"I know," she whispered. "You will go home, I promise. But we must be quiet now." She smiled. She couldn't show him that she was scared. They were sitting quietly and waiting for Ronon. When the man came back, he obviously didn't have good news for them.

Chapter 4

Jennifer was totally run-down. She was holding Kal's hand and they both were following Ronon, who led them through the forest. He told them that they had to get out of there. He didn't explain anything, and she didn't want to ask. In fact, she didn't have strength to speak. She admired Kal who looked tired as well, but didn't complain at all.

It was dark when Ronon finally stopped. Jennifer looked at him, wondering if he was planning to say something. He was just standing there looking round. She didn't see anything but then he could notice something she didn't. Jennifer glanced at Kal anxiously. Whatever might happen, it wouldn't be easy for him.

"What do you have in the backpack?" Ronon asked her after a few minutes. She sighed ignoring the question.

"Ronon, what happened?" Eventually she had the opportunity to ask and she needed to know. He couldn't just ignore her.

"I don't know," he said. "There are some men with guns in the village. I didn't stay there long enough." He shrugged his shoulders. "Do you have some water?"

"What?" Jennifer didn't understand how he could be so unbelievably calm. She was frightened and didn't want to talk about stuff like that. She wanted some better explanation.

"We must drink something," he said instead. "There will be no problem with food."

"Ronon, I will say that again. What happened? What are you talking about?" She was getting angry.

"The village is occupied. That's all I can say right now. We must hide and wait till Lorne comes back."

"Shouldn't we try to get to the puddle jumper?"

"The team is on Atlantis, they didn't tell ya?" He looked surprised.

"No, they didn't. I wouldn't ask if they did," she replied impatiently.

"It doesn't matter. They will find out what happened and will do something about it. We must hope that nobody will be killed." He shook his head. "I wanted to come back and solve it but I can't leave you here." He glanced at Kal.

Jennifer frowned. "Thank you," she said sarcastically. "I guess you would beat them all."

"Maybe I would," he answered with a slight smile. Now she was really annoyed.

"You are insane," she said. She looked at Kal who was looking them, but not paying attention. He was tired and sleepy and had problems keeping his eyes open. Jennifer decided she'd rather not to talk to Ronon now. She didn't want to say anything she would regret later. He wanted to protect them; he just wanted to do that his own way.

She felt awfully helpless. The people in the village needed her and she had to just hide and wait. At least the three of them were safe for now. She knew that Ronon was right about the water. She sat and let Kal drink from her bottle. She realized that they had almost nothing with them. It was quite cold already and the night was just beginning.

"Let's go," Ronon said after few minutes of resting. Jennifer looked at Kal, who leaned against her and fell asleep immediately. Ronon grinned and shook the boy gently.

"Just a few more minutes," he told him. Kal opened his eyes and slightly nodded. Jennifer helped him to arise, although she had problems with it herself.

"We went around some rocks before," Ronon said, pointing in front of him. "We should be there in ten minutes." Then he set out again. She didn't protest. Fortunately it really took just ten minute before she saw some big caves at the bottom of the hill.

--

Jennifer was sitting on the ground and felt unpleasantly cold. Ronon decided to stay in a small cave over the night. It wasn't the best place but they had no choice. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened in the village. She had no idea who the men could be and what they could have wanted. She was almost sure that it had something in common with the disease.

It could be a midnight already, but she didn't know. Although she felt terrible and tired, she wasn't able to fall asleep. She looked at Kal lying on Ronon's waistcoat and smiled. The boy had no problems with sleeping. But she was worried about him. Kal didn't understand the situation. How could he? Even she didn't understand anything.

She had hundreds of questions in her head and no answers. She was wondering if Ronon really told her all he saw there. He hasn't said a word since they stopped. Now he was sitting at the entry of the cave staring into the dark forest. Jennifer didn't want to disturb him but she wasn't able to stay silent anymore.

He turned his head when she sat on the ground next to him, but looked away again. Jennifer felt weird, because she wasn't sure what to say. He didn't seem to enjoy any kind of conversation.

"Ronon," she started quietly. He glanced at her and smiled. She felt relief; he wasn't as unapproachable as she was afraid.

"What are we gonna do?" she asked.

"I told you," he replied. "We will wait till tomorrow and then we will see."

"We will see," she repeated. Suddenly she remembered the two medical assistants. She didn't know how she could forget about them.

"Did you see the other doctors?" she asked.

"No. But I suppose they are there. The men didn't seem to start shooting without warning. Don't be worry."

"I am worried. We must do something."

"What would you do, doc? Lorne will come back, I'm not worried."

"You're never worried," she said. He smirked at her and she shook her head, smiling back. She wasn't able to be angry with him most of the time. Instead, she realized how close to him she was sitting. She could touch him if she moved just a little.

"It will be fine," he said. Jennifer twitched when he spoke. She tried to get rid of those dangerous thoughts.

"Do you really think that?" she said. "What about Kal? What if something happens to his family? I hate sitting here and doing nothing."

"I know." She looked at him.

"Really? You don't seem to be bothered." It sounded rougher than she wanted.

"I am. I'm just trying to find the best solution." He looked at her seriously. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," she replied. "That's not your fault. I'm really glad that you're here."

"I'm glad that I'm here too." He straightened a bit. Now he was even closer to her, but she wasn't about to protest.

"Everything will be fine," he added.

"Ok," she replied simply and she really meant it that way. In that moment she would be able to believe whatever he would say.

She knew that he was gazing at her intensely. When their eyes met, she smiled slightly feeling nervous and tight. The situation was quite similar to the one in the infirmary. She wasn't ready for that but didn't want to disrupt the moment. She caught her breath when he stretched his hand and touched her hair.

She felt his touch and wasn't able to do anything. Actually, it was hard for her to breathe. When he got closer, she could just gaze into his darkened eyes. Then he inclined his head and she felt his lips on hers. She closed her eyes and threw all her worries away. He pulled her a bit closer and she put her hands around his neck in response.

She didn't know how long it took, but when he pulled away gently, she felt disappointed. He was still holding her, and she wished he would never stop. It wasn't so difficult after all. Maybe there was a chance for them. She knew that she wasn't rational right now but she didn't want to be.

She tried to clear her head but it didn't work. Then he pulled his hands away and swallowed. She closed her eyes and moved a bit further from him. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe it couldn't work. She was puzzled. He was staring in front of himself, but than he smiled and turned back to her.

"I think you should try to sleep," he said. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day." Jennifer wasn't surprised. She didn't await any possible chat about what just happened. They needed to talk sometime later but not now. In fact, she was grateful that he had no need to speak because she didn't know what to say. She smiled at him, not showing any of her mixed feelings.

"Good night," she said.

"Good night, Jennifer." She didn't know for sure but it was probably the first time he didn't call her doc. She gave him one last glance and left him alone. She lay next to Kal, who looked pleasant while he was sleeping. Jennifer envied him that he was so young and carefree.

If she couldn't sleep before, now it was totally impossible. She wasn't certain what exactly happened there. And she would give anything if she could find out what that meant for him. What she meant for him. But the personal staff must wait till they solve their actual problem. And that was gonna be a tough one without a doubt.

TBC

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Hello. Can you see? No typical cliffhanger :D Sorry for so long waiting (and a bit shorter chapter), I will try to update more often. I'm glad that you are still reading. Please review, it helps me write. I'm not sure when exactly I'm gonna start to explain, but I will, be patient :)