A/N: Okay, so, I've been AWOL forever and I apologise. I lost inspiration for this story and I've just let it sit here, I apologise. Now, I know now much happens but please, accept this update and enjoy.

It took three weeks for the I.O.A to re-authorise Elizabeth as leader of Atlantis and three weeks for them to decide that the rest of the renegade team were suitable for their jobs once more. It took a further week for preparations to be made and supplies to be prepped. In that time Emily had been resting at her brother's place and John had taken several hours out of his time to visit. He wanted to make sure that she was recovering well and that she was getting better.

By the time the three weeks had passed the bruise on her chin was gone and the cut above her right eye had almost disappeared. Her arm was still in a sling and she still held a slight limp, but she walking much better then she was before.

In the week to the build up for the gating to Atlantis personnel had spent their time on base, ready and prepared to leave when the time was called for. On the afternoon before they were scheduled to leave, John had agreed to meet Linda in the mess for one final meal on Earth before they left for the Pegasus galaxy. He found her in the corner and joined her with his turkey sandwich and cup of coffee. Her skin no longer held a pale tone to it and the smile she wore now seemed somewhat brighter. "Hey," he said with a bright smile.

"Hey, do you know who's in charge of the linguistics' department now?"

John furrowed his brows and shook his head, "Abbot quit right?"

She nodded with a smirk, "Yep."

He pointed to her with a smirk himself and said, "You?" she nodded and he grinned, held his cup up to her and said, "Well, congratulations."

"Thank you. For the first month or so, it'll be fine for recovery," to emphasise the point she lifted her injured arm slightly. "But after that I'll probably start to grow bored."

"I'm sure you could work something out."

Linda shrugged and took a sip of her own coffee. "I don't know, I mean I've seen the list of people who are going to be in my department. I've got Ryan on a temporary position to just help train the new people, which by the way, there will be four of."

"Ah, so you'll be the oldest and wisest of them all." She glared at him with a smirk and offered him a short chuckle. He laughed too and said, "Sorry. Surely it can't be too bad."

"Meh, I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"Until then," John raised his cup to her, "We're going back." She pressed her own cup against his and smiled, taking a long gulp of the warm beverage.

SGASGASGASGA

It was four days later when everybody in the city had finally settled back in that John noticed Linda in the mess hall by herself. He'd seen her sit herself at a table across the room from him and his team ten minutes ago and she'd barely touched her food and he didn't like the look she was giving off; tired, worn out, knackered, sleep deprived. He frowned. "Excuse me," he said to his team. He picked his tray up and sat it back down across from her. The sound of his tray hitting the table seemed to wake her up some. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded sleepily and dragged a small notebook towards herself and picked up the pen on top of it. Linda yawned and took a close look towards the pad of paper. "Just tired."

He frowned. It seemed more than just being tired was the problem. With a light shrug he said, "Well, how are you sleeping?"

Linda shrugged back and said, "As well as I can I guess."

His frown deepened. "Uh huh, how much sleep are you getting?"

"A few hours?" Sheppard rose his eyebrows at her and she sighed. "Fine, three hours, you happy?"

"No," he took a bite out of his sandwich and swallowed it before saying, "Nobody can survive with three hours."

"McKay can," she offered with a small smirk.

John arched one brow at her with his own smirk before he frowned. "McKay is not an example of a healthy human being."

Linda shrugged and tapped her pen on her pad of paper, "I've had a few rough nights, that's all."

"Uh huh," he said with a small nod. After a moment a thought came to mind, "Tell you what, tonight, I'll stay with you."

The words made her stare at him wide eyed. "John, I, I,"

He looked at her with a frown and settled his sandwich back onto his plate. "Look, Linda, I want to make sure you get enough sleep. You need sleep so, I'll stay with you and make sure you get enough sleep."

Linda gave a half shrug and opened her mouth to speak when she pressed a hand to her ear, "What?" A sigh sounded and she said, "I'm on my way. Sorry John, work calls."

"I'll be by later, get some rest."

She nodded faintly to him, bid him goodbye and moved herself out of the mess hall and in the direction of the linguistics department. John watched with a sigh. She looked terrible and he hated it. With another sigh he re-joined his team and only half focused on the conversation.

After a day of filing reports and working out rotas for the military men John made his way to the Linguistics department and stopped in the doorway with a faint sigh. Linda was bent over the desk, one arm tucked underneath her head and two other men working around her, ignoring her. He offered the two men, obviously new guys, a nod and moved to Linda and gently shook her awake. "Come on," he whispered.

Linda stirred and nodded. Her eyes opened and she looked around the room, nodded to John once more and looked towards the two men, "Get some sleep guys. See you in the morning."

The men nodded and Linda followed John out of the room, down the corridors and up the stairs until they reached her room. "Sorry about the mess," she said as she swiped a hand over the door sensor.

"It'll be fine," he said as he followed her in. The door closed behind him and he stopped. She wasn't' kidding. There were boxes of papers and stacks of books across the floor. "Erm-"

Linda yawned and dropped her pad of paper and pen on the desk in her room and said, "Yeah, I'm working on it."

John nodded and moved towards the bed to kick his shoes and socks off. He'd already put a pair of spare clothes in her room earlier that day and picked his shoes up and put them to one side. "You know, if you need a hand with anything."

She waved him off with her good hand and shook her head as she pulled her sling over her head, "It's fine. Besides, most of it just needs sorting correctly. It's nothing."

John shared a pointed look with her and she ducked her head. "I'm just saying, if you need help, don't be afraid to ask."

Linda grabbed a set of pyjamas and moved into the bathroom, "I will." John chose that moment to kick his pants off and pull the duvet back. He took a moment to look around the room once more and frowned. She needed help sorting the room out.

She returned in a vest top and a pair of long pants and crawled into bed next to him, her back to him. "Thank you," she said as he settled in next to her. "For doing this."

John smiled, knocked the light off and wrapped an arm over her, pulling her close to him. "It's fine." He placed a soft kiss to the back of her neck and said, "Just get some sleep."

Within minutes she was asleep and John smiled, settled down himself and closed his eyes. It was two hours later when he felt her wriggle underneath him. He'd grown accustomed to waking up to almost anything, his job forcing him to become a light sleeper. Linda's wriggling stirred him somewhat awake and he frowned in the dark at Linda's form. His arm was still around her and he felt a slick of damp on her shirt. As he shuffled himself up onto an elbow he peered over her to see her face contort into a twist of pain, panic and worry. "No," she muttered quietly, "Not again. Don't, no, please."

"Linda," John whispered. She didn't stir, only muttered even more so and wriggled more to twist completely, a whimper escaping her lips. Now he was worried. As he propped himself up fully onto his elbow she bolted up, her chest heaving in rapid deep breaths. "Linda," he tried in a whisper, sitting forward to look at her face. It was only now that she turned her head to look at him, panic written across it. He saw the pain in every muscle and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, it was just a dream, just a dream okay?"

Linda shook her head underneath him and he felt her begin to shake. "Not a dream. Wasn't a dream." Her frowned as he took her words in. Every time he tried to get her to sleep again she refused and eventually John managed to get her into a sleepful mood his own mind refusing to sleep in case she reawoke in a panic.