As the door closed behind the patient, Kate Heightmeyer closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. The migraine that she had been fighting all day threatened to break loose. But she only had one more patient, then she could quit for the day.

And it certainly had been an... interesting day. First, Rodney had been in for a follow-up session. He spent the first ten minutes explaining that although she had tried to kill him by giving him orange juice last time, he forgave her out of the goodness of his heart. Then he ranted about Kavenaugh the rest of the time. (Although she hated to admit it, she did agree with him about Kavenaugh. The man was an ass.)

After that, Kate had seen a string of people who had been badly shaken by their brush with the alien virus. Interesting how disease terrified people more than life-sucking vampires like the Wraith.

Kate opened her eyes and readied a pad and pencil. She was probably old-fashioned, but she found that typing session notes into a computer just didn't work for her. Then the door opened and Aiden Ford came in. He looked warily around the office as if he expected a Wraith to jump out from under her desk. "Please, sit." she said, hoping to put him at ease. He reluctantly took the chair closest to the door.

"What brings you here?" she asked, since it soon became obvious he wasn't going to volunteer anything on his own.

"Major Sheppard, ma'am."

"Excuse me?"

"Major Sheppard. He 'strongly suggested' that I see you, ma'am."

Great. He didn't want to be there, and for a moment she was tempted to tell him to go. Then she forced a smile and asked "Why do you think he did that?"

"Dunno, ma'am... Well, maybe because I've been a little jumpy lately."

"You know, Aiden, you don't have to call me ma'am."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kate sighed. "In what way have you been jumpy?"

"I get startled a lot. Major Sheppard finally said that I was driving him crazy and that I should see you."

"Ah. So in the expert clinical judgment of the major, he wants me to make you stop making him nuts." She winced as she realized how sarcastic that sounded. She'd definitely been talking to Rodney for too long.

"Sorry, Aiden," Kate said apologetically. "Is there anything specific bothering you?"

He lowered his voice. "It always feels like we're being watched."

"By the Wraith?"

"Yes, ma'am." Then he asked nervously, "You don't really think I'm crazy, do you?"

Kate smiled again. "Aiden, 'crazy' isn't exactly a medical term. If you mean, do I think you're psychologically unfit for your job, the answer's no. If you mean, do I think you're under a lot of stress, then yes. Who wouldn't be?"

"It's just... well, I know the Wraith are coming, and there's nothing we can do about it. I hate just waiting."

"So you feel out of control?"

"Yeah."

She asked, "So is that why you're always naming things, to get more control over a situation?"

For the first time, Aiden grinned and it made him look like a little kid. "No, I'm just doing that to yank the Major's chain, ma'am. He treats me like a kid."

"Well, you are one of the youngest here," Kate said. "What are you, 25?"

Aiden nodded and his face became sober again. "But I don't feel that way, you know. I feel a helluva lot older than that."

"Glad you mentioned that. Physically, how are you feeling? Have you experienced any lasting effects of the nanovirus?"

"No ma'am. If Carson hadn't shown us those dead little suckers under a microscope, I wouldn't have even known they were there... until my brain exploded."

"That sounds like it's still pretty vivid for you." Kate said sympathetically.

"Are you kidding? I don't think I'm ever going to forget counting down the minutes until I started to see things and then drop dead. Like I said, I hate just waiting."

"Did you think that Dr. McKay was going to come up with something?"

"I honestly didn't know, ma'am. First we all thought he was going to die. Then, when he realized he was going to live, he was so damned calm." Aiden paused for a long time, then whispered. "I almost hated him for a few moments there."

"Why?" she asked gently.

"Because he was given the gene and was safe. Grunts like me are too far down the list to get it."

"I hardly think you're just a grunt. Major Sheppard trusted you to cover his back during the big storm."

"Yeah, but no one else did. Carson questioned absolutely everything I said or did. He's a great doc, but a real pain in the butt."

Kate smiled as she imagined the Scot doctor's whining. "So you started second-guessing yourself."

"A little... okay, a lot. A good soldier isn't supposed to do that!" Aiden suddenly shouted.

"I really don't think situations like these were covered in your training! I'd be worried if you didn't have doubts. Then you'd just be a robot following orders. Besides, think about the ultimate outcome."

"Huh?"

"Basically, you guys saved the day."

"Huh. We did, didn't we." He tried not to look pleased.

"And you probably saved Stackhouse when you pushed him out of the way of that energy creature. You didn't even hesitate, you just put his safety over yours. That's a quality we see in leaders. Just give yourself some time. And please come back if there's anything else you'd like to talk about"

He looked thoughtful. "Okay. Thanks, ma'am... Dr. Heightmeyer."

FIN