All of the girls had said good night not long after Laura had left. It had been a long few weeks and everyone was feeling its effects. Only John, Daniel, Lorne, McKay, Carson, Ronan and Mitchell were left in the mess hall with a couple of other stragglers.

"Well has been interesting to say the least." John said with a grin.

"How sir?" asked Lorne. John looked at him and his grin widened.

"Well let's see. The battle lines were drawn. Actually I should say the battle lines were redrawn because they were already drawn and you and Laura just completely ignored them." He chuckled at Lorne's flustered face. "Your one lucky man to have a woman like Laura. She's one of those women who would do absolutely everything in her power to be with the man she loves." He added with a sigh. The group looked at him in surprise. They had never heard John Sheppard sigh, Mitchell couldn't understand this and asked, "What about you and Teyla?" John nearly choked on the drink he had taken. Many people on Atlantis suspected that John and Teyla had feelings for each other. However the expedition had seen the arguments between Sheppard and Bates about Sheppard's "personal feelings". No one ever brought around him. But this other colonel just had.

"Me and Teyla? You've got to be kidding right?" Six pairs of eyes rolled at him. He really was oblivious.

"Oh come on! Just admit it already. We already know anyway." Rodney said exasperated. He had known for ages and he wasn't known for realising anything that was going on around him. Much less other human interaction. John scoffed at him and countered, "What about you and Weir?" McKay flushed and opened his mouth to retaliate but couldn't say anything. He was speechless. Lorne took advantage of the silence and said, "You know both of you should say something. You never know they might feel the same way. In fact I'm willing to bet a whole months pay on it." Daniel rounded on him.

"Ok. I'll take some of that action. However what I want to know is what you're going to do about Laura and that shrink." Lorne shifted uncomfortably. "I…uh…uh…I don't know what to do. To be honest." He stammered. Suddenly the penny dropped for Mitchell.

"So you're the one she retired for? Well first thing you gotta do is get rid of that Heightmeyer chick. She's bad news."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" asked McKay.

"I don't know. Just a bad feeling I guess. But as long as she's around Laura could be in serious trouble."

"I take it you've never seen her fight…" said Sheppard and then added "when she isn't sleep deprived?" Mitchell shook his head. "Trust me. She can take care of herself."

"He's right. She can almost beat me." Ronan said. Ronan rarely spoke but when he did, he spoke volumes.

"Wow. That's impressive." Mitchell said.

"Exactly. So I wouldn't worry." John said, with a twinkle in his eyes. He had noticed the way Mitchell had been looking at Laura all the way through his visit. But tonight his eyes had practically jumped out of his head when he had seen her. The men spoke for a couple more hours on random things when McKay said, "Right I'm off to bed. I'll see you all later. Good night." He stood up and walked out of the mess hall.

McKay was walking towards his lab because he had forgotten something when he had noticed a lump lying on the floor. Deciding to investigate he walked over and gasped in surprise. There was blood everywhere. He couldn't tell who it was until he got closer and he realised it was Laura. He kneeled down to check her pulse and after a couple of minutes he finally found it. It was there but barely. She was also cold. Knowing that he shouldn't move her, he let himself into her room and pulled the quilt off her bed. Going back outside he placed it on top of her and ran back towards the mess hall. He had to find Beckett. Gasping for air he went into the mess hall and to his dismay he only found Sheppard.

"Where's…where's Beckett?" he asked breathlessly. Hearing McKay John turned and said, "He's gone to bed. Why? What's happened?"

"I…I…need him. Laura's been hurt and I don't know how badly." Shocked Sheppard jumped up from his seat and started to pull McKay out of the mess hall. "Where is she? I'll go and get Beckett. You wait with her."

"She's outside her quarters. What do I do?" McKay asked. There were many things that McKay could handle. But this wasn't one of them.

"Just stay with her. Keep her calm if she wakes up." McKay went paler. Seeing this Sheppard said, "She is alive right?"

"Barely." Sheppard turned on his heel and ran without saying another word. McKay ran back to Laura.

