Charlie Blue - Oh trust me, I'm not fond of body builders myself. I just was going for the effect of having John, Ronon and Lorne all flexing away for the audience, though trying to pass it off as 'stretching'. LOL. Yeah, I've also got 'Chest' coming, and 'Legs'. Oh, and more... LOL.

Hm, oiled up Rick and Joe flexing away? I'm glad you like it. :)

Tinypennie - One of the first things I look at is the eyes. I'm glad you like it, I'm trying to find every angle to write chapters on John.

Sparklyshimmer2010 - LOL I do like Lorne, I was just going for the effect that he's got more muscle than John. I think they're both hot. Besides, guys all sweaty and flexing? HAD to have Lorne in there, too! LOL Glad you liked it! :)

Kal - Thank you for your review to this chapter. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how I feel about beta readers, and I've never done it before, so I'm kind of nervous. When it comes to my mistakes, I'm always willing to go back and learn from them. I never got a chance to watch all the early episodes, now that I think of it, because I don't have access to a TV and the early ones I can't find on a site anywhere to watch for free.

Also, when it comes to my mistakes, I rely on my readers pointing them out, so I can go back and fix them, and remember for future use as I go. I may have problems in my timeline in places, I will try to keep them as close to acurate as possible, but I make no guarantees. I hope you enjoy this story, otherwise, and please feel free to point out errors.

And here's my next update! :)

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There.

As he turned away, John unconsciously bared the very thing I was looking for. Raised and very slightly tinted purple, the scar ran along the right side of his throat. It usually hid just under the collar of his shirt, and wasn't very pronounced, but if you knew what to look for, it was there.

The Iratus bug.

We hadn't been in the Pegasus Galaxy for only a few hours when we met the Athosians and Teyla, along with several others, including Colonel Sumner, were taken prisoner by a rogue group of Wraith. In that time, split second decisions were made, and a domino effect was set into motion.

They killed the Queen in charge, John killed the Queen in charge.

That ended up waking up hundreds, if not thousands of other Wraith and the war for our survival began. John's encounter with the Wraith on an off world mission was the very reason for that scar. He'd been running through the woods, backwards, trying to watch for the Wraith stunner blasts, but unfortunately, he hadn't seen the Iratus bug hanging from the tree until he backed into it.

Constant agony.

That had been how he described it. Every little thing the others did to remove it caused him agony, and only ended up weakening him further as it drew more blood from him to heal. In the end, he'd had to have his heart stopped in order to get it off him, and it almost didn't start up again.

Turning back towards Teyla and Ronon, John continued to talk to them, for all intents and purposes, completely unaware of my stare. He flashed a grin at Teyla as Ronon made a face and cuffed him in the shoulder, playfully, and they all laughed. Raising his arm to rub at the arm, his half unbuttoned blue shirt fell to the side, showing he was not wearing a shirt beneath it.

I felt my face heat up as I stared at the exposed bit of flesh, along with the black hairs that crossed his chest, and another small scar.

That one made me wince as I recalled how he'd gotten it. Kolya, that bastard! He'd managed to capture John, and allowed a Wraith to feed on him, in order to try and bribe me into giving him Ladon Radim, who'd betrayed him and taken over the position of the Genii, becoming an ally of ours in the process. Albeit, a somewhat tentative one.

I would have agreed, too, if it hadn't been for John.

He lowered his arm and re-adjusted his shirt before turning in my direction, immediately, I turned my attention to a small pad I was carrying.

He'd insisted that we not hand over Ladon, despite the pain he was in. I had to watch with my very own eyes as the Wraith fed on him again and again, until he was on the brink of death. It was a shock, that the Wraith ended up giving him back his life. I didn't understand it, but I was beyond grateful.

Still, seeing his face twisted in agony, and hearing his muffled shouts as he was fed on, I shuddered and tried to bite back the tears. I'd been helpless to stop it all. No, if I'd given over Ladon...

They still would have killed him.

"Elizabeth?"

Jumping and gasping in surprise, I looked up to see John walk over, buttoning up his shirt and looking concerned.

"Are you alright?"

His eyes seemed to bore into my own, almost sparkling with the life they contained. It helped to reassure me he was alive, but it did little to reassure me of all that he'd been through. More than once, he came much too close to death's door.

Nodding absently, I tried to smile and hoped it didn't come out as weak as it felt.

His concerned look only seemed to grow. "Ok, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I shook my head, trying to gain control of my emotions. "I just have a lot of work to do, that's all."

"Right. Elizabeth, I think I know you well enough to know when something's bothering you." His tone was casual, but his expression told me he wasn't playing games.

"John, please..."

"What's wrong." Maybe he had no idea how painful it was to think about it all, but I knew he wasn't going to let it go.

"Carson let you out already?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. My eyes landed on his now covered chest and I felt my hand twitch, resisting the urge to reach out and run my hands over the scar I knew lay beneath the material.

He frowned and nodded. "Yeah, the Wraith healed me, fully. Doesn't look like he even stole one year."

This made me raise an eyebrow. "A Wraith...?" I'm sure my tone explained how confused I was. Not about the Wraith himself, I already knew about all that, but about him giving John back all of his life.

Shrugging, John dug his hands into his pocket after waving for me to take a walk with him. "Don't think you're getting out of it. You still have to tell me what's wrong."

He wasn't normally one to pry, which made me wonder what he saw that caught his attention. "I was just thinking about...all of this." I found myself saying. "Everyone's always getting hurt, and I feel so helpless here."

"You're doing great." He stopped and took my arm a moment. "Elizabeth, you can't save people by giving the bad guys what they want."

"No, but I could have done a better job stalling him."

Now he looked like he understood fully and he absently ran a hand over his chest. "That's what this is about." Sighing loudly, John looked at me. "You can't blame yourself for me getting hurt. I was careless on that part, and it was bound to happen."

Shaking my head, I continued to walk on, and try to ignore the guilt that ate at me. He kept trying to reassure me, and I listened half heartedly nodding now and then, but I was lost in thought.

It doesn't help that those scars are always going to be there to remind me of what happened.

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi