„Well, I will wait here," he said. He sat on a chair standing in a corner and sighed slightly. Jennifer let him in the lab. She needed to do something in the following hours cause the waiting was unbearable. And sitting there with Lens wouldn't be the best idea. She closed the door of the bathroom behind her, wondering how long it will take before she gets back to Atlantis. She couldn't imagine anything she would want more.

Chapter 10

It was over, but Jennifer didn't feel any better. Lens was waiting in the lab till she knew the results. He brought the others in the middle of the night. And still, she didn't stop for about three hours. Then she lay on the bed for a while, but she wasn't able to rest. The treatment probably started to work but she wasn't sure about it.

Even if it worked as it was supposed to she had no idea what to do. She was focused on finding the cure and tried not to think about the events that would follow. She didn't want to think about it, but now she really had to find out how to get out of there. She trusted Lens; but she didn't trust the others, and they could stop her. Actually, they could have already decided to get rid of her.

She spent long minutes staring at the ceiling when she heard knocking on the door. She hoped that nothing happened; the last thing she needed was another complication.

"Come in," she said quietly. It was Lens standing behind the door.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" He asked.

Jennifer shook her head. "No, I couldn't sleep." He nodded. No one else knew her situation better than him.

"Ok," he said. "I think that your cure really works. I know it's too early to be convinced but I feel much better than I did in the last few weeks. I was sleeping a bit."

"I hope you're right," she said. Then she gave him a short look. "And what happens now?"

"That's why I'm here. I'm sorry it has to be this way but they won't let you go. I'm sure." She swallowed, trying to guess what he was thinking. But he continued immediately. "We need to leave now. I'll be able to get you back to your people but we cannot wait."

"I can't be sure that the cure works," she protested. What if she was wrong again? She needed to be sure. "That's not possible."

"I know it's risky," he said trying to smile uncertainly. "But we have to take the chance. I don't want you to be killed. Let's go."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"No," he said quickly. "But it's still the best solution. Don't argue with me, Dr. Keller"

Jennifer didn't have time to think about it. She followed Lens through the complex into areas she never had been and out of the building. The sun was just rising, but she couldn't just stop and look at it. She took a deep breath. She just hoped that she wasn't making a mistake but honestly she didn't have any better choice.

--

The flight took longer than she imagined. She felt exhausted and that wasn't caused just by the recent events. All the time she spent away from Atlantis influenced her. Eleven days and nights spent in the lab trying to save her life and life of all the others as well. She finally succeeded; she didn't admit herself that she could fail actually. And then the horrible moment when they were getting out of the complex.

Lens lead her through the crooked corridors to the surface but the man guarding the door outside didn't want to let them go without permission - that they didn't have of course. Lens decided that he wouldn't be able to persuade the guard, so he stunned him. Jennifer was shocked but he just pulled her away, reminding her that they had even less time right then.

Lens knew where the aircraft were placed and had no problems taking off. In fact she was a bit surprised how easily it all went. Actually, it went easy for her. She knew that Lens was in different position. It would be probably impossible for him to come back to his companions. Not friends, she reminded herself, but he was living with them for a long time.

"Lens," she started after another minute of thinking about it.

"What?" He asked. He looked as calm as usually, showing no emotion to her.

"What are you going to do? I mean, it doesn't improve relations if you stun someone and escape with the prisoner."

He shrugged. "I'll survive," he said. "Now I hope to start a new life somewhere else. I didn't want to stay with them anyway."

"I am sorry. You are the only one who was nice to me. I didn't want to cause you any troubles."

"I told you that doesn't matter," he replied still focusing on the piloting.

"Don't you wanna go to Atlantis with me?" She just felt that she needed to ask him about it, although she knew the answer.

"No," he said slightly amused. "I don't wanna go with you. I don't wanna be a prisoner for the rest of my life."

"You wouldn't be," she said. "You saved my life, probably more than once."

"I couldn't leave Atlantis whenever I would like. It's like a prison for me. After all what happened to my people and our stupid plans..." He got silent for a while deep in his thoughts. "I really need to start from the beginning."

Jennifer understood him. But she wasn't the one who wanted to start again. In fact, she did it when she agreed to come on Atlantis. She left her previous life and started a new part of it. She missed her father and a few of her friends but she believed she made the right decision. She already belonged to Atlantis and really wanted to get back as soon as possible.

Because she didn't remember anything from her way to that place, she was surprised how far away from the village they were. She tried to focus on the direction but she lost the attention soon. After several hours of the flight she was thirsty and sleepy, but she had nothing to drink and couldn't just fall asleep either.

"We're gonna be there in a minute," Lens said.

Jennifer raised her head. "That's great."

"I think so," Lens smiled. "I'll have to land here in the forest. It will take you about twenty minutes to get to the village we left. I'm sure there'll still be some of your people."

"I hope so," Jennifer smiled back. She could hardly believe that she was coming back and she was all right again. Despite her exhaustion, she felt better and really believed that the treatment was working. She took some samples of her research but they didn't have a lot of time, and she had no possibility to access the computer. But she remembered most of what she did and with the help of the scientist on Atlantis she would be able to restore the research.

