Chapter Two

"Col. Sheppard." a soft female voice called to him in his dream. Whatever dream he was having he didn't want to wake up from it. Not even for the insistent pounding on his door or the constant calling of his name. How many times did he dream of her being here? How often before had he heard her voice? He went back to earth with intentions of seeing her, but she was off world and Col. Mitchell told him she'd be gone for a few days. He got the feeling that the Colonel had deeper feelings for the woman that use to be his than he wanted to admit.

"Sheppard if you make me have to open this door myself so help me..." her voice rose a little and he could tell she was getting aggravated.

"All right, all right." he mumble as he came to a full awake." I'm coming." he went over to the door and let it slide open. Normally she refused to wear the regulation uniform, but tonight she was. It was a knee length skirt and a white button up shirt. Her long dark hair was pulled up into a braid up do." What could you possibly want this time of the night?"

"We need to talk." she stated as she tried to ignore the fact that he was shirt less. She tried to ignore how great he looked with his hair all sleep messy.

"Okay, but can it wait..." he started, but she brushed passed him into his room." I guess not." he turned letting the door shut behind him as he sat down in a chair when she sat on the couch.

"I've been here for four month." she started " True I'm a medical doctor, but you yourself wanted me to be out there with your team incase something happened and you needed a doctor right then and there." she paused

"Yes, I know this." he contributed wondering where in the hell this was going.

"I think I need to be trained to be able to protect myself against anyone or thing that would attack me." she finished and waited for him to respond.

"You woke me up out of one of the best sleeps I've had to say this to me." he said in a very controlled voice.

"Colonel I think it's a good reason to wake you up since I am going with your team off world." she looked at him and felt that familiar pull in the pit of her stomach. She got up and went over to the only window in his room which was next to his bed.

"You're right you do need to learn to protect yourself, but you already know the basics." he reminded her as his mind finally woke enough to comprehend the conversation.

"You have military training you could teach me what I need to know on killing the wraith." she said softly as she rested her head on the glass of the window.

"Someone will always be with you, so you won't ever have to pick up a weapon." he said as he stood and went over to her.

"There is always that small chance that something bad could happen." she turned around to face him and realized his face was a lot closer to hers than she wanted him to be.

"What happened when you went off world with SG1?" John asked as he saw fear for the first time deep within her green eyes.

"I realized that no matter how well protected you are by the military bad things happen to good people." she side stepped him as she took a deep breath." Don't you ever wonder why I came to Atlantis John?" Her question caught him off guard and the fact that she used his first name.

"You know now that you've asked me, yes I do wonder why you came here." he confirmed as he waited for her to tell him

"Because of you." she informed him softly as she faced him once again.

Okay I'll bite." he said" Why me?" he stared into her face wondering what the hell was going through her head.

"When you came to see me back on earth Cameron... Colonel Mitchell wasn't going to tell me." she informed him" When he did he also gave me orders to come here and settle whatever underlying feelings I had for you so that when I chose to return to SG1 I'd have no regrets." she sighed heavily as she again side stepped him, but this time he gently grabbed her elbow.

"Do you have any regrets?" he asked curiously he didn't miss her calling Colonel Mitchell by his first name.

"I regret that our relationship took a back seat to our lives that we lived separately. After you left to come here I never thought I'd feel that way about anyone else ever again." she confessed to him softly

"But you did." he finished softly as he thought about Cameron Mitchell and how close he was to Nebula.

"Yes, but once again the job got in the way once again." the sadness ion her voice was like a gunshot in the silent of the dark.

"It was never the job with us." he told her softly

She looked up at him.

"It was us and how we let things get in between us." he said softly" If you really love this guy don't let him get away." he thought about Elizabeth as he said this and what he would do if he had to chose his career or her. It wouldn't be a choice.

"I didn't come here to argue about relationships with you I came here because I need your help." she changed the subject because she didn't want to think about Cameron and their relationship. He forced her to come here even though she pleaded with him to send someone else. He told her he didn't need her at SGC anymore. It hurt worse than him breaking things off with her.

"I'll help you in anyway I can, but Neb, I can't train you in weapons use I don't want to have to put you in that type of situation." he said as he pulled her to him in a gently hug.

She returned his hug.

"Okay, I'll give up the thought of firing a weapon, but at least help me keep fit in the physical training.." she said as they pulled back from each other.

"Sure thing." he said as she turned and went to his door.

"Thanks John." she said as the doors opened" Sorry about waking you up."

"It's okay." he said as he watched the doors shut.

He went back over to his bed and ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. Nebula was one woman he could never get out of his system, but they didn't work well together in a relationship. Elizabeth was becoming a woman he couldn't forget for anything. Nebula was his past and Elizabeth was his present. He finally fell back to sleep.