When Major Lorne walked into the gym for training he hadn't expected it to be full of such quiet whispers. Nor had he expected to see Dr. Allen in the corner thrashing a punching bag. Especially in a t-shirt rather than her normal long sleeve top or jacket. But now that she was in a t-shirt the reason for always wearing the long sleeves became abundantly clear as he spied the white lines interlacing around the backs of her arms. He hadn't been in a fantastic mood to begin with, he'd already had to break up two Mess hall fights and rearrange the roster three times due to injury, so the thought of what may have made those scars caused white hot rage to bubble up inside him and he began to march in her direction.

The hand that grabbed his arm was also unanticipated and he was suddenly frustrated with all the surprises so when Reed opened his mouth and told him that maybe he shouldn't go over to her, he'd snapped back at him telling him to mind his own business. Reed's hand dropped off his arm and Lorne didn't miss the look between his two team members.

Storming over to Jessica he caught her next punch, and in a whisper harsher than he'd intended, asked, "Something bothering you there, Doc?"

She glared at him, yanking her hand back and immediately began unwrapping the strips from her hands "No. I'm fine, thank you, Major." She snarled the reply.

"Like hell you are." He growled back, unaware of the profound silence that had fallen over the gym.

"Like you would bloody know!" She pushed past him, stomping out of the gym.

But he wouldn't let her go like that. He was past the point of being civil. Everything he felt was exploding and his head was everything except clear. Suddenly he was sick of this little dance they'd been doing and let his emotions, and if he were honest, his hormones take over. So, even though he knew it may not be wise, he chased after her. Grabbing her arm he spun her around, oblivious to the hesitant step she took backwards.

"What's going on?" He growled.

She hissed back at him, "Nothing."

"Don't pull that 'I'm fine' bull crap with me. I know you!"

That made her throw her head back and laugh. She felt a little manic as she met his fiery blue eyes again, suddenly feeling more sure of herself, "Know me?! You don't know me!"

He threw his hands up. "Oh come on, Jessie!" The nickname slipped unintentionally, "We've worked together, we lived together, hell, we bloody slept together for a year! Pretty sure that indicates that I might just know you."

Her eyes burned, fists clenching at her sides, "No! No. You knew me. You knew this!"

Before she knew it she lunged forward planting her lips on his, her hands twisting in his shirt. Instinctively he reciprocated, one hand winding into her hair, the other sliding under her shirt at her back. Both of them had forgotten they were still in the corridor near the gym, absorbed completely in the moment with their hormones overriding any sane thought.

Lorne stepped forward, Jessica's back hitting the wall and a small groan escaped her lips as his mouth moved onto her neck. Jessica vaguely heard the sound of a door opening around the corner and recovered enough sanity to murmur, "We should... get out... the corridor." Her breath being stolen away. Lorne mumbled a response as the door beside them slid open. Without hesitation he slipped his hands under her thighs and lifted her up, carrying her into the empty room.

Absently he noticed it was a storage room, thankfully empty and conveniently he thought, an empty bench along one wall. Striding to the bench he placed her down as her hands tugged his shirt over his head. He moaned a little as she layered his neck in kisses and nipped at his skin.

"God I missed this." He mumbled, brushing her skin as he pulled her shirt off, throwing it somewhere to the side.

His hands wandered over her back, feeling the hills and valleys of more scarring. She knew he was about to ask about the marks so stole his mouth again with hers as she fumbled with his belt. This wasn't about talking. It was about raw, pent up emotions and sweet release. To hell with the shrink saying it wasn't healthy to always turn to this, it was exactly what she needed.

Soon enough the pants got kicked off and they lost themselves in each other. He was exactly what she needed right now, knowing every spot she liked, every way to make her happy. And he did make her happy with those little moves he knew. She felt the best she had in a long time. She was almost disappointed when it was all over and they were left leaning against each other, breathing hard.

Slowly, they straightened and began to find their discarded clothing. Jessica avoided his eyes as she redressed, scared of what she may see there.

"So, um, I guess we should talk..." He started awkwardly.

She chuckled, "We were never any good at that."

He strolled up to her as she finished pulling her top on. Gently placing a hand on her cheek he moved her face toward him, "You were never good at that."

She pulled away, turning away from him, "What do you want me to say, Evan?" She asked, suddenly sounding weary, "Yeah we had a thing, yeah it was great. Then it stopped. And suddenly you don't talk to me, you don't see me, you just straight up avoided me!" Her volume increased as she went on, "It hurt like fucking hell. You were supposed to be my friend. But once the sex stopped, apparently the friendship did too."

Admittedly it felt good to get it off her chest, get it all out in the open. But the lack of reply concerned her so she risked a glance at him. He stared back at her, a guilty look in his eyes. He wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say. He wished he could tell her she was wrong, but she wasn't. That was exactly how it had played out, just, not for the reasons she was assuming.

She scowled and turned away again, "That's what I thought." She growled before storming towards the door. Just as she opened it an alarm sounded and it slammed shut again. Jessica jumped back in surprise, swearing under her breath before trying to open it again. It stayed firmly shut as Dr. Weir's voice came over the PA system, explaining Atlantis had engaged a quarantine lockdown. Jessica slammed her hand against the door. This was just her luck.

"Guess we're stuck here." Lorne commented dryly, he wasn't complaining though, hopefully it gave them a chance to finally have that talk and properly clear the air.