Lens was a good pilot and the landing was perfect. He opened the door, but didn't get out of the plane. She sighed. Although the circumstances were strange, she felt like she was losing a friend. He and the others had changed her life, but she didn't feel any spite. She just knew she would miss him.

"I suppose I won't change your opinion about Atlantis," she said, looking into his eyes.

"No," he agreed then shook his head. "You should go. They are still looking for you. The big guy probably killed everyone who didn't answer him well."

Jennifer laughed. "Maybe. He is a bit impulsive sometimes."

"Bye, Dr Keller," Lance said and gave her a last almost warm smile.

"Bye. I hope your new life will be better." Then she left the plane and headed for the village. She didn't look back when she heard the sound of the aircraft leaving the ground. Her aim was obvious now and she felt strong enough to reach that. Lens said that it should take twenty minutes so if she was slow, she should be there in a half an hour. It didn't seem so bad.

--

Lens was right. She could see the edge of the village in less than half an hour actually. She felt strange and nervous, because she couldn't be sure what she would find. But she saw some people moving around and soon she could recognize Atlantis uniforms. Her relief was huge; she wasn't ready to deal with some other problems. She needed just some place to sleep.

She carefully left the protection of the trees and waited for the soldiers see her. Two of them noticed her very quickly and stopped. She smiled, but rather showed her hands to them. They recognized her immediately and rushed to her.

"Yeah, it's me," she said. They were looking at her with concern in the eyes. She realized that she had no idea how she looked. She was probably dirty and the tired expression didn't help at all.

"Dr, Keller," said the sergeant. "It's great to have you back. What do you need?"

"Just some rest," she answered gratefully. "I am ok but it's a long story." She hesitated for a moment. "Is Major Lorne here? Or Ronon?" She tried to look naturally but she couldn't wait for the answer.

"Major Lorne is back on Atlantis now," the man answered, showing her that she should follow him. "Ronon is with the Theroans. He is leading the team that was trying to find you. Thank God you are alright."

"I must look awful," she smiled, but she didn't care a lot. Ronon was looking for her. Of course he was, but it was great to hear it. That was important to her.

"You just look tired," the man replied quickly. "Get some sleep. We'll let Ronon know that you're here."

Jennifer didn't say anything. She smiled at the men before she entered the small building. She laid on the bed, too lazy to get undressed. It took her just a few seconds to fall asleep. When she woke up a few hours later, she felt great. She had no idea what time was, but the sun was still in the sky. In fact, she came in the early afternoon. She wondered if she should get up and eat something but first she needed to sleep.

In the morning, she started to believe that everything would be ok. She felt healthy and, for the first time in months, not tired. More than sixteen hours spent in the bed really helped her. No nightmares this night, although she remembered that she had a dream. There was Ronon in that dream and it was definitely no nightmare, she smiled. Now it was the right time to get out and prove her friends that she is the same as before.

The village was silent. There were still no residents there, just a few soldiers of Atlantis. She wasn't sure where to go but chose the house where Lens was captured before. She hoped that she would meet someone there and would be able to get to Atlantis as soon as possible. Although she felt good and stronger, she suddenly realized that she wasn't ready for that. No, she wasn't ready to meet Ronon here. But it was too late. He saw her in the same moment she saw him.

Jennifer closed her eyes for a moment. What should she tell him? Would he listen to her? She would know the answers sooner, she thought. Ronon, who was standing at the doors, didn't move at all. He slightly nodded at her and waited. She was wondering if she could just turn around and run away but that wouldn't help. She would have to face him some other time. She had felt so good when she figured that difficult problem out, but now she lost her confidence totally. She stopped a few steps in front of him and tried to smile, although she had to collect all her courage.

"Are you sure you're healthy again?" he asked quietly.

"I am," she answered firmly.

"Good," he said. "We tried to find you. I didn't want to let you die, although what you did was foolish."

"I know," she admitted. "But I had to do it."

"You didn't but it was your decision," he replied, still looking into her eyes. She tried to recognize if he was angry or not but he was unreadable right now.

"I am sorry," she said and she really was. "But you couldn't understand. I'll try to explain it to you everything...if you want."

"I want," he said, smiling for the first time. "I want to hear a damned good reason why you trusted an unknown man and left your friends behind."

Jennifer was puzzled, because he didn't look upset at all but was saying quite serious things. She was glad that he agreed to talk to her; she really wanted to tell him why she needed to go and what happened after that. She wanted to know what he was doing when she was away and what he was thinking. But Ronon wasn't usually sharing his thoughts. She didn't protest when he offered her to have some breakfast. It was a good start.

TBC

--

Hi everyone :) Sorry for updating so late, but I was away and the RL is a bit complicated, you know that. Well, Jennifer is back home, almost. You know I really had to get through all the story to get the more shippiness that will start... in the next chapter :D But I quite like angst so it's not gonna be so easy. Thanks for all the reviews, your support is great! And please, please, write another one to let me know that you are still reading :)