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."

Chapter 7

"What?" She looked at him.

"I don't know why but he knows your name. And he wants to talk to you."

"Ok, I will talk to him and find out what he wants." She said it firmly, although she didn't feel confident at all. She glanced at Ronon and saw the expression of disagreement on his face.

"You won't go there alone. I'll go with you." He was obviously decided.

"He wants to talk to the doctor in private," Lorne said.

Ronon turned to him. "I don't care. He will have to change his mind."

The major shrugged; he didn't want to argue with the Satedan. Jennifer was puzzled by the fact that the man knew her name. She had no idea what's going on but was ready to find out.

They left almost immediately and she didn't have a lot of time to think about the strange situation. He wanted talk to her. It was just weird and also scary a little. She had a feeling that she wasn't getting out of trouble yet.

She was really surprised when she realized that the path led to another village, quite similar to the one they were staying in. She hadn't thought about it before, but it was very probable that there would be more settlements of the people on that planet. The villages looked almost the same but she could see some small differences.

She glanced at Ronon, who was gazing round with an unreadable expression on his face, but she knew him quiet well and was sure that he was surprised too, at least a bit. The villagers hadn't talked about other people living so close to them. Something must have happened between them.

She was really tired of all mysteries around her this time. She really desired to get some answers, although she wasn't sure if she'd ever get any. But right now she had no idea what she was doing. Of course that she needed to talk with the man who knew her; she had no other choice. Full of mixed feelings, she followed the major to the place where the prisoner was held.

She saw only few soldiers in the village but no inhabitants. Lorne stopped at some small house that looked more maintained than the others. He pointed at the door. Jennifer wanted to open it but Ronon pushed her aside slightly.

"I am going in first." His voice allowed no objections. She was a bit upset by his behavior. It was nice from him that he wanted to protect her but it was almost ridiculous. What could possibly happen to her? But she rather let it be. She didn't want to make it more difficult between them. It was more than difficult enough already.

The room was small and dark; it took her while before her eyes got used to the lack of light inside. Then she recognized the young man sitting on a chair. His hands were tied behind him. She looked at his face and stiffened. She knew him. She didn't know where she met him, and she didn't know when. But she was sure she saw him before. It was the same feeling she had in the cave. She knew both of the men.

"Dr. Keller," he said, looking at her confidently. It really didn't respond to his current situation. "Nice to see you again. I was looking forward to seeing you." He smiled at her widely, but she felt some thread behind his smile and words.

She sat on one of the chairs near the man, but Ronon didn't sit. He just stood next to her and pulled out his gun staying silent. The man looked at him with a contemptous grimace.

"I see you brought a bodyguard with you. You don't have to be afraid of me, doctor. I am chained here, don't you see?"

She frowned. It hadn't started very well. At least Ronon resisted the temptation to do something unappropriate.

"What do you want from me?" she asked trying not to show her emotions.

"I wanted to see you," he said.

"Why? How do you know me?"

"That's not important right now," he replied. He was staring at her and she retuned the look. Although she didn't feel as strong as she pretended. "I have some questions," he continued.

"You are not in a position to ask," Ronon interrupted him. "You will tell us what we want to know. We don't have to tell you anything."

"You don't understand it at all," the man said. "But the doctor will, if I get the opportunity to explain. And I am sure that you will let me go."

Jennifer looked at Ronon who had problems hiding his anger.

"Start talking. Now," he said.

"I want to talk to the doctor alone. I said that before and I insist on that."

"No," Ronon replied automatically. Jennifer looked at him and then back at the prisoner. She wasn't sure why but suddenly she was persuaded that she must stay there alone.

"Ronon," she started carefully. "I have to do it."

He looked at her with disagreement. "Doc, that's bad idea. I won't leave you here with him."

Jennifer sighed. She appreciated that he was always trying to protect her but she would prefer if he weren't now.

"We need the answers," she said. "That's gonna be easier this way."

