A/N: Aaand we're back! Sorry, this is a rather short chapter. Enjoy anyway!

Chapter 33

2034

"Lorne!" Halling was fuming when he joined him and Carter on the bridge, Ronon right at his heel. "I did not expect this of you!"

Evan exchanged a glance with Carter. She raised her eyebrow. This was his job and she was clearly relieved he was the one in charge right now. He put a hand on the back of Fisherman's chair and returned Halling's stare. "Two of our people were attacked. Incidentally, one of them was Torren Emmagan."

The colour rose in Halling's cheeks and his nostrils flared. That was the wrong move. "What is that supposed to mean?"

For a moment, Evan just returned the other man's gaze. "It means we don't suspect a single Athosian," was the most diplomatic answer he was capable of.

"Why then do your soldiers search the village!?"

He hadn't ordered that. He looked at Carter again, who nodded and turned to talk quietly to the communications officer. "As you should know it's standard procedure. They didn't enter a house, though, did they?" So they weren't searching the village. Just… the streets. God, he hated diplomacy.

Halling's eyes narrowed. "No," he said quietly. "You should have informed us."

That was without question. He'd made that mistake. "I apologize," Evan answered. "My daughter was attacked as well." It wasn't much of an apology, but it was a better excuse than anything else.

It took Halling a few seconds before he nodded. "Alright." He turned to look at Ronon, who still had his arms crossed over his chest, but his gaze had softened somewhat. "How can we help?"

This wasn't ideal, but it was certainly better than nothing, and definitely an improvement over the heated talks of the previous night. Evan waved invitingly to the back of the bridge where a narrow door led to Carter's office. It wasn't huge, but it would allow for some private conversations. "Let's talk," he suggested and Halling nodded cautiously.

The first thing Grace felt was that massive pain. She couldn't locate the source of it, but she felt it throbbing in her head. Like a sledgehammer that repeatedly banged against parts of her brain and skull without being able to decide where to hit next.

She squinted against the bright light over her and felt a hand squeeze hers. "Ouch," she breathed, her voice raspy.

A cool hand was placed on her forehead and a familiar smell crept up her nose. She blinked again and turned her throbbing head. "Mom?"

Alex smiled and nodded. "How bad is it?"

"Major hangover," she said as the memories of the moments before the darkness hit her. "Where's Torren?" Her heart was hammering and the nervous glance her mother threw over her shoulder did nothing to ease the tension in her chest.

"He's awake," Alex said quietly, stroking her cheek. "Doctor Montgomery took him for an MRI just in case." She swallowed visibly. "He's alright… how are you feeling?"

"Like my head's gonna explode." Grace closed her eyes again. Torren was alright. That was what counted. For a second there she'd thought… what?

"Grace, what happened?"

She heard her mother's voice, but it took a moment for the words to register. "I don't know… we …" she broke off and raised her hands to put them over her eyes. "We were in that graveyard in front of the grave of Torren's dad… and then everything went dark."

"You don't know who attacked you?"

Had they been attacked? Probably… why else would they be in the infirmary? "No," she breathed and opened her eyes again. Concern was clearly etched on her mother's face and Grace couldn't help but feel responsible. "Sorry."

Shaking her head, Alex leaned over her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Don't be silly. Don't be sorry. Get some more rest, okay?"

Easier said than done, Grace thought, but all it really took was the sound of wheels as another bed was rolled into her field of vision and she caught Torren's eyes. He was smiling at her, even though he looked tired and just as beat as she felt. She let out a long breath and gave in to the darkness scratching on the edges of her vision.

For another minute or so, Alex kept staring at her daughter, remembering what it'd been like to watch her depart for the Academy. She'd been heartbroken then. Being with an officer was one thing. Joining the fight yourself added to that tension. Watching first one and then two of your children depart for a lifetime of danger was a whole new level. And yes, Grace had been wounded before, but this was still different. This here could have easily gone wrong.

She turned to look at Torren, who was still awake, even though his eyelids were starting to droop. "How about you?"

Torren scoffed. They had talked shortly before Montgomery had dragged him away. "I feel like my head's about to burst. Thanks."

Alex managed a smile. "You have John Sheppard's wonderful sense of sarcasm," she said. Torren was a lot more receptive than Grace had been and that added to her worry. Maybe Grace had just been hit by a bigger dose.

