Dark came a lot faster than they'd hoped. The first time Duck went down, tripping over a tree root that was more or less hidden in the fading light Melony called for a stop.

"We're going to have to call it for the night," she told the others.

"It's only been an hour…" Rodney protested.

"You want to fall off a cliff or something in the dark?"

"Well… no… but…"

He didn't really want to hang out in one place too long in a forest with a reputation for losing people, either.

"We'll start looking again as soon as we can see," Mitchell said, dropping her pack in a soft-looking patch of grass. "Set up a perimeter," she told Boyett and Duck. "McKay and I will get a fire started."

The two nodded, and moved out with their flashlights shining brightly, checking the small area that would be their camp and making sure it was secure – and free of any kind of wildlife that might make their night more miserable. This also included looking up into the trees above them – since Boyett had had a large boa constrictor drop down on him once in Central America, and had never forgotten that particular lesson.

"Are you sure we want a fire?" Rodney asked as they cleared a small area and lined it with rocks.

"It'll let the others know where we are if they're close by."

"Or it'll let anything else know…"

"We'll have watches."

Oh, and wasn't that much better? Like he wanted to stand in the dark by the signal fire and wait for God only knew what to come after him – using the fire itself as a handy source of light to see by.

He doesn't look impressed

You noticed.

Talon gave a purely mental snort of amusement, but didn't say anything else, and Melony lit the pile of tender that she'd placed in the center of the newly made fire pit, ignoring Rodney's pained look.

"The area's clear, Colonel."

Duck and Boyett had returned from their look around, startling Rodney, who hadn't been paying attention to them because he'd been too busy complaining about the fire.

"Good. You and McKay get something to eat and get some sleep. The sergeant and I will take the first watch."

"Yes, ma'am."

Rodney looked like he was going to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he pulled a couple of MREs out of his pack and he and Boyett started making themselves dinner.

Mitchell moved away from the fire, unwilling to lose her night vision in the light. Of course, she had Talon, which was an advantage, but she liked having every advantage she could when in an unfriendly place. And with one away team already missing, this place was unfriendly as far as she was concerned.

When Duck joined her for orders, she hefted the staff weapon once more. It wasn't going to be a lot of help in close quarters for firepower, but it was a great weapon for hand-to-hand combat, and she was an expert with it.

"We'll patrol together," Melony said. "Just to make sure nothing sneaks up on one of us without the other knowing."

"Sounds good, ma'am."

He checked the action of his P90, and then made sure the zat in his holster was in a position where it would be easily accessible. His actions were calm and cool, and she approved completely. They were ready for anything that might come, and he wasn't worried.

OOOOOOOO

"That's a little better… thanks."

Dex scowled over the fire at Sheppard, who was rubbing his wrists. They were still tied tightly together, but now they weren't behind his back. One by one, Ronon had untied each of them and had tied them in a slightly more comfortable position, with their hands in front of them. Now, however, their feet were tied as well (at the ankles) and if any of them had had any idea that the new position was going to make it easier to escape their captor, they were quickly disabused of that notion by the new bonds. The knots were complicated, and the position was awkward. Even if they managed to untie themselves, there was no way they'd be able to get out of there before Dex realized what was going on.

"I didn't do it for you."

"Why did you do it, then?" Teyla asked, still trying to figure out the man who was holding them. He seemed so distant and hard, but there was something in his eyes that told her there was much more going on than what they were seeing.

"Because I'm not going to feed you myself."

"Then we are going to eat?" Sheppard said. "That's nice."

Actually, they'd been watching that rabbit or whatever it was as it had cooked, and it was looking better and better the longer they watched. And it smelled delicious.

Dex scowled again, but didn't deny it. Instead, he pulled each of the sticks of meat from the dirt they'd been poked into and handed one to each of the Atlanteans, saving the last two for himself. Taking his, he sat down again and started eating, his dark eyes watching them and the darkness around them equally cautiously. Whatever he was, it was obvious that he wasn't worried about being out in the forest alone.

"Why don't you tell us what you're going to do with us?" Sheppard said, holding his stick of meat, but not eating.

"Because I haven't decided yet."

"There's no reason to keep us."

"I don't know… you might be useful."

"Useful how?"

"How do you know the Wraith are gone?"

"We were there. We saw it."

"The story is that there was a large explosion. You were there?" He didn't sound as if he believed them, and Sheppard realized why.

"We weren't on the planet, no. Otherwise we'd have been blown up, too. But we were in on the ambush, and the Wraith are gone."

"You're so certain?"

"What do you care?" Sheppard asked, changing the tone of questioning so he was the one asking. "You're the only one here. Obviously the Wraith aren't going to come looking for you – even if they are still around."

"Don't be so sure about that, Sheppard."