The following two weeks were full of activity. Winter had come to an end, so the farmers were busy in the fields, preparing them for crops. Mina herself was quite busy. Now that things were out in the open, her training had increased. On top of her training from Corric and the sparring with Caleb under Nikomi's guidance, Mina had another task in her docket. Acastus had made it a condition that she train extra under his guidance. Before where she had free time was now filled with even more training.
At the end of her day in the infirmary, Mina headed to the training room. Today was her first day training with Acastus. She was nervous as he had knocked her off her feet fairly easily before. While Mina knew he wouldn't deliberately hurt her, he was a tough teacher. She had patched up enough people in the infirmary that had been on the other end of his teachings to know that. When she entered the room, Mina was surprised to find it dark.
"Acastus?" she called out hesitantly, stepping into the room.
Mina was caught off guard when the door slammed shut behind her, leaving her in complete darkness.
"If this is your idea of a joke Acastus, I'm not amused. I thought this was supposed to help me."
"This is helping you," said his voice from somewhere in the darkness, "not every mission you have will be in well-lit areas. Try and find me in the dark."
Mina sighed and squinted her eyes, attempting to locate her infuriating husband in the dark room. Based on the door closing behind her and the loudness of his voice, she could tell that he wasn't too far from her. She could hear him breathing and soft noises that could have been footsteps.
"You have a very weird method of teaching," she said, trying to engage him in conversation to help pinpoint his location.
When he didn't respond, Mina rolled her eyes. He seemed to have anticipated her intent to find him. Blindly stumbling around the room, Mina soon found a wall and used it to guide herself around. She tried to keep her breathing and footsteps quiet so he wouldn't sense her presence. With all of her focus on being quiet, she didn't notice him in front of her until she ran into. Even though she had been looking for him, his presence still startled her. She let out a small scream, falling backward to the floor.
She heard him chuckle before the room filled with light. He walked over to her, offering his hand to help her up off the floor. Her pride wounded by her own reaction, Mina refused his hand and stood on her own. She placed her hands on her hips and pinned him with a glare.
"That wasn't funny Acastus," she said in annoyance.
Kolya closed the distance between them, an amused expression on his face.
"Yes it was," he said, reaching out to pull her to him, "all that was missing was a spoon."
Mina accepted his embrace, but narrowed her eyes at him.
"If I had a spoon, I would hit you with it," she threatened.
Kolya chuckled again and leaned down, kissing her softly. Mina smiled against his lips, pulling away after a few moments.
"I thought we were here so you could train me, not scare the life out of me."
"That was the plan. The scaring part was improvised."
Mina rolled her eyes and stepped back, pulling herself out of his embrace. She gestured at the training room, showcasing the various methods of training he had to choose from.
"Well, what will we be focusing on?" she asked.
"According to what I've observed, Nikomi seems to be focusing on defending yourself rather than any offensive methods. I want to remedy that, because as I said before, the ability to defend yourself will only get you so far."
Mina raised her eyebrows in confusion at his words.
"You do realize that I'm a medic right? My role is to help those around me. The training was simply so I could protect myself when the situation called for it. It was the only way Cowen would allow me to go into the field."
Mina could see a look of concern mixed with frustration cross her husband's face.
"The fact that you are a medic makes you valuable. Being a young woman makes you even more so. There may come a time when you have to fight back to prevent yourself from being captured."
"Isn't that just self-defense?" Mina asked.
Kolya sighed and closed the distance between them again. He reached out and spun her around to face away from him. Grabbing her wrists, he held them securely behind her back, immobilizing her.
"How would you get out of this situation?" he asked.
Mina contemplated her options. Stomping on his foot would be her first instinct. She moved to do exactly that, but her movement was stopped when he used his own foot to push her leg sideways, causing her to be even more immobilized than before. She grunted in frustration at her helpless situation.
"I figured you would try that. What you should do first is attempt to remove your wrists from my grasp. If you move them against my thumbs, you should be able to break free."
Mina did what he suggested, moving her hands down and outwards, breaking his hold on him. She spun to face him, a smile on her face at her small accomplishment. He looked slightly amused, but kept a serious expression plastered on his face.
"Now you're free, what do you do?" he asked.
"Run?" Mina guessed.
Kolya shook his head at her suggestion.
"What if your attacker runs after you? What if they have a gun? You wouldn't get far."
