The day went by with no other attacks. Even more puzzling, there had been no new notes as well.
Jennifer was pleased with Anderson's status on the second day of his recovery. The man had a strong will. Adams' continued to heal, now awake, and Miller's injury would require another several days recovery.
She was under constant guard. Between Sheppard and Lorne, as well as Ronon's hulking presence in the infirmary, she was never alone. When Evan was on guard duty, she didn't mind as much, even though he tended to be more protective than Sheppard and Ronon combined.
The occasional flirting made up for it, though. When she wasn't working and they took a meal in her office, he would sneak in a statement that would make her face flush.
"You know, Jen," he would scoot closer to her as they finished lunch. "This has been about my favorite assignment since arriving on Atlantis."
Usually an interruption from Sheppard, Ronon, or Marie would stop them from going any further. Evan would just send her a look, forcing her to regain her composure as someone asked her a question.
Jennifer also took up to sleeping in the infirmary on the third night, where she could not only keep close watch on Lorne's team but also it was more convenient with the security rotation guarding her.
The men were confident they'd capture the man soon. She hoped it would be soon, and without any more attacks.
Nothing was adding up. Evan thought over and over as to who could be the one causing all of this trouble. Now that three of his men were in the infirmary, two critical, as well as the constant threat he feared for Jen, he was desperate to find the man.
Adams hadn't been able to recall much from his attack. According to the battered Lieutenant, a large-sized male was waiting in his darkened room after breakfast on the morning of his attack. He was holding something large, surprised him by hitting him with the object to the stomach, and then proceeded to swing the hard, cold object against him at the same time yelling at him for his interest in Jennifer.
So they had a few basic physical clues, but nothing else came of their talk with Adams.
A few days later, Anderson began to slowly wake up from his encounter with the man. Unfortunately, the captain gave him the same information as Adams. The man had wore a mask, only revealing his eyes, but Anderson informed Evan he was male, tall, slightly with a build and also noticed the man had brown eyes.
Since Jennifer was on shift and it was the afternoon, Evan sat with Ronon while watching her. Word had spread through Atlantis that none of the men in the infirmary had been able to identify their attacker. They hoped it would prevent anyone from coming in and finishing what they'd started.
"Frustrated?" Ronon turned to Evan, sitting down for the first time in hours. Evan had begun pacing in the area they'd set as their domain from the medical staff since they could see the entire infirmary from it.
"I'm missing something," Evan said. "Sheppard and I have gone through all of the military files of males in the city. The stack of possible suspects is the same amount as those who we feel aren't likely candidates, like the three of us, Rodney, Radek, and a few other guys."
"So you're automatically ruling out the scientists and doctors?" Ronon asked.
"It seemed more likely to us that the man is military. Miller and Anderson both said he handled a hand gun like a pro."
Evan finally sat down, looking to check on Jennifer again. Her head was just at the height where he could see her in her office. At least she was sleeping better. With Anderson and Adams looking like they'd be making a full recovery, and Miller healing nicely, everyone was breathing a sigh of relief.
Ronon's words nagged at him, though. Grabbing the stack of personnel files again, he began searching through them and sorted out the men. Frustrated, he decided it would be easier to just ask Jennifer about the medical people and Rodney about the scientists.
He told Ronon he'd be back in a few minutes and located Rodney on the radio.
"McKay, Ronon and I are both wondering if focusing all on military is wise. Can you think of a male scientist who has been trained, informally or in the military, with a gun?" Evan asked, hoping the man would think of someone. "And that meets the description given by my men?"
"Major, other than myself, there are no guys who are remotely capable of handling a gun," Rodney said, distractedly. "I understand your frustration, but I'm busy here. We're trying to set up more cameras in Atlantis, and although it sounds easy, making Earth and Atlantian technology compatible is not the easiest task."
Discouraged, Evan made his way back to the infirmary and walked straight into Jen's office.
