Jessica groaned. Her head hurt. Her body hurt. Her eye especially hurt. Sitting up the room swam a little and she put a hand on her head. Worst day ever, she thought.

"Ah, sleeping beauty awakens. How are you feeling?"

She looked up as Doctor Cole walked towards her, a small grin on her face. Jessica had a funny feeling she knew exactly what the grin was for and felt her face redden.

"Like I spend too much time on one of these beds. What the hell happened?"

"Edison's team brought in a bacteria that messes with a multitude of hormones. Everyone went a little crazy. We're a little swamped because of it." Cole motioned around the infirmary, "Thankfully though, there was an antibiotic for it already in the database, so that made treating it a whole lot easier."

Jessica nodded, the infirmary was full to the brim, but she couldn't see the Major in one of the beds, "Gosh you have been busy. Um, is the Major…?"

"He's gone already. He's built up more of a resistance to stunners than you so woke a while ago. You've got to hang around at least a half hour then if you're feeling yourself again you can head off okay?"

Jessica nodded as Cole left to deal with other patients. She adjusted the bed up, leaning back and running her hand over her face. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. Not only what she did, but what she'd said to him. It wasn't at all what she ever wanted to say to him. She knew that now they were feeling themselves again it would hurt and she felt immensely guilty for it. Maybe she would have to have that talk with him and she wouldn't be able to put it off. If she did then she may not ever get around to it.

The half an hour seemed to take forever as Jessica sat there, lost in her own thoughts. The earlier scenes replaying in her head and she tried to come up with what to say that may make it all better again. Finally she was allowed to go and took off, trying not to stumble as she felt the nausea rise with standing.

She took the quickest route to Lorne's quarters. Outside the door, she stopped. Suddenly uncertain if this was wise. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want to see her, if he just told her to leave. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves. She had to do this. Stepping forward she knocked.

Lorne heard the knock at his door. He didn't want to answer it. He actually wanted to just spend time alone, mulling over the events of the day. He stood in front of a canvas. He'd wanted to paint, to help him calm down, but his paintbrush wasn't obeying him so he'd given up and just stared at the canvas.

Jessica's words kept ringing in his head. He knew that they had both been under the influence of an alien bug but he couldn't help but feel the truth in them. The nice guy always finishes last.

The knock sounded again and he sighed. Whoever it was, was persistent. He opened the door, surprised to see Jessica standing there. Her hands twisting together, her eyes looking anywhere but him.

"What?" He asked, unsurprised by how harsh it sounded and noticed her flinch a little.

"Um," She hesitated, again unsure if she wanted to actually do this but felt she'd struggle to work together if she didn't, "Can, can we talk?"

He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall, "I think you said everything you needed to." Turning away he walked off, about to shut the door.

She stepped inside, not wanting him to shut her out, "I don't think I have. Evan... I," She paused again, trying to think of how to word what she wanted to say, eventually simply saying, "I'm sorry. For, what I said." Another deep breath, she didn't want to get emotional again, she had to keep it all under control.

Lorne turned around now and looked at her, really looked at her. Because, despite what she had said, he did know her, and he knew how to read her. So her standing there now, picking at her nails, avoiding his eyes told him she was nervous. The slight hunch of the shoulders, dampness in her eyes and head hanging low made him realize she was being sincere. She was sorry for what she said, and she was feeling bad about it.

He couldn't help but release some of the hostility he felt now that he saw how much it was tearing her up. Though, for now, he resisted the urge to stride over to her and just gather her up in his arms and tell her it would all be okay. Instead he just replied quietly, "I'm sorry as well, Jessie. I said some pretty nasty things too."

That made her look up, meeting his piercing gaze. She wanted to tell him that just because it was nasty didn't mean it wasn't true. She wanted to tell him he didn't have to apologize. Really, she just wanted to tell him everything but the words wouldn't form.

Lorne's gaze softened. Gone was the confident and sassy woman he knew. Replaced by someone almost timid and unsure of what next. He strode over to her, not missing the small hesitant step back she took. Gently grabbing her chin he lifted it, holding her eyes with his.

"What happened to you, Jess?" He asked, wanting to ask where the woman was that she used to be, the one that the facade she hid behind was based off.

But she didn't answer, she just dropped her eyes. She wanted to answer, but she didn't know how. All she could manage was a few stammered words, "I, Robert, he…"

Lorne ran his hand down her arm, feeling every mark there. In a dangerously low voice he asked, almost desperate to be wrong, "Please tell me this wasn't him? Tell me he didn't do this to you?"

A shiver ran through Jessica, both at his touch and the question, "I, he..." She stumbled over her answer, not able to say it.

Lorne went cold at her stammering before anger began to well up inside him, both at Robert and himself. How could someone act like that, hurt someone like that. How could he not have noticed. Why did he keep his distance. Why didn't he do something. He was taken aback when she apologized, fear beginning to show in her eyes as she saw the anger on his face.

"Geezus Jessie, don't apologize, please, don't apologize. You did nothing wrong." He wrapped him arms around her, holding her tight, suddenly unwilling to ever let go. She buried her head in his chest and he rested his cheek against her. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Jessica mumbled something into his chest. He imagined it went along the lines of telling him not to apologize. He allowed himself a little smile. That would be something she would say. Turning his head a little he risked a small kiss on the crown of her head, pleasantly surprised when she started to relax in his arms.

Jessica felt a small contented smile settle on her face. Everything was finally out on the table. No more secrets and she couldn't have asked for anything more than his arms tight around her right now. It made her feel like it would all be okay, that this time, he wouldn't be going anywhere. It made her feel safe. When he kissed her gently she smiled, this was what she missed. He was what she missed. She was surprised she'd managed to keep it together. She had partially expected to fall apart when the truth came out to him, but she hadn't, and made her feel like there was light on the other side, that she could, and would move on, properly, not just on the outside.

The sun had sunk below the horizon and the sky had darkened outside. It felt like an eternity that they stood there before Evan started to loosen his arms and step back. Jessica's hands held his top tightly, she wasn't ready to let go.

Tenderly he took her hands, unwinding them from his shirt as he noticed the weariness on her face and remembered how tired he was after his first stun. "Come on." He murmured quietly. Briefly his mind flipped between the bed and couch before deciding on the bed since it had more space for them to be comfortable.

He wasn't sure if she'd agree to sit on the bed with him, but she hadn't wanted to let go and they couldn't stand forever. Sitting down on the bed he put his arm back around her, leaning against the wall, smiling when she cuddled back into him. Reaching down he brushed the strands of hair that had fallen free of her plait out of her face. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to resist sleep but in the end she couldn't and her eyes closed.

Lorne sighed contentedly as he slowly shuffled around to get comfortable without disturbing her. He hadn't realized exactly how much he missed this until now. Pressing another kiss to her head he let his own eyes close and fell into a restful sleep.


The sun was shining brightly by the time Jessica found her eyes opening. She pushed herself up on the bed as Lorne exited the bathroom. He smiled at her and she felt her stomach squeeze as she smiled in response.

"Thank you." She murmured, hoping he knew exactly what she meant. Thank you for listening, for not judging, for letting me stay, thank you for just being here.

"Anytime." He responded as she stood and walked towards him. She stopped in front of him and he gently reached out, tracing around the bruise that formed around her eye, warily avoiding the cut on her eyebrow, "Sorry about that."

She chuckled, carefully touching his own bruise on his jaw, "'S okay. If I remember correctly I threw the first punch." She sighed and looked down at her clothes, still dirty from the day before, "I should probably go and clean up."

"Yes, yes you probably should. See you in the mess hall?" He asked.

She nodded in response, "In thirty."

Lorne returned the nod and watched her go, the smile never leaving either of their faces.


Cadman and Emily sat down for breakfast. The Mess hall was relatively quiet after the events of the previous day, most people had been allowed the day off so were making the most of it by sleeping in. Emily kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with anything except her breakfast as yesterday's incidents replayed on her mind.

"So," Cadman started, "Corporal Wright? Who would have thought..."

Emily groaned, she knew it was coming, sometimes Cadman was like a dog with a bone, there was no avoiding it now, "Apparently… And now he'll probably never want to see me again."