Mina's previous joy evaporated. She knew he was right, but she honestly hadn't given this kind of situation much thought. Like he had before, Kolya spun her around away from him. This time instead of grabbing her wrists, he gently placed his hand on the sides of her head.
"It will not feel good, but if you throw your head back and up into the person's face, it should knock them off guard."
He slowly demonstrated the movement by guiding her hand with his hands. Mina felt the top of her head brush his chin. The idea that she could do much damage to any man this way with her small stature amused her.
"I think I'm a bit short for that move Acastus," she said.
"You'd be surprised how painful it is for someone to hit your chin with their head. Once you do that, they may be incapacitated enough for you to do more damage, no matter what size they are compared to you."
"You seem to have high expectations of what I am capable of. Which is funny since you were so adamant before that I didn't have what it takes."
Mina could hear resentment in her own voice. She hadn't meant for her words to come out sounding so accusatory, but she was annoyed that her husband may have been correct with his original assessment. She felt him withdraw from her, releasing his grip on her head. Worried that she may have said the wrong thing, Mina spun around to face him, ready to apologize for her tone. The expression she saw on his face surprised her. It wasn't anger or a gloating one. It looked like pain.
"Mina, I know what I said before hurt you. That wasn't my intention. I simply wanted you to take a step back and look at the situation. That is why I want to train you, to prepare you for the things that you may not expect. I don't want you to get in way over your head and get hurt, or worse killed. I've seen that happen to people with more experience than you."
Mina wasn't sure if he was talking about Pranos, Sora, or even himself. She could see the real concern that he had for her well-being, and it warmed her heart. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around his midsection.
"I understand Acastus. I'll try to listen and heed your advice."
Mina felt him laugh as he returned her embrace.
"I would appreciate that."
A few days later, Mina was leaving the training compound when her radio went off. Corric's voice came from the speaker, calling her attention. He requested her presence in the infirmary. He didn't sound like it was anything urgent, but it was unusual for him to summon her on her training days. As she turned the corner, she met up with her husband. He seemed to be heading in the same direction as her.
"Did you get summoned by Corric too?" Mina asked.
Kolya nodded in answer to her question.
"Why would he call both of us to the infirmary?" he asked.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Mina said, opening the main door to the infirmary.
The pair walked into the room and were surprised what they found there. Corric was standing beside a bed tending to a patient, a patient that neither of them was expecting to see.
"Sora?" Mina asked in surprise.
The young woman turned her attention from Corric to the new occupants of the room. Her eyes scanned Mina's outfit, widening in surprise.
"I get taken into custody for a few months, and you join the military? What's next, you take over the Genii?" Sora said snidely.
Mina wasn't sure where Sora's hostility was coming from. Granted, they had never been friends, but she didn't think Sora thought so badly of her.
"Be nice, your life may be in her hands someday," Corric scolded Sora.
Sora rolled her eyes at Corric's words and turned her attention to Kolya.
"Commander. Good to see you in good health. I heard Sheppard shot you while you were leaving the city."
Mina looked up at her husband and noticed a small twitch of annoyance at Sora's mention of his failure.
"I'm glad you have been returned to us safely Sora, as I wasn't sure at first if you had survived. We will need to work on your ability to follow orders now that you have returned."
Mina saw Sora's face fall at his reprimand. She knew that Sora wanted approval at all times and didn't take anyone's criticism well. It was a trait that she shared with the younger woman, so she recognized the shame on her face.
"While it's good to see she has returned, why have you called us here Corric?" Mina asked.
Turning away from his patient, Corric faced the couple.
"Sora is under his command, so it was protocol for him to be here to welcome her back. Also, I was ordered to bring you both here."
"Why? Has something happened?" Kolya asked.
"She's here," Sora said, vague about who she was talking about. "I'm sure Cowen doesn't want you anywhere near her after what happened."
Mina had no idea who Sora was talking about, but she could tell that her husband did. He looked very uncomfortable and she noticed him glance at her briefly.
"Who is this mysterious woman?" Mina asked, wanting some clarification.
"Dr. Elizabeth Weir," her husband said in answer.
Mina nodded in understanding. The leader of Atlantis and Acastus would not be on the best of terms after everything that had happened between him and her people. What confused her was the amused smirk on Sora's face that seemed to be pointed at her husband's discomfort. Mina grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.
"Acastus? Is there something you aren't telling me?" she asked with concern. "I know things have never gone well between you and the people of Atlantis, but you seem extra uncomfortable about the fact that she's here."
Kolya met her gaze and Mina could see something she could only describe as shame hidden underneath his discomfort. She wracked her mind for something that could have caused that reaction. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind that she wished hadn't.
"You're attracted to her aren't you?" she asked quietly.
The guilty gleam in his eyes was enough of an answer for Mina. She felt a twinge in her heart at the silent confirmation. Though she didn't imagine it was anything serious, it still hurt. Releasing her grip on his arm, Mina stepped away from him. She saw him lift his hands to stop her from pulling away, but she put enough distance between them that he couldn't touch her.
"I need to be alone," she said softly before turning and walking out of the infirmary.
Knowing that he would likely stay in the infirmary until he knew Dr. Weir was gone, Mina walked home at a slow pace. She contemplated the information that she had acquired. She wasn't sure why the idea of another woman being attractive to her husband bothered her so much, but it did.
When she reached home, Mina retreated into her old bedroom, closing the door behind her. Laying on the bed, she stared at the ceiling, attempting to sort out the feelings bouncing around inside her. She could feel jealousy brewing within her, which she did not like at all. Mina sat up on the bed, letting out a frustrated sigh. She felt ridiculous. There was no danger of anything happening between Acastus and Dr. Weir, she knew that. It was simply the idea that he liked a woman that was superior to her in every way that bothered her so much.
Mina sat on her bed for quite a while, stewing in her jealous feelings. She had said that she wanted to be alone, but now it didn't seem like the best idea. When she was alone, her mind tended to wander to places she rather it didn't. After a while, she heard the front door open and footsteps approach the bedroom door.
"Mina?" said Kolya's muffled voice from the other side of the door. "Can you come out so we can talk?"
Mina sighed and stood from the bed, reaching out to open the door and leave the sanctuary of the bedroom. She found herself face to face with her husband, an awkward tension between them.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Not really wanting to fight about her childish jealousy, Mina brushed it off. "It's fine Acastus," she said, trying to keep her face neutral.
He didn't look like he believed her. He reached out and pulled her towards him, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You didn't look like it was fine. You looked hurt," he said with concern.
"Really Acastus," she murmured into his chest, "it's nothing."
"Then why did you run away?" he asked, pulling away to look her in the eyes.
"I didn't run away, I walked away calmly," Mina said, almost jokingly.
Kolya tilted his head and gave her a small smirk. Her small attempt at humor seemed to lighten the mood a bit.
"Which is very unusual for you," he said. "You want to tell me what is going on in your head?"
Mina shook her head, dismissing the problem.
"I had a small moment of jealousy, but I'm fine."
Kolya laughed softly.
"You have nothing to be jealous about Mina. It was a brief moment of attraction that happened months ago, when we had just begun and things were new."
"Then why were you so uncomfortable?" Mina asked.
The guilty expression returned to his face at her question.
"Because I remembered that moment and instantly regretted it. When you noticed, I felt even worse. I assure you Mina, any infatuation that was there was fleeting and is long gone. Why would I be interested in a woman that hates my very existence when I have you?"
As encouraging as his words were, Mina could feel the sinking feeling creeping up on her again that she had been pondering earlier.
"Because she is superior to me in every way. She's a powerful, smart, beautiful woman in a leadership position. She's what any man would want."
Her husband's guilty expression was replaced with one of confusion.
"Have you met her? You seem to know a lot about her for someone who has never even seen her."
"Caleb described her in great detail once," Mina said rolling her eyes. "He made her sound astounding. I imagine he had a bit of a crush on her himself, which makes me believe that she must be an amazing woman."
"You are also an amazing woman Mina. You don't have to be a genius or a leader to be amazing. You put up with me, which I don't give you enough credit for. You are beautiful, selfless, and caring. I wouldn't trade you for anyone else."
Mina felt her heart swell at his words. She guessed that was the closest thing to an 'I love you' she would get from him, so she was willing to take it. Lifting up to her toes, Mina kissed him. He earnestly returned the kiss, pulling her closer to him. All her feelings of jealousy dissolved and were replaced with warmth.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This takes place at the end of Season 1 of SGA just for time reference. Please review and let me know what you think. Reviews are writer fuel!