"Hey," he said, sitting down next to her. "What are you working on?"
She had scattered some paperwork in front of her, frowning at it. "Oh... hey," She smiled at him. "I was just looking over some order requests. I'm missing an empty oxygen tank, believe it or not. I need to get them shipped out on the next visit we have from Earth to exchange it for a full one."
"Weird," Evan said. "Jen, I'm sorry to bug you, but I need some help. Ronon was questioning why we aren't searching outside of the military folks in the city for whoever is behind the attacks." Evan shut the door, noticing a few people glancing their way. "Is there anyone on your team who fits the description?"
Frowning, Jennifer looked through her window. "As far as physical descriptions go, Dr. Stevens and Dr. Meadows are both tall, male... not sure on the eyes, though."
"Pull their files," Evan urged her.
He waited while she unlocked her filing cabinet under the desk and located the two files.
"Let's see... Meadows is newer than Stevens... says here in his file that he has had no self-defense training... no weapons training..." Jennifer rattled off, scanning the file.
Evan got up, looking out her office window. In a corner, his eyes caught a brief glimpse of Dr. Stevens looking directly at him. Stevens turned away, almost making it look like he hadn't been watching them. If it ended up being him, Evan thought, I'll kill him myself. The man had stitched him up just weeks ago.
"Jen, look at Stevens' file," Evan said quietly. He watched the man sit at a laptop, entering in information. Radioing Ronon, he instructed the him to come to the office.
"Yeah?" Ronon asked gruffly, not turning his back so that he could still monitor the infirmary.
Evan walked over to him. In a low voice, he warned him to keep an eye on Dr. Stevens but not to make it obvious. Ronon nodded and resumed his post.
"Ev, it says here he's very proficient with weapons. It was one of the reasons they took him on the expedition." Jennifer read through his file quickly. "He's cleared to carry it at all times, too. Carter okay'd it when he came on board. He said he felt the infirmary needed it since it's left unguarded at times...I've read his file, but nothing like this ever stood out to me."
His gut was telling him that they had their man.
"Sheppard, come in," Evan said over the radio. When he heard his CO, he requested him to come to the infirmary immediately.
"Okay, Jen," Evan said, sitting down next to her. "This may or may not be our guy. If I send Ronon in here with you, would you be comfortable if I played out a hunch? He wouldn't come close to you, but just in case, Ronon will be right next to you."
Jennifer nodded.
"Ronon, switch with me," Evan said over the radio. When he came through the door, Evan looked at him. "Don't leave her. For any reason. Let's see if we have our man."
Evan made his way out of her office and met Sheppard at the door.
"What's up?" Sheppard asked. "You got something?"
"Yeah," Evan said, lowering his voice. "Play along with whatever I say." He went over to talk to Marie, pretending to not be feeling well. Sheppard stood next to him while he lied to the nurse, saying he'd been having headaches and feeling nauseous all morning.
"I'll go get a doctor for you, Major Lorne," Marie said. When she didn't see Jennifer, she turned to Dr. Stevens and informed him that he had a patient.
"What's going on, Lorne?" Sheppard hissed at him.
Evan laid down on the gurney. Since Dr. Stevens was closing down his laptop with his back turned to him, he quickly informed Sheppard of his plan.
"Major Lorne," Dr. Stevens said, walking over to him. "Colonel Sheppard," he nodded at John. "Well, at least this time you're not bleeding from a beating. Tell me what's going on."
He launched into a brief description of the headaches he had today. Dr. Stevens wrote everything down, then came up to examine him.
"Well, you don't have a concussion, so Ronon's off the hook if you guys have been keeping up with the training," he said. "I'll run some tests, but my bet is that you're body is not happy with you lately. How have you been sleeping and eating? What's your stress level like?"
Sleep had been good lately. Especially the two nights after the attack, but he wouldn't tell that to the doctor. Since Jen had spent them in his bed, snug up against him, he felt confident enough that she was safe that he'd been getting a full six hours in.
