She heard the steps and saw a shadow in front of the cave. Then she saw a person standing just few meters in front of her looking inside. It was almost impossible to recognize the face, but she had a feeling that she has already seen the man before. She just couldn't remember. But it wasn't something she had time to figure out. The man noticed her and took out his own gun.

"We found them," he said.

Chapter 6

Jennifer tried to recall what happened a lot of times but she wasn't sure if it happened how she remembered. Everything was too quick and confusing. Maybe it would be better for her to forget it. She was scared to death but she was determined to do everything to protect Kal and herself.

When the men entered the cave, she knew she would have to do something. And she did it. She didn't wait for anything and fired. She heard one of the men screaming and knew she hit him but she had no idea what to do after that.

Kal laid on the ground, trembling. She had troubles just to hold the gun in her hands. The other man took out his weapon and looked at her with a bit of fear in his eyes. She felt satisfaction for a moment but it was pointless. She didn't want to do it again and trusted herself even less than before.

Before she could react somehow, she saw the man falling down, because he was hit on his head. She didn't see exactly what happened and she didn't understand it. But she would recognize that voice everywhere.

"Doc, are you ok?" It was Ronon. She couldn't imagine anyone she would wish to see more. She pulled Kal to herself and tried to make him calm.

"We're ok," she said when she was finally able to speak. "We are ok." She didn't want to talk anymore. She saw Ronon hurrying to them. She didn't care about anything else. He saved them. She smiled at him slightly, feeling weak and exhausted. Ronon looked at Kal and than at her. She saw the mix of worry and relief in his eyes while he was watching her.

"Fine," he said. "I was afraid we would be late." His voice wasn't as calm as it usually was. She wasn't sure what to think, but she was really grateful to him. She got up and then helped Kal, who was still holding her tightly. He was staring at the ground, where the first man was lying. Ronon noticed that and stood in front of him.

"It's ok now, boy," he said quietly. Kal looked at him and shrugged. Jennifer looked at Ronon uncertainly.

"Is he dead?" She pointed where she thought the body was.

"No," he replied. "But you were good. He won't be able to do anything for a couple days."

She didn't feel a lot better but she was glad she didn't kill anyone. The doctor part of her took the lead. "I have to treat them," she said.

"There are other doctors here," Ronon refused. "You need rest and we have to go back to the village." He looked at Kal.

"Do you think you can handle that, Kal?" The boy nodded.

"Are we going home?" he asked.

"Yeah. We're going home." Jennifer smiled when she saw the sigh of happiness on the face of the boy. She couldn't imagine what she would do if something happened to him. They were so lucky today.

It was dark and the way to the village was long, but Jennifer didn't care. She was just glad that the horrible experience was over. She was surprised that she was able to walk. Ronon was still next to her and she felt his concerned look from time to time.

It was a night when they came back to the village. Jennifer saw that it looked calm there and nothing changed at first sight, but then she realized she saw too few people. She looked at Ronon.

"Where are the people? What happened?" They hadn't talked during the way back and now she needed to know more.

"It's ok. They took some of them away but we followed them. Kal mother is fine." He sent her a meaningful look. "Take Kal somewhere he can sleep. I will tell you everything I know later."

She nodded. "Well, Kal, let's go. You will see your mum tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok," Kal agreed.

She decided to let him sleep in her shelter. He fell asleep before she could cover him up. She caressed him gently and left the room with a smile. Ronon was talking to a soldier, but he noticed that she came back. She waited till he finished the chat.

"Is Kal fine?" he asked, when he joined her.

"Yeah, he is," she said. "So, will you tell me what really happened here?"

"I will try to. But I don't know a lot yet."

She didn't ask him anymore. He seemed to be in a thoughtful mood and she didn't want to bother him much. She wasn't sure about what she was doing, but she followed him into his shelter without hesitation.

He didn't have a lot of stuff in his room, but she didn't look around very much. She sat on a small chair and tried to ignore the nervousness she felt again. She was there to find out what happened and how they got into such a dangerous situation.

"We haven't heard them out yet," he started. "When I came back to the edge of the village, I saw Lorne and the rest of the team. There were only some children there and a few old people. The rest of the villagers were missing."

"So, they took the villagers away."

"Yeah, they did. I told the major about what I saw yesterday. They started to look for them, but it took two hours before the help came. I would have come back earlier but I thought you are safe. I made a mistake." His face was unreadable, but she heard the repressed anger in his voice.

"Ronon," she said firmly. "We are ok. I don't want you to blame yourself for anything."

"I made a mistake," he repeated. "You could be dead."

"You couldn't know that."

"But I should have." He still insisted on that and she had a feeling she would not persuade him otherwise. He looked at her and groaned.

"We found the villagers before long," he continued. "Not one of us was hurt seriously; they weren't very well trained. But I realized all the mercenaries wasn't with them. I took the team and hurried back to you."

"Do we know anything about why they did it? And what about the disease?" She had too many questions and another just come during their talk.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we will get some answers. The soldiers are still coming back with the villagers. They don't want to take the men here. I didn't argue with them, but I will be there tomorrow."

"I need to get back to Atlantis," she said. "But I wanna be here till you find out more."

He looked at her and smiled. It was the first smile Jennifer saw on his face since he saved her. She felt much better; she didn't like him being too serious.

"It's up to you," he said. "I don't mind."

"I hope so," she muttered quietly. She wasn't sure if he heard her but the big grin on his face didn't leave her in the dark. She must have smiled back.

They were looking at each other. Ronon was just about to say something, when they heard knocking on the door. It was one of the soldiers.

"Major Lorne wants to talk to you," he told Ronon. "He's just come back."

"I'm on my way," Ronon replied. The man just nodded and left the shelter immediately.

"I have to go," Ronon told her. She shrugged and got up. He followed her outside.

"I should check Kal anyway," she said.

"Yeah. I think he will be sleeping. Have a rest and. . . You know."

He turned away and let her stay there. It was weird. He obviously wasn't feeling comfortable with her right now. She was watching him for a while, wondering if she would be able to do something about it the following day. She hoped she would be able to.

--

She was lying on the ground and wasn't able to move. She was cold and thirsty but she couldn't do anything. She opened her eyes and looked around. She saw some people talking to each other on the opposite side of the room. She tried to talk to them but she couldn't hear her own voice.

They noticed she was up and looked at her. She didn't see their faces, although they were close. She knew she was in jeopardy and wanted to get out of there. She was staring at them, while they were coming closer to her...

She didn't want to believe that. She had hoped that the nightmares were gone, but she was totally wrong. It couldn't be long after midnight yet. She looked at Kal lying next to her but she didn't wake him up fortunately. She sat and tried to breathe slowly.

It was strange and scary, but that wasn't everything. She wasn't able to get rid of the feeling she had in the dream. She wasn't able to describe what she felt. She laid down again and hoped that she could fall asleep again. Although she was scared, it wasn't as much as the night before.

--

The morning was warm, but Jennifer was cold and couldn't throw the worries away. She found Ronon in the center of the village, talking to some Theroans men. She smiled at him, although her attitude wasn't very good.

Before she could tell him everything, she heard steps and turned to Major Lorne who was coming to them.

"Doctor Keller," he greeted her.

"Hey, are we going yet?" Ronon asked.

"Yeah, right now," Lorne replied. Then he turned to Jennifer.

"We need your help, doctor. One of them wants to talk to you."

TBC

--

Hi all. At first, thanks for all your support, you are great :) This chapter was here quickly, I hope I will be able to continue this way! Let me know what you think, I really appreciate all the reviews. And don't kill me for another cliffie... it just happens :D And thanks Everlovin, my great beta!