AN: Thank you everyone for the reading and/or reviewing.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis or it's wonderful characters.

3 – Contemplatively

Jennifer got herself to bed and laid long into the night thinking about her conversation with Lorne trying to decipher what'd happened. She'd decided after going over it at least a dozen times in her head that she must've offended him by referring to the peck on her lips in the mess hall as a kiss. So he'd proceeded to demonstrate to her what a real kiss would've been like. It had to be a case of wounded pride didn't it? Men could be sensitive about that kind of thing.

There was a part of her she was trying to hold in check, the part of her that hoped it'd meant more. She hadn't thought of the Major in romantic terms before. Sure he was gorgeous, who could miss the solid, soldier's body. His personality was envious as well, good sense of humor, protective instincts and quiet strength. He had the respect of most of the Atlantis contingent, and the eye of many of the women.

Although after that kiss she'd found herself beginning to re-examine their relationship. Laura seemed to think there was something more between them than friendship. She couldn't deny the kiss had definitely been something and stirred some responsive feelings, but she wasn't sure what she wanted. Hadn't things been pretty near perfect before this?

Jenn groaned as she rolled over into her pillow and renewed her determination to quit thinking about the kiss. The worst part of all she decided was just how much harder it was going to be to face Lorne and the gang. Laura would know right away something was wrong and Jennifer didn't think she'd be able to look Lorne in the eye without blushing for quite some time.

She didn't doubt Evan would try to apologize when he got back from his mission. It was one of his honorable traits, the need to make things right. At least she had a day before she'd have to deal with that.

Cadman plopped her tray down on the table in the mess hall before sitting. "So, what's the deal with your boss?" she complained.

"Good morning to you too, Short Fuse," Lt. Sanchez returned with a laugh. "Yes, I slept well last night, and you?"

"I hate it when you call me that," Laura grumbled furrowing her brow before digging into the eggs and hash browns on her tray.

Lt. Jeffries chuckled at her, "And yet it's so fitting on mornings like this. What could possibly have happened to you in the short time you've been awake?"

"And where's your sidekick?" Sanchez added leaning back in his chair, his breakfast finished.

Captain Jacobs, who'd been quiet during the exchange, now got an evil glare from Cadman. "Hey, what'd I do?"

Laura ignored his question, "I radioed to tell her I was on my way to breakfast, but she just growled at me that it was her day off and to leave her alone so she could sleep."

"It is 0630, which is kind of early for a day off," Jacobs stated.

"I have the day off," the red head complained, "besides, Jenn's a doctor and since when do they sleep in?"

The boys were still looking at her like she was from Venus, so she tried a different tactic. "Have you noticed that she's been missing a lot of meals with us lately?"

"Yeah," Jeffries contemplated, "she's been busy," he said excusing it.

"Well, Lorne's been missing a few too," she pointed out, but they still didn't look like they were catching on to what she was pointing out. "I thought it seemed like Keller was acting… awkward around Lorne about a week ago. When I confronted her about it she said something about the two of them just needing to clear the air and not to worry about it."

Laura looked at the three across from her and saw that they were now beginning to grin at her and she sent back glares. They were not helping her mood and the frustration from it was making her think of ways to take it out on Jennifer as soon as she was done eating.

"I get it," Sanchez began, "your upset because Jenn won't tell you what she and the Major need to clear the air about." His statement was met with silence, so he prodded her, "Am I right?"

"Don't you three jar heads want to know what has the two of them avoiding each other?" Cadman ranted back at Sanchez.

He looked at his two team mates for help and found it in Jacobs.

"Actually, the boss has been acting a lot more reserved lately," the Captain agreed. "This morning he ate pretty quickly and said he'd meet us at the gate. I just figured being part of the administration and all that, he had a lot of things to do. You know… whatever it is that he and Sheppard do in that little office they share."

"Wonder what's going on between the Boss and the Doc?" Sanchez wondered aloud, sounding more curious now, which made Laura feel vindicated a bit.

"It could just be work related stuff," Jacobs commented trying to keep everyone grounded in reality.