"We've all been stressed trying to find this idiot on the loose," Evan said, hoping to get him agitated. "Ronon's had it the worst. He's been worried sick about the doc."
"Ronon?" Dr. Stevens said, obviously trying to be nonchalant. "I've seen you three around her a lot, especially lately, but why has he had it the worst?"
"Oops," Evan said, shaking his head. "I probably shouldn't have let that slip. Jen's been trying to keep it a secret."
He had the full attention of Dr. Stevens. Evan saw the man gripping his paperwork tighter. White knuckled, the man looked at him, intensely.
"Guess you'll figure it out anyways," Evan shrugged. "In the midst of all of this, I guess the big guy finally admitted to her that he's in love with her. Jen had been feeling the same way about him, so I guess it's one good thing that came from all of this."
Sheppard and Evan watched the man physically battle to keep in his rage. "Well," he bit out. "No, I haven't heard all of this." He turned in the direction of Jen's office, where everyone could see her and Ronon sitting next to one another, talking. "I'll order up those tests. Excuse me."
They watched him walk away.
"It's him," Evan said. "And he may be stupid enough to try something. Radio Ronon, fill him in. I'll radio for backup."
Sheppard nodded. "Nice work, major."
"We're not out of the woods yet," Evan said.
"Seriously?" Jennifer gasped after Ronon got off the radio. "I just can't believe it. All this time, we've been thinking it was some deranged soldier... someone I haven't even met yet."
But then, things began to add up. Dr. Stevens had been with the team longer than she had. Jennifer thought back, thinking the man had been extra welcoming to her when she'd come and was promoted as CMO, even though he probably could've been in the running for job himself.
He never made her feel nervous by any means, but there were certain times he had been right there by her side if she needed extra help and protection holding someone down if they came back wounded, panicked, and potentially could've hurt one of them.
"Don't worry," Ronon said, making sure he was between her and the door. "If he's stupid, he'll try something. And between the three of us, he's not going anywhere."
Minutes ticked by. Finally, Jennifer saw the doctor coming towards her office. Without moving her lips, she warned Ronon. "Here he comes..."
"Dr. Keller," the man said, looking unnaturally calm. "I wonder if I could speak to you for a moment in private?"
"Negative, Doc," Ronon growled. "I don't leave her side."
Stevens' face never broke composure. "Well, then, may I come in and speak to you both then?"
Ronon eyed the man. "Sure. Take a seat next to me. Jen, you move to the end of the table." He turned to the doctor. "Sorry, I'm not taking chances on anyone. Lorne thinks this guy is making a move soon. And even though he ruled out medical staff, I haven't," he growled.
"Understandable, Ronon," Stevens said. He sat down next to him. As soon as he settled into the chair, neither Ronon nor Jen noticed he reached into his pocket. "I'd like to talk to Jennifer here about something the Major just informed me of." He pulled a syringe out of his pocket then quickly jabbed the contents into Ronon's leg. Ronon jolted up, stood, and then quickly slumped to the ground.
Jennifer was shocked to see Ronon pass out in front of her suddenly. Jumping up, she ran to him, checking his pulse. "What did you do?" She looked up at Stevens.
"Only gave him a tranq' enough to get an elephant down. Don't worry. It wasn't a lethal dose. We were low in the stock room," he said calmly. "He should be dead after I heard he's put his hands on you."
She looked up, startled. "Why? Why are you doing this? Why didn't you just approach me?"
"Please, and get sent back if you didn't return the feelings and were uncomfortable with me afterward? Not a chance. Now look," he tugged her back into a chair. Looking out the window, he didn't see anyone approaching. "We still have to get past your bodyguards out there. Make one false move and I'll shoot the closest person to us."
She began to stall in order for Sheppard and Evan to notice something going on in her office. "So it was you who attacked Lt. Adams?" When he nodded, she felt like charging him and beating him for the hurt he caused the young man. "Why him?"
