The radio flashed with brief static interrupting the quiet clearing. Lorne's forehead crinkled as he looked at Coughlin, for a moment he thought he'd imagined the noise but the questioning look on Coughlin's face told him otherwise.

"Reed, this is Lorne. Everything okay?"

There was only silence.

"Reed, do you copy?"

The concern started to grow on both the men's faces as they stood, gathering their gear.

"Reed, this is Lorne, please respond?"

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Lorne glanced around, the forest was quiet, no people, no birds, nothing. It wasn't a good sign. They headed off in the direction the others had left, eyes scouring through the trees, looking for a sign, any sign that they had passed this way.

Lorne could feel his heart hammering in his chest, as if trying to escape. His shirt was now uncomfortably hot despite the temperature remaining unchanged. Jess and Reed missing. He couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it. He tried to reassure himself, maybe there was just interference with the radio. Maybe they'd walked out of range. He took a depth breath, he could maybe himself to the end of the world but wouldn't settle until he had some concrete. For now, he needed to concentrate.

His eyes scanned the forest ahead of him, following the path through the trees. Old leaves and twigs crunched under foot. The light danced through the canopy, every shadow making him twitch.

"Sir!"

Lorne jerked his head towards Coughlin. He was standing at a tree, roots protruding from the ground around the base.

Coughlin pointed to a dark stain on one of the roots, "Blood."

Grimacing Lorne crouched, he believed Coughlin, but needed to see it for himself too.

Standing he looked at his remaining team member, "Right, we'll inform Atlantis and get some more bodies here to help find them."

The first thing Jessica noticed was the pounding in her head, like she'd had far too much to drink. Her mouth was dry and tasted like dirt. Opening her eyes a crack she saw it was almost dark. A small beam of light shone through a barred window high on the wall behind her. In front of her there were bars across the entrance of what could only be described as a cell.

Slowly pushing herself off the cobbled floor, she tried to rid the dirt taste from her mouth, swallowing hard with little effect. A groan came from a shadow in the corner and she whipped her head around too fast. Her hands flew to her temple trying to steady herself as her head spun.

"Reed?" She crawled towards the corner. He groaned again. Jessica put a hand on his shoulder, "Take it easy. Let me check you over."

With the limited light she ran her hands over him, checking for anything out of place. It all seemed fine until she touched the tacky liquid on the back of his head. Gingerly she felt around, hopefully the damage wasn't too severe.

"Reed, can you hear me?"

He mumbled too quietly for her to hear.

"Reed, you need to talk to me. You may have a concussion. Do you know where you are?"

He licked his lips and tried again, "How should I know Doc, I just woke up."

Sitting back Jessica smiled with relief, "Good to have you back, Lieutenant."

"Didn't realize I went somewhere." He mumbled as he tried to sit up.

Jumping forward again Jessica gently eased him up. Even in the little light there was she could tell he was pale. Quickly they did a stock take. Their gear had been completely stripped, leaving them in pants, top and jackets with empty pockets. Even their boots and Reeds spare knife were gone. Whoever had checked them was extremely thorough.

Before they could discuss any sort of plan, a door outside the cell clanged open. Peering through the bars they watched a tall man, flanked by two guards approach them. His black hair was cut short, almost military style and his square jaw sported thick stubble. The dark coat covering straight ironed pants was double breasted, embellished with gold buttons and edging. The only thing seeming out of place were his boots, caked in mud. Narrowing his dark eyes he watched as the pair climbed to their feet.

The guards stepped forward as he nodded to them. One held up his weapon, looking much like an Earth musket, a sharp bayonet attached to the end, and pointed it towards them while the other unlocked the door.

"Just her." The leader, Muddy Boots, Jessica named him, said plainly.

Jessica felt more than saw Lieutenant Reed start to move in front of her and quickly laid a hand on his forearm. He was in no state to get into an altercation, especially against someone armed. So far, short of being rendered unconscious, they were unharmed. She would like to keep it that way. Briefly their eyes met and Jessica gave a slight nod to tell him it was okay.

Stepping forward the guards pulled her out of the cell, slamming the door shut behind them. The man in charge led the way with a guard beside Jessica and one following behind. Her heart pounded against her ribs but she refused to show that she may have been scared.

They passed through the main door, two guards standing on the other side. Jessica tried to remember the directions as they went but either they were going go circles to confuse her or it was a maze to get to where they were going. A dozen different turns and she was sure she'd seen that plain grey corridor before, or that metal door. That table looked familiar too.