That was the last thing Jessica wanted right now. Being stuck in the room with Lorne, after they'd once again, gone and had sex, and now he wanted to talk. She glared at him, a small growl escaping her lips as the frustration continued to build.

"I don't want to talk if that's what you're suggesting." She snarled, surprising herself with how quickly she was getting worked up again.

He shrugged ignoring all of the inappropriate comments that came to mind, "Fine. I'll talk, you can just bloody sit there and listen."

Jessica slumped to the floor, wondering if she just imagined the threatening tone in his voice. Waving her hand she indicated to him to go right ahead.

He paused for a moment before the words sort of just exploded out of his mouth. He thought about what to say so many times but what he ended up saying was very different and he couldn't stop it.

"Campbell! Really? Him?! The guy was a tool. A douchebag! He was no bloody good for you. I was there! But no, apparently he was better. So yeah. The friendship stopped! But guess bloody what? It's a two way street. It's not like you gave a damn about it! You were too busy prancing around with that, that prick!"

She lurched to her feet, fizzing with anger again as she shouted back, "Well if you felt that bloody strongly about it why didn't you say anything? Too busy being good guy Major Lorne, who just rolls over. They say jump, you say how high. Someone says I want the girl you're sleeping with, you say oh yeah, sure have her. You just let it happen! You want something, maybe you should man up and fight for it!"

His gut twisted as surely as if she'd just stabbed him. Clenching his fists he growled, his face red with anger. How dare she. He took a step forward, moving purely on impulse. Then the words tumbled out before he even knew what he was saying, "Well at least I didn't go around using anything with two legs for sex because I'm too immature to deal with emotions like a bloody adult."

That was the last straw for Jessica. She had had enough of him and his high horses. She was seeing red now and she just wanted to shut him up. Before he could react she'd lunged forward, catching the side of his jaw with a right hook. He stumbled back, caught off guard the first time but acted in time to stop the next blow and began to fight back.

"Lieutenant Reed, do you copy." Colonel Sheppard's voice came through Reed's radio, interrupting his spar with Coughlin.

Reed stepped back from his sparring partner and put a hand to his ear piece, "Yes, sir."

"What's your location?"

"In the main gym, sir."

"Is Major Lorne and Coughlin with you."

"Coughlin is, sir. Major Lorne left the gym before the quarantine."

Sheppard swore quietly before replying, "Doctor Keller is on her way to your position. You'll be escorting the medical teams, rounding up those displaying symptoms."

Reed's eyes flicked to Coughlin briefly, taking in his questioning glance, "Yes, sir. What sort of symptoms are we expecting?" He remembered reading the reports of when Atlantis first initiated lockdown and wondered what they had this time that required security escorts for the medical personal.

"Apparently it can make them go, well, a little crazy."

This time it was Reed's turn to swear quietly, assuming that was the explanation for both the Majors and Doctors behaviour earlier. "Sir, can I get a location for Major Lorne and Doctor Allen? I don't mean to speak ill of a superior or the doc but they left the gym before the lockdown and were acting, ah, quite a bit crazy."

There was a pause, before Sheppard responded, "Near the gym there's two life signs in, ahem, in a storage room, about three rooms west of you."

"Thank you, sir."

They ended the transmission and Reed quickly relayed the information to Coughlin who quickly agreed with his assumption about their teammates behaviour. Even though the doc wasn't actually in their team anymore they still viewed her as such. The waiting made Reed increasingly nervous, though he kept that calm and collected expression on his face that he always used when it was time for business. But with the tempers both the Major and doc were showing when they'd left, and now knowing that they weren't quite in their right minds. It made him worried about what they might find.

So when the door opened and Doctor Keller walked in with her team in hazmat suits it took a lot of control to not jump up and rush into a suit. Instead he slowly stood, greeted the new doctor and got a run down on the situation while carefully pulling on one of the spare suits the team brought.

It turned out, Atlantis hadn't immediately recognized the antigen which was how it had managed to spread. McKay had been tampering with the system's again and apparently wasn't quite done when the illness arrived through the gate. But now he was working to override the quarantine so they could move people to their quarters to avoid anymore altercations. Dryly Reed thought, that explained the fights they'd had to break apart in the mess hall.

Finishing getting into the suits they were handed a stunner each before setting off. Reed filled Keller in on their first location and they headed west towards the storage room. It was easy to locate exactly which door it was as they drew closer, hearing insults being slung between the Major and Doctor.

Holding their stunners at the ready they waved the door open. Reed was prepared for a lot of things as the door slid open but seeing his CO ripping the doctors top off while their mouths carried on hurling insults in between furious kissing was not what he expected, at all. They both had blood smeared over their faces and hands, bruises already forming in multiple places but neither seemed any wiser about it, nor noticed they had company.

Coughlin recovered from the sight first, taking down Major Lorne with his stunner. Reed was only moments behind with stunning Jessica. Keller quickly gave orders for them to be taken to the infirmary, and restrained before carrying on. Reed nodded, bending to pick up the Major and throw him over his shoulder while Coughlin lifted Jessica.

On the walk to the infirmary Reed murmured to his teammate, "Sometimes I wish I could just erase parts of my memory. Because that, is totally not something I needed to see."

A/N Thanks for the review! Always great to get. One more chapter to go!