"Because the kid had a crush on you. I overheard you at the party just before I left. You asked him to walk you back to your room." His eyes gleamed at her, showing her how unstable he was. It was amazing how the man had fooled her all of this time. Fooled them all, in fact. "I wanted to make sure he wouldn't be a future problem for me."
"And the letters... you had access to my medical bag. Oh my gosh," she said, just now realizing everything. "You had an override code to my room until McKay revoked all override access codes to my room. That's how you left the note on my bed."
He smirked. "That was easy. The hard part was smuggling that empty oxygen tank out of here and back after using it on Adams."
Her gut twisted, making her want to be sick right there. "Were you scared he'd ID you if he pulled through? You could've killed him later in the infirmary?" That thought alone made her even more ill.
Stevens narrowed his eyes. "I thought about it... but once he got through the first night, I heard that he really wasn't interested in you anymore. Seems Adams has a crush on Lt. Cadman now. That little fact saved his life. Especially when I saw you didn't return his feelings." Then his eyes hardened. "But I didn't see Ronon coming. At first I worried about the close relationships you have with those three protectors of yours... especially Lorne... but time proved they only cared for you as a sister. With the exception of Ronon, I guess."
She tried to think of a plan to stop him without anyone else getting hurt, but he'd begun to edge her towards the door. "Where are you taking me?"
"We're getting off this city. I've already researched and picked a world for us to live on."
"What?" Jennifer shrieked. Hoping Evan and Sheppard would be able to stop him before he hurt someone, she blanched. "No. I'm not going."
Stevens pulled out his gun, complete with a silencer. "Then I shoot lover boy over there."
"No!" She yelled. "Okay, I'll go."
When they emerged from the office, she noticed Sheppard and Evan looking for a sign of Ronon. She met Evan's eyes, feeding her fear into his mind. "Gun," she mouthed. Stevens stayed behind her. "Marie," she called out shakily. "Dr. Stevens and I are going for a walk."
"Sounds fine, doc," Sheppard responded after Marie nodded. "But you're not leaving without an escort."
"I'll see to her safety, Colonel," Stevens smoothed over. "I promise."
She saw Evan move around them. With Stevens only focusing on Sheppard, he didn't notice Evan moving and working his way behind them.
"Sorry, Doctor, but I'm going to have to insist," Sheppard leveled a look at the man. He saw Stevens' flash an angry look. Darting a look at Evan, he nodded, signaling him to make a move.
Evan rushed up behind them, shoving Stevens away from Jennifer and covering her body with his own. Enraged, the man looked up to see Jennifer pulled out of his reach, swung up his gun, and almost had Evan in his range when Sheppard fired off a single shot to his shoulder, sending the gun clattering down on the floor.
Nurses screamed and began ducking behind whatever would shield them from the chaos erupting in front of them.
Stevens screamed when the bullet hit him, then moved toward the gun again. He picked it up, aiming at Evan and Jennifer. Evan didn't hesitate and shot him square in the chest. He fell down hard, sending the gun to Sheppard's feet.
Sheppard walked over, confirming he was dead. The infirmary was silent as everyone stared at the fallen doctor, in clear disbelief that the man who'd caused all of this hurt was a man whom they thought was in the city to heal the sick and wounded.
Jennifer clung to Evan, who turned her away from the sight in front of them. There were no more tears left inside her, but the grief was still there. She saw the back up Marines arrive in the infirmary and called over to Marie to grab a couple of men to get Ronon out of her office and onto a gurney.
"What happened to him?" Evan said, still unwilling to let her go.
"Stevens tranq'd him," she replied. "He'll be out for a few hours."
Sheppard made his way to them, setting his gun back into the holster. He checked her over to make sure for himself that Jennifer was alright.
"Jen, you okay?" he asked.
She glanced over at the man lying on the floor. "No, but I will be."