel better by getting a message home," he said with a smile as he stepped closer.

Jennifer looked into his eyes and stepped into him, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning up to give him a kiss. It was going to be a quick one like he gave her earlier, but two arms quickly locked around her waist pulling her close and expert lips quickly gained entrance to her mouth. This kiss was as passionate as the one in Rodney's quarters and was only ended by a serious lack of oxygen between them both.

Pulling back at the same time, the two geniuses were breathing heavy and their faces were red as they seemed to realize they were in a conference room where anyone could walk in. As they stared into each others faces, Jennifer's earwig sounded.

Jennifer stepped out of Rodney's arms to answer. "Go ahead Sergeant Bates."

"Lieutenant Reed and I are in the security office when you get a chance to join us," he said sounding annoyed. Probably because I didn't run after him. Although, Bates is always annoyed.

"I'll be there in a minute," she replied and turned to Rodney. "I need to go."

"Yeah, I have a ton to do with Zelenka," Rodney said as he took a few deep breaths and smoothed his shirt, which got wrinkled from Jennifer's hands pulling at the fabric during their kiss.

"So, are you sending a message to your sister?" Jennifer asked as they approached the doors, which opened for them automatically.

"What am I going to say to her? Hey, sorry I haven't spoken in three years, but I'm dead now, so don't expect to run into me," Rodney said.

"I'm sure you'll think of something and don't forget all your wisdom you have to share," Jennifer said smiling as she saw Gunnery Sergeant Richards standing at the end of the walkway outside the conference room to the control room. "Gunny."

"Doctor Keller, please tell everyone I'll be at the meeting in a few minutes. I need to discuss something with Doctor McKay," Richards said startling the astrophysicist.

"Sure thing, Gunny," Jennifer said with a smile and headed down the stairs.

After kissing Jennifer in the conference room Rodney was now facing the man, who told everyone on the base to stay away from the young doctor, and it scared him. The fact that the man could kill him with his pinky made Rodney want to run screaming, but he stood his ground.

"Sure," he said meekly. Clearing his throat, he spoke up, "Of course, Sergeant Richards."

"Let's go on that balcony." The Sergeant nodded toward the doorway to the balcony.

A/N: I realize this is not all of Letters, but this saga is going to be a long story, so I'm cutting it up into small pieces.

Yes, if you saw Zombieland, Gunny is a fan of the double tap. Blatant lift from that movie, I admit it.