Seven

It's starting to get on her nerves, that burning sensation in her thigh. She's had quite a few graze wounds, and she could swear that none of them ever hurt like this. Something's not right, and she knows she should tell Jennifer, but she doesn't want to worry her more than she already is. And Jennifer is very worried. She desperately needs to distract her, to turn her focus away from struggling against losing hope. So she takes a deep breath.

"Jen… do me a favor?" The doctor stops her pacing and looks at her, a little startled. "Stop that caged tiger thing and sit down. You're starting to make me dizzy." Well… dizzy she does feel, but as much as she would like to pretend, that's definitely not from watching Jen pace in her cell. She's already started to feel the first tendrils of fever creeping up on her, alternating between slightly shivering and feeling like throwing off her jacket because it's much too warm inside.

"Oh… uh… I just… I'm sorry." Jennifer doesn't even have a snappy comeback, simply sits down with her back to the wall again, and that's not good. But how to distract… oh, right, yes, she's got an idea.

"Not a problem. Say, Jen… I was wondering… what exactly did Ronon teach you when you were working out?" Huh. Is that some slight color on Jen's cheeks she sees there in the harsh light from their cells' ceiling? Now she's starting to get interested in what exactly she will answer. Originally, she had intended to just find out if Jen acquired any additional fighting skills to those taught in the classes for female off-world personal, but now there's suddenly a lot more subtext.

"You… won't stop asking if I simply said that this is none of your business, will you?" She allows herself a grin. Nope, not a chance in hell. This is already way too interesting.

"You could always try… but it would be easier for both of us if you just spill the beans. So?" Jennifer grimaces. Funny how well pretending that this is just a girls' poker night with lots of gossiping and laughing already works.

"So nothing. He drags me through the city, shows me some moves and generally wipes the floor with me. Not much to it, really." Mh, yeah, sure. No smoldering looks from under those dread locks, no special gentle touches when patching up a certain Satedan…

"You know, if this isn't such a big deal anyway… why did you jump at my throat so fast a few hours back?" Jennifer's cheeks grow even darker. Yep, dead on target.

"I didn't… alright, I did. And why is that conversation turning into an interrogation, huh? I never grilled you like that about a certain Major." No, she didn't. What she did was grilling Carson and trying to wheedle it out of her with little asides and allusions and all that stuff. So Jennifer Keller should be really glad that she chose the frontal assault rather than the backstabbing.

"I'm not interrogating you. I'm just using some idle time to catch up with a friend on her off-duty life. Nothing wrong with that." Actually, it's more like trying to keep up the pretense of being somewhere else than a damp cell tract, in the hands of some ragtag mixture of Genii and Hybrids who obviously seem to have chosen the simple tactic of isolating them and already starting to feel sick. And there is a lot wrong with that. She'd love to talk strategy with Jennifer, but there's no way in hell she's going to tell these bastards anything about what she's planning.

"Yeah, sure." Jennifer snorts. "But… honestly, Laura, there's nothing to talk about. Ronon and I… we're just friends." Well… seems like Jennifer is really determined to keep this to herself… but she's got another topic up her sleeve.

"If you say so… I take it then that there's nothing to the rumors going round about Rodney McKay and…" But before she can finish the sentence, the door at the end of the hallway between their cells is opened and a group of four individuals – the leader of the group that abducted them and three Hybrids – come to stand between their cells.

"Well, sorry to interrupt your little heart to heart, ladies, but we have a few questions." Ah. So they are here for interrogation. Nothing new under the sun then. And she can handle that, she knows that.

"Ask Google." She should have probably kept her mouth shut, but that was just too tempting. And of course it secures her the attention of everyone in the room. The Genii walks up to the bars of her cell and gives her a sneer.

"Your mouth is far too big for a woman in your condition… Lieutenant Cadman." The… bastards. They had a look at her dog tags when both she and Jennifer had been out. Somehow the thought of one of them getting so close to her and touch her dog tags makes her shiver. And someone told them her rank… a bad feeling rises in her guts. But she can't allow them to see this, so she just shrugs, trying to appear unfazed.

"You really know how to charm a girl." Behind the Genii, she can see Jennifer biting her lip, trying to heed her orders to stay quiet. Come on, Jen, she thinks, it's not that hard keeping your mouth shut.

"Yes, so they like to tell me. And you're quite the charmer yourself. But as much as I would like to continue this conversation, I'm afraid I can't. There are some unpleasant matters that need to be taken care of first." God, he's going for the "cultured rogue"-approach. She always hated guys who did that, because those are always the worst. Those always smile and are nice to you while they hurt you… because hurting you gives them a sick great pleasure.

Still trying to uphold her bored "Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt."-look she uses the wall behind her to haul herself up. Then she walks over to the bars. Determined not to let them see any weakness, she forces herself to keep the limping to a minimum and ignore the pain shooting up from her thigh and her ankle. "Alright, then let's get this over with."

For a moment, it's quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop, but then the Genii explodes into laughter. What the…? "You sure also have a very big opinion of yourself, Lieutenant. What gave you the idea that we were in any way interested in you?" Crap, is all she can think of for a moment. They know exactly who's the soldier and who's the civilian. "I mean, don't take this as an offence, but we were told that you are a soldier, and while I don't hold female soldiers in much esteem, I still have a feeling that you are at least trained well enough to withstand interrogation a little longer than… our good doctor here."

With that, he turns around to face Jennifer who tries very hard to put on a face rivaling hers in defiance, but Jennifer Keller has never been a good poker face. She snorts. "She's of no use to you. She doesn't know anything." Well, it's at least worth a try, isn't it?

But without turning around, the Genii simply says in a suddenly ice-cold voice: "I'll be the judge of that." Then he nods towards the Hybrids nearer to him and orders them to get Jennifer out of her cell. The moment two of them grab her, she starts struggling again, but she manages to catch the doctor's eyes and shakes her head no. It's futile now and would just be a waste of energy. As they drag Jennifer through the heavy door, she doesn't make a sound, which surprises her and makes her pay Jennifer more than just a little grudging respect.

But that won't help Jen withstand whatever they will do to her and when they have closed the door behind them she realizes that she just did a pisspoor job of protecting Jennifer. She has just let them grab her and leave with her and she didn't even try to do something worth mentioning against that. How is she supposed to ever face Evan again, let alone Ronon Dex and Rodney McKay?

Before she knows it, an anguished unarticulated shout has escaped her and she has rattled the bars in front of her with all the anger and helplessness she feels inside. And now that their captors have gone again, the strength that made her stand up on two injured legs is starting to wear off. Barely holding back furious tears at her incompetence, she turns around and slides down to the ground with her back to the bars.

A/N: Huh... here we go again. At least I now found out what made my mother's laptop act all wonky and how to get past it. Now, if everything was so easy...

Anyway, lots of thanks for your patience and best of luck to Eva for her exams. I'm already waiting impatiently for a new chapter of your story, dear ;)