What the hell is all that banging? Beckett thought. He plodded towards the door and opened it. He was surprised to see John at his door looking worried.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Its Laura. She's hurt down by her quarters."

"How badly?" asked Beckett as he grabbed some medical supplies.

"I'm not sure. Rodney found her. He's with her now." John answered.

"Right lets go then." The pair hurried off down the corridors.

McKay was sitting beside Laura holding her left hand. He was so out of his depth he didn't know what to do. He suddenly heard running footsteps coming towards him. breathing a sigh of relief he said, "What took you so long?" Beckett didn't answer and said, "Holy crap." As he knelt down to examine Laura. After five minutes he determined that she could be moved to the infirmary. He called for his med team.

"Should we call Lorne?" asked Rodney.

"No. I want to get her under the scanner and checked out. I can't do that with him hovering and asking questions." Beckett said. Rodney and John looked at him in surprise. He had sounded cold and uncaring. Two things the doctor wasn't.

"I'm sorry. I still think it's the best thing for now though." John and Rodney nodded and let Beckett and his med team whisk her away. John turned to McKay and said, "I want this area taped off until we know exactly what's happened here." McKay nodded and wondered off to get something to string across the hallway outside her room. Sheppard walked to the gate room and ordered four marines to stand outside the tape and if they saw Lorne hen they had to send him to the infirmary. They nodded their understanding and walked to their new stations.

John wasn't surprised to see McKay in the infirmary by the time he arrived there after debriefing the marines.

"Any news?" he asked. McKay shook his head. This incident had him them more than they were willing to let on.

The next morning Evan Lorne woke up with a smile on his face. Today was the day he was going to break up with Heightmeyer, and finally ask out the woman of his dreams. But first he wanted to tell Laura of his plans so that she could be prepared…just in case. He quickly showered and dressed and walked towards her quarters. As he neared her quarters her realised that there were two marines blocking the hallway.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We're here under Colonel Sheppard's orders. You are to go to the infirmary." Replied the marine. Confused Lorne said, "Why do I have to go to the infirmary?" he asked the marine. In answer the marine stepped aside and Lorne paled at the sight of the blood. Turning on his heel he ran to the infirmary.

He burst into the infirmary just as Beckett came out of the doors leading to the isolation rooms.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded. John nearly fell out of his seat in surprise at all of the commotion. Rodney merely looked up from his bloodied hands and waited for Beckett to speak. Before he could John said, "How is she doc?" Beckett took a deep breath and said, "Well from the top. She's got a couple of nasty head wounds, which is where all the blood came from, she'll have a nasty concussion when she wakes up. Moving down her right shoulder was dislocated and her right arm was broken. She's got two broken ribs and three cracked ones. Her left knee is also dislocated. I've put everything back in place and set her right arm in a cast. But that's not what is worrying me." The three men stared in disbelief at Beckett.

"There's worse?" asked Rodney. It was the first time he had spoken in hours.

"Aye. There are no defensive wounds."

"You've got to be kidding right?" Lorne sounded dumbfounded by this statement.

"She can nearly take Ronan and Teyla on a good day. If she was tired she could probably take both and win. How has she got no defensive wounds?" asked John in shock.

"She was stunned before she was beaten up. I ran her blood work twice to make sure. The electrolytes in her blood were imbalanced. Indicative of being stunned." No one spoke after this comment. Beckett finally broke the silence.

"Colonel if you don't mind I'd like two marines stationed outside those doors" he pointed to the doors leading to the isolation room "and two outside the infirmary doors. With expressed orders that no one is allowed in here without my expressed permission." The look of shock on John's face was new. He had never been asked by the doctor to have a security detail outside the infirmary much less inside it.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because whoever did this could try again." Sheppard nodded and tapped his earpiece to get the men to the infirmary.

"Doc can I stay with her?" asked Lorne.

"Aye lad. I've already set up the bed." Beckett walked away and Lorne nodded to Sheppard and walked into the isolation room.

A/N: I don't actually know if there are any electrolytes in the blood. I just made it up.