When Mina awoke the next morning, she was instantly confused. She slowly sat up in bed, trying to figure out how she had gotten there. Pushing the blankets aside, she noticed she was still wearing her clothes from the day before. Her boots sat on the floor near the foot of the bed. Sliding off the bed, Mina walked over to the door, opening it and peering into the main living space. Her husband sat at the table eating breakfast, and he looked up at the sound of her opening door.

"Good morning," he called out from the kitchen.

Mina padded out into the room in her stocking feet, taking a seat across from him at the table. He looked amused, so she assumed her hair was a disaster. Self-consciously, she smoothed it down, running her hands through the tangles.

"The strangest thing happened. I swear I fell asleep in that chair last night," she said pointing across the room at his chair in front of the fireplace.

Kolya nodded and returned to his breakfast.

"You did. I put you in your bed last night. You would have woken up with a sore neck if I had left you there. I've slept in that chair before and severely regretted it in the morning."

Mina took in his words and tried to remember if she had noticed that she had been moved. She must have been sound asleep when he moved her.

"Well thank you Acastus. I didn't mean to fall asleep out here but I was so exhausted when I got home."

"I told you not to let Corric overwork you," Kolya said with an almost scolding tone.

Mina smiled at the memory of his note, which was probably still crumpled up in her pocket.

"It wasn't so much being overworked as having to learn a lot in a short time. I wasn't expecting having to treat patients on my first day. Speaking of patients, I heard that you put some of them there, including a certain redhead with too much confidence in herself."

Kolya paused his eating and looked up at his wife. He wasn't sure, but her tone almost sounded like an accusation.

"I assume you are talking about Sora. Did she tell you how she got her injuries?"

Mina nodded in response, not saying anything. Kolya sighed and stood up from his chair, moving closer to where Mina was sitting.

"Cowen has assigned me to train a strike force consisting of our best fighters. He plans to use them to infiltrate the ancient city when they aren't expecting it, and he wants me to lead the attack. We don't know when the opportunity will present itself, so I've been training them as best that I can in a short period of time."

Mina nodded again and she looked down at her hands. She knew that if this mission failed, whenever it happened, it would mean that she would most likely lose her husband. As that thought crossed her mind, she thought of him saying he was training the best fighters.

"Is my brother on your strike force?"

Kolya shook his head, not sure why Mina was asking that.

"No he's not. He's in the back up group of soldiers that will support us if needed. I only selected a few that have the skills needed to infiltrate the city."

Mina's mind again drifted to someone else that would likely be on that strike force.

"Sora, Mekhai, Ladon, Kai. Those are the type of people you are taking?"

"Well not Mekhai. He's leading the support troops, but yes to the others."

Mina was weighed down by his confirmation. She had a good chance of losing her husband, but not her brother. She was bothered by the fact that Kai would be going, as he was starting a relationship with Thali. This mission had the potential to cause a lot of pain. Leave it to Cowen to come up with a plan like this.

"Whenever this strike happens, I hope it goes well. We have a lot to lose if it doesn't."

Mina watched her husband's face to see if he understood her hidden meaning about not wanting to lose him. If he did, he didn't show it with his expression. Mina stood from her chair and placed her hand on his arm.

"Let me know before you leave on this mission."

She didn't give Kolya a chance to respond before turning and walking away to get ready for the day. Entering her room, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She absentmindedly fiddled with her wedding ring, the thought of losing her husband ever present in her mind. She hadn't expected this reality when she started to fall for him. It hadn't occurred to her that she may lose him.

Mina spent the rest of the day feeling like she was in a fog. She could hear Corric speaking to her, and she did as he asked, but she didn't really feel present in her work. She was glad that Corric didn't know her enough to know that something was wrong and ask what was going on. The pressure of the worry only increased as the day went on. Sora came into the infirmary again, this time with a nasty cut on her lip. As Mina stitched up her split lip, she thought about what her husband had said that morning. He was training them harder than he normally would, and it seemed that they continued to fail.

"Do you feel ready?" Mina asked Sora as she put the finishing touches on her wound.

Sora looked at her with a confident look on her face.

"Of course. We have been training every day for this. We will not fail."

Mina wished she had the same confidence that Sora did. She walked away from the young woman and was surprised when the infirmary door opened to reveal Ladon. He looked equally surprised to see her but quickly switched his focus to Sora.

"It's time. We need to get ready."

Mina felt her heart stop at his words. The time had come, and much sooner than she thought. She watched Sora jump off the medical table and follow Ladon out of the infirmary. Mina wanted to follow them, tell them not to go, stop them from going to their deaths, but her feet were frozen in place. She only moved when Corric came up behind her and cleared his throat to get her attention.

"We need to go brief them on what medical supplies are important that they retrieve. I want to make sure we get all we can."

Mina followed him through the door and down the hall, feeling like it was her that was walking to her death rather than the fated strike force. When they rounded the corner, she saw the group of soldiers preparing to go. Corric approached the group and began to tell them what he needed, providing each of them with a list. Mina watched silently, her eyes scanning the group. It consisted of the people that she had listed off that morning, plus eight others. Her husband was nowhere in sight. As soon as she thought that, she heard his voice behind her.

"Let's move out. We need to go to Manaria first to gain access to the city. Our time is limited, as this storm will do a lot of damage to the city. We need to get in and get what we need before it hits."

The entire group nodded in acceptance and moved together down the hall towards the exit to the surface, leaving Mina standing with her husband and Corric.

"We will get whatever supplies are available. I'm sure you will have more than you need doctor."

"I don't think there is such a thing as too many medical supplies Commander. I wish you luck and that you return safely."

Kolya nodded and turned his attention to Mina. She took in all the details of his face, afraid that this would be the last time she would see it. He didn't look worried at all, which concerned her even more. Sora and Ladon would be overconfident enough. They didn't need another overconfident member on their team, especially their leader. Mina reached out and touched her husband's arm, letting it drift down to his hand.

"Good luck Acastus."

His mouth twisted into the smirk she loved as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Without saying anything, he released her hand and followed his team down the hallway. Mina stood frozen in place, watching him walk away. As soon as he disappeared from her sight, she felt herself start to panic. The overwhelming urge to chase after them and stop them rose in her mind again. Before she could stop herself, she took off down the hall and followed the group to the surface. She caught up to them before they got very far and called out to her husband.

"Acastus!"

He paused and turned around at the sound of her voice. The rest of the group stopped in their tracks and looked back as well. Mina closed the distance between them until she was standing just under a foot away from her husband. Without much more of a pause, Mina launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling his face down to hers. She crushed her lips against his in desperation. She was delighted when she felt him reciprocate the kiss, wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her closer to him. After what felt like hours, Mina broke away from the kiss, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Please come back to me Acastus," she whispered before releasing him.

He released her from the embrace, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek. His expression was so mixed, Mina wasn't sure what emotion she was seeing.

"I will," was the only thing he said before pulling away completely and continuing his trek to the gate.

Mina watched him walk away again, this time with a little more hope. She hoped that she had just given him something more to fight for, something to come back to. As she watched him pass the group and take the lead, her eyes grazed over Ladon's face. His expression was a mixture of sadness, anger, and jealousy. Mina wasn't shocked by his reaction, but she figured he would do more to hide it. Her attention was torn from his face by the feeling of someone touching her shoulder. She glanced to her side to see her brother standing beside her.

"They'll come back. We just have to have faith."

Mina reached up and placed her hand over his on her shoulder.

"I hope so."

For the remainder of the night, Mina alternated between laying down starring at the ceiling and pacing the length of her living room. Thali and Caleb had come to sit with her until they heard something. Corric had given her a radio, telling her that he would call her if he needed her help when they returned. Mina knew she wasn't the only anxious one in the room. Thali had been sitting in the chair nervously biting her nails. Caleb sat silently at the table sharpening his knife. He was waiting for orders to report to the gate to go with the support troops to assist Kolya's strike force.

The sound of static coming from the radio caused all three of them to jump. Mina and Caleb both looked at the device, waiting to hear orders for one of them. Mekhai's voice came from the device, calling for the reinforcement troops to gather at the gate. Caleb looked at his sisters, dread in his eyes. Mina shook her head vigerously.

"It only makes sense that they need backup. I don't know how Cowen expected them to succeed with such a small group."

Caleb said nothing, not wanting to extinguish Mina's hope. He grabbed his knife off the table and walked over to the door. Mina and Thali followed him and stood on the porch as he walked away in the direction of the gate. Thali reached out and grabbed her sisters hand, holding on tightly.

"They can do this. They'll come back to us," Mina whispered, trying to reassure herself more than Thali.

It wasn't long before the radio buzzed again, this time with Corric's voice. He was calling Mina to the compound. Mina and Thali looked at each other with concern before they both took off out the door. They reached the entrance to the compound in record time, nearly running into Corric as they approached.

"What's going on?" Mina asked, out of breath from running.

Corric's expression was grim. He looked between the two sisters, his eyes lingering on Thali.

"It's not good. The original strike force lost many of its members. Apparently Atlantis isn't going down without a fight. Unfortunately, most of the support troops have been lost as well."

"What? How?" Thali asked desperately.

"It seems that someone raised the Atlantis gate shield and stopped most of the troops from getting through. Sadly, most of the company was killed as soon as they entered the gate."

Mina felt her grip on her sister's hand slip as Thali fell to her knees, a sob escaping her mouth. Not only were things not going well for the original strike force, but now it was a possibility that Caleb had been killed. Corric crouched in front of Thali and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Caleb was one of the first few through. I think he made it through before the shield was raised. I can't be sure, but that's what I saw."

Mina felt numb. The world seemed to be going by around her but she was oblivious to it. Things were going just as bad as she had feared they would. The next time they heard a radio, it was Ladon's voice coming through.

"We are retreating. The city is going to be lost any minute."

Mina pulled Thali to her feet and the pair of them raced towards the glowing gate with Corric not far behind them. When they reached the gate, they were met with the sight of four men coming through in pairs carrying supplies between them. Thali let out a shout of joy when she saw Caleb, rushing forward and throwing her arms around his neck. Mina was relieved that Caleb had made it back, but her eyes focused on the blue glow of the gate. She watched expectantly, waiting for more to come through.

The small group in front of the gate ducked out of the way as bullets came flying through the gate. Following the gunfire, a person stumbled through the gate, sprawling out on the ground. Mina ran to the man's side, helping him to his feet. It was Ladon. She felt the panic raising in her chest again as she looked at the gate again. She grabbed Ladon's shoulders and shook him.

"Where is he Ladon? Where is my husband?"

Ladon looked over his shoulder at the gate, panting from his escape.

"He was right behind me!"

Mina's question was answered when another figure fell through the gate onto the ground before the gate closed behind him. She abandoned Ladon and rushed to his side, gasping in relief when she saw her husband's face. Her relief quickly evaporated when she felt stickiness on his shoulder and saw that he was unconscious.

"Corric!" she screamed, pressing her hand against the bleeding wound.

Corric ran to her side and cursed when he took in the sight before him.

"Help me get him to the infirmary!"

Mina watched helplessly as Mekhai dumped the supplies off one of the stretchers and helped Corric lift her unconscious husband onto it. She prayed fervently that he would survive.

"Please let one good thing come out of this disaster."

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think!