"Rubs off on you after a while," Torren said and Alex nodded noncommittally.

"I'm going up to the bridge. Do you need me to get you anything or to tell something?"

Just a shake of the head. "Don't remember anything… just.. wind and… something from.. above?"

Wind… well that could mean about anything or nothing or everything. Slowly Alex got up and patted Torren's cheek. He wasn't a boy anymore, but she couldn't help herself. This man was a bit older than Evan had been when she first met him, but somehow he seemed younger. More fragile. "I'll be back in a few, okay."

Torren nodded and drifted off to sleep as quickly as Grace had done.

She wasn't surprised to find Caleb still waiting outside with Josh when Alex emerged from the infirmary. He gave a little start and made a step towards her.

"Dad said something about a sedative, is she-" Caleb began and Alex cut him off by hugging him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Josh take a step back as Caleb hesitated, then slowly put his arms around her too. "Mom?"

Alex nodded. She couldn't remember ever seeking comfort in her son's arms. Usually it'd been the other way around and even that hadn't happened in a while. But right now she needed this. She needed someone to hold her. Someone she could trust with her weakness.

She felt queasy and exhausted and all she wanted to do was keep standing here, Caleb's arms wrapped tightly around her, but she knew she needed to speak with Evan.

"She's okay," Alex said hoarsely. "So is Torren." She took a deep breath. "Go on in, I need to go up to the bridge." If anything, she hadn't expected she would have to force herself to let go of Caleb to wipe her face. "They're both sleeping again, but Montgomery said they should wake up again soon."

"Alex? Do you need me to go with you?" Josh asked tentatively. He was still close by, his hands still in his pockets, but he looked anxious to do something.

Alex quickly shook her head. "No, thank you." What a considerate young man. She managed a smile, then patted Caleb's shoulder and made her way towards the elevator.

"Where's Todd?" Evan asked, hoping that question wouldn't bring on another storm of accusations into this situation.

Ronon tapped the table with the tip of his finger and didn't even bother looking up. Evan remembered how long it had taken him to get used to this stubborn quiet and was relieved when Halling took over.

"He is aboard the Hive. They do not need to feed on humans anymore. I thought we were clear on that."

"It's the best protection from orbit we could hope for," Ronon said, his deep voice calm, and he slowly raised his eyes as he crossed his arms again. "You know."

"Oh, cut it out, will you?" The words burst out, before Evan could stop them. With a shake of his head, he sat down opposite the two of them. "We're trying to reconnect here. We need to find out who attacked Grace and Torren. Whoever did this might be dangerous to you too, right?"

Ronon snorted again, but he didn't look away. For a brief moment their eyes met and Evan realized that the other man cared more than he was willing to admit.

"We do not have any enemies to speak of," Halling said with a sideways glance at Ronon.

"How about the Genii?"

"Like we said, they don't exist anymore." Ronon kept staring at Evan, his brow twitching in anger. "Not as one huge people anyway. They're scattered all over the galaxy."

Evan still had the distinct feeling that Ronon was blaming him personally for all of this, but before he could ask any more questions, there was a soft knock at the door and Alex came in without being told to. "They're awake," she said, sounding a bit out of breath. "Or rather, they were." Her gaze was fixed on Evan now and she nodded briefly. "They'll be okay."

With a curt nod, Evan pulled up a chair for her. Falling back into the old mode was easier than he would've believed possible. Alex sat down without hesitating and crossed her arms over her chest, inadvertently copying Ronon's posture. "I already talked to Carter, Torren said something about wind and something coming from above? But Carter already checked and said they hadn't detected a ship in the area."

"No, or they would've said so sooner." Evan scratched his chin. Grace and Torren were alright. That was the most important piece of news for now. "I still suggest we keep sweeping the area," he looked at Halling again as he cautiously put a hand on Alex's shaking leg under the table. "With you help. And maybe we should talk about this with Todd."

"You know that's not his real name." Ronon said almost testily. Well that was new. Him defending a Wraith.

"Right." Evan nodded. Alex was still shaking and she held Ronon's gaze longer than Evan had. "Well?"

"The other Wraith call him Guide."

A/N: Guide, huh? For those of you who read the Legacy series by Melissa Scott and Jo Graham: you might remember that name, and I figured it would be time to add it to the story, since I abandoned most of the entire rest of that series. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to post again on Sunday.