"You don't think he finally made a move on her, do ya?" Sanchez speculated with a quick raise of his eyebrows, ignoring Jacobs completely.

"Doubt it," Jeffries replied, "I think she grooves on him too. Don't know why it would've caused an avoidance reaction?"

"Maybe," Jacobs tried again, "because it isn't personal, but a work related issue, you morons."

"Told ya," Laura said triumphantly, "something's up. So what're we gonna do about it?"

Jeffries chuckled at her, "Not a damn thing. He is our superior officer and our team leader. We kind of enjoy the bit of relaxed regs we have with him and don't want to screw that up."

"Well, I know I can make Jenn talk," Laura assured them, "I was hoping you'd try and get him to talk during this mission… you know, guy bonding and all that while you're camping."

All three laughed at her, "Count me out," Sanchez laughed. "Interfere between the man who could make me clean the Jumper with my own tooth brush and the woman who can decide if I'm fit for duty." Sanchez scratched his chin and looked towards the ceiling like he was trying to make a decision, "Nope, I think I'll keep my nose out of it and let the two grown-ups work it out."

"Count me out too," Jeffries agreed, "but I wouldn't mind details if you find out anything good."

Laura noticed the other two looked like they wanted to agree with Jeffries and figured that if she did find out it was something more interesting than their boring old work, she might be able to get the guys help later. "We'll see," Cadman replied, not committing either way.

Captain Jacobs gathered up his tray and stood, his team mates following suite. "We have to get going or we'll be late for this mission." The men began to walk away, but Jacobs turned and threw back over his shoulder, "And be nice to the Doc, it's her day off."

Laura just smirked not promising anything.

Lorne called out a goodnight to his team as he took first watch for the night. He'd volunteered for the first watch, sure he wouldn't be finding sleep real soon anyway. It'd been a successful day taking supplies to the people on M3H-485. In turn they were bringing back several samples of minerals mined on the planet for the Engineering department to analyze for future resources.

It was a good mission in that it gave his team a day of hiking on a beautiful planet to and from the gate, about seven miles, without any worry about dangers from the planet or the people. Their only threat would be by gate, if one arose. Lorne was a little concerned about how they'd transport the minerals to the gate if the Engineers decided they were of great value, but not likely something that'd involve his team directly.

Thinking of his team, they'd acted a little oddly today but he couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what the odd part was. He'd caught a few long looks from his team mates and Jacobs had even asked him if he had a lot of paperwork and things to get caught up on when they got back. Evan knew he wasn't being his usual self and was sure his team was picking up on his contemplative mood.

Lorne let his mind drift to Jennifer as it had been doing most of the day. He tried to concentrate on his actions and what needed to be done to rectify the way he'd left things the night before. Like all of the other times though, he found it hard to focus on his behavior and the steps needed to make things right.

Instead he thought of his reaction to her return of the kiss. Evan knew he'd startled her, he'd startled himself with his actions, but part of him was pleased to note she hadn't been immune to him. After her initial shock had worn off she'd begun moving her lips under his and he'd felt her hands grab hold of the front of his shirt. It'd been all the encouragement he needed and the kiss had quickly escalated.

Evan shook his head trying to shake loose the memory he was caught in. He needed to focus on the why and how. At least he thought those were the questions. Why had any of this happened… were they attracted to each other? A week ago he would've completely denied it, had he been asked. He didn't know if she was attracted to him, but there was definite chemistry there.

The problem was Atlantis wasn't conducive to dating or figuring these things out without it playing out in front of everyone you knew. It was also a bit risky if, a month in, you decided the attraction was groundless. There were plenty of opportunities in the future to find yourself in some pretty awkward situations with that person. It kind of went double for the infirmary staff because, as part of a military team, he had to report there for post mission physicals several times a week. Nothing more awkward than having your ex give you your post mission physical, he chuckled quietly to himself.

No matter what though, the next time he saw Jennifer it was going to be awkward. He had to admit he was dreading it just a bit and was thankful for the delay this mission gave him.

AN2: Its way past my bedtime now, but I'm going to try to get chapter 4 up later. It is a shorter chapter and shouldn't take long to fix up when I get the chance later. Thanks for reading.