Lorne was standing on one of the remote balconies of Atlantis staring out over the blue ocean when he heard some footsteps approach.
"Evan." Jennifer said as she reached the balcony.
"Doc." Lorne responded keeping his bruised left jaw facing away from the young doctor, who hung back at the entrance of the balcony.
Eventually Jennifer took a few tentative steps forward and stood to the right of Lorne.
"I wanted to apologise." She started. "I should have told you what happened."
"Yes you should. In the field I need to know everything. Bad intel leads to things going wrong." Evan glanced sideways and noticed Jennifer staring down at her feet. "What gets me was, even if you forgot all the training we had given you over sharing information with the commanding officer, I thought you would have told me as a friend."
"That's why I didn't tell you." Jennifer replied still staring at her feet.
"What?"
"After what happened I did not want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt. I thought if I told you, either you would do something stupid and get yourself killed or you would hold yourself responsible. I didn't want that, so I kept quiet. It was wrong and I am sorry. I will never do something so irresponsible again." Jennifer paused and looked at Evan. "I hope someday you can forgive me." She turned and began heading back to the corridor, finally saying, "I would hate to loose you as a friend."
"Doc wait." Evan called without turning. "I…you won't loose me as a friend. We are still friends."
"Evan, you can't even look me in the eye." Jennifer replied turning back to face the Major.
"Well I don't know if you knew this but I have a couple of cracked ribs, they kind of make turning difficult." Lorne joked,
"Well seeing you brought it up shouldn't you be the infirmary?" Jennifer questioned, closing the distance again.
"Shouldn't you?" Lorne countered.
"I have been banned from working."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know." Jennifer replied. "Anyway I will leave you to." She paused. "Whatever it is you are doing all the way out here."
"Just admiring the view, the real light and the fresh air."
"Ok then." Jennifer then planted a soft kiss on Lorne's cheek.
Surprised Lorne began to turn towards her. "What was that for?"
"Just wanted to thank you for looking after me and what the hell happened to your jaw?"
Lorne quickly snapped his head back to facing the ocean. "Nothing. It is just another bruise from the mines."
"No it's not. You didn't have that bruise when we got back and you weren't punched there during the escape so you must have got it after returning." Jennifer started reeling off her thoughts. "You wouldn't be stupid enough to spar so it must have been from… Ronon? Ronon hit you?" Jennifer worked out, anger beginning to show in her voice.
"No." Lorne began, once again looking at Jennifer. Seeing her stare he realised lying was pointless. "Well yes, but I don't think he meant it."
"How can you not mean a punch?"
"Well I think it was more he was angry and frustrated and I got in his way."
"I can't believe he would do that. Why would he… I told him it wasn't your fault."
"Well I think he knows that now. He kind of apologised."
"How can you kind of apologise?"
"It's Ronon we are talking about, he is not exactly Mr Articulate."
Jennifer nodded. "But why? What good did it do hitting you? Who does he think I am? Does he really think I wanted him to hit you or was it that.. I can't I mean…. What was he…. Does he really think that I can't…. I will kill him or at least stop….I am so sorry…"
"Slow down doc." Lorne interrupted her rant. "He had been without sleep for a long, long time. He came back to find you beaten and bruised and your back torn to shreds. He felt guilty cos he couldn't protect you. Then he saw me who had the job of protecting you walking round the city whilst you were lying in the infirmary and he momentarily lost it."
"Why are you defending him? He could have broken your jaw."
"I was kind of expecting it doc. I mean whenever I go a mission with you I know I am a dead man walking if something happens to you."
"He is threatening you as well?"
"No. Doc he loves you and is protective of you."
"So that gives him justification for beating up my friends. I can take care of myself I don't need protecting." Seeing Lorne raise an eyebrow she quickly revised her statement. "Ok well maybe sometimes. But he shouldn't beat up whoever has been assigned to look after me. I am sorry. After everything you did for me and after I didn't…I am so sorry."
"It's ok doc."
"No it's not. But he won't do this again I promise."
Lorne began to laugh softly.
"What?"
"How exactly are you going to stop Ronon protecting you short of beating him to a pulp first. Now that I would love to see."
"Some of us don't need to resort to violence."
"I am not gong to ask." Lorne smirked causing Jennifer to blush.
"That is not what I meant."
"Of course doc. Whatever you say."
"Major Lorne, Dr Keller." Woolsey interrupted as he walked out onto the balcony.
"Mr Woolsey. You are a long way from the comfort of the control room." Lorne greeted.
"Any news on the rescue mission?" Jennifer asked.
Woolsey looked at both of them. "Yes. That is why I am here. They found and evacuated what is believed to be the majority of the prisoners. But." He paused.
"What happened?" Lorne immediately asked, concern etched in his voice.
"Lieutenant Young identified the chieftain's son. The one who was responsible for what happened to you."
"We remember." Lorne cut in his voice full of frustration.
"Yes of course. Anyway he in turn recognised Lieutenant Young and made a break for it down one of the tunnels in the mine. Colonel Sheppard and Ronon gave chase, whilst Young and Teyla evacuated the prisoners. During the evacuation a series of vibrations were felt in the mine, gradually increasing in strength. Anyway having evacuated the final prisoners Teyla and Young were about to start a search for Colonel Sheppard and Ronon. However, it appears a stronger vibration then rocked the tunnels and they were forced to climb the shaft. After the vibrations stopped they went back down and the whole tunnel had collapsed."
"What about Colonel Sheppard and Ronon?" Lorne asked.
"We don't know. As you know sensors don't work down there. There is no radio communication, but we don't know why."
"You think they are dead?" Jennifer asked.
"We don't know. We have no idea how much of the tunnel collapsed. Nor do we know where they were when the collapse happened." Woolsey solemnly said. "They could be safe on the other side of the mine." He added in a more upbeat tone. "After all if anyone is likely to survive a cave-in it is Ronon."
"Excuse me please." Jennifer said leaving the balcony.
"Doc wait." Lorne called after her as he followed.
"Major Lorne there is more." Woolsey said causing Lorne to stop in his tracks.
"I did not want to say this in front of Dr Keller." Lorne turned and looked at Woolsey. "I lied about not knowing the extent of the cave-in. Dr McKay is fairly sure, using some modification to the Jumper sensor, that the tunnel collapse extends close to a mile. If they were in that stretch, there is zero probability of survival. However close to where the collapse started the tunnel split into four branches. Two of those branches suffered only minor damage."
"You think they were close to the start of the collapse?" Lorne asked as he digested the information.
"It is possible. The combat engineers believe that such a massive collapse must have been started by a powerful explosion. Whilst I am confident neither Sheppard or Ronon would set-off explosive devices in a mine, the person they were chasing I am not sure about. I am also confident Ronon would not stop his pursuit of the man he holds responsible for Dr Keller's injuries." Seeing Lorne's questioning look he added. "I know you do not have the highest opinion of me, but I am not blind to what goes on here." He paused. "As I was saying I believe it is likely that Ronon and Sheppard were in close proximity to the most likely cause of the explosion. So there is a chance that if they were not killed by the blast they could be in one of the other tunnels."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"I know you are meant to be resting, but as the senior military officer on base, if you could co-ordinate and organise the rescue teams we are sending out it would help."
"It's done." Lorne said as he headed for the control tower followed by Woolsey.
A/N: Once again thanks for the reviews. I will try to get another chapter up tonight.