Eventually the guard beside Jessica moved to the front and opened a door, stepping to the side to allow the leader through first. Taking a breath Jessica followed. What she saw on the other side wasn't what she expected. Though to be quite honest, she wasn't sure what she expected.

Beds lined both sides of the dull room. The only light source from a few lanterns on a long table in the middle of the room. Two woman were pacing around, going from bed to bed with cloths and water. People squirmed in the beds, dirty and bleeding. Some, Jessica guessed, looked barely passed puberty.

"You will help them."

Muddy boots voice pulled Jessica's eyes away from the anguish she saw before her.

Though she knew she would do it, she couldn't see those people and not help she still looked him in the eye, sticking her chin out slightly, "Why?"

"You are a Doctor. You will help them." His steady gaze saw straight through her.

Sighing, she looked back around the room, "I will, then you will let us go. But first I want clean water to clean my friends head wound. After that, I will help." Her eyes met his again, unwavering now the doctor part of her was in charge.

After an extended pause he finally responded, "Very well," before nodding to the guards.

Jessica jumped as the guard pushed her back to the door and took her through the maze back to the cell block.

Reed jumped to his feet as Jessica was lead back into their cell. His eyes surveyed her, checking for any obvious fresh injuries as the guard left again.

"I'm fine." She said quickly before he could ask, "They've got a roomful of injured people. Apparently they want me to help them. I said I would, as long as they let us go afterwards, and gave me supplies to clean your head."

As if on cue a young girl hesitantly walked into the room, a small bowl in one hand, cloths in the other. Her dirty blonde hair obscured part of her pale face as she carefully trotted forward. Wary blue eyes never left their faces while she crouched, quickly putting the small bowl and cloths through the bars and running off again.

"So they're going to just let us go after you help these people?" Reed asked as Jessica motioned for him to sit then started cleaning his head as best she could with the limited light.

"Honestly, I have no idea. But it's worth a shot right? Plus, Atlantis will be looking for us. So I figured it's best, for now, to sit tight and not take any unnecessary risks. Do you disagree?"

Reed knew she was right. It did make sense. He may not like doing nothing but it was the best idea at the moment, "Alright then, I guess we sit and wait."

They spent time in companionable silence before launching into a game of twenty questions. It surprised Jessica with how close she'd gotten to Reed that she actually hardly knew him. Sometimes, living on base together you can forget there's a whole other side to people than what you see at work.

The temperature began to drop and they leaned against the back of the cell. Both of them trying not to think of all the ways just waiting could go wrong. Jessica gave a little shiver, the cold starting to get to her.

"Come here." Reed said quietly holding his arm out.

Jessica didn't have the energy to argue, nor did she want to. Body heat was fantastic at keeping someone warm and she knew it. Slowly she shuffled over to him, tucking herself into his side as his arm wrapped tightly around her. She rested her head back on his shoulder and murmured her thanks.

Reed softly told her to be quiet and sleep, smiling when he saw her eyes close without hesitation. He tilted his head, resting it against hers, realizing that she reminded him of her little sister. Seemingly full of sass and confidence but a lot of it was to cover insecurities or any remnants of the past. As his sister would say, 'fake it till you make it.'

Gently he shifted around to get comfortable, Jessica's head dropping onto his chest as he moved. She was already fast asleep. Lightly moving the hair back out of her face he rested his head back, letting his own eyes shut and falling into a dreamless sleep.

It had been four days since Reed and Jessica disappeared and Lorne was restless. His paperwork was all done. He'd even taken the rest of Sheppard's to keep himself occupied when he wasn't off world searching and coming up empty. With no new intel and no paperwork to keep his mind distracted he found himself in the gym, sparring with anyone available.

Flipping another partner onto the floor he ran his hand through his hair, breathing heavily. Asking who's next he was mildly surprised when Cadman stepped up to the mat. Immediately they launched into it, exchanging blow for blow.

"I take it there's no news then?" Cadman asked in between breaths.

"All the planets have been busts. We've got nothing." He growled back.

Cadman dodged back, avoiding the right hook and used his momentarily unbalanced position to her advantage. Pushing him through the punch onto the mat and pulling his arm up behind him.

Kneeling on him she leaned down, murmuring in his ear, "Carson requests you stop adding to his work load and find an outlet which isn't sparring."

Lorne sighed, relenting and Cadman climbed off his back so he could sit up. When he didn't move Cadman grabbed a drink bottle and threw it at him, half expecting it to just hit him in the face. He caught it reflexively and quenched his thirst. His stomach growled, reminding him he'd skipped lunch. With an inclination of her head Cadman had him walking to the mess hall for dinner.