Cadman laughed, remembering catching the two of them making out in the corridor, "Oh I dunno... He seemed about as keen as you."

"Yeah, while under the influence of an alien bug. What a way to start something..." Emily paused, staring at the door, "Oh my god."

"What?" Cadman's head flew around to see what had caught Emily's eye and felt her eyes widen a little.

Lorne and Jessica walked into the mess together, smiling. She murmured something to him and he laughed. His hand lightly touched her back as they headed to get their food. Cadman shook her head, unbelievable.

"Well, I did not expect that." Emily commented after the initial shock wore off, surprised at the apparent ease between their two friends.

"You know, I did tell you they just needed to sleep together."

Jessica caught the end of the sentence as she arrived at the table, Lorne a step behind, "Almost. Almost sleep together, thank you." She said, her laughing eyes flicking to Lorne as they sat. The others didn't need to know about what had already transpired before they'd been caught.

"Close enough." Cadman waved her hand at them, before eyeing another person walking their way.

Corporal Wright stopped at the seat across from Emily, noticing the red starting to stain her cheeks, "Hey, is this seat taken?"

Cadman spoke before Emily had a chance to object like her face said she wanted to, "Nope, sit."

They ate in silence for a while, Emily avoiding everyone's gaze again while Wright's eyes kept flicking to her. He felt terrible about the day before and hoped he hadn't ruined everything. Cadman smiled, noticing Lorne and Jessica were a lot more comfortable in each other's company, sitting close enough they were almost touching.

Eventually Cadman finished and left the table, she still had work today. Emily soon followed behind her. Jessica looked across at Corporal Wright, his eyes following Emily out of the room. Jessica raised an eyebrow at him as he realized she'd noticed.

"What...?" He asked.

She grinned, "Seriously? Just go and talk to her."

Wright stopped for a moment. Jessica made it sound so simple, but she was right. With a sigh he stood, thanking Jessica when she said she'd take his tray. Jogging out the door he hurried to catch up to Emily, catching her just before she hopped in a transporter.

Emily took a sharp intake of breath as Wright called her name, stopping her in her tracks. Slowly she turned, unsure of what to say, wondering if she should apologize for jumping him in the hallway or just try it again to see if he would respond the same way.

"Emily. Um, I," He stumbled over his words, frustrated with how confident he was in every aspect of his life except when it came to liking someone, surely it was simple.

She watched him expectantly, waiting for him to finish and knowing it could go one of two ways. She tried to keep the hopeful expression off her face as he took a deep breath and looked her in the eye.

He took a step forward, finally making up his mind and deciding to forgo words altogether. Reaching forward he gently took her hand and bent his head down towards her. Pausing he took a moment to watch her. Her eyes were locked on his, lips slightly parted. She hadn't tried to pull away. Cautiously he pressed his lips against hers, pleasantly surprised when she reciprocated sliding her free hand around his waist. It was a light, tender kiss, full of questions and answers.

He pulled away slightly, pleased to see a smile on her face. Resting his forehead against hers, one hand now cupping her check he murmured, "Well, that answers that question."


Lorne looked at Jessica as the Corporal ran off, "You know, wouldn't life be simple if you just followed your own advice?"

She snorted in response, "As if just talking would have worked. Plus, we were way more complicated than that."

"Touche." He smiled, "Apparently Cadman was right and all we needed was to sleep together, again..."

"Just don't let her hear you say that." Jessica replied, she could only imagine the gossip that would already be spreading without adding fuel to the fire.

"Yeah let's not do that." He grinned at her, watching her ears grow a little red. She always loved his dimples. "I missed this." He added quietly.

She met his eyes, placing her cutlery down, reaching over to squeeze his hand, "Me too, Evan." She smiled warmly, "Me too."


A/N And that is a wrap, The end, Finite, All done! Hope you liked it. There will be a side piece, it'll be a series of one shots titled something along the lines of 'Adventures of Atlantis Medical' or something like that. Please, please review, let me know what you thought, please. Totally not begging. There may or may not be a sequel, or prequel, who knows. But I'm also working on another Stargate story at the moment which is about half way done stay stay tuned for that too. Thank you everyone who has read, followed, favourited and reviewed!