They were looking at each other for a while. She tried to be as determined as possible. Ronon finally shook his head. He didn't say a word when he was leaving the room. Jennifer turned back to the captured man.

"You have the opportunity now," she said, studying his face. She was always good about remembering faces so it made that even stranger. She took a deep breath and believed that she would understand. Somehow she knew she would.

--

It was late afternoon, when she left the room. She tried to concentrate, but it was too much on her. She needed some place to think, some place where she could be alone. A curious Major Lorne and worried Ronon were not what she wanted at all.

"Doctor," Lorne said when he saw her coming out. "What did he want? Do you know something important?" Jennifer closed her eyes. She wasn't able to share everything with him yet. First, she must make it clear herself.

"Yeah, I know something," she said. It was true.

"Will you tell us? We have been hearing some others out and gathered a lot of information. Do you believe they wanted to sell the villagers as slaves?"

She shook her head. Lorne was wrong. The prisoners probably didn't lie to him; they just didn't know everything. Exactly like Lens, their captive, said. It concerned the villagers and most of the mercenaries really tried to earn some money. But this wasn't the main reason. It was just an excuse for the others.

"Major, please," she said. "Don't let anyone to hurt that man. Especially Ronon," she added when she saw the Satedan hurrying to them.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

"Not really," she replied.

"Did he tell you how he knew your name?"

"He did," she admitted looking away from him. "I need some time to figure it out." Both men were watching her, waiting. She didn't know what to say but she couldn't tell them. The situation was bad, because, honestly, she was supposed to tell them all. Maybe Ronon would understand her... No, she couldn't yet.

"What did he do? Did he hurt you some way?" Ronon kept on questioning her. She understood him, but wasn't able to answer completely.

"We have a problem," she said. "I mean I have a problem." She was surprised that they were still silent. She decided to tell them the shorter version at first.

"The people will be fine. The rest of the sick should be healthy soon. They really wanted to sell most of the villagers." She swallowed.

"You're not telling us everything," Ronon said.

"No, I'm not."

"Why not?"

"I can't. It's all about me! The poisoned villagers, dying people... Some of them died because of me. You have no idea." She was getting angry. Both men were looking at her and seemed totally confused. She didn't care. They weren't responsible for anything. She was.

"The man you are holding in there is important," she said trying to calm down a bit. "That's all you need to know. If you want me to be ok again, you will let him be."

"Doctor, that's not you." Ronon said gently although she saw he had to hold his temper.

"No, that's not me. I cannot go back to Atlantis now. I can't be on duty because I am not ok. I am a doctor and I know it the best."

She wasn't able to continue; she let them stay there. She didn't know where she should go, but she needed a silent place for herself. She entered one of the shelters at the end of this village and laid down on a dirty bed.

She still didn't want to believe it. But that all made sense and Lens had no reason to lie to her. Although she didn't remember it, it must have happened. She couldn't almost remember the whole mission. It was almost three months ago, when she followed Sheppard and his team to one planet in this solar system. She and the rest of the medical team stayed there over night.

Lens didn't tell her all the details but what he told her was enough. She was infected by a virus they were developing for years. They chose her because she met some stupid criteria. She snorted. It was just an accident that they were on that planet. A horrible accident.

Now she was sick. At least she had proper explanation for her nightmares. She was just a guinea pick to Lens and his companions. The others mercenaries had nothing to do with it. They wanted to earn some money by kidnapping the villagers. But when Lens and his friends found out that an Atlantis team was on this planet, they decided to act. They saw the opportunity.

The villagers were poisoned because Lens wanted to get her to the planet surface. It was her fault that some of them died. And now, she was forced to cooperate with him. The nightmares were just the beginning. Her world was no broken into pieces and she didn't know if it would ever be all right.

TBC

--

Hello :) Sorry that it took longer again, I still had something to change and finally rewrote the chapter completely. Hope it will make sense to you... Thanks for reading and thanks Everlovin for betaing and not complaining :) Please review, thanks again :D